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March 14
Written by Warren | Posted on March 14, 2010 | Comments
Frustrated after listening to a preaching from a church we have been attending for two months now.
This is the second Sunday I heard the same person preach. Last Sunday I was like “did I just hear what I heard?”, to which Hazel replied “I did so too” and so did Emma. He was preaching moralism. It’s all about what to do, how to do, instead of what Christ did for us. The problem with these moralism stuff is what if one member has attained the set of rules that was preached? Attending Church service an hour earlier? Check. Last person to leave Church? Check. Attending Bible studies? Check. Attending prayer meetings? Check. Interested in being an elder? Sure you’re in!
This morning I didn’t bother confronting the guy. I realized this guy’s definition of the gospel is way too twisted. It’s time to tell the senior pastor my concerns. To which the pastor replied “Well he did mention John 15:5, he may not expound it well, but mentioning the verse is gospel enough.” Right there and then I realized the pastor wasn’t interested in reforming. I was looking for a sign wherein he would show “yeah I have this struggle with certain elders for years” wherein I would gladly offer my services. But no. He made a “No, we’re all ok. No need for doctrine checks” statement. With that type of response from the leader or man of God, who is supposed to watch out for wolves instead was watching the house burn down, I realized I needed to look for another Church. Funny thing is I was offered this morning a membership form seeing whether I’m interested since we were already attending the service for more than two months now. After what I realized today, I only said “I will think about it.” I don’t think we will want to go back next week.
March 5
Written by Warren | Posted on March 5, 2010 | Comments
I am noticing a trend among evangelical Christians lately that demolishes the efficiency and growth of Christian individuals. Although I’ve read several books by John MacArthur warning me of the downward spiral of Christendom, I still am surprised and sad since I started noticing it. My dear brother and friend also has the same concern on his blog. This trend is about the Church buying into traditionalism.
I realized that my family is my Church. And within my family I am able to practice Church discipline: confessions, confrontations, rebuking, loving one another, sacrifice for each other, etc. I cannot expect to practice the same degree of commitment towards what we normally call “Church” wherein everyone claims they’re a brother or sister in Christ. In fact, I am able to appreciate more from the fellowship with people who I don’t go to Church with. Meaning, I am more blessed with people outside my local church (although legally, we’re no member of no local Church) than with people whom I meet every Sunday.
Traditionalism has become so widespread that I would need to literally live with my co-Church member to see whether his faith is genuine or not. And that still doesn’t guarantee it. Meeting a brother in Christ is a very rare thing to occur. It makes me happy to find one. Now, by God’s continuous intervention in my life, I am not surprised when I see a faker. I would be more surprised if I see a genuine one.
I hope someone writes a book about this subject. Entitle it “The Invisible Church” or something. As of now, I am not interested nor planning to member myself into a local “Church.” Although it has been my burning desire to find and fellowship with Christians. I can do that even if I find them online.
March 3
Written by Warren | Posted on March 3, 2010 | Comments
For these past weeks we were able to sustain our devotionals more often than not. Especially after we moved in to our new home last month we were able to settle things down. It may not be an everyday event, but at least we’re getting into something.
I am more of focusing on my own spiritual growth than worrying about others’. My approach is still not how I proposed it to be, so it’s still a constant struggle for me. I may be prioritizing my personal meditations to the extreme that I forgot about my mandate to share the gospel to others. Legalism still arises especially when I am able to justify my actions to be godly.
January 27
Written by Warren | Posted on January 27, 2010 | Comments
Hazel and I agreed that we’d take the advocacy for adoption to the next level. Hazel sent various emails to various individuals of whom we thought could help us make people more aware of the state of adoption in our country. At the same time I began to think whether this mission of ours is something I am passionate about. Is it something I’d die for? Or is it some sort of trend in my life? But when I think about our mandate to make disciples through adoption, then advocating about it becomes more meaningful.
I am praying for a mission that we can pursue on and at the same time make ends meet. It is very difficult to become an idealist in a 3rd world country. I’ve known many people in our country who died unreasonably younger and poorer for fighting for their ideals. And yet there’s almost no one to carry on their legacy. Yes there will be consequences to our goals. In fact, we’re already experiencing some of them. And for months we’ve shed countless tears for it. We, as many idealists, may become fools in the eyes of many. But our goal is not to please men but God.
January 26
Written by Warren | Posted on January 26, 2010 | Comments
We were able to do devotions last night and tonight. Discussed on loving one another. We all felt guilty for our lack of love towards another. We pray that we may grow in the love of Christ that the world may know that we truly are His disciples (John 13:35).
Inspite of our continuous debt, by God’s grace, I was able to lead our devotion and did a few readings. In the next few days, I suspect that our situation would go worse. I pray that this won’t become our reason to stop doing our devotion and sharing the gospel. May God help us.
Adoption is One Form of Making Disciples
Written by Warren | Posted on January 26, 2010 | Comments
A friend of mine once reacted to our decision for adoption saying that he supports a child via World Vision. Helping a child financially that you are not required to be with is good. And I am happy for this act. However, you cannot make a disciple out of a child whom you barely see. Plus disciple making is not just about feeding the mind. But it includes involvement of the discipler and the disciple in terms of commitment towards the same goal. Discipleship is teaching through one’s life experience. And one way to make disciple is to adopt a child and raise him/her under your own roof and work at introducing him to Christ.
There are currently more than 210 million orphans around the world. This speaks of the degree of commitment Evangelicals have towards making disciples – the great commission given by Christ (Matthew 28:19-20). We have to face the fact that Evangelicals today have ignored their mandate in making disciples. And sadly, we even hear folks, who profess to be believers, that not only are they not supporting the idea of adoption, but they even despise it. If you profess to be a Christian, please, we urge you, make plans in adopting a child. Not only are you taking the child off the streets, but you are working to save a soul for the Kingdom of Christ.
Hazel and I are currently encouraging Christians through our testimonies to be part of building God’s Kingdom through adoption. We hope that our efforts would be an influence to you and be part of God’s workers. We need more workers to be part of this. More and more souls are being lost to eternal damnation even as I write. You may think you cannot afford the money to support this child? Remember, we too were orphans, but Christ didn’t only used money He used His blood by DYING for us in order to adopt us to be God’s children. If we, as Christians, were adopted by Christ, shouldn’t we too adopt helpless children as well? May God be merciful to us all and deepen your conviction dear believer in Christ.
January 25
Written by Warren | Posted on January 25, 2010 | Comments
Yesterday, my friend didn’t show up for us to do a Biblestudy together. This morning he passed by and apologized confessing that he fell asleep. I pray that next time we meet, I would be able to discuss with him concerning the gospel. After I’ve invited him, I started to look at others as well. Perhaps I could invite more. May God be gracious to us all.
This morning I learned that one of my bank accounts was suddenly closed due to lack of money in it. Something to add to my stress. May God have mercy on us.
We were blessed at yesterday’s service especially the preaching. We’ve been attending a church, probably 10 minute ride away, for the past 3 weeks. After praying for a local church, we’re starting to feel at home with this particular church. Soon enough, some of the members there would find this blog site and perhaps get to know us through our writings. I pray that they would be blessed through this site.
The following texts are not meant to be part of my confessions but it is my welcome message to some folks from the church we attend to. Read more
January 23
Written by Warren | Posted on January 23, 2010 | Comments
Last night I was not able to lead our devotions. We watched a movie instead. I have to confess, these past months we are undergoing severe trials. Probably the worst one in my marriage life. We have huge amount of debts to various individuals and groups. Some I cannot expect to pay back. Some are even Christians. Being in debt is the last thing I have ever hoped for. In fact, I despised credit cards, if only it isn’t a necessity in the world of internet transaction. Being in debt makes me feel that I am leading my debtors to commit the sin of worry. What can I say? How can I convince them that we are under the humbling wrath of God? The cause of our debt is too complicated to even write about, but I still want to confess, anyway, that because of my worry about our debts, I couldn’t stand up and lead the devotion.
I may teach others about not worrying but being in the middle of the storm myself makes me realize that my teachings are but knowledge that is about to puff up. I may know, by God’s grace, that I am saved and that in the after life I shall meet my Lord but having a first hand experience of this severe tribulation makes my flesh realize that my faith on my future state is but theory! I worry even if I am well aware of my secured salvation in Christ. Leading devotions in a comfortable circumstance doesn’t show the genuineness of my faith. My faith is definitely under trial. Leading family devotions is such a struggle for me. May God be gracious.
January 21
Written by Warren | Posted on January 21, 2010 | Comments
Last night was able to do our family devotion. Though it wasn’t well delivered nor much conviction on my part. Also, I wasn’t able to do anything productive today. For me to be able to maintain our devotions, I must discipline my body. Make it obey and if I have to drag myself literally to another place to read and pray then so be it. My struggle continues on.
January 20
Written by Warren | Posted on January 20, 2010 | Comments
The Lord is gracious. My proposed devotion finally materialized last night. Although I continue to pray that we do it as regular as possible. Struggling to know God is a continuous battle for me and for any Christian. And I praise God that He continues to speak to us thru His Word.
Earlier this morning I was able to invite a friend to a Bible study. Inviting him was a struggle for me for these past weeks. But then after I saw a video of an interview with Paul Washer I got convinced that I need to do something. We intend to do it at least once a week for 1 hour. I pray that the Lord would be gracious to us all. I want to do a study with him privately and not include my family because I want them to rest as well since we plan to do it on a Sunday afternoon.
January 19
Written by Warren | Posted on January 19, 2010 | Comments
My proposed daily devotions with the family has not manifested yet. Although I had various informal discussions with my wife. Still, I prefer to have a bit more formal setting such as gathering together and have our focus on studying than anticipating whatever business might occur to distract our attentions.
Reading is even more challenging. Having Tommy around the house, it becomes almost impossible for me to read. I need to wait for him to sleep to get a decent silence in our residence. Otherwise he’d do his unpredictable cries and demand for time. And he doesn’t sleep until all of us are in bed. So in our beds, I need to pretend to sleep until Tommy falls asleep. However it didn’t turn out as planned. In the end we both would fall asleep. And my reading routines would then be disrupted.
January 18
Written by Warren | Posted on January 18, 2010 | Comments
Yesterday received news that two of the people I preached the gospel to and professed faith turned their backs and went to their old religion. They claimed they understood the gospel. This is a case of apostasy: they know the gospel and the work of Christ but they purposedfully reject it. I’m praying that the Lord would continue to humble me and make me realize that this is His battle not mine. I feel sad for their mockery on Christ though. But the Lord will forever be faithful to His Glory.
My proposed devotion for the family is still struggling. I’m praying that I would make it as regular as possible. If the Lord wills it, may we be able to do it daily. At least 15-30minutes.
Copy/Pasting Does Not Deepen Our Conviction in the Lord
Written by Warren | Posted on January 14, 2010 | Comments
In a world where copy/pasting is literally effortless, it becomes a challenge to others to put their trust on the professor of faith. When we hear them profess do we hear a statement of their own convictions or of someone else? If I hear familiar construction of words that would make them predictable, I would have strong doubts whether this person really knows what he is saying. The reason why many people love quoting is either they can’t put the right words to express their thoughts or they just want to make an impression that they are in tune with the quoted person. Thus making an impression that if they only knew how to fancy up the construction of their words, they’d probably originate the quote themselves.
In the Christian world, wherein many individuals are competing to be the most righteous one in appearance only, many would do the things of a certain individual of whom they believe went farthest in his/her spiritual growth. Like “whatever Mr. so and so does, so I will do.” If he does something that is not yet made traditional, say praying before going to his secular work, then others would copy that style and make it their tradition. Now I am not opposed to effective leadership. But if the follower relies on the convictions of the leader to be his conviction, then I am against that. The follower is supposed to imitate the leader as the leader follows Christ. That is why Paul says “be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Paul encourages the Corinthians to follow his example in following Christ. Settling our hopes on great men such as Spurgeon or Lloyd-Jones is simply idolatry.
For the past months the Lord has given me the opportunity to read diaries of great men. This has helped me in furthering my efforts for purity in Christ. I would see how deep their devotions are when they would pray for hours and hours. I see the agony of their sin and how much they would depart from the body and be together with the Lord. The gospel is at the end of the road. Making me thank God all the more for saving a wretched person like me. Thus leading me to seek a private place of my own wherein I could pour out my concerns to our Lord. This is how we ought to treat great men. We follow their steps towards Christ and not for the purpose of pleasing others.
Copy/pasting does not deepen our conviction in the Lord. It only deepens our relationship to religion.
Tags: convictions > copy/paste > lloyd-jones > parasites > Paul > personal convictions > spurgeon
January 14
Written by Warren | Posted on January 14, 2010 | Comments
Where we live now is somewhat laid back as compared to living in Manila. Most of the neighbors here know each other at least by reputation. And they do greet each other. There were several instances that people whom we don’t know would just call for Tommy whenever we pass them by. The neighborhood is quite small and it has been my burden to want to share them the gospel. I praise God that for the past months we haven’t heard anything negative from them or others indirectly (as I believe it is a common approach among Filipinos ever since).
As much as I wanted to share the gospel, I felt that I needed to build a good reputation first among the neighborhood before I do so. Although I would believe that the reputation among others is matured enough but still I just couldn’t make the move. I also believe that preaching the gospel is not dependent on the reputation of the preacher. At least give them a brief testimony of how I got to know my Saviour. This may not be the ideal approach especially among idealists so I must confess, sharing the gospel to others is still a struggle for me. Especially to people whom I know I will be living with for the next 30yrs or so.
A year of shapings, moldings and blessings
Written by Zhey Chua | Posted on January 5, 2010 | Comments
It has been customary for me to write a “the year that was” every first week or so of every new year. The intention is to summarize the highlights of the past year in our lives — Christian walk, marriage, self —, it is sort of a year-end report kind of thing and usually, there’s almost something to write about for every month that came and went.
Well, this time it’s going to be different.
The year 2009 had been a year of many great blessings, shaping, forming, molding, humbling, testing and celebrating both for Warren and I. You see, first, in a span of one year, our small family of two grew into a family of four (not counting the cats 
) and second, all throughout the whole year, the Lord faithfully, graciously and lovingly provided, discipled and cared for us. Third, the whole year was littered with surprises, some pleasant, some not so pleasant, and He saw us through! He just did.
Read more
Tommy’s Way of Rebuking Me
Written by Warren | Posted on January 1, 2010 | Comments
Adopting a child, like having one of your own, is never easy. There are moments, as usual, when Tommy would do something that would disappoint me. And there are moments when I, the other “I” which is my depraved nature, would react in a very unchristan manner. I would observe my reactions, and though I don’t say it, I would realize that I would immediately respond in such a manner as to say the reason why Tommy is disappointing me is because he is not my son by blood. Like saying if he were my son by blood, he wouldn’t be disappointing me. But this too is wrong. Because whether I adopt or have a child of my own blood, I would still raise a child whose sinful nature was imputed by Adam.
Instead of continuing on blaming others, I reflected on my actions against Tommy and saw my depraved state and thought to myself, would Jesus respond the way I responded? Would He say “it’s because you’re not my blood that’s why you keep on sinning”? That’s not what the Bible tells us though. The scripture said that Jesus died for us not because we are deserving. In fact Jesus died for us even while we were cursing Him to His face (Romans 5:8). And that’s clearly disappointing Him and yet He chose to adopt us (Ephesians 1:5). We humans would normally wait for someone to please us for us to like or love them, but Jesus died for us in order to adopt us while we hated Him.
Having Tommy in our family reflects how I respond to God’s grace and mercy to me. Tommy is such a blessing to us not only because he makes us laugh, but because he reminds us of how imperfect our love for the adopted is when compared to Christ’s love for the Church.
One Wacky Ride
Written by Warren | Posted on December 22, 2009 | Comments
It’s been 3 months since I last blogged. And for those 3 months, it was one wacky ride for Hazel and I and ofcourse Emma. These are the major things that happened in the last 3 months in chronological order:
- We resigned from our local Church
- We got our Tommy! (see our Facebook account for photos)
- Moved out to a new place
- Started a business (and it’s not doing well) which was capitalized by my mom (which is not good either)
- Lost our money and jobs because we were focusing on the business that’s not doing well
It’s been a very stressful time for our family. Everything is first time. First time to adopt, first time to be parents, first time to start a business, first time to purchase a house, first time to be churchless. However, the Lord is still gracious for we believe that at the end of all this, we’d get one step closer to becoming more like Christ.
So why are we not blogging lately? We decided to stop blogging and concentrate on ministering to ourselves for awhile since we believe that ministering to our family should be top priority. For these past months though, I took advantage to pursue studying and praying for my own benefit and growth. I sought more time with the Lord that I even failed to minister to my family. Take it as a 3 month sabatical leave. We stopped devotions since we moved here last month. And since then our marriage is encountering a lot of bumps on the road that we would at times act worse than unbelievers. I pray that I’d get back to leading our devotions and consider ministering to my family as my top priority instead of focusing too much on making money.
Throughout these tough times, Hazel and I saw great friends. Friends that stood out from the shadows to help and support us either by prayer, money, or material things. We thank God for His continuing sustenance of our salvation and growth through Christ with the help of our friends and their prayers. It is humbling enough to experience tough times in our family. It is even more humiliating when people that we barely know would stand up and help us along the way. We are forever thankful to God for these good Samaritans. We hope you rejoice with us in this. Please continue to pray for us.
Souls transformed by the Gospel
Written by Zhey Chua | Posted on November 4, 2009 | Comments
For almost four months now, Warren and I have been ministering to our neighbors and a month ago, after three months of daily devotions, Saturday in depth Bible Studies and Sunday fellowships, they finally came to know Jesus Christ.
What joy it is to witness the transformation that only God’s powerful hands can do to their lives! With the permission of Floramae, I would like to share with you their story here on AHOH:
Floramae met Robert while in University. He is a professor, she a college student. Both had promising futures, Robert’s family is known in the community because they are all educated, decent, “religious” and moneyed. Floramae on the other hand was always on the top of her class, she was a student activist and lead a few campus organizations.
As it happened, Floramae and Robert began dating and eventually Robert’s family got wind of the affair. His wife, siblings, friends and children pulled strings and made life difficult in the province for Floramae forcing her to run away from the South. Robert found out about her plans of leaving their hometown so he decided to “elope” with her. Both went to Manila and started living together as common law husband and wife. Two years ago, Floramae gave birth to their son.
This couple came to us one evening and asked us to share to them the Word of God. They told us about their situation and how much they have already suffered from discrimination in brick and mortar churches. That first night they approached us, we remember distinctly how Robert confessed he is determined to stick it out with Floramae no matter what, “We have a son, I can’t turn my back on this anymore, this is it. They are my family now,” he vowed.
Warren and I often wondered what this couple’s future would be like, we admit that there were times we doubted they would be saved but we pressed on. Everyday at 9:30 in the morning, Warren would stop from working in his office to go downstairs to our living room and wait for the couple to arrive for our devotions. Every week, on Saturdays, we set aside our “date time” so Warren could study for our 8PM in depth Bible Studies, and on Sundays, we also shelved our own time together to make way for Warren’s need to study for the 4PM fellowship. Everyday, the Gospel was preached in our home, with this two souls as our primary audience and by God’s grace and mercy, they were drawn to Him, to His irresistible Grace!
A week after they professed their faith, they were baptized and immediately afterward, Robert left to return to his wife and children. Their decision to go their separate ways was the most shocking thing for us because not once did Warren touch on the subject of adultery or of God’s design for marriage. Whenever he would mention sin, it is always sin in general and then the call for repentance would follow. So when Floramae greeted me on Skype one morning to tell me that she just booked a flight for Robert to return to his family, I was floored!
What an amazing God we have!
Until today, Warren and I still can’t quite believe we were given the privilege and the blessing to witness Him transform the lives of our neighbors. Whenever we would think about all that had happened, we could not help but exclaim and proclaim the richness of His glory. Robert’s story, as well as Floramae’s, has just really begun and we entreat you, brethren, to help us continue praying for them, for their growth in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior and for them to press on the goal towards Christ-likeness.
“… baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…”
Written by Zhey Chua | Posted on October 20, 2009 | Comments
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”- Matthew 28:18-20
New Chapter
Written by Zhey Chua | Posted on October 20, 2009 | Comments
We’re still here!
We’ve been gone for months and we owe you updates, we’re truly sorry for the long silence. I hope that I would be able to fill you all in on the details in the next few weeks but for now, let me just tell you our situation.
The Lord once more leads us to a new chapter in our lives as His workers and I can’t wait to start sharing with you wonderful, joyous, glorious and sometimes heart-wrenching stories we’ve witnessed over the last three months.
We began to feel the Lord’s hands pushing us to this kind of ministerial work three months ago when two of our neighbors approached us and asked Warren to lead bible studies here in our house. They have been faithfully attending daily devotions from Monday to Friday, in depth bible studies on Saturdays and most recently fellowships on Sundays. Warren did as he is lead by the Spirit and three months later, we welcomed this brother and sister into the family of Jesus Christ.
In the next posts, you will meet this two remarkable people who have been God’s instruments in confirming Warren’s purpose, as well as mine. In the next posts, I pray, that you will be blessed greatly by their beautiful testimony and for the unbelievers who may stumble upon this blog, may they see that there is indeed a God, only One and True Living God, who predestines, ordains and saves sinners (like you and me!) from hell and gives true freedom from the bondage of sin.
