gospel

New Series: What Shapes Us

October 5, 2023

We aren’t merely a product of life’s circumstances.

God shapes us to live a joyful, fulfilling, and purposeful life– through the power of His unchanging word.

Together, let us dig deeper and find out how God’s truth shapes the core of our being.

Come join us for our upcoming series, What Shapes Us, where we will explore these topics over the next six weeks.

Week 1: God
Week 2: Creation and Fall
Week 3: Jesus
Week 4: Gospel
Week 5: Holy Spirit
Week 6: Church

Join our worship services by checking the schedules here or visiting your Victory location’s Facebook page.

Beyond the Series: Bringing the Gospel to the Nations

October 7, 2020

The call to bring the gospel to the nations is for every believer. In this article, Pastor Michael Paderes and his wife, Pia, talk about their experience as missionaries and the importance of doing missions.

Why do we need to go or send people to do missions work abroad when we can do the same work here in our country?

Pastor Michael: Missions is a matter of obedience. Going back to the mandate of God in Genesis 26:1–6, it says we are to extend His glory and rule over all of creation. It’s not just a project or passion of Every Nation. It’s a response to God’s call; and it shouldn’t be unique to Victory or Every Nation. Every believer should participate in God’s mission to redeem all of creation. That is why if we don’t go to other nations, we would be limiting the scope of the work of God. In Matthew 20, it says “Go and make disciples of all nations.” In Acts 1:8, it says that we’ve been empowered to be witnesses to the ends of the earth. It is very clear in Scripture that as an act of obedience, as an act of faith, we are to go and proclaim the gospel as our way of helping redeem all of creation back to Christ.

Even Jesus Christ came to be among us. The Father sent the Son, and the Son’s ministry was incarnation. Christ came to be with us in order to redeem us. The same principle applies to us. It’s one thing to just broadcast the gospel. It’s another to be among a people to proclaim, to demonstrate, and to live out the gospel so that other nations would be redeemed and discipled.

How has doing missions work affected your lives as individuals and as a couple? How have you seen God accomplish His work through you?

Pia: We went as missionaries to Russia a year after our marriage. We were young and ready to conquer the world. We went there thinking that we would be going to change this nation and change the people. After four years, we realized that it was us who got changed—our perspective about different people and cultures. We know that the gospel is all-encompassing, that it’s the truth that all people from all nations need to know. But the way we are to present God’s truths will vary depending on the culture. What will work in one nation may not work in another.

Pastor Michael: Personally, it’s not so much our involvement in missions that changed me as it was the preaching in the early days. Every Sunday preaching felt like a missions message. From the very beginning, God gave me a global vision. I was very much willing to go anywhere to fulfill the call of God. Pia and I went to the mission field not because we were called to be missionaries, but because we were obeying what God says in His word to all believers. Seeing all that God is doing left permanent imprints on my mind and heart.

First, God’s word is true. He really has called us to go to the nations. Second, He can use anyone to make an impact in the nations. And lastly, Every Nation—and Victory, in particular—has a unique call to reach the next generation in the nations of the world. Even after 25 years of doing this, I am still in awe and humbled when I see locals surrendering their lives to Christ. I can’t believe that I get to be part of it. To me, it’s nothing less than a miracle. Seeing a person of a different faith, culture, religion, and worldview leave all that to surrender his or her life to God and be totally transformed is something I will never get tired of. That’s still what gets me up to this day. I’ve seen how the gospel transforms individuals, families, communities, and cities.

Like all missionaries, we faced trials and challenges in the mission field. These challenges strengthened and fortified our relationship with God. Out there, you will literally fall on your knees and cry out in desperation to God. You really will not be able to rely on your strength. You will learn to cry out and hold on to God. And He always comes through. May it be in your finances, your ministry, or issues in your heart that God brings out. You will learn to depend on God alone.

When we were in Russia, the Russian economy collapsed and we relied on God alone for our daily provision. We also experienced security threats and numerous discouragements. We faced difficult challenges, but we also experienced God’s faithfulness and how He can miraculously turn situations around. In the mission field, you will experience the reality of God. If you are in the middle of God’s will, He will make a way. He will always show Himself faithful.

Why do think missions should still be a priority now, when there are other pressing needs due to the pandemic? How can you be a bearer of good news to nations in the midst of a global crisis?

Pastor Michael: God is so committed to His mission that He will see to it that His plans and purposes are fulfilled. God chose to do this through the Church—pandemic or no pandemic. The global situation is a big shock to all of us, but not to God. God knew from the very beginning that this will hit us in 2020. God made His plans and chose, empowered, and anointed us knowing that a pandemic will hit us this year. We don’t press pause on life, the mission of God, or what He is asking us to do because of an unprecedented pandemic. God’s will is to work in and through us in the midst of this.

When campuses started to close, new doors opened for us to continue doing what God wants us to do. Discipleship in several parts of the world are actually at a peak because of these new doors. Some churches are currently having their record-breaking number of ONE 2 ONE meetings. A lot of students now are more open to talk about life when we shifted online. This pandemic created opportunities for our missionaries. All the more, we need to be ready to share the hope and peace that can only be found in Christ in this season of global crisis.

How can a regular church member be involved in missions?

Pastor Michael: Every member can help fulfill the Great Commission. They can pray for missionaries, for the nations, or for a particular nation that God put in their hearts. They can give and become a partner of our Every Nation missionaries. They can also go by joining a Ten Days team or go long term, by becoming a cross-cultural missionary. The call to make disciples of all nations is for every believer. Whether through praying, giving, or going, we can all participate in what God is doing in every nation.

Truly, there is hope in the gospel that is for all people. Taking the gospel to the nations is what will transform the world, and as believers, we should all actively take part in it.

Pastor Michael Paderes has been serving as the Missions director of Every Nation Philippines for 18 years. He was 28 years old and his wife, Pia, was 24 when they went to Russia as missionaries. They are blessed with three lovely children who are also actively serving the church.

Beyond the Series is a set of interviews on topics related to our sermon series.

Prophets, Priests, and Politics: A Theological Reflection on God’s Redemptive Power and the Church’s Calling

September 29, 2020

By Pastor Gilbert Foliente

As pastors and shepherds of God’s flock, we believe we are accountable to God for what we spiritually feed the church. We understand that as James 3:1 says, Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. As such, we carry the role of spiritual fathers in the fear of the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:15), and we take this responsibility to equip every member and leader in our church seriously.

In the last few weeks, we have received many reactions and responses to the online prayer meetings and social media posts of Victory Ortigas. On September 4, we released a message and apologized to our Victory family about the lack of sensitivity and discretion of these posts. One of the responses, in particular, was an opinion piece published on Rappler offering a stinging critique on this issue. It was entitled “Praying with Harry Roque,” written by Jayeel Cornelio and Rico Villanueva. The authors argued that by praying with Roque, President Duterte’s spokesperson, Victory, “whether they admit it or not, took sides . . . [T]he wrong side.” Though our church was not mentioned by name, we know this is an allusion to us.

After reading this well-crafted and impassioned critique, we felt compelled to respond for two reasons. First, Cornelio and Villanueva are prominent scholars and public intellectuals who have made a strong claim that is worth engaging in the public sphere. Second, while we humbly receive portions of their critique, we were troubled by several problematic theological assumptions that undergirded their argument. Since it put our theology in question, as shepherds of God’s flock, our Bishops Council finds it necessary for us to respond.

Nonpartisan?

Before I engage Cornelio and Villanueva’s arguments, I would like to offer a bit of historical context to this discussion. First, as mentioned in Victory’s official comments, the online prayer meeting with Secretary Roque was the second installment of a two-week series of prayer meetings that included prayer with and for members of both the administration and the opposition. Cornelio and Villanueva failed to mention this important detail either because they didn’t know or because this bit of context dampened the force of their argument about taking sides.

Second, Victory has a longstanding practice of not endorsing (or condemning) political candidates during election cycles. This decades-long practice has earned us much criticism over the years for refusing to take sides in partisan politics. In many ways, Cornelio and Villanueva’s critique of Victory’s disciplined silence from the pulpit on political matters has been leveled many times against us over the years. Put simply, they say that by not “speaking truth to power” (at least on Twitter) and by associating with the “oppressor” (whether in a prayer meeting or public event), we have taken a side—the wrong one.

Finally, though Victory does not issue official statements on national, political, and social issues, we have in the last few decades been an active member of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, the largest representation of the body of Christ, which does issue statements on these matters. Not only are we in consonance with PCEC’s theological perspectives with regard to national issues, our bishops have at times been consulted in the development of these statements.

God is for the Weak (and the Strong?)

Now I will address the foundational premise of Cornelio and Villanueva’s argument: that God “takes the side of the weak and the vulnerable.”

I couldn’t agree more.

As they state, the Bible is filled with evidence that the God of Israel is a God of the poor and the oppressed, the alien and the widow. Where I depart from Cornelio and Villanueva is their seemingly logical yet problematic assertion that “God never takes the side of those who oppress the poor.”

As support for their bold assertion, Cornelio and Villanueva offer an example from the prophet Jeremiah where God tells him not to pray for those who abuse the poor because He will not listen (Jeremiah 7:16). This is indeed compelling evidence to support this claim, but this evidence alone does not prove that God never takes the side of the powerful.

Take, for example, the Assyrians—a textbook case of an oppressive empire. Though the people of Israel were oppressed by the Assyrians, God sent the prophet Jonah to preach to the Assyrians. Jonah assumed that his job as a prophet was to “speak truth to power” and to cry out for judgment, but much to his disappointment, the Assyrians repented and God showed them mercy. And Jonah was put in the awkward position of shifting from prophet to priest—from praying against the Assyrians to praying for them and perhaps even with them.

Consider Cornelius, a Roman centurion and a symbol of the oppressive Roman military occupation of Jewish Palestine. Though we might assume that God was on the side of the oppressed Jewish people, in Acts 10, God disrupts Peter’s tribalism and his understandable cultural enmity towards the Romans and sends him to preach the gospel to his oppressor. Peter reluctantly obeyed and was surprised by the Holy Spirit when Cornelius and his entire family received the gospel and baptism without becoming Jewish (or switching sides). What is particularly striking about this story is that we hear nothing about Peter correcting Cornelius’ problematic political affiliations and positions before welcoming him into the community of disciples in Caesarea. Interestingly, the real controversy came when Peter returned to his own tribe who faulted him for transgressing sacred ethnocultural and political barriers. In other words, the Jews in Jerusalem got mad at Peter because he was caught eating and praying with “the wrong side.”

These are just two of many biblical examples of God unexpectedly wandering over to “the wrong side” in order to redeem the powerful, the oppressive, and the undeserving of mercy. By offering these examples, I am not arguing against the basic premise that God takes the side of the oppressed, nor am I arguing that God approves of oppression and injustice. Rather I am arguing against the idea that God never takes the side of—or associates with—the oppressor. While God’s general preference for the oppressed shows His justice, God’s unexpected, redemptive pursuit of the oppressor shows His grace. God is merciful and gracious to everyone, both the oppressed and the oppressor, and we as a church are called to preach the gospel to those on all sides of any argument or affiliation.

Prayer is Political (and Spiritual)

In addition to their basic premise that God is on the side of the oppressed, Cornelio and Villanueva argue that “prayer is not just spiritual, [it’s] political.”

Once again, I agree completely. I’ll go one step further. The act of surrendering to Jesus as Lord is an inherently political act, one that relativizes all other allegiances—whether they be familial, ethnocultural, or political. Every time we pray, we are acknowledging that there is One whose power and authority is greater than Caesar’s. We are acknowledging that He rules and reigns and will judge every earthly kingdom and ruler for all the injustices perpetrated by their corrupt regimes.

In light of this reality, why would we not pray with and for (and at times even against) political leaders? Why are we afraid of the proximity? Could it not be that prayer with unjust rulers is a powerful means of speaking words of truth and even rebuke? Why can’t the priestly work of prayer and the prophetic work of rebuke go hand in hand?

In their attempt to decouple these essential activities, Cornelio and Villanueva oddly invoke John the Baptist as a model, saying, “John the Baptist rebuked King Herod for his evil act. He would never pray with anyone who supported Herod.” Actually, John the Baptist did pray with people who supported and worked for Herod. In Luke 3, John probably prayed with both soldiers and tax collectors as he baptized them—the most prominent (and hated) representations of military and economic oppression in first-century Palestine. John saw no conflict between his priestly and prophetic roles, for not only did he baptize soldiers and tax collectors, but he also rebuked them for their abuses of power and charged them to act justly in their work (Luke 3:12–14).

One of my greatest concerns with Cornelio and Villanueva’s argument is their understanding of the church’s mission, which they summarize as follows: “The calling of the church is to be prophetic—to speak truth to power.” The church is called to be prophetic, but that’s not her only, or even primary, calling. We are called to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9) who are entrusted with the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18). And it is the ministry of reconciliation that calls us to side with God in seeking the redemption of both the oppressed and the oppressor.

An Invitation

Cornelio and Villanueva end their article with “an invitation to people of faith who find the gospel preached in their churches inadequate.”

This is an old critique of evangelicalism for lacking prophetic edge and political engagement. It is a critique of those who, by not taking sides, supposedly end up on “the wrong side.” Cornelio and Villanueva call it elsewhere “myopic evangelicalism.”

I can’t help but wonder: what is actually myopic (or short-sighted) evangelicalism? To choose to pray with and rebuke leaders in authority or to have no time for prayer because we are concerned about the optics of political affiliation and are too busy Tweeting truth to power?

And which is the inadequate gospel—to believe that God’s mission is to liberate the oppressed and redeem the oppressor or to believe that God’s salvific work is only available to the poor and oppressed?

While I cannot say how every church and every Christian should engage politics and culture, I can say with complete confidence that the Church is called to be both prophetic and priestly because the gospel is big enough for both victims and victimizers.

This is only possible because of the cross where God in Jesus suffered as a victim and bore the punishment meant for the victimizer. As Jürgen Moltmann puts it, Christ “first died for the victims then also for the executioners, and in so doing revealed a new righteousness which breaks through vicious circles of hate and vengeance and which from the lost victims and executioners creates a new mankind with a new humanity.”

As a church, we know that our theology informs our practice. This means that what we believe reflects in what we do. Our calling as a church is to honor God and make disciples. And we know that the grace He lavished upon us is not meant to be kept to ourselves, but to be shared to the world that desperately needs it—now more than ever. Even during this pandemic, our mission continues to declare and demonstrate the gospel. This year we have done it through #GoodNews2020, with initiatives from our churches across the Philippines to serve frontline workers, Overseas Filipino Workers and locally stranded individuals, stranded students, and affected communities in over forty provinces.

We take the responsibility of looking after your spiritual well-being seriously and will continue to help you grow in your faith, in spite of the lockdown. This year, the Bishops Council has had a strong directive for our church to develop a deeper understanding of key doctrines and a greater love for God’s word, and that’s why we embarked on a twenty-two-week series on the book of Romans.

With you, we are committed to continue extending God’s kingdom on earth by discipling the nation and preaching God’s word to everyone. I hope this message helps us as a church understand how God works, how much He loves the world, and what we are called to do. May God fill you with wisdom and boldness from the Holy Spirit as you bear witness to the kingdom of God as prophets and priests in these turbulent times. God bless you, and may you continue to honor God and make disciples.

Pastor Gilbert Foliente is the president of Every Nation in the Philippines, overseeing the Bishops Council and the following ministries: Victory, Every Nation Campus, the Missions office of Every Nation Philippines, and the Real LIFE Foundation. He is also the chairman of the upcoming Every Nation Seminary.

Sharing God’s Message of Grace, Hope, and Love

February 17, 2020

It takes courage and faith to leave our old lives behind and follow God. And it takes boldness and grace to help others follow Him, too. No matter where we are, there is always an opportunity for us to share His message of grace, hope, and love.

Luis came to know Christ in 2013. One of our pastors in Victory Alabang preached the gospel to him and his wife. After receiving Jesus in their lives, their marriage was never the same. Knowing Him and His love changed them from the inside out.

Before Christ, Luis felt lost. He grew up with so much bitterness in his heart and that showed in the way he lived his life. But when he heard the gospel, a lot of things changed. He learned to forgive and also received forgiveness. God fixed his marriage and placed a burden in his heart to preach the gospel to others.

A few days after Taal’s eruption, he took the rare opportunity of preaching the gospel to affected families in San Luis, Batangas. While there, he sensed worry, fear, confusion—and hunger that no amount of food could fill. He knew he couldn’t pass up the chance to share Jesus. Using a megaphone, he shared God’s goodness in his life and led the people to a prayer of salvation.

Luis knew that only Jesus could fill our hearts with joy and peace. For him, there’s nothing better than seeing those families pray and come to God in the midst of pain and suffering. Relief goods would only last for a while, but the peace that comes from God will last even after this lifetime.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Luis and his wife are part of a couples Victory group in Alabang. They have been married for 12 years and have four kids.

If you have stories to share, please email them to stories@victory.org.ph or send them through the Victory app!

Grace Changes Everything Series

August 1, 2019

The grace of God can change not only a person but also an entire community. In this series, we will look at how an encounter with Jesus—even in the most broken situations—transforms a life and impacts a community.

Here are the topics for each week:

Week 1: Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son
Week 2: Jesus Forgives the Sinful Woman
Week 3: Jesus Heals the Blind Beggar
Week 4: Jesus Changes Zacchaeus’s Heart

May the grace of God and the power of the gospel transform our lives and our communities!

See you at our worship services across the Philippines!

Whatever It Takes, Wherever I Am

July 19, 2019

Sometimes, we find ourselves in situations that seem impossible to get past. In this article, Joanna shares how God turned her seemingly hopeless situation around and used it for His glory.

I am an overseas Filipino worker in the Middle East. I started working here in 2009, and it was here where I came to know Christ through an Every Nation church. In 2011, I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior and have since experienced His protection and grace, but His love has never been more real to me than two years ago.

In 2017, upon returning to the Middle East after spending my vacation in the Philippines, I was held and interrogated at the immigration office. I was told that I had a case filed for issuing unfunded checks for a loan of eighty-five thousand dirhams—or more than one million pesos. I was sentenced to imprisonment for seven to eight months. Knowing that I did not do anything wrong and never borrowed money from anyone, I felt afraid, depressed, and devastated. I even questioned God for what happened.

While trying to make sense of everything, I saw a Bible verse on social media. It was Romans 8:28, and it spoke to me. Reading it made me realize that I am God’s child, and He loves me too much to leave or forsake me. With His guidance and grace, I filed an appeal and won the case. I felt vindicated! I asked God to help me forgive and forget.

However, just a few months after that decision was released, I got a call informing me that the case filed against me had been escalated to the civil court. Hearing it was like being dragged back to a battle I thought I had already won. But instead of feeling depressed over it again, I sought God in prayer and read the Bible. His Word from Deuteronomy 31:6–8 spoke to me and reassured me that there was no reason for me to fear.

When the decision came out, I was told that I had lost the case. I was apprehended and locked up for the second time. Upon being brought back to jail, I waited for the old feeling of fear and depression to come back, but they didn’t. I felt different. I felt at peace.

In jail, I began praying and sharing Bible verses with the other detainees. I ended up gaining new friends because of that. The whole experience turned out to be the exact opposite of what I had in mind. But just when I was beginning to build relationships there, an order came that I was to be transferred.

On my way to the other jail, I continued praying and quietly sang praises to God. I sought Him earnestly and asked Him to reveal His purpose for bringing me there. When I arrived, I saw a group of women doing Bible study. I approached them, testified to them, and prayed with them. After that night, I realized that God had a purpose for allowing everything to happen—I was on a mission to share His message.

I then started sharing the Word of God with my fellow detainees, especially to those who were going through depression. I invited them to join our Bible study meetings and taught them praise and worship songs. I reminded them that we have a great God and there’s still hope despite our situation.

Soon, God started moving in our lives. Those who had been waiting for hearing schedules for many years suddenly got a schedule and a verdict. Though some got a verdict worse than what they were expecting, they remained in faith and had peace knowing that God is with them. A lot of people who received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior were also set free. Despite our different nationalities, God made a way to unite us all. From four people, we grew to more than 40 individuals gathering each week to fellowship with each other and with God. And it is still growing until today.

After seven months and three weeks in jail, God did a miracle. I was set free, and the authorities are now actively seeking the actual people involved in the case to clear my name. I knew it was God working in my midst. He had a purpose for every painful situation I experienced. The whole thing was beyond difficult, but it allowed me to share His Word in a way I never thought possible. I’ll be forever thankful to God for that.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Whatever it takes and wherever we are, God can use us to boldly share His powerful message of love and salvation. Our circumstances should not stop us from being a witness of His grace.

Nothing Like His Word

July 12, 2019

I am a tax and corporate lawyer. Before I came to know Christ, my life revolved around my career and my college fraternity. Being well-known around my circles was very important to me. My stature in society became my source of security.

Every night, I would spend countless hours going out with friends, drinking, gambling, and womanizing. I didn’t care if I was slowly plummeting into debt. I lived to gratify myself. But not too long after, my hedonistic lifestyle caught up with me. I lost my wife—and almost lost my children. I was left feeling empty. All the worldly things I used to be obsessed with gratified me only for a little while. In the long run, I was left with nothing but a hollow space in my heart.

In May 2001, after one of my wild nights with friends, I woke up feeling lost and lonely. I called up a friend from Subic and met with him. I told him what I felt and was surprised to find out that he had given his life to Christ. He showed me a passage from the Bible, and it struck my heart. The following day, May 6, 2001, I attended a worship service with him at the Makati Sports Club. During the preaching, I felt like I was being bombarded with bullets—every single word pierced my heart; I was so convicted of my sins. At the end of the service, during the altar call, I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

I thought my life would become boring after receiving Christ since I would have to turn my back from the worldly things I used to do. But I was proven wrong. My life became even more meaningful and exciting after I received Him in my life.

Before, my life was of haughtiness and arrogance. I felt that I was better than most people; I was self-centered and so full of myself. But my attitude changed when I started immersing myself in the Word: I stopped cursing, womanizing, and wasting money; instead, I began tithing and became more giving. I trusted God more, and my faith increased.

Soon, I started serving God through the ushering ministry and eventually volunteered in other ministries. I became hungry for more of His Word. Whenever I go abroad, I would look for an Every Nation church where I could attend, so I would grow spiritually. And in case I could not find one, I would go to a church with the same beliefs and values. I became more motivated to please and glorify God with everything I do, say, and think.

In 2006, I remarried, and my relationship with my second wife, as well as that of my children, became stronger like never before. I began to make decisions based on preserving relationships and integrity over considerations of money. I set aside greed and gave up any association with gambling—including my shares in an online gaming company. Though it later earned a big amount of money, God gave me the grace to let go of it without regret.

God’s grace is immeasurable. He took me out of the pit of destruction I was wallowing in for years and gave me a new life with Him. I will always be bold in sharing how His Word changed my life.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Atty. Inky is Victory’s legal counsel and part of Victory Pioneer. He goes on short-term mission trips and teaches on occasion in discipleship trainings.

It Doesn’t End with Me

May 9, 2019

Ian shares how seeing the gospel lived out by his Victory group leader inspired and encouraged him to preach the good news to others. Read his story here.

I was 18 when I first heard the gospel. My college professor, who happens to be a Christian, reached out to me and the other young men in our class. He offered to treat us to a meal—all 12 of us—and slowly planted seeds in our hearts.

At first, we were scared of him and even found him strict in class. But as we got to know him better, we realized that it was because he wanted to guide and lead us to a path pleasing to God.

He started ministering to us through a tool called THEGODTEST. At first, I thought I knew everything and even responded to it with pride. But God slowly broke all the wrong mindsets and used my professor—who is now my Victory Group leader—to set my heart straight.

On July 31, 2013, I decided to become serious with my discipleship journey. I humbled myself and finally surrendered everything to Him. I prayed and received Christ in my life.

Slowly, I began to change in how I lived my life and treated other people. As I became more interested in knowing God, I also grew in compassion and generosity to others. In 2016, I went through Victory Weekend to know more about Christ, and it helped me realize that I would have to deny myself over and over again so He could work in my life.

The love of Christ that was demonstrated to me by my college professor and the whole church community in Victory Metro East eventually inspired me to reach out to others. And though I was nervous and feeling unworthy at first, God gave me the boldness and courage not just to show His love but to declare His promises, too.

Early this year, I started doing ONE 2 ONE with two other men I met in church. One of them is attending Victory Weekend next month, and I couldn’t be any happier. It is a blessing and a privilege to preach the gospel to them and to continually pray for them as well.

Through sharing the gospel, I started to grow as a person and mature in my faith. And it is all by His grace. Like what my Victory group leader always tells me, everything that I have or I’m able to do comes from God. That’s why there’s no reason for me to stop. The gospel simply doesn’t end with me. I have to do something so other people will hear it, too.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . . Romans 1:16

It is by showing the love of Christ and boldly declaring His Word that we inspire others to do the same. Let us not allow the preaching of the gospel to end with us. We must do our part, and let more people come to know Christ.

Jesus As Lord

July 8, 2014

MANY CHRISTIANS are still being persecuted in some parts of the world today.

Say I was stranded in one of these nations and a police approached me for he discovered I am a pastor proselytizing the locals and said, “I am cutting off your tongue. And before I do, you may say one last sentence.”

“Jesus Is Lord!” is what I would say.

Now, if he would allow me a second sentence then I will surely say, “Please don’t kill me!” At least I had already declared the first one!

Jesus Is Lord

This is the capsulated version of Christianity’s statement of faith, “Jesus is Lord.” The Fathers of the faith in church history went through such great lengths just to be able to separate truth from the prevailing falsehood, help believers get a good grasp of their faith in a manner that they can easily understand, and be able to share to others. They are what we know today as (besides the Chalcedon Creed and the Nicene Creed) the Apostles’ Creed.

Do or die

Declaring “Jesus is Lord!” in the Philippines today would cause people to give you a religious label. But during the time of Jesus, it would mean martyrdom. With Rome as the prevailing empire at that time, the word ‘lord’ has an imperial usage. There’s only one lord— Caesar. On the other side of the coin, among the Jews, it had a religious connotation. Only Jehovah is Lord. So for them, to insinuate that there’s another Lord is incomprehensible.

Perfect Righteousness

When someone says, “Jesus is Lord“, that person is declaring two inseparable natures of Christ: perfect righteousness and unlimited power.

1 John 1:5 says, “In him there’s no darkness at all.” He takes charge of the universe with perfect righteousness.

His perfect righteousness, though, without his unlimited power to carry out that righteousness would render him not worthy of worship. And people of the earth could not be guaranteed justice.

Unlimited Power

While on the other hand, unlimited power without perfect righteousness would make the center of all things to be unrighteousness. And no one, as in no one, could do anything to change that. It would render Christ as tyrant and abusive in his leadership.

But thanks be to God that while in his humiliation he was named ‘Jesus’.

Matthew 1:21: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

He accomplished that through the cross.

That’s what we call the gospel.

The Gospel

My good friend Rice Broocks has this to say to summarize what the gospel is. (I hope I can write it out of memory.)

“The gospel is the good news that God became a man in Jesus Christ. He lived the life that we should have lived. And died the death that we should have died. After three days he rose again from the dead proving that he is the son of God. And offering the gift of salvation to those who will repent and believe the gospel.”

In his exaltation, he was declared by the Father as ‘Lord’.

Philippians 2:9-11: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Seriously, if I would be given a chance to speak again before the police would cut off my tongue, what would I really say?

I would just repeat my first statement.

“Jesus Is Lord!”

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Ferdie Cabiling is the director of Victory Metro Manila, and a member of Victory Philippine’s Apostolic team. He is married to Judy, father to Elle and John Philip. You can like his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter.

For more information on #myVictoryStory, click here, and to read other responses to this week’s question on Lordship, please click here.