Sining Haraya

13/03/2026

I asked a friend in the Middle East how they are doing. She shared that from time to time, they receive reminders and warnings from the government about how to stay safe. But despite the fears of what could happen next, especially when you have a family with you, the word she is holding on to from God is the word “trust.”

In the middle of war and chaos, that’s the word she is clinging to: trust.

It’s interesting how this simple word is such a central theme in biblical faith, something we are called to live out for as long as we have breath: to trust.

“To trust in the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

I’m reminded of a study I once heard about the meaning of trust. I don’t remember exactly where I learned it, but it explained that trust is like placing your full weight on something, the way you trust your bed when you go to sleep.

Book of Psalms 4:8 says:
“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

To trust in the Lord is to fully rely on Him, to find security in Him because He is firm and faithful. Trust means removing the weight of self-reliance and placing the full weight of our bodies, of our lives onto God.

Think about what happens when you go to bed at night.
You turn off your awareness.
You lie down.
You place your entire body weight on the bed.
You become completely at rest.

In a similar way, trusting God is,
“Lord, I trust You. I love You. I place my life in Your hands tonight. Meet me in my rest, and by Your grace, greet me again in the morning.”

It might sound crazy to say this in our current situation. But the Bible’s call to trust has always sounded radical, because it is never dependent on our circumstances or the stability of our environment. It is dependent on who God is.

Our posture, in every season, is to place our whole selves into the care of this reliable and trustworthy God - our Abba Father, who loves us and cares for us.

14/11/2025

Ang Korapsyon ay Pumapatay

Ang korapsyon ay hindi lang simpleng paglabag sa batas, ito ay pagpatay ng pag-asa, ng kinabukasan, at kung minsan, ng mismong buhay.

Kapag ang pondo para sa tulay, flood control, o evacuation center ay ninanakaw, bawat pisong nawala ay maaaring katumbas ng isang buhay. Ang mga gusaling gumuho ay hindi lamang biktima ng hangin o ulan, kundi ng sistemang matagal nang binubutas ng kasakiman.

Habang milyon-milyon ang nahihirapan, nakikipaglaban sa baha at sakit, may iilan namang natutulog nang payapa sa kanilang malalambot na higaan. Ang dating pangakong “serbisyong pampubliko” ay unti-unting nauuwi sa “serbisyong pansarili.”

Hanggang kailan natin hahayaang ang tiwala ng taumbayan ay gawing puhunan sa pulitika at personal na interes? Ang gobyernong dapat ay kanlungan ng mamamayan ay nagiging palabas ng mga marurunong manlinlang.
Ngunit may pag-asa, kung tayo’y gigising.

Hindi kailangang magsimula sa malaking entablado ang pagbabago. Magsimula ito sa bawat mamamayan na tumatangging makiayon sa mali, sa bawat lider na inuuna ang bayan kaysa sarili, at sa bawat kabataang naniniwalang may halaga pa ang katapatan.
Salapi. Kapangyarihan. Pansamantala lang ang mga ito. Ngunit ang dangal at integridad, kapag nawala, mahirap nang maibalik. Nawa’y ang bawat lingkod-bayan ay alalahanin na ang pamumuno ay paglilingkod.

Ang korapsyon ay pumapatay. Kaya’t huwag tayong manahimik. Panagutin ang mga dapat managot, at ipaglaban ang hustisya para sa mga nawalan ng tahanan, kabuhayan, at buhay mismo.

Gising na, Pilipinas. Huwag nang paloko sa matatamis na pangako. Ang tunay na pagbabago ay hindi hinihintay, ito’y ipinaglalaban.

03/07/2025

… and our only rightful response is to fall to our knees
 

in worship and awe.

12/06/2025

The world is growing noisier, more chaotic by the day. Endless tasks, constant movement, responsibilities piling up, and thoughts that never seem to slow down. Even the joy of serving in God’s Kingdom can at times gently pull me away from stillness.

But I’ve learned something sacred. Before I plan anything else, I need to plan my pause. I ask myself,

What day this week can I step away, just for a while, to be still with God?

And when everything becomes too much, when the weight of the world presses in, I close my eyes and retreat, not to escape, but to meet Him.

In my heart, there’s a quiet place I return to.
A wide, green pasture.
A calm, glistening lake.
Mountains all around.
A small boat, waiting.

Sometimes I sit with Jesus by the shore, saying nothing, just being. Other times we sit together in the boat, gently floating in silence. And some days, I rest in the grass as He sits beside me. In every moment, He is there. Peaceful. Present. Kind.

In this quiet space in my mind, I’m reminded of who I am, and even more,

who He is.

11/06/2025

Is the way we instinctively approach Scripture hindering our understanding of it?John Mark Comer and BibleProject scholars Dr. Tim Mackie, Dr. Brittany Kim, ...

26/05/2025

18/04/2025

What did our adoption cost God?

18/04/2025

There is a scientific article about the death of Jesus, published in 1986 in one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world—the JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The article is titled "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ".

In it the authors prove that the Roman flogging process was horribly cruel. Technical details are outlined, which, along with the Biblical narrative, provide a comprehensive overview of this entire process, from the trial to death on the cross.
Before judgment, it is narrated in Luke 22 that Jesus was in deep distress and sweating blood. Although a rare phenomenon, doctors recognize this feature as hematidrosis, which can occur due to high levels of stress.

After being judged, Jesus was violently whipped with a leather whip, with tiny balls of iron on the tips and pointy bones. The balls of iron caused internal injuries and bones tore apart flesh, exposing skeletal muscle and causing major blood loss, which probably left him in a pre-collision state.
After severe flogging, Jesus was mocked, spat on, and forced to carry his own cross to Golgotha.

During the crucifixion, the accused was thrown on the cross on the ground, and nailed with nails as long as 18 cm long on the wrists and feet.
Crucifixion was a process that produced intense pain and caused a slow and suffocating death.

Breathing was extremely painful. With every breath, Jesus had to lift his back up in live flesh, dragging it across the wood, and supporting all the weight on the feet, which were nailed. Fact that it increased blood loss and caused terrible pain.

The causes of death by crucifixion could be several, but the two most common were hypovolemic shock and suffocation from exhaustion.
When the Gospel of John narrates that after Jesus' death a soldier transfered him with the spear and came out "blood and water", the scientists explanation is that the water probably represented pleural fluid and serous pericardium and habr It was preceded by the flow of blood and it would be less volume than blood. Perhaps in the scenario of hypovolemia and acute heart failure, pleural and pericardic flashes could have developed and been added to the apparent volume of water.

Only by analyzing Jesus’ physical suffering, do we realize how terrible it must have been to endure all this.
Intense stress, sleepless night, unfair judgment, inhuman lashing, mocked and still having to carry his own instrument of death.

But even MORE so!

What "weighed" on His shoulders were our sins. Isaiah prophesied:
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement that brings us peace was upon him, and by his stripes we were healed. "
| Isaiah 53:5 |

He was the sacrifice. Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Only God who became a man could reconcile men to God.
That's why we say sacrifice was for love, because He had no sin, we did. If sin begets death, it was us who were to die, not Him.
So all your rot, all your evil thoughts and actions, all your rebellion against God.. this was all on Christ's shoulders.
And He overcame not only sin but also death!.

When you think your life is too hard, that nothing is working, look at this picture and remember all that Jesus went through for the love of you. The punishment that brings us peace was upon HIM.

THERE ARE NO EXCUSES!



Source: Christian Freedom

29/03/2025

𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗘𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗣𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗚𝗢?

Here's a map showing the 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 in the past 50 years, with a highlight on the Magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Myanmar yesterday, 28 March 2025. What can you notice?

Southeast Asia is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, where major tectonic plates, such as the Eurasian Plate and Australian Plate, interact and generate some of the world's strongest earthquakes and tsunamis. Perhaps, the most devastating of all was the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami which claimed the lives of more than 230,000 people across Asia and Africa.

Within the region itself, the and typically experience the most earthquakes per year, followed by , due to the numerous active faults and trenches that run through the said areas.

In contrast, countries like , , , and rarely face strong quakes. The widespread shock across these nations after yesterday’s violent earthquake highlights their unfamiliarity with major seismic events, as shown on the map.

Yesterday’s earthquake serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictability of seismic events. To date, there are still no reliable short-term forecasting methods, making preparedness our strongest defense. Let this be a call to reinforce earthquake safety measures and awareness.

Data source: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search/

06/03/2025

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