Tagged: gospel
#RadicalExperience
I had a radical experience last week that changed me forever.
I was in Manila last Aug. 7 to meet up with a friend. It was already past 11pm, and I needed to reach my destination as quickly as I can. So I hailed a cab, told the driver my destination and looked outside the window as per usual.
I’m the type of person who normally engages random people on the street in a conversation. I love hearing stories, and I want to understand the people’s plight, their dreams, their day-to-day life, et cetera. Taxi drivers are among my favorite subjects. Well, they are human beings, too, who long to speak with another human being in the midst of a stressful day on the road.
As we passed by De La Salle University-Manila, we saw a huge crowd of college students. It was Happy Thursday for DLSU Taft students, so it’s obvious that this bunch of kolehiyalas just came out from a party. The cab driver began his litany on his skepticism about today’s generation. What future do we still expect for our nation if our young people are intoxicated with trivial things, he asked.
At that moment, I sensed that the Spirit was tugging into my heart to preach the Gospel to this man. My heart was racing inside my chest. That would be the first time that I will share the Gospel to a total stranger. The Spirit’s tugging was too strong to ignore, and I felt the urgency to lead the conversation to the Word because time was running out.
Help me Lord to speak, teach me what to say, I prayed.
Our conversation continued and shifted from one topic to another, including hazing, drugs, the Reproductive Health law and his view on celibacy. As I prayed in my mind, the driver suddenly asked, “Nagbabasa ka naman ng Bible di ba?” (You read the Bible, right?)
Bull’s eye.
I grabbed that chance to lead the chit-chat to the Gospel. I asked him about his family and he shared a bit about his life. Then I told him about Jesus, and that no amount of good works can ever take us to Heaven, and that salvation comes only by putting our faith on the finish work of Jesus on the cross. He was responsive to the message, and I can see that I got his attention.
I reached my destination a few minutes after, so I wrapped up our talk as he pulled over. I asked for his name, Tatay Nardo, and asked if I could pray for him. He cheerfully agreed.
After praying, he asked if I’m a Christian and said that his hope for the nation was restored. I told him that it’s my full time job at the moment, to reach out and train the next generation for Jesus. I invited him to church and told him the nearest one in his location. We bid goodbye as he thanked me for praying for him, saying he was deeply moved.
I am in faith that the seed that was sown in Tatay Nardo’s heart that night will grow. That moment changed me forever, knowing that I am a missionary of the Word wherever I go. And as I write this down right now, I sense a new message coming from God.
Jello, are you ready for your next target?
What is it, Lord?
Take the bus.
Good Lord! *Nervous laugh*
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (Acts 20;24)
A different Jesus
The name “Jesus” conjures an almost universal image in all of us.
For children, he was a tiny baby boy wrapped in swaddling clothes, sweetly flashing his cute, innocent smile to Joseph, Mary, the shepherds and the three wise men.
For grownups, he was probably a brawny carpenter with rough hands, calloused by all the day’s work. His feet, dusty from walking into cities and towns to speak parables, feed thousands, cast out demons and raise the dead. His hair? Oh, his hair must have been dried out by the scorching sun or sticky with sweat after getting away from a thick crowd of people eager to make him king or kill him for his absurd teachings.
Everything in his appearance tells people to look away.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
He was a lonely savior, left by his disciples and friends, forsaken even by his own Father. His eyes were bloodshot, staring out into the sky, waiting for a heavenly rescue that did not come. His body was beaten like fresh meat, hands and feet nailed to wooden planks. And when he called out to heaven, his voice — the voice that commanded demons to flee, the voice that told the lame to stand up, or the dead to rise — the voice that used to evoke such power was frail, shaking, dying.
Stripped of his robes.
Crowned with thorns that stuck out of his eyes.
A king with no glory. A ruler with no kingdom. A commander without an army. A savior that needed saving.
Yes, the name “Jesus” conjures an almost universal image in all of us. He is either a tiny baby boy in the manger, a tired messiah on the road, or a bleeding savior on the cross. It’s about time that we see a different Jesus — the same loving savior in the eyes of Heaven.
His face is not the same unattractive face, for it now shines like the noonday sun in all its brilliance.
His eyes are not the same bloodshot eyes. They are blazing like fire.
His feet, no longer crippled by a nail, are like bronze glowing in a furnace.
On his hands are not nails, but stars — seven stars. How big His hands might be!
His hair, the hair that was drenched in blood and sweat? Oh, they now shine gloriously; white as snow and fine like a lamb’s wool.
And when He speaks, the entire universe falls silent. His voice is like the sound of rushing waters, thundering like mighty ocean waves. His words take the sharpness of a double-edged sword, ready to strike down the nations and bring forth the fierce wrath of the Almighty Father.
He now wears a long robe with a golden sash, replacing the blood-stained robe they took from him.
He is no longer a king without glory; for on His head are many crowns. He is no longer a commander without an army, for the armies of Heaven bow at His feet and follow His command. He is no longer a ruler with no kingdom, because the kingdoms of the world have become His kingdom forever.
No wonder demons flee from His presence. No wonder even the waves obey Him. No wonder His name, the Name that is above every name, will someday make every knee to bow, and every tongue to confess that He is the Lord of all.
The next time you hear or sing of His name, let the image of the Powerful King cause you to bow down in reverence just as much as the image of the Loving Savior causes you to worship in awe.
***
References:
Isaiah 53
Revelation 1:12-18
Revelation 19:11-16
Introspection 