Honestly, it was one of the most disgusting stories I’ve heard in the news for a long time, and I wouldn’t want to spread it if it didn’t make an important point. A young woman is auctioning off her virginity on the Internet to pay for her education. The bidding is now up to 3.4 million dollars.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft, and as depraved as that sounds, it tells us something—that virginity is a highly valued treasure. God tells us in the Bible that a virtuous woman is “worth far more than rubies.” And remaining sexually pure is actually a destiny issue in our lives. The Bible says, ”It is God’s will (this is part of God’s big plans for you) that you should be sanctified (that means kept special) that you should avoid sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3 ).
My grandson collects baseball cards. He’s being coached by our son who learned to invest in baseball cards with the savvy of a high-yield stock trader. And here’s what he’s teaching a young collector: take good care of the cards that are rare. They are the most valuable. Well, that’s true of most things. If you’re a young person or a parent these days, you know how someone who’s keeping sex special gets badgered, “You’re a virgin? What’s wrong with you?” They make you feel weird.
Listen, if you’re guarding your virginity; you’re saving sex for a lifetime marriage partner, you are not weird. You’re rare and valuable, and the less there are like you, the more valuable you become. Purity is a treasure to be guarded, and sex is too beautiful to give away cheap. Keep it special.
(This is from the Ron Hutchcraft Ministries. Visit his website at www.hutchcraft.com)
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Keeping Count or Letting Go
There are essentially two ways of responding to life’s hurts and unfair experiences. Every time we get hurt, we choose to respond in one of these two ways.
The first, natural response is to become a debt collector. We set out to make the offender pay for what he has done. We may be overt or subtle, but until we get a satisfactory apology, until we determine that an adequate penalty has been paid, we intend on keeping the wrongdoer in debtors’ prison; we reserve the right to punish them for their transgression.
Instead of releasing our grip on the offenses we’ve received, letting God be the one (the only one) who’s big and strong enough to handle the problem in His perfect, just, and redemptive way, we grab hold of the hurt and refuse to let it go. We hold our offender hostage (we think).
But the problem is that being a “debt collector” does more than keep our offender in prison; it puts us in prison.
A colleague passed on to me a heartrending story he had heard a woman share with her church family, as the Lord was revealing her need to choose the pathway of forgiveness. As a young girl, she and a little friend of hers in their small town went out one day to see the county sheriff, whose office happened to be in the same building as the town jail. The children had always considered the man to be their friend, the nice person with the uniform and the badge who was just fun to be around.
At some point in the afternoon, her girlfriend ran off to play, leaving her alone with the sheriff in his office. Suddenly, the look on his face began making her uncomfortable. The feel of the room became strangely tense and frightening. He moved close to her and whisperingly said, “If you ever tell your parents what I’m about to do to you”—pointing to the iron bars behind him—“I’ll put you in one of those jail cells.”
And with that, he proceeded to molest her.
The events of that day had occurred many years in the past by the time she finally told the story, as a grown woman, of how the man she thought was a trusted friend had shattered her childhood innocence. Thinking back to what the sheriff had said about locking her up if she were to report him to her mom or dad, she said, “I realize now that in my heart I put him in a ‘jail cell’ that day, and all these years I’ve kept him in that prison.”
When God finally opened her eyes to see what unforgiveness was actually doing to her (and to her marriage), she realized something else: on that day so many years ago, she had put herself in jail as well. And though the man was now long dead, unforgiveness and bitterness had kept her locked there—in a cell of her own making—for all those years.
Was it her fault for being taken advantage of by an authority figure? Of course not. That cannot be said strongly enough. But who had been hurt the most by her unforgiveness? And why should she be in “jail” for a crime someone else had committed?
Debt collecting is the natural response of sinful humans to being harmed, abused, or mistreated. Invariably it produces the bitter fruit of deeper pain, resentment, and bondage.
But there is another way. A better way. God’s way.
Letting Go
As an alternative to being debt collectors—the pathway of resentment and retaliation—God calls us to the pure, powerful choice of forgiveness—and to pursue, wherever possible, the pathway of restoration and reconciliation.
“As the Lord has forgiven you,” Paul writes in Colossians 3:13, “so you also must forgive.” The Lord Himself was equally clear and direct: “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him” (Mark 11:25 nkjv). “Anything against anyone.” No offense is too great, no offender is beyond the boundary to which our forgiveness must extend.
Yes, that kind of forgiveness is unnatural. It’s supernatural. At times it’s almost unbelievable
Ask the surgeon whose medical mistake cost my friend Margaret Ashmore’s mother her life. She had been rushed to the hospital with chest pains, yet was still visibly bright and alert when tests revealed that she had indeed suffered a mild heart attack. It was decided that an angioplasty procedure would be the best route for opening up the perceived blockage in her arteries.
She was immediately wheeled into surgery. Everyone expected her to be fine.
But sometime during the operation, the doctor inflated the balloon apparatus too quickly, too early. Her damaged heart began to fail irreparably. She sank into a coma and died three hours later.
Margaret’s father was inconsolable. His wife of forty-two years—a marriage he had treasured with an intense love and loyalty greater than most—had been taken from him in a matter of moments. For no good reason. By a surgeon’s goof-up.
The days that followed were almost too painful for Margaret to bear. Her kind, gentle father was becoming a cyclone of anger, grief, despair . . . revenge! Unrelenting in his rage, tormented by his broken heart, he declared himself on a mission to “bring down that hospital!” Demanding a meeting with the hospital administration and the doctors responsible for his wife’s care, he vowed to tell them to their face that he was suing them all for everything they had . . . and living to see them suffer.
As the hospital staff and physicians anxiously awaited the arrival of Margaret’s dad for the confrontation, they trembled at the thought of what they expected to hear. How does someone in their shoes handle a situation like this?
You don’t . . . when God does.
On his way to the meeting, Margaret’s dad began to realize that if he ever wanted to be free from this dungeon of anger and bitterness in which he was finding himself, he would have to do what God had done for him. He would have to forgive.
To the amazement of everyone in the room, as he walked through the door that day, he walked directly over to the man whose misjudgment had ended his dear one’s life, extended his hand to him, and said, “The only way I’m going to be able to live with any peace the remainder of my life is to forgive you.”
The doctor began to weep. For what seemed like forever, he couldn’t even let go of the hand of the man who had relinquished his right to retaliate.
Two people walked out of that conference room as free men that day—but none more free than the one who offered the release, the one who did the forgiving.
The first, natural response is to become a debt collector. We set out to make the offender pay for what he has done. We may be overt or subtle, but until we get a satisfactory apology, until we determine that an adequate penalty has been paid, we intend on keeping the wrongdoer in debtors’ prison; we reserve the right to punish them for their transgression.
Instead of releasing our grip on the offenses we’ve received, letting God be the one (the only one) who’s big and strong enough to handle the problem in His perfect, just, and redemptive way, we grab hold of the hurt and refuse to let it go. We hold our offender hostage (we think).
But the problem is that being a “debt collector” does more than keep our offender in prison; it puts us in prison.
A colleague passed on to me a heartrending story he had heard a woman share with her church family, as the Lord was revealing her need to choose the pathway of forgiveness. As a young girl, she and a little friend of hers in their small town went out one day to see the county sheriff, whose office happened to be in the same building as the town jail. The children had always considered the man to be their friend, the nice person with the uniform and the badge who was just fun to be around.
At some point in the afternoon, her girlfriend ran off to play, leaving her alone with the sheriff in his office. Suddenly, the look on his face began making her uncomfortable. The feel of the room became strangely tense and frightening. He moved close to her and whisperingly said, “If you ever tell your parents what I’m about to do to you”—pointing to the iron bars behind him—“I’ll put you in one of those jail cells.”
And with that, he proceeded to molest her.
The events of that day had occurred many years in the past by the time she finally told the story, as a grown woman, of how the man she thought was a trusted friend had shattered her childhood innocence. Thinking back to what the sheriff had said about locking her up if she were to report him to her mom or dad, she said, “I realize now that in my heart I put him in a ‘jail cell’ that day, and all these years I’ve kept him in that prison.”
When God finally opened her eyes to see what unforgiveness was actually doing to her (and to her marriage), she realized something else: on that day so many years ago, she had put herself in jail as well. And though the man was now long dead, unforgiveness and bitterness had kept her locked there—in a cell of her own making—for all those years.
Was it her fault for being taken advantage of by an authority figure? Of course not. That cannot be said strongly enough. But who had been hurt the most by her unforgiveness? And why should she be in “jail” for a crime someone else had committed?
Debt collecting is the natural response of sinful humans to being harmed, abused, or mistreated. Invariably it produces the bitter fruit of deeper pain, resentment, and bondage.
But there is another way. A better way. God’s way.
Letting Go
As an alternative to being debt collectors—the pathway of resentment and retaliation—God calls us to the pure, powerful choice of forgiveness—and to pursue, wherever possible, the pathway of restoration and reconciliation.
“As the Lord has forgiven you,” Paul writes in Colossians 3:13, “so you also must forgive.” The Lord Himself was equally clear and direct: “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him” (Mark 11:25 nkjv). “Anything against anyone.” No offense is too great, no offender is beyond the boundary to which our forgiveness must extend.
Yes, that kind of forgiveness is unnatural. It’s supernatural. At times it’s almost unbelievable
Ask the surgeon whose medical mistake cost my friend Margaret Ashmore’s mother her life. She had been rushed to the hospital with chest pains, yet was still visibly bright and alert when tests revealed that she had indeed suffered a mild heart attack. It was decided that an angioplasty procedure would be the best route for opening up the perceived blockage in her arteries.
She was immediately wheeled into surgery. Everyone expected her to be fine.
But sometime during the operation, the doctor inflated the balloon apparatus too quickly, too early. Her damaged heart began to fail irreparably. She sank into a coma and died three hours later.
Margaret’s father was inconsolable. His wife of forty-two years—a marriage he had treasured with an intense love and loyalty greater than most—had been taken from him in a matter of moments. For no good reason. By a surgeon’s goof-up.
The days that followed were almost too painful for Margaret to bear. Her kind, gentle father was becoming a cyclone of anger, grief, despair . . . revenge! Unrelenting in his rage, tormented by his broken heart, he declared himself on a mission to “bring down that hospital!” Demanding a meeting with the hospital administration and the doctors responsible for his wife’s care, he vowed to tell them to their face that he was suing them all for everything they had . . . and living to see them suffer.
As the hospital staff and physicians anxiously awaited the arrival of Margaret’s dad for the confrontation, they trembled at the thought of what they expected to hear. How does someone in their shoes handle a situation like this?
You don’t . . . when God does.
On his way to the meeting, Margaret’s dad began to realize that if he ever wanted to be free from this dungeon of anger and bitterness in which he was finding himself, he would have to do what God had done for him. He would have to forgive.
To the amazement of everyone in the room, as he walked through the door that day, he walked directly over to the man whose misjudgment had ended his dear one’s life, extended his hand to him, and said, “The only way I’m going to be able to live with any peace the remainder of my life is to forgive you.”
The doctor began to weep. For what seemed like forever, he couldn’t even let go of the hand of the man who had relinquished his right to retaliate.
Two people walked out of that conference room as free men that day—but none more free than the one who offered the release, the one who did the forgiving.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
MY Vacation 2011
Chapter V: Tagaytay, MOA, TRINOMA
Ang saya ng Baguio Trip namin! It is very hard to top that.
We dropped Diva and ate Weng in their place and headed home. Ate Jheng and kids, to Pililla, Rizal. Me, Toots and Christine, Indang, Cavite... Yup! Christine will be spending some of her vacation days!
Sa totoo lang, di ko nga alam kung ano ang gagawin ko sa babaeng ito! Napakadami kasing bawal! Isa pa, kinakabahan din ako na baka hikain sya ng todo habang nasa amin. Di ko alam ang gagawin noh! hahaha!
Natatandaan ko, ang daming first time na kasama itong si Christine eh... a) First time daw nyang sumakay sa bus ng nakatayo. Sa totoo lang, awang-awa ako sa kanya kasi ang nipis nga kasi ng katawan tapos patatayuin mo sa bus! Sabi ko na lang, konting tiis at maya-maya eh may tatayo din. Ako naman, hindi na rin masyadong sanay tumayo sa bus kasi nagda-drive naman ako dito sa US! Okay lang sa akin kasi medyo malakas naman ang resistensya ko pero itong si Christine, inalalayan ko ng sobra kasi parang napaka-fragile!!!! hahaha! b) First time nyang makarating sa Cavite. Yup! Eh mukhang ngayon lang ito naka-alis ng Cebu eh. Lagi yata syang nakakapit sa palda ng mama nya! hahaha! c) First time nyang mai-tour sa aking Alma Mater. Hahaha! Ipinasyal ko sya sa Cavite State University. Sa laki at lawak ng Main Campus, Muntik na yatang hikain itong si Christine! hahaha! d) First time nyang makarating sa Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite. Napasabit sya nang dalawin ko ang isa ko pang tiyahin doon. May natuklasan ako sa lugar na yun. Una, napatunayan ko na ang aso, talagang mahilig sa buto. Ikalawa, mabilis palang tumakbo si Christine! Kayo na lang ang mag-analize... Hahaha! e) First time na makarating ni Christine sa Tagaytay City!!! Yehey! Kumain kami sa RSM Tagaytay. Sobrang sarap kumain lalo na at kita mo ang view ng Taal volcano...
It was quite a ride... For more than a week, may buntot ako! hahaha! Buti na lang hindi kami nagkapalit ng mukha! hahaha! Peace!
Next stop: Muntinlupa City!
After more than a week of spending our time in Cavite, it's Christine's turn to accommodate me at her aunt's house sa Muntinlupa. May balak kasi kami na Mag-videoke sa Manila. It was a plan set up by Diva and Steven. Nakarating kami sa Muntinlupa. Sinundo kami ni ate Loren sa SM Southmall. Ang hirap talaga na walang masyadong alam sa Manila! As usual, sasakan ng init na naman! Ang haba ng byahe, na-stuck pa sa traffic at under construction pa ang daan pero it doesn't matter. Thinking na isa na namang panibagong adventure ang pupuntahan namin kinabukasan, bale wala ang init, traffic at haba ng byahe.
Very accommodating naman nina Ate Loren lalo na si ate Diding na hindi nagdalawang-isip na tanggapin kami sa kanilang simple pero napakagandang tahanan. Salamat po ng marami. Hindi ko makakalimutan ang hospitality nila!
Kinabukasan, very excited kami sa adventure na naghihintay sa amin. Ako, si Christine, si ate Loren at ang kanyang daughter na si Carla finally were on our way. Bago lang si Christine sa Manila at hindi pa nya nae-experience ang sumakay sa MRT. Sumakay kami sa bus papuntang Magallanes then rode the MRT! Since andon na rin lang kami, we decided to go to MOA kasi di pa rin nakakapunta si Christine doon. We had lunch at Aristocrat and had snack at Red Mango. Lakad lakad kami at picture picture. Then off to Trinoma! Medyo mahaba-haba ang sakay namin sa MRT! hahaha! Tuwang-tuwa si Christine!
TRINOMA...
Well, pagbaba namin sa MRT, yun na pala mismo ang Trinoma. Nag-meet kami nina Hazel at Anj! Exciting kasi bonding ito ng ilan sa mga fans ng STIVA! Steven decided to choose Red Box for the venue. Sobrang excited nina ate Loren, Carla and Christine (as if hindi ako excited! Hahaha!) Ito rin ang first chance kong ma-meet si Ria. Medyo matagal ko na syang kakilala sa net but this is the first time na makikita ko sya ng personal.
When Steven and Diva arrived with Ate Jheng and Ate Weng, we decided to eat dinner muna sa Max's Restaurant. Sa totoo lang, biglang tahimik ng grupo. Di ko alam kung nahihiya o galit-galit muna kasi gutom!!! After dinner, we went straight to Red Box. We've enjoyed each other's company until 12MN. We played billiards, Chikahan, Picture-picture at syempre KARAOKE!!! Nakakatuwa ang grupo kasi walang nahihiya! Kantahan lang... just pure, clean fun! This is one of the activities that I really enjoyed during my vacation.
I want to thank Steven and Diva for giving their precious time to make this possible. Also, I want to thank the tropa... Ate Jheng, Ate Weng, Ate Loren, Hayzel, AnJ, Ria, Carla and Christine. It was fun!!!
Well, like other good things, it just have to end. Halos kami na ang nagsara ng TRINOMA! hahaha! Gusto pa sana ni Steven na ihatid kami sa sakayan pero it's not possible kasi baka mapagsarhan sila ng garage ng mall. So we said our goodbyes... But the good memories will forever be right here in my mind and in my heart...
Ang saya ng Baguio Trip namin! It is very hard to top that.
We dropped Diva and ate Weng in their place and headed home. Ate Jheng and kids, to Pililla, Rizal. Me, Toots and Christine, Indang, Cavite... Yup! Christine will be spending some of her vacation days!
Sa totoo lang, di ko nga alam kung ano ang gagawin ko sa babaeng ito! Napakadami kasing bawal! Isa pa, kinakabahan din ako na baka hikain sya ng todo habang nasa amin. Di ko alam ang gagawin noh! hahaha!
Natatandaan ko, ang daming first time na kasama itong si Christine eh... a) First time daw nyang sumakay sa bus ng nakatayo. Sa totoo lang, awang-awa ako sa kanya kasi ang nipis nga kasi ng katawan tapos patatayuin mo sa bus! Sabi ko na lang, konting tiis at maya-maya eh may tatayo din. Ako naman, hindi na rin masyadong sanay tumayo sa bus kasi nagda-drive naman ako dito sa US! Okay lang sa akin kasi medyo malakas naman ang resistensya ko pero itong si Christine, inalalayan ko ng sobra kasi parang napaka-fragile!!!! hahaha! b) First time nyang makarating sa Cavite. Yup! Eh mukhang ngayon lang ito naka-alis ng Cebu eh. Lagi yata syang nakakapit sa palda ng mama nya! hahaha! c) First time nyang mai-tour sa aking Alma Mater. Hahaha! Ipinasyal ko sya sa Cavite State University. Sa laki at lawak ng Main Campus, Muntik na yatang hikain itong si Christine! hahaha! d) First time nyang makarating sa Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite. Napasabit sya nang dalawin ko ang isa ko pang tiyahin doon. May natuklasan ako sa lugar na yun. Una, napatunayan ko na ang aso, talagang mahilig sa buto. Ikalawa, mabilis palang tumakbo si Christine! Kayo na lang ang mag-analize... Hahaha! e) First time na makarating ni Christine sa Tagaytay City!!! Yehey! Kumain kami sa RSM Tagaytay. Sobrang sarap kumain lalo na at kita mo ang view ng Taal volcano...
It was quite a ride... For more than a week, may buntot ako! hahaha! Buti na lang hindi kami nagkapalit ng mukha! hahaha! Peace!
Next stop: Muntinlupa City!
After more than a week of spending our time in Cavite, it's Christine's turn to accommodate me at her aunt's house sa Muntinlupa. May balak kasi kami na Mag-videoke sa Manila. It was a plan set up by Diva and Steven. Nakarating kami sa Muntinlupa. Sinundo kami ni ate Loren sa SM Southmall. Ang hirap talaga na walang masyadong alam sa Manila! As usual, sasakan ng init na naman! Ang haba ng byahe, na-stuck pa sa traffic at under construction pa ang daan pero it doesn't matter. Thinking na isa na namang panibagong adventure ang pupuntahan namin kinabukasan, bale wala ang init, traffic at haba ng byahe.
Very accommodating naman nina Ate Loren lalo na si ate Diding na hindi nagdalawang-isip na tanggapin kami sa kanilang simple pero napakagandang tahanan. Salamat po ng marami. Hindi ko makakalimutan ang hospitality nila!
Kinabukasan, very excited kami sa adventure na naghihintay sa amin. Ako, si Christine, si ate Loren at ang kanyang daughter na si Carla finally were on our way. Bago lang si Christine sa Manila at hindi pa nya nae-experience ang sumakay sa MRT. Sumakay kami sa bus papuntang Magallanes then rode the MRT! Since andon na rin lang kami, we decided to go to MOA kasi di pa rin nakakapunta si Christine doon. We had lunch at Aristocrat and had snack at Red Mango. Lakad lakad kami at picture picture. Then off to Trinoma! Medyo mahaba-haba ang sakay namin sa MRT! hahaha! Tuwang-tuwa si Christine!
TRINOMA...
Well, pagbaba namin sa MRT, yun na pala mismo ang Trinoma. Nag-meet kami nina Hazel at Anj! Exciting kasi bonding ito ng ilan sa mga fans ng STIVA! Steven decided to choose Red Box for the venue. Sobrang excited nina ate Loren, Carla and Christine (as if hindi ako excited! Hahaha!) Ito rin ang first chance kong ma-meet si Ria. Medyo matagal ko na syang kakilala sa net but this is the first time na makikita ko sya ng personal.
When Steven and Diva arrived with Ate Jheng and Ate Weng, we decided to eat dinner muna sa Max's Restaurant. Sa totoo lang, biglang tahimik ng grupo. Di ko alam kung nahihiya o galit-galit muna kasi gutom!!! After dinner, we went straight to Red Box. We've enjoyed each other's company until 12MN. We played billiards, Chikahan, Picture-picture at syempre KARAOKE!!! Nakakatuwa ang grupo kasi walang nahihiya! Kantahan lang... just pure, clean fun! This is one of the activities that I really enjoyed during my vacation.
I want to thank Steven and Diva for giving their precious time to make this possible. Also, I want to thank the tropa... Ate Jheng, Ate Weng, Ate Loren, Hayzel, AnJ, Ria, Carla and Christine. It was fun!!!
Well, like other good things, it just have to end. Halos kami na ang nagsara ng TRINOMA! hahaha! Gusto pa sana ni Steven na ihatid kami sa sakayan pero it's not possible kasi baka mapagsarhan sila ng garage ng mall. So we said our goodbyes... But the good memories will forever be right here in my mind and in my heart...
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
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