Straight From Pastor Ey

The Habagat was still raging and the flood was still rising at that time. But some people have already declared that it was divine wrath poured out against the Reproductive Health Bill. For example, Advocates of Life twitted,  “ I wouldn't be surprised if the flooding in Manila is an expression of God's wrath over the RH Bill. ”  ( The House of Representatives voted to end all the debates on the bill last Monday, August6, 2012, when the rains fell. Talk about timing!)  I find such pronouncements so insensitive at the very least. No matter what’s our stance on the RH Bill, I just hope we would all agree that both pro-RH and anti-RH people suffered in the calamity. I don’t even think that that issue crossed their minds as they scampered to the roof to save themselves. The blame game can come later. But I think we would be more on target when we pin it on other issues such as poor urban planning and improper waste disposal. It was, as experts say, more of “a man-mad...

Image source: Just Call Me Frank Someone wrote, “Maturity begins when we're content to feel we're right about something, without feeling the necessity to prove someone else wrong.” In a conflict, we don't have to prove the other person wrong in order to prove ourselves right.  In our series on anger, we already saw that, as we go through the acronym A-N-G-E-R, that A NGER may be sin but it can lead to sin. We are commanded, " Be angry and do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26a, ESV). Second, that we should N EVER give the devil a foothold. The apostle Paul warned us, "give no opportunity to the devil." (v. 27) Third, that we are to G ET RID of anger's sinful expressions. Verse 31 tells us, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." Instead, we are to E XPRESS it appropriately. Even if we are angry, we must be careful that what comes out of our mouths are words that are not ...

Image source:  https://www.mspidy.com/ We already saw we have to keep in mind that  A NGER may not be sin but it can lead to sin. Second,  N EVER give the devil a foothold.  (We are going the acronym A-N-G-E-R. So far, we have covered the first two.) Let us read again verse 26:  “Be angry, and do not sin”.  The commands  “Be angry”  and  “do not sin”  are both in the present tense.  That means anger would always be a part of our lives.  There would always be something that would cause us to be angry. It will be a constant battle.  However, we should continuously make sure that we would not sin in our anger.  Also, the command  “Be angry”  is in the passive voice while  “do not sin”  is in the active voice. Passive means you receive the action while active means you do the action.  So, anger is a reaction while keeping from sin is the righ...

Image source:  http://www.krock1057.ca/ One time, I was so angry. Yes, just like you, I also have to deal with anger. To cool myself down, I thought of Ephesians 4:26-27 over and over again in my mind. “‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil  a foothold.” (NIV) Out of that episode, I came up with the acronym A-N-G-E-R to remind me of the lessons those verses are teaching us. You can say that this message is a fruit of anger. It is possible to be angry and not sin. But we have to keep in mind that A NGER may not be sin but it can lead to sin. “Be angry and sin not” is a quote from Psalm 4. David cried out, “Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? ...In your ...

It seems everybody is becoming an angry bird.  Remember those famous personalities who slugged it out in our airport? Image source: Philippine News Someone wrote, “Of all the sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last bite both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.” That’s why dealing with anger is crucial in conflict resolution. It sticks out in almost every conflict. Ephesians 4:26-27 command us: “‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” (NIV) Look at the words: “In your anger do not sin”. In the Greek, literally...