Straight From Pastor Ey

Read Part 1 | Part 2 Image credit The wheels of justice are turning so fast that crime is eating its dust. The witnesses flawlessly corroborated on what they saw on every detail. The physical evidences fit perfectly together. Seeing that denial is futile, the suspect on trial tearfully admitted to the crime in a tell-all confession. The judge banged his gavel and declared, “Guilty beyond reasonable doubt!” Justice is served! The cast of CSI: Las Vegas. Image credit That’s what we usually see in TV crime shows. But that’s not what really happens in a real criminal court hearing. Such shows create what came to be known as the “CSI [Crime Scene Investigation] Effect.”   As crime shows focused on cutting-edge forensic investigative techniques have spread throughout the prime-time television landscape, prosecutors and defense lawyers have started to take note and respond. During jury selection in high-profile criminal trials, it’s now commonplace for lawyers to ask poten

Screenshot of Richard Dawkins' controversial tweet exchange regarding Down Syndrome. Image credit “Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.” That’s what Richard Dawkins, atheist biologist and bestselling author of the “God Delusion,” tweeted back when one of his followers (“ one of our respected regulars on RichardDawkins.net ,” as Dawkins described her) posted on Twitter: “I honestly don’t know what I would do if I were pregnant with a kid with Down Syndrome. Real ethical dilemma.” (Source: The Independent ) I just hope Dawkins saw this before he tweeted his apparent “heartless and callous” tweet. Image credit Not surprisingly, he got a lot of hate tweets. According to Dawkins, “[T]he whole affair blew up into [a] feeding frenzy”. (Source: Richard Dawkins Foundation ) “Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.” Richard Dawkins’ advice to women pregna

Read  Part 1  |  Part 3 Image credit When we say it’s infallible, what we mean is that the Bible has no error in what it teaches. When we say that it’s inerrant, what we mean is that it has no error in what it contains.  For me, we cannot believe in its infallibility if we cannot believe in its inerrancy. We cannot say that the Bible has no error in what it teaches and, at the same time, say that it has errors in what it contains. "[T]he Bible always tells the truth and that it always tells the truth concerning everything it talks about." Wayne Grudem. Image credit Evangelical theologian Wayne Grudem put it this way in his “ Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine ” The definition in simple terms just means that the Bible always tells the truth and that it always tells the truth concerning everything it talks about. This definition does not mean that the Bible tells us every fact there is to know about any one subject, but it affirms t

Image credit The story is told of a man who consulted a psychiatrist about his struggle with severe depression. The psychiatrist said, “I know a clown who’s so famous for making people laugh. I would like you to watch him.” The man sadly replied, “I am that clown.” Sadly, it’s no longer a story. Image credit I could not believe my eyes when I saw on my Facebook timeline that the beloved comedian, Robin Williams, was discovered dead in his home at Northern California due to an apparent suicide. According to the Marin County Sheriff's Office, “At this time, the Sheriff's Office Coroner Division suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia, but a comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made.” (Source: HuffPost ) In my heart, I secretly hoped it was another Internet hoax. But it was not.  Image credit Williams made us all laugh and, as one friend lamented, “It’s sad that he could not make one person laugh. Himse

Read  Part 2  |  Part 3 Image credit “The more I read and learned, the more that trust withered.” That’s how Andy Uyboco described his journey from devotion to doubt in his “Freethinking Me” opinion column (Source: Sunstar Davao ).  “The more I read and learned, the more that trust withered.” Andy Uyboco. Image credit According to this former English teacher in a Christian school,[1] “I grew up believing that the Bible was the inspired and inerrant Word of God. … It was later in my thirties when I began to seriously question the Bible’s authority.” (Ibid) It appears that it was not mid-life crisis that led Uyboco to question his faith. He claimed that what drove him towards “serious biblical scholarship” was his quest for truth. “Life is simple when you just pick a side and don’t have to think so much. Unfortunately for me, I was not wired that way. I had to know more, because this book was supposed to be the one driving my life. It was supposed to be my guide to life o

Pancit with calamansi . Image credit Imagine a family sharing a plate of pancit (noodles). However, one member does not like calamansi (Philippine lime) on it. To be fair, the mother did not put calamansi but just placed the sliced halves on the side of the plate for the rest of the family who likes it. Everybody happy. How I wish life is as simple as a plate of pancit ! But, I think life is more complicated than tangled noodles.  This pancit parable came about in my FB discussion with a friend who happens to be an atheist.   Screenshot of the discussion thread from my FB page. Comments posted August 7, 2014. I asked my friend's permission to post excerpts of our discussion. What ignited the conversation was my post regarding the Department of Education’s decision to remove “God-loving” from its vision statement last September 2013. (The old vision statement went like this: “By 2030, DepEd is globally recognized for good governance and for developing functionally

“We are not in the problem solving business. We are in the heart restoration business.” That’s what Dr. Wayne Vanderwier, Executive Director of the Overseas Instruction in Counseling, declared during the three-day “Biblical Counseling” training that I attended along with another member last week.  No, it did not train us to become professional therapists. We did not become experts or specialists overnight. It was about reminding us the responsibility of every believer: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1-2, ESV) As far as our trainers are concerned, “Biblical counseling is the ministry of graciously applying the truths of the Bible to the challenges of life.” Simply put, it is soul care.  Image credit Don’t think that is about pounding the Bible on people’s head