Does the year start on January 1? I think not. The true Biblical calendar is the Jewish calendar, and their first month of the year is Nisan. Nisan 1, 2009 was on March 26, 2009. The next new year will be Nisan 1, 2010, which will be on March 16, 2010. Check out this video for a concise summary of the Jewish calendar:

Should we celebrate New Year according to the Gregorian calendar, which is on January 1? I think we should celebrate and give thanks to our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ everyday. Enjoy the world’s New Year, as the day and night is a blessing from our Lord, and use it as an opportunity to share the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ! But remember, the New Year is a pagan celebration. See the video below for details:

Scripture alone!

Do you like fireworks? I took a video of fireworks in Metro-Manila, Philippines. It is quite a sight. It almost looks like a war is going on! Enjoy!

God bless, and Happy New Year (belated),

George

I saw several videos claiming to be sightings of Nibiru next to the sun, so I decided to check for myself. Here is an example of one of these:

I could not find Nibiru. Here is the video I shot.

Here is a video showing how to fake a Nibiru sighting:

So be careful with what you place your trust on. Trust only our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ! Verify everything through the Bible, which is the Word of God.

John 8:31-32  “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Happy New Year everyone. It will be an interesting 2010!

God bless,

George

I thought it would be a good idea to go on a 5 day retreat in a Tagaytay retreat house or hotel. Just me and God. I would only bring a pocket Bible, clothes, and toiletries. No cellphone, internet, radio, TV, books, or even Study Bibles. Just God and me. God found something much better: Touch of Glory Prayer Mountain, just 2 nights though, in the mountains of Antipolo, and much cheaper. Nicer still, the place was designed for prayer (prayer cells, prayer tents in a forest, nature walks, fish ponds with loads of carp, fresh air, sounds of running water, views, and silence). The rooms and bathrooms were also very clean. God always knows best.

It was not that God rang the place and made the reservation, of course! It was just that all my attempts to find a place in Tagaytay failed. The hotels were too expensive. There was a convent who would not let me in as the Mother Superior preferred I visit with a group. I was uneasy about how commercialized Tagaytay has become, with a casino, luxury hotels, and fine dining. My pastor mentioned to me that there was a prayer mountain in Antipolo but could not tell me where it was. So I used Google to find their website, made a booking, and 2 weeks later I was in another world.

You will not find a place like this anywhere. As you drive up you will see signs counting down the kilometers to the place, and the view on the way up is breathtaking. There are no maps in the facility itself, so you can discover the place on your own and be surprised. There are no mealtimes published, so you just ask when meals are or you just wander in to the cafeteria and check if there is food there. There are some souvenirs without labels and price tags, so just ask what it is and how much. They sell Banana Vinegar! Filipinos can adjust to this ambiguity but people brought up in Western culture may be somewhat disoriented. If you feel disoriented, pray for guidance from God.

Nature was very friendly. A dog was on retreat too (with no collar and leash), and it just sniffed its way around the clearing where I was meditating on the Word (John 15:1) and we pretended to ignore each other. The ants were more forthcoming. One large one was particularly friendly as it climbed rapidly up my sleeve! It may be God’s way of saying: “time for a walk”. It is also best to remember that the ants were probably there first. The mosquitoes seem to be not in the mood to bite. The birds and trees sing. Butterflies land on your leg, rest a while, and move on.  Dragonflies are more cautious.

The prayer cells were 3 feet x 5 feet x 8 feet (I am just guessing, as I did not bring a ruler) with a cushion for your knees, wooden floor, small side table, tiny electric fan, small wall lamp, and something like a small lectern that I assumed is where you put your hands. Once the door is closed it is so peaceful and it is like you are in a place removed from everything else, and only praying is allowed. No eating , sleeping, or socializing is allowed in the prayer cell.

It was my first time in a prayer cell. I noticed that God was very quiet at first. Just waiting. I thought of the temple and how the priests had to purify themselves before approaching God. So I began with confession of sin, and that broke the ice. Believers in the Gospel of Jesus the Christ have access to God who is their Father through adoption, made possible because Jesus, who is God,  died on the cross and rose from the dead, thereby satisfying God’s justice, and allowing reconciliation between God and the believer, who receives the Holy Spirit that teaches and guides the believer about Truth and Holiness. It is written:

1Peter 2:7-10  “Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

We are a royal priesthood. A priest is someone who has direct access to God, our Father. It is because we were chosen – called out of darkness – that we have the privilege to bring our cares and concerns to God, our Heavenly Father. If only we took full advantage of this great privilege!

God speaks in a way that is hard to explain. Something will occur to you that gives you peace which is consistent with the Bible, and after some experience, you recognize this as the “silent voice of God”. He brought to my attention that prayer is required for a disciple, among other things, and that our entire lives are to be a living sacrifice.  I should be more disciplined in my walk, and organize my time to be able to read, memorize, meditate, and apply the Bible, as well as pray, give, manage my time and resources (stewardship), worship, serve, evangelize, fast, and set aside times of silence and solitude. He led me to a book before my retreat, called Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, by Donald S. Whitney, to help me in this area of spiritual growth.  He also said that I worry too much, and should trust Him more, and stop being so judgmental. He suggested that I start reading the book Respectable Sins, by Jerry Bridges, which I bought recently.

I wish I brought a camera or video camera along but I really wanted to focus only on meeting God during this trip. I plan another trip where I will ask permission to take a video and post this on my Youtube channel. If you are in Metro-Manila, Philippines, I highly recommend that you visit this place in the mountains of Antipolo. If you cannot afford a room there are dormitories at a fraction of the cost, and you can also visit the place during the day for a nominal fee. If you want to know their rates you can inquire via text message to the cellphone number published on their website.

I really recommend that you disconnect from the world for a few days and spend time alone with God. There is joy and peace to be found, as well as guidance and wisdom. The perfect date with our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

God bless,

George Marcelo

The world is going down the tube. Sin has become politically correct. People flock to religions which offer imaginary false gods, who will tolerate their sin, and deaden their conscience. No-one is immune, even me. There was a time when I would welcome all of this as a good thing, but I now have a problem. My spirit was brought to life by the living and true God, and the world now gives me a feeling of nausea, overlaid by a feeling of concern about inevitable doom of those not spiritually alive. Last rounds, ladies and gentlemen. it’s closing time.

All this time God screams at the world that it is fallen, and offers salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. The world is  not listening. Now many “acts of God” are needed to wake people up. How many floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, epidemics, famines, and wars must happen to make people see? Or maybe these things are just warnings to be recognized only by the elect of God?

What should I do? I share the Gospel but no-one believes it. Some say they believe it but it is obvious that they do not. Is it possible to be born again and have no desire to read the Bible, worship God, fellowship with the brothers and sisters in Christ?

There are two options to take. Stop caring about the result and just minister to the lost in obedience but without really knowing what will happen. The other is better but harder to find. I need to know what God is doing, and join in His work. I need to join Him in His work, and not improve on mine. I need to listen to the silent voice of God.

I am going on a retreat sometime in December, in Tagaytay, a tranquil place near Metro-Manila, Philippines, next to Taal volcano. I need to discern God’s will. That means being disconnected from the internet, TV, radio, books, entertainment, and even Study Bibles. Just God, the Bible, and me, for 5 days, alone. I really do not know what will happen. I am scared that nothing will happen. I am also scared that something might happen. Since this scary feeling can only come from Satan I am resolved to proceed with this plan. I leave it all to God. I really do not know what to do. I really am unable to commit the stupid mistake of recommending a solution to God. Please pray for me that I hear the silent voice of God, and obey what He says.

I took a walk in the woods with my son and his friend. I talk about my plans for a retreat and other random stuff. Here it is. Enjoy! Be strong in the Lord, who is coming soon! After all, it is written…

Was that the silent voice of God just then? I wish I knew for sure…

God bless,

George

This is a heads up to all my readers that the best way to protect yourself from swine flu is by ensuring that you are not Vitamin D deficient. The best way of obtaining Vitamin D is moderate exposure to sunlight. Early morning sun is best. Vitamin D is made by your body when it is exposed to sunlight. It is also advisable to avoid taking the swine flu vaccine as there are anecdotal reports on the web of side effects. Please verify all this information for yourself to assure yourselves that this is correct. The video below shows me getting some Vitamin D at the SM Mall of Asia (the third largest shopping mall in the world as of the time of writing), which can also be fun!

Vitamin D is good for your body but does not do anything for your soul. If you have not received Jesus the Christ as your Lord and Saviour, it means that you are spiritually dead. Please view the short video below for a concise presentation of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ.

Finally, here is a video clip of the doctor explaining in more detail what he has discovered about Vitamin D.

I pray you are blessed!

George

Matthew Chapter 7

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

LORD OF THE CLOUD AND FIRE,

I am a stranger, with a stranger’s indifference;

My hands hold a pilgrim’s staff,

My march is Zionward,

My eyes are toward the coming of the Lord,

My heart is in thy hands without reserve.

Thou has created it,

redeemed it,

renewed it,

captured it,

conquered it.

Keep from it every opposing foe,

crush it in every rebel lust,

mortify every treacherous passion,

annihilate every earthborn desire,

All faculties of my being vibrate to thy touch;

I love thee with soul, mind, body, strength,

might, spirit, affection, will,

desire, intellect, understanding.

Thou art the very perfection of all perfections;

All intellect is derived from thee;

My scanty rivulets flow from they unfathomable

fountain.

Compared with thee the sun is darkness,

all beauty deformity,

all wisdom folly,

the best goodness faulty.

Thou art worthy of an adoration greater than

my dull heart can yield;

Invigorate my love that it may rise worthily

to thee,

tightly entwine itself round thee,

be allured by thee.

Then shall my walk be endless praise.

Note: Excerpted from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions, compiled by Arthur Bennet.

P.S. I made a YouTube video of this prayer! Enjoy!

I have been sharing the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, for over two years now, mainly on YouTube. I have no idea how many people were converted. Maybe none were. Were any changed? Yes, one person was changed. I was.

That one thing that I did not expect from evangelism was to be changed by it. A few weeks after I started sharing the Gospel, my interests started to change. I started to lose interest in movies and television. This was very odd, because I was a movie buff, and the type of person that turns the TV on the moment I arrive home. Now my DVD collection gathers dust and my TV is mostly used to display YouTube videos (I use a Sony Playstation to stream web content on my HD TV).

I wondered about this, and thought that the Lord wanted to protect me from the temptations that may come to me by sharing the Gospel in YouTube. Maybe Jesus does not like to watch TV and go to movies too, and after all, the whole point of accepting Jesus Christ is to be like Him. Frankly, there are no good movies being made anyway, and I would not be surprised if TV becomes as obscure as shortwave radio. The future is YouTube and other sources of web content.

Something odd happened recently. I used to post videos with licensed music, but the Holy Spirit told me to stop, and so I took them down. I thought my views would drop, but to my surprise, my views started to rise, and now my average views have tripled! I also discovered a lot of places where I can obtain freeware content.

Two years. 100 subscribers on YouTube. I know by now that it is not my work, but the Lord’s! What might be next? I never knew this could be so much fun!

God bless,

George

P.S. For those of you who might be interested in why I share the Gospel on YouTube, here is my YouTube video explaining why:

I was curious about Twitter. Twitter is a microblog service, where people can conveniently post very short blogs which is really their thoughts. Will people really be interested in what I do or think between my blog posts and YouTube videos? Should I share my mundane thoughts, or just the ones I think are profound, and will anyone care? Can I share the Gospel through Twitter? Is there some data mining software running out there that will dissect my Tweets to death? If so, I hope it will conclude that I am a Christian.

I prayed about it and got an answer (the silent voice of God – straight to the point, as usual – hard to explain – some of you might know what I mean): “If you must Twitter, Twitter to Me.”

Since God does not have a Twitter account, this must mean: “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Note: to verify if an answer you think comes from God really comes from God, verify the answer through Scripture, and as much as possible, set aside your personal desires and be open to submit to the will of God.

I will not Twitter for now, and will “twitter” to God through prayer. Cool!

In the Philippines, we start celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus the Christ during the “-ber” months (September, October, etc), and end in early January.  However, I think we should celebrate the birthday of our Lord Jesus the Christ everyday!

When was our Lord born? The Bible does not give us a clear date. I doubt very much it is Dec 25, because our Lord was Jewish, and His birthday would have a date on the Jewish calendar, which is lunar, and so the date on the world’s calendar, which is solar, would vary from year to year. For example, this is the reason why the date of Passover (or Resurrection Day; and called Easter by those who do not know that this is a pagan name) varies from year to year. Also, I do not think it was during winter, as it would be too cold for the sheep to be out in the field. Maybe our Lord wanted the date of His birth to be uncertain so that we would celebrate it everyday!

As for nativity scenes, it is somewhat misleading. The wise men from the east would have had to travel many months from “the east”  to Israel. By the time they met our Lord, He would have been a toddler.  Of course, you can still have nativity scenes (called “Belen” in the Philippines), but you would need to locate the wise men a few miles away. We do not know how many wise men there were. We only know there were more than one, and that they brought three gifts.

Tradition is very unreliable. If you want the truth, read the Bible, prayerfully asking for guidance from the Holy Spirit.

Here is my first ever video about the birth of our Lord, Jesus the Christ, who saved us from our sins! Enjoy!

Updated Dec 29, 2009: There is Biblical support for the date of the birth of Jesus the Christ on Sukkot 1 (Jewish Calendar), which falls on  September 23 in 2010 (Gregorian Calendar). The attached video presents the information to make the connection.