good news

WHY DO YOU SPEAK IN PARABLES?

July 27, 2023 by Eddie Leave a Comment

You’re all familiar with the parable of the sower and the seed, and what it meant, right? Well, here’s a bit of trivia. Did you know that this is the first parable that the synoptic gospel writers (Matthew, Mark and Luke) recorded? And, also, did you know that when Jesus spoke this parable to the large crowds, he didn’t explain it to the crowd? Mark says, in Mark 4:10, “When He was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.”

In fact, I like the way Matthew recorded the question that the disciples asked Jesus about this parable when they were away from the crowds already. They asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?’” (Matt 13:10). In other words, why tell the crowds a story, but not explain what it means? What’s your point in doing this?

[Read more…]

YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS

May 15, 2020 by Eddie 2 Comments

Jesus often teaches in parables and can sometimes be very hard to understand. But then occasionally He swings the other way and just states the very obvious. Take this statement from John 16:33 for instance: “In this world you will have trouble.” I mean, obvious ba? Everybody knows that. Nobody is exempt from suffering and adversity. Whether rich or poor. Whether sinner or saint. Everyone has problems. What’s the good news in that?

[Read more…]

FROM HOPELESSNESS TO HOPEFULNESS

May 2, 2020 by Eddie 10 Comments

There’s a story in the gospel of John (5:1-9) about a man who was an invalid for 38 years. He lay by the side of the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, waiting for the water to be stirred up. Apparently, it was the belief of people at that time, that the first person into the pool after the stirring of the water “was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted” (John 5:4). When I read that, my first reaction was to admire that invalid’s tenacity and hopefulness. Thirty-eight years invalid!! I don’t know if he had been waiting there all those 38 years, but I can imagine how much he had longed to be healed. But then when I read further about what happened, I was saddened.

[Read more…]

RAINBOW CONNECTION

January 8, 2020 by Eddie 2 Comments

One morning last week in a golf course in Antipolo, I was chatting with my 18-year old caddy trainee and was inquiring about her plans for her life. Then as our golf cart turned from the shrub into a clearing, I saw a rainbow in the distance, pointed to it, and I said, “Uy, ayon, may bahaghari. Pumikit ka at ipagdasal mo ang iyong pangarap, at pagpapalain ka ng Diyos.” (Look, there’s a rainbow. Close your eyes, and pray for your intentions and God will bless you.) Then her face brightened up believing that God was looking out for her.

[Read more…]