Only By Grace

In his 114 page book, Coronavirus and Christ,  John Piper responded in Part 2 to the question,  "What is God doing through the coronavirus?" Attempts like this to answer such question may appear presumptuous and insensitive in a time that many a people are hurting and confused. This charge of presumption and insensitivity can only be answered if one will take the time read the book. In fact, one of his relatives was infected with Covid-19. Moreover, in addition to the 2005 diagnosis that he had a prostate cancer, he no longer expected to see the publication of this book because of his age and the condition of his lungs.  In this article, I just want the share an excerpt from Piper's book showing his response to that controversial question: # 1 - "God is giving the world in the coronavirus outbreak, as in all other calamities, a physical picture of the moral horror and spiritual ugliness of God-belittling sin." “In other words, physical evil is a parable, a drama

Ang unang prinsipyo ng tipan sa Banal na Kasulatan ay ang sovereignty ng Diyos. Sa larangan ng teoryang pang-ekonomiya, ang prinsipyong ito ay nahayag sa doktrina ng orihinal na pagmamay-ari ng Diyos sa lahat ng nilikha, kabilang ang sangkatauhan. Bilang nagmamay-ari ng lahat, hindi direktang kinokontrol ng Diyos ang mundo. Bagkus ay pinamamahalaan niya ang Kaniyang pagmamay-ari sa pamamagitan ng sangkatauhan sa buong kasaysayan. Dahil sa ipinagkaloob ng Diyos ang responsibilidad sa sangkatauhan para sa pangangasiwa sa mundo, ang bawat indibidwal ay dapat maging responsable sa gawain na ipinagkatiwala sa Kaniya ng Diyos. Ang bawat indibidwal ay magkakaiba. Ang mga tao ay may magkakaibang talento, layunin, interes, libangan, at lahat ng iba pa na nauugnay sa produksyon ng ekonomiya. Ang bawat tao ay may pananagutan sa anumang mga kasanayan o pakinabang na ibinigay sa kaniya sa buhay na ito. Ang pangunahing alituntunin ng pagiging responsible ay ito: ang sinuman na pinagkatiwalaan

Ang unang kabanata ay tungkol sa pagmamay-ari. Sa pamamagitan ng pagtalakay sa paksang ito, nagsimula ang may-akda sa doktrina ng paglikha. Para sa kanya, ang ganitong klase ng panimula ang nagbigay ng kaibahan sa kaniyang pamamaraan kung ihahambing sa pamamaraan ng iba pang mga ekonomista. Sa pamamagitan ng paggigiit sa kahalagahan ng doktrina ng paglikha sa ekonomiya, pinangatuwiranan niya na ang daigdig, tao, mga batas sa ekonomiya, at paglago ng ekonomiya ay hindi lubusang mauunawaan ng hiwalay sa Diyos. Ang doktrina ng paglikha ay nagsilbing batayan sa katotohanan na tanging ang Diyos lamang ang orihinal na may pagmamay-ari sa lahat na malinaw na nakasaad sa Awit 24: 1-2 at maraming iba pang mga talata sa Bibliya. At dahil ang Diyos ang lumikha ng mundo, samakatuwid Siya ang orihinal at ganap na May-ari ng lahat. Ang ideya samakatuwid ng pagmamay-ari ay “theocentric.” Sinasabi nito sa atin na ang pang-ekonomiyang konsepto ng pagmamay-ari sa huli ay isang teolohikal na ideya. Ang

The first chapter is all about ownership. By discussing this topic, the author starts with the doctrine of creation. For him, this doctrine separates his approach from all other approaches by other economists. By insisting on the importance of the doctrine of creation to economics, he argues that the universe, man, economic laws, and economic growth are not autonomous. The doctrine of creation establishes the idea of original ownership , which belongs to God alone as explicitly stated in Psalm 24:1–2 and many other biblical passages. And since it is God who created the world, He is therefore the original and absolute Owner of everything. The idea therefore of ownership is basically theocentric. This tells us that the economic concept of ownership is ultimately a theological idea. The concept of ownership cannot be properly understood apart from God as the ultimate Owner of all things. Providence is another corollary doctrine that cannot be separated from the doctrine of creation. Thi

Reading the Daily Bread for today, the Lord is telling me that waiting is also a time of preparation both in life and in trading. Since this is the case, impatience and impulsive buying and selling of shares have no place.  Turning to Isaiah 42:5-9, the prophet declares that the Creator and Giver of life has called Israel to open the eyes of the blind and to set the prisoners free. What greater blindness there is than not seeing the power of God displayed in creation and the greatness of his love displayed in redemption! What worst prison there is than the bondage in the kingdom of darkness! God entrusted Israel with his righteous decrees and laws and by observing them, she fulfills her calling (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). In the New Testament, we now know that such calling is given to the Body of Christ.     Forgive us Father for our impatience. Father, forgive us also for failing to fulfill the task that you have entrusted to us. Open the eyes of the blind and set the prisoners free through

Consolidating my prayers for the months of March and April, I came up with the following prayer concern for the month of May: Help us live our lives with eternity in mind. Help us to live in love, joy, holiness and power. Let PTSCAS produce excellent, prayerful, joyful, holy, loving, powerful and productive missionaries, preachers, biblical counselors, theological educators, and Christian teachers, even chaplains and caregivers. Help us return to our first love and help us love you Lord for the remaining short and final years of our lives here on earth. Help us shepherd your people in love. Forgive us for taking your love for granted. Thank you that you are our closest Friend, our dearest Confidant, our heavenly Bridegroom. Help us sleep early so that we can wake up early and invest in eternity by spending time with you in communion and intercession. Help us to see the prison bars of our suffering as rubies and gold, as precious stones. Thank you for helping us realize that both the ex