Here's Why Church Becomes Useless

Church is good and important for spiritual growth and fulfilling the mission of the body of Christ. But drifting far from what Jesus did and taught is what makes church utterly useless, no matter if it's "growing" and "advancing" the Gospel, no matter if it's mega, moneyed and increasing in membership. These are all garbage if church doesn't look like Jesus' ministry.

Photo by Ky Nang on Unsplash.

Give Up Everything

I think it all starts here. Jesus taught that, "Unless you give up everything you have, you cannot be my disciple." If you're not a disciple then all your ministries and all your efforts for God are nothing. Zero. Imagine telling Jesus, "Lord, I'm serving you but I'm not your disciple." And the number one prerequisite to being a disciple is giving up everything you have or own. This is never given emphasis in church. 

Luke 14.33: You cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

In my decades of being in church since I was among the young people, I have never heard anyone preach seriously about this. They teach about how discipleship is committing to a cell or discipleship group for regular bible studies and "accountability," being active in church, attending seminars, training and workshops on leadership, present in all the activities, and the like--none of which Jesus did or taught. 

The radical nature of Jesus' teaching is precisely what makes it so easy for the modern church to soften, redefine, or simply ignore it. Jesus did not describe discipleship as adding church activities to an otherwise unchanged life. He described it as surrender and a radical transformation. He was not asking people to give him a portion of their lives while retaining ownership of everything else. He was calling them to recognize that nothing could remain more important than obedience to Him—not possessions, money, reputation, career, comfort, family expectations, or even one's plans for the future.

This is why the early church looked so radically different. Believers had their possessions in common, and sold their goods to meet the needs of others. "There was not a needy person among them," says Acts 4. This was not merely a fundraising strategy or a special offering campaign. It was the practical evidence that they had stopped treating their possessions as exclusively their own. Their encounter with Christ had changed their relationship with material things. They really gave up everything they had.

No preacher today exhorts on this. 

Jesus had already made this principle unmistakable. "Sell what you have and give to the poor," he told not just the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:21) but his disciples as well (Luke 12.33), and to give to everyone who asks and not to turn away from one who wants to borrow (Matthew 5:42). I'll repeat that--give to everyone who asks (everyone), and not to turn away from those who borrow. It's entirely different today. They choose who to give help (not everyone) and lend only to those who can repay. And they teach that this is sound doctrine. 

Luke 6.34: And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.

He warned against storing treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19–21) and declared that no one can serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24).

Make Disciples

So perhaps the uncomfortable question is not whether our churches are growing, but whether we are actually making disciples. Are we producing people who surrender everything to Jesus, or people who have simply learned how to participate in religious activities? A church can have magnificent buildings, sophisticated programs, thousands of members, powerful preaching, and an impressive online presence—and still be profoundly unlike Jesus.

If Luke 14:33 is truly part of discipleship, then the church must be willing to obey it before demanding that ordinary believers obey it. The test is not how much we have accumulated for God, but how completely we are willing to surrender everything to him and use whatever remains under his Lordship for the good of others. That is the kind of discipleship that begins to make the church look like Jesus again.

Is the Church Even a Disciple?

And this is where things become painfully uncomfortable. If Jesus really meant what he said about giving up everything, then we cannot limit his teaching to individual Christians while exempting the institution itself. We cannot tell ordinary believers that discipleship means radical surrender while the church accumulates buildings, properties, vehicles, equipment, bank accounts, investments, and organizational assets that could otherwise be used to relieve human suffering. If everything belongs to Christ, then the question is not, "How much can the church acquire?" but, "What else has the church hasn't given up?"

Jesus never built an empire. He did not purchase property for a ministry headquarters. He did not accumulate wealth to finance an expanding religious organization. He had no impressive facility, no fleet of vehicles, no denominational structure, and no earthly institution to protect. He walked among the poor, fed the hungry, healed the sick, welcomed sinners, and commanded his followers to do likewise. When he encountered someone in need, he did not organize a seminar about compassion. He gave.

The early church followed this pattern. Their resources were directed toward people rather than institutional accumulation. "They sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need" (Acts 2:45). The question was not how to make the organization bigger, but how to make sure that nobody among them was left in need. I'd love to see a church like this today.

Imagine if churches today actually took this seriously. Imagine a congregation deciding that instead of acquiring another property, renovating another sanctuary, buying more expensive equipment, or building another administrative complex, they'd sell what they could and distribute the proceeds to the poor, widows, struggling families, persecuted believers, and people who had nothing. Imagine churches competing—not for membership, buildings, prestige, and influence—but to see which congregation could relieve the most suffering.

That would look much more like Jesus.

Perhaps the greatest threat to genuine discipleship is not that churches have too little. It may be that we have learned to possess too much while convincing ourselves that everything we possess is "for the Gospel." But Jesus never said that accumulating religious resources was the Gospel. He said, "Sell what you have, and give to the poor" (Luke 18:22).

The church does not become more like Jesus by becoming more impressive. It becomes more like Jesus by becoming more sacrificial.

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A backgroubd on Lil Job.

 

No Answers and Things Get Worse

Still no problems solved yet, even after my daily prayers since 4 years ago. Or even long before that--since my sons were babies. I've been praying for their salvation and their deep devotion to serve the Lord and to deepen in the Word. How can you get encouraged with getting no answers for decades? My prayers for my sons' salvation seem to go unheeded, and I can't understand why. The number one solution to our problems--especially my eldest son's problems--is their surrender to Jesus Christ. Without God's touch on their lives, they will never come to God and surrender their lives fully. So why doesn't God answer the prayers? It's been decades and I'm 66. .

Photo by Jad Limcaco on Unsplash.

My eldest son seems getting worse. No sign of changing or seeking after God, and now he's neck-deep in troubles. He did a lot of foolish mistakes that could result to an arrest warrant possibly being served him, so now he threatens to take his own life instead of going to jail. And because he often gets fired at work due to failing health, and his wife cannot work due to a disability, we've been helping him financially because we pity their babies. But this resulted to our huge indebtedness because we loaned from loan companies and borrowed from friends to be able to send money to them for their necessities. But he still blames us for his situation. I understand his attitude like this, though--it's because of his seemingly hopeless situation and hypothyroidism.

I Want to See the Promises 

So, what happened to our years of daily prayers and appeal for mercy from the Lord? What happened to the promise that, "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it?" What happened to the numerous examples in Jesus' life and ministry when his prayers were answered instantly by the Father, on the spot, showing us how responsive is the Father and how heaven's quick response is supposed to work? I want to see those things happening to me and my family. The urgency is obvious. I desperately need my prayers answered because things are getting worse. I want to see my sons genuinely born again and serving the Lord with me. Isn't that his will? I'm sure it is.

My son's usually a nice guy--he grew up a nice kid, helping friends who were bullied at school and helping strangers who needed his help, like rescuing a girl he didn't know from street thugs one late night who bullied her, and an old lady bullied by a cop. He did a lot of things like that, protecting the weak and helpless. But since he went to live with his last girlfriend, he's acted differently. We were against his union with her--simply because it was against God's Word, and they both were unemployed, bankrupt and were obviously not ready-- and counselled him about it, but he just stubbornly did what he wanted. He left home. We told him to come back home a lot of times but he refused. 

He suffered financial difficulties because of that and now he blames us for not being able to help him out with their every expense. All these time I was hoping God would move in his life and touch him to submission as the Lord did with some folks in the bible. 

Nothing.

Just this afternoon, my wife and I traveled around the city to look for loans to help him with his estafa case and his very sick babies (he himself is sick with hypothyroidism and is often sick with high fever) but we had no success. We got tired walking long distances, commuting and climbing up and down stairs at LRT stations to get to loan offices and inquire, to no avail. They're all either OFW loans or OR/CR loans. I knew this would be the result, but I just gave it a shot to make my wife see that we have no more chances at loans. I've been telling her we're not financially fit to get loans anymore, but being a mother who loves her children, she insisted. And I cannot refuse her because she'd be overthinking about it and affect her blood pressure. I can't stand it when I see her BP shooting up. She has scary chills when it happens. Her passing out at one time gave me trauma. So, I let her see for herself that loans will not work anymore. And I thank GOD for seconding my motion. 

Another Big Problem

Now, getting back home late this afternoon, we were greeted by our dysfunctioning bathroom, especially the toilet and the floor drainage system. Imagine being so tired and finding your bathroom all messed up with filth and poop on the floor. That usually happens when the floor drain backflows by itself, carrying all the emetic fecal matters and their evil smell, and then the water stays there on the floor, poops floating around. This happens every now and then through the day, every day, and we have to clean it all up somehow, if at all possible. 

Most times, we use the bathroom with that filthy flood lingering and we get our feet protected merely by wearing elevated slippers. The smell? We just wear double masks. You see that kind of daily life? I've been praying for this but no answer comes even when God knows we have no money to get the clogged pipe system fixed. And the problem is disgusting. Imagine having to use a bathroom like this We've been suffering for months. I'm counting on God being merciful. He is a merciful God, that's what the Word says, and I believe it. I need to see that mercy working supernaturally in our lives.

[UPDATE: Praise the Lord almighty GOD! HE provided money to fix the clogged bathroom floor drain, last Saturday, September 05, my spiritual birthday!!! It cost P4,500 for siphoning, and God provided for it! Praise His holy Name!!! Now we can use the bathroom and toilet with ease. Waiting for God's answers about my sons' salvation and my eldest son's rescue. Please help me pray.]

My sons' salvation, my eldest son's ruined life, his legal case, our debts, our bathroom mess (now solved, thanks GOD), our badly dilapidated house--when will the Lord provide and make a way for us? Again, I say, I'm 66 and I've been praying for this for decades. 

"Enabling" Our Son?

They say we're "enabling" our elddest son to continue with his sin when we give him support. A lot of "Christians" tell us to give up our son and disown him. My reason is this---we don't "enable" him when we give him money to feed their babies and buy medicines when they're sick, which often happens because they try to save their small budget by limiting their babies to only two diapers each per day. Diaper change happens only in the morning and before bed at night. That often resulted to the babies' UTI that produced the high fevers. Plus, my son often suffers high fever due to his hypothyroidism and needs medication badly. Is ignoring these needs God's will? Will it please him to condemn a sinner who acts wrongly due to desperation? Is it faith to refuse financial help to someone in desperate need, especially if God has blessed and enabled you to help the needy? Does ignoring needful sinners agree with Jesus' teaching to love one another as he has loved us, or love your neighbir as yourself? Probably we'd also ask: "Who is my neighbor?" The Good Samaritan helped the roadside victim without asking if he's rebellious or sinning. 

I remember what Jesus said about those who condemned the prostitute: "He who has no sin, let him cast the first stone."

"Christians" around us say we shouldn't give in to our son's "drama" and lies. Problem is, how do they know he's just lying? He sends us copies of medical results and prescriptions, plus receipts. In another breath, Jesus didn't confront, condemn or demote Judas being the dishonest money-bag keeper even if he knew Judas was stealing money and most likely lying about it. Jesus didn't require receipts or vouchers or accounting. It's not about abetting wrong but letting grace take care of problems instead of judgment and condemnation. It's good to rebuke sinners and wrong-doers, but it's never good to treat them as trash and ignore their desperate call for help. As Judas was sinning, Jesus washed his feet. See that?

Anway, about the "enabling" issue. If what we're doing is "enabling" our son to do bad, then how about God? God blesses both the righteous and wicked. Shouldn't he stop blessing the wicked because blessing them means he's "enabling" or empowering them to do bad? And who among us does not sin? The fact that "Christians" are telling us to stop loving our prodigal son is also a sin. Should God then stop "enabling" all of us because we all still sin despite having been born again?

Doesn't Jesus teach us to "love your enemies and do good to those who hate you"? If we're to love and do good to our enemies, how much more our own children, our own flesh and blood, even if they're in rebellion?

Look at the story of the prodigal son. He demanded for his inheritance while his father still lived. In traditional Jewish customs, that was dead wrong and meant that he actually wished his dad were dead. That's rebellion. With that bad character, the father granted the son's demand. He gave him his inheritance. Did the father then "enabled" his rebellious son to go on sinning and financed his rebellion? And to think that the father here is representative of our Father in heaven. 

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Why Pain is Unnecessary

Jesus told us a long time ago, and made it known to us right at the outset when we were born again---we have to pick up our cross daily and follow him. Yet, at the same time, God assured us that Jesus bore our sorrows and grief and the punishment we deserve has all been placed on him. "For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

Photo by atelierbyvineeth ... on Unsplash.

Isaiah 53.5: Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering...But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We need to have both truth in our lives. We carry the cross he assigns to us, and yet there's no cross to carry because he already carried it for us. Some see it this way--the sorrows and griefs he carried in Isaiah 53 have to do with "our transgressions," but now that we are repented, forgiven and born again, we need to carry a different cross, one from Christ that is "easy and light."

This easy and light cross doesn't always coincide with our idea of "easy and light." Often, it looks like cruel punishment. But really, it is easy and light because Jesus says so, and we can count on anything that comes from him. I believe it's like this: it's easy and light compared to eternal punishment, to what we would carry if we weren't in Christ. 

And yet, mysteriously, eternal punishment is often assymptomatic. It does not show its punitive symptoms for a long time. It seems those eternally condemned live the good life. They look blessed. And those who carry Jesus' cross are condemned. They look miserable. Exactly how Job felt when he was given a heavy burden which proved to be God's approval, actually. God was so fond of him so he allowed Job's extreme sufferings.

But we go back to the question. Is pain really necessary? Could Job have known God deeper without the cruel hardship? Can God accomplish his will for us without exposing us to pain? HE CAN. Nothing is impossible to him. There's nothing God cannot do. He can strenghten our faith without making us go through sufferings. He doesn't need to test us because he knows our hearts, even what's hidden deep in our souls. He can accomplish in us everything he wants without exposing us to pain. 

So, why the pain?

Here's my take. It's because of our stubbornness. We cannot know truth or admit it or surrender to it without suffering. If we just let God be God, we can grow strong and mature in Christ even without undergoing hardships. Even without carrying the cross. Sufferings are there only to break our stubbornness, our "stupidity," nothing more, nothing less. We all like sheep have gone astray. In one word, stubborn. Here's the story:

Isaiah 53.5-6: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Few folks in the bible learned this truth about a painless life, like Jabez, Abel, and perhaps Enoch? No pain. No hardships. Jabez got the idea and asked God to get rid of his sufferings and end pain and prosper him instead. God granted him all that. He saw what life was all about as God wanted it. "I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly." We never get the idea. Church today focuses on sufferings to please God, not to demolish hard-headedness and ego. 

Well, Abel was killed by Cain, and that must have been painful. But it was not due to Abel's stubbornness. Enoch walked with God for 300 years, and ordinary mortals will find this tiring and painful, but I think not if you're literally walking with God. That long walk was not about pain and suffering but about abundant life. I believe Abel and Enoch got it all right. 

Pain and suffering are only there to humble us and make us submit. God needs to break us to make us pay attention. "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees," says Psalm 119.71. But if we learn to be crucified with Christ so that we no longer live but Christ lives in us, pain is no longer necessary. The pain and sufferings Paul wrote about were no longer about the cares of life but the glory of Christ. Dying now is gain. It's Christ suffering in you, not you. You're pain-free.

Psalm 119.67: "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word"

But wait....there's a second reason for pain and suffering. It's exposing the hearts of men. God calls and appoints a few, select people to be objects of disdain and hatred to let us see what really is in our hearts. And if you're appointed for this, you're often made to suffer want or even poverty. You're made to fail. People hate losers, even church people. Sometimes, you're made to suffer one woe after another so you seem accursed. Then people begin to judge you instead of help you. It's what happened to Job.

It's what happened to the guy the Good Samaritan helped but the priest and Levite avoided. Somebody has to be a victim, an underdog or a weakling in the eyes of men. Someone useless to people, or always needing help. Hearts are exposed when people meet the needy. God watches how people will react and what they will do, either help or ignore. Even with people who help, God watches the hidden intentions and motives. So, are you called to this, to playing victim, to having hearts exposed?

If people just obey Christ's new command to love one another as Jesus loves us, there will be no need for fall guys, scapegoats or victims. No need for a select few to suffer pain. If we just give up everything we have and give to the poor (especially mega churches and denominations), there will be no need for suffering. If we obey Jesus' teaching to give to anyone who asks and do not turn away those who borrow from you, there will be no need for sufferers. 

Matthew 5.32: Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

But people are stubborn. So there's pain. And they build doctrines and teachings around it, telling us to be patient and endure sufferings but not doing anything to stop our pain and poverty. Jesus says the pain can be stopped. Human religion simply says endure it.

James 2.15-17: Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  

1 John 3.17: If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?

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When God Demolishes Your testimony

Sometimes God demolishes your testimony. I know how we all take care to have a good testimony that will "glorify God," that's how we say it, but in reality we keep a good testimony to be approved of men. When we get too concerned about keeping a good testimony, sometimes we end up glorifying ourselves through our own efforts. 

Photo by Atharva Tulsi on Unsplash.

Now, let me get this clear. God aims to give you glory ("the glory which you gave me I have given them," John 17.22), so that God is glorified in you. If God is glorified in you, God will glorify you in Himself (because Jesus is in you) and will glorify you at once. This is the Kingdom principle behind it:

John 13.31-32: "Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

But it all should derive from God's initiative and supernatural action on your life. Not your own efforts or goals. Thus, when you try to keep your testimony pure and acceptable to God and men, everything becomes human effort. Your righteouness is not by grace or imputed by God on you. It becomes by works of the flesh. You're back to man's religion. It's the Pharisaical spirit, holier-than-thou attitude.

Now, when you heed the call of the Holy Spirit for genuine holiness (and I mean genuine holiness), he starts with your life and character. He makes them genuinely the works of his hands, not yours. So he starts demolishing your testimony. He starts pulling out the weeds you (and the enemy) planted in your faith story--because we're all fond of doing it. We embellish our testimonies to make them more appealing and "spiritual," but a false representation of what God is doing in us.

This is how a genuine testimony wrought by God's hands looks like:

Psalm 40.3: He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.

Isaiah 61.3: ...and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

All the works of his hands, all his planting.

But if our testimony is artificial, arranged by us and by the worldly church we belong to, God tears it down completely. Man-made testimonies will not work. They may build huge denominations and mega-churches, but not the glorious church of Jesus Christ, without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. This is how God demolishes testimonies:

Job 5.18:  "For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal."

Hosea 6.1: "Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up."

Now watch this:

Lamentations 3:1-3: I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. 2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; 3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

Lamentations 3.28-30: Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. 29 Let him bury his ace in the dust—there may yet be hope. 30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.

"Let him be filled with disgrace." There it is. The Lord intentionally exposes us to disgrace, specifically, to be filled with disgrace. Disgrace to the extreme. That will demolish your carefuly guarded testimony. Not through sins or wickedness but through bad publicity. The aim is to thoroughly humble us to the bones until self-pride and the ego is burned down.

Here's what God did to Paul:

2 Corinthians 6.4-10: As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8 through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

It's a Kingdom process of continuous testimony demolishing. We are clay pots that carry the glory of the Lord, and the breakable, fragile clay vessel shows that it's all God doing everything, not us.

2 Corinthians 4.7: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Hence, when you become really dead serious about holiness and revealing God's glory, the demolition work of the Holy Spirit happens everyday. You notice that instead of ministry and life successes, God begins to trim you down, what others see as "failures." You seem to be a failure, a loser, and the world soon despises you, including the worldly church. You start having humiliating life circumstances, shaming you to pieces beyond your control (because it is in His control), and you seem forced to make "wrong" and costly decisions. 

Like when Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute. Like when Ezekiel was made to cook his food on cow manure. Like when King Jehoshaphat prayed and publicly admitted that he didn't know what to do against a large enemy army. Like how Jeremiah suffered imprisonment. Like how Naomi suffered loss of her family and came back to Israel a loser. Like how Hannah was barren and was thought to be drunk when she prayed earnestly to God. Like how Job was considered a sinner just because of the tragedies that befell him. And last but not least, how Jesus opted to be born into a poor family and suffered a lot of mockery and persecutions. 

Yes, testimony demolition is carrying your cross daily and following Jesus. 

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When God Reverses Men's Decisions

Yesterday my eldest son sent us his "last" message on Messenger before he said he'd commit suicide the next day (today) if his financial problems with Asian Hospital in Alabang are not settled today, July 24,2026. Asian would pursue their charges of estafa with fraud and have him jailed if he does not come up with the sum. He told us he'd rather commit suicide than suffer imprisonment.

Photo by Jason Wo on Unsplash.

It's devastating, to say the least, and hurts a lot for a father to have his son say this. Since he was a baby, I've been praying for him to be a dedicated Christian serving the Lord, up to this very day, counting deeply on God to have my prayers answered, and yet this is what happens. Since yesterday and especially today, I've been rattled. I don't know what's going to happen--I just know God can do anything. He can do all things, even make people decide according to his plan, or make them reverse their plan and make it favorable to your prayer. The Holy Spirit can make people at Asian take pity on my son and give him leeway on how he can pay in installments in amounts he can afford, in proportion to his salary. His sovereignty supercedes men's will and decisions.

Even stubborn Pharoah just succumbed to what God wanted him to do. He had no choice, although he had, but actually didn't. He gave us freewill but his sovereignty can easily displace it whenever he chooses. When we seriously consider the extent and power of his sovereignty we'd see how there's really no freewill--and still we're rightly accountable for everything we do. Yes, we have freewill, but we don't, but we do, but we really don't. Because that's how he makes all things work together for good to those who love him, and how his mercy and justice works. He can do all things for us, the parents, who intercede in behalf of our erring son.

Our son cannot pray to God and be heard because he's in sin right now, despite our many admonitions. We cannot force him to change, but we can intercede. Intercession is designed for those who cannot pray and be heard, or those who cannot pray at all. God has lots of promises and instances where intercessions were powerfully answered. And even Jesus and the Holy Spirit themselves intercede for us when we do not know how to pray. 

We're counting on God to hear our intercessions for our son. I'm sure God will:

1. Draw my sons to the Lord Jesus so they'll surrender their lives to him.
2. Always draw them to His Word and Presence so powerfully.
3. Keep my son from being imprisoned.
4. Hold Asian Hospital and command them to just take pity on my son and withdraw their charges.
5. Provide my sons good livelihoods, a work or a business ,or both.
6. Provide lucrative monthly incomes for my sons, especially my eldest.
7. Enable my eldest to pay all his debts, especially to Asian. 
8. That my sons live a life pleasing to the Lord and serve him.
9. Powerfully counsel my son not to entertain suicidal thoughts.

I believe these things are easy for God to grant, as his grace and mercy to us and our son. If you will, you can join us pray these requests. 

True believers can intercede for the sins of their fellowmen, especially their families, when they're in sin and are yet unrepentant. If they have a dire need but cannot approach the throne of grace, we who are able by God's grace and mercy can and must intercede for them, with all humility and thanksgiving.

Nehemiah 1.6-7: Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

Then Nehemiah asked God to make King Artaxerxes favor his request. 

Verse 11: Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.

The kingdom principle is clear--God can make people decide according to his plan. Much better, God can make people act and decide according to how we ask God to have it happened. God allows us the privilege to decide what we like to happen in a situation, provided we don't intend it for harm. We can decide how things will happen and God will make it so. "According to your faith it will be done to you," [Matthew 9.29]. Here's another powerful word from Jesus.

Mark 11: 22-23: ...and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

Believe that what you say will happen. No less than Jesus Christ said it. It will be done for you. It will happen. The only requirement is "Have faith in God." This is the faith I stand on, founded on Jesus' own Word, when I pray for my sons, especially for my eldest--that God will intervene and tell Asian to spare my son and just take pity on him and help him pay his debt to them. My son is willing to pay. Just enable him.  

God can make people act and decide according to how we ask God to have it happened.  

The powerful King Nebuchadnezzar, a non-believer, also had no choice. Against his will, God took him to the wilderness to live like a wild animal. He did so. He had the freewill to refuse, but God's sovereign power overruled his freewill even if he was the most powerful earthly king at the time. He lived like an animal. On the day and at the time decided by God, he finally admitted God's overall sovereignty because he had no choice but to agree with God and obey.

Once a child of God goes to the throne room and petitions God to do something, he will grant according to the details of the petition. It's because the grace to approach the throne of grace and the details of the petition are all also from God himself. He put the idea into the heart of the petitioner. That's the Word being sent into your heart, and then you are given the grace to either ask for it in prayer, or to declare it to existence.

Ezra 1.1: ...in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm.

Look at what Cyrus proclaimed and did in favor of Israel. Look at how extensive his edict was, providing for everything needed. God moved heaven and earth to fulfill the declaration of Jeremiah which God put in his heart to prophesy. 

"And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem."

The same kingdom principles apply when we pray or make intercessions for other people. And this is what I believe for my son. I know he is in sin and did terribly wrong things to Asian Hospital. But God's mercy is vast and extensive, applying to everything in all creation especially when petitioned by his child in Christ, a child whom God declares to be a co-heir with Christ. He will create miracles and wonders to reveal himself to us--in my case, to my son, to glorify himself in his eyes.

Romans 8.32: He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

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Why Have You Forsaken Me?

For years I have been wondering about this passage. Why was Jesus abandoned and even shouted it in public to let everyone know how he felt? Wouldn't that be bad publicity? He could've just kept it in secret, suffering quietly, since he had the self-control and self-discipline to do so. 

Picture above by Der_ Hördt.

But now the world knows that he felt abandoned, left alone on the cross and at the point of death, shouting defeat blatantly in public. Now we know that God can actually do it, forsake someone, even in the absence of guilt. It's scary to think that it can happen. If it happened to Jesus, the Son of God, how much more to us?

When Jesus hung upon the cross and uttered the anguished words, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46), he revealed not just the depth of His suffering but the pain of abandonment, being left to die in shame. This cry was not a loss of faith, but the raw expression of a soul bearing the full weight of sin and separation. At that moment, Jesus entered into the darkest valley of human experience, identifying with every person who has ever felt forsaken, alone, or overwhelmed by despair. You know the feeling of desperately hoping but getting nothing?

The cry echoes Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This psalm, written centuries earlier, prophetically foreshadows the suffering of the Messiah. By invoking it, Jesus was not only expressing his agony but also pointing to the fulfillment of Scripture. The fulfillment of suffering. Psalm 22 continues with vivid descriptions of pierced hands and mocked suffering, reminding us that His pain was foretold and purposeful.

I stand aside and wonder about knowing beforehand what terrible things you will suffer. How were you supposed to live life with that foreknowledge? I think Jesus had played with the idea that suffering could be scratched from the plan of salvation and simply be decided with an edict. Just save and snatch them from hell. "If it's possible, let this cup pass from me." Can we just skip this part?

To me, the whole crucifixion episode shows how it's possible to be left abandoned, in deep despair and disappointment, and with God seemingly nonchalant about it all. And there's no clear explanation why, leaving you in the dark and utter confusion. Probably like how Job must have felt, lost, alone and misunderstood. In Jesus' case, he was left to suffer and die. No rescue happened though he is the Son of God. In Job's case, rescue did happen, but after a long bout with suffering that seemed uncalled for and senseless. The question remains---what for?

Why did Jesus have to suffer? Many would quickly answer---because our salvation and redemption required his blood being shed for our sins. I know. But still, why? Because all things are possible to him, God could have just decided to grant us salvation through Jesus minus the cross. Just say the word. And we'd just repent and believe Jesus. That ought to do it. That wouldn't have been impossible for God to decide and do. Anything he decides and says goes.

Isaiah 46.10: I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'

But he decided that suffering should accompany everything that he sees real value in before he grants it to us, although it's all by grace when we do receive it, not of works or hardships. It's all a gift from God. And Jesus showed that what's given by grace and mercy always comes with suffering, not as payment, but a way of subduing the flesh which is apt to misusing God's gifts.

From the Old Testament, we see several passages that lend us insights into his sufferings:

1. Psalm 22:1 – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This verse is the direct source of Jesus’ cry, showing that His suffering was part of God’s redemptive plan. It reminds us that even in abandonment, Scripture holds the promise of ultimate vindication.

2. Isaiah 53:4–5 – “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering… he was pierced for our transgressions.” Isaiah’s prophecy reveals that Jesus’ sense of abandonment was not for His own sins, but for ours. He bore the crushing silence of heaven so that we might never be truly forsaken.

3. Lamentations 1:12 – “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any suffering like my suffering.” This lament captures the uniqueness of Christ’s agony. his suffering was unparalleled, for he carried the burden of the world’s sin.

4. Deuteronomy 31:6 – “Be strong and courageous… for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” This promise seems to stand in tension with Jesus’ cry. Yet in that tension lies the mystery: Jesus experienced forsakenness so that we could be assured of God’s abiding presence.

These things Jesus underwent, leaving us an example, that we should follow in his footsteps. We do not suffer and shed blood to save people from sin and cleanse them of iniquity, but we sometimes suffer for their spiritual benefit. It's why martyrs are killed for their faith. It's why ordinary believers like us are often persecuted and mocked by nonbelievers. Although I believe all these could be circumvented if God wills it, but for some mysterious reasons he designed suffering to go hand in hand with a healthy spiritual life. I accept it, but I still wonder why.

In devotional reflection, we see that Jesus’ cry was both deeply human and profoundly divine. As a man, he felt the crushing loneliness of abandonment. As the Son of God, he bore the separation that sin creates between humanity and the Father. His cry was the sound of love stretched to its breaking point, love that would not turn away even when it meant enduring silence from heaven.

Maybe, God wants to see the same results accomplished in us, by his grace and the power of the Holy Spirit in us, for Jesus lives in us 100 percent.

For us, this moment is a source of comfort. When we feel abandoned, we can know that Jesus has walked this path before us. He understands the silence, the unanswered prayers, the seeming and disturbing silence of God, the weight of despair. Yet His cry was not the end of the story. Psalm 22 moves from lament to praise: “You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will declare your name to my people.” (Psalm 22:21–22). The cross leads to resurrection, and abandonment gives way to restoration.

Jesus may have died on the cross without any rescue from heaven, but the promise above assures us of a different ending. After all, we are not the Savior. We're not the only begotten Son destined before the creation of the world to die and save those who will believe.

But still, it's scary and makes me think about it all. But it also makes me seek refuge deep into the shadow of the almighty. To find peace that surpasses understanding in his secret place.

In prayer, we can approach the cross with honesty. We can bring our own cries of “Why, Lord?” knowing that Jesus Himself prayed such words. And we can trust that just as the Father did not ultimately abandon the Son, He will not abandon us. The cry of forsakenness becomes the assurance of eternal presence.

Thus, Jesus’ words on the cross are not only a window into His suffering but also a doorway into our hope. He was abandoned so that we might be embraced. He cried out in despair so that we might sing in joy. His silence from heaven secured for us the eternal promise: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

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How to be Put to Severe Testing: "He Feared God and Shunned Evil"

Not everyone is chosen for this. Most people are chosen to be rich, successful or placed in high position or in leadership. Many more are chosen to make lots of money. But very few are chosen to be tested as Job was tested. And you qualify for the test only if you fear God and shun evil.

When God sees someone seriously fearing God and shunning evil, he chooses him for testing, not to see whether he (or she) genuinely fears God and hates evil, but to brag about him to the enemy. The Book of Job lets us a peek into the happenings in the spirit realm, particularly the nature of spiritual warfare. It's not really a God versus Satan scenario but a Satan versus genuine men of God.

There cannot be a GOD versus Satan feud, because no one is God's equal to be honored the place as an equal "versus" God. "Versus" means equal forces warring each other. Satan is not an equal force against God. He is no match to GOD. So what we see in the Book of Job is a "presentation" of spirit beings before God, sort of reporting for duty, not a war preparation. And Satan was among those who "came to present themselves before God."

And here we see the devil roaming around the earth, "going back and forth," seeking whom he may devour. And because Job genuinely feared God and shunned evil, God bragged about him to Satan. 

“Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

You see that divine pride on a particular man of God? That's divine promotion. It's a powerful blessing to be favored with such fondness by no less than the Lord himself, saying it to Satan in person. Like, "He is my favorite!" We're used to calling anyone "man of God," just because he is seen active in ministry or in church leadership. We fail to grasp what the term realy is.

A genuine man of God is one whom God boasts of to the enemy. And we see how grave the consequence is when you're God's favorite, when he finds you genuinely fearing God and shunning evil. It's a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God, but it's also terrifying to be in his favor.

You want God's favor? Are you ready to be bragged off to Satan? 

It's a different thing to face some hardships now and then. That's normal and ordinary. Suffering a lot and being misunderstood for them---even seen as a stubborn, unteachable sinner---is a different thing altogether. People sympathize and pity you when you simply suffer some things, they even pray for you and help you. But when you're God's favorite being put to the test, you will be grossly misunderstood, rejected, judged and condemned, and hated, first of all, by friends and family.

If someone seems God-fearing and denouncing sin but is never put to severe testing that makes him suffer terribly and gets misunderstood and rejected by those close to him, he is either up for the testing very soon, or he just seems God-fearing and hating sin. If you're up for severe and cruel testing, brace yourself, go closer to God and spend more time with him. He alone will be your strength during those times when you'd feel abandoned and "punished" by God. But remember that such testing is actually promotion in the spirit realm, a higher level that no one in the worldly "Christian" church can ever understand or appreciate. 

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