The Loss of Money is God’s Punishment

The loss of money is one of God’s punishment for those who violate his word. This sermon is delivered by Pastor Glen one of the participants of the Natural Farming and Technology System Seminar at Helen’s Farm, Joaquin Biao, Davao City on May 25-28, 2010.

Being immoral with a woman.

A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knows nothing. For she sits at the door of her house, On a seat by the highest places of the city, To call those who pass by, Who go straight on their way: “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant,” But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell. (Prov: 9:13-18)

Other Verses – Prov 5:1-10, 6:27-35, 7:4-25.

Spending too much time sleeping.

How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sheep, a little slumber,  A little folding of the hands to sleep – So shall your poverty come on you like a robber, And your need like an armed man. (Prov 6:9-11)

Other Verses – Prov 20:13.

Getting money by doing evil.

The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish, But He casts away the desire of the wicked. (Prov 10:3)

Failing to be diligent.

He who deals with a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes one rich. (Prov 10:4)

Co-signing a note.

He who is surety for a stranger will suffer for it. But one who hates being surety is secure. (Prov 11:15)

Having a stingy attitude.

There is one who scatters, yet increases more;  And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. (Prov 11:24)

Provoking your family to anger.

He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, And the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. (Prov 11:29)

Getting money without labor.

Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, But he who gathers by labor will increase. (Prov 13:11)

Refusing to listen to reproach.

Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards reproof will be honored. (Prov 13:18)

Talking too much.

In all labor there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to poverty. (Prov 14:23)

Other Verses – Prov 21:19, 25:24.

Being slothful.

The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. (Prov 13:4)

Other verses – Prov 19:15, 20:4, 21:25, 24:30-34, 26:13-16.

Rejecting the cry of the poor.

Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor. Will also cry himself and not be heard. (Prov 21:13,)

Other Verses – Heb 13:2.

Loving pleasure and loving wine.

He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich. (Prov 21:17)

Other Verses – Prov 23:29-35.

Giving to rich people.

He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty. (Prov 22:16)

Overeating.

And put a knife to your throat,  If you are a man given to appetite. (Prov 23:2)

Charging usury on loans.

One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion, Gathers it for him who will pity the poor. (Prov 28:8)

Following vain persons.

He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough. (Prov 28:19)

Trying to get rich quickly.

A man with evil eye hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him. (Prov 28:22)

Philippine Media and the Filipino IQ

In the Philippines, a nation that voted for a developmentally-challenged president, what is considered newsworthy is the President himself, attending the grade school graduation of a similarly developmentally-challenged nephew son of manic-depressive/attention-deficit/self-centered gameshow host and charlatan actress. It is not that I am prejudiced against the population leaning on the left of the normal curve. This is a matter of national concern with a broader and profound implication on the state of the country and its position in the world.

This 50 year old president, whose mental age may be 40 years less his chronological age, is obviously fond of his game-console partner and nephew, who’s mental age is about the same as uncle. Uncle has a national reputation for spending an awful lot of time until the wee hours of the morning playing video games oftentimes reporting late to Malacanang and missing several hours of meetings for his wanton satisfaction in the dream and gameland.

His pseudo actress-sister, aptly called hypo-krissy, also dominates the everyday news considered as newsworthy by the media magnates and the viewers alike. These news include her over-publicized separation with first legal husband basketball star, James Yap; her lovelife or the lack of it; her sons this and that; her views on the staged girl-friends of her genderless older brother; her expensive rocks; Victoria Secret underwear; and her contracting foot and mouth disease – a disease that is only found among hoofed animals which has mutated and infected the first human being in the world, Kris Aquino herself, her mouth, feet and brains.

But this nation whose 15 million voters who allegedly put the 50 year old bachelor incapable of establishing and maintaining relationships with the normal population and especially women puts into question the mental and psychological capacity of the very 15 million people who cannot distinguish between what is normal and its opposite, between real and reel, between facts and manipulated news and between competence and the lack of it.

So it must be true that Filipinos generally low IQ relative to neighboring developing Asian countries imperil the general well-being of its population. A study on National IQ’s  based on results of intelligence tests and estimated National IQ’s by Richard Lynn shows the following:  Japan = 105, Hongkong = 107, Singapore = 100, China = 100, South Korea = 106, Malaysia = 92, Thailand = 91 and the Philippines = 86 just two points higher than Iran, Libya, Fiji and Algeria and a notch lower than Azerbaijan, Brazil, Iraq and Jordan. “It was found that national IQs are correlated at 0.757 with real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita 1998. These results are interpreted in terms of a causal model in which population IQs are the major determinant of the wealth and poverty of nations in the contemporary world.” Click link for more details  . http://www.rlynn.co.uk/pages/article_intelligence/t4.asp

The winner then, in this mind-game are the media networks who wear different hats as patron/client of the Cojuangco-Aquino’s and his election donors both legal and illegal, shamelessly and greedily taking advantage of the palpable incompetence of PEnoy and the 15 million clueless voters. While the rest of the Filipinos are drowning in material and intellectual poverty, PEnoys so called ‘friends’, ‘classmates’ and ‘family’ have accumulated so much profit, that they now virtually own the Philippines and the Filipino’s minds.

The Blind Old Beggar in Session Road, Baguio

He is a permanent fixture in Upper Session Road Baguio City. He has a name but I did not bother asking. I call him ‘manong’ like we call our older male kins. I have passed by ‘manong’ numerous times since 7 years ago. It was always the same posture. Sitting on the sidewalk, his head bowed probably in a state of dreaming like we do to temper a stream of a bad waking moment or perhaps in submission to the world that has caused him grief and misery. Manong’s hands are perpetually extended not out of need but probably out of custom.

How he gets to the place remains a mystery to me until one day I saw a decent looking guy fetching him one afternoon . Who is the young man who fetched him from the street? Is he a member of an authority?a syndicate? Or could he be, his son? I wonder what the Baguio City Government is doing about Manong – the human fixture on session road – a great reminder of the wretchedness of misery and poverty in the country.

The rest of Manong’s story is a mystery to me. I never bothered asking him. I have not yet taken the courage to do so. Maybe one day I will. Whenever it rains hard, like it does this afternoon, I think of manong. Where could be manong’s family who could have taken cared of him?Has he tasted or does he know the little joys that life and love can bring? Or could it be better for him to not know the difference? Does he ever know he exists in a world different from the dark world of blurring voices he knows? Or would his not knowing be better at all?

The streets in Baguio City is neither kind nor a fool. Most of the time Manong’s hands are empty. How much could he earn from staying on the streets all day? What keeps him coming to session road everyday? What keeps Manong living? What keeps this blind old beggar going? Is it life? Is it love? Or is it both?

(This is edited and reposted from my allvoices.com account)