Getting there with JP & Nok

The journey of a lifetime takes one step at a time, one day at a time, and with the marriage of this couple - one ceremony at a time. Ceremonies that took years in the making. An unusual setup so to speak, yet it was never wanting in suspense and thrill on the road to completely tying the knot.

The first event to kick off the whole process of getting married was a Thai/Chinese ritual that took place in Nok's house on September 2009. Some sort of engagement affair. 

That's how we looked back then... some skinny,

some a little heavy at the belly.

putting on the rings while families from 
both sides looked on. 

The second event was a few days later at the To-Sit resto...

with JP's batchmates
in nursing school.

 some of Nok's workmates

Nok's mom and bro Benz

and the Morenos of course.

Eight years went by and while the clock ticked, some documents had to be processed to get the legal certificate of marriage. It is not easy for a Filipino to marry a Thai. There are a myriad of requirements that have to be accomplished including a Certificate of No Marriage from the Philippines, which had to be done twice in JP's case and with the help of some relatives in Davao. All the papers that were required had to be brought to the Philippine Embassy in Sukhumvit for authentication and binding with a red ribbon. These were taken to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Chaeng Wattana were they were translated from English to Thai and were stamped as authentic. From here they were taken to the district office were they were scrutinized and the final approval for marriage was given.

After all the hassle, which took weeks, JP called to say that he wanted to give the finished documents to Nok at a dinner date to surprise her.

 ...and he knelt and proposed to her again.

 she said "yes" of course

just imagine this family tagging along

throughout their activities.

JP then announced that the coming Thursday would be the day, only to follow-up after yet another trip to the court that the clerk there said that more documents needed to be submitted. A week after that, the date was finally set - again. 

The instructions that JP and Nok gave were to rendezvous at the district office at Laksi and "do not come overdressed - just casual." Each of us wore what we thought was appropriate and drove to Laksi. We had a good laugh when we saw each other because...

...the boys came in similar attires with

papa dressed like the groom - like a best man,

and JJ and Jung dressed similarly like they

were the groomsmen.

the ladies too came in Japanese-inspired

attire that complimented each other.

At the Laksi district office we were told that JP and Nok could not be wedded there, because there was a glitch in the computer and the booking list could not be accessed and the couples who came ahead were already enough for them to handle for that day. A call to another district office - Bang Rak, confirmed a vacant slot as long as we got there before 12 noon. The distance between these locations is about 25 kilometers and considering the pre-lunch traffic we raced there to make the deadline.

One other car with Nok's mom and brother was late in coming and we only saw them at the Bang Rak office, and it was hilarious to discover... 

... that they too were wearing the blue denim 

and white shirt outfit. Call it coincidence

at its best.

We had to wait for about 2 hours for our turn with the judge because there was a long queue of couples. The next photos will testify to the fact that Nok finally became Mrs. Moreno.

There may still be one more ceremony in the near future. JP and Nok's friends and families are clamoring for a wedding ceremony/feast and I'm sure that she too would want a grand reception to mark her leap into married life, and for this reason, this blog is yet to be continued.

Cheers to the newly wed!!!

Shadrach and the King

The King sat on his throne and faced the nations that were gathered at his feet. "Next, Shadrach Santosidad!" An angel hurriedly finds Shad and brings him to the judgment seat.

"Shadrach, do you love me?" asked the King.

"Yes I love you my king" was Shad's almost inaudible yet confident reply.

"Did you keep my commandments?" the King followed up.

"Yes my King, I kept the Sabbath holy, didn't worship idols, didn't kill... all 10 commandments I have kept to the letter."

"Not so fast," says the King. "I didn't mean the Law of Moses - the 10 Commandments, that I gave exclusively to the descendants of Joseph - the grandson of Abraham, as a covenant. What I mean now are commandments that came straight from my mouth like, 'love your enemies,' 'do not judge' and many more."

Shadrach looked down at his toes and tries to recall his past. He remembers hating the hordes of rats that came to eat his corn and he thought that maybe the King didn't mean that. But his mind brought him back to a church board meeting where they passed judgement on someone.

"That's what I mean Shad" the King apparently reading Shadrach's thoughts, interrupts his musings. "Did you judge Sunny?"

"Yes King, we judged him because he would not listen to our reasoning with him. His baptism into our organization gave us the authority to judge him."

"Who told you to defy my commandment, Shad?"

"The woman oh King, the prophetess to whom you gave dreams and visions about the evils of coffee, wigs, masturbation, meat and many more." Shadrach exclaimed while trying to steady himself.

"Never mind that woman, she'll have her time here and don't use that reasoning with me, because Adam already blamed a woman when he accused Eve in the garden."

The loud buzz of the alarm clock jolted Shadrach from his sleep. "That dream was bizarre," he mused.

The body of Christ vs the Cult - 2

you will find this page's prequel in this link:
http://sunnimoreno.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-body-of-christ-vs-cult.html

A day after the exchange in the discussion Shad posted this:

What does the declaration of Shad say about his organization:
1. That they are actively subjecting their members to scrutiny and each one is judged according to the manual.
2. That they cannot tolerate members who come to worship who are known to have committed sin and are not receptive to their advice and admonition.
3. That baptism for them is an act of accepting the 'believer' into the organization as opposed to the biblical purpose for baptism, which is a only a public declaration that the person has accepted Jesus.
4. That after baptism the member becomes a subject who is under the rules stated in the manual and any offense against these rules deserve punitive action as decided by the officers of the organization. In other words, baptism to them is a badge of authority to judge someone even if it is a direct defiance against the command of Jesus.
5. That the Bible is not the guiding standard for behavior. They would rather uphold a manual apparently authored by a prophetess. 
6. That they claim to have divine authority to exact discipline on the erring member.

Let me ask the question once more: Can this organization - the Seventh-day Adventist church be considered the Body of Christ or is it a cult?

The body of Christ vs the Cult - 1

Each new day brings inspiration and motivation for this blogger to activate the laptop. Today is no exemption although the inspiration surprisingly came through a discussion thread in Facebook. 

Here is a snapshot of the thread in FB:

For starters, the participants in this discussion were schoolmates during college days and were enrolled at a Seventh-day Adventist college in the island of Mindanao, Philippines.

Shad River Saint retired from this school as a professor and still lives in the vicinity, Macie presently resides in the state of Nevada USA, while Renato owns and manages a hospital in the southern Philippines. This blogger is the guy whom Shad alluded to when he said "Some are simply confused. Actuslly some of them have long been droppef from our church."

Forget the topic of that thread for now, while we try to compare Shad's comment with the facts as outlined in God's Word - the Bible.

What does Paul teach regarding the baptized believer? 
1 Corinthians 12:

The Bible says that the believer is baptized into the Body of Christ and that's what all true christians uphold and teach. You will never find instruction or example in the Bible that the believer was baptized into an organization.

On another aspect let's take a look at the passage in Shad's organization's manual.

Shad's organization's manual says that they have been "conferred the power to act in Christ's stead" and they have the power to judge. This means that they claim to be the vicar of Christ, and on them is given the power to determine who will be bound or loosed from heaven and their decision will be ratified by God. 

Contrary to this, what did Jesus say in Matthew 7:1? "Judge not that ye be not judged."

I will not discuss further this issue, but let me present this question to the reader: Comparing Shad's comments to Biblical fact regarding his admission that his church is an organization and that its leaders have authority regarding who will be kept or loosed from heaven's records (damned or saved), is Shad's church a part of the BODY of CHRIST or is it a CULT?

Iya Chronicles - a typical day with grandpa Ben

(An ad for a live-in nanny in London circulated recently and it touted a 100,000 GBP/PA salary with the use of the family’s Porshe, Maserati, Range Rover among other high-end cars. Apparently the nanny in our story is oblivious to this ad and would rather keep to his non-paying nanny job without the perks being offered above. Please avoid showing or sharing this story online, because there's a chance that it may reach the concerned family in London and he might be pirated for their convenience.)

Sofia a.k.a. Iya - a toddler by now, is blessed with a crop of hair that is fast filling her crown, strong legs to run around and a special person - her maternal granddad, to look after her - for a whole day, while her dad, mom, and grandma are at work. 

The day starts with mama Aya taking Iya to grampa's house before she drives off to work. 

first things first - say hello to the neighbor's cat

who is a regular breakfast guest at the back porch.

morning devotional is next and she has

a lot of materials to choose from. the aloe vera

drink got misplaced somehow 

reading and storytelling follows and she's

anticipating her next activity and favorite subject,

which is...

 

recess - playtime! apparently grampa had to 

drive to the playground a few blocks away.

she's famished after running around and she 

doesn't have time to use the spoon. grampa's

cooking looks delicious 

from the kitchen they head to the bedroom for 

the siesta period. she needs her iPad,  

stuffed giraffe and a bottle of juice/milk to help

her get into the mood

 in no time she is in dreamland and it is too

obvious that this activity of the day is what her 

grampa loves best. he's right beside her.

today she's the "cleaner" so she tidies up to make 

sure that she gets good marks in work education.

 Before class is dismissed they sing the school song

and national anthem and as usual she leads 

the singing on the piano. she's browsing through

the "beatles' best" song book.

 I just wish that I had a photo of her awesome nanny before Iya's mama came to take her home. It would have been an indicator of how they both fared through all the activities.