Appreciation is The Key

Real Peace at Home

2015-09-24T23:17:00.002-07:00

Divorce and same-sex marriage killed the family. But the devil won't succeed with his ambition of populating the world with drug addicts and prostitutes by wiping out the family institution. Five Christian principles were discussed engagingly in the ebook, "Real Peace at Home." One of them is the Bible truth that marriage was God's invention. No one has the right, therefore, to redefine the family. The intervention of the government; the order of the US Supreme Court; the opinions of the intellectuals, the atheists, and the homosexuals--all these groups don't have the authority to destroy the home.

Authored by me, Romulo P. Espina, Jr. (Jun P. Espina), this volume is helpful for those who are convinced that a happy home has to be anchored on sound principles.
Press this link for more information about "Real Peace at Home."

(Published also at Wise and True.)

Why did Manny Pacquiao lose to Timothy Bradley, Jr?

2012-06-10T00:44:00.000-07:00

Why Did Manny Pacquiao Lose?

Why did Manny Pacquiao lose to Timothy Bradley, Jr?

In order for Manny to understand the meaning of true biblical Christianity as he was telling the whole world few months before the fight that he was converted to the true Christian faith. What is it? Well, it was written in the cloak of Evander Holyfield (a world boxing champion whose ear was bitten by Mike Tyson): "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

Where's Freddie Roach, Manny's coach, or where's Pacquiao's strength? Well, it was all true before Manny's conversion, if it is true that he became a born-again Christian already. For God said that "I will not give my glory to another." God doesn't want Manny to glorify himself. God gave Manny Christian Lesson 101: "You will win Manny according to My will, not yours or Roach's.

For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another. Isaiah 48:11

[Note: Paquiao's first fight against Bradley.]

How to be happy with yourself?

2012-05-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

If happiness is defined as joy or positive emotions which we normally experience with our inner beings, therefore happiness has to start from within, rather than from without. For example, will you be truly happy receiving the insurance benefits of your beloved someone--benefits from the policy of a dead wife or a dead child? Certainly, not. True happiness thus, cannot be bought with money for it is all about yourself, not any stimulus outside of your person. To be happy with yourself is purely "self business"!

There are people who can't be truly happy with themselves amidst their millions of dollars or a good wife, a good job, or good-looking children. Again, because happiness is self business--it starts from within you. Solve that empty-something in your heart first, before you can have true peace with yourself, the real essence of happiness--yes, peace within!

What is that empty-something that's somehow invading your happy serenity? Well, it is that feeling of vulnerability, rejection, hopelessness, insecurity, irrational ambition, selfishness, a guilty conscience, a feeling of sinfulness--a feeling of being unclean, wicked and godless inside you.

Someone has well said this: "The first solution to a problem is acceptance that it really exists." Yes, it is never a happy feeling amidst good looks, riches, and fame, if in your unguarded moments the thought of becoming so poor or so old and sickly or having a divorce--or the thought of dying or of hell--comes flashing and swinging like a light of persistent truth occupying and parading in your reveries. We have a problem, an empty something, a vacuum inside us we need to be filled in with truth and reason. Adam of old experienced it after being catapulted out of paradise: our meaning! Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where shalll we go from here? These are the three questions of life. Answer them and you'll be happy!

I have a problem: Socrates taught us to "Know thyself" but failed to teach us how! I will tell you how: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest," said Jesus Christ our Lord. Matthew 11:28.

Please follow this link: By this Verse

Lady Gaga - Judas Lyrics

2012-05-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

"Gaga" in Filipino means insane. I don't know how do you judge a popular singer like Lady Gaga who said in "Judas Lyrics:"

I wanna love you (referring to Judas)

. . .

Judas is the demon I cling to
I cling to

In the most Biblical sense

I am beyond repentance

Fame hooker
Prostitute wench
Vomits her mind
But in the cultural sense
I just speak in future tense

I don't know why there are more twisted minds among our great artists who love to be notorious than famous--who love to be weird than godly.

Boy Abunda, a popular TV personality in the Philippines, defended Lady Gaga's song by saying "it is a metaphor." It is just like saying that a demonic song, no matter how offensive it is to Bible believers, is acceptable because it does not have a direct meaning.

But how do you judge this one: "Judas is the demon I cling to, I cling to. . . ?"

Lady Gaga looks like a demon herself, if one has a sense of what is decent and righteous. The popular acceptance of Gaga's demonic music is a sign that the majority have already lost a sense of meaning on true Christianity which has built the greatest civilizations ever since the dawn of time.

Is it ok to marry someone you don't love?

2012-05-21T04:38:00.000-07:00

Is it okay to marry someone you don't love? On the part of man, no, but of the woman, yes. Why? Because men are by nature fixed-minded. Unlike women. Secondly, the Bible requires women to obey and submit to their own husbands. God's instruction for men was different: love and die for your wife!

The problem with most men is unreasonable physical attraction toward the opposite sex. Worse, they usually think it is love already when it is just a lustful and sex-driven emotion. True love is physical attraction plus respect and acceptance of the one being loved. The tendency of most men after sex is disrespect or the feeling of having a would-be partner who's cheap and a sex whiz notwithstanding her routine pretensions.

There's only one rule: never marry a person for the sake of an experiment. A woman who will marry a man for the sake of money may somehow find herself appreciating her husband as the years go by. But men are different, for they feel their resources are greatly affected and sucked by whatever sad marital relationships they are in to.

Will man marry for the sake of money? Yes, just like most women, most men are also potential gold diggers. But they will never learn to develop love to someone they hated at the back of their minds. If the woman is still young, he may tolerate the union for the sake of sex. But the "tiger" in him will soon wake up when his wife's menopausal appetite towards sex becomes evident to him.

How to determine a serious lover?

2012-05-20T07:20:00.000-07:00

I have the privilege of interviewing many single moms, and I noticed that ages 23-26 is the common age bracket where one becomes a mother but not a wife. A certain single mom asked me this question: "How to determine a serious lover?"

At first, I pretended to be an expert about the subject. In reality, I didn't know how to answer her. Grappling for words, I said, "well, sex is man's greatest interest in a woman, loving or even marrying her is just second." "If that's the case," she replied, "then it is really difficult to determine if the father of my child is serious with our relationship." "That's why," I added, "a long engagement period (at least a year) is encouraged rather than engaging a sexual relationship with a man who's but a stranger to you."

I tried to explain to her that sex is supposed to be sacred, and marriage holy for they are God's. But, it seemed she wasn't interested about my thoughts, for she was bent to have her boyfriend marry her.

I believe that the single-mom phenomenon will continue to invade the marriage-first-before-pregnancy culture, because society as a whole is quite permissive about it. I think we, parents, have to help our daughters to bear a godly perspective about life, marriage and family.