LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, `Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus’…” (Matthew 1:20, the Holy Bible).
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BIBLE SAYS JESUS IS NOT A HUMAN BEING: The account given by Matthew 1 of the Bible on how the birth of Jesus, our God and Saviour, came about makes it clear that He is not a human being. The angel that announced the birth or the coming of Jesus to Joseph, the man who was to marry Mary, the mother of Jesus, explained quite clearly: Jesus is from the Holy Spirit.
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FLORIDA AIRPORT SHOOTING MORE THAN JUST “INSANITY”: One of the theories being considered in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, airport shooting that killed five people and injured a dozen others on January 06, 2017 was that the shooter, identified as of now as “Esteban Santiago” through a military ID that was captured from him, was mentally deranged. Well, it could be that the man was deranged, but there is more to this than simple insanity.
Indeed, how could a man who is of confused mind carry a gun in his carry-on luggage and then manage to enter international airports undetected? Every traveller knows he could be arrested at anytime by very strict airport authorities if he had items considered as contraband, particularly a gun, stashed somewhere in his luggage. Many of us who have gone through airport entrances, especially in international airports, also know that it is a virtual “mission impossible” to carry a gun in a carry-on luggage without being detected right away.
So the question here is: how was “Esteban Santiago” able to avoid the x-ray machines and the eagle-eyed security personnel in the airports which he passed through before arriving at Fort Lauderdale? There could be a thousand and one possibilities here, and all are scary, particularly for travellers around the world.
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HOW CAN WE BE PROTECTED FROM SENSELESS VIOLENCE? The drill had always been the same—airports, particularly those catering to international travellers—are supposed to be the safest places anywhere on earth. No one who had anything that could be used to cause harm to the airports themselves, or to the planes travelling through them, and most especially to the travellers themselves, would be allowed entry. In fact, even a simple bottled water is not allowed to be brought in after a passenger has checked in.
It is therefore highly disturbing, to say the least, to read or listen to reports that one traveller managed to bring in his gun, in his carry-on luggage yet. How could this have happened? Did the x-ray machines malfunctioned? Or were the security personnel simply inefficient and were not paying attention to what their screens were showing? Or, was the traveller with the gun allowed to travel with his gun?
Maybe we will never know anymore what truly transpired here, in much the same fashion that nobody ever came to know what truly happened in the other incidents that caused the death of many people. But that is not what is important here anymore. What is important is that, for you and me who have been given the chance to frequent airports somehow, the care and protection of God is always invoked by us all the time.
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JESUS IS FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT: The debate on whether Jesus is a man or is the very God who created the whole universe could be resolved if one looks thoroughly enough at Matthew 1:18-25. In these verses, we will see the announcement of the angel to Joseph that Jesus is from the Holy Spirit. Surely, there is no man who had been identified as having come from the Holy Spirit all throughout the history of humanity, isn’t it?
The fact that the Bible, in Matthew 1, confirms that Jesus is from the Holy Spirit, and whose birth was in fulfilment of the prophecies that God Himself will come down from heaven, in human likeness and form, in flesh and blood, should be enough proof that Jesus is God and Saviour, and is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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PLEASE LISTEN: “Ang Tanging Daan” (The Sole Way): a Bible study and prayer session online could now be heard, 24 HOURS a day, in the Philippines and the world at www.facebook.com/angtangingdaan or www.facebook.com/ANDKNK (and look for “Ang Tanging Daan” broadcasts). Phone: 0917 984 24 68, 0918 574 0193, 0977 805 9058. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com..