Friday, August 20, 2021
How To Find Faith When There Is No Hope
Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son. Genesis 18:14
“According to your faith,” said Jesus Christ, “be it unto you!” (Matthew 9:29, KJV). What a statement! He was talking to a man who was blind from birth. This was no mere psychological stunt; no slight-of-hand trick. Here was a man who had never seen the white clouds float by, or the smile of a child or the thin wisp of smoke as it curled over a hut in a distant village. “In the same measure you believe, it will happen to you!” Is it merely the power of positive thinking, the teaching that believing makes it happen, or is there a missing element in the whole picture?
Jesus was talking to a man who could not be helped by medical science. Unlike some people’s physical problems stemming from psychosomatic causes, this man was without hope in the natural. He was blind, and no amount of positive mental gyrations could change that fact. Yet Jesus flatly asserts that what he desires will happen in relationship to his faith. Faith in whom? Faith in what? The blind man’s faith rested in a person‑‑Jesus Christ.
His perspective was that of a child who had been promised something by a loving Father who could be trusted, and—be very sure—what the blind man wanted— what he asked—for happened. His eyes were opened and he saw! Those things just were not supposed to happen. They were contrary to the laws of nature, contrary to human experience, contrary to everything that men knew to be true; nevertheless, his faith in God produced the impossible.
May I put it in very plain English? It is easy to assume that things such as I have just described do not happen today. It is intellectual to be convinced that a man who is blind remains blind unless medical surgery can restore his eyes. It is the tendency of the unregenerate man to assume that God is uninterested in our condition—if there is a God; but the eyes of faith recognize that there is a totally different perspective, a totally different realm, a different set of rules, one which knows no impossibility.
It is the life of faith, a faith that rests simply in God’s power to do for us what medical science cannot deliver. There is a theme found in both the Old and New Testaments which, like a haunting refrain, keeps coming to my mind. This is a question that on at least two occasions God put to men and women. To Sarah, who had been promised a son when she was an old woman well beyond the age of childbearing, the Lord asked, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14). Later God put the question to Jeremiah, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27, NKJV).
How about it? Dare you on the wings of faith be so preposterous as to believe God for the impossible? “According to your faith,” Jesus still says, “be it unto you!” The secret is faith in the might and power of God. Faith is not wishful thinking, not simple uneducated presumption. As Martin Luther put it, “Faith is a lively, reckless confidence in God.” George Mueller defined faith, “It is the confident assurance that what God has said in His Word is true, and that you can act upon it.” Faith is standing on the revealed promises of a God who laughs at the impossible. For a moment think of the biggest challenge in your life. What is it? Putting a marriage back together? Bringing your business back from chaos? Regaining your health? Now ask yourself, “Is there anything too hard for the God of all flesh?”
Resource reading: Hebrews 11:1-39
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/how-to-find-faith-when-there-is-no-hope/
Olympic figure skater Michael Martinez will miss 2022 Winter Games
Michael Christian Martinez will not be competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
This after the Philippine Skating Union (PHSU) announced that Sofia Frank and Edrian Celestino will be the country's representatives to the Nebelhorn Trophy on September 22-25.
Only one skater per gender is allowed per country in the Nebelhorn Trophy, which is the final Olympic qualifying event to be held in Germany.
Martinez, the first Southeast Asian figure skater to compete in the Winter Olympics, reportedly had to sit out due to injury.
He represented the Philippines in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games.
Martinez, who took a hiatus from figure skating after the 2018 Winter Olympics, recently set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $50,000 to support his qualifying campaign for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/20/21/michael-martinez-will-miss-2022-winter-olympics
Sakto | TeleRadyo (20 August 2021)
Comelec postpones 5 plebiscites
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will postpone five plebiscites, including one that will decide whether to divide Maguindanao into two provinces, until after the May 9, 2022, national and local elections.
In a resolution issued last week, the Comelec said it needed to set a cut-off date for the conduct of plebiscites in order to put all its resources into the preparation for next year’s national and local elections.
The plebiscites, which the Comelec said will be conducted “within four months from the end of the election period,” we're supposed to ratify dividing Maguindanao into two provinces; converting the municipality of Calaca in Batangas province into a component city; converting San Jose Del Monte City into a highly urbanized city; creating Barangay New Canaan in the municipality of Alabel, Sarangani; and merging Barangay District 1 with Barangay District 28 and renaming Barangay 29 in Ormoc City. —DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN
The history of House Bill No. 6413:
ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 00249
SUBMITTED ON 2020-02-27
SUBMITTED BY: LOCAL GOVERNMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS: Approval in substitution of House Bills Numbered 3405 and 4840
SUBSTITUTED BILLS: HB03405, HB04840
ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE COMMITTEE ON RULES
REFERRAL TO THE COMMITTEE ON RULES ON 2020-03-02
DATE INCLUDED IN OB: 2020-03-02
BUSINESS FOR THU/FRI ON: 2020-03-04
SECOND READING INFORMATION
PERIOD OF SPONSORSHIP: 2020-03-10
DATE SPONSORSHIP/DEBATE CLOSED: 2020-03-10
DATE APPROVED ON SECOND READING: 2020-03-10
THIRD READING INFORMATION
DATE COPY DISTRIBUTED TO MEMBERS: 2020-05-14
DATE APPROVED BY THE HOUSE ON THIRD READING: 2020-06-01
THIRD READING TITLE: AN ACT DIVIDING THE PROVINCE OF MAGUINDANAO INTO TWO (2) PROVINCES, NAMELY: NORTHERN MAGUINDANAO AND SOUTHERN MAGUINDANAO
ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE SENATE/HOUSE
DATE RECEIVED BY THE SENATE: 2020-06-03
DATE PASSED BY THE SENATE: 2021-03-09
PASSED WITH AMENDMENTS(Y/N)? : Y
DATE HOUSE AGREED TO THE SENATE AMENDMENTS: 2021-03-22
REMARKS: Date Message Senate Passed with Amendments received by the House: 2021-03-10, Date concurred with the Senate amendments E-transmitted and received by the Senate on 2021-03-24: Physically transmitted and received by the Senate on 2021- 04-12
DATE COPIES OF ENROLLED BILL RECEIVED BY THE SENATE: 2021-04-22
DATE SIGNED COPIES OF ENROLLED BILL RECEIVED BY THE HOUSE: 2021-04-28
DATA TRANSMITTED TO THE PRESIDENT: 2021-04-29
DATE ACTED UPON BY THE PRESIDENT: 2021-05-27
PRESIDENTIAL ACTION:(A)PPROVED/(V)ETOED/(L)LAPSED : A
REPUBLIC ACT NO.: RA11550
ORIGIN: HOUSE
REPUBLIC ACT TITLE: AN ACT DIVIDING THE PROVINCE OF MAGUINDANAO INTO TWO (2) PROVINCES, NAMELY: MAGUINDANAO DEL NORTE AND MAGUINDANAO DEL SUR
Section 54 of R.A. No. 10360 provides: "Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days upon its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general and local circulation."
Fifteen days from 27 May 2021, the date of publication is 11 June 2021. Sixty days from 11 June 2021, the date of effectivity is 10 August 2021.
After the effectiveness of R.A. No. 11550, the COMELEC suspended the conduct of all plebiscites as a matter of policy and in view of the preparations for the 9 May 2022 National and Local Elections. On 11 July 2022, the COMELEC extended the policy on suspension of the holding of plebiscites by resolving to defer action on the holding of all plebiscites until after the 5 December 2022 Barangay Elections.
On 6 November 2021, Davao Oriental Rep. Joel Mayo Almario filed House Bill No. 10425 seeking to postpone the December 2022 barangay and SK elections to May 2024.
During a meeting held on 31 January 2024, the COMELEC decided to hold the plebiscite for the division of Maguindanao simultaneously with the 6 May 2024 Barangay Elections to save on expenses. The COMELEC, in Minute Resolution No. 13-0926, approved the conduct of the Concept of Execution for the conduct of the plebiscite on 8 February 2024.
On 20 February 2024, Bartolome J. Sinocruz, Jr., the Deputy Executive Director for Operations of the COMELEC, issued a memorandum furnishing a copy of Minute Resolution No. 13-0926 to Atty. Remlane M. Tambuang, Regional Election Director of Region XI; Udtog Tago, Provincial Election Supervisor of Maguindanao; and to all election officers of Maguindanao. On 11 March 2024, the COMELEC promulgated Resolution Nos. 9771 and 9772.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1476169/comelec-postpones-5-plebiscites
Comelec halts 5 plebiscites before polls
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has postponed all plebiscites that were scheduled to be conducted before the 2022 elections so as not to delay the preparations for the May 2022 national elections.
In Resolution No. 10716, the Comelec identified five pending plebiscites to be postponed:
- The plebiscite to ratify the division of Maguindanao into two provinces;
- The plebiscite to ratify the conversion of the municipality of Calaca in the province of Batangas into a component city;
- The plebiscite to ratify the conversion of the City of San Jose Del Monte into a highly urbanized city;
- The plebiscite to ratify the creation of Barangay New Canaan into a regular and distinct barangay in the municipality of Alabel, Sarangani; and
- The plebiscite to ratify the merging of Barangay District 1 to Barangay District 28 and renaming of Barangay 29 in Ormoc City.
“The Commission En Banc...hereby resolves to suspend the conduct of all plebiscites and schedule the holding of said plebiscites within four months from the end of the election period for the May 9, 2022 national and local elections,” the resolution read.
“Considering the timeline laid above for the preparation for the 2022 NLE and the arduous preparations needed for its implementation, in order to concentrate all its resources in the preparation for the May 9, 2022 National and Local Elections, there is a need to set a cut-off date for the conduct of plebiscites,” it read.
The Comelec also cited that their calendar of activities is already filled – from the configuration of vote-counting machines, to the preparation of the final database for all elective positions, to the printing of ballots – for them to work on the conduct of plebiscites in 2021.
The Comelec likewise said there are other functions that require the exercise of both administrative and quasi-judicial powers of the Commission in relation to the conduct of the 2022 NLE.
They include the resolution of petitions for registration as a political party, petitions for registration for purposes of participating in the party-list system and resolutions of petitions for disqualification or petitions to deny or cancel Certificates of Candidacy.
They also said that plebiscites may consume more preparation time due to COVID-19 challenges, as experienced during the Palawan plebiscite in March.
Comelec defers plebiscites, shifts focus on May 2022 national, local polls
The conduct of a plebiscite that could determine the division of Maguindanao into two provinces, and four other plebiscites have been deferred by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to enable the poll body focus on the forthcoming national and local elections in May.
In its Resolution 10716, the Comelec en banc cited “arduous preparations” needed for the holding of May 2022 elections amid the pandemic.
The poll body added that they also have put in place some quarantine protocols in and every plebiscite, thus, necessitating the rescheduling of the electoral exercises.
“The preparation for the plebiscite may take longer time in view of the Covid-19 pandemic as experienced in the last March 2021 Palawan plebiscite wherein the Commission took more than four months to complete the process,” the Comelec en banc said.
The new issuance will apply to the following plebiscites: to ratify the creation of Barangay New Canaan into a regular and distinct barangay in the municipality of Alabel, Sarangani Province; to ratify the merging or Barangay District 1 to Barangay District 28 and renaming of Barangay 29 in Ormoc City; and to ratify the conversion of the municipality of Calaca in the province of Batangas into a component city.
Also affected by the resolution are the plebiscites to ratify the conversion of the City of San Jose Del Monte into a highly Urbanized City and the division of Maguindanao Province into two provinces.
“…By virtue of the powers vested in it by the Constitution, the Omnibus Election Code, and other election laws, hereby resolve, as it hereby resolves to suspend the conduct of plebiscites,” the Comelec en banc said.
The said plebiscites will now be held “within four months from the end of the election period for the May 9, 2022 National and Local Elections.”
Resolution 10716 was approved by the Comelec en banc last Wednesday and will immediately take effect after it is published in two daily newspapers of general circulation.
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