Ka Erdy was laid to rest by the Almighty on August 31, 2009.

Peace and unity, even for a moment

Arroyo, Aquino, Estrada, Marcos, Velarde and Villanueva and many others.  These are the prominent and illustrious. The secular and the religious. On many fronts they are on different sides of the issues. But for one moment in time they were one, united, at peace with each other. These are people who experienced the greatness of this man Iglesia ni Cristo members lovingly call Ka Erdy.  There were no distinction between the common man, of whom many of the Iglesia Ni Cristo members are, and the rich and famous who paid their respect.  All were touched by the quiet  kindness, wisdom and power of this man.

They all lined-up, fell on queue and respectfully approached the place where the late Ka Erdy now lies. Men and women, young and old, the powerful and the powerless, the sick in wheelchairs and crutches, some in shock, some in tears, all paid their respect and last farewell to his man, Ka Erdy.

A great loss

First Lady Mrs Imelda Marcos and her son Representative Bongbong Marcos were among the first to arrive at the wake. The gracious lady wept openly remembering the friendship they had developed with the late leader. “We lost a great leader, a big loss to humanity!” she said.

Mayor Jose Francis Stevens M. Dizon of Guimba, Nueva Ecija  described the passing of the Executive Minister as “a gloomy period, not only for INC members, but also for the entire country.”

Worship services of Iglesia Ni Cristo are markedly somber. Members are overheard telling each other that this passing of the leader is the saddest day in their life. Choirmembers openly cried while they sang hymns of praises to God. Prayers for the family of the late Ka Erdy and for the whole church as a whole is said at every opportune time. Another milestone is set for the Church of Christ.

Selfless and kind.

The whole church, the Iglesia ni Cristo was shocked when the announcement came via word of mouth. Simultaneously with the announcement made on the television stations Net-25 and Gem-Tv, the news was slowly being spread by brethren all over the world. The shock wave can be felt as the sad news pass from one to another. He was already sick and yet he didn’t show it. The lessons, advices and caring continued. The lessons were still signed by him, obviously prepared weeks, even months ago. He cared for the welfare of his brothers and sisters. For 46 years he labored day and night to shepherd the flock. To guide them through this dark and wicked world. Like a loving and ever protective tatay he was always there, approachable, loving, giving.

Kris Aquino, the television personality and daughter of the late president said that she received a personal letter from Ka Erdy, telling her that he is praying for them and and their were in his thoughts. Kris Aquino was seen on television breaking down and crying openly for her mother. Unknown to all of us, Ka Erdy was also in his sickbed and only had a few days to live, and yet he reach out to comfort others. Such was the man, beloved by his brothers and sisters.

Love reciprocated

Driven by the love Ka Erdy extended unto them, members of the Iglesia ni Cristo reciprocated in the same love as they trooped to the Central Temple to pay their last respect. Oblivious of the heat and rain, hunger and thirst they stood in line shoulder to shoulder some weeping openly, to get a chance to take a short glance at Ka Erdy, to say their private goodbyes and to thank the man who was their shepherd for the last 46 years.

Goodbye po Ka Erdy. We will miss you. Your words ring clear in our hearts and minds. We will be steadfast in the faith. We will hold on to the truth you made us see. We will be forever grateful for the sacrifice you made on our behalf. Thank you po. At paalam.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Paalam po Ka Erdy. We will miss you po very much.

Nakikiramay po ang buo kong sambahayan sa pamilya ng pamamahala, Kapatid na Erano G Manalo. Nasa puso’t isipan po namin kayo.

Beacon of our hearts

In this void of darkness
When the times are hard
He rights the wrong
And reminds us of our God

In the depths of sadness
He lifts our spirits high
And keeps us strong
So we can carry on

He’s a man
Who fights for our salvation
In God’s hand
He will succeed
Through Jesus our Saviour
He will lead us together

(Chorus)
Beacon of our hearts
Like a trumpet
Your voice abounds
With the Lord’s holy words
Beacon of our hearts
You remind us
Put your faith in the Lord

We thank the Lord above
For all He gives and does
And for the man
Who shares the dream with us

And through the years he’s fightin’ on
To keep our faith alive
By God’s command
Our trodden hearts revive

He’s a man
Who fights for our salvation
In God’s hand
He will succeed
Through Jesus our Saviour
He will lead us together

Repeat Chorus 3x

95th Anniversary Logo

In my blog post titled “The Day the Earth Stood Still” I made a few predictions and alas, not all of them were fulfilled.  Yes, the sun and the moon continued to move across the sky, wars continued and those stars were still not visible during the day. But wait! Those are the only ones that weren’t fulfilled! The rest of my predictions materialized! No, I’m not a prophet. I just expected it because I know my brothers and sisters and I know their faithfulness to the Administration of the Iglesia ni Cristo, placed by God for our benefit. What happened? Read on.

From the east, to the west!

The Iglesia ni Cristo, which is celebrating its 95th anniversary on Monday, announced Thursday it will hold huge religious assemblies in 14 venues around the country and in five sites in four other countries.

In Metro Manila, the gatherings will be held at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, and at the Rizal Memorial Complex in Manila.

In the provinces, delegates will assemble at the following venues: Butuan City Sports Complex in Agusan del Norte; Bicol University Sports Complex and Commencement grounds in Legazpi City, Albay; Cebu Sports Center in Cebu City;

General Santos City Oval Plaza, South Cotabato; Davao Agro-Industrial Institute Football Field in Davao City; Quirino Stadium in Bantay, Ilocos Sur; Central Integrated Terminal in Santiago City, Isabela; Ashton Field Subdivision grounds in Calamba City, Laguna;

Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Villa del Sol Subdivision-Olongapo-Gapan Road in San Fernando City, Pampanga; Narciso Ramos Sports Center in Lingayen, Pangasinan; and Ipil Sports Complex in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga-Sibugay.

Gatherings will also be held at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. and HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, USA; Central Hall Westminster in London, UK; Parco Esposizioni Novegro in Milan, Italy; and Hills Center in Sydney, Australia.

The rest of the local congregations in the Philippines which are too far from the announced venues, as well as congregations in countries outside of the US, UK, Italy and Australia will also hold celebratory gatherings in their respective houses of worship simultaneously with the big assemblies.

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Traffic jams, business shutdown, government overwhelmed

Iglesia ni Cristo fill Rizal Stadium

Authorities advised the public yesterday that Roxas Boulevard and other roads in Malate, Manila shall be closed to traffic the whole day tomorrow to give way to delegates expected to attend the 95th anniversary celebration of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) at the Rizal Memorial Complex.

The United States embassy, which is along Roxas Boulevard, said it will suspend visa interviews and issuances tomorrow.

Source: philstar.com

Traffic has snarled for at least six hours Monday due to a buildup of vehicles traveling along the southbound lane of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), an employee of the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) said.

The heavy traffic began at around 9:17 a.m. at the Cabuyao exit due to a convoy of about 300 vehicles attending the Iglesia ni Cristo’s 95th anniversary celebration in Calamba City Monday afternoon, PNCC radio operator Rudy Lidris said in a phone interview.

Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

On Saturday, the two government agencies said they were suspending classes not only due to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) but also for the national observance of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) Day.

Source: gmanews.tv

Gathered Chosen Ones

One newspapers estimate of how many Iglesia ni Cristo members will participate was off by more that half.

It is estimated that 500,000 well-wishers and guests are expected to congregate on July 27 at Villa Del Sol in this city to celebrate the 95th founding anniversary of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), the “Church of Christ.”

Source: businessmirror.com

More than a million well-wishers and delegations from the six provinces in Central Luzon gathered at Villa Del Sol in this city on Monday and paralyzed the traffic flow along the stretch of Gapan-Olongapo road from Prado Saba, Lubao, to Santa Ana town as they celebrated the 95th founding anniversary of Iglesia Ni Cristo.

The church members came here onboard the 20,000 buses and public utility vehicles hired by the church administration to bring them to the gathering.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) deployed 360 police officers to man security and traffic flow with the assistance of some 3,000 Society of Communicators and Networkers who are also members of the church.

The church members walked several kilometers from Mexico town to Villa del Sol; while those who came from Lubao, Porac, Sasmuan, Bataan and Zambales, walked from Guagua to the venue.

Source: Businessmirror.com

In San Jose, California, US more that 17,000 Iglesia ni Cristo members assembled at the famous “The Shark Tank”, otherwise known as the Hewlett-Packard Pavilion of San Jose.

All in all, it was a tremendously successful celebration, complete with balloon drops, helicopter fly-bys and fireworks that rival the 4th of July.

So, I was a little off in my predictions. But not by much. Again, congratulations to all my brothers and sisters in the faith and Happy 95th Anniversary! See you all at the Centennial Celebration!

Ask the fugitive

Eli Soriano, the fugitive televangelist wanted by the Interpol fashions himself as a great biblical resource. He even allows himself to be called “Pantas” or wise man. Lofty, isn’t it? He sports many monikers such as “the most sensible preacher of our times”, “phenomenal preacher”, “Walking bible”, “Modern Jeremiah”, “the appointed one”, “he who holds the key”, and others. He even stole my handle, truthcaster.  Other terms he uses to describe himself are “tech savvy” and “human encyclopedia”.

Ask the fugitive

But is he really all that? I looked into a few of his pronouncements and found a lot of weird stuff. Let’s together see if this man they call “wise man” make sense at all. Let’s take a look at just three things for now.

1. Sepoys of Cainta, Rizal:

In one episode of his Philippine talk show, he was asked why some people in Cainta, Rizal, Philippines where considerably darker than others.

Not even pausing to ponder the question, he said the reason was that the sun beats extra hot in Cainta, Rizal. Yup, that’s what he said. He said this bit with full authority as if he knew what he was talking about.  He made it sound that, as a matter of fact, the sun is just hotter in Cainta, Rizal. He didn’t explain why this is so. There maybe a few reasons why the sun would beat extra harder or hotter in a certain spot, but would this make someone darker permanently? I can see some people may get a tan but to permanently change the color of the skin, and then pass this on to their children sounds a little over-reaching.

The Iglesia ni Cristo religious program Ang Tamang Daan, obviously and rightfully, not wanting this bad information to be taken as fact immediately responded with a correction and a lesson to impart an important historical detail. The reason why some people of Cainta, Rizal of considerably darker is because they are descendants of Sepoys who elected to remain in the Philippines. The Sepoys where Indians who served in the British army.

Way to go “wise man”. One strike for you.

Ask the fugitive

2. Roman 13:13

Again in an episode of his talkshow, supposedly televangelizing. A listener ask him to explain Roman 13:13. The conversation was in Tagalog and the verse as written in tagalog goes like this: “Magsilakad tayong mahinhin, gaya ng sa araw;”.This is the  verse in English: “Let us behave properly as in the day“. And

In tagalog “araw” can mean the “sun“, or “day“. Guess which one “Mr Walking Bible” picked as the meaning of “araw” for this particular verse? The wrong one of course. The way he explained it made it even more hilarious. He said, the verse instruct people to walk gracefully, just as the sun glides gracefully across the sky from morning to night. If he had only truly understood the verse, or at least read the verse in English he could have saved him a lot of embarrassment.

Way to go “Walking bible”. two strikes.

Disqualified Soriano campaigning

3. In another episode, Soriano tells his members they can run for public office. Then he Soriano said :”But I will not join politics. I will not run as a candidate (for office). Why? Imagine, a preacher running for public office? Can one serve two lords? Christ didn’t allow that.”

Then he turns and run anyway and was disqualified as a nuisance candidate. He should add this to his monikers, “nuisanse”.

Thumbs down

3 strikes. You’re out! and out you should go.

There you go. Just two of the many “wisdom” from the “phenomenal preacher”. Doesn’t he give new meaning to the phrase ‘false preachers’?

Adapted from an episode of the Iglesia ni Cristo television program “Ang Tamang Daan”.

Eli Soriano babysitting

It’s been quiet for a few days now. Those friends of mine Eli Soriano fanatics who’ve been writing nasty editorials and passing them as news. The likes of Abao and Garcia and their fellow fanatic cult followers. But I still have a slight problem. They haven’t taken down those post and blog entries. And a few others, like Joseph Herdon started taking their place and writing on their blogs. I really want this to stop that’s why I’ve been holding off publishing a few articles.

You see, the fugitive accused rapist same-sex sodomizer Eli Soriano built his career by libeling and maligning innocent people. His modus operandi is to rouse mob mentality and ignore reason and then follow it up with his racketeering to raise money to support his dirty deeds. Well, that’s all about to stop because he himself has taken away his primary stage, which is the podium. He allegedly committed rape, now he’s wanted by the law. He can’t fight this in court because he knows he’ll lose and that would bring the immediate demise of his career. So he opted to be a fugitive, and be a simple blogger where at least he can still write and milk money from the few gullible followers he still has. But his end is almost certain. He can’t do this for a long time. The long arms of the law will catch up with him.

Eli Soriano comtemplating his predicament

His sidekick Daniel Razon knows where Soriano  is, as well as all of the MICs and of course Jane Abao and her troop of writers/libelers. I also have pictures of some of his followers dated sometime in 2007 with their fugitive leader. If they continue to help him hide and not tell the police where he is, this makes them guilty of harboring a known fugitive. Truly a cult full of criminals.

I hope they stop libeling and maligning so I too can stop and concentrate on what I really wanted to do. All I wanted from the start to for them to stop their libel and remove all libelous post. If they don’t, we keep going. See you losers at the finish line. Eat my dust suckas.

The Iglesia ni Cristo is the largest entirely indigenous Christian religious organization that started in the Philippines and is also the largest independent church in Asia. It has become the fastest growing church in the Philippines. And with it’s foreign mission entrenched in major cities, it may quite possibly be the fastest growing in the world.

With his leadership, the church has grown steadily in the Philippines and abroad. The church today is present in 70 countries outside of the Philippines with over 200 congregations in addition to the more that 3,000 congregations in the Philippines. Under his leadership, the church embarked on ambitious media propagation, through print, radio, television and lately, the internet through net-25.com.

Government leaders extended their greetings to Manalo in time for his 84^th birth anniversary. They said under Manalo’s administration, the INC attained a phenomenal growth from a handful of local adherents to what it is today.

We send greetings to the leader of the Iglesia ni Cristo, Executive Minister Eraño G. Manalo on the occasion of his 84^th birth anniversary. We wish him good health, great wisdom and long life.

Source: Manila Bulletin, http://www.net-25.com/94thvideos.html