Stories of One Lord's Day with the CREC in the Philippines

Magandang umaga

As I write this, we are on a jet train heading back to Tokyo. I may see Mt. Fuji shortly. These last ten days have gone by extraordinarily fast. The tempo has been more rapid than a James Jordan rendition of Joy to the World (let the reader understand).

For those catching up on things, I left the U.S. on the 12th and arrived in Tokyo on the 13th of May (Tokyo time), remaining only about 20 hours, or the equivalent of a Japanese gin and three rolls of eel sushi. Shortly thereafter, we boarded the Philippine Airlines to Manila for several days. Our arrival offered me an opportunity to meet the pastors in a relatively intimate environment, inquire about the labors of the CREC in the country, and then offer some wisdom on how to proceed on matters about culture, theology, and liturgy. The conference was a tremendous success with over 250 in attendance from various backgrounds representing various churches. You can read about it here.

Word and Sacrament Ministry

The culmination of all the Saturday talks on worship was on the Lord’s Day. We were eager to see how the CREC looked in Tagalog. The saints gave me a barong to preach on the Lord's Day. Thanks to Karen Yu for finding something my size. The barong is an embroidered formal shirt considered the national dress of the Philippines. I wore it proudly. I don’t recall preaching without a clerical collar in over 17 years, but when in the Philippines, do as the Filipinos do. I saw some PREACH pastors with a baron tailored for clergy collars. They looked snazzy and comfortable. Next time, I will come prepared.

The thing that struck me on the drive to Pastor Leo Ordiales’ church was the spaghetti wiring everywhere. All those blocks were one Florida squirrel away from massive fires