Establecer 16 Parcelas demostrativas implementando el sistema de siembra directa y/o labranza reducida, para mostrar a los agricultores las ventajas y

Methodology

A little explanation is required to explain certain of Mel’s circumstances and methodology. Mel’s use of the religious survey would meet with considerable consternation with a section of the population in Western countries but that is

certainly not the case in the Philippines. In anyone’s estimation, the Philippines must rate as one of the most religious Christian countries of the world. Belief in God is a foregone conclusion and generally a simple Nicaean understanding of the Trinity and Christology is assumed. Most unquestionably believe that the man Jesus is God and died on the cross to save mankind from sin, the exceptions being the Muslims, the INC, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and some of the small groups of mountain

peoples who have rejected westernization. The INC typically goes to great lengths to try to justify its position. Equally, the veracity of the Bible and its pertinence for today is taken for granted and is quoted in court cases. The existence of heaven, hell, the devil, the reality of sin, the need for salvation of some type, and afterlife in either

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heaven or hell is assumed. The religiosity is not confined to inside church buildings or individual homes as the malls and the supermarkets play the specifically Christian Christmas carols frequently from 1st September, common jeepney decorations include images of Jesus and Mary and words including “In God we trust” and “God bless our journey,” and government offices and police stations often start the week with prayer. Officially, there is supposed to be a separation of church and state however in reality that is not the case and so having a Bible study at work or leaving one’s Bible or Daily Bread on the desk is not remarkable. Even for those who do not attend any religious services on a regular basis, the belief and even commitment level of their religion will be intense and maybe even fanatical. Unlike Gibson’s minority highland group of Buids who are fervently religious but primarily non- Christian, Cannell’s anthropology about her majority-population lowlanders laced throughout with various Christian beliefs is typical.237

However general beliefs of the population often verge on the simplistic or the magical and may not translate into any high moral ethics. De Mesa asserts that they are synchronistic with the superstitious and the pre-Christian beliefs.238 Cannell’s washing the dead Christ is particularly striking.239

The intensity of beliefs such as “living stones,” duwende and aswangs, and the bahala na fatalism vary from something akin to a Westerner’s aversion to walking under a ladder to absolute fear and trepidation.240 Whether Protestant or Catholic and whether one attends church or not, lip-service is zealously given to everything that is good and right and correct although actual behaviour may be quite another thing. Face-saving is paramount, every vice is tolerated just below the surface, and all is acceptable so long as one does not get caught. All too often, life is lived in reaction to the emergency of the moment and the expediency is often to take a short-cut to alleviate a problem. Thus Mel (and the other ministers in this thesis) has no problem in being “radically” Christian. His methodology presumes a fundamental relevance and acceptance of basic Christian tenets as held by the population at large. Mel’s challenge is not the

237

See Gibson and Cannell.

238

De Mesa, 9.

239

Cannell, 165–182.

240

Further research into the wide predominance of the image of Jesus as a child-king perhaps benefiting from pre-Hispanic beliefs may prove interesting.

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obtaining of a hearing but the translation of his and the general public’s beliefs into permanent lifestyle changes. From a pastoral view, it is a persistent problem of ethics, not doctrine.

Motivations for church planting

I asked Mel specifics about his efforts of church planting and why and how he saw the challenges. Mel wrote that he decided to plant a new church “because of the great commission & great commandment; I believe througly [that in] new churches, new people come to Christ; and This is the fastest way of evangelism.” Moriel quoted Acts 1:8 and said that it was their vision to plant a church in Libmanan as it was a large town without a Church of Christ. Originally, Mel told me, Pili, the provincial capital of Camarines Sur, was the choice to start a church but he did not know why the group ended up in Libmanan. In addition, he jotted down: “I believe it is God’s leading; This is one of the biggest municipality in Camarines Sur; and Our church location is along the provincial road & easy to look at.” To reply to the question why a new church was needed, Mel wrote:

I believe this new church was stablish by God to fulfill His purpose in this form:

1. To glorify God in this place

2. To evangelize people & make disciples

3. To serve people in ministry according to each gift, 4. and to plant daughter churches.

In subsequent interviews, Mel made the point that, prior to the establishment of his church, there were only two Churches of Christ in Libmanan and both were in rural isolated barangays.241 The new church, he believed, was “for many souls to know Christ.” Without the new church, he asserted, “no-one will worship God,” there would be “no preaching the Word,” “no discipleship,” and “no one to show how God is good.” He did not think that he had a large enough group to begin the church with but he said “I just move on and move on. I know God will provide.”

241

The other two are Udoc and Mabini. There is no road access to Udoc but Mabini’s meeting place, although only a short distance off the main Maharlika Highway, is in a rural barangay, whereas CCL is in the poblacion. Mabini was probably established after CCL but before Mel came to be the minister of CCL. It is unlike Mel not to be precise but above he had just mentioned Udoc. Mabini is the church of Jun in Chapter 4.

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As there already were numerous churches in Libmanan, I was curious what Mel believed was special or different about his new church. I requested this

information three times as seen in Table 17. In a discussion about these, Mel thought that every Christian should have a job in the church. His list included cell group leaders, worship leaders including the instrumentalists, serving at the Lord’s Table, taking up the offering, beautification, maintenance, trainers for each ministry, ushers, preparation of facilities, secretary, preachers, program leaders, and Sunday School teachers.

Table 17: Why CCL is different or special

First Second Third

a. To be focused b. Excellence, according to their gift c. A church planter church d. Mission oriented And, will become a blessing to other

a. only church that asks for commitment and a covenant b. teaches real salvation–only

Jesus is the way

c. we mobilized the March for Jesus

d. you need many hooks to catch many fish

e. many other leaders were older f. he had done education

g. he was not accepted by all the others

his church taught baptism by immersion.

a. We have a passion other churches don’t have. b. We have many leaders

and we’re promoting every Christian to become a leader. c. We are mission minded. d. The members give

liberally. e. Our brotherhood is

strong.

f. Theologically, there are differences.

To prepare himself to plant a church, Mel said that he prayed and fasted and did extra studies in church planting including attending a course in Naga City one day a month for a year. Mel believed he was 80% prepared. He read two books– Natural Church Development by Christian A. Schwarz and Balikbayan Church Planting by David White–that had been particularly helpful to him. Mel’s new church was copying the principles of these two books plus patterning from Purpose Driven Church and Robert Schuller and Paul Yonggi Cho’s Expand Your Horizon. From Dan Balais’ “Intercessors for the Philippines,” he understood that the church should be a “lighthouse in the community that helps the eight pillars of society: family, religion, government, business and economy, media and entertainment, science and technology, and arts and sports. Mel did not know how Balais

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of C. Peter Wagner although he did not remember anything about him. He knew of Jim Montgomery and his DAWN strategies and specified that their methodology was “mass evangelism in every barangay” and goal was to have one pastor for every 1,000 believers.242 I inquired why he chose the ‘founding pastor’ model for church planting.243 Really, he concluded, he had no choice, so he just read a few books, borrowed materials from seminars he attended, and added a few of his own ideas.

In relation to his five-year plan, Mel thought that radio ministry was too expensive for the congregation and he did not take his LET exam, purchase a lot (land) for a building, or secure SEC registration. In addition, he said that the

programmes that were particularly running behind schedule were his finishing of his BTh degree and “raising up leaders.”

The question in February 2011 was “If, due to some unseen circumstances (God forbid), you and Moriel were to leave the church today, what would happen to it? How would it survive?” In our conversations about this, Mel thought that they would miss his way of leading them. He said, “It is not the same as I am there but [I] already have imparted in their heart the mission-vision.” He believed the church would still grow, probably a little more slowly; perhaps in two or three years, it would “move again.” He supposed Richard (one of the young leaders) would take over “for mission,” his sister, Wheng, the administration, and Brother Franco (one of the elders) for finance.

Theological explanations

Mel often mentioned Acts 2 and so I followed up on what he believed it taught. He replied that Acts 2 quoted from the book of Joel and that Acts 2:42 records the first communion. He also specified the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to all believers, the beginning of the New Testament church, the first preaching, the first baptism in Jesus’ name, a new way of salvation through Christ, and the

242

See Christian A. Schwarz, Natural Church Development: A Guide to Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy Churches,http://ncd-international.org/public/, Warren, and Dan Balais, “Intercessors for the Philippines,” http://www.nationalprayerwatch.net/launching/bp_dan_balais.html.

243

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beginning of a new brotherhood. When explicitly asked what was important about the Day of Pentecost, he wrote:

a. On the Day of Pentecost, the promise comforter came and the church stablish with a kind of power & authority that never before.

b. It is important because it shows that the church Jesus stablish here on earth can conquer the earth.

c. It[‘s] power, authority, passion, boldness, and other character[istics] of the first church can be a basis that this present generation church of Jesus can conquer also because they are of [the] same god.

d. I do believe the Pentecost Day is the point of transition from old to new testament church/covenant.

Table 18: Church of Christ general understanding of Acts 2.

a. This was a movement begun at the instrumentation of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). b. The Holy Spirit enabled the people listening in Jerusalem to hear in a

multiplicity of their own native languages (vv. 4, 6, and 11).

c. Peter and the other disciples stood up and “addressed the crowd” (v.14) and they “accepted his message” (v.41).

d. Peter proclaimed that the events of this day were a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel that the Spirit would be poured out on all people (vv.16–21).

e. The message of the disciples, however, focused not on the Holy Spirit but on Jesus. He is the one who was crucified, resurrected, and now saves all who requests such (vv. 22–36).

f. Peter exhorted them to “save” themselves (v.40).

g. He specifically instructed his hearers to do two things (repent and be baptized) for two results (forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit) (v.38). h. About 3,000 who believed the message were baptized and “were added to their

number that day” (v.41).

i. They gathered themselves into a “community” (to use Dunn’s term) (vv. 42–47). j. The new assembly gathered for worship which included four things: “the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (v.42).

k. Initially at least, they met daily in the Jerusalem temple courts and they “broke bread” in their homes (v.46).

l. To the original 120 including the disciples (Acts 1:15) plus the newly-baptized 3,000, “the Lord added” “daily those who were being saved” (v.47).

In wanting to emulate and restore the New Testament church, Luke’s account of the beginning of the church on the Day of Pentecost either in AD29 or

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AD30 has always loomed large in the minds of Churches of Christ.244 Table 18 gives a common Restoration Movement understanding of Acts 2.

In his Bible studies Mel instructed the “way of salvation,” “how to come to heaven,” and “the good news/the bad news.” “You can enter heaven through Christianity” however the bad news is that “you can’t enter heaven by ourselves.” “Two things will happen, but we don’t know when: death/physical death and

pagahuhukom,” he said. There was then a discussion with three or four others in the vicinity and they decided the best translation for the latter Tagalog term was

“judgement day.” Mel continued that he centred his studies on how to become a Christian. “I make sure that they know that they are sinners and can’t save

themselves and therefore [they] need salvation and it only [comes] through Christ.” He explained that the individual needed to confess that Jesus is his or her Lord and Saviour and then be baptized. Using his fingers, he then repeated one variation of Walter Scott’s mnemonic five-finger exercise: hear, believe, confess, repent, accept through prayer and be baptized.

The unequivocal answer when I asked Mel the focus of the prayer was “salvation of souls.” Salvation, he clarified, was “the way to heaven that we need and the only way is to have Jesus.” In reference to John 14:6, he stated that Jesus is the only way as “no man comes to heaven without Jesus.” Citing 1Timothy 2:3–4, he declared that God wants all people to be saved. He continued, “You have eternal life/everlasting life with Christ in heaven with joy and a place we all want.” Jesus, salvation, and eternal life were “inextricably combined.” When we receive Christ as Lord and Saviour, we are “forgiven and receive new life. We are forgiven of our sins/transgressions.” Mel asserted that sin happens when we have committed wrong or disobeyed God. He continued, “Many people are doing sin and not know that they are sinning. When we know Christ, then we understand what sin is.” He continued that we know Christ from His Word, the Bible, particularly the New Testament. There were, according to him, two kinds of sin: “transgress” which is breaking the

244

See for example, Campbell, Restorationof the Ancient Order of Things. Lincoln, Illinois: 1960 and Murch, Christians Only, 9–10. There is a controversy in Churches of Christ in the Philippines concerning this date. Some popular opinion holds that the Day of Pentecost was “33AD” but if Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great who died in 4BC, AD29 or AD30 is correct.

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law of God and doing wrong and, secondly, to “know good but don’t do it” or “doing things outside of faith.” We know whether or not it is wrong “through the Bible plus the Spirit convicts us,” he asserted. “The Bible shows us if we [are] wrong or right.” For eternal life, he explained that “we have it now and when we die, our body goes to the tomb, the cemetery. Flesh turns to dust…But the essence of the person is identified as the spirit. The spirit of the people with Christ [is] in

heaven. The people without Christ go to hell.”

Still in a theological vein, his definition of evangelism was “sharing the good news, the gospel.” The essence of the gospel, he said, is “Christ, the death, burial, resurrection. Because of this, people have a new life.” He explained “a new life” as “a new status in God’s eyes, a new creation. The old is gone. We have a new hope, new perspective, new name, family, spirit, heart, place, destination, power, life, creation, regeneration. All new. Therefore, we are a child of God and therefore [we are] going to heaven, saved.” He continued that evangelism is “sharing of what God has done for us. He died for us, buried, resurrected and has full authority for

everything.” The result is “giving us new life. Our sin [he] took away. We are cleansed from our sins. He redeemed us. He bought us back. We are saved.” He believed he should evangelize because:

Jesus commanded. We are authorized to evangelize. We have the power. I don’t want to go to heaven alone. I love my family, my children, my friends, my co-classmates, my neighbors, and the people of Libmanan. I want to them enjoy what God provided for them – spiritual joy, peace, many things now plus also the next life to come.

Obstacles

Mel indicated that he had faced a number of obstacles including “false leader to overtake; false member or wrong motive member; and rental problem for 4 months.” Among his failures and disappointments he listed:

a. Stop of some outreaches ‘cause of lack of financial b. To cancel some plans cause of financial assistance c. The cut-off of support of CSE

d. Some of our leader criticize the way we go on great commission & great commandment.

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Mel explained that CSE and EARM gave some good support before Mel became the full-time preacher in Libmanan but once in the town, Mel received little assistance. The CSE had planned to give P6,000.00 (£75.00) yet they gave only P2,500.00 (£31.25). The CSE was dissolved, Mel said, because it was formed only