ZONEDVOLUME 1 ISSUE 2

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NIGELLE REYESCHARMAINE ERASQUINCAMILLE ALCERA

Service is TrueLeadershipPastor Vince Burke

If you honestly love thoseyou have been privileged tolead, you will want to bemore of a servant to themthan a boss. The greatestexample of his was Christ,who washed feet with thesame hands that createdthem. “But Jesus called themtogether and said, “You knowthat in his world kings aretyrants, and officials lord itover the people beneaththem but among you itshould be quite different.Whoever wants to be aleader among you must beyour servant, and whoeverwants to be first mustbecome your slave. For evenI, the Son of Man, came herenot to be served but to serveothers, and to give my life asa ransom for many.”Matthew 20:25­28. Thespiritual authority of Jesus isan authority not found in aposition or a title, but in atowel. So the towel is thesign of service.

Love is Slow toAngerPastor Joby Soriano

It’s easy to love strangers.But to love those who arearound you, especially thosewho live with you, is quite achallenge. God tells us thatlove is not just a feeling; it isa commitment towardsimperfect people. And angeris a great hindrance inpracticing love.Anger is one of the“respectable” sins that wetolerate. We condemnimmorality and murder, butwe think anger is okay. If wethink that shouting at teammembers will inspire workproductivity or thatscreaming at our kids willmake them respect us, weare deluded. James 1:20says, “…anger doesn’tachieve the righteousness ofGod.”Human anger is commonlyrooted in our rights beingviolated, in our goals beingblocked. In short, it is rooted

in self­centeredness andpride. But anger is notalways wrong. There is sucha thing as righteous anger,like God’s anger towards sin.As Arthur Pink puts it, “Thewrath of God is theindignation of Divine equityagainst evil. It is the holinessof God stirred into activityagainst sin.” While God maybe angry towards sin, Heloves sinners. Psalm 103:8says, “The LORD iscompassionate andgracious, Slow to anger andabounding inlovingkindness.” God is verypatient with us because Hewants us to change.Nevertheless, His anger isreal and it will be manifestedone day.1 Corinthians 13:5 says thisabout love: “It is not rude, itis not self­seeking, it is noteasily angered. It keeps norecords of wrongs.” Love isslow to anger.People deal with anger indifferent ways. Some are likea tsunami or a volcaniceruption; others are lessexplosive. Whether it’sexplosive or silent,Ephesians 4:26­27 says, “Beangry, and yet do not sin; donot let the sun go down onyour anger, and do not givethe devil an opportunity.” Theword ‘opportunity’ herecomes from the Greek word“topos” meaning ‘place’. Paulis saying that we should notkeep a place for anger.

EThe Best of My LovePastor Desmond Chan

People don’t normally pursuelove; instead they pursueabundance, power, fame andmoney. Some people pursuejustice, meaning the kind oftreatment that they receivefrom a person will also bethe kind of treatment thatthey will give. Others pursuepeace in other wordswhenever there is conflict;they withdraw and wait forpeace. But we have beenchallenged to pursue lovebecause love endures theworst, believes the best.John 13:1­5 “It was justbefore the Passover Festival.Jesus knew that the hourhad come for him to leavethis world and go to theFather. Having loved his ownwho were in the world, heloved them to the end. Theevening meal was inprogress, and the devil hadalready prompted Judas, theson of Simon Iscariot, tobetray Jesus. Jesus knewthat the Father had put allthings under his power, andthat he had come from Godand was returning to God; sohe got up from the meal,took off his outer clothing,and wrapped a towel aroundhis waist. After that, hepoured water into a basinand began to wash hisdisciples’ feet, drying themwith the towel that waswrapped around him.”

Jesus shows us that wemust love while we can thebest way we can. In verse 1of this passage, Jesus knewthat the time had come forHim to leave the world andgo to the Father; He knewthat He was about to sufferthe crucifixion for the sins ofthe world. Knowing that Hewas about to die, He nowwashes the disciples’ feet.Here is Jesus, on the nightHe was about to be betrayedand knowing He was aboutto die, He was consumedwith love for His disciples.Jesus knew that the greatestlegacy He could leavebehind with his apostles isthe legacy of love.We don’t know when ourparents will die and whenour children will leave us sowe should love while we can.A problem with us is wesometimes love others toolittle too late. Jesus startedloving His disciples since Heselected them and on thislast day with them, He wasconcerned about them, thetribulation and trials theywould go through. Heshowed them the full extentof His love. Love is not to bekept secret, it should not justbe proclaimed, but it is to beshown and proven, actedupon. Jesus showed Hisgenerous love to the fullextent, the best way Hecould.Is your love to the end?

The RefiningPastor EJ Del Mundo

God is refining us to makeus Christ­like, thus He usedthe analogy of purging,refining and removing thedross from purified gold. Wemust admit that when thingsare going well, we do notworry about things likesanctification nor do we askGod how pleasing we are toHim. The wealthier we arethe more we are pronetowards ungodliness;problems make us cry out toGod. One of the affirmationsof God's love is Hisdiscipline. In the process ofrefining metals, the rawmetal is heated until it melts;the impurities separate fromit and rise to the surface.These are skimmed off,leaving the pure metal;without this heating andmelting, there can be nopurifying. After the impuritiesare skimmed off, thereflection of the workerappears on the smooth,clear surface. As we arepurified by God, Hisreflection in our life willbecome clearer and clearer.Fuller's soap in Mal 3:2 isalkali will wash out the stainof sin.

Be-Attitudes at theWorkplacePastor JP Masakayan

Focus on rendering excellentservice in the workplace.Ephesians 6:5 says, “beobedient to those who areyour masters according tothe flesh, with fear andtrembling, in the sincerity ofyour heart, as to Christ.”Rendering excellent servicemeans obeying with fear andtrembling and with sincerityof heart, as if we wereworking for Jesus.Employers are anointed orappointed by the Lord as ourdesignated authority in theworkplace. Knowing this, weare to serve them withrespect and awe. Beingemployed is not merelyabout career, bonuses orsalaries, it is about thepeople around us that Christwants to reach through us.Being focused also meansbeing purposeful.Why do we need to befocused? Primarily becausewe represent Jesus. 1 Peter2:9 says, “But you are achosen race, a royalpriesthood, a Holy Nation, apeople forGod’s ownpossession, so that you mayproclaim the excellencies ofHim who has called you outof darkness into Hismarvelous light.” We shouldfocus on our behavior andour conduct.

The Importance of LovePastor Joby Soriano

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do nothave love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. IfI have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and allknowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all mypossessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to beburned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” I Corinthians13:1­3Gifts do not have much value without love. Talk is cheap withoutlove. You see a great speaker can move a person's emotions.Great words can move a person's mind. A great speech canmove a person's will, but only great love can move a person'sheart.Even if you understand the entire Bible" even if you kneweverything there is to know about nuclear science, medicine,philosophy, biology, psychology, theology and every other“ology” ­ if you knew all that, but have no love, then you arenothing at all. Paul goes on to say that love is more importantthan faith. Remember your faith is of no value unless it isbacked up by your love.Love is more important than generosity.

Tree of Freedom and SlaveryPastor Nathan Leigh

John 8:31­36 “Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews whohad believed Him, "If you abide in My word, then you are trulydisciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truthshall make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham'soffspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how isit that You say, 'You shall become free'?" Jesus answered them,"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slaveof sin. "And the slave does not remain in the house forever; theson does remain forever. "If therefore the Son shall make youfree, you shall be free indeed.” Jesus Himself is the truth thatsets us free. He is the source of truth, the perfect standard ofwhat is right. He frees us from the consequences of sin, fromself­deception and from deception from Satan.

Love, Acceptance,and ForgivenessDr. Harold Sala

The word ‘gospel’or“evangelion” was found in aGreek inscription many,many years before Christand here was the picture.Two armies had gone out todo battle: one army wasvictorious, and so thegeneral who was in chargeof the victorious army took arunner and said “Go back tothe city with the evangelion(the good news) of thevictory” and that is the wordtranslated as “gospel”. It isthe good news of God’s lovein Christ Jesus. Have youever focused on some of theindividuals whom Jesusloved? Obviously, He lovedthe ones who were sittingaround the table with Him"the twelve who were in theupper room. Jesus loves allkinds of irregular people.What is love? Love is anunconditional commitment toan imperfect person to meetthe needs of that person insuch a way that requiressacrifice. The reality is weare all flawed individuals. Wehave idiosyncrasies ofpersonality and temper,background and culture. Isthere someone in your lifewho is difficult to love? Andbecause of what they havedone to you, you push theindividual away and tend toreject that person. We tendto divide people into two

hemispheres: the lovable part and the not­so­lovable part. Wetake their character traits, habits and so forth, shuffle themaround like beads on an abacus until you have more over onthis side than on this side, which is the lovable part, and that’swhen you go into rejection, and you start pushing the individualaway from you.When you really love someone you have to love the individualas the person is, with the expectation that God, and God’s HolySpirit alone can make them into the person you really wantthem to be and the person God wants them to be. Let’s not beunrealistic: you don’t love people because of their flaws andfailures you love them inspite of their flaws and failures with theexpectation that God and His Holy Spirit is the only one whocan change them. Romans 15:7, tells us that we are to acceptone another just as Christ accepted you in order that you canbring praise to God.But honestly, it is difficult to love people who are offensive toyou, who are critical of you, who are selfish, greedy, and unkind,who ignore and hurt you, who gossip about you. So, what dowe do when we face those situations? First of all, you can breakoff the relationship. It is so good that God does not do that withus. The second thing you can do is you can treat the otherperson the same way he treats you. There’s another scenarioand it is the one that Jesus taught the disciples to do, that is topray for your enemies. Luke 6:28 says “Bless those who curseyou, and pray for those who mistreat you.” When you pray forsomeone, your hatred begins to turn to pity.

Deceptions of BelieversPastor Joby Soriano

Jesus warned us in Matthew 24, "For many will come in Myname, saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and will mislead many… Manyfalse prophets will arise, and will mislead many." "True enough,over the past centuries there have been a lot who claimed theyare the Christ. These are false prophets; these are misleadingmessiahs who have established their religious cults andseduced many people into blindly following them. Satandeceives people into following false teachers, who give falsehope in a false gospel. Their teachings go against what theBible teaches. Because of deception, there will be lawlessness.Jesus said that since "lawlessness is increased, most people'slove will grow cold." (Matthew 24:12)

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Intimacy ThroughGivingPastor Vic Quisumbing

Matthew 6:19­21“Don’t storeup treasures here on earth,where moths eat them andrust destroys them andwhere thieves break in andsteal. Store your treasures inheaven, where moths andrust cannot destroy, andthieves do not break in andsteal. Wherever yourtreasure is, there the desiresof your heart will also be.”Those who are successful atacquiring financial wealth areimmediately presented withthe temptation to stockpile it.The more you have, themore you want. Stockpilingwealth is risky business,since earthly riches have away of disappearing. Givingcounteracts this temptationby considering the needs ofothers rather than beingconsumed by self­indulgence. God is telling usthat possessions on earthare not for accumulating.

The Dot or The LinePastor Gene Wood

The Dot or the Line? Here is a question of great significance.The dot represents our earthly life and all things temporary. Theline represents God and eternity. There are only two things thatare important in eternity: people and the Word of God. So, whichis our focus, the dot or the line?Jesus says “No one can serve two masters… you cannot serveGod and money” (Matthew 6:24). In this passage Jesus is tellingus to make a choice between God and money. God is eternal.Money is not, nor is power, prestige or pleasure. Jesus is askingus, “Are you living for the dot or are you living for the line?”To find the true answer to this question, we only need to “followthe money.” Matthew 6:21 states, “for where your treasure is,there will your heart be also.” What we do with our money tellsus what our priorities are. Where we channel our resources isthe best indicator of where our heart is. Are we spending ourmoney on earthly possessions, or are we investing in eternity?It is important to note that when we use our money for earth­bound things, there will be FOUR RESULTS:We live with the fear of loss. Jesus tells us, “Do not lay up foryourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy,and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). Theclothes we buy deteriorate because of moths. The cars we driveand the houses we build disintegrate because of rust. Themoney we put in banks can get stolen. The investments wemake can be mismanaged.