Annual Festival Finds Filipinos Nailed to a Cross
Have you been wondering what you could do to commemorate Good Friday? Well, Lonely Planet (an alternative travel site) suggests you might take a bus tour to the town of Barangay San Pedro Cutud, San Fernando, Philippines. There you can watch worshippers--sometimes dozens at at time--nailed to the cross in penance for their own sin.
According to the UK Mail, as of last year (2012) one man, Ruben Enaje, 51, had already taken part in the crucifixion 26 times. The Catholic Church officially condemns the ceremony and calls for its ban. But the "faithful" refuse to comply. As many as 10,000 spectators come to take in the spectacle. None are left to die on the cross. In fact, most remain there only for a short time.
*Click here for images. Caution: Images are graphic.
While one can perhaps, on some level, appreciate these devotees' desire to fellowship with Christ in His sufferings, one can't help but wonder if their misunderstanding of the "once for all" sacrifice of Christ on their behalf defines them more as "faithless" than "faithful."
Christ allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross so that we would NOT have to be! That is the whole point. HE alone was worthy. HE alone was an atoning sacrifice for sin. HE alone could bear the weight of the shame and the guilt of our sin!
Paul declared, "I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death" (Philippians 3:10). But the Apostle never physically climbed on a cross to share in the sufferings of Christ. Rather, Paul recognized that Christ died "for" our sins so that we might share in His sufferings by dying "to" sin.
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit" (1 Peter 3:18). "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (Hebrews 9:14). "Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26).
Dig Out the Dying
Skier Francis Zuber was zipping down the tree lined slopes of Mt. Baker in northwestern Washington state when he lost control and ended up toppling into the deep powder off the trail. As he worked to right himself, he noticed a snow board protruding from a deep drift. This alone was an unusual sight. But crazier still, the board was moving!
It took him only moments to realize that someone was attached to that board, but apparently buried upside down under the depths of the drift.
He worked quickly to take off his skis so he could make his way to the stranded snowboarder, where he then began feverishly digging to extricate him. Breathless and weary, he just kept scraping at the snow looking for any signs of life. He eventually pulled out a small, yellow rescue shovel (that's one well prepared skier!) to enhance his efforts.
“Hold on! I’m coming! … Hey, you gonna be alright? Can you hear me?”
As he freed the trapped boarder's arms, he exclaimed, “Come on! Help me out! You okay? You alright?”
When he finally reached and uncovered the victim’s helmet, he said with relief, “Okay, you’re good. You’re good. I gotcha. You okay? Can you breathe?
A quiet “yeah” can be heard from beneath the helmet.
“Okay” said Zuber breathlessly, “we’re both gonna just catch our breath and then I’m gonna dig you out, okay?”
Though faint and weak, one can hear the gratitude in the simple, relieved reply, “Thank you.”
Zuber, an unlikely and unexpected hero, stepped up to rescue a stranger from certain death.
We only have such clear and comprehensive details of the harrowing rescue because Zuber was wearing a sports camera on his helmet, recording every moment.
Be sure to click here to watch the heart-pounding video in its entirety.
Like an exuberant skier, we go zipping over the rough and tumble slopes of this life, so engrossed in our own thrills (and spills), that we fail to notice the mass of humanity all around us, buried upside down in the drifts of life — dying people “stuck” in despair, hopelessness, full of fear and regret, feeling utterly alone and invisible.
No doubt that’s how the bruised and beaten man felt, left for dead by robbers on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem, as he lay dying in the street. Many passed by him, walked around him, ignored him. Then one man finally noticed him, took pity, and stepped in to help.
“… and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him” (Luke 10:33b-34, NIV).
An unlikely, unexpected hero, the Samaritan, stepped up to save a dying man.
Does God call us to anything less? No! In fact, He calls us to something more. He calls us to not just “happen” upon these dying ones, but actively, intentionally, purposefully keep our eyes peeled for them, peeled for any signs of life, so that we can jump into action to offer them a life line — the good news of the Gospel.
Don’t turn a blind eye. Be a hero! Look for those whose lives are buried under the burdens of life without Jesus. And with the same feverish urgency and intensity of Francis Zuber, go dig them out!
Then listen for the breathless, relieved reply ... "Thank you."
"He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15, NIV).
"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" (Romans 10:14, NIV).
Taking a Knee on the Field - In Prayer
In the opening game of 2023's Monday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills took to the field against the Cincinnati Bengals. Among the players was Bills’ safety, 24 year old Damar Hamlin. At 9:05, the ball in play, Hamlin tackled Bengals’ receiver Tee Higgins, then suddenly collapsed on the field in full cardiac arrest. Fans and players stood in stunned disbelief as team medical personnel and EMS first responders performed CPR for more than 9 minutes to revive and stabilize him enough to be able to remove him from the field, then transfer him to the hospital where he remained in critical condition.
Ultimately, play was suspended. Yet something amazing happened, both on and off the field. America collectively took a knee — in PRAYER!
Pastor and evangelist Dave Kistler, founder and leader of H.O.P.E. Ministries International, made this powerful observation:
The world of social media, in fact the world in general, is abuzz over Damar Hamlin’s collapse on the field last evening. Thankfully, quick responding sports physicians were able to perform aggressive CPR and evidently get Hamlin’s heart beating after a reported cardiac arrest.
Photos have flooded Facebook, including pics of stunned and weeping players and coaches. But, none deserves more attention than the one of players from both teams KNEELING in unified and energetic prayer as the ambulance carried Damar Hamlin from the field.
Over the course of the last 11 hours, the requests for prayer from fans, players, coaches, and even sports broadcasters and media pundits have absolutely flooded social and mainstream media.
My dad used to say, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Evidently, there are no atheists amid a stunningly frightening incident like the world witnessed last night in Cincinnati.
Coach Joe Kennedy of the Bremerton High School in Bremerton, WA must be smiling right now, not for his recent religious freedom win at the Supreme Court only, but for the glaringly obvious fact that human beings’ first and correct response in tragedy is to turn to God.
That response occurred last night on a global stage and NO ONE could stop it! No Freedom From Religion Foundation staffer complained, no “separation of church and state” advocate protested. NO ONE wanted to!
Kistler concluded:
The seriousness of the event demanded nothing less than earnest, aggressive, and united prayer - prayer to a God who cares and loves, and prayer that has been answered, as Damar Hamlin is alive with reported normal vitals, though in VERY serious condition.
Human beings everywhere, especially God-deniers, would do well to recognize that there is a God-shaped void in all of us - a void that no amount of athleticism (and I’m ALL for health, exercise, and fitness) money, fame, pleasure, or notoriety can fill!!!
... [Man] DESPERATELY NEEDS the comfort of God found ONLY in the God of all comfort - Jesus Christ! Mankind needs a relationship with Jesus for life here on earth, but more importantly for eternity!
"Pray without ceasing," (1 Thessalonians 5:17, ESV).
"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need," (Hebrews 4:16, ESV).