Last night I wrote a blog post in tribute to Given Grace Cebanico and I hadn’t realized the impact that it would make and, morse so, how many people would be reading it. In the first two hours after it was posted, more than 500 people read the article and now just a few hours, over 1,700 and growing. [If you came to this blogpost directly, kindly read my previous post first entitled Given Grace has been given grace: A Tribute. Thank you.]
I really don’t know Given Grace personally. I only read about her. Her home church is in Rizal but upon looking at her Facebook wall posts and those of her friends, it seems that she had been also visiting our Victory Los Banos church (she had a wall post that says, “Unreached doesn’t mean unreachable”, which was the tagline of our previous Sunday series, CROSSing CULTURES).
I have received a lot of comments and messages of thanks here and on Facebook because the blog post helped comfort them. One in particular was from a close family friend of theirs and co-worker of her father, Pastor Jun Cebanico, in the ministry. I am glad that this message has reached her family and friends and I do hope that the blogpost helped bring comfort to them.
I also received messages from a lot of Christians who were wrestling with God and were trying to make sense of it all – of why such a young and sweet girl, a follower of Christ, the daughter of a pastor, a child of God, would suffer such atrocities in the hands of evil men.
I don’t have the answers. No one has; only God. However, for those seeking comfort and understanding because of what happened, and even for those who are going through similar situations where it seems like God doesn’t make sense, I’m posting here for download three of the messages I delivered a few months back from a series called WHEN GOD DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. Below is the bumper video.
This message series does not provide the answers why, but it does reveal Who God is during times when things don’t seem to make sense, especially when the innocent suffer and when evil and injustice abound. It also shows us how God wants us to respond in times like these.
There were also those who wanted a deeper understanding of the grace of God that we have been given and which Given Grace had been named after. I’m also making available a message I delivered more than a month ago entitled GRACE AND LOVE which talks about that which a lot of people, even Christians, take for granted in their everyday lives. I hope this message inspires you and transforms you just as it has inspired and transformed me and hundreds of people who have heard it. I believe this is the message behind Given Grace’s name.
I hope both of these sets of messages help bring comfort, encouragement and hope for all of you.
Again, let’s continue to pray for Given Grace’s family, friends and loved ones. Don’t worry about Given Grace. With the instant that she came into the presence of God, everything that has happened to her, the trauma, the pain, the fear, have all been wiped away. Such a a torrent of eternal love and peace fills her now, such a spectacle of God’s beauty and majesty fills her eyes that right now to her there are no more tears, no more pain, no more fears, no more shame.
Download links:
WHEN GOD DOESN’T MAKE SENSE
Part 1 – When I Don’t Understand
Part 2 – When It Takes Too Long
Part 3 – When Bad Things Happen
May Christ and His peace be with all of you.
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Related posts:
Given Grace has been given grace: A Tribute
“…God understands.” – Pastor Jun Cebanico
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Pingback: Given Grace has been given grace: A tribute | Ernie Aragon, Jr. – Discovering Grace
Good day Mr. Aragon! I would just want to know where exactly in Calamba are youth services held? I am new at attending youth services at Victory Los Banos, if I can attend here in Calamba that will surely be a huge help. your response will be greatly appreciated. thank you so much
It’s at the Victory Calamba center. Opposite Burger King at Halang and right before Pure Gold on your right, is the arch of Villa Remedios. It’s about 100 meters after the arch. You will see a white building with the blue Victory logo on the outside. You can’t miss it. Our youth services are Saturdays 6pm-7:30pm. Hindi pa kami nag-official launch; soft launch palang, so it is a far cry from what you normally would see in Victory Los Banos. However, it is pioneering so it is exciting to start something new. Wala pang 2 months kami nag Youth Services.
oh i would love to be there
i don’t know when i could attend.. Im a little far from that location but I hope my parents would let me attend especially this sem break.. and im also hoping that would have the chance of meeting you there. 
God bless you Mr. Aragon
Hi, again. Where are you from?
hi pastor ernie! im from Banlic, Calamba
i dont get the chance to be there, im listening to podcasts from here and u-belt 
thank youuuuu! 
im from Banlic, Calamba po it’s a little far from there though
Thanks for those links, Pastor Ernie.
You’re welcome. I hope you get to listen to all of them. Kindly let me know how they impact you, especially the message on Grace. Thanks.
This post is really enlightening Pastor Ernie. Upon hearing the news from Rhia Frio and more upon learning that she is a Christian and the daughter of a pastor, God didn’t really make sense. As someone who is trying to surrender everything to the Lord, I felt betrayed in behalf of her family. Why someone whose family (I’m sure) is praying for her? Why someone who (I believe) has faith and follows the Lord? Does it mean that even if I have faith and I pray, harm will still fall upon me? If not prayers and not faith, what can deliver me from harm? These were the very questions that were running in my mind. The fate of Given Grace bothered me so much that even if I haven’t personally met her, I was compelled to write about her too.
Thank you for inspiring us!
HI, momsterteacher. Was wondering if you were able to download the messages on the series When God Doesn’t Make Sense. It addresses these issues.
A food for thought: God has not promised that we will not face harm here on earth. As a matter of fact, he promised persecution and suffering in hands of people just as our brothers and sister are experiencing in the underground churches in China and the Middle East. Aside from Judas and John, all the ten other original apostles suffered violent deaths for their faith. At times He chooses to deliver, at times he takes us home. Only He truly knows why. He only promises us that all things work for the good of those who love Him. I guess at times, in His eternal wisdom, He takes us home early. The Apostle Paul says, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” What Christ delivered us from is not from earthly suffering but from sin and eternal suffering and that is the most important of all. Whether He preserves us here on earth or not, He already paid the ultimate price to give us eternal life. The Bible says that any suffering we experience here will not even compare with what He has in store for us. It will wipe away everything. That is our blessed hope and the reason why the apostles and martyrs were able to face crucifixion, the flames, lions, being torn to pieces by animals, the sword and stoning to death. They had the blessed hope.
We may not know and understand everything but we can trust God with our lives because He already paid the ultimate price for our eternal life. We can only trust the He knows what He is doing. In that we can rejoice!
I will download it. I think I missed the preaching series on it
Favor, will you please post your above comment on my blog? I’ve also written about Given Grace but it was mostly from a vantage point of a mom and a now-wiser-once-stupid college girl. Those who’ve been reading (or will read) my blog will learn more given your perspective. I’m sure many of them are just like me, wondering, WHY GIVEN? Here’s the link: http://momsterteacher.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/justice-should-be-for-given/
Randy and I will definitely attend service this Sunday to listen to you preach. See you!
I will do so. See you. Oh, I’ll be the one preaching at the 4pm and 6pm services. Pastor Arthur Anonuevo will be the preacher for the 9am and the 11am services.
BTW, were you there the last time a preached about our adoption in Christ?
Oh by the way, thank you so much for commenting. I really appreciate the feedback and am glad that you were inspired.
We will attend the 6pm service. This will be our first time to listen to you preach.
Really? So you weren’t there when I preached there on our adoption and sonship in Christ. In case you want to listen to it, it’s in the message downloads page of this blog. See you and Randy. Thanks.
When was that? OK, I’ll try to download and listen to it. See you!
Hi Kuya Ernie! I didn’t realize you were a pastor. I used to train with you in UPLB under Coach Mejia. Funny that I would come across you again here