Captive Thoughts – April 15, 2024 (113/365) – JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

As mentioned before this was shared to me even before we headed to the beach, last Monday. And I have been taking notes – rather, thoughts, captive. There wasn’t much to meditate on in the trips to and from the beach; Between the stuffy uncomfortable trip, and the fact that I was talking to a fellow elder the entire time, I only had time to rest, less time to think.

Not the same case though, last April 11, 2024, on the bus ride to Cubao.

First off, I was appreciating the music that made its way to my April playlist on Spotify, and in the process of enjoying all of it on the trip, I thought it was a good idea to maybe throw in all the songs that mattered to me for the first 40 years of my life. I thought I’d keep the playlist to 40 songs… It came out to be more like 40 albums to throw in there. I abandoned that idea… for now.

I also dwelled on the theme we had for this second quarter of 2024. If we focused on trusting God on the first quarter, we’re focusing on God’s faithfulness from April through June.

And I thought about how God does demonstrate His faithfulness to us… by giving us chance after chance, among other things. And it seems like ‘giving chances’ has its place in our family’s reputation:

A friend of mine whom I knew from high school (who was quite the bully at the time but has since calmed down), spoke out in my favor to our batchmates at a more recent meeting, thanking me on behalf of my Dad, for giving him a chance at a business.
A schoolmate of mine who I barely knew, now in jail for charges that I won’t go into detail into, only that they’re ‘radioactive’ enough to keep even visitors away; Thanking me for braving the dangers of visitation, and for giving him a chance at survival.
Our late Senior Pastor giving me a chance in spite of my many failures, to be a pastor. My eventual team still staying a team despite my poor leadership or lack of leadership… giving me chance after chance.

As I was thinking about all this I thought: Should we take no chances in giving chances?

I also thought about the concept of the supply chain. When we were travelling back to Baguio from Bolinao we passed through Sual, in a market which sold all sorts of local produce and delicacies – Cured meats, the local catch of barracuda, squid, shrimp, and even octopus. We were buying Pangasinan products to enjoy in Baguio, approximately 2 and a half hours away.

For some reason, this is where I thought that transportation figures into logistics. In other words, the supply chain relies on means of transportation. Considering that my father was once into logistics during his own time in the military, I just had to ask myself – Is there a difference between civilian logistics (something that may be within my purview within this month, God-willing), and military logistics (Dad)? I suppose I asked because I wanted to know if there was something I could learn from my Dad beyond the grave and in his own writings and records of his craft, at least when it comes to this topic.

At any rate, I came up with this conclusion: If I’m going to go anywhere near logistics, I suppose I’d prioritize self sufficiency first, then depend/contribute to local, then global supply chains.

There’s much talk about our main church finally establishing a statement of faith… and how I’m also coming up with our own playbook, and so on. Rallying for identity.

I do see, beyond all this, that what we need is a Gospel for all times, all borders; Or, twisting it a little, it’s time we recognize that the Gospel that saves us and the Gospel we project to others is one that is borderless, and timeless – compatible with all nations and people groups, just as it is compatible with all generations.

There are a couple of thoughts to tackle before I actually get into the words discussed last Friday… but I’ll go ahead and cut this off here for now.

God bless you.

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