My name is Nic. I run a trading/importing company that supplies some hardware stores nationwide. I grew up in a business-oriented family; religion was never discussed.

I received Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior three years ago. A friend who worked out at the same gym shared God’s message with me. I perceived my friend to be a bit of a playboy; little did I know that he was quite active in church and a Christian. I remember my reaction when he told me that he was going to Bible study. I laughed and said, “You? Church?!”

He just smiled back. Some days later, he invited me to attend CCF. I began to regularly attend afterward and eventually started going to D-Group meetings.

Since I became a Christian, people began to notice a change in me. Indeed, God’s hands were at work. He gradually transformed me.

As I grew in faith, God challenged me to take part in the CCF building fundraising. In 2006, I saw the presentation for the building fund and was greatly moved. I told myself, “Hey, I want to be part of that!”

Sometime after that presentation, a lady shared her experience of giving a seven-digit pledge back to God. Her testimony challenged me to give a seven-digit pledge as well. I even came up with a plan for how I’d schedule the payments. I went to the extent of making an oath, that I would not spend anything on myself so that I could save enough to give to the CCF building fund.

I wrote it down on the blue pledge form that was handed around that Sunday, but I never got to drop it into the offering boxes. Months passed, and the pledge form remained with me. But I noticed, despite his, that God began to bless all my work. He knew what was inside my heart, after all. Our sales figures rose during the first quarter of the year.

I then toyed with the idea of doubling my seven-digit pledge, even though it would not be easy for me – I am not financially well off. I gave myself time to think and pray about it. I asked my D12 leader to pray for me.

By May 2007, my inventories were running low. All of my foreign suppliers were having problems sending our orders. Our warehouse was pretty much empty, because we hadn’t received any shipments since February. I expected sales to drop to catastrophic proportions – all my top selling items were out! Our sales coordinators were worried that they wouldn’t receive their monthly incentives. I was worried by the sales figures and by the possibility that we wouldn’t hit our monthly quotas.

But, God is faithful. His plan was way better than mine. On June 2, 2007, I received the sales report from the outlets I supplied. Not only did we hit our monthly quotas, but we also broke the year’s sales record! Don’t ask me how we did it, because I can’t give you that answer.

I remembered the story of Gideon in Judges 7. God pared down the man’s army from 32,000 to a mere 300 men, and yet Israel was victorious. God trimmed down the level of stocks in my warehouse, so that I may not boast. We even managed to sell a lot of our slow-moving items that month. God is truly amazing!

On Monday, June 4, 2007, I went to the CCF office and submitted my pledge – yes, double the amount – along with my 10% partial payment.

Truly, God is in the business of the impossible. Though sales were horrible, he turned it around. He gave me the funds to help His building project at CCF…

… not only once. In October 2008, I received an invitation to a thanksgiving dinner for the CCF building fund. I attended with my wife Katherine, who was, by God’s grace, then six months pregnant.

They made a presentation on the progress of the pledges and the remittances. Before the night was over, God impressed upon me another challenge: to again increase my pledge.

I asked myself again how I could afford to increase my pledge when the first increase had been hard enough already. The amount that God had impressed upon me was three times the amount that I wrote on my first pledge form. So I told myself to wait it out and pray about it.

Days went by, and the burden was still there. I met up with my D12 leader, Edric Mendoza, who assured me that God is not a sadist; He won’t ask of you something that you cannot bear. As I shared with him, I began to stutter. I didn’t want to make a pledge that I couldn’t fulfill. I knew that with or without my pledge, the CCF building would be finished. I guess I was just being hard on myself.

One Sunday in November 2008, Rafael Simpao Jr. was the speaker. It was then that God broke my heart. I saw this man cry about his paintings – paintings! Most people would say that I understood him quite well; he was willing to let go of something that was so valuable to him, just so he could be part of God’s amazing endeavor.

It was the first time that I wept inside CCF. I wept as I pulled out the pledge form and signed it. My wife saw that I had signed the pledge form once again. She knew that I had been praying about it for weeks already. With tears in her eyes as well, she assured me that it was going to be okay.

It’s 2009 now. So far, I have been able to keep up with my remittance schedule. Despite global turmoil and economic uncertainties, our company, by God’s grace, still manages to get by.

I was reminded of the book of Exodus, when God asked Moses, what is in your hand? It was then that Moses decided to let go of his staff. From then on, the staff was never addressed as Moses’ staff but as the Rod of God. I am Nic, and my company is no longer my company. To God be all the glory.

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail,
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold,
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk 3:17-18

The book of Habakkuk has three chapters, all relevant to our times. In Chapter 1, Habakkuk was complaining to God about wickedness and injustice in his country. He was worried. Then, in Chapter 3, you’ll see Habakkuk praising and singing to God — no more worries. What happened?

We see in Chapter 2 that God spoke to Habakkuk and told him, the secret of life is to trust God and live by faith. How do you experience this kind of faith?

Everybody has faith. Even the atheists have faith. When the atheist says ‘I don’t believe in God’, he is saying ‘that is my faith’.

When a wife tells me, “I lost my faith in my husband,” the wife still has faith; it’s just that the object of her faith has become unreliable.

Years ago, I had an American guest. He is a super heavyweight wrestler. He came to my office and sat in front of me. Well, my chair at that time was a modern chair. It was molded from a sheet of metal, and it did not have four legs; it did not have legs at the back. As my guest began to relax, putting all his weight in the chair, slowly, it began to bend backward, and then he rolled onto the floor. When he fell, he was embarrassed. Of course, I was also embarrassed. I didn’t want him to think that we Filipinos have bad chairs.

So, I helped him up and told him to sit in an identical chair. But he didn’t want to. Do you know why? He had lost his faith in the chair. You know how he eventually sat on the other chair? It’s called “Sariling Sikap Program.” His weight was supported by his own legs.

Many Christians are like my friend and the chair. These Christians don’t trust God completely. They cannot relax. They’re always worried. Biblical faith is trusting in God for who He is and trusting His promises.

Today, people say they have faith, but they don’t know the object of their faith — just whom and what they believe. The reason is they have not bothered to study the Bible and obey it.

Habakkuk learned to put his faith in God, trust in Him in the midst of his problem. And he was able to relax and praise God. (PTC)

Blessed be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name!
Every blessing You pour out
I’ll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in, Lord,
Still I will say,
“Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
Matt Redman

By Cata S. de Jesus

The GM of a big corporation was informed by his staff that they were under fire because of complaints from some sectors. A TV station wanted a statement from someone in authority. The GM had a few choices. He could send one of his well-heeled underlings to face the cameras and take the flak. He could briefly leave the country and assign his PR guys to take care of the problem. Or, he could do the most difficult, but the RIGHT thing to do — make the statement himself and take the flak. Well, that he did. The GM faced the cameras himself. He told the truth. He took the flak. That’s integrity.

A housewife was buying several big cans of expensive milk. She noticed that the prices on the cans were lower than usual. As the cashier was about to punch in the purchase, the lady told the cashier that there might have been a mistake in the pricing. The cashier checked it and found out that there was, indeed, a mistake — so the right (but higher) amount was punched in. That’s integrity.

A lady, highly paid and highly placed in an international organization, was asked by her colleagues to sign a document which contained fabricated results. She refused to sign. Even if her colleagues and superiors badgered her, ostracized her, badmouthed and threatened her, she still refused to sign. That’s integrity.

Many years ago, my husband was an executive in a real estate company. He was offered a P1-million bribe by a broker who was selling a property to the company. My husband knew that the property had, in fact, already been approved by top management because he himself had recommended its approval – but the broker didn’t know that. It would’ve been easy to accept the bribe because it was already a done deal. But my husband did not accept the bribe. Instead, he scolded and blacklisted the broker who tried to bribe him, and reported the incident to Management. That’s integrity.

A few good men. That’s what we call people with integrity. Men of principle, honor, and courage. All the above stories are true, and all of them are Christians. None of them can take any credit for what they did. Only by God’s grace, and only the power of the Holy Spirit, were these men and women able to hurdle their own individual tests and trials with integrity.

The Bible tells us,

You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God, following his instructions in every detail. Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy (Deut. 5: 32-33).

God is the only One Who sees everything we do. That’s why our integrity is fully tested when nobody else is looking but God. We know He doesn’t have the habit of blowing the whistle on us right on the spot, or zapping us immediately when we do wrong — that’s why we find it easy to compromise, lie, cheat, exploit, and manipulate things to our advantage when we think we can probably get away with it. Maybe the prize money is too high, so we’re willing to compromise. Or we’re too scared to face the consequences of our mistakes — so we lie and hide and twist things to save our skin.

Our integrity is usually put to the test by two things: MONEY and REPUTATION. When any of these are involved, the temptation to compromise escalates — depending on how much we have to gain, or how much we stand to lose.

Let’s do a little Integrity Check, then, on ourselves. These questions are not exhaustive, but they will do for now. Let’s answer these questions honestly:

1. Am I a User? Do I use people and relationships for my personal advantage? Do I constantly MASSAGE THE EGOS my bosses? Do I often FLATTER people who are useful to me, people who can get me what I want? Do I use GIFTS to ingratiate myself to, or get the support of others? Do I ignore and drop people like hot potatoes when they’re no longer “useful” to me?
2. When my superior tells me to do something that I know is wrong, unsavory, or devious, do I have the courage to respectfully say NO? Or do I just go ahead and do it because it might cost me my job, my boss’s approval, or job perks? Am I a “Yes Man”? Am I a boot-licker? Am I a sycophant? (In Tagalog, am I sipsip?)
3. Do I accept gifts, freebies, privileges, etc. from suppliers/contractors who give these things to me because of my position? (Either do not accept the freebies, raffle them off to your staff, or ask your boss if you can accept the gifts/freebies. That’s integrity. Never use your position to curry favor or get gifts.)
4. As a boss, do I have a “fall guy” who takes the flak for me, who takes the blame for my mistakes, who does things that I won’t risk doing myself? Do I use my subordinate to be the “bad guy” so that I can always be the “good guy”? Do I resent or demote subordinates who do not always agree with me or who have the courage to stand up to me?
5. Do I play politics to may advantage, and to the detriment of others? Do I have quid-pro-quo relationships: “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine. I’ll do you a favor, but you owe me one.” Do I cover up for my friends even if it’s something that I should have reported?
6. Do I take personal/command responsibility for my mistakes or my subordinate’s mistakes – even BEFORE I am caught or confronted? Or do I own up only AFTER my sin/mistake is exposed? (This is means not only a lack of integrity but also cowardice.)
7. Do I speak up when I see someone being treated unjustly? Or when I detect a dishonest/unfair policy? Or do I just shut up because it might cost me my job or jeopardize my position? Do I just look after my own interests – not willing to recommend something that will benefit others but not myself?
8. Do I make bad reports or say negative things to my superior or to others when I am envious of, or angry at someone? Do I become critical when I am threatened/intimidated by someone more accomplished or more popular than me?
9. Do I lie to clients just to get a sale — concealing negative information, selling them what they don’t need, or exaggerating the positive? Do I lie or over-sell myself, just to get the job/position I want? When making a report or presentation, do I slant the truth just to impress people or get what I want?
10. Do I negotiate to the point of taking advantage of another person, using loopholes and technicalities just to gain the upper hand, abusing his trust, or using his ignorance/inexperience to my advantage?
11. Do I engage someone’s services without first making clear what I intend to pay him so that, after the job is done, I can just pay him what I want? Do I burden my subordinates with a lot of additional work that’s not in their job description? In short, do I exploit my staff?
12. Do I take home office supplies or use company time and equipments for personal use? (If I do, do I pay for the extra expense myself?)
13. Do I brag and take credit for something that I did not do myself? Do I give credit where credit is due? Do I cite the achievements of my team and predecessor/s when making an Accomplishment Report – or do I fail to mention them, presenting the accomplishments as my own?
14. Do I refuse to take part in anything that involves cheating, lying, unfair practices, illegal activities, or selling harmful, useless or overpriced products? Do I declare my income honestly? Do I pay my taxes honestly?
15. Do I pay my debts and bills on time? Do I have debts or bills that I’m not paying regularly? Have I discussed a realistic payment scheme with my creditors?
16. Do I use “negotiations” to earn as much money as I can, or to get what I want — without thinking of the welfare of the other parties involved?
17. Do I use my position/power to CONTROL PEOPLE instead of lead them? Do I use my authority to bestow favor on people I like, and to make life hard for those I don’t like? Do I nurse grudges and let it affect the fairness and objectivity of my decisions?
18. Do I tell the truth even if it will put me in a bad light – and even if no one will find out? When I give good reports about my project, do I also report my failures/mistakes? Or do I just cover up by not talking about my mistakes at all? Do I exaggerate things or pad my numbers to look impressive?
19. Do I give people what is due them, when it is due them? Or do I try to pay people as little as I can, and delay payment for as long as I can?
20. On the matter of Intellectual Piracy — if I give a talk or write something, do I cite the source of my outline/content (if I’m using someone else’s materials)? Do I cite the authors/sources of the quotations, ideas, concepts which I borrowed? Or do I pass it off as my own? (Some people in the audience know – and we will lose credibility with them.)
21. When I am in a mutually exclusive relationship – do I cheat on my boyfriend/girlfriend by flirting with or secretly seeing others? Do I cheat on my spouse – even just by getting emotionally involved with someone else? Take note: an unfaithful spouse or dating partner has no integrity in many other areas of his/her life.
22. When I am confronted with an apparent mistake that I made, do I excuse myself by saying that it was just a “miscommunication,” an “oversight,” or “I was just following orders”?
23. Am I consistent and transparent in what I say and do? Or am I more of a chameleon? Am I two-faced (in Tagalog, balimbing)? Do I conveniently change my opinion/story to blend in, to avoid scrutiny, to avoid being caught, or to protect my own interests?
24. Are you honest with money? Are you honest in your relationships? Do you do things behind people’s backs?

Integrity is a MUST for every Christian. It’s non-negotiable. It reveals our true character. It reveals our own humility of mind and generosity of spirit:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2: 3-4).

The world is full of temptations. And let’s face it. We are easily tempted because we are so full of ourselves – our lust for power and recognition, our selfish cravings, our personal ambitions. That’s why developing integrity is always an arduous, uphill climb. It takes tons of resolve, determination, sacrifice. When we slip now and then, we should quickly get up and resume our uphill climb.

No one has perfect integrity. But as Christians, we must try to use integrity as a plumb line for everything else in our lives.

We must constantly strive to develop integrity before God. Integrity in our own family. Integrity before men. Integrity when we face ourselves. If someone questions your integrity, drop everything and listen!

–
Catherine de Jesus is a writer, lecturer, and a Christian counselor on Marriage, Life Issues, and Work Ethics. She is married to one of CCF’s Elders, Pastor Ito de Jesus, and they have four children. Cata serves with the CCF Women-to-Women Ministry and the Elders’ Wives Group. Prior to her involvement in CCF, she headed Corporate Communications and Media Relations departments in local/international organizations. She immensely enjoys reading, writing, and traveling. She has been working on a book of essays that will be published this year.

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I grew up with the best things in life. My family and I lived very comfortably, because my dad was a very successful businessman. But, looking back, I see there was something missing in my life. That was the loving presence of a father, who made up for his absence by showering us with material things.

Then, we found out that he was fooling around. He had a mistress, with whom he had two children. Because of this, he had become very withdrawn, harsh, and unloving in many ways. I grew up disoriented and what you might call a happy-go-lucky bad boy.

In college, something good finally came. I met Lilli-Ann, who became my girlfriend. She asked me several times to attend worship services, and at the time, I was so allergic to so-called born-again Christians that I declined each time. She then challenged me to a bet. If I lost, I would have to attend and try it out just once. I would never have to again if I didn’t like it. I lost the bet, praise God!

When I entered the church, my hair was standing on end. I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. As I was listening to the message, it was about the unconditional love of a father that I so longed for. It was as if God was speaking to me. That day, I accepted Jesus into my life, and it has never been the same.

I was working in my dad’s company when this happened, so during my free time, I would share the story of Jesus with all the employees. This irritated my dad and made him despise me. I remember going home in tears because he would curse me and shout at me in front of the employees. It made me feel very low and degraded. It came to a point when I couldn’t take anymore. At this time, I had found my new security and confidence in God the Father. I decided to leave my father’s business and marry Lilli-Ann so that I could stand on my own and somehow get away from his control.

My wife & I started a small café and dedicated it to the Lord. We gave 10% of gross as tithes. In less than three years, God blessed us with five branches, feeding over 3,000 people daily. But as profits went up, we were also lured by the world. We spent less time with God and eventually stopped tithing faithfully. This was the beginning of our downfall.

God took all our branches away one by one, leaving us to start with nothing. After losing everything, we woke up and realized that this was God’s way of calling us back to Him. As a father who disciplines his child, God disciplined us. He loved us so much that He made a way to call us back. He is so good!

So, by this time, we were at rock bottom. We still had our catering business, but it wasn’t enough. My wife started a small bag manufacturing business, but both businesses could not sustain our family’s needs. I recall having to borrow money from my dad to pay my kids’ tuition fees. He declined to help me, so I had to beg to borrow from my aunt. Several times, we couldn’t pay our utility bills and would fear disconnection at any time. We were at our lowest.

However, amazingly, we had the peace and joy in our hearts. We knew that God would see us through this drought.

In December 2005, we heard the challenge to be a part of the building fund. God impressed it in our hearts to give. My wife had a certain amount in her mind, but she haggled with God. She said that amount was impossible to raise, given our situation. So, she decided to ask me, in the hopes that I would have a smaller amount in mind. To her surprise, God had impressed in my heart the same amount to give.

We took it as a clear calling to pledge that amount by faith, even if it seemed impossible to give. We decided to fulfill that pledge in a year, because we were excited to see how God would make it happen.

We had a major catering event a month afterward, and because it was January, we wanted to start right all over again. We decided to give all of our profits for that catering gig. We were very tempted to just give 10% because we really needed the money to pay bills, but we took to heart and believed in Proverbs 3:9-11: “honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

Weeks after, God did three amazing miracles for us. First, business started pouring in for our catering. It was flourishing like never before; we were now catering, not just to hundreds, but to thousands throughout 2006. Second, my wife’s small bag business grew and grew. As she got paid for each order, she would immediately set aside and give her tithe and a portion for the building fund pledge. (The same was done with our catering earnings as well.) From our dream of supplying just a few hundred bags, she was now supplying by the thousands to well-known establishments in Manila throughout 2006.

By the end of that year, exactly a year from when we made our pledge, we were able to complete and give the full amount God had impressed in our hearts to give.

As for the third miracle, when 2006 began, we had an outstanding debt of over ₱2-Million to pay from the loss of our businesses. By January 2007, we were finally debt-free!

All this happened within the year of fulfilling our pledge to the building fund! Praise God who is able to supply exceedingly and abundantly all we need if we honor Him and put Him first!

Let’s go back to my father. Our D-Group meets in our ancestral home every Thursday. My mom would generously prepare dinner for the group before we began Bible study. She and my two sisters used to be my worst persecutors; now, they were also growing in the Lord because of our weekly Bible studies.

When my dad heard of this, he ordered for us to stop the Bible study and threatened to stop my mother’s grocery allowance if we continued. We didn’t tell the group about it, but we kept on praying for him fervently. Several times, we prayed a prayer that Pastor JP taught us — for God to do whatever it takes to save my dad.

On two occasions, when I visited my dad, he asked me what I would do if he left me an inheritance. He wanted to know if I would give 10% tithe to my church even if I didn’t really earn it, because it was just given to me. To this I replied, “Yes, I would have to give, because everything belongs to God, and all He asks for is the 10%; and because it is written in the Bible.” My father was furious and told me several times that I would not get any inheritance from him.

He also asked my then ten-year-old son the same question, and my son answered, yes, he would give his tithe. This made my dad very mad about my faith. But it did not bother us, because we knew that our Father in heaven has the best inheritance kept for me and my family.

Then, God in His goodness heard our prayers. In January 2006, my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We had heard that this type of cancer grows very fast. My dad was given a year to make things right. While at his sickbed, I would always lead him to prayers, encouraging him and telling him that God loves him and wants to have a relationship with him, if he would just open his heart. In the months that followed, whenever I visited my dad, he wouldn’t let me leave until we had all prayed together with him.

On one occasion, when we were planning to transfer him to another hospital, I asked him whom he wanted would accompany him to the new hospital. He answered that he wanted Jesus to accompany him. On yet another occasion, I told him that we would have to take him to the US for further treatments because we were getting desperate already. He put my own faith to shame by answering me that Jesus would not let him down. He finally knew that God was in control of everything. In his last days, my dad said that he already wanted to be with Jesus, and in December 2006, he went home to our Savior.

A month later, I tithed from my inheritance. This time, I knew that while I was giving it, my dad was smiling from heaven, because it was for the furtherance of the kingdom.

During my visits to the hospital, while I prayed with and shared the love of Jesus with my dad, his mistress would always be beside us and listening to everything I said. Soon, she too accepted Jesus Christ into her heart and prayed the repentance prayer with us.

I asked her to make things right with my mom by apologizing for the pain she had caused my mother. She took courage, humbled herself, and asked my mom for forgiveness. My mother had mentioned that she would never allow that woman to see my dad’s remains or to attend the wake and memorial services. But on Christmas Eve 2006, with my two half-brothers and my dad’s mistress beside my mom and my whole family, we all as one happy family put my dad’s remains to rest.

What seemed impossible, God made possible.

To God be the glory for all the amazing things He has done, Amen!

Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:4 (NASB)

There was a rich man named Lord Congleton. He lived in Dublin and owned a large estate on which several families lived in little houses. Many of them were not able to pay him rent.

He wanted to teach people the meaning of faith. So, he put up a sign saying that those who owed him money — they cannot pay rent, they cannot pay for their farms — should see him on a particular date between 10:00 and 12:00. Then, their debts will be cancelled.

Well, that date came, and people gathered together, looking at the sign. But none of them would enter Lord Congleton’s office, except for one poor peasant guy who came in running at ten minutes to 12:00. Inside, he said, “Sir, I’m here to collect my receipt.”

Lord Congleton looked at him and said, “You came here for me to cancel your debt?”

“Yes sir.”

“You believed me?”

The man said, “Sir, I believe you. I don’t believe you would deceive people. I believe you.”

Then, Lord Congleton asked, “Are you industrious? Are you hardworking?”

“Sir, that was not part of the announcement.”

So, Lord Congleton said, “Give me your bill; tell me how much you owe us.” He got the bill and stamped it: FULLY PAID.

With his receipt, the man ran out of the office and began jumping, telling everybody, “I am a free man! I am a free man!”

At that, the rest of the people wanted to go in, but it was too late. It was past 12:00.

Now, many are like those people. They know about Jesus. They know the offer of Jesus. But they have never actually claimed it by faith. You see, faith means that you go to Him and say, “Lord Jesus, I want to claim your promise. You died on the cross in my place. By faith, I will accept your forgiveness. By faith, I will accept your pardon. I want to claim your promise.”

Have you ever done that? If you have, Habakkuk says that you are “righteous,” one whose soul is right before God.

According to the prophet, the opposite type of person is “proud,” and his “soul is not right.” It takes humility for a person to acknowledge that his acceptance by God is not through his own merits, not even by his perceived ability to obey God’s commandments.

To live by faith means you believe not only that Jesus died for you, but also that He loves you and He has the best plans for your life. Are you prepared to live by faith? (PTC)

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise;
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”
L.M.R Stead