For the next 4 days, Mark was studying hard and was in a state of bliss. He’s smiling all around, wherever he goes, preaching the Good News of Jesus to whoever he meets. Whether in the school, streets, or eatery, he always shares the Love of God with all mankind. Some may get confused by his preaching, others are receptive, and others deem him as deceptive. Nevertheless, he knew that he was living the Lord’s work and he was happy about it. Nothing’s bothering him even when he’s always seeing Cesar and Samantha being together, talking,

On Sunday, Mark and his family went to church in Be Opened Commission Fellowship. They sat in the middle row of chairs and waited for the service to start. He then saw Cesar and Samantha together passing by them to sit in the front row. While they were waiting, there are still people coming into the church until it got jampacked. Not long after, the worship team went up to the stage, and then praise and worship started.

Mark worshipped with all his heart then tears came streaming down his cheeks. He just kept singing with all his heart to God while his tears flowed like a mighty river. His parents saw Mark crying and encouraged him to be strong in the Lord. His parents didn’t know what Mark was crying for but assumed that he was sobbing because of everything that happened on Monday. That was when he scuffled with Junrey. They didn’t know the time when Mark vomited at the balut vendor because he didn’t tell them about the incident, but it was not what he was crying about. It was about Cesar and Samantha. But Mark isn’t anymore bothered by the relationship between Cesar and Samantha because he prioritized his relationship with the Lord.

After the worship service had stopped, Mark wiped his tears and blew his nose with his handkerchief. The pastor led the congregation to pray.

“O Lord, thank you for this day that you have given me. Help me to be bold according to the words you have given me, Lord. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

The sermon then started and the whole congregation listened. The preacher talked about God’s Son crucified, died, buried, and rose again on the third day. He was passionate to the core, his shirt was covered with sweat.

“He could save you from eternal Hell if you trust him. He will not condemn you if you don’t trust in Jesus but you are already condemned by your sins. Death then is the judgment pronounced by the Law because the wages of sin is death.”

Mark was wide-eyed by the preacher’s passion and the message the Lord has bestowed upon him.

“Upon receiving Jesus into your heart, you should stop sinning and live wisely. Upon receiving the treasures of salvation, don’t cast them to the pigs but put them in the deepest part of your heart.”

Now Mark is frustrated by this because he doesn’t understand the analogy. But he understood what the pastor is generally saying.

“Now, following the Bible is impossible. No man can do them. But with God, everything is possible. Without God, everything is impossible. Without the Holy Spirit, we can’t follow the Word of God. We’re only playing religion.”

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Mark wondered how he could have the Holy Spirit because he wants to follow God without fail.

“Be filled by the Holy Spirit! But prepare yourself in receiving him. Meditate in your heart. Meditating in your mind is not meditating, it’s thinking, and it’s where you get depression and anxiety. Your heart is the gateway to your soul. Meditate the Word of God in your heart or you could say ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,’ in your heart.”

‘Hmm, meditating in your heart. That sounds hard.’

“Let me give you an example. Suppose you and your wife, husband, girlfriend, or boyfriend were separated from each other. Your heart longs for them and meditates on your memories with them. That is meditation.”

Mark then looked at Samantha and felt a stinging pain in his heart. He still loves Samantha but he can’t because Cesar already has her. He just sighed but continued listening to the preacher.

After the preacher stopped the sermon, they all prayed then all went home. Mark went to his room and opened the Bible. He also is praising and worshipping God because he likes how he feels afterwards, which made his soul light. His stomach grumbled then he closed the Bible and went downstairs.

He smelled fried chicken while he was sitting on the couch in the living room. Turning on his phone, he went to YouTube and typed a video on Emmanuel TV. This video has a child with a broken leg bone because his classmate kicked it while they were playing.

‘What the heck was his classmate thinking?’

Anyway, they went to SCOAN and the Prophet sprayed anointing water on the protruding bone, and then the child just walked. God put a new bone in his leg from the spare body parts room. His broken bone came out of his leg and he got a new bone.

‘That’s wild.’

“Mark, lunch is ready! Let’s eat!”

“Yes, dad!”

Mark turned his phone off, put it on the couch, and walked towards the dining room. He smelled fried chicken and spring rolls. He pulled a chair and sat on it.

‘Mmm. Would you look at that food sent from Heaven.’

His mother pulled the last fried chicken off of the frying pan. She let the oil drip in the frying pan and then put it in the bowl along with other fried chicken pieces. The bowl is layered with folded tissue so that the oil that is still in the fried chicken could be absorbed. His mother goes over to him and put her hand on his shoulders.

“Get some rice while we wait for you.”

Mark gets up from his chair and walks up to the dish drawer. He opens it and grabs a plate. He then gets the spoon from the spoon and fork holder. He doesn’t want a fork because a spoon is enough for him. He scoops the rice twice and measured on his plate a quarter amount.

‘Perfection.’

He strides back to his chair, puts his plate of rice on the table, and sits. His father enters the dining room.

“Hey, kiddo. What do you think of church?”

“It’s powerful. I love it. The Holy Spirit’s presence is felt in there.”

“Yeah, I felt it too. The Holy Spirit’s on the move always.”

His father sat down beside him; his mother sat facing his father. All of them clasped their hands, closed their eyes, and bowed their heads. Mark felt a hand grabbing his shoulders.

“You lead the prayer kiddo,” his dad says

‘Ok, here goes nothing.’

“Lord, we thank and bless you for the food on our table. In Jesus’ name.”

And they said “Amen.”

They now begin to dig in. Mark eats the fried chicken, closing his eyes while eating them. His father eats the fried chicken and spring rolls, raising his eyebrows and nodding while eating them. His mother eats rice with the soup of Visayan vegetable dish, stopping at intervals while eating.

When they’re done eating, Mark goes to his room and reads his book “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.”

‘Hmm.’

He turns the page

‘What? Huh.’

Mark closes his book and ponders.

‘It’s crazy to think that I am here safe and sound while other people suffer and are deprived of the things they need. I have freedom while they have tyranny.’

The thought sticks to him for a month. He’s still confused about why bad things happen to the world.