GLORIFYING GOD
Do you know what the day after Christmas is
called? It is called Boxing Day. About 30 countries celebrate Boxing Day,
including Commonwealth members such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the
United Kingdom. Some former British colonies, like The Bahamas, Hong Kong, and
South Africa, have also made it a public holiday.
Traditionally, it was a day for the affluent to
present gifts (or "boxes") to employees, artisans, and those in need
as a charitable act, signifying the ongoing spirit of Christmas giving.
Despite most English-speaking countries
honoring Boxing Day as an official holiday, the United States has never adopted
it as a national tradition. Instead, on the day after Christmas, business is as
usual in the USA. Although the essence of after-Christmas promotions and
festive downtime remains, it is mainly expressed through extended shopping
events such as "Christmas sales" or "Post-Christmas
markdowns."[1] You will
already see Valentine's Day merchandise showing up.
I wondered what happened right after the birth
of the Christ Child? Was business as usual? No! The angels returned to heaven.
The three wise kings returned to their country after worshiping the King of kings.
The parents' lives have changed forever. Mary treasured up all those
extraordinary events and pondered them in her heart.
The shepherds became the first evangelists to proclaim the
good news of Christ's birth. They returned, glorifying and praising God for all
the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. On
the first Sunday after Christmas and the last Sunday of 2025, you don't need to
hear one more three-point sermon. We want to glorify God for revealing Himself
to us through the reading, teaching, and preaching of God's Word. We want to
praise and thank him for all the manifold blessings he has poured into our
lives over the past year.
The passage in Romans 8:1-24 discusses the apostle Paul's
zeal to preach the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles. It highlights two sets of
people. The first group is the righteous; these are the people who put their
faith in God, and that faith sustains them in life. Another group was the
skeptics; though the truth about God is made plain to them through God's
revelation, they knew God, yet neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to
Him. They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of people, birds,
animals, and reptiles.
Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of
their hearts to sexual immorality for the degrading of their bodies with one
another. Not glorifying God or not thanking him is detrimental to us. Let's
take a few minutes to give God the glory and thanks to Him for what He has done
for you in 2025. By doing so, we will be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.
Double Christmas
Miracles: I want to glorify God by sharing with you how He has been
merciful to me this past year. I wanted to update you on my health since many of you have
expressed concern and prayed for me. Since April 2025, I have had some form of
health scare or another. Some of those fears stemmed from doctors' health
prognoses, while others stemmed from my perception of the potential dangers of
acting or not acting on doctors' suggestions.
However, during the Christmas season,
I experienced two miracles from God, which left me amazed and in awe of God's
miracle-working power: Miracle I. Diagnosis and Treatment of Hypertrophic
Cardiomyopathy (HCM). In July, my electrophysiologist, after reviewing my AFib/
and HCM, suggested that to prevent me from suddenly passing away and avoid
possible death, an ICD must be implanted next to my heart.
Then he said,
"Let's meet in November for the procedure." That raised some
concerns, and I did not like the idea of having a machine monitoring my heart
for the rest of my life. So I earnestly prayed to God to spare me from it, and
I sought a second opinion.
On December 16, Dr. Martin Maron, who
is an expert Cardiologist on this disease of HCM and the director of the
renowned Burlington Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center, after thoroughly
reviewing my case, informed me that no aggressive treatment, such as an ICD or
ablation, is necessary to treat my HCM/Afib at this stage. He further suggested
that I continue with medication and exercise and see him next year for a
review. I was so thankful to God for the outcome of that visit, as that was
what I and several of you had been praying for.
Miracle II. As many of you were
aware, I had sudden abdominal pain, which drove me to the emergency room three
times in two hospitals and a total of seven days of hospitalization.
Again, my intercessory friends
interceded for me. God healed me of the inflammation and pain, and I came back
home with some follow-up visits. During these visits, two CT scans showed an
increase in pseudoaneurysms in the two main arteries. My vascular surgeon
recommended a treatment plan to address that situation, which is called
Mesenteric Artery Angioplasty with Stenting. On December 18, as I was getting
prepped up for that procedure for the placement of two stents. The surgeon approached
and delivered the shocking news.
While consulting with senior doctors,
they suggested that stent placement would be more dangerous; they suggested
another procedure, called a bypass, for which they may need to cut open my
abdomen. What would you do if you were in my place? I was frightened to death
when I heard the complications that were involved in that procedure.
Before that procedure, they needed
extensive, precise imaging, for which I cautiously consented and resolved to
pray earnestly. They prepped me up for that procedure, transported me to the
operating room, and placed me on the operating table. I requested some time to
pray before they administered anesthesia. All the staff said, " We will
join you when you pray." So, I prayed, saying, "Lord, I commit my
body, soul, and spirit into your hands.
I pray for all the doctors and staff
involved in this procedure and fill this operating room with your presence, in
Jesus name, Amen. The staff said, Amen! One doctor commented, "We feel
calm now!" I fell asleep under the influence of Anesthesia and woke up in
the PACU. My wife, Wilma, came to see me. During that procedure, they obtained
several more explicit pictures than before. After reviewing them, the surgeon
informed that there were no pseudoaneurysms whatsoever, not even a trace. That
was the most shocking news to the doctors, who had seen on a CT scan a
month ago something utterly at odds with what they had seen. But would they
admit to it? Here is a piece from their clinical notes:
"We visualized the branches of
the SMA. We were unable to visualize the celiac pseudoaneurysm or the hepatic
artery pseudoaneurysm previously visualized on CTA. The procedure was
terminated at this point." Were the surgeons surprised by their new
findings?
I don't know, but I was not! Because
that was what I had been praying for all along, even until the night before the
procedure. So it was the most pleasant news I'd heard all day. I was
overwhelmed and couldn't control my tears. Those were tears of joy and great
relief, as if the Lord had given my life back to me in a fresh way. It was
indeed a miracle for which so many of my friends, the Church, and I had been
praying.
My wife, Wilma, said, "Jesus said
these kinds of miracles would still happen these days. Would the surgeon who
performed the procedure and the other doctors on the team attest that this was
a miracle? We may never know, but all I know for now is that I am healed and do
not need any aggressive treatment at this stage. I want to give God all the
glory and Him for healing me. I am
forever grateful to Him, to all my praying friends, and to the Church. To top
off all these miracles of healing, God has graciously given us the best
Christmas gift. On Christmas Day, our second daughter gave birth to a beautiful
baby girl, Amaya Mercy.
