Greetings! It is hard to believe that we are beginning the year 2007! It seems like 2006 began just last month. During the first weekend of December we held a ministerial conference in Davao City, Philippines. I have always found it a tremendous pleasure to spend time with the Filipino ministry. The meeting was very enjoyable and afforded the ministry the opportunity of discussing many important issues regarding the church. One issue that was discussed was centralizing our accounting for the church in the Philippines. During the past two years, I have seen a need to improve our accounting system for the work in the Philippines. Each pastoral area was doing a good job in terms of accounting but at the end of the year we had to combine all the accounting from the areas and submit a combined financial statement to the SEC. Combining four different systems into one statement created a tremendous amount of extra work. After trying different ways to solve the problem it became apparent that the most effective way of solving the problem was to centralize our accounting system. Now that our National Office has been established and is functioning well we can develop a standard accounting system that will serve us well and alleviate some of the clerical work of the ministry.

We recently opened five new bank accounts at our main China Bank branch in Davao City to centrally track the indigenous income for each of the five main pastoral areas of UCG in the Philippines. These locations are Dagupan (for Northern Luzon), Makati (for Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog), Bacolod (for the Visayas), Butuan (for North-Eastern Mindanao) and Davao (for South-Central Mindanao).

Beginning January 1, all locally-collected tithes and offerings will be sent to the National Office via the above accounts. The National Office will then mail Monthly or Quarterly Statements of Contribution to each individual or household. From January to June, we will be sending Monthly Statements of Contribution to each individual or household generated from our QuickBooks computerized accounting system. On July 1, we will transition over to the Quarterly Statements of Contribution system.

To help streamline our financial operations, we have also enrolled in the Corporate Online Banking module of China Bank. China Bank’s Internet banking portal, China Bank Online, was recently named the Philippines’ “Best Banking & Finance Website” in the 9th Philippine Web Awards (PWA)—the most prestigious search for the best Philippine-made websites. This new Internet banking platform will save us time in tracking and keeping on top of our various accounts and performing routine transactions.

Our CPA firm, LG Acompañado & Associates, recommended our new system and will help us compile all our income and expense reports to generate our financial statements.

Thank you so much for your support and patience as we make this transition. Another goal that we have for the upcoming year is to increase the circulation of The Good News in the Philippines. We will be looking at various avenues to promote The Good News magazine. I would like to solicit your help in volunteering to distribute brochures. The brochure program is one of the most cost-effective ways of our Good News promotion and it is also a way that provides each member the opportunity of helping to further advance the gospel in their respective areas.

Recently I gave a sermon regarding the whole armor of God. The apostle Paul exhorts members of the Church to put on the whole armor of God. He wrote in Ephesians 6:10-18 (NKJV): “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

Each day we are involved in spiritual warfare. Demonic powers would like nothing more than to see you destroyed. Each of us should begin our day “being strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” by putting on the whole armor of God. As I prepared the sermon, I searched for illustrations of the various pieces of armor that Paul referred to—probably the armor used by the Roman soldiers. One photo I discovered showed a person wearing a tunic—a garment similar to a long T-shirt that covered the body from the neck to the middle of the thighs. Without the armor, this piece of garment would have been all the soldier wore. If a conflict suddenly arose and the soldier had no time to put on his armor, he would have been utterly defenseless with simply a tunic. If the soldier was prepared for battle wearing his armor, he would have been equipped to successfully defend himself against the fiercest enemy. When you begin your day, do you put on the whole armor of God or do you leave home with nothing more than a spiritual tunic? Let’s make sure we are prepared for the spiritual warfare that we will undoubtedly have to wage as we begin each day.