THE WAY FORWARD IN CHRIST
(Part 4)
October
1, 2007
My dear
brothers and sisters in Christ,
Grace and
peace from our Lord Jesus!
Much has
happened in the past month. The restoration movement continues to pick
up momentum. In the Philippine provinces and in the different countries
where the movement has been started, a majority of the brethren are
going with us. We simply present the truth and make the brethren aware
of the issues, and without any intimidation or coercion, and oftentimes
even without any invitation, many are opting to be with the true and
restored CFC, which is CFC-FFL.
The other
side has accused us of sheep stealing. That is nonsense. The sheep
belong to the Lord, and we ourselves are part of His sheepfold. As we
have said before, we are CFC. We have not left the spiritual body that
is CFC. We in fact have a greater right to be CFC than those who have
veered away from God's call to CFC. And it is our responsibility to see
to it that the Lord's sheep have the same opportunity we have to be in
the right place. It is the individual decision of every CFC member to
decide where his heart brings him, and not be dictated to by anyone. Be
assured that we in CFC-FFL will not abandon you.
I had
also suggested to quite a few countries that the way to keep themselves
united is to insulate themselves from the conflict in Manila. However,
the other side has not cooperated in this. In fact, they are actively
moving to take control of the different countries. As such, the need now
is to insulate the different CFC countries from the veering away from
our original charism that is represented by CFC-GK under the Int'l
Council. The almost total focus on the work of nation building in the
Philippines, together with the concentration of much of our global
resources on this, is not to the interest of our global family. I know
that the interest of our brethren globally is evangelization and family
life renewal. And this is what CFC-FFL wants to restore.
As such,
I invite our CFC brethren throughout the world ..... align yourselves
with us. For our brethren in the Philippine provinces, consider starting
your restoration movements. Since generally your top leadership has kept
the issues from you and have decided on your behalf to align your
province with CFC-GK, you may think that you may be the only one for
restoration. You will be pleasantly surprised. Based on what we have
experienced so far, there will be many of you, even a majority, whose
heart will be for CFC-FFL. Contact and network with them. Do not be
afraid. In due time we will visit you for a restoration assembly. For
our brethren in other countries, get in touch with us and we will
integrate you in the restoration loop. Then we can look to arranging a
pastoral visit at the opportune time. Together as one global family in
CFC-FFL, we can all look forward to a future full of hope, as we restore
CFC's original charism.
I would
like to inform you of our theme for 2008. It is from the book of
Zephaniah. Our theme is "Our joy in Christ," taken from
Zephaniah 3:17. Lamentations has been for us a journey of hope and joy.
This year we persevered in hope. Next year we fully express our joy.
God bless
you.
In the
service of Christ,
Frank
Padilla
P.S. We
find that many brethren who fell away in the last few years are now
excited to come back to CFC-FFL. They look with anticipation to the
restored CFC. I suggest the rest of the year is a good time to focus on
bringing old members back, without holding back of course on our ongoing
evangelization.
P.P.S.
For more info on the issues, please go to our website <
www.cfceastergroup.org>. You may freely disseminate these materials
to others.
