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The Best Educational Book of All Time

via Eliseo Soriano by Bro. Eli on 12/16/09

Praise be the name of the Lord God of Israel!

I believe in the integrity and the fairness of the judgment of Mashable.com Open Web Awards who adjudged my blogsite as the 'Most Educational to Follow' in the 3^rd Annual Open Web Awards.

Frankly, I am not fit to be called an educator because I am a high school dropout — just like what the apostle Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:9:

'For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.'

I, even at times, am hesitant to use some English words in writing my blog because of my limited knowledge in the English Grammar; but what inspire me most in composing my blog is my intense desire to share the truth that I have learned from the 'most' educational book to follow — my Bible.

There are a lot of inspiring books, interesting, with breathtaking stories, and educational as well, but in my sixty years of travel in almost all avenues of life from the shanties of the poorest of the poor to the mansions and the palace of the most powerful men and women of my country of origin, I am convinced that the teaching of the Bible have educated me more than any other books I have previously read.

I have talked — and dined — with presidents, senators and other men of authority. I have mingled with the poorest people of the human society. I have listened to mentors — spiritual and otherwise. I have listened to a psychopath and have given considerable time listening to children, and I have discovered a wonderful knowledge: that by understanding the Wisdom of God in the Bible, you can discern if a president, a king, or a senator is speaking ignorantly; or if a mentor is misleading his subjects to the rightful path of knowledge (1 Cor. 1:19).

'For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.'

Buddha, is a respected figure and is even considered a deity of Buddhism. He once said, 'The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly' This saying of Buddha was believed and made famous, not only by Buddhist people, but by millions of non-Buddhist people in the world; but based on the teachings of the bible, Buddha has lapses in his sayings — If a person is to live the present moment 'wisely and earnestly', you cannot help but anticipate troubles and problems simply because the present is connected to the future, after all, being earnest is to be intensely or excessively serious and grave in manner or attitude.

A caring father worries about the future of his children — much like the apostle Paul to the brethren in the church entrusted to his care by God (2 Cor. 11:28,4 RSV)

'And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches;

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.'

It is the sense of obligation and responsibility that drives a loving father to worry for the future and anticipate trouble that are to come for the good of his children (2 Cor. 12:14).

'Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. '

A wise and thinking mind cannot accept the saying of Buddha — because it is only fit for a child or a babe (Heb. 5:13). A babe or a child doesn't worry about the future!

'For every one that useth milk is unskillfull in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.'

Most importantly, Buddha himself did not live wisely in the present because he died by accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms. Maybe he learned something by death – that it is better to worry and anticipate rather than to be reckless.

Proverbs 6:6-8 says, 'Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.'

A wise ant anticipates the problem of hunger especially for their breeding queen so they gather food unceasingly and harvest them in their colony. Obviously, ants are wiser than Buddha. They know how to discern the poisonous from the edible food. This kind of education that I have learned from the Bible is far more superior to what people can learn from Buddha!

Quick fact: Ant colonies also have soldier ants that protect the queen, defend the colony, gather or kill food, and attack enemy colonies in search for food and nesting space. If they defeat another ant colony, they take away eggs of the defeated ant colony. When the eggs hatch, the new ants become the 'slave' ants for the colony. Some jobs of the colony include taking care of the eggs and babies, gathering food for the colony and building the anthills or mounds. (http://www.pestworldforkids.org/ants.html)

Confucius once said,' Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it'. At first glance, a verse in the Bible flashed like lightning in the horizon of my mind. John 8:44 says, 'Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.' The Lord Jesus Christ said that Satan is a liar — the father of lies — and there is no truth in him — where there is no truth, there is no beauty. I cannot see beauty in murders. The father of lies is a murderer — so are his children. There is no beauty in bombings and killing of innocent lives in any angle you look at it. The mangled body of an innocent civilian in Iraq and Afghanistan is awfully ugly. Sometimes the natural beauty is being concealed by a lie — by the 'make-ups' of the discontented society matron. Perhaps, Confucius was confused when he said it. I would rather suggest to the followers of Confucius to believe that there is beauty in everything that God have created in the original state of creation (Gen. 1:31).

'And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.'

By this, I reiterate and emphasize that the Bible is the most educational book to follow.

We want to express our deepest gratitude to the organizers of mashable.com, most especially to CEO Pete Cashmore, and to all the people who voted for this humble blog — may all of you be continuing instruments of truth in the seemingly infinite worldwide web to the most number of people possible.

God bless all of you!

Sincerely in Christ,

Bro. Eliseo Fernando Soriano