They sure start acting ugly when they run out of answers, don’t they? I haven’t even started asking the real questions yet. What is quite unsavory is this random strafing of bible verses on judgement, ignorance, and authority, without first having established the soundness of their own doctrine. They begin by begging the question, and END WITH ALL-CAPS PRONOUNCEMENTS OF ERROR AND DOOM!

So then, let us take what we’ve seen of Ruben Ecleo’s little cult from that sour exchange, and answer all salient points with arrogantly grating punctiliousness. (Does that qualify as “Fisking?”)

“If you mixed dinuguan with chopsuey, walang lasa. (no taste) My friend, KINUTYA NG MGA TAO SI KRISTO NOON, SAME WITH MY DIVINE MASTER TOO! (“They persecuted Christ before, same with my divine master too!”)

I don’t need to eat a whole bowl of dinuguan to that it has spoiled. And since when does persecution equal correct doctrine? Mormons, Muslims, and Falun Gong adherents are persecuted too, but that doesn’t make their beliefs the One True Faith.

Besides, your divine master wasn’t being persecuted for his crazy beliefs; he was being arrested on suspicion of of having brutally murdered his wife. That’s not persecution: it’s the law. And when his overzealous followers commence a shootout which kills policemen — and many of their own as well — then that hardly qualifies as persecution so much as it is resisting arrest. Saint Peter has nothing on these goons.

Ang GINTO kung ibigay mo sa BABOY, AAPAK-APAKAN lang niya ITO! (“Give GOLD to PIGS, and they will only WALK all over IT!”)

You seem to have misquoted Matthew 7:6 — “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” Much agreed; why share the Word of God with someone who will not listen — oh, say, like someone who thinks he’s Jesus reincarnated? I point you to this brief bit of commentary: “These are metaphors for preaching the word of God to those unwilling to listen. We can not argue a person into salvation, man is saved through faith in God by the grace of God.”

Amen. I apologize for having been so judgmental as to consign the Rubenian cultists to hell so prematurely. Our own Savior Jesus Christ may yet work in Ecleo’s heart to save him from his delusions; it’s not my place to declare him doomed, though I may think so.

“Kung ano ang ginawa mo sa kapwa mo tao, yan din ang gagawin sa iyo. Sabi pa ni KRISTO,’Kung ano ang ginawa mo sa kapwa mo, yan din ang ginawa mo sa akin.'” (“As CHRIST said, “Do unto others…”)

I’m sure the White Eagles were thinking just that when thirty of them opened fire on police who came to arrest the DIVINE MASTER, eh?

Ang tao naghuhusga base sa nakikita’t naririnig, ang DIYOS base sa laman ng PUSO, PANANALITA’T GAWA. (“People judge what they see and hear, GOD judges by HEART, WORDS, AND WORKS.”)

I see. Aling mga pananalita’t gawa? Yung mga ganito, ‘di ba:

“…His loyal cult followers had reportedly demanded not to have Ecleo moved to another cell and threatened that if their request would not be granted, suicide squads might come from their Dinagat lair and wreak havoc in Cebu City. On top of it, Ecleo’s supposed political sympathizers among Surigao del Norte’s provincial politicians had also tried to pressure local authorities to extend the “requested” special treatment in our city jail to their favorite son….”

“….It should be a wonder to the public how Ecleo managed to have a woman in his curtained jail cell, who, caught by surprise, tried to hide her face behind his “lord and master” from the prying camera of a photojournalist. And to top it all, there were still, in fact, two other “girls-in-waiting” in the adjoining makeshift room.”

– Roperos: The Ecleo case

For which of these works will Ecleo and his followers be judged, I wonder? Whoops, whoops, hindi ako nanghuhusga! Sharing the facts and quoting the news isn’t being judgmental!

“By the way, ANONG KATURUAN NI DIVINE MASTER na MALI at sinabi mong HE IS A FALSE TEACHER? You already JUDGE HIM. “Judge not so that you will not be judged.” (Which of Divine Master’s teachings are wrong that you call him a false teacher?)

He claims to be Jesus reincarnated, and that cannot be. Reincarnation is defined as the rebirth of a dead person’s soul into the body of a new being — and Jesus Christ is not dead, but alive! By saying that he is Jesus reincarnated, Ecleo is effectively saying that Jesus died, and that he is now Jesus. But we know from the Bible, very clearly, that Jesus rose again on the third day after his crucifixion, and ascended bodily into heaven, from where the angels announce that he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Someone who claims to be Jesus effectively claims to be Lord, the Second Person of the Triune God, omnipotent and omnipresent. But remember what happened when King Herod tried to usurp the role of God. I predict that it will get only harder and harder for Ruben Ecleo, if he continues along this destructive path. God does not smile happily on anyone who claims to be Him.

Remember: I’m not judging who goes to hell or not; I’m merely giving warning based on what the Spirit reveals from God’s Word.

“SEE YOU ON THE JUDGMENT DAY. sweet dreams.”

Well, that all depends on eschatological outlook. If the dispensational pretribulationists are right, I might not see you on the JUDGMENT DAY, at baka na-rapture na ako eh. But thank you for the kind thought.

Anti-cult deprogrammer Rick Ross has added a PBMA section to his massive collection of cult references. Of course, Rick Ross has his own past controversies, but his cult-busting site is a great resource nonetheless.

Also check out his references on Mormons, Scientology, and Falun Gong.