Kairos

- means "Happy New Year" in Chinese. Today is the first day of the lunar calendar, the Chinese New Year. New Year is the most important holiday for Chinese people. The celebrations usually lasts for 15-days complete with colorful traditions and lots of food symbolic of prosperity, abundance and good fortune for the year. Chinese culture is indeed one of the richest in the world – it is full of traditions and superstitions all rolled in one. The Chinese lunar calendar is pretty unique in that each year is marked by one of the 12 zodiac animal. Legend has it that lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from earth, and that only 12 came. So they were rewarded by having to rule a year, in the order that they arrived. It is believed that the animal ruling the year in which a person is born will have a profound influence on his/her personality because “ it is the animal that hides in his/her heart.” In the same manner, the animal and its personality...

Here's a cry that echoes the prayers of my heart.... Thanks, Happy, for the reminder. Words fall short in depicting the urgency of the hour. We must wake up,Church! We must wake up from our comfortable stupor, step up and set ourselves apart for God's SOLE USE. We must shake off every hint of worldliness and carnality and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us so we can be RELEVANT in this hour. We must wake up from our self-absorption and self-centeredness. There must be a holy restlessness in us that will shout, ENOUGH! towards our addictions and sins that so easily cause us to grow cold in our passion for Jesus. The little compromises must begin to be magnified in our perception so we can feel the weight of God's conviction once again. We MUST HEED the voice of the Holy Spirit! We MUST CONSECRATE ourselves once again! We MUST OBEY in this hour! We MUST HUMBLE DOWN AND REPENT! And Why MUST WE? Because it is our divine destiny to turn this nation to God! We need to step up, spea...

It was 1:30am. I was in that state between deep sleep and consciousness. I heard the phone ring, but faintly. It seemed like it came from a cave, the ring sounded hollow and far. But the ringing got louder, until it got too loud that I jolted up from my bed. It wasn’t a dream. Our phone was indeed ringing, slicing through the stillness of the night. I’ve had too many incidents like this in the past 2-3 years – from when my mother was fighting her life due to breast cancer, and later on, my father having his own medical crisis as well. So, hearing the phone ring in the middle of the night brought back the all too familiar feeling of doom. Fear flooded my soul in an instant. My heart began to pound so heavy in my chest, like someone beating my bosom with a 2x4 piece of wood. My thoughts are immediately with my father in the Philippines. Whatever it is, I prayed quickly “Lord, I hope it’s nothing serious.” I jumped out of the bedroom, made my way to the next room, all while blindly gropin...

Here's one of the many traditions that we have at home growing up in the Philippines. For as long as I can remember, my mother had always made it a point to have a fruit basket/tray for the New Year. This basket would contain the very select of fruits that she's able to find in the market. Soon after Christmas, she would start preparing this basket with a lot of TLC (tender loving care). Her goal is to have 12 different kinds of fruits which are to be ripe when the New Year comes along. These 12 fruits were to represent each month of the incoming year, reason why it is important for each fruit to be perfect and sweet. It is a wish for our family to have each month of the year be blessed -- and sweet. I call this my Mom's basketful of blessings. I made one this year, in memory of my mother. So with this basketful of blessings, Joe and I would like to wish you a very Happy , Jesus-blessed New Year. May 2009 indeed be a year of expansion, new levels/heights and divine favors f...