Kairos

Our house almost got razed to the ground! Oh, okay, I may be exaggerating just a little bit but it could have happened, God only knows. There was a power interruption last night in the area where we live, actually one of the very few times that I experienced black out since being here in the US. It lasted for a couple of seconds only and within a blink of an eye, the power came back on again…. so that was no biggie – until I heard something like a gurgling sound coming from the kitchen. It was very similar to that which a coffee machine makes towards the end of it’s brewing time, except much louder. So perplexed, I ran to the kitchen to check out what it was, in time to see our refrigerator burst aflame! “Oh my God!” I thought, “ FIRE! Our house is going to burn!” My instinct was to grab a glass of water to quench the fire but instead I yelled frantically to my husband (who was upstairs at that time so he had no idea what was going on) -- “Fire! Fire! The refrigerator is on fire!!!” ...

CALL TO PRAYER Today, March 5th, one of the most significant court cases in America’s history will take place. The California Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding the overturning of the vote of the people last year to pass Proposition 8, which defines marriage between a man and a woman. If this vote is overturned, not only will it set a major precedent of the court’s power over the will of the people, but it will likely be the flash point that will determine the future of America as liberal and homosexual agendas will disseminate throughout the educational systems and into the very fiber of American culture. The California State Senate just ruled against the peoples’ vote and asked the court to overthrow the defining of marriage as between a man and a woman. Senator Leno likened the people who voted for Prop 8 to the Germans who voted for the Nazi Regime. During these past three months since President Obama’s election, the voices of rage against Judeo-Christian values and agains...

I had a core biopsy done yesterday on cystic growths in my breasts. Many of you may not know, but I am "lumpy" :oD I have multiple cysts and nodules in both my breasts. I have known about this since 2003 and had been having my annual mammogram and sonogram since then. I dreaded the thought of having a biopsy, but I guess, this procedure became inevitable the moment my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 and died from it the following year. It was just a matter of time. Last month on my breast sonogram routine exam, the doctors found multiple new growths (bilaterally), and some of those existing ones increased in size. But what really concerned them are two particular lumps, one from each breast, that look suspicious. These findings established the need for me to have biopsy done on those two lumps in question, especially given the history of my family, particularly that of my very own mother. I first noticed the lumps during a self-examination. Looking b...

Last Friday, my husband and I concluded our 21-day Daniel Fast. (For those who don’t know what a Daniel fast is, pls. read Daniel 1:1-15 in the bible). We were, essentially, on a vegan diet during the period – we ate no meat/fish, no dairy and it’s products, no white flour and it’s products, no caffeine, no sodas – no processed foods with artificial additives and preservatives. It was challenging but in the end, we liked it. It is a very healthy way to eat. This has been the 3rd year that my husband and I have fasted at the start of each year. We didn’t plan or even talk about it, it just happened that way. I’d like to believe that we were just going with the leading of the Holy Spirit. :o) Personally, I have done several ways of fasting at varying lengths of time. There is just simply humbling in denying our flesh from what it needs in order to draw closer to our God, enhance our spirit and go deeper in our prayer life. God is glorified every time we decide to take our eyes off of the...

- 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...