Costly Affair for Chinese New Year Celebration

Lunar New Year is here again. Chinese all over the world are celebrating this occasion. Prior to the very day of the new year, reunion dinner is a tradition to be observed where family members gather to have a great meal and a good time enjoying one another’s company. This tradition has been passed down through generations and is still being kept by Chinese everywhere.

This is an important event especially for Chinese in China where they work in cities far away from home and they only get to go home once a year to be with their family. This home coming puts China’s transport infrastructure into great strain with the legendary exodus of hundreds of millions of Chinese returning to their home town. Sometimes, the high way would look like an open air carpark during horrible traffic jams due to traffic accidents or inclement weather conditions.

Nevertheless, reunion dinner is a gathering Chinese will not want to miss longing to see their parents and siblings after months of separation due to work or business or even schooling. However, for Chinese living in small cities where there are constant interaction and regular meals together with family members, this reunion dinner, though a Chinese tradition, has lost some of its meanings. It becomes a chore and a burden for those living in fast pace city lives, hardly have the time to cook at home, let alone prepare dinner for big family gathering.

Besides reunion dinner, preparation for Chinese New Year cost a lot of money. Chinese will want to buy new clothes, new shoes, new bags and if possible even a new car. This is in addition to food and snacks to be purchased to entertain relatives during visits and of course decking up the home after an exhaustive spring cleaning and all these add to the cost of the celebration. Another very costly aspect of the celebration is giving out red packets with cash inserted inside to be given to children once they are married.

So this is the time of the year small kids are taught about receiving red packets containing cash inside. This is supposedly to make them happy with blessings but in reality teaches them covetousness, a time of exploitation and extortion. They would some day grow up having to be givers so might just as well collect as much while they are still eligible, especially to help parents recoup the cash they have to give out to other people’s kids.

Hence, it is so common to hear Chinese bellyaching about having to find money to go through Chinese New Year. On the social media, one guy was complaining about having given his dad who is retired several hundred dollars for red packets to be given out during Chinese New Year, his dad spent them all in a week. Another woman was complaining about the restaurant she works at promised to give employees bonus but failed to materialized in the very last minute. She was given an advance half a month salary a week ago and she had already spent them all on stuff for the new year. She was lamenting where she might find money for expenses for the next few weeks having to pay school fees for children and transportation expenses at the very last moment just before Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year indeed comes with terrible burdens. Some people have been retrenched recently. How are they going to face their family members and relatives during this festive season? There is no end to trouble for those who are in financial difficulty. The article here summarizes services available to make Chinese New Year less stressful for busy city folks.

Four Services Available to Make Chinese New Year Less Stressful

Of course if you have an entrepreneurial spirit, Chinese New Year offers great business opportunity too. The Rent-A-Girlfriend Apps becomes an instant sensation because during Chinese New Year gatherings, instead of genuinely concern about each others welfare, it usually turns into a show-off convention with busy bodies asking personal questions causing embarrassment to some young people.

Girlfriend Rental App

Besides questions about marriage prospects, relatives also take the opportunity to compare occupations, wealth, children’s academic performance and many other vanities in this life. Unless you have money, Chinese New Year is not fun at all. Chinese New Year is all about wealth and getting more wealth.

As Christians, we see through all these vanities of life what the scriptures warn as worldliness and worldly lust. The Psalmists aptly exclaimed:

Psalms 39:5: Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

Psalms 39:6: Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

Nevertheless, many Chinese Christians still celebrate Chinese New Year. Some no doubt have to suffer the burdens associated with all the encumbrances during this festive season if they are unable to disengage themselves from pesky relatives and all other vain and superstitious practice.

Actually, as Christians, we cannot blame the Chinese for going after all the material things in this life because they don’t know God and don’t have God’s promise to provide for them and take care of them.

Matthew 6:28: And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

Matthew 6:29: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Matthew 6:30: Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Matthew 6:31: Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Matthew 6:32: (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Matthew 6:33: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

So Christians should not condemn or despise the Chinese for all this pursuit of wealth to impress relatives that they don’t like with the money that they have during this time. We should pity them for the burden they have to go through during this time. Some would no doubt end up with substantial debts to clear once the celebration is over. Of course there is nothing wrong wishing everyone well during Chinese New Year, especially wishing peace and blessings from the Lord.

As Christians, whatever calendar we observe, it is another year closer to the Lord’s glorious coming for us. It is a time to give thanks for God’s goodness for the past years and the rich blessings the Lord bestows upon us that we least deserve. May all Chinese Christian the world over rejoice in the Lord during this Chinese New Year.

Wishing all Chinese brethren God’s peace and blessings from above during this festive season.


Gender Neutral Parenting

Raising children used to come naturally to new parents. However, parenting in the modern world is complicated by many new trends from the wisdom in this world coming up with many fanciful ideas. Some new parents even attend courses to learn how to be good parents.

Parents of old without the benefits of New Age thinking have been successful in raising wholesome children for generations. This is no longer the case when modern day parents chase after material well-being for the family instead of spiritual and moral well-being of their children. Hence, in many highly urbanized societies, children are left to the care of domestic helpers or day care care givers. The end results are not really pretty which is evidenced in the warning given by the apostle Paul.

2 Timothy 3:2: For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

If you think parental neglect of children to certain extent due to families having to rely on a dual-income to support the family is tragic, this latest warped idea of raising children letting them explore and discover their gender identities is even worse.

Why I’m Raising My Kids To Be Gender Neutral

Some parents allow their children the choice to discover their own gender and even allow them to cross dress to see if they prefer to be male or female. This is a direct rejection of the God’s ordained calling for the children.

Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

They believe that if there is a God at all, God could have made a mistake with the birth of the child. So they allow little children to explore and experiment to decide on their gender preference in the future. This is folly of the highest order.

Children lack understanding and they must be taught on many things pertaining to this life, including who they are and how to behave as male and female.

1 Corinthians 14:20: Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

Children need to learn and grow and wean off their childishness to become an adult in the future.

1 Corinthians 13:11: When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

It is the responsibility of parents to teach and train their children, in particular, concerning the truth in the Holy Bible.

Proverb 22:6: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

For those irresponsible parents who cause their children to become confused and adopt a lifestyle incongruent with their gender, they will reap what they sow. The Holy Bible clearly warns against certain category of people who being effeminate will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

Interestingly, some of those modern false bibles conveniently left out the category of effeminate creatures. No doubt, these are New Age bibles.

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men (NIV)

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, (NKJV)

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, (ESV)

You know that wicked people will not inherit the kingdom of God, don’t you? Stop deceiving yourselves! Sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, (ISV)

Christian parents should do well to immerse themselves in the scriptures to raise up goodly children for the Lord and not follow some mindless trends in the world.

1 Corinthians 3:19: For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

Psalms 127:3: Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Psalms 127:4: As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

Psalms 127:5: Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.


The New Piper Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go has caught the world by storm. Two hundred million US dollars were made in the first month.

Pokemon Go – 200 Million USD in the First Month

In many countries, zombies are out on the streets trying to capture these cute little monsters. Young and old risked their lives with this new craze. Of course accidents happened forcing authorities to step in to issue safety warnings.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/25/national/pokemon-go-craze-leads-spate-accidents-traffic-offenses-across-japan/#.V6qKifl97rc

Hundreds Motorists Fined in Taiwan After Pokemon Go Launched

Pokemon Go Craze Prompts Police Step Up Safety Warnings

We are living in this present evil world that can be caught up so easily by new fads one after another. The eyes of fallen man are fixed on the things in this world.

The gospel is furthest from their mind. Who needs the gospel when Pokemon Go can keep them happily occupied throughout the day of their waking live?

We are entering a stage where the world can be easily manipulated to follow the piper. And the piper must be paid.

Wait till the real monster shows up. It isn’t funny at all.

Revelation 18:23: And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Revelation 19:20: And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

1 John 5:21: Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.


Will You Marry Your Self?

The advent of digital cameras, in particular on mobile phones, make it very easy and cheap to take pictures at any moment in time. Gone are the days where taking pictures are expensive having to buy rolls of films where you have to think twice before snapping away on your cameras, not to mention costly fees required to process the rolls of film and hopefully the pictures come out fine.

Who won’t want to capture a beautiful image especially with yourself in the picture too. In the past, you would need someone to take such a picture for you. Today, you could just take your own picture with the secondary camera on your mobile handset. With the aid of a selfie stick, you could take pictures of yourself at a greater distance which is even better.

Unfortunately, taking selfie is contributing to untimely deaths and injuries for some so engrossed in such acts of self importance and grandeur to capture the perfect moment in time for posterity and future self-exultation. Narcissism becomes popular and sometimes not cheap, even deadly.

List of Selfie-Related Injuries and Deaths

With the popularity promoting platforms like facebook and instagram, narcissism is taken on to a whole new level of indulgence. Spending time showing off and bragging about stuff on facebook coveting affirmation and adulation can become an addiction, especially those who set out hoping to get many friends and “likes” on their facebook page a life mission.

If you think that is not enough of self-love, self-praise and self-centeredness, you can even marry your own self if you so wish. You can fall in love with your own self and marry your self just like a normal wedding with a huge party following. This trend is going to pick up just like any foolish fashion in this world that will pass away.

No Need Husband – Women Can Now Marry Themselves

When you think this is narcissism gone mad, this is not something unexpected actually, scripturally speaking.

2 Timothy 3:2: For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

Haven’t we been warned about the last days’ conditions? Indeed men shall be lovers of their own selves literally. This is perhaps the grand finale of narcissism in all its glory.

This is good news actually because we are not far from the end of times.

Hopefully some will wake up and share the sentiments of the psalmist who exclaimed:

Psalms 39:5: Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.