Ccowespondence December 2011 Issue: A Review

CCOWEspondence is a magazine published semi-annually by the CCOWEF Young Professionals Philippines (CYP). This publication is distributed for free to the Filipino – Chinese churches nationwide. The goal of CCOWEspondence is to unite the Chinese churches in one accord and to evangelize the unreached Filipino – Chinese people. 

My favorite articles for this December 2011 Issue – Detours are:

1. D-E-T-O-U-R-S by Perlita Tan
2. A Lovely Life Detour by Rosalind Ngo Li of United Bethel Church
3. Detours, Road Blocks, and Dead Ends (How Are We Respond To Them?) by Rev. Alexander H. Uy of Grace Gospel Church
4. Sidetracked: Distraction to Destruction by Ericson L. Chua of CCF St. Francis Square
5. Convergence (Together, We Can Do More) by Rhea Bless Lerado of Glory Evangelical Church
6. Love Out Load by Leslie Sun of UEC – Balintawak
7. The Holistic Gospel of Christ to All People by Haidee Chu of UECP

Viewpoint:
I really like the positive outlook of Ms. Perlita Tan, the writer of D-E-T-O-U-R-S, because she has the eagerness to bring the Good News to the hopeless despite of her cancer. She considered that her sickness is an opportunity for her to humble herself and submit herself to God’s calling or God’s plan. With her cancer, she appreciates more of her friends and family who give her love, care and affection. She also values now her life, which is a precious gift of God to her. 
I also considered Pastor Jeanette Yu’s “MUST HAVE” list or 10 Qualities of a Life Time Partner:

1. Spiritual Passion for God
2. Loves learning and reading
3. Good conversationalist
4. Smart, witty, and industrious
5. Sense of humor
6. Energetic and sociable
7. Thoughtful and caring
8. Kind towards the family members and other people
9. Self-confident to support the partner’s goals and not to be intimidated of partner’s talents, skills, and achievements 
10. Chemistry

I also agree of what she said that singles should not to be pitied because they have many blessings or opportunities that usually being taken for granted or not being thankful for. For me, I am also a happy and blessed single. I am also waiting upon God’s timing for me to marry a right person. I would submit myself to God’s plan.
I also agree with Rev. Alexander H. Uy, writer of Detours, Road Blocks, and Dead Ends. He said that life is full of detours; some are minor, while others are life changing. He took the example of the life of a Biblical character, Joseph. Joseph would not have learned the important life lessons, which these lessons would change him to become a better person, if he was not sold to slavery and also became a prisoner. When Joseph’s gift of administration was developed, he was prepared for the responsibility of being a second highest ranking official in Egypt., which is God’s plan for him. 
Rev. Alexander H. Uy also noted that road blocks can be a door to the grace of God, which is salvation. He also took an example from the life of the Biblical character, Apostle Paul. Apostle Paul would still continue to persecute Christians and the kingdom of God would not be advanced to the other places if he was not blinded by God and became a follower of Christ. 
He also reminded us when we face our detours or road blocks, we should not doubt the goodness of God or His sovereign power. 
Ericson L. Chua of CCF St. Francis Square listed the five (5) examples of distractions that lead the spiritual life destruction:

1. Work/Business: He said that work or business could be our idols if these took the place of what is due to God or we would not recognize that God is the provider of our needs.
2. Internet(Social Networking Sites or Online Games): He said that internet is amoral. Meaning it’s morality depends on how we use it. It can be a distraction to our spiritual life if we neglect our prayer time or devotion to God and spend more time surfing on the online games or social networking sites.
3. TV/Movies: As same as Internet, it is also amoral. It is also a distraction to our spiritual life if we neglect our prayer time or devotion to God. He also reminded us if we are watching a TV show or movie, we should ask ourselves a question if this TV show or movie would affect our relationship with God.
4. Sports/Games: He said that when we are more passionate about sports than spending time in fellowship with God, it would would cause the detriment of our spiritual life.
5. Relationship of Family: In my opinion, all of us have “Martha Syndrome”. That means we are busy in doing house chores and fulfilling our obligations to our families. He reminded us that we should have a good balance on all areas – physical, emotional, social, mental, and spiritual. 

This writer also reminded us to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help us to move our relationship with God in order to become fruitful. He also said that we should establish and review from time to time our purpose, which is align with our relationship with God. He said that we must learn to forget the emotional baggage and learn to forgive others because these are hindrances for our spiritual growth. He also suggested that we can also join a care group to be our accountability partner in our spiritual life, and be a channel of blessings in either outside or inside the ministry. 
Conclusion:
As for the conclusion of this review, I would rate this Christian magazine an A+. It somehow helps me to assess my purpose that is align with my relationship with God. I also learn many valuable lessons from these various articles that life is full of detours; it is 10% of how we make it and 90% of how we can take it. We must always pray so that the Holy Spirit would guide us in our every tasks. 
God blessed your day!