Dr. Donald W. Miles the author of the book Cinco de Mayo: What is Everybody Celebrating? concludes that it is thanks to the victory of the Mexicans in their war against Napoleon that Abraham Lincoln was able to win the Civil War, for due to Napolen losing out, his plan to support the Confederate Rebels was aborted. 

So how is Cinco de Mayo related to the U.S. becoming a major world power? According to Dr. Donald, the former is at least one of the key factors to the latter becoming a reality.

Yesterday Dechoami had a May Fifth Celebration at the Josh/Andrew's apartment in Long Beach. They extended invitation to 'everyone', so I invited myself and Marie. [The following attended: josh, andrew, lani, diana, debbie tonne (she had to leave early), alan (he too had to early for work), roman (joined in the middle), ryan, dan, paul lim jr. the enginner, paul cho, me, marie)].

The host served us nice Mexican food (fabulous). Andrew promised to teach me recipe. Paul Cho led the singspiration. 

Stephen served a message on 1 John 1. The message was fitting for it talked about the liberty our Lord Jesus came to win by way of winning the war against the devil and thereby librate all who believe. He shared a message expounding on the theme/point based not just on the 1 John Chapter 1 but on the entire epistle, then on such other books of the Bible as Hebrews, Romans, mentioning about the struggles of the Israelites as described in the entire books of the Old Testament Scriptures. His analogy on the nature of Chrstian's walk in the Lord as a  man taking shower coming from the Trinity was enlightening.

There was an answer and question session wherein we discussed topics like: Was Jesus' body special? [No one asked questions, so Dan supplied the floor with questions.]

The meeting (especially the discussions on the Bible) was lively. [As the discussion heated up, Marie got bored. So Diana opened a side bar with Marie wherein Daina kept Marie interested by going through Bible stories.] I saw great possibility for the great work arising from among the growing gens. The leadership of the Decomi esp. the coordination among Dan, Paul, and Stephen is exemplary.

Thank you guys, esp. Josh and Andrew inviting 'everyone' and serving us with delicious Cinco de Mayo Menu!

P.S.: towards the end of the meeting, Paul Lim Jr. sort of summed up the discussion by emphasizing the importance of "SIS" model (if you will), that is, Sonship, Intimacy, and Service. Stephen also stressed that we should not mix up the order like putting service ahead of sonship. He is right. First thing ought to come first, then second then third. So I piped in saying, "We should not put a cart in front of the horse. But how often do we err like this? Even a spiritual man like Elijah erred like this, so he got all burnt out and toyed with the idea of committing a suicide."

The Dechoami's discussion stated above is very much to the point of today's daaily bread, "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this." Deuteronomy 24:22

P.S 2: The meeting started at 7:00 p.m. followed by an eating fellowship. I had to leave early around 9:30 p.m. for I needed to visit a local market.] On 5/6 right before worship I asked Andrew how the remainder of the meeting proceeded. He said, "The meeting went on and on, until 1:00 a.m. ; we all got deep into the words of God for we could not get enough of the Word." I asked, "What about Marie?" He said, "She fell asleep on the couch."