PEACE RAZED BY DEADLY TONGUES

Dear lovers of truth and peace,

The daily proverb of this phoney age, "Who cares about the TRUTH as long as we feel goody goody?” seems to me, an accurate one.  On the occasion of Gandhi jayanti (October 2^nd, 2012), the very undisputed element, highlighted in Capital between the words of quotation, has irked the father of our nation and many of similar nature.  

Wouldn't it be lovely if we could step back into a society where we were free from falsehood, violence, strife and unrest, where everything was at peace and no one was having trouble or even causing it? Wouldn't it be so delightful if we could turn back the clock and take ourselves back to the early days of our society when there were no technical hitches, complications, troubles or disputes?   Hello, please pull back your rich dream, for as a matter of fact, there never was such a time. 

Today what annoys and shocks me equally, the most, is when I think, of how the truth is presented in the society. In the recent commercial Ad of Wild Stone (which says, IT HAPPENS: Readers, take my word, Nothing happens). Except a few 100 rupee notes which may fly from your pocket to the Manufacturers bank account), but we hardly care about this truth. Another case could be seen easily in the sittings of the Parliament which are broadcasted; giving us a glimpse of how truth is distorted and the effort taken to suppress it, in countless other forms. One such inglorious illustration is the way they throw the Plastic Chair on each other in the Parliament House to show their sign of violence, grief and authority and to suppress the untold truth.

What can we expect when stuff like this takes place in our country? Where can we find truth?  Who can enlighten us about it? How to make it happening and relevant in our life? I think for us, the answer could be found only in Holy Scriptures which is there lying near to our T.V sets, in the Kitchen, on the Dining Table, deep inside our Shelf corner, under the pillow or in our Office bag.

Do I feel I am doing more "excellent ministry" as a Priest than I might have done as a CEO, teacher, doctor, engineer, nurse, probation officer, lawyer or a social worker?  I believe that my first responsibility as a Reverend is to uphold and preserve the truth and bring back the lost peace lost due to falsehood. The bottom line; if we follow it and make half of it to occur, then there will be a reduced amount of deceit, violence, hatredness, bloodshed, hostility and in return for this commendable life, the highest symbol of honour known as “Children of God” will be bestowed to us. 

May our Lord help us to hold on to the simple but magnificent truths of life. 

A CHURCH ON THE ROAD FROM UNHEALTHY TO HEALTHY!

To all my Church goers,

Over these 7 years of my Ministry, I have seen that some of us, (or should I say many, I don’t know) like to find, see and experience the flavor of a “Perfect Church”. In all my humility, let me say, there is no such thing as “Perfect Church, but there are healthy and unhealthy Churches. There would never be a Perfect church because the people in it, are imperfect.

By saying this, I know that, I might raise some eyebrows, but that least bothers me, when the pure word of God is being spoken off. The only Perfect things are those that are related to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But yes, we can really give a endeavor to reach somewhere close to the Perfect or rather healthy Church. Some of my gentle ideas are:

1. PERFECT CHURCH SHOULD HAVE A CLEAR VISION: In Proverbs 29:18 it states, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” All Church function and exist because of the vision. Jesus was a vital vision-maker. In His vision, He has not only stated how the Church should look like, but also, the role and purpose of a Church. Unfortunately, there are so many Churches that have no mission and vision.  Here the Scripture is 100 percent accurate; THE PEOPLE WILL PERISH. Now suppose, if our Church has a mission and vision statement but if we don’t see the mission and vision being implemented we are probably an unhealthy Church.

2. PERFECT CHURCH SHOULD HAVE A CHALLENGE AND ALSO BE CHALLENGED: If you are part of a Church where you have no challenge or where the leadership can never be challenged, then it is to be restored or mended. The leaders are there to guide the Church in the direction to which God is leading. We, the leaders should appreciate the ideas given by our members. The key to success is the love and concern and not provoking while we receive and give challenges.

 3. PERFECT CHURCH SHOULD MAKE US THINK ABOUT OUR SINS AND ITS CLEANSING: If you hear the sermon and if you were never convicted or never been offended in your sin then that Priest should rewrite his sermon, for Christ hates sin. It is very unsafe when a church’s preaching and teaching team only go around  always being  “happy and joy”.  Church is not there to make you feel cozy and warm on the inside, but it is there to pierce our heart with the biblical messages that will challenge people. For only when we get trimmed and pruned, we will grow.

4. PERFECT CHURCH DOESN’T HAVE BENCH WARMERS: A Bench warmer is a Church member who does not get involved in the Church but only attend the Church on Sundays and are content in doing so. If you want a healthy Church, then the members should be excited about lending their support to their Church and the Body of Christ as a whole. If the Church’s atmosphere is a supportive one and when we have a heart to serve, we are moving towards perfection.

5. PERFECT CHURCH SHOULD HAVE AN OUTREACH PLAN: As we do the “Inreach Ministry” a Church should also preach about “Outreach Ministry”. When a Church feels no desire to help those outside of the four walls then it is not doing what Christ said in the Gospel of Matthew "Go to the ends of the world”. The work that is done in the community to show God’s love is Church. It is one thing to utter Church, but it’s exclusively another thing to actually BE the church. Real church takes place by rendering service, by and large outside the four walls of a building.

Please ask this question when ever you get time, “Why do we come to Church?”.  If you get an answer to it, we are close to a perfect and healthy Church.

Please Note: When I say Church, it includes, Priest, Pastorate Committee and Members of all age groups!.

May He bless each one of you with His Grace for Jesus’ sake until we meet again. Amen.

2G Scams: result of a Political depravity

Scams, especially 2G scam, which some say the mother of all scams has turned to be a favorite jargon for all tongues. The Indian political scene is in a grand flux, the old order has changed. Some or I should say all mornings I wake in terror at these great news. The world is changing fast and in scary ways. The created order, that speaks to me so much of God is under threat as never before. The future is bleak, I believe. We welcome change as a fact of life and at the same time we like to be warm. patriarchal

I think there are profound theological questions that are raised by the "changes" we are witnessing. Will God simply stand by and watch humanity devastate this fragile earth when it is putting on so many colors of change? Are we so full of pride that we can destroy the very basis of life on earth with a change meant only for our growth? Perhaps this could be one minor reason why some stay away from spiritual functions : for they believe that all the prayers in the world can't change the future. So let’s be hedonistic, drink and be merry today; for  Kal kisne dekha hai?

Each of us; you, me, everyone here is called to reveal the spiritual goodness as we go about in our daily business. That means we are set free by supernautral to show forth a great Change in our attitudes, fear, doubt and anxiety. The supreme drive to change, with regard to all the chaos is not fear. Rather it is the acknowledgment of God's wonder that facilitate us to observe  why we must toil to save this gorgeous planet which is fast changing with the beat of the politicians , aristocrats, pen pushers and elite flocks.

Let's gather in two's and three's to change our communities which is broken and traumatized from inside because of the unchaging change that has uprooted the rudiments of the society olader than the Indus valley civilization.

IS FAST MADE FOR A MAN OR HE MADE FOR THE FAST?

Greetings to all in the name of Jesus, who is on His way to Calvary,

Christians are not the only ones who FAST. Some do it for political reasons, some against unethical policies and some to raise awareness to their cause. It is known by different names such as Fasting, Hunger strike or Satyagraha. However, Biblical fasting is entirely different from Secular fasting.  For it is always accompanied by prayer and is done as an attempt to seek God’s will and direction in our life.But being true to the core, let us take this to our heart that; Only a true relationship with God will save our soul and not any External practices or ritual!.

Fasting is Biblical, and it could be a spiritual discipline for Christians. Biblical fasting means more than just abstaining from food; it means to abstain from food in order to concentrate upon God and His answer to a particular matter.It is neither a mandate or an obligation, nor its a way to get God to do what we want. It become an unsaid commandment only when you really believe God is calling you to do so and that it is going to change us and not God. And it is only for spiritual purposes as was practiced by Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Daniel, Paul and our Lord Jesus. Too often, the focus of fasting is on the lack of food. Jesus has assumed, wished and instructed us to fast but He never made Fasting a Commandment for He knew that it was enough to make some very Ritualistic.

Moreover it is done to strengthen our Prayer life as we see in Nehemiah 1:4, Daniel 9:3 and Matthew Ch 4. and is done to Express our grief, to seek Deliverance, to express our Repentance to God as in Jonah 3:5,  to overcome Temptation as in Matthew 4:1-11, to humble our soul before God, to take our eyes off the things of this world and  to focus completely on God and finally to allow the Holy Spirit to bring clarity of the Bible.

But the True result of the true fasting could be seen in Isaiah 58:7. "Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house? When you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?  Fasting is of little value by itself. For Jesus had said in the beatitudes. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matt 5.6).

More than the Physical Fasting, Jesus desires a Fasting of the heart; which is the Hub of all the earthly treasures..

I pray that these earthy and eternal blessings will be yous during this Lent Season.

OH MY VALENTINE! THY VIRAL RING!

In few days time, from toddlers to youths to elders to students to politicians to moral police are going to face the Valentine Day falling on February 14th 2012, in some or the other form.

As some celebrate this, let’s take the truth to the core of our heart that our God was, is and will be the Alpha and Omega of pure relationship, legal bonds or family units, in whom the husband and wife unite, sustain, breathe and at the end, do depart this world to be with their Savior, in their own respective time.

You see then, being one, legally, or in our terms, shaadi/marriage was given as a dynamic gift from God to the first man and woman, and indeed, to all future mankind. It’s was not just an institution brought about by a primitive civilization for simplicity’s sake. Beyond everything, it was ordained by God.

Especially those who consider themselves religiously committed sometimes miss the focal point when it comes to keeping their marriage vows alive and well. What is it that makes one marriage succeed and another fall short? Without any doubt, viewing marriage as a gift from God and including Him at the hub of our marriage will do much to strengthen those bonds.

Being holy, or set apart, is something that God had commanded His people. Holiness was not developed just through philosophy or theology, but through the daily practices of dedicated living. So too with marriage!.

Husband has an obligation not only to provide for his wife’s physical needs; food, shelter, clothing, and intimacy but also to give reverence and admiration to her. Imagine how a wife feels when her husband praises her “as worth far more than rubies or as some say my breath”.

If you have been given the gift of marriage, consider the ways you can show your partner honor and respect. What is one thing you can do on February 14th, if at all you are celebrating it, to express your appreciation or the value and reverence for your spouse?

The Hard and Easy way!

Children, what’s the hardest or easiest work you have done till date? During my school and college life I was fond of Proverbs 14 : 23 which say like this “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” That is a warning to those of us who make our living only by speaking. I was and even now am struck with how much Proverbs has to say about hard work.

In our day to day life, we face a choice of taking one of the two ways. You can go the easy and trouble-free way or the hard or inflexible way. The easy way is staying on bed and saying it doesn’t matter whether I work today or not, or it doesn’t matter even if I get up early in the morning hours to study my subjects. Such a way as this, because of its vague foresight and passion, is the way to wasted minutes, hours, days and wasted lives.

In the midst of this event, Mr. Satan (some would remember the VBS song of Mr. Satan) will say to us, “Cheat if you have the caliber, cut some ethical corners, take it easy, don’t work so hard and finally slow down, my dude.” And here’s the hard way. It is the way of getting up early as possible and investing the best of your time for studies, only after reading your Bible and prayer. It is the venture of working with your heart, mind and soul. It is a long range goal setting, future orientation, foresight, preparation, doing what you are told and then doing what needs to be done even if you are not told. The hard road which appears to be so difficult is ultimately the road of success, blessing, fulfillment and happiness. It is the road that leads you to the top.

Running parallel with this thought, sometimes we think that only by solving the past 10 years Question papers handed over by the (N) & (M) Tutorial’s and being under their umbrella will be enough to take us to the next phase of our academic life. Instead on leaning on our God and his power, we lean on those who say that they can support us with their limited knowledge. Come on, wake up my children, for the fountain of wisdom and source of knowledge who is our Lord should not be left behind.

Do you want to know the tongue in cheek thing between the easy road and the hard road? The easy road looks easy but once you get on it, it turns into the hard road. And the hard road looks hard but once you do the hard thing in life, it turns out to be the easy thing. You will find God on the hard road and not with the couch potatoes. He is calling all of us to the hard road. Get up my dear students as if you are not going to get this chance again in your lifetime to shine, to rise, to prove your mettle and in the name of God do it!

Filling your life tank

I drive a 180 cc bike. Of late I became so nervous when I almost forgot to pump fuel for my bike. On the thought of reaching home before the city sleeps, send cool waves through my spine. I’m a rational person but this time, my Math (which taught me that number of litres of reserve fuel multiply the number of kilometers is enough to go on) went slightly off beam. Though the reserve fuel indicator had been flashing awkwardly for quite a while, I thought there’s nothing to be worried about.

We get up in the morning and we are just not too sure if we have enough energy to last through the day, so we dig deep into our reserve tank and somehow manage to do so. And then we repeat the same next day. I think too many of us stay too long for the tank to run dry. I mean it would be good for us if we manage to fill it up just in time before it hits rock. When we neglect, we tend to go into a state of paralysis; commit suicide, get exhausted, withdraw and perhaps even become disheartened. So why wait so long to fill the tank or even wait till it goes into reserve? And there are many things in life that would help us fill that tank again. It might be going to Church on Sundays regularly, responding to the liturgy, abstaining yourself from spreading lies and gossips, saying amen when and where needed, listening and doing the word of God, attending Sunday
School, being there in a Youth Conference (like the one falling on August 13-15), praying in the public when you get a chance, supporting someone who is in dire need or taking a long walk with your loved ones. The list
goes on and it’s different for everyone.

So if you’ve been feeling strained whether it’s about dealing with conflict at home, in school, at workplace or in Church, trespasses against our God and our fellow beings ask yourself how you can fill your spiritual, physical, secular, social and emotional tank today. Don’t wait till it goes into reserve because you still have kilometers to cover. The fuel gauge of my personal life is doing better now and I also have a full tank in my bike.
How about you?

Rev Robin Mathew