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.