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Devotionals
| Saturating our Mind with the Word |
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| We look at the things through the lenses of our eyes. And our lenses get tainted by the kind of books we read, the movies we watch, the friends we have, and the environment we live in. We are daily influenced by the values, ideas, opinions, philosophies, and the real life experiences. Our lenses are continually tainted with colors affecting our observations and interpretations of the things we see. We can become prejudiced, opinionated and convicted. These form our assumptions and the prolegomena to even define God and interpret His Word. In a subtle way, they become an authority in our so called Christian life. No wonder, therefore, though one may be born in a good Christian family and raised in the Bible believing Church, still be far from being a disciple Jesus Christ. Well, Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Tim 3:15-17 stressing on the sufficiency of the Bible. The bottom line is how often we read the Bible? How much we know the Scripture? What authority it has in our life? Do we allow the Bible to become the defining focal length of our lenses? In the world of Facebook, Cell phones, and other seductive media, youths must be encouraged to read their Bible more often than they are reading today. Shall we pray for it! | |||
| PREOCCUPATION OF THE LOCAL CHURCH |
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| Most Baptist Churches in the northeast region are very mission minded. A good portion of their income goes for evangelism and Church planting. We might have more than two thousand missionaries and evangelists working cross-culturally. In fact, it is difficult to know the exact number of missionaries as most Churches engage in missions independently without networking with their association or convention. Henceforth, the Council has begun a special effort to streamline the mission works of our Churches.
In this connection, I was visiting a town where the local convention had organized a Seminar on Mission. I was expected to speak on the theme: The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, a very familiar text taken from Matt 9:37. As soon as I entered the town, I began to ask for direction to the Church. To my discouragement, everyone whom I asked did not know the location of the Church. In fact, some even did not know what the word Church meant. I had to rephrase and ask them—Where is the Christian temple? They knew about Hindu temple and Muslim Mosque but they did not where about Christian temple. Christians in that town had existed since long and I wondered why Christians were so obscure and unknown to the people. Of course, the reason might be because they have been a minority group. I wondered if this is true in other cities where our presence is not even felt by the people from other faith. How can we become known even while we are a minority? I felt that the Lord was prompting me to speak not on Matt 9: 37 but Matt 9:26, which reads: And this news went out into all that land. It is a very obscure text but it raises questions to reflect upon. So when the seminar began, I read Matt 9:26: And this news went out into all that land and then I asked: what was the news that went into all that land? In other words, what was the news about Jesus that in just three years, he had become so popular that the crowd thronged around him? Why it became good news for the common people? There were more than 60 leaders present in the seminars. They replied rightly that the good news was about healing, touching the lepers, caring for the poor and feeding them even when it seemed very costly affair to one of the apostles. It was about his amazing teaching and of course his radical life style of sitting and connecting with the Samaritans, the tax collectors, the prostitutes and of course the Aam Addami. He treated them all with love and offered them the gift of salvation. In fact, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus outlined the focus of his ministry, his manifesto: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. (Luke 9:22) Today, as the body of Christ, what is our manifesto? What is the focus of our ministry? Are they similar to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? After all we are the body of Jesus Christ and we are expected to carry out his manifesto. Yes we must carry out the Great Commission of Matt 28:19-20. We must go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that he commanded. Yet we are expected to be his witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria. (Acts 1:8). We are expected to carry out the compassionate ministry of charity beginning in our town. We must take care of our neighborhood first and foremost then only the crowd will come to us. Only then they would know that we exist in the town. Only then people will know that there is a balm in the Gilead and a Savior who can save sinners. The lamp must be kept on the height to dispel the darkness. Obscurity whether in humility or timidity is not an option. I am concerned as I see the parochial and inward swelling of our Churches, Associations, and Conventions. Our needs have become enormous. We need staffs, support staffs, modern gadgets, equipment, vehicles, building, training centers, colleges and universities. They may be genuine and I do not have problem with all these expansionism. What concerns me is the focus of the financial budgets of most Churches which reflect very little concerns for their neighborhood they are living in? What percentage of the total income is allocated for the benevolence, compassionate ministry of charity in the neighborhood? I have rarely heard of activities that engage Churches in the social services or social reforming activities of our community. Even if there are they are not significant enough to make us popular in the town. The Body of Christ, the local Church, has grown so big an institution that she herself need all her resources just for the Sunday worship. A local church seems to spend 80% of its income on itself. Has the Church, the so called the body of Christ, herself has become an obstacle in the compassionate ministry of Jesus Christ? I raise this question to myself for my reflection. Do we need to reflect on our activities as a Church in our neighborhood? On the one hand, we have the challenge to correct the perception of people from other faith who think that the Christians are only interested in conversion. We all know that there are powerful organized forces that are systematically engaged in trying to promote this false perception. On the other hand, we have the challenge to transform the believers in the pew for whom attending worship on Sunday is the only religious engagement. How can we help our lay members to carry out the compassionate ministry of Jesus Christ? How can we help them to be the radical reformer that engages with the society to bring transformation in it? I believe that if someone who was born 2000 years ago in a lowly family of a carpenter can dare to do it then most members of the Churches today are, in fact, well equipped to emulate him. Once we follow the footsteps of our Master, the good news will spread and a stranger will have no difficulty in finding direction to the local Church. May God help us. Amen. | ||
| Who will defend Christians in Orissa? |
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| The cruel and heinous atrocities in Orissa have exposed the spiritual bankruptcy of a man-made religion once again. When a person occupies the throne of one’s own belief system, one has no resource available other than one’s own human body and mind. Such a person has no access to the divine wisdom, the divine love, and the divine compassion. Often moved by the power of human emotion and mob-mentality, they acquiesce themselves to violence and murder. They blow themselves to blow others.
Is there any way we can prevent them? Our human resources may provoke us to retaliate; however, our divine resource may challenge us to retain our identity as the people of God. Our belief system is anchored in a living God who is just and assures “vengeance” (Ps 149:7). His judgment is sure and certain. He will destroy all the wicked and reward the righteous. No one will walk away with their sin. There will be a pay day. Most of them will begin paying here on this earth for their wickedness but the worst will come to them when they will stand before the white throne. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Our prayer goes to the suffering brethren in Orissa. | ||
| In Search of Serenity |
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| Serenity is a mental disposition free from stress or emotion, a state of internal peace where there is absence of stress or anxiety. Remember the stormy night, sitting in a boat the disciples panicked, while Jesus was serene. Serenity is in want when we are called to engage actively in a fallen world with a fallen self. Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer for Serenity has been a good personal help to me. Try this out in the morning as you begin the day:
God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen. When your morning seems to be crowded, remind yourself of the wisdom word from Prov 3:5-6: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. May God help us to strive for serenity and enjoy the fullness of life that He has gifted us. | ||
| Is My Father My Neighbor? |
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| Father's Day was born in memory and gratitude of a daughter who thought that her father and all good fathers should be honored with a special day. However, our fathers need more than an honor of a day. He needs a relationship that are perennial, and that is lived out on a daily basis.
Generally speaking, fathers are not the favorite of children because of the role they expected to play in an Asian culture. Furthermore, there is no perfect father. There is only good and better father, and all of them are imperfect. One cannot put too much emphasis on the worthiness of a father. In fact, any relationship needs compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and the undeserved favor—grace. What do you do with a father who is raised in a culture where the concept of fatherhood is contrary to biblical teaching; where a father had no opportunity to hear gospel and currently have four wives? There are 81 million older people in India, and 40% of them are reportedly facing abuse of one kind or another. Recently, the President of India has given her assent for a law to punish the children who abandon their parents. On the one hand, we do not have worthy fathers; on the other hand, we do not have worthy children either. We are caught up in cause and effect cycle of evil. Only the Grace of God can break this vicious chain reaction. As a young man I loved my mother more than I loved my father? I failed to honor my father until I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. But when the Holy Spirit began to dwell in me I realized that I loved my father more than I honored him. Then I began to understand why Jesus did not reiterate, “Honor your father and mother,” rather he summed the ten into two commandments. He asked us to love God supremely and then love our neighbor (Matt 22:37-40). Loving involves more than one day ritual. It is a process that must be lived out 365 days. Honoring someone for one day is much easier than loving someone. Yes, our father deserves more than a day of honor. He deserves love. Our earthly father is our neighbor, whom we should love as we would love our selves. Amen. | ||