Posts

True Love

"True love is patient, it is kind, it is not jealous, true love does not brag and is not arrogant, it does not seek its own, is not provoked, true love forgives, it rejoices with the truth, it bears all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, true love never fails". Take a moment to replace the word 'true love' with our own names and try reading the above sentence. How does it feel? I don't feel good at all. Yes, I might see glimpses of it once in a while but miles to go if I need to make it true for my life. How about you? But the amazing fact is that this is the kind of love that you and I are experiencing everyday. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life". John 3:16. He loved us while we were yet in our sins, much before we could turn to Him and love him. It is unconditional, totally unmerited, I love you in spite of kind of love. How do we lo...

Leadership Pitfalls

Leadership is influence, no doubt about it, it is the ability to influence people to follow a course of action in order to accomplish a God given vision. If one thinks that he is a leader and he turns back to see no one following him, do not be deceived by calling himself a leader, he is merely taking a walk. In our culture and context leadership is often connected with position and the person is seen as a leader only as long as he remains in that position or title. This person excerts influence from the position he holds and very often the person tends to be identified with the title. It is sad to see the moment he looses the title he has no influence at all over the people he led.This kind of leadership is not leadership at all. True test of leadership is in answering the question, are people willing to follow you irrespective of the position or title that you hold. This kind of leadership demands depth of character, integrity, a caring and loving heart and an undying vision to die ...

Jesus! the only reason for this season, let us focus on Him.

The Lord of all the earth, the King of Kings left His abode, stepped out of eternity into time and space, became a helpless babe, had nowhere to be born but a lowly manger, chose to live in conditions so harsh, all of hell was waiting to devour Him because the ruler knew his time was up, the little boy was persecuted became a refugee in a foreign land, He gave up his right to rule in all power and glory, became a humble obedient suffering servant, loved the poor, sick, downtrodden, lowly, broken, oppressed and lost, healed the sick,lame and mute, preached forgiveness and love, gave up his life on the cross as a ransom for many, only to rise again on the third day conquering death and sin, now reigning as the glorious king for ever. Forget the festivities, forget the cakes, forget the party and the food, forget the carols and merrymaking celebration, Jesus! the only reason for this season, let us focus on Him and proclaim this great love story and celebrate Him. Christmas! the story of...

Elements of Change

Change is the most difficult thing for people. It is frightening, it is risky, it is uncomfortable, it is unexplored and new territory, it requires enormous amount of faith. More often than not people like to follow existing patterns, trusted methods, very few of them thrive in pioneering, innovating and blazing a trail. These are the people to watch for in the initial stages in any kind of change initiative, the ones with the pioneering spirit will most probably be the early adapters and champions of change. Spiritual change in a spiritual organization is possible only through a change in heart, a change that is inside out. Our heart is the root of all issues; Bible calls it as the well spring of life. Over the years of ministry the patterns and methods of doing things and successful strategies of the past tends to make us accustomed and comfortable to what we are doing, this is what Jesus called as a hardened heart, at one point he asked his disciples who had hardly been two and h...

True Indian logic

If I can throw garbage on the road why waste time and effort looking for a waste bin. ( But we will never dare to do this in Singapore or USA) If I can jump over the median and run across the traffic why use a road over bridge or an underpass. If I can pay 25 bucks and get away with it why pay 250 bucks as legal fine. If I know somebody higher up then why waste my time standing in the queue. If I can relieve myself here and now freely why pay 2 bucks and look for a loo. If I can zig zag through the traffic lanes and get ahead why waste time following lane traffic. If I have space to overtake from the left side why overtake only from the right side. If I can take the law into my own hands why do I need Police, any way they come only after every thing is over just like the good old bollywood movies. If I can reach home safely then why bother about some one who has met with an accident and bleeding on the road and get into police hassle later. If my house and surrounding is clean why both...

Mission Effectiveness

Last Friday we had a great time enjoying God's presence in fasting and prayer and God used the speaker in a powerful way. Some of his quotes were insightful and thought provoking, the one that got my attention and kept me thinking was, "the outward thrust in the mission of any church or organization is directly proportionate to the inward dynamics of the organization or church ". We are studying the book of Acts as a team and in the first few chapters what is obvious is the inward dynamics (Fullness of the Spirit, genuine love, prayer, care , share, word )and the outward dynamics ( Boldly preaching the word and witnessing ) of the church resulting in rapid growth and transformed lives. Another quote from the speaker on missions was, " it is not just our actions but even our reactions are an integral part of mission " i.e. preaching the gospel, taking care of the needy are some of our actions to reach out but that alone does not make up missions, our reactions...