2009

Everything we believe in, is unseen. That is the substance of what we believe in. That is the substance of our faith. Do we need tattoos of crosses/crucifixes? Do we need to wear crosses to remind us of our Salvation? Do we need pictures or images of an Imagined Jesus or angels or heaven to remind us of the unseen?

If Jesus appeared physically every time we call on Him, what need is there for faith? If we can see the unseen/intangible, why should we believe in anything at all? Its there in front of our eyes. We see to believe so there it is. Then what? I am not really sure what I am really trying to say here. But as a human, I know this for sure, what we see on earth is sure temporal. What we believe in, which is our faith, is Eternal.

Happy New Year!

Conspiracies

Brothers and Sisters, our Church is a Church of appointed by God for the purpose of helping our our Indian brothers and sisters. I am certain of it as this church has so much history. Unfortunately, whats included in history is scandalous politics. What a shame. A group of selfish senior members conspired to oust a Pastor whose only crime is being passionate in his teachings/ministry. Never have I encountered a situation whereby this group has the audacity to create so much rift and dissension among the believers. I just don't understand why must they be that way. Jesus was very clear in His teachings about unity in the body of Christ, discipleship and the crucial roles church elders play in the church. These few, are obviously in error. The worst is the 'church worker' who obviously think himself as a VIP who assumed that he has the authority persecute a Pastor. I can safely say, these methods are not of God.

That church worker, performed horribly throughout the year. Treating the place of worship as a home is good but not to the extent of controlling everything. How can this body of Christ develop and grow spiritually when certain individuals (elders) are the types who refuse to be corrected. The Church Executive chairman probably thinks he is right all along about his judgments but in actual truth, have no control over anything. He is a man without a vision. Truly Blind. What is worse is, a very obvious snob and the most obnoxious person I have met. He thinks he is 'Ceylonese' or some high caste, high society finance manager. The problem with those who claim themselves a Ceylonese and not Indians, is that they are so 'centuries ago' and still living with a feudal belief. I have no description or neither can I find in any dictionary of how foolish this person is. Every word that he utters is sarcasm. When he apologizes, one needs to decipher it! Gosh! I am no saint but this, what can u say to this! A self proclaimed chairman, oops, elected chairman! A True politician! (sorry about this rantings, I was upset and had every right to be)

I have never seen such power struggle in the church such as this place. I felt so helpless. I kept blaming myself for my mistakes. Yes, my mistake is that I should have done something before. Maybe I shouldn't have been so naive. I should have realized all this ages ago. But I thought about all this then I asked myself, then what? Does this mean I have the answers. Because If I thought I did, then i am no different from those hypocrites. Jesus has the answers. He had them all along. But very often what Jesus has to say is never comfortable to hear. He would wanted them to be humble and submit to one another. Nope that never took place.

He would have wanted us to turn the other cheek. Nope that never took place. He would have wanted the pastor whom He had appointed to lead the church, to be respected. Nope, no never took place. Jesus would have wanted the LCEC to be more transparent and to work with integrity. Nope, they would have approved bonus and salary increment to a useless, unreliable, kniving and sinister church worker.

Many attributes Our Lord Jesus would have wanted us to practice in the church did not take place but these hypocrites had the audacity to worship God every Sunday. They conspired, destroyed a Pastor's career and formed they own political group all within the church. I wonder, can they see themselves and what they are doing? Do they realise the grievous sin they have committed by doing these things? I am not perfect but I will not stoop down so low. I believe in professional conduct and honouring God's law especially in a church.

Sigh, you know what? If a child sees all this happening, what would the child think?

Seeing all this with simplicity, does remind me, that truly the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to Children.

I confess, although I am frustrated by all this, I am certain of one thing. Good people do not finish last. The Last will be First and the first, will be last.

Spiritual De-toxification!

How about that. Its what I am going through now. Sometimes, over time, we have swallowed so much unhealthy things into our spiritual body. So much contamination and what's worse, is that these contaminated materials made us so dependent on the physical world that we had conform to the worldly habits. This explains why it was so difficult to give up old habits. We tend to justify our thirst for vengeance, anger, selfish ambition and all the traits that we were warned about in the Bible. The beginning of change is difficult. But it gets easier, the longer we resist.

The Holy Spirit is my strength. I am really tired of feeling guilty. Although we could avoid the physical transgressions, but we tend to commit mental transgressions. Nevertheless, as long as we are steadfast, in prayer, we can resist. The more we resist, the bigger our spiritual muscles will grow. :)

I feel like I am a new person all over again. I feel like God has poured His grace upon me, giving me another chance at being a faithful Disciple. It's a Blessing worth testifying about and yet I felt that I must be over excited about God's faithfulness unless I am serious about following Him. I suppose, It's a journey towards spiritual maturity and I am forever grateful to Almighty God for being the most wonderful creator and the most beautiful Saviour for what He is doing to me right now.

Revelations!

A few days ago, my brother in-law called me and told me about seven Columbian youths who were taken to Hell and back. I thought,' yeah, just like some sensational story which I heard before'. 2 days ago, I actually read their testimonies. Today, I am still reading them. Before I read their testimony, I thought I was doing alright, I thought I was okay and I thought I knew about life and gifted in discernment, able to justify 'white lies' & fleshly pleasures. Now, after reading their testimonies and researching similar experiences by many others, I realized that everything I thought to be right, turned out to be wrong.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD."
Isaiah 55:8 KJV

I was filled with great conviction about the double life I have lead. A great conviction it was, that I was convicted by the Holy Spirit for all my disobedience and was reminded that the more I continue in that path, I am in danger of backsliding.

I knew now, there is time and the opportunity to set things right before God. I really want to be part of Heaven and for that to happen we must be on the side of Truth. There is no greater Truth other than the One who died for our Sins. Because of Jesus, We have this opportunity. We must not wait till its too late. The testimonies of the 7 youths really shook me. Immediately i confessed my sins to God and prayed for His advice as to which direction I should take.

Brothers and Sisters, we all knew and what is worse, is that we wilfully sinned again and again! This time unlike other times, such testimonies openend my eyes because again, the Holy Spirit is rescuing us from eternal Death. I realized that nothing on Earth really matters now. No riches, pleasures of this world can comfort us. Nothing can save us from Hell if we choose the wrong path. PLEASE choose the right path. Let's strive to be HOLY.

Here are the links to the testimonies of the 7 Columbian kids and other individuals.

http://www.freecdtracts.com/heavenandhell.htm#jennifer

http://www.freecdtracts.com/testimony/revelation_of_hell_by_7_youths.htm

Please read them! We are should know, and for your information, this is all over the internet.

Is it Wrong to be Submissive?

Why is pride so important for the Indian? Ermmm.. perhaps if you are reading this, you might think I am making any sense. Should I ask this question then; can we associate Biblical views to real life? I am afraid I have an answer to that. I am also afraid that the answer is yes and I am also guilty of the many shortcomings of a human. Yes, human. I am one and so are others...I think. At least some are. I am not too sure about racists but thats another issue.

My point is, I can theorize as to why does the Tamil church suffer lack of development, especially community development. This is because we (I say we because I am not infallible myself) fail to submit to each other. Its the very commandment which Jesus gave us 2000 years ago. The turning point of the civilization of humanity was based on Jesus very words. If this was the case then why this simple commandment is also the the most difficult one. Well, one can't deny, the wars that took place last century is a testament to disobedience to God's commandments. Nevertheless, the need at hand does require all of us to be supporting each other in humility and submissiveness.

What caused this refusal to submit to each other is the pre-conceived notion that we know it all. This specially applies to those who has been members of the same church since I was a boy, and what is worse is, they were probably holding the same position in the executive committee since day 1. They have been there for far too long if you ask me.

These ones think that the church cannot survive without them and they have gone to the point of being self-proclaimed prophets and leaders of the church themselves. In a horrifying way, they think they are better than the pastor of the church. They are the most annoying and the most critical individuals you can ever meet in a mainline denomination church. Another factor is money. If you are rich, you have power. Why, because you contribute more than others so you have more say in almost every matter.

You see, this is the tip of the iceberg. We must stop this arrogance and pride. We must stop criticizing each other. We should inculcate the spirit or cooperation and submit to each other. No one is special in a congregation. All are special in God's eyes. We can't grow unless we have the right spirit , which is the spirit of service.

If the Bible says so, then God is obviously right and we are wrong. So, i belive, I can associate Bible truth to real life situations as Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. I'd stick to this, I'd go to church not wanting attention for myself though for God to minister to me in every way but also to see what I can do for those who are needy.

As irritating as it can be, by God's grace, the way will be revealed to us.

Can Democracy be in the Church?

What was the very basic fundamental of church? I am no theologian and you don't need to be one to understand about why we go to church. Church is the very act of fellowship. Church is a group of people coming together to remember, encourage, comfort, study, learn, feast & to love one another. Its the perfect time of friendship and subordination. Every fellowship has an elder who, like a shepherd, has been appointed to 'watch over the flock'. Thus the role of the Pastor who now holds that responsibility. They are like the father figure of a congregation.

That was the process. No where in the Bible, that says the people elected a Pastor. Of course like Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigning for their primaries or the National Front campaigning for power, I never read anything about such campaigns to be elected by the people. Thats why, I feel the mainline denominations is seriously in denial about their grave error. They have incorporated democratic principles into a simple and innocent congregation. The church is an organism and not a politically driven institution. Christianity is not any religion and cannot be associated with any ecumenical movement. We are known as Christians only through Jesus Christ. There are no guidelines and methods as well as rituals which governs the way every individual worships Him. Jesus has thought us the proper way already.

What gives the right to the congregation to create political factions in a Church? What gives them a right to vote a pastor out just because of a disagreement. After all Pastor is human, and yes, he would have made some blunders. Why so quick to judge a man-of God? What kind of person, would write a letter to a Pastor, asking him to resign because he shouts a lot and giving false teaching, but attached no single evidence of such an act? I go to the same church and honestly I am no critique or anyone important there. Yes I noticed Pastor can be a little carried away when he is passionate about something (if only everyone was passionate about their faith), but I have seen, and heard no false teaching whatsoever. Trust me, I would have known if there was any and so will others but I seriously don't think the Holy Spirit is a spirit of confusion.

If the congregation decides to do this, then they are not following the very precepts which Jesus has already died for over 2000 years ago. This simply means they are anti-christs! Writing poison letters, being power crazy, having their family members monopolising all church positions and worst of all, being insubordinate. Its any employers nightmare and equally for Pastors. The difference is, Pastors aren't employers per-say. They are leaders. He grooms others for leadership and the leadership grooms others to take over their leadership positions.

YOu see, the trouble with this congregation, some think they are told by God to do this, and some or one of them would think that he or she is also obeying God on certain matters. The joke is, all their so-called 'instructions from God,' are in conflict with each other! The devil is surely having a laughing session somewhere. Sigmund Freud is being proven here. Most of them are governed by their own selfish agenda., thinking the more they do, the more they feel that they are on a right path to Heaven and receiving prosperity. Sadly to say, that is a residual pagan belief.

So, how should things be? In the end, we should see things from a child's perpective. Sometimes, it pays not to know a lot. I think, God would agree with me on this one. The tree of good and evil surely didn't help. We need strong medicine for problems like these. Jesus, gave strong medicine and got away with it. He was stern to the Pharisees, drove out the worldly traders out of the temple. Jesus became violent for a moment there. That was actually very mild, considering that the Son of God could have vaporized them all just by thinking about it. Thats the power of mercy. Timing has always been the crucial factor. Jesus was the personification of the perfect timing. He did what he did at the right time.

When can the medicine be administered to? Soon, but effectively. We need to wait. A child like faith would not condone such acts of disobedience. The answer then, is obvious. These factions in Church is heading towards their calamity if they have their way. Our Pastor isn't panicking about nor he is angry. He is simply acting in obedience. He will surely move on. But as for those people who engineered all this, they will be judged by God.

We find peace & strength in the Lord's sanctuary as well as in His presence. In times of trouble we have His assurances. So whats the difference? Either way, we can always find peace which God gives. So what can we gain by just being among ourselves, listening to messages, fellowship, attending conferences and etc but not actually sharing the Good News with others?

Truly the church is in a state of 'constipation'. Everyone is spiritually fat and no one is exercising. There are 2 extremes. Its either spiritually fat, or spiritually anorexic. The anorexic ones are the unstable ones. They are always impatient, NEVER submitting to leadership (Pastor 'feeds' them but they throw up, almost everytime) & very stubborn. Spiritually fat on the other hand, just sit there, enjoy all the sensations, go to all ministries & visits but does absolutely nothing and never acts on the what they have learned.

Come to think of it, I noticed some are not fat. They are in fact obese!