Strange message in these strange times!

 

This is not a research study on the Covid19 virus. My interest is to trigger the consciousness in each one of us as to "Where is God in a coronavirus infected world?". The pandemic has been perplexing and unsettling, making us clueless as to how to cope with it. In a time of crisis like this, hope is what we are looking for.

Coronavirus is confronting us all with the problem of pain and suffering, which are life’s greatest challenges today. But I would like to slightly shift our focus towards God’s judgement and sovereignty. Plague and pestilences in the Bible were usually connected to God’s wrath and judgement. In Deuteronomy 28 and other passages plagues were the consequences of forsaking the Lord. Let’s note that plagues in the Bible are represented as divine judgements of God. During this season, leaders, pastors and Christians have varied views in regard to this pandemic. Some believe Corona is a fake news, while some credit it to Satan, some asserted God cannot bring this on Christians as we are praying, but surprisingly most of  Christendom has failed to acknowledge that it could be the judgement of the Lord. Why is that?

Let's analyze few incidents of plague from the Bible and people's response to this major crisis. They are as follows:

1. The 10 Plagues in the city of Egypt: We are all aware of the ten plagues God brought against Pharaoh and Egypt to demonstrate His power against the enemies of Israel. Consequently, the people were reminded when it says in Deuteronomy 26:8, “The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong arm, terrifying power and with signs and wonders.”.

2. Outbreak of Plague in Israel tent (Numbers 25). It is said in verse 9, “but those who died in the plague numbered twenty four thousand.”. If we read the whole chapter, we understand that the Israel fell to the charms of Moabite women and was prostituting itself with them. They sacrificed to their gods. It is said in Verse 3 that Israel aligned itself with the Baal of Peor. The leaders were held responsible by Moses who were later executed in broad daylight.

3.Outbreaks of tumors when Philistines, captured the ark of the Lord (1Samuel 5). Israel was defeated but the Philistines, the people of Ashdod suffered miserably. It is said in 1 Samuel 5:9, “After they have moved it the Lord’s hand was against the city of Gath, causing great Panic. He afflicted the people of the city from the youngest to the oldest, with an outbreak of tumors.”.

4. God sent a three-day plague to wipe out 70,000 men after king David sinned by numbering the people of Israel (2 Samuel 24:10-17).

5. God sent several judgements against the nations of Judah including a plague, when he sent king Nebuchadnezzar to sack Jerusalem (Jeremiah 21:7, 24:10, 29:17).

6. The plagues described in the Book of Revelation including those sent by the two witnesses (Revelation 11:6) and the seven final plagues sent by God (Revelation 15:1).

So the learning could be that Biblical plagues can be categorized into two. First is God’s judgement against sins of His own people and the second category against unbelievers when they enslave and oppress His people. 

Having said this, it's clear that God is in a pruning process too, gauging our faith and trust in Him. There is an incident that talks about King Hezekiah's rule and dependency on God. When Sennacherib of Assyria entered Judah and laid siege to the fortified cities to break into them, Hezekiah was able to demonstrate His faith on Him. But at one point the second part of the verse in 2 Chronicles 32:21 says, ".... God left him to test him and discover what was in his heart.”. May we all demonstrate our reliance and be an example in this time.

It is time in Christendom to analyze and confess our personal and corporate failures to obey God and trust Him implicitly. It is a wake-up call to return with obedience to the mission of God. It is time we stop satisfying ourselves and people with endless spiritual activities and start pleasing God (1 Thessalonians 2:4). Let us strive to find God’s purpose in our lives. Let us apply this verse to our existence in these trying times, "and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14 CSB .

Let us go and reach out to the Non-Christians and build their broken lives. May God be merciful to us as we cling unto Him and plead for His mercies. Needless to say, be aggressively involved in taking the good news to heal the nation and world at large.

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Outcomes of Maturing Christians!

“Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God's revelation again. You need milk not solid food.”.  Hebrews 5:12

In my previous article, I picked up a serious concern of Paul against his contemporaries who were leaders and Missionary workers engaging in Christ's mission with selfish motives and personal gain (You can click HERE in case you have missed the article)

This week's article discusses yet another serious concern against believers raised by Apostle Paul. The actual concern starts in Verse 11 of Hebrews Chapter 5 where the author thinks the people have become too lazy to understand some hard theology and the concern takes shape when he narrates in Verse 12, "although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God's revelation again. You need milk not solid food.".  The concerns here are more to do with spiritual maturity. I am sure you will agree with me that the case is not very different even today. Do we realize, the way we define spiritual maturity is so different, at times humorous? Today, definition of spiritual maturity is flawed into thinking that it is about hectic schedules of spiritual activities, regular visits to Church and paying tithes. To define spiritual maturity, one should seriously understand what the Bible talks about the primary goals and the secondary goals.

Jesus expresses His deep desire in His prayer in John 17:3, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.". Knowing Christ should be the primary and the fundamental goal of every human being. Apostle Paul resonates this deep desire of Jesus and echoes in Philippians 3:10, "My goal is to know him and the power of resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death.". The journey begins when someone begins to know God and keeps growing in His fellowship and the relationship is developed. It is an amazing experience. But the questions are what about the "must do's" and the "should do's"? Do we even give some serious thought to it?  A.W. Tozer points out “In the world missions today there is the growing tendency to major in social 'holism,' reducing Good News proclamation to a secondary place.". Every other activity including social interventions are there but maturing in the capacity to proclaim the good news is missing. There are few serious questions each Church going individual needs to contemplate, which are given below:

• Why aren't we serious when it comes to the Great Commission?
• Whose responsibility is it, anyway?
• Didn't Jesus commission all to preach the Gospel and make disciples?
• How come most of the good Church going Christians seem to miss this?
• Aren't the Church Pastors and leaders emphasizing on this?

 If our goal is to be holy and blameless then by default it is in the direction of obeying the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-16) and also obeying the supplementary commandment, to be His witness (Acts1:8). Let me quote the parable of talents in Matthew 25. Every one of them had their share of talents. But the one person who received the one talent thought he did a brilliant job. In Matthew 25:18 It says, "But the man who received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.". There is an important lesson in terms of missions we learn here. Many are like this person who assume it is good to keep themselves safe, holy, preserved and just be faithful to the Church. Probably he might have even be like the Pharisee as described by Jesus in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector which we find in Luke 18:10-14. In verse 12 it describes the Pharisee fulfilling the Spiritual assignment to his own satisfaction when he says, "I fast twice a week, I give tenth of everything I get.".

Are we getting the concern? We cannot love the Lord which is the first and foremost commandment of Jesus summarized in Mark 12: 29-30 and not love our neighbors by saving their souls from Hell. Our Church membership, fasting, intercessory prayers and giving tithes can still hold us a defaulter if we are not following the Great Commandment and Great Commission.

Can we be serious friends, to submit our obedience to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment and impact our city?

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Handling Paul's Concern!

 

“For all seek their own, not the things which are of Jesus Christ.”. Philippians 2:21

We are living in times of dwindling Biblical theology. Bible's core message is customized to choose, context and convenience. Ignorance and politics, have created havoc in many Churches today. By ignorance I mean, when the congregation is reduced to active members and supporters of the Church and create a "feel good" factor. I would give leverage where the cause of the Church is well articulated and connected to Gospel sharing with the Non- Christians. But what if the Church is just existing like a night “Shelter home”, where people visit on Sundays, pay tithes and are blissful about it. Most of the challenges which I am about to share are connected to the core problem where Paul is addressing in the book of Philippians.

Paul expresses his disappointment when he notices that many who were his contemporaries were engaging in the mission work with selfish ambition, for personal profit, looking for self-glory and honor. He claims in the same book about such people, that their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame -who set their mind on earthly things (Philippians 3:19). The grandeur Christ's mission in most cases is successfully replaced by complacency. What I mean is, Church leaders and pastors are busy managing Church crowd effectively, feed them every Sunday without any measurable outcomes. When the intended outcome of the Church is not articulated and understood by the last person in the Church, I guarantee the Church will resemble a ‘Shelter home', where vulnerable people sleep safely for the night and move out during the day going about their personal activities.

Many pastors and leaders today, irrespective of any denominations, believe it is a blessing to have a stable and large Church congregation. Rather than viewing the church as a vehicle that connects people with God and impart the mission of God, the innovative pastors turn the church into a destination. Put differently, old churches were a means to an end and the new generation of churches were an end in themselves.

Some serious and basic questions the Church needs to ask are as follows:

1. For how many years your church has survived? And what is the growth rate?

2. How many members have shared the gospel and brought souls to the Church? Do they even know how to do it?

3. As a pastor and leader how many people have you brought to Christ?

4. How do you define your Church accomplishment?

5. What percentage of the congregation are the result of your evangelistic program of your Church?

A note of caution, when a Church fails to set mission goal and entrust the burden to every individual, the congregation will only be casual visitors with nil responsibility. Pastors and leaders will settle for cheap goals looking for security and profit for themselves operating as managers who manage the company. The responsibility of the Church pastors is not to operate as a manager but to be a disciple maker, equip the members to be active disciples who are capable and equipped enough to commit their obedience to the Great Commission and engage in Gospel sharing business.

It is a comfortable position for a Church to settle with one group and feed them with spiritual food all their lives. But Christ's mission was never intended to be that way. Many misunderstand and assume Great Commission is not intended for all, but specifically implicates a group called evangelists, which is erroneous. The Great Commission in Mark 16:15-16 and the call to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8) goes hand in hand, and is entrusted to every single believer.

Pastors and leaders, if you want to create a serious impact then follow the principles Paul laid for us in Philippians 4:9 (CSB)- “Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”. Teach people correctly, demonstrate the gospel skillfully, model your life effectively and do not forget to establish Church in every home and lives rather than just confining to a building facility and be excited about it. Lastly, seek not your own but that which belongs to Christ Jesus.

Click here  You can follow on Twitter

Suffering - A Constant Denominator

 

For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. Philippians 1:29

A majority of Christian walk is filled with challenges, crisis and struggle. It's vile to associate Christian life with prosperity, wellness & materialistic contentment. We embrace a lifestyle of crisis yet never broken or lost, unless we choose to give up on God. Paul summarizes this beautifully in 2 Corinthians 4 8-19, “We are afflicted on every way, but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.”. Any preaching that tells Christian life does not have challenges and struggles it is undoubtedly false theology. God keeps pruning and shaping us on earth through struggles and crisis to perfect us in order to attain glorious eternity. Paul exhorted the disciples and strengthened them to continue in the faith in Acts 14:22, , “it is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”. The Bible also says “He comforts us in our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”. 2 Corinthians 1:4.

The key verse emphasizes that it has been granted to us on Christ's behalf not only to believe in Him, but also suffer for Him (Philippians 1:29). It is crucial to understand God shapes a person in his crisis, not in his luxury. Luxury dulls our need for God. If indeed God has given us luxury, it is only to share with the less privileged and the needy. Let us be aware that the blessings we receive is not for us alone, but is given so that we generously share it with others. The rich young man in the Bible came to Jesus to know how he would inherit the kingdom of God. He was blessed with all the materialistic blessing and also followed all the commandments ardently from his young age, but returned sorrowful when Jesus told him, “you lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, and follow me.” Mark 10:21. The next verse says, “but he was dismayed by this demand and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.”. The final culmination point is that God is trying to teach us to live one day at a time as stated in the Lord’s prayer, “give us each day our daily bread.” Luke 11:3.

Life of Jesus fascinates me in two passages. First, in John 7:30 it says, “No man laid his hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”. Second, a few days later He was again teaching in the temple and the crowd was enraged by His claims, yet still, “no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come. “ John 8:20. The inference is that the suffering was stalled for Jesus until the fullness of the time or in the appointed time which was about to come. Today we comfort each other saying good times are ahead. God allows perpetual crisis to prune us and increase our God-reliance over our self-reliance. Never forget the words of Jesus, “In this world you will have tribulation”. John 16:33. We have hope in Jesus because of the victory as He encourages saying, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”. In our final destination with God, we come to a perfect future as stated in Revelation 21:4, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and death will be no more , nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things are passed away.”. Note, the former things, which is the present age has promised suffering and crisis in abundance. But soon we will reach our eternal destination where there is joy in abundance and joy eternal. In this earth we cannot escape problems and crisis but His promises are eternal, notably, He will never leave us nor forsake us..  

Click here  You can follow on Twitter