When your hopes result to continuous disappointments

How do you translate your trust in God? especially after trusting for a considerable amount of time you end up with fatal disappointment. You gather up all your shattered pieces of your dreams and start hoping again to find out it was a hopeless (and you are hit much harder this time) exercise all along. It was just another calm before the next devastating storm. Nothing was better nor becoming better. In fact, you realize life has become harder than ever. You convince yourself not to hope again and brace yourself for another hit, may be even harder the next time.  This reminds us of the situation of Israelites when they hoped in the words of Moses that God is going to deliver them from the bondage only to find that their work has become more strenuous and painful (Exodus 5:6-8) to an extent that all their hope just shattered.

It stirs up a range of emotions and doubts in a situation like this whether all this is happening because of your past sin that has  brought you to the current stage of brokenness or Satan has determined to bring you to your knees or  if God is testing you to find your consistency in trusting God. My friend, if this best describes you I just want to encourage you that you are not alone in a battle like this, there are so many children of God out there who go through the same struggle trying hard to find an answer. 

We live in times where it's hard to find people who would even spare a minute of theirs to lend a listening ear. They all claim to love God and be disciples of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the best encouragement we get is through depersonalized forwarded messages in the WhatsApp or a false assurance of prayers most of the time. I have heard people who go through struggles say they are totally disconnected from people who love God because they act as strangers fearing they will be asked for help. Most of the time we see even Christian leaders who are in prominent positions portray great image of the love of God but turn a blind eye to the brokenness of the people in the pews or who come to them, in whatever setting. How do we comprehend all of this? where is the early church model who shared, who cared and who gave out of their scarcity?

I strongly feel that there are two major reasons for the pain, suffering and disappointments. Firstly, I personally need to understand that God is shaping me as an individual and making me to understand that there is a greater purpose to the pain and suffering. Each of my disappointments has been necessary. If they were not, God would not have brought them. Finding God in the midst of the challenges should be our greatest goal. From the life of Joseph, we learn to trust every time we suffer loss, God is preparing us for something greater. Therefore, as the pain grows more intense, we need to realize that we need to find God in the present and not wait for the circumstances to improve. I like the quote of Vaneetha Rendall, a writer, who puts it this way, “God wanted me to find him sufficient in the midst of trouble rather than just demanding that he deliver me from it.”. The second major reason for the existence of pain and suffering is (and I am personally convinced) to give continuous opportunity for Churches and the people who claim to be His disciples to exemplify the Love of Christ through their interventions to the poor and needy who live among them and make its mission complete. Whatever the case be let us strongly remain convinced that He is in control and watches over us because every individual is created in the image of God and for a greater purpose.

I think it is also important to understand God’s Sovereignty in such context. The sovereignty of God refers to the fact that God is in complete control of the universe. A belief in God’s sovereignty is distinct from fatalism. What do I mean by fatalism? “It is a philosophical doctrine holding that all events are predetermined in advance for all time and human beings are powerless to change them”. It is important to understand that God does not allow everything to happen, yet he does allow all that happens to happen. Ultimately God’s will is going to be accomplished. We can rest in the fact that our God is actually able to work all things for our good (Romans 8:28), even when we cannot readily see how that may happen. I want to conclude by putting down what Maxwell quotes, which is so clear and precise:

• Not everything that happens conforms to God’s will and wishes.
• Nothing that happens gets overlooked by God.
• Everything that happens will ultimately be addressed with justice.
• Nothing that happens should distract us from continuing to respond faithfully.

 May God help you and meet you at the point of your need.

Blessings,

David Raj

Go away! Come back later

 “Don’t say to your neighbor, go away! Come back later. I’ll give it tomorrow” Proverbs 3:28.

We live in a time where non-commitment is order of the day. Be it secular or in Christendom. Words have become senseless. We attach meaning to words based on our convenience. No wonder Jesus knowing our human heart had to emphasize and instruct us by letting our Yes mean Yes and No mean No (Mathew 5:37). The commitments of our ancient forefathers in the Bible were based on words. It was a period of oral tradition where there were no scripts, but we notice they never went back on their words. We do not mean what we say and we also wish others will not take our words seriously. Everyone would have an experience in their life to relate to where people have given their word, made a promise, given assurance but failed to uphold it and never felt an inkling of guilt. David in his attempt to describe the Godly put it in this way in Psalms 15:5 “…who keeps his word whatever the cost”. By us giving a word whether we mean it or not makes a profound impression on the person who is receiving it. This is a reality whether we agree with it or not. Unfortunately, the people in leadership position are not excluded too. We cannot afford giving a false hope, or in another extreme tell them to go in peace, stay warm and be well-fed but we don’t do anything about it. (James 2:15-17)

When do we really dodge, postpone or procrastinate? It is not when someone comes with a deal and it is going to benefit us in some way, it is when someone approaches us with a dire need in some form and we evade the situation by giving a false hope, promises or use some cliched words to send the person away. The emphasis on the poor in the Bible is of high importance, which instructs us to integrate them in our gospel. The poverty data is in every source available - what is our response to it? The world talks about the poor and poverty in its various kind. Now the study calls it as Multidimensional poverty, which means it is made up of several factors that constitute poor people’s experience of deprivation- such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standard, lack of income (as one of several factors considered), disempowerment, poor quality of work and threat from violence.

I give you a glimpse on the existence of poverty. About 20% of the world’s population, 1.2 billion people, live on less than a dollar a day. They go to bed hungry every night. Every four seconds, poverty takes a child’s life. Today, and every day until we act, 22,000 children die of avoidable diseases or because they live in poverty. 5.9 million children under the age of five die every year. Over two-thirds of these early child deaths are due to conditions that could be prevented or treated with access to simple, affordable interventions. It is estimated that human trafficking enslaves around 30 million people around the globe, half of them under the age of eighteen. How are we addressing these challenges as individuals and Church? We cannot afford to send people away (or ignore the statistics). In one incident recorded in (Mathew 14:15) the disciples approached Jesus to request Him to send the crowds away after listening to Him. They were honest, as they did not have any food to give to the large crowd, but Jesus immediately responded in Mathew 14:16 “They don’t need to go away” and we know what happened eventually. Most often you and I may not be in a condition of abundance to help others but Jesus set an example by looking unto His father. Similarly, we are supposed to look unto Jesus to make us a blessing to the poor and needy. Then we do not have to be non-committal in our behavior towards them.

Blessing

David Raj

"I DON'T KNOW YOU"- FATAL IGNORANCE

Its wonderful to connect with you all once again. I hope you had a rejuvenating time meditating on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am sure that the revelations and promises this Easter season would bring you joy and hope. I want to highlight two passages from the book of Mathew in the Bible that poignantly reiterates Holism. Seldom this is spoken about or the importance of the matter is emphasized. However, Jesus does the same during his three-and-a-half-year ministry on the earth.  I am referring to the parables of “The Sheep and the Goats” in Mathew 25:35-46. A word of caution, this is not meant for any one particular category of groups or people.  This is imperative for every so-called follower of Christ and for the Church.

 Allow me to highlight few verses from this passage and classify them under major need groups  (25:42-43) :

“I was hungry (physical need), and you gave me nothing to eat;

I was thirsty (Physical need), and you gave me nothing to drink,

I was a stranger (need of security) and you did not invite me in;

naked (need of restoring dignity), you did not clothe me;

sick, (Physiological need) and in prison (various bonded condition), and you did not visit me.”.

And then His pronouncement of judgment we find in verse 46;

“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

We notice we cannot escape or evade from this crucial responsibility. We are to definitely make all efforts as individuals to reach out in all possible way to the needy and more so the Church  to cater to the needs of the people in the church and in our community, in a structural way.  Jesus in the same passage (25:40) quotes “…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me.”.  Most of the time it is seen, we choose to do activities that are convenient for us and not those that tests our limits. Our freedom to choose whom and when we can help, can sometimes distort our priority towards the poor. Reading Matthew 25 gives us a whole different perspective on the holistic mandate. Therefore let us make all effort to extend our holy service to the least who live among us. They make up a significant majority. Let us be aware that there is so much in the Bible about issues of poverty and justice. In fact words ‘poverty and justice’  are highlighted in the Bible in over two thousand verses. This is a wake up call to all of us to address these issues.  

Ravi Jayakaran, an Indian expert in the use of the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) describes poverty as a lack of the freedom to grow. Echoing Luke 2:52, the poor are wrapped in a series of restrictions and limitations in four areas of life: physical, mental, social, and spiritual.

 

Can we take some time to retrospect on all our current interventions as individuals and Church? It is so important that we definitely quantify and revamp all our social programs, if needed. If our activities are sporadic it is necessary to make our intervention consistent. What is important is to have a strong desire, the will and the work will definitely follow (Philippians 2:13).   

The second passage that catches my attention is from same book of Mathew is the time when we all have to stand before His judgement seat. The scene here is  a group of prime people and high spiritual elite, who argue their case with God, eventually God fails to recognize them. They ask; (Mathew 7:22-23 ) “…Didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ and the shocking response from Him is, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.” NASB. It is possible in focusing on high level spiritual maturity and can still miss to obey the greatest second commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself”.  We definitely wouldn’t want this embarrassment, do we?.  I  recommend that you hear to the famous song by Keith Green “The sheep and the Goats”(YouTube). it is inspiring.  

Both the passages are a mandate of Holism (Fellowship of believers, Biblical mandate & ministering to the needy). The Church, the organizations and every individual have to make a conscious effort to reach out to the under-privileged and towards the marginal section of our society. Jesus story about Good Samaritan is unfortunately confined to children in Sunday school most of the time. The purpose of the parable is far beyond a Sunday school story. Jesus concludes by asking who proved to be a neighbor to the wounded man and the response in verse (Luke 10:37) referred to the man who showed mercy. Jesus responds as conclusion by saying “Go and do the same”.  It’s not a mere strong recommendation but a strong mandate towards Holism. Kindly understand that its not a marketing strategy at its best but my prayer is that its importance is not muddled up with less priorities or chosen priorities that devalues the word of God. I want to leave you with the Benediction of St. Francis:

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at Injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.

Blessings,

David Raj

Deciding to be silent and remain comfortable?

If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s family will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.” Esther 4:14 CSB 

We learn about the cruelty, planned against the Jews where the government (King) was convinced that the Jews were no good and follow entirely different law contrary to the norms and pattern of the nation. It just talks about anti-Semitism. What does it mean? It means the intense dislike for and prejudice against Jewish people.

 Anti-Semitism is not a recent phenomenon. Here in the book of Esther, set in the fifth century BC, we read of appalling anti-Semitism. Haman wanted to ‘annihilate all the Jews – young and old, women and little children – on a single day… and to plunder their goods’ (Esther 3:13). Haman estimated that he would be able to extort 375 tons of silver including all their possession and deposit in the king's treasury which convinced the king. It is extremely fearful to imagine such a decree was passed by the then government to get rid of the Jews and plunder their resources.

Isn't there an eerie resemblance to our present day's context? We see and hear in many places of our nation and in the world, radicals and powerful governments wanting to get rid of the Christians. There are subtle plots and in some cases, open ones to curb the privileges of Christians and persecute them in all possible manner; even though there are some Christians in powerful and influencing positions refusing to speak about it. How do Christians and leaders handle such context?  Should Christians just pray for justice and leave the rest to God?

That’s not what the Bible asks us to do. Instead Hebrews 11:33 tells us that we are God’s hands for dispensing justice and God uses us to “administer justice.”Prayer and action has to always go together. Is there a way Christians can come together to pray as a Church or community and do something about it? Or like most we think we are in a comfortable position and scared we may end up disturbing our comfort and security. We may even be wondering what if we are left alone fighting the battle without the support of fellow Christians or the faint doubt if God will actually make things happen, can linger in our minds. 

In the book of Esther when the decree was passed to annihilate the Jews we read Esther was informed by her uncle about the grave situation and at the same time also challenged her to get in action and not remain comfortable in the position she got into. We all know the story very well, Esther thereafter refused to remain comfortable. She decides to take a risk by planning to save her own people by influencing the king with honest report. Prayer was in the forefront but then the plan of action was not very far. Esther used a brilliant mixture of bravery, faith and skill. She had a discretion to find the right time to enter the presence of the King and get the attention from him. God at the same time was doing His part to Grant her favor in all the steps. This is exactly the Holistic gospel Esther lived. Every bit of the story is so dramatic thereafter. The Bible says in (Esther 9:1) "....just the opposite happened.." One person's willingness to stand daringly made an unimaginable difference to the whole Jewish clan. Is it not a strong emphasis on God's power and grandeur for saving the people from complete destruction?

 We read in Mathew 23:23 Jesus telling the teachers of law that they have neglected the more important matters of law, justice, mercy and faithfulness. The gospel that Jesus announced and lived was not only about rescuing and healing individuals; it was also about helping the poor and the needy and at the same time dismantling the oppressive systems of the world—spiritual, religious, political, economic, cultural, and so on, be it the individuals or Church.

Choosing to be silent and doing nothing about a situation which demands action is not a, measure to assure security for us and to our families. If God has kept us in a leadership position or in the area of influence, it is to be a blessing in our communities and in the nation in every possible manner. Do we have a plan or strategy? 

Blessings

Ready to Demonstrate??

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16 NASB

We are in a Lenten season where we focus as individuals and Church on Christ's sacrifice for us in the cross of Calvary. My prayer is that God would help us to have an enhanced view in this season as we become His witness and carry the gospel of love effectively. The first part of theme verse overwhelms us with gratitude and commitment knowing that God laid down His life for us and it is the core message of salvation. It says in Roman's (5:8) "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.". The Bible would have been just a set of philosophy if it had confined itself only to love, goodness and virtues of life without demonstration. The latter part of the theme verse (1 John 3:16) says we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. It is a strong demand and not just a cordial suggestion to demonstrate our love by ministering to the needs of people. 

In 1 John, Apostle John clarifies on our responses and responsibility towards the people who are needy.  It is said in the same theme verse “.. whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:17-18. The early Church demonstrated it and set a model for us. It says in the book of Acts that they brought all the resources and laid it in the feet of apostles which included selling of their properties. How are we demonstrating our love today? Is it just with niceties of conversation like" God loves you" and "I am praying for you"? Yes, we do understand that we need to affirm and intercede for people, but is there a higher ground in demonstrating it? There are so many people we can find all over, including in our Churches, who are desperately trying to make end's meet for their family each day. Most of the time we don’t even know about it and sometimes we think we are helpless and rationalize it as God’s business to help them.

  

Mother Teresa quotes "Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the grace we have received and not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work" and she further quotes by saying "one of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to somebody. ". I have heard people argue I have just enough for my family and if my status gets better maybe I will. Likewise, small Churches wait for a better status or for structured resources. My strong conviction is that you are called to give, help and render your service from the condition you are at present.

Your demonstration may not always include your money though it is significantly inclusive of the resources. The gospel of Mathew records Jesus saying, if someone asks you to accompany him for one mile, go with him an extra one, where does money picture in here? and then He further instructs "Give him who asks you and not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you" (Matthew 5:42). There are myriads of ways you can start demonstrating the gospel of Love. Are you out there for people who need support?

Blessings,

David Raj

HOLISM-A Focal Approach

I wish to give a brief introduction for my emphasis on the crucial topic, Holism. It is my strong desire and conviction by the spirit of God to accentuate the integration of holism in the churches so that its visibility is not merely by its name or location but primarily for the influence it creates. 

The community the church influences would find solution from it for every facet of life problem, be it spiritual, socio-economical or socio-cultural or political. I pray this series on Holism will be a blessing as it is a requirement to be the core of our ministry and life.

It is important to understand that the Bible exercises its full authority over Holism. God is Holistic and the Bible reiterates it. The Old Testament in the Bible  required mankind to act justly, to love faithfulness, to walk humbly before God (Micah 6:8) and stretched its focus yet wider demanding attentions towards poor, orphans, strangers and to all vulnerable category. 

The demand and expectation to operate and have its approaches Holistically remains unchanged. In the New Testament Luke narrates that Jesus grew Holistically -  “..Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52,NASB). The four areas Cognitive (wisdom), Physical (stature), Spiritual (favor with God) and Socio-emotional (favor with men) development. This passage translates to us clearly that man is made Holistic. 

We are able to see that the Holism is being reiterated throughout the Bible not as a concept or an idea but the core of a person's existence as meant by God. This will not be realized unless individuals and Church connect with Holism and exhibit the principle in all its approaches.  This is the mandate for each individuals and the church as required by God in the Bible. Therefore we can confer that the church is  the integration of the  three crucial areas; Fellowship of the believers, Biblical mandate and social dimension-which is its mission. This is further explained in the pictorial presentation given below:

The early church depicted this model strongly as described in Acts 4:34 - "For there was not a needy person among them..." By the time we come to Chapter 6 of Acts, we notice that the leadership had appointed seven anointed people to  manage the social wing effectively. The one thing that fascinates me is that the social intervention of the early church was not confined to external funding channels but  were able to mobilize resources internally (How often the majority seems to miss this opportunity). It is a clear indication that every individual and the leaders realize it      as a biblical call towards Holism. 

It is said, “The local church is the hope for the world, and its future rests primarily in the hands of the leaders”. 

• How is the Church going to respond? 
• What is the plan to address the physical needs, the social needs, physiological needs, the emotional needs of the people in the church and in the community? 
• How do the church, Christian fellowship, groups going to work it out? 
• Do we have a plan to make the approaches consistent and less sporadic? 

It is the demand of the Bible that the Body of Christ takes this issue very seriously and exhibit the gospel of love in action.  Definitely, not only confined to, as a worship center for believers, but also to become Holistic in nature and viewed that way by the world. Unless the Church raises to this standard, I am afraid it will not have any effect in the lives of the people.

David Bosch reminds us that “the church is both a theological and a sociological entity, an inseparable union of the divine and the dusty."  Our community is filled with varied problem that needs an Holistic approach from the Church to reach them.  It just cannot emphasize on spiritual facet alone. Bryant L. Myers in his book "Walking with the Poor" states "When we separate the spiritual from the physical, not only do we separate evangelism from development, but we separate gospel-as-word from the gospel-as-deed, and provide no home for gospel-as-sign."  May the good Lord help us as individuals and church to take up this call to integrate our life and approach towards Holism and transform our community.  

This is the vision God has given to SHEFA to work alongside the churches in building the Holistic approach. The intervention is to establish an active social program or revamp the existing program, derived out of the vision and mission of the Church, develop a Church strategy (short-term and long-term) and connecting to the resources available. You may reach us to know how we can impact your ministry or be part of your mission by extending your support in what we do.

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Blessings 

David Raj

7977721853

Building a Robust Strategy

The word strategy is becoming more and more conversant in every field of human life. All field of science have started using it to build their organizational plan around it. The Wikipedia defines strategy this way; “it is a high-level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty. Strategy generally involves setting goals, determining actions to achieve the goals, and mobilizing resources to execute the actions.”

We notice in the Bible how Joseph translates Pharaoh's dream into a robust strategy. Gen 41:34-46. Joseph with a divine spirit had an astounding encounter with Pharaoh and used his gift to interpret his dream. A point to be noted, interpretation of dreams was not a recent gift Joseph developed, God has gifted him that ability from a very young age. God revealed to Joseph about the future happenings and developed him for a greater purpose. Joseph learnt to exercise personal management and professional management at a very high standard. Irrespective of several hardships lashing at him consecutively, Joseph remained consistent in every area of his life and exhibited spiritual maturity.

Pharaoh met Joseph in a completely disoriented mental status because of the recent disturbing dreams he had. Little did the king realize that the dreams were from God and it was about the future status of the nation. His leadership team unfortunately had no clue and were absolutely unprepared  to even fathom the implications of his dream. Joseph becomes the spokesperson for God. He not only interpreted the entire dream but also drew up a watertight strategy to save lives and build the nation.  The basic stages of building a strategy from the dream is typo graphed in the following figure:

I am sure each Church was started with a vision/mission as revealed by God. It will do a world of good if Churches ask themselves the question if our vision/mission is strategically deciphered and disseminated so that the impact of what we are investing today becomes meaningful and measurable in the future. Habakkuk 2:2 says “…Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.”. The verse is demanding that our vision is documented and translated into action plan, so that the reader is motivated to run with the mission.

The leaders and the core team (may it be from church, or organization, or small groups) to ponder on these questions and reconsider if it is not very active;

1.      Where have we been? (this will help the leader reminisce on the early days and recognize            successes along the way).

2.      Where are we today? (give status on the current state of church, organization, institution)

3.   Where we hope to be in the next 3, 5, or 10 years?

May our dreams and vision be translated and become strategic and Holistic in nature and be a blessing to our community.

Blessings