Women of dignity!

 

Wishing all women a very Happy Women’s Day! Women have always proved their excellence by taking different roles as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, etc. Bible has so many examples of women of honor but somehow inadvertently or purposefully they are not marginalized in Churches today. Let me remind the foundation verse which gives God's perspective that says in Genesis 1:27 “So God created human being in his own image. In the image of God, He created them; male and female he created them.”  God had assigned specific roles for both man and woman and expects that we play the role efficiently. To a larger extent cultures have manipulated to silence women and created a male-dominated society. Diane Langberg Christian Psychologist talks about the misuse of power beautifully. “Christendom has used scripture to sanction slavery, racism, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and other cruelties our God hates. Some corners of Christendom today have, I fear become less interested in truth and more interested in power.".

I think it is good to highlight some of the women characters from the Bible who made tremendous impact but ignored. Let's look at few of them:

1.Jochebed the mother of Moses who daringly let go of her son in faith. She put him in a basket and let him float in the Nile river (Exodus 2: 1-4).

2.Zipporah initiated and completed the circumcision procedure of her son, and established the covenant (Exodus 4:24-26).

3.Deborah was the only female in the line of judges ( of the 14 judges of Israel) and was a military leader. She wanted Barak to have the credit but because of his refusal to go on his own, he was not credited for the act (Judges 4:1-9).

4.Jael was a bold woman who kills Sisera with kindness and power, subduing the power of Canaanites (Judges 4:17-23).

5.Ruth's noble character gave way to form the lineage of Jesus (Ruth 1:16-18) through David's genealogy.

6.Hannah, the barren woman’s decision to offer her son to be one of the greatest prophets in Biblical history (1 Samuel 1: 11-28).

7.Queen Vashti is unique to be qualified in this list. The King wanted to flaunt her beauty to a bunch of drunken men. Would it not be labelled as humiliation and abuse of power in present times? And the consequences pornographic? Vashti should be considered a righteous hero for standing up for her modesty (Esther 1:-10-12).

8.Abigail was a wise woman married to a fool (as admitted by her). She gives a brilliant discourse and saved her husband from David’s wrath (1 Samuel 25: 23-31).

9.Mary Magdalene, Joanna Susanna and many other were supporters for Jesus’ ministry (Luke 8: 2).

10.Mary Magdalene, Mary of Nazareth, Mary wife Clopas stood by Christ till the last in the crucifixion history (John 19:25).

11.Priscilla along with her husband corrected Apollos, an eloquent orator on the teachings of Christ accurately (Acts 18:24-25) and was also involved in the founding of the Church at Corinth.

12.Women who witnessed the empty tomb and proclaimed the resurrection story is commendable. (Luke 24:10; Mark 16:9; Mat 27:56, 61)

I have mentioned just few and we all know there are so many more in the Bible who have set an amazing example for all of us to follow. Before I could conclude let me juxtapose two prominent male characters from the Bible. The first one is Amnon who stripped the dignity of a woman (Tamar happened to be his sister) (2 Samuel 13:1-14). The second person is Boaz who protected Ruth when she was vulnerable spending the night with him. He clothed the woman (Ruth) with dignity and extended his protection (Ruth 3: 7-18). In the world where there is so much of discrimination and abuse, women still outshine like a stars. We honor you and bless you. May you excel and ignite the world which is filled with differences, hatred and abuse.

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Faithfulness a rare commodity

  

Faithfulness is one of the primary characteristics of our Lord God. The Bible says, in Deuteronomy 7:9 “know therefore that your Lord God, the faithful God…” and Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:9 states “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord.”. God demands us to be faithful. There are no grey areas in faithfulness, either we are faithful or faithless. Today, the so-called spiritual giants who enjoy fame go about flaunting their ministerial greatness and activities but God alone gauges the faithfulness of an individual.

Solomon poses a pertinent question in Proverbs 20:6, “Many men will proclaim each his own goodness but who can find a faithful man?” This means we can brag about our activities, have enormous fund flow, jetset around the world as an itinerant preacher or evangelist, be accurate in our discourses, be theologically sound, but lead  a life of utter contradiction of being unfaithful to God and oneself. Theodore Roosevelt states, “It is better to be faithful than famous.”.

Faithfulness of people can be selective. People choose to be faithful when its demands are high. Whatever the demands, the degree of our faithfulness is always open in God's sight. As we are culminating to Christ's coming, there is an increase of debauchery and unfaithfulness among Christian celebrities that's being exposed and shaking Christendom. It is surprising to know some of them survived for years leading a life of dichotomy and deception. Many Christians assume they need to hide their misgivings to protect the name of the Lord and as a result the intensity of the explosion rips through individuals, societal and religious entities. Jesus warns, “For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.”. Mark 4:22.

God is more concerned about our faithfulness than our accomplishments in His name. Diane Langberg the Christian Psychologist states, “We do not protect the name of Jesus in the Christian world using godly words to cover ungodly deeds. God wants purity in the kingdom of heart not the appearance of it in a system that has to lie to make it seem as if it is present.”. Paul in Romans 3:3-4 states, “What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Absolutely not! Let God be true…”. God remains faithful. God’s faithfulness can never be negated by man’s unfaithfulness. Let's take this to heart, God is primarily interested to see how faithful we are. No one can be labelled a spiritual giant just because he/she is gifted, highly talented, and able to turn many souls to Christ. Our purity and holiness matters much before evangelization. Let us not forget that we will face innumerable opportunities each day to slip and our soul to be ruined. The desperate cry of David in Psalms 12:1, which reads, “Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.”. Unless we are God conscious there is every chance we will fall. May God help each one of us to remain faithful in His vineyard.

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Ministry success Analysis!

 

I am grateful to God and we should all be that Christian presence is seen, felt and heard nationally and globally. Today, there are innumerable social media platforms, that talk about Christ. It’s a joy that anytime someone wishes to know Christ can find information in abundance by merely browsing. But there is a problem. In spite of abundant supply (a term used in economics) the demand is significantly low, meaning people aren’t willing to buy-in the idea of salvation, in Christian sense, corresponding to the amount it is made available.

I battle with this question - Are we seriously missing something? With abundance in Christian work, why aren’t we witnessing increase in harvest? If you are a leader or a Pastor you would attest the fact that you are part of so many Christian fellowships, forums, Chat groups where Christian language is spoken in abundance. But the measurement metrics, I am referring to, i.e. the national statistics of Christian presence, are not encouraging and yet, the Churches and Christian organizations continue to celebrate success defined by them. I do understand that the Churches and Organizations have sufficient reasons to celebrate their success, but "What about the BIG goals and where are we in regard to the same?" is what every individual and Church fail to ask. 

Pandemic ushered in the revolution of  social media platforms, which increased the concentration on Christians exponentially. The measurement metric that plays here is the greater the number of people join one's platform the greater the satisfaction for the hosts. This defines the success of their Church, which is an erroneous way of measuring success. During these times many organizations have worked out the math projecting a calculation of how their revolution, as they understand will saturate the city and the country with the gospel. Each organization has an agenda, compelling Christians to be part of the crowd calculation and be satisfied with the report they present. If you notice, Organizations and Churches want to thrive on activities without making any real sense to Non-Christian friends. When will the Church learn that running around in frantic religious activities has nothing to do with Christianity, as pointed out by Jesus. It’s just being religious! (Luke 10:42). Dr Eric Mason states, “I fear the Church has become salt and light to itself and not the world as it was called to which left to itself becomes artificial light and self-preservation.”. 

Christian presence in India was 2.3% as per 2011 census, but recently Open Doors world watch list has published 2021 statistics with India now at 4.9% Christians. Another fact to consider is that India has been ranked 10th globally for severity of persecution against Christians and it is getting increasingly difficult for Christians to profess their faith. The survival is not about organizations and Churches but that every Christian is equipped to share his/her faith and save souls from eternal damnation. The Church should enable them to go out and share the gospel. If this is not part of measurement metrics of success then probably the Christian institutions are merely surviving. The more the Church strives for stability, recognition, power and money, the more its spiritual potency will diminish. You may check the blog on Quick Fix or lasting impact? to more on this.

Let me end my analysis with a final remark from Reinhard Bonke who puts this beautifully, "So our main task must be the implementation of the Great Commission—the going, the making, and the discipling. The church is a lifeboat, not a pleasure boat. Entertainers are neither needed nor wanted. From the captain to the cook it is all hands on deck for soul-saving.". The church that does not seek the lost is “lost” in itself. Some excuse themselves by saying that in today’s pluralistic society the Christian half can never penetrate the other half. Why not? That is not God’s idea or command. When He spoke through Isaiah, He said: When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him. —ISAIAH 59:19.

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Masked You vs The Real You!

 

"You wear a mask for so long, you forget who you were beneath it." Alan Moore. I could not but fully agree with this quote as it's profound and thought provoking. Our life experiences force us to wear masks and with constant overuse of that leads to a point we become unrecognizable to ourselves. If we come across someone who is genuine and true to themselves, it's like a breadth of fresh air in this fake world we live in.

The Bible says, “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 MSG. Our pretentions and deceptions are conceived in our heart, plans to follow through devised in our mind and eventually exhibit in our actions. Somehow, we convince ourselves that we can pretend to be someone else (with Christian overtones) and get away with it. Yes, it's easy to deceive, manipulate and fool humans, but can we really deceive God?

"Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace!" Proverbs 12:20 NLT. In this verse, Bible is very clear that when you deceive you are already in the path of evil. The question arises, what makes us wear masked personalities? Is it our fear of rejection? Or is it that we have been hurt too many times for our goodness that we end up taking revenge by acting like a good person? Or is it that we are just pure evil and sold out for the devil that we go around manipulating and taking advantage of people?

Our deceptions are always translated in our actions or otherwise our works. If we read the book of Revelations, God says to five out of seven Churches, namely Ephesus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, "I know your works...". My dear brothers and sisters, why should God be focused and concerned about our works? Because each of us are the Church. It's not our buildings God is talking about. It's you and me and that should be a good enough reason to remove our masks or we will stand judged by Him. Our motives, our principles, our morals, our ethics should all stem from obeying and practicing the word of God.

The further we are away from God, correlates to the level of pretense we exhibit in our lives. The moment we use God for meeting our own will and desires, God is only a prop in our life. But when we truly surrender every area of our life to God, be transformed, we become genuine, unafraid of revealing our true self to the world. Can we like Apostle Paul dare the world saying, "Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ."1 Corinthians 11:1 CSB.

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The Jericho March - An Idolatrous Debacle!

 

The Jericho March ended up taking siege of the US Capitol Hill. When the so called evangelicals scourged the walls of the US senate building, the whole Christendom bowed its head, eyes closed with shame. So much for standing witnesses for Jesus Christ!

One single man, Donald Trump in this case could take the whole right wing and mess with their minds, driving them to a point of insurrection. There were many renowned spiritual leaders in this march who claimed that God spoke to them through visions of Trump being the leader (please refer to articles given below for further understanding). Now with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris taking up their posts we now know who is the liar, for the God we worship is true to His character - He can never lie.

Our zeal for men can run deep if kept unchecked and can easily slide into the realm of idolism. Donald Trump carrying the Bible in his hand does not automatically make him a a devoted Christian as much as a car that is parked in a garage. So how did the evangelicals play the Christian card when everything that happened so far clearly violated the first four of the ten commandments.

Whether it's individual or politics the rule remains the same. God is sovereign and His will prevails. The Bible says, "Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked?" Ecclesiastes 7:13 NLT, "If he snatches something, who can stop him? Who can ask him, “What are you doing?” Job 9:12 CSB. Being children of God we need to keep the will of God first. However, the situations pan out, God is still in control and knows very well what He is doing. Remember He is an Omniscient God.

 Dear brothers and sisters, idolism is a snare. Charles Spurgeon describes it beautifully, "If there is anything better than God you are idolaters; if there is anything you would not want to give up for God it is your idol: if there is anything you seek with greater fervor, than you seek the glory of God, that is your idol and conversion means a turning away from every idol." If there are known or hidden idols in our heart, it's time we convert even if we have been Christians from birth. Apostle Paul in his second letter to Timothy says, "holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them."2 Timothy 3:5 AMP. If we have to keep away from such people who instigate us to defile the Glory of God, let's do it, so that we may not be found wanting in the sight of God and lose out our opportunity for eternal life.

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Reference Articles:

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/what-i-saw-at-the-jericho-march/

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/cult-christian-trumpism/

https://youtu.be/tVy2S2CIfM0

 

Is money and power the epitome of success?

This world is becoming extremely alien and hostile to us Christians, that is, for those who are being sold out for God and anxiously waiting for His coming. Corona has made all places of worship shut down regardless of religion. Similarly, money and power have also infiltrated in God's name regardless of religion. There is no difference between us being the children of the Living God as opposed to the unbelievers.

Today in ministry, money is about everything. But we oversee the fact that money along with it brings corruption. Somehow, as believers we have come to the conclusion that more the money, more powerful the ministry. Is it true? Then why does Jesus say, "....“Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” "Matthew 8:20 NET. His prayer room was the mountains and the wilderness.

Jesus' feelings for the rich were always, anger and pity. He lashed out at the Pharisees for their abuse of power and riches. So, why as Christians we still hail money and power as the epitome of success in one's ministry? If money is God's blessing then why does the Bible say, "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows."1 Timothy 6:10 NLT. If money is key to the furtherance of Christ's kingdom, then the existence of this verse is contradictory. Money's close compatriot is power and once it steps into the scene, abuse is not far off. One of the quotes by Edmund Burke says, "Greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.".

In the book of Proverbs we read, "First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. "Proverbs 30:8 NLT. My brothers and sisters in Christ, will we be able to dare ask God just to give us just what we need. That could also include poverty if God deems fit. It may leave us powerless. But are we courageous enough to trade our money and power for a life totally dependent on God and to be only led by His power? This will help us stay humble and be conscious of sin. We will never be able to experience the sweetness of fellowship unless we utterly abandon ourselves to God or risk having all the riches and power doing His ministry only to hear Him say, "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:23 KJV

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Direction & Goal - Part 2

It is a privilege for me to emphasize and throw some light on two aspects - direction and goal. As we start navigating this year strategically by clarifying our vision and journey map, I believe it is important to dwell on important criterion to accommodate our comprehensive understanding of our approaches and methodologies to include it in our personal and ministry strategy. In the article from Harvard Business Review, Elsbeth Johnson puts this beautifully, "Having time for strategy isn't a luxury it's a necessity. And it's not something you can delegate or outsource. Nor is it something that you should do once in a year. It needs to become part of your weekly schedule.".

Impact evaluation: This is an important concept where social sciences nudges people to move from activities to outcome, where they call it impact since it denotes a longtime positive change. Some quote 1 Corinthians 3:6, where it says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”. Eventually, in this context, many argue that they do not worry about results or analyzing the results because they believe that has to be left to God. I do agree, but what if our interventions are ambiguous and does not integrate the Biblical mandate of Christ? Nevertheless, there will be a celebration but not for the desired outcome connected to the Great Commission.  Remember when Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he witnessed a great celebration among people for which Aaron was responsible, but as you all know the celebration was for the wrong reason (Exodus 32). What you celebrate should be Biblically compatible in reference to the Mission given to us.

In the parable of the sower Jesus explains about the seeds falling on good ground and He adds a measurement metrics too. Follow the verse in Matthew 13:8, “still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what it was sown.”. Jesus did not just blanket and generalise the results but He distinguishes them. Jesus concluded the parable by adding an emphasis in the following verse 9 of the same chapter which says, “Let anyone who has ears listen.” The results are invariably measured. Let us be reminded of the fact, “What gets measured gets improved.”. I urge you to seriously consider your ministry journey map and align all parameters for greater impact in your Church and in your community.

Quality Assurance: Bible talks about “Quality assurance”. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:13 warns us by stating, “each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.”. God does not use a blanket approval just because we do ministry. The quality of our work will be gauged. This means that our interventions and works will need specifications and details. Remember, we worship a God of specifications, be it Noah’s ark or the tabernacle or Solomon’s temple. Specifications were given in terms of design and outcomes. So why do you intend to run  haywire and be all over the page failing to create a meaningful impact. You may be having an independent ministry or a Church ministry or an organization. Regardless of what you have, it is time to spend your energy to set your direction right to bring about measurable results. Do not forget, at the end, your work will be tested by fire.

In this New Year 2021, I urge you both lay people as well as those in the ministry to dream big, to define your dream and vision, list goals and outcomes, work out milestones, identify the risk factors, articulate the ministry plan and develop a ministry blueprint. Mission is concerned with nothing less than the completion of all that God has begun to do in the creation of the world and of humankind. Its concern is not sectional but total, holistic and universal. May God use you and your ministry to impact the community and the nation. 

You may check Direction & Goal - part 1 for getting clarity and continuity.

Wishing you a blessed New Year 2021!!!!

I am glad God gave me this unique ministry, (SHEFA MINISTRIES) in India to help Churches find their vision, goal and develop a ministry Blueprint, strategy document and most importantly a detailed roadmap to follow. I had an opportunity to help many Churches of different denominations to have their 5 year or 10-year ministry plan as requested by them, enlisting definite measurable outcomes. You may connect with me to get support in designing your ministry blueprint, trainings and seminars on Church Holism, Holistic Approach and other concepts dealt in this blog.

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