Drawing closer to the season!

As we come closer to the end of the year 2021, quite a lot of emotions are likely to flood in for many. The pandemic and disaster have snatched many lives of loved ones in the family. And it is indeed a time to recollect the memories while we celebrate the season of hope and the coming new Year. I pray and wish that your life is restored and rejuvenated in this Christmas season irrespective of all challenges and crisis, probably you have undergone.

It is this time of a year, 2000 years ago in human history God decided to come to this world in the form of man to be the Savior of the world.  The Bible records the prediction of this man Jesus, thousands of years ago by prophets in the Old Testament. The place of birth, Bethlehem was predicted, the nature of His virgin birth was predicted, His crucifixion was predicted, His dying between two robbers was predicted and more importantly, His resurrection from the grave after three days was predicted, too.  And the good news is that all prophecies were fulfilled. All prophecies pertaining to Him, when carefully analyzed and validated was found in sync with the writers of the Bible. It had no contradiction whatsoever. The uniqueness of this man Jesus, unlike any spiritual leader or gods, is that He did not suggest a way, a method to reach God or instructed His disciples to start a religion. He did not dwell on the concept of erecting a structure of splendor and have His image worshipped there. Nothing of that sort is mentioned or desired in the holy book, the Bible.

He had the audacity to claim Himself God. He said “I am the way, the truth and the life...”. And then it is written that we are the temple of the holy one and His spirit lives in us. He wanted humans to be the temple and keep ourselves holy in order to allow God indwell human hearts. Even if all the Church buildings are razed down, we still have a temple, the human heart, where He desires to live provided it is kept holy.

Some ask how do you believe the Bible is accurate book that talks about a man who existed 2000 year ago? Let me explain this, After Jesus’ death in 32 AD, the four gospel writers wrote the four books on different dateline but all before 100 AD and the most important part is there are no contradictions whatsoever. Yet there are many who debate the authenticity. Let me point out an example from the life of Alexander, the great, an universal history written by Greek  historian Sikeliotes  (lived c 90 c to 30).  Notice the time interval!  Alexander lived in 330 BC but the earliest written record about him was available only in 30 BC.  Nearly 300 years apart! Yet no one doubts Alexander's existence or considered the written record to be unreliable. But the four gospels were written within the short time of Jesus’ life time in this earth. History and all social science vouch the authenticity of every detail recorded in this book. 

The Christmas season is not a miracle, but the story of this man Jesus who lived, crucified and is resurrected. He is in the business of transforming lives and we have hope in Him. I mean, hope for the present and future, our eternal destiny.  Santa Claus is not the protagonist of the Christmas story but Jesus’ birth and His resurrection is. Your belief on Him transforms you with Hope and gives a direction to live. So it’s the person Jesus who gives you hope and not on the season of the year. Your commitment to follow Him will either create or correct the history of your life.

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This is the continuation of Last week Blog. You May click HERE to read in case you have missed.

That Season of the year!

We have arrived at that time of season where the whole world is gearing up to celebrate Christmas, the favorite time of the year. Our homes get a new outlook with cleaning, painting, Christmas decorations, setting up of the manger scene and so on. Christmas has become more than a ritual, it's looked upon as a time to celebrate, display one's wealth and relax. Religious festivals become opportunities for celebration.

But I apologize for breaking this warped up bubble of belief. Christmas is not a religious festival of delicious cakes, Christmas trees, Christmas bells, Santa Claus, etc. It is about a true story in history, a happening which history vouches for a man named, Jesus who lived on this earth between 4 BC to 32 AD. The fact that underscores the pages of history is that his birth and death was not a finality in His story, but an added facet to the celebration is His resurrection from death. If we were to clear away all the trees, lights, wreaths, candy, chocolate, mistletoe, gifts, hot cider, eggnog, silver bells, festive music, Santa Claus, reindeer, and elves – the Church of Jesus has got to the core of the celebration, which is documented in the Historical book, the Bible. It says, “In the beginning was the word, ..The word became flesh and dwelt among us, we  observed his glory as the one and only son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”. And then the fact both History and Bible records is “that he was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.”.

Prof Bart Ehrman, a world-famous historian working in University of North Carolina says regarding historicity of Jesus as, “In my experience as an historian, I have met and interacted with literally 1000’s of historians and scholars, and almost all of them have no issues in accepting the historicity of Jesus Christ. Christ mythicism is not even considered as an option among the scholarly circles!”

Another historian, Tacitus is considered unanimously to be one of the greatest historians by scholars. He was a patriotic Roman senator and his writings show no sympathy towards Christians. He refers to Christ, his execution by Pontius Pilate and the existence of early Christians in Rome in his final work, Annals (c. AD 116), book 15, chapter 44.[35][36][37]. The relevant passage reads: "called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus." Scholars generally consider Tacitus's reference to the execution of Jesus by Pontius Pilate to be both authentic and of historical value. He is also considered as an independent Roman source about early Christianity that is in unison with other historical records.

With all of the above evidence portrayed, we are all left with a choice as to how we are going to view Christmas, this season. We can consider Christ a myth, blissfully ignoring the fact that He lived, died and rose again and is a living God or embrace the truth recorded in the Bible and celebrate the birth of Christ in a meaningful way. J I Packer states, “The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity-hope of pardon, hope of glory- because at the Father’s will Jesus became poor, and was born in stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.”. Are we willing to take time to know Jesus, this Christmas season, to find out the real reason for His birth?

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Reference:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sources_for_the_historicity_of_Jesus

Black money with dark intentions!

 

Money as we know is a universal tangible commodity. The world has gone berserk with money, which a regional proverb aptly summarizes as, ‘show the currency note, even a corpse will open its mouth.’. It has become the final goal for any activity under the sun. Though the means look noble in many cases, the motives and intentions are still alarmingly spurious.

Sometimes the intention to make anything and everything a commodity mars relationships, defiles good works and pollutes a noble cause. Max Lucado points out a powerful thought which says, ‘we all lean on lesser gods at times. Status. Popularity. Money. Grades. A cool car. The ‘right’ friends. Whatever we think will carry us through. But none of these gods satisfies for long. We don’t need an “over the Rainbow” god, we need the one who created rainbows.".

Some struggle to make ends meet, some go over the board hoarding it to the extent that it can never be consumed and the money is sufficient for next 20 to 30 generations. Yet they are never satisfied and pursue relentlessly. History has constantly reiterated that money whether black or white doesn’t give people the security, satisfaction, and purpose. Rather, on the contrary, it makes people more selfish and insecure. Today, we are in a time where exploiting someone’s innocence, taking advantage of people for benefits, making subtle adjustments to cheat one another, intending to make extra money are all common. But what we fail to realize is that it will still not be enough. However, noble the cause maybe, it still boils down to profit and loss. It's always winning at the cost of one’s loss.

The term black money becomes profound as the motives of people are dark, evil, selfish and sinful. People have become cruel and abominable in the process. You will hear many cases where people even use the religious places to convert black money to legitimize white money and continue to accumulate wealth.

Selfish accumulation of wealth and unhealthy obsession with material things can never bring contentment. What promises security leads to perpetual insecurity. True security is only faith in a true living God who can fill your heart with contentment and peace. The Bible says “we enter the world penniless and we leave penniless. Wealth provides only a false security. …quit being . . . obsessed with money which is here today and gone tomorrow’." The real measure of our wealth is how much we would be worth if we lost all our money? Francis Bacon puts the essence of money so beautifully as, “Money is like manure. It’s not good unless it is spread around.’. We cannot equate material possession to God. Your commitment to God should reflect on how you value and respect each other. Jesus is the God of History, who is in the business of transforming lives. Your commitment to follow Him opens up a new world of hope, purpose and meaning to life.

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Say Yes or No!

 

We all are looking for answers, especially the ones that match our expectations. But what answers are we really looking for exactly? The answers vary based on life matters, relationships, business deals, promotions, expecting someone to become an accomplice to our selfish desires, consensual sex, etc. Selfishness rules human heart. We want all the answers to be yes alone, even though there is an option for no. It is because we are intolerant to 'no's, in a patriarchal and male chauvinistic society like ours.

Superficially people fight for human rights, but the weak and the vulnerable still struggle choice-less, especially the poor and religious minorities who are forced to say yes to all the brutalism and vandalism by religious bigotry and the ones who are powerful and classify themselves to be from upper strata of the society. India for example, is known for the tagline, ‘unity in diversity’, maintaining solidarity, yet you will find innumerable cases where people who are called as minority and from different faith being persecuted, their rights violated, false allegations raised against them and many are languishing in prison too. They just want people to say yes to all their selfish, political agendas.

In history, at any given period of time, we notice that people with power and money assumed that they can manipulate things to their favor. Let me quote an incident recorded concerning Jesus, which is a historical fact. According to the prophecy told thousands of years ago it was stated that a Messiah will be born in Bethlehem who will have the power to forgive the sins of the mankind and they can reach God because of the sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross of Calvary. But the religious bigots thought Jesus was getting famous because the Bible, the historical records states ‘He was going about doing good’, casting out demons, healing sick of all kinds and raising the dead too. The religious Jewish leaders couldn't handle this because Jesus's widespread fame was unnerving and they felt powerless.

Promptly, Jesus was put on an unfair trial and with false allegations. He remained silent to all the accusations, surprising the high priest who insisted Jesus to say yes or no to his question. The question was, are you the Messiah? Jesus said, “I am” which is recorded in the Bible. And the temple high priest and all the accusers were angry at the answer. They went crazy and alleged, “what further need do we have of witnesses?” And said, ‘you have further heard the blasphemy’ and they condemned Him to death.

You don’t have to say yes and comply to the deception just because you are forced to, or because you are too naïve. In case you are a person who is a victim of manipulation and accusation and you feel dejected, don’t lose hope. A God who was nailed for His innocence understands your plight. The story did not end on the cross and in the grave. But He rose from the dead and said, I will come back as a king to judge the world and the righteous will inherit the kingdom of God and the wicked to condemnation. You can make a choice to ask Him to come into your life and transform you into a new person and protect you from all the evils working against you. You have a choice to say, “yes’ or ‘No’.

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Hide and Seek - is that your relationship game?

 

Photo Credit Sakshi Manga

Increasingly, I have come to observe that relationships are becoming less and less intentional, genuine, voluntary, honest and truthful. It's becoming more on need basis. Only if we benefit from that person, do we even take the time to connect with them. I am not sure if we should call this superficiality or the 'new-normal' etiquette, but it has a name. It's called selfishness.  Sadly, the poor, the needy and the vulnerable are left with no choice but to accommodate this behavior. How we relate with each other reveals a lot about the person we are and has a direct connotation of how we treat and relate with God.

The new behavior may be the new normal, yet it is unbecoming. People either avoid speaking to one another directly or substitute through social platforms. We choose our circle, customize relationship to our expectations and use it to our favor. In all of this we fail to realise that the binding factor in a relationship is love. Its starkly missing and has made relationships artificial. A writer in one of the book in the Bible, inspired by God writes, "Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.". 

The direct implication is love for God overflows as love for people. No wonder Jesus summed up all the laws and commandment in two greatest commandments, 'and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’. When this is done genuinely from a clean heart, the second commandment, love your neighbors as yourself is spontaneous and intentional. This will undoubtedly reflect in our honest love for others.

Relationship need not always be business oriented and a self-profiting deal. It has to be honest and a genuine reflection of the love of God. Only Bible estimates this and states, 'God is love'. In its true sense, Jesus demonstrated His love on the cross of Calvary for the sins of mankind. And we find salvation believing Him and living with a transformed new self. Jesus is the embodiment of love. When we accept His lordship and follow Him, the love and respect for each other reflects in all areas of our life.

Are you avoiding or too ashamed to connect with people to maintain honest communication? I am not talking about connecting with someone who is abusive and manipulative, but with those who are in our sphere of influence and in our circle.  It is actually rude and manipulative if we are willing to use only social platforms and replace them with actual communication and maintain a relationship. Let us value each other and honor one another. The Bible says, “value others over yourselves.". When we value and estimate others we will be willing to establish genuine relationship by all means.

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Child, Am I a Hero or a Villain?

 

Wishing you all dear Children a very happy Children’s Day!

I really hope the word "happiness" still rings with meaning as the pandemic has muted all celebrations dampening the spirits. Childhood has its share of carefree joy and minimal set of responsibilities that every adult envies. But with the world's demands and nature's prodigies one wonders will the frivolity of childhood be a thing of the past.

Today, children are trained and instilled in their tender minds that life is all about studying, aim for high scores academically, pursue a high paying job and earn lot of money. All along they are also taught that they have to achieve this with their own personal strengths, never once teaching them that they are God's masterpiece and it's important that they start giving Him due adoration in early stages of life.

For parents it has always been a rat race to somehow make their children excel than other children in every aspect, hopping and dragging them from one practice session to another, all along neglecting the fact that their Heavenly Father is longing for His children to have a relationship with Him. As parents we have failed and robbed our God of His glory and we are forcing our children to do the same unconsciously and at times intentionally. As of now children have heroes who are dangerously flawed and who teach them that they can live an immoral life and can still get away with it if you have loads of money. Today, if children are into drugs, unrestricted gaming and watching prohibited content, it is because we as adults have failed in our responsibility as parents.

How many of us as parents taught our children what morality is? Have we taught them not to cheat? Yes, you heard me right. Today, with online exams, due to the pandemic, has revealed blatant disregard for integrity, with children cheating at the drop of a hat. I am sure this will resonate if you are a teacher reading this article. There have been instances where mothers' group chats in WhatsApp discuss how they can lie to the school authorities for late submission of projects. Parents are even pampering their children to the extent of writing the online exams for them. If our own morality is skewed, what will we teach our children? Do we as parents even realise that we are harming our children to the point of distorting their view of God and morality? Then why do we lament when our children don't make it in life or worse because of all our pressure push them to take their own life?

If we as parents do not clean up our act and live a life close to God, then our children will only end up having movie stars and mafia Don's as heroes. Parents need to understand we are the heroes for our children. The Bible says that children are an inheritance from God. It means that we leave a legacy. But it weighs heavily upon us as to decide what that legacy would be. With the help and guidance from God we need to be the hands of God that shapes these tender minds and hearts directing them towards a Heavenly Father who 'fearfully and wonderfully' made them for a purpose. We will be responsible for destroying the purpose of their lives because of our stupidity and rebelliousness and God will hold us accountable.

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Wobbling Standards!

 

Photo credit: ICA

Constants like values, morality, ethics and standards are dangerously shifting and changing in the age we live in. Movements in social media and rallies on the streets support this wobbly belief system. Today, every individual is convinced that it's his/her right to believe what he/she thinks is right, including values and standards in life. There are theories that supports this view and one of such belief cites, "Belief doesn't require something to be true. It only requires you to believe it's true.". Strangely, if we try to validate this in context of our family and children it has a disastrous connotation.

Through the ages prominent individuals who made significant contribution to the society through their inventions and discoveries have uttered unverified thoughts that still echo as the final word for ethics in the society. Take for example Marcus Buckingham who states, "The best way to find out whether you’re on the right path? Stop looking at the path.". How do we understand this? In reality if we follow this, we are sure to mess up our lives. We cannot afford to live in fool's paradise. We live in the danger of assuming that if an intellectual sets standard, it should be right; failing to understand it can be skewed to suit the individual's convenience. It is important to analyze from where one channelizes moral ethics, values and standards as the source is of utmost importance.

Another prominent personality, Shakespeare stated, 'there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.'. Famous personalities in art, literature and science tampered with standards, life ethics and God, leading many astray. Standards are never meant to be wobbly and definitely are not the result of thinkers. As a society, we are mostly shaped by religious ideologies framed on certain standards, which are relative. For example, in one culture polygamy is allowed, another supports polyandry, yet another supports monogamy. Such contradictory standards devastate society and individuals.

But is there a constant moral standard in reality? To find unwavering standards one has to find an unchanging moral giver. It will do us good to observe His life and contribution to mankind. Jesus was the epitome of holiness and truth. Pilate the governor during King Herod’s rule in Jesus' time remarked, 'I find no fault in this man.'. A God who had a power to rise from the grave after three days as He told the disciples while He was alive could have kept Himself from being crucified, waged a war and destroyed His enemies like any other gods portrayed in this world. But He choose to die so that we can get forgiveness from all our wrongdoings and find salvation.

Jesus demanded that we take utmost care of our heart to keep it holy because He indwells in our human heart and not in a religious building erected as a result of discrimination, competition and business enterprise. He claimed "I am the way the truth and the Life". Life here and after death makes sense because He was resurrected from dead and promised us eternity in heaven. I recommend you get a copy of the Bible, to know what is so different about Jesus' story than all the stories in the world.

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