In the afternoon a few people gathered from both the village and city congregations to witness the baptism of three men from the village church and one young man from the city congregation.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
VILLAGE & CITY GRACE BIBLE CHURCH BAPTISMS
Sunday, May 17, 2009.
In the afternoon a few people gathered from both the village and city congregations to witness the baptism of three men from the village church and one young man from the city congregation.
In the afternoon a few people gathered from both the village and city congregations to witness the baptism of three men from the village church and one young man from the city congregation.
Mother's Day, May 10, 2009
With Sunday School kids going up, Esther wanted to go up to the mike too.
At the end, Roshini gave the message for Mother's Day. She talked about Hannah, the mother of Samuel, who prayed for a son to be born, and dedicated the unborn son to God's service, and how she kept that promise even though she had no other children, and had no promise of there being anymore children to fill the place left empty by giving Samuel up to the Lord.
Mother's Day 2009
Most of the Sunday School kids read prepared statements. They were mostly girls. In these pictures Fizza, Suchetha, Pixie and Sukriti are seen. 
Sukriti had all of us in splits with her spontaneous remarks.
MOTHER'S DAY, May 10, 2009
The service on May 10th had Indu and Jurgen Eisenberg along Nivedita leading in the opening songs
to the accompaniment of Esther drinking milk from her bottle.
Three of the Sunday School children sang a special song:
to the accompaniment of Esther drinking milk from her bottle.Three of the Sunday School children sang a special song:
Fizza, Nive and Noel. Accompaniment for the song was provided by Noel on the guitar, Jurgen on the keyboard and Bunny on the drums.
Monday, June 15, 2009
WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED
Message preached on Sunday, May 3, 2009
How would you define what essentials are? They are things one cannot do without. Life would not be sustainable without essentials. People have two kinds of essentials that they need met. Some are material essentials and others are emotional essentials.
Last year I had a regular eye check up. The doctor hinted that I had the very beginnings of cataracts in my eyes. To my question about what precautions I could take to slow down their progress, he said that there was nothing to be done. He did say that there was no urgency. It could take a year or ten or twenty for them to mature.
Elishba (my daughter), now a medical student, insisted that I get a second opinion. So I went to a doc who had a much bigger setup. At the second clinic not only was I made to wait for three hours past my appointment, but the doctor pretended I could be a candidate for glaucoma and wanted to do a more expensive test.
The special clinic was far away from my home. While I was trying to arrange for someone to take me there and bring me back, one of the members of the church asked me if I would be willing to wait until she got me an appointment with a doctor she knew. I was only too happy to get out of the clutches of the doctor who wanted to do the glaucoma test.
The doctor my member took me to has a nice place. The clinic is run very professionally and people from different socio-economic levels come to him. There were several examination tables and special instruments.
The preliminary tests started on schedule and within half an hour I was sitting in front of the specialist. There were three instruments in a row. The doc was behind the instruments and he rolled his chair from instrument to instrument as he saw his patients. While I was waiting for my turn, I heard him counselling the woman at the next machine.
The woman had had some surgery earlier, but she said that her scalp felt funny and she had frequent headaches. One good thing about this doctor was that, unlike most doctors I’ve known, he would take time and trouble to explain things to patients using understandable terms.
In the case of the woman, the doctor explained that pain is largely a non-physical feeling. Most of the time it had no real cause but people would worry themselves and think pain into existence. He assured the woman that her surgery was a success and there was nothing wrong with her eyes physically. So, said the doctor, the uneasiness and pain that she was experiencing were merely some negative feelings that were making her think that there was something wrong. He told her that if she insisted he could prescribe some medication for her, but she really didn’t need it.
The doctor then told the woman that she needed just two things in her life: shukhar (gratitude) and sabar (patience). As I sat there listening to the doctor I thought to myself, “This doc should be a pastoral counsellor.” What the doctor had prescribed are the emotional essentials of our lives.
Gratitude
When you are not grateful, then you feel that you are a person who “is deserving”—who deserves better. You are guilty of having the attitude that God owes you. Instead of appreciating all of the grace that crowds your life, your attitude leads people to think that God hasn’t done enough for you according to all that you deserve. Truth is, we deserve nothing. The only thing we deserve is punishment for being rebellious toward God by our repeated acts of disobedience. To then claim that we deserve better from God is not just ingratitude, but despising His grace.
The second aspect of the ungrateful is that they suffer from a sense of destitution. They face their situation of need and/or problems with a sense of being all alone. They feel that God isn’t there for them. They are not atheists, but they might as well be. They don’t say that there is no God, but they say that God is not there in their own lives. They are practical atheists.
Someone who is ungrateful is a desecrated person. The ungrateful look at their lives and feel that they are not consecrated and blessed. Indeed they are, but they just don’t feel blessed. Instead of feeling that they are consecrated under God’s will and blessing, they feel that their lives are unblessed. This is the surest way to lose God’s blessing.
Ten men with leprosy were healed by Jesus. Nine never came back to acknowledge that they had been blessed. Jesus remarked that the one who came back was the least likely one—a despised, ostracised outcast of a man:
Patience
When you are not patient, you distrust God. You feel that you cannot depend on Him and you must go ahead and take care of things for yourselves. There are many who feel they have to fix their own problems instead of counting on God.
On the other hand, God wants people to wait for the right time—His time.
For moderns waiting is the hardest thing to do. While we wait, we feel our time is running out. What if God doesn’t act? Meanwhile the time we could have used to do something to solve the problem is gone.
When the Israelites reached the Red Sea they despaired because they were caught between the devil of a Pharaoh and the deep blue Red Sea. God commanded Moses to hold his staff above the water and have Israel step forward on the promise that the water would part and they would walk on dry ground (Ex.14:15-16). Similarly, when they reached the flooded River Jordan, the Lord told Joshua that Israel’s priests were to march into the river bearing the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders and when the priests stepped into the water, at that very moment the flow was stopped and the people of Israel walked across without getting their feet wet (Jos.3:15-17).
Can God do that? Will He do something like that now in our day? Will He do it for me? What if He doesn’t? Maybe God wants me to take care of my problems myself. Believe me, patience is all about being patient with God and trusting God.
On the other hand, it could also show a hidden dislike for God’s methods and solutions. There are people who feel that if you left it to God, He is just going to do something unpleasant. When you are in the mood to hit back at someone, you fear that God is going to work on you and have you do something kind. Or, He may tell you that you need to endure the problem for more time. Maybe He is planning that you live with the problem. That’s the reason we want to get things in our control quickly. Waiting for God could spell trouble. Instead of God doing what we want, we would end up doing what God wants. What a dangerous position to be in.
The second thing about impatience is that there is disappointment with God. When I don’t want to wait for God, I’m also saying that God hasn’t done according to my expectations. My situation provided an opening for Him to do something. He didn’t, and I can’t wait for God anymore.
Gratitude and patience are essential in our lives if we are going to be people who are blessed and feel blessed, because in the final analysis both gratitude and patience have to do with our relationship with God. Gratitude is toward God for what He has done and keeps on doing, and patience is being patient with God waiting for Him. Without gratitude and patience, we will feel disconnected, and it is a disconnection with God. Those who are blessed don’t need to say anything to let people know they are blessed. Their lives will be marked with two deeply sublime qualities. They will show that they are deeply grateful and they have great patience.
Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the UN 1953-1961 was the 1961 posthumous winner of the Nobel Prize in Peace. Hammarskjöld was a godly man and he didn’t hesitate to indicate that his life had been influenced by the gospels or that he considered himself to be under God. After his death in 1963, his journal was published with the title Markings. His journal included a profound line that he is most remembered for:
How would you define what essentials are? They are things one cannot do without. Life would not be sustainable without essentials. People have two kinds of essentials that they need met. Some are material essentials and others are emotional essentials.
Last year I had a regular eye check up. The doctor hinted that I had the very beginnings of cataracts in my eyes. To my question about what precautions I could take to slow down their progress, he said that there was nothing to be done. He did say that there was no urgency. It could take a year or ten or twenty for them to mature.
Elishba (my daughter), now a medical student, insisted that I get a second opinion. So I went to a doc who had a much bigger setup. At the second clinic not only was I made to wait for three hours past my appointment, but the doctor pretended I could be a candidate for glaucoma and wanted to do a more expensive test.
The special clinic was far away from my home. While I was trying to arrange for someone to take me there and bring me back, one of the members of the church asked me if I would be willing to wait until she got me an appointment with a doctor she knew. I was only too happy to get out of the clutches of the doctor who wanted to do the glaucoma test.
The doctor my member took me to has a nice place. The clinic is run very professionally and people from different socio-economic levels come to him. There were several examination tables and special instruments.
The preliminary tests started on schedule and within half an hour I was sitting in front of the specialist. There were three instruments in a row. The doc was behind the instruments and he rolled his chair from instrument to instrument as he saw his patients. While I was waiting for my turn, I heard him counselling the woman at the next machine.
The woman had had some surgery earlier, but she said that her scalp felt funny and she had frequent headaches. One good thing about this doctor was that, unlike most doctors I’ve known, he would take time and trouble to explain things to patients using understandable terms.
In the case of the woman, the doctor explained that pain is largely a non-physical feeling. Most of the time it had no real cause but people would worry themselves and think pain into existence. He assured the woman that her surgery was a success and there was nothing wrong with her eyes physically. So, said the doctor, the uneasiness and pain that she was experiencing were merely some negative feelings that were making her think that there was something wrong. He told her that if she insisted he could prescribe some medication for her, but she really didn’t need it.
The doctor then told the woman that she needed just two things in her life: shukhar (gratitude) and sabar (patience). As I sat there listening to the doctor I thought to myself, “This doc should be a pastoral counsellor.” What the doctor had prescribed are the emotional essentials of our lives.
Gratitude
When you are not grateful, then you feel that you are a person who “is deserving”—who deserves better. You are guilty of having the attitude that God owes you. Instead of appreciating all of the grace that crowds your life, your attitude leads people to think that God hasn’t done enough for you according to all that you deserve. Truth is, we deserve nothing. The only thing we deserve is punishment for being rebellious toward God by our repeated acts of disobedience. To then claim that we deserve better from God is not just ingratitude, but despising His grace.
The second aspect of the ungrateful is that they suffer from a sense of destitution. They face their situation of need and/or problems with a sense of being all alone. They feel that God isn’t there for them. They are not atheists, but they might as well be. They don’t say that there is no God, but they say that God is not there in their own lives. They are practical atheists.
Someone who is ungrateful is a desecrated person. The ungrateful look at their lives and feel that they are not consecrated and blessed. Indeed they are, but they just don’t feel blessed. Instead of feeling that they are consecrated under God’s will and blessing, they feel that their lives are unblessed. This is the surest way to lose God’s blessing.
Ten men with leprosy were healed by Jesus. Nine never came back to acknowledge that they had been blessed. Jesus remarked that the one who came back was the least likely one—a despised, ostracised outcast of a man:
One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan.Someone pointed it out that Christian theology is all about grace and Christian ethics is all about gratitude. We have been given grace on grace (Jn.1:16, NRSV), and there is nothing we can do in return for God’s grace, except to express gratitude. To not be grateful is to trample on grace.
Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you” (Lk.17:15-19, TM).
Patience
When you are not patient, you distrust God. You feel that you cannot depend on Him and you must go ahead and take care of things for yourselves. There are many who feel they have to fix their own problems instead of counting on God.
On the other hand, God wants people to wait for the right time—His time.
For moderns waiting is the hardest thing to do. While we wait, we feel our time is running out. What if God doesn’t act? Meanwhile the time we could have used to do something to solve the problem is gone.
When the Israelites reached the Red Sea they despaired because they were caught between the devil of a Pharaoh and the deep blue Red Sea. God commanded Moses to hold his staff above the water and have Israel step forward on the promise that the water would part and they would walk on dry ground (Ex.14:15-16). Similarly, when they reached the flooded River Jordan, the Lord told Joshua that Israel’s priests were to march into the river bearing the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders and when the priests stepped into the water, at that very moment the flow was stopped and the people of Israel walked across without getting their feet wet (Jos.3:15-17).
Can God do that? Will He do something like that now in our day? Will He do it for me? What if He doesn’t? Maybe God wants me to take care of my problems myself. Believe me, patience is all about being patient with God and trusting God.
On the other hand, it could also show a hidden dislike for God’s methods and solutions. There are people who feel that if you left it to God, He is just going to do something unpleasant. When you are in the mood to hit back at someone, you fear that God is going to work on you and have you do something kind. Or, He may tell you that you need to endure the problem for more time. Maybe He is planning that you live with the problem. That’s the reason we want to get things in our control quickly. Waiting for God could spell trouble. Instead of God doing what we want, we would end up doing what God wants. What a dangerous position to be in.
The second thing about impatience is that there is disappointment with God. When I don’t want to wait for God, I’m also saying that God hasn’t done according to my expectations. My situation provided an opening for Him to do something. He didn’t, and I can’t wait for God anymore.
Gratitude and patience are essential in our lives if we are going to be people who are blessed and feel blessed, because in the final analysis both gratitude and patience have to do with our relationship with God. Gratitude is toward God for what He has done and keeps on doing, and patience is being patient with God waiting for Him. Without gratitude and patience, we will feel disconnected, and it is a disconnection with God. Those who are blessed don’t need to say anything to let people know they are blessed. Their lives will be marked with two deeply sublime qualities. They will show that they are deeply grateful and they have great patience.
Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the UN 1953-1961 was the 1961 posthumous winner of the Nobel Prize in Peace. Hammarskjöld was a godly man and he didn’t hesitate to indicate that his life had been influenced by the gospels or that he considered himself to be under God. After his death in 1963, his journal was published with the title Markings. His journal included a profound line that he is most remembered for:
For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes.Gratitude for all that has been and patience for all that will be. Say, “Yes.” Say, ”Amen, Lord.”
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Sixtieth Birthday
April 26, 2009.We had a special service with P Abraham, the Editor of Light of Life as the preacher. Mr Abraham is seen in the first picture looking on while Ishaaq speaks at the end of the service.
Yes, the big surprise was Ishaaq turning up without any hint whatever. Jess suggested it and encouraged him to surprise Pastor Kuru and Roshini at the celebration of Pastor Kuru's 60th birthday,
Ishaaq brought a special gift from Jess, who has been taking a photography course. The gift was a photograph of a sea anemone that Jess had photographed and had then personally framed.Our young friend Melissa also came from Poona and sang a special worship song at the service.
At the end we had a catered lunch for all who attended the service.
Pastor Kuru Ministered at North Zone Family Conference of Friends Missionary Prayer Band
Pastor Kuru ministered at the Family Conference for workers of the FRIENDS MISSIONARY PRAYER BAND (FMPB) in the North Zone, from April 21-23, 2009.
The FMPB was formed in 1967 in the small village Pannaivilai (Tamil Nad) with a group of teachers and friends coming together and praying for India near a big pond. P. Samuel, affectionately called “Sam annachi [big brother],” was the motivating force for launching FMPB along with Dr.Theodore Williams, Dr. Sam Kamalesan, Dr. Emil Jebasingh, Mr. Patrick Joshua and others.
Teams from the different Northern states led in the singing and there was a team that did special programmes for the children of the missionary families.
The FMPB was formed in 1967 in the small village Pannaivilai (Tamil Nad) with a group of teachers and friends coming together and praying for India near a big pond. P. Samuel, affectionately called “Sam annachi [big brother],” was the motivating force for launching FMPB along with Dr.Theodore Williams, Dr. Sam Kamalesan, Dr. Emil Jebasingh, Mr. Patrick Joshua and others.
Teams from the different Northern states led in the singing and there was a team that did special programmes for the children of the missionary families.
SO SEND I YOU
Message preached at Ordination Service on Sunday, April 19, 2009
Lots of people think that the term “disciple” is a religious term with a very special meaning. The word simply means “follower” or “student.” However Jesus redefined what is involved in being a disciple. He said they would represent Him, and therefore be at the receiving end of whatever people would do to Him.
Who Gives us Our Orders?
When you use the word “order(s)”, the question that needs to be asked first of all is: who is the one who gives the orders? It is especially important to know the answer in the case of Christian ministry.
Too often those in ministry forget that the source of our orders is not some human power structure. It is unfortunate that so many think that the holy orders are about submission to human authorities and powers. Sadly the Church has allowed hierarchy to take the Lord’s place in the lives of those in the Church’s service, nay, the Lord’s service.
It is such running interference that has prevented us from hearing the Lord and some people thinking that they can do whatever they want and proclaim whatever they want. Not so. The Lord has already spelt out the agenda.
From what Jesus said about sending His disciples out we need to also understand that He did not think of His disciples as merely representing Him. He indicated that they had the role of replacing Him. They take His place when they take up His ministry. We have been chosen to stand in for Christ. That is a holy responsibility. We cannot go into the ministry lightly. We must tread carefully with a deep sense of awe.
What is the Basis of Our Orders?
During His incarnation, our Lord was under orders. Jesus told His disciples that that was the basis of the orders He gave them: “as the Father sent me, so send I you.”
For the Church there is no other mission than the mission of Jesus, our Lord. It never stopped being His mission. It is not the Church’s mission. We only stand in line with Him to carry on what He started and what still belongs to Him. We take the place He has vacated.
Jesus has set the pattern of our mission. He Himself is the pattern for doing mission. His is the example to be followed. The world’s ideas and methods of doing business are not for us.
We do not have a mission to be relevant. There is, of course, a need to be relevant. The times have changed. The world has gone through many revolutions since the industrial revolution changed it. When the printing press was invented the world moved from a time when learning was done without books, to learning with the aid of books that people could possess individually. Since then, from rote learning we moved to comprehension and thinking outside the box. From doing research and analysis laboriously, today we have moved into the world of quick and easy retrieval of information with the help of computers and the internet. From the world of slow transportation we have moved into the world of rapid transportation. From the world of extremely slow communication, we have moved into the world of instant communication. Indeed, Christian ministers have to be modern and relevant.
But we need to be careful in this matter of being relevant because it does have to do with the world and the age. As Jesus said, we who are His disciples are “in the world” but are “not of the world.”
What Are Our Orders?
It is first of all to announce forgiveness—that God in heaven is forgiving. After commissioning them to go, the very first charge that our Lord gave to His disciples was to announce forgiveness (20:22). When people are hurt or attacked they want revenge. When someone has done wrong, people want them punished. People are not forgiving. In an unforgiving world, the gospel is that the Supreme Judge of the highest court of the whole universe, is one who has already handed down both justice and forgiveness for every crime against His glory.
This gospel of forgiveness is one that replaces their image of God. People imagine that God is an angry god. This angry god frightens people. Jesus told people that God is not like that at all. He said that God is “our Father in heaven” (Matt.6:9). Some people have bad experiences with bad fathers. The fact that they didn’t model their fatherhood in God’s likeness doesn’t in any way reduce God’s fatherhood. The existence of counterfeit currency doesn’t devalue genuine currency. In the same way, bad fathers don’t diminish God’s loving fatherhood.
Jesus wanted people to know God personally. He said that He had shared God’s Name with His disciples:
We have been commanded to bring people to God, to the Lord Jesus Christ. The aim of this charge is not increasing the numbers of our group, nor capturing power in the political arena.
The Lord said that His disciples are to initiate people in a relationship with God and give them instruction so that they will be able to follow Jesus closely.
Lots of people think that the term “disciple” is a religious term with a very special meaning. The word simply means “follower” or “student.” However Jesus redefined what is involved in being a disciple. He said they would represent Him, and therefore be at the receiving end of whatever people would do to Him.
If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it loves its own. But I have chosen you out of the world, so you don’t belong to it. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If people did wrong to me, they will do wrong to you, too. And if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours, too. They will do all this to you on account of me, because they do not know the One who sent me (Jn.15:18-21, NCV)When Jesus chose men to follow Him, according to Mark in the King James Version, the gospel says that He “ordained” them. The concept of “ordination” signifies “placing in order” and that is why people who become clergy are described as having joined “holy orders.”
Who Gives us Our Orders?
When you use the word “order(s)”, the question that needs to be asked first of all is: who is the one who gives the orders? It is especially important to know the answer in the case of Christian ministry.
Jesus said... “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you” (20:21, GNB)On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus had prayed for His disciples.
I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world. And for their sake I dedicate myself to you, in order that they, too, may be truly dedicated to you. (17:18-19, GNB).Ministry is not something we arrogate ourselves. It is something that places us under orders. We do not decide the terms and conditions. We do not determine the direction and the agenda. We are under orders.
Too often those in ministry forget that the source of our orders is not some human power structure. It is unfortunate that so many think that the holy orders are about submission to human authorities and powers. Sadly the Church has allowed hierarchy to take the Lord’s place in the lives of those in the Church’s service, nay, the Lord’s service.
It is such running interference that has prevented us from hearing the Lord and some people thinking that they can do whatever they want and proclaim whatever they want. Not so. The Lord has already spelt out the agenda.
From what Jesus said about sending His disciples out we need to also understand that He did not think of His disciples as merely representing Him. He indicated that they had the role of replacing Him. They take His place when they take up His ministry. We have been chosen to stand in for Christ. That is a holy responsibility. We cannot go into the ministry lightly. We must tread carefully with a deep sense of awe.
What is the Basis of Our Orders?
During His incarnation, our Lord was under orders. Jesus told His disciples that that was the basis of the orders He gave them: “as the Father sent me, so send I you.”
For the Church there is no other mission than the mission of Jesus, our Lord. It never stopped being His mission. It is not the Church’s mission. We only stand in line with Him to carry on what He started and what still belongs to Him. We take the place He has vacated.
Jesus has set the pattern of our mission. He Himself is the pattern for doing mission. His is the example to be followed. The world’s ideas and methods of doing business are not for us.
We do not have a mission to be relevant. There is, of course, a need to be relevant. The times have changed. The world has gone through many revolutions since the industrial revolution changed it. When the printing press was invented the world moved from a time when learning was done without books, to learning with the aid of books that people could possess individually. Since then, from rote learning we moved to comprehension and thinking outside the box. From doing research and analysis laboriously, today we have moved into the world of quick and easy retrieval of information with the help of computers and the internet. From the world of slow transportation we have moved into the world of rapid transportation. From the world of extremely slow communication, we have moved into the world of instant communication. Indeed, Christian ministers have to be modern and relevant.
But we need to be careful in this matter of being relevant because it does have to do with the world and the age. As Jesus said, we who are His disciples are “in the world” but are “not of the world.”
I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. Holy Father! Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one just as you and I are one. While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me…And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they might have my joy in their hearts in all its fullness. I gave them your message, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One. Just as I do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the world (Jn.17:11-16, NRSV)Our notions of being modern and relevant have nothing to do with determining the direction of the work we do and the content of the message we preach. Being relevant has all to do with methodology. But the character, the content and the aim of ministry are not open to amendment by humans and their power structures. The Lord’s orders cannot be changed.
What Are Our Orders?
It is first of all to announce forgiveness—that God in heaven is forgiving. After commissioning them to go, the very first charge that our Lord gave to His disciples was to announce forgiveness (20:22). When people are hurt or attacked they want revenge. When someone has done wrong, people want them punished. People are not forgiving. In an unforgiving world, the gospel is that the Supreme Judge of the highest court of the whole universe, is one who has already handed down both justice and forgiveness for every crime against His glory.
This gospel of forgiveness is one that replaces their image of God. People imagine that God is an angry god. This angry god frightens people. Jesus told people that God is not like that at all. He said that God is “our Father in heaven” (Matt.6:9). Some people have bad experiences with bad fathers. The fact that they didn’t model their fatherhood in God’s likeness doesn’t in any way reduce God’s fatherhood. The existence of counterfeit currency doesn’t devalue genuine currency. In the same way, bad fathers don’t diminish God’s loving fatherhood.
Jesus wanted people to know God personally. He said that He had shared God’s Name with His disciples:
I have made Your Name known to those whom you gave me from the world... I made Your Name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved me may be in them, and I in them (Jn.17:6,26, NRSV)Dropping names is something people have been doing for a long time. When people drop names they enter the claim that they are close to someone who is powerful and influential. Knowing God’s name is not to be taken lightly. He has prohibited that by command (Ex.20:7). Anyway, it wouldn’t work to drop names with an angel, because the angel knows God, and it wouldn’t work with the Devil because he is against God. Knowing God’s Name is all about knowing God, to have a relationship with God. That is what Jesus came to do, to put us in close relationship with God.
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn14:6, NRSV).What is the Aim of Our Orders?
We have been commanded to bring people to God, to the Lord Jesus Christ. The aim of this charge is not increasing the numbers of our group, nor capturing power in the political arena.
The Lord said that His disciples are to initiate people in a relationship with God and give them instruction so that they will be able to follow Jesus closely.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt 28:19-20, NRSV)The followers of Christ have only one aim: to bring Jesus to people and to bring people to Jesus. That’s it: no more, no less.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Village Grace Bible Church Joins City Church
Sunday, April 19, 2009, was a very special day. We had people worshipping in the Village Grace Bible Church joining us for worship, as their pastor John Thomas Raja was getting ordained.We sang a number of Hindi songs. Melissa Thomas, visiting Roshini and Kuru, helped Indu with the singing of Hindi songs.
Dr Usha Solomon, who is gifted in having excellent command of both English and Hindi, helped in translating the service and message as we went.
For the ordination, Jurgen Eisenberg representing the Ministry Elders, Manohar Lugan and Shobha Massey representing the Board of Elders, Benjamin Mall and Shireen Revis representing the older members of the church, Sukriti Sarwan representing both the youth and children of the church, Usha Antin representing the women of the church, Rev Masilamoni of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band, an Anglican minister who is Raja's brother-in-law, Dr Usha Solomon as one ministering at the service that day, join Pastor Kuru in laying on hands to ordain Raja to the ministry in the Village Grace Bible Church.Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009
A team of people from TEAR FUND, UK, were with us and since one of them came with a violin to church, we asked them to sing a special
song for the glory of God.
After the service we had a potluck brunch.
Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009
Little Esther was not well and Indu had to stay back. Nive, Noel join Jurgen and Bunny in leading the opening songs at the service.
The Sunday School girls do a worship dance.
We had a number of visitors at the service.
Fizza Phillips and Nishal Eisenberg were confirmed as
full, communicant members of the church after they had finished confirmation classes and exams
THE STATION BEYOND THE CROSS
Message preached on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009
When our Lord was incarnate, He stripped down for His time on earth (Phil.2:6-8). The first station of that journey was in heaven and the last ended on the hill of Calvary. The journey was over. But the destination was not Calvary itself. It was a round-trip. All the stations on earth were just stopovers. There was one more station to reach. The journey would end only when He would get back to the starting point. In board games such as Monopoly, every time a player goes through start, he or she collects a fresh supply of stuff to keep him/her in the game. Like the transmigration of the soul the player gets a fresh lease of life. But the Incarnation was a one-time event as all history is. When Jesus would get back to start His all-powerful, eternally significant effort would be over.
Just as Jesus stripped down to descend to earth, He had to dress up to return to heaven. That is the significance of His resurrection from the dead:
Nor is the Resurrection a mythical story that has some spiritual meaning. Those who regard science as a sacred cow imagine that all proof has to be scientific. The methodology of science involves experimentation based on the notion that if someone gets a certain result from an experiment, if true, other scientists should be able to repeat the experiment and get the same results. History does not lend itself to experiments. Historical events happen at a certain time and they are not and cannot be repeated. Thus it is that we do not have any scientific proof that India won its independence on August 15th 1947. We cannot prove that it was won without a bloody war to defeat and throw out foreign rulers but was won through Satyagraha and ahimsa. That cannot be proved by experiment.
As a historical event, the Resurrection can be proved by examining the historical documents pertaining to it:
During their vacations people have to live out of suitcases, but tire of it soon and just want to get back to their own home and be able to expand their space for living. Having worked hard for three years and completed His mission, why didn’t Jesus rush back home to His Father? He stayed on to rebuild the faith of His discouraged disciples.
All of the disciples had deserted Jesus when He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had to restore the deserters to discipleship and ministry if His mission was to go on.
The first time Jesus appeared among the disciples, Thomas was not present. When the others told him that they had seen Jesus, he refused to believe their story. He expressed doubt and laid down conditions for him to come to belief. While lots of people claim to have honest doubts that prevent belief, they don’t do what Thomas did. He waited for Jesus to make a second appearance. He kept on waiting for eight days (Jn.20:24-29). It would appear that in the midst of doubt, he nurtured a longing and willingness to believe. That’s what an honest doubter is like. He is neither a skeptic, nor a rebel. He honestly has doubts, and because he is honest, he wants to find answers to his doubts.
Of all the disciples, Peter probably felt the most agony and shame. He had been the most bombastic about being loyal to Jesus. He had sworn boastfully and vehemently that he would remain faithful even if all the others ran away (Mk.14:27-31). The Lord not only prayed for his endurance (Lk.22:31-32), but warned him and the others of their need to get their strength for the battle through prayer (Mk.13:33-37; Lk.22:40). Peter could have turned his back on Jesus permanently, like Judas. After all, it was about denying Him that Jesus said, “Whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven” (Matt.10:33, NRSV). When the Lord turned and looked into his eyes, he cried bitterly. Even though the Greek text says that Peter recalled what the Lord had said, the King James Version draws attention to the fact by repeating the idea that Peter reflected on what he had done and that was what made him cry:
The people the Lord restored to faith were just like us: the devoted, the deserters, the doubter, and the denier. The Lord is the Lord of the Second Chance (and the third, and the fourth...). He promised that He wouldn’t cast out anyone who comes to Him (Jn. 6:37), because He won’t break the bruised reed or snuff out the smouldering wick (Matt. 12:20). Those are very precious promises that I cling to. They assure me again and again of grace abundant and hope eternal though I am such a lousy follower of Christ.
Delegating the Ongoing Mission
After the Resurrection, Jesus began handing over His mission to His disciples. He had inaugurated and financed it by paying the cost of saving people. His part was over. But the mission would be incomplete if those He had already transformed would not be able to function like Him in communicating the message of salvation till the whole world would be reached with the good news.
With this in view, the Paraclete was imparted to empower forgiveness:
God had breathed into Adam and Eve, and they became spiritual beings with the likeness of God (Gen.2:7). When Jesus breathed on His disciples, He was duplicating what God had done at creation. Jesus was inaugurating His new creation. If the Spirit was not received on that occasion, then we imply that Jesus merely pretended to give them the Holy Spirit, and a hypocrite Jesus was not.
Being born anew or becoming a Christian begins with being reconciled to God. Receiving God’s forgiveness is integral to reconciliation with God. But according to Jesus receiving God’s forgiveness is tied to our being people who forgive (Matt.6:12,14-15; 18:22-35).
By nature we are vengeful. We want to hit back. That is instinctive. But to forgive we need help. The Pharisees who were critical of Jesus were right: only God can forgive (Mk.2:7). Jesus imparted that power straightaway after His Resurrection. He wanted His disciples to be a forgiving people even before they became preachers who proclaimed the forgiveness of God. He wanted them to demonstrate by their lives that the gospel had the power to do what it proclaimed. And so Jesus breathed on them, gave them the Holy Spirit and told them that they had the authority to forgive from then on. When they forgave people, it would be recorded in heaven. If their forgiveness was not received, that too would stand recorded in heaven.
The second task Jesus handed over to His disciple was that of preserving the flock. That is what Peter was commissioned to do when he was restored. Each time Peter said that he loved the Lord, he was told to feed the Lord’s sheep. But the task was not exclusive to Peter. He was representative of all the other disciples. (See this aspect in the case of the Lord saying that sins forgiven by disciples would stand forgiven in heaven: Matt.16:19 with Jn.20:23).
There had to be a community of faith not only exemplifying the gospel’s power and effect, but also to enfold the newcomer in the love and care of the community so that they grow strong enough to accept the baton as it was passed on from disciple to disciple.
A community needs leadership (shepherding) and nurture (feeding and care). The stronger brothers and sisters (elders of the community, “not a recent convert”—1 Ti.3:6) are to provide such pastoral care.
The third task was to proclaim the gospel to all fellow-humans. That charge was given by Jesus prior to His ascension though they could start the work only after the Holy Spirit would come to empower them to be witnesses of Christ (Acts 1:5-8).
When John the Baptist started his ministry, he announced that the Kingdom of God was near (3:2). When Jesus started His work, He too announced the Kingdom (v.17). Later when He sent His disciples on a mission trip, He told them also to preach the same message about the Kingdom (10:7). In common usage the word “kingdom” refers to the area that a king reigns over. But in the gospels it is used in the sense of a king’s rule or sovereignty.
People in rebellion are to be brought under God’s rule. That is what Jesus came to do, and that is what Jesus wanted His disciples to carry on doing until God’s rule is accepted by all people. And that is the final station: being under God.
When our Lord was incarnate, He stripped down for His time on earth (Phil.2:6-8). The first station of that journey was in heaven and the last ended on the hill of Calvary. The journey was over. But the destination was not Calvary itself. It was a round-trip. All the stations on earth were just stopovers. There was one more station to reach. The journey would end only when He would get back to the starting point. In board games such as Monopoly, every time a player goes through start, he or she collects a fresh supply of stuff to keep him/her in the game. Like the transmigration of the soul the player gets a fresh lease of life. But the Incarnation was a one-time event as all history is. When Jesus would get back to start His all-powerful, eternally significant effort would be over.
Just as Jesus stripped down to descend to earth, He had to dress up to return to heaven. That is the significance of His resurrection from the dead:
As to His divine holiness, He was shown with great power to be the Son of God by being raised from death (Rom.1:4, GNB).The Lord Jesus came back to life and walked around among old acquaintances before going back to heaven. The biblical description of Christ’s resurrection is clearly not saying that Jesus “lives on” in some unreal, mystical sort of way in the way “Gandhi amar hai” (Gandhi is undying). Everyone knows that isn’t true. While the movie Lage Raho Munna Bhai popularized Gandhigiri (acting like Gandhi), it was not only an admission that Gandhi’s ideals have been forgotten, but there is a casual admission that Gandhi no longer lives. Whereas the gangster Munna Bhai imagined that Gandhi visited him and told him what to do, a psychiatrist explained it as hallucinations that he suffered after he had already read something about Gandhi.
Nor is the Resurrection a mythical story that has some spiritual meaning. Those who regard science as a sacred cow imagine that all proof has to be scientific. The methodology of science involves experimentation based on the notion that if someone gets a certain result from an experiment, if true, other scientists should be able to repeat the experiment and get the same results. History does not lend itself to experiments. Historical events happen at a certain time and they are not and cannot be repeated. Thus it is that we do not have any scientific proof that India won its independence on August 15th 1947. We cannot prove that it was won without a bloody war to defeat and throw out foreign rulers but was won through Satyagraha and ahimsa. That cannot be proved by experiment.
As a historical event, the Resurrection can be proved by examining the historical documents pertaining to it:
Discipling Again
- Literary evidence: the four gospels read like four news reports. It is obvious there was no “Passover Plot” (as one writer suggested). The gospel writers didn’t doctor their reports to make the story fit. They told it the way they saw it or remembered it.
- Psychological evidence: no one depicts himself/herself in an entirely negative way in a personal anecdote. Yet the gospel writers tell their story in such a way that they themselves are seen as selfish and cowardly. It was their preoccupation with the big story that made them realize that the truth itself mattered more than their own reputations.
- Sociological evidence: the gospel writers were the children of their age. Generally people observe prevalent cultural norms. According to the values of their time, women were second to men, never regarded as equal to men, nor treated favourably. But in the story of the Resurrection, women come through with flying colours. They are shown to have been brave enough to linger at the cross while the men were the deserters, and it was because of their devotion to their dead leader that women were the first to see the Risen Jesus. If it was a made-up story, the men would have had stellar roles.
- Historical evidence: If a government wants to stop a movement, it simply isolates or kills the leader. With the Crucifixion, Christ’s disciples were a defeated lot. They were timid and fearful, people who met behind closed doors after dark. Men, who had deserted their Master when He needed them the most, suddenly became brave enough to publicly confess their allegiance to Jesus. Whence the courage, unless they derived it from having seen Jesus alive, and experiencing the dynamic of the Spirit of the Risen Jesus, imparting the power to go on with the Lord’s mission?
During their vacations people have to live out of suitcases, but tire of it soon and just want to get back to their own home and be able to expand their space for living. Having worked hard for three years and completed His mission, why didn’t Jesus rush back home to His Father? He stayed on to rebuild the faith of His discouraged disciples.
During the forty days after his crucifixion, He appeared to the apostles from time to time, and He proved to them in many ways that He was actually alive. And He talked to them about the Kingdom of God. Once when He was eating with them, He commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised, as I told you before” (Acts 1:3-4, NLT).While the women had remained loyal and devoted throughout the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, they were without faith. They didn’t think that Jesus would come back to life. They were fearful. All they had left was a devotion to a beloved, dead leader. They needed to be encouraged and strengthened so that they would serve as witnesses to Jesus being alive.
All of the disciples had deserted Jesus when He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had to restore the deserters to discipleship and ministry if His mission was to go on.
The first time Jesus appeared among the disciples, Thomas was not present. When the others told him that they had seen Jesus, he refused to believe their story. He expressed doubt and laid down conditions for him to come to belief. While lots of people claim to have honest doubts that prevent belief, they don’t do what Thomas did. He waited for Jesus to make a second appearance. He kept on waiting for eight days (Jn.20:24-29). It would appear that in the midst of doubt, he nurtured a longing and willingness to believe. That’s what an honest doubter is like. He is neither a skeptic, nor a rebel. He honestly has doubts, and because he is honest, he wants to find answers to his doubts.
Of all the disciples, Peter probably felt the most agony and shame. He had been the most bombastic about being loyal to Jesus. He had sworn boastfully and vehemently that he would remain faithful even if all the others ran away (Mk.14:27-31). The Lord not only prayed for his endurance (Lk.22:31-32), but warned him and the others of their need to get their strength for the battle through prayer (Mk.13:33-37; Lk.22:40). Peter could have turned his back on Jesus permanently, like Judas. After all, it was about denying Him that Jesus said, “Whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven” (Matt.10:33, NRSV). When the Lord turned and looked into his eyes, he cried bitterly. Even though the Greek text says that Peter recalled what the Lord had said, the King James Version draws attention to the fact by repeating the idea that Peter reflected on what he had done and that was what made him cry:
And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept (Mk.14:72).Peter could have easily descended into hopeless despair. But the Lord made it a point to specify that Peter was to be personally informed that He had risen (Mk. 16:7). Peter hung around with the other disciples. The Lord met with him privately (1 Cor.15:5) and in the end, Jesus gave him an opportunity to reverse his three denials with three public affirmations of love for Jesus, and the Lord in turn charged him thrice with the care of His flock (Jn.21:15-21).
The people the Lord restored to faith were just like us: the devoted, the deserters, the doubter, and the denier. The Lord is the Lord of the Second Chance (and the third, and the fourth...). He promised that He wouldn’t cast out anyone who comes to Him (Jn. 6:37), because He won’t break the bruised reed or snuff out the smouldering wick (Matt. 12:20). Those are very precious promises that I cling to. They assure me again and again of grace abundant and hope eternal though I am such a lousy follower of Christ.
Delegating the Ongoing Mission
After the Resurrection, Jesus began handing over His mission to His disciples. He had inaugurated and financed it by paying the cost of saving people. His part was over. But the mission would be incomplete if those He had already transformed would not be able to function like Him in communicating the message of salvation till the whole world would be reached with the good news.
With this in view, the Paraclete was imparted to empower forgiveness:
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (Jn.20:19-23)Many Christians think that the Holy Spirit came into the world only on the day of Pentecost. That’s not true. The Holy Spirit has been active in the world from the beginning. Genesis 1:2 says that God’s Spirit was brooding over the earth [like a mother bird]. In Noah’s days God came to the decision that His Spirit would not struggle with humankind (6:2). Every prophet and psalmist had been inspired by God’s Spirit. Jesus Himself had earlier talked of the Holy Spirit being already with the disciples, though not in them (Jn.14:17).
God had breathed into Adam and Eve, and they became spiritual beings with the likeness of God (Gen.2:7). When Jesus breathed on His disciples, He was duplicating what God had done at creation. Jesus was inaugurating His new creation. If the Spirit was not received on that occasion, then we imply that Jesus merely pretended to give them the Holy Spirit, and a hypocrite Jesus was not.
Being born anew or becoming a Christian begins with being reconciled to God. Receiving God’s forgiveness is integral to reconciliation with God. But according to Jesus receiving God’s forgiveness is tied to our being people who forgive (Matt.6:12,14-15; 18:22-35).
By nature we are vengeful. We want to hit back. That is instinctive. But to forgive we need help. The Pharisees who were critical of Jesus were right: only God can forgive (Mk.2:7). Jesus imparted that power straightaway after His Resurrection. He wanted His disciples to be a forgiving people even before they became preachers who proclaimed the forgiveness of God. He wanted them to demonstrate by their lives that the gospel had the power to do what it proclaimed. And so Jesus breathed on them, gave them the Holy Spirit and told them that they had the authority to forgive from then on. When they forgave people, it would be recorded in heaven. If their forgiveness was not received, that too would stand recorded in heaven.
The second task Jesus handed over to His disciple was that of preserving the flock. That is what Peter was commissioned to do when he was restored. Each time Peter said that he loved the Lord, he was told to feed the Lord’s sheep. But the task was not exclusive to Peter. He was representative of all the other disciples. (See this aspect in the case of the Lord saying that sins forgiven by disciples would stand forgiven in heaven: Matt.16:19 with Jn.20:23).
There had to be a community of faith not only exemplifying the gospel’s power and effect, but also to enfold the newcomer in the love and care of the community so that they grow strong enough to accept the baton as it was passed on from disciple to disciple.
A community needs leadership (shepherding) and nurture (feeding and care). The stronger brothers and sisters (elders of the community, “not a recent convert”—1 Ti.3:6) are to provide such pastoral care.
The third task was to proclaim the gospel to all fellow-humans. That charge was given by Jesus prior to His ascension though they could start the work only after the Holy Spirit would come to empower them to be witnesses of Christ (Acts 1:5-8).
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Mt 28:18-20, NRSV).Jesus delegated the responsibility of making disciples for Him to people who were disciples. Disciple-making was Christ’s mission and at the end He handed that over to His followers. People were to be drawn to Jesus to make them His followers through initiation and instruction.
When John the Baptist started his ministry, he announced that the Kingdom of God was near (3:2). When Jesus started His work, He too announced the Kingdom (v.17). Later when He sent His disciples on a mission trip, He told them also to preach the same message about the Kingdom (10:7). In common usage the word “kingdom” refers to the area that a king reigns over. But in the gospels it is used in the sense of a king’s rule or sovereignty.
People in rebellion are to be brought under God’s rule. That is what Jesus came to do, and that is what Jesus wanted His disciples to carry on doing until God’s rule is accepted by all people. And that is the final station: being under God.
Friday, June 5, 2009
STATIONS OF THE CROSS: 10th – Hill of Calvary
Message preached on Good Friday, April 10th.
Jesus was approaching the end of His stripped down time on earth. The Jewish officials along with the rabble had succeeded with their pressure tactics and forced Governor Pilate to order death by crucifixion for Jesus.
Nailed to the cross, the Lord expressed His feelings in seven utterances. What He said was not coined in the safe confines of a temple or a library or a schoolroom. They were said in the midst of life, no, while He was being tortured to death. Saying them didn’t come easily. It cost Him His life to affirm what He had advocated during His teaching ministry.
No Vengeance
Jesus had taught that people should not return evil for evil. Instead they should turn the other cheek, go the second mile and do good to those who ill-treat them (Matt.5:38-48).
Vengeance is never an option for anyone who follows Jesus. The Lord affirmed what God had said earlier: “Vengeance is mine. I will repay” (Dt.32:35). Those who believe in the sovereignty of God do leave things to Him. That’s what Jesus had preached when He was popular with the masses. But what would He do when the time for theory was over?
Greek mythology had stories of gods coming in disguise. They would often appear in the guise of beggars or similarly powerless persons. When they were taunted and tortured they would endure it for a while, but suddenly they would throw off their disguise and display all their majesty and power, and in one blast of power would destroy their erstwhile tormenters or in some way punish them for their indiscretions. Similarly in Hindu mythology the avatars came to destroy evil. Krishna said:
• Jesus didn’t put on a disguise and make-believe that He was human, while remaining insulated by His divinity.
• Jesus didn’t need to be incarnate again and again to clean up the world. Because He was God He needed to be incarnate just once.
• While other incarnations destroyed the wicked to rid the world of evil, Jesus came to rescue people. He was physically abused and humiliated. But while the nails were driven into His hands and feet, He prayed for those who crucified Him,
As Jesus hung on the cross helplessly, stripped of all power and dignity, people who found pleasure in watching others suffer added insult to injury. They taunted him mercilessly. They mocked His powerlessness. They defied Him to come down from the cross and persuade them to belief (Mk.15:29-32).
Jesus is God, but He didn’t help Himself. Though taunted, He felt no urge to show them what He could do. He didn’t feel that He had to prove anything to them.
What they said in taunt happened to be theologically correct. Jesus chose not to save Himself, because the salvation of all humanity depended on Jesus sacrificing Himself. Without Jesus giving up His life, the ransom price for our salvation would not have been paid, and without it being paid there would be no salvation for us. The Jewish teachers did get it right in part: Jesus saved others, but couldn’t save Himself. What they didn’t get right was the fact that He could save Himself, but chose not to. His death was not forced. It was a voluntary act of sacrifice to reconcile us to God.
At first, both of the criminals crucified with Jesus joined in the mockery (Mk.15:32). Later realising that the man in the middle was very different he told the other robber, that they deserved their punishment, but Jesus was innocent. Then, astonishingly he calling Jesus on a cross “Lord” he pleaded that he would be remembered favourably. Even though he had been mocked, Jesus doesn’t take offence but reassures the repentant robber that he would be with Jesus in the after-life (Lk.23:39-43). Even in that hour, Jesus demonstrated that He was willing to pay any price for the redemption of humankind. Even one who had despised Him so brazenly while in the throes of death, would never be rejected (Jn.6:37), for He never breaks off the bruised reed nor snuffs out the smoking wick (Matt.12:20).
Providing for Family
As the eldest son of a widowed mother, Jesus was concerned about how His mother would fare after He was gone. Seeing her weeping at the foot of His cross tore His heart. He saw that none of her other children were there. He saw that His disciple John was standing with His mother. With a sense of peace, Jesus told Mary that she could count on John as a son, and told John that from then on caring for His mother was John’s responsibility (Jn.19:26-27).
Jesus shared our human feelings and worries about how our death will affect the loved ones we leave behind. With death approaching, some wish for more time to fix things. If we do not prepare beforehand for the exit moment of our lives, we will never be ready when the time is up.
In 2001 when I was travelling every week from January to April, and then from September to November, to teach inductive Bible study at SIM’s Pastors’ Book Set Programme conferences and to speak about issues facing Indian Christians, I felt the need to draw up a will and execute a power of attorney delegating Roshini as the executor, so that in the event of anything fatal happening to me, she would have immediate access to anything that happened to be registered in my name.
On the other hand, I’ve known a few cases when a wife or a husband has not ensured joint operation of bank accounts or fixed deposits, and the surviving partner has had a hard time trying to access them.
Above all, there is a need to make sure that your family is not left in the lurch because of debts incurred. Don’t add to the burden of their lives with debts that you leave unsettled.
There are times when we feel that God doesn’t care for us. God seems far away from us. Our prayers don’t bring us the assurance that God has even heard us, let alone the knowledge that God will answer. Incredibly, Jesus shared this human experience too. He was in anguish as He shouted at heaven:
This was the ultimate pit in the descent of the Saviour. Jesus had stripped down to enter the world. From birth to death we see Him stripping down. In the final moments of His life on earth, Jesus goes down to the lowest and the worst possible human situation.
If nothing else moves us, this scene should bring us to our knees in awe and gratitude. Amazing love that goes so far to save someone like me! There’s no way I can pay for such grace and mercy. The only thing I can do is say so inadequately, “Thank You, Lord Jesus. I don’t deserve your love, but I am ever so grateful that you did. I can never repay you. Thank You, Lord.”
Hopelessly Helpless
Even when something is difficult little kids want to try and do it by themselves, like wanting to tie shoe laces when three years old. It is only when they realize that they can’t that they ask to be helped. But within a week, they may try again.
Being able to do basic stuff for yourself is essential to having a sense of dignity. That is why when we lie in a hospital bed needing a nurse’s help or become incontinent and have to wear adult diapers we feel hopelessness descending on us. Was there a moment in the life of our Lord when He shared such an experience and the feelings that arise from it?
As the Lord hung on the cross, after hours of torture, He felt fatigue, and above all a desperate thirst. With His hands and feet nailed to the cross He was a totally disabled person. He couldn’t do simple things for Himself. He had created the world and gave all creatures the ability to move around, and find food to eat. But that day, while on the cross, God couldn’t go and get Himself a drink. He had to rely on someone else coming to his aid. He groaned aloud (like a patient emerging from a state of unconsciousness does) to let people around Him know that He needed to quench His and they hear Him say: “I thirst” (Jn.19:18).
Joni was a teenager who enjoyed horse riding and swimming. In the summer of 1967, when she dived into shallow water, she broke her neck, paralyzing her body from the neck down. She was depressed, discouraged and in suicidal despair.
Everyone dies. We cannot go on living. Life has to end. However, many old people make desperate attempts to postpone death. Or, their families make herculean efforts to keep them lingering. There comes a time to say, “Enough! Let’s have some dignity and peace.”
To be ready to quit this life, one has to have a sense of having accomplished one’s mission. The Apostle John wrote that it was when Jesus knew that He had finished everything He had come to do that He turned His attention to His own personal need (Jn.19:28).
Life on earth is not going to go on endlessly. We need to be prepared to go anytime. Most of us while we are young and energetic think that we have plenty of time to get ready to meet our Maker. Meanwhile we pursue goals that are not compatible to a life of dedication to God. In fact, they take us further from Him. When the moment of our departure arrives we are still preoccupied with our agenda to reach our targets of position, power, possessions and privilege.
There once was a man who was doing so well in his profession that he knew he was on a wave that would take him even higher. He believed in living a planned life and so he began to make more and better plans. When he had finished drawing up his plan of action and knew that he was going to succeed, he spent a few moments revelling in his good fortune. In his euphoria he didn’t hear the whisper in his heart: “You fool! Your time is up. What good are your plans now, when your breath leaves your body?” (Lk.12:16-21).
In school we make plans about what branch of studies we will pursue in college. In college we plan our careers and homemaking. In our job situations we make plans for the settlement of our children and our retirement. What plans do we make for the moment that is far more important than all the big events of our lives?
The death of Jesus shows us that we can feel satisfied about our lives only when we can be sure that we have fulfilled all that we needed to do. Jesus shouted triumphantly, “Finished!” Sadly, English versions dilute the force of His shout by translating that shout into a weak announcement, “It is finished!” That sounds like someone saying, “Aw shucks. The light’s gone out.”
The moment of death need not be one of defeat. It can be the moment of the triumphant hero going home after the accomplishment of mission.
Going Home
That’s what Jesus taught about death. He said He was going home to His Father. If we are to believe Jesus, we’re not going on an unpleasant journey that will bring us to a destination of sorrow.
Just before leaving the examination room, a sick man said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.” When the doctor said, “I don't know,” the patient got upset that though the doc was a Christian man, he didn't know what's on the other side? The doctor was holding the handle of the door. From the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room, and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the patient, the doctor said, “Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing...I know my Master is there and that is enough.”
Pray with Jesus, “Father into Your hands, I commend my spirit” (Lk.23:46). Every day, be prepared.
Jesus was approaching the end of His stripped down time on earth. The Jewish officials along with the rabble had succeeded with their pressure tactics and forced Governor Pilate to order death by crucifixion for Jesus.
Nailed to the cross, the Lord expressed His feelings in seven utterances. What He said was not coined in the safe confines of a temple or a library or a schoolroom. They were said in the midst of life, no, while He was being tortured to death. Saying them didn’t come easily. It cost Him His life to affirm what He had advocated during His teaching ministry.
No Vengeance
Jesus had taught that people should not return evil for evil. Instead they should turn the other cheek, go the second mile and do good to those who ill-treat them (Matt.5:38-48).
Vengeance is never an option for anyone who follows Jesus. The Lord affirmed what God had said earlier: “Vengeance is mine. I will repay” (Dt.32:35). Those who believe in the sovereignty of God do leave things to Him. That’s what Jesus had preached when He was popular with the masses. But what would He do when the time for theory was over?
Greek mythology had stories of gods coming in disguise. They would often appear in the guise of beggars or similarly powerless persons. When they were taunted and tortured they would endure it for a while, but suddenly they would throw off their disguise and display all their majesty and power, and in one blast of power would destroy their erstwhile tormenters or in some way punish them for their indiscretions. Similarly in Hindu mythology the avatars came to destroy evil. Krishna said:
Arjuna, whenever there is decline of dharma (righteous duty), and unrighteousness is dominant, then I am reborn. For the protection of the virtuous, the destruction of evil-doers, and to re-establish righteousness, I am reborn from age to age (Bhagavad-Gita 4:7-8).Christ Jesus was different from all other incarnations and avatars:
• Jesus didn’t put on a disguise and make-believe that He was human, while remaining insulated by His divinity.
• Jesus didn’t need to be incarnate again and again to clean up the world. Because He was God He needed to be incarnate just once.
• While other incarnations destroyed the wicked to rid the world of evil, Jesus came to rescue people. He was physically abused and humiliated. But while the nails were driven into His hands and feet, He prayed for those who crucified Him,
Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing (Lk.23:34, GNB)Can’t Save Self
As Jesus hung on the cross helplessly, stripped of all power and dignity, people who found pleasure in watching others suffer added insult to injury. They taunted him mercilessly. They mocked His powerlessness. They defied Him to come down from the cross and persuade them to belief (Mk.15:29-32).
Jesus is God, but He didn’t help Himself. Though taunted, He felt no urge to show them what He could do. He didn’t feel that He had to prove anything to them.
What they said in taunt happened to be theologically correct. Jesus chose not to save Himself, because the salvation of all humanity depended on Jesus sacrificing Himself. Without Jesus giving up His life, the ransom price for our salvation would not have been paid, and without it being paid there would be no salvation for us. The Jewish teachers did get it right in part: Jesus saved others, but couldn’t save Himself. What they didn’t get right was the fact that He could save Himself, but chose not to. His death was not forced. It was a voluntary act of sacrifice to reconcile us to God.
At first, both of the criminals crucified with Jesus joined in the mockery (Mk.15:32). Later realising that the man in the middle was very different he told the other robber, that they deserved their punishment, but Jesus was innocent. Then, astonishingly he calling Jesus on a cross “Lord” he pleaded that he would be remembered favourably. Even though he had been mocked, Jesus doesn’t take offence but reassures the repentant robber that he would be with Jesus in the after-life (Lk.23:39-43). Even in that hour, Jesus demonstrated that He was willing to pay any price for the redemption of humankind. Even one who had despised Him so brazenly while in the throes of death, would never be rejected (Jn.6:37), for He never breaks off the bruised reed nor snuffs out the smoking wick (Matt.12:20).
Providing for Family
As the eldest son of a widowed mother, Jesus was concerned about how His mother would fare after He was gone. Seeing her weeping at the foot of His cross tore His heart. He saw that none of her other children were there. He saw that His disciple John was standing with His mother. With a sense of peace, Jesus told Mary that she could count on John as a son, and told John that from then on caring for His mother was John’s responsibility (Jn.19:26-27).
Jesus shared our human feelings and worries about how our death will affect the loved ones we leave behind. With death approaching, some wish for more time to fix things. If we do not prepare beforehand for the exit moment of our lives, we will never be ready when the time is up.
In 2001 when I was travelling every week from January to April, and then from September to November, to teach inductive Bible study at SIM’s Pastors’ Book Set Programme conferences and to speak about issues facing Indian Christians, I felt the need to draw up a will and execute a power of attorney delegating Roshini as the executor, so that in the event of anything fatal happening to me, she would have immediate access to anything that happened to be registered in my name.
On the other hand, I’ve known a few cases when a wife or a husband has not ensured joint operation of bank accounts or fixed deposits, and the surviving partner has had a hard time trying to access them.
Above all, there is a need to make sure that your family is not left in the lurch because of debts incurred. Don’t add to the burden of their lives with debts that you leave unsettled.
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another (Rom.13:8, NASU)God-Forsaken
There are times when we feel that God doesn’t care for us. God seems far away from us. Our prayers don’t bring us the assurance that God has even heard us, let alone the knowledge that God will answer. Incredibly, Jesus shared this human experience too. He was in anguish as He shouted at heaven:
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? (Mk. 15:34, TM)It will remain a mystery this side of eternity—maybe even in eternity it will remain incomprehensible. How could God forsake God? If the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are together the One Eternal, Triune God, how could Jesus experience such a separation? Martin Luther exclaimed in frustration, “God forsaken by God! Who can understand that?”
This was the ultimate pit in the descent of the Saviour. Jesus had stripped down to enter the world. From birth to death we see Him stripping down. In the final moments of His life on earth, Jesus goes down to the lowest and the worst possible human situation.
If nothing else moves us, this scene should bring us to our knees in awe and gratitude. Amazing love that goes so far to save someone like me! There’s no way I can pay for such grace and mercy. The only thing I can do is say so inadequately, “Thank You, Lord Jesus. I don’t deserve your love, but I am ever so grateful that you did. I can never repay you. Thank You, Lord.”
Hopelessly Helpless
Even when something is difficult little kids want to try and do it by themselves, like wanting to tie shoe laces when three years old. It is only when they realize that they can’t that they ask to be helped. But within a week, they may try again.
Being able to do basic stuff for yourself is essential to having a sense of dignity. That is why when we lie in a hospital bed needing a nurse’s help or become incontinent and have to wear adult diapers we feel hopelessness descending on us. Was there a moment in the life of our Lord when He shared such an experience and the feelings that arise from it?
As the Lord hung on the cross, after hours of torture, He felt fatigue, and above all a desperate thirst. With His hands and feet nailed to the cross He was a totally disabled person. He couldn’t do simple things for Himself. He had created the world and gave all creatures the ability to move around, and find food to eat. But that day, while on the cross, God couldn’t go and get Himself a drink. He had to rely on someone else coming to his aid. He groaned aloud (like a patient emerging from a state of unconsciousness does) to let people around Him know that He needed to quench His and they hear Him say: “I thirst” (Jn.19:18).
Joni was a teenager who enjoyed horse riding and swimming. In the summer of 1967, when she dived into shallow water, she broke her neck, paralyzing her body from the neck down. She was depressed, discouraged and in suicidal despair.
I was sick and tired of pious platitudes that well meaning friends often gave me...trivializing my plight... tired of advice and didn’t want any more counsel. I was numb emotionally, desperately alone, and so very, very frightened. Most of the questions I asked, in the early days of my paralysis, were questions voiced out of a clenched fist, an emotional release, an outburst of anger. I don’t know how sincere my questions really were. I was just angry. But after many months those clench fists questions became questions of a searching heart. I sincerely and honestly wanted to find answers...If God is supposed to be all loving and all powerful, then how, what has happened to me, be a demonstration of His love and power...if He’s all powerful, then surely He should have been powerful enough to stop my accident from happening? If He’s all loving then how in the world can permanent and lifelong paralysis be a part of His loving plan for my life?...I don’t see how this all loving and all powerful God is worthy of my trust and confidence.Later on in her autobiography Joni she reminisced about her discovery of Christ sharing her experience and feelings:
I discovered that the Lord Jesus Christ could indeed empathize with my situation. On the cross for those agonizing horrible hours, waiting for death, he was immobilized, helpless, paralyzed. Jesus did know what it was like not be able to move, not to be able to scratch your nose, shift your weight, wipe your eyes. He was paralyzed on the cross. Christ knew exactly how I felt (p.81).Life’s End
Everyone dies. We cannot go on living. Life has to end. However, many old people make desperate attempts to postpone death. Or, their families make herculean efforts to keep them lingering. There comes a time to say, “Enough! Let’s have some dignity and peace.”
To be ready to quit this life, one has to have a sense of having accomplished one’s mission. The Apostle John wrote that it was when Jesus knew that He had finished everything He had come to do that He turned His attention to His own personal need (Jn.19:28).
Life on earth is not going to go on endlessly. We need to be prepared to go anytime. Most of us while we are young and energetic think that we have plenty of time to get ready to meet our Maker. Meanwhile we pursue goals that are not compatible to a life of dedication to God. In fact, they take us further from Him. When the moment of our departure arrives we are still preoccupied with our agenda to reach our targets of position, power, possessions and privilege.
There once was a man who was doing so well in his profession that he knew he was on a wave that would take him even higher. He believed in living a planned life and so he began to make more and better plans. When he had finished drawing up his plan of action and knew that he was going to succeed, he spent a few moments revelling in his good fortune. In his euphoria he didn’t hear the whisper in his heart: “You fool! Your time is up. What good are your plans now, when your breath leaves your body?” (Lk.12:16-21).
In school we make plans about what branch of studies we will pursue in college. In college we plan our careers and homemaking. In our job situations we make plans for the settlement of our children and our retirement. What plans do we make for the moment that is far more important than all the big events of our lives?
The death of Jesus shows us that we can feel satisfied about our lives only when we can be sure that we have fulfilled all that we needed to do. Jesus shouted triumphantly, “Finished!” Sadly, English versions dilute the force of His shout by translating that shout into a weak announcement, “It is finished!” That sounds like someone saying, “Aw shucks. The light’s gone out.”
The moment of death need not be one of defeat. It can be the moment of the triumphant hero going home after the accomplishment of mission.
Going Home
That’s what Jesus taught about death. He said He was going home to His Father. If we are to believe Jesus, we’re not going on an unpleasant journey that will bring us to a destination of sorrow.
Just before leaving the examination room, a sick man said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.” When the doctor said, “I don't know,” the patient got upset that though the doc was a Christian man, he didn't know what's on the other side? The doctor was holding the handle of the door. From the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room, and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the patient, the doctor said, “Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing...I know my Master is there and that is enough.”
Pray with Jesus, “Father into Your hands, I commend my spirit” (Lk.23:46). Every day, be prepared.
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