Alongside

Learning in a VUCA world

2020-05-19T12:06:00.002+05:30

In a VUCA – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous world the churches and missions need to move from:

Traditional To Pioneering and Apostolic

Standard operating procedures To Creativity and Innovation

Teaching To Equipping

Controlling To Empowering

Correcting To being a Learner

Speaking To Listening

Structures To People

Holding-on To Releasing

Hierarchies To Networking

Leadership To Shepherding

Personalities To Person of Holy Spirit

Human words To the word of God

Spending To Generosity

Face to face To Digital

Learning How to’s To Learning Principles

Past Successes and Best practices To Breakthrough Ideas and Adaptability

Counting Numbers To outcomes

Measuring Results To Impact

Finding meaning and making sense of a Global Crisis

2020-04-11T11:08:00.000+05:30

How do you make sense of an unprecedented calamity of Global proportion? How do you find your bearings in the sudden and crazy turn of events around you? In the last couple of weeks literally everything has gone for a toss, the lines have been altered drastically, the way we live, behave, communicate, work, move around, celebrate, worship etc. almost every aspect of life. It has been a big jolt for most of us from our reverie of life, stuck at home, being fearful of this terrible virus lurking at every corner, occasionally stepping out of our houses with utmost caution, our faces covered with mask’s against an unseen lethal enemy, scrambling to stockpile our homes with provisions for the lock-down and lathering our hands constantly with soap to keep the tiny killer at bay or otherwise fiddling away on our smartphones, immersed in our social media apps and frequently switching to see how the dreaded virus is faring city-state–nation and worldwide (that seems to be the most preferred order of progression.)

For many of the high-flying, jet setting professionals who were hopping from one meeting to another, things have come to a grinding halt. Being stuck in day long drudgery of meetings at home in front of a novel app called Zoom, the founder of which has laughed his way to the banks, hardly in a span of two months. The partying has ceased, food and travel industry has shut shop, tipplers are running high and dry, the killer virus and the need of social distancing has kept people away from all kinds of night life, both promiscuity and infidelity, crime rate has reduced, there is no prime time debates on communal and citizenship issues, (probably because, now our citizenship on this very earth itself is at stake) the noise and rabble rousing has stopped, celebrities are trying to figure out how to make face-time on smartphones and TV screens to stay relevant. Come to think of it, growing up, have we ever imagined that ‘staying home’ can even save lives? But as Charles Dickens said, these are the worst of times and the best of times.

I am not sure if you have noticed, there are some beautiful things happening around us in this tragic times, our world is healing, pollution levels are at an all-time low, our little planet earth is suddenly all quiet, vibrant with green and blue, we can actually see those colors not the usual haze, at least till ‘we’ get back to ‘our normalcy’. Wild animals are having the best time of their lives, freely roaming on our streets, oh sorry was it theirs that we encroached upon, while we are all now locked up inside. All of a sudden, our perspective on life and our priorities has changed. The things that we were madly chasing after, we have realized that it is of not much use, things that we considered as an absolute necessity in life has now become rubbish. We don’t need those branded items; we can do with anything now. We have realized that we are not the center of the universe and life would go on just as usual even without our presence. We have realized that money, fame, or power will not save us from this virus, in fact it seems to have a preferential liking for those things. For thousands of people affected by the virus and the hundreds who have recovered from it, life has attained a new meaning, priorities have changed and it has become of paramount worth to live on things that matter. Modern medicines and advanced health care facilities even if we are in the most developed country, is no guarantee for survival in this pandemic. The biggest irony is that people who never believed in a God because they could not touch, see or feel Him are now running scared of a virus which they cannot touch, see or feel and they are now re-calibrating if there really is a God. Life and death has become a crucial question at this juncture for many?

Trying to find meaning and making sense of a crisis is the most difficult aspect of life, we are bombarded by a barrage of questions, where is God in human suffering- in pain and death? Why is God allowing this pandemic? What is His purpose in all this? Recently one student asked me, you guys always say in times of crisis that God is in control, if God is really in control then why is this happening? Well these are tough questions and we don’t have easy answers for any of them. But we have people in the Bible who found meaning and purpose in their times of crisis, they also asked similar questions and found answers as they journeyed with God.

Job, had a terrible personal crisis, a total wipe-out in a span of few hours, remember God allowed that in his sovereign will, Job was completely devastated, his friends were against him, His wife was mocking him to curse God and die, but his perspective was clear, he corrects her by saying, shall we accept only good from God and not trouble? Job 2:10. Again in Chapter 19 verse 25 Job proclaims with all his confidence that, I know my redeemer lives, and that he will see God in his flesh. That kind of a solid confidence in spite of the utter hopelessness that he is in, comes from a deep and profound knowledge and experience of who God is and the closer a person is walking with God the stronger is his confidence in Him.

Another person who was facing a calamity of national proportion was prophet Habakkuk, he was complaining about the current spiritual climate in his nation, how people have walked away from God, how they were indulging in violence, how they have gone away from God’s word and become evil and unjust; why is God tolerating all this? God gives a shocking and totally unexpected reply to the prophet, He says, I am sending a calamity that you won’t believe, I am sending the Babylonians, a cruel and ungodly nation to punish His children Israel. Habakkuk is at a loss; he is unable to understand what God is doing? He raises the tempo of his complaint and asks; how can a loving and just God allow the utterly evil Babylonians to punish people who are better than them? Does God leave him hanging there without an answer? No! God answers the prophet, He gives him a personal and a global response.

God tells Habakkuk in Chapter 2:4 that all he personally needs to do in this crisis is to trust Him, to live by faith. We don’t have to be anxious and worried about the global crisis, we can’t change anything about it, there is no use fretting over things that we don’t have control over, but instead trust the one who has perfect control over all things. God is asking us to rest and Be still in Him.

Then God goes on to give His global purpose of why He allows certain things in Verses 13 & 14, He says, He will destroy the nations pride, what they have built up, their fame and glory He will bring it to nothing, and then He will fill the earth with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord as the water’s cover the sea. That’s Gods purpose for the world, for all the nations and its people to Know His glory and He is doing that right now even through this crisis, we can see that in the hospitals, in the ICU wards, among the police personals, government servants and national leaders, in the streets of different cities people are turning to God, they are crying out to Him and He is being worshiped. We have never ever seen a pandemic of such a global scale, there is not a country that has been spared, God has allowed it in His sovereign knowledge and wisdom, He is once more shaking the very foundations of the earth and He is calling our attention to Him. Be Still! My soul, find rest in Him, He is doing something in our days that we cannot even believe. The Knowledge of the Glory of the Lord is filling this earth.

Faith, Hope and Love in times of a Global Pandemic

2020-03-18T23:24:00.000+05:30

Apostle Paul concludes his famous chapter on Love with this verse, “and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Cor 13:13. When everything around us is going topsy-turvy, when people are gripped with fear, anxiety and uncertainty, we are reminded that no matter whatever happens these three will remain. Everything else will pass, no doubt Covid 19 will eventually pass, it is not here stay, mankind has seen worse calamities over the centuries, but none of them have remained even though they looked ominous and destructive, it has all passed and human race has survived but these three things are permanent: faith, hope and love.

Faith in God who is sovereign over all human affairs, who is in control and He allows certain things to happen even if we don’t appreciate and understand it. But yet we firmly believe that He is working all things for good and He has a great plan in all this, is the foundation stone for us as we face calamities and storms of global proportions. With out this we are like a reed tossed in the wind, no where to anchor, gripped with all the fear and uncertainties, totally at the mercy of circumstances. Faith in God and His promises gives us the solid foundation to stand on and face the adversity head on. When Jesus comes to us and says “fear not, I am with you” it is not just a printed sentence in the Bible, that is the reality of knowing, that the living, unchanging, all-powerful God, who does miracles so great, is with us then whom shall we fear? Sickness, infection or even death for that matter; No! we have overcome all this and our faith in Him will determine our destiny.

Hope is the thing that keeps us alive, without hope it is impossible for a man to survive even for a minute. Hope for a better day, hope for a great future, hope for things to change, hope to be rewarded is all part of this. But the ‘hope that remains’ is our eternal hope, that one day we will be transformed, we will see Him face to face and we will spend eternity with Him. What we face here is temporary, the calamities, sickness, pain will all pass away, it is just a preparation, to what we are going to experience in eternity. Our stories do not end here, it is just the starting point of something more beautiful, something more marvelous that we are eagerly waiting for. It is not just us but it is the whole creation awaiting this glorious hope. Apostle Paul mentions about this in Romans 8:22-23; “we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”

The last of the three that will remain is Love and Apostle Paul calls this the greatest of the three. No matter how much of faith and hope we have in God, if that doesn’t flow out as love for others around in tangible ways there is no use of having the other two, even if we have it in abundance. Love is the outward expression of faith and hope in God. In times of a global pandemic our natural instinct is to protect ourselves which is Good, we need to do it, but if we stop there, being only concerned of ourselves and our family, hoarding up things for ourselves, we have blocked the outward expression of faith and hope in God.

Loving others who are suffering around us, caring for others in need without compromising on maintaining the social distance and personal hygiene, praying for them, sending comforting messages, calling them and encouraging them are all tangible expressions of love. I came across this inspiring bit from one of the Corona virus affected areas where many affected families were in home quarantine. They were regularly supplied with essentials by one person in the village when everybody else refused to go anywhere near them, he would Whatsapp them and they would send the list of items needed and he will just quietly deliver it to their doorsteps and leave. That is love in action, we might not be able to stretch to that extent but we can talk, text and encourage over distance and let them know that we are there for them and we are praying for them. No matter what happens - Faith, Hope and Love will remain.

Depression and Suicidal tendencies – A lethal combination

2019-09-10T23:58:00.001+05:30

The Covid 19 pandemic and the resultant lock-down has irreversibly changed our lives for ever. Many of the normal things that we used to do has become abnormal, there is a new normal around us, we kind of have a gut feeling that many of the changes are here to stay at least for a while. Being cloistered in the four walls of our house for indefinite periods has had some positive effects but there are also many negatives that is slowly emerging. One of that is definitely anxiety and depression which is pushing many to take rash and violent actions including suicidal tendencies.

People who look absolutely perfect, leading seemingly happy and healthy lives are suddenly attempting suicide and many are sadly succeeding in it. There are many who are sharing online about their dark and negative thoughts, utter hopelessness and discouragement due to the economic downturn and job losses, there is fear and anxiety in many and the irony is that even with the increasing digital and social media connections many are complaining of loneliness.

One of the main culprit that is wrecking havoc in many young lives is Depression, a word that is taken very lightly in our society. Many of us think it is some kind of a mental or emotional issue which is temporary and the person will overcome it by himself or herself. Many have the misconception that it is a passing phase of sadness or grief and that time will heal. There is also a lot of shame, stigma and superstition associated with depression in our culture and because of the social stigma many people are afraid to even talk about it or come out in the open and ask for help, they would rather be silent and struggle with it alone and end up taking the extreme step of suicide as an easy exit.

Sadly the case is not much different among believers and in believing homes and churches. Some of the shocking cases of suicides in the recent past were from homes of prominent Christian leaders and believer’s, the signs of depression and suicidal tendencies which were obvious for some time was not even noticed or if noticed was not addressed in the right way. There is a lot of ignorance and misconceptions on depression even among well-educated believer’s and pastors. I have seen cases where depression and suicidal tendencies were seen as attacks of the evil spirit and evil possession and instead of being clinically treated and counselled was prayed, ‘bound and cast out’ with no relief for the person. Yes! no doubt the devil plays havoc in many lives and a warfare is going on around us for our minds but we need to have a clear discernment between what is depression and an evil spirit attack, in order to rightly treat and help the person to come out of it.

According to American Psychiatric Association; Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work and at home.

Symptoms of Depression may include:

v Feeling sad or having a depressed mood

v Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, increasingly withdrawing from social activities and people, would prefer to be alone.

v Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting

v Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much

v Loss of energy or increased fatigue

v Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., hand-wringing or pacing) or slowed movements and speech (actions observable by others)

v Feeling worthless or guilty

v Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions

v Thoughts of death or suicide.

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression

Some time ago, during a seminar on depression, after the facilitator went through the list of symptoms, a couple of youngsters came and told me that they have some of these symptoms and they were kind of concerned. Interestingly these were young missionaries struggling with life and ministry, but the good thing for them was it was a temporary phenomenon. Symptoms must last at least two weeks for a diagnosis of depression.

Parents, friends, pastors, youth leaders watch out for these symptoms in the people whom you are close to or are discipling. Please do not ignore or take it lightly, take initiative and be a good listener, you might help save a life from suicide.

One cannot simply ‘wish away’ the symptoms and just ‘snap out’ of depression, it can zap your energy and drain you out, it can make one feel totally hopeless and negative that even taking that first simple step becomes a herculean task. But as said at the beginning, it is treatable and curable, one can overcome it with the right help.

Coping with Depression:

The first step is to acknowledge that there is a problem, reach out and get help. The natural tendency of a person depressed is to withdraw and isolate himself or herself, even from close family members. It is extremely difficult to be open about it and reach out. Getting support is essential, depression cannot be fought alone.

Look for support from people who make you feel safe and cared for. Make face time a priority, not through social media or phone, but face to face quality time. Talk about your feelings and be open.

Do things that will make you feel good. Be involved in things that you enjoy and avoid the ones that stress you out. Volunteer to help others or be involved in a cause. Try and maintain simple routines like good sleep on time, regular exercise, eating healthy diet, reading, listening to music etc.

Get a healthy and regular dose of sunlight. Sunlight can help boost our serotonin levels and improve your mood. Take a walk in the sun for 10-15 minutes but be careful that it is not during the heat of the day. Increase the amount of natural light in your home and avoid sitting in the dark.

Challenge negative thinking. Depression puts a negative spin on everything, including the way you see yourself and your expectations for the future. The pessimistic thoughts and distortions are not true or do not hold ground. Check if it is over-generalization, just emotional, or jumping to conclusion, put your thoughts on a witness stand and challenge them. Cultivate a 'can do' mentality vs 'I can't'. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13

Constantly renew your mind with what the word of God is telling about you. That is the truth about you and me, that God loves us immensely and he has great plans for us and we are destined to be a success. Keep the Phil 4:8 rule to check our thoughts, think on true, pure, good, lovely, praiseworthy, excellent etc. Take time to meditate on it and be still.

Seek professional help if you are seeing no improvement or the situation worsening even after taking these steps and making life changes. Do not hesitate or delay.

What can we do as a friend, counselor and mentor or guide to help prevent suicide?

One campaign that’s doing just that is #BeThe1To, to educate the public about the importance of being there for someone who is struggling or in crisis.

#BeThe1To outlines five action steps for communicating with someone who may be suicidal: https://www.bethe1to.com/bethe1to-steps-evidence/

1. Ask: Asking the question “Are you thinking about suicide?” communicates that you’re open to speaking about suicide in a non-judgmental and supportive way.

2. Keep them safe: After the “Ask” step, and you’ve determined suicide is indeed being talked about, it’s important to find out a few things to establish immediate safety.

3. Be there: This could mean being physically present for someone, speaking with them on the phone when you can, or any other way that shows support for the person at risk.

4. Help them connect: Helping someone with thoughts of suicide connect with ongoing supports like https://mystruggles.in/ ; Hopeline Ek Nayi Aasha - 9930777037
(022 2754 6669 AASRA: Languages: English, Hindi Website: www.aasra.info) can help them establish a safety net for those moments they find themselves in a crisis.

5. Follow up: After your initial contact with a person experiencing thoughts of suicide, and after you’ve connected them with the immediate support systems they need, make sure to follow-up with them to see how they’re doing.

Moving from Good to Great and Leaving a Legacy

2019-06-10T16:19:00.003+05:30

When do we move from being good to becoming great? When does an organisation or individual achieve greatness? When do we know that something that we have built will last for generations? Is it the CEO or the leader that makes the difference? Or is it their flagship program? Is it their track record, their rapid growth and amazing results that makes them great?

Looking at people, organisations, movements, companies around the world, there are very few things that they have in common, things they have done differently that moved them from merely being good to achieving greatness and lasting for a long time. It is not very difficult to spot but it is not easy to replicate as it needs commitment and tenacity to pursue what they did differently or to do very ordinary things consistently that brought them cult status.

Here are a few principles or values that are indispensable if one wants to move from being just good to great and enduring on long after we are gone.

Clarity of Vision: where there is a crystal clear vision people tend to rally around it and move forward. People are always attracted to audacious yet clear vision, they love to join something or someone who knows where they are going. Look at any entity that has been around for over 40-50 years and still going strong, check their vision statement, it will be crystal clear.

Value of Discipline & Excellence: discipline and excellence go hand in hand, if we have set a high bench mark of excellence for our self and others in the firm and have persistently achieved those standards then we are on a journey to greatness. Take a look at any firm or company that are doing extremely well, one of their core values will be their commitment to excel in the field that they are focusing on. Averages and mediocrity are antithetic to greatness. Excellence is not achieved through overnight half- hearted efforts it is through years of disciplined and strenuous hardwork that one reaches those high standards.

People are Prime: any entity or organisation that has valued their product, systems and processes more than its people has never become great nor has survived for long because ultimately all the systems and processes exists for the people and if they are not taken seriously nothing works unless you are running a fully automated company. Take a look at some of the great companies or institutions around and if we ask the staff there for their level of satisfaction and fulfilment with the company, it will no doubt be very high. They value authentic relationships and the amount of trust built up over the years in those relationships will be tremendous which goes beyond retirement, they carry that pride lifelong. The moment people realise that they are mere cannon fodder to be used and discarded the life span of that entity is fatally numbered.

Flat leadership: Most of the great institutions or companies would have been built up by legendary visionary leaders but they would have consciously cultivated a flat and shared leadership structure than a top down vertical command hierarchy. Because they know that a top down rank and file leadership structure might get things done efficiently but creates division and stifles growth where as a flat organisation is conducive for creativity, innovation and transparency, where opinions flow without fear, where people are valued not for their titles or chairs but for their skills and what they bring to the table, where respect is earned not a given, where the playing field is open and level for everyone in the organisation.

Developing leaders: everything rises and falls on leadership, any organisation or company that has focused on developing the right kind of leaders and invested heavily on it have gone on to achieve greatness. If they have hinged completely on the original leaders vision and leadership and created a bunch of followers and sycophants, it has not survived the leader for long. An insecure leader will always cover him with “yes men” who will sing paeans of the leader and will never present another point of view. Great leaders cover themselves with other strong leaders who will dissent, have conflicting opinions and raise questions when needed. To collaborate, to come to a consensus and to align all of them to the common vision is a skill that leaders of great organisations have exemplified.

Almost every good leader worth his salt will have a clear personal vision about his life, passion and work, to galvanise all of them and rally them around a common vision is an impossible task for weak leaders and any organisation that has successfully done that has passed the test of greatness and has endured for generations. The best and worst example is one of the major political party in India, at its prime in the 80s & 90s it looked invincible with a strong central leadership supported ably by a galaxy of powerful local and regional leaders who were stalwarts in their own rights, once they were gone it is just the central leadership trying to prop up sorry figures and it is no wonder why it finds itself in a pathetic place today.

Flexibility and adaptability- Any organisation that has held on to its original tried, tested and successful methods and work culture, doggedly resisting change have ceased to exist or has become irrelevant. Willing to adapt and being flexible to the changing environment and needs around are distinct elements that has catapulted average entities to achieve greatness. Leaders who foresee a need and initiate change slowly but steadily, without much fanfare and advertisements and yet produce the desired outcomes are the key in taking the company to greater heights.

Absolute integrity and transparency in financial and ethical matters: any organization or entity that has compromised in this area has fallen flat in no time. Anyone who has struck to this code of absolute integrity in financial, moral and ethical matters and has a great track record of abiding by this principle has gone on to become great and lasting institutions worth emulating. Nothing can survive for long with a flawed moral and ethical black hole even if you are having a great bull-run in the market showing extraordinary profit and growth.

Adding value: The entities that have stayed long and achieved greatness has something bigger than their stated goals, they add value to people around, to the society and nation at large. They don’t exist just for themselves, their profits and their employees, they are willing to give back and bless others in the process. By what I do well consistently, I might become good but to achieve greatness I need to add value to others around me, by giving away and sharing resources, making their lives better and in turn impacting and changing the society leaving an indelible mark of greatness, creating a lasting legacy.

These are few of the crucial building blocks needed to move from good to great and if one has been consistent in following through on these principles then they are destined for greatness in the long run.

Shepherd Leaders Vs Selfish Leaders

2019-03-27T15:55:00.001+05:30

When we see a good model of christian leadership we love it, we celebrate it and we automatically levitate to it and want to emulate it but the fact is that it is on the list of endangered species. We see an increasing number of bad models in christian leadership around us and sadly it is not because of the lack of awareness, teaching or training that is available, in fact there are innumerable books, articles, podcasts and materials all around us on this one topic of christian leadership, but things are not getting any better. I firmly believe the the best place to look at is the Bible and one word that is constantly used in the old testament for leaders is Shepherds. “Human, prophesy against the leaders of Israel, who are like shepherds" Ezekiel 34:2; "Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard, They have trampled down My field; They have made My pleasant field A desolate wilderness."Jer 2:10; "And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them".Ps 78:72.

Jesus is our Chief Shepherd and the Good shepherd and we as leaders are called to be under-shepherds of His flock. There is a desperate need for under-shepherd leaders in the church today and God's eyes are going to and fro through out the whole earth to show himself strong and mighty on behalf of those shepherds whose hearts are completely loyal to him. What a shepherd leader ought to be and what he should not be is elaborated by Prophet Ezekiel. Here is a comparative look at shepherd leaders and selfish leaders from Ezekiel chapter 34

Shepherd leaders tend to the flock; selfish leaders tend to devour the flock.

Shepherd leaders take good care of the sheep; selfish leaders are taken good care by the sheep.

Shepherd leaders gather the flock and watch over them; selfish leaders scatters the flock and Lords over them.

Shepherd leaders nurse and treat the injured and persecuted flock; selfish leaders use the injured and persecuted as showpieces to promote their own benefit,

Shepherd leaders love and develop their flock; selfish leaders “use and throw” the flock.

Shepherd leaders provide for the sheep; selfish leaders, the sheep provides for them.

Shepherd leaders exists for the sheep and helps them thrive; the sheep exists for the selfish leaders to thrive.

Shepherd leaders nurse, protect and take special care of the young, weak and old sheep, selfish leaders neglect, trample down and discard the weak and old ones.

Shepherd leaders makes sure that the sheep gets to eat and drink first; selfish leaders make sure that they eat and drink the best sumptuous food first and the sheep is left to take care of themselves.

Shepherd leaders leads the way and shows the way; selfish leaders always stays at the back and abandons the sheep and runs away at the slightest hint of trouble.

Shepherd leaders takes responsibility for the sheep and protects it; selfish leaders passes the buck around often blaming the sheep and looks for a scapegoat.

Shepherd leaders listens constantly to the voice of the chief shepherd - our lord Jesus to lead and to guide the flock; selfish leaders constantly looks to the world and its patterns and pick up weird ideas and strategies that ultimately confuses and scatters the sheep.

Shepherd leaders empowers and equips the sheep, selfish leaders brainwashes and manipulates the flock to be slaves.

Shepherd leaders are driven by the total well-being and growth of the flock; selfish leaders are driven by the total well-being and growth of themselves and their families.

Shepherd leaders hold themselves accountable to the master and to their flock; selfish leaders claim accountability sometimes to God alone and are not accountable to anyone else.

Shepherd leaders don’t make a distinction between them and the sheep they lead; selfish leaders claim divine superiority, specialness and distinction from the flock they lead.

Shepherd leaders are generous at heart and give away their talents and treasures; selfish leaders will snatch away what little the sheep has and has only personal benefit in mind.

Shepherd leaders will slog out in silence and give their best for the sheep without expecting any credit: selfish leaders will look for maximum credit and adulation without breaking a sweat and will keep beating their own gas drums.

Shepherd leaders develop other leaders and move aside and make way for others to lead; selfish leaders create followers and sycophants and latch on to power as long as they can.

God comes down heavily on the selfish irresponsible shepherds in Eze 34: 9-10, “therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.”

Watch out for the selfish leaders, as in the time of Prophet Ezekiel, their ilk have only multiplied manifold in the present times, if you find any of these unhealthy patterns visible, it is time to be careful, watch out and stay away. Pray earnestly that God will raise up hundreds of shepherd leaders who are after God's own heart for His flock and if He calls you to be one, don’t hesitate, step in gladly to be a shepherd leader.

Finding God’s Purpose for your Life

2019-02-13T11:43:00.003+05:30

Have you ever wondered as a child of God what does God want to accomplish with your life? Have you struggled with this thought, “am I in the right place, doing the right thing, am I fulfilling Gods purpose for my life?” Well if you have then you are in right company, many of the heroes of faith have also struggled with this. Some of them have asked this existential question quite openly and found answers from God. Some of us has successfully navigated that maze and are finding ourselves in the right place, maximising all the God-given potential for His Glory, some of us are still groping in the dark, uncertain if this is what God has created me for.

As we look at the heroes of faith in the Bible we can see many of them articulating their life’s longing, their desire and their very purpose in their own words.

It was Joseph who said that in spite of the evil that the brothers had intended God had turned it out for Good, He sent me here ahead of you to save lives of many people. Gen 50:20

Moses’s longing was to, “If I have truly pleased you, show me your plans so that I may know you and continue to please you”; “Now please show me your glory”. Exodus 33: 13 & 18.

Joshua made it pretty clear and simple when he said, “as for me and my family we will serve the Lord”. Joshua 24:15b

Samuel the Prophet said’ “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” 1Sam 12:23

King David captured it beautifully in his Psalm 29:4, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”

It was Mordecai who summarised it for Queen Esther, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14b

Job going through the greatest tragedy of his life proclaimed, “As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause,who does great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number” Job 5:8-9

Prophet Isaiah summarised it this way, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me” Isaiah 6:8

It was God who articulated it for Prophet Jeremiah when He said, ‘“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

Jesus captured His life’s purpose beautifully in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

Apostle Paul summarised it beautifully in Philippians 3:10, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”

As we reflect on these powerful statements of some of our heroes of faith, it certainly inspires and moves us to think of our life’s purpose here on earth. How will we capture that in our own words, is it clear? Have you tried to articulate it? God definitely has a purpose for our life. He has plans for us and He made us and put us here on this earth, for such a time as this for a definite purpose. How will we find that out?

I have been on that journey with God and it has not been easy for me to pin it down and come up with a purpose statement for my life and this is what it looks like right now, “To know God and Make Him known by preaching, teaching and developing spiritual leaders”. This has given me clarity on what God wants to accomplish with my life, with the skills, the gifts and the experiences that He has given me.

I would encourage you to make this journey, here are few questions to munch on, the answers to this will help us find God’s purpose for our lives and will help us to come up with a clear purpose statement.

v As you look back at your own life, what are some clear signs of Gods finger prints, His leading in your life and how has that shaped and affected you?

v What do you see as you gifting’s and talents that you excel in and others would agree with you on this? (check with few of your close friends)

v What has been the most repeated, the most often heard message that God has been speaking to you (it can be through the word, your personal quite time or from a servant of God) that is constantly lingering in your mind and it make you restless and uncomfortable?

v Getting involved in “what” gives you the greatest satisfaction and fulfilment in life that you long to do it again and again?

v What connects your inner core best with others around you, your dear ones, friends, colleagues and people in general that gives you great Joy?

v With all that you have discovered about yourself from the above questions how best do you think that you can glorify God with your life?

v The key here is not trying to find answers to the above questions and coming up with a statement that clearly articulates Gods purpose for our lives but the Key is in waiting upon Him and hearing from the maker on what He wants to do with His marvellous work – that is YOU and Me on whom He is already at work- moulding and shaping it into a masterpiece for His Glory.

"Now when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep" Acts 13:36. Imagine if this is the epitaph that is written about you and me at the end of it all, wouldn't that be awesome to hear that we had served God's purpose for our lives in our generation.

Looking Back to Move Forward

2018-12-30T00:10:00.000+05:30

Another eventful and tumultuous year is pulling down the curtains and we are at the threshold of stepping into a new one with new hopes, new resolutions, great expectations and excitement. What has been the biggest takeaways, the big learning curves, the eye openers, the high and low points of this year? It is good to look back before we get all exited and dressed up to usher in the New Year. For some it has been an amazing year of blessings, of fulfilment of Gods promises, of lives impacted, open doors and breakthroughs in our lives. For some of us it has been a mixed bag of ups and downs, great excitement and great pain, pure fulfilment and terrible losses and for some of us it has been a pretty bad year in many ways with sickness, financial troubles and personal losses. But whatever it has been, it is very important that we hit the pause button for a moment and look back and take stock of what God has done in our lives before we step into a new year.

In Psalm 103, King David opens up the Psalm with this incredible verse, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy Name, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits” and then he goes on to list those benefits one by one. Even a hardcore pessimist with nothing good to claim for this year, if he seriously takes few minutes to reflect on the year that was, most probably the chances are that he will end up positive, listing the things that God has blessed him with rather than complaining. That is the power of looking back and reflecting.

Makes us grateful: - It is like the little kid who was always complaining that God has not blessed him with anything good, so his father asked him to take a sheet of paper and list down all the small and big things that God has done in his life from when he can remember. After few minutes he came running back to his dad asking for more sheets of paper as the list was innumerable and he just couldn’t stop writing and thanking God. It would be really amazing if we did that, it will surely surprise us and we will be driven to our knees in thankfulness and worship, irrespective of what we have gone through, all the success, joy, pain, suffering and heartbreaks but through it all we will still see the grace of God shining through in amazing brilliance. “Count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the lord has done”.

It's humbling:- with all the arrogance and pride we might proclaim that we made it through the year with our own strength, brilliance and hard work and be proud of our achievements, but one good closer look at our own mortal, fallible lives, which we are not even certain if it will go on for the next minute was in reality a gift from God , and the realisation that the strength of our hands was His grace, will surely humble us to acknowledge the greatness and sovereignty of God on the year that was and we will have no hesitation in proclaiming along with the song writer that we made it through because of Him.

"For every answered prayer, Oh yeah, for always being there
For love that hears us when we call, For arms that lift us when we fall, oh Lord
Oh, You have always been Right beside us, leading us all along the way
And we made it through (we made it through) Because of You”.

Sets right our perspective to look forward:- As we step into a new year, many of us are apprehensive, some of us anxious to know what the new year has in store for us, some of us look for signs, scramble for the promise cards using it like tarot cards, some of us run behind so called prophets and prophecies, desperate to hear what we want to hear that will tickle our ears and sadly there is no dearth for unscrupulous elements who are waiting to manipulate this paranoia for their own benefits. But if we take a moment to look back and reflect on what God has done in the past, His enduring faithfulness, His unconditional love, His encompassing protection, His overflowing provision, then we will realize of what He is capable of doing in the future, our perspective will be completely different. It will be a higher perspective, a perspective that is promised for those who Wait upon the Lord in Isaiah 40:31, a mounting up and soaring like the eagles perspective; we will be convinced and persuaded that the Lord who has led us thus far, who has been faithful all these years, He is unchanging, He is the same yesterday, today and forever and He is holding our future securely in His hands and He has amazing plans in store for us and He will lead us in ways above and beyond what we can imagine in the new year. He is absolutely in control of our lives and all we need to do is just trust and obey. He has the best in store for us.

He is our Strength

2018-12-14T17:46:00.001+05:30

“But David found strength in the Lord his God”. An amazingly beautiful and inspiring verse hidden in 1Samuel 30:6. David and his motley crew of men had just been humiliated and sent back from the battlefield by the Philistine generals with whom he had aligned for some time and living with in Ziklag. To make matters worse when they returned to Ziklag, to their horror they found their place raided by the Amalekites, their wives and children were taken captives and everything that they fought for was gone.

The response of these battle hardened fighters was pretty unusual, they cried!! in fact they wailed! Do men cry? Brave men don't or should not cry and show weakness right? Isn’t that what we were told from childhood? But here Bible records that these tough men cried loudly till they had no strength left to cry. Probably some might argue, because it was an all men group and no women were around, they cried. No inhibitions in showing weakness, Just kidding! But the point here is that all of them had lost their dear ones, they were deeply grieved, they were sad and angry, frustrated and dejected, and they had no hesitation in showing it out, transparent and open. David, their leader too had lost everything, but no one cared about it at that moment, tempers were raising, the blame game was on, they were pointing fingers at David, their boss, it reached the extent of threatening to stone and kill David. It is not an easy place to be in. When your own men blame you and turn against you, when they reject you and want to finish you off, that is the most difficult place to be in, a terrible situation to find yourself in. Given the circumstances one would feel hopeless and helpless, Bible says David was greatly upset vs 6. He was absolutely distressed. Verse 6 is very interesting, “David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.” It is that little word “But” that makes all the difference, in contrast to all that was happening around him and all that he was going through, yet! That is where the class and mettle of this man come out, no wonder why the bible calls him as a ‘man after Gods own heart’. As the story progresses, David goes on to seek the Lords direction and pursues the enemy, defeats them and safely gets back all they lost.

Imagine if we go through a similar situation, how would we respond? When we lose something which we hold dear, when somebody snatches away what we hold precious from our lives, or when people whom we love who we work with and lead, rise up against us, pull us down, defame us and want to finish us off. What will be our reaction? Angry, upset, distressed or we will be looking for other options, important people to call for help, major connections in our contact list who can make things happen or sometimes we will go to the extreme of being shell shocked and go into a complete paralysis mode. Do we turn to God immediately? Is that our natural reflex action? Do we make him our first resort of help or the last resort after trying out everything else that is humanly possible? Where do we draw our strength from? When faced with adverse situations sometimes our first impulse will be to pick up our phone and ring up people who we think will help us get out of it or provide a solution but the reality is that they might fail miserably. Depending on men will fail, chariots and horses might be of no use, high connections and politicians might be of no help, there might not be any logical way forward depending on our own human understanding but we can find our strength in the Lord. He will never fail.

Elijah was another man caught in the turmoil of life and death, running away from his formidable adversary queen Jezebel who had threatened him with retribution. Elijah fearing for his very life fled far away, the irony is that, this is right after his phenomenal victory on Mount Carmel, unbelievable right!! Fear can really play havoc even in very strong minds, he is dejected, depressed and wants God to take his life. But under that broom bush tree he was strengthened by the Lord and was entrusted with an even greater mission. As we walk through the valleys of life, sometimes all alone, sometimes rejected, sometimes depressed and distressed, it is an amazing experience to find our strength in the Lord, it is like getting that second wind of breath midway in a marathon, there is no better place than His presence to find it, there is no better way than worship to enjoy it. And once we find it nothing absolutely nothing can stop us, we can go forward and face any adversity knowing that the one who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world.

Finding that Elusive Balance

2018-11-30T11:06:00.001+05:30

The fast paced world that we live in, constantly in a state of flux, with rising uncertainties, changing mores and notions, fads and ideas, finding that balance has become an increasingly arduous task. Young families who have started out with great promise and excitement are facing the maximum brunt, not being successful in handling it, they are going into a tail spin ending in terrible stress, break up and total mess. Pressure at work, scrambling to meet deadlines, handling finances, finding time for personal growth and faith, taking care of health, family- being a loving husband and a caring father, socialising, finding your creative space and pursuing one’s passion, the list goes on and on. Honestly one might be wondering how on earth can I find time to manage all these. The pressure and stress might be getting onto our heads, there are many who have given up and taken refuge in alcohol and there are alarmingly innumerable marriages on the brink of divorce or have already gone through that painful process just because they failed to maneuver wisely through this maze. How can one find balance in all this? Is it really possible to balance all the aspects of life?

The five major F’s of life – Faith, Family, Firm, Finance, Fitness are the ones that are crucial and irreplaceable which we need to focus on, probably one can add Friends and Fun to it, but the first five are the ones that hold the keys to a good life. Let’s unravel them a little bit.

Faith – That is our core, without this we are totally lost, confused, tossed around, as Blaise Pascal would call it - a mere Vacuum desperately wanting to be filled. Our faith in God, who is all-powerful, all-knowing, unconditionally loving and eternally good gives us the hope and peace to face anything in life, He is our anchor through the storms of life. We are persuaded and convinced that whatever happens and whatever we might be going through right now, our God is in control and he will work everything together for good because He loves us and we love Him in return. Romans 8:28. We are called to abide in Him and grow to be more like Him and we grow in faith by the simple disciplines of prayer, word and witness. If we neglect this we are in unimaginable peril of shipwrecking our lives.

Family – this is where the joys and fulfilment of that balanced life overflows or it can also be the place where the tension and stress of the imbalance might find an outlet, often in unpleasant and deeply regrettable ways. Family is the smallest and basic unit of the worshipping community that God instituted; this is where our faith needs to be truly lived out but sadly in the rat race of life, family is the most neglected and least cherished aspect. Family is where each one of us is irreplaceable, no one! I mean absolutely no one can substitute our place and role as a husband or a father or a wife etc. Many good believers, even spiritual leaders make the appalling mistake of taking their wife and children for granted until it is too late. The biggest irony of it all is that we slog, break our backs and make all the money for this entity called family but we spend the least amount of time with them. Do we spend enough time with our spouse and children, do we listen to them and love them?

Firm – our work or vocation is where we spent a good part of our waking hours. This can be place of our passion, our creativity or the place where we just make a living. This can also turn out to be the place of our significance, fame or our very identity depending on our perspective of work and our self-worth and also depending on how high we are in the echelons of power. It can give us energy and life and on the other hand it can drain us of life and make it very stressful if our significance and self-worth is tied up with it. When firm takes precedence over faith and family things go topsy-turvy. Our view of work and How God views it, if it is in sync, we are in the right place.

Finance – Our perspective on this ‘F’ can make or break our life. Money is the aspect where many of us become very touchy and sensitive that we don’t want to talk about it. Finance is one area where the Bible has lots to say whether it be the right perspective on it or the right way to use it. Faithful stewardship of finance can be an amazing blessing and a liberating aspect for our life. Bible says clearly that Love of money is the root cause of all evil 1Tim 6:10 and the misuse, misappropriation and greed of money can destroy lives and families to no extent. A godly perspective that we are not the owners of it but we are just managers or stewards of Gods resources for a time here on earth can liberate us to use it for His glory. As Jesus warned us in Mathew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money”.

Fitness – we proclaim and believe that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit but many of us have no qualms on freeloading it with Junk or excess food, we let this temple go out of shape, bloat and get into all kinds of disorder. For many of us fitness is the last thing on our minds because God said everything that He created is good so rise up and eat. Well the problem is by the time we realise the danger we become a sitting duck for a factory of diseases and a live specimen for the doctors. The truth is that, the whole thing could have been averted well in advance with a little bit of focus and effort on regular exercise, proper diet, adequate rest and fitness.

We have looked at the five F’s, but most probably you already know them and have made attempts to get them right. Well here are few tips at finding that balance with these five F’s.

1. Prioritize – you would have already noticed the order in which I have listed them, that can be a good way of prioritizing but that is not the only way. You might have your own reasons for prioritizing them differently but the key is this; keep the main thing as the main thing and I believe firmly that in the center of it all, the number one Priority is God and if we can have Him as the number one in our life then everything else will automatically fall in place. By prioritizing, what we are saying is that, this is where I am going to spend most of my time, efforts and energy on, but that in no way means that I can focus on one or two of the F’s and choose to neglect the others. A constant refrain is, “where is the time, I am so busy” yes we have so many things on our plate but then we might have to sacrifice some of it for the greater good of finding that balance in life. So how would you prioritize the five F’s?

2. Set goals and make short term plans for each of the F’s – The question is what do I ultimately want to see in each of these five F’s? Can I picturize it? If yes, pen it down and then set achievable next steps to grow and accomplish that Goal. The best way to do this is by asking what do I want to see happen in my faith, family, firm, finance and fitness by the end of this year and how am I going to reach there?

Don’t make it like the big new year resolutions which are mostly discarded a week later, start with small steps like setting apart a day in a month to be with the family- going out, just chilling out together and enjoying each other or a personal retreat- a day out with the Lord or it can be taking that step of walking 15 minutes every day to get into shape or it can be that simple step of budgeting your monthly expense and planning to save some or invest it somewhere.

3. Follow routines - Daily routines are very important, as someone said anything that we do continuously for over 28 days can become a lifelong habit and believe me, this is true! if you don’t believe just try it. Try this for starters, have a 30 minute personal quiet time in the word and prayer for 28 days continuously and then no one will have to remind you to do it, it becomes a normal routine of our life.

4. Set Boundaries - Knowing our personal boundaries and setting them is key for finding balance, Bible says there is a ‘time for everything’ in life Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and then in Mathew 5:37 we are reminded, let our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ be ‘no’. If we cannot say ‘No’ be wary of the freeloaders and coat tail riders, they will add more things on to our plate and we will be soon hard pressed. If we respect ourselves and our boundaries then people will instinctively respect our boundaries.

5. Be accountable – once we have set goals and started working on it, it is great to hold ourselves accountable to someone whom we trust; for example our spouse or a mentor. Share it with them, talk about progress and struggles and pray over it together. The easiest promises to break are the ones that we make to ourselves, so stick to it and be persistent.

6. Evaluate – It is good to take stock of our progress once in a while, Am I on track? How am I doing in each of these five F’s? Am I Successful in balancing these five areas to my satisfaction? Where do I need to change and make corrections? Make those course corrections and press on towards that goal of a balanced and fulfilling life. Jesus promised in John 10:10 I have come that you might have life and have it to the full- and abundant and overflowing life.

Progressive Christianity and the Church on a slippery slope – warning signs to watch out for

2018-10-24T12:34:00.001+05:30

The effects of post- modern and post-liberal theology on the church in general and on the Christian faith has been slow but steady and the signs are ominously becoming visible each passing day. This slow churning has resulted in a form of progressive Christianity which brilliantly camouflages in myriad ways, often very subtle and not easily recognisable or identifiable by even well-meaning Christians. Remember it is always packaged as progressive and colourful as the bible calls it “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. It is not easy to pinpoint these half-truths and grey lies even for a well trained eye as it does not hold out as a coherent systematic thought or theology. It has embedded itself, widely scattering in different aspects of historic Christian faith making those slight twists and turns of deception. But the fact is that these deceptive teachings have deeply impacted and confused the body of Christ in such a way that we will find ourselves in no time on a dangerous slippery slope.

What are some warning signs to watch out for?

Questioning or casting aspersions on the Inspiration and Authority of the Scripture:- Now, one will not hear it outright in the messages or teaching, initially most of them will sound very progressive, liberating, inspirational and thought provoking but as time goes by it will be very subtle often an innocuous looking joke or a question on the authority of scripture on our lives, or it might be a joke on the archaic nature of a particular passage or teaching for the present day world. It can be a statement like, I am totally unable to figure out why on earth Apostle Paul wrote that, doesn’t that sound like a narrow minded person?

There are pastors who venture to the extent of saying that only the New Testament is inspired and Old Testament is like any other story or literature. Some times their messages might have absolutely nothing to do with the Bible but just a pep talk or a motivational booster with lot of anecdotes and stories from the secular and corporate world. Most of the time the interpretation of the scripture will be figurative or metaphorical or even hilariously imaginative rather than a literal interpretation of the word. Beware if you are hearing this in your church. The Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God and the only authority for all our lives.

Fly by Feelings and signs and wonders:- another danger sign to watch out for is the overemphasis on personal feelings, signs and wonders, than on Fact or Truth. Truth becomes subjective and that affects their view on sin which in turn is defined subjectively based on how that person feels about it. So anything can become permissible. Love and grace is overemphasized and becomes the overarching principle – remember love and grace without truth becomes licentiousness. In the name of progressiveness, diversity and pluralism any kind of sin is tolerated. So there is the hyper-grace, only grace, free grace phenomena where every sin is forgiven and we don’t have to worry about committing sin and confessing it anymore because of God’s love and grace, it is okay to continue to live in sin. Mostly they will never take a stand on grave sin and will rarely teach about repentance, confession, forgiveness and living a holy life. Apostle Jude warns about this in verse 4 ⁴For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about^[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Another sign is the fascination for the sign gifts, healing, slaying, prophesy. There are many more weird manifestations that happen today in some of these churches which you might be aware of. I am in no way nullifying the sign gifts, God heals, He does miracles, He uses his servants and He is still in the business of authenticating His work through these gifts. But when people are drawn primarily to it than to the teaching of the word, Worship, personal edification, growth and involvement in the great commission there is a serious problem. They are there for the spectacle, they are the audience watching the performance than the audience of the ONE and only God.

Watering down of the Historic facts and core doctrines of the church:- the Virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus, the historical nature of it, Jesus being the only way for salvation, Original sin and total depravity, heaven and hell all these facts and doctrines are open for discussion and reinterpretation. Contentious issues like sexuality, marriage, abortion, racialism etc are conveniently untouched, unspoken or “adjusted”. A biblical stand on this is never taken.

The Gospel and the great Commission is limited to social outreach:- for the progressives the gospel is social, it is not proclaiming the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross, that is narrow-minded fundamentalism and intolerance. Off course the bible demands us as believers to be socially aware, sensitive and proactive to the needs of people around us but good works follow faith, it is the result of faith not vice versa. There will be a great emphasis on loving the other, being open minded, accepting diversity and being pluralistic. There will be lot of talk on working together, partnerships, unity and ecumenism all for social justice, uplifting the poor and needy and working for the cause of the oppressed and underprivileged of the world. There won’t be any talk on evangelism and discipleship and making disciples of all nations.

If we are part of a church or group that has any of the above mentioned signs in varying degrees we are definitely on a slippery slope, it is dangerous to be there for too long, it is high time we take a closer look, evaluate and pray and start looking for a place which is Christ exalting and Bible-centred.

Countering the pervasive culture

2018-06-28T17:34:00.002+05:30

Is it okay for a worship leader to be in a live-in relationship and still be leading worship? Is it okay for a Christian leader to have an extramarital affair and continue to lead? Is it okay for a believer to be in a same sex relationship? What do you say when a Christian leader misappropriates ministry funds for personal gains and continues to be in leadership? How can a believer be addicted to pornography and go on as usual? Is it okay to get a tattoo done on our body because even Joyce Meyers wants to get one? Is it okay for a believer to live in sin? How do you respond when a mega church pastor says that he needs a private jet to travel around and he mischievously twists the word of God to convince his people to finance it? What do you do when you hear about rampant corruption, power politics, manipulations, sexual immorality, false teachings and absolute lack of integrity among so-called brethren? Is it okay to live without any ethics, personal integrity, morality or biblical values and still claim to be a believer or a spiritual leader?

These are not hypothetical questions. These are tell-tale signs of a pervading culture that is steadily and blatantly seeping into our churches, ministries and Christian homes right before our eyes. We see it, we read and hear about it, the secular media showcases it and the social media spews it out for the whole world to see. We feel outraged, angry, perturbed, indignant, sad and heart broken. We sometimes wish if we could do what Jesus did in the temple, Where He took the whip and chased out the sellers and traders from the temple and cleansed His father's house. How we wish we could do that, but that is only for the Son of God to do, not our job and for sure He is going to do a complete job of that when He returns.

But then who are we to judge, who are we to take the moral high ground? We too are sinners saved by His grace right! As Apostle John says, if we say we have no sin, we are basically liars. We are no better, but then we think in a comparative degree and claim we are better, our sins are not that big, like the ones mentioned above, so that gives us some kind of legitimacy to judge and cast aspersions. But is that true? Bible says that God is the Judge, Is 33:2, James 4:12, then who are we to judge His people and His servants.

So then what are we to do? Be a passive watch-man, a silent spectator, or as some would say, “just ignore it!! It is not my problem, I am doing okay.” But that is not what we see in the scripture, prophets after prophets coming in quick succession and calling out the sins of the people and leaders and asking them to repent, we see it again in the gospels when Jesus confronts the Pharisees and spiritual leaders of His time, rebuking them and asking them to repent. Again we see Apostle Paul confronting the terrible sins among the Corinthian believers in 1 Corinthians chapter 3-6. So then what does all this tell us? How are we to respond when we see and hear about this sickeningly pervasive culture ravenously eating into the body of Christ and completely tarnishing our credibility in its wake? Well here are three things that we can do as an integral part of the body of Christ.

PRAY: Don't laugh at me for coming back to this, don't take this lightly. As I have repeated so many times, there is nothing more powerful in this universe as the prayers of saints.

We are called to pray for the body of Christ. James 5:16; 1Jn 5:16; Ephesus 6:18.
We are commanded to pray for our leaders. 1Tim 2:2.
We are the body of Christ, If it hurts in one part the whole body is in pain, if there is cancer in one part it affects all of us. 1Cor 12:26
Pray for a revival, what we need is a renewed vision and revived hearts. 2 Chro 7:14 “If my people … will pray …then I will heal the land”.
Pray for a massive out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, for His convicting work and a thorough cleaning from all the filth.
Pray for great reverence and a passion for Holiness and purity among believers and leaders.

MODEL: Be the change you want to see.

In Hebrews 12:2 we are called to run our race that is set before us, laying aside every sin that so easily entangles us, fixing our eyes on Jesus alone. One oft repeated statement is, “everyone else is doing it, even the leaders are doing it so I too will follow suit” that is a terrible principle to adopt. Instead if we say, “whatever happens around me I am going to live by the book, the word of God” a principle that will never fail. Counter and challenge the pervading culture and let our lives be the example.

CONFRONT AND CORRECT: But do this in gentleness and respect, out of love to restore, not to condemn. As Ephesians 4:15 says, speak the truth in love. If we know the person, he is someone close to us and we are hearing some allegations or rumors about him, or if we are certain that he is fallen in some kind of sin, instead of talking to someone else and making things worse, take time to talk to him, clarify and check if what we heard is true or just hearsay and help him to correct and come out of it, if he is willing and open to it. Then pray with him and for him and walk alongside to see him restored. That is being a true brother!

Jesus was counter culture, He challenged the existing norms and practices of His time and we as His followers can’t afford to be on the sidelines just watching but we need to stand up and do everything possible in our hands to counter this plague that is eroding our very foundations and the essence of our message. As Jesus warned, “therefore be careful lest the light in us be darkness”.

The Prize - Under Pressure

2018-06-15T22:48:00.002+05:30

Once again what Pele, the great footballer called as the "beautiful game" is here, the greatest spectacle on Terra-firma, fans madly rooting for their countries and going crazy about Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar. Excitement, triumph and tears will be witnessed. Sleeplessness nights before the small screen has commenced.

But have you ever wondered what goes on in the minds of these superstar-gladiator like footballers? Their struggles, pain and the tremendous amount of pressure of expectations to win, perform or perish;

How do they respond when they come face to face with tremendous pressure?

What gives them the inner strength to overcome that kind of pressure?

What is the ultimate Prize? Is it winning the world cup or is there something more to life than that? Is there a greater purpose to life? To find out......

Watch Six amazing footballers talk about their life, how they overcame pressure and how they won the ultimate Prize.

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Who is the Greatest?

2018-06-13T23:10:00.000+05:30

A question which many of us mere mortals constantly struggle with? A question that has the propensity to make ordinary well-meaning people to compete, cut down, indulge in power play and dirty politics ultimately culminating in divisions, conflicts and destruction. This is not a question limited to the so called dog eat dog secular world of corporate, professional or political arena. This is very much a reality and a part and parcel of the Christian world.

In fact the question, “Who is the greatest?” was asked by none other than the disciples of Jesus. We read that in Luke 9:46 and Mathew 18:1. This was not the first time that question was raised, many centuries ago Aaron and Miriam had asked a similar sounding question to Moses in Numbers 12:1, where they ask, “Is Moses the only one that God Speaks through? Hasn’t He spoken through us?” and if you go back in time to the roots and try to trace the origin of this question we will end up in Isaiah 14:12-17 which records the fall of Satan where it was not phrased as a question but rather a haughty and conceited statement of “I will” and “I am” the greatest. We don’t have to look further and break our heads on the inception and ancestry of this question which can squarely be attributed to the father of all deception and lies, ‘Satan’. No wonder Jesus took the trouble to address it immediately with His disciples.

The question stems from our innate desire for significance and self-worth when unchecked, dangerously takes on the diabolic garb of Pride to be the greatest. Our egos does not allow us to be insignificant, insulted or humiliated. Even the most internally secure, self-actualized, “godly” leaders can lose their cool and composure and blow it up when challenged, criticized, put down or belittled by their subordinates or colleagues. Some might be able to perfectly camouflage their anger and outburst at that point but will never forget or forgive the person who perpetrated it and retribution will be done some day.

None of us, as long as we live in the flesh can claim absolute immunity from ever raising this query at some juncture of our life. And once we raise the question of who is the greatest, we automatically step into a rat-race to be one, we start scheming, manipulating, gossiping, slandering and playing dirty politics to become the greatest. This has terrible consequences in the body resulting in divisions, power plays, conflicts and sometimes even culminating in destruction. How do we deal with this question? How do we even try and address the Issue?

One of the best example that we come across in the Bible, is the way David responded to this question in 2 Samuel 16:5-13. He was the king of Israel, the ‘greatest one’ in the realm but His son Absalom had usurped the throne, David was on the run, hurt, humiliated, broken and sad at the terrible turn of events. And adding insult to injury, on the way a man named Shimei comes out cursing and throwing stones at the King. The interesting thing is, at this point one of his commanders Abishai proposes what seems to be a perfectly normal course of action when a ruler is challenged or insulted, he says, “let me go over and cut off his head”. It is King David’s response that throws light into the kind of man he is, the mettle that he is made off and why he is called as a man after Gods own heart. But the king said, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, ‘Curse David,’ then who shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” ¹¹Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my son who came out from ^[b]me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him. ¹²Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction and ^[c]return good to me instead of his cursing this day.” Vs 10-12.

Couple of things that can we can take away from this is David’s absolute sense of security in God, that He is in control of every single detail of his life and the solid assurance that He is working out everything for good. The ability to understand and keep calm even in dreadfully adverse situations comes from the realisation of Who we are in Christ- our identity, our significance and self-worth that is intrinsically woven into that relationship and Who our God is and what He is capable of doing for us! When we truly grasp this truth, the question of who is the greatest loses all its relevance for us, it becomes totally inconsequential.

This question is raised two times by the disciples in the Gospel of Luke; once in chapter 9: 46 and later it resurfaces in Lk 22:24 and in both these two times, it is fascinating to see how Jesus answers them. In the first instance He took a little child by his side and said whoever accepts this little child in my name accepts me. The gravity of that symbolic act would have been hard hitting and embarrassing for the disciples, here they were- grown up adults squabbling like little kids about who being the greatest and here was Jesus lifting up a little child and reprimanding them to be the least-like a child, be unrecognised, be humble, a minor, undistinguished, unimportant, be a servant of all to be the greatest. Being the least in order to be the greatest was not an attractive proposition for them, it did not make any sense in worldly ways, and it sounded more of an oxymoron.

Probably that’s why the lesson did not sink in, in no time the disciples were back to their old ways because we read about it again in Luke 22: 24, the same argument cropped up among the apostles of who was the greatest and this time Jesus goes on to throw more light as he corrects them. He goes on to contrast worldly greatness with spiritual/kingdom greatness. Vs 25-27 “Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. ²⁶But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. ²⁷For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” Worldly leadership and greatness Lords over others, it controls, dominates, compares and pits one against another. In contrast to this Jesus says we are not to be like that, the greatest among us must become like the youngest or least like a child, and the leader like a servant and then He puts forward His example; even though He is the son of God, the King of all the earth with all greatness and glory at His disposal yet He is as the one who serves. He emptied Himself and made himself nothing.

Greatness from becoming nothing, becoming the least and the last is not an easy proposition, it is an extremely difficult road to tread, there are no bouquets or rewards awaiting us instead brickbats, obscurity and oblivion might be the earthly results but the heavenly and eternal dividends are too invaluable for us to take this lightly and more over we have not many options. The Savior is calling us in that direction and if we claim to be His followers we will gladly obey Him.

Lord of the Chair

2018-06-12T20:26:00.000+05:30

There is this memorable scene in the “Lord of the Rings” movie where at one point Gollum, the little hideous looking fellow bites off the ring from Frodo and as he looks into it, he gets enamored with it, his facial expression changes and he completely turns into someone else, jumping around on the ledge with ecstasy and ultimately plummets to his death with the ring, it is a powerful scene where the director, Peter Jackson brings out the power of the ring, wielding tremendous influence on the person who wears it.

The simple, innocuous chair has similar effect on people, chairs come in all sizes and shapes- there are revolving chairs, push back chairs, ergonomically designed chairs, plush leather upholstered chairs etc. The higher the pedestal, power and prominence the chair carries; the greater the attraction for people to occupy it. Chairs have this magnetic propensity that, it is irresistible for mortal human beings to keep away from the temptation of sitting on it by hook or by crook and hold on to it with all their might for as long as they can; be it the politician, a government servant, a private sector guy or even a spiritual leader; no one can claim immunity from this. It can also transform humble, down to earth, unassuming people into dictators and despots overnight as they occupy that chair. Chair has come to be associated with power, position, status, prestige than leadership in the actual sense and when this distorted view of leadership gets intrinsically connected with the chair, no longer can we call that as leadership but it is just blatant abusive power play.

I remember the story of this guy who was the chairman of a large firm for many years, he was pampered with all the perks and privileges, there were people at his beck and call, willing to serve him at the drop of a hat. As the chairman he was always served tea in a gold rimmed exquisite china ware and he loved all the attention but one day he had to retire and it was his farewell party. After the event as the tea was being served he was served in an ordinary paper glass, he was furious, as he looked around he saw the new chairman sipping tea from that exquisite cup, he signaled to the orderly and shouted at him for the insult, the orderly slowly whispered to him, “Sir that cup is for the person who sits on the main chair it does not matter whoever that person is, it was not meant for you personally”. The faster one grasps this truth and lets it sink in deep, the better off the person is at the end. It is easy for the chair and person to become synonymous and become one; and when it is abruptly taken away, the effects of it can be devastating on the person, some people cannot live without a chair.

In Christian leadership the chair plays even greater havoc and there is a fatal attraction to it. The Lord of the chair seems to be the lord of it all. There are people who will ascribe divine origin and divine authority to the chair. There are the young turks in any organization who have just come off a training or development course, enamored by the power and attraction of the chair desperately looking for it, to sit and Lord. To this end there will be manipulations, backbiting, slander, character assassinations and power play in which many gets injured and destroyed before the victor gets to sit on it. The greater the power, perks, benefits and emoluments attached to the chair the greater and fiercer the race, to be the Lord of it.

There are leaders who have been on the “top chair” for what seems like an eternity and even at the grand old age they hold on it as if they are under the vow of “till death do us part”. There are the Louis XV of the Christian leadership who says “I am so indispensable that after me it is the deluge”. There are leaders who hold on to the chair for over two to three decades and then passionately preach and break the pulpit on succession planning, servant leadership and developing younger leaders, well, one guess is that it might be for the people under them to figure out and apply. I have seen grand-dads leading youth ministry unwilling to budge but trying their level best to catch up with the lingo, tech and gadgets of the youth; almost like the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) playing around with Transformers; forget the generation gap.

There are people who profoundly and authoritatively teach that leadership is not a chair, it is all about “influence”, but when their turn comes to get off that chair, they whine, scream and kick and create a huge mess like little kids when they are taken out of their favorite toyshop. Then there are others who transform their chairs into thrones of pompous despotic tyranny and rule and reign with abandon over their hapless subjects and any dissent will be silenced, spiritually off course. There are other kinds, who play the good old musical chair with their positions, one stepping aside and moving on to another chair of the same height or a bit lower and the next one does it in rotation with the mental satisfaction that whatever it is at least it is another chair. To move out or step aside “without a chair” has almost become an impossibility, the only option seems to be “I will be on the chair till I go out on a casket”. There is also this hilarious situation of multiple claimants, not one or two but it can go up to six people for the same top chair which is happening in some denominations right now and they will fight it out in the courts making sure no one gets to sit on that chair peacefully. There are also leaders who grab on to the chair till they can successfully install their progeny onto that chair and perpetrate a thriving dynasty and as if to rub more salt into it they will claim it to be a biblical model from the period of kings of course. And there are some hardcore ones, an aberration right now, probably because of the legal hassles I guess, who tend to take home the chair and along with it the entire ministry assets as if it is his ancestral heritage.

The “Lord of the chair” attitude has seriously dented our image and the credibility of our message reducing us to mere caricature figures. The irony of it all is that, the master whom we profess to follow and emulate had no chair at all. He had no titles, nor positions, perks nor privileges; in fact in the letter to the Philippians chapter 2 verse 6&7 apostle Paul, says about Jesus that He voluntarily gave up everything, He emptied Himself and took the form of a servant. He had the greatest chair of all, the throne in heaven, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings; He had every right to Lord over us but he says, I have come not to be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. The impact of that leadership model reverberates ever so powerfully even after 2000 years across countries and nations that do not even acknowledge Him. The great leaders who modelled after Him too had no inclination to be the Lord of the chair, be it Apostle Paul or Peter. But somewhere along the line this aspect of servant leadership mutated into the loathsome “glorified servant” leadership along with the chair arriving on the scene. From there it has been a downward spiral for us and at occasional intervals we see glimpses of Christ-like leaders who appear like shining stars in the distant horizon and are like a breath of fresh air for us.

How wonderful it will be if we can steer away from the temptation to be the ‘Lord’ of the chair and look unto and worship the ONE who is on the chair in all glory and splendor as we have only one Lord and One throne of our great King Jesus and let us humbly lay our little crowns at His feet and walk as He walked and serve as He served.

The Art of Self- Motivation

2018-06-05T19:47:00.002+05:30

Motivation is key to life, it is the fire that keeps us going, it pushes us to attempt the impossible, take on unbelievable risks, endure tremendous amount of pain and hardships and in the end achieve amazing results. The success of any movement or entity is intrinsically woven to the fabric of a few highly motivated individuals. In today’s world we come across a lot of people demotivated, struck in the rut, frustrated and gradually slipping into depression, desperately looking around for motivation from external sources like monetary benefits, position, perks and privileges etc. But these are temporary motivators; genuine motivation is internally generated. The ability to be self-motivated or to be energized internally is a key life skill.

But the million dollar question is how do I energize internally? How do I keep my passion burning and strong? How do I overcome the blues? To get to the answer we have to go to the very core of our being, “Our Heart”. Take a moment to listen to your heart? Hear what it is saying? What motivates you intrinsically? Is it your vision? Is it your dream or Goal that keeps you motivated? Is it monetary benefits? Is it perks and position that will motivate you?

Go back to the beginning of it all, where it all started? Let me tweak the question a little bit now, not “what” but rather “Who” motivated us? As we ponder over it deeply slowly a striking truth will sink-in that it was God and God alone who was our motivation, nothing else and no one else mattered at that moment, we were passionate for Him and for His Kingdom. Overwhelmed by His love, we gladly responded to His irresistible call stepped out with an “I don’t care what” attitude to serve the Lord of our lives. We didn’t bother about the money in it, in fact there was very little, nor about the titles or perks; we were totally satisfied in Him, He was our Joy and fulfilment.

Initially the going was great, excitement in everything we did, ready to jump onto anything that came our way with total abandon but as we progressed on that road we started hitting the bump of de-motivation. It was once in a while at first but as years went by that became a constant companion and we started wondering where all that joy and excitement vanished. The layers of perceived hurts, so called injustice, conflicts, relationship issues and unmet goals started having a domino effect on us and that in turn hardened our hearts.

A calloused heart, with the first love gone, filled with bitterness, anger and frustration is the engine room that drives us into demotivation. As the wise King Solomon says in Proverbs 4:23, “above all else, guard your heart, for from it flows the springs of life”. A hardened heart keeps us away from the one and only source of all our Joy and motivation. The Psalmist says in Psalm 16:11, “There is fullness of Joy in the presence of the Lord.” Jesus warned his disciples about the calloused hearts in Mark 8:17-18.

Somewhere down the road we lost that vital connection with Jesus, we went into autopilot mode of following Jesus and the funny thing is we didn’t even realize it.

As we progressed down that road we heard an inspirational message somewhere and that sort of reignited the fire but it died down almost immediately, we attended a seminar or a conference and felt that God was distinctly speaking to us and again there was sparks flying only to be back where we were, we were desperately looking for that elusive motivating factor, we even tried our hands at performance believing that life change, spiritual fruits and results will replenish us, only to realize that even that didn’t last long. This up and down emotional swing became perennial and we are desperate for a way out.

None of these external impetus will work until we sit down and take a good look at our core – our calloused heart. Is the “Who” of motivation still on the throne? As Paul Tillich rightly puts it, “our ultimate concern should be the concern of the ultimate”. We can take comfort in the fact that we are not the only ones on this road, great leaders like Moses, Elijah, David and Paul had to walk this road and re-energize and replenish internally and come back with even greater passion to serve Him.

The cry of Moses heart was, “Lord please show me your glory” in Exodus 33:18.

Prophet Elijah was demotivated and depressed to the point of death, but His time with God on mount Horeb renewed his heart greatly. I Kings 19

For King David only one thing mattered, only one thing that he may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life. Ps 27:4.

For Apostle Paul that one thing was, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection…..” Phil 3:10.

The art of self- motivation is taking time to be in His presence and examining deeply into our calloused hearts, peeling of all those layers of hurt, pain and bitterness and allowing the one and only motivator of our hearts, Jesus Christ to have His complete sway over it.

Leading Change: The Nuts and Bolts of it

2017-10-13T09:48:00.000+05:30

As an old adage goes, “the only person who wants change is a baby with a wet diaper”. Let us face it, most of us don’t like change, we love our comfort zones, we like our routines, most of us given the option would rather follow the well-trodden path than take the trouble of pioneering or exploring a new one and for some of us even a slight change in our routines might put us off.

History is replete with stories of companies or organisations who failed to innovate or change, ultimately losing out in the race and becoming redundant or dead. If change is so allergic for us then imagine the prospect of “leading” change; that is not a great place to be in. But whether we like it or not, if one is convinced about the need for change and if our very survival or growth hinges on it, then we have no other option other than to dive in and lead it.

I had the God given privilege of helping lead change in our movement few years’ back- one was a change initiative in our organisational culture and the other a strategy change and implementation. The insights that I learned in the process is unforgettable. Along with that I had the tremendous privilege of working with some amazingly gifted, visionary and Christ-like leaders who initiated and led this change process; to rub shoulders with them and watch them lead from close quarters and learn from their life is something that will be indelibly etched in my memory forever. I express my sincere thanks to each one of those leaders and I am ever grateful to God for allowing me to play a small part in that change process. With my limited knowledge, I have tried to capture my few cents worth of ‘take-away’s” and some of those principles which I believe might be of help for others who are initiating/leading or going through a change process. Here are some of the nuts and bolts that are vital for leading change.

Leading spiritually: Is it from God or from man? Have we spent enough time in His presence to hear from Him? Nehemiah in the Bible was leading one of the biggest change process in his time; raising up a people devastated by captivity, shame and ridicule, to build the broken walls around Jerusalem and add to it, the external threat from enemies. This was not the “leader’s fancy idea” or the people’s idea; it was a vision that he received from God after hearing about the desperate need and after many days of prayer, fasting and brokenness before God. Change for the sake of change or because others are doing it, is not a good idea at all. But if our God given vision demands a change in the way we do things and we are clearly hearing it from God, after much waiting and seeking His face, then we are leading from a heart that is spiritually tuned with God and that is critical and of utmost importance for any leader before he initiates anything; leave alone a change initiative.

The why of it: Are we fully convinced about the need for change? What is at stake if we don’t change? The ‘vision’ does not change, that is our North Star. But as a leader when one takes stock of the progress towards that vision; as he evaluates the current reality and sees the big gap; he knows that a change needs to happen or else it will be adversely detrimental to the very existence of his company or organisation. Having a clear grasp on what is at stake and having one’s fingers on the pulse of the organisation is crucial for a leader initiating the change.

Know the direction: Can you see the road ahead even if you cannot see the end picture right now? A leader sees much further down the road than the people he is leading. In a recent conversation with one leader, he told me that his organisation is going through a big change so I asked him what he was expecting out of it. I was shocked to hear him reply that he had no idea, he was just blindly winging it and adding to that he casually passed the buck by saying that his team had come up with this whole change idea. Man! What a terrible place to be, I felt sorry for the people under his care. That was a classic case of what Jesus said as, ‘the blind leading the blind’. It is good to remind ourselves that, “if there is fog in the pulpit there is bound to be dark clouds in the pew."

Crystal clear on the implications: Know who the real stakeholders are. The key stakeholders need to be taken into confidence well in advance and a clear communication channel needs to be set up for them to be regularly updated. See if there are structural tweaking or modifications needed to facilitate and leverage the intended change. This classic incident sums it up well, “the huge printing presses of a major newspaper began malfunctioning. None of the technicians could track down the problem. Finally, a frantic call was made to the retired printer who had worked with these presses for over 40 years. “We’ll pay anything; just come in and fix them,” he was told. When he arrived, he walked around for a few minutes, surveying the presses; then he approached one of the control panels and opened it. He removed a dime from his pocket, turned a screw, and said, “The presses will now work correctly.” After being profusely thanked, he was told to submit a bill for his work. The bill arrived a few days later, for $10,000! Not wanting to pay such a huge amount for so little work, the printer was told to please itemize his charges, with the hope that he would reduce the amount once he had to identify his services. The revised bill arrived: $1.00 for turning the screw; $9,999 for knowing which screw to turn.

While going in for any structural changes or internal reforms do not attempt a major overhaul which will create a lot of confusion and instability and it will take much time for the dust to settle down instead it is better to try as much as to embed the proposed new change elements into the existing delivery system unless that system is totally flawed.

Communicate: There is nothing like over communicating during a change initiative; maximize all avenues of communication to the stake-holders be it the regular meetings, large conference’s, informal talks, social media, short movies, interviews, well prepared high quality PPT’s, official communication platforms etc. It is good to adopt a multi-pronged mode of communication with face to face or one on one with key stakeholders, cascading and distance communication with others and direct communication when required but whatever the mode it has to be ongoing and specific.

The power of Branding: Creating something visible around the change like a catchy Slogan or an attractive Logo is powerful, it easily gets people’s attention and people inadvertently tend to associate the brand image with the change initiative. The branding can be popularised on T- shirts, mugs, caps, pens, wristbands, small booklets, FB page etc. so that they can identify with the brand and the change.

Pray and mobilize people to pray: The more the number people praying the greater the ripple effect for change. God in the process starts aligning their hearts to the initiative. Prayer has a wonderful way of bringing people to change their views and attitudes towards a particular thing which they might not have liked initially. We need to remember that if the idea is from God then He has been at work much before we even started, he will bring the people and resources required for the change.

Share Stories: Info-graphics and statistics capture the ‘minds’ of people, stories touch the ‘hearts’ and inspire people. People love and remember stories, not the numbers. Look out for early leads and life stories on the change. Share stories of people who are initiating the change and seeing some kind of success.

Get the other leaders on-board: Communicate and convince as many leaders above you and those who are alongside with you. Watch out for the cross- winds at higher altitudes, those are more turbulent and dangerous than the ones blowing below.

Raise up multiple Champions: Being a lone ranger champion/spokesman can be effective to a certain extent, one advantage is we can avoid the Chinese-whisper syndrome but in the long run it will take a heavy toll on us. Develop other people, who are aligned to the change, to be champions at different levels, who will share the same vision.

Run with the Horses: Look out for the early adaptors and run with them; others will soon follow. In every organisation there are people who will latch on to a new idea or change; identify few of them and start working with them. Be careful to work with the right people as some might be just flattering you. I have also realised that trying to move the sceptics at the initial stages will be a waste of precious time. It is better to abide by the proverb, “let sleeping dogs lie”.

Nothing works like a working Model: A successful model is powerful, without a model everybody is groping in the dark. It will be like the blind men feeling the elephant, we will end up everyone coming up with their own interpretations. People always look for models or what is really working, be it in any culture. Work towards creating early models.

A clear road map: Create a clear road map with major milestones to reach and celebrate. This needs specific, measurable and achievable goals with timelines. The more pictorial and graphic it is, the better.

Have regular pit stops for process check and evaluate the progress. Create a clear metrics on the expected outcomes, make sure that it is understandable and available to all.

Change is like a Juggernaut, it starts slowly, it takes a lot of effort to get it moving but once it starts rolling, it is almost impossible to stop it.

DNA of a Change Agent:

2017-09-25T19:15:00.000+05:30

ØChange agents are catalysts; they initiate the change but does not control it. They fade out pretty fast.

Ø Change agents are averse to status quo and mediocrity; they will challenge it.

Ø Change agents are happy-go risk takers. They love taking bold steps.

Ø Change agents understands and analyses the current reality well. They are pretty good at sniffing out the stink before it hits the roof.

Ø Change agents foresees the future in bright light. They always see light at the end of the tunnel.

Ø Change agents rallies and mobilises people to their cause. They maximise the gift of the gab.

Ø Change agents discuss ideas not people.

Ø Change agents die hard, they do not give up till they see the perceived change.

Ø Change agents don’t stake claim or credit for the change. You won’t find them in the credit rolls.

Ø Change agents own-up and takes responsibility for any goof-up. They don’t pass the buck around.

Ø Change agents do not shy away from asking tough questions.

Ø Change agents are easy to spot, they are the nail that sticks out and doesn’t care even if they get hammered.

Worship-tainment

2017-08-23T14:55:00.005+05:30

This is something that I heard from a youngster recently, “I attend that church because they have awesome worship, man it is a happening place and it’s cool”. This is not a one-off statement, alarmingly it has become the norm of our times. People look for churches where they can feel recharged, refreshed and leave on a high after the worship service, so they engage in church-shopping or church-hopping because the recharged batteries tend to get empty pretty soon, the euphoria seems to wear off in no time and like a junkie we are looking for a new and better high. In fact I came across a church advert tagline that went, “come in for refreshing worship”. Well is there anything wrong in this kind of worship-entertainment, the feel good, feel recharged, with upbeat music, the latest digital instruments, multimedia and laser- Fresnel lights and even fog machines to create smoke effect on the stage kind of worship? Pretty much a duplicate of a rock music concert or a live stage show!!

We are living in a world of entertainment, our senses are constantly bombarded by different kinds of entertainment all around us and we believers do not want to be left behind in any way so we replicate the whole thing in our worship sessions believing that it will bring in the numbers and will keep the existing ones happy. The focus is on the feel good factor, the worship team and the leader’s focus is on the audience and try to engage and entertain them just like a music concert, or a movie or a reality show. But is that what God wants? Is it God honouring, God exalting worship?

When our worship is centred on Man, we come in with the question, “What am I going to get out of it?” and go out thinking, “how am I feeling, did I feel really good with the worship?” But when our worship becomes Theo-centric or God centred we leave reflecting “How great thou art?” We totally forget about ourselves; our feelings and emotions because the focus shifted from us, from me to God who is awesome and worthy of all our worship.

I love the question that Philip Yancey asks in his book; “Church why bother?” Who is the audience in your worship? That profound question puts the whole thing in perspective. If I am the audience in worship then I need to be entertained and I need to feel good after it, but if God and God alone is the sole audience in our worship then our emotions, feelings, ego, the music, the lights, the pace and our desires doesn’t matter, all these things become shadows in the light of the one who is worthy because we are in the awesome presence of a Holy God who created us and wants our worship, we are there for HIM, for HIS pleasure and to have that reversed is an abomination to God.

Who is the audience in our worship?

Celebrity, Fame, Depression, Suicide

2017-08-01T09:31:00.001+05:30

Do you see a familiar connection between those words above? Another star has taken that route, we are shocked to hear the untimely death of Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput. He has joined the ever growing list of stars who have chosen the easy way out of life. Couple of years back it was the death of Chester Bennington of the Likin Park fame which shocked many of the music lovers who had followed him for close to over a decade. But his is just one among the many sudden and untimely deaths of movie stars and musicians at their prime who had either taken their own lives or died in suspicious circumstances. From Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain to Heath Ledger, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Prince and now Chester Bennington the list is long. They seemed to have it all, millions of fans following, right at the zenith of fame, multi-millionaires, celebrities in their own right, the who’s who of the Music and film world. But what went wrong for them?

For their fans they were epitome of glitz and glamour, the ones to look-up to and emulate but when you take closer look at their lives we find that things were not as all good as it seemed to be at the backstage. Most of them perennially struggled with drugs and alcohol, and their personal lives were in shambles, some were trapped in depression for many years. They were personally unfulfilled, craving for more and desperately searching for that elusive something in spite of being insanely famous or rich.

Does fame, money and power automatically guarantee personal fulfilment and success? If it did then none of these celebrities had to tragically end their lives the way they did at a young age. So then what is that elixir of life, that secret formula, that elusive something that they were searching for? Many years ago Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and physicist understood this quest of mankind and said something very profound, he said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the creator, made known through Jesus”. Mankind for ages has been trying to fill that vacuum with different man made things like fame, money, sex, drugs, alcohol, pornography etc which gave some kind of temporary fulfillment but they were back to square one in no time and were craving for more. None of it could really satisfy the longing of our hearts, our hearts are restless till we find rest in our creator.

You might be going, “Oh!!! Come on this is religion stuff, I don’t want to have any part with it, I am fed up with all that crazy extreme religious nonsense that people are doing all around, hatred, killing, violence, terrorism, man!! Enough of it”. Yeah, if it is about "a religion", I too will agree with you but what if it is about "a relationship"! An amazing relationship with an awesome person who loves us unconditionally and invites us gently to know Him personally, He is Jesus! He is calling us to come to Him and find rest, He said I can give you an abundant life without doing any drugs or alcohol, He can meet the longing of our hearts and satisfy our soul, He can fill that vacuum and give meaning and fulfillment for our lives. Would you like to know Him?

Click this link to know more about this amazing relationship https://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/would-you-like-to-know-god-personally.html

It is time to switch off that Tape

2017-07-27T10:54:00.000+05:30

I am not good, I am a failure, or we would have heard from someone, you are a curse for this family, you will never succeed in life, you mess up everything that you touch, can you do any thing properly, looser!!

Or it might be, no my sins are not forgiven, i still have guilt feelings, God has not completely forgiven me, does God really love me? I have this weakness and I am addicted to it, I cannot get out of that weakness. I have inferiority feeling's, I don't have confidence, I cannot stand and speak before others, I am not smart like others, why am I not like my other successful friends? why is God not blessing me? Will I loose my salvation? I am worried and anxious about my future.

Stop a moment, try and listen, we might hear it. These are the lie tapes running in our mind all the time, we hear it, we wrestle with it and for many of us we tend to believe these blatant lies even though we are washed by the blood of Jesus and are His children.

We live a life in defeat and get paralysed sometimes by these lies about us which we would have probably heard from a near or dear one as a child, or lies we have come to believe and cultivated in our minds over years and it has now become a strong hold or a fortress that Satan successfully uses to keep us down in defeat, frustration and discouragement all the time.

But are we meant to live that kind of a life, No!!absolutely not, we are destined for greatness, we are designed for a purpose, for an abundant and overflowing life. A life of victory, a life of an over comer, we are more than conquerors, there is no more condemnation for us, we are totally a New Creation, We are set free completely, free from shame, inferiority, guilt, slavery, weakness, addiction's, bondage's or curses. The past is gone , I am in Christ, I am a child of the most Holy and awesome God. Hallelujah!!! That is the truth about you and me, that is what Bible talks about each one of us.

So how do I get rid of these lies:

🎚 Renew our minds with God's word day in and day out: Do not be confirmed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Romans 12: 2

🎚 Pull down and erase that tape recorder in the name of Jesus. 2 Cor 10: 4-5 . That is old and redundant, expiry date is long over.

🎚 Check and filter our every thought. Phil 4: 8; Is it true, is it noble, right, is it pure etc.

🎚 Believe in God's word and His promises about us. Don't loose patience, trust Him, He is at work in our life even when we do not see anything concrete. We are too precious for Him and He will Never Give up on Us.

Joy Irresistible

2017-07-20T13:11:00.000+05:30

Can we have Joy irrespective of what we are going through in life? Is it possible to experience peace that surpasses all understanding even when everything around us seems to be going topsy-turvy? Does what the Bible promises really come true in my life, then why am I not experiencing it? These might be questions that we struggle with as we try to walk by faith.

Habakkuk the prophet had similar questions, questions more profound and complicated than these, like why are the wicked people prospering and the good ones suffering? Is God not in control of situations? But as he asks those questions, God answers him powerfully in ways only He can and at the end of that discourse Habakkuk concludes in chapter 3:17-19

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no food; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon high places".

Let us try and personalise this verse a little:

Although I don't see a promotion in my job, neither do I see a salary hike, the hard work that I put in is not appreciated and my performance appraisal is not really that good, my long standing prayers are not being answered, my results in exam is not as expected, the job I am searching for is not coming through, I have huge financial burdens to meet, I am suffering with constant sickness and health issues and my family life is not going great, the list can go on...........

But still with all this, is it possible for us to join along with Prophet Habakkuk and proclaim that I will still rejoice in the Lord and I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Because He is going to change our situations and lift us up like a deer that jumps in high places that is what God has promised. In the light of this how do we respond, Habakkuk says in chapter 2 verses 4 , "The righteous shall live by faith" amazing right!!

Irrespective of our circumstances, no matter what we are going through right now, it can be the biggest challenge of your life, you are on the verge of giving up all the doubts and questions are welling up within us but in the midst of all that we can experience amazing peace, we can choose joy over sorrow and discouragement. That is the most unique aspect of our faith. Faith is taking God at His word even though we do not see anything concrete right now. It is the evidence of things not seen.

As the lines of this beautiful song goes;

"Trust in the Lord and don't despair, He is a friend so true,

No matter what your troubles are Jesus will see you through;

Sing when the day is bright, sing through the darkest night,
every day all the way sing, sing, sing." 👍

Jallikattu - Student Leadership and a Movement

2017-02-19T23:58:00.000+05:30

I won’t be surprised if you are wondering what on earth Jallikattu has got to do with “student leadership and movements”. Well, the recent Jallikattu agitation in Tamil Nadu has a lot to do with it. (Jallikattu is a traditional bull taming sport culturally intertwined with the ethos of Tamil Nadu, it is deeply and fiercely connected to agrarian culture of the people, their age old tradition of celebrating harvest festival) This drew thousands of people from all across the state comprising of all age group but the primary group and the most dominant group that led the movement were college students. They were at the forefront of it, leading it, spreading the word, mobilizing the crowds, being the spokesperson, chanting slogans; literally making something that started out as a tiny spark into a wild fire of a massive people movement which brought the entire government machinery to its knees so that they had to take it to the highest authority and get the bill passed. A spontaneous yet powerful peoples movement, but at the core of it was thousands of students.

It was a very rare sight to see a mass movement without any political parties jostling to upstage one another even though there were few unsuccessful attempts to hijack it, there were no traditional stereotype leaders shouting their usual rhetoric, there were no superstars giving sound bites, it was totally peaceful till the end until some unscrupulous elements wanted to destroy that aspect of peace deliberately, there were no caste, creed or religion but just a sea of humanity. The most fascinating aspect was there was not a single leader for this group but the many unknown faces who came to the fore at the time of need and led. But still what made it such a huge success without any of the above masala ingredients? Is there anything that we can learn from this agitation as we endeavour to see “Student-Led”, “spiritual movements”. Well the immediate reaction from many will be, What! How can you take principles from a secular movement and replicate it for a spiritual movement. I fully agree that spiritual movements are built upon biblical principles and it is completely the work of God the Holy Spirit not of any man’s. But it is worthwhile to look at some of these factors that these students maximized to the hilt for the success of their Goal.

Three stand out features:

1. The power of college students

2. The power of social media and instant messaging apps

3. The power of culture

You might be thinking, ‘Oh.. What is the big deal? There is nothing new in this, these are the same old principles that we have been talking about for some time now’. Yep, you are spot on, but the beauty here is that these students took each of these oft repeated elements, turned it on its head and unleashed it to achieve maximum results and that is where we are miserably failing. Let us look at each one of these in detail.

1. The power of college students:

We are used to the maxim, “today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders” and have been using that to envision students for some time now. I believe it is high time we change that, “today’s students are today’s leaders” not tomorrows. They are leaders here and now and all it needs for them is to realize it and tap into their potential and step in to lead. In a culture where age is considered as a parameter for respect and hence an important factor for leadership most students hesitate to take initiative and lead, fearing push back and repercussions. But look at this instance, when there is a cause dear to their heart that strikes a chord within them, when they feel passionate about it, nothing stops them from gearing into high octane action. The thousands that thronged the Marina beach had no single leader to lead, but there were so many of them swaying and moving people to mobilize and stay on.

We can never underestimate the power of students, history is replete with examples of movements which were initiated and launched by few college students which later became so powerful that it brought down regimes, governments and brought changes whether it be the Chilean student protests or the Tiananmen square massacre or the student-left movements in early 1960 or the Soweto Uprising in South Africa in 1976 etc.

Christian history has numerous examples of students initiating and building spiritual movements. The Haystack prayer meeting by five Williams’s college students of 1806 is viewed by many scholars as the seminal event for the development of the subsequent protestant missions. The Cambridge Seven who were instrumental in rapidly accelerating the China inland missions. The movement started by 26 Yale college students in 1796 called the Yale moral society which laid the foundation for four subsequent revivals in that university in the later years, The Student volunteer movement of 1886 which was initiated by few students. Evan Roberts, a college student and the Welsh revival of 1904 which was primarily touching hundreds of young people. As a counter to the hippy culture among American youth in 1967 there arose counter culture called ‘Jesus People’ which awakened many youth. We can go on with examples but the key is to grasp this truth and “empower” the students with a cause larger than them and enable them to lead.

2. The power of social media and instant messaging apps.

If there was one thing that was maximized to the hilt in the recent Jallikattu agitation that would indisputably be the social media and instant messaging platforms. Many students all across Tamil Nadu were connected and glued to their mobile phones constantly updated about the developments, sharing pictures, live feeds from the venues and modes of agitation with numerous pages and groups on Facebook and WhatsApp. They didn’t need news channels and media houses to break in the news. This was their language of staying connected and communicating. In fact thousands of students were mobilized in Marina beach in a span of few hours just through these digital platforms. If there is something that connects, something relevant for them, something worth sharing then you don’t need advertisements or bill boards in today’s student culture, they will make sure that it goes viral so that everyone gets it.

And sadly this is one area where our message and content is not connecting the way we intend with students. Is the cause that we project striking a chord with them? Yes no doubt the message we preach is relevant as ever but the language that we use and the mediums are far from attracting the audience. How can we speak their language and maximize the social media and instant messaging apps to get our message across and raise them as leaders for a cause that is far more noble and world changing?

3. The Power of culture:

This is one area which we can afford to neglect at our own peril. We take culture for granted, we gloss over it, we pit one against another and compare it with our prejudiced minds to rank the superior one, we tend to mix it with global culture or cosmopolitan culture and make a mess of it. Culture is close to every ones heart, it is next to our mother tongue in terms of emotional volatility. It makes you wonder why something as cultural and archaic as Jallikattu caught the imagination of the city bred globally connected college students. To understand this we need to delve deeply into the cultural landscape of India. Our Nation is a melting pot of different cultures where the kaleidoscope of myriad cultures in each and every state runs deeply and subconsciously in a student’s mind even though he might be studying in an uber prime campus in a metro city. Every state in India has its own culture and traditions which is deeply connected to the very identity of its people. This might not be out rightly visible among students studying in a prime campus in the city but it is very much dormant in their hearts and minds.

A recent example is a vernacular movie which became a mega hit especially among college students which was nothing but the same old cliché of a love story but told very much in the local cultural context of that state and it was still made trendy and cool. When the director of that movie was asked to remake it in other languages he flatly refused saying that this movie is so much intertwined to the local cultural flavors of that state that it is almost impossible to redo it in another language.

Culture connects to the heart and it is the easiest way to reach a person and in missions we tend to minimize it or even go to the extent of completely neglecting it. We bring in western ideas and methods which was successful in their context and blindly ape it out here with little or no success. We even consider culture as evil believing that it needs to be “Christianized”. Even after 2000 years of our existence here, one stigma that has vehemently refused to go away is the tag of Christianity being a western religion even though it originated in the East founded by a man of middle - eastern origin. Are we truly connecting to the cultural ethos of the people to whom we are ministering or are we trying to take them away from their culture? Are our methods and message culturally and contextually relevant to the students whom we are ministering? Off course there are many things in our culture which have pagan or heathen origin which we need to be careful with but there are also many things in our culture which are unique, appreciable and can be adopted. After having the privilege of working in three different cultures as a cross cultural person few things I have learned is observe keenly, learn as much you can, adopt the good side of it and appreciate the local culture as that connects the fastest to the heart of any individual if you are trying to reach them.

Disciple Making- the Invisible and Immeasurable impact

2017-02-11T00:47:00.004+05:30

Making disciples of Jesus among college students is exciting, to see young lives being transformed, to see them grow and mature, to watch them walking with Jesus and start fishing for men, there is nothing more exhilarating than that. But the sad part is that it is short lived, we get them for a short period of three to four years and they graduate and move on, sometimes staying connected but often clueless on how to plug back in. Then we start all over again with new students, the whole process of evangelism and discipleship and repeat that cycle, often wondering are we making an impact, is it really worth it?

It was few years ago I met this man in an unexpected way and as he introduced himself to me he said that he was looking for a staff who had discipled him as a student. That particular staff had left the movement and moved on to another city and had gone on to become a pastor by then. But I was keen to hear more about his story so I probed further. He said that he was a notorious student in one of the campuses in that city involved with a gang who were into drugs and alcohol, they used to idle away their time in a nearby park and this particular staff used to visit that spot and talk to these guys about finding meaning and purpose for life. He said to me, “we used to make fun of him so badly and kept pulling his leg, but that didn’t deter him, he kept coming back every week and met us. His persistence really struck me and I was wondering, this guy is either shameless or there is something else in him”. So the next week few of us wanted to find out, we went to him and asked him this same question, “don’t you have any shame, are you so thick skinned that you keep coming to us in spite of all that mockery and ridicule that we are heaping on you?” He smiled at us and I can never forget that smile, then he gently said, “Jesus loves you so much that he gave his life for you and I love you with that same love and I don’t want you to destroy your lives”. That day with tears streaming down my eyes I prayed and invited this Jesus into my life along with two of my gang members”.

He continued sharing to me, “then we started meeting every week in that same park, we learned almost every basic truth of Christian life from him, he taught us how to do evangelism and discipleship from his life. I can never forget the next two years of college life, it was truly exciting and looking back I dread to think of what would have happened to my life if God hadn’t brought this man of God into our lives and if he was not persistent with us in that manner. Today I am leading a ministry in a foreign country where Christianity is severely persecuted and many people are coming to know Jesus there”. As I heard him share this story, I felt goosebumps all over my body, I couldn’t hold back my tears, I was praising God in my heart, telling myself, yes, yes! it makes all the sense in the world, even though the discipler had no clue about the manifold fruits of his labour in the Lord nevertheless the impact was tremendous. It is not easy to measure or gauge this impact, it is not visible or immediate but it is never in vain. As apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain”.

Recently I received a surprise call from one of the guys whom God had allowed me to disciple while he was a student and he told me something that deeply encouraged my heart, he said, “thank you so much brother for walking with me and helping me draw close to Jesus and His word, if you had not invested those times, teaching the word and praying into my life, I don’t know what I would have become today”. He is now a lecturer in a prime college and I was so overjoyed to hear that he is discipling 5-6 of his students every year. I know many of us have stories like this to share of life change and impact and that really adds passion and fire into what we are called to do – to make disciples.

I will never forget these words, it was in the initial years of my ministry, it was from one student with whom I thought I did a pretty decent job of discipling. He told me after he graduated, “brother it was a great time hanging around with you, you “used me” for your ministry and “I used you” to grow and develop myself” I was shell shocked, his words kept ringing in my ears for a long time and I learned something very important that day, that is as we make disciples the key is to remind ourselves that the objective of why we are doing what we are doing is to help our disciples to become Christ-like, to be spiritually mature believers who will bear fruit. “They are not mere numbers to be added into our reports or goals, they are not objects to be used in our programs and strategies, neither are they heads to be counted for the donors to send in the money but they are people whom God loves dearly and in whom He is at work so that they grow to the stature of His son Jesus Christ.

We are motivated by just one thing - "Love" it is the love of Christ that compels us. Real discipleship is painstaking we need to be like a nursing mother and a doting father as Apostle Paul reminds the Church in Thessalonica (1Thess 1:7-11). We are commanded by the Lord Jesus Himself in Mathew 28:20 to “teach them to obey all that I have commanded you” which is often neglected in disciple making instead it is mostly filled with activities and programs that do not result in life change. As Apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”.

How can a young man keep his ways pure?

2017-02-01T11:02:00.002+05:30

Recently one young man with whom I am on a spiritual Journey asked me, “bro, tell me how can I live a holy life, how can I stay pure?” This is probably the most pertinent question that has been troubling young men who long to live a life pleasing to the lord. In the longest Psalm that King David wrote; Psalm 119 verse 9, he raises this same profound question and then he goes on to answer it by making it look so simple, “by keeping it according to your word”. One starts wondering, what! Is that so easy? I have been trying my best, but somehow missing the mark, I can’t figure out where exactly I am going wrong. How on earth can I keep all of God’s words and be pure?

Every young believer, whom I have come across, genuinely desires to live a life that is holy and pure, the intentions are all there and it is good but most of them fail miserably, it is a struggle for many- falling, failing and scrambling to stand up somehow and moving forward. Well that might be the summary of most of our lives right? But is that what we were meant for, when Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that you might have it abundantly” (John 10:10b) Most youngsters wonder, is that ‘abundant, overflowing, adventurous’ life that Jesus is offering a mirage or an unrealistic distant dream. What exactly did He mean by abundant life? Well before we answer that let us look at what keeps us bogged down? What are somethings which are seriously hindering our desire to live pure lives?

In the book of Hebrews chapter 12 verse one; the writer talks about running the race that is set before each of us, by laying aside every encumbrance and the sin which so “easily entangles”. We are called to throw away every hindrance and the sin that clings to us. For any young man living in such a time as this where you are permeated with sex, immorality and every conceivable sin just at the swipe of your finger, the question assumes utmost significance. Even though ‘the Sin that so easily entangles’ here refers mainly to the ‘sin of unbelief’, I am using this in a general sense of any sin that so easily entangles our feet and trips us down which is all around us and young men need to beware and be on the alert always.

Sins that easily entangles a young man:

v Pornography – young or old, no man can claim total immunity from this vicious sin. We are living in a sexually explicit world where even the advertisements for biscuits are not spared from sexual innuendos. It is lurking around the corner waiting to pop up on our mobiles, iPad’s and desktops. It comes in, dressed up most of the time as innocuous looking websites that suddenly changes dress and drags the unsuspecting prey into its vicious grip and makes him a slave. It usually starts as soft porn where I have often heard youngsters say, it is okay, it is not explicit and it is just bawdy and funny. Many of them who started there have graduated to the explicit X-rated ones in no time. With all the protection software’s and firewalls installed, still this plague can creep into our systems and trap us if we are lax even for a second. When seasoned pastors and Christian leaders are falling prey to this cancerous disease it is difficult to expect a young energetic man to stay safe playing with this fire.

Research have proven that a single pornographic image can remain in our minds for many years and watching porn can seriously affect our brain, our sexuality and our spiritual life. The addictive nature of pornography is proven beyond dispute. Just as a drug user must consume greater and more powerful quantities of drugs to achieve the same “high,” pornography drags a person deeper and deeper into hard-core sexual addictions and ungodly desires. Perhaps more than anything else, Satan has succeeded in twisting and perverting sex. He has taken what is God intended, good and right (loving sex between a husband and wife) and replaced it with lust, pornography and adultery. Pornography can be the first step on a very slippery slope of ever-increasing sexual immorality. It perverts our understanding of Sex and distorts the image of women, who is created in the image of God to a mere sexual object to satisfy our lust.

For those young believers who are trapped in this poisonous web there is an escape, there is victory for them in Jesus. He has already won it for us on the cross, we need only to appropriate it. All you need to do is Reboot, Renew and Rewire.

§ Reboot – Acknowledge that you have a problem with pornography and that you are living a life of sin and lies. Confess your sins to God (1John 1:9) Repent – take a u turn and don’t go back that way again. Jesus has paid with His death on the cross for all your sins.

§ Renew – ask God to cleanse, renew and transform your mind (Romans 12:2) Guard and check your thoughts (Philippians 4:8) Surrender wholly to the power of the Holy Spirit to Guide you. (Ephesians 5:18)

§ Rewire – Stay away from sites and circumstances that tempt you, limit your time on net, gadgets or books that leads you to that road. Install protection software’s on your systems that will block and keep off unwanted sites. Most importantly have a friend whom you trust to hold you accountable and pray for you.

v Masturbation – An oft repeated question that I hear from some of the young men I mentor is, “brother, is masturbation a Sin? What does the Bible say about it?” Well, it is sort of a tricky question, as Bible does not explicitly mention about masturbation or whether it is a sin or not? But while the bible does not state anything explicitly on this, there is no doubt about the fact that, the thoughts and actions leading to masturbation is sinful. It is proven beyond doubt that the very act of masturbation is the result of lustful thoughts, sexual fantasies or stimulus from pornographic images which are outright sinful. It emanates from a very selfish, lustful desire to satisfy oneself outside the God intended way of sex between a husband and wife in marriage. So will you still hesitate to call that a sin?

This is one topic that has remained taboo in Christian circles, many Christians recoil from discussing and dealing with it and sadly youngsters go to the so called worldly experts or friends to clear their doubts and land up with wrong conclusions. I have seen many youngsters living in years of shame and guilt, tormented that they cannot open it up with a believer fearing condemnation or being judged.

As it is said, “you sow a thought - you reap and action; sow an action – reap a habit and sow a habit – reap a character”. It all begins when a little seed of a lustful thought germinates into an action which blooms into a habit. As Proverbs 4:23 says, “above all else guard your hearts with all diligence for from it flows the springs of life” again in Mathew 15:19 we are reminded, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander”. We need to guard our thoughts and make it pass through the filter of Philippians 4:8, whether it is true, noble, right, pure, lovely or excellent.

Further, we need to remember that our bodies have been redeemed and they belong to God. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body” (I Corinthians 6:19-20). So does the act of masturbation honour's God with your bodies? You would definitely agree that it dishonours God in a big way. Then why continue to live that lie which only leads to guilt, shame and mental agony, the sooner you get out of it, the safer you are from mental, spiritual and physical repercussions. Anyone who is addicted to pornography and the resultant act of masturbation is sure to face long term adverse effects on his sexuality, marriage and thought process which will seriously affect his future.

v Sexual Promiscuity - or sexual immorality is any type of sexual relationships or sexual expressions outside the boundaries of a biblically defined marriage relationship. It is primarily used of pre-marital sexual relationship. This is so pervasive in our society today that it is not just the youngsters who are falling prey to it, it has not spared the Christian leaders too.

A recent news item in one of the Christian news magazine was only pointing to this trend when it reported about a senior pastor in Florida, USA, who recently authored a book focused on issues of “godly manhood”, was sent running naked for his life after one of his parishioners found him in bed with his wife and later he had the shameless audacity to say that he will not resign as God has already forgiven him. If that is the case with the so called Christian leaders then it is no surprise to find youngsters as sitting ducks to this evil that so easily entangles.

Sexual promiscuity is rampant among the present day youngsters in high schools and colleges and many young believers are increasingly falling prey to this evil. It usually starts with a casual love affair, terribly inspired by our own Bollywood, kollywood or whatever desi-wood that might be and as they progress, all boundaries are thrown in the wind and they end up in some kind of sexual activity which they call experimenting or a casual fling. It is alarming to hear from increasing number of young believers that they have already experienced some kind of sexual activity before marriage and have involved in promiscuous sex. Very often the excuses are, we love each other, we are planning to marry, times have changed, we need to know if we are compatible before we marry, God understands, I have confessed it etc.

In 1 Corinthians 6:18 we are commanded, “to flee from sexual immorality, all other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body”. God abhors sexual immorality and the Bible is full of constant warnings against this one sin. It is compared to idolatry, the bodies of believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Pagan idolatry very often involved sexually immoral practices and when a believer is involved in sexual immorality he is doing the very same thing with his body (the temple of God) which is detestable to God. God commands us to be Holy because He is holy (1Peter 1:16) and to “be holy” simply means to “be set apart” set apart from sin, set apart for God’s purposes. We are vessels set apart by God for special purposes, made holy, useful to our master. (2 Tim 2:20-23)

Sexuality is Gods sacred gift to mankind and it is to be enjoyed in the covenant relationship of marriage between one man and one women. Abuse of this gift in any way outside of marriage is sin and God takes that seriously. Young men, it is really dangerous for you to abuse this gift and if you seriously love someone you would genuinely respect that person and protect her integrity and wait patiently till marriage. Remember the words of the wise man in Proverbs 6:27, “can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned.” Let me conclude with the words of King David in Psalm 119 verse 11, “I have hidden your words in my heart that I might not sin against you”