A prayer wall

At the church we attended today, we saw a prayer wall. People can stick their prayer requests here, or simply if you have none, you could go there and pray for some of the requests. The prayer needs range from personal to family to social issues. 

"My marriage will fall apart but for you"

"I have depression. Help me God."

"My children have cancer. Help relieve the pain."

"My grandchild to be born healthy."

"For the spirit of unity in my family."

What an amazing way to be together in one spirit. A prayer wall!

Two Great days

William Barclay once said - "there are two important days in a person's life. The day he was born. And the day he discovers why."

Whatsapp apology

അടുത്തയിടെ, എന്റെ ഇടവകയിലെ whatsapp ഗ്രൂപ്പില്‍ ഒരു മെമ്പര്‍ ഒരു തെറ്റായ വാര്‍ത്ത പ്രചരിപ്പിച്ചു. ആ മെസ്സേജ് തെറ്റാണെന്ന്  ഞാന്‍ ചൂണ്ടിക്കാണിച്ചു. എന്നാല്‍, ആ മെമ്പര്‍ വളരെ വിനീതനായി, താന്‍ പോസ്റ്റ്‌ ചെയ്ത മെസ്സേജ് തെറ്റാണെന്ന് സമ്മതിക്കുകയും ഗ്രൂപിലെ മറ്റു അംഗങ്ങളോട് ക്ഷമാപണം ചോദിക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു.

whatsapp-ലെ തെറ്റായ മെസ്സേജ് പോസ്റ്റ്‌ ചെയ്യുന്ന ആളുകള്‍ ക്ഷമ ചോദിക്കണമോ?

ഒബാമ മുസ്ലീമാണെന്ന് പറയുന്നവരും, പോപ്‌ അന്തിക്രിസ്തുവാണെന്ന് പറഞ്ഞു പരത്തുന്നവരും, ലോകം സെപ്റ്റംബര്‍-ല്‍ അവസാനിക്കുമെന്ന് പറഞ്ഞവരും, അവരുടെ പാസ്ടര്‍മാരും തങ്ങള്‍ പറഞ്ഞ നുണകള്‍ക്ക് ക്ഷമ ചോദിക്കേണ്ടതുണ്ടോ?

അമിത വിശ്വാസിയല്ലാത്ത ആ മെമ്പറിനെ പോലെ ആകുവാന്‍ നമ്മുക്ക് ശ്രമിക്കാം. നമ്മുടെ വാക്കുകള്‍ക്കു വിലയുണ്ടെന്ന് മനസിലാക്കാം.

Spiritual pride

എന്റെ ഒരു സുഹൃത്ത് പെന്തെകോസ്റ്റ് വിശ്വാസിയാണ്. ഒരു ഓണപ്പരിപാടിക്ക് ഞങ്ങള്‍ കണ്ടുമുട്ടിയപ്പോള്‍ സംഭവിച്ച കാര്യം ബഹു രസം തന്നെ. ഞാന്‍ അത് വിവരിക്കാം. ഈ പരിപാടിക്ക് വളരെ അധികം മലയാളികള്‍ വന്നിട്ടുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. അതില്‍ ചിലരെ ചൂണ്ടിക്കാണിച്ചു കൊണ്ട് എന്റെ പെന്തെകോസ്റ്റ് സുഹൃത്ത് എന്റെ ഭാര്യയോടു പറഞ്ഞു – “ഞാന്‍ അവരോടു സംസാരിക്കുവാന്‍ പോകുന്നില്ല. അവരെ കണ്ടാല്‍ തന്നെ അറിയാം അവര്‍ ഓര്‍ത്തഡോക്‍സ്‌-ലെയും കത്തോലിക്കയിലെയും വെള്ളമടിക്കുന്ന ആളുകളാണെന്ന്.” ഇവനെ ഒക്കെ ആത്മീയമായി പഠിപ്പിക്കുന്ന പാസ്ടര്‍മാരെ വേണം ആദ്യമായി ബൈബിള്‍ വായിക്കുവാന്‍ ഒര്പ്പിക്കേണ്ടത്.

ആത്മീയ അഹങ്കാരം നിറഞ്ഞ ഈ സുഹൃത്തിനെ പോലെ ആകുവാന്‍ നാം ശ്രമിക്കരുത്. കര്‍ത്താവിനെ പോലെ ആകുവാന്‍ നമുക്ക് ശ്രമിക്കാം.

The Joy of the Lord - Nehemiah 8

Joy is indispensable to enduring spiritual restoration. Its absence leaves us vulnerable!
Joy is rooted in the knowledge there are no unimportant people in God’s sight! (Isaiah 43:1)
Joy requires ongoing re-instruction. It’s the result of knowing and practicing God’s Word. (John 8:31,32; Romans 12:2)
Every sin we commit is an indicator of a lie we’ve believed.
Joy requires knowing what the Bible means, not just what it says!
Knowing what the Bible means may initially produce sorrow – the necessary forerunner of joy.
Confession without joy can sink into condemnation or confusion. (Job 1:11; Zechariah 3:1; Revelation 12:10)
The joy of the Lord is a God-given sense of well-being rooted in the knowledge God offers the solution to our biggest problem - our sin.
Joy emphasizes our pilgrim status. (Philippians 3:20)
Joy isn’t contrary to repentance; it compliments it.
Joy isn’t an elusive goal; it’s the starting point for restoration.

How my plans turn out...

That which can't be numbered

സങ്കീർത്തനങ്ങൾ 40

5. എന്റെ ദൈവമായ യഹോവേ, നീ ചെയ്ത അത്ഭുതപ്രവൃത്തികളും ഞങ്ങൾക്കു വേണ്ടിയുള്ള നിന്റെ വിചാരങ്ങളും വളരെയാകുന്നു; നിന്നോടു സദൃശൻ ആരുമില്ല; ഞാൻ അവയെ വിവരിച്ചു പ്രസ്താവിക്കുമായിരുന്നു; എന്നാൽ അവ എണ്ണിക്കൂടാതവണ്ണം അധികമാകുന്നു.

5. Many, O Jehovah my God, are the wonderful works which thou hast done, And thy thoughts which are to us-ward; They cannot be set in order unto thee; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered.

12. സംഖ്യയില്ലാത്ത അനർത്ഥങ്ങൾ എന്നെ ചുറ്റിയിരിക്കുന്നു; മേല്പെട്ടു നോക്കുവാൻ കഴിയാതവണ്ണം എന്റെ അകൃത്യങ്ങൾ എന്നെ എത്തിപ്പിടിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു; അവ എന്റെ തലയിലെ രോമങ്ങളിലും അധികം; ഞാൻ ധൈര്യഹീനനായിത്തീർന്നിരിക്കുന്നു.

12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about; Mine iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; And my heart hath failed me.

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In psalms 40 verses 5 and 12, King David mentions two things. It is a psalm written at a time when his test turned into a testimony. And when that happened, he recollects two things that can't be numbered - first, God's mercy on his life ; and second, his own innumerable sins.

If we want to make testimonies out of our tests, like King David, we ought to remember the things that can't be numbered - God's abundant mercy on us and our own innumerable iniquities. 

We cannot understand the glory of God if we don't recognize these two things. His wonderful works, and our countless sins. 

Nice quotes

If you want to go fast, run alone. If you want to go far, run with others – African Proverb

 

The crow is black everywhere – Chinese proverb

 

The infallible test of spiritual integrity and vibrancy, Jesus says, is your private prayer life – Tim Keller

Missions and Masturbation - by Pastor John Piper

Masturbation is the experience of sexual orgasm produced by self-stimulation. Virtually every man and almost as many women have tried it. It is a regular practice of most single men.

An Obstacle to Obedience

One of the major forces preventing young people from obeying the call of God into vocational Christian service is defeat in the area of lust. A teenager hears a challenging call to throw himself into the cause of world evangelization. He feels the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He tastes the thrill of following the King of kings into battle. But he does not obey because he is masturbating regularly. He feels guilty. He can hardly imagine witnessing to a pretty girl about the eternal plight of her soul, because he has so habitually looked at girls naked in his imagination. So he feels unworthy and unable to obey the call of God. Masturbation becomes the enemy of missions.

But Is It Wrong?

Is masturbation wrong? Let me address the issue mainly for men. I cannot imagine sexual orgasm in the loins without sexual image in the mind. I know there are nocturnal emissions, which I regard as innocent and helpful, but I doubt that they are ever orgasmic apart from a sexual dream that supplies the necessary image in the mind. Evidently God has constituted the connection between sexual orgasm and sexual thought in such a way that the force and pleasure of orgasm is dependent on the thought or images in our minds.

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Therefore in order to masturbate, it is necessary to get vivid and exciting thoughts or images into the mind. This can be done by pure imagination or by pictures or movies or stories or real persons. These images always involve women as sexual objects. I use the word “object” because in order for a women to be a true sexual “subject” in our imagination she must in reality be one with whom we are experiencing what we are imagining. This is not the case with masturbation.

So I vote no on masturbation. There may be other reasons why it is wrong. For now I rest my vote on the inevitable sexual images which accompany masturbation and which turn women into sexual objects. The sexual thoughts that enable masturbation do not help any man to treat women with greater respect. Therefore masturbation produces real and legitimate guilt and stands in the way of obedience.

Encouragements for Strugglers

Three encouragements to single men:

1. You are not alone in the battle.
2. Periodic failure in this area no more disqualifies you from ministry than periodic failures of impatience (which is also a sin).
3. Pursue the expulsive power of a new affection. I walked by a whole section of “photography” books at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis last Thursday empowered by the better pleasure of feeling Christ conquer the temptation to look.

The Miraculous and the Mundane - Pastor Rock's Sermon # 3 on Holy Spirit

Acts 8:29 -  And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

The Holy Spirit is the first person on the scene at our conversion but often the last person we come to know and trust (John 16:7-8; Titus 3:5). The Holy Spirit is the catalyst of our conversion. He enables us to believe. He convicts us. He transforms and regenerates our soul. But we often come to understand him much later. Our concepts of the Holy Spirit is quite nebulous. And, we are accustomed to the path of self-reliance.

Unfortunately, many of God's people live as though the Holy Spirit does not exist. We do not listen to him, seek his counsel and live in oblivion of his guidance. Although direct leading of the Holy Spirit are everyday occurrences in God’s kingdom they are not everyday occurrences in any single believer’s life! Your life is not a steady diet of the miraculous. It will be a mix of the miraculous and the mundane (the predictable). There are going to be a certain amount of routine. There are going to be intervals of silence, there will be predictability, there will be difficulties. However, spirit filled believers watch for the miraculous but spend most their time walking in the mundane! And they find God in both. 

For example, exclamations are effective if it occurs sparingly. Otherwise it loses its relevance. It should not happen after each sentence. God does not place an exclamation at each instance in our life. He knows where exclamations need to be placed. Direct leading of the Holy Spirit complement and complete our ongoing application of God’s Word. Day by day we seek to bring our behavior, our thinking in to conformity with the revealed word of God. Every so often he completes and complements it by speaking directly to us in our lives.

The direct leading of the Holy Spirit do a number of things. First of all, they affirm God's active presence in our lives. They remind us that we are not just following a book, although the book is sacred scripture. We have God himself dwelling within us through the Holy Spirit. He is actively involved in our lives. Second, reminds us of our need for total dependence on God. They draw our attention, and other people in our lives. Third, they introduce new understanding and new maturity in our lives.

For example, read about Apostle Philip's life. He was performing great wonders and then the Holy Spirit talks to him and instructs him to walk away from an 'evangelist's dream'. He arrives into the desert and spies a chariot. The holy spirit instructs him to go and walk closer to the chariot. The official is reading the book of Isaiah. Philip instructs him that everything that he reads is fulfilled in the life of Jesus. It was an example of the miraculous interspersing the mundane.

But Philip did not get up every day and ask of God - "what unpredictable destination do you want me to go today?" Most of his days were spent in the midst of doing his usual routine. The miraculous in his life did not replace the mundane, it punctuated it.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our witness. Witness is more than us sharing information; it’s the Spirit influencing hearts  (John 6:44). If we witness without consulting the Spirit we may do more harm than good.

There are three things that hinders the work of the Spirit:
1. A compromise with known sin hinders the work of the Spirit.  (Ephesians 4:29-31) The sin that hinders the Spirit’s working is the sin we refuse to submit to His working.
2. Unbelief hinders the work of the Spirit.
3. Fear hinders the work of the Spirit. The supernatural is difficult for us to manage because we were never intended to manage it! We were intended to have it manage us.

Salvation is the greatest miracle of all. But miracles weren’t meant to stop at salvation! They were intended to punctuate the mundane.
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Pastor talks of his personal experiences and also gives some examples on how well meaning Christian preachers hinder the work of the Holy Spirit through false theology on the Holy Spirit. You can listen to the entire message here: http://media.perpetuatech.com/watch?v=NTIxMjgxRDQ0OQ#

Need-to-Know vs. Need-to-Obey

I'm not on a need-to-know basis with God,

but on a need-to-obey plan.

Fight

Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel - Mark Twain