People often wed while they are in the honeymoon stage of their relationship, thus they have never worked through the grid of their relationship when all those euphoric feelings are missing. Also, most men are clueless in regards to the state of their relationship with their spouse. A few years after I was married, someone once asked me how my marriage was and I said great, not knowing that my marriage was in trouble because my wife was feeling alienated from me emotionally. If leaders would just learn to properly prioritize their marriage and family, focusing properly on what matters most, then all the other things they desire for significance will manifest in their proper time!
Category: Articles
Vision Management Class: An Interview With A Visionary Leader
I had the privilege of interviewing a visionary leader Pastor Pritam Singh. I was always amazed at the dedication and diligence he displayed when overcoming obstacles, finishing tasks, and seeing his dreams become a reality. When I look at this man, there really is nothing else that beats in his heart. He honestly lives out the Great Commission, and believes what the Bible says. He honors his God as he pastors, as he fathers, as he is an awesome husband, as an amazing friend, and as a exemplary visionary. This man speaks what he lives and I appreciate that so much about him. I have been touched by his dedication to ministry and to fulfilling the call of God on his life. God's Perfect Plan For Those Who Have Failed
There are many brothers and sisters who feel that because they have sinned and failed God at some time in their past lives, therefore they cannot fulfill God's perfect plan for their lives now. Let us look at what the Scriptures has to say on this matter, and not lean on our own understanding or our sense of logic. Whatever your blunders or failures, you can make a new beginning with God. And even if you have made a thousand new beginnings in the past and have come to failure, you can still make the 1001st new beginning today. God can still make something glorious out of your life. While there is life, there is hope. All people - young and old - can have hope, no matter how much they may have failed in the past, if only they will acknowledge their failures, be humble and trust God.
Model Women versus Women Model
Phrases like "Men don't make passes at women who wear glasses" or
"Gentlemen prefer blonds" may not be very popular here in India but the
idea they represent is definitely prevalent. Men endorse near perfect
beauties as the ideal image for women when they talk about serials such
as "Bay Watch" and "Xena". No woman can compare and should be compared with these phoney images of
women. However it is not only an outward image that is projected, there
is also an attitude that is propagated along with it. Young girls are
under tremendous pressure not only to look in a certain manner, in
terms of their physical make up, and wear a certain type of clothing so
that they are in the "IN crowd", but also to behave in a certain manner
in order to stay in that elitist circle.An Excellent Example For All Young People To Follow
Daniel never knew, when he started out being faithful as a young man (probably around 17 years old), what a tremendous ministry he was going to have. He just remained faithful to God in little things and big, and God accomplished a great ministry through him. Daniel's life was a testimony to the people of Medo-Persia concerning the true God. God allows trials to come to us too, in order to manifest our testimony to others. When we endure in persecution and love our persecutors, others will see Christ in us. And if we have to lay down our lives for the gospel one day, let us lay it down with our heads lifted up and a spirit of praise in our hearts to the Lord because we know that our God is on the throne. Rousing The Warriors: Kingdom Advancers – Commissioned!
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Pray For Pakistan – Prayer Can Do What Man Cannot Even Imagine.
In recent months there has been a lot of political, religious and now the killing assassination of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. As we reflect upon this Psalm and think about the current situation, our hearts are filled with pain to hear about problems described as “Chaos” by news headlines. Please pray for Pakistan, that God may bring peace and stability in the country. Also pray for political and religious leaders that they would fear God and make wise decisions. Please pray for the Church, leaders and believers that God will protect them and use them to share God’s love to many people. May the Lord grant His special grace to the church to continue in firm confidence in God and to rely on His presence, through His Son Jesus Christ, who came to this earth, as “God with us.” You Guys Are Going To Do What? Plant A Church? What’s That About?
I don’t know if I want to plant a church that becomes the home for restless Indian Christians who are looking to hang out with more Indians. I don’t know if I want to pastor a bunch of disgruntled Indians who are mad at the churches they grew up in and will come to this church expecting it to be the solution. I don’t know if I want to lead a group of churched people who have preconceived ideas about how to do church and opinions about everything. Man, I can get excited about planting a church to reach people who don’t know Jesus. But I don’t know if I want Christians . . . So then, we are planting this church to reach second generation Indians, anyone who doesn’t know Jesus that God gives us access to and churched people who are coming along in their understanding of the Gospel. Diwali Or Deepavali. . . A 'Festival Of Lights' . . . Triumphant Victory Of Good Over Evil
Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is a 'festival of lights' celebrated especially by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. This festival is spread over three to four days and is one of the most anticipated times of celebration. Homes are lit with hundreds of deeya (clay oil lamps) during the season, to signify victory of good over evil. The day of Diwali is the highlight of this celebratory mood. Families get together to start the day with oil baths, then exchange gifts and sweets, followed by the most exciting event of the year - family fire works. Fireworks begin before the crack of dawn and go well into the day. No amount of description is sufficient to capture all the excitement and celebrations associated with the Diwali festival. You have to be there to experience it. The Impact Of One Life Surrendered for God's Purposes
Right from my student days, by God's grace, I have been involved in the ministry. I learnt the basic lessons about evangelism and those days there was a lot of emphasis on personal evangelism and evangelism through small group Bible studies, retreats and evangelistic camps. I learned over the years the art of studying the Bible and preaching the Word as well as the Gospel. I learned by observing others and over the years the Lord showed me clearly that He has gifted me in the areas of evangelism, preaching the Word, knowledge, and leadership and has been giving me opportunities to exercise these gifts in different contexts and different ways. I have also had the joy of seeing a lot of results in universities, colleges and among professionals - engineers, doctors, teachers, judicial and legal people, government officials, etc.Being Good Christian Citizens and Facing the Contemporary Social Challenges
Often it appears that we are Christian in confession (profession and preaching) and Hindu in conduct (practice) – there seems to be a chronic belief-behaviour or preaching-practice inconsistency and the gap seems unbridgeable. It is disgraceful and painful. No wonder Mahatma Gandhi challenged the Indian Christians by saying, ‘show me one true Christian and I assure you that whole of India will become Christian’. There is certainly exaggeration in this, but there is also a great deal of truth. . . . Beware: Dangerous Christianity Ahead
Do not let yourself be deceived by Dangerous Christianity. Arise, what we need today is a Biblical Christianity! Biblical Christianity offers God’s love with holiness, blessings with obedience, forgiveness with repentance, heavenly joy with godly sorrow, crown with cross, peace with righteousness and grace with godliness. It teaches faith in Jesus with fear of God, immersion of water along with diversion from sin, believing in Christ with transformation of life and following Christ by dying to self. It presents the narrow way Jesus taught. It teaches to fight a good fight of faith, take up one’s cross, deny self, endure suffering, renounce the world, hunger for righteousness, make every effort to live at peace with others, witness Christ to the lost and share generously with the poor and needy. Noah As An Example Of A Model Leader
In the progressive church, leadership means having to successfully deal with many different kinds of leaders in our church in order to fulfill our vision. Truly, learning how to release different kinds of people is the key to releasing your vision. Noah is symbolically a great model for this kind of leadership because he had to navigate a ship that had animals together as diverse as a lion and a sheep. Today’s progressive apostolic leader must learn how to shepherd emerging political, financial, and church leadership all in one ship.Interview: Life Transforming Story of Asgar Ali
Asgar Ali is the second of the three sons born to Ali Zan in Uttar Pradesh, India. Asgar was sent to a madrassa like any other Muslim children for education. Asgar completed his tenth standard and began to work in a factory. At this time Asgar had peace-less and sleepless nights. Asgar became weary of the restlessness. There he began a journey to the source of true peace with many thorny and bumpy roads. Asgar, now a Christian apologist on Islam, shares his life transforming story with Jerry Thomas.Forget Sex Appeal. Let Me Introduce Feminine-Appeal!
Forget sex appeal. Let me introduce feminine-appeal. Feminine-appeal in my definition is not conforming to the ways of the world, but knowing and appreciating how God designed you as a woman and walking up to that noble calling of being a real woman! When a girl knows that, she walks with confidence. God cares about how we live our lives. We are to be ladies worthy of respect, honor and grace. We have a specific and valuable purpose that God gave us. May your eyes be opened with realization from God of that fulfilling power of femininity! Modesty in appearance and behavior allows us to become our full potential. Therefore, modesty should be embraced. Jesus Among Other Gods
The uniqueness of the Christian religion is due to the uniqueness of its central figure. Many in the West, influenced by Eastern thinking, are predisposed to think of Jesus Christ as one among the great religious leaders of the world — peer of Mohammed, Buddha, Gaia, and so on. They prefer to see Him as merely a god among gods. But the man of Galilee rises inexorably above the definitions of philosophers and pundits, and He will not, by any definition, fit such a simple and convenient mold. Jesus Christ is, without peer, the central figure of Western history. No other person, real or imagined, has made such a profound and enduring impact on civilization for such a period of time. Ten Reasons Masturbation is Destructive
There is much confusion regarding what the Bible says about masturbation. Because the Bible says little or nothing on the subject directly, many ministers teach young people that masturbation is acceptable because it relieves sexual passions without engaging in a sexual act with another person. As a pastor for more than two decades, I have counseled many men in this area and have observed how this activity causes serious problems in regards to their internal walk with the Lord and their spouse. Masturbation is both unbiblical and harmful. The following ten points should bring clarity. Jesus Transformed My life
Our family was not very religious and I did not know what it was to grow in a godly family. Our religious background was basically Roman Catholicism, however, my family believed in polytheism and therefore all of us were idolaters. I still remember how as a child I used to go with my family to various religious places of different religions. We worshipped anything or anyone the crowd followed. My elder brother, in his teens, happened to become a devotee of one of the admired gods of India, ‘Shirdi Sai Baba.’ Not only did he lead others to become the followers of Baba, in the year 1990, he also won me over to become Baba’s follower. I became an ardent worshipper of Baba and followed various rituals. To me all religions were various roads to God . . . Embracing Discipleship
In our day and age with a fast-paced culture of busy…busy…busy, virtualised community with cellphones and texting, and an internet generation of bloggers and myspaces, we don’t completely understand what it means to become disciples. Disciples in that day age meant ‘pupil of a teacher’ . . . . Many times we want Christ to be our Savior but not our Lord. We want
citizenship in heaven, without becoming Christ’s love-slave on earth.
We desire freedom in Christ, without accepting the cross-lifestyle. If
we truly desire to become followers of Christ, we must first become
disciples and embrace kingdom discipleship.God Needs Men Today
God's work in the world suffers today, because such men are few in number. Determine with all your heart that you will be such a man for God, in the midst of a sinful and adulterous generation and a compromising Christendom. Since there is no partiality with God, it is possible for you too to be such a man, provided you yourself earnestly desire to be one. Since God demands commitment and obedience only in the conscious area of one's life, it is possible for you to be such a man, even though the conscious area of your life may be limited. That area will keep increasing as you walk in the light and press on to perfection. There is no excuse then why you cannot be such a man. Cry out to God daily then, that He will give you grace to be such a man in these closing days of the age.