God has given us inherent natural laws and spiritual laws that we can put into practice to gain mastery over the flesh and to excel and maximize our potential as human beings. Non-believers can also tap into some of these laws and excel in some areas of their lives because of the common grace that God extends to all.
It has been my observation the past ten years that the commitment level of the average Christian in the United States has been on the decline. People seem to get offended much easier, it is harder to get people to sacrifice and volunteer, and people seem to be caught up more in the needs of their own lives than focusing on the Kingdom of God. While church attendance is at an all-time high the moral standards of our culture are progressively getting worse. The following are signs an individual Christian or local church are spiritual wimps. (A “wimp” is a person who lacks the commitment, integrity, or fortitude to live a life in line with biblical standards.)
Many Indians recognize Rabindranath Tagore as the winner of the 1913
Nobel Prize in Literature, and the philosopher who discoursed with
Gandhi, Albert Einstein, W. B. Yeats, and other greats of his day. Many
more Indians are admirers of his poetry and artwork. Throughout
India, students recognize Tagore as the author of India’s national
anthem, Jana Gana Mana. Despite his fame in other arenas,
Tagore’s progressive educational philosophy is largely forgotten today.
The experimental models Tagore pioneered in his schools, Santiniketan
and Sri Niketan, remain mere experiments. His ideals have not found
their way into India’s schools; future generations have returned to
rote-memorization as the predominant learning style. 
The term “emotional intelligence (EI)”, is often used interchangeably with the term “emotional quotient (EQ)”, and became popular after Goleman published his first book called Emotional Intelligence in 1995. In another best-seller, Working With Emotional Intelligence, Goleman pointed out that IQ only accounts for 20 per cent of a person’s success in life; the rest is attributed to other factors, including EQ. EI refers to the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, and for motivating and managing emotions in ourselves, and in our relationships.
MANY PEOPLE WEAR THEIR FAITH LIGHTLY. They may wear their religion loudly, but in their inner lives, they touch God lightly. Or their brushes with the divine are fleeting and superficial, accidental and incidental. Not so the psalmist who declared to God from his inmost being: “My soul clings to you” (Ps. 63:8). This statement is thick with intensity and personal experience. Here there is no light and cursory touching of God. Instead there is an earnest and wholehearted hanging on to God, and it was with soul-felt and soul-led intentionality. Why do some people have this deep and intense experience of wanting to cling to God? There are at least two reasons we should examine.
Our world has been redefined to a faster pace than we thought, especially in the last 5 years. Our world has grown additional tongues, ears and eyes; we call it the virtual world. My mother is still trying to wrap her head around that fact that majority of the ministry work is actually done on the computer. And from the way it seems, the virtual world has taken over a generation itself. From relationships to direct communications, everything seems to be moulded by this world. Now since there are thousands of benefits available, if we are not careful, we may end up becoming slaves to the computer and it in turn affecting our overall job performance, relationships and other activities.
Who am I?, I log-in as a user-name. Key-in protected life-passwords, to prove I am ‘me’. Elsewhere, it is a 4 digit PIN. I enjoy online status. Faceless existence. Multiple Identities. I juggle ‘this-is-how-I-look-now’ profile images . . . . Am I my image? Am I my profile? Am I myself, after my 15 minutes of fame? Is this my alter-ego? Or am I just trying to be me? Can anyone know the real ‘me’? 
With the Internet, pornography is only a click-away and more kids are falling prey to sexual addiction than ever before. Parents are finding it increasingly difficult to shield their children from pornography. The problems of teenage pornography and sexual addictions are real, devastating, and increasing. According to some studies, nine in ten teens have been exposed to pornography. Some of those casual exposures result in deviant sexual behaviors or sexual violence for some, while others are susceptible to sexual addiction or perverted behaviors in the future.
Sadly, where is most of the money going today? Are poor and needy in the priority list of the modern day churches? Sometime back, I did a survey of some churches in my city to rate their overall activity in charity. Do you know what the result was? Not more than 8% of the churches are active in doing service to the poor and the needy. It seems most of the money is going towards buildings, administration and programs, but the poor and needy are greatly neglected by the churches when they should be on their priority list. We need to ask, “Is this pleasing to God for whom the church exists? There is a great necessity to do the former which is our highest priority.
Did you ever think about how the early churches had spent their finance? I wonder how many believers and leaders truly thought about this matter. And if they thought about this issue and know the answer then I wonder how many are serious enough to follow the example of the early church. Incidentally, it is obvious in the early churches of the New Testament that they didn’t practice the concept of tithing, for they were not under the finite system of law but in the infinite freedom of grace. The renowned bible teacher, Ray C. Stedman wrote, “Nowhere in the New Testament do you find tithing taught or laid upon Christians.” Does this mean they didn’t practice giving at all? Certainly not! The fact is that the early church gave more than a tithe. They practiced generous giving, for they were taught to live by grace.
As the tragic events surrounding Michael Jackson’s death on June 25 unfold, we find that it was more related to the tragic events of his life, starting with his childhood. As we look back we can see that many child stars eventually led tragic adult lives and/or had careers that began to go downhill as they grew older. (For example, Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame, the Olsen twins, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan to name a few.) In these instances I blame their parents for pursuing fame and fortune for their children at the expense of their emotional health. Regarding the church, often people launch out into public ministry platforms while they are still emotional infants and not ready for “prime-time.” It is obvious from the recent autopsy report that Michael Jackson died (emotionally) years ago, using drugs to deaden the pain of his miserable existence.
Over the past several days Pastor David Wilkerson’s prophecy regarding a great calamity coming upon the United States (starting in New York City) has been headlined on the Drudge Report and has been read by millions. . . . In summary, it is obvious to all that this nation is in trouble and that God is judging us (including the church) for our greed, and for preaching a gospel that is based more on the satisfaction of self more than crucifying the flesh and abandoning all for the Kingdom of God. This is a season of fasting and praying, but is also a great opportunity for the church to meet the needs of the thousands finding themselves homeless, unemployed, facing foreclosure, and those on Wall Street that are on the verge of losing all of their assets. What a time to stand in the gap as salt and light for our cities, whether they are under God’s judgment or not!
This story is Konjam (little) modern and Konjam (little) traditional. 
It is an irony. The word ‘Satyam’ means truth, but the IT company occupied the front pages of newspapers and prime time of television news channels for ‘asatyam’, which means untruth or false or fraud. The Chief of Satyam, B. Ramalinga Raju confessed that he doctored the balance sheets to a tune of about Rs. 7000 crore to keep his company’s reputation, client attraction and stock rates at the highest level for several years. The country's fourth largest IT Company with 53000 employees - after TCS, Infosys and Wipro and ahead of HCL - was for several years cooking its books by inflating revenues and profits. It was a creative, innovative accounting fraud. This pulled the stock market down and it would affect more in the coming days. 
We await the New Year. We hope for the best for we truly don’t know what it holds for us. Sadly, we are denied that divine privilege and perspective . . . .As humans, we must become better – in our grasp of reality, truth, love, hope, freedom. The Year 2009 seems like the worst of times. The Credit Crunch, Climate change, Job Loss and War are issues that need immediate affirmative action. But then, we must truly become human to give our remedial measures a human touch (identity, responsibility, relationality and destiny).
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."