Serving God's Purposes in Our Generation (Acts 13:36b)

Dreams And Thoughts

A manifesto of hope, freedom, salvation;1 a place where the kingdom of God is made real and alive;2 a deliverance from bondage and oppression;3 the invocation of a life better than the one that is lived;4 the glorious advent of missional Christ-followers making a difference.5 What would the world look like if we brought Christ, the pure and undefiled Savior and Lord, to infect and transform our realities;6 where our thoughts, words, actions, and lifestyle presented Christ? I dream of a better day when God will deliver us from our consumerism, our love for self, and our drive to distance…

Artificial Life As A Mark Of The Bankruptcy Of Our Civilisation's Moral Values

I see a report that researchers from the USA have claimed that artificial life could be "created within five to ten years". With two billion people (a third of humanity) living on less than $2.50 a day - and a half of that on less than $1.25 a day! - it is clear that our political, economic and social systems refuse to deal with the most basic problems of the real lives that we already have. And we want to create artificial life? Why? To ensure that we condemn these artificial lives to even worse conditions? Or to condemn existing…

Above All – You Thought Of Me

Above All Powers, Above All Kings - Above All Nature And All Created Things - Above All Wisdom And All The Ways Of Man - You Were Here Before The World Began - Above All Kingdoms, Above All Thrones - Above All Wonders The World Has Ever Known - Above All Wealth And Treasures Of The Earth - There's No Way To Measure What You're Worth

 

Women – Earliest Witnesses of Jesus' Resurrection

Even today, women through their deep devotion encounter the living Jesus in our midst (while we are busy with committee meetings, church politics and church administration). The role of women in the different ministries of the church is crucial - they teach our children at the Sunday school, they are involved in outreach ministries, they raise funds for Church projects, they enhance the aesthetics of our worship halls, they sing in the choir, and they participate in cottage prayer meetings, bible studies, mid-week meetings etc - yet they go ‘unnoticed' and ‘unrecognized'. In fact, there's a whole list of things that women do in our churches that is taken for granted. Ironically, it is through their seemingly ‘lowly' ministries and yet faithful service in our churches that they encounter the living Jesus present in our midst. The risen Jesus continues to honor their faith and women encounter him. Women continue to follow Jesus and remain faithful to him, despite their ‘invisibility' within church structures. Not surprisingly, women are greatly used by God to undergird the church's life and mission.

I am 25!

1. tuesday was my not very anticipated birthday. woke up to breakfast in bed courtesy of niki and mom, and went out to dinner with mom, niki, anisha and nitisha. after dinner, the girls slept over and we stayed up talking until 6am. had a heart to heart with niki which was good. in addition, it was probably the first time nitisha and i sat down and had a conversation. anisha and i had fun like always. i woke up with her sleeping next to me on my single bed. 2. i don't feel 25, i don't act 25, and…

Sexting – Teen Fad Creating Legal Risks

A new fad now among teens is taking naked pictures of themselves on cell phones and sending it to their friends. Now popularly called “sexting”, is getting very popular with teens everywhere. Texting which was generally popular among young people, now seems to have evolved into its next phase. See reports on sexting in NYT, AP, USTODAY and KXLY.According to a recent study, 20% of teens aged 13 to 19 have taken nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves and sent them to someone or posted them online. Most send these gifts to their boyfriend or girlfriend (69%) or…

What is Easter Sunday?

THERE is a lot of confusion regarding what Easter Sunday is all about. For some, Easter Sunday is about the Easter Bunny, colorfully decorated Easter eggs, and Easter egg hunts. Most people understand that Easter Sundayhas something to do with the resurrection of Jesus, but are confused as to how the resurrection is related to the Easter eggs and the Easter bunny.   Biblically speaking, there is absolutely no connection between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the common modern traditions related to Easter Sunday. Essentially, what occurred is that in order to make Christianity more attractive to non-Christians, the…

What Is Good About ‘Good Friday’?

GOOD Friday is the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It is celebrated traditionally as the day on which Jesus was crucified. Assuming that Jesus was crucified and died on a Friday, should Christians remember Jesus’ death by celebrating Good Friday?   The Bible does not instruct Christians to remember Christ’s death by honoring a certain day. The Bible does give us freedom in these matters, however. Romans 14:5 tells us, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”   Rather than remembering Christ's…

Good Friday

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) A story is told about Sin and Death. On the Friday night after Jesus was crucified, Sin came running into the garden where the body of Jesus had been laid in the tomb. Sin cried out, "Death, do you really have Him?" Death called back from within the tomb, "Yes, Sin, I really have Him. I've got my hand on Him. My shroud is around His body." Sin left. On Saturday night,…

Do We Have A Global Failure of Leadership? No . . .

Discussing this matter with a friend earlier today, we concluded that what we are confronted with is not a failure of leadership, rather the exploitation of leadership for personal gain. A phenomenon that has always been well known in so-called "developing countries" (which I like to call "ever-developing countries" or "non-developing countries"). This phenomenon has now moved to the West because of the decline of the influence of Jesus the Lord in the West. As a consequence, we are now confronted not merely with many "non-developing countries" but even with a whole "regressing world."Prabhu Guptara

Slumdog Pissed

so I'm having this battle...on one hand, with society, and on the other,with myself. i just finished watching slumdog millionaire for the second time with my mom. each time i watch that movie, i get emotional, and if you know me, this doesn't generally happen. but it's not because the movie is great that i get emotional. the tears come when i think of those kids and the time i spent in mumbai and coming to terms with the reality that is their lives and how hopeless it is (from a natural point of view...of course i honestly believe that…

Don't Settle for Less

Keep on progressing. Don't go back to the old way and mediocre things. Don't think that things cannot get better. Don't accept average as normal. Don't settle for less than best. "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize…

Heart Prison

To those who are brokenhearted, forlorn, lonely, and forsaken, God gives love, forgiveness and hope. He loves you as though there was no one else in the whole world. If you were the only one who ever lived, he would have loved you the same way, he loves you now.To those who are hardhearted and hard headed, God says he is gentle and humble in heart. He can soften your heart and free you from the constraints of your own prison. You can't forgive your brother, well God gives you the resources to forgive your brother from your heart To…

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant – Jesus Christ

Isaiah 52:13 See, my servant will act wisely [b] ;        he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.  14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him [c]—       his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man        and his form marred beyond human likeness—  15 so will he sprinkle many nations, [d]        and kings will shut their mouths because of him.        For what they were not told, they will see,        and what they have not heard, they will understand. Isaiah 53 1 Who has believed our message        and to whom…

Draw Near To God!

April 07, 2009 | 04:11:21 April 7: For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? Deuteronomy 4:7.   Israel has a remarkable status among all the nations of the earth – in that it is chosen by God to be His own. In these days, God has accorded that status to all those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ. James 4:8 says: ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.’ He is near to those…

Freedom from Your Heart Prison

What does it take for you to be freed from the prison of the heart? Only God has the key. Why? Because by virtue of being God, God knows all that is in your heart. You can’t hide anything from him--your grief or your evil. He knows everything. You can't escape from him. He knows you. He cares for you.Also, out the heart comes your evil thoughts but only the pure in heart are blessed. Only the pure in heart are fortunate. Only the pure in heart can see God, that for which your heart longs.Next, loving God takes your…

3000 Days

This April marks the completion of eight years working the soil here, just north of Boston. As I often say, you could call it five, because the first three were a confused muddling as we (me mostly) circled around for a while until finally orienting ourselves to a clear future as a Gospel-centered and missional community. Plus, we began public worship services way too early. Nevertheless, nearly 3000 days have passed since Seven Mile Road was birthed. It’s been a long, joyful, tough, rewarding, frustrating, life-giving, like-taking, glorious run. Whenever I meet folks who are new, I inevitably inform them…

John 10:29-31

Jesus said, "Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and the Message will lose out. They'll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many who are first will end up last, and the last first." Benita Joy

My Crazzzy Brand of Music

I was jamming out some crazzy, rockin' P.O.D riffs on the old Ibanez. They didn't like it and asked to just put it off! Everyone is a critic! It was crazzy. They got all up in my grill. I was scared! I saw my whole life flash before my eyes! I'm sure Jesus would have appreciated it!"The LORD will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple of the LORD."(Isaiah 38:20) Mr. Bilson

Churches Worldwide Under Attack

Churches worldwide under attack, says Open Doors WHILE people across America were horrified by the recent shooting death of a pastor in the US, many Christians in the West don’t realize that deadly violence against believers  in many countries around the world occurs on a daily basis, according to Open Doors USA. For instance, on the same day Rev. Fred Winters, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Maryville, was killed, a man exploded a crude bomb in a church and shot the pastor in a village in Bihar, India. Inspector of police Hari Krishna Mandal told Compass Direct…