Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Preach the Vine

A Plea:

With all due respect, I am happy that you are a "grace" preacher, "faith" preacher, "feel-good" preacher, or that you can levitate while preaching. But unless and until the people are connected to the person of Jesus, what they hear are mere "doctrines" that will feed their head and not The Gospel, which will set them FREE - free from condemnation, free from the futile self-effort, free from every imaginable physical or emotional bondage, free to be themselves in Christ Jesus, free to fulfill their destinies in Christ.

The supernatural changes happen as we behold the Son, not the preacher or his/her "10 principles" or the labels. Gospel is a person and His name is Jesus. Eternal life begins right here, right now. Listen to Jesus' definition of eternal life - "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3 NKJV). It is about an intimate walk with God. It is about plugging into The Life, for we can do nothing apart from depending on Him (John 15:5). There is no life for the branch apart from the Vine. Preach the Vine and not how the branch can survive on its own. It can't. Self-effort may appease one's ego, but the branch will soon wither and die. We were created to live from the Tree of Life (Jesus) alone.

Please, bring the Son and His finished work back to the center, for He is the embodiment of grace, faith, love, joy, wisdom, righteousness, healing, prosperity, miracles, deliverance, sanctification, redemption, peace and whatever it is that we are looking for in Him.

Monday, February 22, 2010

One milli ounce of poison

Religion stifles the very life within a person. Religion imposes what it think is right, when we are liberated, in Christ and we have the Spirit (The Teacher) to guide us. Imposition (no matter how subtle its nature is) and condemnation is never from God. It is the hallmark of a religion.

In Jeremiah 31:33-34, we see - "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

I just have this feeling that God is much smarter than all of us put together. He died for a person, He removed the old nature and chose to forget his iniquities. Now it is Him who draws the person to Him. His Spirit convicts him of the peril of not trusting in Him. When yielded, He changes the soul of the person. When the person is connected with the person of Jesus, new life flows from him. It is that intimate walk with Jesus that brings about changes on the outside, not the personalized doctrines.

Is it "rebellion" to speak against the message (not a person or an organization) when it tries to put me under the curse because of the mixture of law and grace (see Gal 3:10)? Look at it this way; if someone harms your family members, would you stand idle "in the name of love"? I would hope not. Yes, you love the invader with your whole heart because Jesus loves him unconditionally and His love is flowing through you, but you will not allow his negative actions to affect you or your loved ones.

Read it in context; legalism is the thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) and I refuse to let that happen to me or my family anymore. All it takes is one milli ounce of poison to spoil a big container of soup. One milli ounce of legalism is more than sufficient to nullify the finished work on the Cross. Paul calls it foolishness when we try to mix God's gift with our weakly little efforts. I would urge you to please read the letter that Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians in five different versions, until the mighty truth sinks in. Ask the Holy Spirit to quicken you with the revelation of the finished work on the Cross.

The Church That Christ Built

The Church That Christ Built
by Darin Hufford - The Free Believers Network

Related articles:
What I Think of Church
What I Think of Church - Part 2

Sunday, February 21, 2010

My Papa

When people get the realization that Christian life is about an intimate, playful and an informal relationship with the Papa all the doctrinal talk will vanish.

The phrase "child of God" is thrown around a lot without realizing the depth of it. If President Obama's children were to visit our home, imagine how respectful we will be, because they are the President's kids! My Papa, however, knows the exact number of cells on Obama's body. That's how powerful and big my Papa is. And He loved me before I received Him. He continues to love me in spite of me. Jesus went through all of that so that our Papa can hold us so tight in His arms. He is love.

I have not even scratched the surface of what my Papa has done for me. Most of the info I have is head knowledge. A real person died for me! The more we know that this is about sitting in Papa's lap and playing with Him and that He is not angry, the more we enjoy Him. When I play with my son, He enjoys each moment. There are times I become stern. But stern is not equal to terror. If a child is fearful in his heart, he will not go to Papa; never mind enjoying His presence. That is religion. Text based. Cold. It look at the Bible as a rulebook. Bible, actually is a love letter of our Papa, a story of what He did so that we could enjoy His company, not fear Him. There is no fear in perfect love and He is love. How much would it hurt Him, when His precious children, that He gave His life up for, are afraid of Him and do things as an obligation!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Golf Balls

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a golf ball at Tiger.

He that has been made righteous (not self-righteous), let him know that it is purely by grace (unmerited, unearned, undeserved Gift of God) that you have been saved and made righteous, before you decide to condemn the man.

Remove grace from the picture; all of us are in the same boat. I realize it is a tough pill to swallow, especially for the religious crowd, but if you doubt my statement, read James 2:10.

None of us can judge him (or anyone), because, often times people judge others based on the presumed notion that they are somehow "better" (self-righteous) than the other for whatever reasons. James 2:10 proves that one little lie keeps me in the company of the "worst" criminals without me lifting one finger. This is why there is none righteous by their own merits and all of us needs the gift of grace, which is freely available.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Mahima



Mahima (Glory), by Kontagious

...
Mahimaa... Mahimaa....Mahimaa....Mahimaa.
Glory. x 4

Mahimaa....Mahimaa ho theri x 4
Glory.......May You be glorified x 4

Pavithra......Shakthimaan
Holy...........Powerful / Almighty

Ithna Mahaan......Theraa Pyaar
How Great is Your Love

Ishvar Puthr.....Theri Karuna apaar
Son of God...Great is your mercy

Pavithra...Thera Naam
Holy is your name

Utthar say Dakshin thak.....Purab say paschim thak
From the north to south .....East to West

Thera hee naam goonjay
Let your name alone resound

Aasmaan ki chaayi thak.....saagar ki dheh thak
To the heights of the heavens .....To the depths of the sea

Thera hee naam goonjay
Let your name alone resound

Mahimaa....Mahimaa ho theri x 4
Glory.......May You be glorified x 4

Saari srushti....karay theri.....stuthee x 2
Let all creation Praise you x 2

Mahimaa....Mahimaa ho theri x 4
Glory.......May You be glorified x 4

Thanks to Sam Mathew for the help with the translation.