Why I like Google+

Google Plus has to be the finest product from the stables of Google, as of now. Their Circles feature is a breath of relief and is a game changer. While Facebook is a robust platform, the lack of an intuitive way to connect with different people was limited and hence, I was always uncomfortable connecting with people on Facebook. Aside from inviting few members from specific groups, I had never ever asked anyone to find me on Facebook. I have a wide range of interests and friends and contacts from a wide range of backgrounds. Circles helps me categorize them and connect with the individual groups. I am looking forward to see what G+ is planning to do to cater to the business crowd.

This definitely does not mean Facebook has become obsolete by any stretch. Its 750 million membership is a formidable force and it has a robust platform for businesses and groups. Over 2.5 million websites are integrated with Facebook. This healthy competition from G+ will encourage Facebook to break new grounds. But at this point, Facebook will not be playing an important role in my life.

My G+ profile is http://gplus.to/framesmedia. Let’s connect.

Son Conscious Vs Sin Conscious

I just read an article that said along the lines that the message of Grace promotes sin and that one needs to speak more about sin. While I agree with the intent of the author, I differ with him on his solution, which is to speak more of sin. 

Grace frees us from sin, not to sin. If anyone thinks that grace is a license to sin, they have not received the revelation of the message of Grace. We are saved by grace and we continue to live by grace, because if we choose to live by keeping the law, we have no choice but to keep all the laws (10 commandments plus the 614 laws), and breaking one law equals breaking all the laws. If we could be righteous by keeping the law with our own strength, then Christ died in vain.  

What needed is not sin consciousness, but Son consciousness. In other words, the knowledge of our new-creation reality in Christ. We are brand new creations in Christ Jesus. We are masterpieces in Him. We are temples of the Holy Spirit. The more we renew our mind with our new-creation reality, we will not want to sin. Who would intentionally want to stain a dazzling white shirt? "Thou shalt not sin" begets more sin because the strength of the sin is law. Sin will not have dominion over us as long as we are under grace and not law.

The branch does not struggle to bear fruit. But it bears fruit only when it abides in the Vine. This is why our life source is Christ and not our self-effort, no matter how sincere we are with our efforts.

Thou shalt be Free

Biblically speaking, we can only live either by law or by grace. Choosing to live by the law requires that one must keep all (I cannot pick and choose from the 10 commandments and the 600 plus sub commandments) the laws with absolute perfection. There isn't a slightest margin for error (James 2:10). I cannot pull the "I'm trying my best" card.

The religion comes in with blithe ignorance and proclaims that, "all you have to do is keep the law and God will smile at you" and place the sincere believer on a never-ending treadmill, when the the fact of the matter is, not one of us can score a 100 out of 100. And this is precisely why we need a Savior!

The purpose of the law (let's not forget that it was not even given to the gentiles) then, was to reveal man's inability to reach God's perfection with his self-effort. Not one action qualifies us to be in right-standing with Him. Not one action of ours qualifies us to receive His blessings. The only route through which we can receive anything from Him is by grace through faith. 

Law leaves us guilty and helpless, which in turn draws us to receive His grace and mercy. The heavy-lifting was already done by the rabbi from Nazareth. All we do is acknowledge and receive the free gift - the glorified Him. Law weighs us down while He frees us.

Pagan Christianity

The institutional mindset is the towering wall that stands between a person and Jesus Christ and the way He wants to connect with the church, His body. The book Pagan Christianity, authored by Frank Viola and George Barna addresses this life-sucking, yet seemingly pious mindset that is not rooted and grounded in the New Testament.

If you are a thinking Christian, I would urge you to read this book. This is not the typical Christian self-help book. Depending on how traditionally rooted you are, this book will challenge everything you thought about Christianity as it is generally perceived and promoted.

Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that the authors are pushing house churches, that is not at all the point of this book. I initially had the same feeling too, because the last thing I wanted was the old wine in a new bottle. The book cleared my doubt regarding that. By the way, I have nothing against home churches, as long as they are directed by the Holy Spirit. It's just that this book not is a debate on traditional church Vs house church. On that same note, I should also add that Pagan Christianity is not a stand-alone work. The other half is Reimagining Church.

May their warning from Chapter 1 inspire you to read the book:

"Warning: If you are unwilling to have your Christianity seriously examined, do not read beyond this page. Give this book to Goodwill immediately! Spare yourself the trouble of having your Christian life turned upside down."

Download* or order the print copy of this book from this link.

*You do not necessarily have to have a Kindle to read the electronic version. Click here for more info.
 

Related post by Frank Viola: 10 Myths About Pagan Christianity

Lessons from the Rapture

Harold Camping’s followers were sincere, but misguided. Instead of being connected to The Shepherd (Jesus), they were blinded by Mr. Camping and his doctrine. While we take turns in poking fun at them, we tend to forget that there is a chance that we may not be that different from the Camping followers. Yes, we have our scripture guns ready with scriptures to disprove Camping’s prediction. But the fact of the matter is, all of us can be misguided, if our beliefs are based solely on what’s coming from the pulpit, television preachers, traditions or books that agree with our core head-knowledge that were formed (again) solely from the pulpit, television preachers or traditions.

Contrary to popular assumption, Christianity is not about ignorantly swallowing what’s coming from the pulpit. Unfortunately that has been happening throughout generations. And this is one reason why people hop from church to church, doctrine to doctrine or sadly in some cases, abandon the journey altogether. Christianity, to me, is about an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus and His expression through us. Genuine relationships happen only when we spend quality time with the person we want to connect with. Conferences, church, Sunday school, theological knowledge or meetings cannot replace that personal connection.

Institutions might detest questions, but God is not insecure as we assume He is. We can come boldly to His throne of grace with questions that we would not dare ask our churchy contacts for the fear of being ostracized. Although there is nothing wrong with an open discussion with friends, they cannot replace the insight from the Source Himself. The Bereans did not blindly swallow Paul’s words. They did not think it was rebellious to double check the Scriptures to see if Paul was not making things up. We now have access to the Scripture in a gazillion translations and formats, but the problem usually is, we read it through our own doctrinal spectacles. Truth will not be contained or limited by a doctrine that tickles us. This is why we need to move out of the way and actively depend on the Holy Spirit to enlighten the scriptures.

Ministers should encourage the listeners to connect with the Vine, for it is from Him, the life - His life - flows. Books should connect the readers to the person of Jesus. If not, we will continue to see blunders like the May 21 Rapture Prediction happen in various shapes or forms – no matter what camp we are in. I don’t care an iota if self-serving, mindless, man-made doctrines fail. There is no sweeter smelling aroma than that which comes from the slaughter of a sacred-cow doctrine. I am concerned about the hurt that a person goes through when he realizes that he was led by the blind all along. Churchianity is oblivious to this hurt and disillusionment. And we wonder why people are leaving organized Christianity in droves. 

Unless the message connects the listeners to the Person of Jesus Christ and encourages them to depend on the Holy Spirit, they might rather be taught about cooking; for without His active presence, Christianity becomes nothing but a dead religion.

From Skepticism to Faith

Filming God: A Journey from Skepticism to Faith, by Darren Wilson is one of the recent books that has impacted me.

The book is the story about a very traditional Christian professor who grew up in church knowing about God. He says that he was a devout skeptic regarding the things of the supernatural, but through a supernatural encounter he was led to making movies (Finger of God and Furious Love) documenting God's supernatural power in action today. The book narrates his thoughts throughout this journey. But this is not just a book about God's supernatural occurrences happening today.


I was not a skeptic in the first place, so it is not just the supernatural incidents that I liked about the book. Beyond the amazing testimonies and experiences listed, I really like the fact that the author trains the reader's attention to the Source of miracles, instead of idolizing the vessels that God flows through. In the entertainment centric modern Christianity, often times, it is not uncommon to get our attention lost in what's happening on the stage/screen and forget to connect with the Source. I also loved the fact that the author emphasizes that our motive in reaching out to other people should be love and nothing else. I agree; Jesus did not come to birth a bunch of churchians. God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. It was unfathomable love that motivated His actions.






Disclaimer: The book and the DVD's are linked to my Amazon affiliated store. 100% of my cut from Amazon from the sales of Christian materials are sowed to organizations that ministers the unconditional love and the grace of God in Christ Jesus. 

Osama and Christians

Christ Jesus loved Osama Bin Laden unconditionally and He demonstrated His love by dying for him. Many say that Osama's death was justice in action. Well, from the point of view of the Scripture, (apart from His grace) how are we different from Osama? Sure, we may not have rammed a jet into a building, but unlike we do, the Scripture does not differentiate between big sin and small sin. All of us have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Simply by breaking just one law, we break all of God's laws. In other words, a "small" lie puts us company with Osama. If that's the truth, who's going to throw the first stone at whom? None of us can play the holier-than-thou game. But in Christ Jesus, we are made righteous. It is His grace that makes us righteous; not our good works. That means, the believer's only qualification is His grace. Therefore, we cannot assume a morally superior position over Bin Laden.

That being said, the fact that Jesus loves and died for everyone does not give a person the freedom to go on a murderous rampage for whatever cause. In order to protect the its citizens from such acts, governments have established laws in place. The law of the land does not operate by God's grace; it operates by the law of sowing and reaping. Killing thousands of people gets either a lifetime in jail or death, which is what Osama just reaped. So from the point of view of the lawmakers, justice was served. However, from God's view, the price for Osama's atrocities was paid in full by the precious blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. 

Jesus said, "Love your enemies". And yet, most of us find ourselves either celebrating Osama's death or simply relieved of the fact that he is no longer in the picture. Personally, while I am not rejoicing in his death, I am not saddened by it either. And this attitude exhibited by many offends some Christians. They think we are supposed to drip with love and compassion. While I do not disagree with it at all, the issue is not simplistic as it seems. First of all, it is super easy to talk about love and compassion in a nonchalant tone when none of our loved ones were harmed by Osama's actions. If we take a moment to look at this issue through the eyes of a family member of a 9/11 victim, we would hesitate to wag that religious finger to those who do not conform to what we think is right.

Secondly, being "Christ-like" is not a show that we put on. It is impossible to live the Christian life with one's will power. We cannot, by our own strength, love our enemies. As He is, so are we (in our spirit) in this world. It is our spirits that we are one with Him, it is in our spirits that we are new creations in Christ Jesus. Our souls - which is the mind, will and emotions - unless renewed to the knowledge of who we are in Christ Jesus, thinks and acts like the old self. This is precisely why I am not sad about Osama's death, at the moment. Mind renewal does not happen overnight. But the more I renew my mind and the more I abide in the Vine, more of His abundant life will saturate and flow through me, bearing His fruit of love and compassion. We cannot create the fruit that comes from His very life. Without Him, we can do nothing. What we do without Him is religion; which talks grand on the outside, but empty within. 

Be inspired...

I just wanted to share three soul-stirring videos that I stumbled upon the other day.

Intercession


The Spirit is Willing


Depraved Indifference


by Eric Ludy, Ellerslie.com

David Wilkerson

I just learned that David Wilkerson, the founding pastor of Times Square Church in New York City,  the founder of World Challenge and the author of The Cross and The Switchblade, was killed in a car accident in Texas. 

While many talks about their faith, Wilkerson walked the walk. Even though I have visited the Times Square church, I first knew more about him through Nicky Cruz's book Run Baby Run. David Wilkerson was instrumental in leading Nicky Cruz to Christ. 

David Wilkerson did not hide himself in an ivory tower, playing the holier/better/anointed than thou game; he risked his life to reach the gang members, the drug addicts and whoever that needed help, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May his family and friends be comforted with His peace.

Here is an excerpt from his last blog post, "Beloved, God has never failed to act but in goodness and love. When all means fail—his love prevails. Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in his Word. There is no other hope in this world.”. Read the complete post here. 

Disclaimer: The books are linked to my Amazon affiliated store. 100% of my cut from Amazon from the sales of Christian materials are sowed to organizations that ministers the unconditional love and the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

Resurrection Sunday

"For God so loved the world (not just the Christians), that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

Happy Resurrection Sunday!