The  Journey 151

Thursday, May 31

Read: 2 Kings 5:1-27

People always love to look at the Church. Some people look up to certain church’s because of its worship styles while some for their preaching diet. While some people look up to church, some people look down on the church. This happens when the church and its  ministry is not transparent and it consciously or unconsciously deviates from its God  given mission. New York Times recently reported about a large gospel network which is now in the thick of a raging controversy over its way of managing its finances.  The ministry that is now in the centre of controversy is the TBN network, who for the last 39 years, have urged its viewers  to give generously and reap the Lord’s bounty in return. It was Paul and Janice Crouch, who built together TBN network, which was a single station, into the world’s largest Christian television network, The focus of these ministry was prosperity theology or in other words how in the name of our Lord, millions of dollars are collected by way of funding or by the healing ministry that they tend to  do. With money pouring in the life style of the leaders also became opulent.  Now one of the granddaughter, Brittany Koper, who was in charge of TBN’s finances, has gone public about  financial improprieties  and mismanagement in the TBN network. This was after both Koper and her husband were fired by the network for allegedly stealing about 1.3 million dollars.  According to TBN sources both Koper and her husband wants to divert attention from their own crimes to something else.  It is very common here in the United States for the televangelist to live opulently preaching the  gospel of prosperity preaching about God who blesses everyone with material prosperity if they are willing to give to the Lord. This type of preaching is prevalent in most of the televangelist including in India whose main focus of preaching is about healing and deliverance from all negative sources.  It is this focus that make people to flock to them so that they can also move up in the financial ladder.  Today prosperity theology is criticized by the evangelical Christians too  as they feel, that the focus of all these ministries is physical healing and also raising huge amount of money in the name of mission work only to be spent in managing their opulent lifestyle.  In other words, ministry that are done using the name of our Lord, but using the pain and suffering of others,  as an instrument to fleece innocent believers and to make riches through the suffering of others.

This week we are  meditating on the theme “ Transformation in the life of the sick and suffering” based on 2 Kings 5:1-27. Here we find the healing of Naman and if we observe closely we find that King of Aram sending Naman to the King of Samaria, requesting for help. But as he goes out to  meet the king, the King of Aram, the Naman took ten talents of silver and about six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes to be given to the King. The king is very upset and tears his cloak in anger. But what was the perspective of King of Aram and Naman. Here are two individuals who think that it is through the gift of silver and gold that they can receive the gift of healing. This attitude is also prevalent today as  many of the believers give away huge money, because their focus is to get deliverance from the disease as early as possible. Today lot of people are hooked on to different types of Christian broadcasting, where sometimes the message of the meaning of Christ suffering and ascension is not taken at all presented while only the message of prosperity is presented with the sole focus of amassing enormous wealth through God’s ministry. Therefore let us think whether we focus today more on the material blessing that we want to receive from the Lord or are we ready to be transparent and work for the Lord without thinking about the material and financial gain in doing certain types of ministry.

The Journey 150
Wednesday, May 30
Read: 2 Kings 5: 1-27
              Heart Attack and Cancer are considered as the most fatal health condition that takes the lives of the maximum number of people. But I believe there is another silent killer which most of us fail to diagnose or in other words can also lead to this fatal health condition. This silent killer is known as “Depression”. The culture prevalent in the US can be termed as “depressive”. This is because according to the pharmacist and medical fraternity, the sales of depression medicines over the years have gone up by 400 percent.  According to Pastor Perry Noble of New Spring Church, United States is the most richest and the  most depressed county in the world. What is very disheartening about this whole issue of depression is that we as Christians do not address this  issue, as we are not comfortable dealing with such sensitive issue. I feel this may be because the culture that is prevalent in our church sometimes, does  not help to create an intimacy nor a sense of confidentiality among the families or individual, so that they feel free to share their anxiety or depression. Moreover everyone wants to feel good in the church and do not want to  tell others that they go through problems like depression or sickness. As a result there are many members in the church who are battling different issues all by themselves and thus going through depression in life.  Last week while leading the worship service at the Philadelphia  Marthoma Church, the whole worshipping community came together to pray for a family who attended worship along with their two year old girl. This little girl is going to undergo chemotherapy later this week. It is was heartwarming to see how the whole worshipping community prayed for the family. But what about those people who are not able to share their pain with others and where you don't have anyone to pray for?.
                  This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in the life of the sick and suffering”. The portion that we are using for our meditation is from 2 Kings 5:1-27. This portion describes a pitiable condition of a Naman, the Syrian commander who I believe was also going through what I term as depression and pain because of his physical condition. As we know through the understanding of the Old Testament times, his was one of the disease that  makes a person socially ostracized.  It is in this context that the slave girl becomes sensitive to the need to the Naman. What is wonderful about the girl is that nobody tells her about Naman’s condition but she is quick to discern the suffering that her master goes through. It is this genuiness, the love for her master and the Lord, the sensitivity of heart to understand what the other person is going through, that forces her to tell Naman’s wife, where they can find help. A young girl who moves out of her so called little world to go out of her way to understand the need of her master, and help him. I think as we deal with the issues faced by the people who suffer due to sickness and other health issues what is required from us is to be sensitive to their need, a helping hand, a caring heart and a shoulder to lean on. It is this support that becomes a source of healing for the suffering people and also a strength to face depressive tendency that  may arise because of ones physical condition. Let us take a commitment that we will be like that slave girl who came out of her world to be source of hope for the depressed.

 

The Journey 149
Tuesday, May 29
Read: 2 Kings 5: 1-27
               Two days back as I was driving, I heard the a strange news reported by the Christian FM Music station K Love about a man who made funny self portraits of himself, so that his wife could laugh looking at the portraits. But why was he doing this. This  made me do some research and this research led me to a news about a man, a husband who is doing innovative ways, to help his wife fight cancer and also empower other woman to do the same. The name of this person is Bob Carey and his wife is Linda. They had moved to New York early this decade. A few years later Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer. Linda overcame cancer but it recurred back again later.  This encounter with the cancer changed both the perspectives of Bob and Linda. As Linda underwent chemo therapy, both Bob and Linda, realized that life was hard, and sometimes dealing with life could also be hard and hence the best thing to do in order to face crisis and sickness is to deal with it in the most innovative way. According to Bob, the most innovative way to is laugh at ourselves and share a laugh with others.  This made Bob to do self portraits of himself, in tutu images. What is a tutu images? It is photographing oneself with a pink tutu, which is normally a costume wore by young girls. Bob would wear that pink tutu without a shirt and photograph himself gallivanting around public places like parks, beaches, amusement parks, subway station, thus photographing himself to create laughter around especially to his ailing wife through silliness and an element of wonder and sometimes some people may term as little off board. But there was an overwhelming response to these photographs of Bob in his pink tutu. This  made Bob to create the TUTU project. He has now  moved a step further and has made a book titled “ Ballerina” with all his tutu images so that he can raise about $75,000, to help a breast cancer organization. Here is man who takes the most innovative ways,  or may be as some says the craziest thing to do– but the goal was so noble– laugh and make others laugh so that pain and suffering could be faced with smiles. Bob is helping his wife to face crisis of cancer through laughter and tutu images,  but as Christian I believe the Word of God gives us  more powerful source of strength and hope to face the crisis in life more than the laughter medicine. This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in the life of sick and suffering”. The portion that we are going to meditate is from 2 Kings 5: 1-27. Here is a passage which describes the suffering of Naman who has leprosy and how a young slave girl becomes a channel for his healing.  When the slave girl realized that her master had leprosy, she tells Naman’s wife that he would be healed of leprosy only if he goes and meets the prophet who is in Samaria [ 2 Kings 5: 3]. It is this small but significant news that makes Naman to  prepare himself to go to Samaria to meet the prophet Elisha.  Here is a slave girl who is a captive in the house of the commander Naman, yet she paves way and becomes a channel of hope to Naman. What she does is to help Naman connect with the prophet Elisha and in that way connect himself to the Almighty God who is the source of healing. What the world needs from us is becoming pointers for our Lord or making ourselves a channel so that people who are going through crisis and suffering can encounter our risen Lord in their life and through that encounter receive strength and grace to face the challenges of life. Bob did tutu images so that his wife could receive strength to face the crisis in life. That was Bob’s way of helping his wife. But the question is what is your way of helping others so that you can become a channel of hope and healing in the life of others.

The Journey 146
Saturday, May 26
Read: Luke 7:36-50
              This week as we meditated on the theme “Transformation in my Parish” we were able to come across  different local church’s who were very distinct. They had an identity of their own, and they also tried to witness to the message of the gospel in their own unique ways. Yesterday  I came across another local church through the news report, who devised a unique ministry of helping cancer patients. The church is The Church of Nativity in Kansas City. This news item was reported by the Kansas City Star. What is unique about the church is the programmes that they organized a few Sunday’s back. The outreach ministry was called “Wig– Out”. What the members of the parish especially youngsters did was cutting their hair and giving the lockhead to the people who are suffering from cancer. For this unique project they not only enlisted the support of the members of the church, but also the members of the local community. As a result of this unique ministry programme, four hair stylist in the area also volunteered to snip hair as a part of their commitment to this cause of helping the cancer patients. People who willingly gave up lockhead of hair, which were precious to them included young girls, mothers, grandmothers. More unique was certain men who also came to donate their hair. What they did on purpose, was to grow their hair, when they knew about this project, and came last Sunday to donate their hair. What is unique about this “Wig– Out” project of the church of nativity was that the members tried to do something meaningful for the people who were suffering from cancer. As everyone knows, when radiation and chemo therapy is undertaken by the cancer patients especially woman, they loose their hair on the head, and often this become distressing for them.  Thus providing hair to make wigs was very heartening thing to do, so that in the process you bring healing and peace to untold people who are going through misery because of cancer. This model of the church of nativity is a fantastic model for mission because the members of the church seemed to do something that is painful and also costly to bring about healing and change in the suffering community around.  As written earlier this week we were meditating on the theme “ Transformation in my Parish” based on Luke 7: 36-50. This is an incident which shows two contrasting attitude of people. One group of people represented by Pharisees who only sees certain outward signs or do certain rituals without any sincerity or meaning, but only to show that they are holy and religious people, while there are certain people like the woman in this passage, who shows certain outwardly signs and action but the difference is that the action shown outwardly is preceded by a change of heart and a confession of one’s sin. When the woman wets the feet of Jesus with her tears and perfumes his feet, this was an outward sign that was very costly for her and it showed the inward change that she experienced and the remorse that she had about her wrongdoing in life. What Jesus saw was the change that she experienced or the pain that she went through to do thing right for the Lord. For many of us we do ministry, by doing only certain thing that are very easy to do. These activities that some of the local church and its members do are routine. What is important here is that when we involve ourselves in the needs of the community or do God’s ministry, let us be made aware, that we need to do this as a mark of the transformation that God has brought about in our life and also do in such a way that it is painful and costly for us. Anything that we do for the Lord, which is not “costly” will not be meaningful to the community. The church of nativity did just that. We are also called to do the same.

The Journey 145
Friday, May 25
Read: Luke 7:36-50
   Another church is now creating storms and getting nation wide attention in this country. This is because of a sermon delivered by its Pastor on Sunday May 13. The church- Providence Road Baptist Church at Maiden, North Carolina and the Pastor whose sermon is in the centre of controversy is Pastor Charles Worley. In his sermon, Pastor Worley told his congregation that people who have the same sex relationship orientation should be put in an electric fence in such a way that they cant get out and separating each of them on the basis of their gender. He proposed in his sermon that they should be provided food by dropping from above, and that since they don't have the ability of procreation, the population will eventually die. This radical stand of the Pastor has forced Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State to file a letter with the Internal Revenue Service with a request to examine tax exempt status given to the Providence Road Baptist Church, since they believe that sermon like these violates the federal tax law. But look at another church. This church is the National Community Church in Washington DC.  This church organizes a weekly event called as Ebenezer Coffee House, which is drawing about 200 people each week. What the church does is through such fellowship, is gather individuals together, discuss and plan as to how the church can give better care to the people who have the same sex orientations both inside and outside the church. This was reported by a Christian organization called Exodus, whose objective is to provide support to individuals with same sex orientation, to transform their life through the power of Christ and to live out a biblical sexual ethics. The stand taken by the two church seems to be so paradoxical. One condemns while other tries to redeem. It is in such paradoxical context that the parish or the local church is called to share the transforming power of our Lord.
This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in my parish”. The biblical portion that we are meditating is from Luke 7: 36-50. As we discussed yesterday, Jesus has come to the house of a Pharisee to dine and as he dines the woman comes to the presence of Jesus. There is no interaction between the woman and Jesus. She wipes the feet of Jesus with her tears and she pours the perfume on his feet. The Pharisees seeing the woman starts condemning both the woman and also Jesus, stating that if Jesus was a prophet he would have known the character of this woman and he would not in any way associate with the woman. Contrary to the beliefs of the Pharisees, what Jesus does is very noble. He tell a parable to Simon, whom I presume invited him to his house, about redemption and forgiveness. Later Jesus tells the woman that her sins are forgiven and tells her that her faith has saved her and she is asked to go in peace. The Pharisees take a stand of condemnation without addressing the issue of how to redeem the woman, on the contrary Jesus addresses the issue of how to redeem the woman whom the Pharisees claim to be a sinner without condemnation. Jesus through this parable and the way he encountered the woman gives us a model to follow both for the believers and the church. What the parish or the local church needs to do today is to make its witness both credible to the world and faithful to the Lord. To engage in such a ministry we have to see how we could redeem people from their sins, rather than condemning them without understanding their context or their world view.
Parish become transformed when the members focus more on redemption rather than condemnation.  

 The Journey 144
Thursday, May 24
Read: Luke 7:36-50
                     A Church for Bikers. I was fascinated by this concept and the group, which was reported by the CBS Philly news yesterday.  A group of believers who loved Jesus and also their bikes or motorcycles. They are a very unique group. They are synonymous with leather jackets, tattoos on their bodies, well built physique and riding bikes that makes loud noises. But it is this unique group who have also a passion for the Lord and thus the BIKERS CHURCH. The way BIKERS CHURCH was formed is very unique. The Biker Church was formed by members of the Birmingham Chapter of Bikers for Christ. These believers who had a passion for their bikes and driving on bikes used to frequent a restaurant called Courtyard 25, in Vandiver, Alabama. One day the owners of the restaurant  approached the biking community  about using a vacant building to hold church service. In fact the most wonderful aspect of this incident is that, the day they were asked whether they needed the vacant space for worship, was the same day when the bikers also planned to talk to the owners themselves about this possibility. It started as just a 4 member congregation; and last Sunday on May 20th about 30 bikers were in attendance for the Sunday service. It is Pastor Alan Rusmisel who leads this group. As a fellow members of Bikers for Christ, Alan Rusmisel and a few friends wanted to create a place for bikers to worship. According to Alan, the stereotypes of the bikers wont fit in the main stream church and he feels that is very unfortunate. According to the Bikers, when they come to the mainline church’s they tend to looked down upon and condemned. Hence we decided to do our own way of worship. What the bikers do every Sunday is that , the bikers looking to take a nice ride and hear the word of God put on their Sunday leather vest and meet up at bikers church. Here is a church that is entirely different from the way we all perceive and conceive the church, its worship and also the worshipping community. What is distinct about the Christian community of bikers is that they also have a passion for the Lord and for spreading the gospel message in their own unique ways to a community of people who are unreached by the main line church’s.                            This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in our parish. The portion that we will use for our meditation is from Luke 7: 36-50. This is one of the most poignant incident related to a woman who comes to meet Jesus when he is dining at a Pharisees' house. There is no conversation between the woman and Jesus. All that we know is that she had a very bitter past because of the sinful lifestyle that she lived. She comes to the presence of Jesus Christ and wets his feet with her tears and pours the perfume on his feet. This scene is repulsive for the Pharisees because of the woman’s past and because of the pre conditions of Pharisees to the concept of “Holiness”. They condemn both Jesus and the woman. But it is here that Jesus looks not at the perfume nor at the past of the woman, but the tears that she expressed. It is the expression of her tears that showed her love for the Lord, and the change of heart that she had, the true repentance that she showed in her life. Yes the stereotype of the woman was not accepted in the main line community of the Pharisees and hence the condemnation. I think when Jesus accepts the woman and forgives her, he also conveys through His actions, that the church or the so called believers is also called to accept and acknowledge people whose way of life and living may be totally different from us. It is in acceptance without condemnation that helps the worshipping community to make the gospel  message relevant to a group who may not fit into the way we understand the church or the worshipping community.  Let us also make an honest effort in our parish to see to it that we live a life that encompasses every one without any judgment or condemnation

The Journey 143
Wednesday, May 23
Read: Luke 10:25-37
“Worship Service Suspended”. This was the news item that caught my attention yesterday. Worship service in a local church was suspended last Sunday, May 20. This local church which is about 60  miles from Philadelphia,  is known as  Hope Presbyterian Church, located  at 1189 Hope Road, Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Last Sunday was an entirely a different Sunday for the members of the church. The local Church decided to suspend worship service so that instead of worship, the members will participate in an event called  “ Be the Church”. This is an outreach ministry designed to help the neighbours and the community. The total strength of this church is about 93 members, which resembles one of the prayer groups in a Marthoma Parish. What the members did last Sunday, instead of worship was something different. The members were divided into different groups. One group of members spent their time with home bound people in the community, while others went to the homes in the neighborhood to paint houses, repair the porches, while another group of members went  to Liberty Royal Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, and sang hymns along with residents there. The objective behind this whole outreach programme was because the Church has set apart month of April as “ Faith in Action” month.  The idea was to go out into the community and spread God’s love and be there for the neighbors. The members of the Hope Presbyterian Church also felt that they needed to show to the world that they are different from the rest of the people in the world.  According to one of the members of the church who spoke she said that , “Sometimes you get very involved in your own little world and you don’t see the needs of your neighbors and friends,” Later the church members gathered Sunday afternoon to share their experiences and all the members realized that the outreach ministry was probably more fulfilling experience for them than for the people whom they served. I personally felt enriched by reading this news about the church and its outreach ministry. What was striking is two things—One– The inclination of not to be just a worshiping community without focusing on the needs of the neighborhood and second the witness and the commitment in Christian life to be different from the rest of the world. I think this is one important aspect that we need to learn and transmit into our local Marthoma church’s too.
                  This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in our parish. The portion that we will use for our meditation is from the well known parable that Jesus told       “The Good Samaritan” from Luke 10: 25-37. Here is a parable that Jesus quotes to teach an expert of the law, who wanted to inherit eternal life. Here is a parable where Samaritan breaks certain norms, conventions to help a person in need. When the wounded  man was seen first by the Priest and then by the Levite, both of them by passed the wounded man, because for both the Priest and the Levite, they were not ready to break the existing norms, rules or conventions to help the wounded man because that would be too costly for them and they were not ready to take that risk. Priest felt that the celebration of the worship was more important while for the Levite, the outward cleansing was his witness. But for the Samaritan, he had no issue in breaking the norms [ though Jews and Samaritans were sworn enemies] for helping the people in need. Sometimes I feel,  we as the members of the church tend to be very legalistic and would always want to go by the norms, standards and conventions, rather than focusing on our mission and witness. I think the witness of the members of the Hope Presbyterian church teaches us that sometimes we need to break certain norms and rules so that our faith is conveyed more through our action than fellowship in the sanctuary.
Ready to break the convention to be a witness for the Lord?

The Journey 141
Monday, May 21
Read: 2 Timothy 2: 14-19               
                 Can You Criticize Your Pastor or Clergy? Sounds strange Isn't it?. In the context of the Marthoma Church, one may find this quote as very normal, as there are some people in the church whose only job seems to be clergy bashing, whatever he does, positive or negative. But that is a totally different issue. Listen to this incident that was reported last week by the news magazine “The Christian Post "and ABC News.   According to these news  magazine,  the pastor of Beaverton Grace Bible Church in Oregon   has sued Julie Anne Smith, her daughter, and three other former church members for $500,000 in damages. The reason for the pastor suing his former parishioners is because Julie Smith criticized the pastor, for using the pulpit  as a platform for spiritual abuse and narcissism, through the blog that she started. This did not go well with the church and also its pastor and thus the filing of defamation suit. What is more disheartening is the attitude shown by the church members to Julie Smith and her family. The Smith family had  left the church a few years ago, and as a result of this they were totally shunned by the members of the church. Smith reported that whenever she went to any public place or supermarket, and if she met any former church members, they would shun her outright, turn their head, and walk the other way. She feels that she only raised genuine concern about matters of the church and its ministry and she feels that is not sin to raise questions and concerns. “The story of spiritual abuse needs to be told she wrote in the blog,  “People are being hurt emotionally and spiritually by pastors who use bully tactics and we need a place to learn, to talk freely, and to heal. I will not be silenced.”. As a clergy though I don't know the context of the church and also about Julie Smith, the episode of Julie Smith addresses three important questions. 1. Should we “Criticize” or “Critique” the Pastor or the Clergy?. 2. What should be the goal in “Criticizing or Critiquing” the Clergy or the Pastor?. 3. Even if the Pastor or Clergy is criticized can he use the pulpit to silence his critics or in other words “ What is the purpose of pulpit in the ministry of the church.
             This week we start a new theme “ Transformation in my parish” based on 2 Timothy 2: 14-19. I believe Paul is one of the best models and preachers who have set very high standards both in his ministry and also the way he communicated the gospel message. He boldly says that God give us the spirit of power and not of timidity, of boldness,  love and self discipline [ 1 Timothy 1:7]. He had no fear and boldly told the church in Galatia as to how they were diluting the gospel message [ Galatians 2]. For Paul what was most important in his preaching and teaching was the  message of the gospel. His life and ministry was dedicated only for that. It is in this context that we need to understand what is ministry that church should be doing and how does the clergy empowers the local church to do God’s ministry. My personal opinion is that pulpit is the place where God has given me the right only to preach about message of God’ s love, the message of repentance and transformation. I believe pulpit is not a place where a clergy or a pastor can use it, to vent his frustrations and settle scores with  parishioners with whom he may have some disagreements. I think what is happening in the local church is that the ministry of the church is often seen by members of the church, as a paid duty of the clergy and not as a team ministry done by the clergy and members of the church. It is this incorrect perspective of ministry that leads some people to constantly criticize their clergy and thus making the clergy always on  defensive mode in the ministry. Let us remember that a parish get transformed only when we understand that the ministry is a collective ministry done by clergy and the parish.       Whatever be the context of the parish, let us critique the ministry of the parish and the clergy so that the ministry of the local church becomes relevant, and let us remember that pulpit is the place to preach “Gospel”, and gospel alone.

The Journey 138
Friday, May 18
Read: Luke 15: 11-31
             Today is a very big day as far as Facebook is concerned.  Facebook is going to listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market and will begin its trading today, under brand symbol of “FB.”  Many people are eagerly waiting to get hold of owning some of the Facebook stocks, which according to the news agencies, reported yesterday in the night that the price could be around $35 to $38 per share . Thus Facebook Inc.’s IPO is going to be the largest ever IPO, in the history of an Internet company. Facebook is planning to raise about $11.8 billion which is far ahead than Google which raised about $1.67 billion 2004 IPO. But behind this landmark event another event has also made headlines yesterday. The co-founder of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin, has renounced his  U.S. citizenship before the listing of Facebook IPO. This is called by many eminent lawyers in the country as a move that Saverin is doing so that he is able to reduce his tax bill. Saverin is not the only person who has renounced his US citizenship, and it is claimed that he joins a increasing number of people who are now giving up their U.S. citizenship ahead of a possible government move to increase tax rates . For many people they feel that though the move of Saverin seems to be an action that is lawful yet they feel that his action tantamounts to ungratefulness to a country that helped him through his contacts and his educational background , to grow and market his talents and skills through social networking. One may not know the true intentions of Saverin in renouncing the US citizenship, but it in this context comes the whole moral issue of how do we value the place of money in our life, and as a Christian can we justify the means that we use to acquire  money or as some people say making ourselves financially sound.
              This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in my community”. The biblical portion that we are meditating is from Luke 15: 11-31. Here is a story of young man who wants to make a mark in his life. As we discussed yesterday, he had a wrong perspective of what faith, family and freedom is all about. It is this perspective also that bring into his life and distortion in what constitutes meaning in life. He acquires his “share” from his father and decides to enjoy life and also trying to make a mark for himself with his expertise and also trying to be financially sound. But soon he looses all his money probably because he was never handled money all by himself or he never was wise on how to invest money. Soon he finds himself totally bankrupt and on the verge of poverty. Here is man who was selfish and who felt that life is all about “ eat, drink and be merry”. Here is a man whose philosophy of life is not based on dedication, commitment or hard work but trying to be rich or enjoy life the easy way. It is here that Jesus teaches us a lesson. It is normal for every human being to desire a little more money so that he feels financially secure. But the quest for financial security needs to be seen through the providence of God and also in the values and the morals that we  uphold in life. If our trust is not in the providence of God then we can be very manipulative and will not have any qualms in adopting any immoral method to acquire  more money in life and this quest can be an unending quest that can have a disastrous effect in our life. Let us therefore look back into our life and see whether the motives that we uphold in our life is only to make a fast buck or through our commitment and dedication in life and in our Lord, we grow in life thus contributing not only in our life, not only qualitatively but also financially and also contributing to the society and country that we belong to.
How far are you ready to go if you are offered a fast buck?

The Journey 137
Thursday. May 17
Read: Luke 15:11-31
                     Lot of turbulent issues have surfaced in this country which is leaving lot of people confused, perplexed not knowing whether what is happening is right for the nation and for its people. Lot of my friends had written to me asking why am I silent on different issues that are discussed now not only by the common man, but people from all strata of the society and states. That is when I realized that this nation is going through some serious discussion on the way it is heading to. At the foremost is something that is related to what constitutes “marriage and family”. This came about when the President of United States last week had expressed  his support to same sex marriage. This has caused lot turbulent reaction from cross sections of the people. Some Church’s and its leaders have vehemently opposed the stand of the President. The second area that people are concerned is in the in the area of finance and economics, what is  being termed as the spiraling government debt and also the rate of unemployment . Thirdly is the issue related to the question of religion, ethics and morality. A law is being enforced that make it mandatory for religious organizations to provide health insurance that covers issues sterilization, contraception and drugs that induce abortion. A federal judge has asked in the Giles county last week, as whether the ten commandments can be cut into six to restore the secular nature of the country, as the first four commandments are religious in nature. Sounds strange? How do we find an answer to such pressing issues or how do respond when issues like tend to become a law in the land? This week I could read a review of a new book written by James Robison and Jay W. Richards titled “Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before It’s Too Late”. That is when I realized if we need to be responsible citizens of this country there are certain issues for which every citizen has to be committed and those issues are “ Faith, Family and Freedom”. Even Rick Santorum harped on this three concepts. Transformation in a community is all about how people equate, understand and put into practice concepts like faith, family and freedom.
               This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in my community”. We start today on a new biblical portion from Luke 15: 11-31. This one of the most wonderful parable that Jesus told about a prodigal son. Here is a story of a son whose concept of faith, freedom and family was what destroyed his life. But once he got back to his senses he comes to the true realization what it means to express faith, freedom and the true gift of family. As he lived with his father, the son felt that he did not have the desired freedom. He felt that he should use his gifts, abilities and talents and trust in his innate capacities and faith to lead him to greener pastures in life. He also felt it was his family ties that stands as barrier for him to explore the unlimited avenues of the world where he could make a mark for himself. But finally the truth dawns on him that unless one does not have the correct perspective of what is faith, freedom and family, no individual can go long enough not only to make a mark for oneself, but also to survive.
            I think this is what is needed today in all of our life. Whether the stand taken by the President is ethically and morally right or wrong is not the issue, as there are many facets to that stand which needs to be discussed, but I believe what is more important for this nation is how we understand the concepts of “Faith, Freedom and Family” and put into practice these concepts. That is what will determine how the nation is going to march forward.
How do you define “ Faith, Family and Freedom”?

The Journey 136
Wednesday May 16
Read: Luke 18:9-14
            Your Faith living-Does it attract or repel? Just think about this statement. Do the way we express our faith and our faith living attract others?.  So that they also want to live a Christian life like the way we live, or does our expression of faith and our Christian living repel people?. These days we were meditating how even some believers can become racist in their expression of faith. But read this incident that came in one of  the news paper this week and the video of this wonderful faith witnessing is now shown in God Vine .  It is about  Sandy Detherage, a member of the High Pointe Church of Christ in McKinney, Texas, who works as an air traffic controller.  What he did was a simple act of sharing his faith, even when there was opposition, thus opening the door for God to transform two lives. His colleague was Dennis Welch who was totally opposed to anything regarding faith. So when Sandy would talk about his Christian commitment, Welch would oppose and bluntly tell him not to talk about these aspects while they were working and that he was not interested. But the life style of Sandy soon made Welch to slowly interact with him about many other topics and issues and finally they started talking about Christian faith. Welch started attending a bible study and later stared attending the worship services too. This association led Dennis and his wife Sharon Welch to go deeper into Christian faith and commitment and this led them to go Cambodia as missionaries, where they are still working. I think this is what true Christian living and witness is all about. The way we express our faith should not be an avenue where we tend to exclude others from knowing the Lord, on the contrary we should be able to influence others through our living and witness to the way of the Lord. I think that is how  we can bring transformation in our community. This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in our community” based on the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector from Luke 18:9-14. Here is a wonderful example that Jesus mentions to teach us how we need to express our faith and also the pitfalls of so called “ righteous living”.  The Pharisees were righteous people but the way they expressed their faith in the community and they way they perceived their relationship with God was distorted. Faith and commitment for the Pharisees was just observation of some laws that does not impact or influence their life nor does their faith has anything to do with their relationship with others. It is in such a context  that Jesus teaches the disciples that commitment is all about transformation in oneself and also transformation in ones context of relationship. It is not that I should be concerned only about how I grow in my faith living and expressions but whether these faith expression lead us to a better relationship and understanding about oneself and others. Pharisees were not able to perceive themselves nor others and hence his claim that “he was not like the tax collector” when he came to the presence of God. What is needed in the life of the believers is something that Jesus taught us. Faith expression should lead a transformation in our life and also in the way we perceive others. Many believers also act like the Pharisees today, because for them also it is certain rituals or the observance of certain rituals that makes them Christian. “ If you are baptized in such a way then you are  believer, otherwise…….No”.  Christian living and witness is not just about the kind of baptism that you took, or the way you worship, or the church you belong, Christian living and witness is all about being faithful to the Lord in living true Christian life so that others could see Christ in us and be also challenged to live like us. This is what transformation in the community is all about.

The Journey 135
Tuesday, May 15
Read: Luke 18:9-14
Racist Believers?. We continue our journey on the meditation whether because of our commitment to Christ, our attitudes tend to be racist?. Do we agree or disagree with Martin Luther King’s statement which I quoted yesterday that “Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America”. Read about this incident that was sent to me by one of my friends. “A 50 plus year old white woman arrived at her seat on a crowded flight and immediately she said that didn't want that particular seat. The reason- The seat was next to a black man. Disgusted, the woman immediately summoned the flight attendant and demanded a new seat. The woman said "I cannot sit here next to this black man." The fight attendant said "Let me see if I can find another seat." After checking, the flight attendant returned and stated "Ma'am, there are no more seats in economy, but I will check with the captain and see if there is something in first class." About 10 minutes went by and the flight attendant returned and stated "The captain has confirmed that there are no more seats in economy, but there is one in first class. It is our airline policy to never move a person from economy to first class, but being that it would be some sort of scandal to force a person to sit next to an “UNPLEASANT” person, the captain has agreed to make the switch to first class." Before the woman could say anything, the attendant gestured to the black man and said, "Therefore sir, if you would so kindly retrieve your personal items, we would like to move you to the comfort of first class as the captain doesn't want you to sit next to an “UNPLEASENT” person." Seeing this action the passengers in the seats nearby was dumfounded, and soon began to applause while some gave a standing ovation. Why did that woman react like that? What was it that made her so uncomfortable sitting next to another person? What was the mental programming that she had about that particular person?. If we want to live transformed lives let us not look at anyone at our perspective but at the perspective as to how God looks at them. This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in my community” based on the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector from Luke 18: 9-14. What is the most paradoxical of this parable. Pharisees can be termed as people who were so called “ believers” of those time. They tried to live righteously according to the law of Moses which was the gospel for them at that time, while the Tax Collector can be termed as one who had not responded to the message of the law of Moses. But Jesus exalts not the Pharisee but the tax collector. What makes Jesus exalt the tax collector and not the Pharisees. Just because the Pharisee responded and tried to live righteously did not make him acceptable before God. Even if I have responded to the message of the gospel, I still need God’s mercy, I still need God’s forgiveness and Christian life is a constant affirmation on the need of God’s grace and the conviction that I am a sinner [ Rom 3:23, 6: 23]. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Timothy 1: 15 “ That Christ came to the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief”. It is this realization that transforms the life of a believer in such a way that he lives his life in humility, does not judge or condemn another person because of colour or his stands on certain issues or because he or she is still an “unbeliever”. I think these are the attitudes that tend to make ourselves to become some so called “ exclusivist believers”, posing ourselves with the attitude that I am holy or better than the other person. Let us remember that God loved the “whole world” and that is why He sent His Son Jesus so that the whole world could be redeemed. Let us thank God that we could experience the salvation experience which make us call ourselves believers, but let us not forget that through our lifestyle and our attitudes, others also need to experience salvation through Christ.

The Journey 134
Monday,  May 14
Read: Luke 18: 9-14
                Racist Believers?.  Martin Luther King had  made a very famous statement that “Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America”.  Sometimes looking at some of the attitudes of the some of the believers in  church, I  tend to agree with what Martin Luther King said. It was this statement that made me to do some research and I found an interesting news that  caught my attention. It was a  study done by Baylor University, published in the Journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science,  which is suggesting  that religion like Christianity may be a contributing factor in racial prejudice. Sounds strange isn't it? . Baylor University researchers found that people tend to go along with racist arguments after being exposed to Christian concepts like the Bible, Prayer, Christ, Sermon and so on. “The role of religion is paradoxical,” the Baylor report begins. “It makes prejudice and it unmakes prejudice.” Wade Rowatt, the Baylor Psychology and Neuroscience professor in an article in the Associated Baptist Press states that “What’s interesting about this study is that it shows some component of religion does lead to some negative evaluations of people based on race, but we just don't know why”.  Being Racist or being prejudiced is a powerful word. Whatever be the study, the question that came to my mind is that  as a believer do I tend to show prejudice or racists attitude in my relationship especially dealing with others and fellow Christians?.                                                                                                  This week we start on a new theme “ Transformation in my community”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Luke 18: 9-14. It is parable that Jesus said about two men who prayed and the way they approached God. It is in ones approach to God and ones concept of commitment to the Lord, that one show ones attitude not only about oneself but also how ones views others. Here is a Pharisee who comes to the presence of God and rather than evaluating his life and his shortcomings, he looks at the tax collector and then views himself as righteous. I think this is the attitude that some believers have. They come to church or they don't come to church because they see certain people in church whom they feel they cannot stand. Hence the only option for them is to stay away from the church or form a group of believers whom they tend to think are likeminded. But look at what tax collector did when he came to the presence of God. Unlike Pharisee who saw the tax collector, this man does not even come closer and stands at a distance. He does not look at the people around him, but on the contrary looks at the heaven and beats his breast and says one of the most powerful word and words of transformation and repentance “ God have mercy on me a sinner”. I think here is the person who acknowledges that he is the one who is not worthy to come to God’s presence and receive His grace and hence he needs mercy while on the contrary the Pharisees considers himself worthy than others, that makes him to condemn others, and to consciously pretend that he is holy than others standing next to him. I think this is what racism is all about. My commitment to Christ should lead me to the attitude that Jesus had “ To love  sinners but hate sin”. Let us think whether in our attitude and through our commitment and also through our dealings, whether we tend to show that we are a “Racist Believers”?.

The Journey 132
Saturday, May 12
Read: John 19: 25-27
Tomorrow is Mother’s day. A day when home’s, the church’s the family all have special functions, gatherings and celebrations to honour the mother in the family. But has these celebrations done any good to the concept of motherhood? Looking back into history we will understand how far we have moved away from the cause for which people had observed mother’s day. It was in 1914 that Mother’s Day was proclaimed in US as an official holiday, by President Woodrow Wilson. This was because of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, who wanted to do something so that she could honor the social activism of her own mother. Her mother had founded Mothers’ Day Work Clubs, which raised money to supply medicine for the sick, provided help for mothers who were suffering from tuberculosis, and also volunteered to work as nurse for the wounded soldiers. But later, Anna Jarvis, was disappointed that Mother’s Day had become a day of celebration where only a card was exchanged and so she protested against the commercialization of mother’s day. She remarked that “Mother’s day has become a “Hallmark” holiday and nothing more, I wanted it to be a day of sentiment and value, not profit”. According to her “A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world, And candy! You take a box to your Mother—and then eat most of it yourself” Jarvis explained.” Anna Jarvis’s protests took a heavy toll of her life. She went to the courts to stop a Mother’s Day event in 1923 and once she also went to jail for rallying against the sale of flowers on mother’s day. But Mother’s Day continued to grow in popularity. Anna Jarvis spent her considerable inheritance in this losing battle, and finally she died in 1948, blind, penniless and alone. A person who began the concept of mother’s day with lot of meaning and purpose, but ultimately the “worldly elements” took over and commercialized it. Isn't this true also in our celebration of mother’s day today? Celebrations are meaningful when the expression of sentiments like love and thanks are expressed more than the giving of cards, flowers and gifts. Let not the sentiment for the mother end in a card or a flower. That is when the individual like a mother feels that she is valued and cared for by a generation whom she raised.
This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in our personal life”. The portion that I would like to meditate is from John 19: 25-27. Here is a poignant portion where Jesus while dying on the cross sees his mother standing at the foot of cross, bearing the painful sight of her son dying. At that moment Jesus tells one of the most beautiful words. He looks to John and tells him “ Behold your mother” and looking at Mary, He says “ Behold your son”. Even when Jesus was dying, he did not relieve himself from the responsibility of the earthly son. He understands the need of His widowed mother and asks John to take care of her as his own mother. Here is Jesus explicitly teaching us that whatever be our age, and whatever be our life experience, the children have a moral obligation to take care of the needs and well being of their parents especially one’s mother. For that to happen we need to understand and value the presence and the role of our mother. It is when we don't realize that value of one’s mother, that we often make our celebration of mother’s day just another ritual of giving cards or flowers to her to go along with the crowd. Transformation is all about recognizing the person, affirming the person and consciously sacrificing so that her needs are taken care of and person feels valued and loved.
“I feel what my mother needs most is the sense of being valued and loved”. That Is how we need to celebrate mother’s day and not mothers’ day.

The Journey 131
Friday, May 11
Read: 1 Samuel 13, 20
       A few months back I had written in my  Journey the plight of a Christian Pastor in Iran, Youcef Nadarkhani, who is awaiting  death sentence in Iran for alleged apostasy.  A new development has taken place which has been reported  by Fox News. The attorney and human rights advocate who represented the Christian pastor,  Mohammad Ali Dadkhah has also been sentenced to death in Iran in a case that has now sparked international condemnation. According to the news agencies he has  been sentenced to nine years in jail on the charges that he has acted against national security in Iran. Dadkhah has represented several political and human rights activists jailed since Iran's 2009 disputed elections.  Dadkhah has also reportedly been banned from teaching at universities or practicing law for 10 years. The American Center for Law and Justice, or ACLJ, which has been working to secure the release of Nadarkhani, fears that the decision to jail Dadkhah puts the Christian pastor at greater risk. Because of this decision,  now no other lawyer is likely to take the case of Pastor Youcef and thus the pastor will have no legal advocate nor help, which places him at greater risk. Dadkhah was reportedly in court defending one of his clients when the judge announced his own nine-year sentence. He is expected to be jailed soon. Dadkhah was also the attorney for 12 Christians who stood trial on Easter Sunday in Iran. Meanwhile this week ACLJ  also released what it says is a letter written by Youcef Nadarkhani earlier this week from a prison in the Lakan Province of Iran.  If the letter is real, it is the first time Nadarkhani has been heard from in a year.  What a strange case where the power of an entire country is against two individuals, and brazen display of power and oppression in the name of religion. Any country or society or an individual will not go very far, if the principle behind that society or country is based on the brazen display and autocratic use of power. It is here that the Word of God teaches us something different about the concept of power. It is then we will understand what is transformed living.
                                   This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in my personal life” based on 1 Samuel 20-26, reflecting the lifestyle, the attitudes of Saul and David. But look at what Saul does when he becomes the King. [ 1 Samuel 13]. After he was anointed as king, Prophet Samuel instructed Saul, the young king to travel to Gilgal and to wait  for seven days for the prophet’s arrival and the subsequent offering of sacrifices. But Saul grew impatient and  when Samuel had not arrived on the seventh day,  He offered the sacrifices himself [1 Samuel 13:8ff], and then proceeded to justify his action. [ 1 Samuel 13:13.] Here is a ruler who uses power to disobey God. Another brazen display of power and arrogance was when  he as asked to destroy the Amalekites, but he does not do so and the last straw of display of brazen power and autocracy was how he became jealous of David because he became more famous than him. This make Saul to make attempts to kill David and just as we said yesterday it was David who forgave Saul, on every occasion that he had the opportunity to kill Saul. Saul used power not only to disobey God but also to subjugate and to oppress others and use it project himself over others. One of the key aspect of ones life is to think what happens to us when we are endowed with power and authority. People today love to lord over people, there is sadistic pleasure when we have the authority and power over others and that is what we all love. But Jesus taught us an example that is totally opposite to the worldly understanding of showing one power and authority. He says “ The greatest among you will be your servant, for whoever exalt himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”[ Mathew 23: 11, 12]. Here is an entirely different paradigm on the use of power. As believers let us examine our life and see whether we are also like Saul who have used power and authority given by God to lord over others or have we used it as an opportunity for service and as an act of witness to God. Let us examine what does power does to us and that will show the type of transformed living that we live

The Journey 130
Thursday, May 10
Read: 1 Samuel 20-26
                    My attention was drawn to a new movie that was released in US last week named “Avengers”, which is  based on the popular comic series, and it is supposedly drawing huge crowds . This is a movie that teams up all the iconic Marvel Super Heroes like the Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. The story of the movie revolves around  an emergence of an enemy named Loki, who threatens global safety and security, and hence the director of the international peace keeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. forms a team of the six super heroes to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. What caught my attention was the philosophy of the character of Loki. Here is a character who is brought up with the expectation and dreams that he was born to rule. Thus the characters of Thor and Loki in the movies is that they both were born to be kings. But unfortunately there is no kingdom for Loki, so he has to find one. Hence he is coming down to earth to subjugate humanity and rule the human race as their king. Thus it is all about the concept of power, the power to rule others and subjugate them and how one can have authority and the freedom to flout and also display brazen authority to others. Though the character of Loki is pure fictional I feel it represents the mindset of the world today. For many life is all about power and unlimited power. What is the relationship between power and transformation in our life is what we need think.
                       This week we are meditating on the theme “Transformation in our personal life’ based on the life of David, Saul and Jonathan, based on 1 Samuel 20-26. Here are two individuals who are so different when power is entrusted to them. When David is entrusted power and authority he find it very difficulty to display or to show others the kind of power and might that he has [ His preparation and encounter with Goliath, [1 Samuel 17]. On the contrary when Saul becomes king, he uses his power and authority not only to propagate himself, but also tries to use the same power to subjugate even David who was the close friend of his son Jonathan, and also a person who was the saviour of the people from the power of the Philistines. Thus we find in the scriptures that Saul finding new ways to kill David while David even when he has chances to kill Saul spares his life. But these transforming acts of David does not bring transformation in the life of Saul. He becomes more and more revengeful and this is because of his concept of power. I believe we need to follow the model of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom Paul talks about in Philippians 2: 5-11, how he explains that Jesus though God, relinquishes all authority in heaven and comes to the earth as a human being and for whom power was the power to serve and save people and help them to have transformation in their life.
I think this is what God expects us to do. He gives all of us power and authority in different ways. We need to think whether we use that power to serve others and to bring transformation in their life through the message of the gospel or use power to manipulate people and to cater to our own selfish agenda’s. What God wants us to relinquish our hunger for power and authority and kneel before him so that in the process we can stand before anything.
What is your definition of Power and thin how “powerful” are you?

The Journey 129
Wednesday, May 9
Read: 1 Samuel 24, 26
                  A few days back some of my friends posted on Facebook a very good article about Sardarji’s. The article was very enlightening, and hence I felt I need to share. It  made  me dig deep into the authorship of the article and finally I found that article in a blog written by Amandeep Singh Virdi of Mumbai. I felt it was an eye opener, especially as I had a few Punjabi friends, and one who grew up in Mumbai encountering Sardar’s every day. Read along…….. We all love Sardar jokes. But do you know that Sikhs are one of the hard working, prosperous and diversified communities in the world!. An incident related to a  Sardar, will show how they are the true heroes today in our world and will also change the way we perceive the Sikhs. A few friends came to Delhi for enjoying their vacation. They rented a taxi for local sight-seeing. The driver was an old Sardar and boys being boys, these pals began cracking Sardarji's jokes, just to tease the old man. But to their surprise, the fellow remained undisturbed. At the end of the sight-seeing, they paid the Sardar who was the driver, the cab hire charges. The Sardar returned the change, but he gave each one of the boys one rupee extra and said, ''Son, since morning you have been telling Sardar jokes. I listened to them all and let me tell you, some of them were in bad taste. Still, I don't mind because I know that you all are young, want to have fun but haven't seen the world. But I have one request. I am giving you one rupee each. Give it to the first Sardar beggar that you come across in this or any other city in the world!" . One of the friends who undertook the trip said later "That one rupee coin is still with me. I have still not found a single Sardar begging anywhere." The secret behind the universal success of the Sardar is their willingness to do any job with utmost dedication and pride. A Sardar will drive a truck or set up a roadside garage or a dhaba, run a fruit juice stall, take up small time carpentry, ... but he will never beg on the streets. Now who is a true hero. . Here is a group of people, a community, though the object of jokes, are a community who are hardworking, community oriented, fun loving, committed to their religious belief and practice. I think these are qualities that make them so different from the rest of the people in the world.
                 This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in our personal life. The portion that we will use for our meditation is from 1 Samuel 24 and 26. David and Jonathan are thick friends and yesterday we saw how Jonathan helps David to escape from evil designs of his father Saul. But then Saul continues to pursue David and wants to kill him. But then the irony is that, it was David who gets a chance to kill Saul. Once when Saul hears that David is in the desert, he comes witht 3000 men to kill him, but David hides in a cave and escapes, but in this very cave, David gets a chance to kill Saul. But David spares the life of Saul and Saul is thankful to David. But this repentance does not last long. Saul again tries to kill David, but here also it is David who creeps into the tent of Saul and could have easily killed him, but his life is spared again. David knew that Saul was the King and hence he had to show respect to him. Though Saul did not have a commitment towards God, and was unfaithful, David remained faithful to God and also in his relationships. Life is all about not how others treat you, but how you treat others. Life is not about whether others were faithful to you and were kind to you, but how you were to others. As committed Christian let us always be committed to our relationship with our Lord, so that wherever we are, we show a life style that makes the others think on the “differentness” that is there in us as believers. That is what transformation is all about.

Next time you meet a Sardar, “change your perception”

 

The Journey 128
Tuesday. May 8
Read: 1 Samuel 20
                  A diplomatic crisis seems to be brewing between China and US, even as the secretary of state Hilary Clinton is scheduled to meet her counterparts in Beijing later this week.  It concerns about a person named Chen Guangchen. But who is this Chen Guangchen?. Chen Guangchen is blind human right activist and a lawyer. His story can be a script taken out from a hit Hollywood movie. He could not read nor write till the age of 20, but today he has not only taught himself to read and write but  he has also learnt Chinese law. He used his legal skills to defend the victims of government oppression like poor peasants, the disabled, and women who were forced to have abortions in a country which had a one child policy. It was his opposition to the forced sterilization policy of the government that seems to have  made him an enemy of the state. He was arrested and convicted and after four years in jail, he was placed under house arrest. He could not communicate with anyone. But Chen did not resign to his fate. He digged a tunnel, and, finally, on April 22, he escaped. The escape was so well planned that his captors did not know that he had escaped  until the following days. He then he slowly made his way, through series of safe houses and with the help of fellow dissidents, to Beijing and, eventually, the U.S. Embassy. Today he is hiding as he is not sure what his fate is. It is believed that he may be in one of the safe houses or in one of the rooms of the US embassy in Beijing. What is strange and remarkable about Chen is that he is blind and what motivates him in his human right activities is his Christian faith. The world is looking whether the issue of Chen will be discussed or not between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her counterparts in Beijing. It is from the Word of God especially from the book of Proverbs 21:3, “to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice” that Chen takes his inspirations for his fight for the poor and the underprivileged. Here is a person who fights for the cause of others, undertakes risk for the welfare of others, and through that finds his vision in life. This is what transformed living is all about.
             This week we are meditating on the theme “Transformation in my personal life” based on the life of David and Jonathan from 1 Samuel. Today the portion taken for meditation is 1 Samuel 20. Both David and Jonathan have come to a realization that there is something wrong between Saul and David, and that Saul is plotting against David, may be with the intention of killing David. 1 Samuel: 20, is a beautiful description of how Jonathan the son of Saul hatches a wonderful plan to help David escape with his life and at the same time thwart the evil designs of his father. In v: 18-24 we will find the detailed description of the plan…...like shooting of the arrows …… Jonathan bids farewell to David with a covenant that “The Lord is witness between you and me forever”. Finally because of the wise planning of both these friends David escapes but the Saul is furious at his son Jonathan who now understands that his father truly intend to kill his friend, and he is ashamed of his fathers behavior. [ 1 Samuel 20: 34]. Here is a story of two youths whose friendship terms is like that of the covenant, who decides to risk their life for the sake of friendship, for the sake of justice and for the sake of their commitment to the Lord. I can understand when one takes risk for the welfare of ones own being and ones need, but both David and Jonathan through their actions teaches us that life is all about taking risk not only for our personal needs but also to risk and also fight and standing for the rights of others who are powerless against the forces of evil in the society. Let us think– Have we ever been able to risk ourselves so that we could stand at the side of justice?

The Journey 127
Monday, May 7
Read: 1 Samuel 19
              Fox News and New York Times reported  last Friday an incident that went off board from the cause for which it was called for. National High School Journalism Conference  organized a conference on Anti Bullying in Seattle and the speaker invited was Dan Savage, who is a spokesperson and an advocate for anti bullying. But in a twist of irony, he is now accused of using that platform to hurt and make rude and bullying remarks on high school students who were Christians. He blamed and accused the Christian students with regards to the way they practiced their faith and slowly started using sarcastic remarks against Christian faith practices and the Bible. Offended by the way the speaker manipulated the platform that was given, and because he was not willing to respect the faith practices of others, a few Christian students boldly stood up and silently started walking out of the hall as the speech was going on. When Savage saw this silent protest,  he got more wild and started heckling the silent protestors using very snide remarks to make fun of those students. Just imagine a speaker called to speak of the terror and the problem of anti bullying suddenly becomes a bully.  He is also accused of using very vulgar language describing his partner. Isn't it strange that people who have authority and who are supposed to be protectors of others, suddenly become abusers?. What about the students who silently stood up and walked down the hall? I really appreciate the guts of the students. Remember they are high school students and yet they stand up for what they feel is right. I think this is one quality that we all should have. Ready to protest and also know to take a stand for what we believe. That is when transformation takes place in our life.
                This week we are starting a new theme for our meditation and that is “ Transformation in our personal life”. The portion that we are going to use for our meditation is from 1 Samuel 19. Here is another story similar to what the news reported. David had been a person who has been so beneficial to Saul. He had helped him by delivering them from the Philistines. But as the fame and the popularity of David started growing Saul becomes insecure. Here is a king who feel insecure with a  person who is almost like a son to him and who is also a close friend of his son Jonathan. But when insecurity comes to a person, he becomes totally blind. Then there is no logic or reasoning in his life only blind and mad rage on how to put an end to the person who is supposed to cause the insecurity in life. It is in this context that King Saul plots against David. What an irony! a king who is supposed to take care of the welfare of others is now becoming a sadist who is concerned only about his happiness and his selfish pursuits. It is at this time that Saul’s son Jonathan does something that is courageous. He warns David about his father animosity and hatred  toward him and his wily scheme of killing him. Here is another young boy who takes a stand for his friend, for righteous cause even if it means to stand against his father. I think this incident is  beyond parallel in the Bible. What is  needed in our public life is people like Jonathan who would want to stand for what is just and right, even if it  means that you may offend people whom you love. Today we are so complacent that we just don't care as to what happens to us and also to others. That is why Martin Luther King said the famous word that I quoted in the picture “ Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter”

Have you ever stood up for what matters in life?

The Journey 125
Saturday, May 5
Read: Genesis 25
Does Your Birth Order Affect Your Finances?:  This was an interesting piece of article that came on Bankrate.com. According to Derrick Kinney, a financial adviser at Derrick Kinney & Associates in Arlington, Texas, says your birth order can affect your relationship with money, and finances and especially how good your credit scores are. His logic of argument is based on what  Dr. Soroya Bacchus, a psychiatrist based in Los Angeles says about prominent traits of each of the children in the family. According to Bachus, “The eldest are normally the most responsible ones and hence they are organized. This makes them punctual about paying bills because they love to be seen as stable and dependable, they won't let financial details like payment due dates and avoiding unnecessary over-the-limit fees fall through the cracks." But all that perfectionism and drive of being the first in the birth order can backfire. "More often than not, being a perfectionist leads to burnout and giving up or setting unrealistic financial goals," says Kinney. Middle children are inventive, natural problem-solvers. They grow up thinking they can handle anything themselves, including money problems," says Bacchus. This sometimes makes them prone to secrecy. They tend to have the need to cover up, or ignore financial troubles like  hiding  financial secrets such as unpaid bills and accounts sent to collection from their spouses. They believe they can fix the problem themselves. Finally Bacchus says the babies of the family are very social and tend to prioritize dinners out with friends, regularly takes trips to the mall and has no problem spending. This leaves little or no money to pay bills. It's tough for those youngest in the birth order to spot these activities as the first ones to avoid when in a budget crisis, says Kinney. "Parents often dote on the youngest children, so they're conditioned to rely on others. They get into financial trouble because they can't handle responsibility and may even believe someone will fix their financial problems if their parents have paid bills for them," says Bacchus. This piece of article for me is more of a hypothesis, which may occur in a family or may not occur. But whatever be your birth order in the family I believe the presence and the role of the children surely affects the environment and the transformation that has to take place in the family.
                         This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in the family” based on the family life of Isaac and Rebekah. Does the birth order of the children of Isaac and Rebekah affected their family functioning? In Genesis 25: 19– 27, describes the birth of Jacob and Esau. When Esau was born he had hair all over his body, but when Jacob was born, he was holding on to Esau’s heel, thus he was called Jacob. Late we read that in v:27 that as they grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was peaceful and lived in tents. Two brothers who struggled together when they were in the womb, and later as they grew up developing distinct personalities and vocations of their own. But it is from v: 28 that we find the dysfunctioning of the family being told. “ Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for a game but Rebekah loved Jacob. Here is the root cause of the dysfunctioning of the family. I believe the transformation and the effective functioning of the family is not based on ones birth order, but on the contrary how well we as children and parents play the divine role and responsibility that God has entrusted to us in the family. There are times in the family where responsibility can be divided so that each of the child in the family and the spouses have equal responsibility. But today we live in times when one of the parents put the entire responsibility of the family on the other or one of the sibling put the responsibility of looking after ones parents on the other siblings. Washing my hands off the role and responsibility of the family is what hampers the smooth functioning of the family. Transformation in the family is all about each member of the family being responsible to the role that he/she  has been given in the context of the family.
Whatever be our birth order, if we don't discharge our role and responsibility in the family then it will surely affect the way our family functions.

The Journey 124

Friday, May 4

Read: Genesis 27

Identity Theft : The latest headache for people and the law enforcement agencies here in US is “Identity Theft”. I am sure you all might have received sometimes a so called mail from your friends which read like this “ Hey yesterday while I was in London, I lost my passport and my travel documents. Now I am stuck here in London. So please help me by sending about 1000 dollars so that I can travel back home”.  This is one of the ways by which thieves who hacked your friends email id is sending this mail to get some easy money. Identity theft is the use of your personal information such as your name, your PIN number, your passwords, your telephone number, and more by strangers. Another name of identity theft is identity fraud. In other words, identity theft is any fraudulent use of your personal data to do any criminal and fraudulent acts. What the identity thieves  do is use your credit accounts or other security accounts to purchase something under your name. By using your identity, the thieves can obtain a good product or service and will leave you huge debts that you have to pay. From the data base information from identity theft. Com, approximately 15 million United States residents have their identities used fraudulently each year with financial losses totaling upwards of $50 billion. Close to 100 million additional Americans have their personal identifying information placed at risk of identity theft each year when records maintained in government and corporate databases are lost or stolen. These alarming statistics demonstrate identity theft may be the most frequent, costly and pervasive crime in the United States.  Identity theft is done by people who wants to make easy money. But I would want to go into this concept a little deeper. Identity theft is all about taking the role, privileges in a fraudulent manner of another person, purely with a selfish motive to create harm in that person life and also to seek financial and materialistic gain. Whether you believe it or not, today this happens in the context of ones family too. I think one form of Identity theft was there in the Bible. Jacob was the first person to do the sin and the crime of identity theft. How does identity theft affect the functioning of family?

This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in the family” based on the family of Isaac and Rebecca from Genesis 27. Here is a family where every member is not serious about the role and the responsibility that they have to play. What a strange experience where in one own family one of the  siblings is using crooked ways to steal what belongs to his brother. That is how Jacob is manipulated by his own mother to plot against his father and brother. [ Genesis 27: 1-30] That is how Jacob dresses like Esau, where his mother covers him goats skin so that he can be like Esau. Identity theft at the behest of ones own mother. Jacob get the blessing but later as we read the following chapters in Genesis we find that Jacob became a fugitive and he is later cheated by Laban. A person who thought who could cheat others, finally falls a prey to his own dubious and selfish schemes. Finally Jacob realizes that the benefits that one gets through identity theft is more than he bargained for and the price that he has to pay is too heavy. Today in the context of our family there are lots of similar cases of identity thefts going on.  Family members are more and more embroiled in cases involving division and usurpation of properties, financial aspects of division of ancestral properties and so on. People today tend to show scant respects to family relationships and family ties. Everything in life is now about money and how we can be better off than ones own siblings. If ones sibling is doing well, it does not go well with other sibling and his family. What a strange life that people live today. If transformation in our family has to take place let us understand that each one of us have a definite role and responsibility given by God to us. The progress and future of our family including its stability both financial and all other aspect is in the hands of God and we need to trust in God, who is the author of our family life. Let us be contented in what we have as a family rather than focusing on what my sibling and his family have. That is where meaning in our family life happens.

Are you a victim or a perpetrator of  “ Identity Theft”?