s.t.a.r.t.l.e.d

Startled...I think it has to be the key word today..when I woke to the thunderous bass of my Father's, I was so annoyingly startled. It was like a sudden and vigorous kickstart to the system, that the whole 'what's happening??' mechanism of my body, reeling under that explosive stimulant, was at a loss to explain as to what's really happening. With eyes twinkling faster than a camera's shutter, it dawned on me that I've been caught unawares. I neglected my chores and was busy building my Kingdom of Dreams.

.... If King Jesus descends on our turf with an entourage fit for the King of Kings, I think a good number of us would be dumbly STARTLED. Taking our dumbness to Himalayan levels we'll think two things...."So, all this was really true, huh!!" ..and when we realise that there was no escaping this reality, the second thought would be "Did it have to be so soon? I was still in my City of Dreams planning to WAKE UP!!"


"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them to the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."
-Paul's first epistle to the Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NIV)

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A Sunday morning beamer.....
..... when God calls us up....before his everlasting throne, he would ask us two things (he has all the possible reasons to!!)---
1. What did you do with my son Jesus?
2. What did you do with all the resources (talents, money, comforts etc.) that I gave you?
Be careful when you answer..it may affect your eternity!!

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Today was a day of challenges...when you put down the impossibilities in numeric terms...the numbers may initially be startling..but the greater the distance, the sweeter would be the rest and the reminisces, not to mention the victory of going the distance.

"I said, "I have worked, but how hopeless it is! I have used up my strength but have accomplished nothing." Yet I can trust the Lord to defend my cause; he will reward me for what I do."
-The Book of Isaiah 49:4 (GNB)


The second post after the first post....and I'm loving it. When there's a blank screen in front of you and an equally blank blog before you, you are forced to dig deep and you would be startled by what lies beneath. Seriously...

St.

Lifesong

In an utterly contemplative disposition of my mind..

Casting Crowns playing at the background is striking a chord somewhere "Let my lifesong sing to you!" Only if it had been as easy as singing a song.

A mixed day. Nothing much to look forward to. I see a few weeks of similar monotony....A nice chat, a boisterous sister, exuberant guests made the bulk of the the day. Two weeks of hard labour-my beard is under threat of annihilation!!! No point in resisting ...would have to GIVE IN...:)

Blog seems to be deserted...the last entry was on October 6. Thought of writing my mind. The problem of sharing LIFE is that it needs a message. Do not strain...you have heard it before...had Gandhi been alive...he would have been an avid blogger. Nothing like a public notebook to make your "My life is my Message" ideals known to the world. It's quite a deal to have a life worth emulating...
A second dilemma is the loss of that comfort of oblivion that one so zealously guards. Nobody knows, nobody hears, nobody sees and you feel your life is your own and private. But then, anything for Christ....

So I think I'll be here often to share and explore my mundane. I hope many in the course would sing that lifesong with me. If only......

St.

To God Be The Glory

I am really excited to write this article on the auspicious day of YUWA's birthday. Today YUWA has completed a fruitful year of ministry among the youth. Have you ever heard of a one year old baby writing something meaningful? But today I am going to recount all the wonders God did in the past, yes you are right I am going to make you all  nostalgic. It all begun with PMFI creating a youth wing called YUWA but it was more than that, everyone in YUWA associated themselves personally with it as it was their own childhood vision to have something like this. So here we go as we remember what all happend this one year and I hope that some good old memories will be stirred to life....please do go through it

To start with YUWA is all about God Almighty and His work among the youth. From the beginning when the team was being formed,we all anticipated that it was more than a mere "FELLOWSHIP" or a "MEETING". We always felt that we were all sufficient lacking nothing but God from time to time reminded us that "its not by might nor by strength but by his Spirit".We saw the making of many great people in YUWA and saw the breaking of many small issues of everybody's life which was hindering God's work through their life. God equipped us with people of various talents and traits.

Our Director Siju Thomas always had a proper setup of everything in his mind which he shared with us like the small boy who shared his lunch with Jesus Christ which in turn lead to the filling of more than 5000 empty stomachs!!.

Reni would by then leap out of nowhere with a idea which would be of great help to all and I don't think that anybody has forgotten his jokes and accompanying people in their travels (not to forget his treasury department!!).

When we had a big problem and were worried about it, Felix would just come with a word of prayer and we would be strengthened by the Lord (please message him your prayer requests).

Anto and Blesson are the one's who are responsible for the creative thinking (I don't know how they do it but they do it all the time, don't forget Anto's drum or he will ROLL you over and Blesson's marvellous IT works).

Here comes Ajin with his Govindpuri unit meeting, sms invites (that is the time when we remember that we have a unit there) and his pains in working it out smoothly (Do watch out for his choreo on the 15th Oct meet).

We have Anu Abraham who initiates and makes all those lovely handouts which might be in your Bible, if you had been to our meetings even once.

Tincy Philip, our Indrapuram unit co-ordinator (she has threatened me to write about her or I will be executed for the crime) is a think tank, an active member and a worshipper who hates chairs in our Musical Evening as it restricts her in dancing and worshiping the Lord!!.

We have a Worship Team who are always ready to crack a joke or two during their so called "Practises", many have been a part of the team and naming them would be a task worth doing so they are-(Jolly Joseph, Samuel Sashi, Anson Abraham, Vicky Gupta, Anto, Ajin, Rhema, Feba, Sherin Philip, Mishael, Blesson, Felix, Saji and Deepak). The Worship Team has informed me that on the "Thanksgiving Day" (15th October) they will offer unto God a sacrifice of Praise as never before so do come and be part of it.

Special thanx to Merlin Philip for her support, Sajo Varghese for the fire breathing articles,

PRAISE Team for their musical help (Limi, Sumit Varghese, Gaurav Singh, Siju Abraham and many more for their efforts put into the choreo ssection) and for everyone who has done their bit in YUWA be it bringing food, accompanying somebody or at the least putting the chairs in our meet.

I at this time remember all of our sponsors without whom this journey would have been impossible (nobody knows your problems in which you were, when you supported us but God knows and He is gonna bless u more in the days to come). YUWA had wonderful and supportive pastors who helped us with their words of encouragement and caution,church hall, the food during the practises and financial support too (Pr NP Philip, Pr VT Thomas ,Pr Jiju Mathew, Pr Jose Samuel, Pr Johnson Ramachandran and many more). It would be a great injustice to forget our parents, patrons and well-wishers who have prayed for us and have helped us when we needed it most. The people who prayed when nobody heard it except God Himself. Yuwa thanks you and may God bless you. Not to forget our marvellous resource persons with whom many of us now have a close bonding namely (Pr Sam Ajith, Ashish Babu and Joshua Samuel).

Whoaaa its not even a drop in the ocean  but anyways it's only the Beginning For the Beginning(YUWAMANIA has Just begun)!!!

BEING HUMAN OR BEING CHRISTIAN...THE CHOICE IS IN OUR HANDS

Sorry seems to be the hardest word???

Father ,please forgive us our sins even though we do not forgive those who sin against us...
Forgiveness is a lot harder than it seems or is made out to be...

Peter came to Jesus and asked" lord,how many times should i forgive my brother when he sins against me ? Up to seven times? Jesus answered " I tell you not seven times ,but seventy times seven...". In the next following verses the Bible says " the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servats . As he began his settlement , a man who owned him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was unable to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had b sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him,"be patient with me" he begged and i ll pay back everything.'The servants master had pity on him ,cancelled the debtand, let him go. But when the servant went out he found one of his fellow servants who owned him one hundred dinarii..he grabbed him and began to choke him..he begged ..fell on his knees but couldn't be pardoned.. when the news reached the ears of the master ..he called the servant in 'you wicked servant ' he said ' I cancelled all the debts of yours because you begged me to . shouldn't you have had mercy on your servant just as i had on you? in anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured ,until he should pay back all he owed.

We tweens ,teens and young adults have everyday experience of this kind when we get ourselves into quarrels or cold-wars (not necessarily collar-grabbing or catfights) . In our every step we come across people who may not even like us , be mean to us , or just want us to trip as we climb...so, what do we do when we face such negative energies around us???

we have two options one is fun and easy however the other one is tough...either we can give tit for tat treatment as in an eye for an eye , so that the people know what it is like messing with us and prove ourselves to be the king and queen of the jungle or go with the other option...

The other option is far more difficult to be taken and cannot be taken by a mere human as it is what is going to differentiate us from the rest...that is to forgive the people and show them the Love God showed us....(ref.Luke 6:37 and Luke6: 27,28) and let them know Who we have fellowship with!! And if we forgive..it should not only be said but has to be felt and shown . We should pray for them and love then more than we do for our friends and be the "Salt" . So the next time we are planning to give a prayer offering to God lets make sure that there is no brother or sister out there towards whom we have even the slightest of grudge or coldness (ref. Matthew 5:24) . May God bless us all with a life free of jealousy , envy , discord , and contention of the lowest of lowest to highest of highest levels .

Godbless

Being Human Christian

To be a Human is not a much difficult task, but to be a Christian is not an easy task.

The "Person" of Christ is now at the right hand of the father in Heaven.

But only by his spirit, his presence can be in you and in me-and in every Believer throughout the world (Romans 8:9)

A Human baby receives from its parents, the nature and character of the family. But, when we are born into God's family,

We receive Christ's image and his nature i.e. others should not see a normal human in us but must find Christ in our character.

A human is forced to fulfill his desires which many be sinful in nature.

He can adopt any qualities- good or bad. But, a Christian must adopt the qualities of Christ i.e. the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24)

Each of the fruit is a specific quality of Christ’s life- an aspect of his “being”.

The best way to preach Christ is through our life i.e. our character, the way we live and communicate amongst others. We must practice the fruits of the Holy Spirit (as in Galatians 5:22-24) in our daily life and in every situation. As we submit to His spirit, God’s love grows strong within our lives we become better Christians and more like Jesus in our character.

Hence, we become a blessing – to God, to others and even ourselves.

-Sajo Varghese

"Don’t Quarrel on the Way"

Genesis 45: 24 

This was the instruction that Joseph gave to his brothers while they were departing from Egypt after realizing that the supreme authority of Egypt was their brother Joseph whom they tired to kill, a long time back( Gen 37:12-36). Whatever happened to Joseph was God’s plan. Joseph knew that a quarrel could have broke out between his brothers on whom to responsible regarding the plot to kill or sell off their brother Joseph. The reality was that, everything in Joseph’s life went according to God’s plan. But an eruption of quarrel amongst his brothers would have worsened the God’s plan of reuniting Joseph’s family in Egypt at the time of famine in all countries. Joseph realized this and that’ why he instructed them to not quarrel on the way.

From the above passage, we must realize that we are also on our way to fulfill God’s will. But many of our sins divert us from God’s plan. Quarrelling is also one amongst sins which spoil our life (Proverbs 17:19). People quarrel to justify themselves, whether right or wrong. But, quarreling never brings justice, rather turns into an unquenchable fire leading to disaster (Proverbs 17:14). Hence, we must avoid quarrels in our family life, in our schools, colleges, neighborhoods or working places because a righteous man never quarrels rather he maintain silence (Must read 2Timothy 2:24, 1Thessalonians 4:11).

-SAJO VARGHESE

WHO DECEIVED THE SERPENT?

Genesis chapter 3(read it)

From our childhood,we see the serpent(snake) as an evil creature. For instance if we see a snake in a nightmare,we say that something terrible is going to happen. It's all because of what happened in Genesis chapter 3. On that day, snake got cursed by God and became the enemy of christians

But we know, snake is just a living creature, a wild animal created by God(Gen 3:1,first line). The snake had no intention to destroy the god's valauable creation i.e human being by deceiving Eve and Adam and turn them away from God.

It was the devil that used the snake to deceive human being. The devil used the snake instead of any other wild animal because the snake was more crafty than any other wild animal(Gen3:1)

The snake's craftiness helped the devil to use it and lead it to be cursed by God(Gen 3:14). Hence, the snake(serpent) got deceived by its own craftiness. Just like that we human beings should take a lesson from snake and realize that its our own craftiness or sinful nature that leads to a depleted bond between ourselves and God. Also our sinful nature or bad habits permits the devil to use us and make us his slaves which inturn leads to our own destruction.

Hence, let's not deceive ourselves!!

(Read Galatians chapter 6:7-8)

-SAJO VARGHESE