It's only yesterday I came across the term Red Letter Christianity. I was flipping through the Christian channels on television when I came across a program with this title. Because it was hosted by Tony Campola, whom I really respect as a Christian leader,I thought of watching it. Brian Mclaren was the guest whom Campola and his co-host interviewed yesterday.
Listening to them, I came to understand that many Christians are getting frustrated and disatisfied in the direction churches are moving these days, especially in North America. Instead of focusing on the poor and the lost and the inequality and injustice that's prevailing around us, it's so sad to see some Christians are wasting time in debating and fighting over abortion and homosexuality.
Red Letter Christians are those who are more interested in doing and following Jesus and His sayings which are printed in red letters in the Gospels. At one time, Christians wanted to identify themselves as Born Again Christians in order to differentiate them from the nominal Christians who had no Born Again experience. It seems that trend has lost it's distinction and meaning that Christians are looking for some other name to identify them. Some prefer to call themselves as Followers of Christ.
Although I couldn't learn much about Red Letter Christianity in one sitting, I can say that this group stands for what Jesus truly care and talk about in the Gospels. Because Jesus' sayings are printed in red letters in most of the Bibles these days, the organization has acquired the title Red Letter Christianity. Instead of wasting time on debating and fighting over issues on homosexuality and abortion like the Right winged Christians, Red Letter Christains have chosen to spend time working on more needful and important issues like poverty, sex trafficking, greed, corruption, growing income inequality. I was even surprised to know that an Emerging Church is on the rise and some Christians are prefering to meet and worship in house setting rather than attending the usual community or denominational churches.
In a way I'm glad that Christians are wakening up to see what's going wrong with many modern day churches. It's so sad to see the trend of prosperity gospel is spreading like wildfire not only in America but its spreading other parts of the world. As a result, the preachers are getting rich living in mansions and flying in their own jets while the parishners and those who support them out of their meagre income keep on living with the same social issues. Churches are getting built in huge arena like fashions to seat thousands and messages are offered to make the crowd happy and entertained.
The power that beheld the first apostlic church and made the gospel spread no longer exists in our churches. We do have powerful music bands and worship team to rock the buildings, but the power of God is hardly visible in our operation as it did in early churches.Younger generations are confused by what they hear and what they witness. It's no surprise, people are turning towards eastern religions and spiritual gurus to find some solutions. People are hurting and they are seeking to find deliverance.
Busyness has robbed many church leaders strength and left them wearied and unfruitful. Prayer has lost its powerin churches. As a result, hunger for reformation is arising among many Christians and no wonder Red Letter Christianity and Emerging Church are bringing hope and meaning to those who are getting disatisfied with what they are seeing in today's churches, especially in North America, with so many church leaders and televangelists are acting more like business men and woment to promote their own agenda instead of God's agenda.
Well, it's wrong to measure all churches as well as Christians with the same yard stick. There are many churches who are bringing hope and truth to communities. Just today, I heard someone, who co-founded St.Judes Children's Hospital, which provides free treatment to its cancer patients, say how much the church he attends has blessed him. When his son, film director Tom Shadyac asked him, whether he could give one thing which has impacted his life, he pointed to the love he sees at the church he attends every Sunday. For him to see Blacks, Whites, Hispanics and Asians worshipping together standing shoulder to shoulder praising God, hugging one another in genuine love and serving together in unity truly made an impact on him, he said.The love and energy he felt there on Sunday was enought to carry him through the entire week to operate in right attitude and come back on next Sunday to be recharged in love. Wow! what a strong statement and what a blessing to have churches like that where Christ's message is not only preached, but lived out.
So, what's my part and your part in this. Our part is to follow the foot steps of Christ and live by the Red Letters and pray for the churches and church leaders so that Christ name is glorified and displayed in victorious witnessing of His followers, whether they chose to call themselves Red Letter Christians, Followers of Christ, Born-Again Christians or mere Christians!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Joyce Meyer in Town
I couldn't believe that Joyce Meyer was going to be in San Diego in April this year. I had been waiting for her to come to California and in fact when I found that her conference schedules for last year didn't show any places in CaliforniaI, I even called her ministry and inquired why Joyce Meyer hadn't come this way.
Then a couple of months back, I learned that she was having her conference in Long Beach which is two hours away from our place. I tried to coax Karen and Trish to attend the conference, but they didn't seem keen to drive that far to attend a conference, even though both of them are ardent fans of Joyce Meyer like me. With their busy work schedule, it's a stretch for them to drive that distance on a Friday evening or Saturday morning and at that time I didn't even know that Karen was struggling with some health issues too. I had no choice but to miss seeing Joyce Meyer in person at that time.
So, when I heard her conference was going to be in San Diego in April,I couldn't contain my excitement. Trish was determined to attend the conference at this time and if possible we decided to attend both on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
I don't know how and when I got hooked on to Joyce Meyer's teachings. I remember of picking up her book How to Hear from God from the local library in Saskatoon, may be ten years back and amazed by what I read.Though I experience the blessing of hearing God's still small voice (not audibly though) at times, I hadn't read anything written about it before.Or even heard anyone talking about it at any time. Joyce's book not only opened my eyes to understand the matter more clearly, but it also confirmed me that I could really hear from God, unlike some Christians who believe God speak only through His Word these days and not directly as He did in the days of Abraham, Moses and other Prophets.
Reading her books soon led me to watch her program Enjoying Everyday Life on television. I should admit that at the beginning I wasn't much impressed by her colorful outfits and conspicuous jewellery. I couldn't picture a strong woman of God like her attired in flashy outfits. It potrayed her worldly in my mind.Though I didn't expect her to look like Mother Theresa, I preferred to see her more simply dressed. Yes, I gave into judging her by her appearance and almost stopped watching her program. I'm glad that I didn't.Or I couldn't. The Holy Spirit kept knudging me to overlook her outward appearance and to listen to her message. I may have missed knowing many valuable lessons on Christian living, if I had stopped watching her programs.
I liked her blunt and tell it to the face style, her trasparency of telling her short comings,and her courage of exposing her tough past to the public in order to minister to those who have faced and facing similar situations. In my opinion, she's God's trophy for Grace transformed life. How else can you term it when someone who was sexually molested by her own father for 18years, told she wasn't amount to anything and declared a difficult person to live with and an impossible personality to start a teaching ministry and then to see her who she's today and where and where God has taken her in His grace. That's nothing but amazing grace in full display.
Well, not everyone loves her teaching and approve her expensive life style. Yes, I don't blame them and I agree that they've reasons to doubt her crediblity, especially when it comes to her lavish liviing style.True, we need to discern what is true and what is false. We need the Holy Spirit's guidance and the study of God's word to detect false teachers and greedy and manupulating preachers.
Is Joyce Meyer a true servant of God as she potrays, or is she another business woman who tries to earn living by using God's name like many other famous televangeists of these days? I belief she's an honest and sincere woman of God. If she's not, it's to God she has to answer.
Finally Joyce Meyer was in town for three -day conference and Trish and I were excited to go on Friday evening and Saturday morning. But to our dismay, of all the days, the weather chose to act weird on those very two days. It started to rain heavily on Friday morning and it went non-stop. I've asked my friend Linda too join us and we both thought we wouldn't make it at all in such a downpour. But Trish, who was so used to such rainy weather in NJ where she grew up was determined to attend the conference. No storm could make her from going and so we went braving the weather to Viejes Arena where the conferenc was held.
To my amazement, no sooner we got into the car, the rain stopped and the road ahead looked dry and the sky blue and clear as if rainbow was about to appear at any time. My eyes welled up at watching God's faithfulness in action and our prayers being answered to pave the way to the venue. By the time we arrived there, the auditorium was packed with people. Surprised to see even many men attending the conference even though it's mostly women who read her books and watch her programs. We managed to get seats only on the bleachers on the uppermost level. But it didn't matter for we could watch everything on the screen better that way.
The huge auditorium, with colorful lights flashing from every corner and the sound of band blasting the air made me to wonder whether I was attending a rock band concert. But soon the music put us into worship mood and we enthusiastically joined the team in raising our voices and singing.Tears bathed my cheeks when I raised my hands and sang along "Our God is great" and " Then sings my soul". And when Joyce Meyer slowly walked in on the stage, the crowd went bersek. I could hear them shouting,"Joyce we love you" from every corner and whistles and clapping rocked the stadium. It showed how much she is loved and what an impact her message and ministry on people.
Joyce looked poised in her pretty in her outfit. Though she's older than me and nearing seventies, she looked younger, stronger and steadier on her feet. Surely God's strength must be keeping her going and serving Him as she does these days. Her husband Dave walked in little later to tell about how they struggled at the beginning of their ministry even to get into radio stations to broadcast her teachings. How many rejections they had to face and how persistantly he, working in his small office at their home kept sending Joyce's tape after tape until breakthrough came. Now looking back where they are and how vastly God has opened door even internationally indicated two things for him, he said-"God has bigger plans than you." and "Never Give UP!" That message hit me straight between the eyes for I was at the point of getting discouraged with my writing and wondering how on earth I'm going to publish and sell a book if at all I finish writing one. Trust God-it's that simple . Do what's possible and trust the Lord to do the impossible.
Because this blog is running too long and beyond the length anyone could read, I better end here and save the messages I learned from Joyce on those two days for another time to share. Yes, my friend and I did attend the Saturday morning session too. It was a windy and cold morning, but we went anyway. We didn't want to miss the" between the eyes hit" message from Joyce and her humor. When she ended her talk, the whole auditorium rocked with shouts of "We love you Mamma Joyce !" from every corner. Touched by her fans ovation, Joyce blew " I love you " kisses and hurried out the stage in order to hide her emotions.
Didn't purchase any books or cassettes for the tents where they sold the items were packed with people. I still have books of Joyce on my bookshelf which were unread. So, I wasn't keen on standing on line for hours to buy a book or two. My friend managed to buy two children's books for her niece and we returned home enriched by the message and enchanted by the whole experience.
Two days ago, I started to re-read Joyce's book, How to Hear from God, the book which introduced me to Joyce Meyer. The more I read through the pages, the more I'm convinced that Joyce Meyer is a true minister of God for whom I need to pray as she requested at the end of her talk. Let the people who judge her for lavish living keep saying what they want to say, but my prayer is to keep her safe and solid for God's glory and to keep her from falling from grace.
Then a couple of months back, I learned that she was having her conference in Long Beach which is two hours away from our place. I tried to coax Karen and Trish to attend the conference, but they didn't seem keen to drive that far to attend a conference, even though both of them are ardent fans of Joyce Meyer like me. With their busy work schedule, it's a stretch for them to drive that distance on a Friday evening or Saturday morning and at that time I didn't even know that Karen was struggling with some health issues too. I had no choice but to miss seeing Joyce Meyer in person at that time.
So, when I heard her conference was going to be in San Diego in April,I couldn't contain my excitement. Trish was determined to attend the conference at this time and if possible we decided to attend both on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
I don't know how and when I got hooked on to Joyce Meyer's teachings. I remember of picking up her book How to Hear from God from the local library in Saskatoon, may be ten years back and amazed by what I read.Though I experience the blessing of hearing God's still small voice (not audibly though) at times, I hadn't read anything written about it before.Or even heard anyone talking about it at any time. Joyce's book not only opened my eyes to understand the matter more clearly, but it also confirmed me that I could really hear from God, unlike some Christians who believe God speak only through His Word these days and not directly as He did in the days of Abraham, Moses and other Prophets.
Reading her books soon led me to watch her program Enjoying Everyday Life on television. I should admit that at the beginning I wasn't much impressed by her colorful outfits and conspicuous jewellery. I couldn't picture a strong woman of God like her attired in flashy outfits. It potrayed her worldly in my mind.Though I didn't expect her to look like Mother Theresa, I preferred to see her more simply dressed. Yes, I gave into judging her by her appearance and almost stopped watching her program. I'm glad that I didn't.Or I couldn't. The Holy Spirit kept knudging me to overlook her outward appearance and to listen to her message. I may have missed knowing many valuable lessons on Christian living, if I had stopped watching her programs.
I liked her blunt and tell it to the face style, her trasparency of telling her short comings,and her courage of exposing her tough past to the public in order to minister to those who have faced and facing similar situations. In my opinion, she's God's trophy for Grace transformed life. How else can you term it when someone who was sexually molested by her own father for 18years, told she wasn't amount to anything and declared a difficult person to live with and an impossible personality to start a teaching ministry and then to see her who she's today and where and where God has taken her in His grace. That's nothing but amazing grace in full display.
Well, not everyone loves her teaching and approve her expensive life style. Yes, I don't blame them and I agree that they've reasons to doubt her crediblity, especially when it comes to her lavish liviing style.True, we need to discern what is true and what is false. We need the Holy Spirit's guidance and the study of God's word to detect false teachers and greedy and manupulating preachers.
Is Joyce Meyer a true servant of God as she potrays, or is she another business woman who tries to earn living by using God's name like many other famous televangeists of these days? I belief she's an honest and sincere woman of God. If she's not, it's to God she has to answer.
Finally Joyce Meyer was in town for three -day conference and Trish and I were excited to go on Friday evening and Saturday morning. But to our dismay, of all the days, the weather chose to act weird on those very two days. It started to rain heavily on Friday morning and it went non-stop. I've asked my friend Linda too join us and we both thought we wouldn't make it at all in such a downpour. But Trish, who was so used to such rainy weather in NJ where she grew up was determined to attend the conference. No storm could make her from going and so we went braving the weather to Viejes Arena where the conferenc was held.
To my amazement, no sooner we got into the car, the rain stopped and the road ahead looked dry and the sky blue and clear as if rainbow was about to appear at any time. My eyes welled up at watching God's faithfulness in action and our prayers being answered to pave the way to the venue. By the time we arrived there, the auditorium was packed with people. Surprised to see even many men attending the conference even though it's mostly women who read her books and watch her programs. We managed to get seats only on the bleachers on the uppermost level. But it didn't matter for we could watch everything on the screen better that way.
The huge auditorium, with colorful lights flashing from every corner and the sound of band blasting the air made me to wonder whether I was attending a rock band concert. But soon the music put us into worship mood and we enthusiastically joined the team in raising our voices and singing.Tears bathed my cheeks when I raised my hands and sang along "Our God is great" and " Then sings my soul". And when Joyce Meyer slowly walked in on the stage, the crowd went bersek. I could hear them shouting,"Joyce we love you" from every corner and whistles and clapping rocked the stadium. It showed how much she is loved and what an impact her message and ministry on people.
Joyce looked poised in her pretty in her outfit. Though she's older than me and nearing seventies, she looked younger, stronger and steadier on her feet. Surely God's strength must be keeping her going and serving Him as she does these days. Her husband Dave walked in little later to tell about how they struggled at the beginning of their ministry even to get into radio stations to broadcast her teachings. How many rejections they had to face and how persistantly he, working in his small office at their home kept sending Joyce's tape after tape until breakthrough came. Now looking back where they are and how vastly God has opened door even internationally indicated two things for him, he said-"God has bigger plans than you." and "Never Give UP!" That message hit me straight between the eyes for I was at the point of getting discouraged with my writing and wondering how on earth I'm going to publish and sell a book if at all I finish writing one. Trust God-it's that simple . Do what's possible and trust the Lord to do the impossible.
Because this blog is running too long and beyond the length anyone could read, I better end here and save the messages I learned from Joyce on those two days for another time to share. Yes, my friend and I did attend the Saturday morning session too. It was a windy and cold morning, but we went anyway. We didn't want to miss the" between the eyes hit" message from Joyce and her humor. When she ended her talk, the whole auditorium rocked with shouts of "We love you Mamma Joyce !" from every corner. Touched by her fans ovation, Joyce blew " I love you " kisses and hurried out the stage in order to hide her emotions.
Didn't purchase any books or cassettes for the tents where they sold the items were packed with people. I still have books of Joyce on my bookshelf which were unread. So, I wasn't keen on standing on line for hours to buy a book or two. My friend managed to buy two children's books for her niece and we returned home enriched by the message and enchanted by the whole experience.
Two days ago, I started to re-read Joyce's book, How to Hear from God, the book which introduced me to Joyce Meyer. The more I read through the pages, the more I'm convinced that Joyce Meyer is a true minister of God for whom I need to pray as she requested at the end of her talk. Let the people who judge her for lavish living keep saying what they want to say, but my prayer is to keep her safe and solid for God's glory and to keep her from falling from grace.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Good Friday Recollection
It's Good Friday today, the day to commerate the sacrificial death of Christ Jesus 2000 years ago. Strangely it is no more a public holiday in California where I live now. I was born and raised in a Buddhist country, and in a Hindu neighborhood until my fortieth birthday, and never was Good Friday a working day in that part of the world.
I remember well, one Good Friday afternoon, my friend Selvi and I, both around seven to nine years in age, sitting on our neighbor's front verandah steps and talking and weeping over Christ's death on the cross. Probably that was the first day, both of us must have heard at Sunday School about Jesus' death. We were not old enough and clever enough to understand what Christ's death on Calvary truly meant to us personally. But somehow in our young minds,the gruesome death of Jesus, whom, we, lovingly addressed Yesu Pappa, instilled pain and sorrow to bring tears.
In my teen years, I used to give up eating meat or fish during lenten days and remained a vegetarian. On Good Fridays, I used to fast the whole day with no food or water until I return attending the Good Friday service late in the evening. Since Jesus hung on the cross for three hours (according to the scripture from the sixth hour to the ninth hour) our Good Friday service usually went up to three hours from 3:00pm to 6:00 pm; no one complained about the length of time they had to sit on those hard wooden straight back benches. I loved listening to the sweet nightigale voiced Sakuntala singing solo during prayer time, bringing a holy and stillness to the place.
Oh, what a time of reverence and contemplation those hours seemed to be, even though the people gathered inside that simple country church were neither rich nor large in number. The pastor, clad in a long white cassock with a brown belt around his waist wouldn't have expected to count much money from the collection plate on that day or any other day. Yet, he looked happy and contented with him living with his family in the small parsonage with leaky roof, and owning a rickety old bicycle to make house visits to his members.
I may not have grown up with much doctrinal teaching in the home church I grew up, but I surely had a firm foundation to love the Lord and to revere Him at all cost. The church I attended was built by an American missionary in the early 1900, and to this day,people are gathering there to worship on Sundays despite the on going civil unrest. Yes, the church building had undergone some damages during artillery shelling in the recent past, but gladly it is still standing erect, maybe not to its' earlier glamor I've known, but a symbol of refuge for believers to gather weekly to worship and be relieved from external pressure.
I'm so thankful some missionories chose to come to a small island like my country in those days to spread the Good News. Because they came and built churches, hospitals and schools, I, along with many others had the opportunity of reaping the benefits. It's in one of the Mission built girls' school, my grand mother and her sister came to hear about Jesus and decided to become Christians. Because my grand mother stood firm in her faith and insisted on marrying a Christian man, I was blessed have a godly mother, and my children are blessed to have a Christian upbringing.
Since it's a working day today here in San Diego, we will be attending the Good Friday service at 6:30 pm with my husband and daughter. I haven't fasted today as I used to do many years back. But that doesn't deflect my faith or reverence for this day. As I age and my hair turning fully gray, I find it hard to go on a fast.
Only yesterday ,a friend of mine dropped in to see me in the evening around 5:30 pm. The beef stew I made was still on the stove and I asked her whether she'd like to have a bowl of stew. She looked tired after working the whole day as doctor in the neonatal clinic in a nearby hospital. But she declined my offer with a smile telling, she's fasting during these lenten days till 6:00 pm and thereby she couldn't have my stew. But agreed to have a cup of coffee instead. I couldn't fathom how she could go without food for the whole day and manage to do her ward rounds and other duties as a doctor for forty days. Faith, determination and discipline may be her keys to take that decision. I admire her for who she is and what she represents and I'm so glad that God has brought her into my life to fellowship, share and grow in my faith.
Even though, fasting or not fasting do not define our faith, it is good to fast and pray whenever we can. Jesus did fast and pray. I didnot choose to fast and pray on this Good Friday day. But that doesn't make me a less Christian. Since I haven't yet seen the movie Passion of Christ, I thought of watching that this afternoon before I get ready to go to church this evening. I have been putting off watching the movie because I didn't know whether I could bear to see the torture and suffering of Christ in the film. Good Friday may be a good day to watch such a movie to remind me what my Lord had suffered on fateful Friday two thousand years ago for the sake of me and you.
I remember well, one Good Friday afternoon, my friend Selvi and I, both around seven to nine years in age, sitting on our neighbor's front verandah steps and talking and weeping over Christ's death on the cross. Probably that was the first day, both of us must have heard at Sunday School about Jesus' death. We were not old enough and clever enough to understand what Christ's death on Calvary truly meant to us personally. But somehow in our young minds,the gruesome death of Jesus, whom, we, lovingly addressed Yesu Pappa, instilled pain and sorrow to bring tears.
In my teen years, I used to give up eating meat or fish during lenten days and remained a vegetarian. On Good Fridays, I used to fast the whole day with no food or water until I return attending the Good Friday service late in the evening. Since Jesus hung on the cross for three hours (according to the scripture from the sixth hour to the ninth hour) our Good Friday service usually went up to three hours from 3:00pm to 6:00 pm; no one complained about the length of time they had to sit on those hard wooden straight back benches. I loved listening to the sweet nightigale voiced Sakuntala singing solo during prayer time, bringing a holy and stillness to the place.
Oh, what a time of reverence and contemplation those hours seemed to be, even though the people gathered inside that simple country church were neither rich nor large in number. The pastor, clad in a long white cassock with a brown belt around his waist wouldn't have expected to count much money from the collection plate on that day or any other day. Yet, he looked happy and contented with him living with his family in the small parsonage with leaky roof, and owning a rickety old bicycle to make house visits to his members.
I may not have grown up with much doctrinal teaching in the home church I grew up, but I surely had a firm foundation to love the Lord and to revere Him at all cost. The church I attended was built by an American missionary in the early 1900, and to this day,people are gathering there to worship on Sundays despite the on going civil unrest. Yes, the church building had undergone some damages during artillery shelling in the recent past, but gladly it is still standing erect, maybe not to its' earlier glamor I've known, but a symbol of refuge for believers to gather weekly to worship and be relieved from external pressure.
I'm so thankful some missionories chose to come to a small island like my country in those days to spread the Good News. Because they came and built churches, hospitals and schools, I, along with many others had the opportunity of reaping the benefits. It's in one of the Mission built girls' school, my grand mother and her sister came to hear about Jesus and decided to become Christians. Because my grand mother stood firm in her faith and insisted on marrying a Christian man, I was blessed have a godly mother, and my children are blessed to have a Christian upbringing.
Since it's a working day today here in San Diego, we will be attending the Good Friday service at 6:30 pm with my husband and daughter. I haven't fasted today as I used to do many years back. But that doesn't deflect my faith or reverence for this day. As I age and my hair turning fully gray, I find it hard to go on a fast.
Only yesterday ,a friend of mine dropped in to see me in the evening around 5:30 pm. The beef stew I made was still on the stove and I asked her whether she'd like to have a bowl of stew. She looked tired after working the whole day as doctor in the neonatal clinic in a nearby hospital. But she declined my offer with a smile telling, she's fasting during these lenten days till 6:00 pm and thereby she couldn't have my stew. But agreed to have a cup of coffee instead. I couldn't fathom how she could go without food for the whole day and manage to do her ward rounds and other duties as a doctor for forty days. Faith, determination and discipline may be her keys to take that decision. I admire her for who she is and what she represents and I'm so glad that God has brought her into my life to fellowship, share and grow in my faith.
Even though, fasting or not fasting do not define our faith, it is good to fast and pray whenever we can. Jesus did fast and pray. I didnot choose to fast and pray on this Good Friday day. But that doesn't make me a less Christian. Since I haven't yet seen the movie Passion of Christ, I thought of watching that this afternoon before I get ready to go to church this evening. I have been putting off watching the movie because I didn't know whether I could bear to see the torture and suffering of Christ in the film. Good Friday may be a good day to watch such a movie to remind me what my Lord had suffered on fateful Friday two thousand years ago for the sake of me and you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)