Go set my people free Part 2

In life we are given one basket,  full of the goodness of God - Gods unconditional love for us, His wonderful mercy, His steadfastness, His forgiveness and His Glory.
We are also given a second basket full of what I call Prescribed goodness - We should love and respect God, try not to sin, even if we do we can go and ask forgiveness, lead 'good' lives, attend mass or Sunday services regularly, tell others about Christ (evangelise) etc, etc.
But then unknowingly we are also left with an almost empty basket which is rarely filled. But in it rests all our other elements of life.

We have indeed been taught the Truth. But unfortunately we are only being given these first two baskets at the most. This can be called the theory of the partial truth or that of the half truth. These two baskets can only get you to a certain point in your life. Faith, largely, the world over, comprises solely of these two baskets.

But our leaders and preachers still dont get it! they dont get it that these two baskets are failing in the modern world. they are failing flock in the millions. Mankind is now on the verge of self-destruction because the WHOLE, COMPLETE and ENTIRE Gospel is not being TAUGHT, PREACHED or PRACTISED.

Please use the comments section to share your thoughts. 

Go set my people free.

When I talk of the pain and suffering in this world and the need for us fellow  humans to help alleviate it, I am sometimes misunderstood. The misunderstanding is this. Such thoughts are relegated to the realm of social justice. Somehow social justice and spiritual renewal are widely thought off as two worthy but parallel streams. And as with all things parallel - they don't meet!

Needless to say, I don't think that they are mutually exclusive.

The real reason that people are falling away from faith and that church attendances are dwindling is because the value of subscribing to a faith/ any faith, is dwindling and faith in itself is becoming irrelevant in a persons day to day life. Man is finding fewer things that he needs to ask God for divine intervention, miracles are becoming irrelevant amidst aplenty, and man is becoming more self sufficient and has realised that he can live a moral and humane life without the crutches of a religion.
The spectre of hell, hellfire and the afterlife no more scares him.

The main regions of the world where religions are growing are the developing nations where there are many physical needs and wants, plenty of superstitions, and where miracles are needed.

Having been in the charismatic renewal since the age of 12 and having listened to innumerable evangelisers across the world over the years I pondered these and other questions in my heart. I have truly questioned and challenged my faith.  I have become my own and my faiths best critic. I see that the folly is not wilful, but merely a learned condition transmitted from generation to generation. We fear to look at the truth and to question our faith for we are not sure if what we find will shake our beliefs.

My faith and life crisis took me into a dark place from where with my heavenly Fathers guidance I re-learnt the gospel.But not as anyone else taught it - only as my Lord wanted me to know it. The gospel and the word of God became the nidus of my liberation. The new gospel revelation taught me the power of the human person and that true empowerment is not only possible but also the key element to a living and relevant faith. The transformation was from a very physical entity into a spiritual entity who loved God and received from him the right currency of love with which to build all other relationships. The journey of liberation and freedom was a long one but a necessary one.
This journey can be replicated. And this gospel of transformation will be lived. For that is His will.

Please use the comments section to share your thoughts.

John 1:12-13 Explained more fully

      Regular readers of my blog would notice that I often mention John1:12-13. I don't ever imagine that I can explain it wholly but I am ever grateful to God for slowly revealing His heart and wisdom which I shall share with you.

     In John 1:12-13, John the dearest disciple of Jesus tells us that to all those who received Jesus and believed in His name Jesus gave the power to become children of God -  then he goes on to clarify that this was a rebirth where the person ceases to be of the flesh but truly born of God.

John 1: 12-13 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

     Now let us go to John Chapter 3 and read the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus the Pharissean leader of the Jews.

 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’  Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” 


      Here we read the words of Christ where he clearly talks of 'being born from above'. He talks of 'being born of water' (when you  repent and recieve Christ) and 'of the spirit'. He goes on to explain that what is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. In the second part Jesus focusses more on the birth in the spirit for it is this birth in the spirit that makes us the son or daughter of God. It is this birth that kills our life in the flesh, the life of humans without humanity, the life of selfishness and self preservation.

      If we imagine that since we believe in Jesus and have taken a water baptism, we are handed a passport and flight ticket into the Kingdom of God we are mistaken. Passport may be. But flight tickets? I don't think so - for our Lord clearly says "NO one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above" and "what is born of the spirit is spirit".
       So until and unless the lives we live our lives in the spirit we can not enter the kingdom of God. BUT when we are born of the spirit we become the son and daughter of the most High God and co heirs with Christ to the Kingdom of God.
       Some Christians would like to believe that this birth in the spirit is purely a supernatural event wherein you are overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit. I would beg to differ. The word of God clearly says that 'he gave  power to become children of God'. There is most definitely an element where each individual needs to use this power bestowed on him or her to become ready to die in the flesh and take on the spiritual life that comes with becoming the son or daughter of God. Paul the Apostle talks of this great war of the flesh in Romans Chapter 8 which we can read here.

Romans 8:5-17 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—  for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’  it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.p

If we then live according to the flesh, wallowing in our own selfishness and congratulating ourselves on our selfrighteous and pious lives, without understanding what it is to be living as a son or daughter of God, then we are doing ourselves the greatest disservice of all time. We are robbing ourselves of what could be a glorious and empowered life lived spreading love and relieving pain around us and instead we live a life of penury, worry, fear and begggarliness, taking comfort in the material riches we surround ourselves in and stockpile for the future. 

Freedom Truth and Liberation

We stand in need of Freedom Truth and Liberation. We stand in need of breaking the bondages and shackles of old and rise up to a New Dawn of life. A life that is a tribute to the great parentage to which we are eligible through Christ. As a phoenix rises from the ashes, so too must we rise up from learned servitude and helplessness. 

A way Lost - The lost tribes of Christianity

"When you preach Hell-fire and brimstone, you are teaching fear and condemnation, When you preach worldly riches and glory you are merchandising the Christ. For Christ came to liberate and to set free. Not to terrorize, not to subjugate. Not to puff you up nor to tear down. He came that we may know who we are, he came that we enter into the glorious transformation that God our father desires for us. He came to set us FREE. Freedom from chains, freedom from shackles, freedom from bondage, freedom from fear. But still we preach and teach beggarhood not brotherhood."

Self righteousness is the greatest stumbling block for self realization. 2000 years after Christs death on the cross there are about 2.3 billions Christians the world over. Of the 2.3 billion Christians how many Christs are there? The entire world bowed in awe before a scrawny little lady who worked the streets of Calcutta, India, binding wounds and kissing lepers. She inspired many a generation to work with the poor. There are many other saints some of whom even took on the wounds of Christ like Padre Pio and seemed to live in that realm where earth meets heaven. We have mighty preachers who give thunderous sermons to en-rapt audiences watching miracles taking place in scores. We also have divisions after divisions and splits after splits and splinters after splinters disintegrating doctrine and dividing the church of Christ. 
We see the Holy Spirit at work in Protestant conventions, Pentecostal revivalist missions as well as in Catholic Charismatic retreats. We see a non partisan God but strive to make our differences seem bigger than they are and work hard to keep it that way. 
In day to day life we the 2.3 billion Christians of the world live a life largely not too different from our non christian brothers and sisters. 
We the 2.3 billion Christians have the same pain, the same woes, the same concerns, the same fears and the same powerlessness as our non christian brothers and sisters. 
We denigrate Christianity to such an extent that Christ has been reduced to ' a way' rather than 'the way'.

For us the cross and the one crucified has become the solution to our material problems and material desires and needs. We have supermarketised Christianity and try to lure others in. We peddle fear and condemnation freely, hoping to lure souls for the sake of an escape from eternal damnation in the afterlife without even casting a second thought to their present life as long as they join and subscribe and pay obeisance to our group or version of doctrine. We, together with them live a wretched existence in this life hoping for a glorious existence in the next. Or alternatively we preach the great riches and glory and wealth that comes from following the promises of the bible. We encourage and applaud the pursuit of wealth as righteousness as long as the faithful tithe fills our coffers.


Somewhere along the way we have lost THE WAY. No doubt.

To be contd

The Father and the Two sons.

A.K.A the story of the Prodigal Son is one of the most popular stories from the New Testament.
In actual fact the two sons represents the bulk of humanity. The following is a very clear, succinct and genuine characterization of the same story taken from the following website  http://www.ucb.co.uk/word-for-today-23519.html
"The real star in the Parable of the Prodigal Son is the father. He had two boys. One was rebellious, the other was religious. But he loved each of them. And because they were his family he refused to give up on them. While the younger brother was away wallowing in sin, the older brother was at home wallowing in self-righteousness. One was guilty of the sins of the flesh (the obvious ones); the other was guilty of the sins of the spirit (the not-so-obvious ones). Only when the younger brother lost everything did he discover that living in submission to his father’s rule was the safest, most fulfilling place you could be. Only when the older brother discovered the difference between rule-keeping and relationship was he able to understand his father’s words, ‘…Everything I have is yours’ (Luke 15:31 NIV). One was a miserable rule keeper; the other was a miserable rule breaker. (Which are you?) The problem was neither boy really knew the heart of their father because they were self-centred. But that changed when they discovered that he loved them in spite of their flaws, and planned to bless them. Understand this: you can read the Bible, go to church, keep all the rules - and not really know God’s faithfulness, His love and His plan for you. Until you really know God, you’ll have no anchor in life; you’ll be tossed to and fro by every circumstance, emotion and temptation. But when you know Whose you are, you’ll begin to understand who you are, what you’re supposed to do, and where you’re supposed to be."

I would perhaps add when you know who you are and whose you are...
its true--the reason why Christianity has lost her way stems from the fact that the relationship and realization disappeared. God and church became service providers.

“A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

The western church, including that of Australia is lamenting the significant fall in the number of faithful attending church services. This has indeed a knock on effect on the money that fills the coffers and services the church can continue to provide. Another unfortunate outcome is the dwindling number of vocations to the priesthood and religious orders. 
The following is some data of how the proportion of catholics have changed over the last century. It is clearly evident that Europe, once the stronghold of catholicism, now faces rapid decline.






Further data compares the number of catholics as a share of the resident population. This appears more meaningful as population world over has been growing and moving.


The church in Australia is particularly concerned, with some of its parishes taking the unprecedented step of opting to run in a federated manner with a clubbing together of priests and other resources.

It is very easy to put the blame on the sexual abuse scandals but in actual fact this trend started a while back. People move away and out of a church or faith when the church/faith and what it stands for looses relevance in their day to day life. What is irrelevant soon becomes redundant.
A wholistic scientific method needs to be applied to understand this issue.