Truly Seeking GOD's Mind ?

Contributed the following article to the Apr-May '13 issue of VANAMUTHAM,

a Tamil Christian Monthly magazine published by Serve India Mission,

that attempts to connect the world (with its events and practical issues) to God's word.

Our God has always been speaking to mankind, at times through visions and dreams.  Sometimes, God’s message was intended for the person he spoke to, like in the case of Jacob and Joseph.  On certain occasions, particularly when God spoke to those who were not familiar with him, it was in order to fulfill his purpose for his people, as when he spoke to King Cyrus.  At other times, as often with the prophets, it was meant to be received and additionally communicated to a group of people.  Who is a Prophet?  He is a spokesperson.  God shares a portion of his burden with those who get close to God’s heart.  When God’s burden becomes their heart beat, they begin to be his spokespersons.  They begin to represent God to a generation that is not directly in tune with God.

In Amos 3:7 we find that the Sovereign Lord reveals his plans to his servants the prophets when he is about to do anything.  Why does he ever do that? We see 3 reasons across the Bible.  Firstly, to warn the people of impending judgment so they may repent and escape from judgment.  Bible is replete with history of people turning away from God, becoming self-centered, bringing forth evil and trampling others under the feet for selfish gain.  The second reason is for the Prophet to intercede for the people about to be judged.  Finally, God also foretold them about his plan for mankind – redemption through the Messiah and a new covenant that was to fulfill and replace the old.

PROPHECY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

We read in Heb 1:1,2 that “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.”  God who had been revealing himself little by little incrementally had finally completely revealed himself in the person of Jesus, when he walked on earth as a man for 33-some years.  The God who had been a far-away being had come close that men could see him, touch him and hear him, not in dreams and visions, but in the physical world.  He was the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. 

After the Pentecost, God has come even closer, into our hearts, making our bodies his dwelling place.  More than a millenium before the New Testament time dawned, Moses had wished that all the Lord’s people were his Prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them (Num 11:29).  What Moses wished has atlast come true.  His Holy Spirit now indwells us and leads us into truth (John 14:16; 16: 13,14).  We live in an age where it is blessed to walk by faith and not by sight (John 20:29, 2 Cor 5:7).

Today, a child of God does not have to look up to someone else as a Prophet to know what God would have us do in any situation.  God has revealed his nature and his pleasure in Jesus and in the written word, and his Holy Spirit who indwells us reminds us of what he has already revealed. We can therefore be God’s spokespersons to the unregenerate around us, if we will only listen to his still small voice and in obedience, reveal him through our life and words.

Can God still use visions and dreams?  He can, in his sovereignty.  Are we to desire visions and dreams? Not after what he has already provided.  Are visions and dreams, a measure of spiritual growth or maturity?  Absolutely NOT. The Bible never says that.  Does God speak to every child of God?  Absolutely, if only you will listen to him as you read God’s word and commune with God in prayer.

PROPHECY TODAY

Today the Lord gives gifts to the church that will help them to bring in those who do not know God.  ‘Word of Wisdom’ and ‘Word of Knowledge’ are often understood to be gifts that help one to understand the secret things of someone else’s life.  People mistakenly understand that God will reveal to a prophet what the future holds for a person – whether they will have a child, will it be a boy or a girl, should they take this job or that, should they marry this girl or that – and they go to someone they think is a Prophet with a gift to foretell.  To be blunt, they think that a prophet is a ‘fortune teller’.  God has clearly and strongly forbidden sorcery, divination and all other practices that the pagan world used, to find what their future held for them (Due 18).

A Prophet as God’s spokesperson is to speak only when God gives him something to tell the people.  There have been times when a Prophet did not have any word from the Lord for long periods.  There was also the inter-testamental period called the hiatus, when God did not speak to the people for about half-a-millennium.  But today people expect to hear a specific word from God every time they go to who they think is God’s prophet.  And this so-called ‘Prophet’ of today always seems to have a word from God, never to disappoint anyone who comes ‘seeking the mind of God’.

DECEPTION

The incident narrated in I Kings 13 is a severe indictment against those listening to false prophets or false prophecies from people who had at some point been used as prophets. These are the deceiving prophets.  Then there are those prophets who are given to deception.  Though they may think that they are indeed prophesying by the Lord, they could actually be following ‘lying spirits’. In I Kings 10 we see about 400 prophets lying to King Ahab influenced by a lying spirit. Paul warns the Corinthians (2 Cor 11:13-15) that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light and his servants too masquerade as servants of righteousness.

Why does God allow such deception?  Deuteronomy 13 tells us that the Lord is testing the people to find out whether they love him with all their heart and with all their soul.  Prophets who lead people away from him are not God’s spokespersons.  What they foretell may take place but that is not a sign that they are God’s spokespersons.  Today’s false prophets lead people to worship idols – not a creation made of wood or stone – their wealth, health, family and sometimes other men who take the place of God in their lives.

Finally, a dream could also be just plain natural with no intervention from God.  A dream comes when there are many cares (Eccl 5:3).  We should be careful not to interpret them as God’s revelation.  Often, we are greedy and itching for something so much, that we want to believe that God is giving it to us.  People who are given to their lusts, tell the Seers to see no visions and the Prophets to give no vision of what is right. They want to hear pleasant things, so they ask illusions to be prophesied (Isa 30:10)

BE ON GUARD

Peter writes in his second letter (1:21) that the word of God in the scriptures is surer than any experience.  We are to look at it as light in a dark place, in our temporary dark periods of anxiety and doubt as well as in our journey called life.  The church at Berea even while listening to Paul who gave us more than a third of the New Testament, examined the scriptures every day to see if what he said was true (Act 17:11). They have therefore been commended as of noble character.

Where there is no vision, people cast off restraint (Prov 29:18).  What we need is a vision in our mind’s eye to catch a glimpse of what God has in store for us.  Let us pray like Paul that that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know him better; that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened in order that we may know the hope to which he has called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe (Ephe 1:17-19).

Top 3 Concerns

Contributed the following article to the JAN '14 issue of VANAMUTHAM,

a Tamil Christian Monthly magazine published by Serve India Mission,

that attempts to connect the world (with its events and practical issues) to God's word.

My Friend,

   I wanted to share my views on three issues that I believe will be weighing heavily on the mind of any individual.  It is for you to accept my view or reject it, but I cannot withhold it from you for fear of either being rejected or mocked.  It has helped me handle three of the biggest problems in my life, and it is out of friendship and love that I want to share it with you.

   All of us have done things that we are not proud of -- Things that we did out of some compulsion that we felt in our body and mind; Things that we did hoping it would bring us happiness.  We might have lied to someone who trusted us, cheated our elders, grabbed what is rightfully someone else’s, hurt those who suddenly turned enemies, disobeyed our parents, disrespected our teachers, and humiliated someone who was not as wealthy or handsome (beautiful) or knowledgeable as we are.  All of us may not have done all of these things, but I am sure there is none who has not done any of these things. 

   Memories of some of these things haunt us.  Depending on the values we hold today, we try our best to erase memories of these or justify them.  Some of us justify these by looking at people around us and concluding that none is exempt from these and therefore to be human is to be imperfect.  Others among us justify these by attributing our past actions to impulses in the body which are determined by our Chromosomes, something that we are not responsible for.  To be sure, I have had a good share of these from all the years of my existence.

   Next, all of us want to rise above ourselves. We all want to be good people who will not lie, cheat, grab, hurt or disrespect.  We want to be good, kind and do good to others. But our dormant nature rears its ugly head, just when we think we have moved on.  When we stand in any queue, be it at the Post Office, at the Ticket Counter or at a Wedding Reception, the urge to edge out some and gain a few slots up just would not die down. When we are in a crowd, be it at a social party or a team meeting, the urge to stand up and be counted, even at the cost of putting down someone else, just would not go away. When we are moved in our hearts and would want to extend a helping hand, the thought of what it will cost us in time, money and effort just does not help our actions to match with our intentions.

   We are all struggling with these contradictions within us.  We want to do something beautiful but end up doing something else.  But we tell ourselves that we will improve.  We read self-help books and attend camps.

   We are told that we are intrinsically good; that it is what we have acquired over the years through our up-bringing and environment that is causing our actions to be incongruent with our true self; and that they can be shed by inward gazing to see our self in isolation from our actions.  But we have not become any better.

   Others have asked us to wake up the lion inside us.  But we feel ever smaller as we realize again and again that we just don’t measure up to our own expectations.

   Finally, given our past and our present struggles, we wonder what life is all about.  Is there any meaning in life?  Is it not all about finding happiness?  If happiness is what is paramount, does it really matter if we are kind or cruel?  Does it make any difference whether we are proud or humble?  Despite all our blemishes, if we can still be happy, is that not what we should pursue rather than be bogged by this discussion about good and evil?

   We are told that there is no over-arching meaning in life; that we are to give small meanings to our day-to-day activities and events that we come across; that if we can have small things line up our lives that bring us a smile, or a laughter or happiness, we can provide meaning to our life.

   Accordingly, we have crowded our lives with parties, celebrations, ceremonies and travels.  We have arranged trainings, competitions and performances for our children.  But the emptiness refuses to go away.

   If you have read thus far, it is likely you agree with me that you share the Top 3 concerns for life:

1. We all have done things we are not proud of.  2. We want to rise above ourselves.   3. We want to find what will bring meaning and purpose to life.  I will now want to share how I have got these concerns addressed in my life.

   When I have done things that I am not proud of, obviously they are things that are not right.  I find a moral law written in my conscience that is telling me what is right and what is wrong.  If I know they are not right, I deserve punishment.  My own conscience will judge me as a culprit, as someone who has trespassed.  If my own conscience judges me, God the maker of you and me, is greater than my conscience and He being just is sure to judge me.  I therefore deserve and await God’s judgment.  It is this burden of knowing I deserve punishment that is called GUILT.

   I cannot wish my Guilt away.  The fact that others are equally guilty or worse does not help me.  I still deserve God’s punishment, like all others.  Thankfully God understands and He has provided me a way.  He loved me so much that He came down to pay the penalty so I can be free.  I have chosen to trust Him and enjoy freedom. The alternative will be to refuse to acknowledge His kind act for me, and continue to grovel in guilt.

   When I have found that no self-help helps, obviously I need help from outside.   I find that no matter how hard I will, I just don’t have it in me to carry it out.  It is true that when I sow an action, I reap a habit, when I sow a habit, I reap a character and when I sow a character, I reap a destiny.  But the trouble is with the start.  If I am brutally honest with myself, sowing a thought is not necessarily helping me reap an action.  Despite the amount of good books I have read, the discourses I have listened to and the trainings I have attended, being good is something alien.  I am just too selfish.

   Here again, if I am not too proud to recognize my limitation, help from outside is available.  God Himself comes to live inside me.  He gives me a sensitive heart that easily recognizes His prompting. When I obey His prompting, He enables me to carry it out.  The power of Him that created the universe and all that we see around us with His word is available for me to resist the tug from my weak self. God living inside me transforms me by renewing my mind, and enables me to act as He would.

   Now that I have accepted God’s forgiveness and have Him living with me, fellowship with Him has become a reality.  I am no longer alone.  The all-knowing God is living in me.  He knows best and that is true with knowing what brings me happiness and fulfillment too.

   He made me for Himself.  He did not make me for myself, nor did I create myself.  I am therefore incapable of defining purpose.  My creator alone knows what He made me for.

   He does not give me a blue-print about my future.  He does not tell me what I will become in the next 5 or 10 years, and how I will get there.  He tells me what I should do every moment and in every situation.  He has laid out principles in His written word for me, by which I should direct my steps.  When it is His pleasure that becomes paramount to me, I can be sure that my life will be lived out beautifully and meaningfully.  Any time I turn back and look at how my years have been spent, I will see how wonderfully He has accomplished His purposes through me.

   Would you like to have Him, know His purpose, and enjoy His Enabling presence and power to make your life meaningful?

Are you dying for LOVE?

Contributed the following article to the FEB '13 issue of VANAMUTHAM,

a Tamil Christian Monthly magazine published by Serve India Mission,

that attempts to connect the world (with its events and practical issues) to God's word.

There have always been men and women who have voluntarily extinguished the flame of life in them, but SUICIDES have increased significantly in proportion over the last few years. Today Chennai, followed by Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, account for most suicidal deaths in India. Not a day passes without some suicide in some corner of the country rending our hearts with its gloomy detail. Suicide on one hand, smacks of man playing God by choosing to end his life that in reality is not his own. On the other hand, it also betrays a gloom and despair that most men are driven to, either momentarily or for a life time.

What makes one take the extreme step of snuffing out one’s life? Some are overcome by the guilt of a heinous crime they have committed – betrayal of the trust of a parent or a spouse. Some are haunted by loneliness – a feeling that they are alone while the entire world seems to be conspiring against them. Some are driven by fear of what tomorrow will hold for them – how they are going to repay the debt or bring up their family. Others are left to wallow in dejection and disappointment with no one to provide care or offer comfort. Reasons are many and real though these do not drive everyone to this very end.

Statistics reveal that for every successful suicide there are 10 to 20 unsuccessful attempts that go unnoticed. Why has life come to this? What is the anti-dote? Is there any good news that one can offer someone groping in this darkness?

The CAUSE:

The guilt, loneliness, fear and dejection all stem from a deep malaise within us. When we look around us, we find people to be selfish, jealous, greedy and proud. We see this same nature in us too, if we look deep within and honestly admit what we see. It is this nature in man that has made his surrounding a hell for himself and for those around him. Greed and lust drive him to steal, rape and kill. In the process, he makes someone else a pauper, a widow, an orphan, or worst a violated person. While a widow or an orphan often experiences the fallout of a trauma that the murdered directly experienced for a duration, a rape victim experiences first-hand a trauma that scars both her psyche and her image for the length of her life. The victim (widow, orphan, violated) is then haunted by loneliness, fear and dejection. Suddenly she is out of the safety of the world she had known all along and thrust into a wicked and uncaring world. Fear of those who seem powerful enough to determine everyone else’s future stalks her for the rest of her life. Fear of what the future holds cripples her.

The evil that our nature causes for others is real. There is no such thing as a harmless sin. The perpetrator of a crime who gives in to a moment’s greed and creates misery for others, is himself hounded by guilt for the rest of his life. His conscience pricks him and leaves him devoid of the pleasure or joy that he thought he will obtain through hook or crook. His sense of guilt is also very real and cannot be wished away. Men burdened by guilt try to manage it in one of the following ways. Some stifle the voice of their conscience so they can continue in their ways without any qualms. Others are too proud to accept that they are guilty. Still others are only afraid of being caught. But guilt catches up and drives one wallowing in it to life’s very edge.

What about ACTS of GOD?

But you may say that not all misery is caused by humans. What about natural calamities – flood, earthquake, Tsunami, cold wave, heat wave, drought, famine? There are enough things today that can rock the boat of someone who has been having a smooth sail. Imagine a world that is inhabited only by selfless individuals – most of these would not have the same debilitating sting. Destruction from floods, droughts and famines may well be prevented. In a country where rivers like Ganges, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Cauvery and Krishna flow, there are also states that do not have enough water bodies to provide for their drinking and irrigation needs. If only we can be selfless enough to allow these rivers to be interconnected! Damages from earthquake, tsunami and extreme temperatures may be greatly mitigated in a sharing and caring world. Unfortunately, our selfishness results in most help meant for the victims being pocketed by self-serving politicians and social service agencies, while the little that reaches the victims serving only the fittest among them.

In a world such as this, is it possible to not suffer any loss – man-made or nature-caused? While on the outside one may appear to have everything going for him or her, one could still be feeling very empty inside. Our values have all got so skewed. Our picture of the world has become upside-down. We often strive with the rest of the world after things that do not satisfy. We work hard that we may have money to relax and enjoy life. But the very thing that we earnestly seek – enjoyment with family – we lose in the seeking. The prophet asked long ago “Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy” (Isa 55:2) ?

The good news is that you can get out of this rut. Irrespective of whether you have been a victim or a perpetrator, there is a way out. You and the world around you can be different. Are you keen enough?

Social Network or Social Minefield?

Contributed the following article to the APRIL-MAY 'Combined' issue of VANAMUTHAM,

a Tamil Christian Monthly magazine published by Serve India Mission,

that attempts to connect the world (with its events and practical issues) to God's word.

Very early in my childhood, I learned that man is a ‘social animal’. I remember a teacher driving this indelibly into our minds in the morning assembly one day, “No man is an island”. I did not understand its full import then. Over time however, I have come to understand that we need one another and that communication is key to both express and fulfill this need.

 

Man has always had the urge to connect with dear ones. Before telephones became common place towards the close of the 20th century, all long-distance communication was through postal mail with a minimum turn-around of 6 working days. However, convergence of Information Technology and Telecommunication Systems over the last decade, have made it easier now for people using different forms of communication to interconnect. It was first the explosion of email and pagers. Slowly online chat replaced emails and increased comfort with SMS and the proliferation of mobile handsets and cheaper service plans made pagers altogether obsolete. Bottom line is that communication has become faster and cheaper.

 

It is true that modern communication technologies have reduced the wait time for responses. They have also helped loved ones stay in touch with each other anytime, anywhere and removed lot of anxiety about each other’s safety and well-being from their hearts. However it has also led to unnecessary communication that just fills time. Even without a need to communicate, people indulge in empty chatter to just kill time and avoid boredom. Time that could otherwise have been used in more profitable activities and boredom that could have been overcome in meaningful ways are now being handled through casual communication with acquaintances and even strangers. Modern technology has left more time at people’s disposal and Social Networking has attracted a great number of such folks.

 

Social Networking provides the power to easily locate, connect with and communicate ideas to like-minded people. A positive outcome has been collaborative learning. Students in some institutions submit assignments on a Social Networking platform. In some other, students are asked to post summaries of the classes they attended, so those who missed classes can update themselves by reading them. Alumni groups on Social Networking sites have helped students decide on Colleges, Careers, etc., based on inputs from students who had passed out earlier. Students have even got Question papers from previous years uploaded so that they are useful for future students when preparing for various examinations.

 

Social Minefield:

 

However it needs to be stated that it is a minefield that can destroy lives. A Research team in the U.S. had found students’ concentration to lapse within just 15 minutes of study, because of the urge to check their Facebook page almost every third minute. Spending too much time on Social Networking sites can lead one to “narcissistic tendencies” – excessive self-love and fascination with oneself. Analysts following cultural trends had said of Television half-a-century ago, that it was transforming our culture into one vast arena for show business. This is even truer of Social Network with its potential to accommodate millions on stage compared to the hundreds or thousands that are accommodated on Television screens. It produces a vain behavior where one is trying to show off all the time. It has the potential to make users more prone to aggressive and anti-social behavior too. It can also cause in users bouts of anxiety, depression and sleeping problems.

 

Neil Postman had said in his 1985 book ‘Amusing ourselves to death’, “When I hear people talk about the information super highway, that it will become possible to shop at home, and bank at home, and get your texts at home, and get your entertainment at home, I often wonder if this doesn't signify the end of any community life.” This indeed has come true. It is removing all elements of community living and driving individuals into a closet, and this is happening from very young age. Youth are wasting time not using it to go out and play or interact with others.

 

Worse still, man's almost infinite appetite for distractions is hurtling him to his downfall today. Today’s world is controlling him by inflicting pleasure. If they are not wary, they could be drawn to inappropriate content on the internet and become slaves for live. Neil Postman had recalled how correctly Huxley had foreseen what was coming. Huxley had more than 50 years ago dismissed fears that people in power would ban books, deprive people of information, conceal truth and make the masses captive. He rather feared that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one; that people in power would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism; that truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance; and that the masses would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some form of illicit pleasure. In short, he feared that what we love will ruin us. When one looks at the preoccupation of today’s world with Social Networking and how it is being used, Huxley’s words have chillingly become true.

 

In Closing:

 

“When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive”, says Proverbs 23:1-3. A popular Indian saying likewise advises us to emulate the proverbial goose that separates the milk from water before consuming. It would be wise to exercise such discretion and be extremely careful about what we consume on Social Networking sites. Let us follow the example of Daniel who resolved not to defile himself with wine from the King’s table and stay healthy with the vegetables from his kitchen.

World's Greatest LOVE story

Contributed the following article to the February 2012 issue of VANAMUTHAM,

a Tamil Christian Monthly magazine published by Serve India Mission,

that attempts to connect the world (with its events and practical issues) to God's word.

 

Romance has been fantasized across centuries.  Anyone who is in love feels that he has obtained the ultimate. He cares about nothing other than being with the one he is in love with.  He often forgoes food to be on time where his ‘love’ is expected to be, foregoes sleep thinking about all the ‘sweet little nothings’ that they exchanged over their last meeting and conjuring what he should speak when they meet again, and often forgoes a lot of his duties, be it at the workplace or school, and at home.  On the other hand, most people who have never fallen in love wonder if ever such a ‘love relationship’ will come their way.  That is one reason why masses throng to watch love stories in theatres, to vicariously experience ‘love’, although in the lives of a strange couple and that too fictitious.

Anyone who is bugged by romantic love forgets that he too had been born a baby someday, had longed for the loving attention of his parents and then wanted the joyful company of friends as he began to spend more time away from home since going to school.  Just as with romance, only some have got to experience the love of their parents and friends, while for others it had always been a ‘Mirage’ - a dream that never materialized.  Often children born to working couples, envy their friend who is received at home by his mom and entertained with an evening snack.

Most of us grow past our longings for love from parents, friends and even the romantic love and desire the mature love of a spouse.  Love of someone who is not always in awe of your charm and strength, but who loves you despite your shortcomings.  Someone who accepts you as you are and for who you are.  Experience is not the same in the marital landscape too.  Some come across as ideal couples, always proud of the other and always nice to the other.  However, most couples struggle to get along in their private lives, even when signs of strain do not show up outside.  There is a silent longing if this is what married life is all about.

LOVER PAR EXCELLENCE

Whatever your age is and your experience has been in your childhood, growing years, adolescence and adult life, you need to know that there is one who has always loved you.  He has loved you more dearly than a parent, longed to have a relationship more eager than a doting lover, and ever willing to support you several times over the most understanding spouse.

He is the God about whom it is said that he is LOVE personified.  Though we will not understand Trinity on this side of glory, we can see that there is love and community in the Godhead from eternity to eternity.  After the last supper on his way to Gethsemane Jesus makes these astounding statements while he prays.  He prays that “all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:21).  He tells the Father, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22,23).  At the beginning, before He created earth and put man on it, we see that God said, “Let us make man in our image” (Gen 1:26).  We see of the Son of God harking back to the creation time, “Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him” (Prov 8:30).  Jesus is spoken of as the Only Begotten, who is in the bosom of the father (John 1:18, KJV).

This God who is Love, Joy and self-sufficient, decided to create man and love him as a Father, as a doting lover, and as his Husband.  He has across time spoken to man in endearing terms.  In Moses’ time, about 15 centuries before Christ, we see him talking to the Israelites, “There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

During Hosea’s time, about 7 centuries before Christ, he said of his people, “I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. . . In that day, you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.”  During Ezekiel’s time, while Judah had walked away from God and was in captivity in Babylon, he reminisced, “I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, and you became mine. . . I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry” (Eze 16:8, 10, 11)

This love for man cost him everything.  We see that Jesus Christ who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (Phil 2:6,7).  The Lord washed the feet of his disciples; the Master washed the feet of his servants.  As a matter of fact, He said that He no longer called them servants, “because a servant does not know his master’s business.” Instead, He called them friends, for everything that He learned from His Father He had made known to them. (John 17:14, 15).  We find that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that we through his poverty might become rich (II Cor 8:9).  To be reunited in fellowship with his Creation, he chose the path of humiliation on the cross.   Sin is real and a just God had to rightly deal with it.  Ahead of walking to the cross, He laid open his heart to show man the full extent of his love (John 13:1).  He declared his love, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit” (John 15:13, 16).  He cried at the thought of separation from God, and had to walk alone through that valley, so you and I do not have to be strangers to God and feel the pangs of separation.

CONSTANT COMPANION

The Lord who lives in unapproachable light whom no man can see (I Tim 6:16), who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Heb 7:26), had to himself make us holy so he can live inside us and make our bodies his temple.  The Lord who rent the heavens to come down to walk alongside man, yearns to live inside of us, even as much as anyone who understands the glory of having him on his side yearns for such fellowship.

On the eve of crucifixion, he told such men who were crest-fallen about his impending departure, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. . .  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him . . . we will come to him and make our home with him. . . The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 13:33; 14:16-21, 23, 26)

“I am going away and I am coming back to you. . . It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment . . . a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me. . . Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 14:28; 16:7,8, 16, 22)”

TODAY, HE LIVES THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT INSIDE ANYONE WHO IS WILLING TO ACCEPT HIS LOVE.  WILL YOU INVITE HIM TO COME INSIDE YOU AND BRING HIS JOY AND PEACE TO FILL YOUR HEART?

Social Networking: Youth's boon or bane

Contributed the following article to a Magazine's January 2012 issue . . .

thinking aloud what should be one's New Year resolution with regard to Social Networking,

particularly for someone in their budding years - in school or in college.

 

 

Man has always had the need to connect with dear ones.  Until less than a quarter of a century ago, people had to wait for atleast a week, for receiving a response from a loved one after writing to him or her, when one of them did not have a phone.  However in the last 15 years, communication has made rapid strides in the form of email and then mobile phone.   More recently, increased comfort with online chat and SMS have made communication using the newer forms cheaper too.  To add to that, convergence of Information Technology and Telecommunication Systems have also made it easier for people using different forms of communication to interconnect.

While reducing the wait time for responses and removing the anxiety when a loved one’s safety had to be confirmed, it has also given rise to a lot of superfluous communication.  Even without a great need to communicate, people have resorted to empty chatter to kill time and avoid boredom. Thus time that could otherwise have been used in more profitable activities and boredom that could have been overcome in meaningful ways are now being handled through casual communication with acquaintances and even strangers.  Social Networking has attracted a great number of folks who have the time and feel bored.

Before we see what good or evil has come out of Social Networking, let us first see in what form it exists today.  Blogs, Microblogs like Twitter and Social Sites like Facebook, MySpace and Orkut, all fill the Social networking landscape.  Blogs let people communicate their ideas with others over internet in the form of short essays or through pictures and video shots.  Microblogs are for those who want to communicate ideas but are either not comfortable penning essays or do not have the time to do so.   A microblog is a statement you make in a few sentences not exceeding 140 characters.  Sites like facebook do not restrict you and let you communicate through short status updates (similar to microblog), or links to essays or photographs on some site.

In the eighties, TV was the favourite pastime; in the late nineties, it was web-surfing and now in the twenty-first century, it is Social Networking.  Myspace that was launched in August 2003 has 30 million users.  Orkut that was launched in January 2004 by Google, currently has over 66 million active users worldwide.  The most successful of these is Facebook that has more than 800 million active users. It had opened to general public only in September 2006 after having been launched 2 years earlier for the student community in Boston, US.  Twitter has 300 million users today, having been launched in July 2006.

Social Networking indeed allows one to easily locate, connect with and communicate ideas to like-minded people.  Certainly, this has made collaborative learning a greater possibility.  For example, students in some institutions submit assignments on a Social Networking platform.  In some other, students are asked to post summaries of the classes they attended, so those who missed classes can update themselves by reading them.  Alumni groups on Social Networking sites have helped students decide on Colleges, Careers, etc., based on inputs from students who had passed out earlier.  Students have even got Question papers from previous years uploaded so that they are useful for future students when preparing for various examinations.  But the question is what proportion of time is spent on such useful stuff and how many young people restrict themselves to productive activities.

Psychology professor Larry Rosen of the California State University, in a speech titled “Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids” has warned of several negative outcome.  Her Research team had found the students’ concentration to lapse within just 15 minutes of study, because of the need to check their Facebook page almost every third minute.  Such students are also likely to have behavioural problems and “narcissistic tendencies” from spending too much time logged on to such sites.  The negative effects include making students more prone to vain, aggressive and anti-social behaviour.   According to their study, children under 13 who overuse social sites on a daily basis are also more likely to be prone to bouts of anxiety, depression, sleeping problems and stomach aches.

 “If you find honey, eat just enough --too much of it and you will vomit”, says Proverbs  25:15  We also have a Tamil saying that reads ‘In excess, even honey becomes poisonous’.   Even so, irrespective of all the good that can come out of Social Networking, it becomes a bane when it is used in addictive proportion.  On this New Year’s eve, let us resolve to live by guidelines about when we would get on to Social Networking sites and how long we would stay online.  Let us be wary about Social Networking being a good servant but a bad master.

Video & Online Gaming: Refresher or a Distraction?

Contributed the following article to the November 2011 issue of VANAMUTHAM,

a Tamil Christian Monthly magazine published by Serve India Mission,

that attempts to connect the world (with its events and practical issues) to God's word.

Entertainment is supposedly a leisure time activity, to provide some diversion from the monotony of work.  You will be familiar with the adage “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.”  In fact, God gave man Sabbath so he is able to turn from six days of hard work and rest on the seventh day.  Sabbath was intended to be a renewing, rejuvenating experience for him, resting from hard labor and enjoying fellowship with his creator.  At thy right hand, there are pleasures for evermore, says the Psalmist (Psalms 16:11).

The good Lord who provided Adam and Eve with the fruits of the different trees that man could enjoy has also provided man with good diversions.  Reading is one and physical activity is another – one stimulating the mind and the other toning the body.  Pure pleasure brings one within the reach of God’s voice.  C.S.Lewis in his satire ‘The Screwtape Letters’, has Screwtape (senior devil) chastising Wormwood (junior devil) for failing to keep the patient (Christian) from crossing over to the Enemy’s (God’s) camp, as follows.  “You first of all allowed the patient to read a book he really enjoyed, because he enjoyed it and not in order to make clever remarks about it to his new friends.  In the second place, you allowed him to walk down to the old mill and have tea there – a walk through country he really likes, and taken alone.  In other words you allowed him two real positive Pleasures.  Were you so ignorant as not to see the danger of this?”

Pleasure is God’s gift to man.  We again have this insight in the following words put into the mouth of Screwtape. “Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on Enemy’s ground.  I know we have won many a soul through pleasure.  All the same, it is His invention, not ours.  He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one.  All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence, we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable.  An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula.”

For most folks, pleasure and entertainment go hand in hand.  People entertain themselves by catering to their senses. There are those that are outright recognized as evil and most people have no problem calling them so.  However, when it comes to modes of entertainment that appear to be harmless or that have both goodness and evil to offer, we are often not sure how to deal with them. Movies were a popular entertainment for the masses right from the turn of the 20th century until it was superseded by Television by the middle of the century. By 1962, 90% of U.S. households had a television set.  In India, television sales picked up in early eighties when Doordarshan introduced color telecasting and rapidly installed transmitters nationwide to coincide with the 1982 Asian Games.

The Television set came to be called the Idiot box, because people idled and idiotised themselves in front of it, for long hours.  Once entertainment was used to pass leisure time but slowly it became the default way to fill time so much so that it started eating into productive time.  While children before the eighties had good diversions like outdoor games, the TV got them glued indoors, making a fool of themselves in front of the box.  The latest to join this string of technological advancements to produce pleasure is the Electronic Game system. In 2000, Sony estimated that one out of every four households in the United States had a Sony PlayStation. Since then the numbers have only increased, with systems like the Nintendo Wii luring the casual gamer.

Electronic games have been around since the early 1970s.  Initially they were available on huge Coin-operated devices inside Game Arcades.  Some might remember the game ‘Space Invaders’.  Very soon their poor cousins comprising a hand-held console that could be plugged to Television, producing simple graphics and requiring custom plastic overlays to be taped on the TV screen, became available.  In mid-eighties, full-fledged Home Video Game consoles with high quality display and choice of games through pluggable cartridges, became available.  By mid-nineties, games became available on mobile phones.  All along, games that were originally developed for Arcade or Home Video Game system were also available for PCs through porting and subsequently they were also developed specifically for the computers.

Eminent neurologist Baroness Susan Greenfield told attendees at a Dorset conference that although certain technologies can encourage creativity, overall the effects are negative stemming from an unhealthy addiction to technology.  She was the Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain between 1998 and 2010 – the oldest independent Research body in the world.  In her speech ‘The Future of the Brain and The Brain of the Future’, she said “Screen technologies cause high arousal which in turn activates the brain system's underlying addiction. This results in the attraction of yet more screen-based activity.  Connections in the brain can be temporarily disabled by activities with a strong sensory content - effectively 'blowing the mind'. Or they can be inactivated permanently by degeneration - i.e. dementia. Other symptoms could include shortened attention span and a tendency for reckless behavior.”

Professor Mark Griffiths, a psychologist and Director of Nottingham Trent University’s International Gaming Research Unit, while disagreeing on overall effect being negative, acknowledges that when played to excess, video game playing can in some extreme cases be addictive, especially online video game playing where the game never pauses or ends, and has the potential to be a 24/7 activity.

With the turn of the twenty first century, advanced technologies such as online gaming over internet, use of motion as input, Infra Red tracking and support for wireless controllers, have come to be employed. This allows people to play virtual Tennis wielding wireless controllers strapped to wrist or held in the palm – not on real court outside but through a simulation indoor.  Susan Greenfield is worried that spending time online gaming could pose problems for millions of youngsters.  “There is a need to be outside, to climb trees and feel the grass under your feet and in your face.”  Experts opine that overuse injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, and tendonitis once reserved for long-time computer users could impact these youngsters.  They also fail to develop socialization skills as long hours of being caught up with video games leave no desire for one-on-one human company.  This is normally accompanied by a decline in verbal memory performance.  In the case of children, loss of physical activity and excessive eating that accompanies gaming often lead to obesity and neglect of studies leads to drop in academic performance.

Most importantly, the Home Video Game consoles tend to suck individuals into addiction.  Such an addiction leads to gross wastage of precious time, distracting the individual from life’s greater purpose.  John Wesley’ mother Susanna Wesley had cautioned her young son against anything that took off his relish of spiritual things.  God asked Gideon who was leading an army of 10,000 for battling the Medianites to separate out folks who cupped water in their hands and lapped it up like a dog while stopping at a river for a drink, and send away the rest.  These were folks who kept an eye for potential approach of the enemy unlike those who were distracted from their purpose, being immersed in water literally while quenching their thirst.  Any pleasure to be legitimate must refresh us without distracting us from, diminishing or destroying our final goal.