Leaky Water Bucket

Every one may know well that we are asked by God to give praise and glory to Him every time we receive blessings. Its not that God gets a kick out of ego rattling when we do that. He does not certainly get any mightier or bigger because of our actions of praise to Him. In other words, He is not asking us to take our small buckets up the mountain with water (praise and glory) to fill His trough. If you really think about it, actually its we who need His water (power) to fill our leaky buckets on a continuous basis.

One Bright Late Summer morning in September

Setting: A Nice late summer Sunday morning in Dublin, Ohio! September 13th! Temperature about 60 degrees Farenheit, Clear sky.
Event: Inaugural service for Vineyard Sawmill Campus (in other words this campus is right across our home)
New experience: Personally this is very unique to me. Normally people search for a church they can go to. But the church we go to, came to our doorstep today. I just feel in my heart that God has something that he wants to open in our lives here. Little over 3 years ago when we bought this house we never knew that we will be going to this church called Vineyard on a regular basis. But we did eventually. We never knew they will open a campus elsewhere. But they did. We never knew that it will be in our neck of the woods. But it was right across our home. Can this be just another case of weird coincidence. I am forced to think otherwise because there is something visceral or rather supernatural about this chain of events.
Lesson: Open your heart and He will change your lives.
More on this ..... later!

Lessons about life

Sometimes we go through times that are too busy or you feel very low or gullible of guilt of something or just plain lazy. I think its simply normal to experience all of the above and more!! But I found, the way to come around these is by surrounding yourself with things that bring sanity. Examples of 'things of sanity' are reading inspiring words(books), listening to comforting and uplifting music, just a walk by yourself to a place you have never gone before, etc. etc.

All the time, upbeat or down, we unknowingly keep pursuing something!! We all know that success is mostly measured not by the means but by the ends. But whether the intended ends were achieved or not, it is less critical when you consider the important lessons you learn along the way. One should never ever forget the lessons. Its a nice idea to maintain a journal and reviewing it.

Hope and Fear

Fear is not the fruit of the Spirit. But hope is. Fear is natural when things are falling apart in life and around us. Hope is a God given attribute and is an attitude that we all should have and it will prevail making us victorious. Fear lives and feeds on fear. Hope lives and feeds on hope but it is critical to differentiate that real hope can't be found in us but from our Provider.

Is religion the cause or solution for societal scourges

After seeing the kind of injustices and inequalities that prevail in this world, I am of the opinion that most, if not all geo-political problems have a religious cause or root to it. That's indeed sad because all religions teach a particular way of life that practices 2 central themes - Faith in God and Compassion to people. If practiced correctly, conflicts have to be a rarity. But conflicts have become the norm, when people become more religious in today's world. Its ironic and is a dogma.

That should tell us all something. Either we don't love and have faith in our God or we are incompassionate or both. When we point our finger at others we feel vindicated and excuse ourselves for the problems around us. We may not be the cause of the problem directly but we are a part of the problem if we don't put our mark to solve it by practicing our religion rightly.

It may be right to say that improper practice of religions in today's world is the cause of most geo-political problems and division in societies. Religions are good by foundation but preachers distort the practitioners.

When we don't, but yield, HE does

We attend a Evangelical Mega Church in Westerville, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. The Vineyard as its called has a very gifted and dedicated main pastor named Rich Nathan. We are going here regularly and giving to this church our financial offerings for nearly 3 years but have not been a initiated member yet (no particular reason).

Last week there was a surprise move by the church. Due to the growth of the church which is about 500 new members a year they would soon reach capacity in the main Westerville campus. They are planning satellite campuses around Columbus and the very first they are planning is right across our house in the Davis Middle School. We as a family are a little ovewhelmed with exhilaration...even today....

All I can say is God's ways are unthinkable and His will when we yield is overwhelming and filled with exhilaration. When we don't move but yield HE does.

Hidden Intangibles

A man who keeps possessions for himself (selfish) may ultimately have everything that is tangible; but a man who shares or gives away his possessions liberally though he may not have everything, he will have many more things that are intangible.

Some of the intangibles are good health, joy, peace and above everything a truly vibrant life. Never underestimate these just because they are intangible. These are the gears of life with God at the control.

Things Tiny...

How many things can you think of that are tiny but yet powerful? I planted some vegetable seeds in my in-home green-house planter, and in a couple of days I saw the sprouts. That scene was truly amazing, because of the mere transformation of the seed into a seedling. I was wondering about the true power of the seed for it has the needed "code" for life stored in such a small space in all completeness. Truly tiny, yet so powerful.

Where are you

Not here, not there
Hanging in the air.

Sometimes here, sometimes there
Still hanging in the air.

When you are here or when you are there
You are somewhere,

But when you are neither here nor there
You are nowhere.

Where are you!

Denominated Christians!

Christians are spread all over the world! Most of the times Christians like to reveal their doctrinal denomination (for example, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Marthoma and so on) to identify themselves either to be a part of a group or its culture. Nothing wrong in wearing your cultural identity as a part of your Faith. But something is seriously wrong if acceptance in a church or social group is even partly based on such a criteria. I describe it as suicidal for Christians as a group. I have experienced it all the time although I try to steer clear of such branding. Its either they candidly sideline you or subtly treat you differently. The question that came to my mind was if this behavior was a cause or effect. I am of the opinion that its both a cause and effect eating into each other and becoming to be a monster of sorts.

Christians are obliged to treat fellow believers as Christian brothers and sisters in Faith. We can all appreciate our faith better and be true Samaritans in action than be called Christians by mere name if we practice this scarce attribute.

Thoughts about Spring

Before we can even realize Spring would be here, precisely in another 9 or so days. What goals have you set for yourself in the short term and in the long term. Have you planned to do anything new or special?

Times are hard in the world and especially in the US where 2.5 million people lost their jobs in 2008 and an estimated 9% are unemployed as of date. Not to mention other miseries that many people are facing due to war, hunger and genocides. I heard as much as $50 trillion was lost in wealth due to the present economic recession. This is equal to a year's worth of the world GDP. Can we find happiness in these cicumstances?

Spring is a great time to take a deep look within and reach outward. In a recent article that I read from a well known radio host John Tesh's website (www.tesh.com) he says many people have experienced inner happiness when they extended outward by donating their time or wealth or energy. Perhaps this should be the basis for a Spring take-home message from the year long hard lesson and still continuing.

A Saturday ride - Music and Chess

This blog is a bit of a deviation from the mainstream content. It is a story about a conversation between a dad and his son.

One warm Saturday morning in March during one of their usual drive to the gym the father was recounting about a music concert by Andre Rieu and his violin performance the previous evening they watched together on TV. The dad said that violin was indeed a very powerful musical instrument and it is the queen of all instruments. The son who was a student of piano felt that was a let-off for the instrument he was learning. Dad realizing the disappointment in his son's face said ....but piano is like the king, though.

Son promptly replied with a chess analogy and said, yeah you are right dad. Just like the queen which can move multi-directionally on a chessboard you can take the violin (queen of instruments) easily wherever you go. But piano, like the king on the chess board can be moved to one place at a time because it is a heavy instrument. So, yes dad, violin is a queen and piano is a king!

Dad never realized that muscial instruments could be analogous to chess in any way until he heard his son's new found analogy on that warm Saturday morning and thanked God for kids and their special Saturday rides.

Bart Ehrman

I had the privilege of meeting and talking to one of the prominent New Testament scholars of our times, Dr.Bart D. Ehrman, last Friday 27th February. He has published several books and his newest book is 'Jesus, Interrupted' was released on 3rd March 2009. He was on National Public Radio yesterday interviewed by Terri Gross on Fresh Air where he said that from being a born again evangelical to his present disposition as an agnostic he has more been able to keep his moral compass clear now than ever. He alludes to a reason for his clarity. He believes this is the one life we have and so we should do things that would bring us happiness and enjoy it (responsibly!) . And in the process help others to realize that they don't waste theirs. Well he simply does not believe this life is a primer to the next or this is a test-run for the after-life.

I asked him what his destination in life would be if he chose this direction of scholarly pursuit. He said to me : "If I had known I would have been there already".

His other New York Times best selling books are 'Misquoting Jesus' and 'God's Problem'.

Fear and Free-will are products of a fallen world

We always relate to God better when we go through some trouble in life. We also have heard preachers and theologians say that God tries to correct us and make us better people through the troubles of life. And also that unless you are broken you will not experience the Power of God. This is true to a great extent in most people. But I think the higher purpose is that through the fear that is caused by troubles, God's glory is revealed to the individual and the people around who are witness to it. This is the HIGHEST purpose.

We cannot escape fear, and fear drives us to seek protection. But you can go for a mature protection from a well desiring God or you can take a temporary shelter in other ways like getting into self deprecating habits.

Free will on the other hand is also a cause of "fallen"ness and was attained when man ate the fruit from the tree of righteousness. So this free-will is going to certainly lead us into a path of "self" which is in my opinion not yielding to the HIGHER purpose.

Fear or Freewill

If given a chance to live without fear of poverty, sickness, death or any other worldly pressures would it be a factor to our faith on God? In other words, if we were to exercise Freewill would it change our perception about God?

Give it a thought. I am going to be posting some insights myself shortly.

Intelligent Design

Several years ago when I was not so sure what it meant by Intelligent Design, there was a active debate on this topic across America. I read a rather recent issue of a ASBMB today (a Biomedical Newsletter) stating that some schools in Texas have managed to incorporate Intelligent Design in their science curriculum as part of critical thinking and obviously the science community at-large are not quite happy about it. The scientist who wrote this article says Intelligent Design is not evidence based like science and hence the debate is over.

This made me think rather deeply. I agree that science is evidence based and should be verifiable albeit with practical limitations. It is important that we should never put Intelligent Design on a collision course with Science. Simply because these two can work best when left to itself and to its beneficial advancement to serve a common human and divine purpose. They don't need to be debated at all. That perhaps is a better way to put the debate to rest. Makes sense? Let me know.

Trying Day

Memories for eternity

Saw awhile ago, a boy of 10
Saw him earlier when he was just 2
Years between the first and last were 8
Between the last and now 10

Memories linger and sweeten your day
Of the affection he showed that still linger today
But who would imagine, That the next we would meet
Would be in eternity.

-Tribute to my nephew Manesh who passed away today tragically

Answer to yesterday's trivia : The animal which can swim, is a mammal and lays eggs is Platypus found in Australia.

Creation or Evolution? Same old Issue but may be with a new twist

Have you ever wondered about “Creation”? I know, what you’re thinking. Who hasn’t, but how much thought have you actually given to it and what’s your take on it. If you have a strong opinion about it particularly if you think, Creation as described in the Bible was based on a 24-hour day, I like to hear about it.

Did you know that the Creation Museum (www.creationmuseum.org) in exurban Cincinnati, Ohio (actually it is inside the Kentucky state line) proclaims a “24hour day” creation concept. (By the way the museum is a great place to take your kids and may be for you on a weekend). But there are many leading evangelical church pastors who think that this is debatable and the debate won’t serve any ultimate purpose. And there are atleast 3 to 4 major Christian denominations based in the US that believe Evolution is a part of Creation.

I thought that notion was interesting because I am convinced that man diverged (reason for divergence is biblical…later on that) over time, resulting in multiple races with distinct physical and genetic characteristics as an effect of evolutionary processes.

Trivia Question: Can you name an animal that swims, is a mammal and can lay eggs?
Is there such an animal…..after all?
Right answer will be posted along my next post….meanwhile send in your answers using the comment link. Have a great day.

An easy answer to a hard question

During my meditation (Bible notes: Our Daily Bread) yesterday, I read about a German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) who battled with similar questions I listed in the "About Me" section of my blog. "Who am I? and Where am I going?".

But does God provide answers? Guess what, He does. I came out quite impressed with the answers I got in IJohn 3:2 during our family meditation. The short answer for the first question is: We are children of God. Plus, John 1:12 says "We become His children by receiving Jesus as our Savior from Sin. If you think deeply, that's about all we need for our identity.

So what about the next question "Where am I going?".... Read John 14:1-6. It says "....one day He will receive us into a home He is preparing in heaven".

Therefore as Christians the short answers to these 2 questions would be: 'When you know Jesus, you know WHO you are and WHERE you're going'.

Awesome I thought, so did my wife, Shyni. We were thrilled about these unexpected revelations. Hope you are blessed too.

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Introduction

This blog would essentially contain my views, opinions, observations and questions about life, nature and God. I will attempt to share narratives of my experiences be it physical, spiritual or of a metaphysical nature. The whole purpose of this blog is to share and broaden the horizons of mind and spirit in my pursuit of knowledge about the world we are in.

To kick it off I have two short poems I wrote over the weekend.

The Pond
Part I

Has in it water
Has in it food
Has in it life
Can give life
If one needs.

Part II

Refreshing water you can have
When you are tired and thirsty
From a pond.
Yes, in a pond
There is life you can find
Life, yes it has and gives as well
Yes, from a pond.