My last sermon to Daejeon Onnuri English Ministry

Goodbye OEM!

Longing for a loving community

Christianity is rarely in danger from the outside; the danger lies within.  It even lasted 1400 years of severe persecution under the Islamic rule.  The current danger for its eradication from the Muslim lands has still got to do with its problem from within; i.e. the advent of modern mission movement with its heavy emphasis on financial support for those who serve in these countries.  Such financial incentives from the outside world have created jealousy, friction, and hate filled competition for the dollars among the Christian workers that result in bitter division.  A church divided is by definition is no church at all.  Bitter competitions open up the door for the Devil (Eph. 4:27), and the non-Christian population naturally becomes cynical toward the church.   

The native missionaries are thus caught up in the game of pleasing their donors while the foreign missionaries are busy in building their own profiles by any means.  In fact, 99.9% of foreign missionaries have 0% of respect toward their native counterparts because they look at these natives as hirelings.  I have had several encounters with such foreign missionaries who blatantly claim "We can buy a pastor like you with a hundred dollars a month"!

Because of such leadership of the church, the church is being killed from within without the Christ like character ever evolving either in the life of the leaders or the believers.  Any church that lacks love will eventually die down.  The above video message is one such longing to have a church where there would be love and respect for fellow believers whether we are native or foreigner in any given nation on this earth.

Don't Underestimate the Power of Your Faith in God

Have you ever wondered why some people get answers to their prayers so frequently while others continue to struggle in life?  Some live in victories and others in perpetual defeat?  One simple difference can be found in their attitude toward God.  Do they come to God in faith or fear/worry?  Worry never gets what it worries about while faith always gets what it believes for!  Throughout human history, God has always honored those who exhibit unswerving faith and trust in Him.  This we see recorded in Hebrews 11 where the writer, with personal experience and the examples of others, states that “without faith it is impossible to please God and those who come to him must believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him diligently” (11:6).  

The first part of the foundation of our faith has to do with the person and the being of God – “that he is”.  He is Yahweh, the God who says “I am that I am”.  He is the God who says “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end”.   God was known to the children of Israel as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  But when Moses asked his name, He said, “I am that I am”, I am “Yahweh” and “I will be with you”.  For the first time God revealed his nature and being to Moses; an ever present God.  When Moses went to Egypt, he had this real sense of God’s presence with him – “that God is”.  Long after Egypt, and in wilderness God told Moses to lead the people by himself.  Moses once again begs and says “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Ex. 33:15).  Thus, the writer of Hebrews knows the necessity of one’s faith in God’s nature, his person and his presence. 

The second part of the foundation of our faith is the character of God “that he rewards those who seek him diligently”.  God is a good God who delights in answering our prayers, “How much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:11).  When we come to God, we must have this unswerving faith in the goodness of God.  Jesus said “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mk. 9:23), “Ask anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:14).  David said, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will fulfill the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4).  God loves to answer the prayer of faith! 

Rev. William Haslam, in his autobiography Yet Not I, talks about a couple he met in 1862.  Husband was known as Happy Peter.  They both had terrible case of rheumatism that made them invalid toward the latter part of their life.  As they needed someone to take care of them, there came a time when they were about to be separated in different social institutions.  Happy Peter and wife asked the Lord to stop such separation.  They were deeply in love with each other and devoutly faithful to God.  In an amazing twist of tale, a well off and benevolent lady heard of their plight.  She decided to rent a room for them and provide for the upkeep so long as they would live.  Happy Peter and wife lived in that room and when many years had gone by, Rev. Haslam came to town as their new Parson.  He was greatly encouraged by witnessing their unswerving faith in the goodness of God; even in their suffering and pain, they always found reasons to praise God and wore the countenance of unending happiness; thus Happy Peter!

One day while Rev. Haslam was reading the paper, he was startled by the news of sudden death of that precious lady who took care of Happy Peter and wife.  Greatly worried about their fate, he gently broke the news to them.  They listened with eerie silence and after a pause, Peter’s wife said “Thank God for all the kindness that dear good lady did to us; and thank God, He is not dead”.  Yes, their human benefactress was dead but the God who moved her heart to take care of them was still alive.  What a faith!  Amazingly, Happy Peter and his wife lived their days on earth without a care as God moved others’ hearts in their behalf.  God honors his children’s trust in him.

From my personal life, the pictures below are examples of God’s faithfulness in answering our prayers for our ministry in Nepal.  My wife and I were married in January 10, 1993 while serving in a church in Kathmandu pioneered by an American missionary sister who had come to Nepal nearly two decades earlier.  Few months into that pastorate, I had serious disagreement with this dear lady who had already developed such a dictatorial method of ministry in which Nepalese were not worthy of any respect and eventually in the summer of that year, we moved out of that church.  We moved out of her ministry leaving her furious for not being able to punish us; we found, prior to us, she had other victims too.  By the fall of that same year, my wife and I and 8 other victims started to gather for prayer in our living room and eventually decided to turn that prayer meeting into weekly church fellowship. 

But alas!  Such news of us starting a church made her more indignant.  She being the “Boss” of largest denomination in Nepal, demanded her faithful pawns in the committee to do everything possible to destroy us while she went on to demonize us in the eyes of all foreign missionaries in and outside of Nepal.  I was physically attacked by one of her missionary friends known as Michael (forgot his last name), and verbally insulted from the pulpits by another couple who were then leading Operation Mobilization (OM) in Nepal. 

The Nepalese brothers who made their living under her mantle came with full fury to silence us and our ministry forever in the guise of their denominational authority.  Our crime was; we refused to be mistreated and abused by this precious anointed American missionary sister!  But they refused to listen to us and demanded absolute surrender to ladyship.  They demanded us to apologize for questioning her treatment of Nepalese and her ways of handling finances that came in the name of ministry.  No Nepalese could or can ask her how she handles the money that comes for the ministry.  She is the final authority!  Of course that is how all “missionaries” handle the money in every developing nation. The natives have no rights to question the expat missionary! 

We refused to surrender to such an abusive leadership, but they wouldn't leave us alone. They found better ways of destroying us without firing a bullet.  My wife and I were teaching in different bible schools so that we could sustain ourselves and also support the new church plant.  Our precious missionary lady and her obedient pawns began a campaign to stop us from getting any teaching jobs in any of the bible schools in Kathmandu.  Married just about a year before, having a newborn son, pioneering a church in one of the most heathen cities of the world without anyone supporting us, and with no technical education except theology; teaching in a bible school was our only means of surviving.  

She knew we had no other means of survival in Kathmandu; just before we had moved out of her property, she had visited us with one of her pawns and demanded to know if we were receiving foreign donations.  Her pawn was more abusive to us on that day as this was his opportunity to show her how faithful he was to his ladyship. My wife and I told them that God did not call us to hunt for foreign donations as they were doing, He called us to serve him.  So, she knew we had no other source of making a living except teaching, and this precious anointed Pentecostal missionary sister in Christ along with her tongues speaking Nepalese followers called upon the heads of these bible schools (we were teaching in two places at that time) and demanded them to fire us.  But the heads of these two bible schools refused to bow-down.  They took the bullet for us and refused to fire, and for that we will be forever grateful to them!  This was the first sign that God was not finished with us. 

Then, she and her company started to pronounce curses on us from their pulpits.  They commanded their leaders and believers to shun us; never to speak or greet us even when they meet us on the way and till today, some of the faithful followers have been keeping this promise.  When they see us, they do not know which way to turn their heads!

But we never doubted the presence of God with us and by 1996, our little fellowship had taken the shape of a church. We were miraculously protected, provided, and preserved against all odds in the face of such a merciless physical and spiritual attack.  The picture above was taken in 1999; Pastor Ganesh I are standing in the piece of property that we were able to purchase for the church.  It was an amazing work of God how this property was provided.  It will take another chapter to recall the whole story.  The picture below is of our current church in that property.  Time permitting, I shall indulge in letting my readers to go through the miraculous workings of God in meeting our needs, keeping us in Kathmandu and sustaining us in spite of a powerful opposition from a powerful missionary along with her powerful denomination in Nepal. 

The thing is; never doubt the power of God’s grace to a person who dares to believe in his presence and character.  Mark 9:23 has been my guiding verse over the years and every time I remember our experience in Kathmandu from 1993-1996, I cringe within myself and ask, “How could we survive?” such a merciless attack from so many anointing brothers and sisters in Christ! Like Joseph’s brothers, these brothers and sisters of mine in Christ were determined to destroy us but today, the Lord has been our banner and our provider! 

David and Bathsheba: Mission and Injustice

Whenever I hear preachers talk about David’s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, they invariably point out to the dangers of sexual sins.  Whenever any prominent preacher falls in sexual sin, s/he invariable cites David’s example and start confessing.  If the sinning preacher finds in danger of losing the ministry position, s/he would go so far as to say “David confessed to God, God forgave him, so why should I be subject to any kind of disciplinary action?”  Countless times, I have heard David’s fall as a warning against sexual sin.

While sexual sin is so heinous and so destructive in itself, God’s anger against David was not so much for his sexual impurity but against the injustice he committed against a loyal and defenseless man Uriah.  Through Prophet Nathan, God rebukes David, “I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites” (2 Samuel 12:8-9).

The evil in the eyes of the Lord David committed is not so much the adultery but the injustice against an innocent man.  David had plenty of women in the palace to satisfy his lust.  This was not a sin committed by impulse and lack of judgment due to the blinding passions aroused by the naked body of Bathsheba.  It was a sin deliberately committed after carefully investigating and knowing who she was.  David investigated her background, found out whose daughter and wife she was.  Instead of respecting, protecting, and honoring the loyalty and the service of Uriah, David was overcome by the lust for the beauty of Bathsheba.  Instead of being the protector of his servant Uriah’s property, David committed covetousness against a helpless man. 

He takes away everything Uriah had.  To cover up his sin, he commits another heinous crime; he kills Uriah.  Covetousness led to murder.  It was the worst kind of injustice one can imagine.  A poor man, a loyal shoulder, a person willing to lay down his life for the king was mercilessly robbed and brutally killed by a powerful man who was supposed to protect him.  This was the sin God counted against David for the rest of his life.

In Christian missions and charitable organizations, there is so much injustice committed but hardly anyone talks about it.  Orphans, widows, elderly and the helpless from the poorer nations are paraded and sold in the market places of the affluent nations in the name of charity.  Evangelists, pastors, missionaries working in some of the most difficult places on planet are auctioned in the churches and Christian marketplaces in the affluent part of the world in the name of supporting native missions.  But only a fraction of what is collected in these endeavors ever reaches to those who are being sold.  The agents in the charities are paid salaries like as if they are working for multinational financial corporations.  The mission agents gather all the money that comes in the name of supporting native missions and in no time they become businessmen, entrepreneurs, bankers, realtors, politicians and you name it.

The orphans, widows, elderly and the helpless only exist in papers and videos provided to the donors who pride in their charity while the middlemen/women turn themselves into millionaires.  The sincere evangelists, pastors, and mission workers continue to labor for their Lord in spite of lack, need and suffering while the money that came in their names goes into enriching the clever and donor connected leaders who are busy in fabricating stories like David did to cover up his sins.

This is injustice in its most despicable form.  Like Habakkuk, we need to cry out and ask God “how long O God?” (Habakkuk 1:2). 

Christian Success

In today’s world, success is measured by fat bank account, thin body, and viral popularity.  The purpose of life is all about here and now on earth.  But Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).

Jesus invites us to have a right perspective in life.  The things stored on earth are going to be destroyed.  Either they will be destroyed slowly by moth and rust or suddenly by thieves.  Even if we have them until the end, we will have to leave them behind.  After all, there will come a day when we shall say goodbye to this world and enter the world God has prepared for us.

According to Jesus, there is a strong possibility of sending our treasures ahead of us to the world where our treasures will be safely awaiting us when our time to leave this earth comes.  How shall we store our treasures in heaven?

1.     Jesus said “work for the food that will not perish” (John 6:63):  This food is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the true bread of life.  Whatever we do, it should be done by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Make Jesus the center of all your work in this world.  Your life, your family, your job, your business, your profession, and your everything ought to be centered in Christ.  In this way, you lay up treasures in heaven.

2.     Jesus said “seek God’s kingdom and righteousness” (Matt. 6:33, 10): Our work and prayer life should be motivated to bring God’s kingdom and righteousness in the place where God has kept us on this earth.  For everything we do, we must have this deep sense of longing to see our surrounding change into God’s kingdom where Jesus is glorified and people are blessed.  In this way, you lay up treasures in heaven.

3.     Jesus said “whatever you did to the least of my these brothers, you did it to me” (Matt. 25:31-46): Earlier in chapter 19 of Matthew’s gospel Jesus talks to the rich young ruler and tells him to sell everything and give it to the poor.  When the rich young ruler went away sad because he could not sell his property due to his greed, Jesus turns to the disciples and says “…don’t lay up for yourself treasures on earth”.  Then in chapter 25, Jesus expands as how the feeding a hungry, giving drink to a thirsty, welcoming a helpless stranger, clothing a naked, visiting a sick, and meeting a prisoner; all these actions were actually done to Christ.  In other words, while we are on earth, we must not be motivated by greed but by compassion.  We use our material possessions to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves.  In doing this, we seem to be laying up treasures in heaven. 

4.     Jesus said “go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15):  Jesus gave this awesome responsibility of sharing the gospel to save the lost into our hands.  The Bible gives us clear command to preach the gospel with all our life here on earth.  Every soul that would be saved from our sharing the gospel will be the treasure in heaven.

5.     Paul said “your help for the mission work will be credited to your account” (Phil. 4:14-20):  Philippian church had been a constant supporter of Paul and his companions so that they could preach the gospel in many other places.  In his letter, Paul thanks them and says that what they gave is actually stored into their account.  What they gave was a fragrant offering, acceptable and pleasing to God and thus God would supply all their needs from the stored treasures in heaven.  So, when we give for the cause of preaching the gospel, we lay up treasures in heaven.

Success for a Christian is therefore, to lay up treasures in heaven.  When our time on earth is done, God will welcome us into his kingdom where our treasures will be beautifully displayed.  Let us live with Christ as the center of our lives and compassion as the guiding principle of life.  Let us pray and do everything we can to share the gospel in order to have many souls in God’s kingdom.  Apart from this, all other success you will have is going to be left behind.

Learn from Your Enemy (1 Samuel 16)

The way God works in our lives is amazing and baffling at the same time.  God abandoned King Saul, and asked Samuel to anoint a new king from among the sons of Jesse.  Samuel goes for the external appearance in choosing a new king but God commands him to look into the heart of the man (1 Sam.16:7).  Out of eight sons of Jesse, the last one, David the unlikely, is chosen to be the new king. 

As Samuel anoints David the shepherd boy for the task of leading a troubled nation as its king, the shepherd boy himself had no clue as what he was getting into.  Yes, he had the experience of leading his sheep in the woods and protecting them from the wild beasts.  But leading a rebellious nation, a nation in decline and surrounded by its enemies could have never crossed David’s mind.  Yes, he was a daring shepherd who stood against the lions and the bears, but leading a nation torn asunder from within by its ruler could not be so much a possibility for the shepherd boy.  If at all such an opportunity came his way, he had seven elder brothers who would be far more promising than him for the task ahead.    

Even Samuel’s judgment failed.  After rejecting seven handsome and promising sons of Jesse, he asks “are these all the sons you have?” as if he was wondering whether God had made a mistake in calculating Jesse’s sons.

Finally when David appears in the scene; Samuel leaps to his feet and anoints the ruddy, handsome looking lad.  Oblivious to the human eyes witnessing the scene, the Bible says, “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power” (1 Sam. 16:14).  

From now onward, the Spirit of the Lord would become David’s companion and guide to lead him in all his physical and spiritual victories.  But there came a time in his later life in which he was so close in losing the companionship of the Spirit.  In such a time, he cries out to God and laments; “Do not cast me away from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11).  David knew the dangers of living a life without the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  He left no stone unturned to repent from his sins so that God would be merciful to allow the presence of the Spirit in his life. 

David could never imagine of a life without the guiding presence of the Spirit because, right about the time he was anointed by Samuel, something had happened to Saul and David knew it.  In 1 Samuel 16:13, David receives the Spirit of the Lord and in the very next verse it says “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil (injurious) spirit from the LORD tormented him”.  From that time onward, Saul was a man hunted and tormented by this evil spirit.  Saul’s people tried everything to set him free from this spirit but they could not.  As a last resort, they tried to see if music could soothe Saul’s tormented soul.  Amazingly, David happened to be the man who would play the anointed music to relieve Saul from the torment of this spirit.  Because of his music, David would also become Saul’s armor bearer.

The way God works is amazing.  When God brought David in Saul’s palace as a musician and later as armor bearer; it was for David, much less for Saul.  David was given the opportunity to learn some of the most valuable lessons of his life. 

First, David saw how life can lose all its pleasures and purposes when abandoned by God.  Saul’s life was to serve David the lesson of his lifetime that if he ever allowed this separation of the Spirit from his life due to his sins, he would have nothing left in his hands.  At one time, with his own sinful humanity, David went toward this direction and in Psalms 32 we see him returning with broken bones due to the power of un-confessed sins.  He says “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away…Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (32:3-5).  David could never imagine of living a life like he saw Saul living without God’s favor upon his life. 

Second, by bringing David in the palace and putting him so close to Saul, God was teaching David the art of kingship.  God used the abandoned and rejected king of Israel to teach David the art of rule and royalty.  Yes, many times David was nearly killed by Saul.  But when God has his finger upon a life, not a hair would fall without his will.  David proved to be a man after God’s own heart because in all his dealings with Saul, he never once expressed hate and bitterness toward a God appointed king; God only has the right to dethrone the king he put upon the throne.  Even when he could easily take Saul’s life and usurp the throne, though tempted at first, David followed the prompting of the Spirit, allowing God to take control of the situation.  He rebukes himself and his people for even thinking a thought like that (1 Sam. 24:5-7).

Those of us who love God, like David, whether we are in the field tending sheep, whether we are in the palace playing some musical instrument to soothe a tormented soul, whether we are the armor bearer to a leader helping him to fight, whether we are sitting upon the throne ruling over our kingdom; whatever be the station in our lives, let us learn like David the lessons he learned.  Let us not live in sin and lose the abiding presence of the Spirit; let us live in repentance.  Let us also not be bitter for the suffering and hardship that come our way when God prepares us for the task ahead.  Like David, let us live in the Spirit and be a faithful shepherd, a musician, an armor bearer and a king for God’s glory!  God has a way of using our difficulties and our enemies for our training and benefit; all we got to do is to rest in God and live for his glory like David did while our enemy works in our behalf at God's bidding.        

Abandoned by God because of Greed (1 Samuel 15)

Saul could not believe his ears when he heard Samuel say “God has chosen a new king instead of you” (13:14).  Somehow in his own arrogance, Saul hoped Samuel’s words to be wrong.  Then, for the first time as an act of desperation, Saul builds an altar unto God and calls for guidance (14:35).  Sadly, 14:37 records a terrifying response to his prayers; “God did not answer him that day”.  Bewildered, confused, and lost, Saul abandons the battlefield and goes home.

In chapter 15, we still see God’s heart for this man who had begun so graciously.  He was an unassuming personality, fully aware of his frailties and weaknesses.  His dependence in and reverence for God was evident when he hesitated to see the seer without any gift in hand (1 Sam. 9:7) and his willingness to be led by the Spirit and join the band of prophets, making the phrase a byword “Is Saul among the prophets” (1 Sam. 10:11) was simply commendable.  In chapter 15, it is as if God gives Saul one last chance to see what was in his heart.

When Samuel presented him the task of obliterating Amalekites, Saul instantly took to the task as if to prove to Samuel that he was still God’s anointed king of Israel, and that Samuel was wrong to assume in God choosing a new king.  However, as the battle progressed and victory ensured; Saul and his army saw the possibility of enriching themselves with the abundance of plunder they could have from the Amalekites.  Instead of obliterating the city and everything in it, Saul began to collect the best items for him and for his soldiers.  He knew the command so very well but the power of greed and the residue of arrogance he had accumulated over the years blinded him completely and broke God’s commands. 

Finally, when Samuel was sent by God to confront him, Saul had the best possible explanation for not obeying the given instructions; “he was saving them to offer sacrifice to God”.  He was doing it for God!  It is at this time that Samuel breaks down and screams at Saul and says “are you crazy, don’t you know that obedience is better than sacrifice!”(15:22-23). Saul’s greed and arrogance deeply grieves God’s heart and old Samuel too departs from Saul with a broken heart never to see him again.  Abandoned by God and his mentor, Saul entered his loneliest period of his earthly existence that drove him into insanity.

How often have we justified our disobedience to God’s word by saying “I am doing this for God or I am doing this for something good”?  Particularly when it comes to material and financial dealings, the temptation to sin while doing something for God’s kingdom is very real.  Without any sense of remorse or regret, a well-known Pastor friend of mine in Nepal once shared with me about his exploits of profiting from a healing crusade held in Kathmandu.  An American healing Evangelist organized this healing crusade and his church was selected to do the advertising for the upcoming crusade.  Substantial amount of money was allocated for that.  But my friend spent only the 25% of the money given to him and the rest he kept for himself.  Of course in the bills, 100% was spent for advertising!  When I said, “how could you do this?” he simply said, “Maha katnele hat chatchha = when you extract honey from bee-hives, you lick your hand”.  I don’t want to say much about this friend, but Saul also thought the same. 

Many ministers, missionaries, native mission leaders, and contract workers in God’s kingdom think like Saul thought.  They assume that because they are in the ministry or mission fields, they sacrifice so much; they suffer in many ways, and therefore deserve some break.  God would not hold them accountable even if they mismanage ministry/mission money and profit a little.  But how sad; soon these people find themselves without the presence of God.  Ministers disappear from societies, missionaries become bitter and return home with broken hearts, native mission leaders find themselves in all kinds of trouble in their families and with their governments, and contract workers for God’s kingdom find it hard to exist once the wrath of God begin to show up.   

God never condoned disobedience then, and he would not do now.  God never stayed with the person of pride, greed, and sexual impurity then and he would not do now.  God never associated with an unfaithful people then, and he would not do now.  Humility, obedience, and purity are essential qualities that would never see the absence of God because they are the fruits of obedience to God’s word whereas greed, pride, and sexual impurity will drive a person so far from God where living becomes a form of punishment as Saul found out.

The Name of Jesus in the Face of Corruption (1Sam. 12-14)

Israel’s choice to have a king over them was the clear rejection of God's reign over their lives saying “we don’t need you”.  With a broken heart, Samuel anoints and appoints Saul as the first king of Israel.  But he left no doubt in their minds as how God would destroy the king and his subjects if they continue to live in their rebellious ways.  Eventually the warning was heeded by Israel but it was too little too late when they realized how displeasing their choice of a king was in God’s heart.  As a last resort, they call upon Samuel to pray for them. 

Samuel’s reply to their realization is amazing; even in their rebellious ways, they were still God’s people and that for his own name’s sake, even now, God would not reject them if they listened to him.  As a prophet, priest and judge, Samuel promises to pray for them so that God’s mercy would continue to rain down upon them.  But if only they and their king would obey the Lord and follow his instructions (12:18-24).

So it happened, when Saul was to demonstrate his trust in God, he failed.  He took things in his own hands and invited the wrath of God.  In the face of such a rebellion, Samuel declared to Saul that God has chosen a new man after his own heart to be the new king of Israel.  Saul, in one instance of misjudgment, had lost God’s favor; a man, who had begun spectacularly with divine help, was now relegated to the history of God’s abandoned. 

Yet, for years, Saul persisted in clinging to power through all means but unsuccessfully.  1 Samuel 13:22 records one such sad condition of Saul’s struggle to cling on to power even when all else is falling apart.  In this occasion, he was about to engage in a battle against the Philistines.  But the verse says, “So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them” because the Philistines over the years had stripped Israel of blacksmiths.  Even to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles, Israelites had to spend fortune and bow before the Philistine blacksmiths.  Thus, on the day of the battle, Saul had an army of about 600 men but without a single weapon in their hands.  What a sad day.  Things would go from bad to worse for Saul.   

When God’s favor begins to move away from the life of a person who once enjoyed it, nothing seems to work out well.  Wisdom disappears, strength vanishes and common sense goes out of the window.  It becomes like as if the man is stuck in a quicksand, the more he tries to get out of it the deeper he sinks in. 

The amazing thing in this passage is that God has not abandoned his people even though he has abandoned their king.  Jonathan is still around and Samuel is still praying for them.  Saul would eventually go to his own end, but God would use Jonathan to bring up a new king. 

Those of us who desire to see the name of the Lord Jesus honored in our lives, ministries, and nations, should take heart from this passage.  When we are faithful in proclaiming the gospel and honoring the name of the Lord Jesus, God will continue to work out his plan through our endeavors, no matter how small they might be. 

Yes, when we look at how some of the prominent church leaders in the developing nations like Nepal/India are playing with the gospel business and enriching themselves by taking away the donations given for the orphans, widows and gospel workers, it is easy to become discouraged and be fearful (even skeptical) of God’s judgment.  Some of these leaders have become so hardened in their conscience that they don’t even see where they are corrupt because the material wealth they have amassed in the name of missions has given them the sense of power and impunity from God’s judgment. 

To make matters easy for these corrupt church leaders, the western church is declining.  It needs some kind of extra boost from the missions.  Thus, if they can produce to their congregations some reports of spectacular mission work or some social revolution like “ending sex trafficking”, their congregants start attending church and putting money in the coffer.  All the western church leaders got to do is to get in touch with some of these talented gospel businessmen from the developing nations who are good at producing eye catching and heartwarming reports and videos for them.  It does not matter how they do it, all they got to do is to do it and then once or twice a year pay a visit to their donors, and shed a tear or two while presenting their heart breaking mission stories.  The declining western church is fooled like a sitting lame duck while these leaders continue to bring dishonor to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in the mission fields.

But we should not lose heart my dear friends.  If we are faithful to honor the name of the Lord Jesus, then, he will honor his own name among us.  When God honors his name, he will save his people while these leaders who bring disgrace to his name will find themselves relegated to where Saul found himself.  Injustice, corruption, and rebellion in God’s kingdom last only for a short time.  But because we are time-bound creatures, it looks as if God only favors the wicked and corrupted among us.  That’s what Habakkuk thought for a while and asked “how long and why O Lord?” (1:13). Look at how David suffered in the hands of a king that had lost God’s favor.  But in God’s time, everything worked out well. God restored the glory that belonged to his name and saved his people by providing a King that would represent the King of Kings, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

So, let us not lose heart but like Jonathan keep trusting God even though some of our closest friends take the short cuts for material gains and bring reproach to the name of the Lord Jesus.  Let us not be fooled by our church leaders and their material success; and at the same time let us not lose heart in God’s ability to restore the glory that belongs to his name.

There is a story behind: Context matters

Some songs are timeless; they can touch human emotions at any given time even when one has no knowledge of their origin.  Knowledge of their origin is important but not essential for the impact.  But Sam Cooke’s classic (1964), “A Change is gonna come” moves human emotions to pieces but becomes simply a piece of music without the knowledge of black America or the Negro-experience.  This song stands on the shoulders of painful experience of racism in America, civil rights movement and Sam Cooke’s personal experience.  Once we imagine the life of a black person in the America of the 19^th century or prior, the song immediately becomes a personal one for anyone longing for change in the struggles of life.  The context provides the necessary force for Sam Cooke to be able to speak to us even today or any time for that matter.

In the same way, when we read the Bible, much of it is written in a given context.  Yes, God’s word is timeless and has the power to speak to us anytime, anywhere, and to anyone.  But the same word would be more powerful if we had the knowledge of its context and the capacity to imagine the world of its characters.  I am of the opinion that the Middle Eastern and South Asian mind is more suited and capable of identifying with the biblical world.  But the modern western missionary movement coupled with political colonization has crippled the Asian mind to such an extent that it dare not attempt to imagine a world other than the western interpretation.  Such a state of mental colonization is sustained by grinding poverty of the region in which church leaders, theologians and thinkers have to shape their thinking according to the condition of their livelihood.  Impressing the donors becomes much more important than reading the Bible and hearing what it really wants to say. 

The western mind on the other hand, riding the wave of scientific and technological advancement, has removed itself so far from the biblical world that it can’t even have a glimpse of it.  In fact, the western mind, in believing its superiority over the biblical world (rest of the world for that case), has debased itself to such a lowest level of humanity in which there is no place for a person like Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus has become so offensive in the west that his name should not even be mentioned in their prayers while humans can be murdered and body parts bought and sold with impunity.  The west has moved so far from the biblical world that it might be impossible for it to come back while the east still has a shot or two left to get back from where we came.

Thus, for a disciple of Christ, whether in the west or east, it is so important to get hold of our spiritual heritage and read the Bible with feet in both the worlds.  An active and informed imagination will be helpful in entering the biblical world in order to bring its message with emotional relevance for contemporary audience.