Loving Rascal

Many people join the Christian faith to know God. But then, after they see the devil within it, they leave this path. The Bible portrays a loving God who doesn't discriminate. But many Christians display a deceptive and cruel God. The New believer wonders how these two visions of Jesus can coexist. God may hear our prayers, but Christians can't hear our cries. They create circumstances to make people lose their faith in God's faithfulness. However, those who endure till the end, ignoring the hypocrisy of the wicked, would taste life in the coming age. Jesus Christ must be laughing at many Christian leaders from the heavenly realms when they create worldly scales to evaluate people's spiritual worth in Christ. Their scales are so off from the benchmark set by the one who left everything behind and died on the cross. When they demean godly people and honor material successes, how low do they bring the standards of Christ following? Even Hindus don't evaluate spiritual...

The fig tree figuratively represented the Jewish Temple. Jesus cursed it because not only did it give a deceptive appearance of bearing good fruit –green leaves– it also lacked any actual fruit. In his onward journey, the one who would end their exile and bring God's presence back into their Temple received an initial sign of what was to come. Jesus cursed the fig tree. At the temple site, he reacted violently. The religious Jews had turned the place of prayer into a marketplace. Jesus drove out the buyers and sellers, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers. The zeal of the Lord drove him crazy. He cleansed the Temple that was under God's curse ever since his presence had left it. The religious Jews, who represented the Temple, also gave a deceptive appearance of good fruit of holiness and love. However, in reality, they lacked any fruit. They had turned the Temple into a bazaar. They failed to love God by breaking his command to keep the courtyard free for Gentiles to ...

People are confused about whether Donald Trump believes in Jesus or not. He said that he thinks he would go to heaven because he is arbitrating peace between Russia and Ukraine. There are two points here: 1. Going to Heaven. 2. The Means for it. The second part seems problematic to many Christ-followers if they don't read between the lines. Trump is talking about peacemakers being God's children. That is, God's children manifesting their faithfulness to him by arbitrating peace between hostile people, communities, or nations.  It is like James arguing that Abraham's faith in God did not manifest in his talk, but in his actions. "Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together. His faith was made complete by what he did (James 2:21-22 NIV)." Abraham gave his son to God willingly. Faith and actions work together to make faithfulness complete. ...

The more I witness Modiji's self-restraint and humility in the face of adverse challenges, the more I'm impressed by his leadership traits. When the USA imposed a massive and unmerited tariff on Modiji despite his full support for Trump's America, Modiji's restraint spoke volumes about his great personality. The Chinese lost their cool in a similar Tariff-War condition. However, Modiji is celebrating with his poor farmers in Bharat even when his opponents criticise his ability to negotiate a win-win deal with America. He stands for and with the poorest of the poor. Modiji did not resort to name-calling or abusive language against the excellent economy or the great leaders of America. Greatness is not in calling oneself great, admiring oneself narcissistically, and treating those who are below oneself miserably. Greatness lies in treating people with respect despite their lowly condition or rude behaviour. India has trumped America today in the matter of treating others ...

There was a hardworking man, but he struggled to earn a fair income. Despite his meagre earnings, he lived a contented life. Unfortunately, many wealthy individuals from his town and family ridiculed him daily. They thought that he had no money and therefore, no worth. They equated his lack of wealth to a lack of worth, and demeaned him. However, the industrious man kept digging in his heels and persevered despite his many failures. Whenever he could, he helped the poor and the weak, finding solace in the act. He realised that wealth or achivements do not determine his worth. He learned to derive his worth from his loving relationships with God and others. While the mockers kept taunting, the man learned to ignore their malevolent behavior. Instead of retaliating, he fought his greed, lust, pride, hatred, and inner enemies. It was a tough and lengthy battle, but he pressed on, realising that real worth comes from overcoming these inner devils. Many days later, ...