JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION
Suppose you are asked to rate your journey with God so far, how many stars would you give it? You might give it a 5-star rating if you are enjoying a stable income, frequent travels, dining at upscale restaurants, and pursuing any hobby and interest you want without any constraints.
CONNECT. DISCONNECT.
Smart phone applications have become so crucial that we feel handicapped when they are not within reach. These applications enable us to book personal transport before we step out of the house, navigate our drive as we get into the car, have simultaneous conversations with different people, and juggle a million things on the fly without actually speaking or interacting with any person.
LIVING STONES, NOT ROLLING STONES
SINCE HISTORIC TIMES, stones have been used for palaces, homes, places of worship and defensive walls against enemy attacks. As stone engineering advances, stones became the hallmark of architectural prowess from the Roman Empire (civilization before Christ) to the Renaissance (start of the modern world).
HEART & POSTURE OF WORSHIP
Modern technology makes it possible to produce high quality worship in churches. Skilled music arrangement and worship hermeneutic are tools that help worship leaders better engage congregants and elicit their response. Good publicity can increase participation in collective worship. But no matter how deeply satisfying and pleasing to our senses these experiences are, true worship goes beyond the worship atmosphere, music and rituals.
SO WHAT’S NEXT?
What are the chances that when you catch up with someone, you will hear about a recent life event in the family like a wedding, a birth, a death or a graduation? Surely, milestone events like these elevate collective sentiments but they do not determine the meaning and purpose of our lives.
RESURRECT YOUR SPIRITUAL SENSES
Over Good Friday and the Easter holidays, Christians commemorated the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ that are the central tenets of our faith. Believers also took holy communion to observe what Jesus instructed at His final supper with the twelve disciples when He said, ‘Do this in remembrance of Me.’ (Luke 22:19). For believers, remembering the events that led up to Christ’s resurrection ought to also resurrect our spiritual senses of who Jesus is - our Lord, Saviour and King.
GET OUT OF GOD’S WAY
Whether we admit it or not, we all have our opinion about many things. There is no shortage of opinions (or POV) on social media platforms like YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook, where people are talking endlessly about this or that, presenting their narratives on different issues, and floating their persuasions and counter-arguments in various echo chambers. On social media, anyone can become an opinion leader with the power to disseminate information quickly, shape opinions, spark conversations, as well as perpetuate false narratives and fake news.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Domestic violence, alcoholism, grief, pain, abandonment, suicidal thoughts, betrayal, fallout with friends and church people, conflicts, manipulation, trauma, sleepless nights, despair, depression, giving up on being strong, feeling disenchanted, unloved and uncared for… by God
HOLY GOD FOR HOLEY MAN
How do we know if someone among us is an important person? Most of us quickly pick up cues from the other people around – their decorum, dressing, demeanor and the way they respond to the most elevated person in the room who carries substantial influence over the rest.
HOW SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Christians attending churches that are endowed with well-designed facilities and cutting-edge technology can be forgiven for thinking they are on entertainment-laden cruise ships rather than ammunition-loaded warships. Indeed, some churches today appear to operate like entertainment venues with a constant stream of on-site programmes and an obsession with filling up capacity.
WARRIOR OR WORRIER
What keeps you up at night? Some of us may lie awake worrying about our job security, finances, or relationship problems and playing out all sorts of scenarios in our minds. During times of stress, we can also experience a reduction in the quality of our sleep from excessive screen usage and caffeine intake that interfere with rest and exacerbate our state of worry.
FOCUS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS
If you had been miraculously saved from a near fatal accident or a deadly disease, would your life not be significantly redefined from that point when God snatched you from the door of death? How is it then that our salvation often turns into a non-event in our lives?
THREE REJECTIONS, ONE PERSISTENT FAITH
This week’s BeInReach session delved into a very uneasy conversation between Jesus and a visibly distressed Canaanite woman, recorded in Matthew 15:21-28. It was at a time after John the Baptist was beheaded and Jesus had tried repeatedly to retreat into solitude. When He finally found a sweet spot to rest in an area around Tyre and Sidon, He was approached by a Gentile woman who was determined to engage Him – no matter what!
Realization, Revelation & Resolution
In his vision of encountering God, Isaiah became acutely aware of himself and his sinfulness. His response was startling: ‘Woe to me! I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’ (Isaiah 6:5).
MY WORTH & MY UNWORTHINESS
MAJOR LIFE TRANSITIONS often plunge us into uncharted waters and unfamiliar territories, leaving us with questions about our self-worth and feeling unprepared to tackle all that lies ahead. Whether it is an unplanned retirement, being single again, a career change, or simply growing older, we naturally think of what was, what has been and what will likely be the realities for us in the future.
FIRST CENTURY TRANSFORMERS
The Book of Acts recorded the first generation of Christians after Jesus was crucified by men and resurrected by God. They did not immediately get busy developing Bible-study or discipleship programmes, nor plan for church expansion.
START WELL & FINISH WELL
Whether it's a groundbreaking innovation, the start of a new relationship, or a new life stage, beginnings can be highly alluring. They often start with a bang before turning mundane after the initial hype.
PRAY AND WAIT
In the early days, believers were taught to have open conversations with each other and to support each other in prayer for powerful and effective living (James 5:16). Sadly today, we forget that conversations involve talking and listening: not just typing on our devices and reading text off them.
