You are not forgotten!

Movies and documentaries of the Second World War fascinate me.   The strategies employed and the meticulous planning behind every victory are worth understanding and appreciating.  They are great to read and watch because we know the final outcome.  I read an account of a rescue mission in WWII  history sometime back.  When the US Army was forced to retreat from the Philippines, some of their soldiers became prisoners of the Japanese.  By early 1945, only 513 men were alive at the Cabanatuan prison camp.  In an astonishing feat, 120 US Army soldiers and 200 Filipino guerrillas outflanked 8000 Japanese soldiers to rescue the POWs.  Alvie Robbins was one of the rescuers, and he later described how he found a...

Christmas disillusionment

I love to read Calvin and Hobbes's comic strips written by cartoonist Bill Watterson.  The main characters in this strip are Calvin, a six-year-old boy, and his (toy) tiger, Hobbes.  In one story, Calvin makes a long list of his expected gifts from Santa.  His Mom takes the list and reads it with much apprehension.  She knows that Calvin will be a sad little boy on Christmas day because she cannot buy any of the items on that list!  And that got me thinking, will I be happy or sad on Christmas day.  The level of joy at Christmas is directly related to what we seek at Christmas.  What would make your Christmas wonderful and satisfying?  Think about it.  Is it find...

To whom did Jesus come

Awe and wonder mark the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.  Now, notice to whom the angels first go and share the good news.  I might have expected the angels to have gone to the Temple to tell the religious leaders what God was doing.  They should have gone to the governor and let him know that something extraordinary was happening in Bethlehem.  They should have gone to Herod.  After all, he was the king of Judea at that time.  They should have told Herod that God was doing a great thing in Bethlehem and that the King of kings had been born.  But the angels, instead of telling the elite and influential, announced Messiah's birth to a bunch of shepherds.  Of all the p...

Run to Win

As we near the end of the year, we are reminded of the many who have been called to glory!  Some have been plucked away in the prime of life and some have finished their innings.  Those of us who are still running, have to be careful to run our race carefully till the end.  Paul uses the illustration of a runner in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 to describe a Christian. When we think of sports, we know that some will get disqualified. Some may fail to reach the goal. All run, but only one receives the prize. Even great players have a bad day! Not everyone can participate. It is all for a select few.  But in Christian faith, the call to run is for every believer!  All of us can finish well and receive eternal life. If it is just for a select few, I will not be...

God of Hope!

Hope is a tricky word.  Oxford Dictionary defines it as, 'a belief that something you want will happen.'  But we use it as an uncertainty only.  If we say, 'I hope you are coming tomorrow,' it means the person's coming is doubtful!  Dr Curt Richter, a scientist, took a dozen rats and placed them into buckets half-filled with water to test how long they could swim before giving up.  Unsurprisingly, the rats gave up and sank after just 15 minutes.  In the second experiment, they did the same as above, but right before the rats gave up, they plucked them out, dried them off, let them rest for a few minutes, and put them back in for a second round.  Now, the rats swam much longer than t...

God’s Guidance!

Parks in our neighborhood (Anna Nagar, Chennai) are not very big, so my husband does not like walking in those parks.  We usually walk along the sidewalks in Anna Nagar.  The sidewalks on significant roads have maintenance holes covered with covers at regular intervals.  My husband always says that we should not walk on those covers.  So whenever I see a cover, I hear my husband in my head saying, 'Walk around it.'  It is challenging not to listen to his voice, so I invariably walk around it!  In every believer's heart, we can hear the prompting of the Holy Spirit pointing us in the right direction, but obeying or ignoring it rests with us.  When we get angry with someone and utter...

Worthy of God’s Blessings!

There is an incident recorded in Luke 10:1-12 where Jesus sent His followers out two by two.  Jesus gave clear instructions, asking them not to carry money, a bag, a knapsack, or sandals.  Whenever they entered a house, Jesus instructed them to say, "Peace to this house." Jesus said if a son of peace were in the place, then peace would rest on him, and if not, it would return to the disciples!  There is a profound principle here!  Just because someone pronounced a blessing of peace, peace will not be in that person's life; he has to deserve it!  When people pray for us, they pronounce many blessings upon our lives.  We sometimes stand in long queues to get prayed over with blessings so that o...

A Prayer of David

Psalm 142 is titled 'A Contemplation of David,  A Prayer when he was in the cave.'  David calls this prayer a 'maskil' or a Psalm of instruction because of the lessons he had learned while in the cave that he desired to teach others.  The cave was probably Adullam cave, mentioned in 1 Samuel 22:1, and Psalms 34 and 57 are also associated with this period of David's life.  David prayed when he was in the cave and every time he faced oppression.   Charles Spurgeon says if David had prayed half as much when he was in the palace as he did when he was in caves and in distress, it would have been better for him.  While in the palace, David arose from his bed, looked down from the roof, and fel...

Thou art the man!

My father, Rev. Ayyadorai Asirvatham, used to preach from the time I remember him.  But he was ordained as a Presbyter in the CSI Diocese under Bishop Lesslie Newbigin only much later. He served the CSI Diocese as an honorary Presbyter in Redeemers Church and San Thome Tamil Church. My father usually gave catchy captions for his sermons. He captioned his sermon on Naaman as, ‘But, he was a leper.’  Speaking from a text in the book of Jeremiah, he captioned his sermon as, ‘Is there no balm in Gilead?’ He captioned his sermon on David as, ‘Thou art the man!’ Even though I do not remember the points he made or the challenges he gave, the titles have stuck with me!  

I am amaz...

Lessons from the life of King Saul

Google Maps is a much sought-after app that has become the go-to app while traveling.  It offers directions; the best part is you do not have to take your eyes off the road to see the map.  It speaks out and says much ahead of time whether you have to turn left or right.  If you obey that voice, you will reach your destination!  It is so wonderful to have such a traveling companion!  I was reminded of the verse in Isaiah 30:21 while thinking of the Google App.  The Lord speaks and directs those willing to listen: "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left."  Saul h...