Christmastime: Waiting for/on Our On-Time God

It’s Christmastime, at last! I find waiting really difficult. We belong to a restless rat-race where waiting is synonymous to wasting time! Solitude is scary and stillness adds stress. Waiting when related to unemployment, ill-health or broken relationships can cause anxiety. Do you feel like you have been put “on hold”? I find it striking how most of the characters of Christmas were waiting people: Anna and Simeon, Elizabeth and Zachariah, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds… all representative of a faithful remnant full of expectant hope within a despairing nation. Along with these we are called to wait for and on the Lord

God’s “Home” town, Bethlehem: believe it or not!

No matter where we happen to be, the mention of our native place or “hometown” can recreate fond memories and associations. “Bethlehem” focuses our thoughts on a precise time in history and transports us to a particular place in Palestine where Christmas happened (Lk.2:4). Importantly, it tells the story of a peculiar way in which God revealed himself and his loving purposes to us

‘X’mas & Simeon’s InSight, ForeSight, Vision 4Mission

Day by day he was getting older, weaker and his eyesight… dimmer! Simeon was ‘a man’; a poor, aging commoner with his share of daily difficulties in getting up each morning. Yet his devotion to God’s and his word was swelling and determination steadfast! The Spirit had assured Simeon that he will not see death until he sees Life: Israel’s Messiah, the world’s Hope for salvation! Each day he watched scores of babies brought into the temple to be dedicated and wondered, “Could this be the Messiah?” then he’d cope with another disappointing day! One Fine Day

Simeon’s Christmas: Hope Amidst [Physical] Fears

Growing older, I’m learning that practical faith and Christian living doesn’t mean I won’t have serious doubts. God gives faith as a gift to yielded believers who like Simeon, yearn to see his glory! I’ve watched some youth act “old and grumpy” yet many a Simeon/Anna “growing old gracefully”. Humans age and develop anxiety over the condition of their bodies, yet they’ve learnt the art of being not just happy, but full of hope amidst fears! Let me comment on some fears old folk have, then on the Hope Simeon had that 1st Christmas

SAIACS: Education = Loving God With All My Mind

Education, ethos, excellence… are words that for me have become synonymous with my SAIACS experience! We graduates develop wings but how can we forget our roots or navigate life’s storms without the compass of evangelical truth we received at SAIACS?! In the mid 80s I met Dr. Houghton at Koramangala in a garage, where he convinced me, what India needed is not a million mediocre men, but a few excellent leaders with integrity. I didn’t join then, but took an application from Tej Paul the bursar, convicted that Christian education entailed loving God with all my heart, soul, strength… mind!