Divisions in the Christian Church

I have many friends (and one family member) who take pride telling me how they have started a new Church for the "newly born" and converted Christians. They have painstakingly established new churches, written the liturgy in the local languages, inducted many more "non-Christians" into Christianity.

BRAVO. I appreciate the huge efforts to get something like this happening. There is a huge spiritual awakening that these "modern day missionaries" have brought onto our societies.

On the other hand, consider the huge division they have made in the church which Christ built. Let me start by stating that during the early history of the Christianity, there were no Catholics or Protestants. The early followers followed the simple rules laid down by the Apostles. It was only when the church grew in size and politics started to grow within, that the divisions became inevitable. Knowingly or unknowingly, many of the early church-leaders started to think selfish and instead of doing what was good for the church, actually harmed it by dividing it for their own benefit.

Many of you would argue, what is wrong with building a church for the many Hindus (read "non-Christians"), who could otherwise not join any regular church. I agree with this logic.

But the solution is never to build a new division or sect in the church. No one tried to rectify the root cause. Everyone just tried to take the easier way out and make a new group (independent of the other). No objection or harm done to the existing churches.

I clearly disapprove this logic because I am sure that Jesus never wanted this to happen.

Christianity (and for that matter any other religions) teach equality and unity. There must never be a division because that is something which GOD never wanted. If you are a missionary (whether with sense of noble cause or a selfish cause) and has made another split in the church, then you have sinned "big-time" in the sight of GOD.

One simple thing to ask here is whether in the long run, differences between these sects would grow or would they fade away. I think that the differences would only grow. In the end, it would be Jesus who has failed in preserving the right philosophy of Christianity. And the blame comes upon modern day missionaries like some of my friends and one of my family member.

If you are unable to unite the people, at least refrain from dividing them. What these friends of mine actually consider HOLY work and a Christian's Mission; is rather a sin for which they could be punished.

I do not have a road-map or plan to unite all denominations of Christianity, but at least, I am not trying to make a new denomination just to prove my point of view.

I am sorry; I am born with a special skill of understanding the other side of every coin. While many of you consider somethings good and close your eyes to the other evil side of those, I usually start by looking at the dark side first.

Love, NVG

Christians BEWARE!!!!

It is clearly written in several places in the New Testament of the Bible that in the "End of Days", there would be several "imposters" or "fakes" who would appear in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They would perform miracles and proclaim their version of the gospels.

Jesus and (particularly) St. Paul have warned all believers to be careful and do not fall in their trap. These so called "prophets" would be using the name of Jesus and the Church which HE established to lure away the believers into mistaken beliefs and false Christianity.

Let us try to put question marks on the emergence of the following sects of Christianity and they way they have grown with their "mistaken" belief of being the real "Masihi"

1) The Pentecostal Community

2) Pota Fathers & their "miracles"

3) 7th Day Adventists

4) Influential Preachers like Dr. D.G.S Dinakaran of Jesus Calls, Chennai

5) All other smaller modern churches.

Even though, most of the above "Preachers" may be perceived as harmless and rather helpful for the growth of spiritual Christianity, I would still put them in the same brackets of FAKE.

If the Bible is to be believed, then it has to be believed in the literal sense. There must not be any special interpretation, other than what is literally written there. I would discuss on this matter in my next blog.

For now, I am taking the "clear-cut" warning seriously and openly disapproving the existence of the many pastors and preachers who have molded the Bible to facilitate the division of the Church of Jesus. Most of these "new age" preachers have unknowingly done grave sin in the name of preaching the true version of Christianity.

BEWARE because the end is near!!

Love, NVG

HOPE

HOPE is a very powerful thing. This is one of the 4 basic instincts of all organisms. To clarify, what the 4 basic instincts are:
a) Nutrition: to keep one alive.
b) Reproduction: to keep one's species alive.
c) Territory: to keep/protect one's area/territory.
d) Hope: the feeling that things would be better in the future.

Consider a "brain-less" snail, which keeps on dragging itself in a direction, depending on its premitive senses in the hope of finding some food or even a mate.

Every organizm has some form of hope, whether they know it or not. HOPE is the essense of life. And since humans are on the top of the evolutionary tree, HOPE has the highest value for us, humans.

We shall overcome.. we shall overcome.. we shall overcome.. someday!
So deep in my heart, I do believe.. that we shall overcome.. someday!!

Such wonderful inspiring words from a great poet. It shows how important a good feeling is, for our existense. The world is hoping for a peaceful future where everyone has enough to eat and enough oppurtinities to develop. Quite a good hope that we all carry.

Religion is the bandwagon, which carries all our hopes. Humans, found out that things would never be better, when left in the hands of other fellow humans. The only hope is to have a super-natural being who can carry this load and give us the true sense of HOPE.

Thus, it became that "GOD is HOPE". GOD is primarily a great help in the survival of the humans (through the continuity of the eternal HOPE).

It is a wonderful feeling and from my perspective, believers are really happy people. It has been proved in some statistical research, that people who believe in GOD and pray daily, actually live happier lives (compared to the atheists). This is truelly wonderful and there are serious reasons behind that. The greatest reason is HOPE.

By placing all hopes of a better future and blessings, we humans can continue with our daily lives in a more "worry-free" manner. GOD is there to share the problems and responsibilities. The UNSEEN HELP, the OMNIPRESENT PROTECTOR, etc; all these are very HOPE-inspiring traits of any religion.

Be it any religion, the idea and basic essence of all of them is HOPE. The hope that things would be better than today.

Prayers are the means of communication with the GOD, which shows how much we hope for things to be better and how much we trust in our "Eternal Hope".

LIVE A LIFE FILLED WITH HOPE...

Love, NVG