Friday, August 29, 2008

O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
I am about to set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundation with sapphires.
I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the prosperity of your children.
In righteousness you shall be established; and you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
If anyone stirs up strive, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strive with you shall fall because of you.
See it is I who have created the smith who blows the fire of coal, and produces a weapon fit for its purpose, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgement.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, says the Lord.
(Isaiah 54: 11-17 )

I would like to introduce myself. I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ about 27 years ago when I came to experience his holiness. It is needless to say that though I have tried very hard all my righteousness has been like dirty rags before his holiness. By the Grace of God, I have continued to be a professing believer for the last 27 years. Today, I am at a place in the journey of life where I feel that there is a need for a reformation in the church that I have been born and brought up in.

I was born into the Mar Thoma Church as my parents were Mar Thomites. Let me explain my understanding of the church. In the Bible we come across an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ by the name of Paul. St. Paul was one of the greatest missionaries the church has known . However, we find in the scriptures that the Apostle Paul wrote 13 letters and almost all these letters were addressed to the churches that he had established. The central core of Paul's theology in these letters is the church. To Paul, the church in her purity is the real presence of Jesus Christ on earth. It was through the church that God continues his work of evagelism on earth. It is in and through the body of Christ made up of believers in Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit makes Jesus known to the lost world. Through the ages, God has used the Church for the propogation of the gospel. When the Church has failed in her duties, God would raise someone for the purification of the church.