Go Gospel Ministry International
Give Youth The Truth
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
COZYING UP TO KUKI PSYCHE
COZING UP TO KUKI PSYCHE
By Lunminthang Haokip
You receive a telephone ring. The caller at the other end wants to talk to a member of your family. You grow curious and desire to know who’s on the line. The caller ignores the query and insists that the person he likes to communicate with be brought at hearing distance.
gets irritated and raises his tone, “Don’t you recognize me by my voice?”, and bangs the receiver You begin to lose your cool and repeat in a firm voice you need to know who he is in a straight answer. By now, the mysterious caller.
Tongue Pride-Tied: If you ever get hurt by such a curt verbal delivery while being engaged in a mental tug-of-war on wires of Graham Bell’s discovery with such a standoffishly stubborn man of woman-born, take it from me that he’s a blue-blooded kuki. Like 007 James Bond, the world telecommunicates by introducing themselves first.
However, a Kuki in his elements is ill-at-ease to hold in check compelling impulses at will. He would rather risk the enmity of a powerful man than tell him his name first, or do so on demand in a tele-conversation.
Kinky Kuki: Not for nothing a Kuki is said to be conservative. He won’t do anything (in organizational social services) if not properly entrusted and can’t feel at home in every situation. Unless specifically instructed, doing things elsewhere is like cooking in someone else’s kitchen and when invited for a dinner, a Kuki worth his culinary taste, will not accept before the invitation is repeated at least thrice.
Rev. Chungthang Thiek, in a trip to South Korea, was offered some dress-oufits by his Christian host. The popular preacher with an entertaining skill that enthralled his Kuki audiences’ church after church, in actuality, appreciated the presents. But habitual modesty made him say, “No need, its okay, no need brother…….” when he actually needed. This created confusion in the Korean host. Thinking something and saying something else is a familiar game of an art the Kuki needs no one to teach him.
“It’s an occupational hazard to endure the mental make-up of my fellow-Kuki”, W.L Hangshing, an articulate officer of the IAS-cadre of 1985 batch and a keen observer of human nature lamented during his tenure as Director/TD, GOM in Imphal. He further elaborated, “A shabby guy met me in my office, sat cross-legged on the sofa and enquired in my own dialect, “Sir, what’s the status of mine?”. Mildly amused by the vague audacity the stranger exhibited, I shot back, “Who are you and what d’you mean by mine?”
The man with the villain-ish get-up vitiated the official set-up when he owlishly retorted, “Arrey Sir, how come you don’t know me when I know you and your family so well?. And when I cornered him to explain the subject-matter in clearer terms, all that the obnoxious favour-seeker could mutter was, “I mean my petition……yes, that of mine!” As an exception, for once, the perception based on sure-fire hunches of the former DU-champ in rifle-shooting backfired.
The vulnerable Rebel: That’s a character typical of of an average Kuki. He’s got the grit to aggressively hold his undaunted own under pressure, but will melt down like ice in summer and shrink to depths of excessive humility when given a fairly respectable treatment. Even then, when rubbed on the wrong side, “Kukis are more reserved and arrogant than the Britishers themselves”, observed a prominent bureaucrat who has an axe to grind with the sting of the proverbial Kuki-pride.
Of course, there’s an element of truth in it. It was this pride of tribe that convincingly check-mated the onslaught of the mighty British empire in this part of the country in the second decade of the last century. Their weapons were primitive. Yet they weren’t deterred. For once, the sun did set on the British Empire, albeit for a brief period. Subtle as they were, the British rulers bestowed due honour upon the Kuki valour.
The brave rebels were jailed in far-off islands, but not hanged. Nevertheless, a long-term policy was formulated to ensure that the Kukis were undermined in administration, lagged behind in developmental progress and paid a heavy price for generations for having dared to defiantly pooh-pooh the orders and proclamations of the sun-set-proof empire.
Heads Held High: Self-respect means everything to the spiritually uncircumcised Kuki. Come what may, he won’t take shit from anybody. This very spirit violently opposed the British-India’s decree to recruit Kukis as porters to be sent to France against their collective will. The mayhem that followed was known in history as the Kuki Rebellion”. Life-time suffering, strangely, was considered more tolerable than cringing and cowering under the yoke of oppressive subjugation.
A hero in the sixties, a Shillong-based Retd. Major Jangkholun Haokip, is an ideal example of the Rambo-ish bent of mind that symbolizes the Kuki-psyche. Being short-built, as most of the hill-bred tribesmen are; bullying colleagues made several bulldozing bids to make a minor of the mistakenly measured Major.
But true to type, the former street-boxing champ, at every provocation by insulting remarks from under-estimating comrades, sprang to the occasion to rain an avalanche of fists-of-fury on the ill-fated challengers’ chin. There were no second rounds in such square deals. It was simply the survival of the toughest. And in the rough arena of his action-packed military career, the Major-saab earned the sobriquet of “Chatak-patak aadmi”.
Divided They Disintegrate: The centuries-old pastoral existence in the narrow confines of the far-flung hill-tracts casts indelible reflections on the outlook of unlettered commoners in a Kuki village. There too, familiarity breeds contempt .When disagreements crop up in misc. village matters, sub-division gains momentum on clannish lines.
More often than not, open revolt by an aggrieved group against the chiefship ends up in separation to found a new hamlet village consisting of a wronged sub-clan. And so it goes on. A particular Kuki- hamlet village has only two houses. The chief announces that a meeting of the village council would be held. The lone subject vetoes that the council does not approve the summon and no meeting was held.
Clan-centric Society: The village set-up, the traditions held on to, and the moorings that influence village life all prove the fact that clan, and not land, is pre-eminent in the Kuki- psyche. Land, no doubt, is under the Chief’s control. The subjects enjoy small holdings at the Chief’s mercy. When emotions flare up and a break-up is certain, land-holding has no hold over one who’s hell-bent to prove his mettle by establishing a new settlement. This accounts for the absence of big villages in the interiors and the relative scarcity of full-grown horticultural plants around.
Gospel Belittled: A cleverly covered battle for supremacy is silently waged on clannish lines. Cold-war goes on in the shade of seemingly hot-pursuit for fraternal unity. But when it comes to mixing with other communities, the rigid Kuki would rather bank on a ‘devil’ he knows well enough than on one he doesn’t. In religious affairs, for example, it’s almost considered a taboo to have folks from other communities as members of one’s own church or vice versa.
When a converted tribesman, guided by the Word of God, joins a church outside the control of one’s tribe, a notional ‘fatwa’ is served upon the ‘outcast’ with no regrets. A native Kuki never enjoys a meeting conducted in a language that’s not his. In the same vein, inter-tribe marriages are frowned upon.
Trigger-Happy Kuki: A Kuki, for all his weaknesses, is a Jack of all trades and master of a few. You don’t have to teach the Marwari the art of business, the Mizo the art of singing and the Kuki the art of gun-making and firing. When he catches sight of a plane flying high in the sky, triggered by spontaneous natural tendency, he mock-aims the flying plane, as if a gun is held in hand, and says, “Ohhh! its so beautiful, I wish I have a gun to shoot it down”.
All- Rounder: The upwardly mobile Kuki country- youth, attends college, helps in the field, chairs the parish Youth Fellowship, is indispensable in the village church-choir, enjoys the confidence of the circle MLA, pursues odd schemes in the ‘scheming’ BDO’s office and still finds time to captain the village football team. And all these hectic activities aren’t even allowed to disturb his prime-time spared exclusively to romance with his lady-love.
When it comes to sports, the Kuki athletes, instead of venturing out for better exposure in tandem with the DSAs and state-level functionaries prefer to bicker and rub shoulders with their own kinsmen in a poorly self-financed strictly localized yearly games meets. That’s the singular event bored rural boys and girls look forward to as a pleasant break from back-breaking agricultural engagements.
Heart-beats are missed in the run-up to the top-notch tourney when enthused youngsters anticipate the bosom-pals they would meet, the new dresses they would display and the events they’d liked to participate in. They spiritedly slog to earn wages in the muddy fields and save enough to paint the annual sports-meet red.
Cash Flows: Financing such a meet is no problem. The circle MLA will willingly and calculatingly take care of the expenses provided his political adversaries are not included in the organisers’ list and further provided that he alone is honoured as the Chief Guest.
And if the event takes place just before the General Assembly elections, the organizers smile from ear to ear over the glut of keen sponsors. The more presentable girls of the local area are usually paraded to raise funds at the flash of a smile. There’s no need to take such a trouble, now that each candidate volunteers to outdo the other in donations, not for love of sports, but of votes.
Joy To The Shops: Come December. You can’t miss seeing groups of men, women and children wearing disappointed looks , carrying discoloured shoulder-bags who refuse to disband their walking-style in single-files on the broad streets of downtown Imphal’s market-places where thousands converge to shop till the become broket in the cheapest stalls.
If the awe-struck bumpkins can’t give up the age-old habit of single-file walking, they can’t be blamed. That’s the way they trudge everyday barefoot on the narrow footpaths of hilly terrain in a feverish search for a means of earning the next square meal.
Sorrow Back-home: In the city board-rooms and conferences, we discuss ecological-balance and imbalance in theory. But a poverty-stricken mother struggling to feed eight hungry mouths depends entirely upon jhum- cultivation for survival. Top-soil erosion doesn’t top her daily priorities.
Widowed by the bloodshed of recent ethnic clashes, the sickly and fragile mother, with her ill-fed and ill-clad unschooled children in tow, clear jungle-patches, burn up the dry foliage and then, grow vegetables, cumin, fruit-bearing plants etc. Staring at the badly shaven foothills of Koubru-hills, the former CM of Manipur, Mr. Rishang Keishing once said, “The Koubru hill resembles the traditional Tangkhul hair-cut”.
Mother Kuki: As it did upon Mother India in celluloid, the lot of keeping the home-fires burning in most jobless households falls upon the poor mother. Braving rain and leeches, the compassion-personified housewife, emotionally overflowing with the milk of human kindness, brings home some ripe bananas among other fruits, thanks to God’s concern for men’s requirements. Her youngest child innocently tears off from the whole a piece of the irresistible produce of the earth and begins to nibble.
With great sorrow in the heart, the mother slaps the minor child hard on the cheek. The wretched family can’t afford to waste a single piece of the edible. Mom had already given word to the shop-keeper in the market that she would bring so much bananas earlier before being given some kgs of rice on credit. With money-in-circulation on the wane in the rural economy, buyers of locally produced stuff play hard to get. Items like firewood, charcoal etc. no more fetch enough money to sustain landless families. To quote Mulk Raj Anand, “Their days are dark”, and because Kerosene oil is scarce and it’s price exorbitant, “their nights are pitch-dark”.
Societal Gaps: Today, the Kuki stake-holders like politicians, church-leaders and bureaucrats, though are capable performers individually, lack the cohesive approach to identify and fulfill their own people’s aspirations and expectations. As they cannot form a formidable forum for themselves to collectively address and remove societal ills, the gap between the haves and the have-nots widen. There’s a gulf of disparity between the comfortably Delhi-settled scions of first-generation Kuki-mandarins and their ethnic-class-impoverished rickshaw-pulling back-home kindred. This is no sign of a healthy economy.
The NRK (Non-resident Kuki)’s achievements in acquiring name, fame and dame in the national capital is quite commendable. Yet humanity demands that society’s top heads be put together in a brain-storming session and its best nerves be strained till the sun goes cold to find out the cause of the ceaseless suffering that pincer-holds the under-privileged Kuki, and finally suggest remedial measures.
Decades ago, the underdog in the then hassle-free tribal society had reasons to be proud of his heritage. It’s a different scenario now. The plight of the Kukis, by and large, is reminiscent of the judgement of God against the Edomites, “Behold, I will make you small among the nations: you shall be greatly despised (Obadiah 1:2)”.
Edomites were the descendants of Esau, the elder son of Issac (Genesis 25:30). Obadiah the prophet revealed the mind of God that it was their pride that aroused the Almighty’s anger to fall upon them. “The pride of your heart has deceived you; you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitations is high; you who say I your heart, who will bring me to the ground?(Obadiah 1:3)”.
My Roots: Yeah, born a Kuki myself (before my spiritual birth against a Christian), I’m taking off the cushioning glove of writing in third-person that denies me a direct touch; and am pushing my pen through in first-person to effectively ink a burdensome spirit that is my own in a language that’s not my own.
Hollow Pride: Our forefathers gloried in their courage, conquests and unrestrained freedom. Hauntingly lyrical paeans of praise were sung and mentally preserved even to date. Their dominion stretched from one range to another “in the clefts of the rock”. In heathen pride, over jars of rice-beer, they repeatedly sang, “Who will bring me down to the ground from our secure abodes between Taret (a river in Manipur) and Jaangdung (a river in Burma)”.
Alas, today, does it make sense to sing the same song with our heads held high when we don’t even have a district we can exclusively call our own? And when our married sisters, in torn clothes, carrying pots of cooked- meat on their heads, and sick children on their backs, hard-sell the stuff from door to door for want of any alternative source of income, does it augur well to burn up lakhs of rupees on a night’s celebration of a spiritually irrelevant and culturally modified jamboree called modern kut-fest?
I fully agree that Kut-fest is not the only societal misadventure we are morally degraded by. I also believe that a host of unbroken curses that we inherited as a legacy from our common ancestry worked together to make us small among the nations and be greatly despised. If not washed clean by the blood of Jesus through repentance and conscience-cleansing, curses can go down and down one’s lineage. “For I, the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of those who hate me (Genesis 20:5).
But, looking back at recent history, the graph of our misery and distress soared higher and higher in direct proportion to our heart-and-soul devotion to this Frankenstine of a carnal carnival called kut. Now, even the founders cannot undo what has been done so lavishly. A vast potential of youthful energy that could, if properly channelised, have improved our lot and prestige-percentage, had been wasted in feeding the worthless part of our souls.
“For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life – is not of the Father but of the world (1 John2:16)”.
Yes, it’s the pride of life that made us small. Pride in self made king Nebuchadnezzar eats humble pie (Daniel Ch. 4). It was the blasphemous wining that destroyed his son, Belshazzar, and took his kingdom away (Daniel Ch.5). Kut is doubly guilty of both the sins cited above. In God’s sight, our most awaited autumnal venture is nothing more than a pompous show of pride takes us nearer and nearer to doomsday.
The Creator, in His mercy and longsuffering, yet offers a way- out from doom., “ If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (II Chronicles 7:14).”
Repentance is the key to re-acceptance. National sins should be repented for nationally, and individual sins individually. I, for one, feel miserably sad that I myself was once a part of this fest. To quote a late former MP, “I do not blame the system I belonged to; but I blame myself who belonged to the system”. And to set the record straight, I hereby show my repentance in public by rendering the following verses on my reviewed feelings about the taxing annual fun-fare my people will do much better without:
The author is Additional Deputy Commissioner under the government of Manipur, a Northeast state in India.
NONE POOR IN SINGAPORE
By: Lunminthang Haokip
Tune : Abe-a Vocalist : Mami
1. Old song calls to Singapore ek bar,
New song tells all to go there bar bar;
Everyday people from near and far,
Ferry to island of cable cars
Goods and cash to make the nation spill,
And on the ashes of the sixties build.
Singapore, O Lee Kuan’s Singapore,
To thy shores blessings come more and more;
Sing praise for the neat city you have,
For such grace others can only crave;
No fear, no thief, no cheat and no bore,
For there is no poor in Singapore.
2. Leaders there for the good of all live,
Rulers care to net fruits to all give;
Workers do their job as of their own,
Traders woo to shop with their best shown;
Why the fair folks out there don’t defraud?
Coz key-folks go by the Truth of God.
3. Finesse make way for Asians to peak,
As Chinese, Malays and Indians, all tick;
Coz Christians love souls and look East,
It pays and make the city harvest;
For the C-begins now the world thirsts,
The youth there dot on Big C that’s Christ.
GOSPEL GOES GLOBAL
By: Lunminthang Haokip
Tune: Chris
1. God told Adam not to eat the fruit,
Eve got sold on lies that hid the Truth;
Win for Satan, heaven was saddened,
Sin of Eden gave men a burden;
The good that he wants, he cannot do,
The evil he hates, he cannot spew.
We do what we like and guilt we get,
We rue o’er our lot and for sin fret;
The Word is grave but the world’s naive,
The Lord in Love calls His own to save;
Coz God wants to sin in all dispel,
The old Gospel is going global.
2. To the globe’s ends His trained the Lord sent,
That them who grope and faint may repent;
The Spirit moves, good- spell goes global,
Here creed dupes and Gospel goes tribal;
It’s time to re-link self with soul’s thirst,
Let’s rethink and put things of God first.
3. Crises have men bold, led down and fall,
Jesus loves souls and shed blood for all,
That all who life had pained to lose hope,
May come back to Him and regain hope;
That at home the Good News each may get,
God made Word go global in the net.
LIFE OF LIGHT
By : Lunminthang Haokip
Tune: Abea
1. Well-fed and high-bred in heavenly shire
Of West Virginia that many desire;
The burden that God laid upon you all,
Had driven the will to braid on the call
To save those bound tight in lies of darkness
With which devils ride and the world harness.
We knew no God, all shamed by a dark spell,
You sued low gods, not ashamed of Gospel,
Fueled by American Baptist Churches,
Grace-held Lord-led Yankees, geared by hunches;
You came out of bliss to for Jesus fight
That you might be blessed to lead Life of Light.
2. Wild and vile, Manipur’s tribes were ruthless,
Mired in guile, money-poor folks were restless,
Blissful in sin, their real need they knew not,
Beautiful were the feet that their need brought;
That the light that shone lit and lifts up lives
Tells that the Good News in power of God thrives.
3. Prayer for us and gifts of faith we get,
Ever grip good minds to for Christ souls net;
Where the Truth is yet to have an impact,
The path you tread on to save souls-at-stake
Sure shall rake in gains and make heaven act;
‘For it’s more blessed to give than to take’.
4. Best in prayer-list, we delight to mention
A . B . C and the W . V . B. C,
That sacrifices it made didn’t go waste;
Church-edifices ‘dorn the hills in haste;
Great is the Sprit that the Missions drove
And still binds hearts of Nations in His Love
BLESSED HOLY MARRIAGE
Vocalist: C. Lalhmingmawii
1. Are marriages made in high heaven?
Why are they at sixes and seven?
Coz we drop heaven and prop the heart,
We crib and teardrops are shed on the earth;
Prayer-fed shires build up truth society;
Spirit-led pairs spill good family;
If new home’s to be filled with goodwill,
It’s due that couples first seek God’s will.
We seek self-will and manage to shock,
Soon in sad grill, marriage’s on the rock;
We choose, fetch and clinch solely in haste,
Such a match will be folly-marriage,
That the strain of past-age be shut off,
And sin-chain of lineage be cut off;
It’s God’s bidding that you don’t elope
But with godly- wedding you take off.
2. Mod guys are pros to make flings an art,
Hep girls are prone to think with their heart;
If they sin and marry sans Maker,
They’ll not be happy ever after;
Lovers think they best know their future,
But sink down as they in tests venture;
That you mayn’t fail in life’s foxy lanes
Woo Him who will foretell what’s in hand.
3. Bone was not taken from Adam’s head,
So, Madam her Adam shouldn’t look down;
Neither was it cut from the foot-edge,
A wife’s not to be trampled upon;
The rib-bone was removed from his side,
Eve and her man were same in His sight;
Ripped ‘part was flesh closer to male’s heart,
Partners must love much and never part.
I SEE MY SIN ROLL BACK
By: Lunminthang Haokip
Vocal: Abea
1. Born and bred outside your will O Lord,
Torn by shreds of pride, all not of God;
On tipsy lanes, self walked in a blur,
And like vain hippy, talked in a slur;
Deep in pet sins, I wove nest and hive
That haunted me for the rest of my life.
We call it sin, it was tough to shun;
To commit sin, it sure was great fun;
Now I see them roll back on my kids,
How I rue when their deeds my heart hit!
I plead your pardon Lord, forgive me
That condoned they be that’re part of me.
2. Being human, we do good and bad things;
We want the good to us blessing bring
And the bad not to harm our offspring;
The way of God is right and suits most,
The sins we yielded to are never lost;
For them, shielded ones pay heavy cost.
3. “Remember your sins will find you out”
Says the God of Love who warns us loud;
When my past makes my dear child suffer,
Where can I go ‘xcept to her Maker?
My sins found me out, I confess Lord;
Help me set right and us live Thy Word.
LET PEACE RETURN
By: Lunminthang Haokip
1. Losing years of the spirit’s slumber,
Saw the Gospel-ardor go lesser;
An error in echoing the Good News
Armed terror in causing the sad news;
The hard-minds soft-pedal The Creator
Here where the top evil-prone prospers;
God’s bliss odd men’s lethal–bent shatters
And land’s peace, periled, lies in tatters.
Need sieves into the leaders’ psyche,
Creed creeps into the followers’ frailty;
In truth the wild youth had not been bred,
And the fruit of fraud is widely spread;
Defying the sorrow of the morrow,
Deified desire tapers one’s borough;
There where sin’s tease and turns sow discord,
Let fights cease and peace return O Lord.
2. Fear and tear trail the trap terror lays,
Weak in ire’s the pale man called to pay;
‘Alms’ are shelled out to an eerie frown,
Lest one be offered a thorny crown,
Crippled are trade and learning lane’s pace,
Throttled is the voice of divine grace;
Where flesh rules and ears don’t hear thy Word,
Let flare-ups cool and peers cheer Thee Lord.
3. As true bearers of the cross we preach,
And few repairers of the gross breach;
Let’s all repent and to God beseech
That come peace be the war cry of each;
Where the mind’s under devil’s seize,
Let, in His shine, heat of anger freeze;
In regions where saints are ill-at-ease,
Let not in good-will, passion’s prayer cease.
GOD REIGNS IN AAIDU
By: Lunminthang Haokip
1. On the fertile banks of sung Jamuna,
A mile away from the Sangam-mania;
God and Sam, at the unique spot once met,
There, for Agri-univ, the stage was set;
Past century saw old-tech yield to new,
With new tech and zeal, AAIDU’s hi-yield grew.
Pained by sorrow of the-men-with-the-hoe,
Wired to know ways and means to deal their woe;
The Lord burdened Sam to His word follow,
And build on a theme called Gospel and plough;
The hungry were fed and the sick got healed,
For God reigns AAIDU and His will’s revealed.
2. In AAIDU, you can go for any choice,
It’s true that Theology, there’s another course;
One from M. Tech to Mass com, you just name,
Dairy of Forestry, their Forms are same;
All that they care’s to impart new ideas
That grads’ll share as experts in need-areas.
3. That which makes AAIDU stand out above par,
Isn’t the know-how they lend to near and far;
It’s the Gospel-ball named “Yeshu Darbar”
Where spell-bound thousands of souls come bar bar;
Sinners see sense and rinse life’s tin and dross,
And the Wise C’s not ashamed of the cross.
4. Dear young boys and girls living in AAIDU,
Fear God coz He sees all things you do;
That you do when alone Lord monitors,
Like in building, the unseen part matters;
Read the Word daily and let your prayer peak,
Seven days without prayer makes one weak.
COZ I GRIEVED THEE FIRST
By: Lunminthang Haokip
Vocalist: C.Lalhmingmawii
1. In this crazy mess between two poles,
In His savvy tests to prune true souls;
The just, in bad times, limp to suffer,
The unjust, in crimes, seem to prosper;
And when I as Lord’s own ponder—
Why a trend of woe on me hovers,
God nudges that His mind I may know,
God judges His that all pray in awe;
“Coz I believe but didn’t grip fast,
Coz you redeem but I grieved you first,
You make me earn the depths of sorrow
That I may learn steps of the morrow,”
2. The traits I’s born with are really bad,
Trades in fraud made me a wily lad;
Waits upon the Lord were more of a fad,
Tirade’ gainst my own lot makes me sad;
And when the loner in me wonders—
Why saner guys end up as losers,
3. Things I did for my Lord were little,
Rings from God to peak makes me fiddle;
Taught in truth to souls win and perform,
Odds shrewd, duped by sin, fouls to sap form;
And when in defeat, I plead and mourn
As to why I repeat sin and groan,
GOOD OLD KUT FEST
By: Lunminthang Haokip
Vocalist: C.Lalhmingmawii
1. If autumn and spring in the hills come
Can Eimi kut-Fest be far behind?
If rythm of strings make the hills hum,
It’s Eigam’s good fest that years rewind;
And he who gets from kut a welcome,
Forgets who he is from nine to nine.
2. “Let’s dine, let us wine and make merry,
It’s fine, time is mine, let us marry”;
That’s the bad and mad cry of the youth
The brat is the fruit and sin its root;
It’s sad that kut-freedom set the trend
When the good Lord’s kingdom is at hand.
For all Eimi-links, it is a truth-
In Eigam, ties cling to good old kut;
Kut of yore was a post-harvest spree,
Kut of ours is a high cost-fest free;
Old folks sowed seed and wined in kut-hype,
Let’s, on kut-day, sow the seed of life.
3. Kut’s a carnal spree oldies nurture,
Kut’s a vocal plea for bold culture,
Kut’s a flip to uplift our stature,
But kut is a trip back to nature.
Where the Lord’s ordained can never reign,
How will godly refrain ever gain?
4. Songs enthrall as the show larks and crams,
Catcalls follow catwalks on the ramp;
Labours to grab ‘boooty’ knows no pain,
“Favour beguiles and beauty is vain,
A woman who fears God shall be praised”;
For Miss Kut, why not Miss Good be raised?
DAUGTERS OF THE HILLS
By: Lunminthang Haokip
1. Hillman wills that fit sons fill houses;
That well-heeled he may be in crises;
Be the man richer or poorer type,
Settled he’s not till male-wish hits five;
But in times good, better and bitter,
It’s daughters that matter and differ;
To in tests terse or sad, grind and grill,
Hold on fast to that mom and dad will.
Sons parents dot on keep on bungling,
And daughters keep the home-fires burning ;
It’s blessed to be born a woman,
It’s asset not to have woe of men;
God’s good to lass of North-east India,
She’s free from ills that hot up media;
In all she does, she’s cheered and well-placed,
‘ But woman who fears god shall be praised’.
2. Past her prime, any dame must move out
From the cozy hive she grew up in;
Cheated by hope, love fades out in doubt,
Jilted snobs by false suitors’re done in,
Swift twists and turns of a lover’s lane,
Leads to pain that forever ties train;
Hunches hold if His will’s first taken,
Matches God makes for you in Heaven.
3. It’s a high gift of God the Maker
That a bride ‘dapts ways to suit taker;
Picking the tips of change right from scratch,
To a strange fresh way on she may latch;
Out of bridal garb, life is new leash,
Who she grabs, she must’ve to the finish;
To hypes of new home she may be shy,
But wife’s fate lies in not to ask why.
THEME SONG
WORLD AID’S DAY
Song Writer: Lunminthang Haokip
Tune composer: Mangheta (Aizawl)
Vocalist: C. Lalhmingmawii
1. “Be holy”, says He “as I am holy”,
It’s God’s only tip to Aids-worry;
‘Who cares’, says the nut that seeks the needle;
He dares and strays off to in fits fiddle;
Riled by sin of men, God sends a disease;
To cure it, wit of men’s always amiss.
It’s a mad bad world; yet the Lord holds sway,
It’s sad for the whole to have World Aids Day;
All that ill-fate had spared from Aids’ ordeal,
Let’s call Him who hears; and vow in a deal,
That we’ll win souls with the Word as the key,
And make this mess-between-two-poles Aids-free.
2. Odd are the fads of wild desires let loose,
He who’s hooked knows not it is death he woos;
Sin trips lured partners to by virus flood
When love tricks for queer blood to touch pure blood;
Wives and babes too’re done in by the potion;
For’em, to live’s wait for death in slow-motion.
3. When goods get snapped, we go to the dealer,
If our being’s sapped, let’s call on the Maker;
Sin lies to give joy but makes you suffer;
The cross offers ploy to get over;
The God who can breathe life and make you live
Sure can turn a gone case get really well.
HAIL NORTH EAST
Author: Lunminthang Haokip
Tune composer: R. Lalbiakthanga (Abe-a)
1. Nearer home is a shire non-lesser,
A border sapphire that links Myanmar;
Hills and dales that God’s wishes unveil;
In a no frills county called North East,
That warm vibes His own may share and fuse,
The Lord wills firm tribes to dwell in peace.
We like pride and to the land bring fears,
We love fights and to women bring tears;
Lure of wealth covers cure of the Word;
Word of men rules o’er way of the Lord;
Mend your flaws and live God’s laws will sail
As end-chant to bail and hail North East.
2. Shrewd plans badly moved our own folds ail,
Good moves sadly proved make the soul wail;
Life–lifting schemes make us all scheming,
High-living cream too keep on seeking;
Will this augur well to thirst for more,
Here where Christ gave His all and sins bore?
3. The riches the Maker blessed us with,
The Churches sinners in stress visit;
Will do less to lift up ties and traits,
Unless we give up lies in true-faith,
When the world pants in vain to Look East
The whole stands to gain most in Look Christ.
C4K: CHRIST FOR KUKIS
Author: Lunminthang Haokip
Vocalists: Abea, Hluteii & co.
1. Where there’s no vision, people perish,
Where there’s no will-of-God, widows increase;
My own folks, you love one another,
Says our good Lord and God the father;
Love of land, tribe and self is greater,
Among the nations, we are smaller.
In a bid to build church of own choice,
Coz each wants to lead own fold’s sad voice;
Church-folks who once sang in one accord,
Are now split followers of one Lord;
That we may regain spiritual strength,
The binding KCFI, let’s all make ours.
2. We may be parted by land borders,
Maybe we’re bound by rules and orders;
But, like the trees, our roots of origin
And branches, in Christ are enjoined;
That the poor and deprived may get well,
Let’s put to use might of the Gospel.
3. To be stewards, on earth we were kept,
To be honoured in God, we were left;
But we swap His will with vain passions,
We’re below our due among nations,
Wake up, let’s cease to for Christ seize land,
Let Christ for Kukis be the peace-chant.
HAIL CHANDEL
Author: Lunminthang Haokip
Tune composer: R. Lalbiakthanga (Abe-a)
4. Nearer home is a shire non-lesser,
A border sapphire that links Myanmar;
Hills and dales that God’s wishes unveil;
In a no frills county called Chandel,
That warm vibes His own may share and fuse,
The Lord wills firm tribes to dwell in peace.
We like pride and to the land bring fears,
We love fights and to women bring tears;
Lure of wealth covers cure of the Word;
Word of men rules o’er way of the Lord;
Mend your flaws and live God’s laws will sail
As end-chant to bail and hail North East.
5. Shrewd plans badly moved our own folds ail,
Good moves sadly proved make the soul wail;
Life–lifting schemes make us all scheming,
High-living cream too keep on seeking;
Will this augur well to thirst for more,
Here where Christ gave His all and sins bore?
6. The riches the Maker blessed us with,
The Churches sinners in stress visit;
Will do less to lift up ties and traits,
Unless we give up lies in true-faith,
When the world pants in vain to Look East
The whole stands to gain most in Look Christ.
NONE POOR IN SINGAPORE
By: Lunminthang Haokip
Tune : Abe-a Vocalist : Mami
1. Old song calls to Singapore ek bar,
New song tells all to go there bar bar;
Everyday people from near and far,
Ferry to island of cable cars
Goods and cash to make the nation spill,
And on the ashes of the sixties build.
Singapore, O Lee Kuan’s Singapore,
To thy shores blessings come more and more;
Sing praise for the neat city you have,
For such grace others can only crave;
No fear, no thief, no cheat and no bore,
For there is no poor in Singapore.
2. Leaders there for the good of all live,
Rulers care to net fruits to all give;
Workers do their job as of their own,
Traders woo to shop with their best shown;
Why the fair folks out there don’t defraud?
Coz key-folks go by the Truth of God.
3. Finesse make way for Asians to peak,
As Chinese, Malays and Indians, all tick;
Coz Christians love souls and look East,
It pays and make the city harvest;
For the C-begins now the world thirsts,
The youth there dot on Big C that’s Christ.
NONE POOR IN SINGAPORE
By: Lunminthang Haokip
Tune : Abe-a Vocalist : Mami
1. Old song calls to Singapore ek bar,
New song tells all to go there bar bar;
Everyday people from near and far,
Ferry to island of cable cars
Goods and cash to make the nation spill,
And on the ashes of the sixties build.
Singapore, O Lee Kuan’s Singapore,
To thy shores blessings come more and more;
Sing praise for the neat city you have,
For such grace others can only crave;
No fear, no thief, no cheat and no bore,
For there is no poor in Singapore.
2. Leaders there for the good of all live,
Rulers care to net fruits to all give;
Workers do their job as of their own,
Traders woo to shop with their best shown;
Why the fair folks out there don’t defraud?
Coz key-folks go by the Truth of God.
3. Finesse make way for Asians to peak,
As Chinese, Malays and Indians, all tick;
Coz Christians love souls and look East,
It pays and make the city harvest;
For the C-begins now the world thirsts,
The youth there dot on Big C that’s Christ.
NONE POOR IN SINGAPORE
By: Lunminthang Haokip
Tune : Abe-a Vocalist : Mami
1. Old song calls to Singapore ek bar,
New song tells all to go there bar bar;
Everyday people from near and far,
Ferry to island of cable cars
Goods and cash to make the nation spill,
And on the ashes of the sixties build.
Singapore, O Lee Kuan’s Singapore,
To thy shores blessings come more and more;
Sing praise for the neat city you have,
For such grace others can only crave;
No fear, no thief, no cheat and no bore,
For there is no poor in Singapore.
2. Leaders there for the good of all live,
Rulers care to net fruits to all give;
Workers do their job as of their own,
Traders woo to shop with their best shown;
Why the fair folks out there don’t defraud?
Coz key-folks go by the Truth of God.
3. Finesse make way for Asians to peak,
As Chinese, Malays and Indians, all tick;
Coz Christians love souls and look East,
It pays and make the city harvest;
For the C-begins now the world thirsts,
The youth there dot on Big C that’s Christ.
AMAZING AIZAWL : CITY OF CHEER
By : Lunminthang Haokip
Introduction : In a country where state capitals also double up as capitals of communal divide and covered-up deeds worthy of capital punishment, Mizoram’s Hill top city, Aizawl is refreshingly different. If summer is gone from Ooty, as claimed in the add item relating to the sandal-wood smeared southern hill resort , crime and thievery are gone from Aizawl. It’s weird news to learn that the Jail authorities of Aizawl had to borrow Jail-birds from neighbouring states so as to fill up their empty Central Jail in order to bail themselves out from being sacked for lack of criminal in-mates. If the burgeoning musical capital of India is found wanting in any commitment, it is crime-commitment.
Background : Mizoram was far from being the flourishing hill town it is presently. In the year 1900, there was no structure on the ai ( a wild plant)- infested gorge-ridden present habitation of half a million people, save a couple of military barracks. Hard work rendered with a passion reserved for religion on the part of Presbyterian Missionaries, more than a century ago, and the spirited reciprocal response of the local folks together had built the up the hill-top wonder city brick by brick. The Church was/is still involved in every aspect of the wonder-state capital’s gigantic strides of mind- blowing progress. No wonder, the Lord of the Church “who seest us” (Genesis 16:13) was the unseen hand behind the fast-paced development of the thriving urban settlement.
Church- Taught Behaviour : “Tomngaihna” or “Sacrificial attitude towards one’s duty” is the key word to Aizawl’s speedy growth. God comes before everything else. The citizenry did what they could and that they could not, they left to the God of possibilities. The emotional unity to offensively promote the single dialect of “Duhlian” that became Mizo later, could have smacked of ethno-centrism. But the same was central to singularity of Mizo society. One man’s food could be another’s poison. The improved Mizo single-dialect that the early missionaries took pains to add grammatical and phonetic nuances to, turned out to be a super fast-food that all its users could feed themselves upon to linguistic and literary prosperity. The poison of subordinating or suppressing other lesser dialects, although sadly damaging to the affected groups, of course, was supportive to the building of the super-structure of Mizo ethnicity. This factor also accounts for high literacy-rate and the low rate of learning other languages.
Blessing from above : It’s no mean feat that Mizoram’s modernised capital town does not have the self goal–scoring slum pockets its counterparts in other states are burdened with. Agreed that the average Mizo has the above-average bent-of-mind to work with the herd–feeling ants share. Also agreed that the GoI has a soft-corner for the hill state in grant of funds that is due to a peaceful oasis of the otherwise turbulent NE India. But the greed to excel in societal welfare and display of civic sixth-sense is something the visitors to the cement-clad cliff-city find tough to disagree with.
Hassle-free-accident : The recklessness of the accelerator-happy Mizo youth on the steep and twisted roads of Aizawl keeps the concerned parents in mental tenterhooks. Familiarity to peculiarity of bending lanes could have saved lots of potential accidents. Yet in highway and local motor rubbery, road-mishaps do occur out there. Sometimes vehicular accidents turned fatal but unlike in other places , one does not see full-throated shouts and fist-of-fury flying on the wrong riders’ chin. Head-on vehicular collision that could have resulted in collar-pulls towards the nearest Police outposts coolly ends up in smile-exchanging pacification. If that is not a habit formed by decades of preaching the Gospel, what else is? Situations that could have generated heated temperament of 80% temper and 20% mental elsewhere, usually boil down to the reverse in Mizo city.
Midnight musical chill-outs in the open: This author happened to be a part of the milling crowd that braved out of their cozy homes and hotel rooms on the last night of 2009 in the public places of Aizawl where no-ticket musical shows were organised . Magdalene, the Gospel band that rocked the national competitions, drew the largest crowd. Their own chart-rocking numbers echoing heavy metal through world-class sound system kept the whole of Aizawl’s treasury-square awake and shaking a leg on the streets till the break of New Year 2010. A Gospel pop rendition from the budding Mizo-Idol winner, Zoramchhani, went on well with the footloose midnight audience. Enthused fans, holding hands in small groups, danced merrily and hummed the songs in tune with the stage performers. Music for sure is the food of love in Mizoram. And it was played on in high decibel pitch in every street corner. One joke that circulates around Chandel DHQ in Manipur is that, given the mike, and the space, even a Mizo tailor-girl straight from the sewing-machine, can sing better than the local bests.
Disgrace of progress : The Mizo-resilience is simply commendable. Their ability to fight back on the ashes of major setbacks was on par with that of Dhirubai Ambani in the corporate world. Battered and shattered by the MNF-related bombing of the North East Indian town in 1978, Aizawl had rebuilt itself with the zeal and grit the Japs exhibited following the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombing. The economic boom ever since had been enormous and Jap-like. Every tourist or GoI-employee from outside who had been posted there were in no mood to go back or when transferred, reluctantly did so.
The only grudge the ethnic kindred of the Mizos settled in other parts CHIKIM habitations nurse is the sad truth that compatriots from a certain NE state, who were motivated to fight along for the revolutionary-cause in the spirit of talked-in ethnic-bonhomie in the movement of the l 1960s, had been conveniently soft-pedalled in post-statehood insular comfort, by and large. Had ice, well- utilised in summer, been given up in winter?, they ask themselves.
Righteousness exalts Mizoram: Credit must be given to the Missionaries who endured pains to labour and win souls in the then Lushai hills. Nowhere in India Church buildings had been taken so much care and concern of. A tourist heading for Aizawl or Lunglei should make it a point to have a good look at the awesome concrete buildings, superb interior wood-work and classic musical paraphernalia that the prayer-halls out there are famous for. Worship-attendance is habitual and obligatory for all. The Lord’s day is honoured with choicest sartorial propriety. Businesses thrive on the strength of Biblical righteousness. Bank-loans are repaid in time.
Cabs are small but cabbies display big hearts in maintaining ethical integrity in returning personal belongings of careless commuters through well-connected networks. Civil rules are observed and the citizenry, including the tipsy lot, who walk in a blur and talk in a slur, struggle to behave well in public. No wonder, the para-military forces and civil police posted there have little or no work to do. The milk of human kindness spills over full-splash as uniformed patrol-vehicle riders offer lifts to strangers strolling on the side-walks.
Sum-Up: 21st century had witnessed disastrous natural calamities one after another. Tsunami, earthquake, Katrina, super-cyclone, nargis etc. collectively did a fox-trot upon global economic advancement. Poorer countries like Haiti aren’t likely to recover in the near future from the impact of recent earth-shake. When the world witnessed more of gloom and doom, Aizawl had been a consistent city of cheer since the signing of Rajiv Gandhi-led peace-accord. The most visible and tangible truth that almost half of the total population of a state take concrete shelter on a ridge-ridden hill-top, like bees do around a beehive, itself is proof enough that it is “the most High who rules in the affairs of Aizawl and hold the township intact”. None else but the living God could have made the seemingly impossible possible. The Almighty, for sure, takes good care of the churched city that produces Gospel songs like Mumbai does movies.
Mingling with the common folks of the dominantly Mizo township and getting under the skin of the lifestyle of this peace-loving, music-inclined, church-influenced and orderliness-fixated cheerful residents of Aizawl, this author had been inspired to write the following poem which had been made a Gospel song audio-recorded and video-shot by AVZ – amazing voice of Zoram, C. Lalhmingmawii.
AIZAWL: THE CITY OF CHEER
1. Atop hills where deep-root buildings grow,
Across ridges cut for motor-flow;
Amidst ranges left by men-with-hoe,
Along gorges on which decked-homes glow;
There sprawls God-made Zo-city Aizawl,
Blessed with structures nestled cheek-by-jowl.
If you get bored with life of your make,
If you wish for thine youth a retake;
If you feel you need a break that saves,
If you want music your soul craves;
Get set and for Aizawl up you gear;
With care awaits the city of cheer.
2. In a world where folks don’t go by faith,
But try to trick and loot the fool’s fate;
On Aizawl’s lanes, stealing doesn’t happen
Even though things are left in the open;
This feat is no mere freak incidence,
Decades of preaching taught saner sense.
3. Them that honour Him God will honour,
The Lord’s day in Aizawl’s a splendour;
Seeing all shops shut, first-timer’s baffled,
Eyeing all wears hep-designed, one’s dazzled;
Why does God for Zoram His peace keep?
Coz on the Lord’s day, all folks worship.
NGO-ising of the Church
/>Addressing the NGO-ing of the Church
Community - Article
Thursday, 19 July 2007 00:30 Written by Lunminthang Haokip
By Lunminthang Haokip
July 19, 2007: In war, when the sovereignty of a nation is at stake, no effort is spared to rope in anything and anybody who can somehow shoulder the responsibility of a soldier: more so when the regular army is fighting a losing battle. In peace, the pace of development in the talked-about nations was found to have fallen short of the collective international expectation.
The thinking citizenry felt the urgent need to make things happen faster in an efficiently organized manner. These global and regional environmental and developmental issues may be addressed to and taken up on a war-footing, the concept of NGO was born with the dissimilarly similar vested interest of added advantage the Pakis had on the hired mercenaries of the Kargil-heights.
Big Money: An NGO can be anything from the prestigious UNO to the noble Sulabh International to the exemplary developmental agencies of your own township. RDO sets the trend in good work in Manipur. But in India, for every RDO, there are a dozen NPOs (non-performing organizations) or PPOs (partially performing organizations). An NGO promises big money, wider exposure, frequent city-hopping travel and job-opportunities for one’s kith and kin. Exotic ideals are laid down by the funding enterprises for strict compliance of the implementing agencies. But at the receiving end, irresponsible elements are at play –scheming overtime on the schemes up for grabs.
Women Of Sub-stance: The relative absence of official red-tap-ism in getting NGO-funds and the soft-pedaled accountability in its utilization, catch the imagination of insecure politicians, politically ambitious bureaucrats, bureaucrat-friendly social climbers of expensive taste and taste-specific but expense-unspecific women of sub-stance. Yes, the irresistible lure of fast-buck and instant life-of-ease spreads wide like the spider’s web in the NGO horizon. Glamour-struck social-flies invite themselves into the web-trap and get willingly ensnared. Sad to know that the worldly-minded jet-set includes some church-leaders who defiantly echo with their nonchalant attitude that the church itself is an NGO!
The Church: In essence, the church certainly isn’t an NGO. It’s not an organization or a building but an organism – through which God intends to destroy Satan’s kingdom and establish His righteousness. “Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it that He might sanctify and cleanse it (Ephesians 5:25, 26)”. God will never approve the defiling of His house by the super-imposed operation of the market- forces in its activities. The principles of these materialistic mess-between-two-poles cannot be applied in God’s kingdom. Because He is holy, the standards He sets for His dwelling-place are other-worldly. St. Paul wrote in Eph.5:27, “That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish”.
The Bride: The Bible refers to the church as the bride that Christ, the Groom will ultimately marry. If we, who are filthy conformers or saved-sinners at the best, throw tantrums to get a bride that is chaste, how much more our Lord will be concerned about the purity of His own. The commandments were meant to bring about churches “having no spot or wrinkle” out of the sin-infested descendants of Adam and Eve through the sinner’s successive confessional and conscience-cleansing filtering process. The futuristic words of the prophets, the awesome lives of the saintly Patriarchs and the austere training the Disciples underwent were all divinely planned out to edify depraved mortals and present a “glorious church” to Jesus.
Fruits for Repentance: Having offered salvation to mankind on a silver platter and raised so many labourers for work in His vineyard, God now is on the look-out for fruits of repentance and holiness in our congregations. We, for sure, cannot expect Him to wink at the pastoral lapses when the chief among His anointed ones flash 100–watt smiles around elsewhere in the glitteringly slippery corridors of NGO-power. Isn’t a man known by the company he keeps?
“Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them (Rom 16:17)”.
Here the apostle to the gentiles exhorts believers to hold fast onto the “doctrine they have learned”. What is that doctrine? It is the doctrine of “bringing fruits meet for repentance (Mt. 3:8)”, of confession (Prov. 28:13), of “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22)”, of righteousness and “stealing no more (Eph.4:24-28)”, of bridling our tongues (Eph. 4:29)” and of faith. Unfortunately, in our money-centric churches, the messages of faith fly over our heads because the overbearing emphasis is on the new mantra of NGOs and overheads.
In some places of worship, souls are valued as sources of tithe. No one dares to expose sin as what sin is. Trouble is taken to flatter transgressors and keep them in good humour with an eye on ulterior advantage. Thus, we bring fruits meet for hardening of hearts that are tickled by an evil conscience. These greed-activated malpractices serve as the spots and blemishes that cause divisions and commission of offences in our spiritual lives.
“For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple (Rom 16:18)”.
Foreign-Mania: America has become the Mecca and Korea, the Kolar gold-fields, for some pseudo-preachers who profess belief in but don’t live up to the famous verse, “The just shall live by faith (Rom. 1:17)”. Their crazy craving to creep into the US of A by hook or by crook “defies all understanding”. It is equaled only by the desperate desire – that bordered on madness – of the two guys who were cheated by a Delhi-based con-visa fixer to cling onto the wheels of the London-bound plane at Delhi Airport, several years back, ‘till death did them apart’. One of them survived, of course, and found his name in the book of records as the first man in history to cling onto the wheels of a plane from Delhi to London.
To study Theology, people don’t mind getting false income certificate and membership recommendation from a church they don’t belong to. Lies are spoken without batting an eyelid against the warning in Revelation 21:8. There in foreign land, our keen-type brothers of country-origin, get mesmerized when they feast their eyes on the skyscrapers, yankee lifestyle, big farms, ranches, houses and their furnishing, electronic gadgets and the sleek motor-cars cruising on the boulevards.
Great Expectations: “Fair speeches” led our gullibly hopeful members of the home-chapel to have great expectations on our America-sojourning leaders. Most overseas visits from this shore however are motivated solely by the super-purchasing power of the US-dollar. Some of our emissaries waste a lot of time giving and taking addresses but their foreign addresses are never let known to home-folks.
Working-hour-obsessed; certain brothers from third-world countries extra-stretch their nerves for extra-green-backs. Nothing spiritual about it. So when highly-tipped organization-leaders return home with proud heads pregnant with America-inspired ideas, they bring back nothing of the faith of the land Charles Finney revived, D.L Moody nurtured and Billy Graham sustained.
Skin-Worship: In the company of skin and dollar worshippers, suggestions to win souls through specific confession, repentance and setting things right are pooh-poohed; long faces are drawn at long prayers, and at seekers of God’s promise and guidance. NRI-culture is introduced in God’s ministry. TV – no problem! Political confabulations – no problem! Restitution- there’s problem. “They serve not our Lord. Self is served in the name of Jesus.
And to the laymen’s dismay, leaders don’t learn that what is considered a bare necessity in the advanced nation of US of A is regarded as a sinful luxury here in this developing country of ours. Of course, they soon learn that to do God’s work in style, the church-money is chicken-feed. So, many title-holders embark on the NGO-bandwagon and leave the affairs of worship and soul-winning to the PUDs (poor untrained Deacons). No wonder, the spiritual progress of several congregations are chugging back in reverse-gear.
JEHOVAH Jireh Jeered: The oft-repeated alibi that a compromising Christian gives is that one can’t carry the burden of the cross on an empty stomach. The hungry mouths, he says, must be fed first before the Gospel is given. Mired in such an illusion, some Christian NGOs, in the name of serving the Lord, end up serving Him 5% and the un-satiable human desires 95%. Well, Moses fed millions of Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years without seeking help from any authority of this world. Jesus provided for 5000 souls out of five loaves and two fishes.
The unwavering faith of George Muller took care of over Ten thousand orphans in England and Scotland in late 19th century. Jehovah Jireh. God provides. But first, we have got to, in faith, surrender our five loaves and two fishes to Him who knows our needs best. With clean conscience, we ought to go to the God who blessed America and Europe, give thanks, do His will and claim His promises. “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat and the body is more than raiment (Luke 12:22, 23)”.
The Silver Giver: Wrong means can never justify right ends, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine (Hagg.2:8)”, says the Lord. But we believe more in human efforts and projects that are never or partially meant to be implemented. We trust our technical knowledge, pursuing skills and influencing capacity. We cringe and crawl before ungodly men so as to get our things done. The objects may be high-sounding. Nevertheless, if you flout rules, deceive others, send false reports and become ‘glass-fellows’ with boozers for material gains, you’ll reap dissatisfaction and misery. “You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat but do not have enough (Hagg. 1:6)”. Jesus, the bread of life, warns, “Do not labour for the food which perishes (John 6:27)”.
Endure Hardship: As true followers of our Lord, at times you may find the going getting tough. Trials and temptations are bound to come your way. If you jealously leave no stone unturned to lead people to the Lord, self-righteous enemies of the Truth will leave no turn of yours un-stoned. You’ve got to fix your eyes on Jesus – the only power the devil recognizes. Then troubles will become bubbles. You’ll draw strength, not from the promising stuff the world offers, but from the inexhaustible resources the Scripture promises,“ You therefore must endure hardship as good soldier of Jesus Christ II Timothy 2:3)”.
And to the servant of God who is inclined to serve two masters, the Word of God says, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please Him who enlisted as a soldier (II Tim 2:4)”. Preparedness to endure hardship under any spiritual weather distinguishes super-humans from mere humans, transformers from conformers and true soldiers of Christ from Chocolate-cream-soldiers.
The author is Additional Deputy Commissioner under the government of Manipur, a Northeast state in India.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
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