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In more than three decades of my Christian life, I have been blest by 2 types of Daily devos'
(matter not exceeding 500 words) in universal Christian literature. Not only those Devos'
which have a different theme everyday but also the ones which revolve around a certain
theme over a period of time, say a fortnight, have richly edified me. In fact, both
styles have their own inherent advantages. If the former style caters to the varying
spiritual needs of a christian from day-to-day, the latter aims 'to ground'
a child of God in a certain subject in order he derives the full benefits of the
deep insightful study of a certain topic, spread over a fixed span of time.
In my Daily devo page, I have consciously tried to go in for 'a blend of both the
styles' whereby within a constant theme, I would be aiming to focus on different
facets of it which admittedly is a closer imitation of the 'Constant theme' style
than the 'Varying topics' one.
Having dwelt on the topics
- “The Christian journey”
- “ The Conquest of Canaan” and the
- “Lent season”.
in the previous months, now in the months of April and May, considering that
post resurrection of Christ (one of our concluding themes’ you would remember
in the meditations of March, was Resurrection), birth of the Church was a
landmark event in Biblical history, I want to cast the spotlight on the Book of
Acts (which records the birth and growth of the Church). This would ensure to a large
extent continuity of thought albeit under the ambit of new subject.
Once again, let me wish you a happy and an edifying read…
Suresh Manoharan
May 16th
No compartmentalization, please!
…Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch,
strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith…-
Acts 14:21-22
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Today, we come to yet another important lesson that needs to be gleaned from Apostle
Paul’s First missionary journey along with Barnabas. This awesome twosome, were not only
zealous about winning new souls for the Lord but they were just as enthusiastic when it
came to strengthening the “new babes” in Christ. Let it be said that Christian ministry is not
only about “capture” (gathering souls for the Kingdom) but also about “nurture”
(grounding the new disciples in faith).
While over a period of time in Christendom, two distinct ministries emerged -nothing wrong about it-of
evangelism (winning souls) and pastoral (guiding, guarding, and grounding the new believers in faith),
this ought not to lead to any strict compartmentalization of work per se. No evangelist should think that
his work has ended after winning souls, unless His evangelistic ministry is TV or crusade-oriented,
where admittedly, it is difficult to build personal rapport with the souls, one has won over to
Christ’s Kingdom. In other circumstances’ (street preaching/personal evangelism etc),
whenever possible it would serve the soul-winner well to take the initiative of personally visiting
and encouraging “his own new believers”, once in a while as the above-captioned Scripture portion so
amply illustrates though there may be a Pastor to do follow-up work when it comes to guiding the new believers.
By the same token, a Pastor cocooned in the thought that his work begins and ends with nurturing souls would be
a liability in Christ’s scheme of things. It would please the Master if he too like any evangelist is on the
look-out for opportunities to share the Gospel with unbelievers
(Colossians 4:5-6). No compartmentalizations
please…remember there is a vestibule!
Prayer:
Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the wisdom to exercise flexibility whilst serving Thee.
Enable us to go the “extra-mile” in serving Thee at all times. AMEN.
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