21st Century Church!

Where is this going?

Photography by Mercy Susanna

The Modern Day Church looks nothing like the Early Church. Agree? I strongly believe that the set of values the early church has inculcated is quite different from that of the present day. The commitment and the passion it had put in worshipping God is priceless. Christ's always the head of the Church(Eph 5:23). It's heart craved for the Word of God. Never being independent, it had lived on the bread of life alone. Obedience in everything was the key. Where is the 21st Century Church going? We have tonnes of denominations rising against each other tearing the God's holy temple - the body of Christ into countless pieces. Despite owning dozens of Bibles, the modern Church runs through the Biblical illiteracy. A two-hour sermon becomes a boring teaching and the priest on pulpit equips puppet making skills to entertain the crowd that never had experienced salvation instead indulged in every kind of impurity, be it a hint of sexual immorality, greed or lust. I see the ignorance spreading like the wildfire in the stubborn hearts of most of the so-called Christians, not wanting to receive the Word of God. The elders of the Church wanted themselves to be distinguished as leaders, pastors....... but not as the servants of God. Instead of depending on God for every need, most of the gifted preachers are enslaved by money. (You cannot serve both God and Money. Matt 6:24). Why use God's name in such an utter despair? Blaspheme!! Is this not grieving the Spirit of God? How can the Modern Church present itself as a pure bride to the King coming in Love? Persecution in the Early Church strengthened the faith of the Christians. No matter how it was put to pressure for bearing the name of Christ, it had suffered the consequences for Christendom. How many of the present day-Churches would be ready to suffer persecution? Very few! ("If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." I Pet 4:16)

Let us not be among the unfruitful church singing songs of praise with mouths but not with the hearts. As the children of God, let us walk in the light of God but not in the ignorance and stubbornness. All that God seeks is an orderly worship with the right conscience. It's not too late to repent. Like the early church, let us prepare our hearts to receive and be obedient to every word that comes from the mouth of God.  

(What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the Church. 1Cor 14:26) 


Scriptural References: Ephesians 5:23, Matthew 6:24, 1Peter 4:16,1Corinthians 14:26

FINDING FIRST LOVE

                   It's been quite a rough road seemingly uncomfortable to explain and confess my unwilling deliberate efforts. Maybe, in my walk, I had experienced this a lot many times, but have I never put it in lines which indeed had a very great effect so far. I'm just guessing the same happens with you. The walk of our faith isn't an inclined linear graph. Many times, we fall, we rise, we waver, we battle...But there are conscious acts which hold against God that we don't want to get rid of. In few circumstances, we sin unwittingly, though we hate lurking around, still, we give in. Such kinds dwindle away our innocencies that we would no more be the ones, God had found in a squalor. Those impeccant faces had been lost. You being a born again Christian, God knew, you had a soul that always fired for Him in the beginning. He knew how remarkable your faith had been in the yester years. But He also knew how the seeds of pride uprooted, accumulated your heart, and how you had fallen from a height forgetting the first of loves. God's gonna deal the same with the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2. He says, 
    "I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary."
On a positive note, God talks to the church of Ephesus (here we), that it has gone through the hardships, trials, testings, persecution, inward wrestling etc.

    "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."

The over righteous filthy rags has separated us from our first love. The self-seeking disobedience made our salvation hang in the air. We toiled digging black deeps to satisfy our wrecked souls revetting homes that are supposed to be broken. Enough. God holds this against us.
    "If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."

    "To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
Well, the Scripture's unmistakable caution does not only correct, every time you repent, but it makes you understand the lucid love of Christ. Even though your sin is too fathomless to forgive, His compassion is boundless, His mercy is immense. How many times ever we rise and fall, He's got our backs. But the point is how often do you remember Your First Love...?!

  

 THE LAST DAYS

A Poem By Mercy Susanna

Photography by Mercy Susanna

Headlines read plague abound

Death and mishap lurk around

Would barely make a secret blend

Drawing lines and glance of tend

We are humans out of dust

Losing love for all the lust

Could we brave out mighty blow?

Jolted roaring thunder glow!

Wash us, cleanse us, inside-out

Let go of dirt, we muse about

Sin and guilt, help overcome

Bind our faith till Jesus come

"AND SHE SHALL BE CALLED WOMAN"

Genesis 2:23

A poem by Mercy Susanna

From the book, Blessed Creation :A Christian Poetry Collection

One bone you chose

That shields his heart

Mist up with flesh

A pluperfect art!

You made me his crown

Strong yet so fragile,

Gentle and quiet

Worth in your sight.

Lord, I was barren,

You cast off my disgrace

While I picked my pieces

In the dust of the earth.

From Eden did I hear,

A hushed tone of voice;

Arise, Oh little girl

The womb has been opened.

You conquered those doubts

That pull me down from the sky,

Hence unlocked my thoughts

And gave me wings to fly.

So my soul sings with joy

for You took my heart;

Lord, You have turned me,

Into a pluperfect art!

Written in agreement with the Scriptural references:

Genesis 2:23, Genesis 2:21, Proverbs 12:4, 1 Peter 3:4, Luke 1:7, Luke 1:21,25, Luke 8:54, Isaiah 40:31, Luke 1:46

Blessed Creation : Click on this to download this

 amazing Christian Poetry Collection written by forty talented poets.

You can also meet the poets by clicking this link below. Meet the Poet

Meet my friend Kim Bond, Sister in Christ, at Draw Near for more free e-books.

O death, where is thy sting?

1 Corinthians 15:55

A Poem by Mercy Susanna

Photography by Mercy Susanna

I pulled into the graveyard,
Skulls and bones kissing my feet;

I ate the dust of the earth
As a serpent oozing out venom;

Like a swine in a squalor, 
Did I struggle with my sin;

I wandered in a quiet desert,
Looking for an oasis of hope;

There's drunken pride in my eyes,
Concealing my ignorance well;

For the breath of life, I fought,
O, LORD! 
But You, I haven't sought;

As my heart opened up to the One,
Whose face outshines the brightest star;
Mercy descended from above,
Mending this wounded scar!

A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD.

Photography by Mercy Susanna

Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forgot to eat my food. Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones. I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof. All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse. For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside. My days are like evening shadow; I wither away like grass. 

But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations. You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come. For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity. The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory. He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea. Let this be written for future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD: "The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and released those condemned to death."

So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD. In course of my life he broke my strength; he cut short my days. So I said: 

"Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations. In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end. The children of your servants will live in your presence;  their descendants will be established before you."

Psalm 102

The Appointment!

Why are you downcast,O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42-11

It's been one long month that I haven't thought anything to pen down. How does that feel for someone who is called to do so? A lazy workman? Or an unfaithful being? Or a reluctant sloth? Every day I wake up to an annoying alarm ringing in my ears. I plan the busy schedule and set out for the daily business. And then come back, stare at the ceiling, connecting dots when I shut my eyes and the day ends. Every day, the same, feeling nothing inside, except empty. One fine day I realized that I had stopped reacting to situations, even to the complex ones. May it be gloomy or happy,I just stopped. Writers feel numb sometimes. It makes me feel so inconvenient that I knew not what to write. There may be these two cases that I think I have observed. It might me that, I have many things on my mind that I can't put down anything or, this case that I have absolutely nothing, except the fading background. The way I get experienced is way too unusual. Being exposed to the smoke of the traffic, books, cultures, colors, literature, nature, food, and the gravity of the big planet, drives me to the desk I long to sit at. And pull out the big blue diary to pour out the anxiety, frustration, delight, humor, praise, huh, what not. At the end of the day, the flavors combine to form a tinge of essence which helps me find the purpose of life to know exactly what it really means. I have learned that I'd be stable when I write at least two lines of praise on my daily basis. Maybe, that's my appointment to pour it all out. It might be dramatic but it's true that writers need solace, rather I wish to say, writing is the solace. At least for me. :)