Paulson Post

'Love is a verb, not a noun.' That was on a T-Shirt. What it stressed probably is to really love than talking about love. However, in the Bible, just two verses apart from each other the word 'love' is used both as noun and verb. That is in 1 John 3:16-18. In the first case (in 1 John 3:16) it is a noun. ' By this we know love , that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ' The second occurrence is in 3:18, ' Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. ' Love cannot be just a verb. At the same time, unless love is quantified and displayed it cannot be a verb or an action. In fact, the act of loving comes from love. The reason for the exhortation in verse 18 is the direct result of the experience of love that verse 16 talks about. Love is quantified as 'laying down our lives for others.' That is the breadth and depth of love. It can reach a point where a person lov...

He wore a confused look. His eyes were constantly scanning around. He was looking for something but appeared as if he was not sure what he was looking for. I met him on a medical college campus in Pune. Among the students lounging around the cafeteria, he was the only one without a white apron. However, he had a clean pair of clothes and a small backpack. Watching him for a while, I walked towards him to find out what he is looking for. He told me that he is looking used textbooks. He is a first-year medical student at a different college. However, he doesn't have money to buy new books; so he is asking around among the second year students if they would like to part with their old books. But he hasn't yet met anyone willing to do that. He told me his story. He is a Dalit from Nanded district in Maharashtra. He got 280 points out of 720 for the national medical entrance exam. Though that is only 38 percent he still managed to get a seat, being a Dalit. According to him those...

'And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.  And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. (Exodus 3:2-3, ESV) One thing that Moses learned towards the end of his 40 years of shepherding in the wilderness was that all bushes may not be consumed by fire. He had seen a lot of bushes, most are eaten by his sheep as they pass by. Some cath fire and reduce themselves to ashes. He probably might have watched this bush on fire but he paid no attention; he dismissed it as another bush on fire. It is a usual scene in that part of the wilderness. However, after a while, the usual time for a bush to reduce to ashes was over, he just walked towards it. He noticed that the bush is still burning but it is not being reduced to ashes. All its leaves and branches are intact. As he walked closer to it a voice stopped him. It asked him to ...

This is an honest confession. I am not the smartest person on planet earth. I never been. My IQ is average and it hasn't made any significant progress in the last few decades. However, my work involves a lot of thinking. It requires that I should focus on a subject for a considerable time without distraction. For the sake of those who do not know me, I should say that I am an academic first. My job involves reading, preparing lectures, notes and books on topics in my field of expertise. I am also a pastor. That means I have to prepare sermons, bible studies, etc. All these means serious cerebral work. However, most of the time my cerebral space is under siege. There are interpersonal issues, difficulties with the administration and a whole lot of things that keep invading this space. I try to fight out, but most of the time, I lose. The consequences are disastrous. This disastrously affects my productivity. I find myself busy scheming, imagining my enemies, sometimes silently ...

It was a very small stone church tucked away in the hill locked village of Paud in Pune. It had only 10 pews with a total capacity of 50 people. Still the church was not full that day. Among the congregation, more than half were kids of all ages. I had just returned to the altar after passing the peace among the congregation. I passed the peace to all in the congregation adults and small kids as well. Then, I heard a cry from the congregation. It was feeble in the beginning and then got louder. My mind was so engrossed in the service order than the crying little girl. Then I noticed the adults giggling. So, I turned to my assistant to find out what is going on. He told me that the little girl is so sad that I missed her in the passing of the peace! I had taken care that I passed the peace to everyone, but some how this four-year old was missed. I don’t know how. So, I immediately walked down to her and extended my hands. However, she turned her head away in protest. I tr...

‘And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And she took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.’ (Matt 9:14-16). When Jesus took the little children in his arms, they might have told him something. What would they tell him? I was thinking about as it as I watched one of our team members ministering to little kids in a slum in Pune. He had just told those poor kids gathered under a tin-roofed hall a story about Jesus. Some children responded in faith and wanted him to pray for them. I was around, and listening to their requests. Some wanted Jesus to stop their father’s drinking. Some kids said that their father had deserted them and they want Jesus to brin...

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain." (1 Cor 15:58 ESV). There are times when various factors bog us down. Especially in Christian ministry, there are oppositions, discouragements and a whole lot of things that makes feel like giving up. If anyone had been through such circumstances that push you to the edge of giving up it was Paul. He had opposition from fellow apostles, enemies of the Gospel and even the churches that he planted. However, he kept going, excelling increasingly irrespective of the adverse circumstances. His advice to anyone who is discouraged and tired of the work for the Lord is first to be steadfast. Steadfastness is that quality of sticking to the one thing irrespective of all that make us think or act contrary. One of the temptations that happen when faced with the opposition is to think if we are doing the right thing, have I gone wrong...