Masihivandana.com

I stumbled upon this wesbite and am adding it to the resources section - you should check it out and have others check it out as well … enjoy!!
“The notion that Christianity is based on a “leap of faith” rather than an intellectual commitment of mind and soul to God is widespread in today’s culture. Christians are unable to provide a rational defense of their faith, and nonbelievers are convinced that religion is something only for the gullible and weak-minded. At The Skeptical Christian, these problems are addressed head on. Christianity is NOT a worldview for the weak-minded and it is NOT based on a blind leap of faith.

The Skeptical Christian was designed with discussion in mind. Any article on this site can be commented on, and any suggestions, critiques, or alternative perspectives on any of the writings are welcomed and encouraged. Feel free to participate in the discussion of these important topics.”

It snowed on Saturday night and when I say snowed I mean it really snowed… We woke up on Sunday morning totally unprepared for the almost a foot of snow in the driveway. Thankfully I have my sons help me out with the shovelling but at the end of the day it felt as if I had been weightlifting.
Remember all those cutesy pictures of snow on the trees? Well, this is the other side of snow. I still love it though.

I stumbled upon this site a couple of days ago. If you are a compulsive YouTuber then this is the answer for you. Check it out and add your comments to this post. You be the judge

I found two great websites and want to share them with you. If you are concerned about the message in a movie and whether you should be watching them with your children or not then these sites would be a great point of reference.
Check them out to get a good christian perspective:

This post is written by my friend Philip Thomas. I met him in New York during the Connext 2007 conference. I was very excited to read his perspective on Deepavali and am curious to know your thoughts? Your comments are welcome:

In a couple of days, Hindus all over the world will celebrate Deepavali, the festival of lights. Deepavali (or Diwali, as it is sometimes called) means an Array of Lamps, i.e. rows of diyas (Deep=Lamp, Vali=Array). The story of Deepavali is found in one of the epics of Indian Literature, Ramayana, written by the poet Valmiki. According to the Ramayana, Deepavali commemorates the return of Ram, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the eldest son of King Dasharath of Ayodhya, from his 14-year exile with Sita (his wife) and Lakshman (his brother) after killing Ravan, a demon king of Lanka (modern-day Sri Lanka). The people of Ayodhya illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and fireworks to celebrate the return of their king. It. is a festival of lights symbolizing the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness. It celebrates the victory of good over evil - and the glory of light.
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You could actually sing those lines to the tune of that famous Tina Turner song ‘What’s love got to do, got to do with it…’ catchy tune and lousy sentiments, I’ll save my comments on that one for another day.
During my school days the greeting ‘Best of luck’ was a staple and we used it like a mantra. It didn’t really matter whether you were a child or an adult - it was used often and with utmost sincerity. Especially around exam times you would hear it a lot ‘Best of luck’, ‘Best of luck’. Actually, my guess is that this happens even today around the world. I never really gave any thought to it and used it at will, after all it was just a phrase. Then during my teenage years I came across Barry McGuire, a rock & roller who had come to know Jesus as his personal Saviour - was born again - and started singing for Christ. An older brother at church gave me an album of his to listen, it was a live recording of his concerts and tucked in it was a song ‘I don’t believe in luck, I believe in Jesus. I don’t believe in chance, I believe in Him.’
It was great song with a great tune and a simple yet powerful message. It made me think, and the more I thought about it and matched it with my own belief, it made total sense.
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Here is yet another song from me. I have been working on this one since 2005, after the passing away of my Dad. The second verse in this song is for my Dad - even though he is no longer visible to me I live in the hope that I will see him once more time in glory.
The song idea was born out of a song by ‘Damien Marley’ called ‘Road to Zion’ which I liked a lot.
So as usual this is another demo of a potential song for my album
Let me know what you think about it. Thanks for listening.
Click here for the song

I recently posed a question ‘Should Christians do Yoga?. I got some responses both pro & against. As I am researching this whole concept a little more I came across this post by Yogi Baba Prem, Vedavisharada, CYI, C.ay, C.va. While it essentially talks about the ‘Christian Yoga’ phenomenon that has caught the West (silly & stupid to my mind) I invite you to read the post and understand what the origins of Yoga really are and what was the purpose of Yoga. I trust that it will help give you another perspective of a topic that we can embrace rather innocently.
My personal stand is that Yoga & Christianity do not mix. I want you to be clear of my stand and I will attempt to clarify why I believe this as time goes by.
After you finish reading the post by Yogi Baba Prem, do read all the comments that have been posted as well. Let me know what you think
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I love to read, infact sometimes it fries my brains but I love to read - what can you do? Last week I had some time to kill and so sauntered over to the R G Mitchells bookstore. The store was very literally plastered with the lastest book by Max Lucado. If you anything about Max Lucado you would know that he has a way with words. I was introduced to his work through my children, there are many children’s books that he hads authored over the years.
Well I bought 3:16 and I have to say that it is very well written and worthy of the message that John 3:16 conveys. I am on Chapter Seven right now and I could not resist inviting you to buy this book. Listen to this:

Life at times appears to fall to pieces, sometimes irreparable. But it’s going to be okay. How can you know? Because God so loved the world. And,
Since he has no needs, you cannot tire him.
Since he is without age, you cannot lose him.
Since he has no sin, you cannot corrupt him.

Talking about the hard heart of this world and the love of God that continues to penetrate through he has this to say:
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This is a contribution from my friend Rev Kuruvilla Chandy - you can read more from him on his blog

Are you the leader or head of the ministry you are involved in? Right away, it must be said that there is something wrong in your way of thinking. Our Lord said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). First give up the notion that you are the head. Get it into your head that you are the “servant of all .”

Middle class families in India employ servants to do what are described as “menial jobs” (washing dirty cooking utensils, crockery and cutlery, sweeping and swobbing floors, washing clothes, cleaning toilets, watering plants, etc). The Lord Jesus must have had these sort of images because He lived in this part of the world. But when we read the words of our Lord, our minds shy away from these images and to make it doubly sure that such images are driven from our minds, we have coined the word ” servanthood.” This word does not exist in the vocabulary of the English language and cannot be found in any dictionary. Christians made it up. It’s a neat theological trick to drain the Lord’s original idea of all its unpleasant connotations .
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