Avatar

Origin: Sanskrit 'Avatar' Origin:1775–85; < Skt avatāra a passing down, equiv. to ava down + -tāra a passing over1. Hindu Mythology. the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god. 2. an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life.

OK People I saw Avatar and it was mind blowing in 3D IMAX, I loved the special effect s and it was a digital treat indeed. David, Sarah and I bundled ourselves at around 10:30 in the night to see this spectacular movie, all done it was 1'o clock in the morning, but the cold, snow and the chilly wind seemed worth it to see something really well done. Though it had some new age-y pagan/love nature/ save the planet themes coupled with oppressive American Govt. /White racial-native American exploitation messages; this was one movie that finally was successful in making an alien world completely different and believable. I thought to myself most of the movies are about alien encounters on earth or about some galaxy far-far away, this one to me was the most realistic in showing scale, flora and fauna of an untouched world . Avatar shows us glimpses of an indigenous alien life-form called the 'Navi' whose planetary resources the humans are trying to overtake. The science program creates 'avatar's' for humans to control a new humanoid species (a mixture of human and Navi DNA) with Navi exo-skeleton to interact with them and persuade a diplomatic solution. The marine in the plot becomes a turn-coat and helps the Navi fight the human race to protect their planet.

I am all for being a good steward of the environment and protecting the resources of our planet and treating other races equally along with the message of protecting the weak and stopping the evil forces, yet one needs to know the motive of our hearts and actions are judged by the one who knows all and has seen the parts we are to play or going to play. Just like Jake in the Avatar story has to make a decision in his heart to give the Navi a fighting chance and do the right thing (saving a race and stop the selfish greedy ambitions of the powerful), we are often at cross roads to fight for the right thing and time and again the stories reveal it is the weaker side, with very little hope of winning.

Avatar is a really cool movie, I highly recommend it.

Blessings,

Mind-Map

I love using mind-map, it's a software we use for high level planning, architecting, project outlining and managing... you name it -you can do it. It is the best and the easiest tool I have used for laying out a big picture scenario and breaking it down to the smallest element. As I hammer my keyboards in the late hours of the night, a thought/question comes to my mind if the efforts that I put into planning project goals, tasks and investments can be mapped out why not the entire journey of our lives?.

Maybe I am taking this to an extreme, but my best guess and sure answer is life cannot be neatly planned or packaged into boxes, departments and small level objectives. To an extent in our professional and personal lives we may be able to do so, but we should remember that we live our stories as part of the grander story God is orchestrating. The story has many twists and turns and most of them are unexpected, not intended and sometimes full of pleasant or (not so pleasant) surprises. Life is a combination theatric of happy, sad, melodramatic, joyous, revelatory, mundane and routine events. I could have added a lot more adjectives but you get the point. We are called to live out our stories, engage and participate in the greatest story of revealing the glory of God in all aspects of our lives. A few weeks back Glen Packiam one of our pastors was giving a talk about 'The Advent', he was relating how the coming of Christ in scriptures prophesied Him as the child who will be responsible of the rising and falling of many. Glen brought some interesting points as he concentrated on the 'falling of many' where he picked up the history of Herod the great who in spite of knowing the signs of the age, powerful, knowledgeable and builder of many things failed to give up control and bring his devotion to the coming of the King of Kings. Herod's life story ends in a tragic death. The man who planned and protected his reign so carefully, brutally murdered children in Bethlehem , wanting to kill the new born King of Israel, his pitiful life came to a sad end. The beautiful relation Glen brought out was sometimes we know all the signs, have all the knowledge and carefully are in control of orchestrating all the events we want to shape and size in our lives...perhaps it is time to give up that control and get in the flow of surrender to the one who demands the government of our lives and then say to Him..."Command Lord and help me execute thy will on earth".

Yeshua said "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Hard isn't it? I am still trying to wrap my head around this one :)

Blessings,

Sam Kurien

Chapter Outlines Ready!

God is a paradox so is our life. this is to give you a hint about the book I am writing...nothing more shall be revealed on this blog here...however personal things are here. I just finished the chapter outlines for this book I think I know almsot all of the content at a high level. The hardest part is coming up with a good name or a good title...dodging around, the one that is stuck in my head right now is 'The purpose driven Paradox' mind you..its not a spoof of 'The Purpose Driven Life' but it does sound a little bit 'cheezy' does it? OR should I put out some prize money for coming up with the BEST TITLE. Comments anyone?

Blessings,

Carpe Aeternitatem

Continuing my theme on 'Intimacy and Fear', I long to change my every moment awareness of keeping 'Eternity' in view, change that perspective of short sightedness and replace it with a vision of seeing things through heaven's eyes. One of our Vice Presidents has a favorite story from the movie 'Dead Poets Society' where an English teacher (Robin Williams) is whispering to the boys 'Carpe Diem' which means 'Seize The Day', he goes on to relate this with another story with the phrase' Carpe Aeternitatem' which in Latin means 'Seize Eternity' with a resonating question ...why just settle for a Day?.

The clip below from the 'Dead Poets Society' is where the teacher tells the students we are fodder for worms anyway so we got to seize the day and make a difference in the world. He inspires the boys to make your lives 'Extraordinary'. As a Christ follower how are we to make our lives extraordinary...REPENT, BELIEVE and BE LOST IN HIM.

Dead Poet's Society - 'Carpe Diem' from Sam on Vimeo.

The second clip is from Leonard Ravenhill's famous sermon "The Judgment Seat of Christ" is not a paltry call to mediocrity but a heart-piercing roar for complete and total abandonment to Jesus. This one will terrify as well as inspire you and me to take our lives more seriously ...oh may it be so..."O Lord stamp eternity on my eyeballs and my mind". O transform and renew my mind with the blood of Christ so I can seize eternity with your help.



Enjoy! and be devotinal to HIM with abandonment!

Blessings,

Reflections and Resolutions

The year is winding down and it is time to ponder, reflect and look in the mirror honestly what I have failed to do, what I have done successfully and what the next year's goals and strategies should be. The year personally for me seem to have been a whirlwind as days quickly passed into months and the months rolled away to just a few days that remain into becoming a year.

At work lots of projects have been completed, Nimbusoft continues to be blessed by the Lord with new clients and new ventures and excitingly new possibilities. On the personal sphere Sarah, Hannah and Isaac continue to give me immense joy , laughter , friendship and great moments of being a father and husband. I love it and love you guys a lot. On the spiritual front I have been struggling, a personal observation is I have not been spending a lot of time with the Father and it seems my relationship with Him is always about wanting not waiting. I hope to change that next year in fact 'now'. I long going out for walks into the wilderness, musing below a tree over the running brook or stream. I miss moments of solitude with Yeshua, and these things need to change, I need to get back to that place of longing, roaming and sweet nothings with the Lord. A solid resolution would be for the Lord to help me not to set any idols before me, neither look to the right or left but focus on what He is teaching me on 'Intimacy and Fear'. Another thing I have been missing is writing poetry got to pen some more year in twenty ten, write new songs, psalms and poems. Hopefully even publish something.

Another observation I have to personally make is 'grumbling' on several fronts and not enjoying the moments or the time that has been given and this needs a 360 degree change. Reading lots of books and pursuing knowledge has drained out my time and I need to make an effort to balance that time. I need to set goals of completion coming 2010, things that have been started need to be finished. I need to tap into the reservoir of strength that is in the Lord.

This year has been achievements too..I have completed my comp exams successfully and the dissertation is almost there. 2010 the coveted title of 'Dr.' to my name beckons and of course the not so readiness to pay off those students loans. That brings me the resolution of being a better steward with the wealth and finances God blesses us with, every year has its challenges but I pray that God will continue to enlarge my territory and give me His wisdom to be the better steward of His resources. We have renovated and painted our house plan to finish painting the basement theater room coming year. On the professional front ITIL and PMP, SOA certifications need to renewed. The challenges would be to get new big clients, get into new partnerships for Nimbusoft to develop and launch the product by the end of this year. I am sure will revamp, re-plan and add to this bird's view list and it is a good thing.
I hope I continue to be faithful and have an open mind and attentive ears with a faith to back it up so...Holy Spirit strengthen your servant with wisdom and holy fear to accomplish, complete and encourage others to bring Yeshua the ultimate glory.

Blessings,

Identity

Deep down in each of our hearts is a resonating question "Who Am I?" and "What Am I here for?". These questions how much ever we run, hide, ignore (and even forget) lie in our inner depths singeing a nerve time and again echoing through our core that haunting question which just won't go away. It's a divine hole grafted neatly in our hearts.

I firmly believe one cannot answer those questions unless one knows who God is first, though we cannot define Him, the very fact of knowing Him and believing in Him is the beginning of an understanding of who we are. As we unravel the mysteries of who we are, we slowly also recognize who HE is in us and and who we are in Him. The journey of knowing our identity is so closely related to these ideas that they are also imperative in defining our purpose in life.

To make sense of what I just said, I have chosen one of the best scene's from another movie among my list of favorites -'Gladiator'. The Roman General Maximus was chosen by Marcus Aurelius to be the protector of Rome and entrusted with the task make Rome a republic again. Commodus the immoral son wants to be next Caesar, when he finds he cannot be, he murders his father and wants the allegiance of Rome's most powerful general Maximus. Maximus refuses. We see here two conflicting lives, a man who is not affirmed by his father becomes a ruthless murderer and goes on to be a cruel, foolish dictator; Commodus is a man searching for who he is and is not knowing what he is heading to become. On the other hand we see Maximus is a man who is sure of his identity, his integrity, loyalty and faithfulness all of which win him battles and the allegiance of his soldiers and even that of slaves that fight with him in the sands of the colossieum.

Maximus the Roman general, becomes a sold slave, a slave who becomes a gladiator and a gladiator who finally defies the emperor of Rome. Maximus doesn't know what he can do to save Rome or avenge the murders of his wife and young son, but eventually we go on to see the brave warrior come through. He openly defies the emperor in the Colossieum and when asked about his name and identity he bravely answers "I am Maximum Decimus Meridus, Commander of the Armies of the north, general of the felix legions, loyal servant to the true emperor Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife and I will have my revenge in this life or the next".



Oh what beautiful lines!....he is a man who knows who he is and is defined by the purpose that is closely associated with his identity. The stunned emperor cannot make a decision, he is swayed by a confused counsel and a dark mind. Maximus on the other hand has won the heart of the crowd and the men who fight along with him. He stands tall among men. It is also fascinating to understand though Maximus's life plans of settling and having a life with family have not gone according to a time table or neatly laid scripted out success story, but he lives his life with a purpose of integrity, love and faithfulness. He defines the moments of his life for a larger purpose, though it ends in his death it brings great honor and saving of an empire from a wicked king. The princess comes down into the Colossieum and says "Maximus was a soldier of Rome and he gave up his life for preserving the idea that Rome once was of free men and freedom and he is worthy to be honored". Truly - the lines that say "What we do in life will echo in eternity" is how Maximus lived and that's how we are to define our actions.

Love and Blessings,

Sam

You got to give a little more than you take!

The story of Joseph is a close one to my heart just because of some painful events of my life, I find strength and hope in revisiting this story from time to time. The animation movies 'Joseph King of Dreams' and 'The Prince of Egypt' are my all time favorites, there is something special of how they dramatized it with songs and weaved the story to capture its essence and I think they did a great job with it. I can never stop crying seeing these movies even when they are just animations (its the true stories that reveal the deeper issues of our heart and bring real healing).

We all know the story of Joseph one of the 12 sons of Jacob the Patriarch. He was a special child and had some unique gifts God had given him, mistreated by his brothers he is sold into Egypt. The turn of events in Egypt brings him before the Pharaoh's throne and he becomes second in command, his wisdom and knowledge saves Egypt from disaster and God orchestrates the events of his life to ultimately save his own family. Joseph was only seventeen when he left his home, sold into slavery, almost 15 years of slavery, false accusation, a prison sentence transforms the boy into a man. I like the Bible verse that says "In all that Joseph did, everything prospered because God was with him".

I picked two songs from the movie which resonate so much with what I am becoming and want to become. The first one is the transformation of Joseph in prison, knowing and understanding God knows best and at any given time he knows better than I and I can take rest for He is in control. The song and the visuals will explain the rest.



The second clip is one from when Joseph is now second in command in Egypt and is entrusted the herculean task to save Egypt with skill, conservation, planning and strategy. I love it when Joseph tells the Pharaoh "Answers and wisdom come from God". Joseph's life has been transformed, he sees himself as a small player in the grand scheme and working of Yahaweh and he wants to give his best, contribute to what God has called him for, fulfill what he is to become a saving hand for millions. Joseph rises up to the challenge and ends up saving not only Egypt but the surrounding nations and his own family. When Joseph reveals himself to his brothers his greatest response is "God send me ahead of you all to save us all". Enjoy the clip.



Thanks to kalilahka2007 for uploading these videos on Youtube.

Blessings and Shalom

Intimacy and Fear

This topic has been on my mind for quite some time now, as I run through the mundane routines of managing a business, job, family and completing a PhD program, this theme echoes in the back of my mind, as to how am I to live a life of intimacy and fear of the Lord.

Yeshua said “Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). I have for quite some time explored the concept of holy fear of the Lord, some of my favorite passages here reflect its utmost importance in the life of one who is in an intimate relationship with the Lord. The holy idea of the “fear of the Lord” is mentioned about 27 times in the scriptures and there are dozen more passages that relate to the fearing of God. Some of my favorite ones are right below:

Deuteronomy 6:24
The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.

Deuteronomy 9:19
I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the LORD listened to me.

Joshua 24:14
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

Job 28:28
And he said to man, 'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.' "

Psalm 19:9
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.

Psalm 25:12
Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

Psalm 25:14
The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.?
Psalm 27:1[ Of David. ] The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 34:7
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

Psalm 115:13
He will bless those who fear the LORD— small and great alike.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Obviously the “fear of the Lord” is not something that is just trembling in the presence of an angry dictator or person in power but it seems to be much more, it is coupled with meanings I just can’t explain but can attribute things likes holy reverence, holy praise, holy devotion, complete surrender and complete trembling(real fear) at the awesomeness and power of being before the most Holy God just because you know who He is and your heart knows deeply that He is worthy for it. Holy Fear from the believers heart to Yehovah brings with it great merits like friendship with God, beginning of knowledge and wisdom, instruction, discipline and way to righteous living. The Scriptures makes it to point that fear is also closely related to intimacy with God and hence my topic. How can you be intimate with God and at the same time be in trembling Holy fear? What is the balance of these attributes and how are we to walk this balance before a awesome, consuming fire God. A intimate relationship is not something that happens instantly, it takes time, spending time and investing time. Fortunately for us God in His mercy took the first step and He remains waiting on His throne and even sometimes knocking on the doors of our hearts for us to respond.

The response is what I am interested in, the invitation of being in a relationship with Him is open to us. For some of us we may be far ahead than others in the or for some we may never have been in a relationship with Him and again for some it has been a lukewarm for some time. Nevertheless wherever we are in whatever stage of that relationship, our response to Him is of paramount importance and I think one of the favorite way He takes pleasure in is for us (be it in the role of children or that of a bride) is coming before Him with a response of “Intimacy and Fear”.

In the journey of Exodus the children of Israel camp at Mt. Sinai, they have seen the wonders of Yahweh and His miraculous deliverance, provision and protection but they haven’t still entered with Him into a relationship of intimacy and fear. When God invites all of them to come up to Mt. Sinai, the congregation encourages only Moses the mediator to go up to God on the top of the mountain but they themselves want to remain in the valley and wait for instructions that God will give to Moses. You can read the account in Exodus, it seems the children of Israel are not in holy fear but a natural fear of “we are sinners” and we should distant ourselves from a Holy God, or perhaps the fear was a fear of distrust that a Holy God will destroy them. I personally think the latter is true as they tend to not accept the invitation and persuade Moses to go up to the mountain. They are afraid of the presence of God on Mt. Sinai. Let’s now contrast that with Moses, he has had a relationship, he is been leading the people with God’s help and his personal longing is to be in the presence of the Lord at all times. From scriptures we gather he long to see the form and face of God, to touch Him, obey Him and trust Him. In the tent of meeting this man’s face becomes radiant, the light and the afterglow is on his face long after he stops talking with God. This is a man growing old enjoying intimacy and fear. This is a man with whom God talks like a man would talk to a friend. In this relationship we see God Himself taking responsibility of in protecting Moses' honor, provision, and protection. God transforms the man to become the meekest and the most humble man on the face of the earth, and at the same time radiant, full of wisdom, a great leader who is a friend of God.

I cannot help but think about the relationship between Queen Esther and the Persian king Artaxerxes. I again suspect this book of history God planted in the Bible is for a reason - for us to understand the concept of “intimacy and fear”.

Queen Esther was brought into the Palace of King Artaxerxes and was to be presented before him. She is taken by the eunuchs and palace maids for beauty preparations, preparations that took almost a year. Finally when the queen is brought before the King she stands trembling in fear, anticipation, and expectation. The scepter extended the King looks upon her with favor, but she requests the only thing that is precious to her is his company, his presence and nothing more even when the King promises up to half of his kingdom. Intimacy and fear in action. Esther caught the attention of the King, she not only got his favor but she became his confidant, friend and a queen. Queen Esther is able to save the fate of her people, she grows into the role for time called such as this. I like it when Mordechai her uncle requests her help to save her people from the evil intentions of Hamman to destroy the Jews, he tells her "If you dont speak up to the King...God will bring salvation to His people from somewhere else but you are called for a time such as this" (Paraphrase mine). Queen Esther becomes not only the queen but the saving force God uses in the fate of a nation.

Hannah the mother of prophet Samuel was barren and was mocked in the society of her time for not bearing children. She goes up to the temple in Jerusalem and is standing in desperation before the Lord praying, asking, yearning and above all the Bible re-tells she stood trembling before the doorposts of the Lord so much so that Eli the high priest mistook her for being a drunk woman. Hannah cries out to the Lord standing before the King of the Universe with her request, a child drawn into intimacy and fear is able to stand boldly before the King of heaven to present her request. She too catches the attention of the King so much so the barren Hannah bears a child the following year. As promised and overwhelmed with the graciousness of God she responds by giveing back that child to God for His service, but later on in the story we see Hannah goes on to become a mother of five children for the Lord of Hosts will not be out given.

Intimacy and fear is rare combination of a unique balance, it is something that is given to us as a gift from the Lord and at the same time I suspect it is something we need to nurture over time and space as we delve into, struggle with, tug along, enjoy in Him by living and being with Him in the journey of our life. It’s a combination of not only respecting, revering, obeying and being in the awesomeness trembling fear but it is also being in love, a love that is exciting, adventuresome and that of great hope is its nature.

I could perhaps go on expressing what this all means, but it is time I stop, trying to distill and digest what the Lord is teaching. I am in waiting, in holy fear and in the intimacy of the Lord.

Love and Blessings,

Sam