Mission

We are committed to the principle of Solidarity with Subsidiarity--a decentralized architecture for the body of Jesus Christ  that is not too heavy on the top, while also not being too flat at the bottom for comfort (1 Cor. 11:3; 12:28). 
 
Home arrow Vision
Vision of the Bride adorned with good-deeds PDF Print E-mail
Written by Caleb Motupalli   
Tuesday, 15 July 2008

“His Bride has made herself ready; It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints”(Rev 19:7-8).
“Likewise also that women should adorn themselves … with what is proper for women who profess godliness - with good works” (1 Timothy 2:9-10 ESV).
“As a result of the works, faith was perfected” (James 2:22 NASB).

Servant-in-charge (Acting)I believe the crisis of trust that we are facing today not only in the Church but also in the corporate world and in government, is God sent. When modern technologies are being used to monitor our daily lives causing a rift in the social contract, God is looking for someone trustworthy. So what is that we must build on that will stand the test of any storm of crisis? Most people understand this foundation to be Christ and be satisfied with the born-again experience. But to be precise, our Lord tells us in Matthew 7:24 that it is the wise-man’s rock of acting on His Words [after believing]!


While in our own individual capacity we have to put the Words of Christ into action, the Church as a whole also needs to put them into action. As Brother J. C. Rao says, we have to exercise corporate faith like those who brought the walls of Jericho down. If agape love and honouring those who love us is our call, are we really caring for the lost world around us? As Brother T. E Koshy puts it, are we “scratching them where it itches?” Alas the church can appear as a mere “clanging cymbal” than one that shows true love because we have relegated the aspect of love to the far corners of our church.

We must first scratch them where it itches, win their hearts, and then sow the Seed of eternal life in them. Providing integrated care for the whole man and his environment is the way to go! The legacy care ministry of the church to reach the lost world around us, namely the Door-to-Door/Open Air Ministry, is apathetic to the physical needs of the people. It does not scratch them where it itches. Moreover, it can no longer be the primary solution to reach out with even the comforting Good News to the lost world today. Technologies of today have actually reshaped our lives and culture like never before. More and more people are jumping onto Infoways through Television, Radio, Print and the Internet, rather than onto ordinary roadways. Our neighbours are no longer merely those who stay next door to us but those whom we see needy all over the media. The concept of the local church is becoming more and more irrelevant with the advent of the globalized local, which became a reality through these media. Just for instance, the people of Sudan have become our neighbours and the prerogative of rendering justice and love to them rests with us. As you can see, the need is overwhelming and we can address it only with synergy that unity brings. Since we are the Salt of the earth, the whole earth is our jurisdiction with an “Invisible Kingdom Now” mandate. I believe the winning of the whole world by the Bride is just awaiting fulfilment. Now, in looking for a solution to address this dire need, it is not about putting in place a technology here and technology there and getting connected. But rather using technology as a means for total business transformation to glorify God even as we give secular competition a run for their money.
That we must have a new corporate culture, which would truly reflect the agape nature of the Christ-in-us and actually result in the formation and preparation of the Bride without spot or wrinkle, is not debatable. The question is not what but how.

We have to conduct ourselves prudently like the five virgins who kept their lamps burning, not only to keep our hope alive but also to perfect our faith. Without prudence, hope will die and without hope we too will die. Here is how to keep our hope alive: By persevering to love one another, which is the Commandment of God. This produces character, and character, hope (Romans 5:4). This hope is of glory. And unity, which is the product of love, is a necessity for glory. To be prudent and persevering to love one another means being industrious and putting each of our talents to use and acquiring maximum output for the kingdom of God (Matthew 25). Love's throughput is measured in goods and services (including the service of Good News) rendered, expecting only freewill offerings. When we individually and collectively achieve the greater orchestration of wiping every tear from every eye, then we have achieved our goal. The incentive for conducting ourselves in good works is that even our faith is perfected through them (James 2:22). On the other hand, the disincentive for not conducting ourselves in works of righteousness is that it will render us inconsistent with the fine bright clothing we wear (cf. Revelation 19:7-8).

Orchestration is possible only when there is proper structure and unity in the Body. That we have to be One, has been the prayer of Christ from the beginning (John 17). Our Lord, foreseeing the power-struggle within the body, gave the precondition for the one who wants to be first—he has to be a slave of all. Therefore there is a kind of quasi-democracy within the body, yet without the pitfalls.

However, the legal entity such as a Society is not suitable for the Bride as it is purely democratic (rule by people) and not theocratic (rule by God). It requires consensus to decide on any matter, which would be the negation of Godly leadership, acknowledge Margret Thatcher and Ruth Bell Graham. On the other hand, though we all follow Christ because we trust Him and He is the glue that keeps us together, an entity such as a Trust, is also not suitable. It vests all the responsibility of our salvation that entails following someone, with a few or one. We have a free-will and our salvation is based on the in-working of Christ with the cooperative out-working by each individual as we fulfil our part of the contract. Therefore, the legal entity most suitable for the Bride is a Section-25 Company under the Indian Act. A Company has structure and roles with responsibilities for everyone to exercise their gifts and fulfil their call. God can give new purpose even for our ordinary skills, as He did for Apostle Matthew. The word Company, which is derived from the word Companion, was originally coined from the Latin words com (together) and panis (bread). In other words, Company stood for those who came together to eat of the same bread.
The Bride is really a Corporation (from the Latin word corpus for body, which bread stands for). Or better still, a Conglomerate (made up of parts of various kinds) because we each have a special gift and are from every nation, tribe, people and tongue. In India, where i am from, He is at best a Company! Let us even pay taxes where necessary.

For the purpose of conglomerating the Bride, in keeping with the mind of Christ for the times today, various co-labouring arms of a holding company, say Agape Trust℠ Company, are envisaged:
  • TheBride.NET℠ ecumenical ministry for macroscopic evangelism (air support for grass-root churches who with goodness are battling microscopically)
  • Agape TiE® nervous system for the Bride with a built-in Totally Integrated Environment™ for governing under an “Invisible Kingdom Now” mandate. The one who sits on the Throne is sanctified by the Throne (Matt 23:19)
  • ParadiseGate℠ integrated care for the whole man and his environment, so that even as our light shines, the world sees our good works, believes that Jesus was sent from God and glorifies the Father in heaven
  • TruthUnleashed® multi-media (TV, Radio, Internet, Print) dialog with other faiths so that the Spirit of Truth will be unleashed as a result
  • Skyfeast℠ e-communion to understand one another’s perspective, and to judge and see who is approved of God for the purpose of giving honour, custom, tax and fear to whom it is due
  • COAL—church of Agape Love℠ brand for model geo-local globalized churches where diamonds are found, which co-labour in concert with each other and with regional arms of the Body using Agape TiE® nervous system and thus result in the formation of the Bride that is truly global
  • Softpill℠ a prophetic infoway ministry

You too can contribute yours as needed. A comprehensive business plan awaits our consideration and execution including the setting up of a clinic in Jehovah-shammah to begin with.  Thank you for giving my wife and i an opportunity to co-labour with you. By not respecting our authorities and not loving our subjects all of us have committed sin in the past against Christ and His Bride, respectively. Let us come together as our Ethiopian sister Magdim suggests, in the spirit of Philippians 3:12-15. Brother George Verwer calls this big-hearted, Brother John Piper, being patient with one another.

Thus says the Holy Spirit on 11th July 2008, affirming the legal entity Company for the New-man: Matthew 12:1-8 NASB. (It must be noted that God's messianic kingdom will not begin as soon as the Temple is complete. We must go through the tribulations like everyone else. And like always, God will not take us out of it but will take us through it. Only those who endure till the end will be saved.)

Again thus says the Holy Spirit on 18th July 2008, affirming good works, such as those rendered by a Physician, as a means to bring glory to the God of Israel: Matthew 15:30-31.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 April 2009 )
 
< Prev   Next >
Advertisement

theBRIDE.NET Newsletter

Would-be-bride


Receive HTML?

© 2010 TheBride.net
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.