The Best of all is God with us

  Who will bell the cat? The idiom “Who will bell the cat?” originates from the fable The Mice in Council. The mice decided to put a bell around the murderous house cat so that he could no longer sneak up on them. However, the trouble starts when it’s time to decide which mouse will risk his life to put the bell around the cat’s neck. The moral is clear: making plans for a great outcome is not good enough. It should be achievable despite the risks involved. Otherwise, it serves no purpose. Easter Sunday, April 21, saw a horrific bomb attack in Sri Lanka on unarmed civilians who were in Churches and hotels. I heard the news while at the Methodist Centre, Kumbichangkulama, Anuradhapura. I had gone there along with my wife Sharmila and Rev. Anura Perera, Chairman of the Southern District, to celebrate Easter with the Methodist community. A week before, on Palm Sunday, April 14 th , while I was worshiping with them, we were attacked by a group of young people. It was perpetrated by a...

Straight talk in the Church   A few years ago, I met with two other senior church leaders to have a straight talk with another senior church leader. He had deliberately made his way through a loophole to get what he wanted, and that was disturbing his church. Having started with a general conversation, we moved on to say that we needed to have a heart-to-heart, straight talk with him on the above-mentioned After five minutes, he moved out, saying, "I have another engagement." It seems like one of the dysfunctions in churches revolves around the topic of "hard conversations". Especially we who are pastors have a shepherd's heart, and we do not enjoy difficult conversations. We dread them. They can give us "sleepless nights and knots in our stomachs", which are hard to explain. We are expected to be diplomatic and kind. We are called to extend God’s grace and forgiveness to others. But when it comes to correction, rebuke, or confrontation, to say it’s ...

  And are we yet alive, And see each other's face? Glory, and thanks to Jesus give For his redeeming grace! This is the traditional opening hymn that is sung by all Methodist Conferences around the world. Since 1982, I have been a member of the Methodist Conference in Sri Lanka, and I have sung this hymn heartily ever since. We who participate at Methodist Conferences must ask whether we understand the relevance of this hymn to our Methodist gatherings. I was sad to see this hymn being sung as the processional hymn at a Methodist Conference held recently. Most of those who walked in the procession did not even sing because they had to "watch their steps". The majority of the audience was more interested in watching those going in procession. Only a very few sang the hymn but never smiled or acknowledged the presence of others while singing "And are we yet alive". This shows that even the leadership of the Conference has not captured the meaning or purpose of thi...