From Hinduism to Christ

Recently one my cousins who is a few months older to me and one of my best friends growing up asked me a few questions that led me to write this letter to him. He is a very accomplished individual and had interesting journey of his own like I have. He was born in a family that served the communist party of India(his dad is still active) which led him to Russia as a young boy and he learnt Russian and went through his engineering and then successfully worked in Moscow. After the fall of communism he became a successful business man and currently lives in Dubai with his wife and two beautiful children conducting business in Russia and India. I love him dearly and he always was a great example for me growing up. So read on..

Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to share my faith with you.  Having embraced multiple religions and practices since I was a child, as undoubtedly you are aware, I never felt the lack of God in my life.  It was only until I found myself asking questions at various points in my life like ‘Who is God?’ ‘Who is God to me’? and ‘Is this God I am serving the one true God’? made me look for answers.

I would be honored to send these books to substantiate your research in mail if you would so like:

• More than a Carpenter, by Josh McDowell
• A Case For Christ, by Lee Strobel
• The Jesus I Never Knew, by Phillip Yancey
• Bible (New Living Translation) at http://www.biblegateway.com

It might be of benefit at this point to understand how I came to what is often called ‘the saving knowledge of Christ’.  This is important as I grew up in a god- fearing home since I was a baby and have followed many paths which included Catholicism at School, Hinduism and idol worship at home.  At my mother’s insistence, and by her example, this included the reading of the Gita on a regular basis, worshipping the god Venkateswara.  You may remember, all of us brothers have that in our name.  I followed various ashrams and movements, which included, Aurobindo Ashram,  Shirdi Sai Baba, Vivekananda, transcendental meditation movements just to name a few.  And all this by the time I was 20 years of age!   I also made the trips to Aurobindo ashram, Shirdi Sai baba many times on my own as a kid.

When I came to the U.S. Christianity was the last thing on my mind.  Since I went to private Catholic school all my life, with prayers and assembly every morning before school, close relationships with the brothers and sisters, I honestly thought I understood what Christianity was.  I was heavily involved in temple and ashram activities after I came to U.S. until the defining time in my life when mom passed away quite unexpectedly.  You see, mom was about to come to the States and live with me.  She was my rock.  I shook an angry fist at God and went into rebellion for a period of 18-24 months.  I even kicked out some missionaries who came to my door at Grad school.  The irony of all this, and hindsight is that, God was preparing me to know His Son all this while.

To begin, let me give some conclusions I came to before I elaborate in which I hope to answer some of your very fine questions:

1)      Knowing Christ is a heart change and not a head change.  The head change comes later as the renewal of mind.  For some people it is immediate and others it takes time.  The transforming power of Christ in someone’s life comes through the study of His word and what is called the ‘walk’.

2)      The ‘Trinity’ Father, Son and Holy Spirit were all present before time.  (Genesis 1:1, 26; 3:22; 11:7; Isaiah 6:8)

3)      Adam and Eve are the two first humans on earth.  God created man in His own image. The approximate existence of the world is about 6000 years.  This is contrary to the misleading and often misrepresented findings of Evolution theories. (Genesis 1:26)  Lee Strobel’s book is a great, in depth reference to this.

4)      He created man to worship Him and have dominion over all creation.  (Genesis 1:27-30)

5)      There was no sin in man at that time.  (Genesis 2:25)

6)      Satan (who was an angel and along with other angels, decided he could be greater than God and was removed from God’s court which is heaven.)

7)      There is heaven and hell.  (Daniel 12:2,3;Matthew 25:46; John 5:28; Revelation 20:14,15)

8)      Sin separates man from God.  The ‘fall’ of Eve and Adam in the garden is the beginning of this. (Genesis 3:2-7)

9)      Since the ‘fall’, everyone is born with a sin nature and hence needs a savior.

10)   No amount of good works we do can get us close to God as man’s ‘good’ is not pure and God is pure and holy.

11)   Religion is man’s quest for God, Christianity(as described here, as Christian is a very loosely used word) is God’s quest for man.

12)   Bible is inerrant word of God (authenticity of translation has been proven by manuscript evidence more than any other piece of literature in human history).

13)   Christianity is having a personal relationship with Jesus and there needs to be no other mediator between man and God.  Priests, pastors and denominations are man-made and caused confusion on this simple truth.  Though pastors, elders all have their place in the church and community and mentorship is key to growing spiritually and is modeled consistently through the old and new  testament.

14)   Any worship that glorifies anything other than the God of the Bible is considered idolatry according to Bible, as seen in the first and second commandments listed in book of Exodus.

15)   There is only one way to God and that is through accepting Jesus’ finished work on the cross, who was crucified sinless for our sin and rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven.   John 14:6; John 3:16

16)   Jesus is the Messiah Israel is waiting for manifested in the flesh in His first coming, fulfilling over 300 messianic prophecies.  He will come again to judge the dead and the living and establish His kingdom in righteousness and in so doing will fulfill the remaining prophecies.

17)   There are 66 books in the Bible.  Forty men shared in the writing of the Bible over a span of about 1,600 years from the time of Moses to the last book written by John.  The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, was written about 443 B.C.  The first book of the New Testament, Matthew, was written about 40 A.D. leaving approximately a 500 year gap between the Old and New Testament books. Yet through manuscript evidence and many other archeological evidences, an amazing continuity is firmly established.  Evidence has been produced throughout the history of mankind on the authenticity of the Bible.  As recent as 1947-1956 findings of Dead Sea Scrolls which included pieces of each of the books of the Old Testament, except for the book of Esther.  There are also numerous extra-biblical writings throughout time that authenticate the translations and understanding of the Bible.  A useful antidote I have heard is the Old Testament is Jesus concealed and the New Testament is Jesus revealed.

The above represents truths I have come to know and understand through study.   God got hold of my heart in 1993 and revealed His Son Jesus Christ to me.  The following thoughts share more of my personal reflections, the softer side of my ‘walk’ with God since then.

One of the hardest concepts for me to understand and cope with after I became a Christian was this concept of ‘being born a sinner’.  Mind you, not only sin was a hard concept for me to grasp let alone being born with it.  I only inherit the physical DNA of my parents, but the sinful nature I have inherited from Adam, the first human. That is why no one had to teach me how to be angry at my siblings or jealous of the toy someone else has or disagree and have temper tantrums on my parents.  I was born with it.  It’s a small proof of the inherent sin I had in me.  When Eve (second human God created to be companion for man) first sinned in the garden when Satan tempted her into saying that she can be equal to God, she fell for it and Adam’s sin of omission by not protecting his wife from evil started the cycle of sin.  Until then, in the book of Genesis God tells that man was created in His own image without sin and had perfect communion with his Father.  The sin in the garden broke that perfect communion and separated us from God and the restoration process has since then begun as God is holy and perfect and does not co-exist with sin.  The other account of Genesis is that the profound difference between all other life forms God created and man is the free will to choose and the conscience to know right from wrong.

The price to pay for restoration of this relationship back to where it was, is that someone had to die (the wages of sin is death) and conquer the death (that is why Christ rose on the 3^rd day) and whoever believes in this truth has had their debt of sin paid in full (past, present and future sins).  This is what restores communion with God. It has nothing to do with the good works I do in this world or what I grew up with the concept called karma.  My good works, if anything, are a reflection of the gratitude for what He has done for me, and reflect the depth of my obedience to Him to be His servant in this world.  Nothing I can do earns me communion with the One True God.

Okay, that said, let’s talk about the elephant in the room.  Here are the really tough questions I wrestled with:

1)      Where is my mom? In heaven or hell?

This was a big battle initially for me as I refused to believe she was in hell because of the wonderful sacrificial life she had to live and the good she has done for me and everyone.  I came to understand that as wonderful as she was, she was a sinner just like everyone else, in need of a savior. Nevertheless, I had many sleepless nights and as I continued to get stronger in my relationship with God through the study of the Bible and mentors who allowed me to think and pray on this, eventually a great peace came around me.  I still don’t have the right answer.  The study of Gospel of John and Revelations helped me have peace with this. Secondly, I am not sure if my mom ever had been given a chance to hear the gospel of Jesus explained to her to reveal her Son, but that is not the point.  Though as a Christian, I am to spread the good news of the Gospel, it is not me who decides who gets to know Him and at what time.  That is between God and them.  My relationship with Him is personal and I am the only one to answer when God does give me a chance to answer the question ‘Do you believe I sent my Son to die for your sins so you can have the lost connection restored and have everlasting life with Me?.”  How I am able to answer that central question will decide everything for me.  It is none of my business how someone else answers it.  I am comforted that by Jesus’ own words he states in Matthew 18:14 “In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish”.  I am to intercede in prayer on their behalf but I cannot worry about the outcome.  Worrying is a state of fear and opposes faith, so worrying is really sin as stated in the Bible. I am to bring up my children in the way of the Lord as the Bible commands, but somewhere along the line they have to ‘own’ their faith by accepting Christ into their hearts when He reveals himself to them.

So how do I love my family who do not know Christ in a saving way?  In just the same way Christ loved the people around Him when he walked on earth.  There were believers and non-believers.  There were even believers that after believing ran away from Him and everything in between.  He came to do the work of His Father and obedience to His Father was more important than anything else.  My love for my family became so much more unconditional once I gave my life to Christ that I get to see them through His eyes today which removes all judgment, and I can see them as God sees them.

So where is my mom you ask?  I don’t know.  I do know this much:  God used her in my life to be where I am today.  I am ever so thankful and I pray she is with Him.  If she is with Him then I know that Jesus saved her and she accepted Jesus as her savior.  I know that if I reject the gospel I am going to hell.  Beyond that I am not to speculate, but be thankful for the incredible things she taught me, which God used to reveal Himself to me.  I have special love and appreciation for her role in my life because I understand this truth now.

It is God’s will that ‘none should perish’ (Matthew 18:14) and He wants everyone to be saved, because He is ‘merciful’ and’ just’.   Merciful by sending His son Jesus to do for us what we could not do for ourselves, namely die as a sinless man in our place.  He is ‘just’ because He does not violate His own law which in it He created us in His own image and gave us free will to choose.  So He will give us a chance to choose (Ephesians 2:8.9).  So before I leave this earth, myself and everyone has to answer one question. ‘Who is Jesus to me and am I going to heaven?’ The answer I give better line up with the truth.

2)      What about other religions?

As you know, I used to embrace a polytheistic (many gods) approach to spirituality, but after this revelation I really believe there are two distinct camps that all religions fall into.  One is a man-made, works-driven approach in a never-ending quest to find God and experience enlightenment.  The true heart of a Christian (which has nothing to do with denominations, beliefs, priests etc. though they all have a place) is God’s quest for man for the purpose of redeeming him back to Himself, which man is incapable of doing for himself.  I’ve heard it quipped this way; I had a debt I could not pay and Jesus paid a debt he did not owe.  Realizing no matter how hard I work at it, I cannot close the distance between myself and God, but God has predetermined to redeem me!  And He will use any means to reach me.

3)      Am I better than other people because I know Jesus?

Absolutely not, if anything, this revelation should produce more humility, compassion and gentleness for other people in my heart as I truly understand my state of being separate from God. I am more sensitive to sin than I have ever been as Satan even more hates me because I got it right with God and I am better target for him to chase.  It is in the end a losing battle for him, as the finished work on the cross took care of that.  Satan will be completely annihilated through the second coming.

Having said all this, I claim to be no expert in the Bible, nor I will claim to understand everything, all I know is that I am fortunate to know for sure that I am going to see my Father in heaven when I leave this earth because of the finished work of the cross. So, is Jesus a prophet or Son of God or both? The answers are very clear in the Bible.

I pray that this will in part raise your curiosity further and that you will delve deeper into mystery of grace as presented in the truths of the Bible.  You have everything to gain.  If this is only making you ask more questions and maybe even a little confused, you are right on track.

In Christ and in His love,

Your brother(sinner saved by grace)

Chinna. (aka Venkat)

What’s the Score?

As we wrap up 2011 and expectantly enter 2012, it’s an interesting question to ask, what’s the score?  Given the holidays and all the multitudes of scores we try to keep up with, being sports fanatics, how many of us are asking ‘What’s the score?’ in our personal lives?  My mentor, Orrin Woodward and his latest book, ‘Resolved: 13 Resolutions for LIFE’ covers this topic extensively.  It’s a must read for all who are expecting some great results in 2012 and beyond.

The scoreboard in my life has been both a friend and foe to me.  Friend when it looked good, and foe when it did not, or so I  thought.  Yet the scoreboard is neutral.  It’s a truth-table of events, relationships and tasks.  I am a sinful man, saved only by the grace of God by the finished work on the Cross.  The bible says in Matthew 7: ‘You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.’ So how is scoreboard and fruit connected.

As I scan through different events in my life I have noticed one pattern, I hardly paid attention to the scoreboard.  Or worse, I wasn’t even keeping score and yet wondered why I wasn’t happy with the fruit I was producing.  I’ll give you a couple of examples:  Growing up in India, education and school were such integral part of our upbringing.  If you have Indian friends, it is assumed that people like us are  good in math and science, or at least 9 out of 10 of them.  You guessed it, I was that 1 out of 10.  It takes courage to pay attention to the scoreboard when you know either you are falling short or worse yet, you are going into the game knowing that you are not good enough.  Things like self image and inherent sin in our lives have a lot to do with how we look at the scoreboard.  It is so important to have the right kind of encouragement around you during these times.  Needless to say, the many lessons that I would have learned from the PDCA (Plan, Do , Check and Adjust) process (refer to RESOLVED book), had I known then.  It is not about right or wrong but about having the guts to face the reality of the scoreboard.  Which can only be done if you are focused on the end goal (fruit), seeking the right mentorship and making the right adjustments.  I did finish college with a Bachelors and Masters, but out of brute force of will only to realize that I  had missed so many crucial lessons in the process.  Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for God’s grace in accomplishing the same.

Later in my corporate and business life I realized that whether I was paying attention to the scoreboard or not I was a part of a scoreboard someone was paying attention to.  The ‘employee-ism’ over the years has forced people (or allowed) to delegate the scoreboard to someone else.  This is sad, but true.  For the first few years I was like this.  Later, as I helped start companies, helping them go public, losing to bankruptcies, I learned a lot about keeping score.  I also noticed how we as a society have learned to manipulate and make scoreboards  to our liking.  But make no mistake, the scoreboard in it of itself is not the final score.  The fruit we bear is.  May I cite the Enrons of the world, the entitlement programs, the banking system, so on and so forth.  It’s almost like we legislate the behavior to manipulate it and call it ‘legal’ and in the process abandon the truth. The ‘winning at any cost’, ‘winning is the only thing’, ‘if you don’t win you are loser’ or it’s cousin, victim thinking (even church-going Christians subscribe to this) has brought to bear the central issue that needs to be addressed called CHARACTER. The scoreboard of life is the single biggest measurement of the character we have up until that point and the character development we are going to undertake or abandon by the PDCA process.  My mentor Tim Marks is a master of utilizing the scoreboard to propel him forward in his life.

So how do we make our scoreboard propel us to be the best God wants us to be?

1) Have a dream big enough that it scares you to become the person you need to become and without God’s help it will not come true.

2) Enter into a field or environment where keeping score and PDCA process is the cultural norm.

3) Keep a personal scoreboard.

4) Be accountable to someone who also is chasing a scoreboard and seek mentorship.  Make the adjustments whether it is in character, strategy or relationships.  Remember nothing is fatal, only not paying attention to the scoreboard is.

5) Utilize the PDCA process to it fullest.

6) Give all glory to God.

What I love about LIFE and TEAM is that it is the safest environment to keep score and chase our dreams.  What I love about the leaders of LIFE and TEAM is they are constantly chasing the next dream and implementing the lessons of the PDCA process.  What I love about you is that you are a hungry enough student to read this.

The scoreboard, the wins, the losses, the joys, the heartaches, 2011, 2012, you and me, all of it is a love affair with LIFE.

God bless you and keep you. 2 Timothy 1:7

Venkat Varada

Perspectives – My Journey to TEAM and LIFE

As a brand new Roundtable member in Orrin Woodward’s organization   TEAM, I thought it would be beneficial to give a fresh perspective.  Not only as someone who has had no prior association with TEAM until three years ago, but also as an immigrant from India.

I  believe we often jump to conclusions because we all want to look  smart, feel accepted and validate what information is in our head, regardless of the truth behind it, because that is the truth we believe in.  Its only when new information is brought to light, assuming we are willing to set aside personal prejudices and our pride, can we look at situations and people in a new light. Author Chris Brady and co-founder of LIFE has often said “our world view shapes our belief system”.  I often wonder sometimes, having been exposed to many cultures and belief systems, why some people would call this wisdom.   I think it could be very confusing.  Travellers often talk about different time zones, but I tell you, I have had my share of ‘mind’ zones.

Recently, my wife Lynda and I had the opportunity to visit the Woodwards in Florida as part of an incentive that my mentor Tim Marks organized and it was one of the most defining moments of my life.  Though we have visited the Woodwards earlier this year at their Michigan Sister Lakes estate, this time it was different.  I first heard of Orrin Woodward and the TEAM five years ago and right away I could see that people fell in two camps; those who had the highest esteem and respect for Orrin and those who absolutely did not like him.  There was no middle ground.  This did pique my interest right away, as I  remember reading Rev 3:16 “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth”.  Surely that was not the case, so there was something to this TEAM and Orrin.

When I first heard many of the leaders in TEAM, via cds and meeting some of them at seminars and Leadership conventions, my initial impression was that there was a cult-like following, or so I thought.  As I hung around a little more, I started to realize that there was a culture of edification, (Ephesians 4:29, 1 thessalonians 5:11), that was prevalent in TEAM like I have never seen before in any organized setting, even churches.  It is the cornerstone of the culture Orrin, Chris and Tim along with the other Policy Council members have created.  By this time I  already had some major financial victories in life, and also lost all of it.  If you read our profile on the LIFE testimonial site you can read a summary of my crazy 24 years of journey in the US.  As much as I liked what I was experiencing and we knew God’s confirmation was there for us to be here in TEAM, I had my doubts.  So many times I had extended my hand out, got my hopes up, only to have it slapped down.  My ability to trust had waned and hence my ‘filters’ needed cleaning before I could apply what Team was teaching me.

What really got me was that there was an edge and ‘presence’ in the information that I was getting from Team.  I learned from books, cds, and eventually was able to spend more time with my mentor, Tim Marks.  He and his wife Amy set a wonderful example of marriage, biblical morals and chasing a cause that God had called them to.  My trust began to be restored, first in myself,  that God is not done with me, and then in Orrin, Tim and Chris Mattis.  By God’s grace, in last 18 months we have been able to accomplish and produce fruit in many areas of our lives that we could not in years combined prior to Team.  Lynda and I have a marriage today that for all practical purposes should have ended at least three times.  Our financial status has moved from a massive debt and stress to one that has great peace and fruit.  We have a passion for the cause for one million people community that is on purpose growing in leadership skills, service to the fellow man, inspiring and equipping people to live out their God-given calling.

Back to the visit to Woodwards.  Not too many times have I met people (and I have met a few rich people in my time), where money does not control them. Orrin has demonstrated this over and over through the ups and downs of his business life and I don’t think I  have met anyone who has critics that are as down right nasty.  Knowing Orrin now, and also what God has promised in the Bible for those obedient to His calling, it is just perfect.  Whereas, he built a dream for us through the affluence God has blessed him and Laurie with,  most of our time was spent listening to the master teacher (at his house and on the yacht) from his new book RESOLVED: 13 resolutions for LIFE.  I have not met any millionaires who take that much time to teach on ‘God-given purpose’, ‘Character over Reputation’, ‘Conflict Resolution’ just to name a few. It was like back in India when I was growing up, most of the wisdom was passed on as the younger generation sat around with the grandfathers, great- grandfathers.  They took the time to gather the younger generation and teach leadership skills and wisdom from their experiences. The two days at Orrin’s reminded me of this.  A community that is committed to the rebirth of America, gathered together,  having fun (interestingly no alcohol, TV, xbox or Facebook), learning from the wisdom of people who are chasing a worthwhile dream and walking away with a renewal of mind and heart that demands you to get better as a person, to be of better service to the fellow man and try to fulfill the greatest commandment.

To the critics out there, Orrin is not perfect. He is just a sinner saved by grace and he is the first one to admit it.  TEAM, LIFE and none of the leaders are perfect, but they have barely touched their personal best yet.  While you are at it, you sharpen us and help keep us on the straight and narrow path.  I wish you would not resort to personal attacks, but it is a free country.  To the rest, as the author of Hebrews writes in 12:1-2, ‘Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’

You, me, the critics, the joys, the disappointments, the chasing of a dream, the joy and heartache of personal growth, all of it is truly a love affair with LIFE.

God bless you and keep you. Venkat.