Monday, February 1, 2010

Minnesota Pentecostal Assembly & Some concerns


It’s sometime since I wrote any blog. Lot of things kept me busy during the last few months. Some of you are aware of MPA but some of you may not be. We started a Pentecostal church in Minnesota. As far as I know, it’s the only Pentecostal church in the state which conducts service in Malayalam. We have services held in English and Malayalam. Right now I am giving leadership in this church along with few other brothers. So its keeping me very busy. Keep me in your prayers.

It's exciting as I have always enjoyed being part of something which is getting started or which is very small. It's not the first time when I am part of a ministry which is at its beginning stage. I trust in a God who gives growth and believes that if your motives and intentions are clear in the site of God then He will bless you. It's a different kind of challenge to stand for God when nothing is established. For about 1.5 yrs before MPA started I had been part of some big churches and enjoyed my time there in a different way. It was good to sit and watch. But fellowship factor is main issue. Christian life without fellowship with other people is just useless. Don't take me wrong. Fellowship is a big factor which I missed in churches. In this generation I feel that somehow the meaning of church is understood in a different way than the way it is in Bible. For many people, just attending a church for 1 hr on a Sunday or Saturday is everything. They think that's all it takes to be a Christian.

One particular incident is worth mentioning here for all the readers to understand some facts. I was at a Pentecostal church on a Sunday morning. Since the church belonged to a major denomination, I was expecting that there will be a good message from the Bible which will be my manna for the week. I will elaborate on manna for week sometime later if you haven't got it. Anyway I came crying out of the church. The preacher showed a clip from some movie. Explained the story of the movie. Explained how the hero and heroine got together in the end after going away from each other. I am not joking here. Not even a single verse from the Bible was displayed on the screen. If it was an evangelistic meeting or something of that sort then it would have made some sense. The point is somehow the world has got into the church in a big way. Hollywood has captured the church pulpits also. The word of God is getting pushed to back for making churches "SEEKER-FRIENDLY".

There are many incidents like this to share. But for now back to MPA. Few of us started meeting for prayer meetings and then as per the guidance of Holy Spirit went ahead with MPA. I don't want to go into to much of detail at this time. You can visit www.mnpassembly.org for more information. But we as a church are focused on three areas. They are
  1. Worship and Prayer
  2. Discipleship
  3. Evangelism

Our mission statement is "To make disciples who will make disciples". Discipleship is a subject which is very close to my heart. Right now we gather every Saturday and Sunday for meetings. Saturday meetings are held at a church facility in Eagan, MN. Right now mostly the songs are Malayalam and English. Sometimes in Hindi also. Hindi is my favorite language anyway due to many reasons. If you are looking for growing in the Lord, looking for solid word of God which will challenge you against compromise and fellowship which is not intended to increase church attendance but to help you become disciples of Jesus Christ then feel free to join us. One more thing - we are bit conservative and not liberal. Hope you understand what I mean by it. At MPA we will not customize things to make you feel comfortable in the way you are from a spiritual perspective and from the point of standing for the word of God. At MPA we will pray and try to build each other so that we will grow towards perfection.

Weekly messages and bulletins are updated every week. Feel free to visit us if you stay or come anywhere near twin cities in Minnesota.

Do visit the church website for few more details. www.mnpassembly.org

God Bless You!

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