And Then There Was Jesus: Healing Religious Wounds
()
About this ebook
This book is the story of a devout Hindu girl, a deeply committed Christian young adult, a woman who was on her way to atheism and a woman who fell in love with Jesus. All those people are me. This book is my story.” ~ POOJA CHILUKURI
And Then There Was Jesus is a story which demonstrates that religion simply does no
Read more from Pooja Chilukuri
Unveiling Jesus Through His Passion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Beginner's Guide To Using Supplements Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnveiling Jesus Through His Incarnation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOnce There Was Jesus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Am Beloved Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to And Then There Was Jesus
Related ebooks
Don't Be Called Leaders Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Depression, Where Is Your Sting? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeaving the Land of Numb Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHelmet of Salvation: Armor of God, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWrestling with Doubt, Finding Faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDead and Alive: Obedience and the New Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pit of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJourney to Shalom: Finding Healing, Wholeness, and Freedom In Sacred Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDesperate for Hope: Hanging on and Finding God during Life's Hardest Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMedical Apologetics: The Universe Diagnosed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGospel Community: Embracing The New Kingdom-Family That Comes With Our New Identity In Christ Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnion and Communion; or, Thoughts on the Song of Solomon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeloved World: The Story of God and People As Told from the Bible Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Whole Thing: The Story of the Bible Through Six Images Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Revived Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKingdom Journey: A Call to Recover the Central Theme of Scripture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShameless: Set Free from the Mask Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Be Free Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Retrospect Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTheology of the Cross: Luther's Heidelberg Disputation & Reflections on Its 28 Theses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThunderstruck!: The Deliverance Ministry of John Wesley Today Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Paradox of Holiness; Faith in Search of Obedience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Seed and the Soil: Engaging with the Word of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVulnerable Faith: Missional Living in the Radical Way of St. Patrick Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorkplace Discipleship 101: A Primer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Did I Get Saved?: How Christianity Failed Me But Jesus Filled Me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Left Christianity - What Made Me Change, My Discoveries and An Alternative Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCounseling and Christianity: Five Approaches Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/558 to 0: How Christ Leads Through the One Anothers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRestoration Appreciation: The Rich Legacy and Hopeful Future of the Stone-Campbell Movement Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Christianity For You
The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Brain's Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It's Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind... Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Holy Bible (World English Bible, Easy Navigation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth: Fourth Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Lead When You're Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for And Then There Was Jesus
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
And Then There Was Jesus - Pooja Chilukuri
INTRODUCTION
This book is the story of a devout Hindu girl, a deeply committed Christian young adult, a woman who developed distrust and disillusionment of God (especially the Christian God) and a woman who fell in love with Jesus. All those people are me. This book is my story.
I was a devout Hindu, a sincere God seeker, a dutiful follower of rituals and traditions and committed to raking up good karma for my next life. A series of miraculous events led me to Christianity. I learned to have a relationship with God independent of rituals and traditions. Constant prayers, following Bible principles and seeking after God’s will for my life characterized my Christian life. So far, so good. However, soon the spirit of religion caught up with me. It was disguised as good Christian conduct, self-sacrifice, works of charity, service in the church and the careful observance of every letter in the Bible - as interpreted by church leaders - as a means of gaining God’s approval. Needless to say, not only did it not work, it left me damaged within, wounded in my soul and wanting nothing to do with God - especially the Christian God. Thus ended my Christian life. What (or who) followed next, was outside the scope of my wildest imagination. His name is Jesus.
By making my very personal and private spiritual journey public through this book, I want to reach out to all those who have been spiritually damaged, wounded in their soul and disillusioned by God. I believe that there are many today who are disappointed and deeply hurt by the God whom they have served in spiritually toxic religious systems. There are many who experience Christianity as a burden, whose Christian life revolves around excessive sacrifice and service as the primary means of gaining God’s approval. If you believe that God is displeased with you at the slightest deviation from what your church or pastor preaches, and you have never been consumed by the overwhelming love of God, this book is for you.
I have recorded my journey as it happened. I have not intended to cause any hurt or damage to anyone’s religious sentiments. I write mostly from my experiences with both Hinduism and Christianity - the two religions that have defined my life. This book is my testimony that religion simply does not work. It fails at the very thing it supposedly aims to do: to bring people closer to God. On the contrary, religion successfully drives a wedge between God and man by producing fear and guilt. Religion also aims to bring loving and peaceful conduct between humans through sacrificial acts of service and good moral conduct. Why then has it been so successful in creating factions, inhuman treatment and judgment of fellow humans? Religion does not give us a transformed heart (the place where desire for evil vanishes), a peaceful conscience and a joyful soul, but Jesus does. Religion always compels us to measure up to God’s standards. Jesus compels us to rest in God’s love and His finished work on the cross. Jesus brings the hope that religion cannot give, the hope that you do not have to struggle to be approved by God. He is already deeply in love with you.
My prayer is that this book brings both hope and healing.
THERE WAS HINDUISM
There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing…
–Blaise Pascal
one
OF TEMPLE BELLS
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding…. I woke up to that familiar sound of the temple bell every morning. The sound of the bell was followed by the fragrance of burnt incense sticks. The memory remains etched in my soul - my dad offering his morning prayers to the many gods in our temple at home. The temple bell was like a snooze button on an alarm clock. As soon as I heard it, I knew that there was at least an hour more that I could sleep in. It was in that hour, as I struggled between sleeping and waking, that my dad dutifully offered his morning prayers to Krishna, Hanuman, Shiva and Durga. These were some of the deities whose idols and images were housed in our temple at home. From my bed, I could hear the sound of many chantings: the mantras of Jainism (the way of life established by Mahavira, who was Buddha’s contemporary) and the Hanuman Chalisa mantras (prayers offered to the god Hanuman) followed by the Hare Krishna chantings (prayers offered to the god Krishna). Thus every morning I was introduced to God, a supreme being who could take on many forms and who had many names.
God was someone impossible to avoid. I learned that very early on in my human journey. My very name, Pooja, was a reminder. Pooja means worship. Pooja also refers to rituals that are part of the Hindu worship ceremonies. I was born on the day of Saraswati Pooja, a day set aside to seek the blessings of the goddess Saraswati, in order to receive the gifts of intelligence and good grades in school examinations. I was born in the city of Calcutta, India, where this festival is considered auspicious. This made selecting a name for me very easy. With no second thoughts, my grandfather named me Pooja, a constant reminder that there is a supreme being to whom poojas must be offered. If that was not enough of a reminder, I could not walk a few steps around the block without running into altars that had sprung up overnight. People would claim that they received a miracle or an answered prayer at a certain spot in the middle of the sidewalk. Then they would place a stone and offer ceremonial flowers to it. Before you knew it, there it was - a temple that emerged overnight. Indeed, there was no arguing faith with reason. Besides these little altars everywhere, there were huge temples all over the city. These housed big and powerful deities. Each deity provided a different blessing although they were considered part of the same supreme source. My family needed blessings from the god Ganesha before we ventured into anything new and dared not displease the