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EDITORIAL MESSAGESouls Through God’s Word

“In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” Ephesians 1:5

Dear Readers,

Have you ever felt yourself as unimportant and trivial? It is absolutely wrong to underestimate yourself. Because as a child of God, you are very special. The word of God says “He chose you in Christ Jesus even before the foundations of this world.” As a believer you are redeemed, saved and sanctified by the blood of Jesus. And God has sealed you with His Holy Spirit. We should not underestimate these spiritual blessings which God has lavished upon us.

In this issue of Truth Alive, you will be affirmed that you are called into a relationship with Christ. A relationship with Christ always involves obedience to Christ. Those who obey the commandments of God without compromise have Christ revealed to them in a way that the carnal Christian can never know. God has given us the indescribable gift of Jesus. God has invested this “gift” in our mortal bodies, so that we can share the “gift of eternal life” in Christ with others.

From this issue of Truth Alive, you will comprehend that God’s grace doesn’t give us the freedom to sin. As we are saved through grace, we are dead to sin and are alive with Christ. As believers the power of sin is broken in our lives. You may have dedicated your life for several legitimate causes. But you should be cautious about whether you are overstraining yourself and missing out the core area where God has called you to put your focus . It is God’s will that we cut away the unnecessary branches so that the vital juice that produces fruit can flow to a specific area which God has ordained.

Through this issue you will be challenged to think about the millions who are denied the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. God is looking for people who can stand in the gap to rescue those who are victims of extreme poverty and deprivation. As you read through, may God’s word quicken your hearts into action. And may you be strengthened in your walk with the Lord.

3April 2013

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Dr. David H Mills

Contents

Christy Davis

19

4

Digging Deeper

11John Stanek13 Dr. Jon Marshall

Training the Next Generation

Our Identity in a Dark World:

Feature

Relationship Leads toRevelation

AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Time to Cut Away Branches

“Is God Into Social Justice”

26 Ines S Franklin

Superstitious Beliefs andPractises in India14

23 Rev. Barney Kinard

The Unspeakable Gift

You Belong to Jesus

4

Dr. David H Mills

April 2013

Training the Next Generation Pt 1

he natural world is a pattern for the supernatural world. Both share the same Author. God made Teverything to reproduce “after its kind.” Then

Adam and Eve were commanded and empowered to reproduce and multiply themselves and fill the earth. The same charge and command has been given to us regarding the Kingdom of God. After the resurrection Jesus said, “All authority is given to Me. Go, therefore and disciple the nations…” i.e. reproduce ourselves in every nation of this world.

Many churches today focus on their own personal success and growth. This can be good, however its thinking does not go far enough, we need to be thinking about the next generation and its success as well.

If the apostles had only been concerned with reaching their own generation… we would not be here! They, like their Master, raised up leader after leader to transition the first generation of leaders into next generation leaders. These leaders then passed on their faith, hope, and love to the next generation, and so on. Apostle John raised up Polycarp. But Polycarp was martyred at the age of 86. Who would carry on the next generation? We know that Ignatius and Irenaeus followed after. The light of the Gospel passed on to the next generation. Each did their job passing on their leadership to others.

Paul records 4 generations of how we pass on our leadership in 2 Timothy 2:2.Paul committed his teaching to Timothy. Timothy passed it on to the “faithful men.” Then the “faithful men” passed it on

stthe “others”. This adds up to four generations; Paul (1 ndgeneration) to Timothy (2 generation) to “faithful

rd thmen” (3 generation) to “others” (4 generation). See it? This process of reproducing ourselves is actually something we see during our lifetime. It happens

while we are still alive. We do not pass it on after we die as with a legacy, like Moses to Joshua or David to Solomon or may be even a father to his son. No, rather, Paul raised up leaders who, while he was still alive, were passing on their lives to others as well.

Paul planted the Ephe-sian church, and the Ephes-ian church planted Laodicea

“All healthy organisms reproduce. It is in their DNA to look beyond themselves to the next generation, or their species dies.” Bob Roberts

and Colossae in the Lycos valley. Paul admits he never saw the believers or leaders of Colossae. Titus was called to raise up elders in every city of Crete whom Paul would never meet. Paul worked with several leaders who had passed on their leadership during the 30 years of his ministry. So when Paul came to his time of dying, he said he “finished the course and the work God gave him”. In what way was that true? It was not accomplished in the idea that he was passing on his leadership to Timothy, now that he was dying, as his way of a legacy. His real legacy was that he left behind leaders in every city who reproduced themselves in others who also reproduced themselves in others!

Here is the rub. Today we have many pastors and leaders of organizations who have not trained up anyone to replace them. They have not “reproduced themselves”. This second generation leader-in-training is the key to the true success of their church or organization. In most organizations it is typical that once the first leader dies…THEN their leadership is passed on in position and power to another. This is what most present day churches think is”reproducing their leadership”. Sadly it is not!

5

K n o w Y o u r B i b l e

April 2013

Ecclesiastes

Paul was in Thessalonica for three weeks and during that time he”gave away” (passed on) his leadership. He was with them day and night for an intense period of modeling and training. That would be somewhere between 200 to 300 hours in those three weeks. Wow. He was very intentional and careful as to how he did this. Think about what 200 hours of training and pouring your leadership into another leader would accomplish. How many weeks or months would that represent? For most of us we train leaders in monthly meetings or may be even weekly training. 200 hours in weekly training would take almost 4 years. If we calculate it in months it would be over a decade!

When we first hear three weeks, we may not see the intensity of Paul and his amazing skills in reproducing himself so rapidly. But he spent night and day before their eyes and ears. He was a mother and father image loving and nurturing them. This crash course was one life to several until they actually understood how to lead the church and reproduce their lives in others. Once they learned this skill their testimony was sounded abroad like thunderclaps to their entire area. They saturated their community with the Gospel. They were a model church to the other churches of that era. Read 1 Thessalonians: 1!They were also tested by

persecution and were found capable of standing the fire of angry hostility. Paul was worried about them, but once Timothy reported their faith and commitment he relaxed and sighed a deep breath of relief. The church was well and strong. This amazing testimony is only because Paul wisely and effectively passed on his life and leadership to others. They now had a future that outlived Paul’s time with them.

This is what we need to do. I first pass on the vision of it to you, begin thinking of your leadership in a new way. Your church or organization needs you to think ahead and begin training other men and women to take your place. Let them see your example of virtue and godliness. Next they need to see your ability to train others to take your place. Do not be afraid of this direction. I know many worry that an Absalom will steal their church or kick them out of leadership. This can happen, however it also can happen even if you try and hold on to your position. What good is it then to fearfully hold on to your power as if your grasp will stop all efforts of others to overthrow you? We will always have to possibility of facing a Dathan and Korah, or Sanballot and Tobiah.Diotrephes still lives. But this is happening today regardless of how careful

continued in page 6...

Author: Solomon

Date of Writing: B.C 935

Purposes:

1) To warn the future generation about the danger of depending on one’s own knowledge and strength without acknowledging God.

2) To show that life without God is meaningless and that it ends in despair.

Key Verse: 12: 13

Key Person: King Solomon

Brief Summary

The book depicts the personal experiences of King Solomon, during his reign in Jerusalem. We come to know that Solomon lost much of his wealth and money, when he committed sin and walked

away from God. The book of ecclesiastes is a monument to Solomon’s recommitment to the living God.

Outline

1. The search for the chief good in wisdom and pleasure (Ch. 1,2)

a) The quest for wisdom and pleasure (1:12- 2:11)

b) The comparison of wisdom and pleasure. (2:12- 26)

2. The search for the chief good in business (Ch 3-5)

3. The search for the chief good in wealth (Ch 6-8)

a) The quest for wealth 6: 1-12

b) The quest for the golden mean 7:1- 8:15

4. The conclusion of the search for the chief good (Ch 8-12)

6 April 2013

we are to protect our positions and titles. Why then should that stop us from doing what Christ did, what the apostles and Paul did? If we focus on the people who may sabotage us we will never go forward. Let’s focus on the leader who will be faithful. Let’s see the potential in another person and teach them all we can and reproduce ourselves in others! For every one or two that may be a problem there will be ten or twenty

that will be a joy!

Father, thank You for Your Son and His vision of training the twelve. Thank You that He did this even though one of His trained men was a traitor. Thank You for His secure leadership allowing His own training to be sabotaged but not stopped. Make us like Him and help us to stick with the vision of reproducing ourselves in others. Thank You that the eleven went to the whole world. Your plan does work. Now work it out through our leadership. In Jesus Name, Amen

continued from page 5

Training the Next Generation

7April 2013

“Is God Into Social Justice”

Christy Davis

t was Thanksgiving Day, November of 2007. I was sitting in my in-laws house in Illinois, USA. It was a cold November morning. My stomach was sick I

and I could feel the weight of the world on my shoulders and the intense sadness of my heart. I had hit a wall with God. I had been exposed to something bigger than me – bigger than my understanding and it was making me question God.

I had traveled to Nigeria and had returned the week before Thanksgiving. I saw poverty from the moment our group stepped off the plane in Abuja to the moment we got back on.

50% of the world’s poorest people live in the sub-Sahara African nations.

We met widows and orphans.

145 million children have lost one or both their parents. Over ½ the orphan population is under the age of 12.

We met Christ followers who barely had enough to eat and lived in dire conditions.

There are 7 billion people in the world today. A quarter of the worlds’ population lives on less than $1.25 per day.

1/3 of our worlds’ children die from malnutrition thbefore their 5 birthday.

As I sat in that warm room, in the shelter of a home, including the safety and protection of people who love me, I was crying out to God “WHY is this so unjust? Why must people suffer and live in poverty? God, where are you in all this?”

Is God into Social Justice? This question was important to me then, and it’s even more important to me today. Is He???

In 2011 I was in Haiti. I saw the effects of the earthquake from Jan.10, 2010.

They range from homelessness and hunger to an unprecedented orphan crisis.

Relevant Magazine reported that, 50% of the 3.7 million people who were impacted by the earthquake are under age 20. The lack of education of Haitian

children is one of their biggest problems. In fact the lack of educational opportunities around the world perpetuates the cycle of poverty. In 2008, 69 million children did not have or were denied access to education.

I began asking “What is God’s heart?”

Psalm 41:1 Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble.

Proverbs 21:13 Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.

See His heart again in Deut. 24:17-22 True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt. Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command.

”When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all you do. When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. When

continued in page 8...

8 April 2013

“Is God Into Social Justice”

you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don’t glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt.

God asked the people to REMEMBER where they had come from and what He had brought them out of. Where have you come from…how has God blessed you?

Gleaning – He asked them to leave things behind for the marginalized. It was His desire to provide for those in need through His people. May be today it would look like this: as God provides for our daily needs, do we use it on ourselves or do we look for someone in need? God was asking his people to sacrifice for the sake of others.

Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.

Proverbs 31:8,9 Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.

Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

God’s heart is for the oppressed, the poor, for justice and for their rights.

God has taken me to places like Nigeria, Haiti, Philippines, Mexico and India. In doing so, He has challenged me to search out His heart for social justice and invited me, as a Christ-follower, to align with Him.

The best definition of the word Social Justice that I could find is this:

Social justice is the application of the gospel in word and deed. This dual proclamation of God’s Kingdom combines the message of the gospel with the power of the gospel for the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being of people created in the image of God.

Long before it was ever popular to care for this world’s disadvantaged…the Church of Jesus Christ was fully engaged in the world. Long before governments ever got involved the Church was already in poor places all over the world, building orphanages, hospitals, schools and housing.

Churches—thinking creatively and working strategically—have done and are yet to do amazingly redemptive things. Governments have their role. Charitable organizations have theirs. But no entity has the reach, the placement and the backbone to meet the needs of the poor, as do the churches located in the world’s poorest communities.

Dr. Scott Todd, Senior Advisor to Compassion International writes this:

Much of the progress that has been made against the realities of extreme poverty is because of the

Church. They are the ones who sunk wells, taught sanitation, enabled health screenings, instructed in nutrition, distributed food, taught planting, encouraged education, rescued children from abuse and trafficking and facilitated micro-enterprise.

There simply is no organization on the globe with the placement and the reach to deliver strategic aid and give hope like the hundreds of thousands of Christian churches around the world. And I know they are poised to do even more.

While the Church is well on its way, there are still huge needs in our world and in our communities. Where do we start?

- We must search scripture and acknowledge our part in this.

PRAY for a heart of compassion that moves you to action!

- We must confess our sin. Sin of loving our money, holding onto it tightly and becoming blind to the world around us.

- We must involve ourselves personally- knowing, going, praying and giving

1 John 3:17, 18If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

Take on this motto “live simply so that others may simply live”. All of us have much to contribute. It doesn’t matter where we live or what we have. It matters who we are, where our hearts are aligned and how we function out of that. The most generous people I have come to know are people that in the worlds’ eyes, have nothing.

Look for ministry places where God is moving and get connected. Pray for God’s guidance on how to engage!

You and I were made to bring God glory. He invites us to become his advocates for those in need. He is looking for people to stand in the gap on behalf of those in need. The question is…will we?

continued from page 7

9

Pastor. Mike Harrison

April 2013

Relationship Leads to RevelationTo him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which

no one knows except him who receives it. (Rev. 2:17)

idden manna speaks of relationship. Under the old covenant, during the wilderness wanderings God fed the people with manna. H

The word manna literally means “what is it?” Though the Lord had told them that He would feed them with, “bread from heaven” (Ex. 16:4), when they first saw it covering the ground they queried, “What is it?” (Ex. 16:31). Later, Moses instructed Aaron to put a jar of manna inside the Ark of the Covenant (Ex16:33-34, Heb. 9:4). This hidden manna, which had daily sustained them physically in the wilderness, was to be placed inside the Ark, where their sins were annually atoned for spiritually. All generations were to know that it was Jehovah who was their sustenance, both physically and spiritually.

Manna is also discussed in the new covenant, by Jesus, in the gospel of John. On the day after Jesus fed the five thousand, Jesus addressed the Jewish crowd that followed Him, and said, “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:31-35).

In most cultures around the globe, sharing a meal has always signified relationship. God fed the wandering band of Hebrews for 40 years because He wanted a relationship with them. His relationship with them was based upon their holiness—”You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy (Lev. 19:2).” The word holy means “set apart/other than.” Jesus was completely holy. Those who come to the Father must

come through Jesus (John 14:6). And when Jesus becomes their spiritual bread, the Feeder’s life becomes the feaster’s life. The deeper our relationship with Christ becomes the more set apart we will become from this world.

While the hidden manna speaks of relationship, the white stone speaks of revelation. Several suggestions have been offered as to what this white stone represents. Of all the suggestions I have read the following seems to fit best. It is said that in ancient days friends would each write their nickname on one half of a stone. (The names written on the stone were names that they had given to each other, revealing something specific about the friend that few, if anyone else, knew.) The stone would then be broken in half, the halves exchanged, and the name of the friend would be carried around by his companion for life. Even a person who was friends with each of those who possessed halves of the stone would not know who the nickname represented. It was only known by the one who had received the stone.

continued in page 10...

10 April 2013

Mary Pickford

DINNER WAS OVER. The lovely hostess and her guests were in the library, talking.They chatted idly for a while, of gay and lively things; but soon the conversation took a more serious turn.They talked of personal setbacks and misfortunes, and of the great need for courage and faith in overcoming such experiences.

“I have a philosophy that I have evolved over the years,” the hostess told her guests. “It has helped me through every heartbreak and discouragement, has stood by me through every unhappy experience.”

They urged her to tell them about it. And she confided in these good friends her secret of calm serenity, of rising above every distressing circumstance... of going on with courage and hope, no matter what happened.

The hostess was Mary Pickford. Among her guests that evening was the editor of a national magazine, and he became more and more entranced as she talked about her philosophy of life. Here was a world-famous personality, a woman of great beauty and talent, who had achieved such dazzling success as comes to few in a lifetime. She had known wealth, fame, honor, devotion. But she had known disapp-ointments as well. She had faced unhappiness in her personal life, and bitter disillusion. Yet she had come through every experience serene and composed, radiantly sure of herself and the road ahead.

Surely the philosophy of such a women would be interesting and helpful to others. The editor asked her to write an article for his magazine, expressing her views and beliefs.

So Mary Pickford agreed to write the article. And later, after the guests were gone, she began to think

THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER CHANCE...THIS THING THAT WE CALL “FAILURE” IS NOT THE FALLING DOWN, BUT THE STAYING DOWN

about what she would say in it. First of all, she would emphasize her faith in God, and show how faith gave her courage to meet the trials and disappointments of life. She would explain how she looked upon unhappy experience as a turn in the road - an end, but also a beginning. Above all, she would try to make her readers see that life always held promise, that there was always another chance for everyone, no matter how hopeless things might seem. This last, she felt, was very important for those seeking a serene, confident way of life. She began to write it down....

Today is a new day. You will get out of it just what you put into it.... If you have made mistakes, even serious mistakes, there is always another chance for you. And supposing you have tried and failed again, you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down.

Mary Pickford’s article appeared, and created something of a sensation. The way letters poured in amazed even Miss Pickford, who had once, at the height of her career, received more mail than anyone else in the world.

Because of the unusual interest in the article, it was published in the form of a little book, Why Not Try God?, which was widely circulated.

“You are never beaten unless you give up,” is the gist of Mary Pickford’s stimulating message. “You may have a fresh start any moment you choose.”

George Moore says “So long as one does not despair, so long as one doesn’t look upon life bitterly, things work out fairly well in the end.”

The reason Jesus emphasizes relationship and then revelation to this compromised church is because a deeper relationship with Christ leads to a greater revelation of Christ. Jesus’ words in John 14:21 depict this truth; “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father (Relationship), and I will love him and manifest Myself to him (Revelation)”. Relationship with Christ always involves obedience to Christ. Those who obey the commandments of God

without compromise have Christ revealed to them in a way that the carnal Christian can never know. Obedience is imperative, and obedience is also our voluntary act of love. In 2 Timothy 2:19, Paul, exhorting young Timothy to guard his flock, shared the two sides of the Christian life: “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His (The believer’s position),” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity (The believer’s practice)”. Without holiness” the writer of Hebrews stated, “no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).

continued from page 9

Relationship Leads to Revelation

Courtesy:Light from Many Lamps

11

Dr. Jon Marshall

April 2013

A Commentary on Ephesians

Our Identity in a Dark World:

Ephesians 1: Introduction and Outline

phesians is a book about identity and power. It answers questions like: “Who am I?” “Why am EI here?” “Is there hope in this world?” “How can

I thrive in a world as corrupt as this one?” “Am I doomed to a destiny determined by outside forces?” “Can I get free from the voices and nightmares and terror I feel in a spooky spiritual way?” The book was written for people like you and me. It was written into a world similar to ours with people who had the same questions and problems that we have. And it gives hope.

As you study this book think about the kind of life situations it speaks into. Who do you think needs to read this book? What kind of a person would benefit from it? Who specifically in your life should know what Paul is talking about?

Rene is a friend of a friend of mine. As a high school freshman Rene has real problems. She was first sexually abused by a relative before she can remember. She knows it’s true because he continued abusing her till she was ten and would constantly remind her that abuse defines her. Other relatives have joined in the abuse. It’s mostly sexual, but there’s also physical and verbal abuse. The three main men in her life (father, uncle, older brother) repeatedly remind her that she’s ugly and dirty. She’s a sexual victim. As a way of coping she began cutting while still in grade school. Normally she writes the names of abusers or the comments they make about her into her legs. She’s also tried to cope through anorexia, bulimia, sexual risk-taking, and suicide. The voices taunt her, telling her she’ll never escape. The voices sometimes sound just like her uncle’s, or brother’s, or dad’s, and sometimes they sound totally different. She can’t tell if they’re inside her head or outside it. She only knows she hears them loud and clear. The voices often make it impossible for her to sleep.

Coming to church has helped. She tries to make sense out of her situation, but numbness is the main emotion she feels. Instead of addressing her issues head-on she’ll escape, talk about other people’s problems, and ignore the depth of crap she’s gone through. She can’t handle facing it. People have tried to convince her that she’s not who those men have said she is. They’ve tried to dig her out of the hole. But she can’t believe it. For too long she’s been defined as a sexual victim. For too long she’s heard the message that she cannot fight and if she tries she will lose. Ephesians was written for Rene.

Outline

In this section I’ll typically give you a simplified outline of the chapter and then my big idea statements for each paragraph. The hope is that you’ll have something that gives the big picture of how everything fits together and then something with a little more specific content. At the end I’ll make a few simple comments to summarize the chapter.

Here’s a simple outline of the chapter. I’ll use first person (“I” and “my”) to speak on Paul’s behalf.

I. Hello Ephesians, this letter is from Paul. I pray for God’s grace to come to you. (1:1-2)

II. Praise God for an amazing redemption of his people! (1:3-14)

A. Praise God for every blessing…that I’m going to mention! (1:3)

B. Praise God for choosing and predestining us to be adopted! (1:4-6)

C. Praise God for forgiving us and revealing his plan to us! (1:7-10)

D. Praise God for choosing and predestining us! (1:11-12)

E. Praise God for sealing us with his Spirit! (1:13-14) continued in page 18...

12 April 2013

n seventeenth-century France, both politics and religion were in chaos. It needed someone I

extraordinary to turn things arou-nd. That someone was Vincent de Paul, a lively and energetic man, born in humble circumstances in Gascony in the south of France. He was eventually to dominate life in Paris, in the courts of kings and cardinals. He convinced noblemen and women to work for the poor and the sick. He persuaded the worldly and selfish clergy to reform their lives. And he became the bridge builder between social classes, between Protestants and Catholics, and between politicians and Church leaders.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL

Vincent was not always so unselfish. As a young man he was ambitious and adventurous. His father had to sell some of the family farm to pay for Vincent’s studies in Toulouse, after which he entered then priesthood. After ordination, he was left some money in a will, but was cheated of it, and scoured the Mediterranean in search of the embezzler. On the high seas he was captured by pirates, and sold as a slave to a Turkish alchemist in North Africa. He escaped and met up with an influential Italian priest who introduced him to the Papal court in Rome. From there he was sent to the court of King Henry IV in Paris. At this point, Vincent could have settled for a life of comfort.

But the young priest found he was living in two contrasting worlds, the privilege of the few and the

There was no human suffering that he did not seek to relieve ... and his single-minded goodness and generosity stirred a like generosity in others. - Donald Attwater

poverty of the rest. The Queen, Margot of Valois, appointed Vin-cent her chaplain and adviser, and took him to see her charitable works - the hospitals in Paris. There he saw the sick, the dying and the dead, all huddled together in squalor. Shocked, vincent was tempted to retire to a simple parish near his family, but a meeting with Peter de Berulle changed his life. Peter de Berulle told him to look at God, not at himself.

Vincent was transformed. He became consumed with concern for the poor and with a determin-ation to heal the wounds of the Paris in which he lived, with its family feuds, religious prejudice and scandalously degenerate

clergy. He found he had a great talent for organisation. After Mass he would send his parishioners to visit the sick and take gifts to the poor. He used his influence in the royal and noble courts to initiate ‘meals on wheels’, famine relief, child-care schemes and hospital visitors. To help him in this work, he founded two religious orders to spread these activities throughout France and beyond.

After forty years of organisation, reformation and supervision of his religious foundations, Vincent spent his old age writing to his sisters and brother priests. He encouraged, comforted, admonished and praised them. Over 4,000 of his letters have been kept. They bear witness to his humble and saintly humanity.

Courtesy:Christians Who changed the World

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John Stanek

April 2013

AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH

o you realize that God created us to be physical beings for eternity? Even after we die and go heaven our spirits will one day be D

reunited with our bodies and in some mystical way that we do not understand yet, our bodies will function differently in that we will no longer have a propensity to sin, we will never again be sick, and we never again will weep. The Bible calls our new bodies ‘spiritual bodies’ or ‘glorified bodies.’ We will live in these bodies for eternity with Jesus in the new Jerusalem that will be located on the new earth God will create for us. It will be sort of a new garden of Eden, the Paradise speaks of in Luke 23:43. Did you also realize that Christ’s situation has been changed also, because of His decision to die for our sins? He now is in heaven (the abode of spiritual beings, that is, angels and God the Father Himself) and He still dwells in the body that He had here on earth, except it is a glorified body just like the one we will receive when we meet Him in the sky.

Why is this important to us? Well, let’s begin in God’s word for that answer. In the first chapter of the gospel of John verse one reads, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” In verse 12 it states, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Now if you read further you find out that the Word is Jesus. It is significant to note that Jesus decided to humble Himself, by being born to a poor Jewish couple, and taking on the flesh of humanity. He gave up all of His godly power, His grandeur, His omnipresence and omniscience in order to come to earth to reveal the mysteries of God and His character and model the life He had prescribed for the Jews to live by from the time of Moses. By doing this, His words were no longer just words, they now had their own legs to walk on. They were no longer words to be found on paper or stone but living, breathing

examples of how God wants us to live. They were no longer theory, but fact, because the God of all truth, the Creator of our universe had visited man, spoken to men and what’s more lived out His word for man to observe. God’s Word became flesh. God’s Word had become fact. No longer are we to deal with men’s opinions or Philosophies about God, but with concrete facts and truths of God’s Word and His purposes for us.

Our words reveal our thoughts if spoken truthfully, however our actions under pressure speak much more loudly and truthfully about our beliefs than do our words. Therefore, when Jesus, the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us, God’s Word, which is the offspring of His thoughts took on concrete form in His Son. His Son’s life became something we could see, touch and relate to. God becomes real to us in the life lived out by Jesus, for when we see Jesus we see the Father. (John 14:9). And seeing is believing. Words in books are impersonal, but The Word in the flesh (Jesus) is personal and because of that we can have a personal relationship with God.

Therefore, God had to take on human form in order for us to be interpreted by who He is and not for us to be interpreted by who we are, which we would have to do if all we had was revelation handed down to us second hand through the prophets. For example, if we were told to love one another, we would interpret that through our highest human experience of love and that would vary from person, but when Jesus came in the flesh, He commanded us to love each as He has loved us. So, we now have a new understanding directly from Jesus’ example how to love as He loves. By Jesus coming to this world in the flesh, God’s will and character become solidified in the person of Christ. He lived out all of the principles that He taught thus modeling for us the perfect way to live a godly life.

14

Evangeline M. Abraham

April 2013

Superstitious Beliefs andPractises in India

uperstition refers to the blind faith in an idea without giving any consideration to reason, logic and evidence. In India, superstitions are S

numerous and varied in nature. India is chained by superstition. These superstitions’ some time are supported by religious belief and some time they are just there without any knowledge. As far as the largest democracy India is concerned, 90% people believe in astrology and many mainstream TV channel telecast astrological prediction daily. Of course, astrology is a superstition but India also hosts plenty of superstitions right from praying for rain every year to witchcraft. People are blindly following it without any solid reasons and grounds. Majority of Indians still have these dogmatic beliefs.

In Indian societies, idol worship is one of the major superstitions that preclude the development of scientific bent of mind. It is being given much importance by the priestly class to further their interests. Many fictitious stories about the effectiveness of worship of the idols of Gods and Goddesses are being spread by priestly class. Believing those fictitious stories, Hindus throng the temples in large numbers to worship the different idols. People visit famous temples to get good fortune. For instance, about 30,000 to 60,000 people visit Lord Venkateswara Temple at Thirupathi every day. They wait for days and hours to get a glimpse of that statue for a few minutes. They offer their hard earned money to the temple fund. Their contribution in an average per day runs to about one to one and a half crore rupees. Likewise, more than seven million pilgrims trek to the mountain shrine of the Goddess Vaishno Devi every year seeking blessing, protection and miracle. About four crore people visit Lord Ayyappa Temple in Kerala

thevery year. On February 14 80 million people attended the Kumbhmela in Allahabad. It is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to

,

bathe in a sacred river. It is the world’s largest religious gathering.

The masses assume that by worshipping idols, their sins will be forgiven and they will be rewarded in this life as well as after life. Only under that notion, they perform costly pilgrimages to the so called holy places and fill the temple coffers with money and valuables. This illusion prevents people from acquiring worldly wisdom. It also averts people from realizing the value of thought and work.

Superstition that human sacrifices are the most potent for warding off certain categories of danger persists in remote rural parts of India. India is home to hundreds of millions who can’t read or write, but who often seek refuge from life’s realities through astrology or the magical arts of shamans. Indian cult kills children for goddess. Recently, a seven-year-old girl was ritually murdered and her life was offered to the gods in return for a good agricultural harvest in the central state of Chhattisgarh, India. These sacrifices are believed to appease the gods, spirits and deities. The practice of child sacrifice persists in many parts of India in spite of efforts by government to stop it.

15April 2013

Human self torturing practices also form a part of the devotional ordeals. The objective of all kinds of religious self-torture is to achieve analgesia, that is the absence of pain as a transcendent spiritual experience. The most common self torturing practices include walking on hot coals, handling red-hot materials, being swung or rotated from a pole by hooks imbedded in one’s flesh, piercing one’s own flesh with skewers, lying on a board studded with iron nails and swinging on a seat of thorns. In reality, these things are very far removed from all spiritual life, for they are ugly and base, dark and diseased. Spiritual life, on the contrary, is a life of light and balance, beauty and joy. They are invented and extolled by a sort of mental and vital cruelty towards the body.

Animal sacrifices continue in villages all over India. The beginning of the planting season and Navaratri are particularly bad periods, when large numbers of animals, particularly buffaloes, are killed. This is done to propitiate the local goddesses and thus ensure fertility. In the Himalayan states and the East, animals are sold by weight to be sacrificed to the goddess. Animal sacrifice is particularly brutal. Buffaloes, goat and roosters are queued up as in a slaughterhouse, crying as they watch the others die and await their turn. After the sacrifice, the priest may garland himself with the entrails. Blood sacrifice was regarded as magic, and a tool to propitiate or please a god, to fulfill a vow and as a sacrament. The animal could be a scapegoat for human sins or inexplicable natural phenomena, or a vehicle to carry away the collected demons or ills of an entire community.

Belief in auspicious days and time is another widely prevailing superstition in Indian society. According to this belief, a few days are auspicious and other days are not. For example, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday are auspicious days. Tuesday and Saturday are inauspicious days, unfit to conduct any social functions. Likewise, in a day, different times are auspicious while other times are inauspicious. Only on auspicious days and time, festivals and ceremonies and functions are being held in Indian society. In an anxiety to carry out rituals and ceremonies in auspicious time, people experience several hardships. Fanatic adherence to this superstition leads to human sufferings at times. For instance, during the famous Kumba Mela festival, lakhs and lakhs of people gather. And all of them are keen in having a dip in the Ganga river during the auspicious time fixed by the priests. While doing so, hundreds of people fall on one another and in the ensuing rush hundreds of people die. Similarly, stampedes are common in the temple festivals across the country.

A large number of Indians are the slaves of superstitions since they fear to doubt their beliefs and put them to logical and rational analysis. By performing meaningless rituals and ceremonies, they imagine themselves as religious and pious. They are unaware that they are ignorant. To change the condition, spirit of enquiry needs to be encouraged at all levels. People should be motivated to think rationally and review all values. Besides, as believers it our duty to share the light of the gospel with our fellow beings. If only there is somebody to tell these people about Jesus, they will be delivered from the false beliefs and superstitions. When the love of Jesus and the Word of God touches the hearts of this people, they will realize the futility of these superstitions. So let us rise up from our comfort zones and do something to save our nation and our people from darkness.

16 April 2013

Question Time

Answer: Justification is the free and undeserved act of God, by which He reckons to a sinner, through faith, the righteousness of Christ, declaring the sinner just and right before Him.

Question: What is justification?

1. Justification has to do with the justice and righteousness of God.

(a) He is the just God and everything He does shows His justice (Rom. 3:25, 26).

(b) He is the Lord and judge of all the earth (Gen. 18:25), who always does right.

(c) His righteousness is seen in His judgment and condemnation of those who disobey His laws (Ps. 7:11; Isa. 5:16; Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:5).

2. Men and women are unrighteous before God.

(a) No living person is righteous before the Lord (Ps. 143:2).

(b) All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23).

3. Justification depends upon what Christ has done for sinners.

(a) The grounds of it are what Christ accomplished for sinners (Acts 13:39).

(b) God could justify the ungodly only through Christ’s dying, at the right time, for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6).

(c) He sets Christ before us as the One whose sacrificial death has atoned for our guilt and removed the judgment soon to happen which our rebellion against God has brought upon us (Rom. 3:24, 25).

(d) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us (Gal. 3:13).

(e) God caused Christ, who Himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made righteous with the righteousness of God (II Cor. 5:21; Isa. 53:5).

4. On the basis of Christ’s sacrificial death, God reckons to believers the righteousness of Christ.

(a) Of Christ’s righteousness there was no doubt (Matt. 3:17; I Pet. 3:18): justification is by the imputing of His righteousness to the sinner (Rom. 3:22; 5:18; I Cor. 1:30; II Cor. 5:21).

(b) To be justified is to receive the righteousness of Christ, for which alone the Lord accepts us as holy and righteous (Isa. 43:25; Rom. 3:23-26; 4:5; Phil. 3:9).

(c) God pronounces us to be free from all guilt and declares us to be righteous as He sees us in the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:26).

5. The means of our entering into justification is by faith.

(a) The righteousness God offers is to be apprehend-ed by faith (Rom. 1:17; 3:22, 26; 4:3 ff, 13; 9:30; 10:4, 6, 10).

(b) Justification depends upon faith to be effective (Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:25, 28; 4:5).

(c) It is with the heart that men have faith which leads God to accept them as righteous (Rom. 10:10).

6. The benefits justification brings.

(a) The first benefit of justification is peace with God (Rom. 5:1).

(b) It is on the basis of his justification that the believer is in Christ, and knows Christ, together with all the benefits Christ has gained for him (phil. 3:9, 10; Rom. 8:32).

(c) Justification assures the believer that he will have eternal life (Rom. 8:10; Tit. 3:7).

(d) Justification means that absolutely nothing can seperate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:31-39).

17April 2013

Dr. Alexander Kurian

Digging DeeperTHE GOSPEL OF GOD Romans 6 (Exposition)

New Life in Christ (Rom.6): Outline

Dead to sin & Alive to God: Shall We Continue in Sin? (6:1-14)

Slaves to Righteousness: Shall We Continue to Sin? (6:15-23)

6:1-2: Paul is answering the charges of his opponents. They misinterpreted the gospel of grace. In their view, grace led people to continue in sin. If grace abounds in the presence of sin, then are we to continue to sin that grace might increase? Paul rejected their invalid inference with a strong negative expression “may it never be.” Grace cannot be exploited for evil ends. It is the grace of God and it is divine in its nature.It rescues us from evil, but it never leads us to evil. Paul’s gospel does not lead to more sin since believers have died to sin. “Christ’s death for sin becomes our death to sin” (Robert Mounce). The meaning of having died to sin is explained in the following verses.

6:3-5: Through baptism believers were baptized into Christ Jesus and His death. We are united to Christ. Because of our union with Christ we died to sin and are alive to God (6:11). Our sin nature was not eliminated at the moment of our conversion or baptism. Paul is not arguing that baptism magically destroys the power of sin. Baptism with the Holy Spirit joins the believer to Christ and places him in the body of Christ, separating him from the old life and associating him with the new life. He is no longer a slave to sin. He is no longer in Adam, but is in Christ – a new reality, a new sphere, a new life, though. “For by one Spirit, we were all baptized into the body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor.12:13). Water baptism (believer’s baptism by immersion) is a reminder of this truth.

Baptism pictures a person being buried with Christ (submersion under water) and being raised to new life with Christ (emergence from water). Hence baptism symbolizes the believer’s union with Christ and entrance into the newness of life. This newness imparted by the Holy Spirit has the power to overcome sin. In baptism, the believer is also identifying himself with the death and resurrection of Christ and his incorporation into Christ. Though believers have not yet experienced resurrection, the hope of resurrection in the future is doubly assured to us by the fact that Christ, in whose death we share, has been raised from the dead.”For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection” (Rom.6:5).

The word newness occurs twice in Rom (6:4; 7:6) only in the New Testament. The verb to walk occurs four times in Romans (6:4; 8:4; 13:13; 14:15). The walk refers to the whole life of the believer, lived before God. The Christian walk is a very important theme in the epistles in relation to practical Christian life.

1. We should walk in the newness of life (Rom.6:4).

2. We should walk after the Spirit (Rom.8:4).

3. We should walk as honestly as in the day (Rom.13:13).

4. We should walk according to love (Rom.14:15).

5. We should walk by faith (2 Cor.5:7).

6. We should walk worthy of the Lord (Eph.4:1).

7. We should walk in wisdom toward outsiders (Col.4:5).

6:6-7: The power of sin is broken in the life of believers since they are united with Christ and have

continued in page 20...

18 April 2013

Our Identity in a Dark World:

III. Thank God for all He has done; I pray that He opens your eyes to see it. (1:15-23)

A. I’m motivated to pray for you because of all God has done and the faith and love I’ve seen in you. (1:15)

B. I thank God and ask him to open your eyes to see all there is for you in Christ. (1:16-19)

C. I’m especially grateful for the extent of God’s power for you in Christ. (1:20-23)

1. God’s power raised Christ from the dead. (1:20)

2. God’s power enthroned Christ over every spiritual being. (1:21)

3. God’s power put everything under Christ’s authority and he rules. (1:22)

4. God’s power gave Christ authority as head of the church. (1:22-23)

continued from page 11

19

Launa Stan

April 2013

Time to Cut Away Branches don’t think there has ever been a time in history where mankind (and womankind) has been busier. There is so much to occupy our days and nights. I

Just within a twenty-four hour span, I can go to a movie or watch a television show, may be see a concert and milk my goats. I must prepare three meals, do garden work, clean my house, write an article, paint a picture, exercise, pray and read my Bible. I can process orders over the internet and can read to my children before bedtime. I can serve on an executive Board, raise money for a good cause or plan a mission trip. I will probably feed and walk my pets, possibly shop for groceries, serve at my church and also volunteer for a charity…well, you get the idea. Amongst all of those options, there are ones that are essential and others that are arbitrary. Regardless, there is a lot to do! Now factor in all of the interruptions of phone calls, text messages and emails and a day can be spent in a something akin to a whirlwind.

We as women have been told, for many decades that “we can have it all.” What that means is that we can have a career, have a husband and family, run a household and even do charitable work. What modern society failed to mention is that if a woman tries to juggle all of these things, she ends up tired, angry, grouchy and pulled in too many directions all at once. That doesn’t amount to having it all in my estimation. It all can add up resembling a three-ring circus. The worse part is that even beyond the chaos of it all, what is half-heartedly attempted cannot possibly be done with excellence. There just isn’t time!

Often, we Christians feel the same way. We find ourselves doing many good things, but end up feeling frayed and ragged. Many of us feel used, burned out, embittered and frustrated. Sadly, since our feet are taking us on so many paths, in the end, we question whether our effort has done much for the Kingdom of

God. Have you ever felt that way? Have you found yourself wondering whether your actions were producing heavenly fruit or if you were just marking time and spinning your wheels? I have, especially lately.

Recently, I have begun evaluating and praying about what areas need to be cut out of my life. It is easy to say, “yes” to things that God has not ordained for our lives because they are righteous or good things. At times, we get involved with projects because there is a legitimate need presented and we feel as though we are the only ones that can meet that need. Sometimes, our Father has called us to serve in a certain capacity, but it is for a season not a lifetime. When that season has ended, we need to prune the branch away, so that the vital juice that produces fruit can flow to another area. All Christians are called to serve Jesus and we are preordained for producing good works and fruit. Sometimes, we need to step aside and let another serve in a capacity that they are gifted and can produce fruit.

So, are there branches that need to be pruned from your life, so that you can do all things well and produce fruit that will last? Even at this writing, I am cutting away many unnecessary branches. In doing so, I hope to slow down considerably the pace of my days. In doing so, I desire to hear and obey the voice of the Lord better. I also believe that having fewer branches will concentrate the juice better so as it flows from the true vine, I will have substantial fruit!

“I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me” John 15:1-4.

April 201320

Ø Pastors Arrested and Christian Meeting Stopped in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh police arrested four pastors on February 21 in the Balrampur village. They were falsely accused of forceful conversion by the extremists. Besides the anti-social activists stopped a three day special meeting organized by the church in the Surguja village of Chhattisgarh. About 1000 people who attended the meeting had to face the attacks from the extremists, who barged into the gathering and disrupted the entire meeting.

Ø Christians Chased Out from Home in Odhisa

A Christian family from the village of Bhalu-tangara was beaten up and driven out of the village after they became followers of Christ. The anti-social activists attacked them, took their mobile phone and chased them out from the village. Apart from the extremists, the official authorities also urged the Christians to take part in all the village activities and rituals and threatened to take off the government benefits if they did not oblige.

Hurdles in the mission field

entered into the newness of life. “Our old self” was crucified with Christ. Old self represent all that a person is before salvation – the old man in Adam – what we were before we became Christians. By reason of the very presence of the new life in Christ, the old is done away (made ineffective or impotent). The power of sin has been broken for their old self was crucified and put to death with Christ. Therefore we are not enslaved to sin.

Paul does not argue that Christians does not sin at all. He is not teaching sinless perfection which is impossible in this life. But the tyranny, domination, control and the rule of sin have been defeated for them. Can a Christian still live in sin? We cannot live as we once did because the old self was crucified with Christ.

Digging Deepercontinued from page 17

The believer is a new creation in Christ (2 Cor.5:17). Our new self (Eph.4:22-24; Col.3:9-10) in Christ is not perfect. We still fall into sin because we have indwelling sin in our mortal bodies (Rom.7:13-25). But the normal pattern of life for Christians should be progressive growth in practical sanctification and purity, resulting in greater maturity and victory in Christ.

“For he has died is freed from sin” (Rom.6:7) means one who has died with Christ.It is not that the believer is sinless, but he has been declared righteous by the grace of God because of Christ. He stands justified. The newness of life through the imparted righteousness of God necessarily involves freedom from the power of sin.

Patience is the guardian of faith, the preserver of peace, the cherisher of love. It governs the flesh, strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper and subdues pride. Patience produces unity in the church, loyalty in the state, harmony in families and societies.

It teaches us to forgive those who have injured us, and to be the first in asking forgiveness of those whom we have injured. It adorns the woman, and approves the man, it is praised in a young man and admired in an old man.

Inspiring Thoughts Patience

And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Ar-ma-ged-don. - Rev. 16:16

Megiddo is located about halfway between Mt. Carmel on the west and Mt. Gilboa on the east in the triangular plain of Esdraelon. Jesus often viewed this plain as He looked across the Valley from Nazareth on the north to Megiddo on the south. The size of the plain is about 15x15x20, miles.

The plain has access on the west to the Mediterranean Sea at the port of Haifa. It also has access to the Jordan Valley through the Valley of Jezreel on the east. The Pass of Megiddo gives access to the south via the way of Sea and across the carmel range. To the north, the ancient route ran northeast from the plain to the Sea of Galilee and then into Syria and Mesopotamia.

Therefore, Armageddon can be entered from all the points of the compass!

The total numbers of soldiers to be at the Battle of Armageddon will come from at least the following two sources:

a. 200 million from Asia (Rev. 9:16);

b. 200 million from Antichrist’s western forces.

Armageddon’s EntranceFrom All Sides

21April 2013

Dr. C.V. Vadavana

INDIGENOUS MISSIONS

A chain Prayer of pastor for the missions in India

still remember the day I cried out to God saying, Lord, “send me as a missionary” after reading an article. A woman had thrown her two year old son I

in a river because a Guru had told her she would receive peace and happiness in her life if she could sacrifice her only son to the river goddess. She stood there watching her child rising and falling according to the surge of water, sometimes hitting the rock but his hands stretched towards his mother in the hope she would save him from death and all the while crying his lungs out to be saved from drowning. As she saw her child disappear, tears welled up in her eyes but she continued her prayer to the river goddess that the goddess would be pleased with her sacrifice and would grant her joy and peace and happiness.

Unaware of what was happening in her life, a man approached her with a small booklet in hand and told her that reading the book would help her find Jesus and he would guide her to eternal life and give her the joy and peace for which she had been searching. As soon as she heard this she burst out crying, held him by the collar of his shirt and brought her face closer to his and screamed in his ears, “Why did you not tell me about this God a few seconds before? Why did you delay in coming to my house, village to tell about this God?” “If only you would have come a few seconds before, my son would not have died.” But then it was too late. Her son’s cry could not be heard any longer, and he died so that his mother could receive the joy and peace for which she had been searching.

Who will go to these unreached people groups, tribes and language groups? How many more innocent children will have to die so that their mother/ father or family can receive peace? Who is responsible for their death? Is it their mother? Is it their beliefs or tradition that is responsible for the death of their son? No. It is you and I. We failed to reach them with the Gospel.

We have been complacent in our attitude and in our teachings. We have been content with what we have and what we are. Or maybe we are too busy accumulating for our future, children and attending business meetings on how to expand our business. God wants us to invest our time and energy and wealth for

the extension and expansion of the kingdom of God. He wants us to invest our treasure in heaven where the moth will not destroy and our treasures will not rust.

God is calling us Christians to alter our lifestyle, give up the non essentials of our lives so that we will be better equipped to invest our wealth in the kingdom of God. Most of the native missionaries come from Hindu background. After having accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, they had been kicked out of their houses, and chased out from their villages. And many of them have lost their jobs and ultimately had to flee to save their lives. Is it their crime? They have accepted Jesus in their lives and thus brought disgrace to their families and tribes. But nothing could stop them from following Jesus. And these native missionaries have taken up the challenge of giving up their dreams and families and going to villages with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

More than 50,000 villages are yet to be reached with the gospel in this land of India. And undoubtedly the unevangelized villages are some of the greatest evan-gelistic challenges facing the Christian community today. India, it is estimated, has more than one billion people - three times the population of United Sates. And only 3.5% call themselves Christians. If the pres-ent trend continues, India will be the most populous nation in the world with millions yet to be reached with the Living Word!

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September 2011Sathyam MinistriesWE CARE FOR BODY & SOUL

facebook.com/sathyam.india twitter.com/sathyam_india

www.sathyam.org

April 2013

India not only has a very huge population but each state has its own distinct culture, language, dress and diet and people groups. It is this diversity that makes India such a tremendous challenge to missionary work.

Sathyam Ministry believes that the native missionary movement is the only hope for these unreached villages. Thousands of native missionaries are being raised up by the Lord in different parts of the country to reach out with the Gospel to the neighboring villages. It has been widely demonstrated that the native missionaries are easily accepted into new villages as they are able to identify with the people, their struggles and difficulties and to assimilate into their culture. I believe with the dawn of a new century, we are witnessing a new era in missions with the native missionaries leading in the battlefield. Years ago no one dreamed that the Indian churches or the native missionaries would be ready to lead the final thrust. But dedicated native evangelists are beginning to go out and reach their own people and nation for the Lord.

The exciting part in what is happening with the native missions is that the church in the west need not be a spectator to all that is going on. God is calling you to be a part of world evangelism, to be a part of what he is doing. How? With the prayers and financial support of the western church, the native missionaries would be able to preach the Word more boldly and to many

more people. In order to fulfill the task of the great commission the whole family of God is needed. The body of Christ, forgetting petty differences, needs to come together to rescue souls from the clutches of Satan and the door of hell.

Can you hear the cry of a mother who lost her son to appease the river goddess for peace and happiness in her life? Can you hear the bereaved mother yelling to the native missionary, “Why did you not come to our village a few minutes earlier with the gospel?” Well, church, it is time to forget our differences and unite together to spread the gospel. What is your role in spreading the gospel?

Romans 10:13-17 says that if these millions of people who do not know their right hand from the left, call upon the name of the Lord, they will be saved. But how can they call on Jesus if they don’t believe in him? And how can they believe in Jesus if no one has ever gone to tell them about Jesus? This is a question we all must answer.

I encourage you to pray and see what role the Lord wants you to play in this indigenous mission. If the Lord is laying a burden on your heart to pray for the native missionaries, please let us know and we will be happy to give you details of them for prayer. Or if he is asking you to help support one or more of native missionaries let us know of your decision, you will receive the photograph and testimony of the missionary you are praying for and supporting.

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23April 2013

The Unspeakable Gift

Rev. Barney Kinard

ore than forty years ago, a dentist, from the Midwest, was taking me to the airport. He Mobserved my five missing teeth. He told me

that my smile “offended him!” Then, he offered to repair my teeth, if I would fly there to get them repaired. He told me that he would do all the work “for free,” on the condition that I would never give out his name.

I agreed! So I made four flights from California and Oklahoma and spent a full day in the dentist’s chair, each trip. When he was finally done, he had fixed eleven teeth with crowns and bridges with custom crafted porcelain and expensive gold. I was just over-whelmed when I could run my fingers across all the new teeth in my mouth. He never charged me a dime. To this day, I have kept the promise to never reveal his name–he is a “giver,” who remains unknown.

Every Thanksgiving, our family will go around the table to share something for which we are thankful. I always mention how grateful I am for my mouthful of teeth. It is always hard to express my appreciation without getting very emotional. This was a gift that had a profound and lasting impact upon me. Words fail to express my appreciation for this anonymous gift.

Could there be such a gift that was so well designed, that when given, it would leave the recipient speechless? Could there ever be a gift that would defy verbal description? One such gift comes to mind, “Thanks be unto God for His Unspeakable Gift… Jesus!” (I Cor. 9:15) This means that God’s

gift of Jesus is indescribable–mere words do not do it justice. God so uniquely met our needs with the gift of His Son that we fail to frame adequate words to express His profound impact in our lives. We are just speechless!

One can only be caught up in an emotional “sigh” of profound gratitude–with no utterance to convey the awesome wonder of it all. Yet we continue with our attempts at framing the wonder and the magnitude of the gift with “mere” words.

As a communicator of this gospel reve-lation,

I still “conjure up” the impossible by sug-gesting inadequate verbal descriptions of the mysteries involvi-ng this gift. Someone told me of the gift; I accepted the gift; I em-

brace the gift; I carry the gift; I represent the gift; I attempt to share the gift.

Since I have been “gifted,” I share in the greater responsibility to making the “gift” known to those who are in desperate need of it. Every attempt to frame the “mystery” of the wonderful gift seems futile, so at best, a simpler version is the best I can do. But the lost are so needy that they seem, at times, to respond with hunger for any “mere morsel” of an inadequate description of the marvels of the gift of salvation. I think at times, they are responding to my misrepresentation of the real thing, if only the gift can be “described” better.

Then I remember that to really describe the “gift,” that well, would remove the eternal wonder and render the gift as “describable.” The awe and the inexpressible wonder of the gift would be lost.

It would then be reduced to the “speak able” gift–something to utter.

The irony is that God has invested this “gift” in our mortal bodies, so that we can then share the “gift of eternal life” in Christ with others. As feeble as our efforts might be, we are left with all the good intentions. The commissioned task is to make it “known to all” who will hear our story. Therefore, to speak with “awe” about the “unspeakable” is like attempting the impossible, but I still try anyway.

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You can assist me in this privilege. Your gift now will enable me to creatively share this pro-found gift to the children. Our goal is to creatively illustrate the complexities of salvation message, in terms kids (of all ages) can understand. Thanks for what you do to share this gift at Easter. Together we can make a difference. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift…Jesus!”

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The Unspeakable Gift

To Believe Anything

Authorities will try to explain the disappearances of the church of Jesus Christ that is rapture. Science fiction writers today are pre-conditioning the minds of the masses to the point they will believe anything-even that a vast armada of UFOs cames swiftly and suddenly snatching millions out of the world.

April 2013 25

3. You are made alive.”When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ…” Prior to our belief in Jesus, we were slaves to our sin. It controlled us, and now that we are in Christ, we’re no longer controlled. As Jesus rose from the dead, so do we.

In fact, John 3:16, which is probably a familiar passage to you reminds us of this powerful truth, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” There is now no condemnation because you belong to Jesus (Rom 8:1). You are alive for eternity in Jesus.

4. You are forgiven.Colossians 2:13 says, “He for-gave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us…nailing it to the cross.”

Before I became a Christian, I thought I was good. I was nice, I gave a little, I served. At one point, I fell off my bike and broke my collarbone in four places, and I ended up in bed. While in bed, I read the Bible for the first time, starting with the Ten Commandments, and I learned I had broken many of God’s commandments. The Law convicted me of my sense of being good enough, and I realized I needed forgiveness. I literally went on the ground, dropped to my knees, and sobbed, asking God for forgiveness because I became fully aware I was not good enough, and that I needed God’s grace. I repented and humbly received God’s gift. Maybe you struggle with that.

However, you are forgiven. The Law was nailed to the cross. The Law no longer condemns, because in Jesus we are free. Ephesians 1:7 is a wonderful reimder of this, “In him we have redemption through

his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” You belong to Jesus because you have been forgiven.

5. You are set free. It isn’t just that we are forgiven for our pasts, that our shame is now nailed to the cross. Jesus set us free. You are no longer captive to sin. Let Romans 6 be your reminder that, “sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

Therefore, it is important that we don’t add tradition back into Jesus. It’s just Jesus.To go back to human tradition is to devalue what Jesus did on the cross. The mistake we make is that we add things to ourselves. We start to believe we’re not enough and we try to help Jesus out a little bit with our salvation.

May be we start to have false humility. Maybe we deny ourselves of certain things. We think that perhaps those things will put us in the right place with Jesus. May be we fall into legalism, “Don’t do this. Don’t do that.” However, Paul is warning the Colossians and us not to fall into that trap.

Remember that you have been made full, your identity is secure, you have been made alive, you have been forgiven, and you have been set free. You belong to Jesus, forever.

Romans 8 says: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

How can you believe this truth that you belong to Jesus? How will it make you live differently this week?

From reliable testimony, it is evident that Charles Darwin returned to the faith of his early manhood.

Lady Hope visited him one afternoon in England. He was almost bedridden for some months before he died. And sitting up in bed, he held an open Bible. “What are you reading?” asked Lady Hope. “The Royal Book, I call it. Isn’t it grand?” Darwin answered. Lady Hope mentioned about creation and the early chapters of Genesis. Darwin seemed greatly distressed and a look of agony came over his face as he said: “I was a young man with unformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything, and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion out of them.”

Then he added: “I have a summerhouse in the garden. I want you to speak to the people there tomorrow afternoon.” “What shall I speak about?” Lady Hope asked. “Christ Jesus,” he replied in a clear emphatic voice, adding in a lower tone, “and His salvation. Is not that the best theme? And then I want you to sing some hymns with them.” Then he added in farewell: “If you take the meeting at three o’clock, this window will be open and you will know that I am joining in with the singing.”

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Darwin Converted?

26 April 2013

Ines S. Franklin

You Belong to Jesusaul starts his letter by reminding the church in Colossae of who Jesus is and what he came to Pdo. Colossians 2:8 says: “See to it that no one

takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” Paul had already established who Jesus is, why he came, what he came to do, and now he was concerned for the church in Colossae, that there was some false teaching infiltrating the church.

This wasn’t from outside arguing for them to be godless or to give up their faith. The false teaching was coming from within the church about what it took to belong to the community of Christ. What Paul is identifying is a common problem we all have, that the church in Colossae had, and that we have today, and it’s our need to belong. All of us struggle with that.

We all feel like we’re not enough. We’re not pretty enough. We’re not tall enough. We don’t have the right car. Our business isn’t big enough. We’re not religious enough. We are struggling regularly with not being enough, and Paul identified that for the church in Colossae. He’s trying remind them and us that we already belong.

Colossians 2:9-10 says: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”

Here are five reasons why you belong to Jesus:

1. In Christ you have been made full. In Jesus, all the fullness, all the essence of God was present, and through Jesus we have Christ, the hope of glory. That’s a powerful statement, that all of God is in Jesus and therefore, through Jesus, he is in us.

Paul is saying, “You have been made full to the fullness.” Let me put it this way. If you have a glass that is filled with water and you try to add more water, is it getting any fuller? It isn’t. It’s already full.

Likewise, you’ve been full to the fullness, to the complete essence of God, and now you’re no longer ruled by anything else but the Head, Jesus.

2. Your identity is secure. You belong to Jesus because your identity has been made secure. Paul goes on in this particular section to talk about circumcision, that you have been circumcised with a circumcision without hands. Paul is saying that Old Testament circumcision was really pointing to what Jesus did, which he calls baptism.

That word, baptism, means “to be placed into.” We have now been placed into that identity without having to be circumcised physically. When you go into the water and we hold you in there for a few minutes and then take you out, you identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. He made it possible for your old, sinful nature, your old desires to lose their power over you and now you can become like Jesus, you’re now brought back to life. You have a new life in Jesus, no longer captive to sin. Your identity is secure in Jesus.

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