 |
Text Size: A | A | A | A
Join us in Facebook:
CSI Good News
(Church of South India Good News)
Vol. 3 / Issue 30 / August 30 2001
Contents of this issue
Editorial
By His strips we are healed (Part II)
The word of God - The Bible
Pennsylvania convention
Florida Contact person
News Items (Common to all issues) :
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Your Spam Folder
Your Feedback
Editorial
Few days back one brother forwarded this news to me which was published in news paper called "The Hindu".
Over 400 attacks on Christians since 1999
New Delhi, Aug. 28. (PTI): There have been 417 incidents of attacks on Christians in the country since 1999 in which 33 persons have been killed and 283 injured, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
The maximum number of incidents were reported from Gujarat at 65, followed by Tamil Nadu 62, Kerala 55 and Orissa 50, Minister of State for Home I D Swami said.
Persecution is increasing rapidly not only in India but also all over the world. And it is not going to cease because the coming of Jesus is very near. Devil knows that the time at his disposal is very short and so he is desperately trying to destroy God's people. But God did not leave us without arms. When Jesus was about to go to heaven, He told His disciples ( John 14:18), "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." And He says in John 14:16, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever."
Who is this helper? We read in John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
Holy Spirit is that helper whom Jesus promised to send after His ascension to heaven. And we read in Acts 2:1-4 that when 120 people were gathered together then Holy Spirit came upon them.
Acts 2:1-4, "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Many think that there is no need of getting filled with the Holy Spirit today. But if you want to stay firm in the midst of persecution then you need this precious gift from God. When Holy Spirit comes upon us, it gives power. Take the example of Peter who was so afraid of a girl that he denied Jesus three times but when Holy Spirit came on him on the day of Pentecost, he got power and witnessed Jesus till his last breath. And history tells us that he was crucified upside down on the cross because of his faith in Christ. Not only Peter but all the disciples went through the same situation and faced terrible trials but only Holy Spirit strengthened them to stand for Christ till their last breath.
Yes, my friend, today when we are passing through distressing situations which is worsening day by day, we need God's mighty power in our lives, so that we can stand against the enemy and proclaim the mighty deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ who humbled Himself for us and embraced death on the cruel cross. If you want to survive at hard times, if you want to live a victorious life for Christ you need the mighty power of Holy Spirit.
How can you receive this precious promise of God? By asking Jesus to fill you with His Holy Spirit. When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus spoke to her in John 4:10, " Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
Also Jesus said in Luke 11:13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
If you are saved and washed by the blood of Jesus and if you ask Jesus to fill you with His Holy Spirit, He will certainly do it. His Holy Spirit is still the same as it was 2000 years ago and able to do mighty deeds in yours and other's lives. That is why the Bible says in Zec 4:6-7, "So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts. 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"' "
If you have not yet received Holy Spirit then it is time to receive Him in your life. You will never be the same again.
By His strips we are healed (Part II)
By Sherly Isaac
Isaiah 53:5, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."
Last week we saw how God wants to heal all the area of our lives. Today we are going to see that God not only wants to heal us but also wants to deliver us completely from all our bondage, sin, suffering, pain and tears. He wants to give us total deliverance in every area of our lives.
He wants to deliver us from our sins:
Many think that as soon as a person gets salvation or forgiveness of their sins they become perfect and will never do any mistakes. But the Bible tells us that when a person gets saved they are like newborn babies who need assistance and help to grow in the Lord. Many times when people come in the experience of salvation they work with zeal and try to live a holy life. But when time passes by they slowly drift away from their goal and go back to their old ways. But God wants to give us total deliverance from our sins as well as from our sinful nature. That was the reason why Jesus came down in this world and died on behalf of us so that we may live a delivered life.
Jesus said in John 8:36, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." He wants to make you totally free. He suffered in every area of His life so that we may get complete deliverance in our lives. He suffered spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally.
Spiritual sufferings of Jesus:
Bible tells us in Isaiah 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Also in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Jesus is sinless but He became sin for us so that we may be delivered from our sins and lead a holy life. All our sins were laid on Him. Yes, my friend, where can you find this much love which Jesus showed for us on the cruel cross. He took our place - the place where you and I had to be. He went to that place and died for us.
Jesus was nailed to the cross by His hands and feet, A crown of thorns was placed on His head and His side was pierced. How much He suffered for us, we cannot imagine even of a small portion of the sufferings He endured. But the question is, why He did this? My friend, no other reason other than our sin. It was our sins that led Him to this horrible pain and suffering. He paid the price to deliver us completely and give us a holy life and finally eternal life.
His hands and feet were nailed to the cross so that we may get complete deliverance of our sinful act which we do by our hands and legs. His head was pierced with the thorn of the crown so that we may get complete deliverance in our thought life. His side was pierced so that He may restore the Church which is His bride and make her wrinkle free and spotless.
Today He wants to deliver you from all your sins. If you come to Jesus and invite Him in your life, He will gladly come in and take away all your sins and will give you a holy life.
Physical sufferings of Jesus:
Before crucifixion, Jesus went through horrible scourging which was a barbaric punishment by which they used to use whips made up of 39 leather strips which were attached with bone pieces. They pierces the body and rips off flesh and blood both. Many a times it results in death.
Yes, He went through this horrible physical suffering so that we may get complete healing in our body. Bible says that He is the God who heals us. If you are suffering physically there is no sickness too big or small for Jesus, He wants to heal you and give you life abundant.
He wants to heal your every sickness. Yes, He will. Can you please look to Him and tell your needs to Him?
Mental suffering of Jesus:
Jesus knew all things before hand and He knew what was before Him. No wonder He went through terrible mental pain and suffering. Bible says in Luke 22:42-44, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
When Jesus was about to be crucified, He went through terrible pain. Medical science says that when a person goes through tremendous mental agony his/her sweat becomes blood drops, the same thing happened to Jesus. He was in total agony and in mental pain. It does not mean that He was not ready to give up His life or not willing to take this cup but the whole world's suffering and sin came upon Him and it was impossible for Him to bear in the form of a man.
Yes, my friend, He suffered mentally so that we may get complete deliverance from our mental agony. Are you suffering mentally, may be because you have lost your loved one or because you are going through terrible heart breaks, but Jesus understands you. He went through the same experience but came out victorious, He can give you the same victory.
Emotional suffering of Jesus:
He suffered emotionally. He was mocked, He was spitted on face and was insulted. He went through all kinds of sufferings through which a man/woman can go. That's why when you cry today, He understands what is tear. He knows what it is to be mocked at by people, He know what is insult.
You may be facing so many problems. Years and years of abuse and hurts made you emotionally sick but Jesus wants to deliver you completely. Look to Jesus, He is ready to heal you completely.
May God bless you!
The word of God - The Bible
By Raju George
Your word is a lamp to guide me and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105 Read. St. John 3:16 For God loved the world...
The Bible is different from all other books because it is inspired by God. God moved upon men and guided them to write the words by His Holy Spirit. God gave them His Words and ideas and prophets wrote them. Read Isaiah 34:16, St. Mark 12:24
Read 2Peter 1:20-21 Remember that no one can explain by himself a prophecy in the Scriptures. For no prophetic message ever came just from the will of man, but men were under the control of the Holy Spirit as they spoke the message that came from God. Read Hebrews 1:1In the past..
We consider the Bible to be the Word of God. The Bible is known as Holy Scriptures. We can only understand it when we have the help of the Holy Spirit. The Bible was written so that we would have a record of God's plan to save the world from sin. God's plan was that His Son, Jesus Christ, would come to the earth and die for the sins of the people of the world. St.John 14:6 Jesus answered him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me. (1 Corinthians 2:6-16) Yet I do. Bible should be the guidebook for our lives. When we obey God's commands and follow His teachings, then our lives are pure and free from sin. Read Psalms 19:7-11, 2 Timothy 3:16-17
God used forty different writers to write the books of the Bible. There are 66 books in the Bible that we commonly use and there is an extra collection of Apocrypha books, which are 5-12 in number. The Bible has mainly two major parts. Old Testament and New Testament. 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament. The books of the Bible were written over a period of 1600 years. The Old Testaments begins with an account of God's creation of the heavens and the earth. Almost all the book of Old Testament was written in the Hebrew language. A few were written in Aramaic.
The New Testament begins by describing the birth of Jesus Christ, was written in Greek language. Gospels are the first four books of the New Testaments in the Bible. They are the primary source of information about the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. None of the Gospels gives a complete story of the life of Jesus Christ. All four Gospels describe the teachings and miracles of Jesus' ministry.
The Gospel of |Mark is the shortest of the Gospels. St. Mathew, St Mark and St.Luke have similarities of details and arrangement. They are called the Synoptic Gospels. It's a Greek word, which means 'see together'. St. Mathew describes Jesus as the lawgiver who tells how Christians and their church should act. St.Mark shows Jesus as the Saviour who triumphs through suffering. St.Luke presents Jesus as the Saviour of all people. And St.John concentrates of Jesus' divine nature.
We believe that St.Mark was the earliest Gospel, written just before or after the Romans captured Jerusalem in AD 70. St.Mathew and St.Luke were written a little later. St.John written in AD 90's Acts of Apostle is the 5th book in the New Testament. St.Luke is the author. Acts tells about the expansions of the early church.
The Letters make up 21 books. The first 14 letters are called Pauline letters, written by St.Paul. The last 7 are called General letters. Most of the St.Paul's letters were probably written in the AD 50's and early 60's.
Revelation is the last book in the Bible. St.John is the author of this book. Revelation begins as letters to the seven churches that are in Asia. The first complete English translation of the Bible appeared in the 1380's.
The New Testament is divided into four groups: - 1.The Gospels-4 Books (St.Mathew-St.John) 2.Acts of the Apostles/the book of history (Acts)- 1 book 3.Letters -21 books (Romans-Jude)(St.Paul's letters-14& the general letters -7) 4.The book of Revelation- 1
The word gospel comes from the old English word godspell, which means 'good news'.
The books of Old Testament can be divided into five categories or groups: - 1.The books of law. Consists of 5 books (Genesis-Deuteronomy) 2 The books of History-12 books (Joshua-Esther) 3.Wisdom books- 5 books (Job-Songs of Solomon) 4.Prophets- 17 books (Isaiah-Malachi) 5.Psalms - The book of Psalms contains prayers and hymns
Psalms 119 is the longest with 176 words and shortest is Psalm 117 only 2 words. The songs of Solomon are a collection of Love poems.
ST.MARK
Some times called John Mark was an early Christian who accompanied St.Paul on his first missionary journey. John, surnamed Mark was the son of Mary who had a respectable position in the church at Jerusalem. John is the Jewish name he got at the time of his birth. It was the practice of Jews to accept a Greek name for the sake of business with the Greeks. The Greek language was used in business and trade. So John uses his Greek name in the Gospel, because he has dealing with Greek and he has written in Greek.
St.Mark's House
It was in his house that the Apostles and early Christians came together for prayer. In Acts 12:12- Aware of his situation, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. It is clear that the master of the house has to spent money and time to prepare the large upper room for Jesus. It must be Mark him self. It might be in the same house that subsequently the team of one hundred and twenty assembled to select one to substitute Juda. Also, the assembly on the day of Pentecost was conducted in this house. This was the center of meeting and worship for the early church.
In the first Missionary tour of St.Paul and Barnabas, Mark was their companion. The Acts of the Apostles reports that Mark caused a dispute between Paul and Bernabas, another of Paul's companions. Mark left them when they reached the town of Perga to return to Jerusalem, his home. Mark and Bernabas traveled together as missionaries. Mark may have been related to Bernabas. St.Pauls second letter to Timothy 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he can help me in the work. Thus Mark had the fortune to be the co-worker to the two prominent Apostles.
From the circumstantial evident, according to tradition, Mark was the author of the second Gospel. Pappius, the Bishop of Hierapolis (Asia Minor) has recorded thus
1. Mark accompanied Peter in his missionary travels. 2 St.Peter had written his memoirs. 3 Based on these memoirs he wrote his gospel. Mark is also said to have been Saint Peter's interpreter in Rome and to have founded the church in Alexandria, Egypt. It is conjectured that it was Mark who followed Jesus and was caught. Leaving the linen cloth, he fled from them naked. St.Mark. 14:51
He also said to have died a martyr's death. His feast day is April 25.
St.Mark begins with the statement that it is "the Good News about Jesus Christ: the Son of God''. Jesus is pictured as a man of action and authority. His authority is seen in his teaching. The closing chapter report the events of Jesus' last week of earthly life especially his crucifixion and resurrection. The two endings to the Gospel, which are enclosed in brackets, are generally regarded as written by someone other than the author
of Mark.
Questions: -
1. How is the Bible different from other books?
2. What does the Bible tell us?
3. Why is the Bible called the Word of God?
4. Why should we study God's Word?
5. How can the Bible be a guidebook for our lives?
6. Why should we obey God's laws and commands?
7. How many books are in the Bible?
8. How many books are in Old Testament?
9. How many books are in New Testament?
10. Write Psalm 119:33-40
11. Write Psalm 117 full
12 What are the importance of Mark's House.?
13. Why was the Bible written and what was God's plan?
14. How did Mark collect information for writing his gospel?
15. How did St.Mark happen to get the name John?
16. Where in the gospel, do you find reference to St.Mark.?
17. The two endings to the gospel, which are enclosed in brackets. Why?
Pennsylvania convention
CSI Christ Church in Pennsylvania is having convention starting August 31st till Sept 2nd 2001. 31st morning 10 AM there is a fasting prayer. 31st, 1st, 2nd evening 6:30 PM Convention meetings will be held. Sunday Service 2nd September 10 AM. Venue CSI Christ Church in Pennsylvania, 500 Somerton Avenue Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19116.
Rev. Oommen George will be main speaker in the convention
Florida Contact person
Any CSI members living in Tampa, Lakeland, St. Pete area, in FL, please contact Mr. Anand (Daniel Cherian) by email at anand1ae@yahoo.comor by phone 813 354 8455.
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.
This book is available for purchase at JasmineCorp Store
Also read these two books by Sherly Isaac "Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God" Available at JasmineCorp Store, and "Is Jesus God?" Available at JasmineCorp Store,
Both books compares the Bible and the Quran and read eye opening facts about Jesus, God of the Bible, Allah and Islamic faith. I am sure that you want to read this.
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
You can now download articles in Palm Doc format for your palm handheld computer. It will work with any devise that has Palm OS and Palm Doc Reader installed. To download click on the link named "Palm Doc Format" i.e. at the top of this page by the side of each articles.
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online at Kid's page. These tutorials are free for kids who subscribe for CSI Kids Newsletter. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver are available.
So please enroll your kids by going to http://kids.csinewsletter.org/member/join.asp
And visit CSI Kid's page at http://kids.csinewsletter.org
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Now you can read Bible in Hindi online at http://www.hindibible.org
in Malayalam online at http://www.malayalambible.org
in Tamil online at http://www.hindibible.org?ver=tamil
Your Spam Folder
If you are getting this newsletter in your bulk/junk/Spam folder please hit the "not junk" or "not spam" button so that you could receive it in your mailbox. Also adding news@csinewsletter.com email address into your contact list can avoid this email from ending up in your bulk folder.
Your Feedback
Your feedback and comments are Welcome. Please send your Parish news & articles to Editor (Sherly N. Isaac) at this address News@csinewsletter.comThe messages submitted will be checked whether they are correct according to the word of God. Editor reserves the right to accept, reject or edit the messages. The writers are responsible for the contents of their writings.
 
|
