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CSI Good News
(Church of South India Good News)
Vol. 4 / Issue 19 / June 20 2002
Contents of this issue
Editorial
The Holy Spirit who leads us
Praise Him...
Prayer Request
Annual Family and Youth Conference
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
By Sherly Isaac
Baptism word is the most controversial word among people. People have different opinion about baptism and the method of baptism. Let us look from the Bible that what is the opinion of the Bible:
Apostle Paul talks about three types of baptism in Acts 19:1-6. Paul was on his journey and went to Ephesus where he found few disciples. Paul asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." Paul asked them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism." Paul answers in Acts 19:4 that, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."
Here we see that John the Baptist preached about the "Baptism of Repentance" and to believe on Jesus Christ. Bible says in Matthew 3:5-6 when John was baptizing people, "Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins." Jesus also started His ministry preaching the repentance from their sins as we read in Matthew 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
So Bible tells us about a baptism of repentance through which a person confesses his sins and repents from it. And believes on Jesus and gets the salvation or forgiveness of their sins.
Further Acts chapter 19 says that when those disciples heard that, "they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Jesus said in Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." When we read every passage that talks about the baptism, it first talks about believing on Jesus or repenting from sins then taking the water baptism. Water baptism is only a outward significance of burying with Christ and resurrecting for new life with Christ. This is a significance of our confession that we repent from our old sins and are ready to live a new life with Christ. Water baptism cannot save us nor give us forgiveness of our sins but only Jesus Christ who died for our sins on the cruel cross.
The third type of baptism we see in these verses is the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit". The Bible tells us about the disciples of Ephesus in Acts 19:6, "And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied."
The believers of Ephesus took the baptism of repentance, believed on Jesus Christ, baptized and when Paul laid his hands on them they got filled with the Holy Spirit. Many believe that, we get baptism of Holy Spirit or filling of Holy Spirit when we get salvation or when we repent from our sins. But no, it is not reality. Baptism of Holy Spirit is totally different experience just like the experience of "forgiveness of sin" Paul specifically asked those believers that whether they got the baptism of Holy Spirit or not when they believed? If the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a different experience then, Paul did not need to ask at all because they were already disciples or believers.
John the Baptist said in Mark 1:8, "I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." And Bible tells us in Acts 2nd chapter that when disciples and others were gathered and praying with one accord, the Holy Spirit came and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 19:6 say the same thing that when they got filled with the Holy Spirit they spoke with tongues and prophesied. But it is very sad that many Churches have forgotten the gift of God - the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And they teach a new doctrine that people gets filled with the Holy Spirit when they get salvation.
But I want to tell you that there is a baptism of Holy Spirit, there is filling of Holy Spirit and there are gifts of Holy Spirit that God wants to give to every believer. The only thing you have to do is to ask God and receive His wonderful gift. The only eligibility to get the baptism of Holy Spirit is, your sins must be forgiven, your sins must be washed away by the blood of Jesus. God filled the disciples of Ephesus almost 2000 years ago and He has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is ready to fill you with His Holy Spirit if you ask. Do you want this wonderful gift of God, just ask!
The Holy Spirit who leads us
By Sherly Isaac
John 16:13, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
Jesus said to His disciples about the Holy Spirit that when Holy Spirit will come He will lead them in all truth and will tell them the things to come. And the Bible tells us that after the ascension of Jesus, He sent the Holy Spirit as He promised. They all got filled with the Holy Spirit and God led them miraculously. God told them where to go, what to do and where not to go. When the same Holy Spirit comes in our lives and dwells in us, He leads us in every step of our lives. Holy Spirit is none other than the Spirit of God Himself.
If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, He will show you the things to come and warn you about the coming dangers.
Once my mother saw a vision that someone gave five garlic cloves which are little bigger than garlic cloves. And she saw someone saying, "it is witch crafted". Next day, one lady brought exactly five "purenpoli"(it is an Indian sweet dish) that was like yellowish white colored. Then my mother remembered her vision which was shown to her before hand to warn us.
Once an evangelist who was our relative came to our home and lived with us for weeks. She told us her amazing survival story by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. Once she preached in a village and it was too late in night. She had nothing to eat; few moments later she saw two young men coming and gave her boiled eggs to eat. She told them to keep it on the table. They insisted her to eat before they leave her room. But God told her, "keep it aside, don't eat." She said to them, I am not feeling like eating so keep it on the table, I will eat after some time. Finally the young men left the room. She went to sleep and when she woke up in the morning, she was shocked to see that all the eggs where bluish color. She looked it carefully and saw that poison was injected in that by a needle. She thanked God for saving her life.
Yes, Holy Spirit will show you the things which is about to come in your life. It is a marvelous experience to receive the Holy Spirit in our lives and walk in His guidance. On the Sep. 11 one woman coming out of the World Trade Center where chaos and turmoil all over the place. She rushed to one of the Iranian stores nearby to take shelter but God said to her, "Don't stay at this place, move fast." She had no idea why God said to her like this so she ran from there, walked over the bridge for nearly four hours to call her home and reached home safely. When Holy Spirit is with you, He will guide you and lead you in perfect way. If you have not yet received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit and He will gladly do that.
Praise Him...
Thank God for the wonderful job you are doing. May God bless all of you in all your efforts to spread peace and harmony. Let us pray for world peace, especially for India and Pakistan situation.
Accamma Kallel
Prayer Request
Dear brother in Christ,
Praise the Lord! Please pray for my former wife for doing mistakes in the past and repenting now. Let us pray for her good future.
Yours loving brother in Christ,
C.S.Jones
Dear Prayer Group..
I am from Cochin, and currently in Doha-Qatar almost now jobless person. I earnestly request you all to pray for me to almighty to get a good assignment at an early date, as I have a financial burden also, without a job I cant repay the same. Therefore once again I request you all to pray for me and my family..
C.V.PHILIP
please pray for my wife and she is searching a job and our family life.
Sunil
I am going through a very difficult financial situation due to my business down. Please pray for me an for my family. Thank you very much..
Varghese
My name is Rajendran. I am staying in Seremban, Malaysia. I am fresh graduate seeking job. Please pray for me to get job and also for my sister Citra family pray for her husband salvation. Sister Citra has grow with Jesus Christ with her family except her husband. So she has gone terrible trials and tribulations She's husband did not like her under Christ and did not take care and responsible for his family and children. Hence please pray for her and me. Let all of us glory the name of the Jesus. Amen..
Rajendran
Hello,
This prayer request is for my sister and my parents. My sister, Deviga, is a mentally retarded person, married and has one beautiful daughter. She is actually divorced now and is living with me in France. I am taking care of her by giving her sleeping pills (under the advice of the doctor) to control her violent behavior. She wants to be with her daughter who is living with her husband. She does not understand the problems involved in it. I don't know how I can help her further than cheating her everyday and giving her pills to calm her down.
Mira
Please pray for me that He may keep me in the way of Jesus, away from fear and weaknesses that this world has upon me. That will give me the strength to stand up against the majority of traitor of God laws..
Jude
Pray for my business and family
Premkumar
Annual Family and Youth Conference
XVI Annual CSI Family and Youth Conference, Hosted by Emmanuel CSI Church, Philadelphia
Friends,
This years Family and Youth Conference will be held at the Pocono Manor Inn, Pocono Manor PA 18349, from July 4th - 7th.
The Moderator Most Rev. Dr KJ Samuel will preside. The new Bishop of Central Kerala Diocese Rt Rev. Thomas Samuel will also be a leader. The main speaker is Rev Valson Thampu of St Stephen's College Delhi a well known author and preacher of Maramon Convention fame. Pastor Robbie Sortino and Scott Armstrong will lead the Youth sessions. Many dignitaries and officers of the CSI are also expected to attend.
The program will be mostly interactive and there will be a special revival meeting on Saturday night. There will be a Talent show on Friday night. The program will allow for plenty of time to socialize or to go sight seeing.
The venue is panoramic, scenic and relaxing. The accommodation is comfortable and the cuisine tasteful. The room availability now is limited as we have been receiving good response to our early registration drive. Registrations will close on April 14th due to limited space at the hotel.
Please visit our website www.emmanuelcsi.com or download and print the registration form from www.2002conference.csichurch.org/
For details call Convener Koshy Ittyeipe at 610 363 3967 or e- mail: koshy@libertynet.org
We look forward to seeing you there
Koshy Ittyeipe
Convener
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.
 
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