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CSI Good News
(Church of South India Good News)
Vol. 4 / Issue 47 / January 2 2003
Contents of this issue
Editorial
What is Christianity?
Prayer Request
A Special Greeting Card for you
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
Yesterday I got an email from children of one brother who was working among Muslims and Hindus in south India. He was struck with iron rod on his head and since then he had headache and other complications. His children wrote a very moving email saying, one nerve between retina and brain was damaged and operation is not possible. Doctors prescribed twelve injections and that they are very costly. If these injections are not given to him, he may lose his eyesight and become blind... All the three children who are under 12 years sent a desperate plea to pray for their father and also they have written that they will fast for 36 hours and pray for their father.
We receive these types of mails for prayers that break our hearts. When tragedy strikes us we think, "Is there any hope for us?" Many a times we ask, "from where will our help come? There are many homes in India and third world countries where they do not know from where their next meal will come. Many do not have proper shelter to live. When doctors say, "We cannot do anything more for you... we did our best and now we cannot help you any further... there is no medicine for your sickness", it breaks our hearts. Many, unable to face the problems of this world, commit suicide.
Of course, from the worldly point of view there appears to be no solution to these problems, but there is a God who can help you no matter what your situation is. The psalmist says in Psalms 46:1-3, "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling." And in other place he says in Psalms 121:1-8, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills; From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
You may be in the situation today where no one can help you. You may be totally broken and dejected. But have courage today because God has not forgotten you. If you look to Him, He will answer you and wipe away your tears. He can help you in your difficult situation and deliver you. Look to Jesus. When He was in this world, He was moved with compassion for those who were in tears and pain and those who had need and those who were sick. He healed the sick, wiped away their tears, gave sight to blind, raised the dead and met their needs. He has not changed a bit. He can help you and solve your problems.
Two years back I met one movie song singer and producer who was born in a Hindu family. She had everything in her life - money, fame, and luxuries of the world. She lived in luxury. But a time came in her life when she started losing her beloved family members and relatives. She lost her mother and finally her fiancé. She could not understand what to do in that situation. But at that time someone told her about the love of Jesus. She turned to Jesus and found peace and joy in the midst of her troubled life. She shut down her multi-million-dollar business and now she is serving Jesus.
Jesus can do the same thing for you.
What is Christianity?
By Sheela Isaac
When we talk about Christianity, or Christian belief, many have different views. You may wonder to know that even many who are born in a Christian family do not have a clear conception. Many have misleading beliefs about it.
Some think that the sole purpose of Christianity is only to help the poor, feed the needy, love others and so on. These types of messages we often hear from pulpit too. Many are in Christian families, but they do not know the exact teachings of the Bible. They even cannot say why Jesus came in this world. Has He come just to feed the poor? Has He come just to teach some good lessons like any other religious leader?
Somebody once wrote to us saying: "Stop printing the Bible and distributing it and wasting money on it. Instead of it, you should help the poor and feed the needy." Can a person, though he may be only a nominal Christian, speak like this. I was really surprised thinking about it. Even when I was not yet saved I could never think of speaking like this. Feeding the poor and helping the needy is good but it cannot save your soul. It cannot take you to heaven.
We receive many such emails, which blows our mind away. Many emails make me grieve badly. I was reading the article of a person who is the Coordinator of Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue (BIRD). He is there to make a dialogue between Hindu and Christian religion, he is there to defend Christianity, he is there expected to lift the name of one and only true and living God Jesus Christ. But you may wonder to know that he even does not believe in Jesus Christ. He even does not know who is the founder of Christianity.
Here I am quoting some of his writings.
--------Quote---------
“Thanks for your enlightening reply saying that Jesus was the 'founder of Christianity'. I have been taught by brilliant theologians like Dr. Fredrick Muliyil, Dr. Stanley Samartha, Fr. Sebastian Kappen and others that Jesus never founded Christianity. He was not even the chairman of the Christian Party.”
Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the only Prince of Peace in history. But, such a claim leads to arrogance. In a pluralist society like ours different religions may be regarded as different responses to the Mystery of God or Truth or the Ultimate. The question for us today is not which among the many religions is true but what can each religion contribute to the quest for peace.
--------Unquote----------
All these quotes describe that he does not believe that Jesus Christ is the prince of peace and the founder of Christianity. Bible clearly speaks that Jesus came to give us peace i.e. eternal peace. This peace could be achieved only by the blood of Jesus Christ. When a person receives the salvation and forgiveness of sin through the shed blood of Jesus Christ he/she receives the eternal peace. Blood of Jesus Christ reconciles a fallen man with God who is holy. You cannot achieve peace through any other means. You cannot call any other person as prince of peace because they do not have ability to give you eternal peace. They do not have ability to forgive your sins. They do not have ability to give you a place in heaven.
I am afraid what kind of dialogue such a person could make when he believes that all roads lead to heaven. Lack of Bible knowledge or unbelief on God’s one and only unchanging word is the reason for such thoughts. Jesus Christ the master and creator of whole universe declares that “He is the only one God, none beside Him, He is ‘THE WAY’. Hence all roads do not lead to heaven but only through Jesus Christ you could reach heaven.
John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
1 Tim 2:5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
1 Cor 8:6, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
Exo 34:14, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:”
Again what the Ten Commandments say:
Exo 20:3, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Exo 20:4, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;”
What do you understand by these verses? God the creator of the universe spoke it. Who are we to stand against it? Who we are to change it and say “The question for us today is not which among the many religions is true but what can each religion contribute to the quest for peace.” As I wrote earlier it is obvious that Jesus is 'The Way'. So here arises only one question that how to reach heaven through Jesus Christ, how to please Him, how to achieve that salvation and holiness.
You cannot achieve peace by rejecting the creator of the universe Jesus Christ. You cannot reach heaven by rejecting the one and only true God Jesus Christ. This is not my view, I did not invent it. For the truth read the Bible and you’ll find it. Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
So, what is Christianity?
Here is another view of a so-called Christian.
--------Quote---------
After all, who has seen God? When I see my siblings of other faith worshipping a stone or a serpent, I feel he or she is worshiping one of the creations of my God praying the same way I do in a different form.
When my colleague's wife applied sindhur (the red mark) on my forehead in a temple premises, she had obviously wished me well praying to "our God in her outfit" and I felt it was the blood of Christ.
I see my God in every creature…….
--------Un Quote---------
Do you see God (Jesus) in cats, dogs, stones, trees and in all? I am sorry I don’t dare to call that, or fathom those thoughts in mind. You cannot find Him in dirt of the earth or in creation. He is not that cheap. He is such a holy God, He dwells in marvelous light where there is no darkness at all and no sinner can ever reach. You must know how to tremble before God. When you take the name of ‘Blood of Jesus’ you must know how to revere Him. Blood of Jesus is the only thing, which has ability to save your soul from hell. Don’t trample the precious blood under your foot. It will destroy you forever.
Let me ask this question to this gentleman: have you ever seen or read Bible? What does Bible speak about worshiping His creation? Read it.
Rom 1:21, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Rom 1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, Rom 1:23, “And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Rom 1:25, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
What were the consequences of this sin? Next verses speak that God gave them up or left them to live in sin as they wish.
Yes my friend don’t play with fire it will destroy you in hell fire. Hell is a place of horror and it is real. You must know how to tremble before your maker and creator. Repent from your sins and get rid of all false thinking and teachings. Otherwise hell will be waiting for you. Many say “I do not want the God of Christianity who sends people to hell.” I want to tell you that Jesus does not send anybody to hell. But you must know the entire human race is on the way to hell. Bible says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” A sinner cannot reach heaven; a sinful person cannot dwell with Most Holy God. Unless you repent from your sins and receive forgiveness of your sins you are already on the way to hell.
I wrote some time back in another article ‘Fear of God’ about Hell in vast detail. You can read it. When I was reading the book ‘A divine revelation of hell’, it says that there was a man in hell in the pit of fire. He looked as if he was burned badly. His flesh was hanging out of his skeleton. He was in great pain. When he saw Jesus by his side he said, “Lord I knew that some day you’ll come to rescue me from this place. Look I am here for 40 years and it is unbearable to go on like this in this place of torment. The author of the book writes that when Jesus heard the appeal He was crying with great pain, tears rolling on His cheek. Jesus said, “This person mocked profusely at the word of God (Bible) and mocked God when he was on the earth, he had many chances to repent from his sin, but he did not.” The man who was in the fire said; “Now I repent please forgive me.” Jesus said to him, “It is too late now, judgment is already set.”
Yes my friend, life is very short. We are on journey. You may never know when your journey of this world will end. You could repent only when you are in this physical body. After death nothing could be done. What about you? Do you know what is Christianity? Do you know what Bible teaches? We have only one life. When this life will end you will reach one of the two places. It would be either Hell or Heaven; it would be with Jesus or with Satan. If you chose Jesus you will go with Jesus in heaven, but if you reject Him you will reach the place called Hell with Satan.
What you’ll choose today either Jesus or Satan, heaven or hell? There is no other choice left. Rejecting Jesus the creator of this world means, you have automatically chosen hell and satan. Jesus does not send anybody to hell but it is you who decide where you want to spend eternity. It is you who choose eternity for you.
I plead with you all 'choose Jesus, choose heaven, choose life eternal'.
Would you mind to pray this prayer with me?
Lord I am sorry for my sins. I was so ignorant that I could not understand that you are the only savior of the world. Please forgive and forget my sins. Wash away my sins with your precious blood. Cleanse me Lord and make me clean today itself. I repent from my sins. I confess my sins before you. I am a sinner. Have mercy on me. Because of your great mercy forgive and forget my sins. Come into my heart and dwell with in me. Help me to lead a holy and blameless life. Make me holy so that when you appear in glory I may be found spotless and holy. Lord I praise you. I pray in Jesus name Amen.
Prayer Request
I, Miss Urmila request you to please pray for me as i am facing terrible problems which only JESUS can solve. I am greatly disturbed. Only Jesus can help us because nothing is impossible for GOD.
Urmila
Please pray for my mother's surgery.. she will go for the surgery next week and also for my wife’s school acceptance to WHO.. thank you so much for all yours prayers and God bless you all in the coming year.
P. Thomas
I was very ill and i am still afraid and without orientation, so please think of me. I pray for you that you overcome the problems with the new religion laws.
Hans
1.Thomaskutty and wife who is going for a kidney operation on January -2, 2003
2. A Muslim lady, a cancer patient who has four children to support, and still believes that our prayers can cure her. Let us place her in the hands of the Lord.
3.Two more couples Elsa & husband, Kachapallys' who are yet to have any children request your prayers.
Let us hope the new year will bring them new hope as Christ touches them through our prayers for them.
One Tomas and Rsamma family and Ayyappan and family are still without any issues and we request your prayers for them.
Also, please pray for Lucy, who is suffering from various sicknesses plus stone in kidney. We request your prayer support for Lilly who is suffering from Retina Degeneration and Rose who is very weak in studies.
Sheeba and everyone request your prayer support.
May the New Year bring all prosperity and blessings on your team members and let us hope that the Lord will touch us all.
kunju
A Special Greeting Card for you
We wish you all Merry Christmas and a very happy and blessed New Year 2003!
A very special greeting card is waiting for you at: Click here
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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