The Christian Messenger, Sept 2011 issue

Website: www.christianmessenger.in

Vol. 8, No. 5 | SEPTEMBER, 2011 | Rs.10/-

INDIA’S EVANGELICAL NEWS MAGAZINE

Why Indian Television lacks Christian Values INSIDE 7 THINGS PASTORS DON’T NEED TO KNOW SEPT 2001 SURVIVOR’S STORY - OUT OF THE ASHES ‘OUR PEOPLE ONLY THINK ABOUT PROFIT & ROI’ SHARING YOUR FAITH WITH THE FACEBOOK GEN

8th YEAR OF PUBLISHING

Evangelism Through Journalism

Vol. 8, No. 5

THE CHRISTIAN It’s time to MESSENGER From the editor’s desk

tune your TV!

INDIA’S EVANGELICAL NEWS MAGAZINE

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Pages 28

SEPTEMBER, 2011

The purpose of the news magazine is to report newsworthy religious events and activities within the local community, nationwide and around the world, to increase the awareness and activism of believers regarding the moral issues of today, to provide thought-provoking commentary, and to provide an effective advertising vehicle for Christian ministries and organizations, events and businesses that want to reach the Christian community. - Editor The Team Founding Editor: Robin Sam Editor & Publisher: Elsy Robin Editorial Advisor: P I Samuel Production: S Saravanan Guest Columnists: Mathew Victor (Chennai), Kishore Victor (Chennai), Joyce Braganza (Mumbai), Sandeep Daniel (Bangalore), Mathews George (US), Don Davis (Israel), Agnes Amos (US), Edith Sheryl (Canada), Mark Jackson (UK)

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DON’T let the TV control you, is an oft-heard phrase in many homes not necessarily Christian. Parents who are at work are worried sick about what their at-home children are watching on TV. Since, the decision to switch from one channel that airs a family drama to another channel that spews out mindless vulgarity or violence is made at the blip of the remote button, parents’ fears are not entirely misplaced. The problem is not necessarily Christian, let me repeat at the danger of sounding repetitive. Every right-thinking parent would (and should) be worried about what their children watch on TV. Some people tend to think that if their preschooler or preteen watches only cartoon channels, they are safer than the rest who are exposed to all trash on TV. You would be shocked to know that cartoon channels are no better than say reality TV shows, sitcoms or music videos. In 1992, US magazine TV Guide commissioned a study of a typical 18-hour TV broadcast day to determine levels of violence. The networks and the more popular cable channels were monitored for ‘purposeful, overt, deliberate behavior involving physical force or weapons against other individuals.’

Of the total 1,846 acts of violence recorded, over 25% of violence (or 471 acts of violence) was viewed on cartoons. Promos for films (265) and movies (221) came a distant second and third.

The scenario is really alarming if you look at a few more facts closely.

The New Scientist magazine in a 2007 article said that by the time the average US child starts elementary school, he or she will have seen ‘8,000 murders and 100,00 acts of violence on TV.’ A similar finding by American Medical Association came up with a more startling revelation. In homes that had premium cable channels or a VCR or a DVD player, “children typically witness 32,000 murders and 40,000 attempted murders by the time they reach the age of 18,” the AMA study said. I don’t think the situation is any better in India.

In this month’s lead story, our reporter Munni Banerjee examines the issue at hand closely. She has identified 9 reasons why Indian television programs lack Christian values. Two eminent Christians Rev. C D Jebasingh, founder of Galilean International Films and Television Services, and Abraham Mathai, general secretary of the All India Christian Council, have talked about their experience and offered some solutions. Turn to page 6.

It’s been 10 years since Sept 11 attacks on the US happened. Sujo John, who was one of the survivors of the attacks that he witnessed while he was at work on the 81st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, shares his testimony on page 12.

Don Davis, our columnist and Israel expert, rubbishes all talk of Israel being an arrogant and blood-thirsty state by bringing out the real picture about the country. Turn to page 20.

On page 22, Rev. Mathews George has spent some quality time with the Word at the Lord’s feet to tell us how complacency in not allowing God to fill us with His presence can be the most dangerous time of our life.

We have an interview with Tamil filmmaker Johnny Ramesh whose recent Christian film ‘Nesam’ received wide appreciation from all those who viewed it. We have also reviewed the film. You would find it on pages 14 and 15.

Send your feedback by email to editor@christianmessenger.in today!

SEPTEMBER 2011 w THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER 1

6

COVER STORY: GODLESS TV! Why is there nothing besides cinema, sex & stupidity on our TV?

5 10 12 15

THINKING ALOUD: 7 things pastors don’t need to know IN THE NEWS: 4-year-old preacher is YouTube sensation SEPT 2001 SURVIVOR’S STORY Out of the ashes FACE-TO-FACE: Interview with filmmaker Johnny Ramesh

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17 18 20 22

VIEW FROM THE PEW: Sharing your faith with the Facebook Gen BOOK EXCERPTS: Freedom’s Stand DATELINE ISRAEL: What is the State of Israel really like?

LOST & FOUND: The most dangerous time in your life

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SEPTEMBER 2011 w THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER 3

W

E encourage you to use these points in your daily prayer as a family, prayer group or an individual. We would be glad if you take copies of these prayer points and share them with other believers in your church, prayer group or workplace. If you have a specific prayer point that you would like us to pray for along with our readers, you can email it to us at christianmessenger.in@gmail.com Blessings, Editor. l Pray for your family today. Thank God for the wonderful way in which He cared for you and protected you last month. Ask Him to cover you and your family in the blood of the Lamb this new month. l Christian Solidarity Worldwide has voiced concern over continuing violations of religious freedom in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Christians and Ahmadiyya Muslims are discriminated against in that country. l Pray for Christians in Iran. Last month, Iranian authorities seized 6,500 copies of the Bible in northwest of that country. In 2010, they had seized 300 copies of the Bible from a bus after its inspection and burned all of them. l Let’s intercede for our country today. May every one of its peoples have an opportunity to hear the Gospel, read the Bible in their own language and come to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. l Pray for all leaders and those in authority. In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, we are asked to pray for ‘kings and all who are in authority.’ l Pray for Iraqi Christians. The Iraqi Christian minority, formally standing at around 1.4 million, has been significantly downsizing its presence in the country since the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Close to 1 million Christians have fled to either other regions in Iraq or are leaving the country. l The Anna Hazare campaign against corruption has gained the support of masses. However, political parties need to pitch in too for the campaign’s efforts to fructify.

Pray that the Gandhian’s movement will find support from churches, NGOs and parties not just the civil society. l Pray that believers will hold on to the Rock of Ages when the entire world seems to be in a flux.

Heightened activity in stock markets, growing rate of joblessness and inflation are creating more confusion than anyone can handle. l Pray for Pakistan. Almost every day, some terror activity or the other happens in that country. Last month, while the Pakistani Taliban bombed a mosque that killed 50 people, ethnopolitical violence in Karachi killed dozens of people. l Pray that China will kick out Communist ideologies and embrace democracy. Recently, it was reported that 80-million strong Communist Party is getting ready for yet another long-haul with an ideological makeover to avert a Soviet Unionstyle collapse. l Pray that the Lord’s protection will be upon websites run by churches, missions and ministries.

These are days when websites belonging to CIA and Nato are also pulled down by hackers. l Christians in Libya need our prayers. While the Gaddafi regime may have fallen, battles are still being fought in Tripoli. Pray that the church in that country will remain in united and strong in the crisis. l Continue to uphold Asia Bibi in prayers. The Christian wife and mother who was convicted of blasphemy charges in Pakistan, has remained on death row since her shocking sentence was handed down in November 2010. l Pray for people who are caught in the grip of cult groups. May God open the eyes of those people who live under the deception of cult teachings. l Let us pray for our church leaders today. Pray for your pastor’s own walk of faith – his prayer lfe, for his faith, that he would grow spiritually and in his love for God. l Pray for those families that are affected by Endosulfan, a toxic

4 THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER w SEPTEMBER 2011

insecticide that has caused deaths and widespread health problems in our country especially in Kerala. l Pray for business people that you know who may be in debt. May God provide them a breakthrough in the new financial year, give them new opportunities and set them free. l Pray for peace in Israel. There are apprehensions that the crisis that has hit Syria may be used by the enemies of Israel to launch attacks on the country. The Hezbollah and the Hamas who are opposed to Jews are believed to have capabilities to launch bio/chemical and nuke attacks from Iran or Syria. l Crimes against women in India are on the rise. Uttar Pradesh, especially, seems to be a dangerous place to be in for women as reports indicate. Maharashtra is no better, however. Pray for all the protection of all women in your household, workplace and neighborhood. l According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology based in Pune, the highest maximum temperatures in the Indian subcontinent will increase by three to four degrees by the end of this century, even if all human activities affecting the environment stop immediately. Pray for a good monsoon this year (Zechariah 10:1; Deut 11:14). l Pray that churches will come forward and support the anticorruption front formed by Anna Hazare. The Bible makes a case against giving or accepting bribes and corruption. l Pray for business groups that help advance the Kingdom of our Lord.

May such groups be blessed by increased production, debt-free transactions and congeniality among their workers. l Pray that more people will come to believe in the sanctity of marriage in the coming days. Marriage is a holy institution ordained by God. l One in 12 persons worldwide is living with either chronic hepatitis B or C, and a majority of those infected are unaware they are suffering from the liver ailment.

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THINKING ALOUD

7 things pastors don’t need to know

BY RON EDMONDSON IN every position of leadership I have ever held, there were people who felt the need to “inform” the leader.

When I served in an elected office, people told me things I wouldn’t have otherwise known without the position. Sometimes I needed to know…sometimes I didn’t.

When I was a business owner, there was always at least one employee who made sure I knew the inside scoop of the company talk.

Sometimes I needed to know…sometimes I didn’t.

As a pastor, I’ve learned there are plenty of people willing to tell me things I would never hear if I wasn’t the pastor. Sometimes I need to know…sometimes I don’t. I usually never know if it’s something I should know or not until they tell me. If someone has a legitimate problem with a ministry area, I want to know about it, for example. There are some things, however, that I never feel the need to know.

Here are a few examples: Gossip about another person…

Prayer requests given with a motive of gossip…

Rumors spread without substantiation…

Extremely intimate details about a person’s private life…

Problems happening in another church…

S e c r e t s o n e d o e s n ’t h a v e permission to tell…

Details your spouse isn’t ready for me to hear…

You might be surprised to hear what people try to tell me…because I’m a pastor. Now there are extreme times when abuse

or neglect is suspected or occurring to an individual and I may need to hear, but most of the time those are not the intent with the list above.

Chances are that if it’s wrong to share with others, it’s wrong to share it with me.

Please understand, I’m not suggesting I don’t care about the struggles of people’s lives, but there is never an excuse to spread gossip or rumors that cause more harm than good to a person or situation. Even though I’m the pastor, there are some things I simply have no need to know.

Ron Edmondson is a pastor and church leader passionate about p l a n t i n g c h u rc h e s , h e l p i n g established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. Ron has over 20 years business experience, mostly as a self-employed business owner, and he’s been in full-time ministry for over eight years.

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SEPTEMBER 2011 w THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER 5

LEAD STORY

9 reasons why Indian TV

IN 1993, when ‘Bible ki kahaniya’ (Stories from the Bible) was telecast on Doordarshan the Christian community in India thought the Great Indian Epic that had roots in their own Scriptures had arrived.

The big-budget TV serial was marked by its use of technology and an impressive line-up of Bollywood and Hollywood actors among its cast. Shammi Kapoor, Kabir Bedi, Raza Murad and Urmila Matondkar were some of the lead actors.

The program was abruptly taken off air in 1995 because the government of the day did not want to c o n f ro n t K a s h m i r i m i l i t a n t organizations and some Hindu groups who got up against the telecast of the serial. The serial was directed by Raghunath Paleri, Isaac Thomas Kottukapally and T K Rajeev Kumar and produced by Navodaya Appachan.

After the fiasco of ‘Bible ki

kahaniya’, no serious attempts were made at producing Christian content for Indian television. With the opening up of the skies, the vast populace of the country were treated to a flurry of serials, movies and cinematic programmes through private TV channels who to this day try to outscore each other in being louder, crasser and bolder in programming.

The standard of programming in Indian TV channels has deteriorated to such an extent that there is hardly any difference among Channel A, Channel B and Channel Z. The average Indian TV viewer is left with little or no option to get out of the trash spewed at him daily. Why does so much trash exist on our TV c h a n n e l s ? We a s k e d o u r correspondent to identify the reasons behind the deter ior ation in programming. She came up with 9 reasons. Editor)

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BY MUNNI BANERJEE 1.

Christians, who? When Christians are shown on TV serials, they are depicted in negative light as people who drink a lot and party too much. But believers don’t do that in reality. There should be proper representation of believers’ families.

In SAB TV’s immensely popular Tarak Mehta Oolta Chasma which aims at having people of all faiths in its cooperative housing community, no Christian family is shown though they have Muslims, Parsis and a Sikh. Also non-believers need to know that there are believers who don’t wear a cross or don’t have a Christian name. The viewers should be imparted the basics of Christianity.

2.

No Gospel films are shown. No serials are made on Biblical topics. There are numerous Hindu mythological but not one Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

lacks Christian values serial on the life of Jesus Christ, Biblical topics or Gospel films.

Doordarshan allows certain slots for Christian programming but private channels think that it is risky to invest in Christian programming.

3.

News channels are not sympathetic to Christians.

Atrocities on Christians aren’t often shown. The good work done by churches is hardly shown. Most news channels are now masala entertainment channels or gossip channels. You have late-night news programmes with astrological forecasts instead. These programmes that encourage superstitions are against Biblical principles.

4.

The saas bahu saga does more harm than good. These serials instigate conflict in society. If we showed the family bonding instead, a positive message would be conveyed. Also some shows in the name of upholding family values actually disrupt the family.

In Thoda Hain Thodi Si Zaroorat Hain on COLORS they showed a girl working in a call centre as the one who is disrupting the middle-class family values after she enters the home as the bride of the younger son.

It would have been nice if they showed the call centre girl imbibe family values and the family members getting more broad minded.

Instead they ended the serial with the call centre girl running away with her boss and the younger son divorcing her to marry the sister of the older bride instead. Why are shows which are supposed to uphold family values promoting divorce?

5.

Christian festivals aren’t shown at all. Resurrection Day and Christmas aren’t really celebrated.

But Hindu festivals are always blended in to the plot of the serials all around the year.

6.

Reality shows that are hardly real. You have Axe Your Ex where you are encouraged to take revenge on your lover on national TV. In Maa Exchange, mothers are exchanged. In the Big Switch kids are exchanged. The producers of the Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

The problem is also compounded by the fact that there have been no serious efforts at injecting professionalism into the church’s media forays. To most churches, media simply means a camera that records their pastors’ sermons. Media offerings are mostly CDs, DVDs of Sunday sermons. shows say that these shows make family bonding stronger.

In Super Stud-School of Flirt the person who is the best flirt wins.

In MTV Splitsvilla the participants find the ultimate girl of their dreams by choosing from 20 girls by putting them through gruelling ‘tests’. The girls battle stress, politics, exhaustion, fear, bitchiness and bad television to be the chosen one and avoid humiliation of getting dumped.

The girl who has been rejected will leave the show and move back to her home.

In Truth, Love and Cash partners are swapped. In Emotional Atyaachar the partner’s fidelity is tested through a sting operation where a detective is hired and his/ her task is to get physically intimate with the so-called committed person whose fidelity is being tested.

Instead of educating the youth about marriage and the responsibilities associated with running a family, programmes on live-in relationships and gay relationships dominate the TV scene.

It’s sad that swayamvars happen on TV. Choosing your partner should be a personal matter.

On Bigg Boss you hear the worst kind of abuses too. Reality shows are hardly real- most of them are made up.

7.

Kids are abused. Indian television is the wrong place for children to be in. Kids are abused on reality shows. Also the shows disrupt their schooling and education. Many child actors do their homework on the sets. This is very stressful for them. Fame at a tender age is also not

good.

8.

Sundays aren’t holidays.

Actors are over-stressed. There are reports of actors fainting on the sets.

Shooting is carried out on Sundays, too. Therefore, Christian TV personalities are forced to miss church.

9.

Indian TV is ruled by TRP. Though the way of measuring TRP has numerous pitfalls the Wednesday TRP results are taken as the Gospel truth. Accordingly, shows are altered. Shows that aren’t doing well are dropped. Often even good shows are axed just because they don’t do well on TRP. Besides, we have our own set of problems. First and foremost, there have been no serious efforts at injecting professionalism into the church’s media forays.

To most churches, media simply means a camera that records their pastors’ sermons. Media offerings are mostly CDs, DVDs of Sunday sermons.

Unlike in the US, no church in India (not even the cash-rich Catholic church) has attempted to present the Gospel or Christian values through any professional films. Outreach ministries still depend on dubbed versions of the most-popular film ‘Jesus’ and ‘Dayasagar.

The scene in Christian TV channels in India is also similar.

Since cable service providers demand exorbitant money for including them in the bouquet of channels, most Christian TV channels find it difficult to find funds for quality programming. They run on shoe-string budgets.

Christian TV channels in India are run like family fiefdoms. Either they are run by a ministry or a church or an individual and consequently only programmes favourable to them are telecast.

If an individual owns a church, his wife, children, aunt and father-in-law end up as anchors, dubbing artistes or editors thus effectively quashing any attempts to bring in professionalism.

SEPTEMBER 2011 w THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER 7

LEAD STORY

We need to teach the church to invest in films and TV

BY REV C D JEBASINGH THE opportunity for Christian filmmakers to spread the Gospel through TV, especially through the Doordarshan network has increased over the years. This is because Doordarshan channels have increased manifold over the years.

Nowadays, there are many regional Doordarshan channels. Earlier there were just four of them. Doordarshan reaches out to the entire population of India. Doordarshan allocates slots for Christian programming on Christmas and Easter. However, if Christian programmes are exceptionally good then they are aired on regular days too.

DD Podhigai, Doordarshan’s Tamil language regional channel airs a Gospel programme called ‘Vettriyum, Vaazhvum’ (Victory and Life) by Rev. Sam P. Chelladurai, pastor of Apostolic Fellowship Tabernacle, a church headquartered in Chennai, from 10:30 pm to 11 pm.

He is presenting quality Gospel programmes.

It’s upsetting to see producers and channel heads trying to attract the gullible youth with socially harmful youth-based reality shows. A very interesting parallel comes to my mind. Some years ago, the churches in the US told Hollywood biggies that churning out movies with a staple of sex and violence would fetch them less money than family friendly and faith-based films. The Christian Film and TV Commission reminded them that they had a very serious commitment towards the youth. A campaign with prayers was conducted throughout the country by Ted Baehr, founder and publisher of MOVIEGUIDE. It was statistically proved that the church was right that clean films drew larger numbers. A similar campaign should be conducted by churches of India to reform our film industries.

I don’t think that there is a bias now in portrayal of Christian characters in films and TV. Of course, there was a time the bias existed and that was from the beginning of the ‘50s to the late ‘70s.

At that time, almost all villains had Christian names.

As far as the choice of the actor who will play Jesus in a serial on the Lord is concerned it isn’t mandatory that he has to be Christian. In 1978 a Te l u g u B r a h m i n n a m e d Vijayachandra made a film titled ‘Karunamayadu’ (The Merciful) in Telugu.

While veteran director A Bhimsingh directed the film, Vijayachandra did the role of Jesus.

This film drew huge crowds and ran for four straight weeks. Viewers were in tears when they witnessed the

crucifixion scene. ‘Karunamayudu’ has been the pioneer in culturallyrelevant film evangelism for over thirty years. John Gilman, president and founder of Dayspring International, took it upon himself to popularize the film by dubbing it in 14 Indian languages. The Hindi version of this film titled ‘Dayasagar’ was shown all over India including the tribal people and rustics.

Hundreds accepted the Lord when they saw this film. According to Dayspring’s estimate, 150 million villagers have seen the film all over India.

Sadly, our churches have this notion that films are evil. They need to be told as long as films are used to spread the Gospel they aren’t evil.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of Christian filmmakers and TV producers to teach the church that films and TV are powerful media to spread the Gospel.

As told to Pallavi Bhattacharya (C D Jebasingh is the founder of Galilean International Films and Television Services and a passionate advocate of evangelical efforts through media.)

TV trash: Why are children at risk?

IN a Feb, 1995 research report titled ‘Television Violence: A Review of the Effects on Children of Different Ages’ the Department of Canadian Heritage said: “At the preschool age (three to five years old), children begin watching television with an ‘exploration’ approach. They actively search for meaning in the content, but are still especially attracted to vivid production features, such as rapid character movement, rapid changes of scene, and intense or unexpected sights and sounds…

“During adolescence (age 12 to 17), the middle school to high school years, children become capable of high levels of abstract thought and reasoning, although they rarely use these abilities when watching TV, continuing to invest little mental effort. They watch less television than they did when they were

8 THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER w SEPTEMBER 2011

younger, and watch less with their families. Their interests at this age tend to revolve around independence, sex and romance, and they develop a preference for music videos, horror movies, and (boys particularly) pornographic videos, which deal with these topics, although usually in negative ways.”

The report also bemoaned the lack of non-violent educational and entertaining programming specifically targeting children.

The results of a study released in March, 2002 that tracked 700 male and female youths over a 17-year period showed a definite relationship between TV viewing habits and acts of aggression and crime in the later life. People who watch a lot of TV violence not only behave more aggressively, but are more prone to hold attitudes that favor violence and aggression to solve conflicts.

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TV channels promote Santa more than Jesus on Christmas

BY ABRAHAM MATHAI MOST of the time shows of only Hindu families are shown on national TV. Once in a while they may show Christian families and that too where the father and son in a family are shown as drinking and partying. That is the convoluted image they may show of a Christian family. This is certainly not a depiction of a true Christian family.

In fact, when they show Muslims, they are generally portrayed as terrorists and anti-social elements.

The majority of Muslims in India are, however, law-abiding citizens.

It isn’t as if that showing minorities on TV will lead to a TRP loss. If you have a good story line and good character roles, I think it will boost the TRPs. Turn to any channel and you would find a Hindu mythological serial being telecast, but you would not find a single one on the life of Lord Jesus.

You may say it’s the channel’s prerogative since they are the ones who spend money. I agree that they have to weigh the pros and cons before deciding on programming.

All I am saying is it would be nice though if there is equal representation of all faiths including Christianity on television.

Doordarshan, however, being a government channel will give Christians more slots if possible. The private channels don’t find the same profitable enough.

As far as a serial on the life of Lord Jesus goes, it would be nice if the actor who plays Jesus is a Christian.

Although any talented artiste can enact the role of Jesus on TV, we need someone who would be convincing enough in his portrayal on and offscreen.

If the channels cannot produce a serial on the life and message of Jesus Christ, the least they can do is dig into the Old Testament and come up with realistic depiction of the Jewish life that teach the fundamentals of the Bible through the prophets and stories from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is all about God’s love and prophecies Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

concerning Jesus Christ.

During Christmas and Easter, the channels’ programming has become farcical.

I wonder why the channel heads would associate the festivals with only Santa Claus and Easter eggs.

Ask any Bible-believing Christian and he would tell you that Christmas has nothing to do with Santa Claus.

However, year after year the channels find it more lucrative to promote Santa than carol singing and talk about the birth of Christ.

Easter is a pagan term. In Christian terminology it should be Resurrection Day. Jesus rose from his grave on the third day.

You can actually spread the Gospel through TV serials by showing how Christians take up stands in various walks of life. They take a strong stand on various issues based on their faith in Christ.

As far as the association of Christians with wearing a cross and praying in a church is concerned, you really can’t blame media professionals as the lay viewer needs some kind of symbol. There is no harm if a cross is shown as an identification mark.

It is unfortunate that the atrocities on Christians aren’t shown much on TV channels. That is because it doesn’t attract much media attention.

In fact even during the Orissa riots, it was on the third day that the channels started showing it. That is after I got in touch with Mahesh Bhatt and asked him to convince Prannoy Roy to show it on NDTV. The good work done by Christian NGOs and churches should be widely telecast on TV. They are after all helping the poor, orphans and widows in accordance with Lord Jesus’ teachings. That shows that Christians are actually walking their talk.

As far as reaching out to the youth, who like regressive reality shows, is concerned, Christian media professionals should come up with real innovative ways to spread the Word of God to them.

As told to Pallavi Bhattacharya (Abraham Mathai is the Vice Chairman of the State Minorities Commission, President of the Harmony Foundation, President of the Indian Christian Voice and Gen. Secy. of the All India Christian Council).

TV Trivia No. of households with TV sets in India: As per the TAM Annual Universe Update - 2010, India now has over 134 million households with television sets.

No. of households with access to cable, set-top box, satellite dish etc: 103 million households have access to Cable TV or Satellite TV, including 20 million households who are DTH subscribers. In urban India, 85% of all households have a TV and over 70% of all households have access to Satellite, Cable or DTH services. TV-owning households have been growing at between 8-10%, while growth in Satellite/Cable homes exceeded 15% and DTH subscribers grew 28% over 2009.

No. of TV channels in India: As of 2010, a total number of 515 channels are available in the country out of which 150 are pay channels. Courtesy: Wikipedia.

SEPTEMBER 2011 w THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER 9

IN THE NEWS

Billy Graham’s daughter sees signs of end times in world events The daughter of Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, believes recent world events are proof that Jesus’ return is nearing.

In her book, ‘Expecting to See Jesus: A Wake-Up Call for God’s People’, Lotz details the signs of the Second Coming and the implications it could have on the world.

She wants the nations to realise that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 ten years ago were a wake-up call from God. She said: “The signs that Jesus gave and the headlines in the news are coming together in a dramatically sobering way.

"I have held the conviction with intense focus since I was in my early 20s that if I live out my natural lifetime, I will live to see the physical return of Jesus to earth!”

Lotz remembers how September “On that day, God woke me up and 11 personally transformed her own set my heart on fire to tell other faith and instilled in her a passion to people the glorious good news of the share her convictions with others. gospel of Jesus Christ,” she said.

Starbucks chief pulls out of megachurch visit after homosexuality protest

Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz has cancelled his visit to a US megachurch following a controversial homosexuality protest.

The coffee shop businessman was due to speak at a leadership conference at Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, but had to scrap the meeting after an online petition accused the church of being ‘anti-gay’.

Almost 800 protestors signed a petition on website change.org

within a week and vowed to boycott Starbucks if Schultz went ahead and appeared at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit this month.

The event has previously had speakers such as former president Bill Clinton and rock star Bono.

Starbucks' leadership deemed that the appearance at the church wasn’t worth the potential loss of revenue following the reaction from the protesters, who claimed the church had anti-gay views and had a previous association with Exodus International, a Christian ministry that works to help gays and lesbians leave homosexuality.

Bill Hybels, senior pastor of the 20,000 member Willow Creek Church, told USA Today that the church does expect its members to follow biblical ethics and reserve sex for marriage between a man and a woman, but welcomes worshipers of all backgrounds. He said he was sad and disappointed that Schultz had to cancel his appearance.

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4-year-old preacher wows Internet audience on YouTube

A four-year-old preacher has whipped up a stormy response from millions of observers on YouTube.

Dubbed the “pint-sized preacher”, Kanon Tipton first banged the Bible from the pulpit of his family’s Pentecostal church in Mississippi aged just 21 months – and his dramatic delivery his inspired and repulsed viewers across the world ahead of a television profile of the young evangelist.

Interviewed alongside his parents Damon and Kandi this week for a US news programme, Kanon told how family influence inspired him on the religious stage. “I like to stand up there, I see my daddy preach all the time,” he said, referring to his father, who is also a preacher.

Father Damon said: “I believe it’s a phenomenon. I feel like the hand of God is on him in a very special way but he is the third generation of preachers so it’s in his blood.”

Kanon Tipton’s religious speeches have been watched by four million worldwide.

The tot, from Mississippi, shot to fame at 21 months. Barely able to talk, a video of him mocking the style of church preachers was uploaded by his parents. His father and grandfather have both taken the mic before him – but parents Damon and Kandi insist they do not coerce him.

They just allow Kanon to take to the pulpit when he is in the mood.

“One word comes to mind and I believe it’s ‘phenomenon’,” Damon told US channel MSNBC. “I really believe it’s a phenomenon in what Kanon does. It’s very unusual. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

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Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

SEPTEMBER 2011 w THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER 11

SEPT 11, 2001 THE SURVIVOR’S STORY

OUT OF THE A

Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles

BY SUJO JOHN ERROR struck America and had just crashed into our building. changed us forever. None of Soon debris from the plane flew into us will ever forget where we our office and everything started were, who we were with and what we going up in flames. All of us tried our were doing that fateful day when best to stay calm but fear descended tragedy struck America on what on all us of as we had no idea what looked like a beautiful day in New was going on or if we had a way out York city. As we deal with the loss of of this building. We could see a huge thousands of innocent lives we were crater below and above us. It was also reminded that history books will picture of twisted steel all around us also tell the tale of many Americans with smoke and fire spreading fast.

My heart was sinking. I wondered that faced terror with courage.

I worked on the 81st floor of the if the plane had also hit the South North Tower or Tower 1 of the World Tower where my pregnant wife Trade Center and my wife Mary worked. We fought our way through worked on the 71st floor of the South the fire and made our way to the Tower or Tower 2. It was just an stairwell. As we were coming down incredible experience working in this the flights I am trying to reach my incredible building especially for an wife through my cell phone. But cell immigrant who had just arrived in phones are not working. Desperate, I America in February of that year. We stopped on the 53rd floor and tried to enjoyed so much working together in make a few phone calls from the land line. I was extremely worried about the same complex.

I left home (Teaneck, a town in my wife but there was no way to Northern New Jersey) early that reach her. As I continued my descend morning for work. The morning down we now see hundreds of commute was normal and as the the firemen and policemen pass us as NJ Transit bus rolled out of the they were making their way up.

Lincoln Tunnel into Midtown here When we saw them there was this was again the incredible sight of the hope that there was a way out of this World Trade Center Towers from a burning building. We had no idea distance. It was a beautiful clear day then that these brave men were on the east-coast. I made my way to walking up to their death. As we my office and as I sat on my chair I made our way to the lowest level it started reflecting on God’s goodness was an unbelievable sight. It was a on our lives. He had blessed us with picture of death and complete good jobs and now we were destruction. Fuselage from the plane expecting our first child. Everything that had crashed, burning materials, seemed to be going well. However, I shattered glass and bodies all over began to feel a deep sense of the courtyard. It was a war zone.

I saw people being led through the emptiness in my life. I knew there was a call of God upon my life but I different exits of the World Trade was not doing anything about it. I Center. I decided to walk closer to the decided to write an email to a friend South Tower hoping that, if my wife at my church telling him how I felt had not made her way up I might see and how I was looking for purpose in her. As I reached close to this life. I let go of that email at 8:05 am building. There is now a huge from my office. Little did I know explosion and the ground around me how the next few moments would is shaking. This was the South Tower finally collapsing. change us forever.

All 110 stories of the second tower At about 8:45 am, I had just faxed out some documents and as I was of the World Trade Center collapsed returning to my desk I hear this around us as I was standing near the incredible explosion. Our building foot of the building. Huge boulders rattled and shook. People screamed and steel and mortar were tumbling throughout our floor. American down around us.

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The people around me huddled at one end of the building and I started praying for the blood of Jesus and asking God to give His strength. As I stared death as its face I started having this peace about this place called heaven. I felt challenged to tell people around me that all of us were going to die and if there was anyone who did not know Christ that they should call upon His name. At that point, everyone around me started crying: “Jesus!”. It was incredible as we started calling on His name.

There is so much power in the name of Jesus.

When you are near death, you are very ready to accept Jesus into your life. By then, the whole building had collapsed and we were in the debris.

Not a single boulder or any material fell on me. I found myself in three feet of white soot and glass. I got to my feet and was surrounded by silence. I could see dead bodies all Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

ASHES

around me. God directed me to a man on the ground who had a flashlight on him. I told him that only Jesus could save us and that we had to live.

When the man had stood up, I saw that the jacket he was wearing had “FBI” written on it. We held hands and started walking through the rubble. It was like a blizzard, one caused by all the concrete and ash that had been stirred up into the atmosphere.

I know see a light flashing on top of an ambulance, so I told the man from the FBI that we had to head to that flashing light, since the ambulance was on the street. We somehow made it to the ambulance, which had been badly hit by debris. But the light was still flashing. From that point, it was relatively easy for us to make our way out.

Nevertheless, I was gripped by the thought that my wife who was in the other World Trade Center tower might be dead. All kinds of images went through my mind.

Crowds started running from all over downtown to safer places far away from the skyscrapers. We ran and walked for an hour, and throughout the whole time my cell phone failed to work. Finally, at noon my cell phone rang. It was my wife, telling me that she was alive. When she heard my voice, she realized that I too had made it through. She had not made it to work, since her train had reached the World Trade Center subway stop five minutes after the first crash and so had not made it into the buildings. She had been hysterical on the streets, thinking I was dead and seeing people jumping out of the buildings.

Nevertheless, both of us were, miraculously, alive. My wife reached 39th Street in Manhattan near the Ferry and somehow I reached there.

We looked back and could see both our buildings now only a pile of smoking rubble and ashes.

Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

How to experience God It is impossible to explain the sense of relief that flowed through us when we saw each other. Both of us had been so close to believing that we would never see each other again.

When the explosion took place and the building was crumbling around me, images of my wife, parents, grandmother, and other loved ones flashed through my mind. The relief that we were alive was almost more than I could bear. God in His mercy spared our lives.

Thousands died on this fateful day.

We will all have to go one day. It is appointed for all men to die once. We are here to challenge the world with the question “Do You Know Where You Are Going?”

I salute the fallen and those that have been left standing. I thank God for our bravest Police men and women, firemen, men and women who go in harm’s way and defend this nation. Many gave their today for others to see their tomorrow.

I thank God for the resilience of life that we saw in New York City. It was incredible to see the city come back to life and breathe again. But America will never be the same again. So much has happened in our world since this tragic day. This country has been in war and thousands have laid down their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq to make America safe. May we never forget their sacrifices. They did not die in vain.

You that have just read our story.

We all have stories in our lives. On our journey on this earth we will have trials and sorrows, times of brokenness and pain.

But God is in the business of turning our tragedies into trophies of His glory and grace.

Have you given your life story into His hands?

Since that day God has launched us on a mission to prepare people for eternity. Are you ready?

“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” – ( Isaiah 40:31)

Here are five simple steps you can take to begin a relationship with God: 1. Recognize your need. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, NASB). All of us are sinners, and we must admit our need for a Savior.

2. Repent of your sins. Because God is completely holy, our sins create a wall that separates us from Him. By confessing your sins you will find forgiveness. “Repent” means to make a 180-degree turnaround. The Bible promises: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

3. Believe in Jesus. God worked a miracle when He sent His only Son to die for us. We don’t have to pay for our sins … Jesus paid it all! We can’t work for our salvation. It is a gift from God, and all He requires is that we believe. Put your faith in Him. The Bible says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

4. Receive His salvation. God has given us this free gift, but we must accept it. Thank Him for sending Jesus to die on the cross for you.

Thank Him for His amazing love, mercy and forgiveness. Then ask Him to live in your heart. His promise to us is sure: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God...”

(John 1:12).

5. Confess your faith. The Bible assures us: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). You have been born again and are now part of God’s family. Tell someone else what Jesus has done in your life! This amazing experience can be yours.

Embrace God’s love and receive the salvation that only Jesus Christ gives.

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FILM REVIEW NESAM

‘Nesam’ moves the heart, points to the Master!

Title: ‘Nesam’ (Tamil) Cast: Vadivukkarasi, Rajasekar, John Paul Cinematography: Nagakrishnan Music: Gandhidass Story, screenplay and direction: J Ramesh

BY ROBIN SAM

T

HE first time I met Johnny Ramesh was at the preview of his film ‘Vedha’. The film shot in Tamil was dubbed into other languages and did good business in the DVD circuit, thanks to some aggressive marketing. ‘Vedha’ was critically acclaimed too. It got Ramesh the Best Director award from Galilean International. Almost two years later, he has come up with ‘Nesam’ which he has scripted and directed. When a friend gave me a DVD of the film, I viewed the film along with my family. My threeyear-old son Steve, who is loathe to watching anything on TV except his favorite cartoon channels nestled beside me and watched the film without moving a muscle, well almost! Although the opening scenes of the film seemed a little confusing in delineating the relationship between the protagonists, the film picked up pace and wrapped up the story quite nicely. Some of the scenes in the film left a lump in my throat.

My daughter Sandy who has picked up some of my critiquing traits looked a little overwhelmed when I asked her if she liked the film.

Obviously, she had liked it.

‘Nesam’ tells the story of Grace amma, a well-to-do Christian widow who shows Christ-like love to all those she comes across. Be it the domestic maid or a village preacher or her own tenants, Grace amma has a kind word or deed to offer. She becomes the voice of the illiterate maid by helping her write a letter. To the village preacher, she becomes a supporter who gives him copies of Bible and money. To her tenants, she is a mother who nurses them in sickness and counsels them out of marital strife. Veteran actor Vadivukkarasi essays the role of Grace amma with quiet dignity and elan. She carries the film well on her

The film shows how Grace amma wins souls for Christ without overtly exerting herself or wearing Christianity on her sleeves. strong shoulders along with Rajasekar, a Tamil film director of repute. The film is based on Mark 12:31 where Jesus tells a teacher of the law about the most important commandment. The greatest of all commandments, Jesus says is to love the Lord your God with all your mind, and with all your strength.

However, as if to gauge the level of love one has towards God, Jesus adds, ‘The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.’ In demonstrating how Grace amma lives out the commandment, ‘Nesam’ offers the audience a peek into the outrageous love mankind has ever known – that of Jesus Christ on the Calvary.

Through some deft characterization, intelligent screenplay and natural albeit subtle dialogues, what Johnny Ramesh achieves is not only communicate the love of Christ to his audience but also dispel any misgivings the viewers may have about Christians, the Bible and the church. I think the biggest achievement of the director with respect to this film is although the film conveys the good news in

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Christ, it never sounds a tad preachy.

Although the plot is simple enough to be written behind a matchstick box cover, there is never a dull moment in the film. In its own unhurried way, the film shows how Grace amma wins souls for Christ without overtly exerting herself or wearing Christianity on her sleeves. The scene where the elderly tenant, played brilliantly by director Rajasekar, cooks upma to an unwell Grace amma and gets enlightened on various issues pertaining to life, living and the Bible, although not exactly avant-garde, is a master stroke that reminds one of the K Balachander touch.

The film shot on DV Cam sure has its shortcomings but when you consider the fact that it was produced on a measly four lakh rupee budget and wrapped up in five days, this is perhaps the best that such shoestring ‘sub-budget’ films can offer.

‘Nesam’ moves the hearts and points to the Master!

‘Nesam’ may not be in ‘The Passion of the Christ’ league but it is the Indian equivalent of American Christian dramas like ‘Facing the giants’ and ‘Fireproof’ written and directed by Alex Kendrick. In that respect, Johnny Ramesh deserves a standing ovation. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together now…

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FACE-TO-FACE JOHNNY Ramesh

‘Our people have blurred the line between business and ministry’

BY ROBIN SAM HIS parents were a great influence in Johnny Ramesh’s life. The Johnny-Ruby couple were teachers who brought up their children in the fear of the Lord. Ramesh was born as the last of their four children. Thanks to a strict Pentecostal upbringing, viewing films was considered antiChristian in their family. However, when he got into college Ramesh made up for all that: he frequented cinema halls along with his friends and made sure he had watched every film that was released first day, first show. After college, Tamil film director Selva, with whom he was acquainted during his college days, invited him to join the film industry.

Ramesh became his assistant and helped him in several films.

Although his mother took to fasting and praying for her son to quit films, his dad’s advice not to let the world influence him wherever he was and whatever he did encouraged him.

Although he worked as an assistant at ELCOT, a Tamil Nadu government promotional agency for IT the industry, his heart lay in films.

Although he quit ELCOT after 12 years of service, he did not disclose it at home for almost five years for fear that it will be the end of his film career. In 2000, he branched out as an independent filmmaker. By his own admission, the first film that he independently directed, ‘Kalalpadai’, was a ‘super flop.’

Thereafter, although he turned his attention to TV serials, success continued to elude him. In the meantime, couple of accidents that incapacitated him for six months each made him introspect on life, the purpose of his existence and God’s will for his life. Slowly, he realized God took him to the film industry to help him learn the craft and be a witness for His Name by making celluloid creations that talk about God’s outrageous love. Till date, Ramesh has done a few TV serials, a 2 ½ hour film on father-son relationship for Polimer TV, eight Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

short films on AIDs, eye donation, child labor and other social issues besides four Christian films, ‘Saathanin Thandhirangal’, ‘Vedha’, ‘Vaasam’ and ‘Nesam’. While ‘Vedha’ fetched him the best director award from Galilean International, Mumbai, ‘Nesam’ has received critical acclaim from both the laity and the clergy. The Christian Messenger met him for a freewheeling chat. Excerpts from the interview:

What is ‘Nesam’ all about?

‘Nesam’ is based on Mark 12:31 where Jesus tells a teacher of the law about the most important commandment. It is produced by Prime Force Academy. This film was shot within a budget of four lakh rupees in five days. You could be a Christian who lives by Biblical principles but if you do not love others as you love yourself you have to admit that you have fallen a prey to

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FACE-TO-FACE JOHNNY Ramesh legalism. Yes, you may have followed all the commandments of God but if you have overlooked God’s grace and not shown mercy to others then we are Christians only in creed and not in deed. ‘Nesam’ is about how exhibiting Christian love in practical ways can be a greater evangelistic effort than anything that we say or think.

You have done four Christian films so far. How rewarding an experience was it?

If you have monetary rewards in mind, then I am yet to make money from any of my four Christian ventures so far. For instance, I spent one lakh rupees out of my pocket to film ‘Vaasam’ based on 1st Corinthians 13. The film was appreciated but I am yet to recover the money spent on it. In fact, my outing in the Christian world has taught me that there are very few mission-minded Christians around us. Even those who claim to support us only have business motives in their mind. They are always thinking if I spend 50 rupees on this, what will be my net profit. They have blurred the line between business and ministry. It’s difficult to work with such people but then do filmmakers like me have an option? After doing one particular Christian film, I was so

bitter about things that my health deteriorated. I was humiliated leave alone being rewarded for my efforts.

I suffered from sleep disorder and had to go to a 3-day healing retreat in Bangalore to get over the hurts and bitterness in my heart. God taught me that I cannot be His servant by being bitter about people.

How did you generate the funds for making ‘Nesam’?

The rich Christians I approached in the hope of generating funds to produce ‘Nesam’ turned me down but someone who is not touched yet by the love of Jesus agreed to help me the moment he heard the script. I am thankful to Mr. Duraipandian Gnanasundaram, founder-president o f P r i m e F o r c e A c a d e m y.

Professional Christian filmmakers are a rarity in India. That’s the reason why I appeal to the Christian community to encourage people like me.

outside their family or clique. The same is the case with our Christian leaders. It’s difficult to meet them.

You have to peel several layers before you can gain access to them.

Jesus Christ was accessible to people in His time but our leaders are mostly inaccessible.

How was the experience of working with Vadivukkarasi?

I have directed her even earlier in Tamil films. She is an excellent actor and a senior artiste. I had her in my mind even when the character of Grace amma was conceptualized for ‘Nesam’. Several people who knew of the casting asked me if she would be the ideal fit for the character. I told them to wait until the film was completed. She has done a terrific job in the film. But one day she lost her cool and flared up in the sets. She thought I was singling her out for retakes. By God’s grace, I was able to explain what I wanted and defuse the situation. I am sure the film and the character she played touched a chord in her. She refused to accept her remuneration for the film despite repeated requests. She did not even take one rupee for acting in the film.

Did you approach the Christian TV channels?

Christian TV channels are run by families in Tamil Nadu. They seem to be running their channels only to propagate their own views or to promote the works of their wives and (The filmmaker can be reached at children. They are not interested in 0 - 9 8 4 1 0 5 3 6 2 6 o r taking up anything that comes from rameshaction@gmail.com)

Archaeologists think newly discovered tomb may be Philip’s

A team of Italian archaeologists has announced the discovery here of what they believe to be the tomb of Philip, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles.

The tomb has been discovered in the ancient Asia Minor city of Hierapolis in Turkey’s Aegean province of Denizli, and are planning to excavate the unopened grave soon.

The New Testament saint came to Hierapolis - known today as

Pamukkale - nearly 2,000 years ago to spread the Gospel and was crucified upside down by the Romans.

The discovery of the grave will attract immense attention around the world, said excavator Francesco D'Andria, director of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage, Monuments and Sites at Italy’s National Research Council in Lecce.

Philip’s tomb has traditionally been associated with the martyrium church built at the site, though no evidence of the ancient burial was ever found. In July, however, D’Andria and his team located a smaller church less than 150 feet away from the martyrium that appears to contain the grave of the apostle.

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ROBIN Sam | VIEW FROM THE PEW

Sharing your faith online with the Facebook Gen

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ECENTLY Andrew Haines, president of the Center for Morality in Public Life in the US, moaned in one of his columns about how overzealous friends were spoiling the fun he got out of being on Facebook.

He wrote: “About 90% of my Catholic ‘friends’ on Facebook drive me up a wall. Up. A. Wall. The newsfeed wall of my Facebook account, to be more specific.

“I’ve got 700-and-some connections on the site — a pretty conservative number, all things considered. But lately I’ve found that I can’t log onto Facebook without being bombarded by pious images of (pastel colored) saints, public requests (and offers) to remember certain intentions during the rosary, and comment after comment linking the word ‘hugs’ with “prayer warrior.”

“All three together is enough to force my cursor back to the URL bar for an emergency trip to another site.

Anywhere.”

Although he said it quite humorously, I understand his pain.

I am a social media enthusiast myself. I have been a founding member of one of India’s biggest online portals. I have also served in a team that saw the relaunch of Yahoo! in India. But for the life of me, I cannot understand why some people won’t understand that spams and unwanted tags on your Facebook wall are just as irritating as poll graffiti on your freshly painted compound wall.

There’s a good reason for the ‘activism’ of believers on Facebook.

The social media site claims to have 200 million subscribers from around the world. Internet Evangelism Day estimates the global web users to be over two billion. Over 4 billion people use mobile phones that are also web-equipped. We are talking about big numbers here.

Thanks to the swelling numbers, the zealous Internet evangelists Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

consider the social media sites to be the fields that are ready for harvest that Jesus talked about in John 4:35.

Although it is humanly impossible to reach all the great masses found on Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and other social media sites, Net-savvy believers want to impact the world for Jesus. Only, some of them don’t realize that they are affecting the world instead of impacting it and causing a few to reject the message of Jesus.

I am not saying all these people who annoy us on these SM sites are nincompoops. While by and large some of them are plain ignorant, many of them are simply aggressive Internet marketers. They are the equivalent of bulk SMS senders.

They know the exponential growth the Internet population has achieved in the last decade and are simply trying to get their pie out of it. Only, they do it so terribly wrong that they end up making a mess of online evangelism.

Online evangelism efforts cannot be vastly different from conventional methods of reaching out with the message of love, hope and salvation to a hurting world. Let me share a few ways to do it right.

Be personal: People will listen to you in person or on the Internet only if you interest them. You must mean something to them. So, the next time you feel like posting a Bible verse on your friend’s friends’ walls, curb that urge and ask yourself: ‘Do I know this person well?’ If not, get to know him first. If you are not relevant to your audience, your message will not be either. Even if you know him as a friend, ask yourself ‘Do I know what he is going through now?’ When was the last time you spoke to him?

If you and your friend are living in the same area but interact only through the social media, chances are that he sees you only as an acquaintance. Be a friend first!

Remember Jesus’ approach to

Zacchaeus (Luke 19:5). He went out of the way and stayed at his house. In other words, He offered himself to be a friend first before He revealed Himself as the Savior. Paul tried to be ‘all things to all people’ just ‘so that by all possible means I might save some’ (I Corinthians 9:22).

Be grace-driven: Even to those who you personally know, let your message be borne out of the fact that you are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:2-10). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is quite simple and it flows out of His infinite love. Let’s not complicate it or present it with arrogance. Chances of your message being accepted are greater if you share the Gospel under the knowledge of God’s abundant grace.

Don’t be like the man I met several years ago, whose first words to me when he came to know that I came from a non-Pentecostal background, was ‘You are on your way to hell!’ He may have been a bright torch in the Lord’s hands if he had not burned on both sides. The Gospel is a love story (John 3:16). You need to relay it with love.

Be available (to God!): Many a minister of God has lost his love for the work of the Master because of the busyness of his life.

Social media is a great tool to get the message across to those who do not know Jesus. However, remember it is a whirlpool too. The more time you spend in it, the deeper you will get sucked into it.

Remember, Facebook is a great place to hang out with your friends but don’t make it your abode. To be a better witness of the Lord, you need to spend time with God. You must enjoy being with Him, conversing to His Spirit, reading His Word and be ready to listen to what He is telling you. Learn to rejoice in the Lord and think about ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable’ (Philippians 4:4-9).

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BOOK EXCERPTS

FREEDOM’S STAND BY J M WINDLE KABUL, AFGHANISTAN EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Freedom’s Stand by Jeanette Windle (Tyndale).

“Why did you permit him to walk out alive?” Fury vibrated the cell phone’s speaker unit.

“I told you of the recording.”

Afghan Deputy Minister of Interior Ismail swept the smashed DVD player into a waste receptacle beside the police chief ’s desk he’d commandeered. “Perhaps such ammunition would not damage you.

But it would destroy me!”

“And you are a tool I cannot afford to lose at this time. So perhaps you made the wise decision.”

Ismail didn’t find the other man’s chuckle so amusing. “It has not worked out so ill in any case. We have still advanced our objectives.

And he is aware the price of his life is silence. He will not speak further of what he knows.”

“Which is little enough. Can he have guessed that wreaking vengeance on Khalid Sayef was not, after all, the end purpose of his mission? Could this be why he turned from his path?”

“There is no way he could know.

No, it was the girl. To lie was a mistake.” Such admission was another mistake. Ismail hurried to fill cold silence. “In any case, he has made it clear his heart is no longer committed to jihad.”

“With the right leverage, he may yet change his mind. If only this had arrived in time, we would not have failed today.”

The same image filled both speakers’ cell phone screens.

“Who could have known it was under our noses all this time?” Ismail said.

“And his. You should have investigated earlier this American tenant and her doings.”

“Only chance brought the trail to my door.”

“Or Allah’s gift.”

The photo was not one a decent woman would exhibit outside her own family. But even in Afghanistan, mug shots required that more than a burqa be visible. Escaping, brown

curls under a headscarf framed pale, oval features, an expression of combined despair and defiance incongruous in so youthful a face. But it was the eyes glaring at an unseen camera through a fringe of long and curling lashes that drew a murmur of satisfaction from both speakers.

Scornful, a sheen of tears discernible even in JPEG, they glimmered the deep lapis lazuli of a Band-e Amir mountain lake. *** K a n d a h a r P r o v i n c e , Afghanistan When Jamil had saved that burned child’s life, he hadn’t expected to find himself running for his own.

Jamil glanced back over his shoulder. He was pulling away from the mob. No, the mob had chosen to drop back. Though another hail of rocks hissed through the air, the throwing was halfhearted. But then the men weren’t trying to kill him.

Only to drive Jamil—and his words—from their village.

All had b egun so well too. The village was like any other in southern Afghanistan, dirt cubes behind dirt walls on aparched plain. A riverbed that ran full during wet season was now only dry boulders, but a communal well permitted survival year-round. Jamil had been refilling his water bottle when a villager invited him to share the evening meal. The hospitality of the Pashtun tribes was as legendary as their ferocity.

And their poverty. Mud walls of his host’s reception chamber bore no whitewash. Threadbare carpet and tushaks covered a dirt floor. A platter

18 THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER w SEPTEMBER 2011

set before Jamil and male household members held only rice with a scant topping of lentils. Thin faces and eager eyes of children peeking around a doorway to watch the men eat restrained Jamil’s own hunger. An injustice, Ameera would protest.

A reminder that Ameera was gone now from Jamil’s world. The woman who’d first introduced him to Isa. He’d heard her voice only once since being expelled from Kabul. When he again reached a place where his cell phone functioned, her own phone was out of service. He’d called Rasheed instead, only to be told that Ameera had returned to her own country and he was never to call again.

A burqa was pouring tea when Jamil heard the scream. Its anguished pain was too great to consider propriety. His host’s own distress was such he hadn’t objected to Jamil following into the family quarters.

The screams came from a boy no more than two years old. Copyright © 2011 by Jeanette Windle.

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Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

SEPTEMBER 2011 w THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER 19

DON Davis | DATELINE ISRAEL

What is the State of Israel really like?

Israel is NOTHING like what the news media portrays.

Jewish Israeli citizens are not militant, apartheid individuals who prefer fighting wars and building barriers. Neither is Israel only populated with black dressed citizens, radical zealots, and women wearing head coverings. Nor, is Israel all desert, rock, sand and camels. Israeli industry is more than carved olive tree souvenirs, oranges, falafel, humus, and the Uzi. To the surprise of most visitors, barring war or conflict for the protection of Israel, Jews, Muslims, Druze, Christians, Circassians, Samaritans, Baha’is, Hindus, and Buddhist live in harmony. Culturally, Jews are “live and let live” and are very liberal and tolerate of all ethnic groups unless it threatens them directly. In Israel, except for border areas and restricted zones, most people go where they wish and even Jews will shop, dine and vacation in Arab districts. In fact, many Jewish Israelis continually ignore security alerts and visit Arab locations.

In addition, during regional calm Israeli children (and women) have no fear to go out at night. Most families allow preteen and teenagers the freedom to meet with their friends in the local towns or parks late into the night and early morning. This is because most Israelis will instantly react to any cry for assistance, and peculiar as it may seem, domestic violence is not a common trait for naturalized, Jewish Israelis. A Sabra, (a Jewish person born in Israel), has been raised to use their voice and mind instead of physical strength.

Rather most domestic violence is attributed to outside populations and foreign immigration.

In relation to the media labeled radical religious population, Israel has less than 6 million people who are classified as Jewish. Jewish means they observe the religion, philosophy or traditions of Judaism.

Though, 2010 statistics reflect that

67% of the Jews in Israel claim to be non-religious traditional or secular (not religious).

In glaring contrast to the surrounding Arab nations, Israeli women are a vital part of society and aggressively pursue governmental, institutional, technological, medical, corporate and military employment.

They are intelligent, talented, selfdriven and directed. Women who are just as comfortable working in a Kibbutz (communal farm of industry), profession office, holding a wine glass dressed for an evening event, or as a combat instructor holding a GTAR-21 Tavor assault rifle with grenade launcher.

For the most part, Israelis are highly educated and renowned for inventive technologies. They are also keen debaters and commonly defend religions, traditions, behavior and cultures separate from their own. As well as defending rights for Muslim Arabs (as long as the Arabs are not trying to kill Israelis), and rights for Arabs who may refer to themselves as Palestinian (which is a deceptive term as Palestinian is neither a race of people nor has Palestine ever been a country). Also read: Is the Palestinian claim to statehood Biblical?

Israelis are generous in donating money and their time.

Distinguishable from most populations, if Israelis witness a robbery, assault, terror attack, or catastrophe (whether natural or manmade) Israelis are quick to respond, help and defend if necessary. They are not afraid to get involved.

Israelis are generous with their food, cars and homes. Many foreigners have been immediately accepted as family, and are encouraged to participate. Israelis can rapidly become as close and dependable as a devoted brother or sister. What’s more, in numerous private businesses it is not unusual for the owner to let you take your

20 THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER w SEPTEMBER 2011

item despite not having the completed purchase amount.

Trusting you to return and settle in the near future.

If you need directions or information, Israelis are easy to talk to, and encourage conversation. In many cases they will go to great lengths to ensure you get where you need to be. This includes bus drivers going out of their way and designated routes late at night to guarantee a visitor arrives at their destination (while many times refusing offered compensation for the added journey).

Another thing that surprises a first time visitor is that Israel is not flat.

Israel’s geography is packed with small picturesque mountain ranges, hills, ravines and valley basins. The southern region does have desert, desert that Israel has transformed into large agricultural havens by revolutionary plant cultivation and irrigation. The center and northern areas are Israel’s color and green belt regions. They too have extensive agricultural strips, fish farms, and several national forests and parks with splendid Canaanite, Israelite, Greek, Roman and Byzantine archeology along with the origins of Judaism and Christianity.

Israel has many beautiful, clean cities and quaint towns steeped in history and accented by trees, flowers, creeks and fountains. Some towns have classic, old buildings, buildings built later using natural stone to keep continuity, and there are modern buildings which match any western architecture in business quarters and residential neighborhoods.

Furthermore, Israel has excellent wineries, a long and stunning Mediterranean coastline, and resorts on the Red Sea. Wine tasting, gourmet dining, sunbathing, wind surfing, scuba diving and swimming with the dolphins are encouraged.

Industry in Israel has enjoyed a massive acceleration since they Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

began concentrating on developing cutting edge technology. Now, they are recognized as an entertainment and technology powerhouse.

Israelis excel with creativity and are raised in nurturing environments which promote free thinking, unlimited bounds, and no restrictions. This contributes a huge confidence boost to any potential business entrepreneur or inventor.

Israel has been a major factor in advances (or inventor) in medical, genetics, optics, engineering, electronics, agriculture, solar energy, electric cars, and probably the most famous, cell phone and computer sciences.

Indeed, Israel is responsible for significant and ongoing factors in cell phones and computer related technologies (including anti-virus) which is why boycotting Israel is a joke unless you want to begin with eliminating your cell phone and computer (which includes gaming, social networking, software and components). Second would be boycotting or refusing your lifesaving medical operation as many techniques and products are Israeli

made or invented (including a new, ground-breaking “date rape” drug detector). Moreover, Israel is a major contributor, and an international hub of originality for TV programs, movies, music, animation, 3d and digital features. So, if you boycott Israel stop all entertainment in relation to TV, movies and music.

But, one of Israel’s greatest gifts (one of many) is humanitarian organizations like Save A Child’s Heart which has treated more than 2500 children suffering from congenital and rheumatic heart disease in 42 countries (40% from Africa and 49% from the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Iraq & Morocco).

Therefore, the next time “The News” demonizes Israel for protecting their border against murdering infiltrators, rocket attacks on their civilians, and Arab hooligan so-called “Palestinians” rioting for media coverage (which are Arabs pretending to be a non-existent ethnic group), remember that the majority of the nation of Israel is populated with mainstream, peaceful, humanitarian contributing, loving, fun, educated, (and recently

civil protesting for rights) hard working individuals. And, if it wasn’t for Israel’s true democracy and fairness, reporters couldn’t safely interview and film events which might be used later to distort Israel’s image, unlike Arab countries which imprison, torture, and assault men and women journalists. Also read: Why does Israel always get the bad press?

In conclusion, Israel is NOT a country of warmongers. Instead Israelis are democratic, law respecting, fair, generous people who are fighting for their right to exist amidst malicious and violent regional odds that want to destroy Judaism, Christianity and anything that is not Muslim or Sharia Law. Don Davis has over 20 years experience in analytic research particularly regarding Israeli, Middle Eastern culture, behavior and historical patterns. Based in Israel, he monitors and evaluates worldwide information on finance, technologies, and the military/political environment for a US company.

Religious discrimination on the increase worldwide Nearly a third of the world’s population live in countries where restrictions on religious beliefs and practices increased between 2006 and 2009, a new report reveals.

Restrictions, which include social hostilities and government restrictions, rose in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12 per cent), decreased in 12 countries (6 percent) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82 percent), the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reported.

Eight countries saw a substantial increase in restrictions while no countries experienced a substantial decrease.

China, Egypt, France, Nigeria, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam and the United Kingdom were listed as countries where the religious are finding it more difficult to practice their faith.

The report, “Rising Restrictions on Religion,” found that Christians were being harassed in more countries than any other faith group. Government or social harassment was reported against Christians in 130 countries.

Muslims were also found to be harassed in 117 countries and Jews in 75 countries. Buddhists experienced restrictions only in 16 countries.

The research group looked at 198 countries and territories based on government laws, policies and actions as well as acts of religious hostility or abuse.

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SEPTEMBER 2011 w THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER 21

MATHEWS George | LOST & FOUND

The most dangerous time in your life

M

OST of us have a reasonably good job where we make reasonably good money. We are healthy and intelligent, we live in pretty homes and drive comfortable cars, occasionally we entertain ourselves with vacations and expensive toys, and we eat things we love to eat….. …pretty good life, isn’t it?

Adding God to this dimension is pretty demanding. The reason?

God requires time to be with, whether it’s time to pray or going to church…or attend Sunday school…or doing missions…He requires a word that is often used in marital relationships and the word is ‘commitment’.

So unintentionally and in some cases without us being of aware of what’s happening, God slips to be the last priority. We tell ourselves: ‘If everything else gets done, then I will be there…if all my other priorities…like children, business and home are done then I will give time to God.’ Welcome to the most dangerous time in our life! This is the time when we think we don’t need God. We may claim to know Him, we may still claim to love Him…..but, but we simply don’t have the commitment, God requires from us.

He becomes like that pet or plant we bought sometime ago. We nurtured it for so long that we know it’s still part of the family but we don’t bother to spend time with it.

A spirit of complacency develops without God. It knowingly creeps into every decision we make, every thought that proceeds from our mind.

What are you saying here, preacher? Isn’t it important to spend time with family, isn’t important to pursue my career and provide? Oh, yes they are important, but for a believer God and worshiping Him in a corporate environment becomes the most important part of his/her existence.

I would be the last person to argue

that commitment to church attendance will be an index to judge our measure of love towards God. Nor am I arguing for a stale commitment to church attendance.

But I strongly believe that church becomes an indispensible aspect in creating the right environment for spiritual growth. It becomes the field in which God’s seeds are planted. It becomes the body in which healing is experienced and hearts are restored with the joy of God’s salvation.

Going to church is a visible, tangible expression of our love and devotion to God. It is where we can gather with other believers to publicly bear witness of our faith and trust in God, something that is required of all Christians.

There is a chilling reminder in Matthew 10:32-33 “whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my father in heaven.”

Many people who come to me say they don’t go to church but they sit at home and watch Joel Osteen. He, sure, can give you a ‘feel good factor’; a heartwarming audio visual display of affirmation and encouragement while we sip coffee on our beanbags. But faith becomes even so meaningful when its experienced in a corporate setting, because in our faith healing very seldom flows from a hi def TV set. It stems out from the interaction of people with people, from handshakes and hugs, from words of encouragement and high fives, from praise and worship, from testimonies and prayers and from exchange of peace and communion. That’s where we can bring Him offerings of praise, thanks, and honor which are pleasing to Him. The psalmist wrote, “I will declare your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise you” (Psalm 22:22).

Folks, Jesus is inviting us every

22 THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER w SEPTEMBER 2011

day to such an understanding of his faith.

This is an invitation to the most important gathering in our life….much more important than anything that can keep you away from it.

God is inviting us to a life of abundance, a life of spiritual prosperity and communion.

While telling the parable of the great feast, Jesus said: “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Jesus is reminding people about the eternal invitation that God lays down for each of us to fellowship with Him, to sit at His banquet and enjoy the joy of His hospitality…to be with other invitees at the banquet and exchange love.

Notice here all these people made excuses, all these excuses were genuine and sincere….work duties, family responsibilities, financial needs and other reasons.

I don’t really think that all these people who gave excuses had anything against the owner of the house, they might have known him, and they might have previously experienced the goodness of the meals he provided…because they were invited people, the first invitees, those who have already established a relationship with the master.

Nevertheless, at that point in their lives, when the invitation was made to them there were other things that dominated their life that gained priority over the banquet.

Notice the expression of the master when the servants came back without any success. “He became angry…go out and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame…bring all the people so that my house will be full.”

God graciously invites all to come to Him. The response may be in two ways: (1) Many are self-satisfied and preoccupied with their own lives and miss out on the invitation (2) Only Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

those who are aware of their inadequacy will accept the invitation…the lame, the poor, the crippled and the blind.

Church, are we aware of our inadequacies? The best day in our life would be the day we surrender to Jesus and say… “I cannot handle my life with my own weakness”…and then if you listen carefully, you would hear your Master’s voice “My strength is made perfect in your weakness” and in your weakness you come to church - a source of empowerment. That is a promise our Lord gave - that His church would be a place that would “experience a special visitation of (His) presence.”

His word says “if two or three are gathered in my name…I will be there (not maybe or sometimes but will).

In my name, by implication, means whenever ‘Jesus’ is the object of gathered prayer, worship, praise, preaching, etc. Even though Jesus resides within the heart of every believer, He honors a gathering in His name by coming in the ‘midst’, with His power, awareness, and anointing.

In such a gathering, Christ is able to do things in hearts that He may not at any other time. The Scripture says that God inhabits the praise of His people (Psalm 22:3), and in such an atmosphere the Holy Spirit will often manifest spiritual gifts that minister to the body of Christ.

How about the fact that it provided fellowship? Gathering together also has compounded importance to the relationship of the Christian brethren. The Bible makes it clear that a right relationship with God requires a ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ alignment - that is, we must have a vertical fellowship with God and a horizontal fellowship with other believers. It is not possible to love God and refuse to love the brethren.

If you have a problem loving other Christians, you have a problem in your relationship with God. Scripture warns us that unforgiveness towards others will negate God’s forgiveness of our own sins (Matthew 6:15). “But if you do not forgive men their sins your heavenly Father will not forgive your sins”. John wrote, “He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there Website: www.christianmessenger.in | Email: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

is no cause for stumbling in him” (1 John 2:9-10).

Here is one of crucial aspect of church. Gathering combines our spiritual strength in prayer. The Bible indicates that agreement in prayer with other believers gains favor with God. There is this verse in the Gospel of Matthew which normally goes unnoticed. It says “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Matt. 18:19).

It is an assertive assurance given

by Jesus about the power of corporate prayer. There is multiplied strength in the combined faith of God’s people, and it is clear that greater spiritual gains can be realized through corporate prayer and worship.

This agrees with how God has historically blessed the union of His people in battle against their enemies. “Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall

put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you” (Lev. 26:8).

“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich.

I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing! And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (Revelation 3:15-17).

He says He will spit you out of his mouth for being lukewarm. Too many of us are neither hot nor cold. I encourage you today, my friend, to make a decision to go after God. Go after him with all your heart, mind, and strength. If you ride the fence, come to the banquet. Put on the robe of righteousness that is given to you freely. Enjoy the bounty of rich foods and great fellowship that is available at the wedding table. Be prepared to say ‘Yes Lord. I believed.’

SEPTEMBER 2011 w THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER 23

REPORT CALLED2BUSINESS CONFERENCE

Is God at the centre of your business?

BY PETER DHANDAPANI IN a significant development in the Indian marketplace ministry circles, the Called2Business Conference urged the businesses to put Jesus Christ right at the centre of their companies.

Addressing the gathering of leaders from around the world in Hyderabad on Aug 12, Al Caperna, Director, Called2Business, spoke about the high calling of the marketplace namely providing a strategic vision of the Kingdom of God. “We're seeing an unprecedented growth of business in the history of the world in terms of business startups, inventions and global production and innovation. We have a choice to make. We could either lead that or follow it,” he said.

Citing from the Scripture, Caperna said King David was concerned enough to ask where the Ark of the Covenant was? David built the Kingdom of Israel with the Ark of the Covenant placed right at the centre.

The Bible tells us that Christ is the everlasting King who sits on the throne of David.

“Business needs to be run with God in the centre. The Kingdom of God is not just found within the local church,” he said.

Asking the gathering to identify the redemptive principle behind everything they were doing, Caperna spoke about the critical need to develop a personal relationship with God. Our mission boils down to understanding our role as pastors and priests in our workplaces, he said.

Referring to the origin of the world as mentioned in Genesis 1, he said what God did in creation is described as work and is also described as being good. That should be the reference point for our creative work, he said.

“God has commissioned us to bring every dominion of our creation back to God for His glory. This will involve working together,” he said.

Earlier, Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, conveyed his special greetings to the conference delegates in a pre-recorded message

from the campus of the University of the Nations in Hawaii, USA. He spoke about the importance of discipling the nations and how believers need to reclaim what he described as the 'seven spheres of influence in society' namely the family, arts and entertainment, business, government, religion, education and media.

Jesus incarnated into our world.

We need to emulate Him and incarnate within our own contexts.

What it means is that we need to embed the gospel of Christ and witness in our contexts, he explained.

The business world can be a holy calling only when “Jesus is head over all aspects of the created order.” The gospel we present has to meet the needs of the whole person, he said.

Lis Cochrane, one of the leaders in the Called2Business International and YWAM, said the aim of the conference is to empower and

24 THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER w SEPTEMBER 2011

encourage the calling of businessmen aligning them with the purpose of God. “God's people in businesses can have strategic economic, social, and spiritual impact around the world,” she said.

Daniel Gunaseelan, founder and managing director of Gateway Central Asia which supplies oil and gas exploration and drilling equipment in Asia, and Santosh Shetty, chairman managing director, the Expat Group, spoke on 'Applying your call on your business'.

Joseph Vijayam, managing director of Olive Technology Ltd and co-ordinator of the host committee, said the conference was the realization of a dream to further the work of God in the business world by adopting Kingdom principles.

(The writer is the founder of Kingdom Marketplace Ministry. He can be reached at 0-97907 34008.)

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