Editorial…..
There is also another thought I would like to share here. By saying this, I hope not to terrify anyone. I am trying to bring in the subject of death. Well, we don‟t personally talk about it while we are alive. Others might talk about us when we die. Why is it that we just ignore the fact of death? Modern medicine has the efficacy to cure most of our illnesses.
We have moved along these eight
Recently, when I showed up to the Cardiologist for my High Blood Pressure, he had put me through treadmill, ECG and Echocardiogram. He tells me that I have a condition called leftventricular hypotrophy. The walls of my left ventricle had become quite hard and tough! I am on medicine for a month. My wife in a lighter vein tells me that I am a hard hearted man, of which she knows already! We enjoy longevity of life with much medical care. There is a danger of depending heavily on doctors and drugs. It is both good and not good enough. Here is a verse to high light our point: In the thirty-ninth years of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe; yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians (Chron.15:12).
months - more or less, purely by the grace of God alone. The panic and pain of pandemic had spread all over the world. We have seen some of our dear ones passing away stricken by the virus. Our Lord‟s word kept reminding us: “In this world you will have troubles.” The trouble-free world is yet to come. Some of us are going there very soon. Others have to wait a little longer. One thing is for sure. The call might come any time. I know of my readers, who are into their late 70‟s or more into their 80‟s. They are living on a daily basis – just one day at a time. An elderly lady in her mid 80‟s had a fall and fractured her neck. A very respectable gentleman, very close to our family is 94. My wife and I keep in touch with quite a few of them. We make it a regular practice to pray – mentioning their names. 1
Diet, drugs, drill (physical exercise), They are still unwilling to leave are all good to keep us fit and behind these to go on to the eternal energetic. But would they save us kingdom. Unexpectedly, when from imminent death? death knocks them down, they leave We have heard of great saints of behind everything and go into God and those missionaries who eternity without Christ. have had clear perception about death. Some of them had been Few days ago, I read this in my through great physical pain. But morning devotional time: If you are they were almost certain about when living only to buy and sell and get they would leave this world and cross the shore and reach Canaan. gain, that is not enough. If you are living only to sleep and work, that Here is how we often sing: is not enough. If you are living When I tread the verge of Jordan only to prosper and marry and Bid my anxious fears subside; Death of death and hell‟s destruction, raise a family, that is not enough. Land me safe on Canaan‟s side. If you live only to get old and die, and never find forgiveness and the It is sad that not many of us have daily sense of God‟s presence in this assurance. Paul called this a your life, you have missed God‟s bargain! “For me to live is Christ; and to die is gain ( Phil.1.21). For great purpose for you. a child of God, be it life or death both are welcome! When we die, what legacy are we going to leave behind? To my dismay, I find elders in their seventies and eighties are attaching themselves unnaturally to worldly possessions - wealth, money and so on.
Young or old, whether in the peak of productivity and success or passing through our twilight years, we need to seriously consider the above reminder. –Rev. Joshua Dhanabalan
We care so much for the body. The inner sanctum designed for God to dwell remains void and empty. This inner longing derives us to heavily depend on external substitutes. J.D. 2
I now own an ancillary production unit in Ambattur Industrial Estate.” I remember you and Amma with gratitude”.
TESTIMONY
An year ago, one morning,
in our base now in Ambattur, I was doing my car-wash when a young man in his mid thirties, reluctantly stopped near our gate. He went back and forth, riding his bike. I did not notice his movements. Finally, he stopped his bike, came near the gate and called me”Iyyah, - which means „ Sir‟.
We planted a Church here in the early 90‟s which is under a denominational Church now. The believers whom we nurtured then are worshipping in this Church not far from where we reside. Once, my wife and I have met Jeyaraj‟s uncle- Selvaraj who spoke to us kindly. We were reminded about how we sowed in tears when response to our work was not encouraging in those years. Jeyaraj‟s uncle used to tell me, “Iyyah, please do not come here. No one will change as you think!” We taught him scriptures and to our amazement we heard him preach on a good Friday! God‟s works and ways are so amazing.
“Do you recognize me Iyyah?” he queried. I replied in the negative. He continued ”I am Jeyaraj. In the early 90‟s you came to us with the gospel. You showed your love to our family. You baptized our family when we trusted the Lord. In times of need and utter We thank God for such which brings poverty, you provided us not just testimonies encouragement to us. Bibles, but food, and even shoes for me to go to school. God has J.D. blessed me. Christians – Too heavenly minded, and of no earthly use? Aren’t they called by their Lord to be as ‘salt and light’ of this world? J.D. 3
There are two words in this verse which appear to be quite striking: “Acceptable” and “Approval.” In the case of submitting an application to government or any other authority, the papers ought to be found acceptable by the sanctioning authorities. Thereafter, with due scrutiny and examination, it is approved. When an application is found deficient and does not fulfill the required criteria, it is rejected.
WHAT KIND OF OFFERING?
I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your In the same way, God who receives bodies as a living sacrifice…(Rom.12:1).
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OUR OFFERING TO GOD IS POSSIBLE ONLY THROUGH COMPLETE SACRIFICE:
our offerings is able to know instantly if it has passed the quality check. What I offer is not important. How I offer to God is considered. God found him to be righteous (verse 4). God hates fraudulent means of approaching him. Unfortunately, many Christians have not paid heed to this truth and have been handling the „holy‟ things of God. Most of them „assume‟ to be serving God when in reality God detests their service. God‟s nature is that He is holy and corrupted things cannot find place in His Kingdom.
At the very beginning chapters of Genesis, we find there were two men who presented their offerings to God. Both were brothers by the name – Abel and Cain. For quite a few years, I used to be puzzled with the issue of God rejecting the offering of Cain. Sometimes, it is good to find answers from Scriptures themselves. In hermeneutics (the methodology of Bible interpretation), we call this “Scripture interpreting Scripture”. Now let us go to the very first two words: “BY FAITH…” Hebrews 11: 4 says: “By faith Abel The Bible definition of faith is this: offered to God a more acceptable “Faith is the assurance of things sacrifice than Cain, through which hoped for, the conviction of things he received approval as not seen.” righteous…” 4
In fact, we get to see everything in relation to our business with God through our „inner eyes,‟ We dare not internalize, rationalize nor give in to our feelings. Faith stands above all of these. Faith also provides us distinction and clarity of who we are and who God is. God is definitely not at the mercy of our „beck and call.‟ Some of us internalize God that way. We might even quote a verse and say that God has assured us to answer whenever we call on Him. The answer is both yes and no. Yes, when we are in right relationship with Him through faith. No, when we take God for granted.
In verse 2, Paul mentions how these are involved. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.” It portrays one‟s mental attitude. “Be a Roman, when you are in Rome,” is how we are conditioned in our minds. Generally, most of us are well accustomed to tolerate such things that are abomination to God. “Mutual co-existence toward peace,” is a well adapted adage. We try and be at peace with the world at the expense of becoming enemies of God. Paul is suggesting here that the whole being is surrendered and sanctified at the altar. By this act of submission, our minds are renewed. A transformation takes place at the mental level. When mind and body are offered to God at the altar, spiritual worship begins which is aligned to the will of God, which is pleasing and acceptable.
Further clarity is found in Verse 6. “And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those When our bodies become God‟s who seek him.” holy temples (1 Cor.3.16), and our It was perhaps, for this reason that minds brought under Holy Spirit‟s God accepted the offering of Abel. control (1 Pet.3:4), our spirits (once dead), are made alive in Christ II BODY – MIND – SPIRIT (Eph.2:4). OFFERING. (V.2) III WORSHIP IS A MEANS OF/ Even though Paul talks about the FOR SANCTIFICATION: All of offering of our bodies in the first us as God‟s people are in need of verse, the following verse imply that inner cleansing every day. In the in the process of sacrificing Old Testament, the animal sacrifice ourselves to God, both our mind and is washed and burnt with fire spirit also are involved. (Leviticus 1-17). Fire is referred to 5
in the Bible as an element which purifies and removes every bit of dross. We need to remind ourselves here about what John the Baptist told about the Lord Jesus Christ. “There is someone who comes after me… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11)” How essential this is in our personal lives on a daily basis?
moral and ethical conduct is vital and God is concerned about that. V The Ultimate Will Of God For Our Lives: For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…( Rom.8:29). If someone asks us: “What is the ultimate purpose of your life?” What would our answer be? We substitute God‟s highest purpose for our lives with our own inventions and interests. We might try and achieve greater things for God. Most of us think, being active for God is what He is pleased with. It is alarming to find that Christ might say tell to a lot many of us: “I know you not. You have not done the will of my Father (Mt.7:23).In short, it does not depend on much of our doing rather than becoming like Christ. People use phrases such as: Character Transformation, Christlikeness and so on. The question must be asked again: **Am I becoming like Christ day-by-day? **We need to rethink- reflect on the subjects of ourselves being placed at the altar of God daily. **Without being stopped at the mental level, we must put God‟s truth into action. May the Lord enable us to be transformed in body-mind-and spirit and become like Christ. J.D.
IV OUR SERVICE TO GOD – BEING ACCEPTABLE TO GOD: This becomes possible only on the basis of ourselves committed to doing the will of God. Here again, we must remind ourselves about Abel and Cain. One was acceptable to God, the other was not. God was interested in the life of Cain, his whole being as something that was pleasing to God. We might assume that there was something wrong with the type of offering that he made to God. More than that, it becomes clear that his life was not right with God. He may have had pre-meditated jealously and murderous thoughts toward his brother Abel. God despises double standards. We show ourselves as being religious or spiritual. But are we truly godly? What is godliness? What does the Bible say about true godliness? A religious person or a spiritual person in appearance can be a worldly person as well. Our 6
BIOGRAPHY (Annie Johnson Flint) 1866-1932
Annie Johnson Flint was one of She was incontinent and lived on the greatest hymn writers. If you diapers and blindness started to read her biography, it is called overtake her. She was a beautiful “The making of the beautiful” hymn writer and of the most written by Roland Bingham. She was born as Annie Johnston, beautiful hymns she wrote – and shortly after that was orphaned Rowland Bingham said that and raised by the Flint family and before Annie died she had from so is known to the world as Annie her head to toe there were so Johnston (Johnson) Flint. She suffered a lot in her life. She got many boils and marks in her body rheumatoid arthritis till she was from lying in bed that she needed twisted up in bed for many eight pillows to cushion her body decades. She had cancer inside of and she wrote this: her. 7
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater He sendeth more strength when the labours increase, To added affliction He added His mercy To multiplied trials His multiplied peace His love has no limit, His grace has no measure His pow‟r has no boundary known unto men For out of His infinite riches in Jesusm He giveth, and giveth and giveth again. When we have exhausted our store of endurance When our strength has failed are the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources Our Father‟s full giving is only begun. (As recited by Dr. Ravi.Zacharias) Books & Poems: >> God Hath Not Promised – one Hundred More Poems >> He Giveth More Grace – One Hundred Poems >> An Annie Johnson Flint Compendium: He giveth More Grace/ The Making of the Beautiful. >> Grace Sufficient – One Hundred Further Poems by Annie Johnson Flint.
Fig leaves are signs of our own self-righteousness trying to cover up the nakedness of rebellion and disobedience. One can be too religious – trying to ‘cover up’ under the banner of ‘good works,’ and ‘righteous acts’ through Church positions, denominational affiliations, doctrinal persuations – may be in the process of raising up a citadel – an ivory tower called Babel. When people reach that stage, they do not worship God anymore. They tend to worship an idea, or a principle rather than the Person of Jesus Christ. -J.D. Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.
- C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity 8
We began in 1990 as a small movement and ministry with a purpose of mobilizing and training God‟s people for active witnessing and planting of Churches. We regularly worked over a dozen villages covering a radius of 100 kms in and around Chennai. God‟s hand worked strangely in the most unexpected ways. At times, the cloud would not move and we were “stay put” not knowing how to proceed. We learned God‟s ways of doing his will against mere programming of our ministry. Later on, God enabled us to write Gospel tracts, create aids or tools for evangelism. When God helped us to reach out through Social Action, we were obliged to do so. We made several trips to Kandhammal in Orissa soon after the persecution of Christians which broke out in tribal belt in the hilly terrain. My training in community development years ago came in quite handy during this time. We also extended our help in a few places where landslides, and other natural disasters took place. A little later on the doors opened for training rural pastors in North India. I am a denomination-oriented, Church based, choir and music conscious person not well exposed to mission and evangelism at the grass-root level. From being a
pastor, musician and Bible-teacherGod added responsibilities of involvement in Relief Work. The compulsion to write began very early in my ministry. I wrote a Tamil Tract which caused commotion and anger amidst Christian community in the early 80‟s. Then on, my writing picked up in the 90‟s. Christian Thought Series is born out of this burden and I have been writing for over 17 years on a regular basis. We are back in the base where we began our work in 1990. The land we bought with great difficulty then serves our purposes now. God provided us a place to live. We have a training centre which we completed last year. We will continue to invite small groups or teams either from Northern India or local church fellowships to spend time in reflection, study and prayer once the pandemic dies down. We are praying for mature persons (married), in their middle age, who can provide impetus and share this work and vision in the years to come. Kindly pray. You may suggest prospective persons with integrity. All along, we have employed a system of utilizing the services of volunteers locally and in other states. Readers and partners can plan to visit us. We shall be happy to coordinate. (Details of address provided on the last page) 9
FROM OUR ARCHIVES
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WORK IN ARIKAMBEDU If you happen to read carefully points (c) and (d) above, we were working in some of the notorious places that had a bad reputation of brewing illicit liquor when prohibition was in force. Our earlier visits were suspected by the villagers as those who „tip-off‟ the police against those who were into illicit liquor business. Later on, we won their confidence. We have conducted tailoring courses, microprojects of wire-bag making and weekly witnessing and sharing of the gospel. They showed interest but none of them came forward to follow Christ. We conducted fellowship meeting in a local Christian‟s house. The work continued for over 10 years since 1990. Two things happened to our amazement in Arikambedu. 1) Rajeshwari (10 years in 1992), was healed of her congenital heart defect. Her father Arunachalam confessed that God heard our prayers. He later became the panchayat president covering few villages. A year later, he offered me a piece of land measuring about 2000 sq.ft for Rs.14,000/- in the village. I bought this from him with great financial difficulty, paying part payments. He claimed this was given at a minimal price to me as a
token of his gratitude for prayers answered. The land did not appreciate in its value over the years. In 2013, the land value was 12 lakhs. Unfortunately, the pillars that hold and support TNEB hightension wires were built in my plot. With the land value falling to just 5 lack due to this, there were not many takers. My old car was not doing well and falling apart and we needed a new car to commute. Just then, a local person offered to buy the land for just 5 !akhs. The money came in handy and I exchanged my old car for a new one which serves our family and ministry purposes till today. These were not thought of then when I was rather persuaded by the man to buy a piece of land in the village. We learnt in many ways that God is no man‟s debtor and He blesses His children who remain true to Him. I never had the financial capacity to raise a loan of Rs.5 lakhs nor had the ability to repay it.I bought a car with no loan, paying the cash proceeds which came from the land which I bought for Rs.14000/- in 1992! 2) In 2013 or so, WORD FOR THE WORLD a missionary organization that had its headquarters in Anna Nagar, Chennai had moved to their own facility in Aarikambedu* village. They had constructed their office
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complex, director‟s quarters, training hall, chapel etc, in the very area we had been witnessing 25 years ago. Mr. Augustine Asir, now 81 years old with more than 50 years of experience in ministry is the founder-director of Word For The World. We have enjoyed friendship and fellowship with one another as families for nearly 25 years. We extend ministry partnership with each other. Word For the World invites me and my wife on and off for their meetings and missionary training. Many things may not be visible to the naked eye.
God‟s work attempted with all earnestness by his people had not gone on waste. Often, we were tempted to think that we were not doing anything substantial. Our volunteer once commented: “Wherever we have gone and set our foot, a worshipping community or a Church has come up.” We praise God for entrusting the work of His Kingdom, though unworthy we find ourselves in so many ways. - J.D.
Apostle of Love Mark 3:13-15 Jesus appointed 12 men as apostles that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and have authority to drive out demons. They were all not perfect but when they followed him, the Lord Jesus Christ molded them and changed them to be what he wanted them to be. When Jesus met John and his brother James he gave them the name ‘Boanerges” which meant “sons of thunders”. Jesus called John – Son of thunder pointing out his fiery temper, which can be a hindrance in following him. John 9:54,55. John could not accept others who did not belong to his group performing miracle in Jesus name. John 9:49-50. There is a tendency in many of us who are in the ministry do not accept other groups. 12
John was self seeking: Mark 10: 35-37 James and John came to Jesus and asked let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory. Are we not guilty of seeking power positions and recognition from people? John’s Transformation: John was finally transformed by the love of God. He never referd to his name in the Gospel. He calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved, mentioned five times in the Gospel. At the last supper Jesus allowed John to recline on his bosom sitting at his right hand. John finally was filled with God’s love. His ambition became to serve God. His passion of anger became passion to love others and do good. In his three epistles he became “Apostle of Love”. Truly the fiery tempered man became the Apostle of Love. The secret of this transformation was the impact of the love of God. Whatever our weaknesses may be, if we surrender our lives to God, he will transform us into his image. –Rita Dhanabalan CONTACT: DISCIPLES FOR CHRIST, C/O REV. Joshua Dhanabalan No.3, 3rd Cross street, Kanthakottam Nagar, Kallikuppam, Ambattur, Chennai 600 053. Email: joshbalu@yahoo.com Mobile: 9380709875/9962434697 Contributions may be Sent to : DISCIPLES FOR CHRIST HDFC BANK A/c No.: 50200007377501, IFSC Code - HDFC0000124, Kellys Branch, Chennai - 10. 13