CHRISTIAN THOUGHT SERIES by Disciples for Christ

When John the apostle was still banished and lived in exile in the isle of Patmos, he saw the exalted Christ on the Lord’s day (Rev.1:10). How could these men had such visions of the Lord that we know nothing about? When the optic signals of modern man are overloaded with sensually implicit images that stir up the baser instincts, how could there be a vision of Christ? There ought to be a ‘suppression’ or the mortification of our sinful bodies which Paul calls them as the “putting to death our mortal bodies” (Col.3:5, Romans 6:12,, 8:12) So long as we live our lives controlled purely through the senses, we might never be able possess both the spiritual sensitivity and the spiritual sensibility. To confound most of us, the blind

hymn writer Fanny Crossby sang :”Blessed assurance …Visions of rapture burst on my sight.” We are living in times when such utterances make no sense to most of us. Although we sing Fanny’s hymns, we just sing them for the sake of music for most part. The words make no impact on us. Often in the providence of God, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the mute speak and the blind see. The kind of spiritual disability had maimed us for eternity! Jesus warned his hearers: “The taxcollectors, the sinners or the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of you!” Mary Magdalene had the first glimpse of the risen Lord. It was the sinful woman who anointed Jesus saw who Jesus really was. The religious bigots failed to see the Lord as he was. So it is true with many of us. J.D.

General contributions can be sent to Disciples for Christ Kellys Branch, Chennai 10 Savings Bank A/c. No. 32694836912 IFSC : sbin0011736, Branch code 11736 Rev. Joshua Dhanabalan No.3, 3rd Cross Street, Kanthakottam Nagar Kallikuppam, Ambattur p.o. Chennai 600 053 Mobile : 93807 09875 Email : joshbalu@yahoo.com

Christian Thought Series Quarterly Issue January 2019

Spiritual Reflections

HAVE YOU SEEN THE LORD?

Editorial…. CHRISTIAN THOUGH SERIES has been part of the literature ministry of Disciples For Christ since 2004. By the grace of God, we kept the literature ministry going in all these 15 years. We thank God for completing 29 years through the ministry of DFC, we praise God for his guidance which sustained us against all odds. CTS found entry almost in every place -Bible colleges, seminaries and their libraries, convents, Churches and their synods and individuals who became friends and partners in ministry and so on. The list is endless. Many were blessed and edified. The boundaries of the ministry extended to several states and outside the country. The world-wide readers through the on-line publication since 2008 had multiplied to several thousands. Through it all, we paid a heavy cost – literally, in terms of time and money for production. With the growing increase in paper and printing costs, along with postage and forwarding expenditure, the burden we felt was too heavy. Besides laborious work which involved several days of hard work - of praying and writing, layout, designing, proof-reading and printing before the actual printed magazine reached our readers. Unable to cope with the pressure, we suspended few issues of CTS in the year 2018. With enquiries and encouragement from a few of our dear friends and partners, we have decided to bring out the issue of CTS in the New Year 2019 but with a new avatar. It will not be printed on glossy paper. Instead, we shall take every effort toward cost reduction. Instead of a bi-monthly, we shall bring out a quarterly issue. We shall send the on-line version to those whose e-mail ID is available with us. The writings are simple, straight-forward spiritual concerns and through is put together as articles covering topics such as Christian Discipleship, Mission and Evangelism, personal devotion and commitment to Christ, worship and witness, Social Concerns, Spiritual Renewal within Churches of Christ and so on. If you find any of the articles useful, you may kindly make extra printed copies and circulate among your friends, fellowship groups or Church members. As the Lord enables you, kindly pray and support this ministry. You will find details of our ministry in the pages that follow. “ Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you (us), will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Col. 1:6). Yours in the Lord’s work, Rev. Joshua Dhanabalan 1

Hindu seeker once asked Dr. Stanley Jones: “Have you ever seen Christ?” “Oh yes!” replied Stanley Jones. “Do you know I see him almost every day? As I look through the pages of the written word and earnestly gaze through the wonder of God’s revelation, the Word becomes flesh. In fact, Christ becomes real to me!” A lot many of us Christians are not used to seeing through our spiritual eyes. Scientists warn we must be careful in gazing at the terrestrial objects with our naked eyes, lest we damage our vision. If the created solar system is so dazzling to look at, what about the Creator who dwells in unapproachable light? How then could mortal man see the One who is clothed in splendor and glory? PRESENT PARTIAL SIGHT: The Apostle Paul with great hope of future glory said this: Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1 Cor. 13:12). Almost every disciple, beginning from the early apostles had a longing to see the glorified Christ. What startles us is about a man called Job who lived long before the Old Testament dispensation could entertain such lofty understanding of the future glory who cried out even amidst his mental anguish and physical pain: I shall see Him with my own eyes!” (Job 19:26)

Man is created in such a way that there grows within him a longing which cannot never be satiated by anyone or anything except through God. “Our hearts are restless,” lamented saint Augustine. “They can only find rest in thee,” was his ultimate discovery to the longing of his soul.

“A hungry and thirsty soul’ is a phrase that we shy away from using among modern day Christians. Why? It is because that much of what goes on in the modern day Church is all about “You & Me” and not of God. We do not focus on God in our worship. Man -centric worship centres abound everywhere. If God becomes our focus, then we shall be able to say with Psalmist: “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame (Ps.34:5). Even during the Old Testament times, we find men and women talk much about ‘seeing’ God through their spiritual eyes. David was one such man who had this great longing after God. Future glory: Most Chr istian seem to be joining the Chorus with the communists: “There’s a pie in the sky!” Let’s talk about here and now. That is Utopia.

We all tend to follow the majority who are the Epicureans of our times. What do they say? “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” There is no future for the godless man or woman. God had endowed only to his people this Moses too pleaded with Godthat he special grace and gift of seeing the future glory through their spiritual could see his glory. (Ex. 33:18) eyes. 14

the body experience all the time. The Apostle Paul alone talks about his supernatural spiritual experience once in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. More often, he talked about his own suffering as an apostle. If you are a spiritual person, what is your attitude to Christian discipleship and of bearing the cross which entails suffering? There are many so called spiritual people who discount suffering as curse. There are many such spiritual persons who despise suffering and by pass the way of the cross. For them, it is health and wealth and prosperity all through this life and life hereafter. Many people are misled into such thinking. Pain and suffering is a tool God employs in the life of a believer. Through the path of suffering, a child of God learns to understand the ways of God. Growth and spiritual maturity are derived out of such painful experiences. If you are a spiritual person, you will seek after spiritual development day by day. This is possible as you yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit. He will guide, teach or correct wherever necessary. There may be times when God may see that breaking or re-moulding of our lives may be necessary. We may pass through times of excruciating pain, loneliness, rejection and any such experiences. The Scripture are full of examples of men and women of God who had been through situations when perplexity and confusion marked most part of their lives. The best examples are the characters of Job and Joseph.. Through their pain, God’s ultimate purposes were fulfilled. If you are a person considering yourself as spiritual, make sure the scriptural guideline of God’s dealings in your life are adhered and obeyed . JD **********

God speaks naturally! God’s way of guiding us is mostly though our normal faculties of mind through the spirit. Everyday, our guidance and help comes through our communication with God. When we pray and study the word, God speaks. It’s not always through dreams and visions that God intervenes. When our mental faculties are in perfect controlunder Holy Spirit, God does not have tospeak to us through para-normal means.!

AGAINST ALL ODDS… “God calls things that are not as though

they were…… (Rom.4:17)” And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Rom.8:28) Through this article, we are attempting to understand the ways of God and His way of working which we fail to comprehend often. While doing so, God adopts methods and plans that the carnal mind knows nothing about. Man boasts about his logical reasoning. But when things happen, only those who are regenerated would say: “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know (Job. 42:3). The dictionary meaning of “Odd Man Out” has several words such as eccentric, weird, dissenter, nonconformist, pariah, lonely, outsider or dropout. We are just trying to find out from biblical perspective how God chooses “those things that were not as though they were.” This is to mean that God does some things that the majority of people find it perplexing as to why He did such a thing. In short, God’s dealing does not match man’s expectations. Understanding God’s Pattern of working: In the lar ger plan and pur poses of God, He does things which baffles human mind. Paul could say that God chose the fools of this world to confound the wise (1 Cor. 1:27). Unassuming men and women had accomplished great things because God worked through them. God is a God who can

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turn over the tables. When His higher purposes are to be fulfilled, no clan or community, tribe or dialect group or an aborigine tribe can stop Him. “This is the way we do it in our community” does not work with God. If we insist on doing our own things, then we kick against the pricks. It would hurt us. For insisting to do our own things, we end up paying heavily. “We want a king,” demanded the people of God. That was not the pattern God had for Israel. God relented to their asking. They paid for it later. We know this from the history of Israel. We are comfortable with even numbers. Odd numbers do not interest us! What is rejected by men as odd, God makes it the very corner stone (Acts 4:11). Explaining it further, God picks up people most unexpected of the majority. If this is God’s pattern, He will continue to do so until the end of the age. We shall do well if we put this principle to work in and through our lives. It is better to let God do His own things. Our way of asking the “why’s” and the “what not’s” does not go well with God. God simply says: “My ways are not your ways!” (Isa.55:9). Men and women who only saw through the prism of their own clan or community have failed to see larger purposes of God. “This is our man.” “We want our people,” is the outcry of all nations today. Racial prejudice springs out of such bigotry. In modern times, we do have many men such as Hitler who attempt to create a pure race through ethnic cleansing. Honour killing is one such form we hear of these days in Indian context. When

you and I become part of God’s pattern, such prejudices are thwarted immediately by His power. Then God makes the odd man-not out, but enter in to His kingdom as privileged citizen. Lessons From Scripture: Among the prophets, Amos was the odd man. Here is what he says: “ I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” (Amos 7:14). Dear Brother or sister, never feign or get discouraged by what you are and why God had placed you in a certain situation. There may be those who might express their sarcasm, doubt or despair. Do not be bothered by what men might say. If you are certain about what God had directed you to do, just do it. Obedience is the key factor is Christian discipleship. If we are those who take pride in our own community, church, ministry or mission then God would confound us as in the case of God choosing David against Saul. “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected Saul. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7). Your Heart Matters with God: It has been said, “The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart!” Again, the Bible warns about the deceptiveness of man’s heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jer.17:9). Do not be anxious about how odd things are at 3

your end. Just make sure if your heart is right with God. David had the habit of being transparent with God. He talked to God about his motives, errors, hidden faults or willful sins (Ps.19). He kept asking God for cleansing and said: “ Create in me a pure heart O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” This was his confession when he sinned. When the final appraisal for David came, God made the declaration “David is the man after my own heart!” (I Sam.13:14; Acts 13:22). Jesus Our High Priest: Today, Christ the Messiah is exalted and is seated at the right hand of God on high. He has a priestly duty of interceding on our behalf. He is said to have come in the line of Melchizedek, defying all earthly lineage of priesthood. In that sense, he too was the odd person elevated to the High priestly role. Melchizedek was a real person who lived during the time of Abraham, say about 2000 B.C. He was righteous and godly leader over a very special piece of real estate, the ancient city of Salem, the city of God’s peace, later to be known as Jerusalem. He was an early priestking and in the manner of early leaders of those times. He presided over both the religion and politics of his city. The significant thing about Melchizedek was not only the place of his rule and ministry, which was over the “Holy Place,” but that he operated in two offices as both priest and king. Melchizedek has been recognized as a “type” or a forerunner of our Lord. That is why the author to the Book

Who is spiritual? In Christian circles the word which often gets abused is nothing other than the word spiritual. As people of the world, we tend to equate so many things and attach the adjective to a person whom we call spiritual. There is a quicker way to nominate a person to super spirituality by what he/she does. There are many things that are obvious: prayer, fasting, Bible-study and regular Church attendance etc, which may be added to the credit of a person designated as spiritual. In fact, a spiritual person is one who does not claim what he does alone qualify him to be spiritual. At times, he may qualify to be in the fray of spiritual people in what he chooses not to do. He may be one who does not team up with the wicked (Ps.1). His only desire is to please God always. He will be a lover of God by the way he loves the Word of God. A spiritual person is one who runs to the Word of God for spiritual counsel. There he derives grace and guidance. His ultimate goal is to fulfill the purposes of God as revealed in the Word of God. A spiritual person therefore is one who does not rely solely on his emotions or religious sentiments. He is governed always by what the word instructs him. He may be termed as a spiritual person as long as he explicitly obeys the word of God. This may include his overall conduct of life in this world. It may include his business dealings. Where ethical conduct and moral uprightness is demanded of God, such a person will duly obey God. A person cannot be called spiritual when he is found to be making spiritual compromises very often. Such a person may be oscillating between duplicity or deception. We must be aware, that such a person may be found in spiritual gatherings chanting or uttering language that may be ‘spiritual’. His spiritual overtones might be such he may make others believe he/she is a spiritual person. Jesus warned: “By their fruits you will know them.!”

Christian spirituality is not what we feel about ourselves. To state this further, it is not even what others say about us. “Woe to you if men speak well of you!” is how the Lord warned us. For centuries, spirituality had been associated with the monastic or mystic experience alone. In reality, most spiritual people were those who toiled and suffered in the daily chores of their lives. They were termed as the ‘heroes of faith’ in Hebrews chapter 11. Being alone with God through thoughtful mediation is both scriptural and spiritual. It is more of a spiritual exercise than an experience. Neveretheless, a time of spiritual exercise can be a time of spiritual elation too. When it comes to experiences of a Christian being spiritual, he must always look to Jesus Christ or the apostles who never totally relied on some kind of elevated out-of12

DIVINE REGION OF RELIGION (Oswald Chambers: Studies in The Sermon On The Mount) God demands that our disposition be right with him in our ordinary natural life lived to men. He deals with the domain of our life lived to God before

men. The main idea in the region of religion is, “Your eyes on God, not on men.” ‘In our Lord’s day, the Pharisees made a tremendous show of their giving. They gave from a play-acting motive, that they might ‘have the glory from men.’ They would put their money in the boxes in the women’s court of the Temple with a great clang which sounded like a trumpet. Jesus tells us not to give that way, with the motive to be seen of men, to be known as a generous giver, for, “Assuredely, I say to you, they have their reward.

Briefly, summed up these verses mean (Matt.6:1-4): Have no other motive in giving than to please God. In modern philanthropy we are ‘urged on’ with other motives: It will do them good; they need the help; they deserve it. Jesus Christ never brings out that aspect in his teaching; he allows no other motive in giving than to please God. In Matthews chapter 5 he says: “Give because I tell you to,” and here, he teaches us not to have mixed motives. It is very penetrating to ask ourselves this question: “What was my motive in doing that kind act?” We will be astounded at how rarely the Holy Spirit gets a chance to fit our motives on to being right with God. We mix our motives with a hundred and one other considerations. Jesus Christ makes it steadily simple- one motive only, your eyes on God. “If you are my disciple, you will never give with any other motive than to please God.” The characteristic of Jesus in a disciple is much deeper down than doing good things. It is goodness in motive because the disciple has been made good by the supernatural grace of God. “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” ie., do good until it is an unconscious habit of the life and you do not know you are doing it. You will be covered with confusion when Jesus Christ detects it. “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you…? “In as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me (Matt.25:37,40).” That is our Lord’s magnanimous interpretation of kind acts that peoples have never allowed themselves to think anything of. Get into the habit of having such a relationship to God that you do good without knowing you do it, then you will no longer trust your own impulse, or your own judgement, you will trust only the inspiration of the Spirit of God. The mainspring of your motives will be the Father’s heart, not your own; the Father’s understanding, not your own. When once you are rightly related to God, hr will use you as a channel through which his disposition will follow. (Excerpts from Osawald Chambers). 11

of Hebrews calls our Lord as the priest forever in the order of Melchizedek (Heb.7:17). Our Lord was meek and humb as the son of man. He was the Son of God incarnate, leaving his heavenly glory who came to dwell among us. The Bible says that God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9). Submission and obedience are two qualities that modern Christian faith shuns. God would have less or nothing to do with such a soul. Our Lord’s mother, who called herself a humble maid (Luke 1::47), was chosen by God as the blessed among women who was highly favoured of God. Do we wonder if God has favourites? I think, yes! Often times, they are the odd ones – despised, rejected and scorned by men.

finite minds. God’s ways of higher and more perfect than all of our plans.

In the genealogy of Jesus, we find names such as Rahab, Ruth or Jesse who was the father of David. There was nothing significant about them. In fact, they were the odd ones, a prostitute, an alien and a man who was despised in his own clan. The point we are making is this: Even though one might be insignificant in the eyes of the world, God takes such a person, glorifies him and make him fulfil His purposes. Are you the odd man/woman trusting in God’s sovereignty? Have you wondered at the way things take different turn in your life? Have you made sure that God’s is at work in and through your life even amidst all odds Never would we ever outsmart or out- in your life? If yes, then move on! wit the wisdom of God through our J.D.

Sometimes, Against all Odds, Against all Logic,

We still hope in God 4

A shrunken Image of God All

A heart filled with the burden for lost souls, and missionary zeal and fervor are misplaced by aimless activities that stimulate external excitement without inward edification. Mere activities that seem to satisfy the hunger of a carnal nature for a while will fail an individual in the long run. Hunger for reality must never be replaced by outward exhibitions. Any spiritual activity must be supported by the work of the Holy Spirit. The apostles themselves were witnesses to such powerful events which we read in the Book of Acts. They planned their itinerary as guided by the Holy Spirit. At times, they simply waited as the Holy Spirit stopped them from moving further. We are living in days when we no longer look up to the Holy Spirit to guide us. With our own impulses inducing us, we plan our programmes and expect them to be blessed and endorsed by God. It is no The pseudo-mysticism that is on the wonder why many of our spiritual rise among good number of Christians programmes fail. provides ample scope for false revelations and prophecies with the result Most of us are led by the false notion God is made as our substitute and that the success of our programmes subordinate for all and every need of depend on its ‘bigness.’ How wide and large our auditorium is, how many ours. delegates are expected to attend and The word of God is being replaced by how well the audio visual system is self-centred spiritual revelations. De- arranged are things that determine our votion to God attained through earnest success. To add glamour, we bring in and sincere spiritual discipline of VIP’s and even celebrities to give the waiting and seeking after Him is taken entire stage show a face-lift. But selover by religious baby talk wholly dom do we recognize that when man unworthy of God. A soul attuned to is given glory, the Lord of glory God will be greatly disturbed by see- moves out quickly from our sphere ing the kind of mob frenzy filled with long before we invoked his name for sound and fury mistakenly calling it the opening prayer! The largeness of praise and worship. across the globe, among Christians who have taken God for granted, there exists a kind of spiritual misconduct which may not be even found among heathen men. The manner in which we approach God arises largely due to our utter irreverence toward Him. When right understanding of who God is and how holy and omniscient that He is, we would quickly fall down and worship Him. Since, we have invented our own pseudospirituality, we address God in words that are not appropriate and are not in keeping with His character. Men and women in the past trembled before God in holy fear. Such were those who met with God. God, in turn, was pleased with them and spoke to them face-to-face. Since the later part of the 20th century, we notice a gradual decline in the way we have come to approach God.

darkness masquerades itself as light. By one moment, we are gripped by the excitement of the electrified effects and illumination presented on any stage. The colourful images that the electronic screen emits are nothing but light in a sense. But they have a camouflaged darkness all around. Those men and women in a different sense hate darkness. They cannot for a while tolerate a powercut! Christians must detect carefully the falsehood of so many ‘lights’ that have come into the world. What is so significant about our Lord’s saying: “I am the light of the world?” He meant the reality of being the light was also to be capable of passing through the deadly darkness of Golgotha. Unlike Christ, Christians must never be satisfied with emitting a light which is a depiction of falsehood. Wordily Christian are often seen in the lime-light, while a true saint of Christ dwells in dungeon most his time. The Biblical truth is those who have seen the Lord are the ones who had gone through the darkness of great suffering. Happy, flamboyant or flippantly joyful people tend to miss the mark of maturity in Christian living by safely by passing the path of suffering. No wonder we shall find many such Christians caught in the merry-making of this world. J.D. *********

GOOD, NOT GOOD ENOUGH !

What is the Lord’s expectation of us?

Jesus said: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of heaven (Matt.5:38). It seems the Pharisees appeared good in the sight of their community, but not in the eyes of Jesus. They never came close to the actual line of goodness which Jesus meant. “I fast twice a week,” was the yardstick of measuring their own spirituality. In a sense Jesus remarked: “All the outward religious actions that the Pharisees thought were good to make them righteous were not good enough.” Have we not done good deeds in the name of God and Christ? But we fail to recognize the fact that when they are placed in the measuring scale of God, all our “good deeds” would be found wanting. Christ goes deep enough to penetrate down to the crux. The inner core, is where he sees the true nature of ourselves. There lies fear, insecurity, dishonesty, deception, prejudice,, hatred and all forms of malice or hypocrisy. How can we ever measure ourselves to the very standards of Christ? One way is to stop comparing ourselves with others. In our spiritual life, we are often carried away by watching others or others watching us. This soon becomes a system we all follow. Over a period of time, we unconsciously carry on doing things without being aware of the fact that God is watching over our motives. Every time we do some things, we do them with an expectation of how people will appreciate our deeds. 10

Evangelism. At the age of 74/5, he travels much, handles family, office and ministry related work and a dozen other chores single handedly. For him, the cause of Christ remains at the very core. The founder director of IGSM much older than the Jeevit founder, still at work after four decades of producing theological and missiological graduates. He had founded two missiological institutes in the last two decades or so. It is no wonder that God had led me to be associated with men who are seasoned and much more experienced than I am. They have reposed their trust and confidence. There have been many individuals with whom we were associated over the years. While I work now with IGSM, the Jeevit founder had stood with us and the ministries of Disciples For Christ through his prayer and financial support for almost 10 years now.There have been innumerable groups, individuals and churches with whom we have been associated over 28 years. Much of the literature we had produced and other spiritual resources have been shared with them. The recent trip to Goa also helped in facilitating and net working with like mind people. Mr. Jacob (Sathiamangalam), Mr. Enock, Tindivanam are Evangelists who receive gospel literature from us. We maintain our association with India Bible Literature (Chennai) over the years. As you read this report, (which has not been coming to you for a couple of month), I make an appeal to stand with us in prayer and partnership. Your emails will encourage us. Kindly interact, enquire, and let us know how meaningfully you can be involved together with us in this work of God. ******** Contd. on page 15

The Good side of Darkness In the life of a Christian, some things ought to be carefully studied and learned in secret-: in darkness and in dungeon. This is a pattern God lays for a Christian who is longing to grow in Christ. More particularly, those who are hand-picked by God as jewels had been through such darkness. If we choose to live and bask in the lime-light of men, we might lose out on what lies deep down in the darkness. “I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by name (Isa.54:3).” This kind of darkness is not the same as explained by John in his gospel. He talks about the darkness of the world that people love most (John 3:19).. Worldly men and women have an attraction to this kind of darkness. Today, 9

our gathering is termed as ‘anointed and spirit-filled presence of God’. God said, “Where just two or three gathered in my name, I will be there.” A longing soul seeking after God’s heart is seldom found these days. Anyone compromising with set standards of knowing God will do so at the risk of going spiritually barren and dry. If you are a person sought after by Church as a renowned preacher, you are risking your own reputation before God by constantly yielding yourself to the demands of your congregation. You may preach well as a result of your preparation. People may have been blessed and even got saved. But you may realize quite late that the very source of your spiritual stamina is ebbing away. You had been just giving away through teaching or preaching than waiting or renewing. It is not a surprise that those men who have

toiled and served Christ over decades have gone dry within. We shall do well do remember the words of Jesus:”Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John.7:37). It is very difficult to find half-a-dozen men who would come together where streams of living watergushes out,. Education, knowledge or experience are not bad in themselves. But at times, they stand as stumbling blocks in God’s Kingdom. What we require is the inner springs of living water flowing all through the year. God’s Kingdom is such that Jesus made a comparison to that of a mustard seed and yeast.

What is unseen or insignificant would make a great impact in the Kingdom of God. J.D.

This year, experience the power of God— so you live nor on your ‘reserves’ but God’s resources. You need to learn to tap them daily—it could be a fountain, a river or spring. Draw from them and drink till your thrust is quenched. When you try to live on your reserves, it will go dry someday and you will thrist again (Stanley Jones) Are you a Christian belonging to a powerless Christianity? Jesus taught about receiving ‘power’ through the Holy Spirit. Boldness, courage, confidence (not in ourselves but Christ) are all derived through the power of Holy Spirit. If you have this, it cannot be self-contained. It will have to pass through you or penetrate from your end to the lives of others. Have you been living with this inner reinforcement? 6

LETTER FROM OUR READER & PARTNER

DISCIPLES FOR CHRIST— MINISTRY UPDATE

When we see the world around us today, the events point towards the coming of the Lord soon. It is in this ‘end time” that God has called you to warn and challenge the people towards Jesus and eternity, through repentance and reconciliation and not for comfort and prosperity in this life on the earth. The sexual immorality, the violence, mistrust, brazen actions the governments and the church in not standing up to issues such as gay marriages, promiscuous life in the establishment, lust for worldly possessions and positions has become the way of life in the present time. The sin has crept into every walk of life including the Church and the para-Church institutions. Taking the gospel to the non Christians was always a challenge due to hostile environment, but now even the receptivity among the “so called Christians” or believers has become a bigger challenge. The government has created an environment where the freedom of worship guaranteed under the constitution is under pressure all the time and therefore your rights under the constitution remains disabled to be exercised and enjoyed. It is in this difficult environment that you are sowing the seeds of God’s word, in answer to His call to change this world to turn towards Him. Therefore, it is my prayer that the seeds will fall on good ground, to yield hundred fold. It is also my prayer that the people, who have accepted Christ would be faithful to their commitment, would be the salt and light to the people of this country who are groping in the dark as reflected in the events of the recent times. My prayers and a small support for your ministry (enclosed herewith). Please uphold me in your prayers. Mr.R. Jeyakumar (Management Consultant) Chennai

Dear Friends and Partners, Greetings and sincere wishes for a blessed year 2019. This newsletter comes to you with the latest updates of our ministry. As of now, we are sensing of God’s direction in two ways: 1. Teaching/training of missionary candidates through (IGSM)* 2. Taking the ministry of Disciples For Christ to the next level. Point number two needs explanation. This means a more deeper and lasting effect of what we intend to do. This may involve writing as in the years past. Presently, it poses a challenge due to our commitment in IGSM. Our training programmes in Chennai and other states too is curtailed for want of time. We therefore pray for a committed missionary couple who will partner with us and share our work and vision. Therefore Please Pray For:  Their monthly payment/allowances,  Accommodation with easy access to our base  Conceive plans to raise a multi-purpose building for retreats & training and other educational and spiritual activities.  Our vacant land of 2270 sq.ft can be developed for the above purpose. This would enable us to visualize and consolidate the work of the ministry in and around our base near Ambattur among the majority of non-Christian population. There had not been much break-through in recent years. We would attempt to work in areas such as:  Providing training toward self-development such as communication skills and career orientation to school and college students.  Tuitorial classes for academically weaker students.  Utilize DVDs, educational visual clips as well as short gospel visuals for evangelism and social action. Facility Mangement: We shall continue our commitment of extending the ministry through meaningful networking. At present, our time, commitment and teaching with IGSM (India Graduate School of Missiology), offers much possibility and challenge to train evangelists and missionaries.

Short term interruptions of life in the course of our walkwith God must never deter long-range purposes. Instead, interruptions must be interpreted later in keeping with the Sovereign will and purpose of God bothin private and public life of an individual or the community of Christ.

Our fellowship and cherished spiritual partnership remain with M/s. Jeevit Literature ministry in Goa, where and with whom we share spiritual concerns and actively engage through prayer. The CEO of Jeevit Ministry Mr.Tino is known for his unonstentatious, unassuming and inconspicuous qualities. On the other hand, he is a fire-brand known for his zeal and commitment for personal 8

What is so significant about our Lord’s saying: “I am the light of the world?” He meant the reality of being the light was also to be capable of passing through the deadly darkness of Golgotha. Unlike Christ, Christians must never be satisfied with emitting a light which is a depiction of falsehood. Such Christians are often seen in the lime-light, while a true saint of Christ dwells in dungeon most his time. The Biblical truth is those who have seen the Lord are the ones who had gone through the darkness of great suffering. Happy, flamboyant or flippantly joyful people tend to miss the mark of maturity in Christian living by safely by passing the path of suffering. We shall find many such Christians caught in the merry-making in the world.

GOOD, NOT GOOD ENOUGH !

What is the Lord’s expectation of us?

is to stop comparing ourselves with others. In our spiritual life, we are often carried away by watching others or others watching us. This soon becomes a system we all follow. Over a period of time, we unconsciously carry on doing things without being aware of the fact that God is watching over our motives. Every time we do some things, we do them with an expectation of how people will appreciate our deeds. DIVINE REGION OF RELIGION (Oswald Chambers: Studies in The Sermon On The Mount) God demands that our disposition be right with him in our ordinary natural life lived to men. He deals with the domain of our life lived to God before men. The main idea in the region of religion is, “Your eyes on God, not on men.” ‘In our Lord’s day, the Pharisees made a tremendous show of their giving. They gave from a play-acting motive, that they might ‘have the glory from men.’ They would put their money in the boxes in the women’s court of the Temple with a great clang which sounded like a trumpet. Jesus tells us not to give that way, with the motive to be seen of men, to be known 6

DISCIPLES FOR CHRIST— MINISTRY UPDATE Dear Friends and Partners, Greetings and sincere wishes for a blessed year 2019. This newsletter comes to you with the latest updates of our ministry. We have not been able to produce CHRISTIAN THOUGHT SERIES for a while. With God’s enablement, we plan to resume this commitment from now on. As of now, we are sensing of God’s direction in two ways: Teaching/training of missionary candidates through (IGSM)* Taking the ministry of Disciples For Christ to the next level. Point number two needs explanation. This means a more deeper and lasting effect of what we intend to do. This may involve writing as in the years past. Presently, it poses a challenge due to our commitment in IGSM. Our training programmes in Chennai and other states too is curtailed for want of time. We therefore pray for a committed missionary couple who will partner with us and share our work and vision. Therefore Please Pray For:  Their monthly payment/allowances,  Accommodation with easy access to our base  Conceive plans to raise a multi-purpose building for retreats & training and other educational and spiritual activities.  Our vacant land of 2270 sq.ft can be developed for the above purpose. This would enable us to visualize and consolidate the work of the ministry in and around our base near Ambattur among the majority of non-Christian population. There had not been much break-through in recent years. We would attempt to work in areas such as: Providing training toward self-development such as communication skills and career orientation to school and college students. Tuitorial classes for academically weaker students. Utilize DVDs, educational visual clips as well as short gospel visuals for evangelism and social action. Facility Mangement: We shall continue our commitment of extending the ministry through meaningful networking. At present, our time, commitment and teaching with IGSM (India Graduate School of Missiology), offers much possibility and challenge to train evangelists and missionaries. Our fellowship and cherished spiritual partnership remain with M/s. Jeevit Literature ministry in Goa, where and with whom we share spiritual concerns and actively engage through prayer. The CEO of Jeevit Ministry Mr.Tino is known for his unonstentatious, unassuming and inconspicuous qualities. On the other hand, he is a fire-brand known for his zeal and commitment for personal evangelism. 7

At the age of 74/5, he travels much, handles family, office and ministry related work and a dozen other chores single handedly. For him, the cause of Christ remains at the very core. The founder director of IGSM much older than the Jeevit founder, still at work after four decades of producing theological and missiological graduates. He had founded two missiological institutes in the last two decades or so. It is no wonder that God had led me to be associated with men who are seasoned and much more experienced than I am. They have reposed their trust and confidence. There have been many individuals with whom we were associated over the years. While I work now with IGSM, the Jeevit founder had stood with us and the ministries of Disciples For Christ through his prayer and financial support for almost 10 years now.There have been innumerable groups, individuals and churches with whom we have been associated over 28 years. Much of the literature we had produced and other spiritual resources have been shared with them. The recent trip to Goa also helped in facilitating and net working with like mind people. Mr. Jacob (Sathiamangalam), Mr. Enock, Tindivanam are Evangelists who receive gospel literature from us. We maintain our association with India Bible Literature (Chennai) over the years. As you read this report, (which has not been coming to you for a couple of month), I make an appeal to stand with us in prayer and partnership. Your emails will encourage us. Kindly interact, enquire, and let us know how meaningfully you can be involved together with us in this work of God.

GOOD, NOT GOOD ENOUGH !

What is the Lord’s expectation of us? Jesus said: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of heaven (Matt.5:38). It seems the Pharisees appeared good in the sight of their community, but not in the eyes of Jesus. They never came close to the actual line of goodness which Jesus meant. “I fast twice a week,” was the yardstick of measuring their own spirituality. In a sense Jesus remarked: “All the outward religious actions that the Pharisees thought were good to make them righteous were not good enough.” Have we not done good deeds in the name of God and Christ? But we fail to recognize the fact that when they are placed in the measuring scale of God, all our “good deeds” would be found wanting. Christ goes deep enough to penetrate down to the crux. The inner core, is where he sees the true nature of ourselves. There lies fear, insecurity, dishonesty, deception, prejudice,, hatred and all forms of malice or hypocrisy.

How can we ever measure ourselves to the very standards of Christ? One way is 9

to stop comparing with others. In our spiritual life, we are often carried away by watching others or others watching us. This soon becomes a system we all follow. Over a period of time, we unconsciously carry on doing things without being aware of the fact that God is watching over our motives. Every time we do some things, we do them with an expectation of how people will appreciate our deeds. DIVINE REGION OF RELIGION (Oswald Chambers: Studies in The Sermon On The Mount) God demands that our disposition be right with him in our ordinary natural life lived to men. He deals with the domain of our life lived to God before men. The main idea in the region of religion is, “Your eyes on God, not on men.” ‘In our Lord’s day, the Pharisees made a tremendous show of their giving. They gave from a play-acting motive, that they might ‘have the glory from men.’ They would put their money in the boxes in the women’s court of the Temple with a great clang which sounded like a trumpet. Jesus tells us not to give that way, with the motive to be seen of men, to be known as a generous giver, for, “Assuredely, I say to you, they have their reward.

made good by the supernatural grace of God. “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” ie., do good until it is an unconscious habit of the life and you do not know you are doing it. You will be covered with confusion when Jesus Christ detects it. “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you…? “In as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me (Matt.25:37,40).” That is our Lord’s magnanimous interpretation of kind acts that peoples have never allowed themselves to think anything of. Get into the habit of having such a relationship to God that you do good without knowing you do it, then you will no longer trust your own impulse, or your own judgement, you will trust only the inspiration of the Spirit of God. The mainspring of your motives will be the Father’s heart, not your own; the Father’s understanding, not your own. When once you are rightly related to God, hr will use you as a channel through which his disposition will follow. (Excerpts from Osawald Chambers).

you are a spiritual person, what is your attitude to Christian discipleship and of bearing the cross which entails suffering? There are many so called spiritual people who discount suffering as curse. There are many such spiritual persons who despise suffering and by pass the way of the cross. For them, it is health and wealth and prosperity all through this life and life eternal hereafter. Many people are misled into such thinking. Pain and suffering is a tool God employs in the life of a believer. Through the path of suffering, a child of God learns to understand the ways of God. Growth and spiritual maturity are derived out of such painful experiences.

In fact, a spiritual person is one who does not claim what he does alone qualify him to be spiritual. At times, he may qualify to be in the fray of spiritual people in what he chooses not to do. He may be one who does not team up with the wicked (Ps.1). His only desire is to please God always. He will be a lover of God by the way he loves the Word of God. A spiritual person is one who runs to the Word of God for spiritual counsel. There he derives grace and guidance.

If you are a spiritual person, you will seek after spiritual development day by day. This is possible as you yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit. He will guide, teach or correct wherever necessary. There may be times when God may see that breaaking or re-moulding of our lives may be necessary. We may pass through times of excruciating pain, loneliness, rejection and any such experiences. The Scripture are full of examples of men and women of God who had been through situations

His ultimate goal is to fulfill the purposes of God as revealed in the Word of God. A spiritual person therefore is one who does not rely solely on his emotions or religious sentiments. He is governed always by what the word instructs him. He may be termed as a spiritual person as long as he explicitly obeys the word of God.

when perplexity and confusion marked most part of their lives.

This may include his overall conduct of life in this world. It may include his business dealings. Where ethical conduct and moral uprightness is demanded of God, such a person will duly obey God. A person cannot be called spiritual when he is found to be making spiritual compromises very often. Such a person may be oscillating between duplicity or deception. We must be aware, that such a person may be found in spiritual gatherings chanting or uttering language that may be ‘spiritual’. His spiritual overtones might be such he may make others believe he/she is a spiritual person. Jesus warned: “By their fruits you will know them.!”

If you are a person considering yourself as spiritual, make sure the scriptural guideline of God’s dealings in your life are adhered and obeyed . JD

The best example Job or Joseph. Through their pain, God’s ultimate purposes were fulfilled.

HAVE YOU SEEN THE LORD? A

Hindu seeker once asked Dr. Stanley Jones: “Have you ever seen Christ?” “Oh yes!” replied Stanley Jones. “Do you know I see him almost every day? As I look through the pages of the written word and earnestly gaze through the wonder of God’s revelation, the Word becomes flesh. In fact, Christ becomes real to me!” A lot many of us Christians are not used to seeing through our spiritual eyes. Scientists warn we must be careful in gazing at the terrestrial objects with our naked eyes, lest we damage our vision. If the created solar system is so dazzling to look at, what about the Creator who dwells in unapproachable light? How then could mortal man see the One who is clothed in splendor and glory? PRESENT PARTIAL SIGHT: The Apostle Paul with great hope of future glory said this: Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1 Cor. 13:12). Almost every disciple, beginning from the early apostles had a longing to see the glorified Christ. What startles us is about a man called Job who lived long before the Old Testament dispensation could entertain such lofty understanding of the future glory when cried out even amidst his mental anguish and physical pain: I shall see Him with my own eyes!” Man is created in such a way that there grows within him a longing which cannot never be satiated by anyone or anything

except through God. “Our hearts are restless,” lamented saint Augustine. “They can only find rest in thee,” was his ultimate discovery to longing of his soul. “A hungry and thirsty soul’ is a phrase that we shy away from using among modern day Christians. Why? It is because that much of what goes on in the modern day Church is all about “You & Me” and not of God. We do not focus on God in our worship. Man-centric worship centres abound everywhere. If God becomes our focus, then we shall be able to say with Psalmist: “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame (Ps.34:5). Even during the Old Testament times, we find men and women talk much about ‘seeing’ God through their spiritual eyes. David was one such man who had this great longing after God. Future glory: Most Christian seem to be joining the Chorus with the communists: “There’s a pie in the sky!” Let’s talk about here and now. That is Utopia. We all tend to follow the majority who turn out to be the Epicureans of our times. What do they say? “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” There is no future for the godless man or woman. God had endowed only to his people this special grace and gift of seeing the future glory through their spiritual eyes. When John the apostle was still banished and lived in exile in the isle of Patmos, he saw the exalted Christ on the Lord’s day (Rev.1:10). How could these men had

such visions of the Lord that we know nothing about? The optic signals of modern man are overloaded with sensually implicit images that stir up the baser instincts, how could there be a vision of Christ? There ought to be a ‘suppression’ or the mortification of our sinful bodies which Paul calls them as the “putting to death +++++++++++++++ So long as we live our lives controlled purely through the senses, we might never be able possess both the spiritual sensitivity and the spiritual sensibility. To confound most of us, the blind hymn writer Fanny Crossby sang :”Blessed assur-

ance …Visions of rapture burst on my sight.” We are living in times when such utterances make no sense to most of us. Although we sing Fanny’s hymns, we just sing them for the sake of music for most part. The words make no impact on us. Often in the providence of God, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the mute speak and the blind see. The kind of spiritual disability had maimed us for eternity! Jesus warned his hearers: “The tax-collectors, the sinners or the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of you!” Mary Magdalene had the first glimpse of the risen Lord. It was the sinful woman who anointed Jesus saw who Jesus really was. The religious bigots failed to see the Lord as he was. So it is true with many of us.