EGM TIMES VOLUME 10 ISSUE 3
M AY - J U N E 2 0 2 2
EXPOSING | ENCOURAGING | EMPOWERING
DR. WILLIAM LANE CRAIG ON A MISSION TO WIN HEARTS FOR JESUS
HOW CAN WE PRAY FOR YOU ?
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its essential to know the power of god; its also vital to understand how weak the devil is. - evg jacob oommen
me et our w rit ers
Ruth Mathew, Illinois Ruth Mathew is a junior at Auburn High School. She is a writer for the Students for Christ group and a published author of the “Daily Dew” devotional. As a kid’s group Bible teacher and worship leader, she is passionate about sharing the love of Christ with her peers. She believes that with a humble heart and posture of submission, God can use any individual in mighty ways to change the world. Ruth lives with her brother and parents in Rockford, Illinois.
Jennifer Napalo, Mississippi Jennifer Napalo is a pastor’s wife of sixteen years, a stay-at-home mother, and a Christian fiction author. She homeschools her children as well as teaches the young adults at her local church. Throughout her life, she has ministered to people of all ages and enjoys challenging people to go deeper in their walk with Christ. Jennifer is currently working on her latest installment to her series, “The Sacred Assembly Chronicle.”
Brandi Smith, Georgia Brandi Beck Smith is an author, speaker and teacher who inspires women to walk by faith in better health spiritually, emotionally and physically. She is also a busy homeschooling sports Mom of four boys and a Pastor’s wife who has helped her husband plant churches and start a Christian school in different states. She believes God has a plan and a purpose for your life. You can find her and her husband John Smith’s books on Amazon or www.beboldbebrave.org and join her free group here www.facebook.com/groups/walk1
Contents 09 DR. WILLIAM CRAIG - ON A MISSION TO WIN HEARTS FOR JESUS 16 FEMINISM WITHIN THE CHURCH 20 – Ruth Mathew
AWAKENED
23 WORSHIPPING THROUGH THE STORM 28
– Jennifer Napalo
- Brandi Smith
RETURN TRIP – Daya Raja
All Bible references are from New International Version, English Standard Version, New Living Translation, King James Version. EGM Times is published by Elohim Gospel Ministries, USA & India. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. EGM Times has no subscription price and is supported through contributions worldwide. Because all EGM Times editions are preplanned, we are unable to accept unsolicited manuscripts. For more information or to subscribe, visit: elohimgospelministries.com Page 9 picture courtesy : https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/what-is-a-missionary-the-life-and-legacy-of-jim-and-elisabeth-elliot
President: Evg. Jacob Vilgi Oommen Chief Editor: George Vilgi Oommen Associate Editor: Gideon Pingkihan Content Editor: Effie Ochago Design: EGM Media
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YOUTUBE
It is not that the Church hasn't been trained in evangelism; it is not a lack of instruction or information. The fact is, if you don't love people through the eyes of Christ, the world will never be changed.
- Reinhard Bonnke
EDITORIAL Friends, As I write this, the world seems to be recovering from the pandemic, Russia’s war on Ukraine is still going on and Sri Lanka is in a financial crisis (World Bank also warned that many countries are at financial risk). As children of God, we are called to pray and help the people around us. So I start with this reminder – continue to pray for the world we are living (a world map or globe in your prayer room will serve as a good reminder!). I am glad to have Dr. William Lane Craig sharing his thoughts on Christianity and Apologetics with us in this edition. Despite his busy schedule, Dr. Craig spent sometime answering the questions of the EGM Times team. I am sure his answers will inspire and challenge you. We also have Ruth sharing the role of Woman in Church, Jennifer writing about being awakened and Brandi sharing about worship during storms in life. Despite all the challenging situations happenig worldwide, God is still in control. He is still the sovereign God. Let’s live each day for the glory of God. Happy reading. God bless you. George Vilgi Oommen Chief Editor, EGM Times
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Did You Know?
On January 8, 1956, while attempting to contact the people of the Auca/Waodani tribe in Ecuador, Jim Elliot and four other missionaries were speared to death; slain by those they came to minister to. Elliot’s most famous words are, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” (Courtesy - elisabethelliot.org)
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DR. WILLIAM CRAIG ON A MISSION TO WIN HEARTS FOR JESUS
Dr. William Lane Craig is an American analytic Philosopher, Christian Theologian, and an author. He is a Visiting Scholar of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology and a Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University. Craig was born August 23, 1949, in Peoria, Illinois to Mallory and Doris Craig. At a young age, he competed in debate and won the state championship in oratory. In September 1965, at the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. After graduating from high school, he attended Wheaton College, majoring in communications (B.A. 1971) and pursued his graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1975). In 1975. Craig commenced doctoral studies in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, England, writing on the cosmological argument under the direction of John Hick. He was awarded a doctorate in 1977.
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He has authored and edited over thirty books defending Christianity. He is considered by many as the top Christian philosopher of our generation. He has debated many of the new atheists in some of the leading universities around the world including Dr. Christopher Hitchens of University of California, Dr. Sam Harris of Stanford University, Dr. Austin Dacey of Mercy College, and many more. In 2016, Dr. Craig was named by The Best Schools as one of the fifty most influential living philosophers. Dr. Craig is sharing his words of wisdom with the readers of EGM Times.
Would you please tell us about your background and how you gave your life to Christ? I wasn’t raised in a Christian family or even a church-going family, though it was a good and loving home. But when I became a teenager, I began to ask the big questions in life: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? In the search for answers, I visited a large church in our community. But all I found there was hypocrisy. The other high school kids who claimed to be such good Christians on Sunday did not live for their God the rest of the week. It troubled me. I thought, I’m leading a better life than them, but I feel so empty inside. They must be just as empty as I am, but they’re putting on a false front, claiming to be something they’re not. So I become very angry toward people in the institutional church. Eventually, this attitude spread to people in general. I was on my way to becoming a very alienated young man.
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One day when I was feeling particularly miserable, I walked into my high school German class and sat down behind a girl who is one of those types that is always so happy it just makes you sick! I tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around, and I growled, “Sandy, what are you always so happy about anyway?” She said, “It’s because I know Jesus Christ as my personal savior!” I said, “Well, I go to church.” She said, “That’s not enough, Bill. You’ve got to have Him living in your heart.” I said, “What would he want to do a thing like that for?” She said, “Because he loves you, Bill!” That hit me like a ton of bricks. I was so filled with anger and hatred, and she said there was someone that really loved me, and who was it but the God of the universe? I went home that night and began reading the New Testament for the first time. As I did so, I was absolutely captivated by the person of Jesus of Nazareth. There was a wisdom about His teaching that I had never encountered and, especially, an authenticity about His life that I couldn’t deny. To make long story short, after about six months of the most intense soul-searching I’ve ever been through, on September 11, 1965, I yielded my life to Christ at about 8 o’clock in the evening. I felt a tremendous infusion of joy, like a balloon being blown up and blown up until it was ready to burst. I rushed to outside. It was a warm Midwestern evening, and I could see the Milky Way from horizon to horizon. As I looked up at the stars, I thought, God! I’ve come to know God! That moment changed my entire life. I had thought enough about this message during those six months to realize that if I ever became a Christian, I could do nothing less than devote my entire life to sharing this message with mankind. So my conversion was simultaneous with my call to full-time Christian ministry.
What inspired to start Reasonable Faith? I was frustrated with the empty-headed spokespeople that the media routinely trotted out as representatives of Christianity. Why can’t we have intelligent, articulate spokespeople for our side? That was when we decided to establish Reasonable Faith as a web-based ministry to provide an intelligent, articulate, uncompromising yet gracious voice supporting the Christian faith in the public square. The way in which this ministry has exploded is a dream come true! You are also a philosopher. Where do faith and philosophy meet? I am a philosopher because I am a Christian! When I became a Christian, I found myself committed to certain views, such as the existence of God, the objectivity of moral values, the knowability of truth, the reality of the soul, and so on. These are all philosophical positions demanded by our faith and deserve serious exploration and reflection.
“I felt a tremendous infusion of joy, like a balloon being blown up and blown up until it was ready to burst.”
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How has being a theologian and Christian apologist impacted your personal walk with Christ? I think that it has increased my confidence in the truth of the Christian faith and, hence, my commitment to Christ and has also raised in my mind many unanswered questions which can be troubling. My recent work on the historical Adam, for example, involved a genuine struggle on my part to understand how the Bible could be true and in accord with the deliverances of science. Many Christians are taught to believe without questioning, while logical reasoning and critical thinking are encouraged in the secular world. How can the church find a balance between the two while bringing up young believers? I have found it extremely helpful to distinguish between knowing Christianity to be true and showing Christianity to be true. I think that the fundamental way we know Christianity to be true is based on the self-authenticating witness of the Holy Spirit. This truth is then also confirmed by argument and evidence. On the other hand, the fundamental way we show Christianity to be true is by presenting arguments and evidence supporting the Christian faith. We then trust the Holy Spirit to use these arguments and evidence as we lovingly present them, to draw people to Christ.
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How do you handle critics of your work? That depends on who they are! I try to read and respond to scholarly critics of my work. But I tend to ignore the popularizers who have little of substance to say. What is the toughest question that you have ever tackled as a Christian apologist? Believe it or not, it is not the problem of evil and suffering, but rather the challenge to divine aseity posed by Platonism. Aseity is God’s property of self-existence. He is the sole ultimate reality and the creator of everything else that exists. This foundational Christian doctrine is radically called into question by the philosophy of Platonism, which holds that there are eternal, necessarily existing, uncreated entities like mathematical objects such as numbers, sets, shapes, and so on. If Platonism is true, then God is not the sole ultimate reality but just one uncreated being among an infinite plenitude of such beings. So I spent 13 years intensely studying Platonism to figure out how best to respond to this challenge to Christian theology.
“I think that the fundamental way in which we know Christianity to be true is based on the self-authenticating witness of the Holy Spirit.”
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In your opinion, does the world need more Christian apologists? Yes, but even more, we need Christian philosophers, scientists, and New Testament scholars to do high-level academic work that challenges the best scholarship of secular academics. It will be on the scholarly, not the popular, level that the battle will be won. We need to give our Christian youth a vision for becoming a Christian academic. What are you most proud of? I think that my best work is my book on divine eternity entitled Time and Eternity and my book on divine aseity entitled God Over All. I am proud of those two books. Any final words as we wrap up? People who want to learn more about these questions may find tons of free material on our website www.reasonablefaith.org and on our YouTube channels. Check out especially our entertaining, short animated videos in defense of the Christian faith, available on the homepage of our website. The favorite verse in the bible? I’m not sure that I have a favorite verse. However, my motto, which I include every time I sign a book, is 2 Corinthians 10.5: “We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.”
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- Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
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Feminism within the Church – Ruth Mathew
Throughout human history, the establishment of settled states has been characterized by the stability and prosperity that comes with individualized specialization. The creation of societal roles comes not only with a broad spectrum of potential candidates for each role but also with corresponding requirements and skills. For example, a driver needs a strong command of directional skills, and police officers must possess effective stress management skills. Therefore, the selection process is not dependent on the number of available candidates but rather on the quality of the candidates and their ability to carry out the role in a functional, disciplined, and professional manner. If the appointment of professionals in the secular world is so selective, how much more stringent should the requirements be for spiritual leaders who are given the responsibilities for leading the church in a dark and sinful world. The traditional view of man having an exclusive leadership role within the church has elicited much backlash from women who claim that they are treated unequally by being restricted from becoming church pastors. As the modern church functions within a secular culture tainted with feministic ideologies, it is essential to look to God’s purpose for creating women and the critical role He has given them to fulfill in society and within the church. In Genesis 2, God created a woman with feminine qualities to be man’s helper and companion (Genesis 2:18). In 1 Corinthians 11:3, Apostle Paul said, “the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” Many women might take this doctrine with offense as they equate submissiveness with inferiority. 16
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But even Jesus, the Son of God, had to submit Himself to the will of His heavenly Father. Therefore, when women submit themselves, they are not presenting themselves as inferior but instead reflecting the very nature of Christ. When women are dominating over men and God’s intentional gender structure is disrupted, we limit ourselves from the full extent to which God wants to work in and through us, as the body of Christ. God calls for equality through the establishment of order. In 1 Corinthians 11:11, Apostle Paul states that “in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman” Therefore, both are equal and dependent on each other for support and communal growth. If both the male and the female struggle to dominate in a marriage, the marriage will eventually break down. If this is the case amongst two people, how much more strenuous and disastrous will a power struggle or seeking to assert authority be in a large congregation of 10, 20, 50, or 30,000 people? Both Women and men have roles to play that maintain order and are essential for a growing church. In a generation of women striving to gain dominance over men, many of them unfortunately fight for what they should not do and neglect what God has called them to do instead. The church cannot stand and grow without the crucial role of women's leadership. This leadership can be summarized in five aspects. The first is leading the fight in a spiritual battle, like the prophetess Deborah in the book of Judges. Women are called to fight and intercede for themselves, their families, and their communities through prayer.
“Today God is calling you to pursue your purpose rather than to linger in your limitations, and He will use you in ways you could never imagine to turn the world upside down.”
There is no prayer like that of a strong woman of God waging war against the powers of the enemy. The second role for women is in evangelism. Like the Samaritan woman and Mary, these women were the first to share about Jesus and His resurrection from death, respectively. Women have a great role in reaching lost communities by embodying the love and grace of God in a broken and empty world. Thirdly, women are called to lead in worship as how Miriam led the people of Israel after crossing the Red Sea. Women are also called to fight for God’s people in a secular environment, as Esther did in the land of Persia. God will choose a woman to be in great positions politically, socially, and economically so that they can fight for the truth of God’s Word and the protection of God’s people. Lastly, women are called to lead in hospitality, as Lydia gave her house and the profits from her business as a means of facilitating the first “house church” and being a beacon of hope and light in the darkness around her. There are many more examples, but the underlying message is that God needs women who are not distracted by the feministic ideologies within pop culture, but rather women who are committed in fulfilling God’s unique purposes for their lives so that the church can thrive in giving life to a dying world. Regardless of the gender, we are one body governed by the Word of God. Instead of arguing about who should do what God is calling the church to pursue, the truths and missions must be delineated within the Word of God. He calls men to lead and love rather than dominating those below and women to live up to their equally important role within the church. Today God is calling you to pursue your purpose rather than to linger in your limitations, and He will use you in ways you could never imagine to turn the world upside down. EGM TIMES | ELOHIMGOSPELMINISTRIES.COM
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#Opinion LIVING IN A WORLD OF ALGORITHMS – George Vilgi Oommen
We have been discussing about the implications of living in a world of algorithms for the past two editions. In this edition, we will wrap up with 3 ways to reduce digital consumption in our lives. Track it – Most of the devices have the option to track our usage. Turn on the settings and track your usage. The device will let you know the usage per day and eventually show you the trend. When I started tracking, I was surprised to see the amount of time I spent and the number of times I used the device per day. Tracking the time will help you to make corrective actions. Use a secondary device – With the increase in number of devices per person, most of you may have multiple devices. Try to uninstall the commonly used social media apps from your mobile device. Instead use it on your laptop, computer or tablets. By following this step, you can reduce the probability of usage. Accountability partner – You can work with a friend, spouse or someone you trust to hold you accountable to practice controlled use of digital devices and social media. You can have a 30-day challenge, 60-day challenge and many more until it becomes a habit in your life to win over the algorithms trying to get your time and attention. Internet and advance in technology (especially software) helped humanity to make life easier. If used wisely, it’s a great tool in life. But we should be setting boundaries and planning our days in a way that Glorifies God. Technology, social media or any other digital platforms should not control our lives. It should not hinder our relationship with God and fellow human beings. I would like to end with a verse from Ephesians 5:15-17(NIV), “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
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A life without prayer is like a body without a heart. Ephesians 6:18: And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord‛s people.
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Awakened - Jennifer Napalo
I have been a Christian almost my entire life. One day, however, I felt God challenging me and my walk with Him. He began asking me questions that made me change my perspective. This awakening in my spirit led me to encourage others to be alert in their walk with God. I began to create the “Sleepy Christian Armor of God.” This armor included slippers, a remote, nightcap, an eye mask, a blanket, and a stuffed animal. Each of these represented their forms of weakness as a Christian who is perceived to be lazy or asleep in their walk with Christ. The nightcap represented Guilt. Satan loves to remind us of our past, even if it’s been forgiven and forgotten by our Heavenly Father. A Christian who wears the full Armor of God would recognize these tactics from the enemy and use their authority as a child of God to cast the enemy out and silence his lies. However, a Sleeping Christian will dwell on the past and begin to align their identity in their former life rather than the redeemed version of themselves. This brings forth weakness to the Christian because they don’t realize who they are in Christ.
“God’s word is our source of truth.”
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The eye mask represents Lies. Since the beginning, Satan has twisted words and brought forth lies that convince us that what we thought was true could possibly be untrue. Thankfully, God provided us with a resource to go to in times of confusion, The Bible. God’s word is our source of truth. One of the biggest tactics of the enemy is to make us too busy to read God’s word, make it seem uninteresting, and convince us that we can’t understand it. Yet, God tells us in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” God clearly wants us to know the truth and gives us multiple chances to seek truth and receive answers from Him. Sleeping Christians won’t make the effort to find truth and will be easily sucked into the lies by Satan. The blanket represents Comfort. Comfort might sound like a great thing because there is safety there. However, Sleeping Christians who rest in Comfort instead of the presence of God and His righteousness will find themselves vulnerable to the attacks of Satan. It’s difficult to be a Child of God when we shy away from standing up for Christ and our morals as Christians for righteousness’ sake. Being unwilling to move because you’re too comfortable and don’t want to challenge the voice and actions of the enemy make Sleeping Christians weak and defeated.
The stuffed animal represents Fears. Our world is consumed with a list of fears that can entrap us and make us cling onto them rather than rebuke them, because sometimes the fears seem to make sense and feel comfortable. 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us that God does not give us a spirit of fear. Rather, God gives us power, love, and a sound mind. Sleeping Christians cannot fully operate in the power of God because they are too fixated on the fears they have clung to. Awake Christians will cling to Christ and allow Him to be their fortress in times of struggle. The remote represents Deception. In a time where it’s hard to believe anyone, the remote should be the last thing we have in our hand that navigates our walk with Christ. Sleeping Christians will rely on everyone else and anything else other than God first for their answers and guidance. Again, the one true source we can rely on is God’s word. Awake Christians know this and operate in this knowledge. The slippers represent Complacency. Complacency is yet another form of comfort. However, this form of comfort says, “I’m not going to change.” That, my friends, is dangerous for any Christian to proclaim. Sleeping Christians will be stubborn and unwilling to let God do anything new in their lives. They don’t want to be challenged or subject to any rough season that might bring forth a stronger faith and relationship with Christ. On the opposite spectrum, Awake Christians are never complacent. They continue to ask God to challenge them, are willing to be moved and taken out of their comfort and are always asking God for more. As the world grows darker into sin, may the light of Jesus shine brighter in our lives. I challenge you to ask God to reveal everything in your life that reflects being a Sleeping Christian. Then, I challenge you to make an actual effort to change. For far too long Satan has been manipulating God’s people into a place of slumber. It’s time to wake up.
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JESUS HOW ABOUT YOU? WE KNOW
KNOW JESUS
Worshipping THROUGH THE STORM
– Brandi Smith
I remember the first time I felt the presence of God. A smile just came to my face thinking about it. I’m 38 years old, but I was only a teenage girl when I first felt His Presence. One summer, I was at a youth camp called Impact in Toccoa. Joel Goddard was leading worship that night. Hundreds of people gathered in the nice auditorium for worship before we split into small groups. But as the worship began, I felt it was only Jesus and me. That was where I learned to raise my hands in worship to the Holy One, the worthy One. He inhabits the praises of His people. I took that feeling back to my pew-lined Baptist church, where folks didn’t do that. But I wanted that praise to continue, no matter where I went. A few years after my first experience with God I found out that my mom had caught my dad in adultery through hearing a voicemail. I remember standing with her in the kitchen, pushing play button again on one of those old machines and curiously listening to something that wasn’t right. I knew they didn’t have a good marriage. But I never imagined that my dad would be living in a ten-year affair while he was still married to my mom and raising four children. I am the oldest, and I carried the weight and the burden that something was my fault and I needed to fix it. The week that my mom and I found out about the adultery, we still attended our church on Sunday. Remember, this was the church where people did not typically raise their hands in worship. But as the congregation stood and sang a hymn together, my mom and I were led to raise our hands in worship despite our troubling situation. God was still worthy to be praised even though our world had just turned upside down.
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“Sometimes worship means that we must praise God despite the worst circumstances” My experience reminds me of an account in the Bible - Paul and Silas praising God when they were in prison. Sometimes worship means that we must praise God despite the worst circumstances. In Acts 16:25-34, we see the account of Paul and Silas in a prison. “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spoke unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meal before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.” When you don’t know what else to do, you can worship. You can worship God in the good times and the bad times. When I was pregnant with one of my children and my husband was in a dangerous country on the other side of the world on a mission trip. I chose to turn on some hymns and lift my hands to God as I felt His presence surround me. To the world, it doesn’t make sense how we as Christians can have joy in His presence as we worship Him through trials. Sometimes that is what they need to see – Children of God, rejoicing in God. Just like the keeper of the prison got saved because Paul and Silas chose to worship in their trial instead of running from it. The definition of worship, according to the dictionary on Google, is “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.” Therefore, we don’t worship God based on who we are or what is happening in our life. Rather, we worship God for who HE is and what HE has done.
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- Psalm 150:6
Life In Between
Return Trip
John chapter 4 introduces us to a man who came to Jesus out of desperation. I guess he must have ran all the way from Capernaum to Cana as his son was on deathbed. According to Google map estimates, in today’s world with furnished roads and transportation means, Capernaum is 40 mins drive from Cana (32.7 kms). It is only imaginable that in Jesus’ time, roads weren’t smooth or tarred. It could have very well included some tough terrain in between. Bible also says he was a noble. Commentaries say he was a royal person. He probably could have taken a carriage. I am not sure. But exasperated, he came to Jesus and begged Him to heal his son who was sick. I cannot imagine this father’s mental and emotional state who had to watch his son on death bed. Yet midst of despair, he found the will and the energy in him to travel all the way to Cana, investing all his hope and life in this new teacher in town who is known to have miraculous powers. “This teacher called Jesus turned water into wine a few days ago, so if I make it to Cana and request Him, He would heal my son too,” he must have thought.
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“In my human limitations, I am stumped. What human being is this? He has a child who is seriously ill and he has come all the way to request Jesus to come and heal his son, but Jesus says, “Go, your Son will live.” If it was me, I would have tried to reason with Jesus on how I think coming home and healing would be the best.” He made it to Cana. He met Jesus. He pleaded with Jesus to visit his house and heal his son. But Jesus did not go with him. Rather, he said, “Go! Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (John 4:50) The Living Bible translation says, “The man believed Jesus and started home.” In my human limitations, I am stumped. What human being is this? He has a child who is seriously ill and he has come all the way to request Jesus to come and heal his son, but Jesus says, “Go, your Son will live.” If it was me, I would have tried to reason with Jesus on how I think coming home and healing would be the best. Or how in all the miracle stories I know of, Jesus healed people who were ‘physically’ near him. But this man went home, taking Jesus at his word. I’m wondering how his return trip was. Was he still full of faith as time went by? Did doubts creep in when he walked towards home and Jesus was nowhere to be seen? Thankfully, he did not have to walk all the way home in anticipation. In verse 51, John tells us that this man was met by his servants on the way and they informed him of his son’s healing.
Inevitably, every believer has to navigate through unknowns- like this man’s experience of walking home. In fact most of our life is a journey between promises and fulfilment. And though God responds to our prayers it rarely works through our schedules. In our time with God, he speaks to us. Often in our desperate moments He gives us a promise- but subsequently there is often a period of anticipation. And this is our battle- what do we let take hold of us? Numerous opposing voices or God’s voice? When our minds say, ‘what if it doesn’t happen..? It would have been nicer if God had healed immediately... What’s with this whole deal of walking home? I can’t do this alone. I should have probably tried something else...and all the other cliché arguments our minds come up with, remember to treasure God’s promise. Make that your ultimate destiny. Jesus knows our capacity much better than we do and he knows how long we can walk alone with his promise. At the right time he is faithful enough to send messengers with good tidings- till then walk one step at a time-holding on to Jesus himself, treasuring what He has promised. God bless!
Daya Raja, Bangalore Daya thinks it’s absolutely cool to be known by Jesus. She deeply appreciates nature, art and silence. Currently, she is pursuing Masters in Development in India. Her dream is to fall in love with Jesus and humanity every day. Daya can be reached at dayaraja95@gmail.com
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Final Word Dear friend, Thank you for making it to the end of this edition. We believe that you were inspired to know about Dr. Craig through this edition. The life and work of Dr. Craig is an inspiration to many people to represent Jesus boldly in the world. God can also use your life to impact many around you. If you are reading this and have not experienced the love and power of God, we encourage you to embrace His love – offered as salvation through Jesus Christ. In His unending affection for us, God has a lot in store for your life and longs to have you as part of His family. We also encourage you to rededicate your life to God if you were born again but drifted away from the call. Make the following prayer and accept Jesus as your savior: “Lord Jesus, I come before you today. I acknowledge that I am a sinner, and my sins have separated me from you. Today, I believe that you are the son of God and that you had me in mind when you got crucified and died. I believe that you are resurrected and seated at the right hand of the Father. I accept you today as my Lord and savior. Thank you for paying the price for my eternal redemption. I am now the righteousness of God in Christ. I now ask you to fill me with your spirit. Amen.” Congratulations on surrendering or rededicating your life to God. You are now a new creation in Christ. We encourage you to join a family of believers (church) in your area, and we pray that you get established in your faith through studying the word by the grace of God. We at the EGM Times team love you and would like to hear from you. Send your feedback, comments, and constructive criticism to egmtimes@elohimgospelministries.com. See you in the next edition. God bless you!!! Team EGM Times
memory lane
Editorial in the first edition of EGM Times February 2013