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CSI Good News
(Church of South India Good News)
Vol. 2 / Issue 48 / January 4 2001
Contents of this issue
Editorial
What is ahead of us?
God's call for ministry
Looking back at Christmas time
News Items (Common to all issues) :
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Your Spam Folder
Your Feedback
Editorial
By Sherly Isaac
Again we have entered into a New Year but this year is different from all the other years because this is the beginning of a New Millennium. But when we look in this world we see no peace at all. Fighting and blood shed in middle east and many different parts of the world are going on. Not only in our nation but also in many homes and in many hearts there is no peace. Many think, “Is it possible that I will ever see any good thing any peace in my life?
Almost two thousand years ago in the beginning of a New Millennium, Jesus Christ the Savior of the world was born. And angel and the multitudes of heavenly hosts praised God and sang, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (Luke 2:14)
Yes, Jesus’ birth brought peace and goodwill for the whole humanity. You can get this everlasting peace in your home and in your hearts which world can not give. Jesus said in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” And also the Bible says in Philippians 4:7, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
If you are living peaceless and your heart is full of worries, then come to Christ and pour out your heart before Him. Give all your worries and burdens to Him, He will gladly take them and give you the peace that can not be described in words. A few days back one of my Hindu friends shouted at me and said, “Close all your religious activities and try to settle down in your life. Who will marry you a few years after as you will be advanced in age?” I said, “I am really not worried about my future because my future is safe in the mighty hands of God that’s why I live in peace and not worried like you.”
Yes God gives the peace and removes the worries of the future. In this New Year, ask Him to come into your life and He will bear all your burdens, He will take care of your future and give you peace that passes all understanding.
May God be with you in this New Year and fill your hearts and homes with His divine peace and goodwill.
What is ahead of us?
By Sherly Isaac
May God be with you in this New Year and fill your hearts and homes with His divine peace and goodwill.
What is Ahead of Us?
As we enter this New Year and see increase of violence, peacelessness, immorality and many heartbreaking and heartrending happeninings shaking us, do we not think, “is this life?” Where is the end of all these things? Where are we heading? But Jesus said in John 14:1, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” Yes, God wants to give us complete peace and tranquillity in our lives. And as we know the return of Jesus Christ is very near. We do not know when He will return but many signs and many prophecies have been fulfilled like, Israel becoming a Nation, formation of European Union and the recent Launch of “Digital Angel” ( it is a tiny electronic chip which will be introduced in human body so that they can get all information about a person including Credit Card information etc.) And the Bible tells us that Mark of the Beast is on the way.
Rev 13:16-18, “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.so we know that His return is very near even at the door.”
Many things are matching with mark of the beast which is described in Revelation 13:16-18, like no one can buy or sell anything without the mark of the beast and the tiny chip can only be put on forehead or arm. Anyway this is going to happen at the time of Anti–Christ but we see the preparation of it. Devil has plan to rule over this world but God also has wonderful plans for His children. Before He returns, He is going to do certain things.
1. He is going to sanctify His body:
Before He returns, He is going to sanctify His body. When Jesus was about to go from this world He prayed to the Father in John 17:17, "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
Today when we see so much misconception and deception about Jesus and His true word, He is going to remove those false things and is going to establish His pure word in the very hearts of people. He is going to sanctify His people.
Ephesians 5:26-28, “That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
Are you washed by the blood of Jesus? If not this is the time that God wants you to wear His holiness and be without blemish and be holy. Before He returns, He wants you to be holy as He is holy. If you have not experienced the cleansing of Jesus Christ, come to the cross and ask His forgiveness of the sins you have committed in your life. He will forgive you and forget all your sins and make you white as snow. If any of your friends, relatives or loved ones have not come to Christ yet, God is going to shake their lives and they are going to taste the sweetness of Christ in their lives too.
2. He is going to pour out His Spirit as never before:
Prophet Joel prophesied and said, Joel 2:28-29, "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”
Yes, the days are coming when we will experience the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit on every nation of this earth. Before Jesus returned to heaven, He promised to send Holy Spirit as we read in Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
And as He promised, Holy Spirit came on His disciples and others as we read in Acts 2:2-4, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Many think that Holy Spirit came once and these things ceased and that now a days it never happens. But the Bible very clearly says that where ever Peter, Paul and other disciples went and preached they Gospel the got the same experience as on the first day. Peter says in Acts 10:47, "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" So these experiences have not ceased, but according to God’s promise He is pouring out His spirit as never before.
If you have not yet received this wonderful gift of God you must ask Him because Jesus said in John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." And also Jesus said in John 4:14, "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
If you want a springing up life, you must need this living water from God.
3. He is going to have a great harvest:
This year is going to make history in the spiritual world because God is moving mightily and He is preparing His people for a great harvest. If you are a servant of God and thinking that, all these years you had worked very hard to bring harvest to the kingdom of God but got very few converted in comparison to your work be assured that this year you are going to get heaps of harvest. Seeds were sown from many years with tears but those who sowed the seed could not see this great harvest. They hoped to see this great harvest but could not. But this is the generation that is going to see the greatest harvest of the whole human history has not yet seen. Souls after souls are going to come and surrender at His feet. Are you ready for this great harvest? If not get ready for a mighty harvest!!
God's call for ministry
By Sheela Isaac
God calls people for different types of ministry. As we could see in 1Cor chapter 12.
1 Cor 12:28, “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.”
Very often people do not know the call of God in their lives. They start their ministry as any other secular job and it ends up in utter failure. Once when I was in India one pastor said, "I was working in the railways, but later on I found that the job as a pastor is an easy one and so I shifted to this job". But you should know that the call of ministry is the highest calling for which God calls. It is not a mere job, but a responsible position where a person is responsible for his/her sheep. It has a great responsibility to protect the sheep in his/her charge from going to hell fire. But it is a sad thing t note that many preachers do not care about it.
In 1 Cor we see Bible telling about different types of call. First apostles, secondly prophets and so on.
Now what is the calling of an Apostle? The person through whom all the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit operates is called an apostle. It means an apostle should be able to demonstrate all the gifts in his/her life. Now what are the nine gifts? 1 Cor 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 1 Cor 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 1 Cor 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
We can see all these gifts in St. Paul's life. He was an apostle for Christ, but today in Church we do not see such people. Why? Reason is simple. Today many are in the ministry, but they do not have that kind of call in their life or may be many might have changed their calling. Many have fallen in the spiritual field because they have switched to the type of ministry for which God has never called them. When we started our ministry, many used to come and say "why are you sitting idle? Why do you not go to jail and preach?" "Why do you not go to villages and preach?" "Why do you not go to slums and give gospel message to them?" Every time when we prayed the Lord said, "no, for this I did not call you." Before starting any type of ministry the first thing to do is to ascertain the call of God.
Secondly God calls for prophets. Today also the Lord is calling many for prophetic ministry. Now, what is prophet's calling? Today we are going to see mainly about this type of call.
Call of Prophet: When we read the Bible we could see that God called Moses as a prophet and leader over more than 600,000 people. God also called Elijah, Joshua and many others as prophets.
Now what are the qualities of a prophet?
1. Should be able to hear the voice of God:
We read about Moses that he used to talk to God as talking to a friend. God spoke to Moses from a burning bush (Exo: 3:2-& onwards). He could hear the voice of God. God spoke to him every time and gave direction what to do and what not to do. That is why the ministry of Moses had such an impact on more than 600,000 people whom he delivered and led to the land of Canan.
2. Should be able to know the future plan of God:
If a person is a prophet of God he/she should be able to know the future plans of God. Exo 3:10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. Whatever God said to Moses came to pass exactly as it was said. Moses could deliver the Israelites from Egypt.
3. Should bring healing and miracles:
Elijah brought fire from heaven. Joshua brought down the walls of Jericho. Moses could part the Red Sea in two. Israelites saw pillar of fire and pillar of cloud leading them and they could experience the great escape from Egypt.
Yes my friend these are the qualities of a prophetic ministry. God is calling His prophets today. Where are such prophets today? Where are those miracles? Why do we not see those great and mighty miracles? If the God of Bible is true then where are those miracles? Is God sleeping? Is He taking rest? Why, no miracles like fire and cloud? Why no miracles like wall of Jericho falling? Why no miracles like Red Sea parting? Why.......
Reason is simple. No one wants to pay the price. Price is heavy with this great calling. No one is willing to fast like Moses did for forty days and forty nights. No one is willing to spend hours and hours at the feet of Jesus. No one is willing to hear the voice of God and to do exactly as He wants them to do. That is why we do not see many people in big ministries. Very few are out there doing something for God.
Do you want to become such a prophet? Why don't you become one Elijah? Why don't you stand for God as Moses? Why don't you bring fire from heaven? Are you willing to rise up as a prophet? I feel strongly in my spirit as I am writing this message that God is calling some of you to rise up for God as a mighty prophet. My young people, stand up for Christ. These are the last days. Why don't you rise up as a prophet and deliver the people from their bondage, from their addiction, from their sin.
Many families are broken, many are in tears. Are you willing to stand up for Christ? Are you willing to pay the price? Ministry is not a joke; it is not a play. It is indeed hard work, but you know the reward is very high. One day we will stand before our master and what a day it will be when He will say "My good and faithful servant. Well done!"
May God bless you.
Looking back at Christmas time
By Rev. Vinod Victor (Secretary, CSI Synod)
It is Christmas time once again. On the one hand, there is a lot of festivity, Christmas trees, Carol singing, Stars, parties, decorations, cakes and what not. And on the other hand, there is pain, anxiety, suffering, agony and tears. Christmas means different things to different people. It is our prayer for you this season that the Babe of Bethlehem would be in your life a Saviour, Liberator and Comforter. Incarnation is an event wherein God gave up perhaps the whole of God' self to become human so that humanity may experience the plentitude of life. The challenge of Christmas perhaps in the shade of Calvary is the challenge to come out of the shells of self and launch out for the cause of the other. It is in the wiping of a tear, soothing of an agony and perhaps in the struggle to bring liberation to the captives that we would be able to meaningfully participate in the Christ event. May this be your experience all along the Christmas season and throughout the New Year.
It is the prayers of many people who love us that so strongly sustained us in Ministry all along this year. It is therefore our responsibility to share with you our experiences. During this year we were able to keep in touch with a few but though we wanted to, we could not be in frequent touch with many others. It must be noted here that we did try replying to all our mail.
The year 2000 began for us with a momentous Faith Rally in our hometown Trivandrum. Over 1,50,000 CSI believers marched through the streets of Trivandrum in jubilation and thanksgiving and congregated at the maidan for a service of praise thanking God for the possibility to see a new millennium. Many such rallies were organised in quite a few cities by the CSI.
The focal event of this year was undoubtedly the Synod Youth Festival 2000 which was organised at a small village called KASAM in the Diocese of Vellore from 2nd to 5th of November. Over 2250 young people representing all the twenty one dioceses Of the CSI and our Ecumenical partner Churches, both National and International participated with great jubilation in the four days of festivity. Unparalleled in the life of the Church of South India. Kasam opened up manifold possibilities of youth power. which I am sure the Church will now take seriously and put in their best to properly channelise.
At the Synod level, we had this time concentrated on Leadership Training. A Synod Youth leaders Training Programme was organised at Chennai from 21st to 23rd of March and an Emerging Youth Leaders Training Programme was held at Trivandrum from 24th to 27th of August. We had a Training Programme on 'Gender Awareness' at the Vishranthi Nilayam, Bangalore from 19th to 22nd of July.
We made it a point that young people have opportunities to come together at a Regional level to foster Regional Fellowship and discuss crucial issues in the language closest to their hearts. The Andhra Pradesh Regional Youth Conference was held at Machilipatinam in the Krishna-Godavari Diocese from 25th to 27th February. The Karnataka Regional Youth Conference was held at Dharwad from 9th to 11th of March. The Kerala Regional Youth Conference was held at Ernakulam from 10th to 13th of May.
We also had the privilege of helping the Dioceses to organise various Youth Programmes particularly the Annual Diocesan Youth Conferences. Noteworthy among the Diocesan meetings, we participated included thosewith the TAIZE Community at Dornakal on 13th of April and one at Chennai on 15th of April. The Karnataka Central Diocesan Youth Conference at Bangalore on 8th of April. the Krishna Godavari Diocesan Mission and Youth Festival at Visakhapatinam from 4th to 7th of May, the Rayalaseema Diocesan Youth Conference at Ananthapur from 2nd to 4th of June, the North Kerala Diocesan Youth Conferenceat Kannur from 9th to 10th of September, the South Kerala Diocesan Youth Conference at Kollam from 11th to 14th of September, the Karimnagar Youth Conference at Kazipet, from 19th to 21st of September, the Tirunelveli Youth Conference at Courtallam from 23rd to 25th September and the Trichy Youth Conference at Dharapuram from 30th September.
At the Ecumenical level, the CSI Youth could make its presence felt in various national and international forums. I participated at the NCCI Pre Assembly Youth meet at Ranchi from 28th to 29th of February and led a Bible Study. I was also asked to lead the Bible Study at the NCCI Youth Committee Meeting which we hosted here in Chennai on 22nd of July. A Youth Core Group of the CSI-CNI-MTC meet at Mumbai from 5th to 10th of July calling for much more visible
expressions of Church Union.
It was a privilege for us to be part of the 27th Synod of the CSI held at Secunderabad from 10th to 15th of January. It was a marvellous experience. So was the various opportunities we had to sit in the decision making bodies of the Synod including the Executive and Working Committees. We had the unique privilege to be part of the Bishops Retreat held at Masanagudi near Ooty from 22nd to 25th of May. We also joined hands with the other Departments to bring in Youth perspectives in their programmes. I must specially thank the Director of PAD, Rev.Devakadasham for the umpteen opportunities he provided us to meet with the pastors at the Diocesan level, Regional level and at various Synod level programmes. We could also participate in various programmes of the Christian Education Department and Mission and Evangelism Department. We were also invited to some of the Diocesan Pastors Retreats. Noteworthy among them was participating in the Marammon Convention along with Bishop Vasantha Kumar and his pastors. We could also participate in a few parish level Youth Camps and preached in many parishes across the year.
We had a rare privilege to undertake two International visits this year. We were in the United States of America from 1st to 23rd of August. We reached New York on 1st and then proceeded to Orange City, Iowa to spend a week there with the ReformedChurches in America to discuss the possibilities of Youth Exchange. It was a great experience to be with Rev. Roger Schrock and his fantastic team.
I preached at the CSI Jubilee Memorial Church on 6th August and then proceeded to 'Smoky Mountaions' Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for the millennium CSI Family and Youth Conference. Almost all the CSI families living across the United States of America participated and it was a challenging experience deciphering the word of God for them. We could also visit our friends Leona and Fenny, Johnny and Nina, Deepu and Simi … and others at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Santiago and Los Angeles in California and on our way back lead a Youth Retreat at New York. We had the rare privilege to visit the Disney Land also with Rev.John Mcfarland. I must specially thank Mr. Koshy George and Rev. Roger Schrock who made this trip possible.
We had the opportunity to be in the United Kingdom as part of a Youth Encounter UK programme organised by the CMS from 1st to 25th of October. There were ten young people from various countries in Asia and I was asked to be the Facilitator of the group. It was a wonderful opportunity touring through London seeing 'Madame Tousad's Museum, the Buckingham Palace, the London Bridge, the Tower of London, Lambeth Palace, the Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square, the Big Ben, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Southwark Cathedral, the Guillford Cathedral and the famous Westminister Abbey, the River Thames. The list can go on... We visited Schools, Colleges and other Christian Institutions. We were part of the Church's outreach ministry through housing and employment programmes.. I could preach in Anglican Churches including St.Ann's, Earlsworth, the St. Mary Magdelene, Queens Road and at the Eucharistic Service in Partnership House. It was a great experience of learning. Mr. Leslie Nathaniel of the CMS organised this programme and we must thank him and his wife Julie Lipp Nathaniel. We stayed in London with Ms.E.M. Laird.
Being the youngest in the Synod structure was an enriching experience of learning. Guiding the youth work of one of the largest Ecumenical grass root based youth movement was a thrilling experience. I must thank my diocese, especially Bishop J.W.Gladstone for the opportunity provided to me. Working with Rev. G Dyvasirvadam, the dynamic and vibrant +General Secretary was a great experience. He is a powerful leader and a passionate person. All the Synod Officers, the Moderator, Bishop K.J.Samuel, the Deputy Moderator, Bishop Sugandhar and the meticulous Treasurer, Mr. Frederick William were of tremendous guidance and support, All the Synod Department heads, all the staff at the Synod Centre, all the Diocesan Bishops, leaders, Youth Directors and the people accepted us so well. Mr. Gordon Sequira, the colleague in my office saw to it that everything 'official' was taken care of in minute detail. There are of course many others who deserve very special words of thanks by name for being who they were for us all along the year.May I conclude thanking you for your continued prayer support and requesting you to continue to uphold us in your prayers.
With lots of love also from Molly, my companion in Ministry.
REV.VINOD VICTOR
SECRETARY, Synod Youth Dpt., CSI SYNOD.
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.
This book is available for purchase at JasmineCorp Store
Also read these two books by Sherly Isaac "Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God" Available at JasmineCorp Store, and "Is Jesus God?" Available at JasmineCorp Store,
Both books compares the Bible and the Quran and read eye opening facts about Jesus, God of the Bible, Allah and Islamic faith. I am sure that you want to read this.
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
You can now download articles in Palm Doc format for your palm handheld computer. It will work with any devise that has Palm OS and Palm Doc Reader installed. To download click on the link named "Palm Doc Format" i.e. at the top of this page by the side of each articles.
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online at Kid's page. These tutorials are free for kids who subscribe for CSI Kids Newsletter. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver are available.
So please enroll your kids by going to http://kids.csinewsletter.org/member/join.asp
And visit CSI Kid's page at http://kids.csinewsletter.org
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Now you can read Bible in Hindi online at http://www.hindibible.org
in Malayalam online at http://www.malayalambible.org
in Tamil online at http://www.hindibible.org?ver=tamil
Your Spam Folder
If you are getting this newsletter in your bulk/junk/Spam folder please hit the "not junk" or "not spam" button so that you could receive it in your mailbox. Also adding news@csinewsletter.com email address into your contact list can avoid this email from ending up in your bulk folder.
Your Feedback
Your feedback and comments are Welcome. Please send your Parish news & articles to Editor (Sherly N. Isaac) at this address News@csinewsletter.comThe messages submitted will be checked whether they are correct according to the word of God. Editor reserves the right to accept, reject or edit the messages. The writers are responsible for the contents of their writings.
 
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