About This Blog

This blog is set up for me to encourage Christians in India and share Christ with those who don't believe as yet.I will do this by writing letters explaining different areas of the Christian life and the Bible in a common street level approach. All articles are copyrighted by me unless otherwise noted. But feel free to copy and give to the poor in India or elsewhere. DO NOT sell articles.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Biju Janata Dal Manifesto: End of Christian Persecution India?

*Bhubaneswar : *With the Kandhamal communal violence in the backdrop, Biju
Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday
went all out to wash away the “stains” by promising complete security to all
communities 1to perform religious programmes in his party’s manifesto.

In the 40-page manifesto marked by the absence of any spectacular poll
promise for the electorate, the only thing evident was Naveen’s eagerness to
prove his secular credentials. “Each bone of my body is secular,” read the
caption with Naveen’s picture on the back cover of the manifesto booklet. In
the manifesto released at the BJD headquarters on Friday afternoon, Naveen
said special attention would be given to the development of education,
health, economy and culture of the minority community.

In the manifesto, Naveen claimed that in the past five years, he had
provided grant-in-aid to all schools, colleges and health centres run by
Christian institutions and gave grant-in-aid to teachers of 87 madrasas.
Grants for repairs and reconstruction of all religious institutions like
temples, churches and mosques damaged during communal riots have been given,
he claimed.

But prominent Christian leader and member of National Integration Council
John Dayal said, “The ghost of Kandhamal will always haunt him. Secularism
is not in the bones, it is in the action,” Dayal told The Indian Express.

The BJD has promised that no one will remain hungry and promised free
electricity to farmers. The party has also promised a specially constituted
authority for development of the physically handicapped.

Other promises in the manifesto are generation of 15 lakh employment in the
industrial sector, establishment of 5,000 girl hostels to accommodate five
lakh girls in the next five years, expansion of Mission Shakti programme to
make five lakh more woman self-reliant and drainage and sewerage,
water-supply and road development in all urban areas.

Click here for source christianpersecutionindia.blogspot.com/

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Posted By Christian Persecution India to Christian Persecution
Indiaat
3/30/2009 05:56:00 AM

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls

"Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him".
Proverbs 24:17-18

I have worked with many people and have been mistreated many times by those over me. It seems that it is real easy to hope that the person gets demoted, fired or the business goes bad because I am not there. Or even go out of business. But the Lord tells us to "pray for our enemies and bless those that abuse you".(Paraphrase Matt. 5:44) I wonder how many companies that have treated their employees bad and still do well because the people of God secretly prayed to see them "get theirs" and fall. Therefore, God turned His wrath from them.
Next time you see a person fall that had treated you wrong, let the Lord guide you in ways to bless him. Who knows maybe the Lord will defeat an enemy by making him a friend. And above all if we are bought by Christ and therefore not our own, we have no right to be offended by others. We must turn it over to our Master Jesus and trust Him to take care of it His way. We then have no worry or stress over it.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

On Being The New Testament Church Part 4: Fellowship

Continuing from my previous post on Being A New Testament Church I would like to take up were I left off. Verse 42 of the Second Chapter of Acts states that, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread and in prayers".
In my opinion their actions are centered on "fellowship". We could say it this way,” And they did not give up fellowshiping around the apostle's teachings with communion and prayer".
First, they did not give up fellowship. Not because of a busy schedule and not because they did not like someone in the church.
Second, they fellowshiped around Bible study. The lecture type of preaching is good for individual growth. Bible study around fellowship is good for the spiritual growth of the church group. Not just the teachings of the original apostles, but contemporary apostles mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 in which there is not reason to mention that these will teach according to the scriptures.
Third, they fellowshiped around meals, which included the "Breaking of Bread" or communion. This service is invaluable in the spiritual growth of the Church. As the early Christians shared there meals together, this observance helped them to stay focused on the whole purpose of being together.
And fourth, they fellowshipped around prayer. More than just having a small prayer time during a service, but fellowshipping around the prayer time; sharing, uplifting each other in prayer.
These four focuses in fellowship are all part of the "becoming a New Testament Church". The verses after 2:42 shows the fruits that define a NTC.
In truth the fruits do not define us when we meet, but when we as a Church operate as individuals and as a part of the Body of Christ on Earth. Have you ever met a person that lived like a non-believer and then found out that they attended a church? It is hard not to judge the Church by those individuals and the Bible teaches that we should not do so, but we see the fruits of the Church. And I believe that if the principles in 2:41-42 are lived, then the Church will not have to worry about being judged by non-believers. And we can truly believe that we are New Testament Christians therefore making up a New Testament Church.
In conclusion I must admit that no group of scriptures in themselves will point out a formula for building a New Testament Church, but only a group of people who love Jesus and are committed to serving Him together, lead by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God will ever become what the New Testament Church was and did.
Or better still will become to Latter-day Church

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Employed Again

I started work last monday at Bremner Food Group here in Dothan. I am working through Personal Resources.
I would like to thank all those who prayed for me and offered encouragement.
I realize in our present economy this job could be gone. But one thing I have learned and that is not to put our trust in Companies, people, or government. Unless the Lord is using such in His grand work in our lives.
I have heard many say things like," If we give God our best, He will give us His best" and when commenting on volunteering at church that,"we will get paid in the end". Well I am here to say that the Lord has already given His best. And yes the Bible has a lot to say about sowing and reeping. And that is good. But we must grow in our faith to the point where our giving is because we love the Lord and He has already given our best. When we come to this point we can truly trust in God to take care of us. My children do not have to do anything for us to take care of them. So why do we think we must give in order to get from our heavenly Father.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Unemployed Again

Once again I find myself unemployed. Dunbarton Corp in Dothan layed about 32 of us off because of lack of work. (So order some Slimfold doors and Redi-frame door frames) I left this time with my head high and trying to please the Lord. They informed us well in advance that they were going to do it. By seniority. When they called me in to give me the bad news, I told them that they were just doing their jobs and that I understood how hard it was. I have had to hire and fire many in my life. I asked them if I could pray with them and they consented. Afterwards I went to each Manager and supervisor that I had had and told them I appreciated the chance to work for them.When asked what I would do from my co-workers , I replied that I would do what I had did when I took the job. Trust God. The company could knock God off His throne.So here I am unemployed and trying to be lead by the Holy Spirit in my job hunt.I know this sounds really weird to you unbelievers, but if you have a better way, let me know. I've tried it all on my own and it did not work.That is the lesson that we as a nation will learn. No man or group can heal our land. Until we admit that we need God to pull us out of the mess we got ourselves into.I pray for you Mr. President, butYou can not bring real change,You can not bring real hope,Only the Lord Jesus can.Yes you made History, but it is not as big as the history Jesus Christ will make when He returns.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Miracle On The Hudson

The news reports of "Good Morning America" did reports and interviews on the landing of the plane in the Hudson River yesterday. The title of the coverage was, "Miracle On The Hudson". After all the interviews and reports. The conclusion was that thanks to the pilot (an ex-fighter pilot), plane attendants and heroic passengers, no one was lost. Truly the training of the crew and experience of 9/11 played a valuable part in the success of the rescue.
To say it was a miracle would be a misuse of the word. A "miracle" is something that can not be explained in human terms. Amazing as the incident was and wonderful that no one was drowned. The whole success could be explained as the heroic actions of everyone involved. Down to the boats that were ready to respond as soon as the plane hit the water. Miracle, no. If the plane had burst into flames and flew into a building instead of an expert pilot steering it into the water and all survived, that would have been a miracle.
Now I'm not belittling the actions of the heroes that took charge and saved the day. They deserve their credit for a great job done. But it was not a miracle.
Only the Lord God, Jesus does real miracles. And the vain use of the word has belittled it's meaning. I have expereinced miracles first hand. They do exsist. And a lot of God's workings may not be called a miracle. The fact that the harbor boats were right there within close ranage could be crideted to God's working, but not a miracle.
I beleive in the next couple of years we will re-dicover the meaning of this overused misunderstood work. MIRACLE

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Being The Tew Testament Church Part 3: Being Added

“… and that same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”
Acts 2:41b

After those that heard Peter and believed in the massage he spoke, the messege of Christ crucified and risen, there were about 3,000 souls added to their number. It is interesting to see that the 3 thousand were called souls and not persons or bodies.
In manufacturing when we need an unskilled person to perform small tasks in order to keep regular employees doing their production work, we call on a “temp” agency to provide these persons. These persons are referred to as “warm bodies”. Now not all temp laborers are in this category. Most go on to prove them-selves and gain employment with the company that has contracted them. I have worked as a temp and after being proven reliable, gained a full time job. But those who do not push for a steady job and are just content them-selves to a pay-per-day get by day-by-day attitude moving from job-to-job are the “warm bodies” of the industry. They work to get what they can and move on.
The industry is looking for those who apply themselves and work for the betterment of them-selves and the company. Seeing that they are both hand-n-hand.
They want those who commit their whole soul or mind, emotions and intellect to the enterprise.
The adding to the Church is that same way. The Lord wishes to add those who will commit their whole soul to the Church. He wants those who will give mind, emotions and intellect to the growth of the Church. Committed to the growth of themselves and others. Seeing that they are all the same in His eyes. One cannot grow with out the other.
Disturbingly the Church as a whole is full of “warm bodies” that only come to fill their own needs. And when the group stops providing the fulfillment, they move on to the next group doing as little as possible for the most they can get. They go for the preaching until they think they have heard it all before. They go to put their kids in the nursery until some other kid makes theirs mad or the attendant doesn’t do like they want. They attend so they can put their teens in a youth group so the youth pastor can straighten out the mess they have made with their youth. And when he or she cannot do the impossible, they move on.
We need those the Lord has added to our number, committed to the full success of the New Testament Church. They will be givers that can also take a gift and use it for the glory of the Lord.
This is all a part of being the New Testament Church.