January 2013 3 Suvartha

The year 2012 has witnessed events that drawthe special attention of all biblical students.Mankind is changing and transforming in newdirections. We hear of man’s achievements andsuccess stories in science and technology. At thesame time, failures and unaccomplished goalsecho in our minds. Things such as political unrest,leadership changes in nations, religiousawakenings and extremism and social changesthat lead to liberalism, secularism and materialismas the motto are seen all around.

Moral decline

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also willit be in the days of the Son of Man. People wereeating, drinking, marrying, and being given inmarriage up to the day Noah entered the ark”(Luke 17:26-30)

“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at thecoming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37-39)

We live in a world that is declining in its morals.Secular morality and social behaviors havebecome an accepted fashion, even in the Christianchurch. Because of this, the increase of sin in thesecular world has made its way into the Christianchurch, and we have begun to see the growth ofsinful behaviors such as: sexual immorality,impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, discord,hatred, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies,lust, evil desires, malice, filthy language, slander,etc. It’s a sad truth that these things are all seeneven in the Christian community. The Bible hasclearly said that a sign of Christ’s second comingwould be people eating, drinking, and enjoyingthemselves. Everywhere we turn, we see peoplegathering together for parties and celebrations thatlack the presence of God. Moral decline hasincreased to its highest level yet. In America’sPresidential election, the nation selected ademocratic president to lead the country whopromotes secularism and many non-Christian

values. An openly declared lesbian has ben electedto the American Senate. Marijuana has beenlegalized and permitted to be sold in the openmarket. More states have accepted civil unions oralternative life-styles instead of marriage as theaccepted pattern of life-style. The Holy Spirit hadwarned us that moral decline would happenbefore the coming of the Lord.

Increase of Life problems

“Before that time there were no wages for manor beast. No one could go about his businesssafely because of his enemy, for I had turned everyman against his neighbor” (Zachariah 8:10)

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weigheddown with dissipation, drunkenness, and theanxieties of life, and that day will close on youunexpectedly like a trap” (Luke 21:34)

“Death has climbed in through our windowsand has entered our fortresses; it has cut off thechildren from the streets and the young men fromthe public squares” (Jeremiah 9:21,22)

Life problems seem to have increased nowmore than ever. Social issues and problems arebecoming unresolved concerns for nationalleaders. This seems to be an issue throughoutthe world that does not appear to be endinganytime soon, according to major news media. Itis a sign of what is going to happen in the nearfuture – that before the coming of the Lord, lifeproblems will rise to a level in which the humanmind will not be ableto comprehend ordeal with. The youngand old are allgetting involved insinful ways andbehaviors in a waythat cannot bematched to any othertime in history.

God’sBillboard Signs

(Part - 1)

PastorK.V. AbrahamNew York

Jesus said,"As it was in thedays of Noah, soit will be at thecoming of theSon of Man”.Here is the firstpart of the 2-partseries in whichthe various signspointing clearlyto the comingof our Lord arediscussed.

It is a sign of what is going tohappen in the near future –

that before the coming of the Lord,life problems will rise to a level in

which the human mind will notbe able to comprehend

or deal with.

January 2013 4 Suvartha

Political unrest

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, butsee to it that you are not alarmed. Such thingsmust happen, but the end is still to come” (Matthew24:6,7)

There are reports ofwar going on all over theworld. There is tensionin the Middle East. Thereis turmoil in Iraq, Iran,Syria, Afghanistan, Egyptand many other areas ofthe world. China andRussia are in the highestlevel yet regarding thearmed race. There isunrest in the Koreanpeninsula, problems inmany African nations

such as Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Sudan, and othernations that are experiencing political unrest. Moreweapons are being added to the war warehouse.Nations want to test their weapons and show theirmuscle power. Israel is at a constant attack fromPalestine and others. At any time, a major war canbreak out. As the Bible says, “You will hear of warsand rumors of wars, but such things must happen”.

Natural calamities

The hurricane, “Sandy” struckNew York as well as nine otherstates. It ended in totaldevastation throughout thesestates, especially in the areassurrounding New York. It resultedin many deaths and the loss ofmany homes. There was a totalbreakdown of heat and electricity,loss of property, and fallen treeseverywhere. It gives us thefirsthand experience into thelimitations of human ability andtechnology.

Increase in violence

Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown,Connecticut experienced one of the most viciousacts of violence to occur in this country. Twenty

little children andseven adults havelost their preciouslives. A 20-year oldyoung mancommitted thecrime. The entirenation is shakenand saddened bythis violence. Thenation is

struggling to find the reason for all of this. Someblame mental health issues, and some blamegun control. We know one fact – there are violentvideo games, lyrics and movies, and violence infamilies. These are all promoters of violence insociety. As Governor Mike Huckabee stated, thelack of religious teaching and values in the schoolscan also be a promoter of violence.

Violence all over the world has been increasingevery day. Our kids’ schools and colleges are nolonger a safe ground. The deadly shootingrampage in April of 2007 on the campus of VirginiaTech University killed 32 people. The ColumbineHigh School shooting tragedy that killed so manyhigh school students has not left our memories.Also, the event that took place in NorthwestUniversity in Illinois was another violent tragedy.Schools and college campuses have turned intoa place of blood battles. Streets and markets areno longer safe places. Violence has increased invarious countries in Africa. Everyday, bloodshedding takes place in Iraq and the Middle East,with no exceptions for Jerusalem and the HolyLand. Man is not able to control violence with hisown ability. The one who is able to bring peace isgoing to come, and He is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Increase of knowledge

“But you, Daniel, close up and seal the wordsof the scroll until the time of the end. Many will gohere and there to increase knowledge” (Daniel12:4)

We see the increase of wisdom now more thanever. The education system has altered andchanged, and the computer has revolutionized theworld with the empowering ability of increasingknowledge. The thinking and planning ability ofman has gone to higher levels. Man is boasting oftheir knowledge and ability to handle situations.We must remember, however, that althoughknowledge is increasing, issues are still arising.Man is still man. There is a God on the throne whois preparing to send His Son to this earth. God isthe one who has the final knowledge.

The thinking and planning ability ofman has gone to higher levels. Man isboasting of their knowledge and abilityto handle situations. We must remem-ber, however, that although knowledgeis increasing, issues are still arising.

Man is still man.

Hurricane

There is tension in the MiddleEast. There is turmoil in Iraq, Iran,

Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt andmany other areas of the world.There is unrest in the Koreanpeninsula, problems in many

African nations

- To be contnued in the next issue

January 2013 5 Suvartha

All of us are deeply interested in sending ourchildren to the best educational institutionavailable. In these days of competition andunemployment, it is important to watch the gradesthe children make for each subject. We want themto score the highest marks at the entrance test tovarious professional courses.

It seems teaching our children “how to make aliving” has become the primary objective ofeducation. Our desire surely is their academicachievement that will make them fit for a securefuture. But, in the pursuit of suchachievements, we forget thematter of teaching our children“how to live.”

While we are concentratingour efforts on their academicachievements and professionalskills, some people are likely toignore character formation. In away, achievement is “what wehave done,” and character is“what we are.” It therefore,becomes important to consideranswers to questions like, “Whyis my child successful?; by whatcharacter is he/she excelling?”Not everyone has the sameopportunities for achievement. But if such anopportunity comes, they won’t be ready for it unlesstheir character is already in place.

Modern man may think that, after all, moneycan buy anything. Many are tempted to follow thepath of acquiring knowledge that helps in makingmore money assuming that possession of wealthcan bring happiness. We know money can buy abed, but not sleep. Money can buy a ‘house,’ butnot a ‘home.’ House means buildings, but homemeans people. When things become moreimportant than people, home ceases to be ahome.

Some parents manipulate their children’sfuture by putting so much pressure in the selectionof their career in life. Parents, it seems, areprepared to spend money to give the besteducation that will serve their interest rather thanthat of their children. There is nothing wrong inselecting a course that will give our childrenfinancial security. But as we impart knowledge tothe coming generation, it is important that they

should be taught values that will guide their lives.Teaching values will help them sharpen theircapacity to make decisions in life, and to give themguidance for the use of the knowledge gained.

Character - the causative forcefor achievement

It is the character that provides the causativeforce that brings about continued achievements.Character lays a foundation for long-term reward.Character is to be exalted and emphasized above

achievement. Holding highpositions with unwholesomecharacter will eventually reflecton the person. Characterformation in a child should takeplace from the very beginningitself. True, we need to guidechildren towards economicsecurity; but by the time wediscover their faults it may betoo late.

We need to realize thatsuccess and popularity are onlyof secondary importance.Reputation can be obtained bypresenting a false image.Character lives in a person. If it

is character that we revere, we will be motivated tothink of making education value based. Onthe other hand, if it is money and powerthat we revere, the opportunities for profitand impressing others will get us excited.

Our educational system has to bemodified to give ample thrust on characterdevelopment. The results of certainstudies report that only 15 percent of whatwe acquire by way of professional skillsenables us to succeed in life, but 85 percentcontribution is from the personal quality ofthe individual. That is, 85 percent isindividual goodness. Unfortunately oureducation focuses solely on the 15 percenttext knowledge. Good character lays thebasis for producing healthypermanent results. Thedeciding factor for anindividual’s education is notthe number of degrees

Educationwith Character

Dr. GeorgeSamuel

formerly anuclearscientist,is currentlyDirector ofValueEducationCentre,Tiruvalla,Kerala.

“Education without characteris useless and dangerous”

Gandhiji

As we impart knowledgeto the coming generation,it is important that theyshould be taught valuesthat will guide their lives.Teaching values will help

them sharpen theircapacity to make deci-sions in life, and to give

them guidance for the useof the knowledge gained.

January 2013 6 Suvartha

attached to the name but the quality of character.In order to guide our children’s behaviour and

put meaning into their existence, they need goodfoundation or beliefs upon which they can act. Goodvalues surely will make a person more human.Due to lack of such foundation, the inclinations oftheir heart may be toward negativism or towardbad values which make them inhuman. Also theyneed to be exposed to good values around whichtheir desires and ambitions can be organized. Aseach individual is likely to function within his ownvalue system, people are even identified by thevalues kept by them. So the identity clarification ofan engineer, doctor, or of any professional is basedon the value frame work within which he acts.

Character to catch up with knowledge

With the development of modern science, wehave come a long way up in using various meansof modern technology in our day-to-day life. But itis sad that our character is not catching up withthe technology. Our knowledge on new meansand methods may be on the increase, but ourbehaviour and attitude towards our fellow men arefar behind. Our knowledge and capabilities aresurely unparalleled compared to any other times.But it is disheartening to note that our conduct and

behaviour are not catching up withthe knowledge. The tendency ismore to use the knowledge for evilthan for good even though some ofthem do it out ofignorance and areunaware of theconsequences.

A story washeard about certainpeople stealing the

nuts and bolts that are used to fixthe rail tracks. Some anti-socialelements and greedy peoplestarted removing those nuts andbolts to sell it as scrap iron. Somesaid they did it because they wereuneducated, and thus emphasizedthe importance of adult education. But somecommented: ‘now the thieves are stealing onlythe nuts and bolts, but if they are given moreknowledge by education, they will learn to stealthe entire rails!’ How true is the statement“knowledge without character is useless anddangerous.”

Moreover we realize now that theindiscriminate use of science and technology willonly destroy the life sustaining capacity of theplanet. So it is highly important to give qualityeducation to prevent greedy exploitation of naturecausing deterioration of its life sustaining capacity.Values are to be imparted to maintain thefruitfulness of the earth and for the careful use of

non-renewable resources providing a healthybalanced environment.

Value based choices

Values come into play when decisions arecalled for. Decisions need to be value-laden. Whencertain things happen to us, sometimes we maynot know well enough the cause or the reason ofsuch events. But it is our choice as to how we gothrough it. We can face such situations and makechoices on the basis of the values imparted to us.Children need to be equipped to order choicesbetween possible alternatives in healthy direction.It is inevitable to teach values that will enable themto sort out the “tonic” potentiality from the “toxic” asthese two are often intermingled.

Our lived values are expressed through ourdecisions and choices in life. First, we makedecisions; then those decisions will make us tobe the kind of people we are going to be. Moreover,our lived-values become a habit and it will havemuch influence in our lives. It is important tosharpen the capacity of our children to make moralchoices by value education.

Programme for value education

We cannot leave the children the way they wantto go. We have a responsibility to train them up inthe way they should go. Programme of valueeducation should have multiple dimensions suchas values of citizenship, values of justice and

peace in the society, and values forpreserving the environment.Schools can impart personalvalues, social values, andenvironmental values.

Government can promotevalues which are enshrined in theConstitution such as justice, liberty,democracy, secularism, religiousharmony, welfare of the weakersections and the like. Religiousgroups can impart moral andspiritual values, especially inproviding the inner strength to use

justified means to achieve justified ends, to love,show compassion, tolerance, non-violence, hope,faith and accountability.

Educators believe that values are caught bythe children rather than taught in a separate classroom situation. They catch values from parentsand teachers. In fact they acquire values as theysee the values being expressed by their parents,elders and teachers. The greatness of a teacher’scharacter should be reflected in his/her everydaylife. The silent unconscious influence of the life ofa teacher has great impact. Children look formodels rather than critics. If by our life examplewe can reach out to the children, its power bringslong-term positive results to them.

Ourknowledge and

capabilitiesare surely

unparalleledcompared to

any othertimes. But it isdisheartening

to note thatour conduct and

behaviour arenot catching

up with theknowledge.

Children catchvalues from parentsand teachers. In factthey acquire values

as they see thevalues being ex-pressed by their

parents, elders andteachers.

‘Now thethieves are

stealing only thenuts and bolts,but if they are

given moreknowledge by

education, theywill learn to steal

the entire rails!’How true is the

statement:“knowledge

without characteris useless and

dangerous.”

January 2013 7 Suvartha

Job was an extremely wealthy and influentialman who lived in the land of Uz that was located innorthern Arabia. At a time when one’s wealth isassessed by livestock, Job’s enormous wealthand position is described in Job 1:3: “Also, hispossessions were seven thousand sheep, threethousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, fivehundred female donkeys, and a very largehousehold, so that this man was the greatest ofall the people of theEast” (Job 1:3). Job’spatriarchal family-clanand the offering ofsacrifice by Job as thehead of the family(rather than a priest)indicate that Job livedduring a time periodbefore the Exodus ofthe Israelites. It isprobable that Job wasa contemporary ofAbraham.

However, moresignificantly Job isdescribed as“blameless andupright” and as “one who feared God and shunnedevil” (Job 1:1). He was a good father of his tenchildren, and loved them enough to pray andintercede daily for them (Job 1:5). It was whencalamity struck Job head-on due to no fault of hislife that we are able to understand that Job had anentirely different perspective of life.

When Job lost all his ten children and his entirelivestock all within a matter of hours, we can seehow Job reacted to this tragedy: Then Job arose,tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell tothe ground and worshiped. And he said: “Naked Icame from my mother’s womb, and naked shall Ireturn there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has takenaway; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all thisJob did not sin nor charge God with wrong. (Job1:20-22) Job was aware of three importantaspects of his life:

1. He came into this world carrying nothingand he will leave this world carrying nothing.

2. Everything that he had was a gift of God fromHis bounty. “Blessed be the name of God”.

3. The God who has gifted him can also take itback as well. “Blessed be the name of God”.

After this, the intensity of Job’s problemsincreased when God allowed Satan to inflict Jobwith painful boils (Job 2:7). This was when Job’swife instead of being a ‘helper’ to him (Gen. 2:20)suggested that he should ‘curse God and die’:

Then his wife said tohim, “Do you still holdfast to your integrity?Curse God and die!”But he said to her, “Youspeak as one of thefoolish womenspeaks. Shall weindeed accept goodfrom God, and shallwe not acceptadversity?” In all thisJob did not sin with hislips. (Job 2:9-10). Hereagain Job’sperspective towardslife is reflected – hewas willing to accept

both good and bad from God with complaining orrebelling.

Job was willing to accept adversity that cameto his life along with the good things that he hadenjoyed earlier from God (compare Job 1: 10 withJob 2:10). The Apostle Paul also learned to rejoiceboth in plenty and in want (Phil. 4:10-13). Let ushave a differentperspective in life –like that of Job andApostle Paul. Let usknow that God isworking everythinggood in our lives –whether good orbad.

“And we knowthat all things work together for good to those wholove God, to those who are the called according toHis purpose" (Romans 8:28)

Have a different

Perspective of Life“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to

those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Meditations from theBook of Job - 1

Dr. ShibuCherian

is a certifiedCommunityServiceChaplain and aPremaritalCounselor.He authors aBible reading-meditation blogcalled ‘United inThe WORD’ @http://unitedintheword.blogspot.com.

The Apostle Paul also learned torejoice both in plenty and in want

(Phil. 4:10-13). Let us have adifferent perspective in life – like that

of Job and Apostle Paul.

January 2013 8 Suvartha

The love of God is the greatestsubject in the world - no other greatersubject in all the world. Because Godloves us, it means He is not distant, notfar off in outer space, unreachable andunconnected with the world. God hasbestowed us His love and we becamethe sons of God.

God is love - it means that He isbound to show us His love and act forus. It means that God cares and looksafter us. God will help us through all thetrials and temptations of life. God willsave us from sin, evil corruption anddeath of this world. God will provide away for us to be delivered from thecoming judgement. If God loves us anddemonstrated His love to us, then Hewill expect us to respond. He will expectus to love Him - to be loved in return. Godloves us but we have to receive His lovein order to experience it. We have to enterinto a loving relationship with God in orderto know the love of God. If we do not loveGod then we can never know orexperience God’s love forus. His love will never touchus. If we truly love God, wehave to walk with Godthroughout our life. Manypeople do not love God andthey walk throughout their life withoutknowing God’s love. They have to faceall the trials and temptations, sufferingsand sorrows of life and even death alone.They have no help except what man cangive. They have rejected the love and helpof God. They have no hope beyond thislife. But thanks be to God, He loves theworld, He loves all of us. Thereforeanyone who wants to know God’s loveand care can do so. All we have to do isrespond to this love, open up our livesand receive this love and love Him inreturn.

We have the privilege of God’s loveand we are called children of God. Wehave the great hope of God’s love andeternal transformation (1 John 3:1-3).How wonderful it to be called the childrenof God who is the supreme majesty ofthe universe, the supreme power thatcreated all things. It is the love of God

that has bestowed the privilege ofadoption upon us. No one becomes achild of God because of any merit or workof his own. Man has rebelled againstGod. Man has chosen to go his own wayin life and to do his own thing. He doesnot want the restraints of God upon hislife. He prefers to have his own waythrough life. Thus man has rebelledagainst God - ignored, neglected,disobeyed, disbelieved, rejected anddenied God. But it is this fact that makes

the love of God so amazing. It was whilewe were rebelling against God andopposing Him, while we were sinnersand enemies of God, while we werestanding against God, while we were inwrath and enmity with God, while wewanted little if anything to do with God -that God bestowed His love upon us(Rom. 5: 6,8-10).

God’s love is manifested in the givingof His Son, Jesus Christ to the world - todie for us, for our sins. It is the death ofJesus Christ that makes it possible forus to become children of God. How?When Jesus Christ took our sins uponHimself our sins were removed from us.He died and paid the penalty for our sins.As the penalty was removed from us, Godis able to receive us as righteous menand women, free of sin. Therefore Godis able to accept us into His family - thefamily of God. God is able to adopt us

into His family as children of God (Gal.4:4-6, 1 John 1:12, Rom. 8:15, 2 Cor. 6:17)

We, believers, are children of God.The world does not know norunderstand believers. The believers areridiculed, marked, ignored, opposed,abused, rejected and persecuted by theworld. The persecution many come atwork at school, at college, in theneighborhood or anywhere else. Theworld just does not understand whybelievers act and live the way they do.The world does not understand whybelievers separate themselves from thepleasures and the things of the world.Why do they deny themselves and livesacrificially? So that they can carry themessage of Christ to the world. The worlddoes not understand why believers goto church so much and like so muchabout Christ. The world does notunderstand believers because the worlddid not understand Jesus Christ also.Think about it - God’s very own Son comeinto the world but the world did not know

Him. They wanted nothing todo with Him. They rejectedHim Now if the worldrejected Jesus Christ, God’svery own Son, they are boundto reject God’s adopted

children, too. The world is just unwillingto recognize and acknowledge that Godis righteous and pure and just. They areunwilling to give sacrificially to carry thegospel around the world and to meet theneeds of the world. They do notunderstand the nature of believers thatthey are the children of God. They canlive no other life than that of following God.Why? Because the believers know Godin all of His love and the majesty of Hisbeing. This the world cannot understand.(Ref: Mat. 10:17, 24:9, John 15:20, Phil.1.29).

It is our privilege of God’s love thatwe are called children of God .Hebestowed upon us this amazing love.The world does not know norunderstand this. The great hope andmystery of God’s love is eternaltransformation. What we shall be isunknown, but we shall be like Christ.

"Sons of God"“Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed up on us

that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1)

Pastor C.V.Samuel

We, believers, are children of God. The world does notknow nor understand believers. The believers are ridiculed,

marked, ignored, opposed, abused, rejected and persecutedby the world.

January 2013 9 Suvartha

Youth Forum

These are Jacob’s words during awrestling event between him and a man.I like the persistence of Jacob that wesee here and it has inspired me. Jacobhere is very concerned about meetinghis brother Esau the next day and nowhe is alone by himself. He had sent awayhis wives, handmaidens and sonsahead across the river.

Lets consider how he reached herethis night and what encouraged him totake this fight. During his young days,Jacob was an unskilled man (unlike hisbrother Esau, who was a very cleverhunter). And his father, Isaac liked Esaumore than Jacob. Esau got allpreferences and was the obvious choiceas the heir after Isaac. Jacob was, ofcourse, no match for Esau in any manner.

Have we faced similar competitionfrom better qualified people and whatwould you do to win?

Jacob used worldly means andtrickery to receive all the blessings fromhis father: a) He got the birthright fromhis twin older brother Esau by takingadvantage of his hunger and b) hedeceived his father, Isaac, into giving himEsau’s blessings. Isaac made Jacoblord over Esau and over all his wealth(Gen 27: 37). But the paradox was thathe could not receive or enjoy theseblessings --- and he had to flee from thesituation even to survive.

Then the second part of his life beganat Padan-aram with Laban and his family,where Laban was his master. He had inhis possession, his father's blessingsand God’s promises that he received atBethel. "I will be with you and will keepyou in all the places you go" (Gen 28:15).

How would we win in our area ofwork and what would we do to getrewarded, being well aware that God’spromise are with us?

Here he got his blessings andreward through hard work andrelationship: so he seems to havechanged now. He got his wife as wagesfor his hard work! But the paradox wasthat he was tricked by his master Laban- instead of Rachel he got Leah. Unlikehis previous history, here he was honestand hard working but the result wasunexpected, he was deceived!

But lets not forget the blessings hereceived from his father Isaac and God’spromise at Bethel. Through Jacob, Labanwas blessed and his flocks increased(Gen 30:27). Laban appreciated all theefforts of Jacob and the blessedness thatJacob had and offered to compensatehim. Finally Jacob was going to claimhis reward, position, his blessings. Butyou know what happened? His master,Laban, tricked him again.

Have you been tricked by youremployer / master by not sharing theblessings that he received throughyour efforts? What would you do?

Jacob decided to go solo! He usedhis tricks and raised cattle, he becamevery prosperous, but with all hisprosperity he had to flee from Laban forhis life! Finally, he was going back to his

brother Esau and he was going to facehis fears in life because he realized thatthe only way to succeed and receive hisblessings was by claiming it.

That night a man comes to wrestleJacob. He is alone here - his sons,wives, maids are all away. If somebodywrestles with you, it is not for fun, right?Wrestling today is a sport but in thosedays it was a fight, just without weapons.That night he is all alone with nothing.Whatever he earned through deceit, hardwork, love, honesty, nothing remainedwith him. As he was looking uncertainlyfor the next day, there was this man whohad come to attack him in the night.

You know what Jacob did, Jacob didnot give up. "Seeing that he could notprevail, he touched the hollow of Jacob’sthigh and it was out of joint, and hewrestled with him" (Gen 32:25). Hecontinued to fight till the dawn when thisstranger requested to let him go. "I willnot let thee go, except thou bless me"(Gen 32:26 ).

"And Jacob called the place Penielwhich means ‘face of God’, for I have seenGod face to face" (Gen 32:30).

This wrestler was not an ordinaryman, but from heaven. And to prevailagainst him with a thigh out of joint,imagine how desperate Jacob musthave been to win! Jacob perhaps realizedthat all his worldly blessings would comeand go, probably most of them he couldnot even enjoy and could be stolen. Butonly if God blessed, he could live to seeand enjoy his blessings. That morninghe received a new name, he became anew nation, Israel.

My friends, let us not give up,situations may break us but we have theexample of Jacob. We will not give upagainst trials and tests and we will prevail

The persistence of Jacob"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me" (Gen 32:26)

Johnson ThomasNew York

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11January 2013 Suvartha

Look unto Jesus,He will lead us into His light.

Let our light burn in front of other people,He will enable us to brighten our surroundings.

Listen to the voice of Jesus,He will teach us magnificent things.

Learn from His word,He will enrich us every day.

Let Jesus abide in us,He will abide in us forever.

Love Jesus and keep His commands,He will give us His spirit.

Leave our troubles with the Lord,He will surely defend us.

Lean on our Lord every time,He will ask angels to care for us.Let us learn from His decrees,

He will fulfill His wish through us.Lift up our holy hands to Him,

He will carry us through.Labour with His grace in the field of Jesus,He will help us in reaping a good harvest.

Lord wants to take my boat away from this world,He wishes to take me to His home.

Lessons of life which my God allows for me,He wants me not to lose my hope.

Leave this world for a glorious life with God,He will fulfill our desire to be with Him forever.

Hallelujah!

POEM Look unto Jesus!

Mary Mathew

IPC KanjurmargMumbai

IPC Sunday School Association Website

The website of IPC Sunday School Association, Maharashtra State was inaugurated on Nov. 18, 2012 by IPC General President Rev. K.C. John, during the combined worship serv ice of IPC Maharashtra State, held at Jyotiba Mangal Karyalay, Kalewadi, Pune.

This is the first if its kind in India, which is exclusively designed for the Sunday School children. In the Inaugural address, Rev. K.C. John emphasized the need of such media in the present technically advanced society to attract the young generation, who are very much familiar with the internet media and congratulated the Sunday School Association of IPC Maharashtra State for developing such an interactive site for the spiritual growth of our children.

Pastor P. Joy, President, IPC Maharashtra State chaired the function and Br. Mathews Paul, Director of Sunday School Association, introduced the site and explained the various compartments of the site. There are many sections in the site where the students can exhibit and contribute their talents.

This can be considered as a milestone in the history of IPC Sunday School Association.

Website address: www.sundayschool.in

PRAYER

Prayer is an urgent request to

a person who is of a higher status

than the praying person. It can be

also termed as an application to a

higher authority. But a needy

person’s cries, tears and suppli-

cation to the most high, Almighty

God, are the true prayers which

will be answered by Him. When

one prays, it is very essential to

be absolutely crystal clean and

clear in heart. The heart must be

concentrated on Almighty God.

Ask the Lord for all our needs,

especially peace, joy, faith, hope,

love and care. God will bless

those who will call upon Him. Let

us pray that we never become

prey of the devil. When we pray,

Lord God will shower His bless-

ings like a spray !

- Ranni Achayan, Kerala

January 2013 12 Suvartha

The Lord’s Prayer gives anguishto a Canadian!

Peter Ferguson, a nonbeliever fromOntario, is suing his local government tostop the recitation of the Lord’s Prayerbefore council meetings. He claims thepractice causes him “anguish,discrimination, exclusion, rejection andloss of enjoyment of life”, according toreports. He says the prayer breaches hisconstitutional rights and also seeks$5,000 in damages. He adds that he hasbeen trying for over a year to persuadehis local government to stop turningcouncil meetings into a “Christian zone”.A spokesman of the council said theyhoped to avoid a legal battle andunnecessary cost to the taxpayer.

In a parallel situation, the Council ofa Colorado City has decided to begin itsmeetings with a moment of silenceinstead of a prayer after a complaint fromthe Freedom of Religion Foundation,who sent a letter to council membersarguing the opening prayer wasunconstitutional. Council members saidthey believed a moment of silence wouldsatisfy all sides. A resident of the city said:"I actually find it to be more fair becauseit gives people who want to pray theoption to do so but those who don’t wantto no longer have to”. Another residentsaid: “I’m really sad that they made thatdecision because for those of us whobelieve in God and the power of prayer Ithink prayer is very important”.

Jesus wondered: "when the Son ofMan comes, will he find faith on theearth?” (Luke 18:8 NIV). Prayer is an actof acknowledging God's provision,protection and guidance in a humanbeing's life. Refusing to pray is a displayof arrogance. And Bible says, pride goesbefore the fall!

Marriage Certificates will nothave the words

‘Bride’ and ‘Groom’!

As same-sex marriage law takeseffect in the state of Washington in USA,a spokesman for the Washington healthdepartment told Fox News that officialsare preparing to remove the terms,“bride” and “groom” along with “husband”and “wife” from marriage and divorcecertificates. The words will be replacedby gender-neutral terms, like “Spouse A”and “Spouse B” or “Person A” and“Person B”. The spokesman added: “Wewant our forms to work for everyone whois getting married”.

Symbolically, they are doing awaywith the whole concept of bride andgroom, husband and wife. There isfeverish attack on the institution ofmarriage which was established byAlmighty God in the Garden of Eden.Satan who began his cunningencroachment into the lives of humanbeings in the Garden of Eden continuesto do so even now to defeat the purposesof God!

A Hindu Elected toU.S. Congress

According to a report in the ChristianNews Network, Tulsi Gabbard, 31, aDemocrat, won her bid for election fromHawaii and will be representing Hawaii’ssecond district in U.S. Congressbeginning in January. She is slated totake oath on the Bhagavad Gita which isone of her favorite Hindu texts, instead ofthe Bible. She hopes her presence in

Congress would cause others tounderstand and embrace Hinduism inAmerica.

How great it would have been if theChristian Congressmen decided toexhibit Christian characteristics in theirbehavior!

No ‘Christmas trees’, only“holiday trees”!

Student members of a communitycollege club wanted to promote aChristmas tree sale to raise money foran organization that provides Christmaspresents to prisoners’ children. Clubmembers submitted forms to the collegeto promote the sale, with the proposedtext reading, “The Society will be sellingChristmas trees...” But when theannouncement appeared on thecollege’s website, every reference to“Christmas trees” had been replacedwith “holiday trees”. The club hasthreatened to go to court.

On the other hand, a new national

survey has revealed that most Americansstill prefer signs in stores that say “MerryChristmas” rather than ones with “HappyHolidays”. In a survey of 1,000 adults

January 2013 13 Suvartha

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE . . . Continued

- Contributed: C.C. Abraham

nationwide, it has been estimated that68 percent of American adults prefer“Merry Christmas” while just 23 percentlike “Happy Holidays” instead.

Christmas has its own sense ofgladness and can never be dismissedfrom man's thinking processes. It wasangels who proclaimed "joy to the world"at the first Christmas! That was themessage from heaven and it willcontinue to ring out in the world wheneverthe gospel is preached. It is the onlymessage of happiness available to man!

Atheists and Presidential oath

An atheist group wants PresidentObama to take the oath of office onJanuary 21,2013 without a Bible and

without mentioning God, according toreports, They suggest that the Presidentplaces his hand on the Constitution

instead of a Bible. They argue that thewords “so help me God” are notprescribed by the Constitution. They wanthim to do something that no president inrecent memory has done and thus reachout to secular Americans!

Let us see whether the Presidentfollows this unsolicited advice!!

Appointment of women asBishops delayed!

According to reports, the House ofLaity of the Church of England couldn’tgarner a two-thirds majority in favor ofwomen bishops. The church's GeneralSynod has a three-tiered structure -bishops, clergy and laity. The bishopsand clergy have already approved theappointment of women Bishops. Theconsequence of the ‘no’ vote of the laitymeans that it will not be possible tointroduce another draft legislation in thesame terms until a new General Synodcomes into being in 2015.

A case of the laity being moresensible than the clergy?

Pakistani preacher jailed forsermon at funeral

According to reports, an evangelistwas accused of defaming Islam whenhe told mourners at a funeral about thesacrifice of Christ when Muslims presenttook offense. It was the funeral of a

Christian where most of those presentwere church members. The preacher'sson said: “My father addressed thegathering at the bereaved family’s houseby sharing Jesus Christ’s sacrificialdeath and resurrection. He did not knowthat there were some Muslims sittingamong the mourners". After the arrest,his family has moved away from the areafor fear of violence.

Let us hope the preacher will getsome relief when the case comes up incourt.

Churchgoing students go furtherin school

Sociologists have found thatreligiously affiliated youth are 40 percentmore likely to graduate high school thantheir unaffiliated peers and 70 percentmore likely to enroll in college. Theresearchers noted that the students'fellow churchgoers are an importantfactor, serving as mentors who help themset their sights high.

Although the study has beenconducted in USA from data from morethan 8,379 students from across thecountry, the conclusions are, quite likely,applicable in all countries. Bible says thefear of God is the beginning of wisdomand a God fearing student will certainlydo well in his studies, too.

President Obamataking oath on Bible in 2009

** The Bible was written by the Holy Spirit through 40 men over a period of about 1600 yearsdating from 1500 BC to about 100 years after Christ.

** The Bible is the Book of Salvation and Jesus Christ is the Only Saviour under Heavengiven among the human beings.

** The system of chapters was introduced in A.D. 1227 by Cardinal Hugo de S. Caro, while the verse notations wereadded in 1551 by Robertus Stephanus, after the advent of printing. The first translation of the English Bible was initiated

by John Wycliffe and completed by John Purvey in 1380.

** A Bible in the University of Gottingen is written on 2,470 palm leaves.

** The Bible devotes some 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith,but over 2000 verses on money and posessions.

** The Bible can be read aloud in 70 hours.

** In King James Version of the Bible, Ezra 7:21 contains all but the letter 'j'; Joshua 7:24, 1 Kings 1:9,1 Chronicles 12:40, 2 Chronicles 36:10, Ezekiel 28:13, Daniel 4:37, and Haggai 1:1 contain all but the letter 'q';2 Kings 16:15 and 1 Chronicles 4:10 contain all but the letter 'z'; and Galatians 1:14 contains all but the letter 'k'.

** Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer are the three angels mentioned by name in the Bible.