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Tis magazine serves as the voice o the Grabbing the Gadget Generation rom Gehenna Mission (G-4Mission) – an interdenominational youth organizationounded by Duke Jeyaraj in February 2006. Its vision isto captivatingly connect the world o yahoo Youth and the Word o Yahweh so that young people would remembertheir Creator in the days o their youth. Its burden is tomake unchanging Word o God relevant to the ast-changing World o Youth. G-4 Mission is unded by thereewill oerings/donations o individual Indians interestedin the ulllment o the above-mentioned vision and goal.

Subscription… Annual Subscription - Rs. 100/-

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East way to pay…I you have an account with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB)you can do an online transer to the account o G4Mission, Ac. Number, 1465155000004395. Or walk into any KVB Branch in India and deposit money in thesame account. Log onto www.kvb.co.in to nd out thenearest branch to your home. Tis bank has branchesin 15 Indian States. Or send a DD or Cheque or Money Order in the name o “G4 Mission” and send it toDuke Jeyaraj,

LIG B 316, A S Rao Nagar, Hyderabad 500 062. Phone: +91-9441352433 You could do an online transer or pay cash by walking into any branch o ICICI Bank to the account o “Duke Jonathan Goorth Jeyaraj” A/c. Number 024401000969(12 digit number). Do send an sms to +91-9441352433 whenever you do this, so that we can check the accountand quickly acknowledge. We appreciate your partnershipin this small ministry that makes Yahweh’s Word relevant

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Tis magazine is published by Duke Jeyaraj.

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outhouR ouR

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Issue No. 11 published in February 2008 One-point contact: [email protected]

Mobile: +91-9441352433

Te Days o Your Youth

Inside……

HOSEAHave you seen a Man more madly in Love… Page 3-9

Listening to God’s Voice …………………… Page 10-11

When Jesus met Abhimanue……………… Page 12-15

How we reached the Now Gen in 2007…… Page 16-18

Te Kingsher Guys Vs the King o Kings……………………………… Page 19

What you wrote was a huge encouragement… Page 19

-shirt theology…………………………… 0

Burdened to reach the modern Youth……… Page 20

What is Love……………………………… Page 20

Te Mag eamext editing - Shruthi Joy, Stephen Jothiraj, Magdalene Daniel, Evangeline Duke

Website Management and Photoshing - Florussel Satya,Fenella Prince, Solomon Paul, K. Santhosh William

Over-all Page Engineering and Design - Ravi Alamothu



H-O-S-E-A

H- HUSBAND GOD!

Rain as the semen o Baal! Hosea writes that Israel would call Godas “husband” - not master (Hos 2:16,17).By the way, did you know that the word

“Baal” can also mean “master” in Hebrew?(Hebrew was the language Hosea wasoriginally written in.) God did not want hispeople to even utter the name o Baal - themost important ‘god’ in the scores o gods

worshiped by the Canaanites (the land o whom God gave to the people o Israel.) God wanted to be Israel’s husband. Any sel-respecting woman would have only onehusband. And God wanted Israel to haveonly Him as their God and nothing or noone else. But the people o Israel stubbornly

went behind Baal. Tey believed it was Baal

that gave them the rains or their crops (see Hos 2:12). In act, they thought o rain asthe semen o Baal! In order to get more rain,they had to make Baal all the more sexually excited. So in order to do that, they had tosleep with the temple prostitutes oundin abundance in Baal emples (See Hos 4:11-14). Tey converted what was Bethel(meaning ‘house o God’) to Beth-aven

(meaning ‘house o iniquity’) (See Hos 4:15).Sex was the magnet that pulled the peopleo Israel towards Baal worship! Even today,nothing much has changed. Sex stillremains Satan’s No. 1 weapon to sidetrack mankind rom true God-worship.

Te story o Hosea makes one go “veoh!”Gripped by God’s dictates, the prophetmarries a woman who is a prostitute(Hos 1:2-3). His marriage to her wouldbe a picture o God’s relationship with

his people, Israel. Just as Gomer wasuntrue to her husband, the people o Israel

were untrue to their God by worshiping other Gods.

Red Light Teology!

Gomer continued to be a prostitute even

ater marrying Prophet Hosea. Te peopleo Israel continued to worship idols even

ater knowing Yahweh as their Husband.

Hear God’s heart-rent lament about the

horric behavior o his people: “Why, even

wild donkeys stick to their own kind, but

donkey-Ephraim goes out and pays to get

lovers.” (Hos 8:9 EPV). (Ephraim is the tribal

name or Israel, north Israel to be precise.) In

act, Gomer let Hosea and went to live in

3

Have You Seen A Man More Madly In Love?

Te one book you’ve got to

read to understand true love!



the Red Light area (See Hosea 3:1a). But

that did not put a red light on his amazing

love or her. He loved her, even thoughshe loved adultery (Hos 3:1). God’s love

or undeserving adulterous Israel was even

more amazing! He said to her, “Yes, I will

marry you and neither leave you or let you

go!” (Hos 2:19, EPV). Guess what? Tis is

what that verse means - God’s love or us

goes ar beyond time, even when we two-

timed Him!

Hosea brought his wayward wie back or15 pieces o silver, ve bushels o barley and

a measure o wine (Hos 3:2). By now, shehad become the sex-slave o some otherman. Imagine how insulting it would havebeen or a husband to buy back his own

wie rom another man! Yet Hosea did it.No one was more madly in love with his woman than Hosea! Hosea’s love or his worthless wie is an imperect picture o Jesus’ love or you. Te punishment onthe cross was only reserved or the worsto criminals. It was the most insulting o all punishments meted out by the Roman

Government. But that was exactly thepunishment that Jesus chose to take uponHimsel to ree us rom the roaring lion’s

(Satan’s) claws (Phil 2:8).

Hosea had to shell out 15 pieces o silver; Jesus,his precious blood!

We became slaves to sin and Satan. Jesusbrought us back to Him by paying or

us. He did not have to shell out merely 15 pieces o silver like Hosea. He had toshed His precious blood to do that. Te

Bible says, “You were ransomed rom the utile ways inherited rom your oreathers,not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood o Christ” (I Pet 1:18-19). Hosea had to part with vebushels o barley to get back his girl. Jesusallowed Himsel to be wounded in veplaces so that He could get us back romthe grip o Lucier. I’m reerring to - the

wounds on His head, the one caused by the thorn crown, two more wounds on Hishands (through the nails that pierced Him),

the wounds on His body by the whipping and wounds on His legs (through the nails that pinned Him to the cross on them).Hosea had to oer a measure o wine toget his lady love released. Jesus reused todrink wine while He hung on the Cross

- something that would have lessened Hispain to a great extent. He did this so thatHe would be able to bear the ull brunto the punishment that brought us peace

which was upon Him!

Hosea told his wie ater his risky rescue o

her rom the Red Light area to stop playing the prostitute (Hos 3:3). Tat’s what God

wanted Israel His wie to do as well. Inact, He pleaded with her to “put away her whoring rom her ace and her adultery rombetween her breasts” (Hos 2:2, HCSB). Tat’s what God wants o each one o us rescuedrom the Devil’s dungeon by his blood todo: take a U-turn, repent, change. Since we

were “bought” with a price, we must gloriy God in our body (I Cor 6:20). Tere is no

place in a God-gloriying body or sexualimmorality. Since we were “bought” witha price, we must not become “slaves o men” (I Cor 7:23). A blood-bought believer

would not bow to peer pressure and thereby

become a slave o men!

Wow, we have a wooing God! I can imagine how Hosea wooed his other-men-chasing-wie by speaking loving

words to her. Merely paying or her release would not have got the job done. In thesame way, God’s intention was to leadhis wie Israel to the wilderness and speak tenderly to her there (Hos 2:14). Tis is whatGod would do according to the EugenePeterson trendy version: I’m taking her back out into the wilderness where we had our rst date, and I’ll court her. I’ll give her bouquet o roses....(Hos 2:14). Wow, we have a God

who wants to woo us!

Whom are we dating? Whom are we dating? Maidens? Men? Whatabout our Maker? Have we dated Him?

When was the last time you thought o Godand had a romantic roll in your eyes? Tink o times in your lie when the word “Jesus”,caused you to skip a heart-beat, becauseyou were so much in love in with Him!But now your relationship with the Lord

has become rusty and regular, mundaneand mechanical, boring and bland. What

Jesus remarked about the Ephesus Churchis true about us: “But I have this against you,that you have abandoned the love you had at rst” (Hos 2:4, ESV). Interestingly, it wasto this church that Paul wrote, “love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love” (Eph6:24, NL). Te slow death o an undying love or Christ - that’s what happened inthe case o the Ephesians. Tat’s what isperhaps happening in our lie. In act,

God’s accusation in the book o Hosea ispainully accurate: “Your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew inthe sunlight!” (Hos 6:4, NL).

Beore it is too late, let us race to our wilderness to hear our Lord’s wooing. Letus escape to lonely places to rekindle ourromance with Him.

Next, in the book o Hosea, we meet God

as an

Hosea’s love or his worthless wie is animperect

picture o Jesus’ love or you.




5

O-ORACLE-GIVING GOD!

Five out o ten! God is seen as an oracle-giver in the book o Hosea and the people are seen as expertbreakers o His oracles, His laws. HearGod’s accusation against His people asrecorded by Hosea: “You curse and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery” (Hos 4:2). Tis accusation talks about how the peopleo Israel have broken ve out o the en

Commandments that God gave them.

When cities o reuge became cities o revenge I a man ran to Ramoth Gilead andShechem, ater having committed a

murder accidentally, he could not be killedaccording to the law o God as recorded by Moses. But the people o Israel paid scantrespect to this oracle. Tey converted eventhese cities o reuge into cities o revenge;they transormed the cities o asylums intocities o assassinations (Hos 6:8,9). Altars

were built according to God’s laws todeal with sin. However altars in northernkingdom instead became places o sin

(Hos 8:11).

Tey pretend they can’t read it! In short, this is God’s deep concern aboutHis people according to Hosea: I have written or him the great things o My law,But they were considered a strange thing (Hos 8:12, NKJV). Eugene Peterson’s way

o putting it pierces the heart: I write out my revelation or them in detail and they pretend they can’t read it! (Hos 8:12 EPV).

When God would orget our children! One reason why the people during Hosea’stime were breaking God’s oracles or laws

was this: the priests who were supposedto be teaching it to the people were notteaching it (Dt 31:9-13; 33:10). “My people

are destroyed or lack o knowledge,” so wroteHosea (Hos 4:6, ESV). He continues, “It is all your ault you priests, or you yoursel reuse to know me!” (Hos 4:6b, NL). Andthe consequences o not taking eorts toknow God’s laws and His ways can bedisastrous as Hosea announced: “ And since

you have orgotten the law o your God, I also will orget your children”(Hos 4:6, ESV).

What is the lesson here? At least or thesake o your children, take time to read theBible and understand what God wants us

to do!

When Shaun MacleanPollock leaned on the wrong knowledge!

“My people are destroyed or lack o knowledge” - those words o God penned by Hosea still ring in my ears. Tey rang loud andclear ater a particular cricket match. It

was a Group B 2003 World Cup game

at Durban. Sri Lanka and South Arica were clashing. It was a must-win game orSouth Arica, i they had to progress to theSuper Sixes. It was a rain-aected match.Te knowledge the then-South Aricancaptain Shaun Maclean Pollock had wasthis: his team needed to get 229 runs to

win the match and proceed into the supersixes, i rain stopped play at the end o over number 45, without losing a urther

wicket. Tis Maclean leaned on this

Whom are we dating? Maidens?

Men? What about our Maker? Have we

dated him?



knowledge with all his heart. He believedthis as truth with sincerity! He sent a message conveying this to the two menin the middle - Lance Klusener and Mark Boucher. Mark Boucher lited MuthiahMuralidaran’s th ball o the 45th overor a huge six. South Arica now had 229runs. Now having reached the target,Boucher just played-out Murali’s last ball,

without taking a run. “Now that we have got 229 runs without losing another wicket,we have the game in our pocket,” Boucherthought when he ran out o the elds asrains came down to stop play. But what helearnt later gave him the shock o his lie.Sri Lanka went through to the super sixesand the South Aricans were knocked out.Te reason being, they needed one morerun! Te South Arican captain, Pollock,had got it wrong, when it came to theDuckworth-Lewis calculations! Te wrong

knowledge that Pollock had “destroyed” him and his team’s ortunes in the 2003 World Cup. He became an illustration orHosea-recorded statement: “My people are destroyed or the lack o knowledge!” Lack

o knowledge or wrong knowledge about what God’s word says about any subject or

issue destroys us!

Marrying that unbeliever! For example, the Bible clearly teachesthrough example (Solomon, Ahab, Samson,to name a ew) and edict (I Cor 6) that a believer must not marry an unbeliever.

While there are many evangelism strategiesoutlined in the Bible, marriage to anunbeliever with a view to convert them toChrist is certainly not one o them! But i we exhibit a lack o knowledge about thisand go ahead and marry an unbeliever, theresult can be disastrous - a lie-time ull o

tears and regret!

Crazy Prophets! Hosea records how God’s prophets weresent to Israel to cut them with words o

warning about the coming Judgment (Hos 6:5). But those words were not heededto by the people. In act, some people inIsrael called God’s prophet, “crazy” (Hos 9:7, NL). Tis is happening all the time! Warn the google generation about coming day o world-wide judgment, they wouldinvariably sco. ell the yahoo youth thatthey must leave revenge in the Creator’shands, they will call you “crazy!” Explain

to this pleasure-loving generation thatthey must leave the scene when temptationcloses in, they will chuckle that you havetaken leave rom your senses!

Religion without Relationship! When correct knowledge was oered toIsrael, the people spurned it! One alse idea the people o Israel had was that God wouldbe impressed by their religious rituals done

without any commitment. Hosea busts the

wrong knowledge they had by these wordsspoken on God’s behal: “I want you to be merciul; I don’t want your sacrices. I want you to know God; that’s more important than burnt oerings.” (Hosea 6:6 NL).I like the way Eugene Peterson renderedthis verse, which is the only Old estamentverse quoted by Jesus, twice in the New estament (Math 9:13; 12:7) - “I’m ater love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know God, not to go to more prayer meetings!” (Hos 6:6, EPV).

What Hosea wrote is pretty relevant or us. We can go through the emotions at churchSunday ater Sunday. We can raise ourhands to worship when our heart is ar away rom God. We can throw-in a 500 rupeenote in the oering bag without throwing our body to His eet in total surrender. Yes,

we have truckloads o rituals and religion without an ounce o relationship with theRedeemer! Let’s repent!

Next, in the book o Hosea we meet God

as a

S-SOVEREIGN GOD! Hosea talks about the bad sovereigns(Kings) who ruled Israel. He talks aboutthem or a specic purpose - the purposeo using the power o contrast as a means o creative communication to present the trueSovereign o Israel, Yahweh.

Tis Jero was no hero!

Hosea writes about Israel thus: “You were a healthy vine, covered with grapes. But the more grapes you grew, the more altars youbuilt; the better o you became, the better shrines you set up or pagan gods” (Hosea 10:1). Hosea is perhaps talking about therule o King Jeroboam I, the rst king to rule northern kingdom. Tis Jero wasno hero in God’s eyes! He set up twogolden cal altars in his kingdom during his reign. One was at the southern tip o Kingdom and the other at the northern tip

Te wrong knowledge that Pollock had “destroyed” him and his team’s ortunes in the 2003 World Cup

Marry anunbeliever,

the result can

be disastrous - a lie time ull o tears and regret!




7

o his kingdom (I Ki 12:25-33). He did toprevent his people rom going to Jerusalem.

It was a city outside his kingdom and parto his rival kingdom Judah, where they could worship at the temple o Yahweh.Tis practice o blatant idol-worship begunby him was continued by the kings whoollowed him in the Northern Israel alsocalled Ephraim.

Foul Saul Te Kings o Israel were abject,disappointing ailures in every way. Each

time a king ailed, the longing or messianicKing, Jesus, increased in Israel! In act, therst king o Israel, Saul was appointed only because the people o Israel rejected God astheir king (I Sam 8:7).

Prophet Samuel was asked to explain to thepeople o Israel how bad and mean humankings could be. But the people o Israel

were adamant in having a king like theother nations surrounding them had. SoGod allowed them to have a king thoughhe was not happy about their request. Just

as it was predicted, Saul became oul. Andthose who took his place were not better.

Hosea has this part o Israel’s history inmind when he wrote, “I’ m going to destroy

you, Israel. Who is going to stop me? Where is your trusty king you thought would save you? Where are all the local leaders youwanted so bad? All these rulers you insisted onhaving - demanding, ‘Give me a king! Give me leaders!’? Well, long ago I gave you a king,but I wasn’t happy about it. Now, ed up, I’ve

gotten rid o him.” (Hos 13:9-10, EPV).

Frustrated with the ailure o the kingsrom whom they expected much, thepeople assassinated the kings, especially in the Northern Kingdom o Israel, whichhad 20 kings all o whom were bad. Eachtime they assassinated a king; there was a eeling in the air, “Perhaps the next king will

do the job, well!” But it was not to be. So hetoo was killed. And this process went on.Tey came to a point where the people said,

“What could a king do or us anyway?” (Hos 10:3, NL). Five kings (Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah and Pekah) ruled overNorth Israel within a time rame o just13 years.

God was hoping that ater each king’sailure, his people would look to him astheir true king. But this was not to be. SoHosea laments on God’s behal, “Tey kill

their kings one ater another and no one cries out to me or help!” (Hos 7:7 NL). God

was also upset that he was not consultedabout the choice o the human kingsmany a times in the history o Israel. SoHosea wrote, “Te people have appointed kings and princes, but not with my consent” (Hos 8:4, NL).

Blight, instead o light! Hosea records that “among the nations,”

Israel became a “useless vessel” (Hos 8:8,ESV). But that was not God’s plan orIsrael at all. His “chose” Israel out o all thenations o the earth so that they would bea model nation to other nations and bring them to the true God as a true priest wouldbring people to the true God (Ex 19:5-6;

Amos 3:2). Tey were to be a light or theGentile nations. But instead they becamea blight! Tey pushed away other nationsrom the true God instead o pulling themtowards Him, thereby becoming “useless” inthe process. Tis happened mainly because

they had kings who were not committedto the true God and were leading

them astray.

When Hosea wrote about Hoshea! One o the ways these kings had lead them

astray was by signing up alliances withnations alien to God, like Assyria. So Hosea

writes, “Israel is swallowed up; already they are among the nations as a useless vessel or they have gone up to Assyria” (Hosea 8:8,9).Bible scholars believe that here ProphetHosea was writing about King Hoshea o Northern Kingdom. He became riends with Assyrians so that he could somehow retain the power he grabbed rom Pekah,the previous ruler whom he murdered (II Kings 15:19; 17:3).

In act, both Israel and Judah (South Israel)atsome point in their history tried to becomebuddies with the Assyrians. King Jareb,

who Hosea writes could not “help or cure” Israel or Judah reers to iglath Pilesar III with whom both Israel and Judah ormedalliances, writes a Bible Commentator(Hos 5:13; See II Kin 15:19,20; 16:7-9).Hosea compared Ephraim (North Israel) to an old man whose strength was slipping away and he did not realize that it washappening! In the same way, an alliance

with oreign nations like Assyria wouldresult in slow depletion o Israel’s strength,

without them having a clue that it was allhappening (Hos 7:9).

Questions or you! Here are some questions that will help usapply what we learnt here. Do you givethe place that solely belongs to God tosomeone or something else? Tat is whatidol-worship is all about. For example, i

you give the time you normally give orBible Meditation to Newspaper reading,the Newspaper becomes just became youridol! Are you aware that i you keep asking God or something which you know isn’this will, stubbornly, he could let us have it?Did you also know what we got as a result would make lie miserable or us? Who isthe king o your lie? Is it your boss in yourcompany? Are you conscious that there isa heavenly boss above your earthly boss?Do you realize when you trust in men

Yes, we have truckloads o rituals and religion without an ounce o relationship

and the Redeemer! Let’s repent!

Tey were to be a light or the Gentile nations. But instead they became a blight!



rather than the Maker, you could lose yourstrength even without realizing it?

Fourthly, we see God in the book o HOSEA as the

E-EXECUIONER GOD!

Does God wink at sin? Te people o Israel committed sin atersin and thought God would excuse theirsins. o such a callous people, so sold out

to deliberate sin, Hosea wrote what God wanted them to hear, “It never crosses their mind that I keep account o their every crime.Tey are mud-spattered head to toe with the residue o sin. I see who they are and what they’ve done” (Hos 7:1-2, EPV). God wouldnot wink at sin committed with impunity

- that was Hosea’s message.

We bump into such olks even today. Tey think they get away with a lie where they drink sin like water. Tey think they can

walk scot-ree even i they yield to every

temptation they have without secondthought. How wrong they are! Tey musthear the New estament version o Hosea 7:1-2 , which is Galatians 6:7 . “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, or whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (ESV).

God as a Lion! Hosea pictures God as a Lion - a Lion thatattacks Israel and Judah. Te attack will be

so aggressive that no one would be able torescue them rom Him (Hos 5:14). Hosea used picturesque language to imply thatGod is an executioner o judgment. Godcan not only be tender, he can tear - topieces - that is Hosea’s messages. God’s

judgments upon us on this side o thegrave are always warning signs or us to

get back to Him. Tat is why Hosea writes,“Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds” (Hos 6:1 NL). Here is what Hosea is trying

to say: God wants our repentance, notour riddance!

When the Shepherd turned into a ‘Sher’! Hosea again uses the Predator image topaint how God is upset with Israel. Godis like a Lion, or a Leopard or a Bear(robbed o her cubs) ready to attack Israel,he writes later in his book (Hos 13:6-8 ).

Why did God turn rom being a Protectoro Israel to become its Predator? Why didGod who bore all their blunders suddenly turn into a bear? Why did the Shepherdo Israel turn into a “Sher” that attackedthem? Hosea provides the answer: “Whenthey had grazed, they became ull, they were lled, and their heart was lited up; thereore they orgot me. So I am to them like a lion…” (Hos 13:6 NL). Being pued up withpride; Forgetting to acknowledge thatit was God who gave you every blessing.

Tose are the two reasons why Godhad to unleash his judgment according

to Hosea.

More images to imply the same truthHosea’s executioner image or God does

not stop with that o the ripping Lion. Hecompares God to a moth which slowly destroys clothing (Hos 5:12). Just asclothing is slowly destroyed by a moth,Israel will be slowly destroyed by God!Hosea uses yet another image to presentGod as an executioner. He talks o God asthe sickle-swinging harvester. He will sendeven a harvest o punishment or Judah,Hosea predicts, or ollowing Israel intochasing other gods (Hos 6:10-11).

When Husband turned butcher! Hosea predicted the coming o the

Assyrians to attack the Northern Kingdomo Israel (Hos 9:6). I Assyria ailed to getthem, Egypt will. “Doom’s at the doorstep.Its payday!” that is how Eugene Petersonscripts Hosea 9:5 . Te reason or this

judgment to come is also explained by

God is an executioner o judgment. God cannot only be tender, he can tear - to pieces

“Doom’s at the doorstep. Its payday!”




9

Hosea: Israel is now ast returning to thedays o Gibeah (Hos 9:9). Gibeah was thetown which witnessed the worst crime inall o Israel’s history years ago. A man slept

while his concubine was being raped till shedied at Gibeah (Jud 19). Later he brutally butchered her into 12 parts and sent to eachtribe o Israel. But the crimes that Israel

did during Hosea’s time were ar worsethan these sort o crimes. So God decidesto act in judgment. Te end will come sosuddenly and so switly that the people o Northern Israel would leave behind eitheridols o silver and tent shrines or simply their personal belongings (Hos 5:8-9; 8:14).God, who once drove the Canaanites whooccupied this land, would “drive out” hispeople rom the very same land, becauseo their evil actions (Hos 9:15). Some willsay to the mountains “Cover us!” and tothe hills, “all on us !” when the Assyrianscome to North Israel marching, Hosea

predicts (Hos 10:8).

Trilled? Or errorized?

What happened to North Israel when the Assyrians attacked them in 722 BC as perthe prediction o Hosea is a small pictureo what will happen to the whole world

when Jesus returns. People will beg themountains to bury them and the hills toall on them, because they will not able toace the Judge o the Earth (Luke 23:30

and Rev 6:16). What about you? Will yoube thrilled when the Lord returns as a

judge? Or will you be terrorized? Will yoube happy or horried? Will you be smiling or shocked?

Tey blew every chance and so....

We must remember that God’s punishmentcame upon the people in Hosea’s time

only ater they had deliberately skippedevery chance to repent. Ater having giventhem chance ater chance to change, Godraised his hands in resignation and said inexasperation, “Ephraim is joined (Eugene Peterson uses the word, “addicted” here) toidols; leave him alone” (Hos 4:17). WhenGod let them alone, that’s when some

other spirit took over their vacant hearts -the spirit o adultery (Hos 5:4). Something similar happened in the New estament.

What happened to the stubborn olk inHosea’s time happened to the sti-neckedpharisees o Jesus’ time. He told hisdisciples to leave them alone (Math 15:14).God had given them every chance possibleto repent and they blew it. And it was timeto let them go the way they wanted to. Teirdestination was hell (Math 23:33). Are youstubbornly swimming in sin? Are youadamant in your reusal to repent? Are yousti-necked when it comes to inviting Jesusas your Savior? Beware! Te Executioner iscoming! Hell-punishment is waiting!

Finally, in the book o Hosea we get tosee God as

A-ABBA GOD! In Hosea Chapter Eleven, a love that ishigher than heaven is talked about atlength - the love o an amazing Abba (Father) or his stubborn son. Te language

o love used in this chapter even beats theone used in the story o the prodigal sonin Luke 15 .

Walk out on the one whotaught you to walk! It was Yahweh, Israel’s ather who taughtbaby Israel to walk. But he walked out onthe one who taught him to walk! Even ashe walked out, the Heavenly Father keptcalling him to come back home. But his

loving calls ell on dea ears. “Popular sex gods” held more attraction to him thanthis Father’s embrace (Hos 11:1-3, EPV).Tough Israel ran away rom God, His loveollowed him like a chord would ollow a kite ying away rom the person ying thekite (Tat is how I see Hosea 11:4)!

Israel’s ate must have become like Sodomand Gomorrah. God’s judgment re wasabout to come upon them. Like Admahand Zeboiim (destroyed along with

Sodom) they were about to be roasted inGod’s holy ame (Gen 19:23-25). It wasat that point, God, so much stirred by hisatherly love or Israel, decided to give themone more chance. God who could havevery well come in wrath, came in warmth

- the warmth o daddy love - to meet Israel!Tis is what Hosea tried to convey inHosea 11:8-9.

Do you have such an uneeling heart that will shove such love? Is your heart so hard

that you will still trample on such titanictenderness?

It’s time to recap at the end o this study.God reveals himsel in ve ways in Hosea.Here is how: H-usband; O-raclegiver;S-overiegn; E-xecutioner; A-bba .

Te ollowing Bible Versions were used in this article:

HCSB - Holman Christian Std Bible:ESV - English Standard Version.

NL - New Living ranslation; EPV - Eugene Peterson Version; NKJV - New King James Version.

It was Yahweh, Israel’s ather whotaught baby Israel to walk

Judgement day terror

(Tis originally prepared Bible study was rst shared by Duke Jeyaraj at an

inter-denominational Bible Study hosted in the home o Daniel and Magdalene,

in the heart o Hyderabad. Every month,a Bible book is being studied there using

this very same “acronym approach”,on a convenient Sunday evening.

Call Magdalene Daniel using 09866527063or 040-23324556 to nd out when the next

Bible Study is scheduled so that you and your Bible-hungry buddies can join in)



How do you make decisions? Many a times the problems we ace inour lives require that we take decisionsand we are naturally bound by theconsequences involved. I we were todecide by ‘how things appear’, we couldmake oolish decisions resulting in us

suering unnecessarily and also, oten,subjecting those with us, to trouble.Proverbs 14:12 says: “Tere is a way that seemeth right unto man, but the end thereo is destruction.” But Psalms 33:11says: “Te counsel o the Lord standeth orever…”Lord Jesus Christ declared in John 10:15-16, “…My sheep …will listento my voice...”

Getting into talking

terms with God Te Bible lays down ew specicconditions or steps to get into ‘talking terms’ with God. Tey are:-

Step-One: Born-again:- Lord Jesus tolda religious teacher, “… Except a man is born-again, he cannot see the kingdom o God” (John 3:3). 2 Corinthians 5:17 givesthe denition or the word ‘Christian’,meaning, is the one who holds a testimony saying, his old lie o sin ispassed-away and all things have becomenew, upon encountering the Lord Jesus.I you do not hold a testimony on theselines, you are not a Christian according to the Scriptures and hence, you need tobe born-again; despite your Christianbackground, present church afliations,involvement in social or religiousactivities or your reputation in society and so orth.

Step-wo: Have no unconessed sin:-

John 12:48 says, we will be judgedaccording to the Word o God (Bible)and not according to the constitution orrules and regulations o any church ordenomination. Lord Jesus rebuked thereligious people o His day saying: “You put aside God’s command and obey humanteachings” (Mark 7:8). Psalms 66:18 says:“I I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

Step-Tree: Submission to God : - Lord

Jesus declared in John 4:34: “My ood is to do the will o Him who sent me.” We know that ood is so very importantor our survival. But Lord Jesus considereddoing the will o the Father to be moreimportant than ood. He accomplishedthe will o the Father that involvedacing hardship, shame, humiliation,physical suering, pain and death.Tereby, He has been highly exalted(Philippians 2: 8-9). What a wonderulexample the Lord has set or us

to ollow!

Step-Four: Baptism o the Holy Spirit :-Scripture is very clear that there isspiritual power available beyond ourexperience o salvation. I we read Acts 8:14-18; 10:44-48; 11:15 and 19:5-7 with an open-mind, I repeat, withan open-mind, we shall arrive at theollowing conclusions:

(i) Ater being born-again, one is

expected to be lled or baptized with the

Holy Spirit.(ii) When one is baptized in the Holy Spirit, it can be seen by people around, assome orm o maniestation is involved.

I you are saved, have no unconessedsin in your heart and living a lie o submission to God, then ask the Lordto baptize you in the Holy Spirit.Receive by aith. Denitely, baptism o the Holy Spirit brings us closer to Godand the guidance o the Holy Spirit will

be clearer to us. Tereore, it is mucheasier or a Spirit-lled person to hearthe voice o God, then why settle oranything less?

Still small voice 1 Kings 19:12 says, Prophet Elijah heardthe still small voice or whisper o theLord. It is through the inner-voice thatthe Lord oten communicates to us,

Christopher Taralla

Listening to

GOD’S Voice

Born-againHave no unconessed sin

Submission to God

Baptism o the Holy Spirit




11

about which, I wish to discuss here.

Let me illustrate. I have a decision tomake about visiting a particular riend.I want to hear rom God about this.I pray like this, “Lord, is it your will that I visit this riend or not? Please speak to me and let me know your will.”

Ten I keep quiet in the presence o God(with no reservations in my mind, that is,no inclination or visiting or against it) anticipating to hear Him. Ater a while,I may hear a voice telling me to visit, thatis, a strong conviction to do so. I can’texplain more clearly but I know what Iheard. But I am not sure i what I heardis rom God or the devil (or he alsospeaks to misguide and ruin our lives)or my own eeling. o be sure, I pray again like this, “Lord, I eel I should be

going, please Lord, make it clear to me.” I wait upon God expecting to hear Him. Ater a while, what happens is, let us say,the intensity o the voice increases in itsmagnitude. But it’s still possible thatI am not sure i it is rom the Lord. Ten,I repeat this process o ‘asking the Lord, waiting in His presence and expecting tohear.’ Every time I do this, i it is really the will o God about visiting that riend,the voice becomes louder and louder.

Tis process can be repeated until oneis very sure it is rom the Lord, with nodoubt let.

God’s voice Vs Devil’s voice On the other hand, i what I heard the rsttime is rom the devil or my own eeling,then every time I repeat this process, theintensity o the voice becomes more andmore eeble and nally ades away. Pleasenote that anything o human origin will

disappear, but i it is rom God, it stays(Acts 5:38-39).

Practice listening. Tis cannot bemastered overnight. Prophet Samuellearnt. Initially, he couldn’t evendiscern the voice o God even thoughit was audible (1 Samuel 3:7), but laterhe mastered the art o listening to God(1 Samuel 3:19-21).

Please note that God’s voice will never

contradict the Scriptures. Any voicethat contradicts the Word o Godshould be rebuked in the name o Jesus

(Matthew 4:9-10).Intoxication with the world or worrieso this world makes people insensitiveto hear His voice, thereby, depriving themselves o God’s guidance

God’s whisper in a storm! One who has learned to listen to God’svoice knows who is behind a given‘problem’ he or she aces. Paul, who wasa sailing or Rome, with many others,aced a sea-storm threatening their livesbut he aced the situation boldly andencouraged others too. All because he hasalready heard rom the Lord that there would be a storm and the ship would bebroken to pieces but all lives will be sae(Acts 27:22-26). He knew it was God’s will or him to go through the stormand he accepted it. Hence, he was able tocontinue with his mission unscratched.It wasn’t the kind o storm that Jesus had

to rebuke or the kind o storm that Jonahaced because o rebellion. A saying goeslike this: “It is better to be with Christ in the storm, than in smooth waters without Him.”

Hebrews 3:15 says: “oday, i you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” In Jeremiah 33:3, Te Lord said, “Call to me and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderul

and marvelous things that you know nothing about.”

Listen to God’s voice. Te choice

is yours.

(Bro. Christopher helps God’s people in various ways without any

denominational barrier. He lives close to Duke’s home in Hyderabad).

Please note that anything o human originwill disappear, but i it is rom God, it stays

CONNECING WIH BELIEVERS IN HE

CORPORAE WORLD!

Are you a believer working in a corporate company inHyderabad? Do you long or ellowship with other

believers rom the corporate world in a setup without

any denominational barrier? Would you like to hear what God’s Word has to say about crucial issues aced by those in

the corporate world? Ten, why

don’t you join in or the MorphGroup meeting held every

second Saturday above Adidas Showroom at Vikrampuri

and ourth Saturday at CBN Oce at Jubilee Hills. For

more details please email Bro. Mohan Patnaik, who works or

UBS (Swiss Bank), using the id, [email protected].



WHEN JESUS ME

ABHIMANUE!

Te story o Abhimanue

Vonteddu in his own words…

Childhood dreams! I think I was our, when I wanted togrow up and become a reman. I caredlittle about bush re, but I had a realliking towards those big black bootsand the long red noose. I spent summersscaling low hills on the countryside,

shing tadpoles in dirty water puddles,pelting stones at the street lamps. imes,

they were a changing, and so were my “when I grow big” dreams. I had even wanted to become a post man, or thesheer opportunity o reading out lettersloud which were oten tucked away ortorn; why I didn’t know then. I had truck loads o dreams. I wasn’t any special thanany other kid around. I in any way, I was

only spanked more than the usual.

Pelting stones! But there are more advantages to being naughty then it seems. A ew peopleactually appreciate it. My mother’s riendthought it was a good idea to take me with her sons to their village, to spendthe holidays. I think it was the summero 89 - One summer I can never orget. Ihad so much un, that I wasn’t botheredeven at the thought that it would last only a month. But then there was something else that happened that summer, whichis so vividly placed in my memory. It was an experience that began as remorsebut was eventually going to transormmy being or ever. Back then I was a boastul kid. I’d make up stories just likethat and romance in the air. I had a realbig mouth and had little problem saying stu that I didn’t mean at all. Alright,

this is what I did! I shared ctional storieso my grand ather’s association with theearly Church, and his riendship withthe English missionaries - or no otherreason but just to boast to my aunt’samily. I shared o how he even changedhis name and wanted the entire amily to wear crosses around their necks andsocialized in the English circles. Noneo it was true. And it didn’t go well withmy audience, my aunt’s amily. Tey in

turn shared stories o how peasants intheir village were given gits to embraceChrist. It didn’t stop at that. Tey beganto tease me with Christian names. Now,I didn’t like that one bit. And I beganto denounce Christ. And that seemed toamuse them all the more. I just wantedit all to end, or I couldn’t take thehumiliation any more. Te summer didend, but I ended up with bitter eelingsor Christianity. A couple o years later

you could have spotted me pelting stonesat a Christian meeting at the St. Joseph’sschool. Believe it or not, I did it.

Happy, the way I was I went to school and college like any body else. I wasn’t the smartest around,

but I had my way around things. I’dplay basket ball on weekends, hang out with riends and even host amily get-togethers. Lie never seemed easier.I lacked nothing; I eared nothing; I washappy the way I was.

One Saturday night…One Saturday night, a ew riends andI cut the regular statistics lecture, and went or a stroll on the Sujatha high

school road, Abids, Hyderabad. It wasa pleasant evening, and we stoppedright beore the small chapel MethodistChurch. Te bright chapel lights and themusic were beckoning that something nice was in store. Tree o us decidedto walk in and check out the place. Teother two riends instead choose to golight a cigarette.

My uture hangout place!

Te Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF) was in session. Tat was the rst time Iever walked into a Church in Hyderabad.I was only hoping to see men dressed inlong gowns and signing the cross in air.But what I instead saw was something

Abhimanue, with his wie Trishna

…childhood dreams

I clearly remember the girls. I said to my sel, this is my uture hangout place




13

totally unexpected. It was a bunch o college going young people; the young ladies caught most o my attention.I enjoyed the singing session. One o the girls even took my address to posttheir weekly newsletter. Several o them walked up and shook hands with us. Iclearly remember the girls. I said to my

sel, this is my uture hangout place,at least on Saturday evenings. And it was so. What I liked the most aboutthem was, the way they worshiped. It was rereshing to see people worshipGod. Especially young people, whosupposedly don’t have any time or God!I liked being spiritual. And I alwayseared nothing. And I began to really like this new world I had just entered.I had even begun requenting Hindu

temples. I soon wanted to go to Mosquesand Gurudwaras and the other religiousshrines, and somehow get into a little o everything. I thought I was becoming super spiritual; super secular rather.

A book that made me uncomortable! I never missed a single MYF sessionater that or over a year. I met some wonderul people there, who went onto become my best riends. We evenhad a basketball team. Tank God orbasketball. A good riend gave me a copy o the Bible - my rst ever. AndI treasured it, quite literally. I carriedit loud, so that everyone could see it. And I’d even read it, occasionally. Andon one such occasion, I read a scriptureportion that threatened to shake up andquestion my secular stand. It out rightly condemned idol worship! I just couldn’t

come to terms with that or a long time.I stopped reading the Bible. It was souncomortable. I grew up learning allmy lie that all religions preach the samestu, and that all gods are just dierentmaniestations o one. It seemed like a beautiul thing to honor all and worshipall. But here I was, conronting withone which begged to dier. As muchas I wasn’t ready to accept this new aberration it had also sown in me a deep

sense o curiosity. I Christianity werepreaching anti-secularism, what aboutthe other religions? What did the othershave to say about it all? And there beganmy quest or the ruth. I’d like to call itthat, because I eventually ound it. TeRUH ound me rather.

God, please tell me your name! I began to study religious texts - a goodbit o them. Te more I read the more Irealized that there was a nothing commonin any o them, except or the one actthat they were all supposed religioustexts. Now wait a second! Tat can’t be.How can the world be so divided and yetclaim togetherness? How on earth are all

these categorized as the same, when they are NO? Here is the big one! Where isGod in the middle o all this? Does Heexist or real, or did they just make himup, out o no where? I didn’t want tobelieve that. God had to be! Now i heis, which religion did he belong to? Doeshe have a name? Tese questions didn’tstop ringing in my ears. I just couldn’tcome to terms with anything or anyone. And I ceased being a secularist. But allthis while, I never stopped going to theyouth ellowship. I resorted to praying.I prayed to the unknown God. Tis ishow I’d pray. “Oh God, I’m sure youhave a name. Please tell me your name,so that I can call you by your name”.Tis went on or quite some time. And Jesus began to speak to my heart. Day ater day, my aith in His existence

grew. I just had to call His name, andhe’d answer every one o my prayers. It was like instant coee. He was so real tome, that at the end o every day I was allthe more convinced that He is the only ONE. Te only one who claimed to beGod! Te only one who claimed to bethe WAY, the RUH and above all my

LIFE! Now, I had just two opinions tochoose rom Jesus! He was either lying,or He was speaking the truth. And orme it was too hard to believe the ormer.Six months, and I had already put my aith in Him. None o my riends at theMYF ever shared the bold Gospel withme. But ater a youth camp in 1998,a good riend asked me the questionI was already dreading: she said, “Abhi,I hope you aren’t accepting ood oered

to idols”. Tat pinned me to the wall.I knew it was time I took my stand or Jesus, I gasped, “Not any more”.

Blessings by the bagul! Te rst days were very exciting. Teresistance rom my people couldn’tdo enough damage to this new ound joy. I knew I was saved. And I alsoknew that all my people, my amily,my relatives, my riends weren’t saved.

I knew the truth, and they didn’t seemto understand it. So I took it uponmysel that I had to educate them aboutthe salvation knowledge. I began topreach the gospel - my style. I was very passionate but also very aggressive about what I shared. And soon I’d end up inthe middle o arguments. My peoplebegan to categorize me as a religiousanatic. Tey weren’t keen to listen to meanymore. And I gave up on them. Several

months had passed. I hadn’t made any spiritual progress at all. But the GoodLord continued to shower His blessingson me. I topped the college in one o themainstream subjects. I won the Goldmedal or the Best NCC, cadet in Andhra Pradesh, in the year 1998. I was chosenor the prestigious Republic Day campin the nation’s capital. A year later I wasnominated to travel to UK & Nepal, asIndia’s Youth Ambassador, or the YEP

Te Good Lord continued toshower His blessings on me



Program. Tey ended up sending meto Nepal. My parents collected a dozentrophies on my behal at my collegeannual day unction, when I was away in Nepal. I managed a good score in theadmission tests, which supported by my NCC reservation secured me a seat in theprestigious Osmania Campus Business

Management program. I even got a jobin the General Electric (GE). God wasblessing me in every possible way. And I was to later realize that this was just thebeginning o the incredible journey God would be taking me through. God hadbegun a work in me, and I had no clueabout it…

Trishna And that’s when I met Trishna. We

worked together on the same oor atGE. It was a joy to meet another believeralso rom a background as I was. Butthere was something about her. Shedid all the boring stu - bible reading,praying, asting - with great passion;Now all that, I had conveniently setapart or Sunday evenings only. We were miles apart, in every way, but we worshiped the same God. We becamethe best o riends within no time. Sheintroduced me to the Youth Alive and

the New Lie Assemblies o God Churchat Secunderabad. It took me a while togel in to what I thought was a ashy and vibrant Christian liestyle. Te rstew weeks, I was a mere spectator. It wasn’t un at all watching a multitude worshipping with their hands raisedhigh. It was very convicting. I knew deep inside that I too was supposed to worship, reely. But I just couldn’t. I juststood there watching and waiting - or

what, I don’t know. Te long wait cameto an end that December. Trishna took me to the Youth Alive Winter Camp. It was the turning point o my lie. Godtouched my heart, and rekindled there in me. He lled me with His Holy Spirit, and I was never the same again.It was beautiul – an experience that I would cherish or my lie. Trishna ledme and guided me in growing closer tothe Lord. I began to seek the Lord with

all my heart. I’d walk or miles giving away thousands o tracts on the streetso Hyderabad. Old men; street vendors;labor; orphanages; beggars; patients; just about anyone who wasn’t dressed well was to be my target audience. I’dshare the Gospel with them in theirown language, in a way they could

understand.

‘Jesus Freak’ People at work, had already begun calling me a Jesus reak. I would deliberately usescriptures rom Bible in each and every one o my conversations. I was so loud inmy Jesus liestyle that I even wrote aboutHim in my annual appraisal. One bosslaughed it away, but the others wantedit removed. My lie had ound completemeaning in Christ. Te Lord was giving me deeper insights into the Word. My hunger or Him grew by the day. AndTrishna - what a co-patriot she turnedout to be. I respected her, or God hadsent her into my lie as a mentor, guideand riend. But things were about to

change; or the better.

On Cloud Nine!

A year and many learning experienceslater, or the rst time the thoughtoccurred to me that Trishna mightbe the one or me. At rst I rebukedthe thought. How could it possibly be?I always looked up to her. She was upthere, and I was down under. But the idea kept coming back. And I prayed hard toovercome it. But it just wouldn’t go away.One day, I prayed dierently. I asked Jesus to ll my heart with joy and peacei she indeed were meant or me. And I

elt that way instantaneously. I began toeel an incredible sense o peace lling my heart. I was thoroughly amazedat that experience, because I was notquite ready or it. Sincerely, I was betterprepared or a rebuke. I didn’t delay.Te next opportunity I got, I shared my hearts eelings with her. She was takenaback at rst, but couldn’t quite hide theact that my excitement was pushing her.

She then said some words, o prooundmeaning which I will treasure or therest o my lie. No! She didn’t say, “Ieel the same way”. She in turn said, “A matter as important as this, i God hadreally intended so, He’ll speak to me as well.” And she went on to ask, “So how exactly did God speak to you.” Now,

I had no reason to hide that. I sharedboldly about the strong sense o joy andpeace that I asked rom God regarding the matter, and how I began to eel it inmy heart. o that she said, eelings aregood, but not good enough, as they canbe deceptive too - and that God speaksto His people rom His Word. So I now needed Scripture conrmations. A week later I turned up at her door step withtwo Scriptures that strongly spoke to

me concerning her. And she said, “I it’sreally God’s will, he’d speak to me too”.

She never conessed it, but I am sure thatdeep inside her heart somewhere shedidn’t really want to say, what she had tosay. And I must coness I was thoroughly put o. I was so upset, with the whole

waiting thing already; I couldn’t helpbut be blunt with her. I said candidly straight, “May be you should wait tillthe Lord gives you a minimum o tenScripture conrmations”. Yes, I was being sarcastic. She laughed. A week later, justbeore my 23rd birthday, the Lord hadgiven her 12 Scripture conrmations.I was on cloud nine.

My lie had ound complete meaning in Christ




Wedding Wonders!

She went to Chennai or her 6 month,Discipleship raining at the YWAM. We waited or my sister’s marriage,

and nally got married on the 20tho June, 2005. Te best and the mostexciting days o my lie had just begun.o start with, our marriage was thebiggest o all miracles that God did inour lives. Alright, let me share why it was such big deal. When Trishna andI had decided on our wedding date, I was banking on a loan to help us withthe wedding expenses. With my sisters wedding just having taken place, my

parents were totally broke, and there was no way I could have asked them orhelp. Trishna’s mom was kind enoughto bear hal the expenses. But there still was huge amount that needed to beraised. Te bank loan I was counting on was turned down, due to a couple o erroneous return checks on my prole. Ikept applying or loans, and every singleone got turned down; 12 till the wedding date. I was 10 days away rom my wedding, without a penny in my pocket.My heavenly ather said that my help willcome rom beyond the mountain. Tevery same day, my spiritual guide, alsoour Bible eacher oered to pay up theinitial installment o the caterer. Whatthat meant was that, there was going tobe ood at my wedding banquet. I didn’teven have cash or my wedding suit. Andto make matters worse I had three bestmen. Ideally it’s the groom who takes

care o their suits too. God showed up!One o my best men, paid or the suit. Another helped me pay the caterer. Te wedding day had arrived. And it wassuch a beautiul event. Everything wentso smoothly. Rajkumar gave away thegospel at the reception east. My dad, who was so apprehensive all the while,

walked up the reception stage and said,“Abhi, the dinner is delicious. Te bestI ever had. Very lavish!” Little did heknow that my heavenly ather had takencare o that! Trishna and I were to leaveor our zero budget honeymoon the nextday. Standing on that reception, the lastthing in my mind was that, we didn’thave a single penny or our honeymoon,except or 2 tickets to Bangalore. Justthen, our Bible teacher, our very close

riend, slips in an envelope in to my suitpocket, and whispers in my ears, “Son,that is or honeymoon. Every single buck,have un.” Tere was enough money to

sponsor 5 such honeymoons.

Jehovah Jireh! Trishna and I had a blast on our trip toOoty. We were least worried about the wedding debts and the rejected loans which were waiting or us at home. I

had to pay back three precious brothershuge amounts o money. And all thelocal banks had already rejected my loan applications, some more than once. When the Lord stopped Abraham at thenick o the moment on the mountain, when he was about to sacrice His son, Abraham would have been completely kicked about it. I the same incident wereto happen on level ground, Abrahamthe richest man would have sacriced a

thousand cattle or the living God. Buteven though he had everything, on themountain at that instant he had nothing.It was at that moment God provides him with a ram. And Abraham calls Him Jehovah Jireh, Te Lord provides. Aterhaving rejected two loan applications just 2 weeks ago the ICICI bank approved me a loan that took care o everything. No bank in the world gives a loan to someone with 2 returned checks

and 12 loan rejects on their prole. Goddid it or us. Te story isn’t over yet.Immediately ater the wedding, Trishna and I moved out o our respective homesin accordance with the Word and renteda place. Starting a new home needs a loto stu. We didn’t have resources to buy any stu or a start. Check this out. Ater

any south Indian wedding one ends up with 5-6 wall clocks, 10-12 water jugs,2-3 sets o cutlery. Not so with us! Here’sa list o all that we received; a doublecot bed, a single cot bed, urniture,dining and dressing table, all the kitchencutlery/ crockery, a our burner stove,a rerigerator, a oven, mixer, a toaster,television, a whole set o decorative itemsand even a marvelous chandelier. Isn’t

God good?

All the way home! I have allen many times in my Christian walk, but the Lord Jesus lited me upeach time, and the Holy Spirit helps mego even urther than I could imagine. Asor me and Trishna we’ve decided toollow Jesus all the way home!

(Abhimanue and Trishna are two o the most active and creative volunteers that the Youth

Alive ministries o the New Lie AG Church,

Hyderabad, has. Abhi now works or UBS (Swiss Bank) while Trishna works or Haggai Institute. Duke and Evan rst met Abhimanue at Karigiri, a retreat centre near Vellore, whenhe attended the Centenary Methodist Church’s

Youth Camp there in May 2003. It was Trishna’s ather who rst searched or a home or Duke and Evan to stay when they decided

to move to Hyderabad in October 2005).

As or me and

Trishna

we’ve decided to ollow Jesus all the way home!

IN AN MNC; IN HE MASER?

Are you working in an multi-nationalcompany? And are you doing your best to bea witness or Jesus there? I so, we welcome

you to send your testimony attached with a photo o yours to us, so that we can publish

best o those in this mag. alk about how youaccepted Jesus and the dierent ways you are a witness or Him in your place o work. Guess what - your story could inspire many youthto do something or the Lord in the one liethey have. You could be afliated with any

church or denomination or organization - noproblem. E-mail your story to emailduke@

gmail.com with a copy marked to [email protected] and remember to keep the art icle’s length toa maximum o two pages o an A-4 Size page(with Point 12 - imes New Roman Font).

15



HOW WE REACHED HE NOW

GENERAION IN 2007

G-4 Mission Annual Report by Duke Jeyaraj

Another year is over. It was a yeardrenched in God’s Grace. When I turnback and look at the year that has goneby, I can only look high and say, “Tank you, Lord. You made it all happen!” Tisis our second year o ministry, operating independently, ater one year with the Assemblies o God (2002) and three years with Blessing Youth Mission (2003-05).I can condently say that every second we saw God’s grace in our lives this year.Getting the Facebook

Youth Hooked to Te Book! It was the year in which our magazine,Te Days o Your Youth, madeconsiderable progress. From single colorcover we moved to multi-color cover wrapper by the year end. Bible ruth was wrapped around contemporary eventsissue ater issue, in a crisp and creativemanner so that the Facebook youth will

get hooked to “Te Book” (Te Bible). It was in this year we started the traditiono publishing testimonies o believersmaking a dierence in the Corporate world in our mag.

Tey organise the meetings and give the mike to us!

It was the year when God swung wideopen the door or so many preaching opportunities. Te year began with mepreaching the message, “What will yougive God this year - Fruit or Boot?” atthe Methodist Church, Chapel Road,Hyderabad on the 1 Jan 2007. Teinvitations to preach were so many that

I could not take it all up. I had to turndown invitations to preach in Bangalore,Pondicherry, Kavali, Vijayawada,Coimbatore, Kodaikanal, Miyapur,Kalimpong, Kerala and Mumbai. ForNovember 9 (Diwali Day) alone, there were calls to preach in ve dierenttowns! But as the Lord led me, I took uppreaching assignments rom Coimbatore,richy (twice), Darjeeling, Kolkota, andVellore , this year, apart rom extensively

preaching in Hyderabad .

Te combined audience o 6000 thatlistened to my message on Pooh Poohing Procrastination at the New Lie AGChurch at Secunderabad was the largestaudience I have spoken to in 16 years o preaching. Te largest youth crowd Iaddressed this year was in the tent put upby the very same church on December22 - the year’s last preaching assignmentor me. Eight Hundred youth heard

my Gospel message, “Te Greatest o the Greatest” - a persuasive message onthe uniqueness o Jesus. Not only that.Quite a number came orward and gavetheir lives to Christ when the altar call was given.

None o the meetings I am talking about here were organised by us. Otherorganisations and churches organisedthem and asked us to just take the

mike and preach. I am reerring toorganisations/churches/institutions suchas Youth For Christ, COSEK (Karunya Students), DELIE (Karunya Alumni), Assemblies o God, Methodist Church,Baptist Church, Believers Church (Gospelor Asia), Indian Pentecostal AssembliesChurch, Joyce Meyer Ministries, Morph(HSBC Believers), Genpact Believers,

Jesus Calls - Hyderabad, Grace FullGospel Church, Friends Missionary Prayer Band, Power Hour Church(Artaban Ministries), Ida ScudderSchool, Yapral Youth Fellowship, CMCChapel Fellowship and EmmanuelHouse o Worship. When God lead meto start the G-4 Mission in Feb 2006,He clearly told me that this organisation will not compete with the other existing organisations and churches, but seek to complete them, with the God-given

expertise in ministering to contemporary youth. And when I see that happening in

a small way I thank heavens.

I’ve Got a Partner....Tough I did most o the preaching thisyear, I was not the only one to preach.My wie, Evan, also joined in when shecould. Her message to the Single Girls o the New Lie AG Church, Secunderabad

was a blessing to those who attended. OnValentine’s Day we shared the pulpit inthe One Day Retreat organised by Grace

Full Gospel Church Youth.

No beating about the bush! Te messages preached in selectmeetings you read about were videorecorded. I Will Not Be Silent, NoOne Loves You More, Tese Guys Were

A section o youth who are all ears as Duke preaches about Christ’s

uniqueness in the New Lie AG Church,

Secunderabad on December 22, 2007.

Duke dons a India Cricket -shirt as

he gets ready to preach his nal message in the Darjeeling Youth Camp

Duke with Pastor Younus ater he preached in one o the Youth

Alive Services o the AGies




17

Killed By God - But Why?, Bid Bye oBacksliding, God-pleasing Relationships, Answers to Common Youth Questions,aming ough emptations, What Te Bible eaches About Sex, Finish Fantastic - those are some o the titles o the new VCDs created this year. Tese CDs werebought by hungry youth who are on thelookout or practical messages preached without beating about the bush! We evengot one CD order rom the Rupublic o Slovenia. owards the end o the year wegraduated rom the VCDs ormat intothe DVD ormat.

Minor Prophets no

longer fat at a sprawling Hyderabad Flat! Making God’s Word relevant to theGoogle Generation remains one o ourpriorities and passion. Challenging theOrkut Youth to get obsessed with theoracles o God remains our zeal. Godopened the doors or us to get into theheart o one Bible book ater the other ata sprawling at at the heart o Hyderabadeach month. It was indeed a privilege to

study ve dierent not-so-amiliar Biblebooks (Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Zephaniahand Micah) or ve months this yearat the home o Daniel and Magdalenealong with Bible-hungry. In each study,I tried to summarize the message o thebook we took up using acronyms. Atthe end o those riveting studies in thatat almost kissing Villa Marie College, we discovered that Minor Prophets o the Bible - the Hoseas, the Amoses, the

Zephaniahs - are not at as we thoughtthey were! In order to do this, I had toread and re-read those books time andagain - something that also benetedme immensely.

Inviting People or the Lamb’s Wedding Distributing tracts to reach the Youtube Youth is one way I got involved in directevangelism this year. One brother romNavi Mumbai ordered over 4000 copieso the tract, Bubbly Outside, Yet Empty Inside , an in-your-ace yet interesting Gospel presentation or the Now generation by this writer, or distribution

o the same to most modern in Indiancities. I was joined by HSBC colleagueSamuel Raj when I requented the mosthip shopping mall in Hyderabad, City Centre or distributing, Bubbly.... Aterhaving exhausted the initial 5000 copieso this tract we reprinted another 5000. Igot an sms rom a man in Kashmir whosomehow got to read this tract! We alsodistributed these tracts to some collegeyouth in Sai Sudhir College, ECIL and

Villa Marie College, Somajiguda. ractsare nothing but a written invitation orthe Wedding Feast o the Lamb - didyou ever think o them that way? I youdid, you too will distribute tracts!

434 runs chased, the Gospel shared! Apart rom regular tract distribution wedid some “special” tract distribution as

well. When the Cricket World Cup Finalapproached in West Indies this year, wecreated the tract, “One Day at CenturionPark; One Day at Calvary Hill” - a tractthat wrapped the Gospel around thegreatest One Day match ever played, in which South Arica successully chased434 runs. Tis tract was distributed to

Cricket Enthusiasts when the Cricket World Cup was on. On World AIDSDay, December 1, we distributed thespecially created, “Shah Rukh in DDLJ wouldn’t Do It Even In a Dream” tointerested youth. Tese evangelisticeorts were taken in obedience to OldPaul’s counsel to the Next-Gen Youth o his time, itus, that “in every way” wemust “make the teaching about God ourSavior attractive.” (it 2:10, NIV).

Corporates or Christ!

Praying in Corporate ofces is one o the main ministry activities. “You werethe one who preached at Crossre 2005, weren’t you?” asked one o my colleaguesater I joined my team at HSBC in

March, this year. “Yes, that’s right,” I toldhim. Shortly later, I asked i we couldpray together during one o the breaks.He readily agreed. Tis went on or a ew days. Ten one day, a girl who asked,“Why don’t you share something romthe Bible beore we pray?” And I did. And this practice which so immensely strengthens our inner man has continuedever since – brie Bible meditations andshort supplications all done within three

Duke’s daring talks to youth, once available in the VCD ormat are now available in the DVD ormat. Here is one DVD cover designed by Ruby Evangel, one o our creative ministry volunteers who works or an MNC .

Tis tract by Duke crated so the Google Generation will read the Gospel put

in their context was distributed in hipshopping malls on a regular basis



to our minutes – at HSBC, Road No.10, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. I there was a non-Christian present, I would useGospel-echoing sentences in the prayeritsel. Tose who attended testied tohow the verses read directly spoke totheir situation. Some o my colleaguesbrought people to this unique meet

using Philip’s method o evangelism,“Come and see!” (John 1:40-42). Itis my prayer that such prayers are heldin all corporate ofces in the planet. A Fulltime Pastor or Evangelist may neverbe allowed to enter a corporate ofce. You would need a company id card toenter in. Working in HSBC helps me getaccess to young people I will never haveaccess to otherwise.

Books that hook youthTe book, Wow, Now I Know How (also called Straight alk on Hushed Up Subjects Without Beating About the Bush) and I Daniel were in Dell (alsocalled Youth Whens ) sold several copiesthis year. For example, we sold stu worth Rs.4000 in the COSEK CampI preached in richy, this year. Toughthey are still in the photocopy-spiralbound ormat the interest young people

show in them amazes me. I address issuesand problems aced by youth in the lighto the Bible in these books and it is notdifcult to see why youth are keen toread these works. We must soon bring

them out in a proper book ormat.

Not a penny roma Non-Indian! It was a year in which God met our needs

or the ministry very aithully. When webegan in Feb 2006, no denomination,or Non-Resident Indian or churchpromised to take care o our ministry expenses. God was our only source. We spent approximately, Rs.1,25,000/-towards ministry-related expenses in2007. God moved the hearts o willing individual Indians to send us oerings which were more than enough to coverthose expenses. Like last year, we did not

receive a single cent or a solitary penny rom a Non-Indian (not that it is wrong

to do so!).

Earlier this year we registered theorganisation which I began by aithin Feb 2006 called G-4 Mission(Grabbing the Gadget Generation romGehenna Mission) with the amil NaduGovernment. My dad, Mr. A. Jeyarajdid all the groundwork. A board whichincluded qualied non-blood relativeso mine was ormed. An exclusive bank

account or ministry unds was set up.

Prophet Who Prick ! Beore I put a ull stop to our annual reportI must talk about the Christmas Seasonmeetings I got to preach in. I have already

talked about the Youth Gathering in the AG church at Secunderabad that drew 800 youth on December 22. o a smallaudience in a Roman Catholic ChurchParish (St. Joseph’s) in Hyderabad on theDecember 17, I preached a dierent typeChristmas message titled, Christmas Prophets Who Prick You! On December16 , I used all the major Christmascharacters to challenge the 150 whogathered in the Jesus Calls ofce atSecunderabad upon the loving invitation

o Mr. Bhusnam. I wrote an articlein the Dec 07 issue o Te Days titled Ways o Witness Tis Christmas . WhenI distributed cakes along with Gospelmaterial to our neighbors and the people we deal with on a regular basis - the CDcopying man, the internet centre man,the printer - I was practicing what I wrote about in a small way. My prayeris that ater I have preached to others, Ishould not be disqualied or the prize

(I Cor 9:27,28).

Te Git o the Year Te git o the year was a Dell laptop which a dear brother who works in UBS(Union Bank o Switzerland) paid or usto have. Girisha who helped me processthis purchase online at a concessionalrate. God is providing the Grabbing the Gadget Generation rom Gehenna

Mission (the name o our ministry, i youdid not know) some very useul gadgetsthrough His people! We cannot thank God enough or people like him!

Let us pray Let us pray that in the new year, 2008,

many rom the Google Generation will be grabbed rom Gehenna; letus supplicate that our race to win theFaceBook Youth or Christ will continue without a break; let us stand in the gapin the Lord’s presence so that the yahooyouth will yearn or Yahweh’s Word; letus intercede that youth who work orcompanies like Dell and the like will be

plundered rom Hell.

(For the ull report with more pictures see our blog, G-4Mission.blogspot.com and our

website, TeDaysO YourYouth.com)


A HANDYCAM & DVD DUPLICAOR

Would you like to see God’s Wordskillully packaged around contemporary events and persuasively delivered, taking the issues aced by modern youth headon, preached by Duke Jeyaraj, distributed widely among such youth? I so, here ishow you can help us. We welcome to buy or a Handycam and DVD Duplicator

- two equipments that will help us dothis work eectively. Shoot an emailto [email protected] or call +91-9441352433 i God leads you to bless

this ministry in this way.

Moved by the Holy Spirit, people o God have contributed nancially or the work o the Gospel carried out by G-4 Mission, the

organization that publishes this mag. Hence,it is tting that we give details about how we spent money so received the last two months:Printing Expenses –Rs. 8,300/ -; Internet

Charges – Rs. 800/-; Communication Charges – Rs. 1000/-; ransport Charges – Rs. 500/ -; Rereshment when at ministry work – Rs.

600/ -; Gits – Rs. 600/ -; Furniture or Oce – Rs. 1600/; - Dispatch Charges – Rs.

4000/-; CD, Book Creation work – Rs. 2000/-; Oce Room Rent – Rs. 1000/-; Raw

material or magazine – Rs. 1000/-; Salary or oce worker – Rs. 4000/-; Phone Line or

oce worker – Rs. 600/-; Website Charges – Rs.3000/-; Oerings or other ministries – Rs. 4000/-; Grand otal – Rs.33,000/-



19

Dear Duke,

I am really blessed by the Word which was delivered on the lie o DANIEL by you at the CBN Ofce at Hyderabador believers working in HSBC onNovember 24, 2007.

It was indeed a challenging message! Would you send me e-mail version o that message please?

- Israel Nissi, HSBC, Hyderabad.

Hi Bro. Duke and Sis. Evangelin,

Tank you or all the emails you sent. Ithank God or the inter-denominationalBible Study you lead at the home o

Daniel and Magdalene where I can grow more in the Lord.

- Jenny Ann Jose, Hyderabad.

Hello Bro Duke,

I came to know o your ministry when I was visiting my amily orChristmas almost 2 weeks back. Iam extremely glad to hear about yourministry and your magazine is one o a kind. I am really impressed and haveintroduced the online magazine to

others in our church. Here in Dubai, I worship with the St. Martin’s Church,an Anglican Church.

- Shweta Peters, Sharjah,United Arab Emirates.

Dear Bro. Duke,

It would be my pleasure to contribute toyour ministry through my skill. oday

I read the magazines you gave me andthey blessed my heart!

- Ruby Evangel, Hyderabad.

Duke , Just read Te Days O.....

Very nice issue. I esp loved the nal pieceon DAASHA.... very touching... :) Yesterday I had taken the tracts you sentme to Spencer Plaza (Bubbly Outside,Empty Inside! ). With all my inhibitionsI managed to give away some.

-Steve Jothiraj, Chennai.

Dear Brother Jeyaraj (Duke’s dad),

I could see the VCDs o Bro. Duke Jeyaraj. Tey are antastic.

I thank God or such a wonderulminister in His kingdom.

--Livingstone, Kuwait.

An advertisement or Cabin Crew

or Kingsher Airlines (publishedin Te Hindu, September 12, 2007,Visakhapatnam edition) caught my attention. Tis is how it went: “Flying Models” who exude charm, vibrance and proessionalism. Females with a zest to serve and prime concern or the saety o our guests on board .” Te ad went on: bla, bla, bla....Ten came the requirements the

Kingsher Airlines guys were looking

or this prole:1.Minimum 18 years o age at the time

o application.

2.Minimum height o 160 cms (5-3) andproportionate weight.

3.Flawless skin; no tattoos, birthmarks,scars on ace, neck, arms and legs. When I read point three I stopped.

I scratched my chin. And then toldmysel: “How drastically dierent arethe Kingsher guys rom the King o Kings, Jesus!

o be an air-hostess in an Aircrat ying in the heavens one’s skin has to beawless and scar-ree. However, to y

into heaven and to ellowship with ourCreator orever, there is no qualication when it comes to one’s body-make-up!”I opened my Bible to see that an “ugly”man “covered with sores” could enterheaven and sit next to Abraham, theather o aith (Luke 16:20). Te sameBible also told me that “tall, smooth-skinned” people who did not know theLord would be punished (Isaiah 18:2 NL). Yes, on the day o Judgment, Jesus will look beyond the looks o the people. He will say then, “ I do not discriminate people on the basis o their looks. Each one in this planet is earully and wonderully made. Do you know me? Knowing me, means having an intimate daily, deep relationship with me. Only that will give you a place in heaven. Only that will qualiy you to inherit eternal lie!” (Psa 139:14; John 17:3).

HE KINGFISHER GUYS Vs HE KING OF KINGS! Duke Jeyaraj

WHA YOU WROE,WAS A HUGE

ENCOURAGEMEN!



Wearing -shirts with a striking captionis one o google’s generation avorite wayso dressing up. A news magazine talksabout this phenomenon in an essay:“When it comes to attitude, the message on her -shirt says it all. “Ok, I’m perect.Now stop staring!” (India oday , October1, 2007). What is happening is that the

young people are imitating movie stars who sport such -shirts in their movies.Illeana D’cruz wore a -shirt with a similar caption in the hit elugu movie,Pokiri. Sai Ali Khan donned a -shirt with the caption “Sinner” in one o his movies.

What does the Bible have to say about wearing -shirts with suggestivemeaning? Well, there is no direct answerto this question. We have a chapter onlove in the Bible (I Corinthians 13). But

unortunately, we do not have a chapteron -shirt captions in the Bible. Butnevertheless there are Bible principlesthat can guide our choices when it comesto this.

We are told that we must “put on theLord Jesus Christ, and make no provisionor the esh, to gratiy its desires” (Rom13:14). In other words, whatever we do,including the caption on our clothing we wear must gloriy the Lord Jesus. In

other words, the captions printed on our-shirt must be in line with the teachingso Jesus. Here is something that Jesustaught that is particularly relevant: ButI say to you that everyone who looks ata woman with lustul intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart(Math 5:28). Applying what Jesus taughtto our context we can learn this: we mustnever have a caption on our -shirt thatencourages the opposite gender to lustater our bodies. Tat is not all.

We also read in our Bibles that we “mustput them all away: anger, wrath, malice,slander, and obscene talk rom ourmouth” (Col 3:8 ). Let’s apply that verseto our situation: we must not only putaway obscene talk rom our mouth - wemust put it away rom our -shirts! Inother words, we must not have obscene words printed on our -shirts. So any -shirt with oul our letter words is a big “no, no” or any serious Christ-ollowing

Now having had some an idea about what sort o -shirts we must not wear, we might want to know what sort o -shirts we could wear. Wear -shirts withclean, wholesome messages. Wear -shirts with Bible verses printed on them in a creative way.

Let me give you an example. Te word“whatever” is one o the most avoritephrases o modern youth now. Why not wear a -shirt that has the word“whatever” printed on it - big and bold- only to continue this way:....is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, i there is any excellence, i there is anything worthy o praise, think about these things

(Phil 4:8)!

BURDENED O REACH HE MODERN YOUH?

Has God placed a special burden inyour heart or the Google Generation– the modern youth? Here are down-to-earth, unputdownable resourcesthat will help you start. Pay Rs.1000/-only to the ministry that publishes thismag (details or sending money on page2), a set o 10 message DVDs (with

bound books, gospel tracts, back issueso this magazine, prepared, packagedand presented by Duke Jeyaraj will besent to you by registered post. Read orlisten to these resources. Ten, guess what, you will automatically want todistribute them to your buddies inyour corporate ofce, college, church

and colony!

WHA IS LOVE?

What is LOVE?

Is it an elated eeling or just a peeling o emotions?

Is it an Obsession on the highway to Depression?

Or a crush, dumped like a used toothbrush?

Aaa la laa Worldly Love –

A Love that’s scant, despite all it’s enchantment.

What is LOVE?

Love, A git o God to mankind,

Which through Jesus, you can nd.

Let’s throw our grudges

and hatred behind, And share God’s git by being kind.

Aaa la laa true Love –

A Love that’s dear and so ull o cheer.

Ravi Alamothu

(Ravi Alamothu is a Manager with the Corporate Communications team o HSBC Global Resourcing Centre at Hyderabad)

LIKE DUKE’S WRIINGS?!

In case you are saying, “Hey, I like whatI just read. God truly spoke to me. I would like to read more stu written by this guy called Duke!”, all you have to dois this: send Rs. 250/- using the ino onpage 2 to receive two o his spiral-boundbooks. One book is titled, WOW, NOW I KNOW HOW? (a book that answers25 commonly-asked ‘how’ questions o youth such as, How can I beat sexualtemptation?) and IF DANIEL WERE INDELL (a book makes the book o Danielrelevant or modern youth through a

-SHIR HEOLOGY Duke Jeyaraj

issue 11 - the days mag of duke - hosea: have you ever seen a man more madly in love? - t-shirt...

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