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Fortnightly Edition - Volume - 1 Issue - 16 Bhopal 26.06.2017 to 12.07.2017 Title code: RNI:MPENG/2016/70216 `5 /-

PERSECUTION RELIEFAN INTERDENOMINATIONAL INITIATIVE TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE

SUPPORT TO THE PERSECUTED CHURCH IN INDIA

Sub Editor’s Note

For Private Circulation, within the Church

voice of the christians

Asha

If you want a copy of ‘voice of the Christians’ (votC) news paper, write to us at [email protected]

“The Captain of the Lord’s host.”It is a blatant, scandalous fact that violent attacks on the Christian minority in India are increasing daily at an alarming rate, as the emboldened members of groups close to the governing Hindu nationalist party seek to create a “Hindu nation.” Recently, 150 Hindu organizations met in Goa to chalk out an agenda on how to make India a Hindu Rashtra by 2023.

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit”, says the Lord Almighty – Zechariah 4:6

This verse has both a negative and a positive that provides help for our predicament. If there are hosts against us, there are also Hosts on our side. The king of Syria sent a host against Elisha, but ‘behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots round about Elisha”. No wonder he assured his servant, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16)

If we are overwhelmed and weighed down by an unseen foe, we are also befriended by an Unseen Friend. Great is our adversary but Greater is our Ally. “The battle is the Lord’s – if there are evil angels, there are also good angels. ‘The angel of the LoRD encamps all around those who fear Him,and delivers them. (Psalm 34:7)

For a disciple of Jesus Christ, there is no fear. His work is no more just a calling, but a personal sacrifice. He rests in the confidence of a God who is all knowing and all seeing. Faith goes ahead in fair weather and foul. It breaks up the fallow ground, sows the seeds, cultivates the crop and gathers the harvest. There may be pests and floods and drought, “but the Lord of the Harvest’ will see to it that our labor is not in vain.

Before the battle of Jericho, meet with “The Captain of the Lord’s host”Before the Lion’s den, meet with “The Captain of the Lord’s host”Before Cherith, meet with “The Captain of the Lord’s host”Before you step out to be a witness, meet with “The Captain of the Lord’s host”All things are possible to him that believeth. Amen.

Pastor’s House burntVoTC Correspondent

Recent attacks against Christians in India have led to a sense of insecurity within the community which finds it hard to report such incidents for fear of backlash.Pastor Stephen Selva Raj has been shepherding a small group of 50 believers for the last 8 years, at Jesus Saves Prayer House, in the village of Papanasam, in Thanjavur District, in Tamil Nadu. Pastor is married to Sis Esther and has 2 children Misa & Ashwelt In the stillness of the morning, at 3.30 am, on Saturday, 27th May, the Church was set aflame. The fire destroyed the entire Prayer Hall and all the items in the Church (Church, PA system, Mattress, Furniture and vessels), which is estimated to be around Rs. 3 Lakhs was entirely lost. Pastor and the believers suspect the Church was a target of arson.Until the time this article was going to press, no arrests have been made in spite of an FIR being raised. Police said they were investigating.Church, pray that every Indian should have the right to practice and promote their religion peacefully.

VoTC Correspondent

Recent attacks against Christians in India have led to a sense of insecurity within the community which finds it hard to report such incidents for fear of backlash. Pastor Stephen Selva Raj has been shepherding a small group of 50 believers for the last 8 years, at Jesus Saves Prayer House, in the village of Papanasam, in Thanjavur District, in Tamil Nadu. Pastor is married to Sis Esther and has 2 children Misa & Ashwelt In the stillness of the morning, at 3.30 am, on Saturday, 27th May, the Church was set aflame. The fire destroyed the entire Prayer Hall and all the items in the Church (Church, PA system, Mattress, Furniture and vessels), which is estimated to be around Rs. 3 Lakhs was entirely lost. Pastor and the believers suspect the Church was a target of arson. Until the time this article was going to press, no arrests have been made in spite of an FIR being raised. Police said they were investigating. Church, pray that every Indian should have the right to practice and promote their religion peacefully. If anyone reading this article is inspired to sponsor or support this couple, please write to us at [email protected]

.

If anyone reading this article is inspired to sponsor or support this Pastor, please write to us [email protected].

2 26 June to 12 July 2017Volume-1 Issue-16

VoTC Correspondent

Christians across India have raised their voices demanding the removal of Class 9 Hindi Text book, printed by the Gujarat State Board. In Chapter-16, Page (70) of the book titled “Bharatiya Sanskriti Mein Guru-Shishya Sambandh”, this derogatory and offensive reference to ‘Jesus Christ as a demon’ is made in. It goes on to say that stories of this ‘demon’ will be forever remembered.

The description in ‘Teacher-disci-ple relationships in Indian culture’, a book for ninth-grade pupils, was discovered by Subramaniam Iyer, a lawyer. According to Iyer, the er-ror “is a punishable offence under sections 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code”, which relates to “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to out-rage the religious sentiments of any class by insulting its religion”.

“Such errors are not acceptable and should not be permitted to remain in

08 June 2017

School Textbook in Gujarat reference Jesus as a ‘demon”

VoTC Correspondent


The description in ‘Teacher-disciple relationships in Indian culture’, a book for ninth-grade pupils, was discovered by Subramaniam Iyer, a lawyer. According to Iyer, the error “is a punishable offence under sections 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code”, which relates to “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage the religious sentiments of any class by insulting its religion”.

“Such errors are not acceptable and should not be permitted to remain in textbooks which are read by young minds. Either the government should rectify it or call for a reprint,” Iyer added.

The Education Minister, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, and Chairman of the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, Nitin Pethani, are to be held accountable for this irresponsible incident and tender an unconditional and unequivocal apology to all Christian community in India.

This, by no means an isolated incident, whether deliberate or not, is inflammatory, anti-democratic, seeking to create enmity, hatred and communal discord,will corrupt minds and seriously affect religious sentiments.

India is a pluralistic society with a long-standing commitment to inclusion and tolerance. Let us

pray that our Prime Minister will have divine wisdom to help foster a stable and inclusive

country, respect religious minorities, including their religious freedom.

08 June 2017

School Textbook in Gujarat reference Jesus as a ‘demon”

VoTC Correspondent


The description in ‘Teacher-disciple relationships in Indian culture’, a book for ninth-grade pupils, was discovered by Subramaniam Iyer, a lawyer. According to Iyer, the error “is a punishable offence under sections 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code”, which relates to “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage the religious sentiments of any class by insulting its religion”.

“Such errors are not acceptable and should not be permitted to remain in textbooks which are read by young minds. Either the government should rectify it or call for a reprint,” Iyer added.

The Education Minister, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, and Chairman of the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, Nitin Pethani, are to be held accountable for this irresponsible incident and tender an unconditional and unequivocal apology to all Christian community in India.

This, by no means an isolated incident, whether deliberate or not, is inflammatory, anti-democratic, seeking to create enmity, hatred and communal discord,will corrupt minds and seriously affect religious sentiments.

India is a pluralistic society with a long-standing commitment to inclusion and tolerance. Let us

pray that our Prime Minister will have divine wisdom to help foster a stable and inclusive

country, respect religious minorities, including their religious freedom.

textbooks which are read by young minds. Either the government should rectify it or call for a reprint,” Iyer added.

The Education Minister, Bhupendra sinh Chudasama, and Chairman of the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks, Nitin Pethani, are to be held accountable for this irresponsible

incident and tender an unconditional and unequivocal apology to all Christian community in India.

This, by no means an isolated incident, whether deliberate or not, is inflammatory, anti-democratic, seeking to create enmity, hatred and communal discord,will corrupt minds and seriously affect religious

sentiments. India is a pluralistic society with a long-standing commitment to inclusion and tolerance. Let us pray that our Prime Minister will have divine wisdom to help foster a stable and inclusive country, respect religious minorities, including their religious freedom.

Hindu meeting in Goa

14 June 2017

Hindu meeting in Goa

The sixth, 3-day, ‘All India Hindu Convention’, which kicked off at Ramnath Temple in Ponda, Goa, is seeing close to 150 Hindu organizations gathering from all across India and representatives from neighboring Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Agenda of for this convention is “Need for unity of Hindu community and Saints for establishing the Hindu Nation’ and aims to protect Hindu culture and establish a Hindu nation.

Charudatta Pingale of Hindu Janajagruti Samithi *HJS) said,” Hindus will never get justice in the present democratic set-up and establishing a Hindu nation is the only remedy to all their problems”. With regards to demands to ban on Sanatan Sanstha, Sadhvi Saraswati ji warned that if a ban was imposed on the HJS and the Sanatan Sanstha, several other ‘sanatans’ would grow out of it.

Ramesh Shinde, National spokesperson of HJS said, “Pseudo democracy imposed by the British on India will have to done away with. Prior to the arrival of the Muslim invaders and the British, India was a capable Hindu nation. Why should we prepare a separate blue print for establishing the Hindu nation? Instead, we are making a blue print to remove the pseudo democracy imposed on us by the British” he added.

Obviously, the blatant threat to discredit our hard-earned democracy and bring on religious autocracy is apparent. India has both seen and suffered the consequences that followed from failure to address the constrictive role that religious ideology plays.

Reliable sources tell us horror stories narrated by the relatives of such Sadhakas or Sadhikas about the way the indoctrination and so called spiritual transformation happens. The manner in which the indoctrinated mass behaves, leaves one to wonder whether they are under a compelling spell. Violent, angry and mean, justifying Hindu rituals, spreading hatred for all non-Hindus, atheists and rationalists appear to be the facets of this newfound spirituality.

VoTC Correspondent

The sixth, 3-day, ‘All India Hindu Convention’, which kicked off at Ramnath Temple in Ponda, Goa, is seeing close to 150 Hindu organizations gathering from all across India and representatives from neighboring Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Agenda of for this convention is “Need for unity of Hindu community and Saints for establishing the Hindu Nation’ and aims to protect Hindu culture and establish a Hindu nation.

Charudatta Pingale of Hindu Janajagruti Samithi *HJS) said,” Hindus will never get justice in the present democratic set-up and establishing a Hindu nation is the only remedy to all their problems”. With regards to demands to ban on Sanatan Sanstha, Sadhvi Saraswati ji warned that if a ban was imposed on the HJS and the Sanatan Sanstha, several other ‘sanatans’ would grow out of it. Ramesh Shinde, National spokes person of HJS said, “Pseudo democracy imposed by the British on

India will have to done away with. Prior to the arrival of the Muslim invaders and the British, India was a capable Hindu nation. Why should we prepare a separate blue print for establishing the Hindu nation? Instead, we are making a blue print to remove the pseudo democracy imposed on us by the British” he added. Obviously, the blatant threat to discredit our hard-earned democracy and bring on religious autocracy is apparent. India has both seen and suffered the consequences that followed from failure to address the constrictive role that religious ideology plays.Reliable sources tell us horror stories narrated by the relatives of such Sadhakas or Sadhikas about the way the indoctrination and so called spiritual transformation happens. The manner in which the indoctrinated mass behaves, leaves one to wonder whether they are under a compelling

spell. Violent, angry and mean, justifying Hindu rituals, spreading hatred for all non-Hindus, atheists and rationalists appear to be the facets of this newfound spirituality.

It is indeed a strange coincidence that this get-together seems to have chosen a venue that had witnessed communal and civil violence between Muslims and Hindus in Oct. 2012.

The Constitution of India does not provide for a state religion. Article 25(1) states, “Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion”.

The question lurking in the background is this: What would the landscape look like today if these Sadhakas or Sadhikas were the decision-makers?

Indian Express

TURA: Over 5,000 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Meghalaya on Wednesday quit the party over the Centre’s new rules that aim to prevent sale of cattle for slaughter.

BJP Youth Wing President of Tura city Wilver GrehamDanggo, who was among those who resigned, said it was in protest against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government’s attempt to “suppress the tribal and other communities who consume beef”.

Danggo said five BJP mandal committees have been dissolved and over 5,000 youth workers had resigned from the party.

“We cannot play with the sentiments

5,000 BJP workers in Meghalaya Quit Party Over Cattle Rules

Cows walks on the dried agricultural field due to insufficient water during scorching summer at Mahabubnagar, one of the drought effected districts in Telangana. |A Suresh Kumar/ EPS

of our own people who trust us and we don’t mix politics with religion as the BJP is doing. Any party or

individual that hurts the sentiments of our people will be against us... we will protect our tribal land,” he said.

School Textbook in Gujarat references Jesus as a ‘demon”

Two senior BJP leader in Meghalaya, BachuMarak and Bernard Marak, have also quit the party.

Last week, some BJP leaders in the state threatened to quit if the central government did not repeal the new cattle trade rules.

“Most party leaders in Meghalaya are not happy with the new rules which are directly affecting our people,” BJP Vice President John Antonius Lyngdoh said.

“We cannot accept the new rules on cattle trade. We cannot go against our food habits; besides, the economic interests of people dealing in cattle trade and slaughter are put in jeopardy,” he said.

326 June to 12 July 2017Volume-1 Issue-16

http://www.ucanews.com/

A Catholic nun accused of taking tribal girls for religious conversion in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh now faces a criminal charge of abduction.

The railway police in Satna town have charged Sister Beena Joseph, a member of the Carmelite Sisters of St. Teresa congregation, with abduction a day after she was released from a 12-hour detention June 15.

The nun was on her way to the Madhya Pradesh state capital of Bhopal from the eastern state of Jharkhand along with four tribal girls. She was accused of taking them for conversion, following allegations by a Hindu activist that she had abducted 25 girls for conversion.

Sister Joseph denied the allegations. “Neither the girls are minors, nor did I attempt to convert them. They are brought here for studies,” the nun based in Bhopal told ucanews.com.

Freed Indian nun slapped with abduction chargesArchbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal describes it as a ‘totally a false case’

Members of the Carmelite Sisters of St. Teresa congregation professing their religious vows at a convent. one of their nuns based in Bhopal was accused of abduction and faces criminal charges and arrest. (Photo courtesy of Carmelite Sisters of St. Teresa)

S.R Bagri, the inspector in charge of the case, told ucanews.com that the

charge of abduction was “filed against the nun following a statement from the

father of a minor girl,” who the police sent to the government’s childcare center.The police officer said the child’s father confirmed the girl was a minor and the nun said she was taking her to the southern Indian city of Chennai. She allegedly offered the family 5,000 rupees (US$75). Bagri said the nun will not be arrested immediately, but after thorough investigation.Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal told ucanews.com that it was “totally a false case.”“The girl was traveling with the nun and three other girls. How could she alone be abducted while the others were not?” he questioned.Church leaders said the case is an attempt to harass the Catholic community in a state that is ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, the political arm of Hindu groups that want to create a Hindu-only country.

India’s Christian leaders distance themselves from ruling Hindu nationalistsBy Anto Akkara – World WatchMonitorThe leaders of India’s Christian minority – 2.3 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion population – have distanced themselves from rumours of increasingly close ties with the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP.

Archbishop Soosa Pakiam (centre), President of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council, addresses media at a news conference on 8 June.

The latest rumours began following a meeting between senior Catholic Church leaders and the BJP’s national president, Amit Shah, in the south Indian Christian stronghold of Kerala, from 2-4 June. But the president of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council, Archbishop SoosaPakiam, said the two sides had fundamentally different outlooks.

“We cannot accept their basic ideology. We have serious concerns and apprehension about some of the steps they have taken,” the Archbishop said at a news conference on 8 June.

“We did not go to meet Amit Shah. When a prominent leader came with a request to meet us, we entertained him.”

“We cannot accept their basic ideology.” Said Archbishop Soosa Pakiam

Beef ban leads to resignationsArchbishop Pakiam, head of Kerala’s over-five-million-strong Catholic Church, added that he and his colleagues stood against the BJP on its recent ban on the sale of cattle (seen as sacred by Hindus) for slaughter.The ruling, on 23 May, applies across the nation, including in traditionally beef-eating states like Kerala and the north-east, where many Christians live.

“We will never accept a dictum on what we should eat or do,” the Archbishop said. “Whatever they [the BJP] may try to impose, using the power they have, we are not going to follow such decrees.”

Christians gather for the general assembly of the National Council of Churches in India in Shillong, capital of the Christian-majority state of Meghalaya in the north-east. (May 2008)

Archbishop Soosa Pakiam (centre), Presi-dent of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Coun-cil, addresses media at a news conference on 8 June.

“For us, the constitution is supreme,” he added, a reference to the constitution’s protection on individual freedoms – nothing is mentioned in the constitution about prohibiting particular foods.

Several Christian members of the BJP resigned from their posts in the wake of the ruling, which is being challenged in the Supreme Court, including Bernard Marak from the majority-Christian state of Meghalaya in the north-east.

BJP ‘wants to woo Christians’

A statement by the Baptist Church Council in neighboring Nagaland state – where 88 per cent of the population are Christian, according to the 2011 census – said the BJP’s “disappointment [at the] Church in defending her own faith” “stands contrary” to the BJP’s own claims about safeguarding the Christian faith.

The statement said that there was “little doubt” the BJP aims to “suppress the [Christian] minority of their religio-socio-cultural practices” and make them “feel insecure”.

It also said that some of the steps taken by the BJP government, which came

into power in May 2014, have “affected Christians in particular”, referencing Modi’s 2015 move to turn Christmas Day into ‘Good Governance Day‘ and then, this year, turning Good Friday into ‘Digital India Day‘.There were strong protests in the north-east following the announcement of the latter, after which Modi exempted the three Christian-majority states of the north-east from holding the event on Good Friday.“The emerging trends are very worry-ing. There is certainly a concerted ef-fort by the Hindu nationalists to make inroads into the Christian community.” Rev Solomon Rongpi“The promise that the BJP made to safeguard the Christian faith is a mere political statement,” Rev ZelhouKeyho, the President of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council, told World Watch Monitor. “They want to woo Christians into the party.”Rev Keyho added that some members of the BJP in Nagaland had “expressed shock and unhappiness that some speakers in churches had spoken about their doubts of the secular credentials of the BJP from the pulpits”. (In India, the word “secular” is often used to express the need for an equal respect for all religions.)

“We cannot guess what is their plan for the region,” he said. “We cannot just wait for to experience what they are going to do in the north-east. We have seen what they have done in other parts of the country. If we wait, it may be too late. That is why we have made this statement.”

“The emerging trends are very worrying,” Rev Solomon Rongpi, general secretary of the Council of Baptist Churches of North East India, told World Watch Monitor. “There is certainly a concerted effort by the Hindu nationalists to make inroads into the Christian community.”

Rev Laldawngliana, moderator of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of India, which has a significant presence in the north-east, told World Watch Monitor that several BJP legislators elected in March in his home state of Manipur – also in the north-east – are from the Christian community. Some of them defected from other parties, handing the BJP a majority, even though the party initially won fewer seats than the rival Congress Party.

“All sorts of methods are being used in the north-east to make the BJP acceptable to Christians,” Laldawngliana explained.

https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org


Christ’s Return in the CloudsZac Poonen, CFC, Bangalore

In 1 Thess. 4:13-18, Paul speaks about how it will be when Christ returns. “We don’t want you to be uninformed about those who have slept in the Lord. “That refers to those who have died in Christ. Jesus died and rose again; and those who have died in Christ will also rise again. When Jesus returns, we who are alive will not be taken up ahead of those who died in Christ before us. They will arise from the graves. That will be the first resurrection. And we will be taken up together with them to meet the Lord. Unbelievers will not rise for another one thousand years. They will rise in the second resurrection.

At His return, our Lord will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. Then all the saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds. Jesus spoke about these very same matters, when He spoke

to His disciples about His return. He said, “Don’t believe those who say, ‘He is here’ or ‘He is there’ or ‘He has come secretly’ “ (Matthew 24:26). What He was saying was that He would not come secretly, as many believe today. When He comes, it will be like the lightning that flashes from the east to the west. Every eye will be able to see Him.

When will Christ’s coming take place? Jesus answered that too: “Immediately after the tribulation” (Matthew 24:29). Many believe that Christ will rapture His saints before the tribulation. But there is not a single verse anywhere in Scripture that teaches that: That is a doctrine of men. Jesus Himself clearly stated that His coming would be after the tribulation. The events mentioned here in 4:16, 17 are exactly the same as mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 24:30, 31: Jesus appearing in the clouds with the angels and a trumpet-sound, and the saints being taken up to meet Him.

In 1 Thess 5:2, we read, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. “A thief does not announce his coming, but comes unexpectedly. Thus, every unbeliever will be surprised when the Lord returns. We, the sons of light, however, are expecting our Lord to come (5:4). We do not live in darkness. So we should not be asleep spiritually, but alert (5:6).

How can we know whether we are awake or asleep? When a man is asleep, the things that are real around him in the room are invisible; but the things that are unreal (in his dreams) appear to be real. In the same way, a believer is spiritually asleep when the real things of eternity appear unreal to him, and the unreal things of this world appear real to him. This whole world is like an unreal dream when compared to heaven and eternity. The truly eternal things are the things of heaven. For believers who are asleep, the Lord will certainly come as a thief in the night. Paul says

we look forward to that day and we eagerly await His coming.

People around us will be imagining that everything is peaceful and safe (1 Thess 5:3). But destruction will come upon them suddenly. This destruction, it says here will come suddenly “like birth pangs upon a woman with child” (1 Thess 5:3). Jesus used the same expression when speaking of the last days (in Matthew 24:8). Every woman knows that before she gives birth to a child there is a painful time of labour which can last for many hours. (Some mothers say that it was so painful that they felt like dying). It is only after that the child is born. This is a picture of the painful period of tribulation that will precede the coming of Christ. No child is born without those birth-pangs. And the coming of the Lord is not going to take place before this painful tribulation. We are not afraid of that period. It will be a great honour for us if the Lord allows us to be here as witnesses for Him and to lay down our lives for the sake of the gospel

Infidelity — To Tell Or Not To Tell Your Spouse?- Dr. Greg Smalley is vice president of Family Ministries at Focus on the Family and the general editor of Ready to Wed.

Don’t keep your affair a secret just to save the relationship — that isn’t fair to your partner, and only serves to preserve a relationship with cracks that will inevitably spread. You owe it to your partner to let him or her make that decision with all the information you can provide. You don’t want the relationship to end, but neither do you want your partner to stay with you out of ignorance.Relationship is all about walking in light and honesty. Infidelity is something that requires darkness and secrecy. It’s sin, and that’s why someone hiding an affair wants it to stay hidden. The book of Job explains it this way: “The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’. . . For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness” (Job 24: 15,17).

I encourage you to break this pattern. Instead of hiding your sin, bring it into the light where everything can be made visible. By being honest and revealing your secret, you have an amazing opportunity for freedom (John 8:32).

We’ve all heard the catchphrase “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!” The logic behind this cultural quote implies that whatever misdeed happened in the past, won’t impact the “here and now” of your relationship — so you don’t need to know. Keep the memories to yourself and move on with your life.This idea may work well for the Las Vegas tourism board, but is this notion ever good for a long-term relationship which will be converted to a marriage latter, when one partner has been unfaithful about the past.

Why should I tell the past?“I don’t see the benefit,”. “I ended the affair and I sought forgiveness from the

Lord. At this point, telling my partner, would only bring about needless pain and sorrow. I don’t want to go through that level of hurt to simply relieve my guilty conscience. Why should I tell about an affair that’s been over for years? Especially since I’ve been faithful ever since,

This issue in the partner — to tell or not to tell — is extremely divisive. Is it better to be honest and hurt your partner and risk your relationship? Or is it better to be discrete, suffering the anguish of your infidelity privately and working to become a faithful partner?

Continuing to lie will never be good for your relationship. If you think you can bury your secret, your relationship will still be based on a cracked foundation. He believes that your partner needs to understand there are cracks if there’s any possibility of healing the relationship together.

You may say, It was a one-time thing, and it will never happen again.”This sounds good, but one lie breeds other lies. Where will the rationalization end? You are establishing a very dangerous pattern of deceit, control and manipulation.

I think I can rebuild my relationship without telling my partner.”You have to consider the relational impact on your marriage ahead, if you harbor a lie of this magnitude. If you don’t tell your partner and attempt to build your marriage after an affair, understand that from this point forward, whatever is being rebuilt in terms of the marriage is being built on a lie or partial truth (omission). It is impossible for you to have a fully open and truthful marriage if you’re harboring a secret like an affair. “You need to tell each other the important things, the things you both expect to know, the things that are relevant to the foundations of your relationship and that have the potential to affect it. . . And what has more

potential effect on your relationship and the trust holding it together than an affair?” The bottom line is, don’t accept a marriage based on dishonesty and deceit. You have to consider the personal impact of harboring a lie of this magnitude. The negative impact will be on your heart. You will have to spend an enormous amount of energy and personal resources hiding and covering this up. This negatively impacts you as an individual as well as your marriage ahead.

My partner will never find out about my pastPerhaps, but you have to live with the fear that the “other” person will share your secret at some point. Sin has a way of coming out. “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). What would be your partners reaction to finding out years down the road? Everything you’ve done to rebuild your marriage, since the affair would be completely undone.

Certainly, you need to confess your sin to the Lord and seek forgiveness, but infidelity isn’t just between you and God. We’re reassured of God’s forgiveness in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” so restoring your relationship with the Lord is a great place to start. However, infidelity is also a long-term marriage issue. Your partner has all the right to know.

You can’t simply put an affair in a box and bury it in some dark recess of your mind and heart. You don’t work that way — not without consequences. Think about all the energy you’ve expended covering your tracks and the things you’ve done to hide your secret: the lies, the misinformation, the sleepless nights, the deleted messages, the hidden phone numbers, the worry, the fear that the other person will expose

you, the erasing of credit card receipts and other incriminating financial information, and so on. All of these efforts have already hurt your partner because you’ve had to close off parts of your heart to compartmentalize the infidelity. You haven’t been fully open to your partner, so he has already paid an enormous price for the affair.For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Lk 8:17For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known Lk 12:2You will never fully understand God’s strength working in you or the resiliency of your marriage until it’s called upon. I’ll end with The Message paraphrase of Romans 10:12-13 that reads: “Scripture reassures us, ‘No one who trusts God like this — heart and soul — will ever regret it.’ It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help.‘Everyone who calls, “Help, God!” gets help.’”


Leonard Ravenhill

The present lethargy in the Church is almost unpardonable. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have zeal. The Mormons claim they are gaining more people from the evangelicals

than we are gaining from them. The cultists zealously persist in getting a hearing in the streets.

Saul of Tarsus had fanatical zeal. He threw men and women in prison and broke up their families, persecuting them from city to city. Miraculously God cleansed him, baptized him with fire, and made him a model zealot for His Kingdom.

It is not enough in these days of such vast worldliness in the Church to say that we are fundamental or uncompromising in “doctrine.” We must be ablaze with Holy Spirit-born anger. (“Be angry, and yet do not sin.” Eph. 4:26) We must feel the hurt of God over the devil’s domination of this age. We must apologize to the Almighty that we have turned to our own way, and have been more loyal to a manmade theology than to the exceedingly sober words of our Master. Like Paul, we must be able

Zeal, Love Ablaze!to say in His holy presence, This one thing I do...” I bear a broken heart over the coldness in the Church (including my own!). True, the zealous man of God lives for one thing only: to please God. He is impervious to the opinions of others about his zeal. He cares not what it costs him to burn out for God. In sickness or in health, in poverty or in wealth, whether he is esteemed or despised, flattered or flattened, considered a fool or a philosopher, through evil report or good report, kisses or curses, he is set to do the will of God!This man sees the Church today fouled with showmanship, bingo and bake sales, dances, tinsel and trivia, “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. (II Tim. 3:5) He sees the ministers condoning divorce in high places. Maybe his minister is divorced and remarried himself.Jesus today sees His Church unclean with disobedience by a watered-down gospel. We do not obey His commandments to “love one another,” or rejoice to act out Matthew 23:11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.” If there comes a man into the assembly with a gold ring, we do give him honor (James 2:2). If he has great wealth but little spirituality,

he is still welcomed as a member of the board. We do not insist that our young preacher boys tarry (until they get a seminary diploma? No!) until they are endued with power from on high!

The Pharisee’s PrayerThe Pharisee who prayed in the temple said, “God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people; swindlers, unjust, adulterers.” There are many so-called Spirit-filled men today, who cannot even pray that prayer! Unjust they are for sure, they pay low wages and tell their workers that they are “doing this sacrifice for Jesus.” Adulterers-there are famous preachers in this awful category. They, of course, have an explanation for their infidelity, yet many are accepted at conferences as keynote speakers. Extortioners - the radio preachers almost have this as a monopoly. A $25 Bible (God’s Holy Word) is offered for a $100 gift! Other books are offered at five times their cost. “You are judging!” someone will say. Correct, I am told to judge (John 7:24). Jesus says, “Judge with righteous judgment.” Also I, along with other true preachers of the Gospel, am a watchman and so have to warn others. Also, “judgment must begin at the house of the Lord.” This bait to get money is an abomination. Preachers whine for money over the radio and television. “For this ministry” they say, and yet much of it is to sustain

their extravagant lifestyle, costly airplanes, and fixing up luxury Bible conference grounds. And now they have joined the Pharisees who “rob widows’ houses. After emptying your pockets while you live, they ask for your house and estate after you die. What next?

Stealing the GloryThis is a day of the personality cult. Men on TV gospel shows are presented as having given up so much for the Lord. All they gave up with their retirement from stardom was hell and eternal punishment. Let it be shouted from the housetops that no man does God a favor. Elegant living, etc. for the rich evangelists proves nothing except that they have not left all to follow Him. The Spirit-filled need no status symbols.

The flattering introduction for gospel preachers is another great piece of blockage to revival. John 5:41 and 44 need soul-searching consideration. My heart is burdened and burning. God’s house is polluted. The sinners scoff and say of the rich preachers, “Their creed is greed and their god is gold.” We need a baptism of holy zeal to get us back to holy indignation that the money grabbers are back in the temple, and that God’s heart is hurting.

O for a generation of believers who can honestly say, “Zeal for Thy house will consume Me.”

http://www.ucanews.com/

Bhopal:

Church leaders in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have criticized new guidelines on providing sterilization services to traditional tribal groups and are lobbying the authorities to reconsider it.

“The new regulations appear to be disastrous” for impoverished tribal groups, said Father Sebastian Poomattam, spokesperson for Catholic bishops in Chhattisgarh, homeland of several tribal groups.

“For these groups who already face a serious threat to their existence, this new law might further threaten their survival,” he told ucanews.com June 11.

The ruling pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) relaxed a 1979 state law May 26 making access to public provisions for sterilization easier among five traditional tribes in the state.

The law was passed almost four decades ago at a time when the federal government used forced sterilizations to control the population. It restricted sterilization among tribal people whose poverty and ill health resulted in low birth rates.

Father Poomattam said the regulation was important to ensure tribal mothers could only access the service once a leading government official had certified it as a case of emergency.

The recent amendment has relaxed those rules. A government officer

Catholics in Indian state oppose sterilization policyRecent law change can be easily exploited and threatens indigenous communities, church leaders say

may certify the sterilization if the tribal mother simply acknowledged they understood the consequences. R. Prasanna, the state health services director, justified the government’s decision saying it follows a request from tribal people who were concerned about the health of pregnant mothers. A recommendation by the federal planning commission said impeding sterilization options to these tribal people was not justified.

Commenting on the impact of the ruling on the size of tribal populations, Prasanna said it “depends on them.” The government is not “forcing sterilization” on tribal people. They

can only gain access to the service at their request and once they have understood its effects, he told ucanews.com.

However, Father Poomattam said that if the government were serious about improving the health of mothers and the social situation of tribal people they would provide better health care facilities and amenities.

Father Poomattam said the bishops in the state are calling on the government to revise the amendments that has made sterilization easier among the poverty-stricken tribal people.

Arun Pannalal, president of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, said the government should provide the

tribal people better health care and educate them to improve their living conditions. Through sterilization, however, “anybody can exploit the new policy to eliminate them gradually,” he said.

The ruling BJP is considered the political arm of groups that want to establish Hindu hegemony in India.

Pannalal and other Christian leaders have accused the BJP for promoting polices that endanger the interests of the disenfranchised, including Dalits, tribal people and non-Hindus.

Father Thomas Kollikolavil, who previously worked as a director of social work for the Jagdalpur Diocese in the state, said tribal people mostly live in interior forest villages, cut off from the mainstream and require special considerations.

“No one can expect them to be aware of the implications of sterilization,” the priest said.

A 2008 report of the Chhattisgarh State Tribal Research Institute said that the state is home to five endangered tribes — Abujhmaria, Baiga, Birhor, Pahari Korwa and Kamar, that together have fewer than 150,000 people, some with fewer than 3,000 people.

Chhattisgarh is India’s most densely Hindu state with 98.3 percent of its 23 million people being Hindu. Muslims account for 1 percent; Christians, mostly tribal people, account for 0.7 percent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who heads the pro-Hindu federal government at the inauguration of National Tribal Carnival-2016, New Delhi, oct. 25. Christian leaders have accused Modi's party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, of endangering the interests of the disenfranchised, including Dalits, tribal people and non-Hindus. (Photo by IANS)


Protestors with Irfan Masih’s body during demonstration. (Twitter)

Christian Sanitation Worker in Pakistan Dies after Hospital Refuses to Treat Him, Family Sayshttp://morningstarnews.org

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – A Christian sanitation worker in Pakistan died on Thursday (June 1) after Muslim doctors refused to treat him for poisonous gas he was exposed to in a sewer, sources said.

Doctors at Civil Hospital Medical refused to treat 28-year-old Irfan Masih of Umerkot City, Sindh Province, saying they did not want to touch the filth-covered worker during the Islamic month of Ramandan, Masih’s brother told Morning Star News.

Babar Masih said that his brother entered a deep manhole to clear a sewage line but smelled poisonous gas and called out for help.“Irfan’s coworkers did not have the equipment to pull him out, so another worker, Yaqoob Masih, descended into the manhole to rescue him,” he said. “However, both men inhaled the fumes and fainted. Two other Christian sanitary workers, Faisal Masih and Shaukat Masih, went after them but they also fainted.”Area passers-by managed to rescue the four men, who were taken to Umerkot

Civil Hospital, he said. The doctors on duty, however, said they were fasting and would not touch the Christian, who was covered in sewage filth, he said.“The doctors said they refused to treat him because they were fasting

and said he was ‘napaak [unclean],’” Babar Masih said.

Family members cleaned Masih’s body, he added, after which the doctors sent for an oxygen cylinder.

“But the cylinder was empty” he said. “And, before they could arrange another cylinder, he died.”The family then held a protest, carrying his body from the hospital to the Umerkot Press Club, where they demonstrated for about 10 hours, demanding the registration of a criminal case.

Based on a complaint by Irfan Masih’s father, Nazeer Masih, Umerkot Police registered a case on Friday (June 2) against Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Jam Kunbhar, a medical officer identified only as Yusuf and duty doctor Allahdad Rathore, and three employees of the Umerkot Municipal Committee – Sanitation Inspector Behari Lal, Khalid Khoso and SarwanMalhi. Kunbhar was reportedly arrested.The doctors are accused of criminal negligence and manslaughter under sections 319 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code, for allegedly refusing Irfan Masih treatment.

Health Director General Akhlaq

Khan reportedly said that after his initial investigation, Irfan Masih’s death was not a result of the doctors’ negligence, but that they were at fault to some degree.Officials from the Pakistan Medical Association later carried out a demonstration against the arrest of Kunbhar and case filed against the doctors, claiming that the accusations were fabricated. They threatened to boycott the Outdoor Patient Department and emergency services wards throughout the district if Kunbhar is not released. Insisting that Masih was alive when he arrived at the hospital, the deceased’s family reportedly insisted that after Yusuf looked at him in the emergency room and then went outside.

At the same time, the municipal

committee employees are accused of failing to provide him and the other Christian sanitary workers with the necessary safety kits and gear. Protesting workers alleged that Umerkot Municipal Committee officials had forced Irfan Masih and others to work in the manhole without safety gear.

Some 60 Christians are employed by the Umerkot Municipal Committee on daily wages.“They always threaten us with consequences of losing our jobs if we don’t obey their directives,” Christian sanitation worker Ghafoor Masih told local media.

The municipal committee’s chairman and administrative officers were unavailable for comment.

www.huffingtonpost.com

A sign that humanity is not completely dead. Yesterday afternoon at 2 PM, photographer and journalist Allen Kakony, received a call from the Iraqi army in a call Mosul, Iraq’s second largest town. “A six-year-old Christian girl had been liberated” from the hands of ISIS. Her father and a family friend were to go to a specific location in Mosul where she would be given back to them.

The terrorist group ISIS invaded Mosul and surrounding villages of the Nineveh Plain during the summer of 2014. Christian Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs were given four options: convert to Islam, flee, die or pay extortion money (so called jizye, a religious tax). The letter N in Arabic, Noon, meaning Nazerene or Christian in Arabic was painted on all Christian homes and shops, they fled en masse for fear of being slaughtered. ISIS also persecuted Yazidis and other non-Muslims minorities as well as Muslims who did not heed ISIS’s interpretation of the Koran. Thousands of people were slaughtered and thousands more were kidnapped. Millions were exiled.

Christina was three years old at the time. Her family’s faith became known

She Became a Symbol of Genocide - Today She is a Symbol of HopeNuri Kino, Contributor Independent investigative multi-award-winning reporter, filmmaker, author, Middle East and human rights analyst

Journalist Allen Kakony, Christina’s father Khadr AzzouAbada, Christina and her mother Aida Hana Noah

Christina before and after the kidnapping

all over the world. She was snatched from her mother’s arms by one of the ISIS commanders. New York Times Magazine and many others outlets covered her story. Her face was used on placards all over the world during rallies to stop the persecution of non-Muslims in Iraq and Syria. As her family waited in utter devastation, in a camp in Kurdish Regional Government’s capital Erbil, their story was discussed in the European Parliament, the US congress and many other places. A Demand for Action, the organization I am a part of, reported numerous times about the family’s plight because of their faith. Christina became a symbol of genocide. Churches all over the world prayed for her safety and release. up to

Today she is reunited with her family but the effects of her kidnap are clear.

“She appears fine physically however she is unable to talk to her parents. She only communicates with them in sign language. She has lost her Assyrian/Syriac and only speaks few words of Arabic,” Allen Kakony tells me over the phone while sitting with her and her five siblings in the camp where her parents are residing.

Kakony sent a live FB video on his personal page this morning of the celebration of her release. As I watch her community celebrate her return with dancing and singing, I think not of the terrorists who tore her from her mother but of the Muslim family who found, saved her and returned her

to parents. Yesterday Christina was a symbol of genocide. Today she is a symbol of hope. The road back to her old self may be a long one but it is now a journey she can make with her family.


MontH of reMeMberIng CHrIstIan Martyrs, wIdows of Martyrs, orpHaned CHIldren and orpHaned faMIlIes

Day 1Lord, Jesus Christ was the first martyr, the first who gave his life for us. May he always be our inspiration.

Day 2Lord, we pray for the displaced widows and fatherless children who have endured a cruel death of their loved one, never to give up their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ

Day 3Lord, we remember the widows, fatherless and orphaned children, many who are struggling to survive – be their Provider

Day 4Lord, we pray that believers experience God directly, powerfully and be transformed through the death of martyrs for Jesus

Day 5Lord, we pray that believers will encounter God through the example of the martyr, to experience Christ as Liberator

Day 6Lord, we pray that we will look to the Martyrs for inspiration – Jesus being the first, when we are tempted to selfishness

Day 7Lord, we pray that we will have the strength to follow the path of Jesus, to suffer with him and for him

Day 8Lord, fill us with the power of the holy Spirit to be a tangible testimony and witness of Jesus Christ

Day 9Lord, help us to remember to pray for Christians all around the world, in such perilous times

Day 10Lord, fill our hearts with super-natural compassion of Christ toward the persecutors who kill the body but cannot touch our soul

Day 11Lord, remind us of our duty to grow every day in greater love for God and for our neighbor

Day 12Lord, may the widows/orphans count no sacrifice too great, no suffering too deep, no poverty too excruciating, as long as the love of Christ remains in them

Day 13Lord, no matter how harsh the trial or how difficult the problems or how acute the suffering, may the widows/orphans never forget that they are always in God’s hands

Day 14Lord, may the faith of the widowed martyrs’ always flourish as a direct result of the martyrs’ witness

Day 15Lord, we pray that the blood of your saints will confess Jesus Christ and many a Saul will be converted to Paul

Day 16Lord, we pray that the bereaved families will know you O God, are the defender of widows and a Father to the fatherless

Day 17Lord, we pray that you will bring peace and bring verses of Scripture to remembrance that will comfort them

Day 18Lord, we pray that the bereaved families will respond to their loss in a Christ like way so as to bring glory to God

Day 19Lord, we pray that you will continue to protect the children who are left without their mother and father’s care

Day 20Lord, we pray that the widows/orphans will rest in the knowledge that the Good Shepherd walks with them through this difficult time

Day 21Lord, we pray that the widows/orphans will rejoice in the opportunity to grow in Christlikeness through the ongoing opposition they face

Day 22Lord, we pray that the widows/orphans will keep their eyes on Jesus, persevere in their faith, and not grow weary or lose heart.

Day 23Lord, we pray that you will enable the widowed parent to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to Christ so that their children will be encouraged to walk closely with the Lord as they grow up

Day 24Lord, we pray that those who have lost their loved ones will be filled with the joy that comes from knowing that they will see them again at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

Day 25Lord, we pray that you will strengthen young believers to follow in the example that has been passed down to them by their leaders

Day 26Lord, we pray that the widows/orphans will never be ashamed of the gospel because God’s power brings salvation through it

Day 27Lord, we pray that everything they have and even their very lives will mean nothing in comparison with the joy of knowing Christ and sharing him with others

Day 28Lord, we pray that the widows/orphans will rely on the Lord to give them the words to say when they stand before accusing authorities

Day 29Lord, we pray that you will bring about justice for the widows/orphans in this unjust world

Day 30Lord, we pray that the widows and orphans of martyrs will remember your words, that you are the father of the orphans and the widows

Day 31Lord, we pray that Christians all across India will demon-strate unity and solidarity with those who are suffering for Christ

PERSECUTION RELIEF PRAYER CALENDAR

2017 JuLy

Persecution Relief will observe 22nd July as the

“Indian Christian Martyrdom Day” which will be an annual event, to honour ‘Bharat ki Beti’ who was

raped and murdered and to salute the martyrdom of Christian soldiers, who lost their lives

defending their faith in Jesus Christ.

www.persecutionrelief.org

Call 9826025767


Publisher: Shibu Thomas 352 9-B, Saketh Nagar, Ward No. 55, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh - 462024, India. Printer’s Name: St. Joseph Printers, 142 Durgesh Vihar, JK Road, Govindpura PO, Bhopal - 462023

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Publisher.

Persecution Relief will observe 22nd July as the

“Indian Christian Martyrdom Day” which will be an annual event, to honour ‘Bharat ki Beti’ who was

raped and murdered and to salute the martyrdom of Christian soldiers, who lost their lives

defending their faith in Jesus Christ.

www.persecutionrelief.org

Call 9826025767

prayer house, in the village of papanasam, in thanjavur ... · prayer house, in the village of...

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