issue 17 - balancing life & work / christian-no ronaldo? on who a real christian is / you &...

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Gautam Gambhir, thebalanced cricketer

Indian Cricketer GautamGambhir, has got what few ofhis fellow cricketers haven’tgot – balance. I refer to balancewhen it comes to cricket skill.What I mean is that he playsall three formats of Cricketamazingly and audaciouslywell. Talk about Twenty20.Gambhir has shown howawesome he is when itcomes to playing this format. IfIndia won the Twenty20 WorldCup 2007 Final versus thePakistanis, Gambhir is onebloke they’ve got to be gratefulto. His cool and clever 75 off 54balls was about half of India’stotal score in that nerve-wracking game. In fact, He wasIndia’s top scorer in thattournament. Talk about OneDay Internationals. Gambhir’sperformance in this format hasbeen out-of-the-world. In 2008,he was the world’s – not just

by Duke Jeyaraj

India’s – leading run-getter inthis 50 Overs an inningsformat. Talk about TestCricket. Gambhir showed uswhen India toured NewZealand earlier in 2009 thathe was up there with theworld’s best when itcame to this format of Cricket –considered to be the toughest ofthem all. He batted 10 hoursand 43 minutes, played out436 balls, to make a match-saving 137 runs in the NapierTest which in-effect proved tobe a series-winning innings! Atthe end of that historic serieshe was No.4 in the WorldRankings for Test Batsmen!Sehwag, his Delhi Team-matehad this to say about Gambhir:“He is the only opener I haveknown who is at ease in anyform of the game!”

The Bible teaches that wemust be balanced

This ’Gambhir’ quality should

be ours as well when it comes tolife. That is what the Bibleteaches. Yes, we must bebalanced people. We read, “It isgood to grasp the one and notlet go of the other. The manwho fears God will avoid allextremes!” (Eccl 7:18).

We need a balance inour doctrine. A balance inemphasis between theSovereignity of God and thefree will of Man. A balance inemphasis between the Love ofGod and the Wrath of God – tocite another example.

We need a balance in ourdisciplines. Our Spiritualdisciplines, I mean. We need topray. But we also couple prayerwith action. Think of Hannahwho not only supplicated beforeGod for a child but also wentahead and slept with herhusband, to have it, as anunforgettable illustration forthis. We need to strike abalance between beingharmless as doves and beingshrewd as snakes.

Jesus advocated Balance

The Lord Jesus advocatedbalance. This truth is found ina verse which is a Pastor’sfavorite – Mathew 23:23. HereJesus said, “Woe to you, scribesand Pharisees, hypocrites! Foryou tithe mint and dill andcumin, and have neglected theweightier matters of the law:justice and mercy andfaithfulness. These you ought tohave done, without neglectingthe others.” Jesus was drivinghome this point here: the ritualsinsides the church should bebalanced by relationships thatexhibit justice, mercy andfaithfulness outside the church!As activities that go on with-inthe church are important, soalso are the activities outside thechurch.

Do You Balance Life and Work?Do You Balance Life and Work?Do You Balance Life and Work?Do You Balance Life and Work?Do You Balance Life and Work?

Gambhir has great balance when it comes to cricketing skill.Do we must have balance when it comes to Work and Life?


Hear this, Junk-food Over-eating Generation!

Do you know the OldTestament warns us that toomuch is too bad? Take forexample, food. TheProverbs penman’s counsel inthis regard is this: “If you havefound honey, eat only enoughfor you, lest you have your fillof it and vomit it!” (Prov25:16). I found that verse to bevery interesting. Honey is thebest of natural foods available– a very healthy food. I havebeen told to switch to eatingmy dosa with honey, ratherthan sugar, by well-meaningfolks! The Bible’s counsel to ageneration that over-eats evenjunk food is that: even over-eating healthy food is bad! Toomuch of even a good thing, isbad!

The one area in which we allneed balance desperately is ourWork Life. Yes, we all need aWork-Life Balance.

Work is Important

Work is important. The Bibledoes teach us, “Whatever yourhand finds to do, do it with allyour might, for there is nowork or thought or knowledgeor wisdom in the grave, towhich you are going!” (Eccl9:10). While we are on this sideof eternity we must roll up oursleeves, get to work and give itour best shot. After we die, wecannot come back to the earthto make up for not havingworked hard. So, let’s notforget, work is important.

Family is Important

Family is important too. Paulunderlined this when he wrote,“If anyone does not provide forhis relatives, especially forhis immediate family, hehas denied the faith and is

worse than anunbeliever” (I Tim 5:8). The wordreferred to here,“need” includesmeeting theemotional needs ofour families and notjust the monetaryneeds. No onewants the tag ofbeing worse thanan unbeliever,correct? So let usspend time withour families forthat is mightyimportant.

So there youhave it – both workand life are important in ourGod’s eyes and we need tobalance both.

Too absorbed by Familythat work is forgotten!

We can make the mistakeof getting carried away withour family matters that ourwork quality suffers. In theBible, a story found in Judges19 exemplifies this. A Levitewas employed as a priest in theremote hill country ofEphraim. His concubine wasunfaithful to him. It was easyfor her to have an extra-marital affair because even herrelationship with thisLevite was an extra-maritalone – she was his concubineafter all, not his wife! When thenews came out that she wasunfaithful, she took a flightback home – to far awayBethlehem in Judah. Youwould have expected her tocome back quickly. But she didnot. The days became weeks.The weeks became months.Four months – that was howlong she stayed with her fatherhaving left her man. TheLevite could not take it anylonger. He wanted to meet with

this estranged Woman of HisLife, desperately. He traveledto Bethlehem to the run-awayconcubine’s father’s house. Forfive days he stayed there at theloving invitation of his “father-in-law”. Twice he tried to startback his journey. But theconcubine’s father stopped himtalking about bread crusts andbed rests that he needed tohave. But this man, who had ajob to do back home (He was apriest with responsibilities!)does not seem to get on with it!It was as if he was holding ontohis woman’s saree pallu andwas living in her home, havingforgotten his work that was leftundone back in his home town.Are you like that? Do youspend so much time with yourfamily that your work nevergets off its starting blocks?

Too Absorbed by Work, thatfamily is forgotten!

We can make the blunder ofspending too much time atwork, forgetting our families.Moses, perhaps, did that. Moseshad sent back his wife,Zipporah and two sons to bewith his father-in-law. Then he

The Bible tells this junk-food-overeatinggeneration that we must not over-eat even

naturally available healthy food like honey!


got so busy with his regularwork as leader for Israel, thathe never bothered to pick themback, it looks like. So one fineday, Moses’s own father-in-lawdecides to bring Moses’ sons andwife back to Moses, who wasstill busy with work. Mosesreminds us that we shouldnot go gaga about work in away that we tell ourfamilies, “Go! Go!”

The story of two Johns

John Wesley was very good athis work – that of being arevival preacher. He spentnight and day in travel toanswer his life’s calling. In theprocess he neglected his wifeand children to thepoint that his wife becamehysterical and violent. His wifedied a lonely death. In thename of doing God’s Work,John Wesley did not balancefamily and life, which was sad.

Today’s youth would connectmore with what happened toanother John – John Mayer.The singer who is dating (ordated – you never knowin this lightning quick Movie-World romantic equations)FRIENDS star JenniferAniston. The reason why theirrelationship ran into troublewas that he was spending toomuch time on themicroblogging website,Twitter. Here is whatsupposedly happened accordingto one website: John suddenlystopped calling her orreturning her emails and whenshe would finally catch up withhim, he’d say, “I’ve been sobusy with work. I’m sorry Ihaven’t had the time to callyou back!” When Jen heardthis, she fumed. There he was,telling her he didn’t have timefor her and yet his page wasfilled with Twitterupdates. Every few hours,

sometimes minutes, he’dupdate with some stupid line.And in her mind, she was like,He has time for all thisTwittering, but he can’t send mea text, an email, make a call? Hedidn’t even deny it. He knewhe was avoiding her. So whenshe called him on it and endedthings, he just said “OK.”

Porn Widows?

If you give all your time for thelaptop, working on it andentertaining yourself, withoutgiving ample time or attentionto the wife who would love to bein your lap, your storycould turn out sad, like thesetwo Johns! So beware!Husbands can convert theirwives into “Porn Widows”, Dr.Sudhakar Krishnamurtiwarns. They do that bychatting with strangers on theInternet with a morphedpicture of Marilyn Monroe orMallika Sherawat or some sexsymbol, while they have acompletely asexualrelationship with their wife….(Outlook, 26 January 2009).

But, guess what, it is possible to

have Work –Life Balance.The Times ofIndia, April 25,2009 had thisstory: BeyonceEnamoured ByThe Way USFirst LadyBalances HerLife, Says She isHer Hero.

Some BibleCharacters likethe US FirstLady also seemto have tostruck the finebalancebetweenthe two – Workand Life. Let’sclose-in on their

lives:

Prophet Ezekiel’s Work LifeBalance!

Here was a prophet who wasexceptional at his work. Howhard he worked incommunicating what Godwanted to communicate withhis people is obvious when weread what he penned in Ezekiel23. In this chapter, hecompares the story of Israeland Judah to that of twosisters. One followed the otherinto adultery of the worst sort.Likewise, the nation Judahfollowed Israel intoadultery. The literary stylethat Ezekiel uses in thispassage is pulse-racing. I guess,it was time-consuming forProphet Ezekiel to createsomething like this. He musthave taken time to put whatGod gave him to communicatein a creative and captivatingway. In short, he was a prophetwho was good at his work. Notonly that. He was a prophetwho had a great relationshipwith his wife. How do I knowthat? Do you know, how he

Jennifer Aniston’s relationship with her man brokedown because he was glued to Twitter.com!


called hiswife? Iimagine,he calledher,“Delightof MyEyes!”(Ezek24:16). Thinkof it. Thegreatprophetcallingout to his

wife who was in the kitchen,“Delight of My Eyes, a cup ofcoffee for me, please!” “Delightof My Eyes, I want to tell you,you are looking gorgeoustoday!” etc etc. The nicknamethat Ezekiel chose for his wifesuggests that he wanted her tobe in his view always so that hecould admire her character,see her beauty, hear her talk!Oh, how many husbands wantto work far, far from thepresence of their wives,because they think they arenothing but an irritatinginterference and distressingdisturbance for the work theydo! But it looks like ProphetEzekiel did not see things thatway! God had to specificallytell him not to mourn for hiswife. God saw how much heloved his wife and would missher when she was dead andgone. And so He gave thisspecific instruction! Here was aman who was madly in lovewith his life partner long afterthe early days of marriage!Here was a man who showsthat work-life balance can beachieved!

Caleb’s Work Life Balance!

Caleb is another chap whoseemed to have this elusivebalance. Like Ezekiel, he wasgood at the job God called himto do: to be a spy who visitedthe land of Canaan. He came

back from that God-given workand gave a speech that tells usthat he was a man who did hiswork differently – daringlydifferent to be precise. Whileothers were very negative intheir reporting, Caleb dons therole of a Pep Talk Prince witheffortless ease. He says, “Let usgo at once and occupy it (theLand of Canaan), for we areable to overcome it!” (Num13:30). A guy who waspositively good at his work, nodoubt! What about his familylife? Going by what we read inJudges 1, it does look like hisfamily life was rocking – it wasnot on the rocks! He gave hisdaughter what she wanted(Jud 1:11-15), He gave her theupper springs and lowersprings. This act of Caleb ringsthis truth into our mind: herewas a man who doted on hisdaughter. Caleb, it looks like,had a decent work-life balance.

Jesus’ Work Life Balance!

Let’s talk about Jesus in thisregard. Jesus gave His all forthe work His father called Himto do. He said, “As long as it isday, I must do the work of Himwho sent me. For night iscoming where no man canwork” (John 9:4). Can yousense, how seriously Jesus tookthe task given to him? Do Ihave to remind you that thesame Jesus spent quality timewith his earthly familymembers? After working hisfirst miracle in Cana, he wenthome to see his mother andbrothers and stayed with themfor a few days (John 2:12).When his own family calledhim “mad” (Mk 3:20) it wasthen that Jesus talked aboutnew members of his family –they became his familymembers by faith (Math12:46-50). Jesus met with his“new” family regularly. Thatis why Judas knew exactly

where Jesus would be on thatThursday night! Even from theCross, Jesus took care of hismother, by arranging for asubstitute son for her (John 1925-27). He wasn’t onlyconcerned about the “work” hewas doing on the Cross – that ofsaving the world, alone. Hewas also concerned about thelone member of his fleshlyfamily – his mother! Jesusprayed to the Father as well asplayed with the kids! What acool combination!

When I was in the Call centreindustry, I used to stay back inthe office for some time in theearly morning after I loggedout. I would read the Bibleonline in the net-connectedcomputer systems. And Iwould also write articles forthe magazine, The Days Of YourYouth, wrapping Bible Trutharound contemporary events.Yes, by God’s sheer Grace, Iworked hard. I also tried tobalance things by spendingtime with my wife andchildren. I recall taking myson, Dale Nathan to a watertheme park in Hyderabad, oneday. It was raining heavilythat day! Playing in the waterwith him – natural water fromabove and stored water frombelow was exhilarating. Andthis act was as God-pleasing asstaying back in the office towrite articles!

How does One strike thiselusive Work Life balance?

Here are some practical tips:

DELEGATION

Moses was told by his father inlaw to delegate his taxing andtime-taking work load to ablemen (Exodus 18). And thispractical suggestion came afterhe dropped back Moses’s wifeand kids with Moses after they

Beyonce said that shewas a big fan of the

“balanced” MichelleObama.


had stayed in his home for awhile. The lesson is clear: ifyou delegate work, you willhave time for your family.

I do say “no” to preachingassignments in an attempt tospend more time with myfamily now and then. Andwhen I do that, I see things thisway: When I say “No” to apreaching assignment,someone else would get invited– thereby the work ofpreaching God’s Word getautomatically delegated!Doingthat was not only smart butalso scriptural.

DEVOTION

We must take stock of our livesto see if we are devoting timefor the fulfillment of the fivereasons why God createdmarriage which is MeaningfulConversations (Elkanah –Hannah), Magical Climax (TheSong of Songs couple), Makingof Children (Gideon), Mouldingof Character (Moses –Zipporah) and Merged Christ-Reflection (Aquila andPriscilla). We may be weak incertain areas. We must takeextra time out to make sure wedo justice to that God-intendedpurpose for marriage.

”IT and BPO sectors top the listof marriage breakingprofessions, according to thesurvey, followed by medicine,law and accounting. A recentstudy in Bangalore showedthat long hours in theboardrooms was ‘wreckinghavoc in bedrooms’. Manytechie women engaged in sexonce in 4 to 6 months,leading to many cases ofunconsummated!” (The Week,March 11, 2007). Such abehavior displeases God! TheBible teaches that sexwithin marriage should beenjoyed – not merely endured

for the sake of making children(Proverbs 5:18-20).

Google Inc. Vice-President forAsia-Pacific and Latin AmericaOperations, speaking in theIndia Today Conclave 2007,Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, said,“You have to consciouslyswitch off your blackberry,turn off your computer and notread your email. You should goon a vacation with your familyand take a break, or else, it iscoming to you all the time!”(India Today, April 9, 2007),Shall we say, “Amen!” to hervery biblical suggestion!

Max Lucado, the famousAmerican author talks abouthow he gave a preachingassignment a miss to be in hisdaughter’s school function inone of his books, Lucado alsohumorously writes that hefound out that the meeting hewas supposed to preach in,went on well, and that theorganizers did not miss him!

DISCIPLINE

The efforts for Work – Lifebalance must be on-going. Itshould not be done once in ablue moon. I learnt this fromGod himself. God called Israel,his treasured possession whenshe first came out fromEgyptian bondage in Exodus19:5. When she was stillwandering in the wilderness,

God calledher again bythat title(Deut 7:6;14:2; 26:18).Some of thePsalms werecompiledduring theexile – thetime thepeople ofSouth Israelspent in

Babylon as a punishment andfor pruning. At that time, Godonce again calls Israel, his wife,my treasured possession! (Psa135:4). Finally, in the Post-Exilic period, God once againcalls his wife by that title (Mal3:17). You see God repeatedlyexpressed his love for His Wifetime and again down throughthe centuries, thorough outhistory. We too should bedisciplined in expressing lovefor our family members.Saying, “I love you!” to ourfamily should be a never-ending process. I write poems,make hand-made cardsexpressing my love andappreciation for my wife,every now and then. It was notgoing to be enough that I toldher that I love her once upon atime, long back to keep ourmarriage going! She neededconstant reminders andreassurances of my love forher! When I was working inHSBC as Collections Executive,I wrote this one line poem forher – a poem that was flashedall over my department: Evan,you were changing diapersthere, while I collected dollarshere! I love you!

Raising up early or staying uplate after you finish night shiftis one way to create some extratime for devotions. Jesus didthat. When “everyone waslooking for him” he woke upearly and prayed (Mark 1:35-

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, a VP with Google, made aninteresting statement about Work Life Balance

that agreed with the Bible!


37). We must be disciplined inreading the Bible everyday forthe Bible itself tells us that wemust read the Bible everyday(Deut 17:18-20).

DRASTIC CHANGE

As personal and professionalcommitments clashed, KavyaRaman, mother of a one-year-old, quit her high-profile jobin an MNC. She is willing tosettle for a less paying jobwhich means less stress andample free time! – so I readfrom The Week, March 11,2007. Kavya had to take adrastic step to strike the Work-Life Balance!

Kavya was unconsciouslyfollowing a Jesus-taughtprinciple: take drastic steps toavoid a dangerous destination!(Math 18:8-9).

We must take such drasticsteps as the Holy Spirit leads usto. We must take desperatemeasures to spend time withour children: 82 % of teenswish to talk about themselves,but 76% parents discuss onlycareer issues, reports IndiaToday, April 28, 2008. Thisstatistic was part of an articlewhich explained why therewere so many teen suicides inIndia. If both parents areworking in Hi-profile, time-consuming jobs, it is suggestedthat one of the parents quit thejob so that he/she would be ableto spend time with the childrenand rear them in the fear of theLord. This step may seemdrastic and the world maythink it is plain crazy but itcould be the difference betweenyou having your child happyand living or having yourchild sad and dead!

DELIGHT

The young unmarried woman

in the book of Song of Songssaid, “Do not gaze at mebecause I am dark, I am dark,because the sun has lookedupon me. My mother’s sonswere angry with me; theymade me the keeper of theVineyards, but my ownvineyard I have not kept!” (SS1:6). The point this young ladyis making is this: I worked atthe cost of my health! Sheworked in the Vineyard in thehot sun. The result was thather skin became tanned.

We must take care that we donot spoil our health even as wework. Learn to enjoy life in away that pleases God, whogives us everything for ourenjoyment. Delight yourselfdoing things that will improveyour health.

For example, you must getsufficient sleep. People whoslept four hours or less pernight were 73% more likely tobe obese than those who sleptbetween 7 to 9 hours a night.This was revealed in a studycarried out by ColumbiaUniversity in the US (DeccanChronicle, 7 December2006). Less than 6 hours ofshut eyes every night coulddouble the chances ofdeveloping acondition linked toheart disease. Lack ofsleep raises riskof high cholesterol,high blood pressure,a large waistmeasurement, andproblems controllingblood sugar, says astudy by Universityof Pittsburg School ofMedicine. This studywas based on a doorto door survey of87,000 US Adultsfrom 2004-2006(Deccan Chronicle, 3May 2008).

Walk. Trek. Cook. Stich. Enjoysin-free fun! My wife and Ienjoy watching crickettogether! After Indiasuccessfully chased 325 runs inthe Natwest Trophy Final inthe Lord’s Cricket Ground inJuly 2002,.Saurav Gangulyjumped on the top ofMohammed Kaif, India’s herothat night along with YuvrajSingh; My wife and I werejumping on each other too! Ialso recall how I tapped thefloor of our home, in deriliousjoy, along with my son afterSreesanth took the catchoffered by Misbah in the 2007Twenty20 Cup Final!

May I have a word or twowith those who are single?

Do not even consider marryingan unbeliever. Think ofSolomon’s fate. The one youtake to bed, will definitelyinfluence your head. You mustmarry a young person whosecommitment to the Lord is asfeverish as yours. Marriage, forthe man and his wife, is a life-long walk together in thejourney called life, is it not?Can two walk together unlessthey are agreed, asks Amos(Amos 3:3)?

Ezekiel, Caleb and Jesus excelled inWork-Life Balance, it looks like.


Do not postpone marriage justbecause you have a good job(unless you know that you arecalled to be single, which againmeans that you will not wantto flirt!). The arrogant attitudeof Isaiah 3:16 will land you inthe sad condition of Isaiah 4:1where one once-arrogantwoman begs 7 men to marryher!

Billy Graham’s Regret

Do you know that not spendingmore time with his family andnot balancing Work and Lifeadequately is the regret of aman as great as Billy Graham– the man whom God has usedto announce the Gospel to themaximum number of peopleever in all of Church history.This is how he talks about it inhis autobiography, JUST AS I

AM: Although I have much tobe grateful for as I look back

over my life, I also have manyregrets. I have failed manytimes, and I would do thingsdifferently. For one thing, Iwould speak less and studymore, and I would spend moretime with my family. When welook back over the schedules I

21 required off the last over...21 required off the last over...21 required off the last over...21 required off the last over...21 required off the last over...Duke Jeyaraj’s Poem on the last over of the IPL T20

game between Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders on 16 May, 2009

The score-board said, twenty one required off the last over,The Game between the Deccan Chargers and the Knight Riders was far from over,With only three men in the ring, Mashrafe’s first ball - was called a “No!”Rohit Sharma smashed it for a four - to hear the Chargers’ cheering, “Go Rohit! Go!”

16 runs off 6 balls, was the new equation,In Hyderabadi homes like mine, the air was charged with so much tension!However, the sleepy-eyed, silken-touch Rohit Sharma stayed cool as a cucumber,He suddenly exploded and tonked the 3rd ball - a juicy full toss - for a huge sixer!

It was then the $600,000 worth Mortaza bowled a nervous wide,At that point, he (and his captain McCullum) wished they had some place to hide,With 7 off 3 balls, now required, Rohit hit the ball down the ground and set out for a run,Venugopal’s high velocity sprint converted that one into two - boy, for him, it was fun!

5 needed off 2 balls - that was the challenging task now,When Rohit stylishly pierced the infield to clobber a four, the Chargers’ fans roared, “Wow!”1 off 1 ball - that is what the Chargers had to now get,This was surely a goose-bumps-giving, game, you won’t, in a hurry, forget,

When Rohit Sharma sent the last ball over the square leg,It was celebration time for the Chargers - everyone was shaking a leg!While it’s true, it was Rohit who, for the Chargers, saved the Day,It is also true that it is Jesus, who is the Life, the Truth and the Way!

Why bring Jesus into the final over of Twenty20 game, you may well ask,Here is why - While the Twenty20 excitement can fade behind our life mask,The excitement, the peace, the life purpose, that Jesus alone offers, does last,And I could not just wait to tell you this great news - so I made this poem up fast!

kept thirty or forty years ago, Iam staggered by all the thingswe did and the engagementswe kept. Sometimes we flittedfrom one part of the country toanother, even from onecontinent to another, in thecourse of only a few days. Wereall those engagementsnecessary? Was I discerning asI might have been about whichones to take and which to turndown?: I doubt it. Everyday that I was absent from myfamily is gone forever.Although much of that travelwas necessary, some of it wasnot.

Let us, by the help of the God,make the necessary changesright now to strike this elusivebalance between Work andLife!

God expressed hislove for his Spiritual Wife,

Israel, time and again!

Duke Jeyaraj, is a full time travelling evangelist and essayist who lives in Hyderabad with his wife, Evan, andchildren, Dale (5) and Datasha (1).


You cannot have a name more‘Christian’ than the nameChristiano, can you? Well thatis almost the first name ofPortugal’s star footballer,Christiano Ronaldo.Unfortunately, what you readabout him in the newspapershardly has anything‘Christian’ about it.Here is what one paper saidabout this FootballPlaymaker’s playboy image:Ronaldo’s mother DoloresAveiro has blasted claimsstating that he is a womanizer…However, only recentlyRonaldo, 24, was spotted withBrazilian actress Karina Bacchi,32, whom he dated in summerof 2007. The soccer star hasalso dated Spanish modelNereida Gallardo after he mether in Majorca, and was alsolinked to Portuguese TV girlMerche and Brazilian gyminstructor called Gabi (TheTimes of India, Hyderabad,March 11, 2009).

Looks like Christiano isactually declaring to theworld, through his lifestyle -“Me, a Christian?! No way!”

Do you go by the name‘Christian’? What does thatword mean? To answer thatquestion we must turn to theBible – the book which usedthat word first. In the Bible,the word ‘Christian’ is usedthree times. When we studythose three instances we get tosee three characteristics thatcannot be separated from anytrue ‘Christian’ - a biblicalChristian.

ConvertedLet’s race to passage numberone: Paul stands before KingAgrippa as a prisoner. Hiscrime – preaching Jesus. Paulgives Agrippa a blow by blowaccount of his conversionexperience: the ride on the road

to Damascus… his passion topersecute followers of Jesus…the blinding light fromheaven… the voice that said, “Iam Jesus whom you arepersecuting!”…. his U-turn…his repentance…etc etc.

After having shared his terrifictestimony Paul did not stop. Hedid not shut up. He went on.He got a touch personal withKing Agrippa. He posed apersonal question to him: “KingAgrippa, do you believe theprophets? I know that youbelieve!” You see, Paul was notjust trying to save himselffrom further imprisonment bysharing his testimony – he

wanted to save King Agrippafrom going to hell too! Afterthis abrupt and daringinvasion of his private space byPaul, King Agrippa said, “In ashort time, would you persuademe to be a Christian?” (Acts26:28). There you bump intothe word we are trying tounderstand the meaning of –the word ‘Christian’. Ask KingAgrippa what he meant whenhe used the word ‘Christian’.This would be his answer: “Tobe a Christian for me is to besomeone like Paul – to besomeone with a CONVERSIONexperience!”

Yes, the word Conversion and

Christian-No Ronaldo?Christian-No Ronaldo?Christian-No Ronaldo?Christian-No Ronaldo?Christian-No Ronaldo?(Duke Jeyaraj on who a Biblical Christian is)


Christian’ go together. ABiblical Christian will havethe conversion experience.Absolutely. Do you callyourself a ‘Christian’ withoutan experience of conversion?! Ifso – forgive me for being blunt– you simply are not aChristian. You are justpretending to be one! You don’thave to hire a horse and ride onthe road to Damascus to makethis experience your own.Right now, I invite you to kneeldown by your bedside with arepentant heart and ask Jesusto forgive you and come intoyour heart and life. If you havedone that, you too areconverted! You too are aChristian!

CommittedLet’s talk about yet anothertime the Bible used the word‘Christian’: The setting now isthe city of Antioch. A newpreacher is sent to this churchfrom the church in Jerusalem– the headquarters. His name?Barnabas. What was hismessage? “Remain faithful tothe Lord!” In other words, hewas trying to help believersgraduate from merely being abeliever into a disciple. Onebeliever he searched out anddiscipled was Paul. For one full

year, Barnabas preachedmessages that typified what hisname meant: encourager. Hepreached messages thatencouraged wobbly believers tobecome solid disciples. Whocould be called Jesus’ disciples?Those who remain faithful toHim – no matter what the costis or how challenging thecondition is. Such COMMITTEDfolks were nicknamedChristians by the folks inAntioch (Rom 11:26)! Are youthe sort that will desert Jesusat the slightest provocation –such as in times of a tantalizingtemptation or perturbingpersecution? Then you can’t becalled a Christian according tothe Bible. Christians,according to the Bible, arethose who stay committedto Christ, even when thegoing gets tough!

CelebratingThis aspect of being a Christianwas so important that anotherBible writer also talks about it.Yes, Peter also broughttogether these two words:commitment and Christian. Hedid by writing his first letterthus: “Let none of you suffer asa murderer or a thief or anevildoer or as a meddler. Yet if

anyone suffers as a Christian,let him not be ashamed, but lethim glorify God in that name!”(I Pet 4:15, 16). If you havecarefully read those two versesyou will grasp that Peter’sunderstanding of the word,‘Christian’, goes one stepfurther than that of Luke – theauthor of the book of Acts, thesource of our first tworeferences for word, ‘Christian’,in the Bible. Here is how: aChristian is some one whoCELEBRATES God even whilesuffering because he staysstubbornly COMMITTED toChrist! Yes – a BiblicalChristian is someone whoglorifies God even when thegoing gets rough and tough!Are you that sort of Christian?Are you a complainingChristian or a celebratingChristian?!

Stop. Think. Introspect. Lookinwards. Are you a Christianmerely by name? I pray thatafter you have read this piece,your understanding of theword ‘Christian’ is never thesame! Would you surrenderyour life to Christ so that Hewill change you into a BiblicalChristian? Would you do that,right now?!

A Message for YourA Message for YourA Message for YourA Message for YourA Message for Your

Catholic FriendCatholic FriendCatholic FriendCatholic FriendCatholic Friend

Duke Jeyaraj’s compassionateyet uncompromising messageon where the Historic RomanCatholic faith deviates fromthe Bible titled, “WrongCatholics Beliefs Bashed Up ByThe Bible”, is available alongwith other very interestingmessages such as “What theBible teaches about Sex”, atwww.duke.mypodcast.com.You can download these audiomessage onto your mobile or I-pod .

Sunday Evening BibleSunday Evening BibleSunday Evening BibleSunday Evening BibleSunday Evening Bible

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Snapshots from the Duke-led BibleStudy in the Home of Daniel and

Magdalene in Hyderabad.


The newspaper headline was painful to read.It went this way: “Indian Techie kills five ofhis kin, turns gun on himself in US” (TheTimes of India, Hyderabad edition, 1 April2009). Here are dreadful details of that gorystory: He had it all - a dream job in the US. Ajob with a great company – Yahoo to beprecise. A decenthouse in an upscaleSanta Clara locality. Apretty wife. Two cutekids - an 11-year oldboy and 4-year oldgirl. Financial troublewas far away despitethe financialdownturn. YetRaghavan Devarajan,the 43 year old techiewe are talking aboutwas apparentlymissing something inhis life – inner peace.He felt so empty onthe inside that he feltcompelled to emptybullets from his .45semiautomatichandgun on his twoschool-going childrenand three relativeswho stayed with him till they no longer werebreathing. Yes – he killed them brutally. Hiswife, in her mid-thirties barely escaped withmultiple gunshot wounds. He was found onthe home’s top floor, dead from a self-inflicted wound. Police Lt. Phil Cooke, whoinspected the crime scene specifically, saidthere was no reason to believe that thisYahoo engineer was in the danger of losinghis job (www.news.yahoo.com accessed on19 April 2009).

You know what – there is a connectionbetween you and this suicide-committingYahoo engineer. Yes, there is a link. Yes,

You And This Yahoo EngineerYou And This Yahoo EngineerYou And This Yahoo EngineerYou And This Yahoo EngineerYou And This Yahoo EngineerDuke Jeyaraj

there are some striking similarities betweenyou and this bloke. Hang on and I will explainthat.

What would you make of this sort of suicide –a suicide by a man who apparently lackednothing in life? It is this: Man’s needs go

beyond the physicalworld. You can havethe best of food,clothing and shelter –yet you can be soempty and miserable.You have been there –haven’t you? When youare about to switch offyour bedroom light andsleep off, somequestions simply don’tswitch off. I am talkingabout questions like,“Who am I? What is thepurpose of my life?Where am I going? Whatis my destiny?”

Jesus was spot on whenHe said, “Man shall notlive by bread alone, butby every word thatproceeds from the

mouth of God!” Jesus’ point was this: youneed bread to satisfy physical hunger withinand you need the Bible (which is God’s Word)to satisfy your spiritual hunger.

Not possessionsJesus also stated, “One’s life does not consistin the abundance of his possessions” (Luke12:15). Life does not become meaningfulwhen you have the latest gadgets to captivateyou, and a stout salary to feed you - that wasJesus’ assertion here. What makes lifemeaningful is a living relationship with theOne who is Life. I am talking about Jesus here.What makes life purposeful is a living

When a Yahoo-employed engineercommitted suicide recently, that tragic event raised several life questions….


relationship with the Onewho gave His life for you. Iam talking about Jesus here.Nothing else will fill your lifewith sense. Your possessionscannot give your lifemeaning. Ask Judas hewould tell you. Judas, who?The Judas who was Jesus’disciple. We read in the Bibleabout how this money-lovingguy killed himself (Mathew27).

Not professionYour profession cannot fillyour life with meaning. AskAhitophel he will tell you.Ahithophel who? TheAhithophel in the Bible. Thiscounselor to the kings endedhis life on his own when hefound that he was a failure in

his profession and hiscounsel was notlistened to (II Samuel17).

Not positionYour position cannotfill your life withmeaning. Ask Saul hewould tell you. Saul,who? The Saul in theBible. This young manwho ascended to theposition of the firstever king of Israel onlyto fall on his sword toend his life (I Samuel31).

If you are looking in thedirection of your profession,position and possessions tofind meaning in life, you arelooking in the wrongdirection. Having found outthat these do not givemeaning to life, you too haveasked yourself, “What is thepoint of living, then? I mightas well die!” (You may notadmit this before people, butdeep down, you know, this istrue).

Jumping from the fryingpan to the burningfurnaceBut make no mistake - suicideis no solution to your life’slack of purpose and meaning.It is like jumping from the

You can’t really kill yourself.The real you, your soul , will go on

living forever, either in heaven or hell!

frying pan to the burningfurnace. The Bible teachesthose who commit suicidewill have to live forever inthe lake of burning fire andsulfur called “Hell” throughthe example of Judas. He wasdoomed to hell, Jesus told usin no uncertain terms. And asa matter of fact, you cannotkill yourself. The real you –which is the soul – will go onliving forever. What you dowith Jesus will decide whereyour soul will live – eternalheaven or eternal hell.

Embrace Life, EmbraceJesusAre you toying with the ideaof suicide? Commit your lifewith the only one who endedHis life on His own termswithout having to resort tosuicide – Jesus. He was theonly one in this planet whobowed His head and thendied – He knew exactly whenHe would die. After all, He isGod in human flesh. Andwhen you do that, all yoursuicidal tendencies would flyaway. You will begin to trulyenjoy life with Jesus whocame to give you life to thefull (John 10:10). Why shouldyou wait even one nano-second to do that?!

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When Kaka Quoted The BibleWhen Kaka Quoted The BibleWhen Kaka Quoted The BibleWhen Kaka Quoted The BibleWhen Kaka Quoted The BibleDuke Jeyaraj

I was flipping through a stack of old newspapers when I bumped into this piece about Brazilianmidfielder Kaka: After he received his third accolade of the year, the FIFA’s World Player of theYear award from the legendary Pele in Zurichin December 2007 (first two accolades wereEuropean football’s Golden Ball winner andWorld Soccer magazine’s player of the yearaward) – he said this in his acceptance speech:“Tonight is a really special night for me. When Iwas young, I dreamed of becoming aprofessional player for Sao Paulo and playingone game for the national team. But the Biblesays that God is more than what we can thinkor imagine, and He will give more, and this iswhat happened in my life (tonight)!” (TheHindu, Hyderabad Edition, December 19,2007).

When I read that I had to say “Wow!” Here is abeliever who wasn’t shy to acknowledge his Godbefore a huge audience! Here was a young manwho wasn’t shy to talk about Jesus and the Biblebefore his adoring fans! Here was a bloke whobroke the silence and told the teeming millionswho watched him as to why he won awardsafter awards – because of the enabling grace ofhis God. Here was a person who followed Psalm40:9 to the letter: I have told the glad news ofdeliverance in the great congregation! Here wasa man who followed the example of testimony-freak Paul - in not missing an opportunity toshare his testimony or give glory to God (Acts22, 24, 26).

What about you? Were you tight-lipped aboutyour relationship with Jesus after you got that promotion in your corporate office? Did youpretend to have a laddoo in your mouth after you won the “Employee of the Year” award in yourcompany? Open your mouth! Talk. Talk about how the sheer grace of the Lord Jesus hauled you tothe heights you would have never gotten to! Don’t make the mistake of thinking, “I did it by mysmartness, sweat and skill!” Rubbish! God foresaw this - your foolish talk, when He wrote: “It wasnot because you were more in number (more talented or more skillful or more hardworking) thatthe LORD set his love on you and chose you (to win that accolade or award or promotion in youroffice). Instead don’t forget, you were the least (the least talented or least skilled or the most lazy)of all peoples (among your peer-group) (Duet 7:7).

Want Old Issues of This Magazine?Want Old Issues of This Magazine?Want Old Issues of This Magazine?Want Old Issues of This Magazine?Want Old Issues of This Magazine?When you were reading this magazine this question probably popped up in your mind: Hey, thismag is very interesting. I notice that is issue no. 17 of this mag. How I wish I had read each andevery issue of this magazine! Your wish need not remain a wish, anymore! Write to us using theinfo on page two and we will be happy to send you all the magazines, from issue no. 1 to issue no.17. Price – Rs.250 (Including forwarding charge).

Kaka was not afraid to talk about Jesus his Lord whenthe opportunity presented itself!


I am an ardent reader of TheSportstar magazine. I recallthat when I was young, mydad used to bring home thismag, following his preachingtrips. I devoured them. But oflate, more than the mag itself,the advertisement for itcatches my eye. These verycreative ads are featured in TheHindu newspaper week afterweek. Let me talk about onesuch advertisement for anissue of The Sportstar, issuedated January 17, 2009,featuring Roger Federer andPete Sampras with the caption,“14 all?” The ad lines went thisw a y :

13 Grand Slam singles titles.Appearances in 10 consecutiveGrand Slam singles finals and 18consecutive Grand Slam singlessemifinals. The only player intennis history to have won 5consecutive Grand Slam titles attwo separate events –Wimbledon (2003 – 2007) andUS Open (2004-2008). This isRoger Federer, the Swiss Alps oftennis. Can he win the AustralianOpen and tie with Sampras’s 14titles? If anyone can, he can. Butlife is not always a box of hiscountry-made chocolates.Federer has, in Nadal, Murrayand Djokovic, young lions totame (The Hindu, VijayawadaEdition, January 17, 2009).

When I read that, a Bible truthnot stressed that muchnowadays came flooding in. Iam referring to the teaching inthe Bible: “Life is not always abox of Swiss chocolates!” Well,you will not read that verysame sentence in the Bible. But– guess what – you will readverse after verse that teachesyou the very same lesson. You

Box of Swiss Chocolates?Box of Swiss Chocolates?Box of Swiss Chocolates?Box of Swiss Chocolates?Box of Swiss Chocolates?Duke Jeyaraj

will meet Bible characters –scores of them - who will put ahand over shoulder and parrotto you the very same truth.

Paul wrote to the Philippianchurch this: “It has beengranted to you that for the sakeof Christ you should not onlybelieve in him but also sufferfor his sake…” He was tellingthem here that the life with

Christ isn’t always a box ofSwiss chocolates! Ask Joseph,the Number 11 batsmen in theCricket Team of a family Jacobraised. He would tell you thesame. He was thrown in a pitfor narrating a dream that Godgave him. He was thrown in aprison for running away froma “dream” temptation anormal red-blooded man wouldgo cart-wheeling to yield to.Yes, for Joseph “life was notalways a box of Swisschocolates”. You can becocksure that it will not be thatway for you as well. Eventhough our life will not be aspleasurable to live as a box ofSwiss chocolates is to consume,we can be sure of His presencewith us all the time (John16:33) .

The three enemies...Let’s get back to the

advertisement I was talkingabout. “Federer has, in Nadal,Murray and Djokovic, younglions to tame,” we read there.That makes me recall thereason why our lives will notalways be a box of Swisschocolates. It is because we willhave “enemies” who are hell-bent to play spoilsport. TheBible talks about theseenemies.

Satan is undoubtedly one suchenemy. One such adversary.He is like a “roaring lion” onthe lookout for lambs in Jesus’fold to devour (I Pet 5:8).

The sinful nature within us isour second enemy. In Romans7, Paul talked at length aboutthis enemy. Paul talked abouthow the sinful nature inside ofhim motivated him to sin veryeloquently here: For I do not dothe good I want, but the evil Ido not want is what I keep ondoing (Verse 19).

The surroundings thatinfluence you the wrong way isthe third enemy you wouldbump into. Though it was hisgood old buddy Peter who wastrying to coax and cajole Jesusin order to prevent Him fromtaking the Cross-route, Jesussaw that as a blatant attack ofthe enemy – the Devil. Fromthat incident you learn thatyour enemies could be yourwell-meaning family andfriends who cooperate with theDevil to ensure that you derailfrom the Jesus Narrow Way.

But we can surely tame ourspiritual enemies by the Blood,the Bible, and the bond ofbrotherhood.

Life, we know, is not a box ofSwiss chocolates.


Two brothers were in the middle. India was in amuddle. India was losing that game of Cricket.They needed an out of the world performancefrom the Pathan brothers – Yousuf and Irfan –to beat Sri Lanka in that one-off T20 game onFebruary 10, 2009 at Colombo. It was firstYousuf’s turn to turn on the heat on the Lankanbowlers. He hoisted the Lankan bowlers for sixesafter six.When he sawhis brothergo berserkIrfan wasn’ttoo farbehind. Hetoo startedthrashingthe Lankanbowlers withimpunity.And in thelast over, thePathanbrothersstole a nerve-wrackingwin for Indiain thatelectrifyingT20 game.“Chasing astiff target of172, Irfan (33 not out) and Yusuf (22 not out)scored 59 runs from 25 balls in the tense finalmoments to steer India home in a pulsating flood-lit contest at the Premadasa Stadium”, reportedone website.

There was an unmistakable camaraderie thatwas evident between the two brothers whenthey put up this match-winning partnership inlightning quick-time. They hugged each othertight and celebrated!

What I saw in that gripping game reminded meof a Bible verse found in the book of Proverbs:“There is a friend closer than a brother!” (Prov18:24) Did you know that every book of theBible talks about Jesus at least in shadow, if notin substance? The book of Proverbs is nodifferent. The title of “a friend closer than abrother” best fits with Jesus.

Pathan Brothers and Proverbs’ VersePathan Brothers and Proverbs’ VersePathan Brothers and Proverbs’ VersePathan Brothers and Proverbs’ VersePathan Brothers and Proverbs’ VerseDuke Jeyaraj

Let me explain: Though he was God Eternal,Jesus deliberately got close with humans duringhis earthly journey. In Lazarus, he had a buddy.He addressed him as friend (John 11:11). WhenLazarus suddenly died, his sisters Martha andMary were sobbing not knowing that Jesuswould raise him from the dead. Jesus, when he

reachedthe sceneafter fourdays alsowept(John11:35)!“Jesuswept” istheshortestBibleverse. Butit is a longand loudstatementthat tellsus howmuchJesusloves us,humans.Isn’t thatastounding?Jesus

knew He would raise Lazarus up from the deadin a few minutes. Yet He wept. That day, Jesus’handkerchief got wet, you bet! Jesus by thatgesture showed that He was much closer toLazarus than his sisters were. Here was a friendcloser than his own sisters for Lazarus!

How close is Jesus to you? Do you tell Him,“Jesus, don’t come too close to me. You won’t likethe thick friends I keep, the books I read, themovies and TV shows I watch, the raunchysongs I listen to on my Ipod?”

A daily, living, deep relationship with Jesuswould give you unalloyed joy – something thatno other thing or relationship can give you.Would you run into the one who wants to sweepyou into His arms with arms open wide? Wouldyou stick close to this “Friend who sticks closerthan a brother” who, for you, on the cross, died?

The Pathan brothers snatched India a thrilling win in their one-off T20 gameagainst Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka reminding me of a crucial Bible Verse.


Throwing shoes at top notchpoliticians has arrived in a bigway. Yes, we are in the midst of ashoe-throwing spree. An Iraqijournalist threw a shoe at GeorgeBush during the course of his finaldays as the US President. A Sikhjournalist threw a shoe at IndianHome minister (at the point ofwriting) P. Chidambaram. Aslipper was lobbed by a formerBJP District President at BJP’sPrime Ministerial Candidate L.K.Advani during an electionmeeting in Katni, MadhyaPradesh. The intention of theseshoe-throwers is not hard toimagine: it is to cause emotionaldamage to the psyche of thesepoliticians. No – they could notcall these assassination attempts.You cannot kill people by throwing shoes atthem – can you? But trust me – the concernedperson would feel humiliated, if you did that.

Pre-planned sin - is like a shoe in the face!Recall the last 12 hours of Jesus’ earthly life.Those final hours as He was lead to be crucifiedon that tree. Different tools of torture were usedon our Teacher. Several things were done tohurt him physically. The scourging. Theslapping. The spine twisting and crowning. Thespiking. The spearing. But there was one thingwantonly done to hurt Jesus emotionally. I amreferring to Jesus being spat upon, twice thoselast 12 hours. A ball of saliva hitting you onyour face won’t hurt physically the same way aball of iron out of a gun would. But the paincaused – I am referring to the emotional painhere – is no less. Re-read the story of the last 12hours of Jesus’ earthly life. You will not findthat Jesus requested that the spit on His facefrom the mouth of humans He created to bewiped instantly. You will never get to read thatthe Man who used His spit to heal people duringHis earthly ministry never asked that His facebe cleaned real quick when He was subject tothe psyche damaging spitting. Why? Just as Hetook upon himself our sins, voluntarily, He tookupon Himself our spit too. The spit on the face ofJesus is symbolic of the sins we commitdeliberately against Him. Deliberately sinning

The Shoe-Throwing Spree SpeaksThe Shoe-Throwing Spree SpeaksThe Shoe-Throwing Spree SpeaksThe Shoe-Throwing Spree SpeaksThe Shoe-Throwing Spree Speaks

against Jesus, despite being a believer, is akin totrampling the blood of Jesus (Heb 10:26-29).Again, that is a horrific act of insult to Jesus.Pre-planned sin against Jesus can be comparedto throwing shoes at Him. Willful sin againstJesus is nothing but spiting on His face.

Not the boot, but the fruit!Spitting in the Old Testament was thepunishment that God allotted for irresponsiblebrothers-in-laws (Dt 25:5-10). But Jesusallowed Himself to be spat upon. Do you knowwhy? He was taking upon Himself thepunishment that was due unto an irresponsiblegeneration. Yes, we belong to that irresponsiblegeneration without a doubt. Like Adam, wedon’t accept responsibility for our sin. We areexperts when it comes to blame-shifting for oursin. None can beat us in the game of passing thebuck. But Jesus loves us nevertheless. He tookthe punishment due to us for such irresponsiblebehavior – spitting – upon Himself.

As an appreciation of that costly punishmentlets bid bye to deliberate sinning. So let us stopgiving excuses for sin and ask the blood of Himwho took the punishment for our sins to cleanseus right now! Instead of giving the boot to Jesus,let’s give Him fruit! (Luke 13:6-9).

Duke Jeyaraj

The shoe-throwing spree against top politicians reminds me of theways we give the boot to the Lord Jesus, instead of giving fruit!


Duke Jeyaraj

Last month, Federer had revealed that Mirka Vavrinec, aformer top 100 player whom he met in Sydney in 2000, wasexpecting the couple’s first child this coming summer.

The 13-time grand slam champion wrote on his site: “DearFans,Earlier today, in my hometown of Basle, surroundedby a small group of close friends and family, Mirka and Igot married. It was a beautiful spring day and an incrediblyjoyous occasion. Mr. and Mrs. Roger Federer wish all ofyou a Happy Easter weekend. - Love, Roger.” (fromwww.telegraph.co.uk on the 18 April 2009).

When you read stuff like that, does that make you feelstuffy? Roger Federer is an awesome tennis player, nodoubt. But his personal life is, forgive me for being blunt,

is awful. His storyline is familiar: Have sex with your girlfriend before marriage. Yourgirlfriend becomes pregnant. Then you marry your already pregnant girlfriend. The point I ammaking here is simple: sin is sin, no matter who commits it; sin can never be cool – even when acelebrity commits it without second thought. Sex outside of marriage can never be respectable,even if the respectable and adorable Roger Federer has it. The reason for this is pretty simple:the God who made Roger Federer doesn’t wink at premarital sex. We read that He applauded onegodly man who speared to death an unmarried copulating couple (Read this numbing accountin Numbers 25 in your Bible). He could freeze you forever when you are busy going about theact of sex outside of marriage. But he hasn’t done it yet. You know why? Because of partiality?No – because of His Sovereignty! He loves you. He wants to give you time to repent – a time thatmight elapse any time. He died on the Cross for you. He carried your sins on His body (I Pet2:24). He wants to forgive you of sin, if only you will repent, take a U-turn and start to yearnfor fellowship with Him. Your sin may be dirty and despicable. His blood can make you pure andpeaceful.

Just Because Federer did it….Just Because Federer did it….Just Because Federer did it….Just Because Federer did it….Just Because Federer did it….

This is the day that the Lord has made.. let’s rejoice.. I hope we allcould pray for five of our colleagues...Let’s take time for today’stask : It’s simple. Yet it takes a certain amount of boldness. The taskis this: In any of the conversations you have with your non-believercolleagues, try and speak the WORD. What I mean is that you couldquote a Scripture that has the potential to encourage, inspire etc. Weall know that the WORD doesn’t come back empty (Isa 55:11). Let’sput that to practice NOW. Now comes the crucial part. Even as youthink on the above lines, the Devil will put several thoughts into yourmind. He’d say, “Come on, be real, how can we quote a Scripture in themiddle of a conversation .It’s going to be so silly. What is everyone going tothink? They’d all start calling you a HOLY cow. Gimme a break!” It’s just a matter offaith. Ask the Lord to make a way. And He will.

Let me share my experience with you in doing this. I remember the other day, my friendsaid, “ It’s so hopeless out here. There is no future at all.” I immediately reciprocatedsaying, “My God’s WORD says that He has plans to prosper us and to give us a future and ahope”. You bet the guy was touched. All the best!

The Bible in Your Office ConversationsThe Bible in Your Office ConversationsThe Bible in Your Office ConversationsThe Bible in Your Office ConversationsThe Bible in Your Office ConversationsAbhimanue Vonteddu


What do you think are some ofthe best things in life? Thingsthat make you happy?Someone once said “the bestthings in life are free...”

“Whoa!” I thought in super-cynical mode, “that must havebeen years ago..nothing’s freeanymore.”

Like water, now we pay for it.Or fresh air...rare…it’s mostlypolluted. Now you pay for halfthe stuff that once used to befree… like paying to seeanimals in a zoo or wildlifepark, or clean public toilets(really), or “ fun” at a gianttheme park…Okay, so beforeyou get tired of my pessimisticrambling( like I did ), I’ll stopthere. There still maybe goodthings in life that don’t cost adime, or better put, things youdon’t have to splurge on to behappy…

Sometimes it’s ironical how“big” things: stuff you’ve spentmost of your money or yourselfon, dashes your expectations…after the one month high youhad…

Like getting that muchanticipated iPhone & nowwaiting to buy the one withBluetooth. Or getting a newAudi SUV and spendingsleepless nights over it beingstolen (or scratched). Orgetting all that sale furnitureyou have to dust everyday. Orfinding out the gaming console(or outfit) you bought issuddenly so last season. Oryour favorite team beingrelegated. Or like a footballmanager who spends a bombon a player who mostlymisfires… (Read Berbatov orRobinho)

5 Things to be Thankful For…5 Things to be Thankful For…5 Things to be Thankful For…5 Things to be Thankful For…5 Things to be Thankful For…Jessica Luis

So are the best things in lifefree after all?

Some years ago, someone wrotea book called 14,000 Things tobe Happy About. It’s full ofthings that make the writerhappy on a day-to-day basis,like” free kittens”, “knowingthe absolutely right way to dosomething”, “finger paintings”& 13,997 other random things.

Mum’s antidote for mywhining was to start writing 5things to be thankful about,everyday, even if there wasnothing glaringly obvious.

At first I was stuck at the1._________________________________,doodling aimlessly. With alittle input from my siblings, Igot started & then the listwouldn’t stop…

Unbroken bones. Tasting theice-cream flavors at BaskinRobbins. Discount sales atawesome stores. Reading anunputdownable book.Unplanned rainy day holidaysfrom college. Waking up at6pm & dozing off gratefullywhen you realize it’s a holiday.Blowing bubbles. Playing withpuppies. Giving someone a giftyou worked really hard on &seeing they like it. Trying anew recipe & watching yourfamily enjoy (or at least

pretending to enjoy it.) An oldcomfy pair of sneakers.Cheering your football teamon TV, or your kid sibling’sschool relay team. Jumpycastles (in the kid hood days).Watching fireworks. Laughingat PJ’s or a funny movie.Looking at awesome sunsets(courtesy Mum.) Just passingan exam. Finally learning todo a math sum or nail a newmusical instrument orlearning to cartwheel. Beinghome after a looooooong trip.Pillow fights. Daydreaming ina lecture (not recommended.)Rummaging through oldphotographs. Good friends.Dad showing you the rightway to skip stones. You canadd your own or do your ownlist (or this would takeforever…) Just doing a list willmake you feel happier-liketherapy. Even thinking aboutthem. And when you do, don’tforget to say a BIG thank youto God, who is the giver ofthem & all other good things.Stop and thank God right now,like the 10th leper (Luke17:15), for everything in yourlife that makes you happy.

Try doing the 5 Things…listeven (especially) on yourdown days or bad-hairdays. (Think Paul & Silas inprison…)

I’m thinking of more stuff toadd to my thank you list(though it may not reach14,000.) It sure beatsgrumbling about the weather& prices any day…

(Jessica Luis is a Class 12 studentwho is the daughter of missionaryparents and lives in Vasai, nearMumbai)


When You Are Accused Falsely…When You Are Accused Falsely…When You Are Accused Falsely…When You Are Accused Falsely…When You Are Accused Falsely…Stephen Jothiraj

will not be moved by lack of funds. They will notbe moved by false reports. They will not be

fretting when the churchignores them. They are notswung by popular opinions.Their vision is eternity.Their mission is to pleaseGod.

The same Stephen at the endof his sermon fumes at hishearers in Acts 7:51. Thesame calm man is now stirred.The same Paul who was calmand composed before kings andrulers, tore his clothes and

begged the crowd in Acts 14:14. Whathappened now? Where did theircomposure go? What happened to thepeace they seemed to be exhibitingunder pressure?

Their hearts beat to God’s heart. What grievesthe heart of God will grieve their hearts too. Justlike Paul tore his clothes when he wasworshipped as a God, the man of God will jumpout of his pulpit and tear his clothes when peopleworship him (idol worship). Just like Stephen’sconvicting sermon made the crowd go mad,their sermons always leave their audienceeither convicted or outraged. Just like Peterpronounced the death sentence of hiscongregation members (Ananias & Sapphira) forhypocrisy, these men will not sit back and smilewhen there is sickness in the church. Whataffects God’s heart will affect the men of God.

Stephen Jothiraj is the son of a missionary, who works forTCS in Bangalore. Stephen’s blog,www.StephenJothiraj.Blogspot.com is interestingly titled:Discontent with my Christianity!

Stephen in the 7th chapter of Acts stands beforethe Sanhedrin in response to some falseaccusation. But what we witnessin the following verses is acomposed and calm Stevemaking no attempt todefend himself, ratherpreaching the longestrecorded sermon in thebook of Acts. I like the wayhe started his sermon -“Brothers and Fathers”. Nounease here. No disturbedmind here. Stephen did notlook threatened. Peter whodrew the sword at Jesus’arrest at Gethsemane didnot protest when they camefor him in Acts 4:3. What achange from theGethsemane scene a fewweeks back. The impulsivePeter, who drew his sword and wounded asoldier weeks back, gives in meekly to theguards here. Paul was arrested many a timeand all through he was more interested inpreaching the Gospel than putting up a defense.The apostles seemed to show calm andcomposure under extreme pressure. Threatswouldn’t stop them from preaching. Feeling ofinjustice was the last thing on their mind whenthey were falsely accused.

God’s men will not be put off by false accusationand bad report. Men of God will not try todefend themselves when accused. Their pulpitswill not be a platform to defend or boast. Theygo about their jobs quietly knowing who is incontrol. They are not shaken when threatened.They will not be moved by petty things thatmove us (today’s so called Christians). They

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Duke Jeyaraj’s Spirit-propelled, straight-to-the-point, shocking, scriptural and skillfully-presented messages have blessed Indian audiences from over 10 states from different churches,corporate and colleges. There is over 15 such marvelous message CDs of his to choose from.Would you like to buy these mesmerizing message CDs? The price of each CD is just Rs. 50/- Letus know your requirement. Forwarding charges extra. See page two for easy way to pay!


I ran back home, which was 3000 Kms from mycollege, discontinuing my studies…

I was a mess!

One dark night as I remember I was in the upperroom of our home, all alone, there was a silencein me; a silence which I could not comprehend.Just as much as the darkness of the night wasthe darkness that resided in me. I was wretchedand blind. I could not see. I was contemplatingupon my life. Sorrow, failure, pain, loneliness,despair anddiscouragementengulfed me. I was amess. There wasnothing I could do. Ipondered over theyears that just wentbehind me. Guilt andshame overtook me.

Peace for thisAddict!

And it was in thatsilence I began to hearthe still small voice.That night was achange in my life.Tears began to rolldown. I could not holdthem. Sins that I havedone where right infront of me clear as a picture. I could not keep offmy mind; He began to speak to me slowly. Softwas His voice. I began to realize how much Ihave hurt Him. Many a time I have nailed Himto the cross. The talents that He gave me I usedthem to serve the world. The song that I sanggave glory to the doomed and not to the King ofKings. I drank alcohol; smoking had become myhabit, which I could not quit. I was degradingmy body with the filth of this world. I wasconvicted; the Spirit of God intervened thatnight and helped me make a decision. Just tosay NO to the world. After the rain I began toexperience the sunshine, the Peace of God beganto invade my life at the very instantaneousmoment. I could not utter a prayer yet I spokefew words back to Him. I said, Lord I need a

The Runaway Boy Runs Into The SaviorThe story of Eugene Pandian in his own words....

bachelors’ degree, somehow! My life belongs toyou forever!

Nocturnal!

Just as we read in I Timothy 2:13 ”if we arefaithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannotdisown himself.” He remained faithful by takingme back into His fold. I had wasted four years ofmy study at the Allahabad AgricultureInstitute. Being away from home, I thought I amfree to do things that I liked. I joined the rock

band; slowly I begandrifting awaywandering from thefold. The darkness ofsin rose up against me.Addiction, depressionand despair were myfriends. The nightsbecame day and theday- night. I turned tobe nocturnal. Thus, Iforgot the purpose ofme being inAllahabad: to study.(B. Tech Ag.Engineering). At theend of four years Irealized I was a failureand that I could notachieve any thing inlife. Depression forcedme to lose interest in

my studies. I thought to myself that I would geta job with the diploma that I already had. Ireturned home and things seemed to workagainst me. This, on that day, took me to theupper room.

The Prince of Egypt Musical…

He showed me the way back to Allahabad whereI enrolled again as a student for BachelorsDegree in Agriculture after having flounderedfour years in the Bachelors Degree inAgricultural Engineering earlier on. I began toslowly grow in the Lord. He once again spoke tome very strongly as we were doing a musicalcalled the “Prince of Egypt” depicting the storyof the deliverance of the Israelites. I was to take

Eugene Pandian had everything going wrong for himwhen he was in college, yet…


up the role ofMoses. When theprogramme wasstaged, in one ofthe shows, at thescene of theburning bush Iexperienced Godspeaking to medirectly. I couldrealize the power ofHis presence. Heled me throughmany situationswhere I can onlysee His lovingkindness. Heplaced me in places

where I would be brought to His feet. At the endof my final year, He provided me with a job atthe Registrar’s office in the same University,where I studied. The job was part time, helpingin designing of the official website of ourUniversity. As I completed my degree He madeit possible that I can work in the same office fora proper salary and as well do my Masterscourse.

My Talents for His use, alone!

God enabled me to quit the rock band, thoughthat decision was not easy on my heart. Withzeal in my heart I began to pump my resourcesinto His kingdom. I made myself available forHis service at the Yeshu Darbar (a Sundayworship for rural people, in Allahabad) to takecare of the Public Address System. I learntstewardship extending myself for this service. Iwas encouraged to establish an audio recordingstudio at a smaller scale. I was completely newto this idea; I began to gather information andto learn. The sweet Spirit of God provided mewith answers whenever I needed one. Heenabled me to provide audio tracks for another

project. I enjoyed working with the littlechildren for a Sunday school project. I learnt toremain faithful to His service. We began a smallworship team, He taught me to worship Him.His Spirit led me from strength unto strength.Many who were playing in the rock band beganto join the worship team. They were fellowstudents who began to experience Christthrough music.

Becoming a Professor in the college where Iwas considered a failure!

Just as I finished my Masters course, I wasblessed with a job as an Assistant Professor in thesame University, along with otherresponsibilities. God made me glad! In all ways,He has been faithful. I rejoice in the way that Hehas led me. I learn through hardships, as Hemoulds me to be a shining vessel in His hands. Ilook into His heart to learn the way in which Ishould be serving Him.

God is never a minute late!

In August 2006, I moved to Bangalore taking upan assignment with a Christian company calledTurbocam. Turbocam is involved in highprecision machining of critical aerospace parts.By the end of that year, my marriage with LimaEvany was finalized and now we are blessedwith a wonderful, cheerful and loving son. It isamazing to see how things fall into place whenwe stick closer to His plan and purpose. He isnever a minute late. I very firmly believe thatwe, as a family, have a greater calling and ahigher purpose in Him.

Now unto Him, who is able to keep me fromfalling, and to present me faultless before thepresence of His glory with exceeding joy - to theonly wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty,dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen(Jude 24-25).

DUKE ON YOUTUBE – HARSHA BHOGLE, JESUS’ UNIQUENESS & MISSIONSDUKE ON YOUTUBE – HARSHA BHOGLE, JESUS’ UNIQUENESS & MISSIONSDUKE ON YOUTUBE – HARSHA BHOGLE, JESUS’ UNIQUENESS & MISSIONSDUKE ON YOUTUBE – HARSHA BHOGLE, JESUS’ UNIQUENESS & MISSIONSDUKE ON YOUTUBE – HARSHA BHOGLE, JESUS’ UNIQUENESS & MISSIONS

Want to hear a soul-stirring missionary challenge message clips of less than 10 minutes each?Go to Youtube.com and search for “Duke Jeyaraj”. You would find his message clips such as,“Great Commission & the Greatest Command”, “The wickedness around – a missionarymotivation!”, “Jesus’ uniqueness, Harsha Bhogle & Missions”, “India Australia World Cup 2003Final & Missions,” “The Maths Teacher, Isaiah 6 & Missions”, “Uriah’s question to David &Missions”, “Kate Winslet Movie Shooting Scene & Missions”. Listen to them and you will feel thatyou want to jump up and be a daring witness for Jesus! Duke’s daring message clips on Youtubehave been viewed over 5000 times!

A scene from the movie thePrince of Egypt touched

Eugene so thoroughly thathis life took a U-turn!


God did it all. We were just theinstruments. And do I have totell you that we were very gladthat He used us. Let me tell youwhy we were so very glad to begladiators for God to grab theGoogle Gen from going toGehenna (Hell)…. Let meelaborate as to why we haveplenty to praise God for….

Duke Jeyaraj, the man I wakeup with every morning, a manyou know is called by God tograb the Google Gen from goingto Gehenna and Yank theYahoo Youth towards Yahwehwas there in these meetingspresenting God’s Wordpowerfully wrapped aroundcontemporary events in a waythat made sure they woke upfrom their sleep and listenedi n t e n t l y :

YOUNG LEADERSCHALLENGED

…in the core group camp ofCalvary Temple, Kukatpally.Duke preached two meatymessages in this camp that wasin Mount Carmel Campus inGhatkesar, this March. Thefirst message was titled, “HowTo Beat Temptations!” and thesecond was titled, “Do YouHave It In You?” Following thesecond message, more than 50young people surrendered theirlives for fulltime ministry. TVEvangelist Bro. Satish Kumarwas very kind to serve asDuke’s Telugu interpreter forthese two messages.

1000 YOUNG PEOPLE HEAROF THE DIAMOND BLOOD!

.... in the Youth Alive serviceof the New Life Assemblies ofGod church in Hyderabad.Duke improvised on the title ofa movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio titled, The Blood

The Phone Call From Muscat….The Phone Call From Muscat….The Phone Call From Muscat….The Phone Call From Muscat….The Phone Call From Muscat….

Diamond, to preach a messagecalled, The Diamond Blood, onthe fourth saturday of thisMarch. Close to 1000 youthheard a heart-melting messageon what the Blood of Jesus coulddo for them from the word“Blood” itself. The altar wascrowded. There were wet eyes.Young folks were swept by theLove of the Savior for them.

GOOD FRIDAY CORPORATESEVENT…

… in a Good Friday themedevent organized by InfosysFellowship on April 7, 2009 inGachibowli. That night it wasraining cats and dogs. Therewas no power supply in thesmall church that was chosenas the venue. But all of that didnot prevent 80 hungry youngsters from the CorporateWorld representing 15companies (including Google,Dell, Oracle…) from being thereto hear a powerful testimonyand the message, “SevenStatements that point toHeaven!” Duke was sweatingbuckets after that message in

that hot room. But what wasmore was that quite a fewrepeated the sinner’s prayerwith him and got out of thebroad road that leads to hothell! Yes, in that pitchdarkness, people who lived indarkness crossed over to aLight-filled life in Jesus!

NATIONAL AG YOUTHCONFRENCE…

…..in the National Assembliesof God Youth Conference inHyderabad on 21 April uponthe very kind invitation ofRev. Valson Varghese, theNational Youth Coordinator forthe Assemblies of God in India, who is also Duke’s local churchpastor. The message that about300 Youth Pastors / YouthLeaders from Kohima to Keralaheard that day was titled,“Sleeping or Speeding” and wasdelivered at a blistering pace.Duke was honored andhumbled to preach thismessage with his PreachingProfessor in Bible Collegesitting in the first row – Dr.David Balasingh and Southern

G-4 MISSION MINISTRY REPORT BY EVANGELIN DUKE

Young People come forward to give their lives to the Lordafter the Youth Alive service in the New Life AG Church,

Hyderabad, after Duke’s message, this March.


Asia Bible College classmates –Rouko Angami, Biswa RatnaRai and Sunny Prasad – sittingin the last row! Also presentwere Duke’s contemporariesfrom SABC – Pas. ChadwickSamuel of Chennai, Pas. JacobMathew of Kolkota and Pas.Chaitanya of Hyderabad. Whatwas more - The Holy Spirit wasat work from the first to thelast, during that message.

NATIONAL CORPORATEBELIEVERS CONFRENCE….

…in the National WorkplaceMinistry Conference,in the SAIACS CEOC e n t r e , B a n g a l o r e ,May 1-3 upon thevery warminvitation of Mr.Mohan Patnaik,Executive Director,UBS (Swiss Bank).The two apt anda c r o b a t i cpresentations thatwere made by Dukein these twomeetings were titled,“Paul, the GoogleGen GospelPresenter”(a messagefrom Acts 26) and“Work – Life Balance,A Biblical Call”. It was indeed arare privilege and a wonderfulGod-given distinction for myhusband to join Mr. AnandMahadevan (OutlookBusiness Editor and author ofthe widely-read Outlook article, “I, theconvert”), Mrs. Jaya Abraham(whose testimony was alsopublished in Outlook – aCorporate Company VicePresident from Mumbai), Mr.C. B. Samuel, Mr. AjoyVarghese, Bro. EdwardKuntam, Rev. Dr. J.N.Manokaram and others inteaching/making presentationsin this standout meeting. The120 Corporate Company folkswho attended this first everNational level conference forbelievers in the CorporateWorld represented almost mostof the major cities in India.History was made. History-

makers were created. God wasat work in this conferenceaptly called, God@WorkConference .

Duke also had the privilege ofspeaking in the followingchurches, of late:

2000 PEOPLE HEAR THEWORD!

…..Calvary Temple, lead byTV Evangelist Bro. SatishKumar in Kukatpally,Hyderabad. Over 2000 peoplehungrily lapped up the

message that was preachedthat Easter Sunday eveningtitled, “What Would You OfferThe Resurrected Jesus?”

YAHOO ENGINEER STORYAND THE GOSPEL STORY

….Capstone Assemblies of G o d C h u r c h in G a c h i b o w l ilead by his Bible College RoomMate, Pastor Chaitanya Geraon April 19. As Duke wrappedand presented the Gospelaround the story of a suicide-committing Indian YahooEngineer in the United States,some folks were saved.

DUKE’s MINISTRYPHILOSOPHY

Duke was used by the Lord tolead Practical Bible BookSummary Studies for believers

from different churches in thefollowing places:

…..in the centrally locatedlarge home of Daniel-Magdalene in Raj BhavanRoad,Hyderabad, studies werelead on Malachi (March) andJoshua (April). After lappingup life-changing truthspresented from Duke’s unique“name-of-the-bible-book-used-as-an-acronym-for- i ts-message” method, these folksfrom various churches andcorporates were served dinner– thanks to the Daniels.

…. in the home of Bro.Christopher, closer toour rented home inA. S. Rao Nagar,Secunderabad, Dukegleaned out practicallessons to summarizethe whole message ofthe books of Judges(March), Ruth (April)and I Samuel (May).Bro. Rajkumarvolunteered toprepare andserve tasty dinner forpeople from variouschurches who showedup, traveling 15 to 20kms. Jesus said, “Man

shall not live by breadalone but by every word thatproceeds from the mouth ofGod!” Duke’s ministryphilosophy is based on this just-quoted Scripture. ”It wouldtake quite a while and a lot ofeffort to search every word ofthe God (found in the Bible)and study it. So let us at leastread and study every book ofGod’s book, the Bible and goabout in our effort tounderstand it’s message. Andwe would be wise to start withthe practical study of the lesserknown Old Testamentbooks!” And that is whathappens in these rare, rockingBible Studies.

WRITING FOR THE WHOLEWORLD…

Writing remains Duke’sprimary call. Of late Light of

During the National WorkPlace Ministry Conference inwhich Duke preached with many others.


Life, India’s leading Christianmagazine (available onlineat l ightof l i fe- india.com), Insight magazine publishedbySouthern Asia Bible Collegewhere Duke studied andthe Rural Echo, made availableby Maharashtra VillageMinistries carried Duke’sa r t i c l e s .

Giving out tracts is somethingwe keep doing to keep ourspiritual temperature warm.We gave tracts in GeneralBazaar in Hyderabad, the otherday. As we holidayed inBangalore, shopped inCommercial Street, hung outin Cubbon Park, we gave outtracts to modern youthwho crossed our path.Handing out tracts tointerested co-passengersin the Train when werecently traveled toBangalore was an excitingexperience! We saw onelady reading thetract that God enabledus create t i t led , BubblyOutside, Yet EmptyInside, non-stop till shewas totally through in theB a n g a l o r e - K a c h e g u d aExpress! On the Day ofJudgment she would notbe able to give the excuse,“I do not know who Jesus is.Was he an IPL cricketerplaying in a Team I was notfollowing that much?!” AndGod would absolve us of herblood, which would otherwisebe on our head, on thatTerrible Day! What a joy itwould be - both for her and forus - if she got saved!

SOME HOW, SAVE SOME!

While we were in Bangalore recently we tried to get acrossthe Word of God using differentm e t h o d s :

….by bringing in the Gospelduring a very casualconversation on Why BadThings Happen To Good Peoplewhile having breakfast with a“Train” friend. Before weparted ways and were ready to

say, “Bye”, he was given the“Gospel Special” issue of TheDays of Your Youth along witha CD copy containing three ofDuke’s Gospel presentationsincluding, a forthright Gospelmessage on the uniqueness ofC h r i s t !

….by gifting his long-lost,without-Christ, B. Tech.Agricultural Engineeringclassmate he recently metin Bangalore with more copiesof The Days of Your Youthmagazine as they were readyto bid Good Bye after luncht o g e t h e r !

THE MUSCAT CALL….

Through Podcasts(duke.mypodcast.com) andYoutube (under the name ofDuke Jeyaraj) uploads moreand more people across theplanet are being exposed tothese kind of presentations thatwrap Bible Truths aroundmodern day events. To giveyou an example - Dukerecently got a callfrom Muscat from a man whowatched his Youtube video clip!

NEW MINISTRYWAYS PROPELLED BYVOLUNTEERS

The official website of ourm i n i s t r y(www.TheDaysOfYourYouth.com)has seen over 55,000 hits. Thissite is so well managed bySanthosh William, now withHaggai Institute – a young

man who gives his free timefor our ministry. The www.G-4Mission.Blogspot.com sitecarries our ministry reportsdotted with pictures. This siteis managed by Fenella Princein Bangalore. SMSs from mymobile (9441352433) withministry news and prayercalls are being sent throughthe Internet. Solomon Paul istaking the lead in doing this.We cannot thank God enoughfor these vigorous, vibrantvolunteers. Sharon working inAccenture (Chennai) andEugene Pandian (Duke’scontemporary fromAgricultural Institute, Allahabad living presently

in Bangalore) are twonew people, both verycreative when it comes todesign, who join oure v e r - e x p a n d i n gvolunteers team. IssueNo.17 of The Days magwas designed delectablyby them. Shruthi Joy,Stephen Jothiraj, Bro.Christopher Tharallatake time to read whatDuke writes to make sureyou read all hisswallowed up words too.God bless this Word-Sword-Squad (EditingTeam). Thro’ short

emails Duke continues tocounsel young folks across theWorld who specifically ask forhis counsel especially inintimate matters.

Continue to pray for ourministry. Your support meansmuch to us. In some ways, youare like the ones who gatherthe supplies for the battle andthose who make sure thesupply does not run dry! Weare like those who have gonefor the battle (having said,“tata”, to our worldly jobs)trying our best to wrest thegoogle gen from the grip ofSatan who is sold out to takethem with him to Gehenna(Hell). God’s Word says thereward is the same for the“suppliers” and “soldiers” (ISam 30:24). Do I hear you saya “Wow!”?

2000 heard God’s Powerful Word fromDuke in the English Easter Evening Service

of the Calvary Temple, Kukatpally.


What you wrote made us float….What you wrote made us float….What you wrote made us float….What you wrote made us float….What you wrote made us float….

The following are selections of emails/SMSs/Scraps that Duke Jeyaraj received recently:

Hi Duke, I just received the latest issue of your magazine (thro’ email). It looks really great thesedays. The content has always been inspiring and challenging, but over the past few issues the layoutand overall look of the magazine is classy - Devananadham Henry, New Jersey, The US.

Hello Bro. Duke, I am so glad to see you and blessed by your powerful spiritual messages in theyouth camp I attended in Carmel Campus in Hyderabad. Especially the Great message HOW TOOVERCOME TEMPTATIONS, you preached helps me a lot when I face many temptations when I amwith my colleagues….The best decision I ever took was after your second message in the camp inwhich you called for people who commit for fulltime ministry to come forward. I came forward andso did 50% of the audience! – one young camper in one of the youth camps Duke preached inthis March 2009.

Duke’s right!! – one comment after someone watched Duke’s Youtube message clipvideo, Nudity and Porn: Kate Winslet Vs The Bible.

Dear Duke, Evan, Dale and Datasha, The magazine The Days of Your Youth continues to getbetter in format, content, lay out and what is more, it features new writers…WELL DONE. We haveall been blessed by the recent issue and specially the case study of a young girl....

You may recall that we had translated the Gospel you wrote for the present generationtitled, Aiswariya Felt It: The Vacuum in the Heart, into Bengali for local distribution. We hadintensified the distribution while Aishwarya was here (in Kolkota), close to a month shooting for thefilm Raavan. My wife and I want to let you know that last week we crossed the mile stone ofdistributing the 10000 th tract…Besides helping us sow His seeds in the Salt Lake area wherein wereside, membership for the Care Group meeting at our residence (Wednesday 07.00 pm) hasincreased. - Jebaraj D.G., A Country Director with Compassion International.

Wow ! Duke..It’s great to see you doing God’s work (based on your Facebook updates)... You havealways been that way from school I guess...Really proud :) My prayers for your ministry :) – Facebook Scrap left by Accenture-employed Ida Scudder School Student for whom Duke was aSchool Senior.

Dear Duke, Just to let you know – how much I enjoyed the time with you and your family in Hyd.Especially, I enjoyed your ‘sleeping or speeding’ (message in the Assemblies of God National YouthConfrence) – it did come as a convicting reminder to me and all of us! –A pastor from Kolkota.

Duke, I wanted to admit, for a long time was looking out for an answer to this question..Why didJesus say ELI ELI LAMA SABACHTHANI?.....and you answered this through your message in YouthAlive the other day....... It was a great revelation....THANX! - A young man in his Facebookscrap to Duke on 22 April.

Hi, Bro. Duke, Those messages you gave in Summer For Jesus and in the Sunday morning servicein the New Life AG Church – they all spoke to me a lot and even now they still do…. – A YoungPilot in Training in Atlanta, The US via Orkut scrap.

How We Spent What You SentHow We Spent What You SentHow We Spent What You SentHow We Spent What You SentHow We Spent What You Sent

Moved by the Holy Spirit, individual Indians sent in offerings for the work of the Gospel for theministry of Duke Jeyaraj, the founder of G4 Mission, the organization that publishes thismagazine. We feel then, it is only appropriate that we reveal details about how we spent suchmoney received for the time period March – May 2009: Printing Expenses – Rs.11,000/-; InternetCharges – Rs.2200/-; Communication Charges – Rs.3200/-; Refreshments while on duty / BibleStudy – Rs, 2100/-; Local Transport Charges – Rs.2000/-; Dispatch charges – Rs.5500/-;Offerings given to other ministries – Rs.7000/-; Help for poor – Rs. 2000/-; Raw Material for thisissue – Rs.1500/-; Book, CD, Production work – Rs.3000/-; Office cum Residence Rent – Rs.9000/-Outstation Travel and Food – Rs.1500/-; Grand Total – Rs. 50,000/-

(Then we quickly got back to the ground to gloat “in the Lord!” who made all this possible!!).

issue 17 - balancing life & work / christian-no ronaldo? on who a real christian is / you &...

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