Prepare Ye The Way

Our  city  is busy  repairing  roads  in  preparation

the  the world 's  largest  religious  fair  called  the  Maha  Kumbh, a

month  long  Hindu  festival which  will  be  held on  the  banks  of

the  Ganges  River. Pilgrims  from  all  over  India and  the world

will  start arriving in  December  and  many  will  stay  on  till   February  2013.

During  the Advent  season let  us  prepare  the  road  for  Jesus

to be  present  in  all  our  celebration. I   am  sharing  an  article  I  liked.

from  www.leadlikejesus.com

Building Roads for Christmas

By Steve Cartin in on November 29, 2012

Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exaltedAnd every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straightAnd the rough places smooth (Isaiah 40:3b-4)

Twenty-six days until we celebrate the birth of our Savior. So much to be done. Shopping lists stare us in the face. Holiday gatherings quickly fill our calendars. Such a busy time of the year, busy with opportunities for sharing the joy of Christ in unique ways.

Isaiah prophesied the Messiah’s coming, hundreds of years before the humble birth in Bethlehem. His words told not only of a coming event – they urged personal preparation: The Messiah’s coming must be prepare for in order to receive in its fullness.

All around us are opportunities to prepare the way of the Lord, opportunities to carve out highways in a desert of souls for the coming King of Kings. In Lead Like Jesus we use the progressive framework of the Transformational Journey: (1) Personal Leadership, (2) One-on-One Leadership, (3) Team/Family Leadership, and (4)
Organizational/Community Leadership. Praying through the Transformational Journey model helps us identify opportunities for creating inroads for the gospel in this Christmas season.

On the Personal level, where are the deserts in your own soul, the dry spots in your spiritual experience?

In the One-on-One arena, with whom are you working to build trust through the patient, kind, humble, other-serving/other-seeking love of 1 Cor 13? How is that going?

As you work with Teams in ministry or other settings or with Family, how well are you honoring their diversity and the power of teamwork?

At the Organizational or Community level, are you pointing those you lead to the higher purpose for which you have gathered together?

The desert of our days requires new energy for building roads upon which feet who bring good news can travel. Like points on a compass, the four stops on the Transformation Journey can guide us to go into all of our world as we prayerfully seek where the Lord is leading us this Christmas season.

 

Who Needs Healing?

Listen  to  this  thought  provoking message  by  Dr  Vishal  Mangalwadi.  He  is  a  philosopher, writer,  international  lecturer,  Christian  apologist  and  social reformer. He is  a  radical  thinker.
Dr  Vishal  takes a different  perspective  on  the  healing  Jesus  brought  to the  world.  It  was  not only healing  of individuals  but  the  healing  of  the  nations.
 

Cookie Monster in Disguise

The Percentage of Thankfulness

Giving Thanks for Friendship

Diwali Sweets

No  festival  or celebration  is  complete  without  sweets. Diwali  has  its  own  range  of  specialities. They are  first  offered   to the  goddess   Lakshmi in  a  puja  ceremony  and  them  eaten  with  friends  and  family. Sweets, dry fruit  and  chocolates  are  given  to friends and  colleagues as  gifts. Corporate  houses  and wealthy people  give  away  more  expensive  gifts.
Puffed  rice  or  layee - lava  with  sugar  sweets  in  the  shape  of  animals  are  a  part  of  the  puja  ceremony and  eaten   afterwards.
I  entered  an  up market  sweet   shop  to  take   pictures,  but  I  felt  obliged  to  buy  something   there ,  so  the photos   ended  up   being  quite  costly.  I  didn 't  buy any  sweets  ,  just  a packed  snack.

 You  can find  some  excellent  Diwali  sweet  recipes HERE

DIWALI LIGHTS

The  Hindu  festival  of  lights  called  Deepawali  or  Diwali  is  being   celebrated  all  over  India  this  week.  Shops ,  markets  and commercial  centres  are   all lighted  up  and  decorated  to  woo  customers  to  buy,  buy  and   buy  some  more. People  worship  Goddess  Lakshmi ,  the   goddess  of  wealth  on  this   night  and light  up   their  homes   with  diyas  -   earthen  oil  lamps  and  electric  lights to  welcome   the goddess  into  their   homes. Setting  off  firecrackers   both noisy   and colourful   and  eating  special  Diwali  sweets  is  everyone 's  favourite.  People  give  gifts   to  each  other and   have  Diwali  get  togethers  and  parties.
Read  more about  Diwali  HERE

 

Sunday Blessings- Marvelous in our eyes

A  lawyer  practising  in  the  state  High Court  started  coming  to  the  morning service, a month ago  at  the  encouragement  of  a  colleague  of his. The  advocate 's  young   daughter  was  ill  and suicidal.  After prayer  his  daughter 's  condition improved and   he comes for  the mid-week   Bible class seeking  answers  and   clarification. He brings   several  of  his  associates  along.
Today  he  came   forward  and  declared  that  he  has  accepted  Christ  . He  is   still unclear  about  many  things  ,  but  the  thing that   touched him  most  was  Christ 's teaching in  Matthew  5;44. ..Love  your  enemies. He  said  he  will  tell  others   about  it  and  bring  many  people  with  him.

A young  girl   came  forward  with  tears  in  her  eyes. A few days  ago   she  injured  her  right  eye in a   freak  accident . As  a result  she  became blind  in  her right  eye . Engaged  to be  married  this completely   shattered  her  life. No  doctor  was  able  to  help  her. She  cried  to Jesus  for help  and   healing and  gradually  began  recovering her   sight. Now  she  can  see, although  her  vision is  hazy  and  strong  light  hurts  her. I met  her  fiance who  came   along  with her. They  will  be  married  in a  few  months. Shweta has asked for prayer.
Please  pray  for  our  ministry  and  support us  in  whatever  way  you  can .We  need  your prayer  and  support.


Psalm 118: 23, 24
This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴ This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it
(BIBLE)
 

A Bad Husband

                                                   Rama

NEW DELHI: In an embarrassment to BJP which has spearheaded the Ram Temple movement and Hindutva agenda, the party's Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani today termed Ram, the protagonist of Ramayana, as a "bad husband".

Speaking at a function to launch a book on a man-woman relationship, Jethmalani said "Ram was a bad husband. I don't like him at all. Just because some fisherman said something, he sent that poor woman (Sita) to exile." He went on to take a jibe at Lakshman by saying he was "even worse".

He said, "When Sita was abducted, Ram asked him to go and find her as she was abducted during his watch. Lakshman simply excused himself saying she was his sister-in-law and he never looked at her face, so he wouldn't be able to identify her", Jethmalani said. Earlier, Jethmalani spoke against use of religion and said "today we are at the crossroads of the very fate of this planet.

Religion has totally changed. Religion has produced terror. Religion has produced those who issue fatwas of murder."

( Source www.timesofindia.com)

 Ram Jethmalani, a leading lawyer and a BJP MP, has recently called Hindu god Ram a "bad husband". In July 2012, Vishal Mangalwadi had written an article in FORWARD Press magazine "From Ram to Abram: A History of Hindu Marriage" in which he argued that the modern Hindu marriage is now legally supposed to follow the ideal set by Abram (Abraham) and Sarah and not Ram and Sita.
Read  the  entire   article  "From  Ram   to   Abram:A  History of  hindu   Marriage"  HERE

Feed My Sheep

I want  to share  with  you  photos   of  the  installation  and  consecration  ceremony  of   the  first  Bishop  of  Yeshu Darbar held on Nov  4th  . It  was  the  very  first time  I witnessed  such  a  function with  various  rituals and  observances. There  was  an august  gathering  leaders  and    Bishops of  various  churches  from  all   over  India , also  a  Jewish Rabbi  took part.The   electronic media had  their  lenses  trained on  the  colourful and  ostentatious   events  and  there  was  live  TV  coverage.

 Flag  bearer

Episcopal  Symbols   carriers

 

(on the right) Rev  Dr  Joseph Mar Thoma

Metropolitan of  the Mar Thoma  Church.

The  foundation  of  the Mar Thoma   Church  was  laid  by  the  Apostle  Thomas   who

travelled  to  South  India to  preach the Gospel  and was  martyred  here.

His  remains are  preserved  in  a  church

on St   Thomas  Mount  in  Chennai.

Relating the history  of  the  Yeshu  Darbar  movement.

It  is  a  fast growing  church  in  our  state.

Rabbi Ezekiel  Issac Malekar  of

Judah  Hyam  Synagogue (New  Delhi)

blowing  the shofar

 

 

John 21:17
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.(New  King   James  Version) BIBLE

 

 

Our foes strengthen us

 

As  the  work  of  God  progresses  in  my  church our  foes  have  trained   their  arrows, bullets ,  clubs  and  axes   (figuratively speaking) at  us. This  month  is  critical  for us.  Please  remember  us  in   prayer.

The  following  article  which  I   found   on the blog

SIMPLY DIVINE LOVE  affirmed my  trust  and belief   that  God  is  with  us and He   is  fighting  our  battles

Strengthened by Your Foes

Pastor Adrian Rogers

“Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.” - Numbers 14:9

Joshua and Caleb faced formidable foes in the Promised Land, and yet what was their response to their enemies? “They are bread for us.” (Numbers 14:9).

What is bread? It is the staff of life. What happens when you eat bread? You are strengthened by it and you grow by it.

Paul also faced formidable foes. He wrote, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9).

Why isn’t the door to victory easy? Because if it were easy, then you would become weak in your effort to work out your faith in God. God places obstacles in your path to give you strength. “Wheaties” is not the breakfast of champions— giants are. God wants you to feed upon your difficulties and depend upon Him to make you a conqueror.

What does it take to strengthen your body? What does it take to build your intellect? What does it take to grow love in relationships? Work. Read Philippians 2:12-13 and apply it to your life today.

For more from Love Worth Finding and Pastor Adrian Rogers,

please visit www.lwf.org.

 

Please   pray  for   wisdom,  guidance,   protection, justice and truth to  shine  through and  financial help.

The  last  two  pictures   are  from  my  friend  Lauren   davenport  who  encourages  us   through   her  photography  and  scriptures.
Please  visit  LAUREN HERE

Love and Kindness

This  video  is  about  it. It  is  set  in   the  miountains  of  Kashmir It  is  in  the   Kashmiri  language.  I  can 't  understand  the  words  but  I  know  what  they  mean. You  will  too.