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CSI Good News
(Church of South India Good News)
Vol. 6 / Issue 13 / May 6 2004
Contents of this issue
Editorial
Why Quran is not the Word of God? Part 3
CSI Congregations list updated
Prayer Requests
OFFICIAL 18th Annual CSI Family & Youth Conference in New Jersey
Tri-State South Asian Christian Retreat: “Festival of Unity”
News Items (Common to all issues) :
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Your Spam Folder
Your Feedback
Editorial
By Sherly Isaac
Mat 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"
Through these verses Jesus lamented over Jerusalem seeing the arrogant and hostile behavior of the Israelites towards prophets and preachers who were sent for their benefit. Jesus was moved with compassion and He was willing to give His protection and to gather them as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. You can see the great compassion and love of a mother in Jesus.
Even today because of His great love and great compassion for us, He wants to gather us as His own children and to give all of us the privileges as a member in God's family. Bible says in John 1:11-13, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
This was His love for us that He came down in this world and willingly gave His precious life for us so that we could be in His family and that He could be our father. He gave the ultimate sacrifice for us. He suffered ultimate penalty for our sins, He bled and died not for His gain but because He loved us.
Every year in the month of May we celebrate Mother's day to honor our mothers and to give credit to them for their sacrificial love towards us. After all what is the love of a mother?
A mother protects her children from harm:
When a hen anticipates any danger around her, she gathers her chicks under her wings until the danger passes by. There are cases when mother even fought with the enemy and risked their lives just to save their young ones. Why a mother should do this at all? It is the love and compassion of a mother that makes her to sacrifice her life.
God loved us so much that He gave His life for us so that He could protect us from the harm of hell fire. Today we can escape the punishment in hell fire because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But how many are aware of the danger which lay ahead of them? They even do not bother about their future home. But Bible tells us that we can get forgiveness of our sins and we can get washed by the blood of Jesus and by doing so we can enter into heaven.
A mother loves no matter how bad her child is:
A mother loves her child no matter what he/she is. People around you may put you down. Your friends may mock at you and make fun of you. It is possible that your church may not take care of you. But there is a God whose love is better than a mother. His arms are open for you no matter what you did in the past and what you did not. You can go to His presence as you are. He is always ready to accept you in His bosom. He is ready to forgive and forget all your sins. He is ready to comfort you and console you. God says in Isa 66:13, "As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."
Today you may be in distress and may be you are wondering where to turn and from where you will get help? Look to Jesus, He is ready to solve your problem and give you blessings.
We wish all the mothers a very happy and blessed Mother's Day. May the Love of God be with you and comfort you all the days of your life.
Why Quran is not the Word of God? Part 3
By Sherly Isaac
In the last few weeks we saw how Muhammad was getting revelations from the so called angel Gabriel who was not the real angel Gabriel but rather a distressing/suicidal or murderous spirit.
2. Was Muhammad a Porphet?:
Muslims call Muhammad a Prophet. Was Muhammad really a prophet? If yes then on what grounds?
a. A Transformed life:
Careful study of the Bible tells us about similarities in the lives of the Prophets of the Bible. At some time or othe their lives would have changed after meeting God. They turned around from their evil ways and walked in holiness. Because no one can sin and stay in the presence of God. When Adam sinned against God, he was driven away from the Garden of Eden or from the presence of God. Take the life of Abraham. Before he came out of his country he was an idol worshipper. But when God called him, he left everything behind and followed the living God. Abraham walked in the ways of God and pleased God. He lived a holy life and was called the friend of God.
Take the example of Moses. He was a murderer before he met God. But when he met God, his life turned around and he became dearer to God. Bible says that God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend" (Exo 33:11).
When Job met God he repented as we read in Job 42:5-6 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes." When Isaiah met God he repented as we read in Isa 6:5 So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts."
This rule of holiness continued and did not change in the New Testament time. Bible says in Heb 12:14, "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." Take the example of Paul who was persecuting Christians and was threatening, torturing and killing innocent people. But when he met Jesus on the way to Damascus his life changed dramatically and completely. The same person who was an enemy of the Christians started preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He left his old job of violence, torture and killing.
But if you look at the life of Muhammad, you cannot see any such transformation. Till his last breath he lived in sin and was struggling with all his sins all the days of his life. Quran and Hadith tells us that he was trying to keep himself sin free yet very often his sins took over him and controlled his life. Not only that, he simply denied the cleansing power of Jesus, His power to forgive sins, Sonship and Fatherhood of God and he missed the great salvation prepared by God for every human being. Hence he could not receive the transformed life which the prophets of the Bible attained in their lives.
b. Direct communication with God:
All the Bible prophets were in constant contact with God and spoke directly back and forth with God. Once God spoke to Abraham and said that he was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Then Abraham could speak back and forth and could ask God whether He will destroy them if fifty righteous people were found and he was able to plead with God to bring the number of righteous people to ten. Further the Bible says in Gen 18:33, "So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place." The same is true with Moses and other prophets.
At times God spoke directly to Prophets. But let us look how a person could speak to God directly. Bible tells us that when a person meets God his/her life changes as we saw in the above examples. And when a person gets the experience of salvation, he/she is eligible to receive the Holy Spirit. I want to make it clear that all the Bible prophets were filled with Holy Spirit. Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." Also in John 16:13, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
When Holy Spirit comes in one's life He guides, teaches and tells the things to come. Each and every prophet of the Bible was guided by Holy Spirit. They heard from God and spoke those words to people. They got revelation from God Himself.
But Muhammad who claimed himself to be a prophet was never filled with the Holy Spirit. Quran and Hadith both tells us that Muhammad had no such experience. When he spoke, he spoke to the so called angel Gabriel and never had any direct conversation with God. All these things make it clear that Muhammad was not a prophet nor did he bring any revelation from God as other prophets. So it is very clear that Quran is not the word of God!
CSI Congregations list updated
We have updated the information of various churches at:
http://csinewsletter.com/congregations.asp
Please take a look and see if we have missed anything. Any new links need to be added/updated.
Prayer Requests
My son is a US marine. Two weeks ago he has left for his overseas assignment. You know the condition in AFGANISTHAN & Iraq these Days. Please keep him in your special prayer for his safety.
Thanks
Sunitha
Please pay for me & family for the cure of our physical ill health and sorrows.
Joy
OFFICIAL 18th Annual CSI Family & Youth Conference in New Jersey
Official 18th Annual CSI Family & Youth Conference of North America will be conducted from July 1 to 4, 2004 in New Jersey under the direction of the Council of CSI Congregations in North America.
From: July 1-4, 2004
Theme: "That they all may be one" John 17:22
Place: Dolce Hamilton Park Executive Conference Center
Morristown, New Jersey
Leaders: Moderator, Church of South India
The Rev. Dr. Martin Alphonse
The Rev. Dr. Valson Thampu
The Rev. Eric Bryant
Mr. Prabhu Singh
For more information please visit:
http://csinewsletter.com/18th-conference.htm
Conference Convener:
Rev. Dr. Jacob David
(201) 935-2011 - JacobDavid@juno.com
And to register online
visit: http://www.csiconference.com
Email inquires to: info@csiconference.com
Tri-State South Asian Christian Retreat: “Festival of Unity”
"Festival of Unity"
A Youth Retreat for the South Asian Christian Youth and Adults of the CSI, CNI, MarThoma, Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist and other Denomination churches.
Date: May 15
Chatham United Methodist Church
460 Main Street
Chatham, New Jersey, 07928
May 15, 2004
9AM to 4PM
"An Exploration into South Asian Christian Identity"
A day set aside to explore South Asian Christian Identity in North America and its future. This retreat will consist of engaging discussion, music and worship throughout the day. It is an event set to bring together the South Asians in the Tri-State area from the different language groups.
Registration Fee: $5 for Lunch
Questions? Concerns?
Rev. Prince Singh: 201-337-4909
Email: CSIUnity@yahoo.com
Rev. Jacob David: 201-438-8333
Email: CSIUnity@yahoo.com
Rev. Nehemiah Thompson: 908 -756-1044
Email: CSIUnity@yahoo.com
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.
This book is available for purchase at JasmineCorp Store
Also read these two books by Sherly Isaac "Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God" Available at JasmineCorp Store, and "Is Jesus God?" Available at JasmineCorp Store,
Both books compares the Bible and the Quran and read eye opening facts about Jesus, God of the Bible, Allah and Islamic faith. I am sure that you want to read this.
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
You can now download articles in Palm Doc format for your palm handheld computer. It will work with any devise that has Palm OS and Palm Doc Reader installed. To download click on the link named "Palm Doc Format" i.e. at the top of this page by the side of each articles.
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online at Kid's page. These tutorials are free for kids who subscribe for CSI Kids Newsletter. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver are available.
So please enroll your kids by going to http://kids.csinewsletter.org/member/join.asp
And visit CSI Kid's page at http://kids.csinewsletter.org
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Now you can read Bible in Hindi online at http://www.hindibible.org
in Malayalam online at http://www.malayalambible.org
in Tamil online at http://www.hindibible.org?ver=tamil
Your Spam Folder
If you are getting this newsletter in your bulk/junk/Spam folder please hit the "not junk" or "not spam" button so that you could receive it in your mailbox. Also adding news@csinewsletter.com email address into your contact list can avoid this email from ending up in your bulk folder.
Your Feedback
Your feedback and comments are Welcome. Please send your Parish news & articles to Editor (Sherly N. Isaac) at this address News@csinewsletter.comThe messages submitted will be checked whether they are correct according to the word of God. Editor reserves the right to accept, reject or edit the messages. The writers are responsible for the contents of their writings.
 
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