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Vol. 6 / Issue 38 / April 10 2003

Contents of this issue

Editorial

Love v/s War

Letters on Iraq – A Reply

Tamil Edition by Email (Coming Soon)



News Items (Common to all issues) :

Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

Download Articles in Handheld Computers

Please Join us in "Peace Prayer Room"

Your Spam Folder

Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online

Through the Valley of Death

Free Tutorials for your Kids!

Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God? Book

Free E-Cards

Online Games for you!



Editorial

By Sherly Isaac

Yesterday there was live coverage on TV from Baghdad where Iraqi people toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein with the help of American troops. The whole crowd was jubilant, cheering and they were rejoicing greatly. It was their moment of triumph over the atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime. For more than thirty years they lived in horror, pain and sorrow. Many lost their lives and many were tortured if they opposed the wrong policies of government. They were deceived, misled and duped by their own leader. One woman came to a soldier and said, “You are very late, Saddam killed my son”. Their anger and frustration towards Saddam was quite visible when they dragged the head of the statue in the streets of Baghdad and were beating it with their shoes.

Of course the price is not small for the freedom of Iraqis. Blood and sweat of coalition forces were shed to achieve the freedom. Why they did it? They did not need to do it, but still they did it. The only reason was to free the people of Iraq and to secure the security of America and other countries.

In the same way human beings are bound by devil who deceives, cheats, misleads and finally destroys their soul sending them to hell. From the outside it looks good and appears to be perfect lifestyle but the reality is something different. Devil will tell you, it is OK to live in sin… it is OK if you drink occasionally… it is OK if you dupe or cheat people because no one is perfect. So small sins will not be of any consequences. Beware of it!! Sin is sin no matter how small the sin may be. And the Bible says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Yes, those things, which seems small to you now, it will doom you one day. The consequences of sin is death – eternal death, but on the other side God has made a way out for us that we could come out of our sin and live a holy life. He gave His only Son to die for us so that we could have freedom from our bondages and we could have eternal life. Jesus said in John 8:36, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. He came all the way from heaven to make us free. He could have just sat on His throne and just watched us dying in our sins and going to hell fire. He absolutely had no need to come down and do anything for us but still He did. Oh, He came down and shed His precious blood on the cruel cross, for your freedom, for my freedom and for the whole world’s freedom. It is up to us to accept it or reject it. The price of our freedom is not cheap but precious, very precious. Innocent blood of Jesus was shed for our freedom. He wants to give us the same freedom, triumph and joy that part of Iraqi people experienced yesterday.

It is all yours because someone has already paid the price for you. You need not to go through pain, sufferings, bondage, sin, hardship and oppression of devil anymore. You can live a life free from sin and bondage.



Love v/s War

By Sheela Isaac

Does Bible speak about Satan or Devil? Yes, it does. But many who call themselves to be Christians, that is, those who are in a Christian family, do not believe it. You may wonder to know that even many pastors do not believe in the existence of Devil and angels. They think that Bible is written as parables or stories. They believe that it is just an illustration and not in the literal sense. So they do not take Bible verses in the real sense, but they say that it is written in the figurative or metaphoric way so they say that it represents just a symbolic expression of things or a shadow of things to come. They believe that the truths of Bible are not to be followed as it is.

That is why we hear hundreds of wrong interpretations of Bible stories as well as Bible verses. People accept what is preached from the pulpit in literal way or as it is. They even do not try to understand whether the message preached from pulpit is correct or not. I wonder why the people readily believe in the wrong messages preached from the pulpit while they do not have the heart to believe in Bible (the word of God). While Bible is the written word of God inspired by Holy Spirit, they call it as figurative or metaphoric expression. What a tragedy.

Last week when my sister wrote a message about ‘BABYLONE’ some people had problem. We received a few emails, saying, that Iraq is not Babylon but America is. I wonder why people do not want to believe in Bible. The message was written on the basis of Bible, not according to our views. We did not invent the verses about Babylon but it is in the Bible. I do not know which Bible you read so that you have problem in understanding. Here are few emails sent by people:

--Quote--
No man is HOLY, No man is just, we are all sinners... You are judging the president of Iraq, do you know that the foreign minister of Iraq is a Christian?

David did Love his enemies so we can also do, let God our Father put HIS own judgment Mr PASTOR not America; and not you...
--Unquote--

Well I do not know in which Bible the writer of the email believes in. Foreign minister of Iraq may be a Christian (so called, nominal). But a couple of days back he was talking in favor of suicide bombing. Where does Bible support suicide bombing? Suicide is sin and it leads a person to hell. Bible says, “thou shalt not kill.” If you kill anybody else or yourself it is sin. And killer cannot have eternal life. Again I want to ask this question, “How much do you read Bible? Do you know how many battles David had fought?” He obeyed God in everything.

Some people sent email saying: Ancient Babylon means Rome, US, UK, Canada, or Australia,

--quote--
Ancient Babylon has been DESTROYED for centuries!!! So this must be a DIFFERENT BABYLON --- only one city fits that description – ROME

BABYLON THE GREAT (USA, UK, Canada, Australia),
--unquote--

Babylon means it is Babylon. The area of Iraq was called Babylon in Old Testament days. You cannot call it as US or Rome or by any other name. You cannot call Babylon as America. Bible speaks about Babylon, which is situated between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Bible clearly speaks about Babylon, which is in the Middle East and not in western country. It is not a figurative expression.

Here is some latest news about Iraq war:
--quote--
--startribune news
21st century U.S. troops stand in ancient Babylon
HILLAH, Iraq - U.S. troops strolled to the ruins of ancient Babylon on Wednesday, facing no opposition…

-- Reutor News
Extending their dominion over Iraq, U.S. forces moved on Wednesday through the site of King Nebuchadnezzar's ancient Babylon,…
--unquote--

What do you understand by these news reports? It is talking about Iraq as Babylon, not America. This is the problem with people who take Bible as metaphor. They do not believe in the Bible and so they keep on arguing. Whatever the Bible says, it is Yea and Amen in God’s sight. God said that nobody on earth has power to refute it. I do not have any problem believing in Bible. Whatever God said, He fulfills it in His time. The Iraq war is not a surprise. God said about it hundreds of years back through prophets and through God’s people and it is the fulfillment of those prophecies, which you see today.

Further Bible speaks about the coming great Armageddon’s war. This war will kill thousands of people. Bible says, that this war will bring disaster like never before in history. Jesus Himself will come and fight against the people (army) who do not believe in God. Book of Revelation speaks about horrible plagues, which will come upon the people who do not believe in Jesus Christ. Book of revelation speaks about God’s wrath and not about love. You might have problems believing in these Bible passages too. Isn’t it? Because you do not believe in God’s word.

Now let’s talk about Satan.
1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.


Bible says clearly that whoever does not believe in Jesus is from devil. Whoever lives in sin is from devil, and God will not favor them forever. God will not sit and watch forever. Every thing has an end. If you continually live in sin know for sure there is an end. That end is no other place but hell. Hell is waiting for all the sinners and lawless people. Hell is waiting for the people who reject Jesus the only Son of God. Hell is waiting for the people who deliberately reject the authority of God. All the atheist will be in hell. All the sinners will be in hell. All the evildoers will have place in hell. All the unbelievers who do not believe in Bible and the God of Bible will be in hell. I do not say this but Bible speaks about it very loud and clear. You have no escape my friend. You cannot reject God and still go to heaven. It is not possible.

Today many talk about love and tolerance. Somebody said: “I think we Christians need to be a bit more tolerant to others.” Many Christians always talk about love and feeding the poor. But if you want to see their real love you can see it in Church Committee meetings and General body meetings. They shout like anything. It looks as if they are going to beat somebody or kill. I do not know where the teachings of love and tolerance goes at that time. The love and tolerance is only in their words but not in deeds. If you want to reach heaven you need holiness than anything else. You should not be limited in words only but it should be practiced in every field of life.

What is love? What is tolerance?
Does it mean only upto feeding the poor and helping the needy people? Does it mean only just always talking and talking about love and tolerance? Let me tell you what is the meaning of tolerance in today’s Christian circle. When you see a person living in sin people say, “don’t talk about sin because all are sinners. You should need some tolerance you cannot judge anybody.” What is tolerance then? Close your eyes and behave as if nothing happened. Behave as if all are holy. Or stand with those people in agreement and keep on sinning. Is showing solidarity with sinners tolerance? Is taking part in their sin love?

Is it tolerance? Is it love?
No, but what I believe is, preaching the true Gospel to dying and perishing world is love. Rescuing somebody from hell fire is real love. Rescuing somebody from Sin is love. Do we see such love today? Do we see people having passion to preach the salvation message to dying souls? Helping the poor is good, but it cannot save anybody from hell fire. It should not be our first priority in life. Without Gospel, feeding the poor is useless. Without caring for one’s eternal soul, only providing some material benefit does not help anybody. If you have real love you have to go and preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you really have compassion for a person, rescue him/her from eternal damnation. Tell them on their face “sir, you are living in sin it will lead you to hell fire.” Tell them plainly that their life is not right before God. Do you have that courage? Do you have that real love?

Then preach the message of Salvation. What is the Salvation message? “Jesus died for you and me on Calvary’s Cross. His precious blood can save you from eternal damnation. If you repent from your sins and receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior you can escape from eternal death. It is that simple.” Do you want to come to the foot of cross and want to repent from your sins? Do you want to get rid of your sins? Then please pray this prayer with me:

Lord Jesus I am a sinner. I lived in sin. I’ve cheated many. I told many lies. I broke all the laws. Please forgive and forget all my sins. I know you died for me. Lord because of your precious blood I can have eternal life. You paid the price for my sin. Please come into my heart. Please forgive and forget all my sins. Wash me with your precious blood. Cleanse me totally from all unrighteousness. Give me a new life. Write my name in Lamb’s book of life. Please remember my sins no more. Lord I praise you for listening to this prayer. I pray in Jesus precious name Amen.



Letters on Iraq – A Reply

By Sherly Isaac

We received many letters from our readers on last two week’s articles and editorials. I will try to accommodate as many questions as possible.

Wg. Cdr. P. K. Kurien wrote:
“One of my friends forwarded me your newsletter and your editorial and the article by Mr Jim Bramlett has prompted me to write to you. Bible is interpreted to ones convenience to justify any misdeeds. Why are innumerable words preaching love, tolerance etc and don'ts on killing being quoted in the present context? Why paint someone evil and behave worse than him? Saddam not obeying UN 'enough' is a big crime and you can totally ignore UN decisions! Why other countries led by 'evil' leaders not being taught similar lessons? Is it because they do not have such wealth to be manipulated to your advantage?

Well, many think that God of the Bible is only Love, Peace and that He is God of tolerance and that He will not punish anybody. Of course He is the God of love, peace and tolerance but very often people forget that God is just judge too. He is not a God who can shut His eyes on sin and crime committed against innocent people. God loves every person, but at the same time He judges those who sin against Him. Bible has warned time and time again that there are punishments and judgment and consequences for sin. For a time God may allow you to live as you want but a time will come when you have to face judgment.

As for the question about UN’s decision, well, UN is not a fair organization and its decisions were not fair. If you look from the beginning you can see that they always tried to favor Iraq. Even those who opposed the war in UN were against Christianity and Christian faith. Now it became more and more clear that those countries who were opposing war were in one or the other way supporting Iraq by giving them weapons and intelligence for war.

Moreover the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan did nothing for those who were killed because of terrorism. I never heard him say anything about the problem of terrorism in Israel, India and other countries. Bill O'Reilly writes in his article titled, “Stupidity & Selfishness...” Tuesday, December 11, 2001, “Africa, the UN and Annan stood by and watched millions die in Rwanda. Regarding Terrorism, the UN has done nothing to combat the rise of Muslim fundamentalism. The Middle East, Annan is clueless. “

Mr. Kurien writes further:
“Taking the backing of Bible and calling it God's will is the worst.” For God's sake, the least you can do is to keep Christianity, Bible and the church out of this madness.”

It is not my interpretation but the Bible very clearly talks about Babylon’s destruction. And if God has decided it, then no one can stop it. You may ask, does God favor few nations and not others? No, He does not, but those who stand against God and reject God and His work; God will reject them and punish them. That’s what happened throughout the history of Israel. God blessed Israel but the Bible tells us that whenever Israel sinned against God, God made them to go through captivity and exile. That’s what happens when a person, community, city or nation commits sin against God.

Rev. L E Sahanam wrote:
“You have written “A nation that calls itself the largest democratic nation of the world has now no tolerance for other religions” You wrote it referring to India. To some extent you are right. But doesn’t it suit better to the U S in the present context?”

The answer is “NO” because America did not go for war seeing that Afghanistan and Iraq are Muslim countries but because these nations are threat for civilians and ordinary people. And it all started with the attack on World Trade Center buildings. Who were in World Trade Center buildings? Ordinary people who had no weapon for counter attack, mothers and fathers of innocent children, they worked in that building to support their families. Bible does not say that we cannot defend ourselves by war and other means.

Further he writes: “You have written that Vajpayee is nothing better than Mr. Saddam Hussein is.” Isn’t it cruel? I think your knowledge of Vajpyee and Saddam is very very shallow. I think we Christians need to be a bit more tolerant to others. Saddam would have eliminated his political opponents. But can you number how many thousands of innocent people including women and children Bush and his men have killed in the last two weeks?””

If my knowledge of Saddam and Bajpayee is shallow then why Iraqi people were dancing on the streets of Baghdad and why they were throwing shoes on Saddam’s statue? Why they were spitting on his statue?

I heard about tolerance so many times but why we should be tolerant to the acts of cruel and bad people? Christians are not called to support terrorists and terrorism.

Further the same pastor wrote:” There are several problems in comparing the present Iraq situation to the then Babylonian situation.
Isaiah 13 speaks about the day of the Lord. In the day of the Lord the judgment is to all the nations and not to one nation as desired by the author. I don’t think it is right to say the present bombing in Iraq by the U S is the God sent judgment. V 19-22 clearly says that no one will live in that place for generations. But in this case even before the destruction is over the U S is already signing contracts for rebuilding. Perhaps the Bush regime works faster than God does!


The first verse of Isaiah 13th Chapter tells us that this prophesy is for Babylon. In my last week’s article I made it clear that present day Babylon is the same ancient Babylon. And there is much evidence which prove that this is the same Babylon which was yesterday. Present Babylon is in the same place where Nimrod built Babylon tower about which we read in the book of Genesis. This is the same place where Euphrates River is. When God said to Abraham, I will give you the land of Canaan, He did not mean that He will give America or Europe to Abraham. What He said was what He meant as it is written in the Bible.

And the author of that article already made it clear at NOTE: “We may not be seeing everything in this chapter fulfilled in the very near future, but this may be the beginning of God's Word against Babylon.”

Abu Abraham wrote:
“Iraq not only has Christians but also has many churches.... so I don’t think its fair to say that they shut Christians out.. What do you think?”

There are so many Churches in India and many Christians are in India, does it mean that there is no persecution in India? India has seen the worst persecution in the last 5-6 years. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and some other states have anti Christian Laws. Does it mean that we Christians have freedom in India? Of course not.

Emmanuel Jebarajan wrote:
“Do you think that God likes innocent human beings and children to suffer. Whatever happens I feel that peace cannot be achieved by the barrel of the gun. Terrorism cannot be stopped by Government sponsored terrorism. Please look at the following pictures, and may be as a Christian you will feel that Christ wants no one to suffer, and war is not the means of achieving peace. When Jesus was in Gethsemane, he asked one of his disciples to put the sword down.”

Of course God does not want anybody to suffer but most of the situations are created by people themselves. They terrorize others and kill innocent people. It is necessary that someone should stop them. That’s why we have police and Law enforcement agencies and other organizations that keep a country under Law and order. God wants to give His peace and joy to the world, that’s why He came in this world and died on our behalf. He gave himself for us so that we could live in perfect peace. And by knowing God one can experience peace in his/her life.



Tamil Edition by Email (Coming Soon)

We are in the process of starting of Tamil edition of Magazine. It will be available in near future. To reserve for the very first copy of Tamil Edition please subscribe for Tamil Issues.

To subscribe Tamil Magazine by Email please follow this link: Subscribe here




Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

As the Bible says in Ezekiel 22:30 "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it." And also the Bible says in Numbers 16:48, "And he (Aaron) stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped." We have fasting prayer every second Tuesday of each month. Our next fasting prayer meeting will be conducted on 16th Nov. 2015

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.

Please Join us in "Peace Prayer Room"

If you have any prayer request please join us any time at our New Chat Room at http://insearchofpeace.org/prayer If any of us available in prayer room, we will be praying online otherwise you can email your prayer request to feedback@insearchofpeace.org

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 feedback@insearchofpeace.org email address into your contact list can avoid this email from ending up in your bulk folder.

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

Through the Valley of Death

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

Free Tutorials for your Kids!

Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online. These tutorials are free but you may need to get login ID by registering yourslef. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver/Fireworks are available but in future more tutorials will be added.

Check the tutorials at:http://jasminecorp.net/tutorial

Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God? Book

Now available "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.

Also read:
Book Title: Is Jesus God?
Author: Sherly Isaac
ISBN: 0759628092
http://insearchofpeace.org/books.htm

Free E-Cards

Send free E-Cards (Greeting Cards) to your friends and family. Its an easy way to stay in touch with friends and family. The website address is:
http://ecards.jcsearch.com

Online Games for you!

Now you can play games online at http://insearchofpeace.org/games




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