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THOUSANDS of Dalit Christians rallied in Delhi on July 21 for a special status that would grant them the same special provisions in education and employment as Dalit Hindus.

They condemned what they termed as the repeated failure of the Government in extending Scheduled Caste status to include them.

The status is given to Dalit Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists to ensure that they have equal access to jobs and places in schools and colleges. Dalit Christians and Muslims are, however, excluded from receiving special status.

Dalit Christians rally for equal status

TELL IT LIKE IT IS: A woman sits holding a placard at a rally to seek special status for Dalit Christians. File photo

Continued on page 2

And thou shalt do that which is right and good in

the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee,

and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware

unto thy fathers. Deuteronomy 6:18.

The purpose of the newspaper is to report newsworthy religious events and activities within the local community, nationwide and around the world, to increase the awareness and activism of believers regarding the moral issues of today, to provide thought-provoking commentary, and to provide an effective advertising vehicle for Christian ministries and organisations, events and businesses that want to reach the Christian community. - Editor

(Readers are advised to make thorough enquiries before acting on any advertisements. This newspaper does not necessarily agree to the claims or representations made by any advertiser.)

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Page 2 | , 2010August

K o t a B a n g u n K u t a i o f Indonesia

SPEAKERS of the Kota B a n g u i n dialect of the M a l a y l a n g u a g e reside in the c e n t r a l M a h a k a m River basin of S o u t h Kalimantan, in t h e K u t a i

region. The first Roman Catholic mission was established in this locality in 1907. In the beginning of the 20th century the economy of Kutai flourished as a result of the establishment of the Borneo-Sumatra Trade Co.

Ministry obstaclesThis community lives in a remote region of

Indonesia, and has little knowledge of who Jesus is.

Outreach ideasChristian workers can take the Gospel into this

region via films and recordings, and also use stories from scripture.

Pray for the followers of ChristThere may well be no followers of Jesus

among this Muslim people group, but pray for those that will soon emerge. Pray that the Lord will provide good pastors and teachers for them, and that they will follow the Lord with total commitment.

Pray for the entire people groupPray for the Kota Banguin Malay, that they

will soon come to a more correct understanding of who Isa (Jesus) truly is, and understand the significance of His death on the cross.

“All nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord, they will bring glory to your name.” Psalm 86:9 (Source: Bethany World Prayer Centre)

Pray for a people group! Dalit Christians rally for equal status

The Christians called for the immediate implementation of recent recommendations made by the Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (NCLRM).

The NCLRM issued a report urging the Government to eradicate discrimination by extending Scheduled Caste status to Christians and Muslims. It denounced as ‘biased’ paragraph 3 of the 1950 Constitution Order, which accords economic, educational and social benefits to Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists only. The rally was organised by the National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC) and brought together Christians from across India. “This injustice against our Dalit brothers and sisters has been going on for six decades and

more. Without justice, there is no peace. We are going to press on till we get peace and justice,” said the Archbishop of Delhi, Vincent Concessao.

Sam Paul of the All India Christian Council urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to be evenhanded and move quickly to undo the injustice being meted out to the Christian community. “We have been demanding this for the last 10 years in various forums, rallies and campaigns,” he said. In a statement, Rev Dr Richard Howell, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, said the Government was ‘grossly’ discriminating against Dalit Christians and Muslims by denying their reservation guarantees enshrined in the Constitution.

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1. Never again will I confess ‘I cannot’ for ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’ (Philippians 4:13)

2. Never again will I confess ‘lack’ for ‘my God shall supply all your (my) need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 4:19)

3. Never again will I confess ‘fear’, ‘for God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Timothy 1:7)

4. Never again will I confess ‘doubt and lack of faith’, for ‘God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.’ (Romans 12:3)

5. Never again will I confess ‘weakness’ ‘for the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1)

6. Never again will I confess ‘supremacy of Satan over my life’ for ‘greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.’ (1 John 4:4)

7. Never again will I confess ‘defeat’ for

‘thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.’ (2 Corinthians 2:14)

8. Never again will I confess ‘lack of wisdom’ for ‘in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.’

9. Never again will I confess ‘sickness’ for ‘with his stripes we are healed.’ (Isaiah 53:5). God ‘Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.’ (Matthew 8:17)

10. Never again will I confess ‘worries and frustrations’ ‘for He careth for you.’ (1 Peter 5:7).

11.Never again will I confess ‘bondage’ for ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is , there is liberty.’ (2 Corinthians 3:17)

12 .Never aga in wi l l I confess ‘condemnation’ for ‘there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’ (Romans 8:1)

12 things you should never confess as a child of God!

THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER Page 4 | August, 2010INTERCESSIONE-mail: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

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About the book:‘ S y s t e m a t i c Theology’, a 793-page book authored by Dr. Henry Syn, is currently used in many theo log i ca l seminaries and Bible colleges around the world.

About the author: Dr. Henry Syn served the Lord as chemist, missionary, professor, pastor and author. He graduated from the Grace Seminary and served the Lord

by preaching and teaching the Word of God. ‘How to be born again’, ‘The demon empire’, The standard of true faith’ are some of his other books.

Aug 1: Ask God for divine guidance through this month. Lamentations 3:21-24 says: 'It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.'

Aug 2: Technology has invaded the pulpit. Pray that the new innovations help the church to win more souls.

Aug 3: Pray for the children of e v a n g e l i s t s , p a s t o r s a n d missionaries that you know – that they will be strong witnesses of the Lord to the world.

Aug 4: Pray for the institution of marriage between man and woman. It was instituted by God Himself. Pray for live-in couples, homosexuals and lesbians who try to distort the holiness associated with marriage.

Aug 5: Pray for Bihar today. Elections are due in two months. Pray that violence does not rock the state in the run-up to polls and during the elections. Bihar needs a stable and secular government.

Aug 6: Farmers growing vegetables are using chemicals at random thus threatening to cause ser ious hea l th hazards to consumer. Pray this trend is contained.

Aug 7: Pray that rogue elements in Pakistan’s ISI who are hell-bent on destablizing India are reined in.

Aug 8: Pray for your pastor. That God will give him more grace (James 4:6), spiritual revelation through the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), anointing (Isaiah 10:27) and holiness (1 Peter 1:15,16).

Aug 9: Fakes are taking over the originals. Pray that the menace of the counterfeit ends soon.

Aug 10: Prayer for JK. Pray that God helps him to build his house this year.

Aug 11: An estimated 17 million children are employed in India. Pray for their deliverance.

Aug 12: Pray for KB. This widow is fighting a court case over her land in Kerala. Pray to the One who sits on the throne judging in righteousness (Psalm 9:4).

Aug 13: Pray for India's peace with her neighbors. Pray that the evil designs of the enemy do not bear fruit.

Aug 14: Pray for your church. Pray for the pastor, the worship leaders or the choir, the Sunday school teachers and the ushers. Let Acts 2:47 work in churches.

Aug 15: Pray for India. As the country celebrates Independence Day, pray that it experiences true freedom in Jesus Christ.

Aug 16: Pray for al those you know who have some addiction or the other. May God turn them into new beings (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Aug 17: The Lord's coming is nearing. Pray 'the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.' (Matthew 9:38).

Aug 18: Commit the women you know into the Lord’s hands. Ask Lord Jesus to cover them with His blood.

Aug 19: Pray for young boys indoctrinated by the extremists and fundamentalist forces in India and other countries. Pray that the Truth sets them free.

Aug 20: Communal forces in Kerala are working towards turning that state into a Muslim-majority region, the chief minister said. Pray that evangelical groups get together to fulfill the Great Commission.

Aug 21: Pray for the youth of Uttar Pradesh today. A 21-year-old laborer was beaten to death by three youths last month because they suspected him to have stolen Rs.50.

Aug 22: Cyclonic storms have been on the rise in India since 1995. This has been cited as the reason for increasing flood and drought. Our God is still in command. He controls the wind and the oceans (Mark 4:39)

Aug 23: Pray for 25-year-old JT. The young man is underweight and has bouts of vomiting and stomach pain. Doctors have stated there’s no medical remedy. Claim Isaiah 53:5 for the young man.

Aug 24: P ray fo r T H E CHRISTIAN MESSENGER media ministry. Pray for more volunteers who can help us in news gathering, translation work, distribution of literature.

Aug 25: Pray for Chad today. Fifty-four percent of Chadians are Muslim. Pray the Word of God is preached to Chadians.

Aug 26: Austrians need a personal faith in Jesus Christ. An estimated 80% of them deal with occult.

Aug 27: Pray for Azerbaijan. Pray that hindrances to the gospel are bound in the name of Jesus and the people find peace with God.

Aug 28: Pray for Christian students in Iraq. A suicide bomber struck recently injuring 100 students. Pray for their speedy recovery.

Aug 29: There are about 200 evangelical pastors working openly or discreetly in the Arab world.Pray for them and their families.

Aug 30: Pray for the family of missionary Ajit Bansi who was killed by fundamentalists in May this year.

Aug 31: Three churches and two pastors' houses were destroyed in Nigeria recently. A Baptist church

thwas demolished for the 4 time. Pray for peace and open door opportunities for gospel.

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you. (1 Thessalonians 4:11)

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. (Proverbs 27:23)

And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

What the Bible says about work!They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

(Isaiah 65:21-23)

T h e K e r a l a H i g h C o u r t recently annulled the election of f i v e t i m e Congress Lok Sabha member K o d i k u n n i l Suresh, holding t h a t h e w a s

ineligible to contest from the r e s e r v e d c o n s t i t u e n c y o f Mavelikara in Alappuzha district.

Justice Sasidharan Nambiar said that Suresh is not qualified to be a candidate in the Scheduled Caste category and his nomination should not have been accepted.

The petition was filed by R.S. Anil of the Communist Party of India, whom Suresh defeated in 2009 by a margin of more than 40,000 votes and two others.

Suresh had previously won four times (1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999) in Adoor reserved constituency.

The petitioners had informed the court that Suresh was born as a Christian and later converted.

Speaking to reporters, former legislator and ex Lok Sabha member R. Balakrishnan Pillai of Kerala Congress expressed surprise at the verdict.

“I had gone with Suresh to file his nomination and it was me who argued with the district collector that his nomination should be accepted,” said Pillai.

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MP over ‘fake’ caste certificate

1. Make The Word Of God Your RulePsalm 119:9 - “Wherewithal shall a young

man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy word.”

The #1 way to holiness is to make God's Word your rule for your life and conduct, govern yourself accordingly, and resolve to conform to it in every measure.

2. Seek God With Your Whole HeartPsalm 119:10 - “With my whole heart

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reserving none for any possible idols -

follow hard after God. Continuously cry out to Him for more wisdom, strength, and a tender spirit.

3. Realize Your WeaknessesPsalm 119:10 - “...O let me not wander

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In order to stay in the path of duty, you have to realize your constant need for self-denial and restraint. You are prone to wander and error except for the Lord’s intervention.

3 steps to holiness

THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER Page 6 | August, 2010INTERNATIONALE-mail: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

The Catholic Church in Italy, still reeling from the clerical sex abuse scandal, lashed out recently at gay priests who are leading a double life, urging them to come out of the closet and leave the priesthood.

The Diocese of Rome issued the strongly worded statement after the conservative Panorama newsweekly said in a cover story and accompanying video that it had interviewed three gay priests in Rome and accompanied them to gay clubs and bars and to sexual encounters with strangers, including one in a church building.

One of the priests, a Frenchman identified only as Paul, celebrated Mass in the morning before driving the two escorts he had hired to attend a party the night before to the airport, Panorama said.

In a recent statement, the Rome diocese denounced those priests who were leading a “double life,” said they shouldn’t have been ordained and promised that the church would rigorously pursue anyone who is behaving in a way that wasn’t dignified for a

Catholic priest.It insisted that the vast majority of

Rome’s 1,300 priests were truthful to their vocations and were “models of morality for all.”

Those who aren’t faithful to their vows “know that no one is forcing them to remain priests, taking advantage of only the benefits,” the diocese said. “Coherency would demand that they come forward. We don’t wish any ill-will against them, but we cannot accept that because of their behavior the honor of all the others is sullied.”

No one knows the exact number of gays in the priesthood. Estimates of the number of gays in US seminaries and the priesthood range from 25 percent to 50 percent, according to a review of research by the Rev. Donald Cozzens, an author of “The Changing Face of the Priesthood.”

Church teaching holds that homosexual acts are ‘intrinsically disordered,’ and the Vatican has recently cracked down on gays in the priesthood.

ARGENTINA on July 15 became the first nation in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, turning aside protests from the Roman Catholic Church to give gay couples the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts. The Argentine Senate approved the measure in a hard-fought 33-27 vote, with three abstentions. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has indicated that she will sign it into law quickly.

The 4:05 am vote came after an exhaustive debate that dragged on for more than 14 hours. Hundreds of supporters of the law, waiting outside Congress in freezing

Catholic church blasts gay priests leading ‘double life’

SEVEN pastors working in the San Francisco Bay area of the US who were barred from serving in the nation’s largest Lutheran group because of a policy that required gay clergy to be celibate are being welcomed into the denomination.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America also decided to add six of the pastors to its clergy roster at a service at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in San Francisco.

The group is among the first gay, bisexual or transgender Lutheran pastors to be reinstated or added to the rolls of the ELCA since the organization voted last year to lift the policy requiring celibacy.

Churches now can h i re noncelibate gay clergy who are in

committed relationships.“It’s going to be an extremely

glorious and festive ceremony because it’s the culmination of decades of work to welcome LGBT people into the ELCA,” said Amalia Vagts, executive director of the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, a nonprofit that credentials openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people for ministry.

The Rev. Megan Rohrer grew up in South Dakota and attended a Lutheran college, where she said students tried to exorcise her “gay demons” by throwing holy water on her. Some of those people are now Lutheran pastors in South Dakota, she said.

M s . R o h r e r , w h o i s a

Gay Lutheran pastors set to join church roster

HAPPY GAY LUCKY: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voting members (from left) Orinda Hawkins-Brinkley, Diane Yeager, Marj Ellis and Steven Schnittke, along with others, pray during the church’s General Assembly in Minneapolis in 2009, at which the denomination approved resolutions in support of gays. (File photo)

I've been asked to be on the search committee for a new pastor for our church. What should we be looking for? We want someone who’s friendly and preaches well, but what else should we be concerned about? - Mrs. K.D.

God has given your committee a very important responsibility, and your primary goal should be to seek His will in this matter. Therefore pray constantly in your committee for God’s wisdom and guidance - and urge your congregation to do the same.

It's natural to seek someone who is outgoing and preaches well - and that isn't wrong. But the most important characteristic of any pastor should be a heart for God - a deep desire to live for Christ, and to see others come to know Him and serve Him. God appointed David as king over His people because, He said, “I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do” (Acts 13:22).

In other words, is Christ the center and foundation of that person's life, and is their desire to serve Him above all? Do they have a clear sense of calling - a deep conviction that God has called them into their ministry? Do they exhibit the qualities of a Christ-like character - the Spirit’s fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23)? Ask God to help you discover this, both from them and from others who know them.

In addition, pray for your congregation as your new pastor comes. It's easy to be critical of a new pastor because “he doesn’t do things the way our old pastor did.” Don’t let this happen in your church, but urge people to encourage and pray for your new pastor every day.

Affectionately known as the ‘World’s Preacher’ for more than 60 years, the Rev. Billy Graham is one of the most influential and respected spiritual leaders of the 20th century.

He has been a friend and spiritual adviser to 10 American presidents and has preached the Gospel to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history - nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories - through various meetings. Hundreds of millions more have been reached through television, video, film, and webcasts.

Visit the web site for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: www.billygraham.org

What to look for in a pastor!BY BILLY GRAHAMtransgendered lesbian, was

ordained by four congregations in San Francisco in 2006 but could not join the ELCA roster until the d e n o m i n a t i o n ’s G e n e r a l Assembly approved the new policy in August. “I didn’t really believe the policy was going to change as quickly as it did,” she said.

Ms. Rohrer hailed the new policy as a “symbol” to young people that the Lutheran church is working toward becoming more welcoming of people of all different backgrounds.

The Rev. Jeff Johnson, another one of the pastors who will be added to the roster, said the ELCA’s position for years of not accepting the choice of some congregations to ordain gay clergy was painful and disappointing.

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Argentina legalizes gay marriagetemperatures, erupted in cheers and tears of joy when news of the vote reached them. The law makes Argentina one of the most liberal countries in the world when it comes to gay rights.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, led the opposition, saying that allowing gays and lesbians to marry posed a threat to what he called the ‘natural’ family formed by a man and woman. He said children deserved traditional role models of a father and mother. The law allows same-sex couples to marry, adopt children and inherit property, among other rights and protections.

BISHOP Artur Suleimanov and his wife Zinaida pastored the largest Pentecostal church in D a g e s t a n ’s c a p i t a l c i t y, Makhachkala. Bishop Arthur was shot in the head by an assailant on July 15. He died from his wounds a few hours later at a hospital.

Suleimanov led Hosanna House of Prayer - a church of 1,000 believers - from rented facilities into a permanent home six years ago. According to reports, Suleimanov had just met with area pastors in which he revealed a new plan to reach the area with evangelism.

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A Christian woman is said to be in a critical condition in hospital after being attacked by a knife-wielding mob who accused her of forcible conversion. The 40-year-old woman, named only as Amodini, was at her home in Karnataka, on July 6 when 15 men burst in and started accusing her of forcing people to become Christians. They then launched a brutal attack on her. “Amodini’s clothes were removed in public and she was attacked with knives,” a witness said, describing the scene as ‘horrific’.

Christian woman ‘critical’ after being attacked for her faith

Worship the Lord in liberty, with uplifted hands!BY ROBIN SAM

YEARS ago when I was a newbie in our church, I remember how restless and uptight I felt when praise and worship was on. I disliked being asked to stand up to sing during worship session. I didn’t know what the worship leader meant when he often said ‘Worship the Lord with liberty.’ Coming from a traditional church background, to me liberty just didn’t seem to fit in with the concept of worship. But all that changed over time when the Spirit of God ministered to me, broke my misgivings, molded me and took me through various experiences – some sweet, others bitter but mostly uplifting.

Recently, I was rereading a book and I stumbled upon some de l igh t fu l i n s igh t on the importance of worshiping God with liberty. And lifting up of hands had a lot to do with it. I turned to my Bible to understand why lifting up of hands means a lot in praise and worship.

King David understood that to worship God is to seek an intimate encounter with Him. When he was in the wilderness of Judah, he longed to see God’s power and glory. His soul and flesh yearned for God’s loving kindness while his lips were full of praises. Naturally, David lifted up his hands towards heaven. ‘Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.’ (Psalms 63:4).

Lifting up your hands is more

than a mere physical activity when it is done in Jesus’ name.

The psalmist who wrote Psalm 134 knew the power of lifting up his hands in God’s presence. ‘Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion,’ he wrote in verses 2 and 3.

In the book of Lamentations, during a time of great peril to Israel, Jeremiah sought the nation to intercede for itself in the only way it knew: ‘Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.’

A grief-laden heart had to be spent and a helpless pair of hands needed to be lifted up to God in prayer for Israel’s turnaround.

Things have not changed much since. When misfortunes strike us, when the future seems bleak and when there seems to be no fresh revelation from God, that’s when we need to worship the Lord. And be sure to lift up your hands to God.

Lifting up our hands signifies complete surrender on our part; we acknowledge the sovereignty of God and His supreme power over us and our situations.

Further, in Lamentations 3:41 Jeremiah said: ‘Let us lift up our heart with [our] hands unto God in the heavens.’ Lifting up of hands along with the heart also implies

total adoration of the Lord of Hosts.

The Creator and only the Creator deserves our worship. The 2 4 e l d e r s m e n t i o n e d i n Revelations 4 understood this. That’s why they prostrated themselves before Him who sits on the throne and said: ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.’

If you doubt that uplifted hands and a heart full of praise can bring deliverance in your situation, may I urge you to look up Exodus 17:11-13 in your Bible? In the battle against Amalekites, as long as Moses’ hands were held up, the Israelites had the upper hand. When his hands relaxed, the Amalekites gained the lead. Finally, Aaron and Hur stood on either of his side to hold his hands and thus Israelites beat Amalekites fair and square.

However, lifting up hands heavenward is not just an Old Testament feature. In 1 Timothy 2:8, Paul exhorted believers everywhere to lift up ‘holy hands, without wrath and doubting.’

In the book ‘If nobody reaches nobody gets touched’, American evangelist Don Gossett says: ‘The lifting up of holy hands in prayer, praise and worship is God’s desire of us.

Man’s order in religion is often ceremonial and ritualistic, after man’s tradition. But God’s order in worship is life, liberty and the lovely lifting up of our hands.’ Is your worship like that?

CSI bishop charged with ‘misappropriation’ of funds

A criminal case has been filed against a Church of South India bishop and 12 others in Salem on charges of misappropriation of some three crores of church funds.

The case charged against Bishop Manickam Dorai, his wife and 10 others, includes cheating, Inspector Kennedy said.

The police is already investigating the alleged misappropriation of funds against the accused in Coimbatore, Udhagamandalam and Erode, English daily Hindustan Times reported. The Bishop and his wife had already obtained anticipatory bail from the Madras High Court in the Coimbatore case. Following the alleged irregularities, Bishop Paul Vasanthakumar of Tiruchi and Thanjavur diocese has taken over the additional charge of Coimbatore Diocese.

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THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGERE-mail: christianmessenger.in@gmail.com

Published on 2nd / 3rd of every month | AugustPage 8 | , 2010

INTERVIEW

DURING his college days, Robert Simon almost became a rationalist. As a child, he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Yet, as a youth he found comfort in rationalistic beliefs. “That rationalistic attitude helped me not become an atheist,” he quipped. “A true rationalist is a true Christian. Hallelujah!” A p o s t - g r a d u a t e i n E n g l i s h Literature, Simon had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ that led to his salvation experience in 1972 when he was barely 23. Soon, he was baptized and took to preaching the good news. “My first preaching was in a moving train,” he told THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER in an interview. Pastor Robert Simon is the founder of Carmel Ministries and is known for his teachings on the book of Revelations. “The central theme of all my ministries is this: 'You shall know the Truth and the Truth sets you free,” he said. Excerpts:

How did you get interested in the book of Revelations?

I c o m e f r o m t h e C S I background and was saved in 1972. From then on, I have heard several preachers' sermons on the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That spurred me to study the Books on Apocalypse and Eschatology more intensely. A year later, I started preaching in conventions. In 1974, Bro. Simon

Stanly, an evangelist, showed me how prophecies had become part and parcel of history over the years. He told me in particular about the re-gathering of the Jews and how var ious Bibl ica l prophecies were being fulfilled. This provided me the impetus to study prophecies in detail.

One such prediction was related to the coming together of NATO countries and the Warsaw pact. In those days, that was unimaginable. Similarly, the unification of the East and West Germany, the disintegration of the USSR (erstwhile Soviet Union) were also part of my preaching in those days even before those prophecies could hit history's newsstands.

When I saw these predictions come true quite literally, I began a serious study of the Book of Daniel in the Bible. The question that weighed Nebuchadnezzar was heavy in my mind too – 'What shall be hereafter?' Based on these studies, I prepared a series of sermons ent i t led 'What is tomorrow?' That gave me a real kick to dwell more into history and Bible studies.

What were some of the predictions that you made then?

One of the important predictions in my teaching was about a cashless society. I had always talked about SDR (special drawing rate). Remember, this was many years ago even before credit / debit

cards and smart cards became a reality.

In November, 1989, I was preaching at the Apostolic Christian Assembly (ACA) in Chennai, at their Sunday evening service. During my message, I said a unified Europe will soon be a reality. I said countries under the Warsaw pact and NATO nations will come together to form a

unified Europe. At this, my i n t e r p r e t e r s m i l e d a t m e sarcastically. After my preaching was over, he asked me how countries under Communist regimes and pro-US nations could come together. I told him it would happen. A month later, the Warsaw pact was dissolved. It was quite startling.

Similarly in 1990, I was leading a specia l Bible s tudy on 'Prophecies and USSR' in Chennai. In my message, I said although the Bible did not mention the USSR, it talked about Russia. For prophecies concerning Russia to be fulfilled, the USSR would be dissolved and Russia would emerge as a powerful nation from among the federation. The following week, the USSR broke up into several communist countries and Russia emerged as a powerful nation.

On another occasion, during the course of a regular church service, I said Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, the then British prime minister, would be thrown out of power as she was not for the European Union and someone who was pro-EU would be sworn in as the leader of the United Kingdom. The same evening, Mrs. Thatcher was removed from power in absentia.

What are some of your future predictions?

In the coming days, the cry for one global leader will increase.

The lobbying for one religion that will usher world peace will become stronger. Three power blocs namely the eastern power bloc, the northern power bloc and the southwest power bloc will emerge clearly. The United States of America will continue to become weaker as a world power while the European Union will emerge as a new power centre. Involvement of Europe in the middle-east crisis between Israel and Palestine will be more s t r iden t . To ta l f a i lu re o f democracy and an urgent need to cobble up a new form of government will be noticed. There will also be a proposal to divide Jerusalem.

What are the qualities one needs to have to be raptured?

The qualities of the Philadelphia Church will be the criteria for rapture. For the church, Christ is more than savior, redeemer and lover. Jesus Christ is the Holy One and He is the Truth. In Isaiah we read the righteous people will keep the truth. Holiness and truth are very important in every believer's life. We should keep the Truth and the Truth will set us free. So, keep the Truth.

Pastor Robert Simon can be reached at 103 Brickkiln Road, Purasaiwalkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 007.

Phone: 044-26622198. E Mail: pastorrobertsimon@gmail.com

BY MATHEW VICTOR

‘Holiness and truth important in every believer’s life’

“For the church, Christ is more than savior, redeemer and lover. Jesus Christ is

the Holy One and He is the Truth.”

Pastor Robert Simon, founder of Carmel Ministries