Purge Out….!!!
Regular housekeeping keeps a room clean. Otherwise dust amasses on the surface of objects. This looks like a thick layer blended with the object. The cleaning of the heavy grime takes a long time and needless to say, it will be laborious process.
Recently days, I was stuck up with an airlock in the chilled water pipeline during the commissioning of a central air conditioning unit. It took a long time to release the air to make the system functional. After removing all the air, the unit started to function satisfactorily.
In our spiritual journey too, a lot of dust such as old incidence, scars, emotional hurt, bitterness, physical abuse, child abuse etc. piles up. This cripples our mind and thinking. At times it makes us feel low. It comes into our mind often to commove our day to day activities. The psychologists have named it as ‘depression’. It comes to a believer when the relationship with God soars or while preparing the Bible study for others or during a superficial study of the Word of God.
The antidote for this is to perform the ‘Purge Out Therapy’ on a daily basis. If not our lives would be affected seriously. Moreover, it mars the joy of salvation and feigns the ministry also. As Christian believers, let us use the ‘Purge Therapy’ in a habitué to live a happy and joyful life.
A. Purge Out the Old Leaven (I cor. 5:7-8)
The old leaven is mentioned as malice and wickedness. It has to be peeled off from our lives and be replaced with Sincerity and Truth. The peeling off is not a one day event since we are living in this world. This will make us dirty. It has to be subbed with new leaven and new wine which God has given us through Jesus Christ.
B. Purge Out the Dross (Isa. 1:25)
The dross is the scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals. The formation of scoria takes place in our relationship with others. E.g slip of tongues, slur, hiding some of things, playing politics, thinking one thing and then giving contradicting information,.
Sometimes the slag may be an insignificant and an invisible one. To make it conspicuous, it is better to evaluate the day’s happening before going to bed and writing down what God has spoken through that circumstance. It helps us to clear our impurity and look ahead for tomorrow.
C. Purge Out the Inmost Being (Prov. 20:30)
People of different faith try to control their physical desires by regular external self- punishing acts. External beatings cannot purge out the inner parts. Here Solomon instructs to punish the inward part which produces the evil in our life. Dwelling a lot on the self and inmost being makes us to feel hurt or depressed. That’s why Paul said in Gal 2:20 “not I but Jesus Christ”:
Let us purge out the old leaven dross and inmost being and replace with sincerity, truth with the help of our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ.
J. Peter Daniel M.E., 76, Living Spring Avenue, Sanjeevipuram, Bagayam,
Vellore 632 – 002, Phone. 0416 2260066, 09443800395.
email: peterpearline@yahoo.co.in
http://glocalyouthvision.wordpress.com
Global News
Holy Spirits! Aussies turn pub into Church
Monday October 29, 03:10 PM
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Jesus Christ may have turned water into wine, but for a group of Australian churchgoers the ideal place to worship on a Sunday is a pub.
Devoid of a church in the docklands entertainment area of Melbourne, a group of Christians have created the “Docklands Church” inside the James Squire Brewhouse.
“Jesus did turn water into wine, he was kind of radical, he was connected with his culture, and yet he had a great message for our world,” Docklands Church minister Guy Mason said after his first service on Sunday.
Mason told local media that worshippers were offered not only a message from the bible but also a meal and tea and coffee, but anyone could have a pint before or after the church service. The choice of location was a way of modernising the church, he said.
“All we want to be is relevant, we want to be applicable and contemporary and…we’re going to keep the bible open as well,” said one parishioner, with a beer in his hand.
Another parishioner said: “I think a lot of people who do want to go out and have a drink or go out and have a party often feel that they’re excluded from God”.
Christian filmmakers praise Walt, fault Disney Co
Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:38am IST
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hundreds of Christian filmmakers gathered on Monday in Texas to study entertainment pioneer Walt Disney and how they believe his corporate heirs at the Walt Disney Co went astray from his family-friendly legacy.
The Christian Filmmakers Academy, which trains aspiring filmmakers and promotes the making of films with “biblical values,” contends that the Walt Disney Co has became “an engine of cultural decline after Walt’s death” that exercises an alarmingly vast global influence.
The two-day analysis of Disney, the man and the corporation, is part of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and Third Annual Christian Filmmakers Academy.
Despite their admiration of Walt Disney, the focus on Disney the company reflects growing discomfort among some evangelical Christians with the content and reach of the company’s entertainment products.
Disney’s relationship with the U.S. Christian community has been strained over the past decade over issues such as Disney policies considered friendly to gays, although Christian groups in 2005 halted a nine-year boycott of the company.
The Texas event gives a rare glimpse into the world of Christian entertainment and filmmakers who are trying to create alternatives to mass-market fare using as a model the founder of a company they have widely criticized.
“What we really see is a decline in the ethics and standards of where (Walt) Disney was coming from,” Academy founder Doug Phillips said. “We are making the case that there is a departure toward politically correct filmmaking that has a negative effect on family.”
Disney did not respond to requests for comment.
Pastor’s hut set on fire in Barauli
17 Sep 2007, 0411 hrs IST , TNN
LUCKNOW: The hut of a pastor in Barauli village where he performed rituals every Sunday was burnt down by some miscreants. They also threatened the pastor and his wife. An FIR has been lodged in this connection with Madiaon police station. The incident took place around 11 am.
Pastor Virendra Singh, resident of Indiranagar, used to visit Barauli village under Madiaon police station area every Sunday to perform some rituals and ceremonies.
He also preached to the locals and always had some visitors who came to meet him. His wife Bhavna Singh used to accompany him on these visits. Bhavna is a physical education teacher in IT College.
On Sunday, Virendra and Bhavna visited their property in Barauli village as usual. The 2000 sq ft plot had a hut where the rituals were performed. However, some men, led by Narendra Singh and Giri Baba, reached the hut and picked up a fight with the pastor. They threatened the couple and then set the thatched hut on fire. The whole structure was reduced to rubble in a matter of a few minutes.
An FIR has been lodged in this connection by Virendra Singh with Madiaon police station. However, no arrests had been made till going to press.
Comic relief in history classes for Mumbai school
3 Oct 2007, 0247 hrs IST , TNN
MUMBAI: At Vishwajyot High School in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, students in the sixth grade love their history lessons. Not surprising, given that their study material includes the Amar Chitra Katha comic books.
During history class, students eagerly pore over comic strips of historical periods, enact characters of emperors and tyrants, and have animated discussions on the subject. From being a drudgery history has become fun.
“Kids always find history dull and boring. I was wondering how to make the subject more exciting, when I chanced upon the Amar Chitra Katha comics at a book store and was convinced that the comic-strip format and visuals were just the thing,” says school principal Sushma Dhumal.
When Dhumal introduced the novel teaching aid in class V last year, the response was enthusiastic. “The same batch, which has moved up to class VI, continues to learn from the comics,” she says. “If we find the experiment successful, we hope to introduce it to classes V to VII.”
Students are asked to read the comic strip aloud, after which they break up into groups of four, discuss what they’ve heard and write a summary. “It’s a lot of fun because everyone gets a chance to express themselves and the summary is taking everyone’s ideas into account,” says 10-year-old Ayushmita Rao, who has grown to love these sessions. Dhumal says that writing the summary helps students convert direct speech into indirect speech.
One group gets to read their summary aloud. Then the whole class jumps into the debate, adding points, disagreeing, and qualifying points of view. The teachers have learnt to live with and even welcome the noise. “An outsider may think there’s a din in the classroom, but the kids enjoy themselves and get to love history,” says history teacher Mala Ramnath.
Ban ‘fail’ word: NCERT
17 Sep 2007, 0306 hrs IST , SEETHALAKSHMI S , TNN
BANGALORE: Fail — the dreaded word for lakhs of students — may be deleted from the report cards if the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) has its way.
Concerned over increasing number of suicides among students, the NCERT, a central apex body, has suggested to schools across the country to replace the word fail with unsatisfactory or repeat.
The national focus group on exam reforms at the NCERT has said it is unjustified to declare a student pass or fail on the basis of a single, three-hour public exam. There should be a more comprehensive way of evaluating students by employing multiple techniques of assessment.
The group has suggested a school-based and continuous assessment for all classes. This will lessen the load and tension on students, and makes teachers more accountable..
Another important recommendation is to make a provision allowing a student to re-take the exam in a short period to improve on the unsatisfactory grade(s). “The stigma of fail hits students so badly that they take the extreme step of suicide. It’s time we stopped using such terms and replace them with words that will not demoralise completely,” sources told TOI.
The group’s suggestion will come as a boon to Karnataka which has nearly 50% of its students failing in the annual SSLC and PU exams.
Led by eminent educationists, including IIT/IIM directors and various research institutes, the group has told exam boards to reform the system and remodel the question paper to test creativity and application of mind.
Another significant change to de-stress the exam system is to have a flexible time. “Schools can consider extending the time to three-and-a-half hours or even 4, so that students can write without stress. The three-hour fixation can go,’’sources said.
Though many CBSE schools have introduced the grading system instead of marks, a large chunk of schools still follow the traditional system of assessing the students’ performance.
Like in the higher education system, the group has recommended a three-year window within which all subjects have to be cleared.
The group has asked every school to have a counsellor to interact with students, teachers and parents. To begin with, one teacher from each school can be given short-term training to deal with stress-related problems.
Australia may become hotter by 2070
3 Oct 2007, 0306 hrs IST , AP
SYDNEY: Parts of Australia, already the world’s driest inhabited continent, could be 5 degrees Celsius hotter and 80% drier by 2070 if greenhouse gas emissions are not radically reduced, government data said on Tuesday.
The report by the Bureau of Meteorology and the government’s main research body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, predicts lower rainfall, longer droughts and more searing hot days for Australia, known by locals as “the sunburned country.”
Penny Whetton, a climate scientist with the CSIRO, said Australia is already locked in to a 1°C increase in average temperatures by 2030 due to past carbon dioxide emissions, and that the figure could rise as high as 5°C by 2070 if global emissions are not dramatically reduced.
Under the most extreme scenario, Australia’s northern city of Darwin could face as many as 230 days above 35°C each year, compared with just 11 under present average temperatures.Southwestern Australiawill see periods of drought increasing by up to 80% by 2070.
Allahabad HC judge wants Gita to be national holy book
New Delhi: ” It is the duty of every citizen of India under Article 51-A of the Constitution of India, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, to follow dharma as propounded by the Bhagvad Gita“.
This is not a chorus by any Saffron brigade, but the pronouncement of a judge of the Allahabad High Court . Justice S N Srivastava made this observation on August 30, while hearing a case filed by Shyamal Ranjan Mukherji, a priest at the Gopal Thakur Mandir in Varanasi.
Says Allahabad High Court lawyer, Krishna Shukla, “The Bhagavad Gita was an inspiration to all who took part in the struggle for India’s independence and the preachings in the holy book are for the common man, and not for any particular caste or creed.”
The saffron brigade however insists that the judgement has nothing to do with the judge’s religion. Says member Vishwa Hindu Parishad, B P Singhal, “He has justice in his mind, not as a Hindu, but as a judge.”
However if one looks back at the track record of S N Srivastava , there are other controversies as well BLUR_B
On April 5 this year, he had ruled that Muslims were not a minority group in Uttar Pradesh. The order was, however, stayed the very next day by a division bench of the High Court.
His ode to dharma came at the very end of his career, just five days before retirement.
Says columnist Saeed Naqvi, “The Bhagvad Gita is a part of India’s culture but they are trying to make it a religious text.”
In the words of the judge, if we can have a national bird, we might as well have a national holy book too. But then, are such sweeping statements appropriate for a custodian of the law, in a secular republic?
Stem cell therapy cut transplants
26 Sep 2007
LONDON: Imagine needing an urgent liver transplant, but instead of waiting for a donor, you can just repair your own organ.
Yes, scientists have discovered a new way of treating liver failure — the technique involves inserting stem cells into the damaged organ so that it is encouraged to repair itself and create new tissue, The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
“We have identified a non-hepatic source of cells that can easily be expanded to the scale required for clinical application,” Dr Martin Yarmush, who led the study published in the Public Library of Science journal, was quoted by the daily as saying.
The liver is known to be one of the few major organs able to regenerate itself when parts have been removed. The scientists came to the conclusion after they found they could encourage this natural tendency by inserting stem cells into the damaged livers of rodents. In fact, they used Mesenchymal stem cells found in the bone marrow.
According to the researchers, the treatment will allow patients to live long enough for a new organ to found and could even enable the liver to completely heal itself so a transplant is no longer needed. The demand for new organs is currently so high that many patients die on the waiting list or are taken off because their condition deteriorates to the extent that they would not survive the operation.
