Satan doesn't care even if we have the right doctrine, experience and church-pattern, so long as we continue to "live for ourselves" (This, by the way, is just another phrase for "living in sin"!!). Christendom today is filled with Christians who seek their own and live for themselves, who are yet convinced that God views them as superior to other Christians, merely because of doctrinal differences or church-pattern or "experiences". This shows what a great work Satan has succeeded in doing in Christendom. In John 6:38, our Lord said that He came from heaven to earth: (1) To deny His human will (that He had acquired, when He came to earth as a Man), and (2) To do the will of His Father, as a Man. Thereby He became our example.

Through an imaginative dialog between six men with different worldviews, Praveen Raju of the Sakshi Times illustrates the implications of each in relation to the meaning and destination in life. At the Indian international airport, in a small restaurant,  five people are seated  around a long table relishing steaming tea . There is also a sixth person seated in a corner, on the next table, mutely watching  everyone. The announcer in her concerned yet pleasant voice apologizes the passengers for bad weather and thick fog  and  announces  in a regular and serious tone concerning flight  delay for about three hours. Suddenly, when the announcement was over, one of the five, Mr. Atheist, bangs the table and yells … 

I am a follower of Christ and my life must reflect that truth whether I am working at my job, shopping at the mall, throwing a party, attending classes at university, serving in church, hanging out with friends, deciding on a career, choosing a spouse or in any other activity of life. And I won’t need to label all my activities as ‘Christian’ because such labels are unnecessary and rather lame. It is understood that because I am a follower of Christ, everything I do will comply with the standards and values I profess to hold. If your walk with God is simply a part you play, an act, getting in and out of character is as easy as changing clothes. If it’s who you are, it doesn’t change with circumstance. Don’t fall into the trap that separates the spiritual and the secular. Being a Christian isn’t just a part of who I am—it is who I am.

Undeniably, Jesus lived an exemplary life. He made claims of himself that remain extraordinary and startling, though reasonable and profound. We need only to read some of the autobiographies of great men and women who have gone before us to see that they were subject to the same moral frailties distinctive to you and me. Yet nothing of the sort is said about Jesus, a fact that pierces heart, mind, and conscience. Of this, historian and skeptic William Lecky writes: "[Jesus] has exercised so deep an influence that it may be truly said that the simple record of three short years of active life has done more to regenerate and soften mankind than all the disquisitions of philosophers and all the exhortations of moralists. This has indeed been the wellspring of whatever is best and purest in the Christian life."(2) We cannot but come to the conclusion that Jesus was far from typical.

So what are the alternatives? Obviously it would be foolhardy to expect one to go back to the days of the bullock cart. To be sure one cannot entirely abandon reliance on fossil fuels for economic activity must go on. But if Pachauri words are to be taken seriously how can we cut emissions immediately and drastically? Wasteful use, for one, can be avoided. What are the areas you recognise wasteful use of energy? How could you alter those habits? That, you may say, is only a drop in the ocean! But isn’t the ocean made up of droplets of water? If large numbers do take action then we will most certainly make a difference. Besides acting we can also advocate greener lifestyles. What are the practical ways in which you could encourage your local church to promote greener lifestyles?

Often, many people view the resurrection of Christ merely as an historical event that supplies us with Christian doctrine without understanding the vast implications it has for believers. The following points will attempt to make the implications of the resurrection of Christ much more real and practical to us. When I experience the resurrection of Christ my personal values begin to change to more reflect the heart and character of God. What I once valued as a priority now becomes low priority so that eternal things can take the ascendancy. Jesus said that the things honored by man are detestable in the sight of God (Luke). Where once possessions possessed me, now I own nothing and steward everything. Where once I wanted to express my persona, now I want Christ in me to shine. Where once I lived for today, now I live in eternity. Where once I wanted to live for my purposes, now I endeavor to die to self for His purposes.

In Passion of the Christ, Jesus appears helpless – a victim of religious hatred and intolerance; a victim of social power-play between religious orders clamoring for a shrinking social space in the face of alien occupation; and a victim of a Roman governor who reflected his own insecurities of political failure, nonetheless different from the Empire he represented in the troubled Roman outpost. Why couldn’t God help Jesus? Where was God when Jesus was falsely accused and unjustly punished with a death penalty? It hurts to see BAD things happen to GOOD people. Even today, there are many whose right to life itself is crushed by forces of systematic evil, which constantly re-invents itself and continues to threaten hope for new life. Jesus’ pain and powerlessness and his consequent death raise a question, ‘Where is God when it hurts?’

The primary call for the Indian-Christians is to make the gospel relevant to Indians. The gospel needs to be 'situated' in our language and culture if it has to be 'acceptable' to Indians. What is worrisome is the uncritical 'Americanization' of the gospel if not the McDonaldization of the gospel – 'same gospel everywhere'. We trust the 'tried' and 'tested' American gospel to work a miracle in India. Do not get me wrong. This is no smear campaign. There's nothing wrong with American Christianity itself. It is its uncritical application in the Indian context that causes me to raise the alarm. The point I am making is that 'localized' flavor is essential to reach out to a larger audience. It is important to be sensitive to local 'tastes' and 'preferences' and serve local needs. Indian curry is popular in England but one finds curry served in London 'less-Indian' than what is normally served in India. It is cooked to 'please' British taste buds.

I had contracted a disease, which the doctors couldn’t explain. After two years of unsuccessful treatment, I decided I had had enough and asked the Lord to heal me, and I decided to trust Him only. And true to his word my Lord kept His word and healed me totally. Then a few months later I developed boils, which would ooze with blood and puss. I once again placed my trust on the Lord and asked Him to heal me. And miraculously the Lord healed me completely. Only the scars remain . . . I am a living example of the power and faithfulness of God. It’s no fairy tale, it’s real life, it’s not hearsay. I am a first person witness to this miracle.

Often it appears that we are Christian in confession (profession and preaching) and Hindu in conduct (practice) – there seems to be a chronic belief-behaviour or preaching-practice inconsistency and the gap seems unbridgeable. It is disgraceful and painful. No wonder Mahatma Gandhi challenged the Indian Christians by saying, ‘show me one true Christian and I assure you that whole of India will become Christian’. There is certainly exaggeration in this, but there is also a great deal of truth. . . .

The uniqueness of the Christian religion is due to the uniqueness of its central figure. Many in the West, influenced by Eastern thinking, are predisposed to think of Jesus Christ as one among the great religious leaders of the world — peer of Mohammed, Buddha, Gaia, and so on. They prefer to see Him as merely a god among gods. But the man of Galilee rises inexorably above the definitions of philosophers and pundits, and He will not, by any definition, fit such a simple and convenient mold. Jesus Christ is, without peer, the central figure of Western history. No other person, real or imagined, has made such a profound and enduring impact on civilization for such a period of time.

You just can’t ignore Harry Potter. He has become a household name, courtesy the powerful engines of Globalization. Harry Potter books and its product spin-offs are found everywhere. Even if you don’t want to read the book/s (watch the films), you still cannot manage to stay insulated. Hogwarts’ magic is slowly but steadily invading our living room through everyday conversations. Trust me, it is extremely difficult to be indifferent about Harry Potter and Hogwarts. Few books/films, like the Harry Potter series have evoked such ‘equal’ and ‘opposite’ reactions, all at the same time.

Who are the storytellers of our times? J.K Rowling, Dan Brown, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Carl Sagan and a host of Hollywood/Bollywood producers are the story tellers who capture the imagination of our generation. We are called to be Story tellers/keepers. We need to re-tell the gospel story in a manner that would capture the imagination of contemporary audiences. It is not just enough to re-tell the gospel “attractively” and “intelligently” to command a listening by contemporary audience. It is important that we re-tell the gospel story “responsibly”. True, telling the gospel story in an information age isn’t easy. But then, every generation of story keepers have done it facing the odds. We can (and we must) re-tell the story of Jesus and keep the story alive . . . Our primary calling is to keep the story alive by being, doing and (re)telling the gospel to our generation and beyond.

Does God exist? Dr. Joseph Materra writes a persuasive and well thought-out article on the "Ten Major Proofs Offered by Theists for the Existence of God." He presents the argument from an Ontological, Cosmological, Teleological, Biblical, Wish, Faith and Subjective perspective supported strongly also with the argument from life, miracles and moral values.

"Do faith and science necessarily have to be at odds with one another? Pastor Pritam Singh Sandhu discusses the evidence for Intelligent Design and how science and the exploration of God's universe is actually an enterprise that can and should testify to God's fingerprint in every facet of creation. In particular, Intelligent Design constitutes the best and most causally adequate explanation for the origin of the genetic information in the DNA necessary to produce a living cell.

This article is approached from the perspective of how a physician would assess the injuries of Jesus if he were there to see the actual physical trauma Jesus experienced. Dr. Keith Maxwell speaks plainly, with as little medical jargon as possible. His development of this topic began to evolve one night when Dr. Maxwell, in the emergency room, thought to himself, "If they brought the Lord in here, exactly what would his physical injuries be like?" He hopes through this article to reveal some things that will make us meditate on the actual suffering Jesus experienced in the last hours of his life. In the notes that follow are his conclusions about the death of Jesus based on his research, experience as a trauma physician and his understanding of scripture.

Modern Science lends its weight to Genesis Chapter One. This article takes the reader through each verse of the first chapter of the book of Genesis and shows how it integrates with modern scientific knowledge. Rosario D'Souza writes " . . . Moses gave a very accurate account of creation in the first chapter of the book of Genesis. The conclusion is that there was no way for him to have that knowledge at the time of writing unless he was inspired by God. The very first chapter of the first book of the Bible establishes the authenticity of God's authorship of the Bible."

We must meet God if we are to know Him. If you look at the world today, a rising indifference to the God of the Scriptures should not intimidate the true believer. For if they are truly believing the words of the Christ of the Scriptures, if they truly had a holistic encounter with the Christ on the Cross, they would have no qualms about following Him. It’s when we don’t know something that we create something else to combat our blatant misunderstandings. Atheists look to organized religion and say, what a bunch of bull. I look at organized religion and for the most part completely agree with the atheist. The God I serve is not about religion, rather He is about true relationship and utter dependence upon Him.

It is still intriguing to me how the subject of Christian missionary activity makes so many non-Christians uncomfortable, often to the point of remonstration. One mention of Christian conversion in company as diverse as a devout Hindu, a nominal Jew, or an enlightened secularist and you immediately get the feeling that this is a distasteful subject. The reaction is especially common amongst the post-colonial cultures of Asia, where missionary activity is associated with a crusading westernization that is out to undermine the virtues of indigenous culture. Are the critics right? Is the spreading of the gospel necessarily an arrogant enterprise that presumptuously proclaims to unbelievers, “we know better than you”?

The National Geographic Channel aired a program entitled, Secrets of Revelation.  Secrets of Revelation presented the usual speculations and historical evidence behind the Book of Revelation [or The Revelation of Jesus Christ].  What stood out were the “Christian” ministers who asserted that Revelation was mere literature.  This was followed up by statements that the author of Revelation was an angry, displaced old man. Cassandrah Batya writes in defence that the truth is never pretty.