September and October (2008) financial crisis in US had contagious effect on the whole world.   Stock market downfall, liquid cash disappearance, foreign exchange rates becoming unstable, anxiety and fear in investors, some suicides were reported from several parts of the world.  Is it the sign of global recession?  Pink is the colour that is considered scary, as people are rapidly loosing their jobs . . . the global society needs to be in ICU for spiritual shock treatment and surgery.  Alas, prophets try to apply band aids as solutions and declare all will be well.  Will the Church produce prophets for the post-modern era?  Yes, God will raise his own witnesses for every generation.

Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is a 'festival of lights' celebrated especially by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. This festival is spread over three to four days and is one of the most anticipated times of celebration. Homes are lit with hundreds of deeya (clay oil lamps) during the season, to signify victory of good over evil. The day of Diwali is the highlight of this celebratory mood. Families get together to start the day with oil baths, then exchange gifts and sweets, followed by the most exciting event of the year - family fire works. Fireworks begin before the crack of dawn and go well into the day. No amount of description is sufficient to capture all the excitement and celebrations associated with the Diwali festival. You have to be there to experience it.

"I am not completely convinced that "enough" is primarily related to contentment, philanthropy, spiritual, cultural, or economic factors. It seems to me that the concept of "enough" has several levels and that Abraham Maslow's "hierarchy of needs" serves as a good initial classification scheme . . . However, anyone with any experience of the world, or even the willingness to reflect on the news headlines each day, will be aware, for example, that parents are often willing to go without food so that their children can be fed (which violates Maslow's point about his most basic level): something "higher" drives them to abandon their "most basic" needs . . . . consider people who, for love, are even willing to give up their own lives. 

Graham Stuart Staines was the Australian missionary who was burnt to death along with his two sons Philip, aged nine and Timothy aged seven while sleeping in his station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district in Orissa, India in January 1999. Graham Staines had been working in Orissa among the tribal poor and especially with leprosy patients since 1965. He spoke fluent Oriya and was very popular among the patients whom he used to help after they were cured. He used to teach them how to make mats out of rope and basket from saboigrass and hand weaving. The widow of Graham Staines, Gladys has said the perpetrators of the crime should be forgiven. "I've no hatred for anyone.  "I've no anger," Mrs. Gladys Staines responded."

The number 888 equals JESUS, the Salvation of Our God. Beginning 8th August 2008 the world will be focused on the Summer 2008 China Beijing Olympics Games, its glory and excitement, while the people of God must also be focused on the King of Glory and the power of His NAME! This is a prophetic date that will come and go with this calendar year, but the number 888 is forever, because Jesus is forever. We invite all Christians everywhere to be intentional and Celebrate Jesus 888 by honoring Jesus' Name and worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.

Please pray these prayer for China on August 8th 2008 especially from 8:00-8:08pm. BEIJING SUMMER 2008 OLYMPICS 1. Every athlete and official to feel fulfilled through giving of their best efforts 2. Every athlete and official will enjoy the Games through fair-play and mutual respect. 3. Every athlete and official will be blessed with well-facilitated Games 4. All will experience a touch of world peace and unity of purpose. . . . .Then we would like to encourage you to pray with millions all over the world on 8 August, 8:08pm this prayer. "May the blessed  glory of God fill China"

I am a computer professional and majority of the time, I am sitting working at my office desktop, if I am not in business or technical meetings. However, as soon as I reached my office, I had to work on some urgent technical issues and almost forgot about the website. At around 4:30 pm after fixing the issue, I had a chance to relax in my office and took a look at my “To Do” list. I realized my plan to visit the Benny Hinn Ministries website. I wasted no time and started browsing the site. As I browsed the site, I became excited about the various biblical places that were part of tour itinerary of Israel. My spirit immediately longed to be part of this tour but I knew that it would be very difficult for me to go as I had many pending work assigments. 

Guys and gals, you must check out Masih Tube - the South Asian version of YouTube or GodTube. This website comment came from Ron - the founder of Masih Tube - I loved the way you are connecting the South Asian community living around the world through your website. After getting inspiration from a man of God like you, I decided to work on a Christian video portal for the South Asian Community around the world… and through this process, I have finished a video portal http://www.MasihTube.com It contains Christian videos from many Indian languages and I believe that many would benefit from this video portal. I will be adding the latest videos every week in this portal. God has blessed me with many talents and I am using all for His glory. LET US ALL SPREAD THE WORD TOGETHER.

Nowadays, with the flat-world reality of technology, it is easier than ever for key apostolic leaders to connect the world over. This incredible new ability to communicate should be done strategically and with wisdom, lest a leader fail because of a lack of focus. . . . I believe God is calling the church to properly steward this incredible opportunity to unite global leaders for the sake of His kingdom. The early church was united and evangelized much of the known world by the end of the first century--all without planes, trains, automobiles, cell phones, or computers. I pray nothing less will be done by His present-day church.

Whatever reason might have brought you to this website, one thing is certain. God has a plan and purpose in your life. You are not here by chance or accident. You have a specific God-given assigment on this earth. You are precious to God and He loves you so much, that is why He has created you in His own image. You can’t find God’s purpose and plan in yourself, or in other people, or in the things of this world. God has made that plan for you and that plan can only be found in God alone.

God is polishing me and taking me through the fire that refines me. You know it is hard to go through the refining fire though we know that we will become a cleansed weapon in God's hand. Believe me, I recently thought of even quitting from Christian ministry. I have been going through a financial crisis which is the worst time I ever had. I thought of doing a secular job and doing God's ministry. You could be a witness everywhere you work but it is hard for those who are called to be fulltime workers. I hardly get time to do ministry if I do another job. At the end of the day, I am sure that the Lord is faithful and He knows all about our needs.

These past few months, the world we live in has faced challenges that governments, institutions, families and individuals have found difficult to cope with – agflation [agricultural inflation], soaring prices of good and services, shakening of stable and trusted financial institutions, change of governments and political institutions, societal transformation in family and marriage, rise in new infectious diseases, increased persecution of Christians, shakening of religious institutions, talk of a global recession and many more changes. "What On Earth Is Happening To The World Today?”In this article, we will allow the powerful Word of God to speak and breathe life for itself.

How can we find true friendship in this often phony, temporary world? Friendship involves recognition or familiarity with another's personality. Friends often share likes and dislikes, interests, pursuits, and passion. Genuine friendship involves a shared sense of caring and concern, a desire to see one another grow and develop, and a hope for each other to succeed in all aspects of life. True friendship involves action: doing something for someone else while expecting nothing in return; sharing thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment or negative criticism.

I would like you to do a private search of your memory—the memory of your life. Google your heart. I want you to type the following into the search engine of your mind: [your name] = guilty. In my case, it’s “Ramesh = guilty.” Of course, my find is extremely private. I don’t want you to be probing my pages, and I’ve password-protected it with a strong, alphanumeric password. Go ahead and type in that equation, your name = guilty. Count the number of pages that come up in your memory. A dozen pages? Thousands of results? Hundreds of thousands of results of guilty actions, guilty attitudes, guilty behaviors? Now take a peak at these private pages. Notice that some of them are relevant, even recent. You’ve become self-entrapped in your sin and guilt. You need to be rescued from your self-entrapment before you become a permanent casualty.

Just as there were many who were appalled at him, his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likenes, so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men,  a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Every Good Friday, in most churches around the world, the people of God would meditate on the seven verses spoken by Jesus from the Cross. First verse: Jesus said, "Father, forgive them: for they do not know what they are doing." And they parted His garments, and cast lots (Luke 23:34). Second verse:  One of the malefactors said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into your kingdom".  Jesus said to him, "I tell you the Truth, today you will be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:42-43) Third verse: When Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, Jesus said to His mother, "Dear woman, here is your son!"  Then He said to the disciple, "Here is your mother!" (John 19:27).

In this story of different kinds of faith, I want to give us the opportunity of examining our levels of faith. The author of Hebrews tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. Faith is an action word. It does something. It moves forward. It is responding to a Person. Indeed, faith is to believe what we do not see and the end reward of this faith is to see what we believe. The woman with the issue of blood touched the heart of the Father when she fanned into flame the faith that was inside her. Today, are you asking God, “If only I could touch the hem of your garment”. He is here to heal. He is here to touch and make you whole. The same Jesus that we read about in the gospels is right here. Come and respond to Jesus. Only He can touch you. Only He can heal you. Only Jesus can make you whole.

"No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look! Look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother for me it is too late." . . . . One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love "The Praying Hands."

Anyone aged 26 or less on 15 January 2008 can enter the competition by writing a story of up to 1,000 words based on the characters of the best-selling fantasy novel, Conspiracy of Calaspia, by the Guptara twins. The Guptara twins are 18, were born to an Indian father and English mother, and live in Switzerland.  They completed the first draft of their highly-acclaimed novel when they were only eleven.  Several complete re-writes later, Conspiracy of Calaspia is a 600 page blockbuster. Jyoti, the younger twin, became probably the world's youngest full-time writer at the age of 15, shortly after becoming the youngest-ever writer to be published by The Wall Street Journal.  Suresh, the elder twin, has just finished (summer 2007) the British School-Leaving Exams ("A" Levels) and is spending a year as a full-time writer too, before he decides about his future. Their fantasy novel, Conspiracy of Calaspia, rose to number 2 on the Indian best seller list, second only to Kiran Desai's Man Booker Prize Winning Novel, The Inheritance of Loss.

The Guptara family starts with Professor Murli Manohar Guptara (died 1957), who changed his name to "Guptara", from "Gupt" or "Aggarwal" (the two usual surnames for our previous family, though these names have various spellings nowadays in English, since English is a non-phonetic language). He did this because he did not believe in caste (Gupt and Aggarwal are both caste-names). "Guptara" is a name with a meaning, from the original "Gupt" which, literally, means "hidden" and "Tara" which literally means "star". Thus, "hidden star". Professor M.M. Guptara was in reality a hidden star. As for the rest of us, history has yet to make a judgment . . . and while reading about Professor Prabhu Guptara, check out his beautiful poems!