THOSE who sniggered at the old proverb 'Spare the rod and spoil the child' may want to look at a piece of fresh data that emerged out of a new research. Teenagers who were disciplined with smacking between the ages of two to six tend to do better at school than those who were never smacked, a study has found.They were also more likely to feel good about the future and to undertake voluntary work.The research undermines claims that smacking young children might damage their development.The author of the research, Prof Marjorie Gunnoe of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan,…

Isaiah 48:5-9Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?  Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD ? "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?   Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—…

I don't know, but I am hugely reassured this morning by a survey from Pew Research.Many recent innovations are popular and seen as beneficial (e.g. cell phones, "green" products, email, and the internet).However, some others are not particularly popular - e.g. reality TV shows and "more people getting tattoos," were seen as improvements by only 8% and 7%, respectively, but seen as "a change for the worse" by 63% and 40% respectively.Reality TV must therefore divide people more than the survey suggests. Why? Because it is clearly hugely popular with a small number of people but clearly hugely unpopular with…

Last Sunday, we carved out some space during our corporate worship service for people to share of God’s goodness to us as individuals and as a community. We wanted to start 2010 in the spirit of Psalm 145 and offer a hymn of praise to our God. One of the amusing moments was when Shainu shared of how the Lord has brought people to carry this ministry with us. She made it abundantly clear that I could not do all the work of church planting on my own. I think her exact words were “…there are sooooo many things Ajay…

Teenage girls are more stressed out and depressed than teenage boys. According to new study published in the Jan-Feb issue of Child Development. See the report on WebMD.Teen girls experience more interpersonal stress and exhibit more depression symptoms. Girls also react more strongly to stressors and become more depressed. Boys show many achievement stressors and are less relationship driven at this stage of life.Researchers advice to parents of girls and boys entering puberty, “Pay attention to what your child is experiencing at home and with relationships. Be available and supportive emotionally for your child.”Faith based peer group can be destressor…

Here we are, its 2010, already! There have been times in my life when, like Job (7:6), I’ve felt ‘my days are spent so fast and full of hopelessness’. Other times, emerging from a daunting situation, I’ve earnestly prayed with Moses: ‘Lord, teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom’ (Psa. 90:12). Someone has calculated, if an average life is put into one day (24 hrs) starting at 7 am, then at 11:30am I’d be 20 years, at 6:30 pm – 50 years, at 8:45 pm – 60 years and soon… it would be…

THE Malaysian High Court in Kuala Lumpur fixed March 15 for the mention of an application by a Christian woman to challenge the Home Ministry’s decision in confiscating eight compact discs of Christian religious teachings containing the word ‘Allah’. Deputy Registrar Nik Mohd Fadli Nik Azlan fixed the date of hearing thus setting the stage for another court battle over the word ‘Allah.’ The Muslim-majority country has been in the throes of a raging debate over the word since the High Court ruled on December 31 that the Catholic weekly The Herald’s Bahasa Malaysia edition had a constitutional right to use the…

CHRISTIAN leaders in East Malaysia said they were determined to continue to use the word ‘Allah’ in their daily worship even as they hoped the government would come up with a solution to the vexed issue soon. Speaking to media persons recently the church representatives said that the word ‘Allah’ would still be used during Sunday services. Pastor Danil Raut, president of the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church in Peninsular Malaysia, said: “Before this, there was no problem with using the word for our daily worship. Of course, the Christians in East Malaysia are not happy with the tussle, but we will…

The world is chang ing, mov ing for ward, unac cus tomed to the fan cies and whims of minds and hearts dis af fected. The moments and sea sons of yester-year fraught with pain and sor rows, some how for got ten and pushed away. There was and is noth ing that could not have and would not have hap pened that did not hap pen. The world is a flow ing river of dis con nected and bro ken real i ties stream ing together to form a tor rent of inevitabil ity that frays the con fi…

“I am a FAT Christian”, quipped a dear friend of mine. Well…I have heard this phrase far too often. I have nothing against being a FAT Christian, if by FAT you mean being faithful, available and teachable. But, we are also called to be fit Christians. We must be spiritually fit and shed the flab we pick up along the way. But, more importantly we must be physically fit too. Being physically fit is (and must be) an important part of our spiritual discipline. Those of us who spend a lot of energies on the exercise of godliness forget the…

According to a survey by Pew Research http://people-press.org/report/573, the current decade is regarded by Americans as the worst since the Sixties. The Sixties themselves were regarded as "positive" by 34%, while 15% regarded them as "negative"; on the other hand 42% regarded them as "neither", and 8% said they did not know.The Seventies, Eighties and Nineties improved on those scores more or less uniformly.The proportions were, respectively:Positive: 40, 56, and 57 (that is, more and more people regarded them favourably)Negative: 16, 12 and 19 (a mixed trend, but relatively minor)Neither: 37, 27 and 22 (fewer and fewer people were sitting…

Everybody likes ‘new beginnings’, fresh starts! Having said that, I also believe in continuity and faith-fulness to the task at hand or, in the way I sign off my letters – ‘Pressing On’. There is much value in ‘positive, forward thinking’. I understand the Greek god Janus, from whom we get the name for the month January, has two faces. One looks backward with a frown, and the other ahead with a confident smile. Paul, the early Church’s missionary and gospel preacher was once Saul of Tarsus, its menace and persecutor. But, an encounter with the resurrected Jesus, transformed his…

As many as 50 Muslim villagers armed with clubs and axes recently attacked a showing of the 'Jesus' film near Sargodha, Pakistan, injuring three part-time evangelists and four Christians in attendance.Two of the evangelists were said to be seriously injured. The Muslim hardliners also damaged a movie projector, burned reels of the film and absconded with the public address system and donations from Christian viewers in Chak village, about 10 kilometers northeast of Sargodha.Officers at the Saddr police station refused to register a case against the Muslim assailants, sources said.Three part-time evangelists, identified as Ishtiaq Bhatti, Imtiaz Ghauri and Kaleem…

Here are some excerpts from a letter to our Core Group after taking some time to process the St. Mark’s vote. . . . . the church voted in favor of the proposal and to move forward with allowing mission and ministry to continue through Seven Mile Road Church.Stunned. Amazed. Awe.Here’s what that means for the immediate future. It means that the church has voted in favor of moving forward with dissolving St. Marks, transferring the property to Seven Mile Road Church, and allowing members to decide whether they would like to join our church or find a new one. It…

Check Out This Book  Number in Scripture:Its Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significanceby E. W. Bullinger Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.Isaiah 43:18But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14God is a God of New Things. He is a…

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is Holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut and who shuts and no one opens, says this: "I know your deeds, Behold I have put before you an open door which no one can shut".....(Rev:3:7-13)The Lord also describes Himself as the One who can now open or shut any door. If we are overcomers, we need never stand before a closed door at any time, when it is the will of God that we should go through.But the…

I have heard from several parents and thinkers that today’s kids are growing up too fast. What does that really mean? Are kids missing out on childhood? Is childhood culturally shaped or due to the fact they are growing up in an advanced/western society? Does it matter?Young people today process more information in a year than one generation ago had done throughout their entire adolescence. They are more exposed, more aware, more travelled, more skilled (especially with technology) than the previous generation. They think and express ahead of their age. Or, should we say we are stuck in the old…