THINK
Think before you speak! Make sure what you say is:T- TruthfulH - HelpfulI - InspiringN - NecessaryK - KindMr. Bilson
From Devout Sikh to Catholic Priest
This is the story of Jaideep Singh, who recently became a Maryknoll missionary, a societies of apostolic life founded in the United States in the early 1900s. Today he is Fr. Stephen James Taluja. Born in 1981, the youngest child of an important Indian Sikh family, the only male eagerly awaited by his parents after three daughters. Fr. Stephen talks to AsiaNews about his unique and personal story that revolves around his discovery that Christ is the Mighty God "in weakness" and the certainty that "God is faithful." "My mother was a very devout woman who introduced me to the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib educated us at home in the prayer and recitation of the hymns of the sacred scriptures. My father accompanied me to the Gurdwara, the Sikh temple, and he raised me in the faith of the almighty. My parents instilled in us children love for God and a sense of service to the community."Break Free From The Web – Don’t Let The Computer Master You
Our world has been redefined to a faster pace than we thought, especially in the last 5 years. Our world has grown additional tongues, ears and eyes; we call it the virtual world. My mother is still trying to wrap her head around that fact that majority of the ministry work is actually done on the computer. And from the way it seems, the virtual world has taken over a generation itself. From relationships to direct communications, everything seems to be moulded by this world. Now since there are thousands of benefits available, if we are not careful, we may end up becoming slaves to the computer and it in turn affecting our overall job performance, relationships and other activities.Thank You Jesus, My Powercord Is Not Working!
“Thank you Jesus, my powercord is not working!” I just said this phrase a couple of minutes ago…immediately before witnessing an amazing miracle!I woke up at 5AM this morning only to find that my laptop was dead. I had left it on and charging last night, as I do every night. But this morning, my laptop was completely dead. No lights were shining. I looked at where the powercord connects to the laptop and the little blue light that indicates that it is plugged in was not lit. I unplugged and plugged it in again, but still no light. I…
Smacked Kids Do Better At School
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,…
Turn Your Prayers To Action
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—…
Why Do Some People Disfigure Their Bodies?
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…
Evidences of Grace :: Feet-Washers
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…
Teen Girls More Stressed Than Boys
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…
The Days of Our Lives
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…
Malaysian Christian Woman Fights Govt Over 'Allah'
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…
East Malaysian Christians Will Continue To Pray To ‘Allah’
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…
Vatican Says Bono Always Singing About God
"Here's something that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone: U2's Bono is down with God. Or at least that's what the Vatican says.According to The Guardian , L'Osservatore Romano , the Catholic institution's official newspaper, recently published an article (I hope you read Italian) stating that Bono is pretty much always singing about God. The article goes on to point out many of Bono's references to God in U2's lyrics.The article quotes U2: In The Name Of Love , a book by Italian music critic named Andrea Morandi, who argues that all of U2's music features spiritual or Christian…
Everything & Nothing
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…
The Fit And The Faithful
“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…
Which Decade Was The Worst Of The Last Five?
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…
1 Thing I Do – ‘Press On’!
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…
Through Shame And Failure To Be A Blessing To The World
Benny Prasad says, "If I could be made useful, any one in this world can. If my dreams can come true, yours can too. My sin and shame has been exchanged for righteousness and new life by the Almighty God who died to set me free. For those with no hope, there is more to life than what today holds. I thank God that I did not end my life but rather chose to live through shame and failure so that today I'm able to be a blessing to the world. Remember, you are never too bad or sinful for God to redeem and transform."Year 2009 In Review
Here we are again. It is the end of yet another year. And who can forget 2009? There has been many buzzwords in the year. Here are a couple Mr. Bilson remembers like H1N1 and global economic crisis/recession, Michael Jackson, Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Transformers, Tiger Woods.... But there were other things that stood out as well. Mr. Bilson took on quite a journey this year. 2009 began with life in the valley of the shadow of death. There is nothing like wearing that heavy black blanket the seems to constantly weigh down and draining every sort of joy out of you until there is not much left... It was too heavy to lift off so some help is always in order. Thank you Jesus... who truly takes all our burdens. It started to lift off in the middle of the year. Let's trace when...Church Screening Of 'Jesus' Film Attacked In Pakistan
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…