Serving God's Purposes in Our Generation (Acts 13:36b)

The Euro, The Dollar, Bubbles And The Simple Fact Of The Oversupply Of Money

The Euro is an inherently unstable currency which has been stress-tested only once or twice. My judgment is that the Euro will inevitably and very suddenly come under pressure soon, due to the diverging fortunes of the fairly solid northern part of the Continent and the rather more frothy east and south (as well as Ireland). On the other hand, the dollar must be at or near the bottom (watch for the US authorities to intervene as soon as equity and/ or bond prices start being affected by the slide of the dollar - which can't be very far away).…

Dad, Me, Expensive Soda And The Gospel

(NOTE: Below is a guest entry by Matthew Kruse, pastor of 7 Mile Road Boston. The following is an article that has been submitted to The Malden Observer, a local city paper. I loved it and asked him if I could post it for you all to enjoy. So enjoy.) My dad and I are really different guys. He subscribes to Verizon FiOS and its 999 channels. I get PBS, fuzzy, through an antenna. He sports a thick, white, Papa Smurf beard. I grow a mere soul patch and can’t stand the itch. He is at home under the hood…

What Kind Are You?

I have been lately meeting people from different walks of life and God has been putting me in a position where by i am to be a listening ear to these people...... I am sure many of you have heard about different kinds of christian. For example Back slided, Charismatic, conservative and so on...... I just recently realised that there are a group of chirtian who are emerging and it is quiet scary... These are the controversial christians.... I am currently writing an article for a magazine on this once i write it i would put it in my blog…

Transition

Transition times are not the most enjoyable time of life. I've repeatedly mentioned that I'm raw and honest in my blogs. Why should I pretend to be a highly spiritual type that continues to be oblivious to the realities of life? Spirituality is simply connection and relationship with God. It is not about putting on a fake mask in front of others. I'm not here to impress others. Whether I'm a 'woman of God' or not is up to our Lord. People have a tendency to look on the outside, but only the Lord and our heavenly father knows what's…

Happy Mother's Day from South Asian Connection

South Asian Connection wishes all mothers a Happy Mother's Day.There is nothing like the sweet words of God in its originality taken from Proberbs Chapter 31 to bless you and encourage you on Mother's Day.Proverbs 31 Amplified Bible    1THE WORDS of Lemuel king of Massa, which his mother taught him:     2What, my son? What, son of my womb? What [shall I advise you], son of my vows and dedication to God?     3Give not your strength to [loose] women, nor your ways to those who and that which ruin and destroy kings.     4It is not for kings, O…

Our Story And Our Values

We love the story in Luke 24 where Jesus walks seven miles with two disciples to the village of Emmaus. We long for it to become the story of our church. Here’s why: mile 1 :: needConfused. Afraid. Sad. Disappointed. Blind. Unbelieving. Those words describe the men in the story, but they describe us as well. We are broken, messed up, sinful people living in a broken, messed up, sinful world. And so at 7 Mile Road, we want to destroy pious pretenses. Instead, we want to humbly recognize that we are sinners and have Jesus encounter us in the…

Lowest Marriage Rate in Britain

The number of Britons tying the knot has collapsed to a record low. Lowest in the last 150 years that records were kept. See the report in This is London, BBC and Charles Colson’s commentary Breakpoint. In 2006, there were approximately 237,000 weddings in Britain. Two-thirds of all weddings in 2006 were civil ceremonies. The marriage rate for British men is 22.8 per 1,000 and for women 20.5 per 1,000. In the last twenty years cohabitation has doubled. Propotion of people living alone has double since 1971, now accounting for 12%. Divorces peaked in 1993 at 180,000 before falling to…

The Return Of Stagflation

A short while ago, I alerted readers to the fact that there will be official intervention in markets in order to raise the value of the dollar. This has now been announced (see my posts titled: "The Euro, the Dollar, Bubbles and the simple fact of the oversupply of money" as well as "Further developments on the Euro"). It is now fairly clear to me that we will have a return of stagflation (combined economic stagnation and inflation) - if we are lucky only till mid-2009, if we are unlucky then till longer. In broad terms, notwithstanding the complexity of…

What God Is Doing Through Me

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.

This One Thing I Do

Most people know that in order to excel at anything in life you must be devoted; you have to sacrifice time, expend energy, and give yourself over to your goals in order to achieve them. Paul the Apostle told us in Philippians that this attitude was the key to his great success as a disciple of Christ. Philippians 3:13-14 says “ . . . . I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But 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." This one thing I do. Less is more when we are focused on achieving mastery in any area of our lives.

Find Me . . .

The breathless void of unimagination, tires me a quandarySimplified insanity beckons me come, relived albeitWandering shadows pass me by, searing joy, emboldening painAnd eyes watch from above asking, what path, what life, wouldst thee make? Insightful eyes amongst the competition, freed in resolute dismayWinds of yesteryear and meanings, calmly lost in others’ mindsFailing to redeem what was and is and may be Eyes wide in wondrous applause and adorationLost in the mystery of the momentRuinous abandon waylaid Find me reaching higherFind me wanting moreFind me singing softerIn rumble and the roar Ashish Joy

Dreamt About You . . .

Yes i did dream about you... (Not my X) I dreamt that we were away in a land where both of us are new to and it is not singapore.... Strange that i dreamt about u. i've only seen you for three days and after a long time since we met i dreamt about u out of the blue for no reason.... I just hope that it is one of those dreams that God has placed in me to reveal the future..... David Bala

A Lifelong Millionaire's Dream To God's Perfect PLAN A For My Life

I am Raj Nagi and currently live in the USA. I used to live in Punjab, India from the Kshatriya family where it was my lifelong dream to come to America and live the millionaire’s life.  I lived a wild life of alcoholism and carelessness.  I was a devoted Hindu who married a girl from the Brahman family.  I came to America in 1995 and began working in an Indian store in Atlanta, Georgia.  During this time I met a Pastor Avinash Raiborde from India who was a regular customer of the store.  The Pastor offered to pray for a problem I was having and three days later the problem was resolved.  I began to really listen to what he was saying about Jesus.  When I lost my job at the store, I was very afraid, but God sent a man to me that day to offer me an even better job!        

Imago Dei – Artists Retreat

Lately, I have been busy with college. Finals week is next week. Fortunately, most of my finals are the type where you write a final paper or project and turn it in. I'd much rather do that than study and sit down to take an exam. I have finished most of my papers and feel relieved. I got a early start on my final papers and took a study break this weekend. I went to a Imago-Dei Artists Retreat - it's a retreat for Christian artists - photography, writers, theatre, dance, visual arts. We camped at a retreat center. I…

Paul Wilbur – Days of Elijah, Shalom Jerusalem, Let God Arise etc. . . .

About Paul Wilbur The world’s opera stages were the ambition of a determined young man named Paul Wilbur. A passion for the arts, music, and teaching took him from under graduate school in Cleveland, Ohio across the Atlantic to study in Milan, Italy. There he was instructed in vocal technique, Italian, and high-opera by some of Europe’s most skilled mentors. “By the time I had returned from Italy the direction of my life had been pretty well set in stone,” Paul says. “The life of Richard Tucker had become a pattern to success that I wished to emulate. Here was…

Global Day of Prayer

On 15 May 2005 millions of Christians from 156 nations in the world united in the first ever Global Day of Prayer. Christians gathered in different venues, seeking God's face in repentance and prayer for the transformation of their communities and nations. Driven by Hab. 2:14 ("For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea"), the dream is to mobilize Christians from every single nation in the world to participate in the Global Day of Prayer over the next few years until 2010. However, the focus is not only on a single day of prayer, but to see a lifestyle of prayer established that will transform communities. This move of prayer is still miraculously expanding. In 2006 millions of Christians from 199 nations united in prayer and in 2007 even more Christian from 204 nations participated. On Pentecost Sunday, 11 May 2008, the nations of the world will once again unite in the Global Day of Prayer.

Can A Lot Happen Over Coffee?

This Friday, I facilitated a discussion on Happiness at Georgia Cafe, Bangalore organized by Capstone Ministries. THINKSPACE is a coffee house discussion event for young people. About 15 young people were at Georgia Cafe and we engaged in a good discussion about Happiness. Most people said the event had take-aways such as ideas  and suggestions for happiness. A few said that they take with them questions that need further reflection.  It was all together a great one and a half hour discussion. It’s been a year since I had attended THINKSPACE. It was indeed great to be there - Warm…

Why The Next Two Months Are Crucial For The Future Of India

With inflation at around 7%, the future of the Congress-led coalition is uncertain. The coalition's leftists have due to apparently entirely unpatriotic reasons opposed the civilian nuclear deal with the US. However that deal is crucial for India's energy needs and for India's continued growth. From the US perspective, the deal may be to do with balance of power between China and India. From India's point of view, it is simply to do with survival and progress for the mass of our people. Fortunately, the BJP seems now to be coming around to supporting the deal, so the UPA can…

Cost of Family Breakdown

Finally numbers are out. First of its kind assessment how much does it cost the goverment (hence the taxpayers) as a result of family disintegration, particularly divorce and out of wedlock childbirth. A whopping $112 Billion a year! A very sobering reminder how family fragmentation is so expensive to everyone. The study was done by the Institute for American Values, a Washington DC based family organization and along with few other family agencies. See the reports here. Between 1970 and 2005, the percentage of children being raised in two-parent families dropped from 85 to 68 percent. Divorce and alternative marriages…

Rewind – Dwell Conference

The Conference was great.  Here are some thoughts. » The lectures were great.  C.J. Mahaney opened the conference by preaching on 1 Timothy 4:16.  He urged pastors to watch their life closely.  He pleaded with men to be in relationship with other godly men who are caring for their souls.  I was so grateful for the pastors track and the SoulCare group that I get to be a part of that are serving to that end.  Mark Driscoll urged pastors and planters to be reading their Bible well.   I was convicted about whether I am in the Word for the…