Kiran Mathew John's Blog: 2013

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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas to you all!

Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family's only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!"

As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her. But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady," he said harshly, "when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside the package!"

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full." The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

For more such stories,

visit http://www.weboflove.org/inspiring_stories_10/christmas_stories and

http://osr.org/christmas/20-famous-christmas-stories/

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Happy Advent

Happy Advent!

The word Advent derives from the Latin word meaning coming. Basically, it is a countdown to Christmas day from the first Sunday after Thanksgiving and can also be thought of as a new year of the Church. The Lord is coming. During Advent we recall the history of God's people and reflect on how the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled. This gives us a background for the present. Today we can reflect on the past track record of God and so begin to understand what it means to us now for the sake of what is to come, in our own future and that of our world.

As mentioned earlier, Advent worship is like a journey through the Christmas story and most often people use Advent wreaths for the same. The circle of the wreath, made of evergreen branches laid flat, remind us of God, His eternity and His mercy, both which have no beginning or end. The four candles on the wreath represent the hope, preparation, joy and love, where the third candle is light pink and all others are purple, as seen in the figure. These are lit in the same order, one every Sunday.

The first candle symbolizes faith in God keeping his promises to humanity. Read Romans 15:12-13

The second reminds Christians to "get ready" to receive God. Read Luke 3:4-6

The third candle recalls the angels joyfully singing about the birth of Christ. Read Luke 2:6-15

The fourth reminds Christians that God loves them enough to send his only Son to Earth. Read John 3:16-17

There are many more interpretations of the candles - hope, peace, love and joy or God's people, the Old Testament Prophets, John the Baptist and Mother Mary. Please have a look at references 2-4 for various interpretations, prayers and references from the Bible for each week.

The final central candle, the Christ candle is lit the day before Christmas and symbolises what John 8:12 says, When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (NIV)

References:

1. http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/advent.php?id=5

2. http://livinghopeomaha.wordpress.com/about-living-hope/bible-stud/the-meaning-of-the-advent-wreath/

3. http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/adventwreath.html

4. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/advent-devotional-guide-preparing-for-the-coming-of-christ/

P.S.:Thank you Navya Varghese for reminding me :)
This post might be updated or further new posts added from time to time. Please check the main blog.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

God is always in control

We always tend to think and worry about what is going to happen in our immediate future. But, it is beyond our understanding how God has written a wonderful story for each of us. All we have to do is have faith and wait for things to fall in place as per HIS plan, the bigger picture. One example I would like to share is about the people you are destined to meet.

For instance, I made three very good lil friends last year, who are located a little far off, physically. I was waiting to receive their email (I gave them my id) once they reached home. And to my surprise, I see I already had their email id 3 years before I met them! How? One fine day, 5 years back, Yahoo! launched their new domain names ymail and rocketmail. So I thought, well why not make one that has just my nickname and I did get the same.. 2 years later I get emails from these friends of mine, wrongly sent to me, more than a couple of times. (The curious part of me kept the email all these years.)

What are the odds of the aforementioned situation being merely a co-incidence? I believe that God has always had all of this planned out :)

This post might be updated from time to time. Please check back at the main URL. x

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Mother Mary

Happy Birthday, Mother Mary :)

For more details, please go through the following link:

http://catholicism.about.com/b/2012/09/08/the-virgin-marys-birthday.htm

Also, in this post, lets take a look at the apparition of Mother Mary at Clearwater, Florida

The first picture clearly indicates the apparition on the glass window, along with the Cross. The second image shows what looks like the face of Jesus on the lower half of the glass of the image where the first image was formed. Please go through the following links for more information.

http://anndavis25.hubpages.com/hub/Virgin-Mary-Apparition-In-Clearwater-Florida

http://www.visionsofjesuschrist.com/weeping13.htm

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

The day the sun danced - the true story of Fatima

Have a look at the video below and also read the wikipedia page on the subject.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_Sun

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Pray about Everything

The four-year-old son of a missionary family in Africa spotted a picture of a little pink dinosaur in a magazine and set his heart on having one.

His mum knew it was impossible (the magazine was three years old), but her son never doubted God would come through for him.

On Christmas Eve, a box packed ten months earlier arrived from home.

At first glance it seemed to contain something special for everyone - except a four-year-old boy.

Then they reached the bottom - and they were stunned.

The lady who sent the box had no way of knowing God would use her to answer a little boy's prayer.

Before taping up the box, at the last minute, she tossed in the one item impossible for his parents to provide - something so insignificant no rational adult would ever have been foolish enough to ask God for...a pink plastic brontosaurus from a fast-food restaurant promotion!

Sometimes we feel foolish bothering God with little things, but we shouldn't.

The Bible says: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

(Philippians 4:6 NIV)

God is interested in every detail of your life; if something is important to you, it's important to Him.

In Bible times two sparrows were sold for a penny (on sale you could buy five for two pennies!) yet Jesus said,

"29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care.³⁰And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. " (Matthew 10:29-30 NIV)

When you learn to trust God in little things, you'll be able to trust Him in big ones.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

St Thomas Day

Happy St. Thomas day everybody!

The following excerpt is from http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=410
Please go to the page to read more...

St. Thomas was a Jew, called to be one of the twelve Apostles. He was a dedicated but impetuous follower of Christ. WhenJesus said He was returning to Judea to visit His sick friend Lazarus, Thomas immediately exhorted the other Apostles to accompany Him on the trip which involved certain danger and possible death because of the mounting hostility of the authorities. At the Last Supper, when Christ told His Apostlesthat He was going to prepare a place for them to which they also might come because they knew both the place and the way, Thomas pleaded that they did not understand and received the beautiful assurance that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. But St. Thomas is best known for his role in verifying the Resurrection of his Master. Thomas' unwillingness to believe that the other Apostles had seen their risen Lord on the first Easter Sunday merited for him the title of "doubting Thomas." Eight days later, on Christ's second apparition, Thomas was gently rebuked for his scepticism and furnished with the evidence he had demanded - seeing in Christ's hands the point of the nails and putting his fingers in the place of the nails and his hand into His side. At this, St. Thomas became convinced of the truth of the Resurrection and exclaimed: "My Lord and My God," thus making a public Profession of Faith in the Divinity of Jesus.St. Thomas is also mentioned as being present at another Resurrection appearance of Jesus - at Lake Tiberias when amiraculous catch of fish occurred. This is all that we know about St. Thomas from the New Testament. Tradition says that at the dispersal of the Apostles after Pentecost this saint was sent to evangelize the Parthians, Medes, and Persians; he ultimately reached India, carrying the Faith to the Malabarcoast, which still boasts a large native population calling themselves "Christians of St. Thomas." He capped his left by shedding his blood for his Master, speared to death at a place called Calamine. His feast day is July 3rd and he is the patron of architects.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

The Bridge

- Max Lucado

There was once a bridge which spanned a large river.

During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it.

A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed.

One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge.

He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work.

If the bridge was not securely in position it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard.

He left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked.

Many lives depended on this man's strength.

Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.

"Daddy, where are you?"

His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety.

But he realized that he could not get back to the lever. Either the people on the train or his little son must die.

He took a moment to make his decision.

The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed.

They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked: to tell his wife how their son had brutally died.

Now if you comprehend the emotions which went this man's heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life.

Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died?

How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ?

When was the last time you thanked Him for the sacrifice of His Son?

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Don't Be An Older Brother

- Anonymous

In the parable of the prodigal son Jesus is talking to two different groups:

Regular people, and religious leaders who complain that Jesus 'receives sinners' (Luke 15:2 NKJV).

We all know the story.

The Prodigal Son 'blew it' and ended up in a pigsty.

Later, when he returned home, his father threw a big party. But his older brother wouldn't attend.

Here was his reason:

"…These many years I have been serving you…yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends.

But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him."

" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

Luke 15:31

(Luke 15:29-31 NKJV)

It's the kind of thing you hear in church from people who lift themselves up by putting others down.

Both sons spent time in the pigsty: one in the pigsty of rebellion, the other in the pigsty of resentment.

One came home to a welcome, the other stayed home and wallowed in self-righteousness.

Because of his judgmentalism, the older son ended up losing more than the younger son:

1) He forfeited the joy of knowing how much he was loved by his father.

2) As the oldest son he was entitled to twice as much of his father's estate, yet he wasn't able to enjoy a moment of it.

3) His younger brother was lost and hurting. What an opportunity to forgive, show grace, help to restore him and have a life-enriching relationship with him. But he forfeited it all because he was judgmental.

Don't be an older brother!

www.thewordfortoday.com.au

Friday, June 21, 2013

Learning from a Flock of Geese

Geoff Wilson

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)

You have probably heard someone call another person who has done something foolish, "A silly goose!"

Well, I can tell you that geese are not silly! We can learn a lot from the goose.

For example, I am sure that most of you probably know that when geese fly, they fly in a "V" formation.

Have you ever wondered why the geese fly in a "V" formation?

Recent scientific studies have given us the answer. It has been learned that as each goose flaps its wings, it gives a lift to the one immediately following.

It has been determined that flying this way gives the geese about 70% more flying range.

Of course, that means that the lead goose is working harder.

When the lead goose gets tired, he falls back into the formation and another takes his place. Now, that's team work!

If you have ever seen a flock of geese flying, you have also noticed that all the time they are flying, the geese are "honking."

They do this to encourage one another. It is always easier to do something difficult when you know you aren't flying alone, isn't it?

Sometimes, a goose becomes sick or is injured and falls to the ground.

When that happens, two other geese go down and stay with it until it is well. If it dies, they join another formation and continue on their journey.

Do you think the geese are silly?

It sounds to me like they are pretty smart!

What lessons do you think we could learn from the geese?

We could learn that it is important for all church members to share the responsibility within the church rather than letting the same loyal ones work until they drop!

We could learn that it is important to "honk" encouragement to other workers in the church.

We could learn that it is important for us to look after those who are sick or in need.

There is a lot that we can learn from the goose, isn't there?

Dear Jesus, help us to use the gifts that you have given us to serve and encourage others.

Amen.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Few Quotes Many Pastors Won't Preach

Jesus was crucified, not in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves.

George F. MacLeod

The Cross cannot be defeated, for it is defeat.

Gilbert K. Chesterton

There are no Crown-wearers in Heaven who were not Cross-bearers here below.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

We need Men of the Cross, with the Message of the Cross, bearing the Marks of the Cross.

Vance Havner

Christ's Cross is such a burden as sails are to a ship or wings to a bird.

Samuel Rutherford

He came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay.

Anonymous

All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning.

Oswald Chambers

The Cross: God's way of uniting suffering with love.

Georgia Harkness

The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which takes success for its standard.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Cross is the lightning rod of grace that short-circuits God's wrath to Christ so that only the light of His love remains for believers.

A. W. Tozer in "The Old Cross and the New."

Monday, June 10, 2013

In the blistering Cold

- Anonymous

The day dawned but there was no sight of Sun hitting the horizon. The Winter was at its fullest potential blazing streams of cold waves across the city.

The elderly and the young had their own problems with the chilling cold.

In the midst of all these chaos and confusion; there was a man with a mission to proclaim the good news. He boarded off the train and started walking towards the exit.

His body shivered with the sudden decrease in temperature…. He was not prepared for the havoc….He had only a blanket that could hardly shield his body from the heinous bone-chilling cold….

Slowly he started feeling pale by the strenuous effects of the cold waves and longed to find a shelter….. his whole journey was in jeopardy as he felt that he couldn't stand the nature's blaze….

As he was pondering over these thoughts of fighting the cold and over his own issues and concerns; Suddenly he heard a weak and feeble voice that cried for help…

As the voice of despair kept growing into his ears; he moved in the direction the voice came…

And there he found the source of the cry… it was an elderly man in his 80's unable to adhere the cold; was stuttering with unbearable pain and hurt…..

It was a scene of agony and despair….. the old man was helpless and needed immediate attention and care…..

Having understood the need…. The Missionary man started pulling his shoes further towards the station exit….

He said to himself; "I have nothing to give the suffering man, I myself have only a blanket that could hardly protect me… Even if I grant it….it wouldn't meet his need…" and then as he left the man and headed towards the stairway… the missionary heard an audible voice saying;

"Go and give your blanket to the old man…"

Immediately the Missionary recognized the voice and said "Lord my God.. you know it all… I have nothing to give."

The Lord replied; "What about the blanket?"

Missionary said; "Lord.. I have only this blanket to protect me….. And you know it."

The Lord answered saying "Would you do the same.. if I was the one in that condition."

As those words were spoken; the man was moved with compassion and rebuked himself for his selfishness and headed towards the suffering man.

He took hold of the old man and covered him with the blanket and having said a few words of hope and comfort he left the place to his mission field.

Later in the day; after completing his chores he returned back to the station to catch the last train.

And to his astonishment!!! he saw a huge crowd gathered around the place where he had met the old suffering man.

In utter anxiety he ran towards the spot and having moved through the crowd.. he found the old man gasping for breath and struggling for life…..

And when the old man sighted the missionary; he cried out saying: "God, My God…." And shedded tears of joy…… the missionary also wept and took the old man in his arms…

The crowd was startled and couldn't understand what's going around.. As the old man was passing through; the Missionary led him to Christ through the prayer and Gospel…

The Old man with much delight surpassed the chains of agony and journeyed towards heaven…..

The story doesn't end here….

The startled crowd questioned the incident and the missionary threw the light on what had happened the very morning and proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom…

Many souls were moved and today they are grateful for all that happened over that very hour..

This is a real story which happened in the life of Bro. Augustin Jebakumar who heads the mission at Bihar (GEMS)…..

"When we love God and obey His voice irrespective of the circumstances… we are sure to fulfill His will in our lives…."