April-June 2015 1

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Saving face...or saving grace p - 15

All our life’s a circle p - 6

All our life’s a circle p - 6a

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The Greatest Gift You Can Give Your Child(or Anyone) p - 12

The First Sacrifice p - 19

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April/June 2015 Vol 13/2

How Beethoven Helped Me Understand the Bible p - 3

Invisibility visibility p - 9

Be you joyful... p - 26

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Cover StoryLiving LightA magazine with direction

Managing EditorJoe D’Costa

ContributorsJoe D’CostaJoseph CherianJoseph TkachJohn HalfordSudhir Singh

Editorial AdviserJohn Stettaford

Living Light is sponsored by theWorldwide Church of God.For inquiries please contact the Editor,Living Light, c/o Worldwide Church ofGod, P.O. Bag 3786, Bangalore 560037.Ph: (080) 28532565, cell: 09916308962.E-mail: wcgjdcban@gmail.inWebsite: www.wcg.org.inDonations will be gratefully acceptedand may be sent by cheque, M.O. or banktransfer to ‘Worldwide Church of God’in Axis Bank, Marathahalli Branchaccount No. 912020025712588. IFSC:UTIB0000300. For bank transfer sendSMS of transfer to 09916308962. You willreceive a confirmation. A receipt willfollow.Cheques sent by speed post should beaddressed to Worldwide Church ofGod, No. 54, III A Cross, GururajaLayout, Doddanekkundi, Bangalore560 037

5 All our life’s a circleGod never gives up on us, wedo

Articles9 Invisibility, visibility Physical instruments cannot be

used to prove that God exists

12 The greatest gift youcan give your child The power of bonding

17 Old is goldThe Old Testament is old butmore precious than gold

19 The first sacrificeThe story of the fall of Adamand Eve and what we can learnfrom it

26 Be you joyfulJoy is a by-product of faithand faith comes by hearing theword of God

Editorial3 How Beethoven helped

me understand theBible

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How Beethoven helped me understand theBible

Like most people, I enjoy Beethoven’s symphonies. Or to be strictlyhonest, like most people I enjoy parts of Beethoven’s symphonies.Like the opening movement of his Fifth, sections of the Sixth and ofcourse the famous chorale movement of the Ninth. But again, beingstrictly honest, I find much of the rest rather boring.

by John Halford

I find myself wanting to fast-forward through the parts I

don’t really understand to getto the familiar themes I enjoy. Once,on a long plane flight, which had allnine symphonies on the musicchannel, I thought about making aplay list of just the ‘good’ bits—a sortof Beethoven’s Greatest Hits. ThenI felt guilty, thinking that would beshort-changing the great composer. I knew there was moreto Beethoven than hadmet my ear.

All that changedwhen my Audio BookClub offered me acourse on Beethoven’sSymphonies at a price Icould not refuse. Theinstructor was a brilliantteacher. Instead of justplaying musical titbits,he guided me through allnine symphonies,

movement by movement. He explained how these

compositions were the media twohundred years ago, and the greatcomposers were the Andrew LloydWebbers and Steven Spielbergs oftheir day. At each stage he explainedwhat Beethoven was doing and whyhis music was so revolutionary at thetime. I learned how Beethoven could

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entertain, shock, inspire and eventease his audiences.

That course has revolutionizedmy appreciation of Beethoven’smusic and whetted my appetite tolearn more. I realized I was justsipping Beethoven. I now understandthe music beyond the ‘that soundsnice’ stage. I know what ishappening even during the ‘dull’parts, which has greatly increasedmy appreciation of the more well-known themes.

For many of us the Bible is likeBeethoven’s music. We have ourfavourite verses and perhaps afavourite book, but that is as far as itgoes. Today you can download aBible app onto your i-something andmake your own play list of the Bible’sGreatest Hits. Many of us no longertake a Bible to church—why shouldwe when the scriptures are

projected on the screen behind thepreacher?

This is progress. No one wantsto go back to the days of heavy,brass-bound Bibles or scrolls. Butthere is a potential problem if we onlyexperience the Bible through thefragmented images of a PowerPointpresentation. We will get to knowsome parables and the basic storiesfrom the life of Jesus. We willbecome familiar with Paul’steachings on law and grace. We mayhear about Noah’s Ark, the Exodusand Daniel in the lion’s den. But dowe know how it all fits together?

OK—much of the Bible doesseem rather boring and irrelevant, asI once judged Beethoven’ssymphonies to be. It is tempting tofast-forward and get to the parts thatinspire, encourage and inform. Afterall, the Bible’s core message is aboutlove, grace and truth. Those are the

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parts we need, aren’t they? Do wereally need to know about all thatother stuff?

Notice what Paul wrote to hisyoung protégé, Timothy: “There’snothing like the written Word of Godfor showing you the way to salvationthrough faith in Christ Jesus. Everypart of Scripture is God-breathedand useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing ourrebellion, correcting our mistakes,training us to live God’s way.Through the Word we are puttogether and shaped up for the tasksGod has for us” (2 Timothy 3:14-17The Message). Paul said this aboutwhat we call the Old Testament—the New had not been written yet!

Take a good look at your Bible.No—not the app—the book. Do youreally know what is in it? What aboutthose books with odd names:Leviticus, Nehemiah, Obadiah? If

“every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way oranother,” there is something in themworth knowing. The Old Testamentshows us how the rags to riches toruin story of Ancient Israel laid thefoundation for the ministry of Jesus.When you understand that story, theGospels come to life in a way younever expected.

So let me ask you—are you justsipping the Bible as I didBeethoven’s music? Why short-change yourself? Don’t justexperience the scriptures as an appor a PowerPoint presentation. Get amodern easy-to-read version of thescriptures—ideally one withexplanatory notes—and actuallyread it. (Some suggestions includethe Good News Bible, The Message,Contemporary English Version orNew Century Version). As you do,you’ll see those favourite stories andscriptures in context. You’ll discoverthere is so much more to them thanmeets the eye.

Quote, unquoteThe 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting some-thing right, there’s a 90% probability you’ll get it wrong.“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, youdisconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is acompromise.”~ Robert FritzWe are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.“Fences are made for those who cannot fly.” ~ Elbert HubbardThe things that come to those that wait may be the things left by thosewho got there first.“When you cannot make up your mind between two evenly balancedcourses of action, choose the bolder.” W.J. Slim

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All our life’s a circle

What goes around, comes around. When we dispense mercy, wereceive mercy. When we value others, we receive value in return.“As you have done, so will it be done to you; your deeds will recoil onyour own head.” (Obadiah 1:15).

by Joe D’Costa

Every encounter we have withsomeone, whether it is ourneighbor, or the grocer or an

associate at work, often comes backto us, enlarged. The ancient Indiansknew this truth when they drewsacred spirals in the sand, aroundand around and around. The earthspins on its axis, revolves around thesun along with other planets, incircles. Our blood circulates in ourbodies to return in circles. Biologyinvolves the study of the life cyclesof living things.

We know that what goes up willcome down, tides will surge and ebb.Wisdom means being aware of thebalance in nature, and alwaysleaving room for the return cycle.Overlooking this important fact hascaused theenvironment of thisearth to lose itsbalance thusthreatening all lifeon this planet.

We have alinear mentalitywhen it comes towork, alwaysfocused on thebottom line. We

like to see horizontals and verticals— especially verticals, alwaysshooting higher and higher, showingprofits going up and up. Yet, life iscomposed of seasons and cycles,spirals rather than verticals.

There is a famous song sung byHarry Chapin with lyrics that areinsightful. It goes like this: “All mylife’s a circle; Sunrise and sundown;Moon rolls thru the nighttime; Till thedaybreak comes around. All my life’sa circle; But I can’t tell you why;Season’s spinning round again; Theyears keep rollin’ by.

It seems like I’ve been herebefore; I can’t remember when; ButI have this funny feeling; That we’llall be together again. No straightlines make up my life; And all my

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roads have bends;There’s no clear-cutbeginnings; And sofar no dead-ends.

Chorus: I foundyou a thousand times;I guess you done thesame; But then welose each other; It’slike a children’sgame; As I find youhere again; A thoughtruns through my mind; Our love islike a circle; Let’s go ‘round onemore time.

God draws circlesWhen the Scribes and Phariseesbrought the woman taken in adulteryto Jesus for judgment, Jesus insteadof judging the woman according tothe law did not speak at first. Heknelt down and began drawing in thesand. Then in answer to theirquestion he said, “Whoever iswithout sin among you may cast thefirst stone” (John 8:7). He thencontinued writing on the sand.Tradition indicates that he waswriting the sins of the Scribes andPharisees on the sand. Only Jesusbeing sinless had the right to stonethe woman, but he did not do so. Hisresponse was love and mercy thusgiving her a chance to change. Hesnatched her from death and gaveher a new life.

God works in ever expandingcircles. He started with one manAbraham to build a nation that he

wanted to be an example to theworld. The nation of Israel rose tobecome a prosperous nation and amodel for all the neighbouring nationsof the world. It fell but from the fallrose the Messiah whose life anddeath and resurrection has madepossible for all of mankind past,present and future to live and die andrise again, if and only if they becomefollowers of the Messiah, Jesus theChrist.

Never say dieGod never gives up on us. At no timein our lives will he decide that wehave gone too far, we have reachedthe point of no return. He alwayslooks and hopes for the best in us.Jesus seemed to have a soft cornerfor the underdog. He therefore spenttime with sinners, tax collectors,prostitutes, the Samaritan woman,the outcasts, the sick and the demonpossessed. Reason? By dropping totheir level he hoped to raise them tohis level.

Of all the sick people at the

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miraculous pond he chose the manwho was paralyzed for many years(John 5:2-15). It appears that he haddone something in his pre-paralyzedlife that brought him to that state. Itmay have been some disease thataffected his nervous system. Jesushealed him unconditionally. Yet,when Jesus met him at the temple,he warned him that he now has achance to change his life—liverighteously and live. If not, the wagesof his sins would lead to a worsesickness than the one he had before,death—eternal death! God has this,‘Never say die’ attitude towards us.He conquered death (John 8:51,Romans 6:9, 1Corinthians 15:26,54,Revelation 21:4). We give up on himby making sinning our way of life.

ReincarnationSome believe in the reincarnation—of going through millions of life cyclesas human beings, animals, birds and

even insects till we reach a purifiedstate to be joined with the eternalconsciousness—eventually breakingthe cycle of life.

We believe that there is only oneincarnation from the human life cycleto the divine, from physical life, todeath to eternal life. Jesus was thepioneer, leaving us an examplethrough his death and resurrection.He came from heaven, lived anddied on earth and rose to heavenagain.

Jesus Christ will return! When hedoes he will take us in his armsmaking us part of his inner circle—his spirit born sons and daughters forall eternity. What an amazing circle,an ever growing circle without end!Why? Because the triune God isinclusive not exclusive—he wants allof us to be part of his ever growingfamily if we will allow him to do so,by following him.

Sometimes the church seems to have a language of its own. Whileinsiders understand it well, the uninitiated may not understand the subtlenuances of Churchese. Perhaps a glossary would help newcomersdecipher what these common church phrases really mean.Statement: “We’ll sing only the first verse of our closing hymn.”Definition: “I preached too long.”Statement: “This is the best book I’ve read on the subject.”Definition: “This is the only book I’ve read on the subject.”Statement: “Everybody is saying … “Definition: “My wife told me … “Statement: “Our church is close-knit.”Definition: “We haven’t had a new member in five years.”

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Invisibility visibility

I find it amusing when people exclaim, “If I can’t see it, I won’t believeit.” I often hear this said when people express doubt that God existsor that he includes all people in his grace and mercy.

by Dr. Joseph Tkach

Seeking not to cause offense,I point out that we don’t seemagnetism or electricity, yet

we know they exist by their effects.The same is true with wind, gravity,sound and even thought. In all theseways we experience what is called“imageless knowing.” I like to referto such knowing as invisiblevisibility.

For years we could only speculateabout what was in the skies, relyingon unaided eyesight. Today with thehelp of telescopes (like the HubbleTelescope), we know much more.What once was to us “invisible” isnow visible. Yet not everything thatexists is visible. Dark matter emitsno light or heat—it’s invisible to ourtelescopes. Yetscientists know thatdark matter existsbecause they havedetected itsgravitational effects.A quark is a tinytheoretical particlethat makes upprotons and neutronsin the nucleus ofatoms. Along withgluons, quarks also

make up more exotic hadrons suchas mesons. Though none of thesesub-atomic particles has beenobserved, scientists have detectedtheir effects.

There is no microscope ortelescope by which God can be seen,for as Scripture tells us, God isinvisible: “No one has ever seenGod, but the one and only Son, whois himself God and is in closestrelationship with the Father, hasmade him known” (John 1:18). Thereis no way to “prove” the existenceof God using physical instruments.Yet we believe God exists becausewe have experienced the effects ofhis unconditional, outgoing love. Thatlove, of course, is most personally,

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intensively and concretely revealedin Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we seewhat his apostles concluded: God islove.

Love, which itself cannot be seen,is God’s nature, motivation andpurpose. As T. F. Torrance puts it:“The constant and ceaseless out-flow of the Love of God which hasno other reason for its movementthan the Love that God is, is therefore[poured out] entirely without respectof persons and irrespective of theirreactions” (Christian Theologyand Scientific Culture, p. 84). Godloves because of who he is, notbecause of who we are or what wedo. And that love is manifested to usin God’s grace.

While we cannot fully explain theinvisible—like love or grace—weknow it exists because of what wepartially see. Note I use the wordpartially. We don’t want to fall intothe trap of assuming the visibleexplains the invisible. T. F. Torrance,who studied theology and science,postulates the opposite to be true;the invisible explains the visible. Tomake his point, he uses the parable

of the workers in the vineyard(Matthew 20:1-16), where thevineyard owner hires workersthroughout the day to work in thefields. At the end of the day, eachworker gets paid the same eventhough some worked hard the wholeday and others only worked a coupleof hours. For most commonlabourers, this seems unfair. Howcould someone who only works anhour get the same wage as someoneworking all day?

Torrance points out thatfundamentalist and liberal exegetesmiss the point of Jesus’ parable,which is not about wages andfairness but about God’s grace,which is unconditional, generous andpowerfully transforming. This graceis not based on how long we’veworked, how long we’ve believed,how much we’ve studied, or howobedient we’ve been. God’s graceis based entirely on who God is. Bygiving this parable, Jesus makes“visible” the “invisible” nature of theGod of grace who sees and doesthings quite differently than we.God’s kingdom is not about howmuch we earn—it’s about God’slavish generosity.

Jesus’ parable tells us that Godoffers his amazing grace to all. Andwhile all are offered the gift in thesame measure, some choose to livein the reality of that gift sooner andthus may have opportunity to enjoyit longer than those who have notmade that choice. The gift of grace

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is the same for all; what each persondoes with it varies widely. It is whenwe live in grace that what had beeninvisible to us becomes visible.

The invisibility of God’s gracedoes not make it any less real. Godgave himself to us, in person, so thatwe can know and love him—so thatwe can feel his forgiveness andenter into a relationship with him asFather, Son and Spirit. We live byfaith and not by sight. We have

experienced his will in our lives—inour thoughts and actions. We knowGod is love because we know whohe is in Jesus Christ, who “has madehim known” (John 1:18). We feel thepower of God’s grace as we cometo know that his purpose is to forgiveand to love us—to give us theamazing gift of his grace. As Paulsays, “For it is God who works inyou to will and to act in order to fulfillhis good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).

The man who dares to do

Few of us realize that we can do big things if we try. It is better to tryand fail than not to make the attempt. From the attempt comes growth.The whole development of our lives lies in doing things whose outcome isuncertain. The child is afraid of his first somersault until he flops over;after that things get easy. Too many of us linger in the valleys becausethe mountains look high. Too many of us stand shivering at the edge ofthe water, and fear to plunge in. The world belongs to the man whodares. Rightly, so, indeed, for cowardice is incompetence – the timorousprocrastinator would not know what to do with success if he had it.

If you think you are beaten, you are; If you think you dare not, you don’t.If you’d like to win, but think you can’t, It’s almost a clinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost, For out in the world we findSuccess begins with a fellow’s will; It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are; You’ve got to think high to rise,You’ve got to be sure of yourself before, You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go, To the stronger or faster man;But sooner or later the man who wins, Is the one who thinks he can.

(Walter D. Wintle)

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The Greatest Gift You Can Give Your Child (or Anyone)

For 25 years, until my children outgrew their father’s quality timearound them, I assumed that paternal closeness was indeed thegreatest gift I could bestow upon them.

by Joseph Cherian

Unconditional love, which Iam not discussing here atall, is instinctive and I do not

deem it as a gift to be discoveredand given. As for values andcharacter development, these arenaturally imbibed from the parentswhen the greatest gift is given to thechildren. What has to be learned byparents with growing children is amost precious understanding that hasto be gifted to them by wizened andoftentimes remorseful older folks, forrarely can a young couple acquiresuch parenting perspective on theirown until it is too late and the nest isalready empty.

It is my hope that you as anearnest parent are privileged to stillhave your little kids whizzing pastyou, squeaking in delight onimaginary chases and causing theusual disquietude to your hour ofrelaxation after a hectic day’s work.Perhaps you are on a continual questto find the elusive golden keys tobringing up your kids with a trifle lesscommotion, safely, wisely and aboveall, successfully—which is probablywhy you are reading this article. Ihave yet to see a 70-year-old fatherreading an article on parenting or a

grandma earnestly referring Dr.Spock’s revered counsels.

The Story of RajuRaju’s parents never sought anyparenting guide to building a joyous,lifelong relationship with theirchildren. But the following storydepicting the relationship this humblecouple had with their son, may bringyou a new perspective on all yourbusy activities today.

Sixteen-year-old Raju was one ofthe several undernourished childrenthat the love union of his parentsinadvertently brought forth into animpoverished community. Manuallabourers by profession, Raju’sparents’ greatest goal on waking upeach morning was to be able to feedtheir five children at least two mealsthat day. The struggle for dailysustenance was eased a bit whenRaju was old enough to help hisparents in their quarrying work.

Quarrying, as it’s done inunderdeveloped lands, is more thanjust pick axing away chunks off thesolid rock face. It literally involves adynamite of a risk. A hole about afoot deep is made on the rock face,raw gunpowder is packed into it, and

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one end of a gunpowder-laced cordinserted into the hole. The other end,a couple of meters away, is setsparkling with the glowing end of abeedi (the local cigarillo), upon whichact the igniters shouts, ‘explosioncoming!’ Anyone thereabouts thenhave around seven to ten secondsto duck for cover against the meteorof huge boulders descending on therock face. Raju wasn’t nimbleenough on one of those occasions.

As he lay in the governmenthospital, one arm almost severed andhanging on a tendon and his body a

bloody mess of flesh, his father andmother rushed to his bedside. Therewasn’t the usual labourers’ wail ofdistress from the parents on sightingtheir crumpled up child.

Instead, the father quietly tookhold of his son’s hand of theremaining arm, while the motherseated herself at the foot of the bed,and began to gently stroke her son’sfeet. This they continued to do until,after the usual long delay of publicservants in such places, a surgeonwas finally available to amputate theboy’s arm.

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As he was wheeled into theoperation theatre, the father keptholding his son’s hand, all the whileshowering him that reassuring lookhe had been silently effusing sincehe arrived at his son’s bedside. Afterthe operation and through the daysof recuperation, the father’s and themother’s mode of reaction to theirson’s tragedy remained unchangedand unabated. The father held hisson’s hand as often as he stood byhis bedside, and the mother keptstroking her child’s feet as often asshe sat on the edge of his bed, untilthe day they took him limping home.

The bonding factorI have gone to some descriptivelength in narrating this incident, buthave done so with the intention ofconveying an experience for whichI still couldn’t figure a one-wordexpression. The Greek language, itseems, has a word that comes closeto it. It’s usually spelled ‘agape’(pronounced ‘ah-gah-pey’) inEnglish. When translating ancientGreek manuscripts containing thisword into the English language, thetranslators, for want of a betterexpression, settled for the incompletesense in the word ‘love’, whileacknowledging that it doesn’t conveythe full intent of the Greekterminology. The closest I couldmanage in defining this gift is by thecompounded term: ‘I not only loveyou forever but I am always therefor you when you need me and

where you need me… over andbeyond any other need or desire inmy life’.

The greatest gift you can giveyour child is the abiding assurancedeep within your child’s psyche ofyour undivided attention and yourunfailing presence in absolutely anysituation in which your child mightfind himself.

Perhaps the shorter phrase‘continuous lifelong bonding’ mightsuffice for the present purpose. It’sa bonding that never loses a shadeof its warmth when a child is weanedoff his mother’s breast milk. It’s abonding that never loses its intimacywhen a child grows too big to bekissed in front of his friends. Andthis bonding abides constant withouta trace of diminution whether thechild has done something terriblywrong or is suffering the deservedconsequences of deliberatedelinquency.

This was the gift that Raju couldperceive his parents had beenlavishing on him all along. Raju’sparents never had read a book onchildrearing. Yet they were giftedwith the most important truth inraising a child—something whicheludes the expressive capability ofmany a PhD in child psychology. Thisis a gift all parents naturally have,but the tragedy is that their childrendon’t always discern it, because theparents do not realize they aren’texpressing it. Consequently, manychildren feel neglected by parents—

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a root cause for the growing numberof runaway teenagers each year inthe materia lly developed, butemotionally deprived, countries. It’sa basic cause for the growingnumber of children turning to drugsfor a substitute assurance or for atemporary obliteration of thegnawing awareness within them ofbeing deprived of their greatestemotional need—of knowing withabsolute certainty that there arepeople who will love them and carefor them no matter what.

Bonding sacrificed todayAs modern civilization keeps rushingforward to its ominous destination ata human-relations warping pace, andas men and women get caught in thevortex of career advancement or jobsurvival, the biggest sacrifice thatparents make on the altar of familysustenance is their continuousbonding with their children. Andbeing subconsciously aware ofsomething amiss in their relationshipwith their offspring, they come upwith measured amounts of ‘qualitytime’ at predetermined hours of theday, or they seek to compensate forthe shortage of this greatest of giftswith excessive materialdemonstrations of affection andprofuse verbal assurances. Butoutward effusions of affection cannever be a substitute for continuousinternal bonding.

In my many years as a teacher,I observed children as young as three

and a half years old being virtuallyabandoned by their parents to thecare of strangers in boarding schoolsin their native country, while theyreturned to the Gulf or to the US sothey could better layup provisions forthe future of these very children theyleft behind. Today, I see or hear ofsome of these same children, nowgrown up and parents themselves.The lack of bonding did cause severepsychological disorders in a very fewof these former school boarders. Butthe vast majority did not turn out tobe violence-prone adults orintroverts or social misfits. On thecontrary, they proved to be reliable,hardy and successful citizens.

Its effectBut I discerned one vital

ingredient that was missing in all ofthem: Their concept of parenting,their attitude towards their now oldparents, their relationship with theirspouses, and with people in general,were not as deep as those of thepeople that had a history of unbrokenbonding with their parents. Theirrelationships initially tend to beshallow or problematic, and onlytheir constantand earnesteffor ts inove r comingmentalities anda t t i t u d e sformed inc h i l d h o o dcould offset

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their defective bonding with theirparents. Yet, I can’t remember anycase where the negative effects ofan improperly bonded relationship inchildhood days were completelyoffset by personal efforts to correcta wounded subconscious. Theeffects, it seems, are lifetime, unlessa great miracle occurs in the heartof the grownup child whose parentscouldn’t give them the ‘agape’ kindof bonding. And miracles are rarephenomena in an increasinglyGodless world, aren’t they?

I also found that the agedparents in the retirement homes whowere the most lonely and the leastvisited by their children are thosevery parents who had deprived theirchildren of the greatest gift in theirtender years.

Bonding is impossible without theactual presence of the parents. Butit is not the kind of presence sodemanded by quality time advocates.A parent can spend all the qualitytime with their child and still find tenor fifteen years later that they havelost forever something ofincalculable preciousness in thehearts of their offspring. The ‘I-am-always-there-for-you-no matter-what’ is a gift given through thespontaneous vibes of the heart morethan through the deliberate verbaldemonstrations of affection andcalculated allocations of time.

This inviolable bonding betweenparents and children is the mostprecious legacy that one generation

can pass on to the next. Theinadequately bonded child, for all theverbal assurances and quality timegiven to him by his concernedparents, is not likely to bondadequately with his own offspring,and thus passes on a plague ofshallow family relations.

The greatest of gifts that parentscan give their child is also the greatestgift that a husband can render hiswife, and that which shoots a waveof thrill down the spine of a womanevery time she unexpectedly seesher man. It is also the gift that bindstwo young children with a friendshipthat remains intact as ever evenafter a separation of severaldecades.

As I write this, I remember thatI promised my boyhood chum I willbe meeting him two days from nowin his hometown about 100kilometres from my place. It wasonly a few days ago that I heard hisvoice on the phone, after having losttrack of him for 37 years. The lasttime I saw him was when we wereboth discover ing, somewhatmischievously, the magic of the earlyyears of our teen lives, and I justcan’t wait to see how he looks nowand to give him a bear hug…(Joseph Cherian is the editor of GoodParenting magazine, published fromthe UAE. He also runsWorldDailyBread.com, which serves asa site of inspiration for current andaspiring decision-makers in all walksof life.)

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Old is Gold

My parents lived through two World Wars. Even though India wasnot directly involved in these wars its people served and died in foreignlands helping in the war effort. At home the common man sufferedfrom shortages. Everything except fresh air and sunshine were inshort supply. A new culture was born where nothing was thrownaway or wasted but hoarded for a time in the future when it could beneeded.

by Joe D’Costa

My mother hoarded stuff—some of it very old. Shewould often remark, “Old

is gold, never to be sold” and muchto her irritation I would add mypoetical two bit, “Always to hoard,lacking space to be stored.”

Having suffered from theaftermath of the war in the earlyyears of my life where everythingwas rationed, I continued in myparent’s footsteps. My family oftenfinds me wearing shirts at home thathave become old and holey and usinga cell phone that is falling apart, heldtogether with cello tape.

Old not always goldMy mother would sometimes see theclutter in the house and with muchfrustration decide to sell some of itto the scrap dealer or give it away.Yet, nothing would give her moresatisfaction than to see some of theold stuff actually being used, yearslater.

Some items that are old are oftenas precious as gold. Antiquefurniture, hand woven lace or

sweaters and hand crafted artefactsin stone and wood often made orpurchased by ancestors and handeddown through the generations. Thereis one thing that has been handeddown through the generations for allto have and hold. It is the OldTestament!

Old is sometimes moreprecious than gold

The Old Testament is really old—older than anything we may have in

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our houses but in its pages arenuggets of gold that need to be dugup and brought to light for all to see.In its pages are records of the lives,times and experiences of great andnot so great people through whomwe can learn many things. Above allthe Old Testament gives us a glimpseof the great God we worship—his

nature and personality.We will find that hisfaithfulness, love, mercyand compassion formankind has nocomparison.

Studying the OldTestament could bring achange in our lives andoutlook like nothing else

can and will. In the series beginningwith this issue of the Living Lightmagazine we will explore the OldTestament and dig up the old goldfrom its pages—gold waiting to beexposed and utilized. Nothing in theOld Testament needs to be thrownaway but cherished, as it is priceless.The gold in it can never be sold!

Pun for fun

Two antennae meet on a roof, fall in love and get married.The ceremony wasn’t much, but the reception was excellent.

Paul was a passionate masseur. For years he pounded, stretched, pulledand relaxed the most burdened, stressed, bent-out-of-shape bodies. Thenlate one day, rather unexpectedly, he was fired. Apparently his last client complained that he had rubbed her the wrongway. 

Archeologist: A man whose career lies in ruins.“Dieters:  people that are thick and tired of it.”“If your mutt is always growling angrily, it must be because he’s a crossbreed.”

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, but when they lit a fire in thecraft it sank-proving once and for all that you can’t have your kayak andheat it too.

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The First SacrificeSomeone once asked the question: Why was it, that after Adam andEve ate of the fruit, the first thing they noticed was that they werenaked? Weren’t they always naked?

by Joe D’Costa

The true story is told of abanquet where a famousreligious leader found himself

seated next to an extremely beautifulwoman who was wearing a gownwith a perilously low neckline. Heintroduced himself to her… and thenoffered her an apple. She was a littlesurprised, but he explained with asmile, “Please do take it, Madame.It was only after Eve ate the applethat she became aware of how littleshe had on.”

Adam and Eve were creatednaked and did not see the need to beclothed. Before they ate of the treeof knowledge of good and evil, theydidn’t think about it. They were

innocent. Their hearts were pure.Genesis 2:25 tells us: “The man andhis wife were both naked, and theyfelt no shame”

One commentator noted: “Two-year-old don’t see any differencebetween their face, knees, and theparts of their body which we adultsinsist need covering. Because thosecovered parts are connected withphysical lust and passions.” BeforeAdam and Eve ate of the fruit, theirhear ts were pure. That samescholar noted: “Their nakedness wasinnocent and in no way sinful. Theysaw no difference between a hand,whose purpose was to do gooddeeds, a mouth with which one

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praises God and says kind words toothers and the parts of the bodywhich are used to ‘be fruitful andmultiply.’ With every organ theycould fulfil the will of God or viceversa so no organ was shameful, nordid anything need to be covered.”But once they ate of the fruit… thatall changed. Their hearts were nowtainted with sinful thoughts theywould never have consideredbefore. Jesus said: “… out of theheart come evil thoughts, murder,adultery, sexual immorality, theft,false testimony, slander” (Matthew15:19).

There were no evil thoughts insidethem until they ate of the fruit. Afterthey had eaten, the knowledge theygained shamed them. And worse thanthat, their new-found knowledgeseparated them from God. The finalpunishment of God upon Adam andEve was for them to leave Hispresence: “(God) drove out the man,and at the east of the Garden of Edenhe placed the cherubim and a flamingsword that turned every way toguard the way to the tree of life.”Genesis 3:24 (ESV).

God kicked them out!!! Heevicted them from their home. ButGod didn’t completely turn His backon them. Before God sent themaway, He gave them a special gift.“The Lord God made garments ofskin for Adam and his wife andclothed them.” Genesis 3:21. Nowthis is interesting for several reasons.1. Adam and Eve already hadclothes. Genesis 3:7 tells us that“…they realized they were naked;so they sewed fig leaves togetherand made coverings for themselves.”Apparently, these leaves didn’t domuch for Adam and Eve. When Godcame walking in the Garden, Adamand Eve hid themselves. And whenGod called out to Adam heanswered: “I heard you in thegarden, and I was afraid because Iwas naked; so I hid.” Genesis 3:10.

Up until that moment they thoughttheir fig leaves were doing the job.But suddenly the leaves leave themfeeling naked. When did Adamrealize his fig leaves weren’t doingthe job? When God came visiting!!It was when Adam found himself inGod’s presence that he began torealize his man-made coveringswere not enough.

Nakedness has been the symbolof our sinfulness ever since thegarden. Whenever a person’s sinsare discovered, we say they havebeen exposed. Jesus warns us notto be found “naked and exposed”when He comes again. “Behold, Icome like a thief! Blessed is he who

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stays awake and keeps his clotheswith him, so that he may not gonaked and be shamefully exposed.”Revelation 16:15.

People know their ownnakedness. They just don’t wantothers knowing about it. So they tryto cover that nakedness. There areat least three different ways peoplecover their nakedness: They trycomparing their nakedness tosomeone else’s. Or they’ll tryhanging out with all the right people– going to church/ belonging tochurch. There are wife abusers whohave become Elders/ Deacons/Sunday School teachers/ evenpreachers. People try to cover theirnakedness with all kinds of religiousactivities. Then there are others whowill skip the religious clothing and justtry to get by on their good deeds.

What is so interesting about us isthat we do everything we can toavoid getting too close to God.Because once we get too close toGod our nakedness becomesobvious. We fool ourselves bythinking we don’t need to go tochurch to be a Christian. We thinkwe are good enough as we are. Ourfig leaves are just fine, thank you.Some of us however, go to churchregularly and are highly religious. Wemay even hold positions ofprominence in the congregation. ThePharisees of Jesus day wereexamples of using figurative figleaves of trying to do good to coversin. Jesus parable of the Pharisee and

the tax collector brings home thispoint.

We know we haveacknowledged our nakedness whenwe begin to view church as aprivilege, when we think of howlucky we are that God not only letsus come to church, but that He letsus live, when we realize howhonoured we are to receive His loveand mercy, when we think about itevery day, when our attitude is likethat of the tax collector, realizing wedon’t have any fig leaves worthanything.

So the first intriguing thing aboutthe story of Adam and Eve is thatthey already had clothes, they justweren’t very good clothes becausethey were man-made.2. God supplied their clothing.God did it all— they did nothing. Allthey did was put the clothes on.What’s intriguing was the kind ofclothing God supplied. Genesis 3:21says “The Lord God made garmentsof skin for Adam and his wife andclothed them.” Some living creaturehad to die to cover Adam and Eve.

When God killed these animals tocover Adam and Eve’s nakednessthis was the beginning of animalsacrifices. Animal sacrifices weremade throughout the Old Testamentto pay for sin. The Law of Mosesrepeatedly taught the Israelites thatevery sin that they committed waspunishable by death. But sinceeveryone sinned, God allowed themto pay for their sins by offering up a

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sacrifice of a pure and spotlessanimal in their place.

Hebrews 9:22 tells us “… the lawrequires that nearly everything becleansed with blood, and without theshedding of blood there is noforgiveness.” Leviticus 17:11 tells us“…the life of a creature is in theblood, and I have given it to you tomake atonement for yourselves onthe altar; it is the blood that makesatonement for one’s life.” In orderfor God to give mankindforgiveness… something had to die.

But why would God have ananimal die for Adam and Eve? Well,God had created the animals forthem. They were like Adam andEve’s pets. Imagine being Adam andEve in the garden. Imagine beingdown by the stream and having fishnibbling unafraid at your toesbecause they want to play with you.Imagine sitting beside a tree with a

lion or leopard resting it massive headin your lap wanting to be stroked andcomforted. These animals wereAdam and Eve’s constantcompanions. All the animals in thegarden were gentle and loving… andloved by Adam and Eve. And one ofthese gentle companions had to dieto cover their sin and nakedness.

Throughout the Old TestamentGod drove home the grievousness ofsin. Every time a child of God sinned,they were required to offer up ablood sacrifice. In the days of thetabernacle one would see peoplelined up at the gate with theirsacrifices being offered for thingsthey had done. Day, after day, afterday sacrifices were offered up toGod. And these sacrifices cost thelife, and the blood, of innocentanimals. A price had to be paid. Andblood was the dearest price thatcould be paid.

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3. The animals that God used tomake Adam and Eve’s garmentswere the first animal sacrifice onearth. Nothing else had ever diedbefore this. And these creaturesdied at God’s hand. They wereliterally the first sacrifices ever madein human history. One person hasrightly noted that God made the firstand the last sacrifices for man’s sins.Here in the Garden of Eden, Godsacrificed the first innocent animalto cover sin. It was on MountCalvary that God made the lastsacrifice of His sinless son to coverour sin.

In the Garden, God suppliedAdam and Eve with garments. OnMt. Calvary He supplied us with ourgarments. His gift to them involvedthe death of an innocent animal. Hisgift to us involved the gift of Hisson… a pure and spotless offeringto cover our nakedness.

Genesis tells us that Godsacrificed those first animals to coverman’s nakedness. But how does Godcover our nakedness in the sacrificeof Christ? Galatians 3:27 tells us: “forall of you who were baptized intoChrist have clothed yourselves withChrist.” When we were buried in thewaters of baptism we were wrappedin Jesus. His righteousness coversus like a garment. And that was thegenius of God’s design, for when wego down into the waters of baptismwe are literally wrapped in thewaters, enveloped as in a garment.

The garment we receive throughJesus Christ was far better than theones that Adam and Eve were given.Their garments eventually wore out,got torn and stained and ultimatelybecame shabby and not worthwearing. Worse than that, thegarments God made for Adam andEve would never allow them backinto God’s presence. No matter howlong they wore them, they wouldnever be allowed to re-enter thebeautiful Garden God had preparedfor their home. But when you and Iput on Jesus, it all changes.

We are told in Hebrews 10:14-23 “… by one sacrifice (Jesus) hasmade perfect forever those who arebeing made holy… Their sins andlawless acts I will remember nomore… Therefore, brothers, sincewe have confidence to enter theMost Holy Place by the blood ofJesus, by a new and living wayopened for us through the curtain,that is, his body, and since we havea great priest over the house of God,let us draw near to God with a sincereheart in full assurance of faith, havingour hearts sprinkled to cleanse usfrom a guilty conscience and havingour bodies washed with pure water.Let us hold unswervingly to the hopewe profess, for he who promised isfaithful.”

Unlike Adam and Eve, thegarment Jesus supplied us gives usthe privilege to boldly come into God’spresence and enjoy His love andcompassion on a personal level. Did

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Adam and Eve deserve the garmentsGod made for them? Of course not!And in the same way, we don’tdeserve the garment that covers oursins either.

This Godly act of mercy andgrace can be illustrated in the storyrelated by the late Paul Leonard. Hewrote: “My father had died duringmy senior year in high school, andmy mother had become blind. Withher encouragement “I enrolled in theUniversity on the eve of the GreatDepression. By night I was a taxidriver, and during the lunch anddinner hours I waited tables in thecampus dining hall. I made enoughmoney to pay my expenses, but I hadto always pinch pennies.

At lunch one day I was serving atable where faculty members wereseated. As I returned to the tablewith my tray held high, theunthinkable happened! I slipped ona spot of gravy on the floor and

watched helplessly as the plates slidoff the tray, spilling its contents onan especially well-dressed man—one of my professors.

My heart sank. What could I doto atone? I grabbed a towel to cleanup the food, but I only spread themess over more of my professor’ssuit. He locked his eyes on me andasked, “Mr. Leonard, what are yougoing to do about this?” “I’m so sorrysir. I’ll pay to have your suit cleaned,”I responded.“I don’t believe this suit can be drycleaned, do you?” my professorcountered. It was badly stained. Icould tell that. And who was I toquestion his judgment? He had everyright to be irritated. “Whatever ittakes, sir.” I answered.

Later that afternoon I sat beforethe same professor in his engineeringclass as he did his best to presenthis normal lecture in something lessthan what he was used to wearing

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for his lectures. When the bell rangI heard the dreaded words: “PaulLeonard, I’d like to speak to you fora moment.”

After everyone had left, he said,“Mr. Leonard, I believe it is only fairthat you buy me a new suit.”“Yes, sir,” I managed to say. With aknot in my stomach, I agreed to meethim at a Columbus men’s store thefollowing day. I recognized the nameof the store, an exclusive men’sclothier specializing in custom-tailored suits. I also knew that Icould cover the expenses only if Iwere able to make payments overseveral months of work andscrimping. As I walked in the frontdoor of the finely furnished store, Igrew even more apprehensive.

“Oh there you are,” my professorremarked. He had arrived early. Hehad already chosen the fabric andthe tailor had already takenmeasurements. My professor, aregular customer, had apparentlyvouched for my trustworthinessbecause the clerk nonchalantlyaccepted the professor’s remark,

“Mr. Leonard will be responsible forthe bill, as I have indicated.”

More than a little disorientated, Iturned to follow my professor out ofthe door. Then he stopped.“Are you sure you want to do this?”he asked. “Yes sir,” I responded. “Itwill take time, of course, but I…”He interrupted me with wordsdirected to the clerk. “Let’s see thatMr. Leonard is fitted for a suit justlike mine. And put them both on mybill.”

Not only was my debt cancelled,but I received what I did not deserve.And my benefactor provided me withmore than a suit and an indeliblememory. He gave me an encounterwith grace. (The late Paul Leonardtold this story about his life thatappeared in the Lookout in 1990).

God is like that. He not onlycovers our nakedness, but heforgives us, remembers our sins nomore and then goes ahead and makesus His sons and daughters not for alifetime, two lifetimes but for alleternity. The love of our God isbeyond imagination.

“Adam and Eve had an ideal marriage. He didn’t have to hear about allthe men she could have married, and she didn’t have to hear about theway his mother cooked.”

“ If wrinkles must be written upon our brow, let them not be written uponthe heart. The spirit should never grow old.” — James A. Garfield

“Forgive your enemies— but never forget their names.” - John F.Kennedy

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Be you joyful...

God has commanded us to be always joyful (Psalms 68:3). Joy is afruit of the Holy Spirit next only to love (Galatians 5:22).

by Dr. Sudhir Singh

Jesus came to announce thegood news of the Kingdom—aKingdom of joy and eternal

happiness. It is God’s “goodpleasure” to give us the Kingdom(Luke 12:32) and to enter theKingdom is to “enter into the joy ofyour Master” (Matthew 25:21).

The Kingdom started with thecoming of Christ (Matthew 12:28,Luke 10:9, 17:21). We come underHis authority or government, i.e. theKingdom, when He calls us andopens our mind to understand Hisword, the Bible, and gives us thepower to obey it—through the powerof the Holy Spirit.

There is a future part of theKingdom when it comes in itscompleteness at the second comingof Christ when we will beresurrected as His spirit children tolive with Him in joy and happinessforever (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Joy is a by-product of faith andfaith comes by hearing the word ofGod (Romans 10:17) and by obeyingit, i.e. putting it into practice in ourdaily life. Christ has asked us to liveby every word of God (Matthew4:4).

Many of us find it rather difficultto be joyful when facing serioustrials. We are specifically told to

“count it all joy my brethren whenyou face various trials” (James 1:2-4), because trials develop patience,endurance and courage in us as wego through them with a r ightattitude—that of joy! We grow inreliance and trust in God and drawcloser to Him. “Through many trials(not few!) the righteous will enterthe Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

God gives us His own powerthrough the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)to go through the trials and developthe “fruits of the spirit”. The HolySpirit is a spirit of “love, power, andsound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7). Andthe fruits are simply wonderful:“Love, Joy, Peace, Patience,Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness,Gentleness, Self-control” (Galatians5:22-23).

Many get tired and fed-up of trialsand even give up on God as a result.They look at trials as somethingunwanted and unnecessary! “Whatis the purpose of man,” they ask.They even accuse God of beingunfair for “sending” trials to themwhen they are “obeying Him somuch”!

God has promised us that “allthings work together for good tothose who love God and are calledaccording to His purpose.” (Romans

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8:28)—and that “no trial will cometo you which you are unable tobear...” (1 Corinthians 10:13)—Hewill see to that! That means if a trialhas come to us, we can bear it andgo through it successfully and growin godly character—otherwise itwould not have come to us!

Many think that they cannot bejoyful in this life but only in the nextlife—because “this world is soterrible and horrible!” But Christ haspromised to give us “His joy” (John15:11, 16:22,24) and “His peace”(John 14:27). Notice, both are in thepresent, not future, tense.

Some ask, “What is there in thislife to be joyful about?” Well, hereare a few things (apart fromchocolate!) to be thankful and joyfulabout: God gave us this marvelloushuman life; air, water and food toenjoy; our family—parents, siblings,mates, children, grand children—andfriends; this world and the universeto understand, explore and enjoy. Hethen became human and died ahorrible death on the cross to pay forall our sins by taking them onHimself, and forgiving us of them.Then He gave us salvation i.e.eternal life of joy and happiness withHim. Is that not enough for us to bejoyful right now?

To be joyful, one also needs to bethankful and contented. The three gotogether. We are told to be thankfulin a ll things (including trials)(Ephesians 5:20, 1 Thessalonians5:16-17) and to be contented in allcircumstances (Philippians 4:11).

In order to be joyful we also needto live “one day at a time” (Matthew6:25-34). Don’t dig out the troublesof the past (leave that to thearchaeologist!) and do not worryabout the possible troubles of thefuture. We are told to hand over allour troubles and worries to Christand He will give us rest (Matthew11:28).

God will see us through. “He whohas begun a good work in you, willfinish it” (Philippians 1:6). He willnever leave us nor forsake us(Hebrew 13:5). Nothing canseparate us from His love—nothingwhatsoever (Romans 8:38). Godloves us with an unlimited, steadfastand eternal love. In fact, He madeus, and everything else, out of love.God is love (1 John 4:8). He is readyto die for us and actually did.

Why did God create all this? Hestates the purpose right at the start:“Let us make man in our image”(Genesis 1:26). God is awesome(that is why an awesome universe)and His purpose for us is alsoawesome.

Yes, God is making us into theimage of Christ (Philippians 2:5,Ephesians 3:17-20). He haspromised us, “I will come again andreceive you unto Myself, that whereI am, you may be also! (John 14:1-3).

Well, isn’t that a reason enoughto jump with joy?!

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Conference in October 2014 at SrirangapatnaAt the picturesque town of Srirnagapatna, also called the river island, as itis surrounded by the Cauvery river, members of the Worldwide Church ofGod from south India assembled for a six day program of worship, instruction,fellowship, speech clubs, site-seeing, fun and games. The theme for theconference was ‘Following Jesus Christ - Crisis, Cost, Cure’.

Srirangapatna is fifteen kilometres from Mysore and 2227 feet abovesea level. The climate is pleasant all the year around. Three streams meethere, the Cauvery, the Kabini and the Hemavati. Situated at the delta ofrivers water is a plenty and the land fertile. It therefore has large sugarcanefields. It is famous for its historic sites, temples, waterfalls, forts and birdsanctuary.

Plans are underway to hold the next conference in October 2015 atAashirwad RevivalCentre, besides AmbleeHoliday Resorts,Srirangapatna.

Members and LivingLight readers are welcometo attend. For details pleasecontact the WCG office atthe address given on theinner front page of themagazine.