issue 26 - want to be utterly doubly bubbly? / hell and kajal agrawal quote / sangakkara's...

7/15/2019 Issue 26 - Want to be utterly doubly bubbly? / Hell and Kajal Agrawal quote / Sangakkara's lecture and Jesus' uniq…

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/issue-26-want-to-be-utterly-doubly-bubbly-hell-and-kajal-agrawal-quote 1/32



One Person In TheBible Had This…

One person in the Bible had this oil

of joy, the Holy Spirit, in double

measure. Do you know his name?

His name is Elisha. He had the

double portion of the Holy Spirit

anointing that was upon Prophet

Elijah (2 Kings 2:8-10). If we took

a long look at the life of Elisha, we

will learn the secrets of receiving

the double portion of the anointing.

And that would automatically lead

us to a life of being doubly bubbly!

Let’s start -

SELECTED!

Holy Lie Is A Jolly Lie!

Elisha was SELECTED. God told

the depressed Prophet Elijah that heshould anoint three people. One of

them was Elisha (I Kings 19:15,16).

He was selected by God to receive

the double portion of the anointing.

Do you know something? God has

chosen you to be doubly bubbly.

How’s that? We are ‘chosen’ to be

‘holy’ - his Word tells us (I Peter

2:9; I Thess. 4:3). And when we

live a holy life, we will be happy,

for a holy life is indeed a jolly life.Sin’s pleasures are only for a short

season, while there are eternal

pleasures which those on the side

of a Holy God would enjoy (Heb

11:25; Psa 16:11). The unholy

person would always be fearful

and sad. The Bible teaches while

a wicked man ees when no one

even chases him, the righteous are

bold as a lion (Prov. 28:1). Yes,the righteous are bubbly and bold.

Yes, we are selected by God to be

doubly bubbly!

SWEATING!

Daewoo Company’s Ad Line

Elisha was SWEATING and

working hard in the job that God

rst gave him - the job of being

a farmer. This is how the Bibleintroduces Elisha to us - he is

driving the plough when the great

Prophet Elijah walks up to meet

with him (I Kings 19:19). He

was not day dreaming when God

sent his prophet to have a brush

with him. He was doing. He was

working hard. Every disciple

Jesus called into his team was

3www.TheDAYSofYOURyouth.com

Evangelin Duke gleans lessons from the life of Elisha on how one can be joyous through the lling of the

Holy Spirit

The world is talking about a just-released Hindi movie which is very interestingly titled “Double Dhamaal”

(meaning, “Double Joy”). All of us want to be doubly happy, don’t we? All of us desire to be doubly joyous,

correct? Being doubly bubbly - we want to be in that state, desperately isn’t it? The secret is to be lled with the

Holy Spirit, who is called ‘the oil of joy’ in the Bible (Heb 1:9). The Holy Spirit can ll us with joy even during

times of severe suffering, the Bible teaches (I Thess. 1:6). In this article you will read about how you have true

‘double dhamaal’ through the Holy Spirit.

Getting Ready For The ‘Doubly Bubbly’ Experience

We probably have heard about the movie,Double Dhamaal (double Joy). But you

must read about the Spirit who gives true ‘double dhamaal’ in this article.



busy doing something, if you

recall. No one was sitting idle and

whiling away their time. Mathew

was busy collecting taxes. Peter

was busy shing. The punch line

for South Korean Car Company

Daewoo used to be this: We dream.

We do. We are Daewoo. Do you

merely dream? Or do you also

do? Being busy with the job that

God has placed us in, is certainly

a step to the state of being doubly

bubbly. I recall that I would board

crowded town buses in sweltering

hot Chennai to get to the place

of my work. And I put in quality

hard work in my job as a Public

Relations Assistant in a leading

Chennai Hospital. I worked so

hard that I was awarded the title

of being the employee of the year!

What does your hand nd to do?

Do it with all your might! (Eccl

9:10). Say goodbye to laziness!

SPEEDING!

alking about Chris Gayle

Elisha acted really fast after

Elijah threw his cloak around him to indirectly tell him, “Quit

your farming business and join

my ministry!” The Bible tells us

that he ran behind Elijah (I Kings

19:20). He did not pretend that he

did not understand why Elijah did

what he did. He instantly grasped

the signicance of it and raced

after him! He showed speed! He

demonstrated acceleration in his

actions! My son, Dale Nathan, wentgaga over Cricket in the season 4

of IPL ( 2011). He would talk about

the exploits of Chris Gayle who

showed great speed when it came

to scoring runs! I was with him

to see Chris Gayle and his partner

loot 27 runs of the very rst over

of the semi-nal game of IPL IV

that Bangalore Royal Challengers

played against Mumbai Indians.

Chris Gayle was a man in a hurry!

Elisha was also a man in a hurry!

What about you? Do you drag your

feet when it comes to Spiritual

Disciplines of prayer, reading the

Bible, giving and witnessing? Or do

you show a sense of urgency when

it comes to things of God? That’s

the way to become ‘doubly bubbly’.

SNAPPING!

Mom’s cooking – He needed to give it a miss!

Elisha was willing to snap all ties

that perhaps could have slowed

him down from doing all what

God had called him to do. We do

not know much about Elisha’s parents. But Elisha felt that he had

to say goodbye to them before he

joined Elijah’s ministry team. He

no longer could operate from the

comforts of his home! Mummy’s

tasty cooking - he preferred to give

it a miss to accomplish what God

had called him to do! Daddy’s

protective love - he was willing to

forego to be with Elijah 24/7. He

told them goodbye because, he

knew deep down, he was going on

a mission where he had to risk his

very life. There was every chance

of him losing his life in the mission

he would undertake – Elisha was

aware of this. The job of a Prophet

was a dangerous one in the Old

Testament. Often times, a prophet

had to question the sinful behavior

of kings, who in turn, could

retaliate and kill them. Elijah was a

prophet who was called to that kind

of perilous ministry. And by joining

him on such a dangerous mission,

Elisha would put his life at risk as

well! So, an emotional farewell

with his parents was truly essential,

he perhaps felt! When we come

to Jesus to become his disciple,

we must love him more than our

father, mother, brothers, sisters,

wife and even one’s own life, Jesus

declared (Luke 14:26). Our love

for Jesus should be so strong, that

in comparison, all other ‘loves’ in

our life seem like hatred! There is

no other shortcut route to the path

of receiving the double portion of

the Spirit. There is no painless path

to becoming doubly bubbly, God’s

way.

SLAUGHTERING!

Tis joy comes when you give up!

Next, Elisha slaughters each one

of his 12 yokes of oxen (I Kings

19:19,21). Killing 24 animalsaround whom his work involved

would not have been easy! But

he did that, to tell himself, “I

have decided to fulll God’s call

upon my life by being in Elijah’s

ministry team and there is no

thought of ever returning back to

my old profession!” He became an

illustration for the statement that

Chris Gayle showed great accelerationwhen it came to scoring runs this IPLseason. We must show speed when it

comes to going about doing the Spiritual Disciplines God has called us to do.

www.PurposeSpot.Blogspot.com



Billy Graham has made: “When

you come to Christ, every bridge

behind you burns and there’s no

thought of ever turning back!”

Have you come to that kind of total

commitment in your relationship

with Christ? Or do you have bits

of your life that you have not yet

surrendered to Him? Are you

holding back some bits of your

life for sinful self-gratication? It

could be possible that you have

not yet surrendered your eyes to

Jesus (they still look lustfully at

the opposite gender). It could be

possible that your purse is not yet

surrendered to Jesus (you cannot

do without certain comforts, month

after month). Come on - slaughter

everything that comes between

you and Jesus, mercilessly and

ruthlessly. We must be ready to

pluck out things in our life, things

that may be dear to us as an eye

is, in order to walk down Jesus’

narrow path (Math 18:9). There’s

a joy, that doubly bubbly kind of

joy, which comes when you give

up things for Jesus. We read about

it in Matthew 13:44 - when we

are on the way to sell all that we

have in our possession to possess

the Kingdom of God (Jesus is the

Kingdom of God in person), there’s

a joy we experience! We won’t be

sad that we would have to give

them all up - the world and its

pleasures! But instead, we would

be glad to do it! Exceedingly glad,

I would say! Glad to give up things

to please Jesus through our lives!

Oh, what a joy, that kind of ‘joy-

acquired-while-giving-up-things-

for-Jesus’ is!

SMART-WORKING!

Don’t leave your brains in the ridge!

Note that Elisha makes smart use

of the bon-re he lit up while

burning his wooden agricultural

equipment - he cooked meat over

it (I Kings 19:21). That re which

worked furiously to destroy his

plough wood becomes part of a

production process to cook meat!

That’s intelligence in action! That’s

‘applying thought!’ (to borrow a

phrase from Wipro). When we

repent from sin and come to serve

Christ, we need not leave our brains

in the fridge! We could very well

use them to bring glory to Christ!

We must be intelligent in our

presentation of the Gospel. Let me

explain: we must expect objections

to what we declare to be true and

we must have explanations ready

for those objections. For example,

when we proclaim that Christ alone

is the only way to heaven, people

may object saying that they believe

him to be one of the many ways

available. Here’s where our reading

of apologetics books will help us.

Get a hold of them. Peter wrote

that we must be ready with reasons

which explain our hope in Christ (I

Pet. 3:15).

SPEAKING-UP!

Eternity and biriyani!

Elisha organised what could be

called a missionary farewell feast

for his neighborhood (I Kings

19:21). The reason for doing this,

I believe, is this: to win the right

to give a speech to them he gave

them all a serving of tasty food!

The Bible does not record that such

a speech was given by Elisha. But

I do imagine that there was indeed

such a speech and this is how that

speech could have sounded, “I

am now going to serve God in

a particular Prophet’s Ministry

Team. I am going away for this job

which involves a lot of travel. But

what about you? Where does your

life stand when it comes to your

relationship with the Lord? We

have only one life. It will be soon

past. Whatever we do for the Lord

will only last. So make your one

life count for the Lord! Seek for

ways to serve him according to his

unique will for your life!” Mathew

gathered up his tax collecting

buddies at his home for a feast.

And converted that feast into a

Gospel sharing opportunity by

inviting Jesus over for same event

(Luke 5:29)! Do you talk about

Jesus and what he has done for

you during social gatherings? Or

is it that you only concentrate on

eating the food? Food will get into

your body and come out as human

excreta. But remember life is more

than food, Jesus said (Math. 6:25).

We must not hold back talk about

matters concerning eternity with

those across the table, even as we

enjoy eating our biriyani!

SHARING!

To serve a feast, it must have cost

Elisha a lot of money – an expense

he could have done without. “I can

give a huge feast when the day I get

married arrives to treat my buddies

– I don’t need to do it now. In fact,

I can use the money I will save by

not setting up this feast, during my

www.TheDAYSofYOURyouth.com 5



ministry days when my nances

could get pretty tight! Why should

I now waste money to serve a feast

before I leave for ministry to join

Elijah?” – these valid thoughts

might have crossed Elisha’s mind.

But he went ahead in the task of

spending money for an activity he

believed would bring imperishable

impact on the folk around him as

they ate his perishing food! This

God-imitating habit of sharing, a

habit which brings so much of joy,

which started in Elisha’s youthful

years got stuck and stayed with

him, did you notice? During a

season of famine, he sacricially

fed the prophets of the Lord under

his care (2 Kings 4:38). He did

not think of saving up food and

money – something he would

also need - during the famine. He

was willing to share the offerings/

tithes he received – an ‘yummy

offering’ of twenty loaves of barley

bread baked from the rst ripe

corn along with some ears of new

corn - with his team-members who

were prophets (2 Kings 4:42). His

servant, the greedy Gehazi, was

not happy when he did this and so

asked him a question, which clearly

was aimed at applying brakes on

Elisha’s giving (see 2 Kings 4:43).

But those questions did not deter

Elisha from his determination to

give!

Graduating – rom our-gure giving to

ve-gure giving! You can give without loving but

you cannot, ever, love without

giving! “For God so loved the

World, that he gave….” (John

3:16). Do you share with others

what God has so graciously given

you? ‘Giving’ to the Lord’s work

despite all the needs and trails

we may be in the midst of, and

the experiencing ‘overowing

joy’ that surely along this, goes

together. This is one truth, I

learnt from the believers of the

Macedonian churches (2 Cor

8:2). The fact that Duke and I

have needs of our own does not

stop us from giving and grabbing

this joy that comes along with

the spiritual discipline of giving

amidst challenging circumstances!

May I share a personal story at

this juncture? All these years we

had stayed with-in the four-gure

mark (We would give offerings

of Rs.1000/-/Rs.3000/-/Rs.5000/-,

etc) when it came to our giving

to other Servants of God who are

not related by blood to us, whose

ministry we believed in and whose

ministry has blessed us. But last

month, as the Holy Spirit spoke

to us and greatly egged on by the

example of Elisha, we pushed

ourselves to up our “giving bar.”

And for the rst time, we entered

the ve-gure mark (that is, sent an

offering of Rs.10,000/- to a man of

God). Oh, what a joy it is to give!

SIMPLE START READY!

Cleaning a toilet, giving out a tract

Elisha was ready for a simple start

to the new phase of his life. He

became an apprentice who used to

pour water on the hands of Elijah(2 Kings 3:11). He became Elijah’s

servant (I Kings 19:21b). He was

willing to be an apprentice before

he took over as the CEO of Elijah’s

Ministry after he ascended into

heaven! His humility needs to be

appreciated! This trait of humility

got stuck onto him. Let me explain -

once in a particular situation Elisha

said, “The Lord has not revealed it

to me!” (2 Kings 4:27). That spoke

volumes about his meek spirit. He

was not cocky and insincere to cook

up something and pass it off as the

Lord’s Word! On the humble, God

pours out the doubly bubbly spirit

and make humble hearts, the place

of his dwelling, the Bible declares

(Isa 57:15). Do you refuse to do an

unassuming job for the Lord, (say

like giving out a Gospel Tract or

cleaning a church’s toilet) because

‘it is below your prestige’? God is

speaking to you through Prophet

Elisha! In fact, I have seen that it is

easy for humble people to give out

Gospel Tracts. When folks refuse to

receive tracts, obviously there is a

blow to the human ego. But humble

people take it in their stride and

keep at it while proud people don’t.

That’s why many of the pompous

don’t even attempt to give out

Gospel Tracts, in my opinion!

A growing ministry – so a bigger building needed

The result of being willing to do

start small in the life of Elisha

brought great results. There came

a point in Elisha’s ministry after

We cannot, ever, claim to love,without giving! Recently, the Lord enabled us to graduate rom ‘ our- gure’ giving to ‘ve-gure’ giving!

www.G-4Mission.Blogspot.com



he had succeeded Elijah as the

leader for the School of Prophets

of Yahweh in Israel. Their number

increased by the day that there was

no place to accommodate them in

the campus they lived on. They

were forced to move to a larger

facility - such was the phenomenal

growth under Elisha’s leadership

(2 Kings 6:1-3). What happened

in Elisha’s life can happen in our

lives too. When we are faithful in

executing the small responsibilities

that God has given us, God would

graciously give a gigantic growth

in our inuence upon our worlds in

His time.

SCRIPTURE-INSPIRED!

At a later point, King Jehoshaphat

had this to say about Elisha, “The

word of the Lord is with him

(Elisha)” (2 Kings 3:12). Elisha

probably knew from his Bible

(a book he read thoroughly,

obviously) to understand that

he was to be like Joshua to his

time’s Moses, who was Prophet

Elijah. Just as God raised Joshua

to succeed Moses, God could now raise Elisha to succeed Elijah,

the same way he used Joshua to

succeed Moses. May be this was

one reason, he was ready to take

up this dangerous role offered

by Prophet Elijah under God’s

directions! When we stay rooted

in God’s Word, we will not be

lead away from God’s Will. God’s

Word is a light unto our path. And

what is more, we are on the road to receiving the double portion

of the anointing! A verse from

Isaiah moved and motivated Paul

to have a missionary ambition

(Rom. 15:20,21). Let’s get back

into the Bible. Why don’t you make

a decision today with regard to

this? Why not decide that you will

not log onto FaceBook or Social

Networking sites before you take

time to have a long lingering look

at God’s book, The Bible!

STUBBORN!

Te compulsive stalker !

At times, I have noticed menstalking me in the years I grew

up as a young woman in Chennai,

studying and working. There were

guys who would wait for me to

come out of the Hostel I stayed

in, follow me to the Bus Stand,

get on the same bus I travelled in,

deliberately, get off along with me,

and walk right up to the entrance

of the Hospital I worked in then,

and follow me back to the Hostel

again after my work! Phew! My

cold stares and rude words did

nothing to discourage them from

following me and stalking me.Mumbai witnessed a cold blooded

murder of Mid-Day paper’s senior

investigative journalist, J. Dey, in

broad day light. The killers were

obviously stalking this journalist

before they closed in and killed him

at point blank range. We see that

Elisha more or less compulsively

stalks Prophet Elijah as the days

of his ministry on earth comes to

an end. We see that Prophet Elijah

wanted Elisha to stay in Gilgal

even as he wanted to travel to

Bethel. But Elisha refused. He said,

“As surely as the Lord lives, and

as you live, I will not leave you!”

(2 Kings 2:2). So from Gilgal he

travelled with Elijah to Bethel. At

Bethel, like he did while they were

in Gilgal, Prophet Elijah wanted

Elisha to stay back in Bethel while

he travelled to Jericho. Again,

Elisha was determined in his

refusal to do so (2 Kings 2:4). He

would go wherever Elijah went,

especially now knowing (perhaps

through a revelation from the Lord)

that Elijah was in the last days of

his earthly ministry and the Lord

was going to take him away (2

Kings 2:3). Once they reached

Jericho, having now travelled 21

miles since they started out, Elijah

wanted to leave Elisha there and

proceed to Jordan. Again Elisha

said, “Nothing doing! I am going

with you!”(2 Kings 2:6). He was so

very stubborn in his determination

to stick with the prophet that

God had called him to stick with,

till his last few seconds of that

prophet’s life on the earth! He

followed Prophet Elijah through

Some men tailed a Senior Crime Reporter and eventually killed him. Elisha ollowed Elijah stubbornly to receive the double portion o the anointing!




the miraculously set up dry bed

of the diagonally sliced- River

Jordan and went to the other side

(2 Kings 2:7,8). He did not think,

“What would happen, if the River

rolled over us while we were in

the middle of crossing it? At least

Prophet Elijah lived a full life! I am

just starting out! So, I rather stay

back on this side of Jordan and let

Elijah go to the other side on his

own!” He was determined. He was

totally committed to his God-given

task – that of stalking Prophet

Elijah till there was breath in his

nostrils! Like Jacob he who was not

willing to quit midway in his quest

for God’s blessing, Elisha was

stubbornly unwilling to leave Elijah

till he received the double portion

of the spirit from Elijah. He would

go at any length, even risk his life

to receive the double portion of the

spirit that was upon Elijah - the

power of the Holy Spirit.

Gehazi Vs Elisha –

Their preferences!

Once they reached the other side,

he requests for the double portionof the anointing of the Spirit that

was upon Prophet Elijah after this

particular offer was made to him by

the senior Prophet, “What can I do

for you before I leave this earth?”

and receives it (2 Kings 2:9,10). He

could have asked for a title from

Elijah. He could have bargained for

the treasures of Elijah. If Gehazi

was in Elisha’s place, he would

have perhaps asked for a piece of property - not the power of the

Spirit! But Elisha did not ask for

worldly things when it was time for

Elijah to go. He asked for the Spirit

- the double portion of it! Wow!

And because he was so stubborn

and steadfast in what he wanted, he

got what he wanted! What about

us? Will we be that steadfast when

we ask God to ll us with his Spirit,

the Oil of Joy? If we are, then not

just a double portion, but a ‘without

measure’ portion of the Spirit

will be upon us, the same way

the Spirit was upon Jesus (John

3:34)! Practically speaking, getting

stubborn with God implies this -

spending time with him, again and

again, in an unhurried manner!

SUFFERING-READY SON!

When a son chose his ather!

The Old Testament teaches that the

eldest son is eligible for a double

portion of the father’s inheritance(Dt 21:17). There were guys like

Esau who devalued their rights

as rst born to displease the Lord

(Heb 12:16-17). But despite not

being the physical rst born of

Elijah, Elisha chose to become

through the Spirit, Elijah’s rst

born. So, when Elisha asked Elijah

for a double portion of the same

spirit that was upon him, he was

asking him for the privilege of

being his eldest spiritual son. Here

was the case of a son choosing his

own dad! Don’t forget that Elisha

had bid farewell to his parents

before joining Elijah in his ministry

trail. Elijah was now his ‘new

dad’. Elijah had no hesitation in

warmly extending that privilege

to Elisha by a token gesture of

throwing his cloak at him but not

before he pointing out that with this

privilege comes hardship. We read

the following words of Elijah to

Elisha at this juncture in the Bible:

“You have asked for a difcult

thing!” (2 Kings 2:10). Because

Elisha maintained a loving father-

son relationship with Elijah he

gets this privilege of being doubly

lled with the same spirit that was

upon Elijah. If the nation Israel

was called by God as his ‘rstborn

son’ how much more we, today’s

believers who are the new Israel,

are to be called God’s ‘rstborn’

(Ex 4:22)! When we maintain that

father-son intimate relationship and

personal rapport with our Heavenly

Father, he too will certainly make

us doubly bubbly and full of the

Spirit without measure! We can

maintain that kind of relationship

by spending hours in prayer talking

in an informal way to God, without

losing our reverence for him. We

can talk our hearts out with God,

because he is our Father. We can be

frank with God during our prayer

time, because he is our Father and

he knows us and our need, exactly!

Called “baldy!”

But we must not forget that getting

intimate with God can often lead to

excruciating experiences. We may

suffer because we are close to God.

But that suffering is worth it. While

Elisha performed exactly double

Do we get stubborn, persistent,

and desperate when we ask the

Lord for spiritual blessings as

we do for material blessings?

www.FaceBook.com/DukeJeyaraj



Stephen Jothiraj


the number of miracles that Elijah

performed, he also suffered. He

had an acute hair-loss problem.

He was teased as a bald man by

some young people (2 Kings

2:23)! There was a point when

the king of Aram, got so angry

with him and wanted to have himarrested (2 Kings 6:13). This was

because Elisha would hear the war

strategy whispers in the king of

Aram’s bedroom though he lived

far away, through the power of

the Spirit and alerted the king of

Israel accordingly. The King of

Aram also angrily said later that

he wanted to have the head of

Elisha whose famine prediction

proved true, chopped off (2Kings 6:31). When will you be

a Spirit-lead, Spirit-anointed

person and be willing to take the

suffering that may come along

with it gladly and allow suffering

to shape you to become more like

Christ? You must! To be a doubly

bubbly person does not mean that

we will not have suffering. But

through it all, the joy of the Lord

becomes our strength! We countit a joy to suffer for Christ like

the early church believers did

(Acts 5:41).

SORROWFUL

He wept beore he whipped!

After Elisha saw one of the most

dramatic scene in the Bible, that

of Elijah riding into the clouds

on a chariot of re, he tore hisclothes (2 Kings 2:11-13). It was

the Jewish way of expressing

sorrow - the tearing of one’s

clothes. It was his way of saying

that he was perhaps too sinful

to be there in a place where

God’s awesome presence was so

heavy. This incident is similar to

Peter telling Jesus who had just

nished doing a grand miracle

for him, this, “Go away from

me, Lord, I am a sinful man!”

The rst impact that happened

to Elisha after he touched the

cloak that Elijah gave him was

brokenness. Yes, he was a broken

man after he received the double portion of the Spirit that was upon

Elijah. “The yoke shall be broken

because of the anointing” wrote

Isaiah (10:27). And the breaking

begins with the person on whom

the anointing rests, discovered

Elisha! This brokenness resulted

in him, becoming totally holy.A woman who often had the

pleasure of hosting the traveling

minister Elisha in her home had

this awesome testimony about

him at a later point: “Look now, I

know this is a holy man of God!”

(2 Kings 4:9). Down the line we

read that Elisha would weep when

he foresaw the damage that Hazael

would do to Israel (2 Kings 8:11-

13). Here was a prophet who not

only whipped folk with harsh

words of prophecy - but also wept

for them who would stand affected

by his prophecies. Taking time

to be holy - have we done that?

Travailing for the lost with tears- when was the last time in your

life that happened? When did your

supplication for the unsaved get

soaked with genuine sorrow?

SHORT-CUTS REFUSING

Downloading instead o getting down on your knees

Elijah had prophesied wonderful

things about three people - Hazael,

Jehu and Elisha (I Kings 19:15-

17). While Hazael used the wet

blanket assassination method to

ensure those prophecies about him

are fullled (2 Kings 8:15) Jehu

used the coup-conspiracy method

(2 Kings 9:14). But Elisha chose

no such unscriptural short-cut. He

just kept pouring water on the

hands of Elijah in humility for

years before the time came for

him to take over from that giant

of a prophet. He did not plot the

downfall of Elijah. He did not take

the short-cut route. The reward

for this, I believe, was double

portion of the anointing that Elijah

had! Do you take short-cuts?

Short-cuts like irting with a boss

to get a promotion? Short-cuts

like copying in an examination?

Short-cuts like downloading a

message from the Internet without

bothering to get down on your

knees when you had to preach a

sermon?

It is only from prophets who have

the double portion of the anointing

do we hear anointed words like

these: For thus says the LORD:

Elisha chose Elijah to be his ather sothat he could receive the double portiono the anointing. Te ‘ double’ portion

o the inheritance went to the rst bornchildren, according to the Bible.



‘You shall not see wind, nor shall

you see rain; yet that valley shall

be lled with water, so that you,

your cattle, and your animals may

drink’ (2 Kings 3:17). In other

words: ‘There may be no signs

of the miracle coming, but the

miracle will come at the right time!’

Oh, for doubly bubbly Elishas

for our generation - the Google

Generation!

Four Shirts – Dhoni’s,

Ganguly’s & plus two more!

My husband brought home The

Sportstar magazine with the Indian

Captian Mahendra Singh Dhoni

on the Cover. The lead article

had these very interesting linesabout ‘two shirts’: “Two shirt-

removing incidents tell a tale about

the contrast in their personalities

– the personalities of Dhoni and

Ganguly, captains of the Indian

team at different times. Ganguly

bared his upper torso and whirled

his shirt at Lord’s after India won

the NatWest Trophy in 2002 and

it was a moment that rippled with

anger and a sense of vengeance.Dhoni removed his T-shirt too

and that was after he led India

to title triumph in the ICC World

Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007.

He smiled and handed over his

attire to a young fan. There was

grace and a quiet delight in that

moment.”

I am reminded of two ‘shirt-

offering’ events in the Bible when

I read this. God offers us the shirt

of salvation (Isa 61:10). When we

repent from sin and trust in Christ

as our savior this shirt becomes

ours. The second shirt that God

offers to us is the shirt of the Spirit

Baptism (Luke 24:49). “Stay in

the city until you are clothed with

power from on High” those are

Jesus’ instructions recording in this

verse. The phrase ‘power from on

High’ is talking about the baptism

of the Holy Spirit. Are you wearing

BOTH the shirts that God is

offering you?

We cannot become doubly bubbly

like Elisha without the inlling of

the Holy Spirit. So THIRST for the Holy Spirit (Isa 44:3). TELL

God that you desperately need the

inlling of the Spirit, the Baptism

of the Spirit (Luke 11:13). TALK

in the new language that God’s

Spirit will lead you to (Acts 2:4).

TRAVEL with the Holy Spirit (Gal

5:16). So, are you ready to become

doubly bubbly?

Evangelin Duke, the author of this

piece, is the wife of Duke Jeyaraj,

the founder of the ministry that

publishes this mag, namely, the G4

Mission. Evan, as she is known, is

a person who’s equally passionate

about delicious cooking and as she

is about daring preaching! She has

joined Duke in various ministries

such as writing, counseling and

preaching God’s Word across

India and beyond. She is the

mother of Dale, 7 years old and

Datasha, 3 years old. Evan lives

in Hyderabad, India, with her

husband. You could message her at

+91-9441352433 and email her at

[email protected].

www.YouTube.com (Search under ‘Duke Jeyaraj’).

Saurav Ganguly removed his shirt.Dhoni gave it to a little boy. And God give you two shirts to wear – the garment o salvation and the garment o the Spirit Baptism.

When Readers Turned

Ravens….

God sends ‘ravens’ to feed Duke

Jeyaraj and his family even as they

carryout their God-given ministry of

grabbing the Google Generation from

going to Gehenna (Hell) fulltime as he

sent ravens to feed his prophet Elijah!Those ‘ravens’ are all Indians who

have been blessed by their preaching

and writing ministry! A little more

detail as to how the money they sent

was spent during the last FOUR

MONTHS (April –July 2011) would

help: Magazine Printing charges

– Rs.15,000/-; Internet Charges

with printout charges – Rs.6000/-;

Computer Maintenance – Rs.1000/-;

Refreshments During Ministry

Events – Rs.5000/-; Salaries for all

together – Rs. 84,000/-; Refreshments

while on Duty – Rs.6000/-; Rent for ministry base and related charges

– Rs.50,000/-; Outstation Ministry

Travel – Rs. 7000/-; Dispatch of

Ministry Resources – Rs.6000/-;

Local Transport Charges plus Vehicle

maintenance – Rs.5000/-; Ministry

Volunteer Gifts – Rs.5000/-; Message

CD production work – Rs.6000/-;

Offerings given to other ministries/

servants of God – Rs.25,000/-; Phone

Communication Charges plus repair

– Rs. 7500/-; Raw Material for this

issue – Rs.3500/-; GRAND TOTAL

– Rs.2,32,000/-. IF YOU AREBLESSED BY THIS MAGAZINE

AND THE ONLINE MINISTRY

RESOURCE S OF DUKE JEYARAJ

AND HIS WIFE ARE LEAD

BY THE LORD TO SUPPORT

THIS MINISTRY, A MINISTRY

THAT ‘S NOT SPONSORED BY

ANY PARTICULAR CHURCH,

DENOMINATION OR GROUP,

FINANCIALLY, SEE PAGE 2 OF

THIS MAGAZINE FOR BANK

INFORMATION. GOD BLESS YOU

AS YOU LIBERALLY GIVE.



‘The News Of The World’ Is Now Dead But God’s

‘Goodnews To The World’ Lives Forever

This is what I read in a leading news magazine: “On

Sunday, 10 July, News of the World , a 168-year-old

British newspaper, published its 8,674th and last

edition. To its seven million-plus readers, the paper

admitted it had lost its way, an uncharacteristic

understatement for a tabloid famous for its love of the

lurid. The end was sudden and singularly graceless,

the paper collapsing under mounting proof of the

unsavoury and illeagal extremes to which it went to

gather salacious gossip on which it thrived, on which,

indeed, it became what some maintain was the most

widely read newspaper in the English language. For

years, News of the World , had been hacking into

mobile phones, stealing codes that enabled it to listen

to the voice mail of people central to the paper’s

piquant mix of sex, celebrity, sport, royals and crime.

The tabloid hacked into the phone of Milly Dowler,

a 13-year-old schoolgirl who was kidnapped and

murdered nine years ago. News of the World had

not only listened to the messages on her phone but

deleted some when her inbox was full so that the new

messages could be left that their journalists could

listen in on. The covert interference (falsely) gave hope

to the Dowler family, who naturally assumed it was

Milly deleting the messages. Her body was discovered

months later” ( From the article, Old and Best Dead, by

Shougat Dasgupta, Open, 25 July, 2011, page 30-31).

When I read this story some thoughts ashed through

my mind. A Rupert Murdock-owned newspaper with

seven million reader, a paper which became popular

by publishing gossip stories is now dead. Dead after

160-plus years of publishing! But God’s Goodnews

to the World lives forever. Yes, the Word of God, the

Bible is still alive and kicking. If News of the World

was 168-years old, the Bible was even older. The book

of Job, the rst portion of the Bible written down,

was written around 1500 B.C., Bible Scholars tell us.

When John Wycliffe died on 31 December 1384, he

had translated portions of the Bible into English and

created hand-made copies of the same. What he left

behind - the hand-written copies of the portions of the

Bible - was changing the people’s mindset against the

church of that time which had many practices that were

not endorsed in the written Word of God. 44 years

after Wycliffe, who is also nicknamed, ‘The Morning

Star of the Reformation’, died, his bones were dug up,

crushed and thrown in a river upon the orders of the

Pope who was upset with him for translating the Bible

into English in part. The rst complete printed English

bible was published on October 4, 1535, about 475

years ago. The Bible continues to be the bestselling

book in the world, year after year. Daniel Radosh

writing for the Newyorker magazine states, “The

familiar observation that the Bible is the best-selling

book of all time obscures a more startling fact: the

Bible is the best-selling book of the year, every year.

Calculating how many Bibles are sold in the United

States is a vir tually impossible task, but a conservative

estimate is that in 2005 Americans purchased some

twenty-ve million Bibles—twice as many as the most

recent Harry Potter book. The amount spent annuallyon Bibles has been put at more than half a billion

dollars!” (The Good Book Business: Why Publishers

Love The Bible, 18 December 2006 ). Banning the bible

or burning the bible has not made it ‘shut shop’ like the

News of the World tabloid.

The reason for this is very simple: while News of the

World carried stories by human journalists writing

with an over-wheeling lust to produce gossip stories,

Te world’s most widely read news magazine died this July. Te Word o God, the Bible, lives orever!

Duke Jeyaraj

11www.TheDAYSofYOURyouth.com



the Bible carried the works of men who wrote under

the inspiration of the living God. “But prophets (the

writers of the Bible, that is), though human, spoke

from God as they were carried along by the Holy

Spirit” – this is how the 66 books that make the Bible

came into existence (II Pet 1:20-21). The Bible is

‘God-breathed’ (II Tim 3:16). Because the Bible came

from God, it lives on. “Heaven and earth will passaway, but my words will never pass away!” said Jesus.

“The grass withers, the owers fade, (tabloids like

News of the World may wither and fade away!), but

the Word of our God (the Bible) will stand forever!”

– so we read, right in the Bible (Isa 40:8). How true!

God issues an open challenge: people (those who do

not believe his words) will (one day) know whose

word will stand! (Jer 44:28). We know the answer for

that challenge – God’s word will stand at the end!

If the Bible will live on forever without dying like the

News of the World tabloid, and is God’s word, then,we must ask these questions: Is Bible-reading part

of our daily schedule? Is the Bible the nal court of

appeal for all matters of belief and behavior in our

lives? Do we share the message of the Bible with

those who do not have access to it?

Jesus, the greatest hell preacher!

Max Lucado writes, “Of the twelve times that the

word ‘gehenna’ - the strongest Biblical word for hell -

appears in Scripture, there is only one time in which

Jesus was not the speaker. No one spoke of hell more

than Christ did” (When Christ Comes, Page 118). But

Jesus did not speak of hell in casual terms like today’s

youth or actors. If anyone knew how hell looked like

(or would look like) it was Jesus - the all-knowing,

ever-existing God in esh and bone.

Hideousness of hell

Jesus painted the hideousness of hell by pointing

out that we must do whatever it takes to escape

going there. For example, he said, “If your right eye

causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For

it is better that you lose one of your members than

that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Math

5:29). He repeated this almost verbatim in Mathew

18:9. If Jesus had not repeated this, his saying on

hell, Mathew would not have recorded it twice in

his Gospel, would he? By saying what he did, Jesus

was not advocating plucking of one’s eye to beat the

temptation to lust. He was simply telling us, that hell

is so terrible and horrible, that if one can escape it

by plucking his eyes out, it would be a cheap price to

pay.

Jesus also depicted the gruesome nature of Gehenna

(Hell) by the way he talked about Judas Iscariot - theone person we know for sure has gone to or will go

to hell. He categorically said this about Judas whom

he referred to as “the son of destruction”: “It would

have been better for that man if he had not been born”

(Math 26:24; John 17:12). In other words, this was

Jesus’ message here: If you are not born-again or if

you turn away from the born-again experience, like

Judas did, you will go to a place which will make you

wish that you were not born at all! Hell is so painful!

Hell is so agonizing!

Hell-talk: Kajal Agrawal Vs Jesus Duke Jeyaraj

The Hyderabad Times, quoted actress Kajal Agrawal saying this the other day: “What the hell is happening?”

(That was the article’s headline in bold letters as well). This was her rst reaction to certain reports which

quoted her saying that “I have not seen myself as a South Indian actress. I am a Punjabi girl!” (Hyderabad

Times, 24 June 2011). The words, “What the hell....”, “Who the hell...”, “How the hell...” have become so

common in our present-day English language use - as common as ‘and’ and ‘well’! When people use the word

‘hell’ this frequently and so casually they don’t even remotely understand the horric place hell is.





How Jesus endured hell for you

Jesus cried out, “I thirst” from the cross, remember?

(John 19:28). He was echoing the words of the rich

man who went to hell, he once talked about. That

rich man too cried out in thirst saying, ‘Father

Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to

dip the end of his nger in water and cool my tongue,

for I am in anguish in this ame’ - do you recall?(Luke 16:24). What that rich man underwent in hell,

Jesus underwent even as he hung on the cross, Bible

Scholars tell us. That is why he uses almost the very

same words as that of that rich man. Why did Jesus

have to endure all of this? To prevent you and me

from living a life of hell and going to actual hell. He

was taking the “punishment”, which is ultimately hell

punishment, instead of us, the Bible declares (Isa 53:5,

Rev 21:7, 8). Jesus died so that we

may not have to experience “second

death” - another Bible word for hell(Rev 21:7, 8). And we will only go to

hell, if we reject Jesus, who claimed

to be the only way of salvation from

our destruction in hell. If we jump

over the cross of Jesus in pride,

the cross which acts as a hedge to

prevent people from going to hell,

this is where we will land: Hell!

You could remember

this essay - from hell

Jesus warned - six stunning times -

that hell is a place where there will

be weeping and gnashing of teeth

(Math 8:12; 13:42; 13:50; 22:13;

24:51; 25:30). He repeated this

depiction of hell, because it was

mighty important. Who weeps?

Those who are sad. Who gnashes teeth? Those who

are angry and frustrated. You have guessed it right -

Jesus wants us to understand that hell will be a placewhere our memories would be intact by using this

phrase to talk about hell. Should we go to hell, we will

remember and recall, every opportunity we ever had

on planet Earth to escape coming to hell, and we will

feel sad and shattered, angry and frustrated, that we

did not make the most of it! My prayer is that you will

not land up in hell, but if you do, you will remember

reading this article, that explained to you, in black and

white, the only way to escape hell!

How to escape hell - here’s how

May be you are asking the question after reading this

essay, “What must I do to escape hell and experience

the heaven Jesus alone can offer me?” What you must

do was put in plain words by Jesus. You must rst

leave. I mean, leave your life of sin. I mean repent. I

say this because, Jesus preached, “Unless you repent,

you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). When heused the word “perish” there, he meant “perish in

eternal hell”. So repentance from sin is the rst step to

escape this horrible hell.

Second, you must believe. We read in the Bible

that “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life;

whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but

the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). Yes,

that is right. You must believe that

Jesus died on the cross to save you from

going to hell with all your heart. Youmust believe, that He is alive right now,

having risen from the dead on the third

day, to be able to walk with you daily in

the narrow road that leads to heaven.

If you have decided to repent from sin

and believe on Jesus, why don’t you

join me in saying this prayer, which

will help you begin a relationship with

Jesus - the only one who can save you

from eternal Hell: Dear Jesus, I am

sorry for my sins that took you to thecruel cross, where you experienced hell

for me. Please forgive me. Please wash

my manifold sins with your precious,

pure blood that was shed for me on

the Cross. I pledge to join you on that

narrow road that leads to heaven from

now on! Thank you for saving me! I am

grateful! I am glad! So be it!”

If you have made a decision to follow Jesus for the

rst time, after having read this article, join a localchurch where Bible is taught faithfully, for if you are

in an active fellowship with fellow believers in a local

church, “the gates of hell will not prevail” against you

(Math 16:18).

Actress Kajal used the word ‘hell’ inone o her statements the other day.

Did you know that even Jesus used the same word too in many o his sermons?

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK?

Duke Jeyaraj’s book, NO BEATING ABOUT THE BUSH

STRAIGHT TALK, a oo t at t rows ca g t on ot yet

hushed matters of the Google Generation is available for just

Rs.100/- (postage extra). Text 0888-604-0-605 for more details.



www.YouTube.com (Search under ‘Duke Jeyaraj’).

Running A Prayer Fellowship Right

Inside A Corporate Company

God given job!

It was April 2010 at 8:20 am and people were

already rushing to their respective workplace. It was

a typical summer morning and I was enjoying the

sweet cool morning breeze. I was so glad I was in

the 9 am to 6 pm shift. I dreaded the hot summer

afternoons and travelling at that time in the cab is a

torture. I was thanking the Lord for all he had done

for the last few months for me while in the cab. It

was my time with Him. I promised Him that after

getting my much awaited job in my dream company,

I would continue to do His will there. Working as a

freelancer for 1 year gave

me exibility to spend time

with the Lord, but now

with this shift I missed Him

terribly and longed for my

quiet times. As we were

nearing the ofce building,

I felt the nudging of the

Holy Spirit in my heart

saying “Go to the TDR

and seek me there”. (TDR

are small training rooms

in my company, spaciousenough for one person

to comfortably work).

Immediately I felt peace.

That day my ministry at

work started.

Prayer Cells started in Company!

Since I reached my place of work half an hour early,

I then decided to go there and have my quiet time

with the Lord. This went on for a few weeks. I longed

for Christian company and prayed for it. I did notknow of any believer in my team to have as a pray

partner until one day when all of sudden a new girl

Sneha*(Name changed) joined us. A Hindu, Gujarati

by birth, she overheard my conversation about Christ

while I was on the phone one day and excitedly asked

me if I was a believer. I was instantly excited and

we connected immediately. To my utter amazement

she was a recent believer of Christ and was equally

excited to learn I was Christian. She was in love with

Jesus! The Lord had answered my prayers. Now I

had a person to talk to about Him. So we continued

our long discussions about Christ, shared messages

about what the Lord was doing. Soon we started praying together about various needs and for people

in our team. A couple of months later another Muslim

colleague, Ameena*(name changed) requested if

she can join us for prayers as she herself was going

through a terrible personal situation in her life. I was

amazed that she would want to join us and I gladly

welcomed her, knowing this was the hand of God.

Everyday Ameena* would read the Word and Sneha*

and I would pray towards the end. It was now 5

months since I started praying and now

we three would meet religiously for prayer and bible reading.

Hearing God’s voice

while at work!

Experiencing God! Ameena started

experiencing God! He would speak

to her very personally when she read

the Word or at times would conrm it

through Sneha and me by His Word.

Ameena felt His peace, calmness and strength in her personal situation. She

is yet to accept him as her personal

savior, but she believes in Jesus and

loves to pray. Sneha realized that God

had brought her to Hyderabad so that

she could know him more. Sneha even visited the

Assemblies of God Church I attend for the women’s

conference and had a beautiful spiritual experience.

We would bare our hearts to God and seek him

earnestly. His presence would ll that tiny room. By

this time almost everyone in our team knew about our little prayer time, but since it was before work hours

there was no objection raised against it as yet. Thank

God!

Persecution for praying at workplace!

In the month of January (2011), I was on a 21 day

fast. Until then there was no opposition for our

prayer meeting in the company premises. On the

last day of my fast, my senior with whom I worked

Preeti Iona talks about how a prayer cell was born in the corporate oce she works in.




started making unnecessary complaints about the

prayer even though it was before work hours and

it was not affecting our performance or work time

in anyway. The persecution began. All three of us

were ridiculed during the lunch time about our prayer

time. Our work was not appreciated. Our character

was being tarnished and slander against us was doing

the rounds. Lies about us reached even the Assistant

Vice President(AVP) I was under. I also learned fromother colleagues that my AVP was on her side. It

was unbearable to see the immediate negativity that

spread at our work place. This continued till April.

We continued our prayers undeterred and placed our

expectations before God. It was appraisal time and

our year end discussions were around the corner.

My senior who started creating

problems was on a rampage,

tarnishing my image and was all

out that I should get a bad rating.

Our prayers went on withoutceasing.

New Opportunity

brings relief!

“He sets a table for me before

your enemies…” That’s what we

read in the Bible. I knew that I

could not work in a team that is

trying to destroy my career and

I was not sure what step to take.Just then the Lord miraculously

sent someone. A believer and a

new cab mate who traveled in the same cab. Since she

had no driver to bring her to ofce she opted for our

transport facility till she found a driver for her own

vehicle. Susan*(Name changed) is a manager of a very

enterprising team in my company and I overheard her

talking to colleague in the cab about an open position

for her very own team. This position has been open

for about 4 months and no one seemed to t. One

day by the same strong conviction of the Holy Spirit,I enquired with her if I could apply for the position

through an IJP (Internal Job posting). She immediately

agreed. You see at this very time, Susan was

encountering similar problems with her team member,

who left the rm and she was looking for someone

in her place. Everything just t like a jig saw puzzle.

And I was in the centre of it all! Within a week’s

time, I got through the interview, got approval from

the very same AVP who I heard was against me and

was waiting for a date to join the new team. The role

is far more interesting, a high-end Human Resources

Department work, for which I had been praying for!!

After transitioning my work , I moved to the new role

in June 2011.

God elevated me in my job!

Our year end appraisal sessions began and no matter

what lies were spoken and games were played, they

were all nullied. Ameena was given a promotion,

Sneha was given an award for her work and an

excellent rating and as for me, God elevated me to a

higher position and role to everyone’s utter shock. My

team mates couldn’t believe that I could land myself in

a role that enabled me to deal with Directors, Partners,

Professionals in the USA which was

not the case as my previous role.I now

handle a Service area of 130 people.

All glory belongs to the Lord.

This is for Him. He has given not

only me a testimony but also for

Ameena and Sneha. They trust Him

more and I praise Him for it. “He

will make you the head and not the

tail”, his Word says. “He will make

you tread over mountain heights”, we

read in the Bible. “He will set a table

before thine enemies”, don’t we read

that in His Word?

Why don’t you start one?

And our prayer time still continues in the same TDR.

Why don’t you start such a prayer time in the company

you work for? It is not impossible. If it was, how come

we started one in our company? We did it with his

empowerment. You see, fulltime pastors-evangelists-

preachers would not be allowed to enter our company’s

premises. But no one can stop us, the employees of the

company from witnessing about Christ, praying with

our colleagues, right inside the company. In fact, all

companies all our Islamic friends to pray right insidethe company premises, even during ofce hours. So,

there is no reason why they would have a major issue

if we believers working in the Corporate World start a

small fellowship in our place of Work – a fellowship

that prays, reads the bible and witnesses.

Preeti Iona Vemu, a Corporate Company professional, actively

gets involved in the youth ministry of her local church and is a

regular at the Bible Study Group that meets at Duke’s base.

Are you ready to start a prayer cell in your oce, which could be the only place people

rom all aiths can hear about Jesus?




“I am Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim

and Burgher. I am a Buddhist, aHindu, a follower of Islam and

Christianity. I am today, and

always, proudly Sri Lankan.”

That’s how Kumar Sangakarra

nished a breath-taking, Obama-

esque, standing-ovation-evoking

speech at MCC. That’s how he

nished the Cowdrey lecture. It

is touted as the best speech ever

given by a cricketer. Read itin full at http://www.telegraph.

co.uk/sport/cricket/international/

srilanka/8618261/Kumar-

Sangakkaras-2011-MCC-Spirit-of-

Cricket-Cowdrey-Lecture-in-full.

html

It will be well worth your time

if you did that. The man who

played the greatest Test innings

ever according to me (I am

referring to the 192 runs he

made at a time of great adversity

even as Sri Lanka chased a

500 plus in the fourth innings

in a game against Australia in

Australia before he was wrongly

given out in November 2007)

has made a speech that dwarfs

that phenomenal cricketing

achievement. I gathered tips for

myself - someone who gets to give

speeches now and then - from that

landmark, lovely, lashing-out-at-

injustice and politically incorrect

speech. Sangakarra takes time

to appreciate, very graciously

using wowing words, the role of

Christian Missionaries in bringing

cricket to the beautiful island

nation of Sri Lanka in this super

speech.

Hold on. I do not agree with

the point that Sangakarra madeas he ended his spell-binding

speech. He seems to say that one

can follow both Christianity and

Islam without fooling one’s self.

I am bafed that an intelligent

man like Sangakarra (a trained

lawyer turned Cricketer) could

actually make such a logically

inconsistent statement. Let me

elaborate here: Islam believes in

One God. Christianity believes

in one God who exists in three

persons - a blasphemous claim

for our Islamic friends. Buddhism

says, “Desire is the root cause of

all evil!” In the Bible, the person

called as a ‘man after my own

heart’ by none other than God has

a strong desire, longing - he is

panting after God with the same

passion a desert-dweller thirsts

for water (Psa 63:1)! Hinduism

talks about a cycle of rebirths. But

the Bible talks about one life and one judgement (Heb 9:27). So,

obviously you can’t claim to be

follower of all the religions without

lying. You have to necessarily

reject what one religion says and

embrace what the other says, if you

are true to yourself. Well, you can

respect all religions. But you can’t

follow them all without lying to

yourself. In fact, when one makes

a statement like Sangakarra just

did (and let me tell you, it is quite

fashionable to do so in this secular,

postmodern world!), he or she is

calling Jesus, a liar. For Jesus said,

“I am THE way, THE truth, THE

life! No one comes to God except

through me!” (John 14:6; See Acts

4:12 too). Jesus also said, “If you

won’t believe I am who I say I

am, you’re at the dead end of sins.

You’re missing God in your lives”

(John 8:24, The Message). You

have to make a Choice - to believe

in Christ alone for your soul’s

salvation or any of the rest or all

of the rest. You can fool yourself

thinking you can follow them all.

Come on - you just can’t do that!

Dr. Ravi Zacharias put what I

just said, plainly and eloquently.

Let me quote him so that whatI have just said gets re-enforced

compellingly: All religions are

not the same. All religions do not

point to God. All religions do not

say that all religions are the same.

At the heart of every religion

is a stubborn commitment to a

particular way of dening who

God is or is not - and a particular

The Foolish Contradiction That Came At The Fag

End Of One Of The Finest Ever Speeches

Sangakkara made the nest speech ever by a cricketer recently.But the way he ended it was not

without major logical faws..

Duke Jeyaraj on the Sangakarra Cowdrey Lecture 2011




way of dening the meaning and purpose of life. The

truth is that every major religion in the world claims

exclusivity, and every major religion in the world has

a point of exclusion. Hinduism, for example, is often

represented as being the most tolerant and accepting

of other faiths. That is just not true. All Hindus believe

in two fundamental, uncompromising doctrines—The

Law of Karma, and the belief in reincarnation. These

will not be surrendered. In fact, Buddhism was born

out of the rejection of two other very dogmatic claims

of Hinduism. Buddha rejected the authority of the

vedas and the caste system of Hinduism. The issue

here is not who was right or wrong. The truth is

that they were systemically different—both claiming

rightness. Islam, is very clearly an exclusive claim

to God. A Muslim will never tell you that it doesn’t

matter what you believe or that all religions are

true. But before we get upset with such claims, let us

remember that it is the very nature of truth - Truth

by denition is exclusive. Everything cannot be true.

If everything is true, then nothing is false. If nothing

is false then it would also be true to say everything

is false. We cannot have it both ways. Let these

profound, perfectly-worded lines sink in to your

system. Close your eyes and let the truth of the above

lines close-in on your very being. Read the above lines

again and again till it gets to your above – your brains!

Memorize them. Parrot them. Preach them.

The reasons why Christ is unique is beyond the scope

of this article. But those reasons are available in

plenty!

Will There Be No Justice?

Strauss-Kahn escapes…

The title of the article in The

Hindu, Sunday Magazine,

said, “Unjust Trails” (By

Kalpana Sharma, July 10,

2011, page 3). I present some

lines I read: “Women are

making news all the time

– either because they have

done something no other

woman has done before or

because they are caught in

the net of unfriendly judicial

systems like millions of

their counterparts around

the world. Women like the

hotel maid in New York

who accused the powerful

former IMF head Dominique

Strauss –Kahn of sexual

assault. This high prole case is close to collapse. As

in so many lesser-known cases around the world, the

woman’s credibility is being questioned rather than

the man’s character. Instead of the evidence being

used to indict the man, the woman’s past record of

inconsistency is being used to prove her a liar. And

because she is supposed to have lied in the past, there

is a presumption that she might

be doing so again. Yet, although

the man has been accused of

similar behavior in the past, it is

not being presumed that he could

have behaved in the same way

again. Instead, he is being giventhe benet of the doubt. Why?

Because he is powerful and the

woman is not.”

All escape routes blocked

on the Judgement Day

The judicial trails of this planet

may be awed and partial to those

who are rich and famous, as this

illustration shows. This question

is being asked then: “Will there no

justice in this world?” The answer

is, “Yes there will be justice,

when Jesus judges all of the world in the Great White

Throne Judgment after his Second Coming!” The

Bible teaches that there will be a day of judgment in

which Jesus will judge everyone on this earth. “So,

then each of us will give an account of himself to

God!” wrote Paul (Roman 14:12). That day is surely

coming. That day will indeed be terrifying. People

Duke Jeyaraj mulls over the ex IMF Chief’s escape from the sexual harassment charge

Te ormer IMF-chie went scot-ree using his money power ater sexual assault charges.

Incidents like these make us ask a question,‘Will there be no justice ever on planet earth?’

Contd...




who are not ready for the return of Jesus will try to

hide and run from the Judge that day (Rev 20:6).

But all escape routes will be cut off. The frightening

words of Amos reminds us of this grim fact. God said,

“If they (those trying to escape my judgment on the

Day of the Lord) dig into Sheol, from there shall my

hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there

I will bring them down. If they hide themselves on

the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out

and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the

bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent,

and it shall bite them “(Amos 9:2-3 ESV). Sheol was

the lowest point on the earth for an Israelite. Carmel

was the mountain on which the very last point one

could stay in the land of Israel before jumping out into

the dangerous sea was present. Amos writes about

such places to remind the people no matter how high,

how low, how far away the people try to runaway,

God’s judgment (the snake) was sure to catch up

with them and destroy (bite) them! From the New

Testament, we understand that destruction is actually

a forever life in ever-burning hell.

Bribes and Money Power won’t work!

Strauss-Kahn probably used his money might and

clout to employ a high-prole lawyer who somehow

found a loophole in the law to help him escape from

what looked like a certain indictment and long jail

sentence! But no such escape is possible on the nal

day of judgment. Money power will not work on that

terrible day. “Neither their silver nor their gold will

be able to save them from the day of the wrath of the

Lord!” (Zeph 1:18).

Prepare to meet your God!

So, if there is going to be no escape route on the

day of judgment, we will be well-advised to prepare

for it. “Prepare to meet your God!” wrote Prophet

Amos (Amos 4:12). The only preparation that will

help one save his/her face on that dreadful day is the

preparation called “salvation” - salvation through a

living, daily, deep relationship with Jesus, the only

God-in-esh who lived a sinless life and died on the

cross for our sins before rising from the dead. Do you

have that experience of salvation which prevents youfrom condemnation on the day of judgment? If not, I

invite you to repent from your sins and trust Jesus as

your Savior so that this grand, on-going relationship

which you will begin with him will ensure your

acquittal on that dire day of judgment and a life of

celebration enroute (Rom 8:1)!

Outlook magazine published an interesting review

of the Hindi movie, Delhi Belly. Here are a few lines

from a review which Namrata Joshi wrote: “Delhi

Belly is a merry lark of a lm, the most entertaining

in 2011 so far…Delhi Belly could get discomting

and disconcerting for some viewers. It’s full of cuss-

words – the ‘F’ on in English and the ‘C’ and ‘G’

ones in Hindi – …..”(the author goes on to talk about

the unprintable, dirty, ‘unmentionable’, distasteful,

offensive, disgusting, repulsive, revolting, sickening,

nauseating, things that the lm shows which Outlook

magazine happily printed without any qualms).

Then she went on to say, “(Delhi Belly) is all utterly

incorrect but oh so delightfully so” (18 July 2011,

page 70).

Why fuss over cuss?

For Namrata Joshi, the author of the above movie

review, the bad language and the unwholesome talk

featured in this popular movie is ‘delightful’. I am

not surprised because we live in a generation which

is more bothered about the foul smell coming out of

the mouth (that’s why the google generation is the

bubble-gum chewing, mint-chewing generation) than

foul language from it! I am not shocked because I

know I live in a generation which asks, “Why is there

a big fussing about a little cussing, I do now and

then?”

The word ‘son of a b_____ch’ from

a ‘son of God’ – how’s that?

But what would God think of the whole thing? We

must be concerned about God’s view about a matter

than what a person feels about the same after it

would be God who would be our judge on the nal

day of judgment. To get a grip of God’s views on

The Movie, ‘Delhi Belly’ & a Sunday School Song Duke Jeyaraj




abusive language which is the ‘mother-tongue’ used

in this particular movie we need to go back to the

Bible, God’s own Word. Here is a brief synopsis

of the what the Bible teaches about the use of bad

language: Shimei cursed David, the Bible records (2

Sam 16:13). It’s such a shame we have many Shimeis

among the ranks of God’s people. Prophet Hosea

lamented that there was ‘only cursing, lying’ beforegoing on to name other sins among the people of

his time – something which angered God to no end,

something that was going to bring the whirlwind

of God’s judgment against them (Hos 4:2,19). “But

now you also should put them all aside: anger, wrath,

malice, slander and abusive speech from your mouth”

(Col 3:8, NASB). “It wasn’t long ago that you were

doing that stuff and not knowing any better. But you

know better now…” (Col 3:7, The Message). We

should not call anyone

‘son of a b_______ch’after having become ‘the

son of God’ by accepting

Jesus as Savior – that

is what this passage in

Colossians basically says!

In a Christian’s life, some

things are, without a

doubt, out of place, Paul

writes. Here they are:

“obscenity, foolish talk

and coarse joking” (Eph5:4 NIV). This passage

from Ephesians urges us to

put a ‘x’ mark on x-rated

jokes that’s so common

in our world and just eke

them out. “Out of the same

mouth comes cursing and

praise. My brothers and

sisters, this should not be”

– so writes James without

beating about the bush (Jam3:10). How dare you use the same mouth for two

‘a’ tasks – adoring God and abusing Men? This is

James’ disturbing point. Having read the above Bible

passages, we must ensure that lthy talk and bad

language is far away from our lips.

Jesus used the ‘f’ word! Shocked? Read this.

We must repent of that sin like how Peter repented.

Yes, Peter denied Jesus. That was sin. But he used

cuss words in the process – even that was sin (Math

26:74). He wept bitterly in repentance. And he

returned to Jesus. If you are given to habits like

that – swearing, cursing, cussing – I invite to repent

today and return to the one who was punished for

you – the Lord Jesus. For the use of those foul words

your mouth should be punished. Our venom-spewingtongues would have to be set on re, in hell, the Bible

declares (James 3:6). But Jesus took upon himself

that punishment, even though he did not deserve it.

He used a ‘f’ word – not the ‘f’ word you are thinking

about but the ‘f’ word, friend - on Judas, one of his

12 closest buddies when he shockingly betrayed him

(Math 26:50)! Jesus was that holy! That’s why he was

eligible to be a substitute for you and me – the sinful,

‘motor-mouthed’ you and me. Jesus was willing

to offer his cheeks to those who

pulled out his beard (Isa 50:6).That’s why he was willing to be

slapped twice enroute to the Cross

(John 18:22; 19:3). He allowed evil

men to even spit on his face (Math

26:67). For having used abusive

language your beard should have

been pulled, your face should have

been slapped and your face should

have been spat upon. But Jesus

says, “I love you. I will take your

punishment upon myself!” “The punishment that brought us peace

was upon him” while he suffered

untold pain on the Cross, the Bible

declares (Isa 53:5). Today, this

Alive-Again Jesus will help you

overcome the ever-returning habit

in your life of using unprintable

language through the power of the

Holy Spirit and your conversations

will be “always gracious” and

“seasoned with salt” (Col 4:6).When the Bible says our conversation should be

seasoned with salt, we must understand that as a

call for our conversations to be in good taste just as

adding salt results in good taste in the food. So, as the

Sunday School song goes, we must tell our mouths,

“Be careful little mouth what you speak. There is a

Father up above who is looking down below. So, be

careful little mouth what you speak!”

In the movie, Delhi Belly, the use o abusive language is prevalent. What

would God’s Word, the Bible, have tosay about using abusive language?




Gone are days, when girls were married off before

they touched twenty or just after their graduation. And

yes, even the guys married early, then. It is actually a

good thing to do for a number of reasons like these:

the younger you are, the better looking you1.

would be nine times out of ten and all of us want

to look our best on the day of our wedding, don’t

we?;

when we are older our ways are more set and we2.

get more stubborn - and these traits do not help

run a successful marriage;

though it is a bit embarrassing to talk about, an3.

early marriage does go a long way in helping to

tame sexual passions in a normal human being (I

Cor. 7:2).

With Corporate

Companies offering

lucrative jobs for young

women, they are in no

hurry to get married,

these days. And before

they realize it, they have

touched thirty or they

are nearing thirty. The pressure to get married

builds up on them. Before

those wrinkles show-up

even more obviously, they

get desperate to wed, so

very badly.

At this stage, it is quite

possible they fall in love

with a believer boy who’s

much younger to them in some way copying what

some popular Hollywood actresses have done. I am

referring to starlets such as Halle Berry, Demi Moore

and Cameron Diaz. What would the Bible say about

this? Can a believer boy marry a believer girl older to

him? Can a girl who loves Jesus marry a born-again

boy who is much younger to her? Can a ‘sister’, senior

to you by age, thought not related to you by blood, but

washed by the Blood of Jesus, become your spouse?

Can your allow your saved ‘thambi’ (younger brother

in Tamil) to tie around your neck, a ‘thali’ (the

wedding chain)? These are the questions that come to

me - sometimes via email, sometimes via Face Book

chat, sometimes over G-Talk, sometimes via phone,

sometimes in person - from various young people Iget to meet, repeatedly, these days. These are crucial

questions. As an evangelist, called by God to minister

to the Google Generation, I cannot sweep them under

the carpet. I cannot pretend that I did not hear them.

So, here comes the direct answer, which may be

daring for some of you:

The only non-negotiable condition that the Bible

talks about when it comes to life partner choice of

a believer is that a believer should marry a believer.

The Bible is not specic about other things, like the

age-gap between the marrying parties. It leaves those

things to our free-will. Paul says in I Cor. 7:39, “She

(the widow) is free to marry anyone

she wishes, but only if he loves

the Lord.” Though this verse talks

about widows, what it teaches can

apply to all single people, and not

just widows. The word ‘anyone’ in

this verse can imply any believer of

the opposite gender from any race,

nation or age-group. So, according

to I Cor. 7:39, a believing man can

marry a believing girl older to him,

if that man wants to.

Yes, Eve was created after Adam.

Yes, Sarah was younger to Abraham.

But narrative passages like those

cannot be used to teach that the

Bible made it MANDATORY

OR COMPULSORY for a boy to

marry someone younger to him. If we used every

narrative passage to direct our life, then it would beokay and cool to commit the sins that some Bible

heroes committed. But that’s not how it works. Direct

teaching passages such as I Cor. 7:39 takes precedence

when it comes giving us life direction in crucial

matters.

But when elders tell young people to marry a

person about 2 to 5 years younger than them, that

advice is flled with obvious common-sense (a trait

we must use, Paul writes in I Cor. 11:13,14; 12:23).

Can A Believer Boy Marry A Believer Girl Older To Him?

Te only non-negotiable condition that the Bible talks about when it comes to lie partner choice o a believer is that a believer should marry a believer.

Duke Jeyaraj




Here is why:

Sex drives will only then more or less match,1.

as girls reach the age of puberty and attain sexual

awakening much before guys. Even the Bible

records that the older we get, our sexual desire does

slowly wane out (Read Eccl. 12:5 in the NLT). At

a later point the man should not be tempted to look

outside of marriage to satisfy his greater sex drive because his wife is older and slower. A man of

God from a particular city was blunt when he said,

“When younger-to-husband wives get paranoid and

possessive when their husbands move with pretty

girls, how would a older-than-husband wife react

in the same situation?” His fears are not misplaced.

However, it must be mentioned here that if you, as

a man, married a girl younger to you, you are never

totally fool-proofed from the temptation of looking

for sex outside of marriage!

Submission to a loving husband (a Bible command 2.

for wives found in Eph. 5:22) is easier to execute

when husband is older. But again, we do have cases of

younger-than-husband wives nding it not-so-easy to

obey their husbands, don’t we?!

So, if you do desire and decide to marry someone3.older to you, as a man, or someone younger to you,

as a woman, COUNT THE COST AND THEN

FINALIZE THAT DECISION. Before you build a

building, you must rst sit down and count the cost

of building it, Jesus said (Luke 14:28). And marriage

is a building, in one sense (See Psa 127:1-3). DON’T

BLAME ANYONE AFTERWARDS IF YOUR

MARRIAGE RUNS INTO TROUBLE. Make your

marriage work with the Lord’s help. When you quote

me, quote this entire answer.

There are many different perspectives from which you can view something – the horizontal view, the

vertical view, the one-point view, the two-point view, the three-point view, the aerial view, etc. How you

see something will inuence the decisions you make. What you see from one perspective may not be the

real picture! Eve looked at Satan’s temptation from a horizontal perspective, instead of the vertical, and fell

into sin! While Mrs. Portiphar viewed things from horizontal perspective and wanted to sin with Joseph

who was alone with her, Joseph had the moral courage to view things from the vertical perspective and say,“How can I do this? It would be a great sin against God!” David looked at Goliath from God’s perspective

and conquered a giant everyone else was afraid of. If you want to make a wise decision, ask this question:

a thousand years from now, what decision will I wish that I had made today? No decision can be good in

time if it is not good in eternity.

Aaron Nelson dons a leadership role in the Central Team of Accenture and is based in Hyderabad. He is

active in the youth ministry of the local church he attends in Hyderabad.

Aaron Nelson

Vertical Reality

Duke’s Upcoming Speaking Schedule

Duke Jeyaraj, will speak, God willing in the following four cities, in three different meetings organized by four different churches/para-church lead:

Nadiad, Near Ahmedabad, Gujarat on August 15, 2011.1.

Madurai, Tamil Nadu, on August 31-September 1, 20112.

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, 7-9 October, 2011.3.

Mumbai, October 25-28, 2011 (along with wife Evan).4.

The regular meetings at the Hyderabad base will also continue, once-in-a-month.

Please pray and text +91-888-604-0-605 for more info. Please pray that these programs will be a blessing.




Up at 5 AM, listening to the radio…

I was born in a very backward village in Rae Bareli

district of Uttar Pradesh in a farmer family. I was the

only son. My father was educated up to class 8 and

mother was illiterate. When I studied up to class 5,

my father asked me to stop studies and help him in

farming. But there was a inside of me inspiring me to

study fur ther. So, I resisted my parents on this issue.

I had the habit of rising up early in the morning. One

day, when I was tuning my radio at 5 AM looking for

something interesting, I heard a preacher by the name

of Brother Anand (perhapsworking with the Vishwawani).

He was saying something which

I could not comprehend 100%.

I understood one thing - God

will never leave you even if

your parents leave you. This

sentence encouraged me and on

my own I went to school and

registered my name in class

6. At that time, I did not know

anything about the Bible and theLord Jesus Christ. I continued

to listen to Brother Anand’s

preaching daily via the radio.

This preacher used to mention

on the radio that if one needed

more information about Jesus

and the Bible to write-in for

literature. I wrote and received

pamphlets and books on the Bible. I started reading

these and my life started changing and academically

I excelled. I always got rst rank from class 6 to 10 inthat school. This academic excellence enabled me to

get merit scholarship by which I managed my study

expenses. During these days, I could not even have

lunch in that school due to lack of money.

God rewarded my hard work!

Without any coaching help, and by just relying on

God coupled with hard work I appeared in and

all-India Engineering entrance test and got the

58th all-India rank. At that time Harcourt Butler Technological Inistitute (HBTI) was conducting an

all-India based test. I got selected in one of the best

Government Colleges established during British rule

i.e. HBTI, Kanpur to study Chemical Engineering.

But again, problem of money came in my way. But

again God opened the way. In this institute there was

a rule that rst 5 students of all branches would get

merit scholarship and their fees would be fully waived

off. God enabled me to get rst rank in all years and

ultimately was awarded Gold medal.

“Look at Jesus, not men!”

I started my career and continued the

studying of biblical literature. After

that I attended a church in Delhi

but I could not experience true love

from the people who attended that

church. I remembered these words I

heard: “look at Christ and not men

for happiness and peace!” I started

preaching also about Christ. Someridiculed me saying that Christianity

means drinking wine , eating meat

(beef) and enjoying all pleasures

of life. This feedback from people

again confused me. But I started

telling people that believing on

Jesus helped me excel in academics

and gradually changed all my life.

Without Jesus, I would have been an illiterate person

in the village, I asserted. In the year 1992, I shifted

to Pune and again started searching for a good localchurch. Having found one, I started attending it

regularly. I got involved in its ministries, actively.

Here I learned about baptism and got baptized. I

have never looked back. The family to whom I had

preached Christ in Delhi also got saved, baptized and

they are attending church in Delhi.

Testimony published in a national newspaper

In 1995, I wrote a letter to The Indian Express

Hindu Village Boy Touched By Christ

Turns Corporate Company Leader

The story of S. P. Singh in his own words….

Te journey o S.P. Singh - rom being a village boy to being a corporate company AVP - is exciting. Read about it here!




newspaper testifying boldly about my faith while I

responded to an article that suggested that converts

to Christianity were coerced and uneducated. This is

part of what I wrote which got eventually published:

“Take my example. No one ever came to convince

me to come to Christ. But by his grace, I understood

the truth and made the foundation of my life, the

teachings of Jesus. I am not a Hindu girl who opted for Christianity for the

sake of marriage. I am

mature Gold Medalist

technocrat belonging to

a caste Hindu family. My

conscience conrmed that

I should follow Christ!”

Village boy turns

witnessing AVP!

I preach my Christ boldlyat my work place and

wherever I go through my

changed life and a Christ-

reecting character. In my

ofce, when the Hindu

idol ‘prasad’ is served, I refuse to accept and tell that

I serve a living God and that I don’t believe in idol

worship. This statement of mine does cause some

trouble for me but I look at Christ who suffered and

gave his all for me and pray for more opportunities

to witness for Jesus at my work place. There was a

value engineering drive in the company to reduce

cost and increase quality and my team won the CEO

special recognition award. By the quality of the work

I do, I reect Christ in my ofce. From the chairmanto the ofce boy of the company

I work in, they all know that

I believe in Christ as the only

way. Some people appreciate

this while some people criticize

me. I just look at Christ and not

the people to strengthen myself

in him. Top management in

my company have a condence

in me due to my sincerity and

reliability. I am not saying that believing in Christ will take

you to top position in company,

always, but denitely people

will trust on you for important

responsibilities. At present I am the

engineering head for the Europe region and operating

from Pune and working as Assistant Vice President –

Engineering.

‘Who said that converts to Christianity are uneducated and rom only the so-called ‘lower’ castes?’ asks S. P. Singh.

Why You Can Consider Supporting G4 Mission….

One of the few ministries with focused ministry to the Google1.

Generation – modern youth.

A ministry that gives a balanced emphasis of biblical truth.2.

A ministry that impacts many churches, parachurch organizations, colleges, schools present all3.

over India as Duke cuts across all possible barriers to minister in such different settings.

A ministry that invites modern youth to live a holy life by practically showing them how to do it.4.

A ministry that challenges present-day youth for ministry-involvement and fulltime ministry.5.

A ministry that openly talks about hard core youth issues in the light of the Bible such as sexual sin.6.

A ministry that is not supported by a foreign funding agency.7.

If you are lead to support this ministry please use the bank information published in page 2



27


issue 26 - want to be utterly doubly bubbly? / hell and kajal agrawal quote / sangakkara's...

Documents