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DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE LOVE FEAST OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
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Rt. Rev. Abraham Mar Paulose Episcopa Diocesan Bishop of Kollam Diocese Marthoma Church
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The Kingdom of God is identical to a Feast. The Holy Communion what we are partaking is the foretaste of the Kingdom of God. Discipleship is identical to a Feast. Word of God is a Feast. Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of Lord and in His law he mediate day and night. Holy Communion is a Feast. Holy Eucharist, the Messianic banquet, is a rejoicing festivity and a sign of plenteousness or jubilation.
COVER MESSAGE
DEATH IS THE DOOR TO ETERNITY
By Dr K.C.Nainan, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A
Life is a journey to eternity. Time is a glitch or a gap in eternity. God is the uncreated Spirit while we are all His created spiritual beings existing in the created human bodies, which are very weak and fragile. When the Lord comes, every soul-spirit will be clothed with a spiritual new body, which will not decay or die. Redeemed and chosen human beings will inherit the Kingdom of God.
BIBLE STUDY SERIES THE FOOD SECURITY PROJECT OF JESUS
By Fr. Dr. Reji Mathew, STOTS Nagpur
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Spirituality is not only about nourishing the spirit but also about addressing the needs of the body and mind. Since the spirit finds its home in the body, physical needs appear also in the divine plan of salvation. Healing and the teaching were two sides of the ministry of Jesus and these happened together. God is the ultimate source of everything. The food security project of God includes a planning about the 'rest' and the 'waste'.
ARTICLE DEVELOP HIGHER TASTE - PART 1
By Rev. Dr. Valsan Thampu
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Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness is the authentic spiritual taste. Jesus invites us to be intimate with Him and, through Him, with our Heavenly Father. The foremost challenge before the Church today lies in formation of a spiritual taste. This calls for partnership between church and home, between priests and parents. Home and church are the two foremost influences on human formation. There should be a harmony and continuity, between the two.
ARTICLE LOOKING FOR GOD ON BRIGADE ROAD
It is under some more than usual stress that one realizes how little one has changed from the child one once was. As a child, my chief interest concerned with religious figures was their direct experience of God. I searched and searched for Jesus. The Sister very slowly took out a small glossy picture of Christ from a big book and gave it to me and told; “Till you see Jesus keep this carefully. Then… give it to someone else.”
ARTICLE
CHURCH, THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
Some disciples and the Pharisees came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?" Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast." (Mark 2:18-20)
ARTICLE
LIVING ON GOD'S DESIGN - SERIES 4
CHRISTIAN HOPE IN WORLD CRISIS
By Dr. George K. Zachariah, Washington D.C.
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TThe world is in crisis, one after another. The Scripture proclaims that Christ is the hope for a changing world. Christian hope is grounded in God, what the God of grace has done, is doing and will do for the world God loves. The future gives new meaning to the present and hope for the future empowers the present. Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God’s promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom.
POEM MIGRATORY BIRDS
By Dr. Zac Varghese, London
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Staying put is not a safe thought;
Erratic weather is a recurring event.
Climate Change is our next big plot.
Ecological bandwagon is out for a jolt.
SYNOPSIS-SERIES
SYNOPSIS FOR
MEDITATION-AUGUST
By V. Rev. Thomas P. Mundukuzhy Cor Episcopa
Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost - Mark 6:7-13
Transfiguration - Luke 9:27-36; Matthew 17:1-8
First Sunday After Transfiguration - Matthew 21:28-32
First Sunday After Assumption - Luke 6:39-45
Second Sunday After Assumption - Luke 11:14-23
MALAYALAM SECTION:
ARTICLE [MALAYALAM] VINEYARD OF NABOTH
Vineyard is the symbol of the Church of Christ. Psalmist says about it, 'You removed a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it.' When we plant all kinds of trees for food, Three years the fruits shall be forbidden to us; it shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD. In the fifth year we are to eat of its fruit, that its yield may increase for us.
ARTICLE [MALAYALAM] THE DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES - PART 3
By H.G. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios
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The early Church congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales.
POEM [MALAYALAM] WORD OF GOD
The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
POETRY [MALAYALAM] PSALMS 97, 100 AND 103
The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion.
IN MEMORY OF VINEETH JOHN |
Vineeth John, the only child of John and Lissy Kunnathu, left this world for heavenly abode on May 6, 2008. Vineeth was in pain and struggle for a few years, and the healing hand of God finally appeared in the form of a call to His presence. John Kunnathu, an esteemed author, is a close associate of Light of Life from its inception in 2001. LOL family fondly pays love and tribute to Vineeth and prays to God to give courage and determination to John and Lissy. While Vineeth now sits in the laps of our patriarchal fathers, he will continue to live in this world in the minds of LOL readers through the writings of his Dad, John Kunnathu.
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Bangalore, India (ENI). Christian church workers have joined social workers in demanding a crack down on what they call the "liquor Mafia" after the killing of a leading prohibition activist in southern Karnataka state. The protesters held a day-long sit-in before the Gandhi statue in Bangalore on 25 July and then attended a memorial event for the murdered man, A.T. Babu, at the national office of the Student Christian Movement in the city. Babu, who was 51 and the secretary of the Karnataka chapter of the National Alliance of People's Movements, was hacked to death on 21 July whilst at the wheel of a van he was driving. [540 words, ENI-08-0610]
Courtesy to ENI
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Bangalore, India (ENI). Christian groups in India have deplored a series of more than 20 bomb blasts that killed at least 50 people in western Gujarat and southern Karnataka states, and are said to have been carried out in the name of religion. Forty-nine people died and more than 150 were injured when a series of 16 bomb blasts rocked Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Gujarat, on 26 July. [390 words, ENI-08-0599]
Courtesy to ENI
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Bangalore, India (ENI). Churches in India have hailed a victory by the country's governing coalition, dominated by secular parties and which won a crucial vote of confidence in the national parliament. The United Progressive Alliance coalition government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won the vote of confidence late on 22 July after two days of acrimonious debate, garnering 275 votes against the 256 recorded by the opposition parties. "We're very happy about the result," Methodist Bishop Tharanath Sagar, president of the National Council of Churches in India, told Ecumenical News International on 23 July. "The defeat of the secular government would have strengthened the hands of fundamentalist forces. We're relieved," noted Sagar, who heads the Indian church council made up of 30 Orthodox and Protestant churches. [534 words, ENI-08-0586]
Courtesy to ENI
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Bangalore, India (ENI). A Hindu woman has produced a 900-page poetic epic on the life and message of Jesus following the style of Hindu classics such as Mahabharat and Ramayan. "This is the fruit of my great devotion to Jesus Christ," author Latha Rajasekhar told Ecumenical News International from Mysore, about 120 kilometres from Bangalore, where the book was released on 14 June in the presence of two bishops and several literary figures, as well as a mainly Hindu audience of 500 people. [504 words, ENI-08-0537]
Courtesy to ENI
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