Good For Youth

TEXT: Lamentations 3:27 "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke of his youth."

I.   Young men who accept the yoke of Christ are best fitted for an earthly citizenship. 

II.  Young men who accept the yoke of Christ are best fitted for an earthly citizenship. 

III. Young men who accept the yoke of Christ preserve their moral independence.

IV. Young men who accept the yoke of Christ pass the great crisis of life.

V.  Young men who accept the yoke of Christ make a blessed use of the formative period of life.

VI. Young men who put on the yoke of Christ give promise of the outcome of salvation. 

Source:
http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/statham/a_sermon_to_young_men.htm
http://pregethwrelias.blogspot.in/2011/01/sermon-lamentaions-327.html

Read More

Rev. Binoy John Exhorting CITS' Students With The Word of God

Read More

PHILIP & ANDREW INSIDE US

JESUS FEEDING 5000+

Text: John 6:1-15

A number of people fail to look at another great miracle in this; two miracles; first, Jesus was able to feed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, and the second miracle was that the crowd was satisfied. Goods are plenty but satisfaction is something that lacks in our times. 

Miraculously this is the only miracle recorded in all 4 gospels.

Great Multitude followed Him- But why? 

Some for seeing what he does. (Entertainers)

Some for food. (Poor)

Some for healing. (Diseased)

Some for knowledge. (Wisdom-seekers, Greeks)

Some for trapping Jesus. (Religious leaders)

Some for position. (Few disciples)

Only a few for spiritual truth, salvation, joy, word of God. (Genuine believers)

Let's think what among these drives us behind Jesus...!!! 

Two Characteristics in this passage: 

1. We often concentrate on what we don’t have. For example Philip

This is a test for Philip – because Jesus knew what he would do (v.6)

Philip said two things; first, we don’t have a place to buy food and second, we don’t have the money…!!!

He probably should have said something like, “Well Jesus, I have seen you provide wine at a wedding from water, I know you healed with a word, healed a man sick for 38 year and while I don’t want to sound like Satan, is it possible you could turn these stones into bread? He had been with Jesus for a long time, however, responded foolishly. Likewise, even after seeing a lot of miracles and goodness of God, a good number of believers sound as Philip when they speak. 

2. We think what we have is not enough. For example Andrew.  

Andrew might have said straight up that we have asked everyone – “got any fish?” No. “got any fish?” No. “got any fish?” No. “got any fish?” No. 4,999 times they heard no.  One time they heard yes.  Other gospel tells us a young boy had something.  Some say a boy’s sack lunch, others say that’s too much bread for a sack lunch.

There’s a difference when we control what we have verses when we turn it over to Jesus.  If Andrew had kept it, he would have been right, no way would it have been enough.

But when we turn it over to Jesus – WOW – What He can do with what little we have.  If you have the faith of a mustard seed…faith in what or whom?  Faith in Jesus.  Have faith in Jesus and He’ll meet every need - spiritual and physical. What we have is sufficient when we turn it over to Jesus.

So there might be Philip and Andrew somewhere in us. Jesus let’s nothing go to waste. We often forget who we’re with. They gave it to Jesus.  Jesus gives it BACK to them, and has them pass it out. Reminds me of giving our money, mammon and mastery of any sort to Him –Jesus keeps blessing us giving us the ability to pass ourselves through our time, and our possessions out. And doesn't waste anything but he even takes care of the left overs. 

Today, those who have plenty starve for contentment. Their abundance of riches drives them toward dissatisfaction and wantonness.  But thank to be God who turn our little into enough and satisfies our souls with His goodness.

Image Source;

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bFggyj_9Rqo/maxresdefault.jpg

Read More

Lecrae - Liberty University Convocation

Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979), mononymously known as Lecrae, is an American Christian hip hop artist, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the independent record label Reach Records, and the co-founder and president of the non-profit organization ReachLife Ministries. To date, he has released seven studio albums and two mixtapes as a solo artist, and has released three studio albums, a remix album, and one EP as the leader of the rap group 116 Clique. He produced much of his earlier material along with other early Reach Records releases. Moore, in reference to his label as a Christian rapper, has stated that his music is just hip-hop, though it reflects his Christian faith.Lecrae has won many music awards over the space of his career, including two Grammy Awards and four Dove Awards. In 2013, he became the first hip hop artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album, which was awarded to his sixth album, Gravity

For the past few years, Lecrae has been the epitome of transcendence. What started as a practical approach to mentoring the youth population at a local juvenile detention center has led to a worldwide mission. As an artist, Lecrae has nearly reached the pinnacle of success. He's released seven bestselling albums and two mixtapes, won a Grammy award.

Source
http://www.lecrae.com/bio/
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/10/lecrae-christians-have-prostituted-art-to-give-answers/381103/

Read More

Truth, Freedom, and Determinism by Domenic Marbaniang

"Tell a lie, speak it loudly, repeat it often, and the majority of people will believe it." ~ Adolf Hitler



Sinister as this quote appears, deliberate lying is part of propaganda and advertisement all around. And, while people recognize much of it as false (for instance, an ad that shows women swarming on a man using a particular body spray), it is held that somehow the elevated picture one paints will have a psychologically deterministic noetic effect. But, are truth and determinism compatible? That is a vital question the answer to which will decide two things:
1. Whether humans have epistemic freedom; that is the choice to know.
2. Whether knowledge entails moral responsibility.

While some sort of psychological determinism exists, as evident from experiments in group conformity, Milgram's authority experiments, and Piaget's experiments on cognitive ability with children, the determinism of psychology argues in support of uniformity of experience and not diversities of truth. That is to say, that the psychological experiments may be repeated to bring forth the same results each time, to verify the theory; however, if someone says that each human is wired separately to believe in contradictory things as true (for instance, one's conviction of pantheism versus another's conviction of Trinitarianism; or one's conviction of determinism versus another's conviction of non-determinism), then we face a different kind of problem. 

To say, for instance, that one is wired to see one thing as truth and another is wired to see its contradictory position as truth is to make a statement that denies the existence of freedom in matters of truth; this means that the person making the statement has no epistemic freedom; but, if he doesn't have epistemic freedom, then he is either the one who is deceived or is not, though both believe that the other is the deceived one; how will, then, he know whether he is the one who is deceived or the other is the one who is deceived in reality? This disqualifies him from making any statement regarding truth; for in order for one to make a statement regarding truth, one must posit freedom as an essential attribute of truth. Therefore, the one who asserts that people are not wired to believe contradictory things, but choose to believe have the upper hand. This latter position makes the volitional epistemic event also a moral one.

Secondly, to say that one is wired to see one thing as truth and another is wired to see its contradictory position as truth, if this means the jettisoning of truth as absolute category, would plurify and relativize truth; however, if truth is relative, one cannot make a universal or absolute statement of truth, like "one is wired to see one thing as truth and another is wired to see its contradictory position as truth." This position is self-contradictory and self-defeating. Again, the asserter of freedom gains the upper hand. 

Thirdly, to say that one is wired to see one thing as truth and another is wired to see the same as truth as well, but wired to willfully reject the truth, is to imply, firstly, that freedom is subjective and ultimately illusory; secondly, that knowledge is passive; thirdly, that knowledge is subject to causality and, therefore, is necessarily driven (in other words, it is impossible for anyone to have wrong opinions); however, this contradicts experience, for if freedom were illusory then responsibility would be illusory as well, if knowledge were passive, then all minds would see things equally unless fashioned dissimilarly, if knowledge is necessarily driven then people can't have false opinions, but experience proves the contradictory (even determinists believe that people have false opinions); therefore, the wired-theory is false. 

Therefore, it is evident that for truth to be absolute, freedom must be a necessary property of it; and, since humans have freedom of will, they have epistemic and moral responsibility towards truth.

Read More

APJ Abdul Kalam: Great scientist, extraordinary human being...His Last Speech and Some Valuable Nuggets

83-year-old Dr. Kalam, who served as India's 11th President from 2002 to 2007, collapsed while delivering a lecture to the students at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong, Meghalaya, on Monday evening. He was admitted to a private hospital in critical condition.

From dealing with the extremely controversial issue of death penalty to dreaming big, from inculcating a healthy curiosity towards science to reaching out to millions of students, from religion to poetry, one of India's most visionary leaders had something truly inspiring to say about everything.

1. On the youth: My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards.

2. On leadership: Let me define a leader. He must have vision and passion and not be afraid of any problem. Instead, he should know how to defeat it. Most importantly, he must work with integrity.

3. On religion: For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool.

4. On corruption: If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.

5. On scientific development: English is necessary as at present original works of science are in English. I believe that in two decades times original works of science will start coming out in our languages. Then we can move over like the Japanese.

6. On hardship: Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success.

7. On students: One of the very important characteristics of a students is to question. Let the students ask questions.

8. On freedom: If we are not free, no one will respect us.

9. On poetry: Poetry comes from the highest happiness or the deepest sorrow.

10. On children: While children are studying to be unique, the world around them is trying by all means to make them like everybody else.

11. On science: Science is global. Einstein's equation E=mc2 has to reach everywhere. Science is a beautiful gift to humanity. We should not distort it. Science does not discriminate between multiple races.

12. On life: Life is a difficult game. You can win it only by retaining your birthright to be a person.

13. On the death penalty: One of the more difficult tasks for me as President was to decide on the issue of confirming capital punishment awarded by courts… to my surprise… almost all cases which were pending had a social and economic bias. This gave me an impression that we were punishing the person who was least involved in the enmity and who did not have a direct motive for committing the crime.

14. On dreaming: Dream, Dream, Dream. Dream transforms in to thoughts. And thoughts result in action.

15. On beauty: I'm not a handsome guy, but I can give my hand to someone who needs help.Beauty is in the heart, not in the face.

Source:

http://www.dailyo.in/variety/apj-abdul-kalam-quotes-inspiration-humanism-india-president-nationalism/story/1/5267.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPVA6A0XeKA

Read More

Le Chal Mujhe & Gao Hallelujah.....Worship at CITS

Read More

Divine Service of a Divine Servant by Rev. Nag at CITS

Read More

Homeless Drug Addict VS Homeless Father(Social Experiment)

Troubling and Amazing at the same time. Lord help us open our eyes and not forget about those in need. This is sobering and heartbreaking, and at the same time hopeful! It's been my experience working with lower income people, that they get so excited to give... meanwhile the high-income people tend to be suspicious of everybody and so unwilling to part with what they have.

Read More

Revisiting Eden: The Mystery of True Happiness

The pursuit of happiness is something EVERYONE takes very seriously. But what are the components of happiness and what does it really require? In Gen. 2:8-25, the Bible describes an environment where, for a time, there was perfect happiness and the various aspects of that environment ought to be of more than passing interest to us, as many would confuse true happiness with momentary pleasure.  Let's consider some of the things in the Garden of Eden that were significant to the happiness of Adam and Eve but are often neglected in our post-modern pursuit of happiness. And the reason for traveling to the Garden of Eden for finding means of true happiness is nothing but the unfallen state of man because, after the fall, man has forgotten, abandoned and redefined everything. Therefore, we need to travel to the garden of Eden, the original and sinless state of man. 

1. FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

God is a “plural” being within Himself. We can think of God only in terms of relationship and fellowship. Cf. Gen. 1:26; Jn. 1:1,2. God intended the prime element of Adam and Eve’s happiness to be found in their fellowship with Him. What must it have been like to walk and talk with God! Cf. Gen. 3:8. Though sin has destroyed the direct fellowship with God that Adam and Eve had, the fellowship with God that is possible through the gospel of Christ is still the prime element in human happiness (1 Jn. 1:3,4). Yet even Christians often think of “religion” and “the pursuit of happiness” as two different things. We may even think of religion as a distraction from our happiness or interference between the two. We rush through happenings that relate to God so we can get on to the things we really want to do. But when we are “walking with God” (Gen. 5:24). We can’t find happiness outside of God.

St. Augustine truly said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

 2. FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHER HUMAN BEINGS

God saw it was “not good that man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). We need fellowship with others of our kind.

This fellowship relates to marriage but is not limited to it. Forces of post-modern life push us into contact with more and more people (FB, Twitter, Smartphones, etc.) but pull us away from intimate relationships with any of them. Too often, we chase happiness at the expense of our relationships. Most of us would agree that people are more significant than things but does our search for happiness show that? It is a rare person who, on his deathbed, does not wish he had spent more time working on quality relationships with other people, and less time working on money, things, etc. So real happiness lies in the relationship with dear ones. 

3. FELLOWSHIP WITH NATURE (GOD'S CREATION)

Has any one of us ever wondered by thinking why we long for attachment to nature? It’s a deeper sense of longing that God has lodged in our hearts and we make all possible efforts to achieve it, whether it is vacation, picnic, celebration, or any kind of holiday we want to get attached to nature. However, so-called ‘development’ is gradually making us devoid of the beauty and presence of nature and making us addicts of unnatural (electronics, architecture, hybrid stuff, and whatnot?) If such developments were really necessary for men to be happy then God would never have withheld it from the first man and woman in Eden. In urban culture, most of us have less and less contact with nature. But we need contact with nature with the earth, the wind, the water; with animals and plants; with the weather; with soil things God created. (Ps. 111:2).

There is a primal joy that comes from being in touch with the environment that God made it is a source of healing and strength, and we neglect it at our own peril. Jesus said, “This Is My Father’s World.” 

4. ENGAGING IN WORK

Work does not restrict happiness it is a dynamic part of it! Work itself was not a penalty for sin work was in the Garden of Eden before sin (Gen. 2:15). “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Ac. 20:35) states a rudimentary principle of our nature as beings created in God’s image — we were meant to be happy as productive beings. 

Basically, there are two kinds of people in the world: hosts (producers) and guests (consumers). The hosts are the happiest! The aptitude to work efficiently and make a productive input is a chief element of “self-esteem.” 

But our capitalist economy has made us consumeristic in attitude toward work and life. God said to Adam to sweat and eat…but today man is busy finding ways to eat without a sweat. Thus, more disease less health, and pills to sleep. “The sleep of a laboring man sweet” (Eccl. 5:12). Cf. 2:24. So God meant labor to be an intrinsic element in man’s happiness and health. 

CONCLUSION

What do we think would take to make us completely happy? 

Most often we answer that question in relation to things that were totally absent from Eden, which was the only setting in history where there was flawless happiness. 

Ironic, as it appears, Eden had no mansions, no multiplexes, no money, no mall, and of course no MasterCard or social media. Do we spend 98% of our time on things that are 2% important to our happiness?

Read More

Jesus Is The Friend of Mine...!!!

Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
I have a friend in Jesus.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is a friend of mine.

He taught me how to live, my life as it should be.
He taught me how to turn my cheek when people laugh at me.
I've had friends before, and I can tell you that, He's one who will never leave you flat.

Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
I have a friend in Jesus.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is a friend of mine.

He taught me how to pray, and how to save my soul.
He taught me how to praise my God and still play rock and roll.
The music may sound different but the message is the same.
It's just the instruments who praise His name.

Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
I have a friend in Jesus.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is a friend of mine.

Funky guitar riff

Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is a friend of mine.

Once I tried to run, I tried to run and hide.
But Jesus came and found me and He touched me down inside.
He is like mountie, He always gets His man, and He'll zap you any way he can.
Zap.

Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
I have a friend in Jesus.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is a friend of mine.

He loves me when I'm right, He loves me when I'm wrong.
He loves me when I waste my time by writing silly songs.
He loves me when I'm quiet and I have nothing to say.
He'll love me when I'm perfect if I ever get that way.
Whooo! 

Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
I have a friend in Jesus.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
I have a friend in Jesus.
Jesus is a friend of mine.
J-J-J-Jesus.
Jesus is a friend of mine.

Below is the link for 10 hours version.....only one song for ten hours ;p 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7VY0bTzAps 

Read More