Prayer Letter - July 2009

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" John 11:25

The title for this month's devotion is taken from the famous poem written by the 17th century English poet and preacher John Donne and I can quote only a few lines:

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so……
……why swell'st thou then;
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

"Death Be Not Proud" is among the most famous and most beloved poems in English literature. Its popularity lies in its message of hope. Donne's theme tells the reader that death has no right to be proud, since human beings do not die but live eternally after "one short sleep." Ultimately death itself is destroyed!! Of course one must assume that it was written for Christians.

While preparing a message for a Memorial Service yesterday, I did a study of John 11 and the death of Lazarus. I noted the display of a whole range of human emotions by our Lord including utter grief that caused Him - the King of the universe to weep. But it was grief of a different kind. It was grief coupled with rage (vs 38). Sadly the NIV chooses to underplay the translation as deeply moved which could mean really, anything. The original Greek uses the word embrimaomai or its relative embrimasthai which denotes outrage which is entirely possible in the light of what Jesus was confronting - death, which the Apostle Paul calls the "last enemy" to be destroyed! In Mary's grief He sees and feels the misery of the whole human race and burns with rage against the oppressor of men. It is death that is the object of His wrath, and behind death, him who has the power of death and whom He had come into the world to destroy (1Jn 3:8b). Death was an intrusion into God's good creation. It had no place in God's world. After all it was opposite to what God had intended for all of mankind. The Message puts it well: Anger welling up within Him....Now that sounds like a volcano waiting to erupt violently!

It is only the Christian faith that takes such a positive and yet aggressive view about death rather than a fatalistic and philosophical view put forward by other faiths and philosophers. God did not just display anger at what the great Reformist Calvin called the "violent tyranny" that is death. He did something about it. He restored Lazarus to life (which I suspect is why the Sanhedrin as the tool of the devil plotted to kill Him from that time onwards - Jn 11:53. The devil prefers maintaining the status quo). Jesus defeated death by calling Lazarus forth from the tomb, and confirmed this with His own resurrection and His post-resurrection appearances to various people for a period of 40 days before He was taken up to glory establishing Him as LORD!

Christ's assurance that all who believe in Him will live, even though he dies (Jn 11:25 ), confirms the Jn 3:16 promise - the ultimate expression of God's love for His world and a reversal of what the devil did. And we too will be like Him - mind you, not disembodied spirits or ghosts. Read what Jesus tells His incredulous disciples: "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and blood as I have....(Lk 24:39). And again: Do you have anything here to eat? They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and He took it and ate it in their presence (Lk 24:41-43). Ghosts don't eat!! To Thomas: Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side…(Jn 20:27). What a glorious physicality! This is what you and I as believers will be like when Christ returns. He was showing us.

Therefore a careful reading of 1Cor 15: 12-58 will give us new meaning to the hope that we have which extends beyond this life - yes even beyond "heaven" which is at best a transitory state. Otherwise, as Paul says of Christians who have a very narrow view of life in Christ - we are to be pitied more than all men!! This is the ultimate hope that the Christian has which no adherent of any other faith has - finally played out in what that would look like in the City - the New Jerusalem in Rev 21 - no more crying, tears, and pain. No more DEATH or mourning - all that bothers human existence now. Can you for a moment imagine people of flesh and blood, albeit in a glorified state enjoying God who has made His dwelling place with them? Eden restored with a plus!! What a day worth looking forward to!!

What relevance does this have for evangelism? Plenty!! If there is one thing that people are afraid of and do not quite have an answer for, it is the question of "death". It seems so final, but for the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is not so. Death is not the full stop it is made out to be. It is a mere comma in life's great journey to be with God in eternity. An eternity, I must again emphasize that will be spent not in some disembodied, spirit-like, vapor like state, but in a glorified, physical state. Listen. I can't say it better than Apostle Paul. To paraphrase him in 1 Cor 15:12-19:

If I don’t believe in the last resurrection of all believers (when Christ returns), then…
I don’t believe what God did for His Son Jesus Christ on Easter.
Which means that what happened on Easter is just a story. It is not a historical fact. Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead.
If so, my faith is pointless. It is in vain. I have no grounds to preach or share Jesus Christ
I still remain in my sin
Jesus Christ is not Lord

Oh I see the relevance for evangelism. What God did for His Son on Easter, He will do for every person who believes in Him. This is the ultimate fulfillment of the prayer Thy Kingdom come…on earth as it is in heaven. Salvation assures peace, joy, freedom, a new way of thinking and so on in this life. Yes! But the Cross and the empty tomb accomplished much, much more

Think about it and be excited….as excited as I am as I write this!

Shalom!

• Mr. Rajesh Malaki’s fruitful ministry visit to Moga, Chandigarh, Patiala & Ludhiana in Punjab dated 7th to 14th Jun’09.
• Promotional meetings held at Dindigul & Erode in Tamil Nadu dated 12th & 19th Jun’09 respectively.
• Coimbatore Alumni Association Get-together held dated 19th Jun’09.
• Faculty Consultation organized by Delhi AA on 30th May’09 with 29 participants.
• The seminars conducted in the month of June: Western Region: Mumbai SS, Pune SS; Southern Region: PIMS, Pondicherry; AP Region: Parvathipuram-Vizag, Venkayalapadu-Bapatla; NE Region: Jaigaon-Siliguri, Darenggre.

Please Pray For:

• Alumni Get-together scheduled at Trichy dated 4th & 5th Jul’09 with Mr. R. Rajkumar & Prof. Jeyakar Chellaraj as guest speakers.
• The Haggai Institute North Eastern Regional Council (HINERC) meeting at Dimapur on 5th July and thereafter visit to Dimapur AA, Kohima AA, Mokokchung AA and Jorhat AA for meeting the Alumni by the HINERC members.
• Ministry openings at Vasai and Mr. Vijay Sasane’s ministry visit to new areas Karmala, Usmanabad & Kurudwadi in Maharashtra.
• Quick recovery of Dr. Kiran Jiwanmall who underwent a minor surgery at Vellore.
• Mr. Donald Pant’s upcoming ministry visit to Allahabad, Meerut and Bijnour.
• The Board of Directors meeting of the Society of Haggai Institute, India dated 22nd Aug’09 at Bangalore.
• Faculty Development Seminar scheduled at Nagpur dated 22nd to 24th Aug’09.
• Regional Alumni Get-together for Central Region scheduled 28th and 29th Sep’09 at Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
• Alumni Get-together scheduled at Hotel Babylon at Raipur being organized by the Raipur Alumni Association dated 21st Nov’09.
• Suitable candidates for the posts of Regional Director for Western Region & Area Manager for Northeast Region.
• The upcoming State Level Seminars in 2009: Chikhali 4 – 8 Aug, Belapur-Navi Mumbai 12 – 16 Aug, Pondicherry 12 – 16 Aug, Narsapur-Pune 12 – 16, Coonoor 14 – 19 Aug, Oddanchathram 22 – 26 Aug, Vijayawada 21 – 26 Sep, Coonoor (Eng) 26 – 30 Sep, Coonoor (Tamil) 26 – 30 Sep, Yelagiri (Eng) 29 Sep – 3 Oct, Yelagiri (Tamil) 29 Sep – 3 Oct, Pune 12 – 17 Oct, Miraj 20 – 24 Oct.

NS – National Seminar, SLS – Special Leadership Seminar, SLSD– SLS for Doctors,
In-house - seminar fee is not disclosed as it is a sponsored seminar.

Please Note: We seek your prayer support for all these National Level seminars coming up. We also solicit your assistance in the recruitment of suitable candidates for these seminars. For more information regarding these seminars please feel free to call us at 040 27131209, 27141221 & 32928823 or email at hiindia@haggai-india.com also browse our website: www.haggai-india.com

Seminars in July 2009

Note: Please be informed that you can now deposit your donation Cheques/DD’s favouring ‘Haggai Institute’ directly with our account # 01262560000416 in any branch of HDFC Bank. Please do intimate our office the deposit details indicating your name, the amount and the date of deposit.

Yours in Him,
Paul Balasundaram