I Believe in Jesus

Thomas Examines Jesus' Wound

Thomas believed because he saw Jesus after the resurrection with his own eyes, and had the opportunity to examine the wound in Jesus' side.  Thomas acted on his faith by carrying the word about the resurrection of Jesus all the way to India. 

Jn 20:26 --Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

I believe in Jesus because I have examined the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, and concluded that Jesus did raise from the grave on the third day, and that this proves that Jesus is the Son of God. 

My favorite account of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus was written by John, the Apostle to whom Jesus committed the care of His mother. This scene at the cross touches my heart, as I consider the love of a mother for her son, and Jesus' love of his mother.

Jn 19:23 --When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”

So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

John, Mary and Mary at the Cross

Yes, I believe in Jesus because of the evidence. And the most powerful evidence is the historical evidence of the resurrection, including the actions of men like Thomas and Paul who carried the message of the resurrection to difficult places in difficult circumstances. They devoted their lives to spreading this message, and they died in the process. They followed the marching orders of Jesus.

The Great Commission

Matt 18:16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Yes, I believe in Jesus. And because I believe, I love and obey Him. When I was 12 years old, my faith moved me to announce my belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and having repented of my sins, I was immersed in the cold water of Little Crow Creek. 

I can talk for days and weeks about how Jesus has blessed and grown my faith.  In the beginning I was just a child, vulnerable to the assaults of Satan, but Jesus never left me alone. Three years later my mother died, and I could not understand how it could have happened. How could Jesus have allowed my blessed mother, valiant warrior of the faith, to die like that? But He stayed by my side and got me through that valley. Through good times and bad times, He never failed to provide what is needed for eternal life. 

Many times I have ventured forth not knowing what was ahead, but always trusting that God would provide. And He always provides what is His will. He keeps His promises. He never fails. 

Do you believe in Jesus?  

Acts 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1OZZOfSX08

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsSb8Rtzuh0

Because He Lives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF6aBDS3drA

Ps 18:46

The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation—

I serve a risen Savior.  The resurrection of Jesus is a fact of history, evidenced by the dedicated lives of those who saw it, wrote about it, and died for it. My favorite is Thomas, who refused to believe until he saw Jesus in person. Thomas carried the gospel all the way to India.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar_Thoma_Syrian_Church

I am blessed to be friends with a descendant of the original believers in India who were taught by Apostle Thomas. The following story is taken from his blog. He told me this story personally, it is interesting history of the Christians in India. The author of this is ABHILASH PAULOSE CHALAKUZHY

http://abhilashchalakuzhy.blogspot.com/

The year was 52 AD and the place was a small village in the northern part of Kerala named Palayur. Those days Palayur was a traditional bastion of conservative Hindus. A small group of Jews lived nearby in a hilly place and they had a synagogue there.One morning four Brahmin Hindu priests were conducting their ritualistic sun worship in the temple pond. They were from the four well known families of the area, Kadappu, Kalikavu (Kaliyankal), Shankuthiri, and Pakalomittom. They were standing half immersed in water and sprinkling water upwards chanting Vedic mantras to the sun god. Suddenly a Jewish ascetic came and stopped near where they were worshiping.

He was a visitor to the nearby synagogue and came from Jerusalem recently. The local Jews accompanied him. The visitor asked though his interpreter, what was going on. After getting their explanation he commented that it seemed the sun god was not accepting their offering, because the water fell back to the pond when they threw it up as an offering. The Hindu priests asked what could happen differently. Then the visiting Jewish holy man told them that he could throw the water as a supplication to the living God who is the creator of sun and all the other celestial stars, and his God would accept it. As the priests gave permission, he got down to the pond and worshiped God in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and then threw the water up in to the air, and to all present it seemed the water drops remained suspended in the air. The visitor explained to the Hindu priests that he was Thomas, one of the Disciples of Christ. He further told them that Jesus was the incarnation of God, the father. The convinced priests accepted baptism from the hands of the Apostle.

My grandfather had told me that our family is the direct descendants of the second Brahmin priest in the above story, the Kalikavu.There are thousands of other Christian families in Kerala claiming to be the descendants of each of these four Brahmins. According to this tradition, Christianity came to Kerala before it reached Europe or even Rome. In the 4th century, these families moved to another village, 200 miles south of Palayur to a village called Kuravilagad. St. Thomas had ordained some priests from these families. In the following years due to lack of scriptural books and the absence of connection to an Apostolic See, these groups of Christians went through a difficult period. In 354 AD, a bishop Mar Joseph and 72 other Christian families under the leadership of a merchant named Thomas of Cana emigrated to Kerala from Mesopotamia and Jerusalem.

Thomas of Cana (where Jesus turned water into wine) was said to be a blood relative of Jesus. This immigration was a great revitalization for the local Christians. These 72 families were Jewish Christians, and their descendants to this day live in Kerala. They keep a separate identity from all other communities in Kerala. They are known as Kanaya Christians and are fiercely ethnic and practice endogamy.  Christians of Kerala converted by St. Thomas accepted the Syriac (Aramaic) liturgy from this newly arrived group and apostolic benediction from the Patriarch of Antioch.

Hence, the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala are also known as Syrian Christians of Kerala. Syriac- Aramaic was the language spoken at the time of Jesus Christ in Palestineand it was also the lingua franca for communication among many nations of the East. Even today Syrian Christians use this language in parts of their liturgy.In ancient manuscripts the Christian community in Kerala is sometimes referred to as Nazaranis, meaning the followers of Jesus who was from Nazareth. Foreign travelers have also called them, Malabar Christians, as the coastal region of Kerala is called Malabar. Malankara is another name for the coast.

How reliable is St. Thomas tradition, and the story of conversion of my ancestors? The tradition is that the apostle first landed in Kodungalore on the west coast of Kerala in 52 AD. His first followers were some of the local Jews and then a few of the indigenous people. He traveled south establishing 7 churches in Kerala. He continued his missionary journey to Malacca and China. He returned to India and was martyred in 72 A.D in Madras where his tomb still remains. Many historians think that the ancient Jews of Kerala were the descendants of Jews taken in captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Later when Cyrus, the king of Persia conquered Babylon he released the Jews, and some of them came to Kerala in 585 BC. There is enough evidence of a large Jewish colony in Kerala in the 1st century AD and there existed a continuous flow of trade between the Middle East and Kerala making the journey of the Apostle possible. Some of the early Christian converts of Kerala were probably from this Jewish community.The visit of St. Thomas to India is mentioned by many early church historians and also in the apocryphal book ' Acts of St. Thomas ' written by the Syrian Bardisan. (152-220 AD). Pantaenus, the governor of the school of faithful of Alexandria visited these Christians in 185 AD and left some references in his writings. Also, the presence of the Kanaya Christian community whose records indicate that their ancestors met St. Thomas Christians when they came to Kerala's shores in 345 AD is another strong evidence. In 552 AD, Cosmas Indicopleustus visited Kerala's coast and wrote about the presence of a Christian community there. In 1292, the famous Venetian traveler Marco Polo made the following interesting observation after a visit to the St. Thomas tomb in Madras. "The Christians come here on pilgrimages from many places and gather some of the soil from this place where the Saint was killed, and this soil they take away with them to their countries. Now, if anyone falls ill of a certain ague, or any other fever of any kind, they give him a portion made of this soil. As soon as the sick man drinks it, he is well again." 

Marco Polo further attests that he himself took some of this soil to Venice and cured many people. (Travels of Marco Polo by L.F. Benedetto translated by Aldo Ricci). Though this treatment is not available at present at the St. Thomas' tomb, it is a revered center of pilgrimage and still annually attracts thousands from all around the world. 

In the same year 1292, the Italian missionary priest John of Monte Corvino, who was a special representative of Pope Nicholas IV visited Kerala Christians on his way to China and stayed with them for 6 months. He writes that he was quite surprised because these Christians had never heard about the Pope. Their allegiance was to the church of Persia and Antioch. Two ancient inscribed copper plates in the possession of Kerala Christians and another copy of a copper plate kept in Cambridge museum in England are further proof of the antiquity of this community.

Let me continue the story of my ancestors. converted by St. Thomas in the Palayur village, and later moved to the village of Kuravilagad in the 4th century. In Kuravilagad, they built a church with the assistance from the local ruler in 350 AD. Bishop Joseph who came with the Kana immigrants in 345 AD consecrated this church dedicated to St. Mary. My Christian ancestors lived in Kuravilagad and the surrounding areas for another millennium as farmers, merchants, and professionals, and they were well-respected members of the society. (It is about them, Gibbon wrote in his ' Decline and fall of Roman Empire ' "In arms, in arts, and possibly in virtue, they excelled the natives of Hindustan. Their husbandmen cultivated the palm trees, the merchants were enriched by pepper trade, and their soldiers preceded the other nobles of Malabar.") 

In 1498, when Portuguese merchants under the leadership of the great explorer Vasco Da Gamma came to Kerala, they were happy to see an indigenous group of Christians. But they soon realized that though these people were Christians, they were different from the Portuguese Christians. Portuguese were western Christians of the Latin rite who followed Pope of Rome.This was the period of inquisition in the Catholic Church and the Portuguese were very intolerant to other rites. Many local Christians became unhappy the way the Portuguese treated them, and many moved to the southern parts of Kerala, to be away from them. Kuravilagad was under the Northern kingdom, which was a protectorate of the Portuguese. The Portuguese bishop of Goa, Dom Menezes, came to Kerala in 1599 and from June 20- 24, he called for a meeting of the Kerala Christians. 153 local priests and 660 lay representatives attended these meetings and they were forced to accept the supremacy of the Latin Church.

This is the infamous Synod of Diapore in the church history. Syrian Christians were forced to accept the hegemony of the Roman Church with the threat from the Portuguese soldiers and the power of the local king. Menezes visited many Kerala churches and burned much of the valuable ancient prayer books and other manuscripts because he considered them heresies. But as Portuguese were soon defeated by the Dutch in the Kerala coast, the local Christians who were waiting for an opportunity, revolted against the Portuguese and the Latin domination of their church. The immediate provocation was when the Portuguese arrested a Syrian bishop Ahatulla from the holy land on his way to Kerala and took him to Goa as a prisoner. Somehow a rumor spread that the Portuguese drowned their bishop in the sea. On Friday, January 3, 1653, nearly 20,000 local Christians assembled in Mattachery, a port city near Cochin. They tied a long rope around a stone cross and touching the rope in a large human chain they took an oath that they or their children would never accept Portuguese or Latin hegemony over their church. This event is known in history as the Oath of Coonan Cross (leaning cross.) The people unanimously elected their Archdeacon Thomas of the Pakalomittom family as their bishop.

Later he was ordained by the visiting Mar Gregoriose, the bishop of Jerusalem under the Syrian (Jacobite) Patriarch of Antioch. At that time there were about 200,000 Christians in Kerala, and only 400 sided with the Portuguese. Soon Rome reviewed the situation more closely and started a conciliatory approach towards Syrian Christians. The Pope decreed that those who wanted could continue to practice the Syrian rite and liturgy. The Pope also sent an Italian bishop to Kerala and ordained a cousin of Arch Deacon Thomas from the Pakalomittom family as the first native Catholic bishop of Kerala. His name was Parampil Chandy Metran, or Bishop Alexander DeCampo, as western historians refer to him. This caused a large number of rebelling Kerala Syrian Christians to return to the Roman Catholic Church.

So for the first time there were two divisions within the Syrian Christians of Kerala, one group following Rome, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the other following the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. There were several confrontations between these two groups at that time. In one of those episodes in 1666 when a Portuguese bishop tried to enter the Kuravalagad Church, it unfortunately turned violent. The local ruler supported the Roman Catholic faction. The members of the original 4 Christian families were divided between these two factions. The faction that was rebelling against the papal group left Kuravilagad and moved further south to the southern kingdom, the Thekencore.

Thomas alias Oommen was my ancestor on the paternal side who lived 10 generations before me. He lived during this most turbulent period in the history of our community in Kerala. He strongly objected the Portuguese hegemony and the Latinisation of the Indian Church and he participated in Coonan Cross Oath of 1653. When the majority in his parish church, its vicar, and many of his relatives took pro- Papal position, Oommen Thomas was not prepared to compromise on his principles. If he had taken a position supporting the Portuguese and the Latin missionaries as many of his family members did, he could have avoided many of the financial and physical dangers.

He even dared to take a position against the powerful local king. Finally when he found that he couldn't be true to the faith and traditions of his fathers if he obliged to the Portuguese power, he left Kuravilagad with a brother and a sister and came to Changanacherry, a town in central Kerala. It was only a distance of 60 miles, but this short distance of travel changed the destiny for his descendants. In Chaganachery, Oommen lived in a house near the present municipal court given to him by the Raja of Theckencore. Oommen's brother became a priest and served the church in Chaganachery. At that time the churches in Chaganachery and Allepey Thathanpalli were branch churches (kurushupally) of Niranam church. Later these two churches joined Roman Catholicism. Oommen had two sons, Kuruvilla and Mathen. The second son, Mathen moved to Thiruvella and became the founding father of the Chalakuzhy family. He later died in a smallpox epidemic.

Mr Abhilash Paulose Chalakuzhy grandson of Late C P Ninan the nephew of Chalakuzhy Paulose Mathen and His Grace the Most Rev Dr Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan which has its roots at Chalakuzhy Madom in Thiruvalla town in Kerala.

Born Again to a Living Hope

1 Pet 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-zwE33zHA

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

http://www.searchtv.org/music.html

All in All

A Picture of the Universe

All is a very big idea; a small word with a big reality. All means the whole thing. All means without reserve, give it all you've got! All means complete.

Jesus said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Since we do not understand the completeness of God's all, we struggle with the bad things that exist all around us.  If Jesus has all authority, why do evil things exist?  Why does Jesus allow ISIS to kill innocent women and children, and to cut off the heads of their prisoners and show it on Youtube?

When we look at the story of how things are, in the Bible, we learn that God intended for all people to have the opportunity to rebel against Him, and opportunity to be saved by Him. He put two trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Mankind was given the opportunity to choose life or death, and we all choose death, just like Eve.

Apostle Paul writes that God made His creation subject to futility,
"18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

Yes, that is how He made us.  Subject to futility, created with the capacity for rebellion, creatures with free will. And we choose death and destruction because of our selfish will, our infinite curiosity, our raging passions, our failure to give our all to our Creator. 

But God has a plan from the beginning to give life to all who will give their all to Him. Yes, Jesus gave His all so that we who believe in Him can have life.  Jesus has the authority over death. He will raise all who believe in Him and give them glorified bodies on the last day.  Then He will return all authority to the Father, so that God may be all in all. 1 Cor 15:20 "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he deliversthe kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all."

The authority of Jesus works through His word and through His people, and by the Spirit. Evil exists because we have not all committed our all in service to Him. But all who trust in Him have the hope of eternal life, and the glorification of our bodies. 

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Surrender All

http://greatsongschapel.org/?page_id=2033

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x2IpLSfqp8

https://www.castingcrowns.com/music/lyrics/i-surrender-all-all-jesus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIcL2eDhIBE 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAeFM8eUUR4&list=PL1E1D938620C43831&index=5