Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas - An occasion of reconciliation

Fr. George Varhese Vayaliparambil




Jesus, by his incarnation abridges the infinite distance in between the sinful man and the Holy Father.

Christmas is the day for praise.On the Christmas day the angels of the Lord praised our Lord with Halleluiah.

Christmas is the season for giving gifts.The wise and the shepherds offered gift to the baby in the manger.

Christmas is the moment to express love.Joseph expressed his love to the baby and his mother in the manger as a protector.

Christmas is the time for offering lifeSt Mary offered the fruit her life (The bread of life – Incarnated son of God) to the world in Beth’lahem.

Christmas is time to rejoice.The birds, animals and nature rejoiced in the birth of Jesus Christ.

Beloved in ChristLet us make this day as the moment for reconciliation with God and our fellow being.

Let us praise the Lord Almighty with the Angels.

Let us give our life to spread the Word of God, and let it be the precious gift to the Lord on this season.

Let us express our love to the fellow being and be the protector of the needy in the world as we express our love to the Lord.

Let us share our life to the world to give life as our Mother Mary did.

Let us make this occasion to rejoice by looking around us with the nature.

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Miracle - Mystery or Myth


Miracle - Mystery or Myth?
Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church

Glory to the Father Son and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen

Few months back one Dr Leena from Ernakulam, Kerala, India sent a picture to me. It was a miraculous picture of Morth Shmooni and seven children. During the feast day of Morth Shmooni and seven children she prepared a prayer based on the Book of Maccabees from Holy Bible. After that she tried to copy the photo of Morth Shmooni and seven children. Immediately a print came in large size with more clarity. In her printer there was no option for enlarging the size. She prayed before that picture keeping lightening lamp (kedavilakku) 7 days. I have the copy of that. We kept it secret because when I shared one of our thirumeni about this, His Grace laughed at me saying that it is an illusion (‘oro thonnalukal aannu’). But we know that it is true and a miracle happened.
In our Thengodu St Kuriakose church near Kakkanadu, Kerala India another miracle happened one year back. The garland with Jasmine flower which used to decorate the photo at the top of the alter began to grow. (Mullapoomaala neendu vannu). Years back the same thing happened in the same church. That time our His Beatitude Catholicose was a priest. After the celebration of the feast of Mor Kuriakose Sahodo the garland began to grow. After long years, on last year when one of our bishops went there for celebrating Feast of Mor Kuriakose Sohodo (perunnal), one old priest told thirumeni about the mirracle happened there years back. But thirumeni didn’t believe that, but before finishing the Holy Qurbno garland reached from top near to the “kaasa and peelasa”. Then grown and reached till “darga’ (the step where the priest stand while celebrating the mass.) The same thing happened while our His Grace Mor Ireneous Paulouse celebrating the Holy Qurbono there this year. Two days back tears began to flow from the photo of St Mary in Kattachira JSO church. Many Bishops priest and faithful from many denominations visited the place and witnessed that it is true. Why this happen in ‘Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church’.
http://www.socmnet. org/Miracle_ Kattachira_ StMar ys.htm
Why there is miracle?
There is two occasions when a miracle happens
Miracle will happen where there is no faith. At the same time miracle will happen when there is deep faith. It is to show the faithful the truth that God is their Lord and to show the unfaithful
that the god whom they worship is false god.
Miracles in Holy Bible?
In Old Testament God lead the people of Israel by showing various miracles through his prophets and priests. We can see the creation itself is a miracle of God. There are so many miracles happened in Old Testament. In New Testament Jesus Christ our Lord did so many miracles in the world. Lot of miracles happened by the hands of the disciple of Jesus Christ. Virgin birth of Jesus Christ and resurrection of the dead are some examples still many can’t believe and perceive.
Why our Church not promote the miracles?
Church views Miracles in different ways.

1.Both God and evil can perform Miracle.
It is very important to differentiate the miracles, whether it is from God or from evil.
2. So if Church promotes people to believe blindly on the miracles, some times people may be misguided. So Church takes the strategy not to give much publicity for miracles and
will keep silence in certain extent.
3. Some times church may accept and declare some miracles
after proper studies done based on it.
4.Church is not against the miraculous act of God, but solid evidences and some times scientific proof is needed to approve it officially.
5. Church is against the commercialization of miracle.
Is it miracle or sign?
More than miracle the church views all these things as signs. Behind every signs there is mystery and a message. It may be positive or negative or it may be a warning or a blessing. A proper interpretation is needed for it. So in this interpretation sometimes common people will do some mistake, because of there lack of proper theological knowledge. So the Church, I mean the Holy Synod of the church or the body appointed by the Holy Synod has to say the final word whether it is from God and the meaning of it.
Super - Natural Miracles and Natural Miracles.
In the New Testament these four Greek words are principally used
to designate miracles:
1. Semeion
, a “sign”, i.e., an evidence of a divine commission;
an attestation of a divine message (Matt. 12:38,39; 16:1, 4; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; 23:8; John 2:11, 18, 23; Acts 6:8, etc.); a token of the presence and working of God; the seal of a higher power.
2. Terata
, “wonders;” wonder-causing events; portents; producing astonishment in the beholder (Acts 2:19).
3. Dunameis , “might works;” works of superhuman power (Acts 2:22; Rom. 15:19; 2 Thes. 2:9); of a new and higher power.
4. Erga , “works;” the works of Him who is “wonderful in working” (John 5:20, 36).
Miracles are seals of a divine mission. The sacred writers appealed to them as proofs that they were messengers of God. Our Lord also appealed to miracles as a conclusive proof of his divine mission (John 5:20, 36; 10:25, 38). Thus, being out of the common course of nature and beyond the power of man, they are fitted to convey the impression of the presence and power of God.
Moses and Magicians
Moses performed many miracles in the name of Almighty God. At the same time the magicians of Pharaoh did the same miracles. Once Moses turned the road unto a serpent, (EXODUS 7: 10.
EXODUS 7:14). The magicians did the same also. But the serpent of Moses swallowed the serpent of magicians. Here we can see that magicians and evil spirit can perform miracles. They can even predict the future and they can say the past of a person.

Priests and Pastors
Vision or forth telling and performing miracles become a common thing among Pentecostals and some ‘priests’ who imitating them in our church. It is the greed for money, forces them to do such wicked things. The church should take a step against such false and fraud dead being (Isaiah 8:19). The common people should be careful to the miracles. They are not allowed to go after the miracles. During His public ministry Jesus said, “But he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seek after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. The word of God clearly reveals the truth that we are not supposed to seeks miracles, rather to live according to the word of God”. Mathew 12: 39. There are some people who are running after the miracles; really such miracles are not from God. Definitely the miracles will happen when by the prayers the saints and priests of the church. But we will never promote it or boost ourselves.
There is no big miracle than the Holy Qurbono in which the bread and wine become the Body and blood of Christ. There is no medicine or doctor which is greater than our God who is really
present in the Holy Qurbono. So if any priest claims that he is better than others or he is a one who can do miracle should be considered as Evil.
Healing and Miracle some Experiences
Some times people observe healing as the miracle. Yes definitely times it is not. Last week a young man who is in Australia shared with me that since last 4 months his wife who came to Australia for higher studies is going to get baptized by Pentecostal pastor. She came here for higher studies alone. Through his sister who is in another country who practices satanic Pentecostal faith some Pentecostals approached her. As friends of his sister they involved
in her daily activities. Few days they asked her to participate in their prayer meeting. After 4 months she decided to take baptism in Pentecostal sect. When her husband heard this he came to Australia and asked her don’t go there. In that time I was informed by some guys from kerala that there is a case in Australia. Even though it is too far around 4 hour’s journey from my place to there through flight, I contacted them through phone that time she said me she got a healing when she prayed there. After few days talk I could convince her error in the teaching of Pentecostals through her husband. He was a good guy with lot of God experience and he shared with me that, “Father I got all my blessings from my church and I experienced really the love of God from my church. I don’t want any antichrist than my True Christ. For me she is nothing
before my God. She asks me to go with her to their prayer. Even I am ready to leave her in this case, for me God is all.” He convinced her with all the words which I had given to him that
what she is doing is wrong. Then she called the pastor and said him that “Don’t call her and don’t come to her home. Her husband said her that “if she continues Pentecostal faith he will leave me here and go back to Kerala.” Then the pastor replayed “if he is leaving her. She don’t worry, he is there for her. He shall look after her”. Now she got the real picture of the pastor. Finally she believed in the word of God that her husband shared to her.
Here is a question actually she shared she got healing while she prayed in Pentecostal cult. Dose it true? Is it won’t happen in our church?
Healing will happen when we pray to the Lord. Not only God but also Satan can give healing if he wishes. In the Healing narrative Jesus performed during his public ministry. We can see that in many cases while He gave the healing He was casting out the demon. In those cases it was the evil spirit that kept them in bondage, and thus they suffered both physically and mentally. So for some occasion while the people participate in satanic Pentecostal cult Satan will heal so that they may believe that to whom they worship is true god. Actually he is the Satan and anti-christ. There by he/she will be in his bondage for ever. In some cases like psychosomatic disorders people get healing when they go through pleasant and joyful moments. In uncomfortable situation the body will show some negative symptoms. But when the comfortable situation comes the body will shows the positive symptoms. Sometimes people feel happy and they feel relaxed when they play games or watching a movie or celebrating festivals. When they reach back to a joyful mood then their body will act accordingly. The miraculous healing will happen in the church. There miracles will happen in the church like the healing of blind man, barren woman becomes pregnant, etc it is really the intervention of God….. Even Abraham believed in the Lord as “God is the one who creates from nothing and one who resurrect the dead”. Rom
4:17. So he believed in the Lord and he got the son even though there was no any chance for the birth of a child birth at his old age and he got a lamp for sacrifices from the tree as believed that God will give. God is able to create from nothing.
How I should approach the Miracles?
When a miracle happens in a person or in the nature, More than become emotional we have to have an intellectual approach. It has to make sure whether it is from God or from evil and whether it is mere magic/tricks by human being or true.

I am posting silly tricks of some magicians and Pentecostal
pastors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg-Z9_RIqCA&feature=related
Is it really a healing? A miracle?
No I can do the same thing. Everybody can do the same thing
Step 1. Stand straight


Step 2. Lift your both hands up (for many people when they lift
their hands up there will be a difference in their hands, especially
the right hand will feel as longer than other hand.)

Step 3. If it is in that case just lift down your right hand (Keep the
left hand up).

Step 4. Lift up your right hand – you can see that your hands are in
equal position you can say that you are healed.

Is it really healing? It is happening because of the position change
of socket of the shoulder and arm.
Here is the trick of another magician
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yblhsr1O4IQ&NR=1
Warning from Holy Bible.
1 Thimothy 4: 1
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some
will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things
taught by demons.
Why St Mary is crying
Why St Mary is crying. It is sure that she is not happy. There is a prophecy by Jesus “Cry on behalf of you and your kids”. Rev 12: 17 we are the offspring of St Mary she is crying on behalf of us and on behalf of the world.

Obviously it is not because she is happy that she crying. It is because she is sad. It had happened in many places as a sign of the bad things going to happen in the nation. When sin is more and the faithful loose their faith St Mary used to do such a miracles to bring back the nation to the faith and repentance. As mother of the faithful (Rev 12:17) she is crying on behalf of us as fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus. Luke 23:28 “
But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves, and for your children”. What Message St Mary wants to say to the world?
John 2:5 “His mother said unto the servants, what so ever he says unto you, do it.” John 19:25-26 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Dear brethren, it is occasion to come back to our mother Mary, the mother of Our Lord, the gift that Our Lord has given to the disciples whom he loves more, to those who follow Jesus until the
cross like John, in truth and faith. Let us receive the gift of our God with full heart and shall follow her word, “Do what He says unto you” The word of God is the mouth and the message of God.

Let us pray

Oh! Loving Holy Mother,

We praise you for the tears that you shed for our revival.

Blessed Mother of our Lord prays for us sinners.

Help us to keep ourselves in purity in our thoughts, words and actions.
We worship your Son our Lord Jesus Christ for the precious gift that he presented to us.
Help us to be wise and worship God in truth.
Help us to realize the message that God want to convey through miracles.
Help us to experience the blessing through the intersession of you and the saints both living and departed.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

We should Love Our Mother --A Spiritual War

We should Love Our MotherFor us Syrian Orthodox believers we have three Mothers.
1) Erthly Mother Those who give us physical birth.
2) Our Stepmother (Church) who brought up us in Spirit
3) Our Mother Mary who gave birth to Our Lord Jesus Christ
She is our Protector, who protect us from evil spirit.Let us be thankful to our Mothers...........So that we may live long........

When I speak of the church and the mother of our Lord a satanic Pentecostal came to fight with me. By the grace of God and the protection of St. Mary and all the saints and angels I fought against him, The liar the devil who was from the very beginning send the His wrath against me. He tried to say that we can’t call our church as a mother and St Mary as our spiritual mother and protector. It is totally against the teachings of our Holy Fathers. God helped me to fight against him. In between he tried to blame me accuse me and tease with all lie. One of my friend who read my postings in the orkut asked me to put it together and make it in order, he said it nicely you beaten him. Glory to the Lord. It is with the prayer of our Mother and all saints God strengthened me with his sward.

I started like this. As a part of the Satanic Pentecostal Cult you don’t have the right to utter a single word in the Holy Church and about the Holy Church. If you want to argue with us, sorry we are not here for that. It is not the way of the saints. “But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” 1Cor.11:16. I am saying about my Church and my believes. As a Satanic Pentecostal cult you don’t have the church and nature of Holy Church then there is no matter of talking you about the Church. But for my brothers in this forum I would like to say some words about it.

In writings of our Holy fathers it is very clear that the church is our mother and we are her seed. The liturgy of our church says we are the children of our church. Even Bible (Only the part and the product of the church) says we are the children of the Holy Church, the bride of our Lord Jesus Christ. (We are the children of Jesus as he is the creator of whole universe, we are the brothers of Jesus Christ as he gave us that right, and we are his Bride as we are the part of the Holy Church of Jesus Christ.)
According to the Syrian Orthodox church Understanding Christian Family is defined as a domestic church, a church where God is worshiped as the Lord.

At the time of Baptism of Our church we used to sing
“One has delivered and other one is looking after it”.
“Oruval Pettu mattoruval pottunnu….”Church is the one who is responsible to look after the child who is dedicated to the Lord, on the day of Baptism. It is the responsibility of the parents and all the Christian fellow beings to cater the kids in divine Spirit.
(St. Cyprian, De unit. 6: PL 4, 519).a saint of the church says"No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother" Mothers are loved by their families, and the love of a mother for her sons and daughters knows no bounds. They carried us lovingly in the womb for a period. We have partaken of her goodness, fed on her and developed within her. She has lovingly carried us and to her great joy has given us birth and brought us into this world. From then on she has been there for us to feed us and give us physical growth. She has ensured for our education. As a family she has acted as intermediary with other members, especially our father, from us to him, and to him from us, she intermediates in both directions, and with our brothers and sisters she has ensure that we have acted out of love and charity at all times. I have always liked the idea of church as mother, ever since I was made aware of it. From the above passage on mothers, reading it again, it is not difficult to see the similarities.

The Church like our mother, cares for her sons and daughters, and provides spiritual food for growth in the faith. She ensures for our education, and has tried to ensure that we act out of love and charity with our brothers and sisters at all times. She has been our mediator with God the father, through the power invested in her by Jesus Christ His son, and our brother. Off course, the mothering relationship in human terms and spiritual terms whilst in some ways similar, are in others totally different. I see my mother giving up her life for me; I see her constant concern for me personally, which maybe isn't there from the church all the time. May be the Church is a mother when we go to her as sons and daughters in need, but a mother is always mothering us, twenty four hours a day, whether we are approaching her or not. We are always on her mind. We love our mother, not because she possesses qualities which surpass those of other human beings, but for the simple fact that she is our mother. She might not posses some virtues to the same degree as others, but she is our mother never-the-less and that is why we love her. Because of whom she is, not because of what she is. This is also true of the Church I think. The church has its faults, its weaknesses, and there are moments of which we are ashamed to claim her as our "mother". However, love her we do, because she is our mother, and because our brother Jesus loved her, with all her shortcomings and gave his life for her.
So, in the physical sphere we are given birth, educated, fed and given growth by our earthly mother, so we are also given birth, educated, fed and given growth by our spiritual mother. I think the idea of Church as mother is a helpful one for communicating a good image of church. Although some people do not have a good idea of their mother, I think most people will be able to understand the emotions and the terms of the relationship of which we can speak. Another aspect of this model which can be expanded is the idea of the family unit as a symbol of church, and of the church as being a family unit. The mother-model of the church is suited to this idea. More over like my earthly mother helps me to know and love my father, it is my mother “church” helped me to know my triune almighty who had given his life for me and equipped me to love and worship him in true spirit.
Regarding St Mary
You Pentecostal cults are antichristian because you are witnessing not the Christ who born from perpetual Virgin Mary. You are witnessing antichrist, a christ born out of a prodigal girl. We don’t know who he is and what you are. Our Lord is born out of Virgin Mary, and Our Lord’s Mother is ever Virgin. If your lord’s mother is ever virgin let us speak about her. You are now the part of Satanic Cult. It is very clear from the word of God that the spirit in you was from the very beginning to blame the faithful. You don’t have the Blessed body and bread of Our Lord (Holy Qurbono) then how can you understand what we are speaking. I am sad about you.When we partake the Holy body of Jesus Christ we become the part of the mystical body of Jesus Christ. Thus we become the part of His life and He becomes the part of our Life. When we think in that line what we have and what we own is His and What he is what he owns is ours. As St. Mary is the mother and beloved to Our Lord she is our Mother and beloved to us, her offspring.
Rev. 12: 17 “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”It is very clear from these words that 1. And the dragon was wroth with the woman (St Mary), 2. And went to make war with the remnant of her seed (Children of St Mary)3. Which keep the commandments of God (Those who keep the commandment of God is the seed/offspring of St Mary)4. And have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ is the seed/offspring of St Mary)I think you may got brother evrything………….I am Sorry to say you satanic………please try to realize the truth……..God loves you…….Try to understand the word of God in Love of Him, believe in the word of GOD like a child. Don’t be prejudiced……….Don’t allow Satan to be win over you…..
Please read St John 6 Jesus Came to world to give us life. He chose the bread and wine as the means to give us His life, for that he established the Holy Qurbono. Some of the apostles and many gathered there couldn’t believe that what our Lord said. At the end of the chapter: Lord called Jude who didn’t believe in the body and blood of Our Lord as Satan (evil)…….. On the day of lat supper when he (Jude) took the body and blood of our Lord with out believing that as the body and blood of our Lord, Satan entered into him. Brother we want you to be saved.


What is the difference between Satan and God?
Satan looks negatives in every positive. God looks Positives in every negatives. You the satanic cult who cannot see any positive in Holy Virgin Mary…..the mother of all Christians. I would like to conclude by saying that as Orthodox Christians, we are also reminded of our mother Mary in this model. It is worth noting that she has also been seen as a model of the Church. In my opinion the magnificent of the mother of our Lord, can easily be seen as a song of the church militant.
It is the nature of the Satan to play with words; He will never hesitate to quote the word of God. The same we can see in what Satan did during the temptation of Jesus.
Then said these words
I have also passed my B.D. and we have learnt that there are two ways to interpreting the bible, exegesis and eisegesis. I think you are familiar with that. Exegesis is studying the text in the context and then interpreting it and eisegesis is put our ideas into the text without understandng the context. That is exactly what you have done in the verses.What you are doing is eisegesis. It is very clear from your words below. Satan always looks at negative when his pet areas which have kept people in bondage for ages are attacked. Satan does want people to go free. This is Moses cry to Pharoah, "Let my people go free!"

I said to him….
You quoted the word of Moses here to say that Satan don’t want there people to free from bondage. What you want to say? Are we in bondage…….? You are the satanic one wants us to be misguided by quoting this word….ye how we can be under bondage of Satan. We are against Satan…..We are not in bondage. In church we are enjoying communion with our Lord and fellowship of his Holy angels, saints….. and all. Church is the Body of Christ, who bears the body and blood of Christ. You are the one in bondage….. and you want others to be in that bondage.It is the word of God says from the very beginning the serpent who deceiving the children of God there to fight against the Church and its offspring.
Then he again said The church is called to love. Father, you know what these hate messages have done to the church in Kerala. Please be aware of your vocation as Christ's servant. Even on the cross Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

I said; this is another technique of Satan. Always want to be good and using the word love in unnecessary ways. For us children of God the word hate is very important...……… For you satanic cult there is no word of hatred in your dictionary. Because you satanic cult if you hate anything there will be nobody in your side…………Dear brother I love you but I hate your deceitful words, and your master Satan, the antichrist.
He said that “the children of God will go free whether you like it or not.”
I saidDear brother Children of God will not go anywhere because those who walk in light will never deviate at anytime from the path…………
Are we in Bondage? We are in Bondage when we do sin and when we disobey the commandment of God Rom 13: 1-ff

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

For you satanic cult in each and everything there is multi meaning, you say being the part of the mystical body of Christ (Holy Church) is bondage, but for us by obeying our Spiritual Authority and be the part of our Church we are obeying the word of God. For you people we can’t call anything more than satanic because you are deceiving the people of God. You are misinterpreting the word of God.It is not myself even the Word of God speaks you are the Satanic antichristian who lead people to darkness.Let me Quote from our beloved Kaniyamparambil AchanIsn’t it good to hear the Lord's words from anyone? Why ban people?

It is good to learn the Lords words from anyone, as long as the person teaching refrains from giving his or her self-interpretation. Unfortunately this is not the case most of the time. They add, alter, and interpret the Lord’s words for their own gain. Apostles barred these kinds of teachers and barred people from going to listen to these people’s teachings. This is because of the fact that believers can easily be misguided. For example, the serpent that entered Eden never told Eve that there was no God or that one should not obey nor worship Him. All he did was to give a small lecture that if one eats the fruit, he or she will be like God. Eve listened thinking that God asked them not to eat the fruit because God feared of them becoming like Him (Her own interpretation). Subsequently she ‘made a decision’ to eat the fruit without thinking about the consequences. She even enticed Adam to eat the same fruit. Today’s heretics and ‘modern day teachers’ do the same thing - i.e. create doubts and confusion in the minds of people. This will create doubts regarding the truth. If people who stayed with the Holy Trinity were swayed by a small lecture, what would be the fate of ordinary people, if one were exposed to false teachings?
Lets us again see what the apostles ordered the church members to do:“I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create dissension’s and obstacles, in opposition to the teaching that you learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the innocent.” (Roman 16:17) Please read 2 Cor. 11: 4-15. “But I am afraid that just as the serpent through his deceitfulness misled Eve, so your minds should be corrupted from the sincerity that is in Christ. For if he who has come to you preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you have received another spirit, which you had not received or another gospel, which you had not accepted, you might have listened to him” (2 Cor. 11:3-4). “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, who masquerade as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. So it is not strange that his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” (2 Cor. 13-15). Paul gives us such strong messages. If Paul felt that, listening to anyone preaching would not be a problem, he would not have issued such strong messages. From the above advice from Paul, we should understand that many of the preachers or ministers could be false apostles and deceitful workers. John also has issued similar warnings. Now the question is ‘who is telling the truth?’ Is it the new advisers and interpreters that have mushroomed recently or that which was taught (and) practiced from the time of the apostles?

For you Pentecostals
* You don’t have to follow 10 commandments (because you say you are not under the Law) *There is no the Lord’s Prayer to you which our Lord taught his disciples. *There is no confession which God established for the remission of Sin for you satanic cults because you say you are already saved (?), but you are still in your sins.*You don’t have the Holy Qurbono established by our Lord. (St. John 6)*You deny the priestly authority God given to the apostles and its successors. *You deny the anointing the sick by the Holy oil. *You don’t have the Holy Christian Baptism. Through which we become the son of God. And which is for our resurrection and rebirth. *You say you have bible, But we say we have bible and that bible is made by us (Church) for the sake of the church. What we can call you brother……Please go back to the true church of God.
I have nothing with you brother please….. please understand the truth. Please read the links which I posted above.

This is what you do always…… just running around the bush. Another thing for your notice "Our Church' is the one who made this bible and the Church is not the byproduct of Bible. The satanic Pentecostals are the cult which formed out of pried, greedy, selfishness, and ignorance and using the bible for their own way. Thus we call you wolves among us. Children know who their mother is and who their father is. I am not interested to discuss with you more. Even if God says you directly you won’t change.
Getting BD is nothing Man. I know after all what BD is and how much you got through that BD. It is not the human intellect that leads the church it is the wisdom of God revealed to our Holy fathers speaks through our liturgy, especially our Promiyoon Sedra of our church.... Which is more important and most Holy as Bible.
I think you may read the following things before you join in this community.......What you learned from BD, some rubbish Pentecostal things meaningless dialogues......You should learn what the fathers of the church said and how the early Christian community believed and lived. That you should learn from the church. How as an outsider you can judge the church and its teachings............For us again I say our Church and St. Mary is our mother. Like a hen protect their chicken under its wings. Our mother Mary covers us and protects us, with her holiness, those who depend on her intercession will be protected from all sins.

Dear brother you may say that you are never doing sin.......But God knows.....If you are under big sins.....if there is any time of temptation you pray hail Mary full of grace. It is sure that she will be there for your support and you can get out and get away from the sins.I know personally many who came out of the Pentecostals and protestant cults witnessed that.......what are the heresies they attributed to St Mary they entered into the same sins, and they where continued the same physical and mortal sins for many times.

Please try to understand the saints and follow their Holy life......and their holy teaching. http://www.armenianchurchlibrary.com/files/wolves_among_us_frkrikorandyeghiahairabedian.pdfIt is the history of Many man made Pentecostal cults like you and how it originated and how was the life of its founders.







Then he accepted and said in this way.

This is what I have been saying right through. Even St. Francis of Asissi prayer Mary to pray to the Lord for the forgiveness of our sins. Nothing more, nothing less. This is the Gospel. We all want forgiveness of our sins through the death of Christ. He does not go beyond that. Again, in both prayers, he salutes her for her virtues. Every true believer will salute the virtues of Mary. There is no doubt of all the virtues for her faith. We have not contradicted that.
I again said to him@ Ipe what ever things you say............at least you accepted one truth I am happy about that. Dear Ipe your dialogues are very cunning and in between you are putting some “masalas” For this I called you devil. Cheating the believers with sweet words. This is what your master did in Aden with the Eve. Using sweet words and putting lie in-between. For us true believers our yes is yes and no is no. There is no compromise. The saints Saluted not only the virtues of St Mary rather they saluted the person. That is why St Aphrem Said


For us the fellowship of saints is for our protection and they intercede on behalf of us……..this is the apostolic teaching and even St. Paul ask the believers to pray for him as it is in the church of saints.
Then he tried to attack me personally saying the following words.
All you want is people to blindly stick to "what the your concept of what the church is" so that you may enjoy all the priveleges of priesthood Yes true brother I want my People should know the Lord and should believe in true faith. When they began to know and love their church they will know what the church (want to say them) what our forefathers taught us. The holy saints like Mor Ephrem the Syrian who is accepted even by the catholic church as the saint and Doctor of the Church……..what 1st-4th century saints taught us.
Here is no matter of freedom in the church….It is not me develop the faith of the church. It is Holy spirit who revealed the truth to the world through the Apostols and saints like Mor Ephrem and Our Holy fathers like Mor Gregoriose Parumala.Rom 13: 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.One more thing brother, in our Church each of our believers have the inner freedom……You are the one who want others follow you blindly even though you are blind. It is not me or our Spiritual authority who leads the church. It is the Holy Spirit who works in each and every one of the church who lead the church. It is the members of the church who lead by the Holy Spirit govern the church with its elders.

You said “So that I can enjoy all the privileges of priesthood. Dear brother we are not the ‘Masters’ in the garden of our Lord. Rather we are the servants in the pastures. We are not like you liars who get tithe every month from the people and who lead them to darkness. As priest if you say we are enjoying the privilege, it is true we deserve it and it is the people of God who love us give us these all sorts of respect and supports, but personally I am not accepting any offer or anything from anyone….. You are the devil who wants to bring people into confusion by putting this much cheap silly statements. As St. Paul says in Rom 13: 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Dear brother we deserve everything but we don’t want anything. But for you evil Pentecostal cult if anyone didn’t pay tithe for a month he will be out of your cult. Because you want them only for money.
Dear brother now your real colour came out He continued his words like this.And when that is threatened you get into such an attack which is unchristian and a shame to the cassock you profess to wear. I hope your own sheep expose what you really are, "wolves in sheep's clothing."
I said to Him.Dear brother I don’t have time to sing lullaby to you…………and I am not ready to give you a seat in our ship………..you are the thief…………..How I can bear you brother……..I pray for you to God to pardon you for your personal attack on me. But I can’t bear you or pardon you when you speak lie about the God, the word of God, His church and its saints.

In between one of the saintly person belongs to our Sister catholic Church said in this way…….

Sons of Darkness---Wolf in in disguise
Ipe proved him self to be a lier and a fraud.He proved himself to be part of one of satanic pentecostal cult.It is of these frauds Jesus called wolfs in disguise.MOST of the new age churches are composed of A SATANIC CULT MASTER , his agents called pastors who get money from the cult master ,some mental patients , and 80 % of brainwashed innocent fellows, who consider the cult master as a Godly person .The cult master usually make his customization (false interpretation ) of some of the bible verses and start a new cult which he call a new church)CULT MASTER takes money from the rich innocent brainwashed fools ,who believe by giving money to him they can reach heaven.By this money THE CULT MASTER live Like a King and agents get a job for their daily food, canvassing fools for his BOSS, the CULT MASTER.There are more than 1000 of such satanic Pentecostal cults, which teach contradictory things.Either God is deceiver or they are satanic deceivers who tell lies for money and power.
Please ban IPe
Please ban IPe who tries to spread satanic pentecostal cult ideas.
To moderators
Even devil quote from BibileThere are pentecostal cults which quotes to praise homosexuality.Pentecostal cults quote bible to call "Obama" , "Putin" etc as anti christ.They quote bible and predicted end of world so many times.They quote bible to preach lawlessness and to claim they are already saved.Kindly do not give chance to agents of devil , who are disguised as lambs.
@IpeYou are again continuing your blame and lie. Dear brother if our Leaders travel in the benze or corolla or anything it is because of us. They are our spiritual fathers and we are proud of that.... This I say the cunningness in your words.......You want to pull the pity hearts down........You are a pastor or not that is not a matter. You are the one who belongs to the chain. I know many Pentecostal and I am well known about the percentage you share from top to bottom. Rev 12: 9 and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Dear brother you are the one who we call devil, you are the one who criticize the church and the teachings of the church. It is the word says, our Lord have caste down you from the very beginning. You are the Lucifer, who blame the children of God and blame in every silly thing in whole day and night.

He again asked me the reason for that I called the Church and St
Mary as mothers.

I said him

I have already answered to your questions in my second postings…….there is no more answerAs a full human being our Lord Jesus was protected by Mother Mary when he was child. And she was protected by St Joseph when she carried our Lord in her Womb.What you mean by protection and salvation?As an earthly mother our mother protected us from all the dangers in the world, when we where kids. We all know that it is through her God worked. If you say no it is not your mother protected you from all dangers, it is the God who protected me, I will say that’s true God is all and God is the inspiration for her to do so, or God equipped her to do so. It is good to say God Almighty is everything and he is all at all time that is the sign of divinity. My God is not a selfish one like you and me. It is the God himself make saints worthy to be honored (not worshiped) by others. Just think a house got fire, and if a child is inside... His mother…. at any cost will go inside and fetch that child…because its her child. Will she do it if it’s her cousin or some one..? Some times!!!
True that means our mother will protect us. For that she is willing to leave her life or danger her life. If earthly mom are truly filled with holy sprit.. She will save her child from doing evil things…..for eg:…. just think about St. Augustine...Only his mom’s tears made him a saint... Being protector doesn’t mean that being a savior or redeemer. I and you can’t ever say I am a holy I am a saint I am all and I am worthy to praise. But we will say those who lived as per the word of God by partake the Holy Qurbono is Holy and saint. It is the spirit in the Lord through.
Whom our father raised his only begotten son will raise the dead (saints). It is partaking the Holy Communion with holiness and leave in holiness merit the saints to be worthy for their resurrection. The mother protects her kids from all harms and malice, definitely protection is the act performed by God through Man.
If you say the use of the term protection is not correct. Then how we can say the earthly mother protecting her kids. If so our mother Mary is with us for our protection. From all evil spirits attacks evil thoughts and from all evil wretched acts. As she is mother who promised by God Almighty to St John she is our Mother. It is long after her ascension in to the heavenly aboard St John said that she is the mother of all true Christians who witness Jesus Christ and follow the commandment of God. Rev. 12:17.Do you accept this word of St John as she is our Spiritual mother? No because you have nothing with our Lord and His Mother. For St John Mother Mary is his mother. Not only his mother, the Mother of all human being. Elizabeth and all apostles addressed St. Mary as mother; St Luke is very specific when he uses the term mother when he addresses St Mary.

But you Pentecostals are hesitate even to pronounce the word of our Mother Mary. I didn’t mean the word protection as creation or salvation or redemption. The word protection may use in different ways. You don’t know who is a saint and what the role of saints in the church is. Then how can you know that how Mary is our protector. It is the promise of our Lord to the world at the time of the ascension of St. Mary that in all the malice He will protect the world if she intercedes to our Lord on behalf of us. You liar devil cannot understand this truth. Because you are born out of lie and continuing the same. Do you know how Mary protected the people of India Including your Grand Mothers at time of Tippu Sulthan……. There is a social and cultural basis of starting 8 Nombu perunnal in kerala.

During the time of Tipu when the army tried to maltreat and rape the people of God especially women, they began to pray gathered at Manargad Church and request for the intercession of St Mary. At the end there was a great flood and all the army of Tipu went back many died of this flood. Thus our women in the Kerala got escaped. This is the way our Mother protect us from all the dangers and malice.

As Jance said the time is over to ban the satanic pentacostals

Rev.12:1 സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ വലിയൊരു അടയാളം കാണായി: സൂര്യനെ അണിഞ്ഞോരു സ്ത്രീ (St Mary); അവളുടെ കാൽക്കീഴ് ചന്ദ്രനും അവളുടെ തലയിൽ പന്ത്രണ്ടു നക്ഷത്രംകൊണ്ടുള്ള കിരീടവും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു.12:2 അവൾ ഗർഭിണിയായി നോവുകിട്ടി വേദനപ്പെട്ടു നിലവിളിച്ചു.12:3 സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ മറ്റൊരു അടയാളം കാണായി: ഏഴു തലയും പത്തു കൊമ്പും തലയിൽ ഏഴു രാജമുടിയുമായി തീനിറമുള്ളോരു മഹാസർപ്പം.12:4 അതിന്റെ വാൽ ആകാശത്തിലെ നക്ഷത്രങ്ങളിൽ മൂന്നിലൊന്നിനെ വലിച്ചുകൂട്ടി ഭൂമിയിലേക്കു എറിഞ്ഞുകളഞ്ഞു. പ്രസവിപ്പാറായ സ്ത്രീ(St Mary) പ്രസവിച്ച ഉടനെ കുട്ടിയെ തിന്നുകളവാൻ മഹാസർപ്പം അവളുടെ മുമ്പിൽ നിന്നു.12:5 അവൾ സകലജാതികളെയും ഇരിമ്പുകോൽ കൊണ്ടു മേയ്പാനുള്ളോരു ആൺകുട്ടിയെ പ്രസവിച്ചു; (Jesus Christ) കുട്ടി ദൈവത്തിന്റെ അടുക്കലേക്കും അവന്റെ സിംഹാസനത്തിലേക്കും പെട്ടെന്നു എടുക്കപ്പെട്ടു.(Jesus’s Death, resurrection and Asscention to Heaven)
12:6 സ്ത്രീ മരുഭൂമിയിലേക്കു(Heaven/ Paradise) ഓടിപ്പോയി; അവിടെ അവളെ ആയിരത്തിരുനൂറ്ററുപതു ദിവസം പോറ്റേണ്ടതിന്നു ദൈവം ഒരുക്കിയോരു സ്ഥലം അവൾക്കുണ്ടു.

Repeating the same incident in another way in the following words.12:7 പിന്നെ സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ യുദ്ധം ഉണ്ടായി; മീഖായേലും അവന്റെ ദൂതന്മാരും മഹാസർപ്പത്തോടു പടവെട്ടി; തന്റെ ദൂതന്മാരുമായി മഹാസർപ്പവും പടവെട്ടി ജയിച്ചില്ലതാനും.12:8 സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ അവരുടെ സ്ഥലം പിന്നെ കണ്ടതുമില്ല. 12:9 ഭൂതലത്തെ മുഴുവൻ തെറ്റിച്ചുകളയുന്ന പിശാചും സാത്താനും എന്ന മഹാസർപ്പമായ പഴയ പാമ്പിനെ ഭൂമിയിലേക്കു തള്ളിക്കളഞ്ഞു; അവന്റെ ദൂതന്മാരെയും അവനോടു കൂടെ തള്ളിക്കളഞ്ഞു.12:10 അപ്പോൾ ഞാൻ സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ ഒരു മഹാശബ്ദം പറഞ്ഞുകേട്ടതു: ഇപ്പോൾ നമ്മുടെ ദൈവത്തിന്റെ രക്ഷയും ശക്തിയും രാജ്യവും അവന്റെ ക്രിസ്തുവിന്റെ ആധിപത്യവും തുടങ്ങിയിരിക്കുന്നു; (By the Incarnation of our Lord itself the majesty of our Lord started in the world that is why Jesus said Kingdom is among you.) നമ്മുടെ സഹോദരന്മാരെ രാപ്പകൽ ദൈവ സന്നിധിയിൽ കുറ്റം ചുമത്തുന്ന അപവാദിയെ തള്ളിയിട്ടുകളഞ്ഞുവല്ലോ.12:11 അവർ (saints) അവനെ കുഞ്ഞാടിന്റെ രക്തം ഹേതുവായിട്ടു ജയിച്ചു; മരണപര്യന്തം തങ്ങളുടെ പ്രാണനെ സ്നേഹിച്ചതുമില്ല. (Saints sacrifised their life for Christ)12:12 ആകയാൽ സ്വർഗ്ഗവും അതിൽ വസിക്കുന്നവരുമായുള്ളോരേ, (Saints are Living in the Heaven) ആനന്ദിപ്പിൻ; ഭൂമിക്കും സമുദ്രത്തിനും അയ്യോ കഷ്ടം; പിശാചു തനിക്കു അല്പകാലമേയുള്ളു എന്നു അറിഞ്ഞു മഹാക്രോധത്തോടെ നിങ്ങളുടെ അടുക്കൽ ഇറങ്ങിവന്നിരിക്കുന്നു.12:13 തന്നെ ഭൂമിയിലേക്കു തള്ളിക്കളഞ്ഞു എന്നു മഹാസർപ്പം കണ്ടിട്ടു ആൺകുട്ടിയെ പ്രസവിച്ചസ്ത്രീയെ ഉപദ്രവിച്ചുതുടങ്ങി. (From the very beginning when she conceived our Lord the world evil spirit through the evil man like Herod, Nestor, in these days protestants, Pentecostals, fanatic Muslims, fanatic Hindus and all other non Christian sects and their leaders)12:14 അപ്പോൾ സ്ത്രീക്കു മരുഭൂമിയിൽ തന്റെ സ്ഥലത്തെക്കു പറന്നുപോകേണ്ടതിന്നു വലിയ കഴുകിന്റെ രണ്ടു ചിറകുലഭിച്ചു; (Assention of St Mary to the Paradise witnessed by the apostles especially St. Thomas) അവിടെ അവളെ സർപ്പത്തോടു അകലെ ഒരുകാലവും ഇരുകാലവും അരക്കാലവും പോറ്റി രക്ഷിച്ചു.

12:15 സർപ്പം സ്ത്രീയെ ഒഴുക്കിക്കളയേണ്ടതിന്നു അവളുടെ പിന്നാലെ തന്റെ വായിൽ നിന്നു നദിപോലെ വെള്ളം ചാടിച്ചു. (Still he is continuing it through the anti-christians who say St Mary is not the Mother of God and the mother of all true Christians)12:16 എന്നാൽ ഭൂമി സ്ത്രീക്കു തുണനിന്നു; മഹാസർപ്പം വായിൽനിന്നു ചാടിച്ച നദിയെ ഭൂമി വായ്തുറന്നു വിഴുങ്ങിക്കളഞ്ഞു.12:17 മഹാസർപ്പം സ്ത്രീയോടു കോപിച്ചു, ദൈവകല്പന പ്രമാണിക്കുന്നവരും യേശുവിന്റെ സാക്ഷ്യം ഉള്ളവരുമായി അവളുടെ സന്തതിയിൽ ശേഷിപ്പുള്ളവരോടു യുദ്ധം ചെയ്‍വാൻ പുറപ്പെട്ടു; അവൻ കടല്പുറത്തെ മണലിന്മേൽ നിന്നു.Dear brethren even though our mother is with us for our Protection she want us to be holy like her. All saints wish the same from us. That is why our Holy Mother told us “Listen to Him”. We should listen the word of God. We should live according to His commandments. Obey the Ten Commandments of the Lord is the way to heaven. The Whole bible is the interpretation of 10 commandments, the way how we disobey the commandments, the way how we can keep this 10 commandments. St Ephrem SaidQuotes from St Ephraim on Intercessory Prayer:"Remember me, ye heirs of God, ye brethren of Christ; supplicate the Savior earnestly for me, that I may be freed through Christ from him that fights against me day by day."(From 'The Fear at the End of Life')"Ye victorious martyrs who endured torments gladly for the sake of the God and Savior, ye who have boldness of speech toward the Lord Himself, ye saints, intercede for us who are timid and sinful men, full of sloth, that the grace of Christ may come upon us, and enlighten the hearts of all of us that so we may love Him."(From the Commentary on Mark)Read a Hymn from St Ephraim's Spiritual Psalter: "How many times have I promised, yet every time I failed to keep my word; but disregard this according to Thy grace.."St. Ephrem the Syrian saysWhen then Enemy sees that Christ, the true Light, is with us, he will not dare to look at us at all, for the light that is in us blinds his eyes.
Dear Brother when we receive the word of God we becomes lightened because we are receiving the word. He Pentecostals are blind in different degrees because from them evil spirit hide the Word, or true meaning of word.So go to the Word of God like a child who jump to his father’s hand with hope. Don’t allow any external things like a person or material thing influence you. Let the Holy Spirit interpret it to you, and check it with our Holy Father’s writings for the proof that it is revealed by the Holy Spirit and we were not cheated by the satan.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Eternal Life


Life is eternal in Christ

Life is eternal in Christ. Jesus says, “Those who believe in the Son of Man have the eternal Life”. Syrian Orthodox Church believes that life is eternal in Christ. The short period of life in this earth is a part of the long span of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Here is an attempt to explain the historical and biblical understanding about the life, death and resurrection of mankind.

What was the situation of man when he was created by God?
When God created Adam and Eve, God created them in His likeness and image. The Syrian church fathers interpreted this likeness and image as the state of immortality and the power of co-creation. When God created Adam like God, he was immortal. Genesis 1:26-31 and 2:19-20 present man both as created from the dust of the earth and as after the image and likeness of God. God also has entrusted man the stewardship of the earth. Therefore patristic tradition sees in man a microcosm of the universe, encompassing both the spiritual and material aspects of creation.
When man worships God, his worship is two fold -spiritual and physical. In this act, man joins the angels and all spiritual creations in the never-ending liturgy of eternal worship since he too is a spiritual being. As partaker and steward of physical creation, man worships on behalf of the physical universe, joining the cosmos in the proclamation of the glory of God (Psalm 19:1-4). What then is a better instrument for God's worship than the voice of the one who represents all creation? For this reason the Orthodox Church worships God using human voice as its sole musical instrument.
When death comes to the world?

When Adam disobeyed the commandment of the Lord, he was set apart from the fellowship of God. He was not able to worship God after having the fruit. As the word of God says the death happened in his life. Syrian fathers interpret it as Adam becoming sick after having the fruit, than the spiritual death.

This spiritual death of Adam is mentioned in the Kohanaitho (book for the funeral service of the priest) as

Kalpana lan-ki-chappo-zha-ngadam
Nishprabhanai theernnu.
Pambum havvaa-yum moolam hantha bahishkruthanayonam
Sunnaranamadamine ortheeren mar kanneer thooki.

When Adam disobeyed the commandment of the Lord… He Lost his spirit (became dark).
The angels dropped tears looking on Adam who was dead because of the serpent and Eve.

The word of God says that the fruit of sin is death.
So Adam died spiritually as well.

Then what is Paradise?

Paradise is the place where the spiritual being is alive. It is the place where man can experience the presence of God, the place where God and the spiritual man meet together and enter into dialogue every day.

Phardaiso eeesaw dooyoro d keene.
Phardaiso eesaw shkeentho d’onwoye.
Phardaiso eesaw haaye dlomauphen
Phardaiso eesaw gnoono dlo phothar
Thoobawla man dashwe dnehave beh yorho.

Hsheemo- Daily prayer book of Syrian Orthodox Church, Friday Midnight prayer.

Paradise is the place of righteous.
Paradise is the dwelling of monks (onwoye)
Paradise is life without end
Paradise is the marriage feast (chamber) which does not pass away,
Blessed is he who is found worthy to have an inheritance there.




Where was Adam after his spiritual death?

After the spiritual death Adam lost the paradise. Even though he was physically alive he was not at all able to face the Lord and praise the Lord. He was in darkness and his thought was only in physical realm. So he felt ashamed. The curse of the Lord came upon Adam.

Second Adam A medicine for the wounded sin of First Adam

Blessed be the shepherd, who becamethe lamb our atonement!Blessed be the Vine shoot, which becamethe chalice for our salvation!Blessed also be the Grape,the source of the Medicine of Life!Blessed also be the Farmer, who becamethe wheat which was sownand the sheaf which was harvested!(Hymn on Nativity 3:15)

As Mor Ephrem says “incarnated Son of God, the light of world, the fruit of the firstborn, has incarnated to enlighten Adam from his darkness. He became a medicine for the wounded Adam.

The first Adam lost his image and likeness when he committed sin. The second Adam said that He was sent by the Lord to restore this image and likeness of God in Adam.

St John 6: 38- 50 says
“38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
41 The Jews then murmured at Him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.42 And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, I came down from heaven?43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves.44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Isiah 54:13 Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.48 I am that bread of life.49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
By the death, Jesus the Son of God becomes the ransom for us. By His resurrection He became our source of resurrection.

What Happens to those who die in Christ.

Jesus, our source of life and resurrection, says in Luke Chapter 20: 35-38
35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
37 Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he call the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
To God, no human being is dead, or ever will be; but all sustain an abiding conscious relation to Him. But the "all" here meant "those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world." These sustain a gracious covenant relation to God, which cannot be dissolved. In this sense our Lord affirms that for Moses to call the Lord the "God" of His patriarchal servants if at that moment they had no existence, would be unworthy of Him. He "would be ashamed to be called their God, if He had not prepared for them a city"

In Luke 20: 38 God says “All live unto Him”. ie; All spiritual man lives unto Him.

In St Mark Gospel Jesus warned the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection and in the eternal life of the human being (Mark 12:18) by saying “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. Mark (12: 26-27)
To those who not believe in the resurrection and eternal life of spiritual man Jesus says “Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? (Mark 12: 20)”

It is very clear from the Word of God that those who deny the resurrection of the dead and life after the physical death of the human being do not believe in the power of God. They are not aware of the power of God

What happens to a faithful after his/her physical death?

The life of Moses will give us an answer to this question

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not brings against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. (Jude 1: 9)

In the Kohanaitho (Liturgy for the funeral service of the Syrian Orthodox Priests) this incident is mentioned in a beautiful way.

Bmawtheth mooshe makeeko eere raumo Nhez leekore
wahloph kohane velvoye moriyo othooro maphe wole
Shapheer wolo lgooro thnoorone
Vathroohone Kaathkoymo hdoraw shaapheer vole L moro
d kulahen baryozo
Kaath kabro kom vamaaphe lreesho
d koolo banbeeyoozo Thaw nesmarle,
Shubaho lamaphe abdaaw
hale-lluyaah Leh theshbuhatho.

Moosa Nibhi than
Maranathin Bahumaanaartham
Vannee-rea-nmaar
Aa-ja-ryan-po-l Avane yadakkam cheythudayoa-n shaylam-than-nil
chuttum ninno ragnyanmee-yanmaa-r.
Kkavanathyanda preethiprathanallo
Ni-bhiyan-maa-rthan thalavane nighila
Jagthnaadhan samskaa-ram-chey
thennathu paarthaa-lathu yogyam
Daasanmaare kabariladakeedunnone
halleluyah sth-othram cheyya-m

The transfigured body of Moses was taken into heaven by the angels of Lord. And he was visible to the Apostles later in the mount Thabore. (Luke 9:30)

It is very evident that those who please the Almighty as they are in the terrestrial life shall never die. They will surely leave the mortal flesh here, and will enter into a peaceful rest till the time of judgment. But those who remained just and got purged out of all earthly evils shall straight away reaches before the throne of the God, to praise him in his presence along with the four creatures and twenty four Patriarchs. The book of Revelation give witness to it, Rev 7: 14-15 “And I said unto him, sir, thou knowest, and he said unto me, these are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robe, and made them white in the blood of lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple, and He shall sit on the throne shall dwell among them.” So it is clear that clinical/physical death is not the end of all.

Two types of death in Bible

Bible speaks about two types of death. One is the Physical Death/ Clinical Death other one is the Spiritual death.
Physical Death/ Clinical Death
Genesis 25: 8 – 9 “ Then Abraham gave his Ghost and died, in a good old age, an old man and full of years and was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ismail buried him in the cave of Machpela. Deuteronomy 35: 5-6 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he was buried in a valley in the land of Moab. 1 Samuel 25:1 And Samuel died, all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him, and buried in his house at Ramah. It is undoubtedly clear that all the three of them had died and got buried in specific places. But where are they now? Are they not in connection with the God and in the Silence as the Psalmist says? Let’s see what the scripture says, Luke 16: 19-31 is the proof for the existence and the whereabouts of Abraham. 16: 13 and from hell the rich man lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Abraham is not lying dead in the Machpelah cave, but he is in the paradise. He is not in Silence, as seen from the following few verses of the dialogue between the rich man and Abraham. As we have seen Moses was buried by God in the Valley of Moab. Where is he now? What does the scripture say? Luke 9:30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, who were Moses and Elijah!So, Moses is still alive and is in the service of the Lord even after thousands of years of his death.

Now comes Prophet Samuel : We have seen that his body has been buried in Ramah. What happened to him after that? Ask Saul whom he ordained as the King of Israelites. 1 Samuel 28: 13-15: … woman said unto Saul I saw gods ascending out of the Earth. As he said unto her, what form is he of? And she said an old man cometh up; he is covered with a mantle and Saul perceived that it was Samuel, he stooped with his face to the ground. And Samuel said unto Saul, why hast though, disquieted me……In the following few verses Samuel Prophecies the death and destruction of Saul and his family.So, the Bible says that Godly men shifts off from the earth but remain alive and God uses them in His service even after death. From these incidents it is clear that clinical death is not the end. It is only the beginning of a new life with the God.

Spiritual Death

Spiritual Death means the separation of the Holy Spirit from a man because of his sinful deeds.

We can see that David Prayed to the Lord to restore the Holy Spirit in him

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit.” (Psalm 51:10 – 12)

We can come to the conclusion from the Words of God that spiritual death is the state of having no Holy Spirit/ right Spirit/ free Spirit.

In Psalm Chapter 115 David say

“Their idols are of silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speaks them through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” (Vs 4-8)

At the end of this chapter he again repeats that “The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.” The dead here meant by David as the one who make and worship idols.

Vs. 18 says about the state of a just who worship true God. “But we will praise the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.”

In Isaiah 8: 19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

In the above words those who are mentioned as dead by Isaiah is, who have familiar spirits, and the wizards that peep, and that mutter:

Those who have no Spirit of God are considered in the Bible as dead.

Rev. 3:1-2 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Here Lord says I have not found your work perfect before me and that you have a name that you are alive but you are dead. Here God warns them to be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die.
We can come to the better understanding that even though the human beings are physically alive they are dead before God when they commit sins.
Who deserves the resurrection from the dead and the eternal life?
Only those who are the part of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ are deserved to the resurrection from the dead and eternal life.
Jesus says……I am the Way, Truth and Life.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Bzultho Yoldas Aloho. St. Mary the Perpetual Virgin


Bzultho Yoldas Aloho. St. Mary the Perpetual Virgin
by Fr. George Varghese Vayaliparambil


Oh.. Mother of our Lord Please Pray For Us.
St. Mary the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ is a virgin of all times. Anti- Christians disagree with the perpetual virginity of St. Mary, something that has always been believed by Christians. In this article I'll be looking at some of the common arguments used and here is an attempt to find out the truth behind the word always put forth by the anti-Christians to challenge the virginity of St. Mary.
Mark 6:1-6: He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence at him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ And he could do no deed of power there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6And he was amazed at their unbelief.
The anti-Christians always used to quote this word to substantiate their claim that St. Mary is not a virgin (Sorry). When we go though the word of God we can see that there are 7 different women bear the name, Mary in the New Testament. 1, St. Mary, Mother of Jesus. 2, Mary, Mother of James and Joses, Mat 27:5, Mk 15:40, Lk 24:10. 3, Mary Magdalene from whom Jesus cast out 7 demons, Mk 16:9, Lk 8:2. 4, Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha Lk 10: 39-42, John 12:3-4. 5, Mary, Wife of Cleophas, Jn 19:25. 6, Mary, Mother of John Mark, AA12: 12. 7, Mary who greeted Paul at Rome, Rom 16:6.
Multiplicity of names, absence of clear identification to discern relationship between each of them and translation errors have contributed lot of confusion and gave room for many erroneous interpretations concerning blessed Mary, the mother of God. Here we need to make a deep study about the persons who bare the name of James, Jude, Simon and Joses in bible.
Simon.
We can find out five persons who bear the same name Simon.
A. Simon the Apostle: The name of Simon occurs in all the passages of the Gospel and Acts, in which a list of the Apostles is given. To distinguish him from St. Peter he is called (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18) Kananaios, or Canaanites, and Zealots (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). Both surnames have the same significance and are a translation of the Hebrew qana (the Zealous). The name does not signify that he belonged to the party of Zealots, but that he had zeal for the Jewish law, which he practiced before his call. Jerome and others wrongly assumed that Kana was his native place; where he should have been called Kanaios. The Greeks, Copts, and Ethiopians identify him with Nathanael of Cana; the first-mentioned also identify him with the bridegroom of the marriage of Cana, while in the "Chronicon paschale" and elsewhere he is identified with Simon Clopas.
B. Simon the Magician: He is person happen to meet St. Peter on his missionary journey to Samaria. We can see this event in Acts Chapter 8:9-24
C. Simon a Tanner: Who accommodated St. Peter in his house. We can trace out this man in Act. 9: 43 “And it came to pass, that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner.”
D. St Peter Simon: Saint Peter (Greek: Πετρος, Rock) (c.1–64 AD) was one of the Twelve Apostles, chosen by Jesus as one of his first disciples. He is prominently featured in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was a Galilean fisherman assigned a leadership role by Jesus. (Matthew 16:18) He was with Jesus during events witnessed by only a few apostles, such as the Transfiguration.[2] Early Christian writers provided more details about his life. St.John, chapter 1 Jesus addressed him as “son of John You shall be called Cephas"
E. Simon Iscariot: Simon Iscariot is the father of Jude Iscariot (John, chapter 6: 71, John, chapter 13: 26)
F. Simon from Cyrene: “As they led Jesus away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was coming into the city from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.” Luke 23: 26 It is clear that none of them were the son of St. Mary. It is clear that Simon the apostle was a Canaanite. St. Peter was elder to St. Mary and others were not close to Jesus.
Jude
A. Thaddeus (Judas, Brother/son of James) the Apostle
Thaddeus was one of the 12 Apostles. It is believed that he was also known as Judas, son of James (not to be confused with Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus). In some New Testament passages, the name Thaddeus appears among the list of 12 Apostles. But in other New Testament passages, the name Judas, son of James, appears instead. In ancient times, a person could have two or three different names, such as a Greek-language name and a Hebrew name. And, sometimes people were known primarily by their occupational title.
The name Thaddeus appears in the list of Apostles given in Matthew 10:3, between James, son of Alpheus, and Simon the Zealot. In Mark 3:18, the name Thaddeus appears, again, in the same placement. In Acts 1:13, however, a man named Judas, son of James, is listed below Simon. And in Luke 6:16, Judas (son of James), is listed again among the 12 Apostles, between Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. In John 14:22, there is a reference to Judas (not Iscariot) who spoke to Jesus. The two names, however, never appear in the same book, lending credence to the belief that they both refer to the same person. In Acts 1:13, Judas is referred to as the brother of James in the KJV Bible, yet in all of the newer versions, he is called the son of James. In Jude 1:1, it is witnessed by Jude himself as the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.
Why the difference in the translation, as either brother or son of James? The Greek phrase which used in the original text can honestly translated either way. The Greek phrase that is translated either "Judas the brother of James" or "Judas the son of James" comes from only two words in the Greek. The first is Judas and second is James. The declension of the nouns clearly shows the phrase to mean, "Judas of James." That means that the relationship is a close one and that Judas is related to James in a close family kinship. Therefore, Judas is almost certainly either a brother of James or a son of James. However, the phrase in and of itself does not make that distinction. In fact, the King James Bible indicates this uncertainty by putting "brother of" in italics both in Luke 6:16 and in Acts 1:13. This means that there is no corresponding word in Greek to match the words "the brother."
B. Judas Iscariot
"Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over" (Mark 14:10-11).
C. Judas Barsabbas
Contrary to popular belief, the Bible mentions the existence of more than one Judas. Each of these men could not possibly have been the same person. For example, when Jesus selects 12 apostles from his disciples, he chooses two Judases: "Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor (Luke 6:16)." Another Judas appears in the book of Acts, years after the death of Judas Iscariot: Then the apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to choose some of their men to send with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas. Bar-sab-'as (Ioudas Barsabbas): Judas was, with Silas, a delegate from the church in Jerusalem to the Gentile Christians of Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. They were appointed to convey the letter containing the decision of "the apostles and the elders, with the whole church" regarding the attitude to be taken by Gentile Christians toward the Mosaic Law, and also to explain "the same things by word of mouth." They accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, and, "being themselves also prophets," i.e. preachers, they not only handed over the epistle but stayed some time in the city preaching and teaching. They seem to have gone no further than Antioch, for "they were dismissed in peace from the brethren unto those that had sent them forth," and it was Paul and Silas who some time afterward strengthened the churches in Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:40, 41). According to Acts 15:34 the King James Version, Judas returned to Jerusalem without Silas, who remained at Antioch and afterward became Paul's companion (Acts 15:40). The oldest manuscripts, however, omit Acts 15:34 and it is therefore omitted from the Revised Version (British and American). It was probably a marginal note to explain Acts 15:40, and in time it crept into the text. Judas and Silas are called "chief men among the brethren" (15:22), probably elders, and "prophets" (15:32). Barsabbas being a patronymic, Judas was probably the brother of Joseph Barsabbas. He cannot be identified with any other Judas, e.g. "Judas not Iscariot" (Jn 14:22). We hear no more of Judas after his return to Jerusalem (Acts 15:22 ff). In fact, both Jude and James are brothers and they (of the book of James) were half-brothers of Jesus. But People want to give too much emphasis to the flesh here and desire to elevate the physical kinship of the men to Jesus. It is clear that Apostle Jude is the brother of St. James and both of them are the son of Alfai (Acts 1:13) and there mother is another Mary, who followed Jesus with St. Mary in his Crucifixion time Mark (16: 40). Judas Iscariot is not attributed to the kinship of Jesus and Judas Barsabbas came to the picture only at time of St Paul.
Jacob/ James: Among the 12 apostle of Jesus Christ, two apostles bare the same name Jacob.
A. Jacob Son of Ze’badi: Jacob the son of Ze‟badi who is the brother of St. John who was loved by Jesus.
B. Jacob Son of Alfai: Another one is the brother of Joses and son of Alfai (Acts 1: 13) and Mary (Mark 16:40)
Joses.
Joses (or Joseph) is the second of the brothers of Jesus appearing in the New Testament. Joses is first mentioned in Mark 6:3, which related people talking about Jesus: "Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him."
A Joses also appears in Mark 15:40, which mentions among the women present at Jesus' crucifixion a "Mary, the mother of James the Less and Joses".
The Gospel of Matthew closely mirrors these two passages in Matthew 13:55-57 and Matthew 27:56 and, depending on the Greek textual tradition, reads Joseph (Alexandrian, Western) or Joses (Byzantine). Since Joses is an uncommon variant of Joseph and appears in no other place in the book or the entire New Testament, it is likely that both verses refer to the same person.
In the medieval Legenda Aurea, Joses is also identified with Joseph Barsabbas, also called Justus, who in the Acts of the Apostles 1:23 is mentioned as a candidate to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judas Iscariot. Justus is listed third in the hereditary line of succession of the Desposyni after James the Just and Simeon of Jerusalem as Bishops of Jerusalem.
I would like to put forward two historical arguments.
If Mary had had children other than Jesus, it would have been impossible for the Church to teach that Mary was always a virgin. After all, if you were descended from Jesus' mother, you'd know it and be proud of that fact - if anyone thought that Mary were a virgin, you'd set them straight. And yet, the Church did teach early on that Mary was ever-virgin; despite this, no Christians denied the truth of this teaching. So it would seem that Mary didn't have any descendants besides Jesus. If Mary had had children other than Jesus, then how would Jesus appear to the people of that time? He would just be the first of many children, nothing special. His conception by the action of the Holy Spirit would be disbelieved, and people would naturally assume that, for instance, Joseph was the father - note that Joseph took her into his home at the same time that Jesus was conceived. So the prophecy of the Messiah's mother being a virgin (Isaiah 7: 14; Matthew 1:22-23) would appear to have been unfulfilled in Mary; and so Jesus would not appear to be the Messiah. On the other hand, though, if Jesus were an only child, something rather unusual at that time, his supernatural conception would be more likely to be believed. His birth would plausibly appear miraculous, Jesus being the only child of an otherwise infertile couple. Here's a solid proof that Jesus was an only child: John 19:26-27 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, "Woman, behold thy son!" Then saith he to the disciple, "Behold thy mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. If Jesus had brothers and sisters, there would be no need to put His mother under the care of John. In fact, it would probably be an insult to His siblings. On the other hand, if we assume Jesus had no siblings, the way He provided for the care of His mother makes perfect sense. Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee... The language used here to describe how Jesus would be conceived ("the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee") indicated that there was a union of marriage between Mary and Holy Spirit (Shawthophooso W‟magnonoozo D,rooho Qadeesho). Since that's the case, it would be adulterous for Joseph to have sexual intercourse with Mary. Mary couldn't have had any children besides Jesus, since she had taken a vow of perpetual virginity; she had gotten engaged to Joseph with the understanding that they'd never have sex. We can see this from the first chapter of Luke.
Luke 1:30-33 And the angel said unto her, "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." If Mary intended to have a normal marriage, including sexual intercourse, one would have expected her to react in the following manner: "How wonderful! Joseph and I will be the parents of the Messiah!" But instead, what she said is: Luke 1:34 "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" If Mary had intended to have sexual intercourse with Joseph, what she says here makes no sense at all. Thus, she intended to remain a virgin even in marriage. Some people claim that the following verse shows that Jesus had brothers: Mark 6:3 "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?" And they were offended at him. First, note that James, Joses, Juda, and Simon are called the brothers of Jesus, not the sons of Mary. No one in the Bible, besides Jesus, is ever called a natural son of Mary. So this verse doesn't show, at all, that Mary didn't remain a virgin - the "brothers" of Jesus could have been his cousins (as I'll be arguing below), or they could have been His brothers by adoption (that is, they could have been adopted by Joseph and Mary), or they could have been Jesus' half-brothers (for instance, if Joseph were a widower and had fathered those children with his previous wife). All of these cases are possible and are in complete harmony with the above Biblical verse.
An explanation of how the word "brother" is used in the Bible.
In the Bible, the term "brother" is used in a more general sense than is common today; it would be better translated as "kinsman" or "relative". There are several Biblical examples of this. The reason for this is that Hebrew didn't have a word for "cousin", so the word "brother" was used to include cousins. The people who wrote the Bible were of Jewish culture and were accustomed to this usage, and so they applied it when writing in other languages as well, such as Greek. The Greek Old Testament used by the Evangelists, called the "Septuagint", was translated into Greek by Jewish scholars about a century before Jesus' time, and it refers to cousins and other close relatives as "brothers" in exactly the way I've described. In the following examples, I'll provide the verses in English, and also a transliteration of the Greek Old Testament used in Jesus' time. The first example concerns Abram and Lot.
Genesis 11:26 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. This verse tells us that Abram is the uncle of Lot: Abram is the brother of Lot's father. But in another verse, Abram is called Lot's "brother": Genesis 14:12, 14 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, with all his goods, and departed. And when Abram heard that his brother [Lot] was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, who were three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. Here's the Greek version from the Septuagint: Genesis 14:14 akousas de abram hoti Echmalwteutai lwt ho adelphos autou ErithmEsen tous idious oikogeneis autou triakosious deka kai oktw kai katediwxen opisw autwn hews dan Similarly, the Bible tells us here that Laban is Jacob's uncle: Genesis 29:13 And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. However, two verses later, Laban calls Jacob his brother: Genesis 29:15 And Laban said unto Jacob, "Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?" Genesis 29:15 eipen de laban tw iakwb oti gar adelphos mou ei ou douleuseis moi dwrean apaggeilon moi tis o misthos sou estin In the following, the cousins of the daughters of Eleazar are called their "brethren": 1 Chronicles 23:21-22 The sons of Merari are Mahli, and Mushi. The sons of Mahli are Eleazar, and Kish. And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them. 1 Chronicles 23:21-22 uioi merari mooli kai mousi. uioi mooli eleazar kai kis. kai apethanen eleazar kai ouk Esan autw uioi all' E thugateres kai elabon autas uioi kis adelphoi autwn.
In the following, the "brethren" of Ahaziah include at least 42 men, who were not his brothers - his brothers were all killed before he became the king (2 Chronicles 22:1) - but rather his cousins or other similar relatives: 2 Kings 10:13-14 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen. And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house. There were 42 men and not one of them was left alive. 2 Kings 10:13-14 kai iou euren tous adelphous ochoziou basilews iouda kai eipen tines umeis kai eipon oi adelphoi ochoziou hmeis kai katebEmen eis eirEnEn twn uiwn tou basilews kai twn uiwn tEs dunasteuousEs. kai eipen sullabete autous zwntas kai sunelabon autous zwntas kai esfaxan autous eis baithakad tessarakonta kai duo andras ou katelipen andra ex autwn. So we see that the term "brother" in the Bible can refer to family relationships other than the one to which we usually apply it. Now that we know that the word "brother" in the Bible doesn't necessarily mean a sibling, It is claimed that the following verse says that Mary and Joseph had sex after Jesus' birth: Matthew 1:25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus. However, what the Bible is actually doing here is underlining the fact that Joseph is definitely not Jesus' father, since he didn't have sexual intercourse with Mary before Jesus was born. But the word "till" in this verse does not imply that Joseph "knew" Mary after the birth of Jesus (that is, that they eventually had sexual intercourse). Here's a Biblical example to demonstrate this: 1 Timothy 6:14 "I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." Does this imply that we are allowed to sin after Jesus appears? Of course not. In addition, note that if Joseph intended to ever have sex with Mary, why did he wait until after Jesus' birth? There was nothing to stop him. So this actually indicates that Joseph did not intend to have sex with Mary.
All the Christians are the brothers of Jesus Christ
Revelation 12:17 (King James Version): And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed (rest of her offspring - NKJV), which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Here St John says long after the ascensions of St. Mary, that those who are keeping the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ is the offspring of St. Mary. John 19:26-27 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he said unto his mother, "Woman, behold thy son!" Then said he to the disciple, "Behold thy mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. By obeying the word of God St John got the brotherhood with Jesus Christ. It is the offer of our Lord to every one who follows His Word. St. Mark 3: 31-35 “There came then his brethren and his mother, and stood outside the house and send in a messages asking for Jesus. And the multitude sat surrounding Him, and they said unto him “Behold, thy mother and thy brethren are seeking for thee.” And he answered them, saying, “Who is my mother, or my brethren?” And he looked around and said “Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.” The boundaries of “family” are expanded beyond blood relatives, spouses, and even disciples to include those who hunger for a relationship with God and are willing to do God’s will. It does not, however, include those blood relatives who don’t have the “correct” relationship with God. Anti-Christians in the world It is true that from the very beginning the dragon the serpent of old, called the devil, and Satan who deceives the whole world (Rev. 12: 9) was enraged with the woman (St. Mary) (Rev. 12:17) and still it continues its fight against the true Christians. The offspring of St. Mary, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, it is very clear that „Christ‟ who is witnessed as not the son of perpetual Virgin Mary is antichrist. Those who are witnessing Christ who is not born out of a Perpetual Virgin Mary and those who are not accepting St. Mary as his mother, and her perpetual virginity are antichristian.
We can come to the conclusion that:
1. St. Mary is mother of Jesus and she is the perpetual Virgin.
2. St James (Jacob) Jude (Thaddeus) and Joses (Joseph) are brothers (Mark 16: 40; Jude 1:1) and they are the sons of Alfai (Acts 1:13) and their mother is another Mary, who followed Jesus with St. Mary in the context of Jesus‟ crucifixion (Mark 16: 40).
3. Simon the Apostle is a Kananaios, or Canaanites (Mark 3:18), and Zealots (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13)
4. St. Mary is the mother of whole people who live according to the Word of God.

Message On Sunday School Day

Barekmore,
Your Eminance Saydna Malathiose Malki Malki, Very Rev Fr. Zeki Zetrune Corepiscopa my dear kids respected Parents and Teachers. Good evening to all.
As we celebrate our Sunday school day, I would like to appreciate the teachers who took effort to prepare the kids for performing marvelous activities and parents who took pain to bring the kids for practice on these days and the children who are willing to perform good events for us. I congratulate you to the same. As a servant of the Lord it is my responsibility to remind you about our Christian vocation again. According to the Syrian Orthodox church Understanding Christian Family is defined as a domestic church. A church where God is worshiped as the Lord.
At the time of Baptism of Our church we used to sing “one has delivered and other one is looking after it”. Church is the one who is responsible to look after the child who is dedicated to the Lord, on the day of Baptism. It is the responsibility of the parents and all the Christian fellow beings to cater the kids in divine Spirit. I personally know that you are putting much effort to help our children to grow up in true Christian Spirit. Children are like a sponge. They will absorb what they hear and what they see. They will absorb only what they are in contact through their 5 senses. It is our life, our words and actions that are the model for our child to imitate. Christian Education has to be taken place with in the House. In Sunday school we can give only some guidelines for that. The Sunday school teacher can teach the child how to pray in the morning and evening, but it is the responsibility of the parents to help them to pray in morning and evening everyday.
In 2 Cori 3: 3 St Paul says “It's clear that you are Christ's letter, written as a result of our ministry. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” As St. Paul Says-dear parents and teaches let us be a Christ’s letter where our kids can see Jesus, where they can experience the unselfishness love of Jesus, where they can experience the healing touch of Jesus, where they can hear the word of God- Where they can enjoy the peace of Christ-With whom they can practice the prayer life of Jesus Christ.
Once again I congratulate all the teachers and kids for your efforts.
May God bless you.
Thank you.