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CSI Good News
(Church of South India Good News)
Vol. 3 / Issue 16 / May 24 2001
Contents of this issue
Editorial
Allah and Elohim - Are they same God? part 12
One Correction
15th CSI family and youth Conference
News Items (Common to all issues) :
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Your Spam Folder
Your Feedback
Editorial
Exodus 15:11 "Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
This song was written by Moses when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and saw the mighty miracles of God who enabled them to escape from the attack of the Egyptian army, who made a way through in the midst of Red Sea for their escape and the Israelites could see the mighty work of God that their enemy could not catch them but were drowned in the sea. Bible says about this type of God who is holy, almighty and powerful and there is none like Him.
The Israelites were in desperate need of a miracle as the enemy was approaching them very fast and there was none who could help them. They were at the brink of disaster and there was no hope left and that was why Moses said in his song, "The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, My hand shall destroy them.' You blew with Your wind, The sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. (Exodus 15:9-10)
Are you in this situation my friend? Do you think that you are at the brink of disaster and there is no hope for you? Do you think that, no one can help you in this situation? But I want to tell you that there is a God whose name is Jesus who can help you. No matter what your situation may be, no matter how much you are sunk in sin, drugs, alcohol or any other addictions, no matter how hopeless your condition may be, He can make a way out right in the midst of your problem. He can divide your problem and make a way. Yes, He is almighty God and there is nothing impossible with Him. If you are going through terrible problems, addictions, sin or sicknesses look to Him, there is nothing too hard for Him. There is no sicknesses which He cannot heal or there is no problem which He cannot solve.
Bible also says in Job 5:9, " Who does great things, and unsearchable, Marvelous things without number."
Yes, He does unsearchable, Marvelous things without number. Not one or two but without number, yes, He is a miracle working God. The Bible also tells us in Psalms 147:3-5, "He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite."
In spite of all our modern technologies, our scientists are unable to count the starts and it has not yet been possible for them to give names to every star but we have a God who not only counts the stars but He calls them all by name! And He knows us by our name, He knows what we are and what our situation is. He wants to help us in our difficulties and problems.
If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then invite Him in your life, when He will come in He will change everything. Please pray this prayer with me:
Father, in the mighty name of Jesus I come before you, please forgive and forget all my sins and shortcomings. I have failed to live a holy life. My life is a mess and there is no hope for me. Please come into my life and fix my life. I accept you as my Lord and Savior. Please come into my life and wash me with your precious blood. Wipe away all my tears, solve my problems and give me your peace that passes all understanding. I thank you for doing great things in my life with your mighty and awesome power. I pray in Jesus name Amen!
Allah and Elohim - Are they same God? part 12
By Sherly Isaac
Malachi 3:6, "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob."
Bible says that Yahweh God is unchanging and when we come to New Testament we read about Jesus that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews13: 8)
But when we come to Quran which is called Last Testament or last revelation by Muslims, we see that Allah, Allah's word, Allah's promises and Allah's qualities are changing. Why should there be any change if the God of the Bible and Allah who sent Quran are the same God? Bible says that God is unchanging, let us look from the Bible and Quran about this quality of God and Allah.
He does not change in anything:
Many centuries have come and gone and of course world is not the same as it was in the beginning. Just after 20 or 30 years if you visit the same place where you grew up, you will wonder whether you are at the same place. Everything is changing rapidly. Science and modern technology has transformed old-fashioned things but there is only one thing that is not changing i.e. God of the Bible. It is His quality that He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. What He was in the beginning today also He is the same. There is no change in Him even a bit.
If He could walk with Adam in the Garden of Eden then He can walk with us today also. If He could walk with Moses and the Israelites then He can walk with us today also. If He could talk to Abraham and be his friend, then He can talk with us and can be our friend today also. If He could wipe away the tears and heal the broken hearted people then, He can do the same today also. Why? Because He is not changing but remains the same forever.
But when we come to Quran and Hadith we see that Mohammed declared himself to be Last prophet and Quran as last revelation. In his last sermon he said, "O People, no prophet or apostle will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand my words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the Quran and my example, the Sunnah, and if you follow these you will never go astray."
By declaring this, Mohammed declared that God is dead because God will never speak again nor send His prophets or apostles. By declaring this, Mohammed blasphemed God and by saying this he made the "unchanging" God as "changed". But I want to tell you that it is possible that Mohammed is correct in his prediction because Allah and the God of the Bible are not the same God. God of the Bible is an unchanging God and that's why the Bible says in 1 John 4:1-2, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,"
So God of the Bible never said that He will send a some Last prophet but He said that we will come across both true and false prophets but we have to test every spirit and know whether they are from God or not.
His qualities are not changing:
From Genesis to Revelation we see that God of the Bible wants to have fellowship with us. He always came seeking human. When Adam and Eve sinned, He came searching for them. Why? He longs to have fellowship with us. And we read in New Testament that Jesus being God came down seeking us who are lost in sin. He came to rescue us from our sins and to give us eternal life.
But when we come to Quran we see that Allah has no interest in us to have fellowship with us. Even the founder of Islam could not see Allah or hear his voice while all the prophets of the Bible heard the voice of God of the Bible and saw Him. Even those who were not prophets heard and saw God according to the Bible. And Jesus said in Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God." But this quality is not seen in Quran. Why? There is only one reason, "Allah is not Elohim, Allah is not Yahweh, God of the Bible."
His Word is not Changing:
Jesus said in Matthew 5:18, "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."
Also the Bible says in Psalms 105:8, "He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,"
I heard Muslims say, "Bible is changed or corrupted. There are many versions of the Bible and it is rewritten by Church Fathers again and again that's why Allah sent uncorrupted word through Mohammed ."
But is it reality? Of course not! Bible is the only book in the whole world which is unchanged. Many books, philosophy and many thoughts came and are gone. Many good writers came and are gone, but Bible is the only book which is standing still from generation to generation and ages to ages. Latest discoveries have proved that Bible is accurate and unchanged. They found all the books of Old Testament except Esther in Dead Sea scrolls. When they examined it and saw, they were surprised to see the accuracy of the Biblical books which were written more than 2000 years ago.
Yes, Bible has not changed nor is it corrupted but it is still standing according to His word in Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."
But when we come to Quran we see that the message of the Bible which was spoken and written by prophets and apostles are not conveyed in Quran as Quran conveys a totally different message. There is no mention of Salvation through blood shed in sacrifice which was the Law given to Moses and Jesus came and fulfilled that law by His own sacrifice. But Quran says that, salvation depends on good works and mercy of Allah while the Bible says that Salvation and forgiveness of sin is available for everyone and we need not to earn our salvation by our good works but Jesus paid it in full and it is freely available. There is no mention of eternal life in Quran which is only possible through Jesus Christ as Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
Does not it clearly say that Mohammed conveyed a different message that has no match with the message of the Bible? It shows that Mohammed wasn't the prophet of Elohim and again it shows that Allah is not the God of the Bible because Bible is the unchanged word of God but the message in Quran is totally different. God cannot change His word half way. So obviously Allah is not Elohim or Yahweh, God of the Bible.
His promises are not changing:
God promised to send Messiah to take away our sins and He fulfilled His promise when He sent His only begotten Son to this world to die for our sins (Isaiah chapter 53rd.) He came in this world and shed His precious blood on the cruel cross so that we may never be in sin.
Again Jesus promised to send Holy Spirit and He fulfilled His promise and sent His Holy Spirit after ascending to heaven. Acts 2:1-4, "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Muslims claim that Mohammed and angel Gabriel is the Holy Spirit but I want to make it clear here that Holy Spirit is neither Mohammed nor angel Gabriel. Holy Spirit is not human but the spirit of God Himself. It is called Ruwach in Hebrew and Pneuma in Greek. I took the definition of these two words from lexicon
Definition: wind, breath, mind, spirit, Spirit of God, the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son
We can see that Holy Spirit is not human and so Mohammed cannot be Holy Spirit and angel Gabriel also cannot be Holy Spirit because Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. Angel is angel, angel cannot be Spirit of God.
And more than that when Jesus was about to leave this world He said to His disciples, John 16:13-14, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you."
Again Jesus said in John 14:16-17, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Jesus promised to send "Spirit of Truth" who will abide with us always. Mohammed is not the Spirit of Truth because he is dead and gone but Spirit of Truth (Holy Spirit) is still alive and comes and dwells in us when we invite Him in our lives.
Yes, His promises are not changing but when we come to Quran we see that the promises are changed. Quran denies the death of Messiah on the cross and that is why there is no salvation in Islam. And that is the reason why Allah promised hell fire and then Judgment to his followers. Quran denies the promise of Holy Spirit made by Jesus and hence they reject the comforter who was sent by Jesus to be with us always and to lead us in whole Truth. So again it proves that Allah is not the god of the Bible.
One Correction
Please note that English radio programme is on Sundays on Shortwave 5.745 Mhz, 49 meter band.
15th CSI family and youth Conference
The 15th Annual C.S.I. Family and Youth Conference of North America will be held from August 9 - 12, 2001 at Camp Allen Retreat and Conference Center Houston TX. For more info click here
Through the Valley of Death & other Books
As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.
This book is available for purchase at JasmineCorp Store
Also read these two books by Sherly Isaac "Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God" Available at JasmineCorp Store, and "Is Jesus God?" Available at JasmineCorp Store,
Both books compares the Bible and the Quran and read eye opening facts about Jesus, God of the Bible, Allah and Islamic faith. I am sure that you want to read this.
Download Articles in Handheld Computers
You can now download articles in Palm Doc format for your palm handheld computer. It will work with any devise that has Palm OS and Palm Doc Reader installed. To download click on the link named "Palm Doc Format" i.e. at the top of this page by the side of each articles.
Kids Page - Free Tutorials
Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online at Kid's page. These tutorials are free for kids who subscribe for CSI Kids Newsletter. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver are available.
So please enroll your kids by going to http://kids.csinewsletter.org/member/join.asp
And visit CSI Kid's page at http://kids.csinewsletter.org
Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online
Now you can read Bible in Hindi online at http://www.hindibible.org
in Malayalam online at http://www.malayalambible.org
in Tamil online at http://www.hindibible.org?ver=tamil
Your Spam Folder
If you are getting this newsletter in your bulk/junk/Spam folder please hit the "not junk" or "not spam" button so that you could receive it in your mailbox. Also adding news@csinewsletter.com email address into your contact list can avoid this email from ending up in your bulk folder.
Your Feedback
Your feedback and comments are Welcome. Please send your Parish news & articles to Editor (Sherly N. Isaac) at this address News@csinewsletter.comThe messages submitted will be checked whether they are correct according to the word of God. Editor reserves the right to accept, reject or edit the messages. The writers are responsible for the contents of their writings.
 
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