CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
& LIVING

Was blind, but now I see.

3 : 4 April 2004


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Copyright © 2001
M. S. Thirumalai


Cross Roads


CONTENTS

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  • HE IS RISEN! by ... Alec Brooks
    The evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus can be divided into two sets of facts: Events that took place before Jesus was raised from the dead and those that followed the Resurrection of Jesus. Some have suggested that Jesus did not die on the cross, so there was no Resurrection. To believe this is to ignore or deny the suffering Jesus endured before He was crucified. We read that after Jesus was falsely arrested and charged, He suffered through sleepless nights and mock trials. Pilate, seeking to placate the Jewish leaders, had Him flogged with a cat-o-'nine-tails, in which were embedded pieces of bone and metal, until the flesh was torn from His back. A crown of thorns was pushed onto His head, and He was made to bear His cross from Pilate's hall to Calvary. Weakened by loss of blood and the agony and suffering, He fell and someone else had to carry the cross for Him. The only reasonable conclusion that any honest person can come to is this: When we consider the facts objectively, we must acknowledge that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This is confirmed to us when we move from the fact of the Resurrection to faith in the risen Lord and experience the inner witness of the Holy Spirit that we have been born of God, that the risen Lord Jesus lives within our spirits, and we have fellowship with Him.
  • I DIE DAILY
    The Marvelous Working of Death and Life
    by ... Ted Hegre
    First there is the death to the old life in the initial crisis of justification. Then there is the death to the "old man" “--the carnal mind,--the sin which dwelleth in me”, or whatever we call this contrary principle in one who is justified but not sanctified. At first we saw one aspect of Christ crucified, the substitute dying, in our stead: the stroke of judgment due us for our sins fell on Him, and for His sake all who repent and believe are pardoned and born from above. ... It is later that we see the deep derangement and enslavement of our nature to the things of our own little world as the Holy Spirit faithfully reveals to us our self-life in all its forms and subtleties. We long for and begin to seek a deeper deliverance, not now so much from the problems of the outer life, but rather from those of the inner man. ... The deliverance comes when the Holy Spirit reveals that Christ not only took our sins to the Cross, but He took the sinner there also, and from now on, one must reckon himself dead to the whole sordid business ...
  • THE PASSION by ...Stan Schmidt
    skeptics will always exist
    but the truth they have missed
    being blinded by the pride
    inside
    or some other lie
    about the reason Jesus came to die
    but the loss is theirs
    holding to their spiritual errors
    resisting renewal ...
  • HOW TO BUILD CHARACTERS IN YOUR STORY
    Success of Your Story Depends Upon Your Chrarcters!
    by ... Todd J. Holcomb
    In this article, I will present some of the salient points that a budding writer should remember when he or she wants to write a story. These points especially relate to the ways that can help the writer to build the chracters of his or her story. In my presenttion, I depend heavily on Janet Burroway's excellent exposition on writing, Writing Fiction. I believe that every person who intends writing fiction should read this book. Christian readers and writers can take advantage of the techniques offered in this book to write fiction that will be superior to the labored writing that we see a lot in these days. Yet, remember that our story should flow from the anointing we receive through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Remember that our goal as Christian writers is to help people to see the hand of God in their lives and to turn to Him in repentance. Our goal is to help people see that Jesus is Lord and Savior even in our mundane life.
  • THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST by ... Pastor Dave Strem and James Skeen
    As believers we often talk about the death of Jesus Christ and what it accomplished for us. But rarely does anyone talk about what His suffering accomplished. Was there a purpose for it? Why did He have to go through the beatings, the whippings, and mockings that preceded the cross? We know that we are redeemed by accepting the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on our behalf, but what does His suffering do for us? We know that the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ satisfied God's holiness and allowed Him to forgive repentant sinners, but what did Jesus Christ's sufferings do for God? Why was it necessary for Jesus Christ to suffer so much? ... I want you to catch what Isaiah is saying there. Unredeemed mankind looks upon Jesus as a victim of the Jews, or a victim of the Romans, or a victim of God's plan. But Jesus was not a victim! Jesus said it clearly in John chapter 10:17-18, "I lay down my life, no one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord." Jesus knew what was going to happen. He knew the sufferings that awaited Him but He went forward, anyway!
  • A DEFENSE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
    by ... Ryan J. Haase
    According to the biblical account, what happened three days after the crucifixion is what is hard to believe for most people. Part of this could come from the fact that we don't hear of people being raised from the dead. In fact, naturally, it is impossible. As we live in an increasingly naturalistic society, people search for more and more ways to discredit the resurrection as a non-historical event. Interestingly enough, the resurrection of Christ is at the core of Christian belief (1 Cor. 15:14), which is why it should be of no surprise that this is one of the areas the devil has chosen to attack the hardest. He wants to remove the belief in the resurrection because he wants to destroy the essence of the Christian faith. ... Several attempts have been made to discredit the resurrection, and after much examination five "theories" were formulated. All five need equal consideration, because when taken from a natural standpoint, all five are possible. ... Granted, there is still an element of faith in it. We need to believe that what the Bible says is true in order to believe that Christ actually rose from the dead. However, in light of the fact that we can back the Bible up historically in all areas searched so far, there is no reason to believe that we have been deceived on this one account. The proof is overwhelmingly in favor of the Bible, and in favor of the resurrection.
  • THE EPISTLE OF JUDE by ... Mike Leeming
    The Epistle of Jude is a brief New Testament "book," consisting of only 25 verses. The writer of the book identifies himself simply as "the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James," in the first verse. If this is the same "James" who is mentioned in Matt. 13:55 and Gal. 1:19, then he was also the half-brother of Jesus, a son of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This letter is listed among the General Epistles, since the people receiving the book are designated simply as follows: "To those who are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called" (verse 1). ... Some believe that the key thought to the entire epistle is here in verse 3, "earnestly contend for the faith." ... There is a sense in which living the Christian life rightly is like walking a tightrope between these two extremes-legalism on the one hand, and license on the other. It is wrong to go off to either extreme.
  • WHO GETS BLAMED FOR YOUR SINS? by ... Harold Brokke
    Fate seems to play a large part in most world religions. Men escape guilt by blaming their sins on anything but themselves. For instance, it is possible for a Hindu to blame Brahma for his evil deed since Brahma is the cause of everything. Or he may blame it on karma, which means that the experiences in this life are the results of the deeds done in a former life. So how can he help what he does? ... It is a sad fact that so-called Christians can excuse their behavior, too. They blame their lack of love, criticism, indifference, or worldliness on the old nature, for want of a better excuse. ... Besides the laws of force, God has given to man the laws of choice. The Ten Commandments state these laws. We are not forced to keep them or to break them. These laws deal with our love for God and our behavior toward parents and co-workers, between the sexes, and toward the property and rights of others. ... If we think that we have to sin and that even the grace of God cannot free us, what does an idea like this mean? It means that sin controls our lives by a law of force (or fate), not by a law of choice. It means that just as the moon orbits the earth, so man is in an orbit of transgression and he cannot get out of this condition.
  • RELIGION OR JESUS CHRIST?
    Who is Jesus? Can He help me? Can I trust Him?

    by ... George Foster
    We humans are religious by nature. God made us that way. There is a spiritual side to us and we seek to develop it, but we don't all go to the same source. We pray, we practice rituals, we go to church, mosque, shrine, synagogue-we even look inside ourselves to find spiritual reality. ... We can't help wondering why hatred, war, violence, crime, divorce, child-molestation, and genocide exist among religious people as well as non-religious. But does our religion makes us better, happier, kinder, truer persons? Are we more loving, thoughtful, generous, pure, peaceful, and even-tempered? We expect religious people to be less prone to anxiety, deceit, greed, and war. We should have a true hope of life after death. But do we? The answer is often no. Jesus has not always been well served by those make up the Christian religion. The greatest opposition that Jesus faced on earth came from the leaders of organized religion. Not everyone identified with Christianity is a true believer. Some go through the motions, but never discover what it's all about. So, again I ask, what is a Christian? If a Christian is a person in whose heart Jesus Christ lives, then each of us must ask two questions: 1) What do we mean by the word heart? and 2) How can Christ enter my heart?
  • HADASSAH, One Night with the King, a novel
    by Tommy Tenney with Mark Andrew Olsen
  • A WINDOW TO YOUR SOUL - THE SOLITARY POET, poems of reflection by Stan Schmidt

Christian Literature & Living is a monthly online journal devoted to the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ through literature, and through living according to His Word. We wish to introduce our readers to the best Christian literature, Christian devotionals, counseling, and to the understanding of the relevance of the Word of God in our daily life, in popular language. Christian Literature & Living is a cross-cultural journal, focusing on Christian literature written in all the languages, and Christian living around the world. We learn by listening to and reading our brothers and sisters in Christ from all around the world. We believe that any creative writing with literary sensibilities that focuses on the presence and life-changing ministry of Jesus Christ is Christian literature. We believe that we all need the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to live a life according to His Word. Christian literature and other writings anointed by the Holy Spirit help us to develop a personal relationship with Jesus as the Lord and Savior.

CONTACT EDITOR



Short Term Missions Conference



The Solitary Poet, poems of reflection by Stan Schmidt

Hadassah, a novel by Tommy Tenney

If I gained the World, a novel by Linda Nichols


Godwrestling Faith, a spiritual development book by Mike Evans


Sharing Your Faith with a Buddhist, a book on evangelism by M. S. Thirumalai


Short Term Missions, a book by Roger Peterson, et al.



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