Marbaniang, Domenic

1. Mission-field Unity. Mission-field unity is seen where mission boards agree to divide geographic or ethnographic mission fields to work in harmony and not in competition with each other. For instance, in North-East India, Baptist and Presbyterian mission boards divided areas of operation to effectively do missions. Thus, while we have the Garo Baptist Churches, we have the Khasi-Jaintia Presbyterian Churches in Meghalaya, because while the Baptist missionaries went to Garo Hills, the Presbyterians came to the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. Similar is the case where in Mizoram, Baptists and Presbyterians agreed upon the North and the South of Mizoram as separate mission fields between themselves. 2. Ecumenical Denominational Unity (Church Union). This occurs when various denominations merge into one denomination or organized Christian church. The Church of South India is an example of this model. "It came into being by a union of Anglican and Protestant churches in South India. It combin...

Forthcoming in Revive GLOBALIZATION has no easy definition. The term has been used variously and has come to mean various things to various people. Consequently, what it means in politics may differ from what it means in economics, and what it means in literature may differ from what it means in culture. Simply described, globalization is the easing of interconnectivity between communities, cultures, countries, currencies, commodities, concepts, cuisines, and civilizations. However, the process of easing is not so easy as well; because, the easing also gives rise to more walls raised by those who are afraid of losing individual identity and value under the crashing waves of globalization. Therefore, while there is internet and information explosion on one side, there is also cyber terrorism and terrorist explosions on the other side; and while there is the rise of liberalism on one side, there is also the strengthening of fundamentalism on the other. But, what kind of impact has all t...

There can be two different approaches to Ecclesiology; one from below, the other from above. The former is inductive and studies the phenomena of churches to decide on an answer. The latter is deductive and proceeds from principles clearly articulated in Scriptures. Here we approach ecclesiology from above. 1. The Holy Spirit will not appoint two different churches in the same location; He doesn't divide, He unites. Either one of them is from God and the other not or both of them are not from God. God is not the author of confusion. 2. Structure doesn't matter. The Temple didn't mean God was compelled to stick to it. When there is no place in the Synagogue, Tyrannus Hall is open. Sometimes, God will tell His own to Come out of them.... It also means judgment. 3. Evangelists can move from place to place and preach the Gospel. In a new place, where the church had not earlier been (i.e. where there is no believing community), a church is thus called out. Where there is already...

Christians are generally speaking, categorized into two groups as follows: (1) "Roman Catholics" and "Protestants" - depending on birth; (2) "Episcopal" (conformist) and "Free church" (non-conformist) - depending on church-pattern; (3) "Born again Christians" and "Nominal Christians" - depending on an "experience"; (4) "Evangelicals" and "Liberals" - depending on doctrine; (5) "Charismatics" and "Non-charismatics" - depending on "speaking in tongues"; (6) "Full-time Christian workers" and "Secular workers" - depending on profession. There could be other such categorizations too. But none of these categorizations deal with the root of the problem that our Lord came to solve. Many know that "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor.15:3). But many do not know that the Bible says that Christ also died "that we should no longer live for ourselve...

One important thing that we must remember about God's grace is that the Grace of God in Jesus Christ has not nullified the Law of God. Grace is not against God's Law. In fact, Jesus said that He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it (Matt.5:17). The commandments of Grace are tougher and more demanding than the commandments of the Law. The Bible tells us that the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came with Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Jesus ushered in the era of Grace. Not that grace was absent in the Old Testament; but that grace could only be available even in the Old Testament because of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the earth. And, when Christ came Grace came in reality, for until then everything was only shadows (Col.2:17). Therefore, it says, "Grace and truth came with Jesus Christ". The commandments of Grace, therefore, supersede the commandments of the Law. Grace teaches us true righteousness (Tit.2:11,12; Matt.5:20). Thus,...

The mediatorship of Christ, as we saw earlier, is not only between man and God but also between man and man. He comes in between every relationship. He is the Lord of all. In Him, relationships find true meaning and purpose. He comes between parent and child, sibling and sibling, friend and friend, wife and husband and we only relate to each other through Him. The same applies to our relationship with things, treasures, situations in life, and time. He comes between as Lord and mediator in all things. He stands between the storm and the believer, between an event and the disciple. Nothing happens by accident when Christ rules over a situation. He comes between me and the trains or buses I need to board or have boarded. He comes between me and diseases. Therefore, I cannot just do what I like and go where I want but must do all things in Him and through Him. When He is Lord, He controls all things, supervises all that things - even our connections and people we meet. And when we ask any...

Atheism is disbelief in a personal God. It is not very popular in India, despite the various ploys of inroad it has attempted throughout history. There are various kinds of atheisms in India. Some of these are dead, as far as systems are concerned; others live in compliant modes. For instance, charvaka atheism died away as a system, but yoga, samkhya , and Vedanta took accommodative modes. The six heterodox schools (Charvaka, Jainism, and 4 schools of Buddhism) were labelled nastik or non-believing because they rejected the Vedas. However, these also have no place for the Supreme Personal God in their systems. Jainism considers a plurality of spirits to be eternal, and matter to be evil. Buddhism considers the human spirit as an aggregate of the 5 skandhas ; in fact, it disbelieves the spirit as being real according to the doctrine of anatta. Samkhya looks at Purusha and Prakriti as the eternal principles in a form of dualism. Vedanta regards the spirit as all that is and the one w...

CIVIL OBEDIENCE  obligatorily relates to Justice. Civil obedience is mandatory when the laws are just. However, civil obedience is not mandatory when laws are unjust. In fact, civil disobedience is obligatory when laws are unjust. The officers and judges during Hitler's reign might have argued that they were obeying their laws; however, since those laws were not just; therefore, they were guilty of crimes against humanity. Similarly, we find civil disobedience in the Bible when Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego refused to bow before the golden image (Dan. 3:14-16), when Daniel opened the windows and openly prayed in defiance to a law prohibiting the same (Daniel 6:10), and when the Apostles refused the authorities' command to stop preaching the Gospel. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." (Act 4:19-20 NIV) The Formula: Law+Ju...

The UN headquarters building in Baghdad after the Canal Hotel bombing, on 22 August 2003 (Wikipedia) News Excerpts ISIS on Christians: 'There is nothing to give them but the sword' Catholic Online , August 8, 2014 (Warning: This page contains graphic images!) The Islamic State has warned Christians, possibly for the last time, saying "there is nothing to give them but the sword." Across Northern Iraq, Christians are huddled in refugee camps, trapped in the desert, or trapped in their homes, waiting for death. "Our people are disappearing," Canon Andrew White, head of the Anglican Church in Iraq "It looks as though the end could be very near," he told the BBC. A week ago, Christians were warned to either leave the city of Mosul and other areas under Islamic State control, or they would have to pay a tax or be put to death. Today, nobody has heard from those Christians and nobody knows what is happening to them. Are they being quietly "put to th...

India today celebrates its 68th Independence Day. Many of us weren't there when tears of joy streamed through the eyes of our fathers who witnessed the first flag hoisting of Independent India. It was a freedom they fought for and obtained with a price. Freedom became possible because a few stepped forward to voluntary sacrifice their lives so that the others will enjoy the fruits of their struggle. The Independence Struggle was not about kings fighting for their kingdoms. Those were ordinary Indians, like you and I, that fought in ways that took the world by surprise. The world of political struggle perhaps had never heard of the possibility of non-violent resistance; but, our fathers saw it spiritually and overcame evil with good (cf. Rom.12:21). Evil can never overcome evil. Mahatma Gandhi understood that "an eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind." But, light dispels darkness; that is the absolute quality of light. Our fathers also knew that freedom wit...

1. Growing up in Grace (2Pet.3:18; Eph.1:7; 2:7; 2Cor.8:9; 2Cor.15:10; Eph.4:29; Acts 11:23) 2. Growing up in Knowledge (Eph.4:15; Col.3:16; Eph.3:17) 3. Growing up in Faith (Jude 20; Col.2:7; Luke 7:5) 4. Growing up in Spiritual Gifts (Jn.4:10; 1Cor.12:31; 1Cor.1:7; 1Tim.4:14; 2Tim.1:6; 1Pet.4:10)