In His Time.......... with P.Ramachandran

This morning at about about 4.30 AM, the 23 year old Indian woman who was brutally gang raped, died at MtElizabeth Hospital in Singapore. She was flown in from India two days ago for treatment.  Doctors said that she had suffered multiple organ failure as a result of the assault. Her death is a stark reminder of the destructive nature of sin and the consequences one has to face.  The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Sin exists not only in such violent forms but also in many unsuspecting and deceptive ways. Jesus dies on the cross so that we can have the forgiveness of sin through His blood. While the event is going to spark another bout of protests and violence all over India, we need to prayer that India will realize that only in Jesus Christ can Indians find the answer to the sin problem. Jesus sets us free from the penalty of sin, power of sin and eventually ...

On 21 Dec, all the PEC church planters gathered in a particular place  in Orrisa for a time of celebration and fellowship. The celebrated Christmas and had a great meal, which was sponsored by Bro Melcom of PEC, Singapore.  We praise God for all our workers in Orissa and elsewhere in the mission field. Let's pray for a time of great harvest next year.

When the dust of the celebrations has settled, its not have many gifts we have received, how much laughter, food and mass we enjoyed but what we do with the Greatest gift that matters. Mathew 28:19-20

Our AP Coordinator, Bishop Nehemiah reported as follows: During this festive Christmas season, churches under PEC organized various activities to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christmas programs were organized in 17 different location in Andhra Pradesh. In some places the event was organized for the first time.  Approximately 8200 attended the meetings, thousands of people heard the salvation message through the loud speakers. The Gospel was shared in the non-christian streets in the rural Areas, Gospel tracts were distributed in some places sarees has given to the old widows. These meeting provided a breakthrough to built bridges with new people. Local MLA's and other political leaders attended some of the meetings. We also had the opportunity to share PEC's vision and mission with some pastors' fellowships in the districts. They all appreciated the the work of Praise Evangelical Church in reaching the unreached in the rural areas of AP....

Eph 6:11-12 -    Put on the full armor of God,  so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  F or our struggle is not against flesh and blood,  but against the rulers, against the authorities,  against the powers  of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Paul compares the life of a christian to that of a soldier: 1 Tim 6:12 - Fight the good fight 2 Tim 2:3 - Endure hardness as a good soldier 1 Cor 16:13- Be brave, be strong Paul is not taking about theological mental debates here but rather about practical warfare that actually occurs daily in the life of a christian.  Paul rightly identifies this warfare as a struggle , something that is against our will and emotions. Its not easy and smooth sailing, otherwise it would not have been called a struggle. It's a struggles that involves the  faculties of the will, the mind, the soul and the spiri...

Yesterday was my father's 3rd anniversary since he went to be with the Lord. As I did in the last year, I made my way to the sea shore where his bones were laid to rest. I wanted to be alone and hence the lonely trip. The ground was wet due to the incessant rains over the last few days. The sun was peering over the horizon, sending rays of  sunlight piercing through the morning dew. From a distance as I was driving through the narrow road, there were trees on both sides, like towering sentries, the sunlight softly caressing the dew draped leaves. I marveled at God's creation, reflected my father's life and memories but wished he was with us a few more years longer. Just couldn't understand why after him, my brother was also recalled, very much before his time.   But His ways are higher than ours his thoughts greater than ours. He does all things well. Thanked God for the memories It was drizzling lightly. There were bicycle tyre marks on the wet grass near the ...

Students, faculty and friends celebrated an early Christmas event at the PEC School of Ministry.It was a time of joy as they recounted the greatest gift of God to mankind, the birth, death and resurrection of the Savior.  We give glory to God for all the work He is doing through PEC ministries. We share their joy and wish them all a Blessed Christmas and a Great New Year,

How much you contribute at home determines how much you value your family; How much you contribute to the church or group determines how much you value your fellowship; How much you contribute to missions determines how much you value your eternity

I arrived Singapore this morning at about 6.30AM. Dead tired but still rejoicing in the spirit. This trip was specially planned to celebrate Christmas with the boys at Shadrach Home and also for a special baptism service in Vizag.  On 5 Dec we had a special service for the boys. Bro Suresh from Trevendrum, an alumni of HI, and some brothers gave the boys a special treat. They sang Christmas carols, taught the boys new songs and also entertained them with games. The boys and also the helpers of the Home thoroughly enjoyed the session. Later in the morning, I took a session with the students of the PEC Ecclesia Training Center. Some of our church planters also attended the session. I spoke on the importance of integrity as seen from the life of Daniel. I stressed on the perils that await God's servants and the importance of living a live of transparency before God and men. Later Bro Suresh also took a session and spoke on the importance of prayer. I praise God for Pst ...

Its more prudent to be upfront, confess our sins and face the consequences than live in the deception that no ones knows and that God will, in His grace, overlook our faults as mere human weakness. Its also a  deadly misconception to think that our spiritual enterprise, no matter how captivating it may be, will somehow camouflage and mitigate the consequences of sin.  Proverbs 28:13 - He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whosoever confesses and forsakes the m shall have mercy.

God is not impressed with the works of our hands when our hearts are not refined by the work of His Hand.  That's the lesson we learn from the episode in 1 Samuel 15. God's instruction to Saul was very clear in verse 3 -"Destroy the Amalekites and leave nothing behind". Saul did just as he was commanded except he saved the king and the best of the cattle.(verse 9). Saul gave two seemingly good reasons for his actions: The soldiers did it They saved the best cattle so that they can offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord. Doesn't it sound brilliant. It was done for a very good cause -Worship to the Lord. But God had a very different opinion, In verse 11 -  “I regret  that I have made Saul king, because he has turned  away from me and has not carried out my instructions.”   Two key lessons we can learn from here: Don't pass the buck. Accept responsibility for your mistakes and the mistakes of your subordinates. Saul readily shifted the blame on his...

Gal 5:22-23 -  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,   gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. One of the saddest thing in Christendom today is that in spite of being born in a christian home, attending church for more than ten years and sometimes holding spiritual positions, our behavior is a far cry from what the Apostle Paul writes in the above verses. No matter how many beliefs we hold and profess to confess, it makes no sense if it does not result in a change in behavior. More often than not, the traits of the flesh, Gal 5:19-21 - sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions   and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like are more visible than the fruit of the Spirit. A change in the behavior (external) can only take place if there is a change in the character (internal...

Nine people took the step of water baptism. It took place at the Krishna River in Guntur District. The work there is being pioneered by our church planter Pst JayaPaul. Praise God for the new additions. After his training,  Pst Jayapaul has been working in this village, Chennai Palem, Vemavaram Mandal in Guntur District.  He is also working in five nearby villages. Bishop Nehemiah was there to officiate the service. We praise God for these church planters who have the passion to work in these villages.

This morning I was invited by Pst Aow, to speak at His Arrow Church at Jalan Pemimpin, Singapore. It was vibrant church. I spoke on the topic of " Living on God's Agenda " as seen from the life of Jonah . I call the book of Jonah as the Book of hearts as it deals with the: The heart of the prophet The heart of the people (Nineveh) The heart of Providence (God)  Jonah did not live on God's agenda but had his own agenda. God's agenda was as follows: Ex 19:6 - And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.   Isa 42:6 - I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;   Isa 60:3 - Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Jonah's agenda was centered on himself and the nation of Israel. He did not want the...

Christian life is not just keeping our heads above the water but its walking on water.  In Mathew 14:22-23, we read about an amazing miracle of how Peter walked on the water. The scriptures tell us that the disciples were on a boat and was "buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it."   T here was a great storm. Jesus then appears on the waters and at Peter's request, He beckons Peter to come to him. The rest is history in the making.  Peter becomes the first man, other than Jesus, to walk on the water. Unfortunately most of the time we only emphasis the fact that Peter sank. Can you imagine, there were waves all around, the wind was strong and buffeting the boat, the other disciples were reeling in fear. But there was one man who took the bold step of faith and was able to conquer all odds. He walked on water, while the others were trying to keep their heads above it.  That's how our Christian life ought...

The trip was from 26 Oct to 4th Nov. The team comprised Pst John Daniel, Bro James Ng, Bro Issac Babu and myself. This was the most challenging and adventurous trip I have ever undertaken. We departed on 26 Oct in the evening for Chennai and the next day arrived at Bagdogra, staging through Kolkatta. We visited a pioneering work in East Nepal, started by one of our church planters who was a graduates of our PEC School of Ministry. Its located in a village and the work is coming up well and about 30 members gather for worship. This congregation is ready for a new church building. We were blessed to see how the work was progressing in Nepal. Currently there are 7 church planters in Nepal who need support.   The next few days we traveled winding roads up the mountains and visited and dedicated 7 churches. One in Sikkim, two in Darjeeling, one  at the Bhutan Border and three in Assam. The roads were treacherous in some places. In some places there was no road. It ...

This week I was unusually burdened to pray and intercede. I often wondered what it meant by the phrase "the burden of the Lord". I got a glimpse of it this week. It was so heavy that at one point I thought my heart would burst. I was woken early in the mornings, even before 5.00 AM with a  strong urge to intercede. My body was perspiring and the tears flowing. This must have been how Ezekiel,  Jeremiah and the rest felt when they carried the burden of the Lord. It continued throughout the day. I was burden to pray for the following: Children of single parents. The struggles they must have been going through and the parents...what a journey for them. That God will mercifully stand in the gap for them. Pastors who were struggling in their ministry, financially and spiritually. That God will supply their needs and strengthen their faith. For those who have caused problems in the church. That G...

God does not have spare parts, He refines and renews the original. The Spirit of God empowers, equips, enlightens and enriches the one engaged in evangelism. -  P.Ramachandran When God approached Jeremiah with the appointment of being the "prophet to the nations" (Jer 1:4), Jeremiah responded with two negatives, the very similar ones many of us say to God: "I can't speak" - Incompetence . A familiar excuse, even Moses made the same. We would rather God use someone else in our state. We look at our background, our qualifications and our abilities and think we are of no use. But the Bible says in Acts 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses. The Spirit of God is the energizer. The disciples were all incompetent men. Fishermen, tax collectors and that sort of a group. Yet the Lord used them to turn their world upside down. They baffled the religious leaders and the scholars of their days. The same fear...

This is the latest batch of 16 students who have enrolled in the PEC School of Ministry in Jaigon, Bhutan Border. They began their training in the 1st week of Oct and will continue for 9 months. We pray that these will be our future church planters in the NE region of India. We thank God for Rev Samuel Sharma and his wife for running this institution with much commitment. Please continue to uphold all these student sin your prayers and also for the necessary logistics that are needed. Will be visiting them end of this month, God willing.