Domenic Marbaniang

1. Teachers are those who themselves have been taught (Tit.1:9) 2. They hold fast to the faithful word they have been taught (either by word or epistle (Tit.1:9; 2Thess.2:15) observing the pattern of sound words (2Tim.1:13)) 3. They are rooted and built up, abounding in the Word (Col.2:7; Jude 1:20; Matt.7:24) 4. Teachers are skillful in the word of righteousness (Heb.5:13) 5. Teachers are mature (Heb.5:14) 6. Teachers have trained senses to discern both good and evil (Heb.5:14) 7. Teachers have their spiritual eyes opened (Luke 6:39; Eph.1:18) 8. Teachers are perfectly trained (katartizo) (Lk.6:40; Eph.4:12) 9. Teachers will receive stricter judgment (Jas 3:1) 10. There are elders who rule and elders who especially labor in the word and doctrine. Teachers, especially, are to be counted worthy of double honor (1Tim.5:17; Gal.6:6) 11. Teachers rightly divide the word of truth (2Tim.2:15) 12. Spiritual Teachers bridle their tongue (James 3:1-18; Eccl 12:11) 13. Spiritual Teac...

Published in the Souvenir of Central India Theological Seminary of October 2005. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? (John 18:38) It is interesting to note that the only instance where Christ ever met Pilate in recounted history was at His trial. The ensuing dialogue between both of them is intriguing. It heavily concentrates on the urgency of Truth in a world mismanaged by humans. The trial of Christ at Jerusalem reminds us of the trial of Socrates at Athens. Tertullian might have been too quick to retort “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” The unjust sentence of Socrates explicitly points out the fact that the greatest problem with humanity is not that it has not known the truth but that, to the contrary, having understood the ramifications of truth it has suppressed it and chosen to put an end to any voice that speaks on behalf of it. Weren’t there at least 80, of the earlier 220 who voted Socrates as innocent, who also later voted for his death penalty? Trut...

Excerpted from Epistemics of Divine Reality (2009, 2011) In his paper Reason and Reliance: Adjusted Prospects for Natural Theology (1990) , [1] James Ross defines ‘Cognitive Voluntarism’ as the view that ‘humans, for  the  most  part,  believe  not because they  are  compelled  by  the  evidence,  but  because  they  want  to  (sometimes  even   being  compelled by wants operating as “convictors”) because assenting appears to advance their ‘apprehended good”.’ Cognitive voluntarism is seen as our willing reliance upon people, feelings and outcomes, directed to our own fulfillment. According to Ross, it has reemerged as a basis for rational certainty, not only in empirical cognition generally, but in the most important commitments of our lives. Ross begins by saying that rational certainty about God is more plausible than was believed in the fifties. The fact is that, the notion of what constitutes rational certainty is now better understood. The most important achievement, however...

Incident 1: Place – Makhu, Punjab In 1994, Pastor Surinder of Makhu, a genuine man of God whose life and ministry I personally witnessed, told us an incident from his life. He had the practice of kneeling by a chair and praying every morning or during any part of the day when he got any free time. There were two chairs there besides a bed in that single room where he and his family lived. And, because they didn’t have any church building then, people would bring the sick and demon-oppressed for prayers there. On Sundays, they would pull up a tent for the 600-800 people who joined the services. Once, Pastor Surinder was on a mission trip. His mom was sleeping on the bed at night. Sometime during the night, she awoke and was terrified by what she saw. She saw two persons kneeling by those chairs that were at the foot of the bed. When they saw her terrified, they rose up and came to her and asked why she was so afraid. They said that they come here to pray because her son used...

http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/ toward-the-tithe-and-beyond John Piper presents 7 Biblical reasons for tithing in  this article . Quite contrary to the  teaching of John MacArthur  that Christians don’t need to tithe since they pay taxes to the government, Piper sees tithing as vital to a Christian’s being part of the Kingdom work. Tithing is also an antidote against covetousness, he says. Piper’s 7 Reasons reminded me of  David Jeremiah’s 7 Reasons  for tithing. Clearly, again contrary to what MacArthur teaches, Jesus made a distinction between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God. The book of Malachi that encouraged tithing against robbery of it so that there would be food in the house of God was not written to people in the theocratic times before the monarchy. Clearly tithing is not tax-paying. Piper’s article and appeal is a needed one in an age when Mammon tries to steal the true and total devotion that only belongs to Christ. Piper’s illus...

Scientism  – The principle that only scientifically verifiable statements are true is itself not scientifically verifiable. Skepticism  – The statement that truth cannot be known is itself a statement considered to be true, which by its own verdict cannot be known. Logical Positivism  – The principle that only empirically verifiable statements can be true is itself not empirically verifiable. Kantian Phenomenalism  – If  causality  is just an  a priori  mental category imposed on sense data, then the whole enterprise of trying to account for what  causes  the experience of phenomena becomes self-defeating. Relativism - The statement "Only relative truths exist" poses as absolute truth, which is self-defeating. Subjectivism - The statement that we cannot know the objective world is itself an objective claim. Religious Pluralism - The view that all religions are fundamentally the same is itself an exclusivis...

That surge of joy In the heart of a boy At the sight of his toy Is greater than The smugness of man Who won't understand That life isn't a game Of dime, dame, or fame; We leave as we came.

Character is Carved by Choices Faith Flourishes by Favor Love Looks Beyond Lacks Truth is Tested on Temperance Silence Succors Sometimes Fear Fills up Folly Reverence Reflects Royalty Reliance Reassures Rest Intent Inspires Imagination Godliness Goes Before Glory Pride Precedes Perdition Discipleship Demands Denials Honor comes by Honoring Suretyship is a Sure Snare Frame no Thought on Fragmentary Talk Snobbery Secures Segregation The Devil's Patience Doesn't Postpone his Perdition Doubt Confuses, Faith Convicts Battles are won by Bravery and Belief Seduction can Steal the Stand The Sagacious Save in Summer Companionship Constructs or Corrupts Excellence comes through Endeavor Faith is Foundational; Doubt, Demolitional Prejudice Prevents Perception Bitterness Breeds Bitterness Thanksgiving is the Language of Trust To Love means To Listen Humility is the Health of one's Heart To Love a N...

Ever since the dawn of Darwinism and the subsequent rise of Evolutionism, theologians have tried to wrestle with objections posed by science to the Creation account. The enormous amount of fossil records and proven accuracy of dating methods that try to figure out dates of each fossil along with other scientific researches are seen as a real issue that intellectual Christianity cannot be blind to. Many of the modern theologians and apologists have given in to some form of accommodation of evolutionary thinking, though trying to keep God in picture as the Prime Cause of all things. Most of them prefer a mythical or figurative interpretation of the Genesis account. The Catholic Church doesn't ignore the possibility of biological evolution; however, it makes it clear that the theory of biological evolution cannot explain the creation of the human spirit that distinguishes humans from beasts. In his Message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Oct 22, 1996, Pope John Paul II sa...

The poem as quoted in Oswald J. Sander's (not to be confused with Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)) Spiritual Leadership (1967) credits it to an "Author Unknown". The poem as he quotes it is as follows: When God wants to drill a man    And thrill a man    And skill a man, When God wants to mold a man    To play the noblest part; When He yearns with all His heart    To create so great and bold a man That all the world shall be amazed,    Watch His methods, watch His ways! How He ruthlessly perfects    Whom He royally elects! How He hammers him and hurts him,    And with mighty blows converts him Into trial shapes of clay which    Only God understands; While his tortured heart is crying    And he lifts beseeching hands! How He bends but never breaks    When his good He undertakes; How He uses whom He chooses    And with every purpose fuses him;    By ev...

And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. (Gen 1:4) The usual way has been to look at this along with the statement that "God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night." (Gen.1:5). So Barnes notes: God then separates light and darkness, by assigning to each its relative position in time and space. This no doubt refers to the vicissitudes of day and night, as we learn from the following verse: Gen 1:5 Called to the light, day, ... - After separating the light and the darkness, he gives them the new names of day and night, according to the limitations under which they were now placed. But John Gill saw this division as original division of light and dark particles: "and God divided the light from the darkness: by which it should seem that they were mixed together, the particles of light and darkness" Of course, the scientific views in the 17th century were quite different from the views now. Today, scienti...

There are a number of Christian movies that have tried to tackle the issue of human suffering in the face of faith in an all-good and all-powerful God. The Shack , based on the 2007 novel by William P. Young, is a serious attempt towards the same. The movie shows Mack who is in deep shock from the sudden loss of his youngest daughter struggling with the issue of faith and forgiveness. By a turn of events, He meets the Trinity which manifests to him in a homely setting as Mother-Son-Sarayu (a young lady as the Spirit). The Trinity don't look European (white) in this movie. The traditional image of the Father as someone aged (here, first shown as Mother (Papa) and later as Father-figure ) is kept intact. Of course, we may think the Ageless One need not be depicted as an old aged. But, the movie maker tried to not disturb the traditional imagery too much. The movie draws a very homely, friendly, and lively scenery of the conversations between Mack and the Trinity. There are a numbe...

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. (Gen 1:3-5) Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (Gen 1:14-19) On Day 1, pure physical light was created. Th...

Jesus ministered in word and in deed. He said His works testified of Him. The Gospel is not only communicated by words but also by deeds. Preaching, talking, apologetics, discourse, conversations exemplify the Gospel in words. But, the Gospel can and is expected to also be communicated by deeds. One may confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord (Rom.10:10). But, they may deny the Lord by their works. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. (Tit 1:16) Many times, the Gospel is more effectively communicated with great conviction by actions, without words. Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, (1Pe 3:1)

Life is an interweaving of stories. We hear stories all the time and stories help us to experience the experiences of others, though vicariously, though in a personal way feeling together with the other. One of the greatest gifts given to humanity by God is the gift of imagination. It is saddening when this is used vilely and foolishly, but humans need imagination to transcend their own world-frame and enter another world-frame to experience learning and benefit from the experiences of others. Stories cannot be told or listened to without the use of imagination. Stories can help to shed light on ideas. Jesus used stories to teach great truths in simple terms. The Bible is filled with stories to help us understand God, this world and ourselves better. Stories can be realistic or fantastical. Unrealistic fictions may not always be useful. Educators such as Plato tried to suggest state censorship on stories that could confuse citizens on issues of absolutes, truth, and values. If it w...

The cosmological argument takes off from the common-sense idea that every effect must have a cause. From a rational point of view, the idea of something being created or effected out of nothing is absurd. Therefore, in many religious cosmologies, God is seen as either the material cause or the formal cause or the final cause of the world. In many cosmogonies, the universe is looked at as created out of something (and not nothing), many times the body of God (the eternal One). The idea of creation out of nothing does not originate in reason, though it may seem sensible to the imagination. Immanuel Kant had raised an important issue with the cosmological argument that looked to God as the source of the chain of cause-effect phenomena (or the world). He said, "If the supreme being should itself stand in this chain of conditions, it would be a member of the series, and like the lower members which it precedes, would call for further enquiry as to the still higher ground from which...

Jesus told the Jews to believe in Him, if not because of His words, then because of His works. The book of Acts records signs and wonders that accompanied preaching. The Bible talks also about lying signs by the devil in the last days. Obviously, as human experience proves (in all anthropological cultures), miracles play an important role in the area of faith and worldview formation. Despite the Enlightenment euphoria challenging the possibility of miracles, chiefly David Hume's criticism of them, reports of miracles have only increased. Of course, there is the need to investigate the reports. A notable deed of miracle cannot not be ignored, whether people believe the message or not. The Bible does show the supremacy of the divine deed in cases like Moses' confrontation with the Egyptian magicians, Elijah's confrontation with Baal priests, and Philip's preaching in Samaria where Simon the Magus was baptized. One important aspect of the Christian Life is prayer. ...

Augustine in the eighth book of On Trinity begins to talk of love as involving three substances: the lover, the loved, and love. Modern apologists like Ravi Zacharias have argued that the statement God is Love could only be true if God is essentially and eternally a Triune being: the Father eternally loves the Son through the Holy Spirit. Thus, it was not that God was all alone (a monad) before the creation and had nothing to love, but being the Triune inter-personal God, He ever existed as Love. Of course, Augustine also talks about the possibility of loving oneself and sees three things involved in this as well: "when the mind knows itself and loves itself, there remains a trinity: mind, love, knowledge; and this trinity is not confounded together by any commingling". However, in this mono-love, there is only one person, though one may divide the experience into the lover, the loved, and love. Loving oneself is not inter-personal, and therefore possesses no love act of s...

One popular version of the moral argument for the existence of God has been that the reality or rational necessity of the moral law proves the existence of a moral lawgiver. However, we must admit that there are religious philosophies, especially in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism that do not find a leap from moral law to moral lawgiver necessary at all. In fact, in these, the moral law exists independently to any concept of deity. So, how justified is the argument from law to lawgiver? I believe that the concept of a moral law and God are inseparable. Perhaps, the name God is better than the term Lawgiver, because the moral law doesn't exist because of an arbitrary command of God (as in divine command theories). Certainly, the moral law doesn't exist apart from God as if He only discovered or knew the principle and gave interpretations to humans in the form of rules and norms. The moral law is not just a set of commandments. It is the law of relationship between persons. Pers...

Sometime back, a pastor and leader in a reputed apologetic ministry commented that temptation to him occurred in the form of same-sex attraction, emphasizing that Christians must not regard temptation as sin but fight against temptation. He then went on to state that the fallenness of humanity is common to all and that while depravity may be manifest as opposite sex attraction in some, it appears as same-sex attraction in him and others. His comments went viral on social media. However, I disagree with his latter theological comment. Let me clarify the reasons: 1. Opposite sex attraction is considered natural in the scriptures and in common human history as well. Perversions exist with regard to this in the form of incest, adultery, sadism, and the like. However, this is not the case with same-sex attraction. It is by nature unnatural and cannot be put in the same terms as opposite-sex attraction. The statement made by the apologist hints at an understanding of same-sex attraction a...

RELIGION COUNTRIES HISTORY SCRIPTURES BELIEFS FESTIVALS PRACTICES HINDUISM ॐ India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bali, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, West Indies Name derived from River Sindhu Originally, Arya Dharma Vedic Age (2000-600 BC) Protests Age (600-200 BC) Epics & Puranas (200 BC-AD 1000) Bhakti Age (AD 1000-1750) Modern Age (AD 1750-) 6 Schools of Philosophy: Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisesika, Uttara Mimmsa, Purva Mimamsa Sects : Saivism, Saktism, Vaishnavism Modern Movements : Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, Brahmo Samaj, Guru Cults Sruti (Vedas); Smriti (Puranas, etc) Vedas (Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva) : Consists of Mantras, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads Itihasas: Ramayana & Mahabharata Puranas Bhagavad Gita Agamas: Manuals of Worship 4 GOALS OF LIFE: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha 4 STAGES OF LIFE: Brahmacharya, Grihasta, Vanaprasta, S...