The Church of Christ

(Based on the Word of God; dedicated to the promotion of independence, Indianisation, unity, co-operation, and to the removal of corruption and evil in all forms and in all places.)

The Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is a shock to the sleeper; a sting to the carnal; a tonic to the good; a summons to the dead; by disclosing the things that as a matter of fact will happen, it places in our hands the master-key to every modern problem.

It illuminates backwards like an electric flare; and by revealing their issues it tears out the heart of the surrounding movements, so that our feet are shepherded forever in the narrow way.

They who reject the word of prophecy have no ‘lamp shining in a dark place’ (2 Peter 1:19). Canon Adderley once asked Archbishop Temple what he thought would happen in the future. “I haven’t the remotest idea,” answered the Archbishop. It is this cultured ignorance which will lure the Church to her wreck.

“I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches; SEAL NOT UP” - by neglect or alleged bewilderment or refusal or mockery - “the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand”

— (Revelations 22:10,16)

America Repent! Britain Repent! Christians of the World, Repent

Unless God Intervenes and Reverses the Trend

Our Churches will be closed. Our Bibles will be destroyed. Our Religious Broadcasts will be banned. Blood will run in the streets. America will be a police state. Millions will be liquidated. Other millions will finish their days in slave camps.

This means you! Although you find it difficult to comprehend - the flood is already upon us!

If Christian America does not lead the nation in repentance, so that the quickening of America’s spiritual life reverses the present trend - multitudes will face the challenge of martyrdom under an American Soviet State.

Easter Morn

Easter Message - By Ralph Richard Keithahn, Gandhigram.

Easter Morn!
The Lord has Risen!
May this New Life be yours!

Jesus, carpenter of Nazareth, had lived;
  born of humble parentage,
  trained as "Son of the Law,"
  student of the great prophets of Israel,
  faithful son in a needy family,
  responsive to his peoples needs,
  teacher, healer, preacher, and servant,
  a man of compassion, goodness and justice
  who dared to face the authorities in Jerusalem,
  both religious and political,
  and was crucified for his pains.

  He had twelve intimate disciples:
    one betrayed him -
    one denied him -
    all forsook their Master and Teacher -
    they returned to their fishing!

But something happened!
They met their Master alive!
He had risen!
He was Messiah, the Saviour, the Christ -
the long-expected in Israel.
They met him, conversed with him, walked with him!

Jesus Christ continued His Pilgrimage.
The twelve, for another was chosen to replace Judas,
  were afire, renewed, inspired,
  filled with the Holy Spirit!
They spoke with their Master's courage!
They spoke of the Risen Lord, the Messiah, the Saviour!
They had seen Him, touched Him, talked with Him!
They were daily conscious of His presence!
They would take the good news to the ends of the earth!

Saul, the persecuting enemy,
  also heard the Master's call -
  received his marching orders in the desert -
  took the lead in bringing the message to the Mediterranean world
  St. Paul went to Asia Minor, to Greece, to Rome,
  St. Thomas came to India.
  St. Peter was also on the trial,
  The others ministered unto local needs,
  Something New, Something More had come to the world!
  What then is this Good News? - this Risen Life?
  It is the Word that we are One Creation, One Humanity!
  There is the One, Heavenly Father!
  We are our brother's keeper!
  We are called to love that Creator - that brother
    called to "do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God"
    called to "seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness"
  and then Abundant Living, Eternal Life is ours!

Jesus Christ is truly the Son of the Heavenly Father
The Christ is Eternal, Universal!
He knocks at the door of every heart!
It is ours to open or to close -
  to live as animals or as "sons of God."
There is also the Spirit of Life -
  the Spirit that hovers over the parents consecration of the child:
    that goes with us into the wilderness of temptation,
    that fills us as we return to live,
    that brings to us new visions,
    that takes us up to our Jerusalem,
    that calls us to clean the temples and shops and offices,
    that is close at hand when we lay our
    lives on the altars of need.
This is the Spirit of Power, of Truth, of Love,
    of Goodness, Beauty, and Joy.
All One! The Heavenly Father, the Living Son, the Spirit of Power, and you and I?!
Of this living Family, on the Pilgrimage of life,
with the Eternal Presence and Power as ours -
with a profound sense of Vocation -
Supreme Power at our command -
marching on and on -
a great fellowship of the faithful -
a colony of heaven  -
but our feet on a very real earth.
This is the Good News!
This is the Life Eternal, the Risen Life
This is the Life to which we are called Today!

Holy Ghost Bankrupt

This is the dispensation of the Holy Ghost, but as a whole we are a Christian generation which is Holy Ghost bankrupt. Thousands of local churches are Holy Ghost bankrupt. Go to any of their services or gatherings, and you will find them more characterised by the absence of the Holy Spirit than by the life and ministry of the Holy Spirit. If the leaders of many Christian organisations and societies were to be completely frank in their self-analysis they would need to admit that no matter how glorious may have been the past history of their group they are at present more characterised by the lack of the Holy Spirit than by the manifest abundance of the Holy Spirit.

We are not lacking in activity. We are perhaps busier than ever before. We are not lacking in organisation. We are more organised than ever before. At times, we may secretly fear that we are almost over-organised. We are not lacking in good qualified personnel. Never were our people more highly trained, never did they have more specialised skills. Never has the Christian movement had such a variety of God-given means at its disposal to blanket the world for God. Never have we had such an abundance of scripture in the languages of the people; the world is more covered with the written Word of God than ever in history. Modern transportation has brought all the world to our door. Through Christian radio and Christian literature we can blanket the world for God. Indeed, there are several evangelical broadcasts which are heard over hundreds of radio stations around the world. We have a plethora of A/V aids and gadgets - more than we can possibly use to the fullest capacity. We have more organisations seeking to do the will of God than ever before.

It is true, all of our organisations wish they had more personnel so they could do more. All seem so often short of finance, and we see so many more things we could do for God if we only had the means. I suppose we shall always long and pray for more. But to be absolutely honest with ourselves and God we must admit that we have but one basic need. Every genuine need which we have is related to this one all-inclusive, most fundamental of all needs. WE NEED THE HOLY GHOST.

If the Holy Ghost were possessing us, indwelling us, anointing us, guiding us, using us, and giving us fruit as in the days of the early church we already have enough people to turn the world upside down for God. I suppose the Holy Ghost could use every Audio-Visual technique, every radio station, every printing press, every literature outlet, every mechanical gadget which has been put to gospel use. The God Who condescends to use unworthy man, to even speak through the mouth of an ass, will not disdain to use the techniques which He has helped and permitted man to develop. But He will be able to do so only when we get our attention off these and on to God the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost is with us in a measure. Of course He is. Do not dishonour God by minimising or depreciating all that the Holy Spirit has already done for us. But get a vision of all He longs to do for us, all He longs to be in us. The reception of the Holy Ghost cannot be a once-for all matter. You cannot receive enough of the Holy Spirit in one moment to keep you filled, anointed, and empowered for the rest of your life and ministry. Do you tell me that the Holy Spirit has mightily used your church or your organisation in past days? I thank God with you. Do you tell me of mighty infilling and anointing of the Holy Spirit on your own life? I praise God with you. Those were the “earnest” of the Spirit. They were His samples of what He longs to be and do. By the way, is the Holy Spirit even more present with you and your group today?

The presence of the Holy Spirit will not diminish with the passing of time. The Holy Spirit plans to possess you ever more fully, to enlarge your spiritual capacity and then fill you even more completely, to give you ever clearer and more continuous guidance, to deepen your hunger and thirst for victory, glory, and souls ever more and more, to pray ever more mightily through you, to intercede with more meaningful tears, with mightier Holy Ghost wrestling, to anoint you ever more continuously and completely. The further and longer you go on with God the more wonderful it will become; the more glorious will become the reality.

It will be the same with your organisation. The more the Holy Spirit uses your church or organisation, the more your leaders will learn of the ways of the Spirit, the more they will realise their absolute dependence upon the Holy Spirit. The more the Holy Spirit guides your group, the more they will long to be guided. The more He answers prayer, the more insistent your group will be to have constant answers to prayer. The more He blesses and uses, the more hungry your people will become for more and more of His supernatural working. The work of the Holy Spirit in a Holy Spirit filled and used group will be cumulative. The Holy Ghost not merely adds; He multiplies. By now the volume of unanswered prayer for your group that is waiting to be answered is larger than ever before. Has your organisation been in existence for five years? Ten years? Fifty years? How mightily the Holy Spirit must be possessing, using, and giving fruit! What miracle after miracle you must be experiencing! What glory must be rising to God from your group! All praise to our wonderful Lord! How gloriously your organisation must be marked by the presence of the Holy Ghost! Or is it?

The Holy Spirit in the spirit-filled life transfigures by His presence till the individual is changed from glory to glory till he is the very image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). The Holy Spirit in a spirit-filled organisation goes on guiding, blessing, anointing, empowering, miracle-working, making it a glorious, triumphant, ever more sweetly united, evermore mighty yet more humble instrument for His glory. Out of the innermost being of the one who is filled with the Spirit stream rivers of living water. Out from a Holy Spirit-filled and used organisation flow movements of blessing, salvation, and revival. If our lives and our organisations are not thus possessed, anointed, and used by the Holy Spirit, then somewhere we have neglected, or grieved the Spirit. Perhaps we have failed to be filled over and over with the Holy Spirit, as was normal in the book of Acts. Perhaps our leaders have been so busy serving tables, attending committees, filling out reports, and doing such things that they have neglected the ministry of the Word and prayer. Perhaps we have permitted disunity to enter and remain in our ranks, and the Spirit has been grieved away. Perhaps we have had people in our ranks who have grumbled, criticised, and indulged in self-pity till the Spirit has withdrawn. Perhaps we have lost deep humility and when God gave some early blessings we have touched the glory that was His alone and have taken credit to our organisation or to ourselves. Perhaps we have filled our ranks with people well qualified otherwise but not filled, anointed, and empowered with the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we have failed to be instant and total in our obedience.

Let us humble ourselves before God. Let us confess our failure, our emptiness, our fruitlessness. To our knees! To our knees! Let us repent as organisations and let us repent as individuals. Let us tarry until the Holy Spirit comes again in mighty power upon us. Do not seek for the spectacular. Do not be sidetracked to emphasise tangents or special manifestations. It is the holy, mighty presence of the Holy Spirit Himself that we need. We and our organisations are in many ways grown large, have increased in many things, but oh how we lack the Holy Spirit. We have built our institutions and churches, we have increased and greatly improved our methods. But the more we increase our activity the more of the Holy Spirit we need, or we become insolvent in the things of the Spirit. We are undertaking far more than we saturate with prayer. We are content to get along with a minimum of the Spirit. We are content to be ordinary, often defeated, and comparatively fruitless. Holy Spirit guidance, anointing, power, and revival is the exception rather than the rule. We are part of a generation which is largely bankrupt in the things of the Spirit. God forbid that our organisations, our churches, and our lives be Holy Ghost bankrupt!

Wesley Duewel.

Loose Thinking

An article entitled “Update to the Nation” in the issue of the Indian Witness of the 13th August 1964 was given the front page.

According to the writer “we cannot look in the scriptures for answers to all and sundry problems of our life today.” I humbly claim that I am one of those many believers who have found solutions of all problems of life in the Bible. We have found a centre for our life in the Word of God. If it were not so, we would not have taken up the Cross leaving behind our ancient ancestral religion. Moreover, Christianity would have been an abstract idea fit only for the academic. Whereas, on the contrary, the fact is that the Bible introduces us to an eminently practical religion for the average man and to a Person who solves all problems and gives us perspective from where to look at life at any time and under any circumstances with courage and vision. We must search the scriptures with a humble and penitent heart under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I regret to say that the author’s remark is a serious reflection on the Word of God and questions the all sufficiency of scriptures.

Secondly, I definitely accuse him of factual inexactitude when he says “The Cross itself, central to the Christian faith, was precipitated through the power and authority of the State.” Contrary is the truth. The Gospel narratives of the Trial and Crucifixion of our Lord make it plain that the religious hierarchy of his own people - the Jews and not the nation as a whole conspired, accelerated, and executed His Death. The Roman authority represented by Pilate was coerced to accede to His murder. Because the Jews had no power to execute death penalty. It is the threat and challenge of the religious oligarchy to which Pilate succumbed for personal reasons. He declared Jesus innocent of anything worthy of death - either religious or political. He tried his very best in different ways, and even inspired by his wife, to save Jesus but failed. How can one say that the State power accelerated the Cross? His death was not due to treason but for theological reasons. He claimed to be the Son of God - equal to God. The remark of the writer will cause pain and confusion among believing Christians. If Christ did not die because of His people’s sin and the sin of humanity but for state and political reasons He would only be a felon not a saviour. The accusation of the Jews that Jesus claimed to be the Christ - the King - was only to get Him involved in politics which He repudiated before Pilate by declaring “My Kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate found Him not guilty and wanted to let Him off. Christ died, according to the will and predetermination of God, because of religious and theological causes - not because of disloyalty to his ancestral nation or state either, but for the moral and spiritual sins of man. Instead of the Roman State (the Jews had neither statehood nor nationality except in a strictly religious sense - theocracy - without any temporal power) accelerating the Cross, it was compelled to consent to the carrying out the execution of Jesus by the ecclesiastical rump of His day. Such crucifixions are continuing all along and today within the Church.

Varanasi, R.C. Das.

“God Sent Me to Jail”

By Ward Patterson

Reprinted from CHRISTIAN STANDARD

Prem Pradhan came through the barred door with a warm smile on his face. He stopped behind a chain that stretched across the outer door, flanked by two guards. He could come no farther, for he was a criminal in the custody of the Nepal Department of Prisons. He had now been in jail a little more than three years, and he still had three more years before he had paid his debt to society.

It was Sunday morning and I had missed church to visit this remarkable prisoner of whom I had heard so much since my first arrival in Kathmandu. A soldier at my right stood guard at the outer prison door, a bayoneted rifle in his hands.

Though Prem Pradban speaks and understands English, he could not speak to me directly because the prison authorities themselves could not understand what he might be saying. So he spoke Nepali to my friend, a Swiss nurse from the United Christian Hospital. She, in turn, interpreted to me.

Prem Pradhan seemed in strange contrast to the general atmosphere of the dank, musty, crumbling prison that scourged him. He was clean, his eyes were bright, and that smile, something about that smile seemed to radiate an inner calm that I had seldom seen before. He was an unusual prisoner. And why should he not be? For it was God Who had sent him to prison.

Accepting the Cost

Prem Pradban is a Nepali by race, but an Indian by citizenship. He grew up in the beautiful mountain area around Darjeeling. It was there that he first heard the good news of Christ and gave himself completely to his Lord. He then attended a Bible Institute in Allahabad. Having finished his studies, he had a burning zeal to preach to his own people in Nepal. But Nepal had been closed for decades to all evangelising and to all contact with the outside world, for that matter.

After the overthrow of the autocratic Ranas who had ruled Nepal for so long, there was a change in policy. In 1954 Christian missionaries were permitted for the first time to enter in order to establish a hospital in Tansen, western Nepal.

Prem offered his services and went to Tansen where he served the mission in many capacities as it established itself in a hostile Hindu community. The missionaries had been given a barren, rocky hillside which was absolutely worthless, and the work began from scratch. Despite the fact that the missionaries were establishing a much-needed hospital, the people objected when the hospital asked for water.

Prem held devotions with the workers every morning. He read from the Word of God, and it took root in the hearts of those who heard it. Some of the workers, gardeners, and nurses became believers.

But an ancient Nepalese law, which is still enforced, prohibits a Nepali from changing his religion. If a person defies this law, he is subject to six months in jail and he loses his inheritance. A person who evangelises and attempts to convert a Nepali is subject to three years imprisonment. A person who baptises someone who has been of another faith is subject to six years of confinement. There is also a law that if a Christian gives rice to a caste Hindu, he may be sentenced to six months in jail.

Prem and the Tansen believers knew these laws, but they felt it was better to obey God than man. Fully aware of the possible consequences, Prem immersed four men and four women who were determined to make a public stand for their faith. Those who had been opposing the mission work saw this as an opportunity to get rid of the foreign missionaries. Their purpose was not primarily to cause trouble for the Nepalis involved, but they were willing to use their countrymen as a means to an end.

The local governor, the Hakim, called the offenders to the police station and held a public enquiry. The officials tried to make the Christians admit that the foreigners had forced them to become Christians. “No,” they said, “It is the Holy Spirit of the Lord that has led us to do what we have done.” They were full of joy and zeal and their witness for the name of Christ was a remarkable one.

Reluctance at Judgement

Now having called them to account, the official could not let them go. They were all nine put in jail and kept there for one year without trial or sentence. It began to look as if they might be in jail all their lives. Under the Nepali system of justice, once a person is jailed he is kept until there is a trial. But if no charge is made or trial set, he just stays in jail. Ordinarily the desperate prisoner must resort to bribery just to get a hearing so that if judged innocent he can go free or if convicted his term of imprisonment can officially begin.

No Hindu lawyer would touch the Christian’s case. And even if one could have been found, he probably got his clients into even greater trouble than they already were in.

At this point it seemed as if God heard the prayers of Christians all over Nepal and sent the needed man. Years earlier a young Nepali had come to a Swedish missionary to inquire as to what the Christians believed. A strong friendship had grown up between the two, though the young man had not become a Christian. He came to Kathmandu and became a lawyer.

The Swedish missionary was heavily burdened with the need of his Nepali brethren. He seemed to have no rest in his mind. He prayed that God would help him get in touch with the lawyer. He then came to Kathmandu in search of this long-lost friend and pupil. It seemed as if God led him to this man.

Against the wishes of his family and associates, the lawyer willingly took up the case. Through his efforts the accused finally came to trial. In a closed hearing they pleaded guilty under the law and were so judged by the Magistrate. But it was necessary that another hearing be held for the sentencing. This was put off, repeatedly. Sometimes on the set date the judge would not come, or some clerk would not be present, and the hearing was postponed.

The date for sentencing finally came. It was rather amusing, for the judges were in a quandary as to how to sentence the accused. They disagreed as to when a man could properly be called a Christian. Was it when he believed, or was it when he was baptised? Finally, they consulted an encyclopedia. To their credit, they ruled that a man becomes a Christian only when he is baptised. The accused were sentenced exactly according to the law. At least one of the families was given a year’s sentence. A six months sentence was meted out for their becoming Christians and another six months was added because they had given rice to their son, a caste Hindu.

Preaching in Prison

Prem was just jailed in Tansen, and he served two years of his sentence in the rat-and-bug-infested prison there. With his fellow Christian prisoner he witnessed to the convicts of the peace to be found in Christ. There was no bitterness. “God sent me to prison,” he said to me happily. He felt that God had a work for him to do even there.

He had always wanted to travel from village to village preaching in Nepal, but this had never been possible for him. Though his wife and two children were in Tansen, after two years in jail there he applied to be transferred to Kathmandu. He wanted to enlarge his witness.

The request was granted. There is only one way to get from Tansen to Kathmandu and that is by walking. So he set out, accompanied by his guards, preaching and explaining his faith to the villagers as he went.

Now in Kathmandu, he is very busy behind the prison walls. He is teaching other prisoners to read and write. So highly is he esteemed in the prison, that he has been permitted to start a library for the prisoners. He spends much time in study and prayer. He is a busy, happy man who knows his mission and has found his field of service behind prison walls.

Wherever his story is heard he has strengthened the believers. Many Nepali, because of his example, have had the courage to make public their faith and be baptised. They have been ready to suffer his fate. Fortunately, they have not been required to do so, because no one has raised a charge against them. Two of the men who served terms for accepting Christ went to Bible college and have returned full of zeal to witness to the community that sent them to jail. When Prem is released in some three years, he will be deported to India.

As I turned to leave, Prem gave me something I shall treasure all my life. It will be framed and put in my office. It is an embroidered map of Nepal with his name sewn in Nepali beside a cross in the lower left-hand corner. Above the map are the words, “Pray for us.” This memento, embroidered in a Nepal prison by a man of God will remind me to pray for him and his country. But it will do more than that. For when I get discouraged and feel as if I’m being badly used because of my service to my Lord, I will look up at that brightly coloured map of Nepal and my mind will return to the Kathmandu prison and to the joyful man who stood behind a steel chain at its door. And I shall be strengthened because of the faith of Prem Pradhan, a twentieth-century ambassador in bonds.

Oct. 1964. - “Christasian”

Letters

The Editor, The Northern India Patrika.

Sir,

You have published an article by Prof. Mukerjee on the passing away of my revered teacher Dr. W.S. Urgubart. I want to add my humble tribute of Guru Bhakti to his respected memory. I learnt psychology from him with some inspiration in 1911-13. He was an unassuming teacher humble to the core. His love of his students was deep and very personal. His contacts both with students and the public were wide and various. In all his busy life he was calm and poised. He was a true and simple disciple of Christ. His family life was Bible centric. We always felt it whenever we visited him. He constantly preached his message by word and life. In the high positions he held his life reflected the spirit of unselfish service. His book on the Upanishad and Christianity reveals his erudition and love of Indian culture. I owe much to him and am thankful for his life and work. We need such men of character and principles everywhere in the public life of our country today.

129 Dashashwamedh, Varanasi, - R.C. Das.

19, Beechill Park Avenue, Belfast 8.

Dear Brother Das,

We are now in Northern Ireland for a period. I trust this letter finds you well and strengthened to serve Him in your beloved Bharatvorah. I am writing these few lines to say that last February I paid a visit to Kurukshetra. I wanted to see the famous battleground and spent an enjoyable day at the sacred spot, Thaveshwar - reading the Gita by the side of the tank there.

Before proceeding to Delhi the next day I stayed overnight at the Christian Mission at Kurukshetra (a National work I believe). There were two Indian Pastors there who showed me great kindness. One was a married man a convert from Hinduism. In conversation with this brother, who was good enough to take me to Birla Temple where I saw the beautiful marble statue of Arjuna’s Chariot. He told me the story of his conversion.

Many years ago while as student of Sanskrit in Kashi he received a Gospel from you in the street! He read and was fascinated by the words in John’s Gospel - “God is a Spirit and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Two years later he was converted. For many years now he has been in the ministry. As far as I could make out you never heard of this before; so I am writing to say “Praise God!” Seed sown 20 years ago has brought forth a hundred-fold!

25-2-1965

Affectionately yours in Him,

William Walker.

Rowanlea, Torphins, Scotland,

Dear Rajendra,

(As my husband always spoke of you) your very kind letter of sympathy touched me deeply, and I thank you for it sincerely. I wish I could have shared with my dear husband your beautiful tribute to his memory published in the Northern India Patrika. Will you please tell the Editor that I much appreciated the honour paid by him to Dr. Urquhart.

Your letter is one of more than 150 from near and far (many from India including a message of sympathy from the President Dr. Radhakrishnan who had various associations with my husband both in Calcutta and in England). I had met Dr. Radhakrishnan in Calcutta and am familiar as well with some of his writings.

My husband and I have always tried to keep in touch with events in India during the years since we left (1937) and I have just been reading with great interest in accounts of Mr. Shastri’s reception and speeches in England and his reports after returning to India. He inspires hope and confidence and seems to me in a way more deeply Indian than Nehru who was extraordinarily cosmopolitan.

One of the saddest things in my husband’s last long illness was his failing of memory which began with a severe heart seizure. He recovered a good deal of strength physically, but his mental grasp of things failed very gradually during his last 3 years and then rapidly and finally during this past year. My own very serious illness in March was a great shock to him as for a time I was not expected to recover. How thankful to God I have been that I did recover and was able to nurse him at home until the end. As the days of my loneliness go on I realise more and more how true all you say of him is. He never failed me, and gave me all my greatest joys. I have read your booklet with very great interest. Your life has been remarkable.

15-12-1961

Yours very sincerely, Margaret Urquhart.

Message From an Unbaptised Christian

The people of Trimulgherry, Christians and other communities, had the rare experience in September, of listening to a stirring sermon on Jesus Christ delivered by a person who is not a baptised member of any Church. He was Rao Sahib K. Subba Rao, B.A., B.T., retired Headmaster, now residing in Munipalli village of Guntur district. He is well known to many as the Miracle Man of Munipalli.

For 20 years past he had been preaching and healing the sick in the Name of Jesus Christ, but denounced by the so-called Christians of that area for not being a Church member.

For the first time in his long Healing Ministry he was invited by Christians in Trimulgherry with the liberal co-operation of the Rev. J.P. Cotelingam; and was given an opportunity to preach and heal in the hall of the Garrison Wesley Church. He was also enabled to hold three meetings in a Christian residence and pray for the sick in three non-Christian homes.

The audiences included Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, Catholics and Protestants, among whom were Army Officers and Civilians of all ranks. The session in the Church hall commenced with community singing of English and Hindi hymns and anthems. Then Mr. Subba Rao was invited to speak. This is the substance of what he said:

“My dear brothers and sisters - It has made me and my wife very happy to be in your midst today as this is the first occasion in the past 20 years when I was welcomed by a group of friendly Christians and allowed to speak to them. I am not a Bible scholar or theologian. I can preach only about Jesus Christ, my Lord. I am only a lover of Jesus Christ, and had disliked being called a Christian because of the bad example of those who go by that name. I can tell you only about Jesus who made the Supreme Sacrifice on the Cross for me, a sinner, and for all of you. I have no religion; it is an external form which divides the children of God. I have no doctrine but the Gospel of Christ. I do not like arguments which only confuse our thinking. I am prepared to discuss Christ, and Christ alone. Nothing else.

I belong to Christ and He belongs to me. I am His and He is mine. I am only obeying His command to His disciples to preach and heal. But later, by its emphasis on preaching, the Church lost its power of healing-the ministry of Love and Compassion. Jesus. Christ has called me for this purpose. Christ is my only concern and I must serve Him, and Him alone. He dwells in me and each one of you though you may not be aware of it because you are so used to looking at the sinner in others more than the Christ in them. God is love. We must retain that Love and share it with others. We must love one another. Then we dwell in Him and He in us. This is what Jesus has taught: to love our neighbours and to love our enemies. If you cannot love your brothers whom you can see how can you become God-conscious?

Merely calling yourselves Christians is useless, it is humbug. You must become Christ-like in your daily life.”

[It would be sheer arrogance to say that this man will not be accepted by God and mere stupidity to deny him fellowship as a brother believer. Are there not large groups of Christians who do not practice Baptism and Holy Communion sacraments?

When the disciples complained to the Lord that a man was casting out devils in his name without being one of them, Jesus asked them to be patient by saying “he that is not against me is for me.”- Mark 9:38-41.

Editor]

Illuminating Booklets on Vital Subjects

1. The Priority of the Holy Spirit in Christian Witness - Alexander McLeish.
2. The Priority of Prayer (intercession in Missionary strategy) - John Savage.
3. Do Churches Grow? - Donald McGavran.
4. The Church - Local and Universal - Leslie I. Lyall and Leslie Newbigin.
5. Evangelicals and the World Council of Churches - A.T. Houghton.

Prices around one shilling.

Published by the World Dominion Press, Survey Application Trust, 34, Brook Street, London W. 1.

The above series is projected under the auspices of an earnest and experienced group of men concerned over the growth of the church of Christ. Each writer is, however, free in the expression of his conviction on his subject. There are illuminations and inspirations for the thinkers and leaders in the Indian church.

Veritas and the Virgin

OR

Jesus the Son of God and the Children of Joseph and Mary

This book is a new and vital contribution to Christian literature. It meets a centuries old need. It presents to the public for the first time abundant and conclusive evidence drawn from the historic records of the Bible and supported by writings of the Church fathers of the earliest centuries of our era, to show that Mary, the mother of Jesus bore sons and daughters to her husband Joseph. The known facts about the life of the Mary of history are contrasted with the Mary of fiction and tradition.

In the Fellowship

1. The Palak-Pramukh suffered much for over 2 months from nervous pains on his left shoulder brought about by a chill during this winter. Several kinds of treatment were of no avail. Finally, utter dependence on the Good Physician and the prayers of a few believing friends gradually healed him.
2. On the 23rd April we held a day’s Retreat accompanied by some business at the Committee of the B.K.S. in the Entally Baptist Church, Calcutta.
3. With deep sorrow and grief we report the sudden but peaceful passing away this summer at his residence in Calcutta of our beloved friend and Hon. Treasurer of the B.K.S. - Professor M. L. Sircar, M.A. He was Vice Principal of Scottish Churches College and acted as Principal for a period before he retired a few years ago. He was a quiet and peaceful person and never intruded himself anywhere, and yet he was called to positions in the Councils and Committees of the Mission Church system. Until his death he was Hon. Treasurer of the Duff Church of which he was an elder for many years - a post which he held with rectitude and honour. More than in public life he shone in his private and personal life. He was an example of humility and faith always smiling and kind and courteous to all who had anything to do with him. He was a convert along with his younger brother - Prof. S.L. Sircar, M.A. - being nephews of the late Rev. B.C. Sircar of the Y.M.C.A. General Secretariat and founder of the Ishapanthi Ashram, Puri. Loved and respected by students, many Hindu and Christian friends he has left for us a legacy of honest work, church loyalty, steadfast friendship and pure character. He is survived by his widow and several children and relatives to all of whom, grieved ones, we offer our sincere condolences.
4. The above sad event reminds us poignantly that two important posts in the B.K.S. are now vacant - of the Assistant Secretary and Hon. Treasurer. Moreover, our beloved President - Dr. Venkata Narayan Sharma Ph.D., Principal of Children’s Garden School, Madras, has held his position for over four years now. Unfortunately on account of great distance between the North and South he has not had much fellowship with the B.K.S. brethren except through the Palak Pramukh. We must now look for a new President nearer at home. Will brethren who have the interests and welfare of the B.K.S. at heart give practical suggestions and help?
5. From the 4th March to the 6th July, except for 10 days of return to the Ashram in April, Acharya Das has been in West Bengal. He was very kindly received and generously treated by the superior and members of the St. Thomas Brotherhood at Howrah. This was his address and from here he took trips to different centres in the State mostly in Greater Calcutta. In spite of his frail constitution and weakness caused by the illness in the winter he stood the summer of Bengal and the touring programme fairly well. He held many meetings and taught classes among Christians on topics relevant to the church, evangelism and the culture of India. In particular, it was a matter of pleasure and thankfulness that he was invited by Hindu friends in certain centres to explain the truths of Christianity. Contacting Hindu leaders of thought and piety was a great experience. But the Retreat at Bishnupur arranged for Christians was not a success.
6. Brother Ishananda S.K. Paul, who has been preaching the Gospel in Orissa visited Calcutta, stayed in Metiaburz and Dum Dum where he conducted some services.
7. Professor Dr. D.K. Santra Ph.D., our first Vice-President, has been consistently loyal and co-operative to the B.K.S. Whenever there has been any need either in the Ashram or in the conduct of the “Seeker and Pilgrim” (now the “Church of Christ”) he has been always ready to help, and generously. He has faithfully paid his tithe to the B.K.S. He is in very important work in charge of a department in Birla’s multipurpose technological university. As he has risen high in esteem and recognition and is bound to prosper further let us pray that his soul may constantly feed on the Word of God and grow in grace and power and wisdom.
8. After much searching of heart, thought, prayer, and a period of mental stress we have seen light in the matter of the future of the Ashram. Faith has finally triumphed. Quite unexpectedly a sympathetic and generous party has offered enough co-operation and help to relieve the financial strain - to whom we are sincerely grateful. We are thankful to God for answer to our long-standing prayer. For the time being this party will remain anonymous. At the same time God has been gracious in another direction. We have found a partner in work in Brother David Singh who has come to live in the Ashram with his wife and two small children. Brother Singh is a convert from Hindu society and knows good Hindi. An upcountry man, he speaks and prays with the power of the Spirit. He has been an independent evangelist for some years. Please pray for all of us.

R.C. Das.

Notes

1. Is Our Country Secular?

This is the question that has agitated many minds since independence. Secularism would practically mean that Government would refrain from interfering in the faith and practices of different religious communities except when serious moral issues are involved - that also in its own sphere of administration it would not discriminate between the denominations. Has this actually happened either in Government’s conduct or in the life of the people at large? The presence and activities of bodies like Hindu Mahasabha, R.S.S., Janasangha, Muslim League, etc. all belonging to the two major communities are an upsetting anomaly especially in view of the lukewarm attitude on the part of the Government. Their communal outlook and aims have encouraged the growth of the same spirit among peaceful and liberal groups like Christians and Sikhs.

There are ordinary instances and occasions when Government behaviour is obviously Hindu such as the Hindu ceremonies with which a dam is opened, or the foundation stone of a Hospital is laid, or a new ship is launched, or a Railway line is opened. There are other innumerable instances. Our public schools, colleges, Parks, etc. are allowed to be used for popular Hindu Pujas and idolatrous practices. Even today after 18 years of independence and declaration of secularism, in public institutions such as schools and hospitals and even in Governmental offices one has to fill in the column of religion and cases of injustice to members of minority religions are many. In the administrative field there is serious discrimination against minority communities in the matter of employment and selection for political positions. Even in the field of elective posts there have been lapses in subsidising the propagation of the religious views of particular groups and have directly helped by money and service the promotion of movements like the Kumbha and the Maghmela and centres of pilgrimage. This has damaged the secular image of our country in the eyes of the world. One can only hope that our Government may purge itself of this communal trend and stand for pure political and social progress irrespective of religions.

2. Is This Governing?

That life in India today is riddled with corruption from top to bottom is a truism. It is resented by the public and admitted by higher political personages and even by Government representatives. You cannot get a thing done without paying some kind of bribe in any office in any department of our vast Governmental system. All right-minded men of all communities are disgusted with the situation. How such an evil practice has assumed such vast proportions among men who were on the whole honest during British rule is a mystery. That power and pelf have corrupted them is unquestionable. Then think of the black-racketeering and profiteering, high prices, black money hoards, smuggling, vitiating our foreign exchange, non-availability of common foodstuff - all these evils on a vast scale stalk throughout the whole country. Add to it the language problem and the consequent unrest, interstate misunderstanding and quarrel, serious division in the congress party itself, trouble in Goa, Nagaland, Kerala, Kashmir, NEFA, etc. Trouble along a vast border with two unscrupulous and powerful neighbours, caste raising its hydra head, wrangling for power and position all over. How many problems has India solved and how many new ones has she created? We have put in billions of rupees of our own and countless dollars and sterling borrowed thoughtlessly on huge industrial concerns, scientific institutions, commercial and technological corporations and on building new capitals. This does make a big show indeed! But how much of it is sound and beneficial? Our main economy is agricultural; what have we done there? Have we not deliberately neglected the small industries and impoverished the poor? What about the millions of workers in the country? Have their low wages increased commensurately with the rise of prices? It staggers our imagination and confounds our mind to think of these vast and complex problems and evils. The ruling party is strong and intelligent. Are they concerned enough for the all-round welfare of the country? The vast majority of the population would support them if they stood for justice, fair play, integrity and really governed us. What contribution can a faithless self-centred Church make to lift India out of the mire?

3. A Four Month Tour of West Bengal

This was a coveted opportunity. Our object was manifold. We wanted to try the Bengal summer. We stood it fairly well in spite of some discomfort and difficulty in movement. We wanted to study the general condition of life in the state and in particular to understand the problems of Church life there. It was also our desire to find out, as far as it was possible under the circumstances, how far Hindus, both personally and in their institutions, were open to new light and to the truth of Christ. How far was the presence of a church relevant to the total life of the Bengali population? Was the constant question in our mind.

We confess to disappointment in several directions.

1. The entire church feels cold. There is no sign of joy or enthusiasm on any account among any groups except the Pentecostals but much of their zeal is misplaced or irrelevant in the context of the vast Hindu Muslim population of seven millions (seventy lakhs) in Greater Calcutta. Most lay people, to all intents and purposes, have lost their faith and the faith of the clergy and other religious workers is a mechanical and static sort of profession, in some cases, rather dogmatic and even fanatic. Some Christians are slowly moving to the sea of Hinduism. The Bible is not read nor private prayers had by the average Christian especially the richer and comfortable ones and even by many religious workers. Family prayers are rare indeed. Attendance in the organised churches in Sunday services is meagre except among the few Evangelical groups. Prophetic ministry is unknown among the older and bigger churches.

2. Almost every Christian is after money, position, and name. Anybody who is somebody is fighting for leadership. They are engaged in earning, in rearing families and building houses. There is an amount of corruption in the Mission church services. They are woefully neglecting their intellectual, moral and spiritual life. The community as a whole is economically well off, at least not worse off than their counterparts in the Hindu Muslim community - if not a little better. This is true also in the religious and ecclesiastical hierarchy. There is no idealism anywhere not to speak of any appeal to the heroic and to the higher instincts in man such as sacrifice, purity, or even knowledge.

3. As a consequence, dynamic or creative evangelism for non-Christians is practically nil. A few immature and unwise persons are still following the obsolete and today harmful methods of preaching and selling in the Bazar, on occasions of Melas or in the street corner and this is done with a strong committee and money backing. The personal contact, the most effective medium of faith communication, is deplorably absent. Some organisations maintain a few inexperienced workers who cannot possibly get any respect or hearing from Hindus - among whom there are hungry souls and earnest seekers of truth. The educated leading Christians lag behind but why? For fear or lack of faith? That the whole church membership, through life and word, must give witness to neighbours is a theoretical and mystical idea even to the ecclesiastical leaders. The church has no sense of its mission. They are not interested even in discussing this vital aspect of the church’s life.

One could say much more along these lines but let this much suffice to give us a serious warning as to the present and future of Christianity in India because this picture will be more or less true of the country as a whole what is the remedy? Some top ranking educated Christians - practically all laymen - think that unity and prosperity of Christians of all communions in the economic and political life is the solution. That this reasoning is fallacious is evident in the general community of the country -the fact that there are so many parties seriously divided among themselves and that worldly prosperity does not lead to the strength of character which we badly need today. Moreover, any attempt for a religious minority to tackle secular questions will produce the spirit of communalism or will be misunderstood as such. It is said that those who are in work in the mission and church services have left everything to chance or fate, let what may come.

In these extremely unsatisfactory and almost hopeless conditions, the only way is for Christians to come to living faith in Jesus Christ - the Word of God - by personal prayer, meditation, and by following Jesus - the Way - wherever it may lead. For God’s sake, let the praying be spontaneous, and natural and not official and formal. Great movements have arisen, and great events have happened through the prayer of faith. There is some hope with the youth who can command some imagination and idealism and take some risk. Let them, and the laity, break away from age-long shackles of tradition, custom and lethargy. If the church is to be saved, the Leader of the Church - the Holy Spirit - must be allowed to have His way which is blocked by deliberate sins - most of which are not gross but very fine. In God’s name, let foreign churches withdraw their baneful (direct or indirect) influence upon Indian Christians exercised through regular and large money grants and personal service of missionaries to the church.