Author: dukewords

Duke Jeyaraj was born to missionary parents in Vellore, South India and was saved at the age of 11 and committed for ministry and received the Holy Spirit Baptism at the age of 13. God opened the door for him to preach first as a school boy at the age of 16. He is a trained Agricultural Engineer [B. Tech from SHIATS, Allahabad, India], who did not pursue a career in the line of his education but nevertheless enjoys growing cacti in the balcony of his rented Chennai flat, during his spare time! He could have been a sports commentator but prefers to wrap Bible Truth around sports magic moments and other interesting-to-Google Genners contemporary events. God’s call upon him made him utterly restless and he obeyed that call to by founding the Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission (G4 Mission) in 2006 to finally find serenity after having served as a International Bank Customer Service Executive/Youth Pastor/Bible College Teacher/Missionary/Youth Mag Editor. G4 Mission is not a church but an inter-denominational ministry to present-day people, a ministry which Duke works full time for, as an itinerant presenter/preacher/writer-at-residence since 2008 along with his wife, putting to use the formal theological training he received from Southern Asia Bible College in Bangalore-India [M. Div - a Gold Medal performance in 2001 & Doctor of Ministry - with project on Making Disciples of Modern Young Working Professionals Among India's Google Generation, World-wide]. Several Christian publications have carried Duke's articles over the years and at present Aim Magazine (the voice of  the Evangelical Fellowship of India an umbrella body of over 65,000 Indian churches/organisations), regularly carries Duke's writings. Duke's Bible-teaching book on Sex, Love, Marriage, Porn and more called, Straight Talk, is presently available on Amazon and Google Books.  Duke has preached by invitation beyond his national borders (we are talking about nations such as Bangladesh, Singapore, Germany, Nepal and the United Arab Emirates). Duke is called a 'Reverend' by a leading denomination (even as his ministry remains indepedent and inter-church).  Duke is called ‘dad’ by Dale (now a St. Stephen's Delhi student) and Datasha (now in Class 9) and ‘hubby’ by Evangelin (the daughter of a missionary couple to Odisha who is a hospital admin grad currently studying M. A. in Biblical Studies with SAIACS Bangalore) and calls Chennai, India, his current home after living in Hyderabad till June 2021. In case your curiosity is triggered by hearing all this, you may checkout www.dukewords.com [if you are the reading plain text type], www.soundcloud.com/shoutaloud [if you are part of the audio-listening tribe] and www.youtube.com/visitduke [if you group yourself with the video-steaming generation])

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CHRISTMAS ARTICLES WITH A DIFFERENCE Deep Disciples of Jesus Shaping Article

The Full Glory of the Christmas Story Via Christmas Passages You Probably Missed While In A Hurry!

WOWED BY A WIDE-LENS VIEW OF CHRISTMAS BY A STUDY OF THE REFERENCES TO CHRISTMAS/INCARNATION OF CHRIST BY OTHER NEW TESTAMENT WRITERS APART FROM MATTHEW AND LUKE

Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj

Different writers of the Bible used various styles and imagery to describe the Christmas story. Using Holy Spirit-inspired colors they painted the Christmas Story in a wide range of colors! Yes, Matthew and Luke narrated the historic Christmas story. But other New Testament writers – notably Paul, John and the Hebrews-author – go back to the same Christmas event and explain its theological meanings and implications. Let us look at Christmas using a wide-lens, taking into account the writings of as many different New Testament writers as possible!

Not just Luke and Matthew. Paul, John, and the Hebrews-writer talk about Christmas! We have a mention of Christmas even in the book of Revelation! This article focusses on the non-Matthew, non-Luke stories of Christmas!

Paul described Christmas this way: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman..” (Gal. 4:4). For Paul, Christmas was all about the impeccable TIMING. Jesus came to the planet at the time designed by the Trinity. If God came to the earth as a sinless, perfect human at the right time, he knows the right time to remove that sickness you are presently enduring and give you the promotion you are eagerly expecting! We must learn to salute the Sovereignty of God who is always “on time” when it comes to working miracles on our behalf even though, at times, he may be “four days late” (John 11:39) (as one song-writer memorably put it).

The miracle that God has planned for you, will come at the ‘right time’ – God’s time!

John portrayed Christmas this way: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling (tabernacle) among us…” (John 1:14). For John, Christmas was about the TABERNACLE. This world is not our home and we just tabernacling – passing – through this world! As Jonathan Edwards put it, we go about our earthly tenure with ‘eternity stamped on our eyeballs’.

The Hebrews-writer envisioned Christmas this way: “Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil…” (Heb. 2:14). For the Hebrews-writer, Christmas was all about TERROR-REMOVAL. Jesus was born so that he would die and rise again and thereby open the door to remove the commonest fear among humans – the fear of death. And to die, he needed flesh and blood like us, humans. And during the first Christmas, he chose to cloth himself with flesh and blood! So no fear needs to grip us – the fear of an examination, the fear of a job-loss, the fear of another crippling pandemic, the fear of not being up-to-the-mark in the responsibilities given to us, the fear of …. !

Christmas happened that our fear of death will be gone! Hebrews-writer’s point!

John wrote again about Christmas choosing another thing to focus upon in 2 John. He wrote there: ‘For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist’ (2 John 7). For him, here, Christmas was all about TRUTH-GAURDING. By being born in the flesh – born as a baby into our planet – Jesus was showcasing the importance of the human body. The one who filled the universe would now live inside the body of a woman – her womb! And once he came out of her womb, he would exist in a human body coping with all its restrictions of having to be in one place at one time (something that was strange for the God who was everywhere present)! The human body cannot become a playground for sexual immorality. If you did not believe in Christmas –  God’s coming in the flesh – then it would not be a big deal for you to indulge the flesh! So, if you really believed in Christmas, you will motivation to live a sexually pure life! That was John’s point in 2 John.

2 John has a verse about Christmas/Incarnation that encourages us to overcome sexual sin!

John was not tired of writing about Christmas time and again! He kept coming back to Christmas to expound the theological implications of Christ as the Spirit of God prodded him to. He gives us a peek of Christmas in Revelation 12, I believe: the Sun-clothed woman’s baby was about to be devoured by Satan the moment he was born (Rev. 12:4). Remember how Herod tried to finish off the new born baby Jesus? This Revelation 12 male child, obviously Jesus, was “destined to rule the nations” (Rev. 12:5). Satan also was keen on waging an ongoing battle with the “rest of the children” of the sun-clothed woman (Rev. 12:17). The rest of the children of the sun-clothed – symbolic of believers and Christ-followers – were to hang in there for 1260 days in the wilderness (Rev. 12:14). 1260 days! Does the number ring a bell? It certainly rang a bell among the original readers of John’s letter! They knew that was a code word used by the apostles often to remind believers of those days to become more and more like the One who ministered on this earth for 1260 days, i.e. three and half years – even Jesus! So, the call of Christmas, from John, from Revelation 12 is that of a TRANSFORMATION – a call to be transformed in character like Jesus’ character, more and more in our “wilderness” journey!

The Sun-clothed woman story narrated in Revelation 12 is a Christmas Story, according to me, calling us to become more and more like Jesus!

Using the “flood” from his mouth Satan (see Rev. 12:15) will try to drown believers. That reminds me of the “flood” of false teaching Satan has unleashed using the mouths of false-teachers who have surrendered their mouths to him. Using those Satan-inspired mouths the teach hell-populating teaching like hyper-grace, immortality on earth, hyper-supernaturalism, etc. to drown believers. John writes, ‘But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth to swallow up the river that had poured from the dragon’s mouth’ (Rev. 12:16). This is simply another way of saying that one day the earth will open up and swallow Satan-inspired false-teachers the way it opened up and swallowed Korah and his rebellion gang in the Old Testament. It is an imagery of judgment: earth opening up and swallowing. It points to the hell-destination of false teachers and those who buy their theology, I believe. So understanding this seemingly-complex-yet-simple imagery of Revelation 12 brings us back to the message of TRUTH-GAURDING. Obeying the commands of God – holding onto the written Word of God and making it our basis for all matters of belief and behaviour – and holding onto our testimony – testimony via life and lips –  is what enrages Satan, John writes he wraps his ‘Christmas’ commentary in the book of Revelation (Rev. 12:17). Let’s celebrate a Christmas where the focus is not on being ENTERTAINED by SANTA CLAUS but on ENRAGING SATAN!

Revelation 12’s thrust about Christmas brings us to this: Christmas is not about being ENTERTAINED by Santa Claus but about ENRAGING SATAN by safe-gaurding ourselves from false teachings he brings via false teachers/pastors/brothers!!!

This wide-lens view of Christmas is wow, isn’t it? This Christmas take time to read, meditate, chew, non-typical Christmas chapters such as Revelation 12, 2 John, Galatians 4, John 1, etc.!

(Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj, a Agri. Engineer turned M. Div. Gold Medallist and Doctor Of Ministry Graduation Speaker,  is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, the G4 Mission. This is a para-church ministry to present-day people functioning from Chennai. God has graciously opened doors for him to preach in over 20 Indian states and in a few other nations right from the first time Duke preached, as a school boy of 16, in the year 1991. He has authored three books: Straight Talk (Sex, Love, Marriage, Porn, Phone Addiction, married-sex, etc., – what the Bible says), Daniel in Dell (practical study of the book of Daniel for modern working professionals), Goodnews for the Google Generation (the Gospel presented the way Jesus did in Luke 13 and the way Paul did in Acts 17). Reach him via emailduke@gmail.com or WhatsApp, +91-8886040605, in case you want to buy these or have a question. Duke is married to Evangelin, a Odisha Missionary’s daughter, and this couple are blessed with two children – Dale, 19, who is a student of St. Stephens College, Delhi,  and Datasha, 15, who studies Class X. This article was published in the December 2022 edition of Aim magazine of Evangelical Fellowship of India. Duke’s ministry, the G4 Mission is a reader-supported ministry).

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G4 Mission Event Reports & Testimonies

The Celebration of a Book Named “Lamentations” Via A Kahoot Quiz!

Duke Jeyaraj

Once in five weeks the Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, G4 Mission, conducts a Kahoot Bible Quiz. This time the book we had the quiz on was the Bible book of Lamentations! At the end of over 100 minutes of quizzing, we figured out that this Bible book, like every other Bible book, is full of life-changing Bible truths worth celebrating!

People from various walks of life joined this quiz! The registration for this quiz came from places as far out and diverse as these: from Sonipat in North India to Salem in South India; from Bahrain to Bangalore; from Brussels to Bhubaneshwar; from Pollachi in South India to Pune in West India; from Kollam in Kerala to Khammam in Andhra Pradesh to Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu; from Amaravathi to Delhi; from Vellore to Vijayawada; from London to Local Chennai! The folks who registered are from various church denominations: Mennonite to Methodist; from Assemblies of God to Andrews Kirk Chennai to Ashraya Bangalore; from Bretheren to Baptist; from CSI to Calvary Point; from IPC to IPA; House of Prayer to Hebron to Heartshakers; from CSI to Carmel Community; those who have signed up for this kahoot quiz are different walks of life: from Medicos to those who work in MRF; from class Seven kids to Post Grad students; from home-makers to full-timers; from IT Pros to those retired; from those who work in the Govt sector to those who work in the private sector!

The Kahoot Quiz report pointed out that 49 players played this quiz at some point. The questions were answered by atleast 35 to 40 people.

As the quiz got going, Duke Jeyaraj asked questions that covered various aspects of one’s Christian life covering all the five chapters of Lamentations. Here are some actual questions asked:

The question with regard to the context of this book….

The question with regard to false prophets who minimize future judgment…. / We always have used this quiz to bat for Sound Doctrine in the Body of Christ, as the Lord has enabled us to.

A question about the true nature of sin….

A question to sift the very serious students of Scripture from serious students of Scripture!

A Question to prepare the audience for the Second Coming of Jesus and the Day of Judgment!

A question to motivate the audience to pray for the lost with tears!

There were questions that connected truth from the book of Lamentations with some contemporary events including the Delhi Fridge Murder, a footballer from Egypt (Mo Salah), Idi Amin Dada, the Ugandan Dictator, etc.

If your curiousity is triggered, here is the link to the full Zoom video of the quiz where you can read all the 21 questions asked:

The goal was to be a catalyst to encourage the Google Generation to Dive Deep Into the Word of God, fish out truth that would be applied to one’s own life and truths that would get shared with those who need to hear it in the world of God.

Here were the top five at critical stages of the quiz:

Gaby, first off the blocks!

Bindu, a former champion, wins the lead after question three!

Naveen, one of our video volunteers, is the leader after question 4!

Bro. Sunil George from Kolar who regularly participates along with daughter takes the lead after question 6! He kept this lead for some time!

Hanniel, just 13 and playing from Dubai, took the lead after question 10!

Pratiksha Barik, a multiple-time quiz winner and home-maker from Hyderabad, takes the lead after question 11!

Vivian, a Chennai family man, takes the lead after question 13! Duke and Evan first met Vivian in a Camp they preached in, in Singapore, years ago – in 2011! Meanwhile, Apphia, a Mumbai college student moves into the Top 5!

Kevin Suvarna, a Mumbai Engineering Student, just playing his Second Kahoot with us, takes the lead after question 14 to become the eighth different leader of this nerve-wracking quiz! Kevin, keeps his lead for some time!

After question 19, Jaaziel Charles, a postgrad student of Marine Biology, the defending champion (he won the previous Kahoot contest on 12 Oct 2022), takes the lead with just two questions to go in the Quiz! I was reminded of Virat Kohli’s twin sixes when India needed 28 runs off 8 balls in their Group game versus Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022 before 90,000 onlookers in Melbourne! Also note the rise of Anitha into the top 5!

Just two more questions remained in the quiz. Jaaziel maintained his lead and won the quiz!

Kevin and Vivian took the second and third place.

Anitha and Apphia took the fourth and firth prizes. It was a nail-biter of a quiz!

After the quiz was done, the winners spoke. Hanniel, who finished 6th overall, was the Child Prize winner. Lawrence, one of the participants noted that this time out the closing questions of the quiz were a tad toughter than in previous quiz editions! I responded this way: if tough questions will inspire the participants to dig deeper into the Word of God, it is an entirely worthly exercise!

The winners of this quiz (the top five plus the child category winner) will get all get prizes and e-certificates. Prizes include Premium Study Bibles, Super Giant Print Bibles, Stylish Bibles, Small Cute Bibles, etc. Here is one same e-certificate we issued for the winner of the last Kahoot:

Apart from this event which takes place on Zoom using the Kahoot website, we at G4 Mission have other regular events. Even these take place over Zoom. Once a month, on a chosen Saturday Morning (usually 2nd Saturday), from 10 am to 12 noon IST we have an event called Fountain of Tears Against Mountain of Fears Fasting Prayer. We pray for the nations, the nation, the Google Generation and finally your tension and mine (personal needs of those who join the Zoom). Duke finishes off with a brief Bible Meditation. Last month, he finished off with a message on Bible Lessons from each of the semifinalists of the T20 World Cup. Listen to that meesage here:

Apart from that we have another event, called Question Thirst Quenched Truthfully (QTQT) on a chosen Wednesday night from 9 PM to 10:15 PM each month. Duke answers live questions over Zoom in this event. People can join even anonymous and type questions via chat and receive, brief, to the point, answers. Or they can ask questions via audio. The last month’s QTQT recording is here:

Once in two months or on a select Sunday morning, Duke relays the Chosen Chapter Chew Covering Contemporary Issue Bible Study as well via Youtube. This month, the chapter chosen for expository study was 2 Timothy 2 and the contemporary issue studied was living in relationships. You can listen to that message here:

We have a tracts outreach using our Bubbly and Dhoni tract once-a-month as well. Details are provided via WhatsApp.

Every Sunday morning, at about 7 AM we have fresh Youtube release of a recently preached message of Duke Jeyaraj. This release is called: Sunday Seven AM Solid Scripture Study. We would glad if you choose to subscribe to our Youtube channel: http://www.YouTube.com/VisitDuke

If you desire to support this ministry financially over and above what you do for your local church and other ministries you support you are most welcome to do that. We want to let you know that we are not sponsored by any church or organisation. In fact, we are a not a church, but a small organisation that helps existing churches and other organisations in the ministry of the Word of God by invitation. We run via freewill offerings of individuals. WhatsApp Duke at 918886040605 if you are lead to support this ministry financially. Or you may use this secure RazorPay link to donate: https://rzp.io/l/G4Mission

We have three books by Duke Jeyaraj in print as of now: (1) Straight Talk on Sex, Love, Marriage, Porn, Phone Addiction and Much More (50 taboo topics covered) – Rs. 300/- including courier for in-India addresses (2) Goodnews for the Google Generation – Rs. 250/- including courier chargers for in-India addresses (3) Daniel in Dell – a chapter by chapter practical study on the boojk of Daniel with a focus on starting and sustaining small group fellowships – Re. 200/- price includes courier price for in-India locations; You may reach us via 918886040605 for more details or use the payment link above. God bless. Thank you. See you all soon in another Zoom event!

(Dr. Duke Jeyaraj is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission (G4 Mission). He and his wife, Evangelin work fulltime with G4 Mission. This ministry has a lot of volunteers who help in various tasks – video work, poster creation, etc. They are based in Chennai. They have two children – Dale, 19 and Datasha, 15.)

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Deep Disciples of Jesus Shaping Article

Thankfulness and Defeating the Devil Are Connected

Dr. Duke Jeyaraj

Thankfulness & Triumphing Over Satan Are Connected

Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj

That we be thankful is God’s Will for us. Apostle Paul wrote, ‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’ (1 Thess. 5:18). He also warned that in the ‘last days’ the gang of the ‘ungrateful’ will grow big and we must not join that gang (2 Tim. 3:1-5).  The writer to the Hebrews writes that must be thankful (Heb. 12:28). This thankful attitude will result in our worship of God with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28-29). 

The command to be thankful is repeated in various ways in the Old Testament. I counted that it is repeated a total of 47 times! In the book of Psalms alone we are told to give thanks to God, 37 times! In Chronicles 16 alone we are told to give thanks four times! When we cross over to the New Testament this command is repeated through various ways another 16 times at least! I am trying to think hard  which other biblical command is given so much of emphasis! 

When we give thanks we copy Jesus gave thanks to the Father regularly during his earthly ministry. I counted that he did that at least three times during his earthly ministry (Matt. 15:36; 26:27; Jn. 6:11,23). And to become more and more like Jesus is the ultimate goal of our life (2 Cor. 3:18). 

It is easy to give thanks when everything is fine in our life. But Job in the Old Testament (Job 1:20-21) and Anna in the New Testament (Luke 2:36-38) gave thanks, praised God and worshipped Him even during difficult times such as the loss of a loved one. 

The sin of not acknowledging God or thanking Him can put us in a place where we are in the danger of being judged by God! Romans 1 warns us about this! Romans 1:21 talks about the sin of not giving thanks to God with the consequence being mentioned in Romans 1:24 and Romans 1:28 – a consequence of the work of the Spirit being effectively withdrawn from the lives of thankless people eventually so that they would further slide into unprintable sin and finally into the place of unimaginable torment, hell! 

We must specifically thank God  for the people he has placed in our life – our spouses, our children, our pastors, our ministry team members, etc. Paul did that (Rom. 16:4; 1 Thess. 1:2). 

In the above paragraphs I have combed through what the Bible mentions about thankfulness. But I am not done yet. The most important thing about thankfulness, I believe, comes in Revelation 12:11 though the word is not specifically mentioned. There, it is written that through the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony a group of people overcame the Devil. Through the blood of the Lamb we are forgiven of sin. So when Satan reminds us of our sin we defeat him and his plans for us by saying, ‘I am already forgiven – thanks to the Blood!’ But there is another way to overcome Satan this passage speaks about. This way is call the ‘Word of their testimony’! What is that? We can overcome Satan when we testify about God’s goodness upon our life. We can defeat Satan when we start to thank God daily, say for the blessings we receive from him. Mention the five or ten or fifteen or how many ever blessings God has graciously blessed you with to God and thank Him profusely! Not just that – acknowledge to the people around me the blessings he has given you! This way the Devil will be defeated!

I know this way of beating the Devil works! Every month, a small group of people from different parts of India and beyond join my wife and I on Zoom at 11:45 pm on the last day of the month. And we take time to praise God for the blessings he gave us that month before everyone. The Devil is put to shame that way. And we enter the new month with praise in our  lips. While the new month is never problem-free we experience unusual victories over Satan! Yes we have to deal with Satan till the return of Christ or till our death! But this praise method of putting Satan on the back foot really works, I can tell you that! 

The month-end midnight prayer we had on 31 October from 11:45 pm to 12:15 am (half-hour) over Zoom! People gave thanks to God for the blessings they received! That way, the Devil was defeated and put to shame!

On the other hand, grumbling or complaining is like inviting the Devil to keep working in our life even more! And what is more, grumbling angers God. He sent death before the Promise Land entry for people of Israel who were stubbornly into the sin of grumbling (Num. 14:26-30). Paul reminds New Testament believers of this incident so that it serves as a stern warning, even during the post-Cross era (1 Cor. 10:10).

(This article was published in Evangelical Fellowship of India’s magazine, Aim, in the November 2022 issue; Duke Jeyaraj is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, the G4 Mission. This ministry is reader-supported. Duke lives in Chennai with his family).

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Cricket-Wrapped-Bible-Devotions Goodnews Wrapped Around Cricket Magic Moments

WHOLE OF INDIA AIRBOURNE, THANKS TO KOHLI IN MELBOURNE!

Duke Jeyaraj

NOT CARRYING OVER THE BULK OF THE TASK TO THE LAST OVER
 
50 needed off 19, at one point. That’s what India needed in their opening game versus Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 23 October 2022. Yuvraj Singh scored 50 off 12 balls in a World T20 game, I assured myself. But then, he did that when he hit six sixes in an over, I recalled. So, would one of the remaining three overs be the over when either Virat Kohli or Hardik Pandya, the batsmen at the crease, hit six sixes in an over? These questions boggled my mind. It was 48 runs needed off 18 balls (3 overs), required, shortly later. At one point, it was 28 off 8 balls needed, with Haris Rauf, Pakistan’s best bowler on that day bowling. He was also the most experienced bowler to bowl in the MCG Stadium that day among both the teams. When he removed the dangerous-looking Surya Kumar Yadav with peach of a delivery, one could sense that straight away. That’s when Virat Kohli hit the last two balls of that nineteenth over by Rauf for two of the most astonishing sixes that came in succession in World Cricket in any format! One six, the six off the fifth ball, Rajdeep Sardesai called the “Shot of the Century” comparable with Shane Warne’s “ball of the century”. The equation had became now – 16  off 6. India eventually won, thanks to Ravichandran Ashwin’s calmness, coolness, and composure, off the last ball. The crowd of 90,000+ collectively roared. The whole of India were airbourne, thanks to Kohli in Melbourne, that day! Kohli did not leave the bulk of the scoring for the very last over – a very smart move indeed. It could have been the case of India needing 25+ runs off the last over but for those six twins hit by Kohli in the balls, 18.5 and 18.6.
 
Do you leave things for the very last minute? That homework. That office assignment. Do we leave things for the last minute when it comes to Salvation? The Bible teaches ‘now’ is the time of Salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). Don’t postpone your coming to Jesus, the one who died for you on the Cross. Come now. After death, which ofcourse can come at anytime, it will be too late (see Heb. 9:27). After Jesus returns like a thief in the night it will be too late, because he is Savior today and Judge tomorrow (2 Thess. 5:2). If the Spirit of God stops speaking to the stubborn human heart – hope it is not your heart heart mate – again it will be a case of too late again (Gen. 6:3).
 
So, come to the Jesus, the Savior, the only God-in-flesh, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Come now. The next minute may be too late to do this.
 
BEING CARRIED BY THE CAPTAIN
 
Captain Rohit Sharma carried Virat Kohli to the delirious joy of onlookers – including Virat’s wife, Anushka – after the game. The Holy Spirit is able to carry us to carry out the laws of God, Prophet Ezekiel wrote (Ezekiel 37:27). Have you given place for the work of the Holy Spirit in your life? It is not how much of the Holy Spirit we have, but how much of us, the Holy Spirit has! That was Billy Graham’s point.

CARRY ON WITH HOPE WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

India had lost four wickets at the half-way mark of their innings (at the 10th over’s end) with their score still in the 40s having to score 160 for a win. They had to score 2 runs per ball, literally every ball of the latter half of their innings. This challenge was huge. But Kohli and Hardik Pandya (who started delivering the first counter punches post the mid-innings break) carried on with hope. Their partnership meant the latter half of India’s innings was more glorious than the first half. “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” This we read in Haggai 2:9. Yes, when we carry on God’s Work with hope when the going gets tough, the latter half will be more glorious than the first half, as the Lord wills and enables us! Don’t quit at half-time! Don’t quit during the hard times! Kohli and Hardik did not.
 

(Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj, the author of this piece is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, the G4 Mission. This is a reader-supported Indian ministry. Write to us at +91-8886040605 or via emailduke@gmail.com, to know more)

Categories
Periodic Ministry Reports

TOUCHING 2500 YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE SPACE OF A WEEK!

G4 Mission Ministry Report, Sept 1 – Oct 15, 2022

These forty five days (Sept. 1 to 15 Oct, 2022) just flew,

God’s grace greatly enabled us – that’s true,

Your prayers for us, was the glue,

We kept looking up beyond the blue,

To thank God for our ministry crew and you,

And for the literal thousands of Google Genners, who during this period of ministry, in their relationship with Jesus, grew!

*Month-end midnight prayer over Zoom on both 31 Aug-1Sept and 30Sept-1Oct. Close to 30 people from India over and beyond joined. Duke shared brief messages. The 1 Oct message is here: 

*Twice we had the Fountain of Tears Against Mountain of Fears Fasting Prayer. We prayed for the nations, the nation, the Google Generation and personal tensions (of the people who joined the zoom). Once on 24 Sept and again on 08 Oct. This program is conducted once a month over Zoom on a Saturday, when Duke and Evan are free. A remnant who joined the 08 Oct meeting, were from Hyderabad, from Alibag, from Canada, from Bihar. 

* On 7 Sept and 12 Oct we had our Kahoot Bible Quiz. On 7 Sept the quiz was on the book of Daniel. On 12 Oct the quiz was on Romans. Over 50 participants joined each time from India over and beyond. They were from different walks of life. They were from different age-groups and different churches. Duke taught the word of God as the quiz was played / The next quiz will be on 23 Nov on the book of Lamentations. We give out premium Study Bible, Bible Study Aids, Stylish Bibles for the top five, apart from ecertificates. We also give the top Child finisher a prize and a eCertificate. Here is the full recording of the Romans quiz: 

Teaching Sound Doctrine through slightly tricky Kahoot Quiz questions! See Above! Joanna John, a child leads the field, in the Daniel quiz after question 13. Jerome, just 14 in second place. Our Kahoot quizzez has attracted people of different agegroups, churches, places. See below.
Calling the Google Generation for holiness through a Kahoot Bible Quiz! A question asked in the Shooting Daniel in Megapixel Kahoot Quiz of Sept 7, 2022.
We expose dangerous hell-populating false teachings through our Kahoot Bible quizzes! A question asked in the Romans Birth Pangs Kahoot Bible Quiz of 12 Oct. 2022
We had players who registered to play from all over India, France, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, etc. in the Romans Kahoot Quiz of 12 Oct 2022. Those from India were from diverse Indian cities, from Punjab to Palayamkottai, from Kolar to Khammam. In Chennai, an entire family sat in front of their laptop to play this quiz.

The recording of the 07 Sept 2022 Shooting Daniel in Megapixel quiz is here:

* We had a tracts outreach near the Thiruvanmiyur Railway station Chennai during early Sept 2022 and in the Harrington Road Chetput during Oct 2022. Apart from that Duke Jeyaraj gave out tracts to Auxilium College students as they waited to catch a bus in Vellore in Sept 2022. This was apart from the tracts given in Airport ticket issue staff, flight neighbors, train neighbors, etc. A Pastor in Karungal, Kanyakumari was sent 25 copies of the Bubbly Tract in Tamil following his request. Duke used the 1 Peter 1:8 method of sharing the Gospel via the ESV App to co-passengers atleast twice during this time. Here is a recording from the post-tract distribution devotion: 

* We accepted invitations to preach in youth camps/conferences during this period. Sometimes, these invitations come one after an another. Let me explain over the next few paragraphs: On behalf of Christian Medical College, Dr. Sudha Jasmine, the chairperson of the organising committee of this great hospital and college’s  annual missions conference, called Shiloh, invited Duke to speak in the breakout sessions on two days. God blessed those sessions in which Duke brought a message on Triumphing over Tech Temptations: The Biblical Way Practically explained using the acronym T-E-C-H-N-O-L-O-G-Y. On both the days (Sept 30, Oct 1), there was a great response at the altar. The presiding doctor for 1 Oct session mentioned that ‘Brother Duke has considerably shaken us up’. The recording is available here: 

Apart from this Duke gave a brief talk from the main stage on the subject of holiness starting with a cricket story. On the final day, 3 Oct, Duke Jeyaraj joined the panel to answer questions from the audience. He answered questions such as: “How can I not return to the same sin?”, “Can a mentally challenged person be saved and come to heaven?”, “How to make out if depression is from Satan?”, etc. This session was recorded and we will release it soon. Our books, Straight Talk (on Sex, Love, Marriage, Porn, Phone Addiction, etc.) and Daniel in Dell (the 2015 book broght back into print) were sold briskly in this camp. Atleast 10 people paid and ordered for the books after the stock of 15 disappeared in a few hours! The Days of Your Youth magazine and the Bubbly Tract (English and Tamil) and the Dhoni tract (back in print) were given free to those who wanted it. 1300 medical professionals from all over India joined this conference on location. 200 more watched over Zoom. The missionary call came to these young people from different directions from several other accomplished speakers – from South Sudan, from Bihar, from Assam, from Uttarakhand, from Uttar Pradesh, from Kotagiri in Tamil Nadu, etc. Bro. Mohan Patnaik, one of the plenary speakers, challenged the audience for discipleship and discovery of life purpose. Bro. Ashok Vedanayagam, founder of Sishya Team, gave a stirring gospel presentation on the last day night in Scudder auditorium which brought almost all the young people to front during the altar call (even on the stage).

Some pictures from the CMC meetings:

1200 medicos from India over participated in Shiloh 2022 / Duke Jeyaraj was one of the speakers.
After Duke counselled a section of the crowd that responded to the call given by Bro. Ashok Vedanayagam on 1 Oct 2022 night, the principal of CMC, Dr. Solomon Satish Kumar prays. Duke and Dr. Solomon were classmates in Ida Scudder School. When Duke preached his first sermon from stage as a Scudder School Class 12 student on 9 Aug 1991, Dr. Solomon was part of that ministry team, playing the piano.
Duke was part of the small group discussion team which Dr. Jesu and his wife led. Though a total of 1500 participants were there (on location plus zoom), there was a great stress on small group fellowship in this conference.
Duke Jeyaraj’s books, mags and Gospel tracts were received/bought with enthusiasm by the delegates of Shiloh 2022. WhatsApp us at 918886040605 if you need these. Straight Talk (on sex, love, marriage, porn, phone addiction and more) and Daniel in Dell are the two books that were bought for a combined price of Rs.400/- including courier. See Above. There was no compulsion for the 1200 delegates to attend any particular breakaway session. But many of them, a combined audience of 250-300 chose to attend the Duke-led breakaway session on Triumphing over Tech Temptations. See the picture from 30 Sept 2022 breakaway session below.

The Founding Senior Pastor of Jesus with Us Church in Tondiarpet Chennai, Pas. Swamy Doss, invited Duke Jeyaraj to preach in their youth camp in a Camp Site in East Coast Road on 04 October 2022. 70 young people were there. Duke Jeyaraj’s English messages were interpreted into Tamil by his uncle Pastor Gnanasekaran. The first message was a salvation message from Revelation 1. The second message was a frank talk on sexual purity. After both sessions, the altar call times were ‘sights for sore eyes’ as so many responded with earnestness. Then pastor Gnanasekaran had to leave as there was another prayer meeting he had to lead that evening. The next session, Duke handled it in direct Tamil. It was a Q and A time with Pas. Ajay asking the questions the youth asked to Duke and Duke answering in Tamil. This was all done live. The last message he challenged the youth for ministry involvement from little-known passages from the book of Revelation. Listen to that Tamil talk here: 

70 youth were there in the Jesus With Us Tondiarpet Church Youth Camp in East Coast Road. My uncle, Pastor A. Gnanasekaran, was kind to interpret two of my messages (seen here). The other two sessions, Duke did in Tamil directly. Duke is learning this skill. Young people wrote chastity pledges after session two where Duke explained what is sexual sin according to the Bible with super Tamil translation from Pastor Gnanasekaran.

Duke Jeyaraj travelled to preach God’s Word in the Indian Pentecostal Assemblies National Youth Conference following Pas. John Prakasam’s warm invitation. 1100 youth from joined (from all major districts of Tamil Nadu) and beyond. Duke’s message from the book of Ephesians on holiness was well-received. He talked about 1) Chosen for holiness 2) Commanded for holiness 3) Compass for holiness. It was delivered in the English-Tamil format. There was a section in this message in which Duke outlined the list of ‘secret sins’ the Bible talks about. He specifically called those repenting from secret sins to come forward. Atleast a few (around 20) came forward. The recommitment prayer-time was powerful. Next, Duke spoke in the breakout session on Finding God’s Will. Three young men came forward and mentioned how this talk was an immense blessing for them. Both of Duke’s presentations were recorded. They would be uploaded later onto Duke’s youtube channel which now has over 1900 videos. We welcome you to subscribe, comment and like these videos. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/visitduke

* These three youth meetings from Sept 29 to Oct 5 meant that 2500 plus young people were blessed in total by our ministry – all glory to God!

*These 45 days, we took up select counselling requests over whatsapp audio. We cannot give details because we maintain confidentiality. ‘Can I pillion ride with a young boy as an unmarried girl?’ – was one question Duke answered. ‘I am not able to move on after my breakup with a non-Christian girl who has moved on’ – another question Duke answered. In fact, we had a 1 hour 15 minutes of live Q and A on 21 Sept called Question Thirst Quenched Truthfully. The following questions were answered briefly from the Bible: Some questions answered in this episode:1) How did you start your ministry and develop a ministry team? 2) Can a mother with small kids work? 3) I am not able to focus at all. Help me. 4) Can I consult a Siddha Doctor? 5) Can Beleivers Date? 6) Is not the husband the head of the home? 7) Is Satan extra active at 3 AM in the morning? 8) Can an introvert marry an extrovert? 9) Can a Pentecostal marry a Roman Catholic? ​Watch the episode here:

The next Question Thirst Quenched Truthfully will be on 19 October, Wednesday, 9PM to 10:15PM Over Zoom, God Willing.  WhatsApp us at 91-8886040605 if you want to be invited. No preaching. Just live Q and A. For one hour 15 mins straight.

* We have had two long Bible Study series for small groups so far. One was in all the 66 books of the Bible, a process that took seven years (2007-14). Duke summarized the message of all these books via small group Bible studies using the very name of the book as an acronym. Many of these messages are online. Watch the episode on Song of Songs uploaded on Youtube 9 years ago here:

Then Duke did a Bible study series on all the doctrines of the Bible – a 20-part series, a process that took four years. From Doctrine of God to Doctrine of Hell. Here is one episode from that series:

The third Bible Study series is presently on. It is called, Chosen Chapter Chew Covering Contemporary Issue (C5I) which Bible chapter exposition is wed into contemporary issue study. On 4 Sept 2022, Duke Jeyaraj did a chapter study on Nehemiah 6 with the focus on the contemporary issue of Digital Communication against the backdrop of a scandal involving a megachurch pastor from Texas. You can watch the study here:

On Oct 30, the next chapter chosen will be studied and the video released on our Youtube.

Our volunteers were busy these 45 days. Professor, Dr. Sheeba worked on a message clip of Duke and got out this short video with illustrations:

Gipu James created quote posters, youtube thumbnail, video event invites and a lot more. Here is a quote poster which Gipu who now lives in England with his wife, Esther, created for us:

Ravi Alamothu touched up the cover for the book Daniel in Dell and sent it to me. Eugene Pandian designed a fresh cover for 2012 book Goodnews for the Google Generation now back in print. Here is the new cover for this book where the best of Duke’s gospel messages are assembled together in prose, poetry and personal story:

This book will be sent to our regular partners without any charge. Please send us a WhatsApp via 8886040605 mentioning your name, full address with pincode, phone number as a single message saying ‘send GGG book’. For the rest of you in India, the price is Rs.250/- including courier charges. There will be a donation link at the end of this report.

Vikas Yadav keeps churning out video after video for our ministry. Here is one of the videos he created which carries the testimony of a young girl who was blessed by Duke’s message delivered in Hyderabad on 27 Aug 2022:

Sunny Karumanchi, now back in the USA, worked on the messages I preached in Hope UC Church in Hyderabad during August 2022. Here is the short second message – titled, The 360 degree Christian – we just released after Sunny’s editing: 

Naveen Vamsi, a young man from Hyderabad working now in Bangalore is another faithful video volunteer. He carved out a short video from a long live Q and A video of Duke Jeyaraj and came out with this gem:

If you want to be a volunteer with our ministry, let us know by an email to emailduke@gmail.com or whatsapp to Duke at +918886040605.

*We use social media to impact the Google Generation the best way we know how. A simple less-than-one-minute message I recently shared on Instagram reels saw more than 4000 hits. Watch it here: 

Over Instagram Reel, Duke Jeyaraj has been compelled by the Spirit to bell the cat when it comes hell-populating popular false teaching. Here is one such reel done in the last 45 days:

Another video in the same vein – warning people about false teaching and calling God’s people to be grounded in Scripture:

*Some personal news now: Our son, Dale is in his 2nd year of college in a top college in New Delhi. He shared God’s Word recently in a small group fellowship in Delhi. ​Our Daughter Datasha is in class X. She was recently baptised in water. She came first in her class when her reports card came in last week. God is answering your precious prayers for us and our ministry! We are grateful.

​We solicit your prayers for us.​

Should you want to support our ministry, use this link to send an offering using various payment methods (Credit Card, Debit Card, Net Banking, Payment Apps, Etc):

https://razorpay.me/@g4mission

Or WhatsApp us to get our ministry bank details at +91-8886040605.

If you read this report till the last tine, let us know via WhatsApp again. Send us a brief message. We will be happy to receive it.

Categories
Ministry Event Reports

DIVERSE GOOGLE GENNERS CHANGE LIFE-COURSE AFTER THIS SUPER YOUTH CAMP!

Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj

To say that this was the youth camp with the most diverse selection of Google Generation I have been ever part of in 24 years of preaching in youth camps, is an understatement!

300 youth from India-over were there in this camp! The most diverse crowd of Google Genners I have ever ministered in! #YouthCamp #DukeJeyaraj #Diverse #GoogleGen

In the Sishya Team youth camp organised by Bro. Ashok Vedanayagam and team in Joe Beach, East Coast Road, Chennai, there were 300 plus young people from Chennai and beyond (Bangalore, Delhi, Madurai, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Jharkhand, etc.). School students, college students, IT Professionals, families associated with the Sishya Team, school teachers, college professors, etc. were there. The Lord graciously blessed each of the three main messages I preached.

In message one, I gave the youth seven reasons why they must not procrastinate their salvation and total commitment to Christ (All starting with the letter, S). The young people responded to the altar call, raising hands, standing up and kneeling down and praying. They could not come forward because of the lack of space.

In the second main message, I brought a challenge for sexual purity from I Thessalonians 4, the Bible chapter with the most personal call for sexual purity. After this message the young people committed their hair to heels and everything in between to the Lord, 100%.

In the main message 3, delivered on the last day, of the four-day camp, 15 August 2022, I talked about Witnessing Whys and Ways. I outlined six ways to witness for Jesus. At the end of this message, 20 youth joined me on stage indicating their decision to ‘become Corn (of Wheat)’ rather than to spend their times ‘watching porn’ or in Phone addiction in the one life they have.

I also shared in two workshops spread over two days (Aug. 13-14). One workshop was on finding God’s Will. The other was on Career Choice Clues. Sections of the audience attended these out of their free-will. I started off with a Kahoot Quiz in both session to get warmed up. My daughter, Datasha, helped me with the technicalities. My son, Dale, who was flown to the Camp, from Delhi by Annan Ashok, shot videos of the workshop. My wife closed in prayer. I answered live questions after the workshop (‘Does it mean we must give up on our dreams if ‘Close Doors’ is one way of finding God’s Will?’ – this was one question which I answered).

Sharing the Knowing God’s Will workshop in the Sishya Team Camp. #DukeJeyaraj

I also counselled a group of 8 students from 8 different colleges on how to do youth ministry in their college talking about how I did ministry in the college I was in, Allahabad Agri Institute, where I did B. Tech. 1993-97. These youth had committed for ministry involvement after Ashok annan challenged them.

My wife and I joined others when we prayed for the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the campers after Annan Ashok spoke on the Holy Spirit. 

The Lord mightily used the others several others in this camp: Annan Ashok, Bro. Sreedhan Manoharan (VP of an International Tractor Firm), Dr. Vijay-Dr.Ann (Assam Missionary Doctors), Swaroop (Sishya Team Staff) Andy (formerly with YFC), Bro. Sankar Ramachandran (UP), Sis. Samuela (Life Focus Society), Sis. Cynthi (Ashok annan’s sister-in-law). It was my humbling honor to be part of this wow team.

Thrilled to be part of an awesome team and minister in the Sishya Camp!!!

The campers had interesting activities they could get involved in during the camp. One of was sand-castle building. I was privileged to be one of the judges of this event!

Sand Castle Building Activity in the youth Camp! I was one of the judges! #JoeBeach #ECR #Chennai

I had a one on one interaction with one of the campers who told me this: ‘Every camp, I make a decision. I fail shortly after that. So this camp I do not want to make any commitment.’ I explained to him how he could sustain his camp decisions. He was soon praying the sinner’s prayer with me!

Thank you for praying. You prayed and I could feel the impact even as I ministered in Joe Beach, East Coast Road, Chennai.

I received warm words of encouragement and appreciation from the youth part of the camp and from Ashok annan. One 17-year old wrote to me via Instagram after the camp this: Praise God uncle! This is…… Heard all your messages at Sishya Camp. It was so inspiring, motivating and life-changing. Keep changing impure souls, uncle. You did a very great job, uncle. God bless you, uncle.’ Tears welled-up in my eyes. All glory to God.

With Ashok Vedanayagam annan, the founder of Sishya Team. He was kind to invite me to speak in this camp.

The camp brought a blessing into the lives of my kids who attended several sessions where I was not the speaker. When we wanted to leave after my final session was done, my daughter insisted we stay back till the end. Such was the impact. My prayer is this: the fire in the altar of their hearts will keep burning till the last day (Lev. 6:12). The messages I shared were recorded. We will release as and when our volunteers will edit them on our Youtube channel under ‘Duke Jeyaraj’

Categories
Stories from my life

Started This When I was 16 Years Old….

Duke Jeyaraj

Fiercely introvertish. Super shy. That’s who I am still. That’s Duke Jeyaraj even now. But my God chose me – and when I get to heaven I will certainly ask him why – to preach His Word. 31 years ago as a 16 year old, I preached God’s Word from a stage for the first time as a class XII student of Ida Scudder School, Vellore, on this very day – 9th August. This journey has been marvelous and I fall down at His feet and worship Him acknowledging my nothingness. To each one of you who have ‘endured’ my sermons all these years I am most grateful.

Some of my preaching heroes are in heaven now. One of them is Rev. S. A. Sundarraj of Vellore-6 Assemblies of God. Once I paid a courtesy visit to him. He was in the church. He was the one who recommended me to Southern Asia Bible College for the M. Div. course. His face lit up as he saw me. He then asked me this question: “Will you preach the message in our church, this Sunday?” I was flattered. I was floored. Me, to preach in the church I went to week after week as a little boy? Me, to preach in the church where I was baptized in water? Me, to preach in the presence of my pastor?

When the day came – a Sunday in the month of May 2011 – Rev. S. A. Sundarraj introduced me to the congregation. He said, ‘Duke and me have a lot in common. We can start with anything we see or anything we have read in the newspaper and preach a message from that!’ And I went to preach a message that Sunday that was titled, Bible Lessons for Today’s Believers From India’s World Cup Win with Dorai Jasper annan interpreting into Tamil. The message can be heard here:

One of the joys that I have had in all these years of preaching is this: I have preached in meetings organised by others. By others I mean churches. By others, I mean parachurch organisations. By others I mean loosely-administered corporate company fellowships. By others I mean College Administrations or School Administrations. This way I have crossed many different boundaries and barriers. The kingdom of God has been built.

Another surprise that I have had in these 31 years of preaching is this: though I do not preach to get invited again, there are places I wanted again. Though I tell people what they should hear and not what they want to hear, in some cases, they want me back. For example, after I preached in a youth camp in Germany in 1998, the pastor wanted me back in 1999. I have been invited again to speak in a top medical college in their annual camp. Why do I say this? When you are faithful in executing God’s call upon you as a preacher, you will not become ‘jobless’! I am a witness!

Thank you for all your sacrificial support to my preaching over all these decades! I am ever so grateful!

Categories
Ministry Event Reports

A Nerve-wracking Kahoot Bible Quiz on the Book of Ruth

Duke Jeyaraj

On 29 June 2022, Wednesday, at 9 PM, we at Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission (G4 Mission) organised an online Bible Quiz. It was open for all age-groups. As the quiz began we had 54 players who joined. See this picture:

The cast of characters – as the gripping drama of the Book of Ruth Kahoot Quiz was about to start!

Duke Jeyaraj began asking the questions. These questions were fresh questions that focused on application of Bible Truth into one’s life. They were geared to make preachers and teachers of God’s Word down the line.

Here are a few sample questions:











As the quiz rolled, we had different leaders at different stages. Let us see a few pictures that will help us see that:










Bhavana Priya led after question 1.





Charles led after question 2. Two questions. Two new leaders! Wow!





Joel took the lead after four questions! Another new leader!





Joel held onto his lead after five questions. We had Helena, Mahi, and Tina on the rapid rise.





 Mahi (Mahima Bindu) took the lead after question 7. Pratiksha is back in the top 5. Namrata back in the game!





After question 8, Priscilla D leads. Another new leader! Timothy on the rise!










Priscilla D firmly holding onto her lead three questions later – after question 11 is done!





It is still Priscilla D in the lead after 13 questions! Apphia has the highest answer streak of 13, meaning she never got a single question wrong so far!





After Question 17, Mahima Bindu takes the lead once again! Tina firmly holding onto the third position for quite some time now!





Priscilla D takes back her lead with just one question left for the quiz to be over! However, Pratiksha and her husband, Manas are on the rise!





However at the end of the quiz, Pratiksha comes out as a winner! 





The final group picture! This was the first quiz we have conducted where over 50 players answered every question of the quiz! We have had several Kahoot Bible quizzes now. Search ‘Duke Jeyaraj Kahoot’ on Youtube to pull up older ones. Thank you for your enthusiastic participation!





Finishing at no. 3 and no.4  are Mahima Bindu and Nayomi Christina. They are siblings! The top two – Pratiksha and Manas – are a married couple! I am so glad entire families are learning God’s Word and taking part in this quiz!





The recording of this quiz can be seen here:










In this video, you will hear Duke Jeyaraj bring Bible Teaching on varied topics inbetween the questions. He calls for sexual purity using Boaz’s example. He counsels on life partner choice from his comments on Ruth 2:3. And much more. You have to listen to the full video to understand what we try to do through this quiz which attracts people of all agegroups from different churches – mainline, Pentecostal and independent – from different corners of India and beyond (in the top five, we had a player playing from Belgium). The next such quiz will be on the Gospel of Matthew on Wednesday 3 August 2022.





The winners (top 5) will get Prize. A Study Bible plus a Book for the winner; a Study Bible for the person who stood second; a Stylish Bible for the third place winner; a Bible for the fourth place winner; a Sound Doctrine Christian Book for the fifth place winner. They will also get digital certificates. 





The ministry that runs this quiz is not a church. It is not sponsored by a church or a big international organisation. It is an inter-church ministry which runs, thanks to the donors who want to see the Google Generation going gaga over God’s Word through some creative efforts like these. The supporters are mainly Indians who have been blessed by Duke Jeyaraj and Evangelin Duke’s ministry over the years and want to contribute in some way. Our support comes through sacrificial giving of such precious individuals. Would you like to donate so these kind of efforts are stepped up even more? Then please use this link: https://rzp.io/l/G4Mission  





Take time to read the Word of God! Never leave a Bible Passage till it speaks to you! God bless you!

















		


	


	

		
		


			

		


		
	


	






	



	


		
			

				
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					End Times and the Bible				

			


			
GOD AND MAGOG AND SCRIPTURE: FOCUS ON EVANGELIZATION RATHER THAN ON SPECULATION

		


			

		


		
	





	


		


			

Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj










Of late, after Russia invaded Ukraine, there has been a lot of focus on Bible Passages like Ezekiel 38 and 39. There is a talk that Gog and Magog mentioned in these chapters concerns Russia and Putin and so on and so forth. But I want issue a word of caution here. This word of warning comes straight from Scripture. Revelation 11:8 goes this way: “Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city – which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt – where also their Lord was crucified” (NIV). We know that the city where our Lord was crucified to be historically Jerusalem. But historic Jerusalem is symbolically called Sodom and Egypt in the book of Revelation. Why should this be so. The answer is obvious: Jerusalem committed the very same sins of Sodom (sexual immorality) and Egypt (Idol Worship).





Don’t get super-excited about names of places and their physical locations as the Lord’s return nears!





So as the coming of the Lord nears, we must not get super-excited about names of places and their physical locations! You excitedly blurt out, “Gog and Magog – that is about Russia! This is about Putin!” Don’t be so quick! Just above we saw proof that when the Bible talks about literal Jerusalem it may not be literal Jerusalem! We need to open to the possibility that Gog and Magog can signify another place spiritually speaking and not Russia. I am not saying this because of a personal bias. But I am saying this from the method of interpretation laid out in Revelation 11:8. Similarly, the ‘Babylon’ mentioned in I Peter 5:13, could have been used instead of Rome as there is no record in any other Bible passage which mentions that Apostle Peter and his spiritual son Mark ever ministered in geographical Babylon. Peter was using Babylon as a codeword for Rome, where he ministered. The phrase ‘She who is in Babylon together with you, sends you her greetings’ can be taken to mean the church in Rome sends you greetings. Peter uses this phrase just to be on the safer side when persecution was being stepped up. Babylon was a cryptogram for Rome. That’s all. If a Roman officer who was against the church get go to read I Peter, he would have got fooled when he read I Peter 5:13’s reference in Babylon, but believers of that time would instinctively know that Peter was talking about the church in Rome, and not the church in Babylon there.





Very often the physical location of Bible Places just don’t mean that place alone  as Revelation 11:8 clearly shows!





Bible Scholars tell us that the Babylon of I Peter 5:13 does not mean geographical Babylon but geographical Rome. This verse has crypto description of the church in Rome to fool the enemies of the church in Rome.





Let’s read another passage from the book of Revelation: Revelation 20:7-8. It goes this way: ‘When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth – Gog and Magog – and to gather them for battle.’ Here Satan-deceived nations from the four corners of the Earth are called Gog and Magog. So, there is a real possibility that Gog and Magog is not indicative of one place in the end-times. As the coming of the Lord nears, you would be biblically wise, if you don’t be focus on physical locations like Russia, Jerusalem, Israel, etc. Instead your spiritual senses alert and you will see that people from all four directions of the globe are being deceived by Satan as the end draws near.





Jesus had told his disciples in no uncertain terms that the time of his return could not be guessed as the Father only knows this (Matt. 24:36; Mk. 13:32). Knowing they could not get an answer if they asked him a question, ‘When will you return Lord?’, I believe, they asked him a smartly-worded question which was a lot similar. They asked Jesus this question concerning the last days, the end times: ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?’ I believe this question is not much different from the questions we spend all our time speculating about these days: “Is Gog and Magog about Russia? Is Putin the anti-Christ? Will not Jesus surely return before one generation of people pass away after the formation of national Israel?” I believe Jesus’ answer to these questions is the same as his answer to the question of his disciples concerning geographical Israel’s future recorded by Luke in Acts: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Did you notice that Jesus indirectly mentions Gog and Magog, here? When speaks about the ‘ends of the earth’, I believe, Gog and Magog are also included in the list of places we must share the Goodnews with, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Rather than do unfruitful speculation about lesser important details about eschatology(end-times), we must focus our attention on gospel proclamation – that is the clear message of Acts 1:6-8. Ofcourse, the most important things concerning eschatology are these: the physical return of Jesus, the day of judgement where Jesus would be the judge, the eternal conscious torment of the stubborn Christ-rejectors, the reality of eternal heaven. 





Acts 1:6-8 tells us this: do not waste your time in mere speculation about non-important aspects of eschatology. But be busy about passionate evangelization of all nations, peoples, tribes, languages. 





If I get a chance to meet Putin, I will not ask him, ‘Are you the anti-Christ?’. Rather, I would look to share the Gospel with him! Rather than speculate on the role of nations in the endtimes, we must seek to spread the goodnews there! It is God’s job to harden their heart after having given them enough opportunities to repent like he did in Pharoah’s case. Once their heart is hardened they would go about fulfilling all what is written in the Bible about them in God’s calender. Till that happens, frankly, is none of our business. But it is our business to proclaim the Gospel to all in all nations – including Russia and Israel. God’s Word says so.





(A version of this article by Dr. Duke Jeyaraj appeared in the June 2022 edition of Evangelical Fellowship of India’s Aim magazine. Duke Jeyaraj, the author, is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission. This is a reader-supported, inter-denominational Indian ministry to presentday people. Find out more by emailing Duke via emailduke@gmail.com or whatsapping him at +91-8886040605).


		


	


	

		
		


			

		


		
	


	






	



	


		
			

				
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					Happy Marriages Building Articles Romance In Marriage - Keeping It Alive				

			


			
The Marriage Bed: The Biblical Call To BOTH Sanctify It And Electrify (Enjoy) It

		


			

		


		
	





	


		


			

Rev. Dr. Duke Jeyaraj










The writer to the Hebrews writes, ‘Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral’ (Heb. 13:4, NIV). This is a clear call to sanctify the marriage bed! That means that there is no room in the marriage bed for anyone else apart from your spouse. To cite an example: You cannot watch porn to spice up your sex inside marriage for that is akin to having a porn star in your marriage bed (recall Jesus’ words which makes lust, adultery in Matt. 5:28).










Duke Jeyaraj writes, ‘You cannot watch porn to spice up your sex inside marriage for that is akin to having a porn star in your marriage bed (recall Jesus’ words which makes lust, adultery in Matt. 5:28).’





The same Bible that calls us to sanctify our marriage bed, calls us to electrify it as well! Let me explain: by saying that I mean there are clear calls in both the Old Testament and New Testament to celebrate inside-marriage sex! Can I briefly take you through a survey in this regard, which I believe, will be memorable!





The Call from the THE  FONDLING STORY:





‘The call to have unabashed sex inside marriage comes first from an incident from Isaac and Rebecca’s life’ – writes Duke Jeyaraj





We read that Isaac – he was not exactly young – fondling his wife Rebecca in Genesis 26. Genesis 26:8 goes this way: ‘When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.’ The word ‘caressing’ here implies sexual foreplay. It is talking about a physical intimacy that may not necessarily lead to a sexual climax! It is sad phenomenon that among many Christian couple, the touching leads to super-fast sex without the lingering in the acts like caressing. As a couple, Isaac and Rebecca explored each other’s bodies in an unhurried way! That is indeed a biblical way to electrify your marriage bed!





The Call from the FOUNTAIN JODI:





‘The only biblical call for intoxication found in Proverbs 5:18-20 concerns the celebration of no-holding-back sexual love between husband and wife!’ – writes Duke Jeyaraj 





The Proverbs-writer compares the wife to a fountain. I call the couple talked about in Proverbs 5, ‘the Fountain Jodi’ (the Fountain Couple). He writes in Proverbs 5:18-20: “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer – may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. Why, my son is intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?” (ESV). Why is the wife called a fountain? The fountain was the source of clean drinking water in Biblical times. The implication is direct: the only guilt-free place that God has ordained for sexual thirsts to be quenched should be inside the boundaries of marriage. Men, from time immemorial have visit prostitutes, had affairs with the ‘wayward woman’ because of their thirst for sexual variety. And that is a sin against God as this above passage and other Bible passages would clearly teach. But what Proverbs 5:18-20 teaches is this: the husband and wife should together make their sex life so exciting that it would make a visit to a prostitute or affairs with wayward women/men a big bore! And what is more, this passage calls us for the only sin-free intoxication which is to enjoy sex within the boundaries of marriage! All other intoxication, alcohol and drug intoxication included, is sin according to the Bible. Have you ever realized that intoxication with sexual love for your spouse, is a God-commanded intoxication! Yes, Proverbs 5:18-20 is a biblical call to electrify the marriage bed!





The Call from the Fragrance of En Gedi





‘The Song of Songs couple inspires married couples to have sex inside of marriage to experience God-ordained pleasure! There is no mention of a child-birth in this book, did you notice?’ – writes Duke Jeyaraj





I refer to the Song of Songs couple here. The woman says in 1:12 to 14 this: ‘While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.’ This book uses word pictures to depict actual sexual intimacy situations. So, what is the meaning of Song of Songs 1:12-14? It is this, according to me: The husband becomes a sachet of good smell emanating myrrh who celebrates every curve of his wife in electrifying sexual union (the curves are explicitly named in the above passage). Myrrh used to drive away bad smell from dead bodies. But in this passage, myrrh represents the husband himself who transforms into a pleasing aroma which exhilarates his wife as they enjoy sexual union. In short, the perfume the wife wears not Victoria Secret (the famous perfume brand) but Victor (if Victor was the name of the husband)! What is more, in all the eight chapters of Song of Songs, there is no mention of a birth of a child. That tells me, that God created sex inside of marriage, not just for production of children but also the enjoyment of sexual pleasures! Have you heard the call from the fragrance of En Gedi to make your marriage bed, electrifying?





Finally, the call from FIRST CORINTHIANS ISSUED CALL OF ‘MISSIONARY’ DUTY










Apostle Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthian believer underlines a call of duty for both husband and wife: “The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife” (I Cor. 7:3-4). This passage is akin to a missionary call. The only God-ordained ‘missionary’ that can deliver and demonstrate the ‘goodnews’ of sexual joy to your husband is you, wife! The only God-ordained ‘missionary’ that can declare and demonstrate the ‘goodnews’ of sexual joy to your wife is, husband! So, if not you, then who will excite the sexual life of your spouse?





The clear call not just to sanctify but electrify the marriage bed has come from different parts of Scripture.





Are Christian couples listening?





Duke Jeyaraj, a fulltime Bible Teacher, itinerant Revival Preacher, who is the author of this piece, is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission (G4 Mission). This is a reader-supported Indian ministry. Duke’s book, Straight Talk, brings frank Bible Teaching wrapped around contemporary events on sex, love, marriage, porn, phone addiction and the like. Duke is married to Evangelin who also works fulltime with G4 Mission. They have two children – Dale, 18 and Datasha, 14. They currently live in Chennai.  Email us at emailduke@gmail.com if you need further information.