Argentina Football – GRABBING THE GOOGLE GEN FROM GEHENNA MISSION / DUKE JEYARAJ h

LIONEL MESSI: SHORT BIBLE DEVOTIONS STARTING WITH HIM!

Duke Jeyaraj

Lionel Messi scored in the 91st minute – in stoppage time – to earn Argentina their World Cup 2014 group game win over Iran. Our God can intervene in our life in the 91st minute – between the neck and the knife as he did to save the life of tied-on-the-altar Isaac from the sword of Abraham – and do a miracle for us. So, let’s not lose hope!

SLOWING DOWN SWITZERLAND AND SLEEPING DAVID
Bible truth from the Argentina-Switzerland last 16 World Cup 2014 game

Towards the end of the second half of extra-time in the Argentina-Switzerland last 16 knockout game in the World Cup 2014, agressive-till-that-point Switzerland looked like waiting for the penalty shootout. They weren’t exactly looking to win. And Argentina wasted no time in pouncing upon the surprising Swiss slow-down and went on to punish them led by the magical Lionel Messi who usurped the ball from the Swiss defense, gave it a few deft touches like only he can before passing the ball to compatriot Angel Di Maria who scored for Argentina to make it 1-0 in the 118th minute – with just 90 seconds of regulation time left. As one observer put it, “Switzerland were supposed to keep the ball near the Argentine goal as the game inched towards the penalty shootout. Instead they were passing the ball around near their goal and this lead to their downfall.” When King David did not attack but chose to ‘stay back’ when he fell into temptation (2 Sam. 11:1). He was supposed to be busy leading his country in a war. But he chose to stay back in the palace and sleep till late afternoon when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. ‘Resting’ David became ‘rusting’ David. Laziness is an open invitation for the Devil to tempt you! Being an attacking Christian – which practically means that you don’t miss any opportunity to witness, you race for those weekend outreaches, you dash when you get a chance share your testimony, etc – is a great safeguard against temptation.

GOLDEN BALL VS WORLD CUP MEDAL; ALL THAT THE WORLD OFFERS VS KNOWING CHRIST

“He returned to the pitch with the Golden Ball trophy of the FIFA World Cup 2014 dangling limply by his side, as if waiting to be dispatched in the first dustbin he could find.” So wrote Dominic Fifield of The Gaurdian about Lionel Messi. Messi could have thrown away his golden ball, if that could be exchanged for a World Cup Winner medal. For him, winning the World Cup with Argentina was more important than winning the Golden Ball. Apostle Paul, in the same vein said he would trash all his qualifications in the trash can if that would help him to know Christ (Phil 3:8). We could give up anything – family ties, property, wealth, just anything, in order to know Christ! When it came to the golden ball or the World Cup medal, Messi preferred the World Cup medal. When we have to choose between the world and all that it offers and knowing Christ, we must choose knowing Christ.

MESSI, THE TEAM MAN: ARE YOU ONE?

The Champions League Final 2015 is the first club football game I watched “live” in full. My following of football is limited to the World Cups. Having realized the Google Genners I minister to go gaga over club football, I decided to watch the annual climax match of all club football – The Champions League Final.

Mark Doyle wrote these lines – lines I enjoyed reading – for Goal website after Barcelona lifted the Champions League Trophy for 2015 by defeating Juventus 3-1 in Berlin on 6 June 2015:

“True, Messi did not score, but his contributions were once again crucial. Indeed, he was involved in all of Barca’s goals in their 3-1 win. It was his pass which picked out Jordi Alba on the left-hand side in the lead-up to Ivan Rakitic’s wonderfully worked opener, a perfect example of the playmaking responsibilities which he has embraced so wholeheartedly for the good of both Barcelona and Argentina. Messi is a fantastic individual but he’s also a great team player. As evidenced by the way in which he handed over a penalty to Neymar in the Liga rout at Cordoba. Messi was on a hat-trick and fighting for the Pichichi with Cristiano Ronaldo but Neymar had yet to net. Consequently, Messi selflessly stepped aside. But it is Messi who lifts Barcelona when they are down. Indeed, they were being bossed in Berlin for 10 minutes after Alvaro Morata’s equaliser but then Messi intervened, charging forward towards the Bianconeri defence before deftly side-stepping Andrea Barzagli and then unleashing a low drive that Gianluigi Buffon could only parry into the path of Suarez.”

Lionel Messi, the best footballer in the planet arguably can do it alone. But he won’t. He loves to play for the benefit of the team(s) he plays for. It’s so eloquently mentioned above.

Lionel Messi inspires us believers to team up with other believers to build God’s Kingdom. “Two are better than one. If one falls down, the other will pick him up….but pity the man who falls down and has none to pick him up…” (Eccl 4:9-10).

In the Bible we see teams of people joining together to build God’s Kingdom. Moses needed a Joshua to hold his hands high while in intercession for his nation in battle and Joshua did not shy away from that not-so-glamourous team task. Nehemiah the political leader he joined with the religious teacher Ezra to build God’s Kingdom.

If there was anyone who could have done it all alone it was God-in-flesh, Jesus. But he chose to build God’s Kingdom with the twelve.

In Paul’s ministry team there were atleast 60 different names. This we discover when we read his multiple letters in the New Testament.

Are you part of a team to build God’s Kingdom? I am (however imperfectly). If I have to go on Facebook to make a point that would make a soundly biblical point my friend has already made, I will do it! If I have to interpret the message of a much-much-more-famous Tamil preacher whose ministry I believe in, into English, I will do it! If I have to stand in the kitchen and help my wife in cooking by atleast getting her the appropriate vessels or stuff from the kitchen, I will do it!

There may be a biblically sound missionary organization that has attracted youth who are ready to go and be a missionary to a needy area without the Gospel. Will you “team” up with that organization by financially supporting it? Oh, you can team up to build God’s kingdom in so many ways!

What about you? Are you a team person? You must be one!

Writing about Lionel Messi, the BBC notes, “He continued to try for a way through against Iceland with 11 attempted shots, the most he’s ever tried in a World Cup game, but was left frustrated.” Argentina Vs Iceland. Russia World Cup 2018. Messi was not a sluggard, someone who did not try. The Bible says, “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (Prov. 13:4). We must try. We must try without giving up. We may not win everyone for Christ, but we must honestly try to share the Gospel and leave the results with God. We are not called to “Christianize”, but to “evangelize”.

(These are various devotions that Duke Jeyaraj wrote at various times. Bible Truth starting with football games featuring Lionel Messi is the common thread in this post. Duke is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, the G4 Mission. This is a reader supported Indian ministry. Find out more at http://www.dukev.org).

The World Cup Football finals is the most watched event in the world each time it is played! One out of nine people in the World watch it! Today – July 15, 2018 – we have another one: Croatia V France! I am rooting for Croatia! I have been doing almost-daily devotions starting from World Cup 2018 Football games via Facebook, Google Plus and WordPress!

I recall my earliest TV watching experience to the Football World Cup. In the year 1986, as a 11 year old I recall going to the home of our neighbor in Vellore Town, Uncle Wilson (my friend Ben Suresh’s dad, now with Jesus), to watch the World Cup Football Final 1986 between Argentina and West Germany. Earlier that year, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior in a Blessing Youth Mission retreat in Ranipet. Though Cricket has been my fave game all through, I still haven’t forgotten the closing minutes of that 1986 Final – a final dubbed as the most exciting World Cup Football final ever – which Argentina won under Deigo Maradona, 3-2.I remember talking about this final when I made a point from the Word of God when I preached in the Youth Service of the Full Gospel Assembly of God, Indira Nagar, Bangalore, years later.

I was still in Ida Scudder School when West Germany won the Final of 1990 World Cup by beating Argentina through a late Brehme penalty. In Scudder school where I was a student for 9 long years (4th to 12th), I wrote in the Kaleidoscope, our School mag, about his final. I recall writing a poem on the 1990 World Cup. One line went this way: “As Brehme drove home the late penalty/There was joy among the Beckenbauer bombers, aplenty!” In Scudder school I preached my first sermon from stage and also was part of a lunchtime fellowship. Those were the early stages of my life when God would mold me to wrap Bible Truth around interesting sports events.

I was in Allahabad Agricultural Instistue as a B. Tech. student during the 1994 World Cup Final. I wrote a long poem on the final and sent to our the local newspaper, The Hitavada. I was thrilled to see that poem published. I don’t even have a copy of that hand-written poem now! The paper cutting was filed in a dark brown file and that file is now missing! It had over 50 Letters to the Editor of mine published by newspapers like The Hindu and magazines like The Sportstar over the years! In Agricultural Institute I led Bible Studies for fellow students in hostel rooms and went along with my seniors to do the same in other colleges in the town of Allahabad in eastern Uttar Pradesh. I recall talking about Roberto Baggio’s heart-breaking penalty kick miss in the Cup Final 1994 and how the Bible never missed it, when it came to predictions regarding the future. My days in Agricultural Institute. were the days during which God was impressing upon my heart to wrap Bible Truth around contemporary events of interest. I saw Billy Graham do it in his book, World Aflame, a book I read in New Hostel Room No. 45 in Agricultural Institute!

I recall watching the 1998 World Cup Final which France won in the home uncle Charles (now with Jesus) in Bangalore. I was a Bible College student in Southern Asia Bible College then and had gone to his house that weekend to stay back and watch the Final. Zidane scored two headed goals in that game which gave France its first World Cup win. “I was so hungry to score one goal in the World Cup Final, that I made it two!” So said Zidane. That has repeatedly served as an illustration when I talk about hunger for the things of God we must have! During my Bible College days I discovered that Apostle Paul wrapped basic truths of Scripture even around quotes of pagan writers (in Acts 17 in his speech at Athens). So I resolved that it was something I would also do. And the World Cup history provided me with lots of interesting events to wrap Bible Truth around!

I watched the 2002 World Cup Final with my wife in Trivandrum where we were missionaries with Blessing Youth Mission. It was then that I wrote an article titled, “Bible Lessons from the Football World Cup,” for the mag I edited for Blessing Youth Mission, “Missionary Kids” (which later became Arrows). Oliver Kahn (the Man of the 2002 Cup) carried Germany to that World Cup Final, I recall. Post that Cup, there were news reports about his affair with a Bar girl when his wife was pregnant. “Double life with a disco girl” – that was one headline. Then Kahn said, “I myself know how dumb and stupid what I have done is.” I have used this story as an illustration to promote purity when I preached to the Google Generation.

I watched the 2006 Cup Final in Hyderabad the city I landed up in to start Grabbing De Google Generation 4m Gehenna Mission (G4 Mission) while also working for a certain call centre to support myself and my little family. I recall writing an article for the G4 Mission magazine, The Days of Your Youth, based on the exciting semifinal between Germany and Italy – the most exciting game of that edition of World Cup. Late in that game, the Italian coach made a flurry of substitutions which ensured Italy won that game in extra-time without the game going into the penalty shootouts, a thing Italy was wary of. After mentioning that I went on to talk about the greatest substitution ever – that of Jesus Christ on the Cross for your sins and mine. I was inspired to write the poem on Zidane head-butting Materazzi with the gospel at the end which is now part of my book, The Good News for the Google Generation, then. That book can be read online here: http://www.scribd.com/

…/The-Good-News-For-The-Google-Genera…
(on page 129 is the Zidane poem). During December 2005 I stood in Cyber Gateway in Hitec city to speak to a bunch of young professionals (call centre folk) in an informal setting as part an outreach effort of the NLAG Hyderabad’s Youth Alive. I began my Gospel presentation to that boisterous crowd with a story about Germany’s coach of 2006 Cup team who initially tried to coach Germany staying in the USA and how God came near during the first Christmas and that caught their attention.

When I watched the 2010 World Cup Final I was back to ‘fulltime’ ministry, having quit my job with the HSBC GSC, as the Lord was gracious to raise Indians to support our ministry to the Google Generation. Post that Final I wrote a poem that started with a certain “Jesus” who played for Spain in that final as a Substitute. That was fodder for yet another poem that wrapped the Gospel around a World Cup Final. That poem is also found in my book, The Goodnews for the Google Generation (a book I talked about earlier in this post)! In fact I wrote an article, “Bible Lessons from the Unforgettable Moments of the 2010 World Cup” and that article which had a anti-porn point starting with a story of a Paraguay female fan who wanted to strip if the team she supported won. I have used the Luis Suarez Hand of God injury-time incident in the Ghana-Uruguay Quarter Final from that World Cup at the end of many of my Gospel messages where I have called youth to come to Jesus shunning procrastination.

In the year 2014 when the Finals moved to Brazil, I watched it with my son, Dale Nathan, then 10 year old, teaching his nuances of Football, the way I taught him nuances of Cricket watching the 2011 Cricket World Cup Finals with him. Through this event I ran devotions on Facebook which started with interesting events from this World Cup including the Luis Suarez biting event which is here: https://www.facebook.com/…/a.420280954711…/687270011345873/…). 2014 was the year when I wrapped up my Doctoral program in Southern Asia Bible College by God’s grace.

Before we go to bed, we need to do self-examination, my spiritual mentors have taught me. But we also need to do an eagle-eye self-examination of our life’s progress. Evaluating our growth, once in four years, is a good exercise that will spur us to greater heights God has for us.

(Duke Jeyaraj, an Engineer turned Doctor of Ministry grad, is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission. This is a ministry to presentday people funded by Indians blessed by Duke’s writings and messages. Find out more by liking www.facebook.com/googleduke or visiting www.dukev.org

and www.dukewords.wordpress.com

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