Teachers' Day Celebration

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Second President of India

The Fifth of September is the birthday of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, an academician, philosopher and also the Second President of our nation, India. On his birthday we celebrate Teachers' Day.

In UBS, the Social and Religious Activities Committee (SARAC) will host the Teachers' Day celebration programme on the 5th.

The Silence of the Night

As the silence of the night echoed,
A voice of betrayal came forth,
To kiss the Savior,
Though HIS hands were bound in chains,
Yet HE was not reluctant in giving up HIS hands to be nailed,
Though HE was led before the unrighteous,
Yet HE was not hesitant in giving up HIS feet to be nailed,
Though HE was silent, yet HE spoke strongly,
His voice has echoed through out all the generations that has passed,
Still HIS voice echoes in our hearts,
Calling us to be his begotten sons,
To be HIS portion forever

- by Yeshwanth. B. V., B.D.IV

Final Year's Theme Presentation

The Final year students will be presenting their theme this Friday on the 26th of August, 2011. This is done every year by every final year batch. It is expected that we will all have a meaningful time.









Posted by B. Ryngksai

Patriotic Day Celebration

15th of August is our Independence Day. Following are some of the glimpses of Patriotic Day programme in UBS. Thanks to Reuben (NBD III) for the photos.




Posted by B. Ryngksai

Blog Launching Photos

This blog was launched at the UBS Chapel on the 12th August, 2011. During this short programme in the afternoon the blog was launched by Dr. Paulson Pulikottil, our adviser.
Our Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. K. V. Abraham was also present so was Yeshwanth, our UBSSA President - both gave short speeches.
Some glimpses of that programme are seen below:



Thanks to Reuben of NBD III for the photos.

Posted by B. Ryngksai

Read various translations and versions of the Bible online

http://www.biblegateway.com/
http://www.bibles.net/
http://bible.cc/
http://www.biblica.com/bibles/
http://www.bibles.net/
http://bibledatabase.net/
http://bible.logos.com
http://www.blueletterbible.org/
http://rockhay.tripod.com/worship/translat.htm
http://www.catholic.org/bible/
http://www.ebible.com/

Compiled by B. Ryngksai (NBD III)

DIASPORA ON THE NET

The word "Diaspora" gives a clear link with the Greek word diasporav, and has been translated in English as "dispersion", "dispersed" or "scattered". The Oxford dictionary indicates that it was first applied to the dispersion of the Jews among the Gentiles mainly in the 8th-6th c. BC but that it now also applies to any group of people similarly dispersed. However, the Lausanne 2010 Diaspora Leadership Team (LDLT) distinguishes between a singular (Diaspora) and plural (Diasporas) - referring respectively to different peoples or of all groups as a whole, being on the move and leaving their homeland (voluntary or involuntary migration/immigration). Diaspora has been a part and parcel of our faith. Therefore, our belief should not be confined into our territory only, rather need to cross the border. This note may be beneficial to those who are interested in the Diaspora Missiology. Nonetheless, this may not give an overall picture of Diaspora but definitely will provide a blueprint to get an access with resources for further researches and studies.

SECULAR NETWORKS FOR DIASPORA
The Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies	www.soas.ac.uk/migrationdiaspora
The International Institute for Diaspora Studies	www.diasporastudies.org
United nations (over 1800 articles could be accessed)	www.un.org/en/search
Diaspora Network Alliance	http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PDACM860.pdf
UNESCO's programme on International Migration	http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/social-transformations/international-migration/
Asian Diaspora	www.time.com/time/asia/2003/journey/graphics/migration_map.html
Indian Diaspora	http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Diaspora/diaspora.html
Wikipedia	Category: Diaspora
CHRISTIAN LINKS
East Asia Diaspora Forum	http://www.globalconnections.co.uk/forums/East%2BAsia%2BDiaspora%2BForum/EastAsiaDiasporaForum
Filipino International Network	http://www.fin-online.org/
Institute of Diaspora Studies (IDS)	http://www.westernseminary.edu/Diaspora/index.htm
The Lausanne Diaspora Leadership Team (LDLT)	http://www.gatheredscattered.com/
NSM Knowledge Base	http://www.strategicnetwork.org/index.php?loc=kb&view=b&fto=4511&&sf=Y
References on Diaspora from ATLA Religion Index 300 Recent Articles Dealing with Diaspora	http://www.mislinks.org/files/DiasporaBiblio.pdf http://www.mislinks.org/files/Diaspora300.pdf
Lausanne Global Conversations and papers	http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/10540
MISSION JOURNALS AND PAPERS	http://www.mislinks.org/gathering/journals/
RESEARCHING WORLD CHRISTIANITY	http://www.internationalbulletin.org/resources
Seminar on "Anthropological Insights for Diaspora Missiology" by Dr. Steven J. Ybarrola, on 16-21, January, 2012.	http://www.omsc.org/seminars.shtml

If God and His people are on the move, should not the Diaspora Missiology be another paradigm shift for the mission?


By Janak BC, (MDiv IV)
Chairperson,
Mission Conference Committee

Who am I?

Life's so wonderful,
The greatest gift of God!
Who can create it?
Who can destroy it?
Anyone has authority over it?
The Almighty holds everything
Man is just dust
And goes to the same place where he started (Ecc. 3:20)
Life belong to the Creator
None has the control over it
Then reason!!!
Who am I?

-- Imsujungla, (NBD III)

The Fervent Four I: the quality of selflessness

The ‘four men’ who carried the paralytic in the gospel of Mark 2 were just SELFLESS! Hearing of Jesus’ arrival at Capernaum after many days, the four friends could have just gone by themselves. They could have hurried to see Jesus before He left for another nearby town. We see that they SAW a need and ACTED toward it. They couldn’t just go to see Jesus without carrying this ‘paralytic on the mat.’

As Christians, this passage challenges us to be selfless in our attitudes and actions. All of us see needs around us but few of us act. May the quality of selflessness be the very essence of our faith that brings the stigmatized, overlooked, and the ‘not our type’ people to Jesus!


-- Renny Cherian, (NBD III)

EXONERATING JONAH. A reading against the grain!

We have been very unkind to Jonah. No character of the Bible has suffered so badly at the hands of Bible interpreters and preachers like this man often pictured in a long robe and a long beard. Sometimes pcitured in the belly of a huge fish! Christians and Jews of all ages are equally guilty of this. They pick up a negative image of this poor prophet from early childhood as the Sunday School teachers use their flannel graphs and tell the children not to be so disobient as this disobedient prophet! And when these children mature to adulthood they become Sunday School teachers and preachers to continue the millennial old negative propaganda against this prophet of Israel.

Jonah was not that bad! He ran away from the presence of the Lord, I agree! Probably, he did not have read Psalm 139 especially verses 7 -10 of that psalm: "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. (Psalms 139:7-10 ESV).

Not only him, even long after him, the people of Israel thought that the presence of God was limited to certain places. This is what the Samaritan woman quizzed Jesus: "The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” (John 4:19-20). So, he thought he can get rid of this nagging God if he left the country and sailed for a far away place, beyond the reach of the Hebrew God!

Now, running away from his country to avoid the presence of God, that is a serious charge! But tell me which prophet of Israel was not fed up with this God who always demanded too much from them. Moses, complained to God many times when he was under stress, Elijah wanted to die unable to carry on, Jeremiah wept, protested, argued with God, Isaiah was despondent, the list can go on! We all are tempted to do it. It is just human.

Sleeping at the bottom of the ship while a storm was raging and every sailor was praying to his god is quite an achievement! Who can sleep peacefully amidst such a turbulance? Remember what you did when when you are 40,000 ft above the Atlantic and the pilot turned the seat-belt light on with a warning that the plane is facing turbulent weather? You made a sign of the cross and closed your eyes but were not able to sleep until the plane got back to a smooth path? Jonah was not sleeping, I think, was pondering "O God, you are here too! You got me?"

The story portrays an ordinary human being. It tells us what any prophet would do if God asks him to do something that he has never done before. Not just prophets all devout persons have limits to their patience and endurance. Jonah had reached his. That explains his behaviour.

But what I like in the story of Jonah is that he did something that many godly people normally won’t do. First of all, he knew what is wrong! He was a good troubleshooter! He told his fellow sailors that it is the hand of his God who created heaven, earth and sea! Many of us are equally good trouble shooters as well. But the difference is that Jonah not only found out what is wrong but he admitted that he is responsible for it! That many of us don't do. We normally score very low as troubleshooters, but very high as trouble-makers. Even when we succeed in locating the reason for the problem we tend to park it at somebody else's door! Taking up responsibility for the mess we created is often not in our nature. Now, I want Jonah to be exonerated at least on this ground! Long live Jonah!

--- Paulson Pulikottil

LDnP Committee Members 2011-12

Faculty Adviser - Rev. Dr. Paulson Pulikottil
Chairperson - Shalu T. Mathew (BD IV)
Secretary - Priyanka Bagh (NBD II)
Members: Gabriel Kasepogu (BD IV), Issac Paulraj I J (BD IV), Bankershanwell Ryngksai (NBD III), Renny Cherian (NBD III), Imsujungla Longkumer (NBD III)

JOY TRANSCENDING REASON

One scripture portion that has invariably challenged me every time I went through a crisis is the concluding portion of the Psalm of prophet Habakkuk in chapter 3: 17-18. This 7th C prophet witnesses the catastrophic proportions of injustice prevalent in the Jewish society. His heart is heavily burdened in this regard and has come to a state where he feels tired of carrying it on his shoulders anymore. Unlike some other contemporaries of his time he chooses to confront God on this matter by raising a complaint. God does reply to the prophet’s complaint by revealing him the role of the then Neo-Babylonian kingdom in the near future in punishing the unrighteous. The prophet is not unaware of this growing power but he is well aware of their great spoils and deeply treacherous attitude to other nations. In his opinion they are if not more unrighteous, equally wicked in comparison to the wicked in the Jewish society. In his deep dissatisfaction he confronts God again, this time raising a complaint against the Chaldeans. The prophet does report God’s reply to this second complaint in which God assures that He will bring the Babylonian power down to its knees in His time. The prophet’s dilemma, however, is this- he has to continue to be a mute witness to the injustice because the revelation awaits an appointed time! He is tired of lamenting and happiness seems to be a distant luxury.

As human beings we always need a reason that immediately appeals to our senses for the creation of the emotion we know as ‘joy’. But what do we do when at times the more we seek such a reason the more it eludes us? Moments like this were very much a part of prophet Habakkuk’s life. Nevertheless, we see a love, a joy, a faith, a relationship that transcends reason in his psalm. He says,

“Though the fig-tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour”.(Hab 3:17-18. NIV)

The prophet has grown to love his God more for who He is than for what He does. Another great example of a love that transcended reason is found in the words of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They are faced with an unprecedented crisis which comes along with a solution! All they need to do to get out of this crisis is to worship the idol of Nebuchadnezzar. However, they take the path where logic and rational would not dare to go. The book of Daniel records their words in Ch 3: 16-18 like this,

“...we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (emphasis added. NIV)

For these great men what was more important was who God is rather than what He can do for them. What we can take away from their life is the blaring reality that only when our love transcends the realm of reasons, and begin to love God for who He is than for what He does, will our joys surpass its own fleeting nature.

Nobby Jose Varghese, (BD IV)
PTD Chairperson and Student of UBS

Message from UBSSA President

I would like to say ‘Kudos!’ to Literary Debate and Publication committee 2011-2012 for its innovative venture of “Blog” in the World Wide Web. As I look at this venture, I feel that this would a creative attempt that would broaden our perspective of evangelism as a dialogue with the world at large. Thus, contributing to redefine evangelism, in the present day context of social networking, texting and skyping. The students of UBS have always been a blessing to the campus as well as outside the campus through their contribution of various talents in different capacities.

LD & P provides a platform to such students to optimize their potentials and talents through different innovative programmes. This year LD & P encourages all the students to participate in the programmes and utilize the opportunity to explore and nurture the talents within us.  

Finally I would like to encourage the community to make use of this opportunity to engage in dialogue in the virtual world of Internet. It is my prayer and wish that this ‘Blog’ would be a blessing to the campus as well as to the people outside the campus. It is also my prayer that LD & P would contribute to the development of intellectual growth of the community so that we may all be effective instruments in our Maker’s hands.

Shalom

Yeshwanth. B. V., (BD IV)

President, UBSSA, 2011-2012

Enjoying Freedom within the boundary

We are celebrating our 64th Independence Day on 15th of this month. We remember with great gratitude, the freedom fighters they committed their valuable life for the independence of our great nation. Many even laid down their lives for the freedom. We who are living in a country, we are claiming that we are free, should ask ourselves the question - “Are we really free?” If we evaluate the situation of increasing terrorist threats and attacks, religious fundamentalism, poverty, corruption, conflicts in the name of language, religion, caste and color, etc. In the light of these situations how is it possible to call ourselves as free?

In the Christian context, freedom is a very much misunderstood word. John 8:36 saying “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed”, here John talking about the freedom from the bondage of sin. This freedom does not mean- freedom to do anything and everything. Freedom without boundaries is not freedom at all. So we can define freedom means ‘freedom to obey the rule and to do the responsibilities’. Even in our family, religious, or social life we can enjoy the freedom with in this boundaries.

By Shalu T. Mathew, (BD IV)
Chairperson
LD&P, 2011-2012