On 26/11/2008 the entire nation was rocked by series of unprecedented shoot-out and bombing of India’s commercial capital “Mumbai”. The disastrous event was completely orchestrated by the terrorists many months ago. The catastrophic event sent shock waves questioning about the internal security of the nation and insecure metropolitan cities of India. The ruthless attack on innocent people of Mumbai and the pace in which the terrorists were moving into the city on this particular day seemed like as if they will be unstoppable. Though the entire local Police was mobilised to control the situation they could not do it as the strategy of the enemy was unknown and also the “lathis” were not a match for the weapons used by the terrorists. The terrorists moved in swiftly carrying out the attacks on different points where density of population was high and finally they took hostages at the Taj Hotel. The entire city police seemed to be paralysed and perplexed as they ran out of a clear plan to put an end to the terrorist atrocities and save the hostages. There was hope only after the 300 commandos from the National Security Guards (NSG) arrived at the scene within hours of authorization from the Crisis Management Group (CMG). The commandos were informed about their duty by midnight and they all rushed from their housing quarters to be flown to Mumbai from Gurgaon.

The commandos arrived at the Taj Hotel and launched Operation “Black Tornado” and Operation “Cyclone” to save the hostages and exterminate the terrorists. Though there were controversies on national security and emergency preparedness this was one of the most successful anti-terrorist operation to save lives. The interview of the NSG commandos after the operations revealed a lot of stunning facts about their dedication to duty and unwavering focus to save the hostages. The hostages were not relatives of the NSG commandos but they wanted to do it because they were sent to do it. One particular act of the commandos that really impresses is that before they started to Mumbai in a special aircraft they removed their watches and switched off their mobile phones so that their focus will be fully on the operation. This clearly infers that even before they launched into action they knew that time will not be a factor to be considered but saving lives was their priority. They were ready to be in action even if it continued for days. During the Operation they did not want their mobile phones vibrating to a call from their family and again the highest priority was for the operation to which they were commissioned.

As commissioned Ambassadors of The Most High God we can imbibe from the NSG commandos’ dedication and focus on duty. We will be able to see a high degree of similarity in both of our duty to save lives and crush the enemy’s work of pushing people into eternal death. Just like the commandos we have been commissioned to use the Word of God and Prayer as the most sophisticated weapons (2 Cor 10:4, 5) to tackle all the strategies of Satan the Prince of the World. To overcome the enemy’s strategies and establish God’s Kingdom on this Earth we need to adapt ourselves to Biblical teachings on how rescuers should be.

Rescuers should be strategists:

I Chronicles 12:32

“From Issachar's descendants there were 200 leaders who understood the times and knew what Israel should do”       (Good News Translation)

The Kingdom of God needs such leaders and rescue workers who will understand the contemporary times and counter the enemy with spiritual weapons to expose the enemy’s strategy and save lives from the hands of the enemy. Just like the men of Issachar we should work with a special revelation and wisdom from God so that we will be able to navigate through this evil world and break every dominion with God’s power and establish His Kingdom on Earth.

We read that the NSG commandos after reaching the attack zone came up with a special Operation to storm the terrorist hideout. Very similarly as warriors of God it is very important that we come up with specific divine strategies that will snatch people from the hell fire.

“Save others by snatching them from the fire [of hell]” (Jude 1:23).

Folks we cannot pull people from hell fire until and unless we come up with a powerful strategy to overcome every rulership, dominions, darkness and spiritual hosts of wickedness.

Should not cling on to the affairs of the World:

Soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. (2 Tim 2:4) (NLT)

Kingdom builders should not allow any affairs of the world to dampen their progress in moving forward to save people from enemy’s hands. Paul instructs Timothy with a metaphor of a soldier who always wants to please his commanding officer. Very similarly we need to set our focus in such a way that every work that we do or involved with should be pleasing the Lord of Hosts who is the supreme commander and the one who has commissioned us.

The NSG commandos set an example by removing their watches and switching off their mobile phones so that time nor their family or friends would be disturbing their focus. In The book of Nehemiah we see a very real model set by Nehemiah who worked tirelessly during the construction of the walls of Jerusalem.

The Bible clearly records that when the enemies were setting targets to attack and stop the work, Nehemiah and his guards never even took rest or changed their combat uniforms but stayed alert at any moment (Neh 4:23).

Today God’s Kingdom does not need cowering workers but courageous commandos who will always be clad in their combat uniforms and be on an attacking posture to storm the highway to Hell which leads thousands of lives into death.

Should not be Lax

“Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD with slacknes (Jer 48:10) (ESV)

When the NSG commandos themselves have got so much dedication and seriousness about their work then we workers of God who have been called to serve The Lord should be more dedicated towards our divine work. Let us not be negligent in our work since the Bible says that cursed is the man who does the work of God with carelessness and lacks dedication. We see that the apostles and all workers of God in the Bible were so careful in doing the high priority work of the Most High God. Folks it has been 2000 years since Jesus Christ incarnation into the world to save humanity but still the undone work is enormous and we need rescue workers who will dedicate themselves for the work of saving the lost through the Gospel.

The tools that God has given us are not for marketing or manipulation but they are for demolishing corrupt culture, warped philosophies, barriers and strongholds and to establish a Biblical Culture based on His Commandments. The talents, resources, physical strength, intelligence etc.., that have been given to us by God are not for any other purpose but to carry out His Commission and save lives from the bondage of the enemy.

“Christians have a world to reclaim and regain for God. The enemy has brought about vast destruction, death, and wickedness. Prayer opens up God's Armory with its superior weapons. Prayer and intercession cast out the entrenched enemy, violate his borders, and retake lost territory”

     - Reinhard Bonnke

In the poetic book of Song of Solomon Christ refers to the Church which is The Bride as an army majestic with its banners (Songs 6:4). It is time that the contemporary Church recognizes her identity in Christ as an Army and raise up to be a swift rescuer of sinners.
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Justine L. John
Campus Missionary
Upper Room Youth Mission

Satan has been devising many plans to defocus the faith of people upon God. He has been bombarding the Human minds with new scientific theories, philosophies, human ideologies etc to achieve his task of motivating people to move away from God. “Darwinism” is one such strategy of the enemy to cause disbelief in young minds and make them lose their faith on God’s creation and his miracle working power. Charles Darwin was a scientist who proposed the “Evolution Theory” which concludes that man was not created by God but evolved from apes. He presumes that higher organisms evolved naturally from simplistic single-celled organisms and stresses a purely naturalistic descent with modifications. He infers that humans (Homo sapiens) have evolved from apes which are closely related to humans in genetic character. Darwin concludes that apes are the actual ancestors of humans and therefore humans are just “super-apes” who have developed the ability to think, communicate and reason. He strongly contradicts the Biblical concept that God was the architect of life and that He breathed life into humans after shaping them from clay.

I need not make any effort to disprove the evolution theory because already through detailed genetic studies, DNA analysis, and gene mapping techniques it has been proven that there is no chance for humans to have evolved from apes. Furthermore, a research team in Berkeley University conducted a detailed study and concluded that all humans have evolved from one woman and not from apes.

Though there are innumerable research works that falsify Darwinism, there is an unprecedented growth in the number of atheists who believe in evolution and the absence of God. In Asia alone there are about 121 million atheists who believe that the life on earth evolved naturally and deny the existence of God. The recent news about the establishment of an Atheist Varsity and research centre at Hyderabad was really shocking and threatening that it is very important that we believers need to be well prepared to tackle the enemy’s strategy to manipulate people.

As I unravel the Biblical episodes I clearly understand that God was evolutionising ordinary folks into extra-ordinary folks or in other words normal humans into super-humans with unmatched ability and power that was beyond imaginations overcoming all laws of Natural Genetics. Darwin proposed this theory only in the late 1860’s but the Bible records that God has His own way of synthesizing spiritual genes in His own people that makes them superior.

From Sin to be His Sons
Firstly, in the book of Genesis we see that sin entered the human race through the disobedience of one man, Adam. Sin became the master of humans and death reigned and ruined the life which was passed onto the forthcoming generations as a genetic trait (Romans 5:12). The incarnation of Jesus and his resurrection became a critical factor for humans to suppress the trait of the gene that was responsible for the bondage of sin (Romans 5:19). Through this there was a public spectacle of the sin-filled humans evolving into God’s sons and daughters through the blood of Jesus Christ the son of God.

From Slaves to Soldiers
Secondly, the Israelites were under the captivity of Egyptians for about 400 years. Their duty was to make bricks and the kids were also suppressed by the Pharaoh fearing a population explosion of the Hebrew race. During these years of captivity it is well known that the Israelites did not have any opportunity to handle weapons of warfare or attend a military academy but within a short period of their exodus they evolved into military strategists who defeated some of the powerful kings and kingdoms of the land of Canaan in order to posses it (Numbers 21:33-35). Though the first generation of the delivered people of Israel was a murmuring generation God made the younger generation of Israel into a conquering generation under the exemplary leadership of Joshua.

From Drudgers to Master Designers 
Bezalel and Ohaliab were normal young men who belonged to the nomadic group of Israeli sect which moved from Egypt in pursuit of the Promised Land. There was no mention of these two lads or about their special talent for designing, embroidery and craftsmanship. The Bible says that the Spirit of God triggered a special ability in them to make designs with precious stones and embroidery with textiles for the Temple of the Most High God (Exodus 35: 35). They became pioneers of what is called Judaic Arts & Design which is still being studied by master designers of the contemporary times. This clearly shows that God gave special ability to Bezalel and Ohaliab to evolve into renowned designers as well as teachers of designing.

From Peace to Power 
Until the day of Pentecost, the apostles were a group of people who believed in Jesus and were filled with Peace which was due to their assurance of the experience of salvation. On the day of Pentecost these peace filled Christians evolved into Power filled Christians due to their experience of the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). All the ordinary disciples of Jesus who either ran off or betrayed Jesus when he was arrested became so empowered by Holy Spirit that almost everybody was martyred for the purpose of the gospel. The power from on High evolutionised them into miracle workers and fiery preachers who preached power packed words that penetrated and permeated hearts convicting people of their sin. Further analysis of the book of the “Acts of the Apostles” clearly makes us understand that the Apostolic Anointing that was operating through them also gave the endurance to face every challenge and chaotic situation that had risen against the Power ministry.  

Bible is a book of practicality and every act of God recorded is highly compatible to our own life. We might be an ordinary chap of very little value to the kingdom of God but we need to remember that God can evolutionise us into extra-ordinary champions to revolutionise the nation with the gospel of Jesus.

“Let’s believe that God has already begun the evolution of the young generation of this nation to carry on with the revolution that will be accomplished by the powerful penetration and permeation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”


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Justine L. John
Campus Missionary
Upper Room Youth Mission

William Carey “The Father of Modern Missions” before he came to India said “India is white unto harvest”. The greatest missionary William Carey was a visionary who saw the mission field ready for harvest. This great man did not stop being a visionary but he had the courage to go ahead and become a missionary to make all the visions into actions. Carey was a visionary and a missionary who did not make a mission postulate but made a practical approach to his vision and activated his theory of missions by becoming a missionary himself.

VisionARY - A visionary is a person who sees what is possible, who sees the potential.
MissionARY - A missionary is the person who carries out or executes the vision into action.

Jesus was not only a visionary but a missionary who executed the plans of the Father by working day and night with all his strength without any rest. The apostles did not stop with the visions with which they were envisioned by the Holy Spirit but swung into action. 

David Livingston the missionary to Africa said,

"God had only one Son and he sent that Son as a missionary"

 In this 21st century, the need of the hour is contemporary missionaries who will not stop with the visons but get ready to be missionaries and transfer the visions into actions. Most of those who want to be kingdom builders stop with their dreams and thoughts abt ministering but do not go ahead to become a missionary who executes the visions.

In this contemporary time we have visions that needs to be fulfilled with Missionaries. The workers are few (Matthew 9:37). If we keep on planning and making strategies without acting on it then a few years down the lane we will have a big archive of postulated plans which have not been applied. What is the use in making plans without executing them or without executors who will come to take charge???

We need to throw a challenge to the youth of our christendom and make them understand that there is very big need to reach this nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the present scenario the need for young missionaries and missional leaders is very high. God's kingdom business needs more young workers with fresh energy and fresh fire to establish his name in this land. Lets pray that many youngsters will submit to the will of the Father and be ready to partner with God in this big task of Kingdom Building. 

"Lets ask the Lord of Harvest to send workers" (Matthew 9:38)
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Justine L. John
Campus Missionary
Upper Room Youth Mission