TFH Magazine Jan - Feb 2014

8/12/2019 TFH Magazine Jan - Feb 2014

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Now that the Christmas season is over and we launched into 2014,

my greatest hope is that you understand how much the Father loves

you and how much you have at your disposal as His son and daughter.

Once you get this into your heart, there is nothing that can stop you

from leading a victorious life! I also shared with our church familythat the promise for 2014 is Gods supernatural wisdom and favor

for our lives.

On that note, in this months Magazine, we want you to explore more

what the favor of God really entails though we tend to think of favor

more from the sense of wealth or getting something that we normally

couldnt get, this also includes health in our bodies! In Psalm 105:37

it says: He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from

among their tribes no one faltered.

Additionally, contrary to what weve been taught or believed, God

wants to make it explicit that He has given us riches (silver and gold)

in this physical world. We are so accustomed to spiritualizing every-

thing and interpreting this to mean riches in heaven, but that is not

the case. Likewise in the same verse the Israelites also had health in

abundant measure because it simply says from among their tribes no

one faltered. What a makeover! From being penniless and weak the

previous night to being loaded with silver and gold the next morning!

And not a single feeble person in the entire multitude the very next

morning!

Are you ready to see yourself like the Israelites - laden with silver,

gold, and strong? Our prayer is that you get touched by the articles

in this Magazine and get encouraged to hold on to this great and pre-

cious promise for your lives.

In His grip,

Jesudian

But I did not say that!

Welcome back to Skilling Me SolyWe have been ardently pursuing our quest or Effective Communication.In our last article, we had shared practical tips on the Verbal aspect o Communication Skills.

Tis week, let us look at the Vocal aspect

Let us always remember: It is NO enough i the Communicator alone understands themessage. It is equally important that the Receiver also understands it. AND in the samesense that it is being conveyed!

We tend to think that it is enough i the words we use to convey our communication are appropriate.

We cannot get more wrong than that! A simple statement like, You are clever! can be used to conveytotally different meanings just by the way it is spokenwhen spoken with a sincere tone, it is certainlya compliment, but when uttered sarcastically, it means the exact opposite!

Many times, when politicians try to mouth the speeches prepared or them by others, they ail miser-

ably even though they might have got the words right, they would have missed out on the eelings. I

remember listening to a politician speak pompously while his words were trying to convey humility!

One reason why computers are still not able to compete with the human brain when communicatingis that the computers can only transmit text and not the emotion.

In movies too, we, invariably come across the same lines o dialogue being delivered by different actors.But, in most cases, though the words (the verbal component) are the same, the output is rereshingly

differentand this is because o the way the dialogue is deliveredthe Pitch, the Tone(so, gentle, orharsh), the Volume, and how a particular word, or syllable, is Stressed, or Stretched, or Modulated (orthe scientifically inclined, modulation is varying the pitch or just that word or syllable)each has

its own impact. Which is why, there may not be a single right combination or a wrong combinationwhen it comes to Vocal Communicationyou can only have appropriate combinations. We cannot

create a template for Right Communication.

Let me share an example. I had attended the General Body Meeting o Shareholders o a reputed

Company when the Company had posted record profits. But the monotone and the listless way theCEO shared the news, you would have thought the Company had dismal results and was about to old

up! But, the words that he spoke were all about profits, le, right and centre!

Pausesare also an effective tool or Vocal Communication. But please be careul because Pauses

are like a double-edged sword and can turn the intended meaning on its head! Example: A ew yearsago, there was an ad on the radio or a particular brand o V and the words were: Lielong trouble-

ree service. But, unortunately, the announcer unwittingly paused between the words, trouble andree and the listeners heard this ad as, Lielong trouble (Pause) Free Service!!


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Te Speed, or the Tempo, at which the Communicator speaks can also make, or mar, Communica-

tion. Here, the speed could vary rom country to country. For example, the same message, at the same

speed, when delivered to a Japanese audience could miss its mark because they, as a culture, speak

slowly and in measured tones. Within the same culture too, depending upon the background, it may

vary rom group to group. One significant contributor could also be the fluency actor o the group

or the particular language that in which the C ommunication is taking place. I do not want to stir up

a hornets nest by even venturing to speak about the Speed varying according to the gender-composi-

tion o the audience! Where there are more women

Point to Remember: We have seen that the Pitch, the Tone, the Volume, Stressing a word/syllable, Stretch-

ing a word/syllable, Modulation, Pauses, and Speed (or Tempo), all make a difference to the effectiveness

of our Communication. Use them judiciously.

We deploy many o these in conjunction, sometimes subconsciously when we communicate. For ex-

ample: In order to draw attention to a particular phrase, or a word, you may choose to suddenly re-

duce the volume, and the tempo o your Communication, even as you stress on some key words in

your message.

Whatever you do, make sure that you bring in these in your Communication to ensure that the lis-

tener does not get bored listening to a monotone, or does not miss out on the vital parts o your Com-

munication.

And while you are communicating please make sure that your Pronunciation is not conusing to the

listener. In some part o the US, when the speaker says, I cant, it sounds just like, I can! Wherever

possible try and avoid the Mother-tongue Influence rom creeping into your pronunciation. In many

parts o our country, the letter, R, is heavily pronounced sounding as i a motor is whirring. And

when we Indians speak in English, we tend to whirr all the Rs and especially people rom the West

find it disconcerting

Action Point: Record the way you speak. And listen to the recording.

Be prepared or a shock when you listen to the recording. My goodness! Te voice sounds like mine,

but do I really speak like this? could be your revelation. But build on this and work on the areas

where you eel you need improvement. You could even ask someone who can help you in this regard.

In our next installment, we will look into the Non-verbal aspects o Communication where we will

delve into Eye Contact, Facial Expressions, Gestures, Postures, and also see how we can leverage these

too, to make us better Communicators

Please share your thoughts, or send in your queries either to Te Fathers House, or to my email id:

[email protected].

Speak Lie to the way you Speak!

It is so sad that the church today has le out the aspect o Gods avor that works on our

bodies. We are able to believe or wealth to a certain extent, but it is important that weknow that God wants us to walk in divine health, and make this promise known to others.

We need to understand that divine healing is different rom divine health. When there is

divine health, there is no need or divine healing. Te same thing applies with blessings

and miracles. Where there are blessings, there is no need or miracles. Miracles are like a

one-time happening while blessings are an ongoing process. God wants us to be blessed

and healthy because, next to salvation, health is the most important.

What could be an obstacle or us to receive Gods avor? Te Bible

tells us that when the Israelites reached Canaan, the land o milk and

honey, the Lord had promised Moses that He would hand over thepeople who live in the land and they would drive them out. But still,

when the 12 spies were sent to explore the region, on returning, they

reported that while the land was just as promiseda land flowing

with milk and honeythe people were gigantic. Except or Joshua

and Caleb, the others started voicing their concern about taking on

such ormidable opponents. Joshua and Caleb rightly pointed out that

they should go up and take possession o the land or we can certainly

do it. But the damage was already done. Going by the majority report,

the Israelites started whining and saying that they were better off in

Egypt and even contemplated stoning Joshua and Caleb!

Why would such a situation come to pass? Fear. Fear happens when

we take our eyes off Jesus and rest it on sel-effort. It was this very

same ear that kept Peter rom not being able to continue to walk on

waterand kept the rest o the disciples in the boat. Coming back to

our Israelites, this ear stopped them rom going in and claiming the

land on that very day, and it resulted in their having to wander in the

wilderness or orty years! And the Bible tells us that the Lord pre-

served Joshua and Calebeven though they were 80 years old, they

were as strong as 40 years old!


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Churches ocus quite a lot on the spirit but neglect the body. Why? It is almost as i they

eel that the body is bad or evil. Matthew 4:4 says, Man does not live on bread alone, but

on every word that comes rom the mouth o God. Tis clearly means that bread is not

the only ood that the body needs. He is not talking about the inner man. He is talking

about the physical man. Tis verse means that the Word will nourish the outer man even

as his spiritual hunger is being satisfied. Te Church has its air share o spiritual giants

but when it comes to their physical health, how many can confidently say that they are

giants?

Still not convinced? What does Proverbs 4:22 have to say about the Word? or they arelie to those who find them and health to a mans whole body. It is clearly talking about

how Gods Word is health to a mans body!

What should preachers who need to preach on health do when they eel sick? Or need

to preach on prosperity when they do not eel prosperous? I we do not preach the topic,

we are listening to the Devil who is pointing out to us that we do not have it right now

in the physical. We should be aithul to the Word and not to our experience. Paul said

that God ound him aithul and so committed him to ministrybut, excuse me, what

was Paul actually doing beore he was called? He was persecuting Christians and merci-

lessly killing all who proessed allegiance to Jesus! What could God possibly have ound

as aithul in Pauls behavior? Paul had been aithul to whatever he had believed in andhe had acted on his belies. God ound him aithul to his belie system (however aulty

it had been!) and once Pauls belie system was synced to the Word, he served well. So,

we should be aithul to the Word, whatever the circumstancesdoctors words, amilys

words, the judges wordsall can change, but His Word will never change!

We saw that Proverbs 4:22 spoke about bringing health to your body, to all flesh. Which-

ever part o your body is not ok, speak the Word to it. God gave Man dominion over all

the earth, and flesh belongs to the earth.

But some o you may think o 1 Cor 6:13 in part: Food or the stomach and the stomach

or ood but God will destroy them both, and stop halway, and eel that since God will

destroy them both, we should not talk about the body. But as we continue reading therest o vs 13 through 15, we find that the Lord IS or the body. Te body is not meant or

sexual immorality, but or the Lord, and the Lord or the body. By His power God raised

the Lord rom the dead, and He will raise us too. Do you not know that your bodies are

members o Christ Himsel?

Tis verse talks about bodies being members o Christnot just spirits. Habits are physi-

cal. Te very reason that people are into pornography and illicit sex is because they are

holding a low view o their bodies, and that is not how its supposed to be.

Both ood and sex are physical needs o the body. Sex is not a bad word. But how do we

approach this topic, especially with youngsters? We avoid it, and because they are not

able to get to know about it in a proper ashion, they rely on peers hal-knowledge and

skewed impressions and perpetuate these same distorted notions to others. Te need o

the hour is to create this awareness in everyone through the Bible.

We readily talk about sexual immorality but why not about gluttony? Both are equally

bad. All these are about excesses which are detrimental to the body. We just need to

know that we have every right and are perectly ree to say no to such excesses. What we

should do is stress on the identity o each o us, including our bodies, IN CHRIS.

o take this point a bit urther, lets talk about the use o the Internet at home. Why is the

need to have the connection in the kids room? Best to have it in the hall. Quite logically,

your teenager could ask, Why? Dont you trust me? It is not wrong to answer, It is not

about trusting you, or notit is about not trusting flesh. Te same is the position when

pastors need to counsel ladies. Te pastor takes his wie when he meets the lady. It is not

about trusting the ladyor himselit is about not trusting flesh.

People who have a low view o their bodies tend to think they can abuse their bodies as

they wish because it is their own, but what does 1 Cor 6: 19, 20 say? Do you not know

that your body is a temple o the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received rom

God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Tereore honor God with your

body. How precious we are. Many people hold the mistaken view that when the body is

reerred to as a temple, it would be like in the abernacle with the Outer Court, the Holy

Place, and the Most Holy Place corresponding to the Body, Soul, and Spirit. No way! Te

temple we are talking about is the holy o holies. So precious saints, realize how impor-

tant God values your whole being and wants His avor on every aspect o it including

your physical body. Dont undervalue your bodies anymore accept why your physical

man is important and walk a ull lie in that assurance!


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Once upon a time there was a beautiul place called C ornfield. Te most beautiul, yellow corncobs filled the field and shone like golden pearls in the morning sun. Different arm animalslived in Cornfield - horses, sheep, hens and roosters. Right beside the field were the greenestmountains and behind the mountains were dense jungles filled with wild animals like bearsand lions. Te skies were always blue with the whitest clouds that looked like huge balls owhite cotton candy! It was a beautiul sight!

Cornfield was owned by a wonderul amily - a little girl named Kasturi, her ather and hermother. Kasturi grew up in Cornfield, breathing resh air, running among the corn rows, climb-ing the green mountains and playing or hours with the arm animals. Perhaps because she wasso close to Nature, Kasturi grew up with a love or colours and painting. Aer school everyday,

she would bring out her easel, palette, paint tubes and paintbrushes into the field. She wouldput up a white chart and paint all that she saw - the clouds, the mountains, the corn rows... shewas never bored!

One aernoon just as Kasturi finished painting the green mountains, her mothercalled her in to meet visitors. Leaving the easel and palette outside, Kasturiran inside to greet the guests. And that is the beginning o the story!

hearm animals gath-

ered around the easel and palette and startedto talk about colours excitedly! Te horses Chestnut and Warrior pointed

to the brown and black colours and said See! Tats the colour o our coats! Milky the sheep,pointed to the white colour and shouted Baa! Baa! Tats the colour o my wool! Disco, therooster crowed in Cock-a-doodle-doo! I have the most colours! See! Yellow Tats my beak!Purple, pink and blue Tats the colour o my eathers! Red Tats the colour o my comb!,Disco said pointing to the flap o red skin on his head.

Soon it was night and the animals prepared to go to sleep. I would love to try painting sometime thought Disco as he ell into a deep sleep, dreaming about colours and paint brushes.

Te next morning when Disco awppoke, he was sad. All his excitement the previous day van-ished when he saw that the sun was hiding behind the clouds. Te horses and sheep noticedthat Disco was sad and gathered around him. What happened Disco?

Disco replied, I am very sad today because I cannot crow Cock-a-doodle-do until I see thesun! Milky the sheep asked Disco But why do you need to crow every morning? Discoreplied Tat is how I mark my territory. Milky was puzzled, What is terr-i-tor-y?. Discoexplained It is how I tell other roosters that this field belongs to me and it is my way o pro-tecting my hens and my chickens rom other roosters. Milky nodded and the horses Chestnutand Warrior added You remember Kasturi telling her riend the other day that bears also marktheir territory by scratching on trees. It is their way o telling other bears Dont come here, thisplace belongs to me.

Disco listened quietly but grew sadder as the morning turned more and more gloomy. Sud-denly, Chestnut had an idea! He whispered excitedly to Warrior and Milky and they all noddedand laughed in joy! Ten Chestnut went up to Disco and said So what i the sun is behind the

clouds? You could paint your own sun on Kasturis easel!Disco was thrilled! Not only would he get to see a sun but also he would get to paint! Both hisdesires would be ulfilled! Hurray! He ran over to the easel, picked up the palette, selected the

brightest orange, dipped the paintbrush in and swished away on the chart with a wide smile!Te orange painted sun looked beautiul above the green mountains painted by Kasturi. Chest-

nut, Warrior and Milky clapped merrily!

Disco put his paintbrush down, cleared his throat, looked at the sun and crowed louder than

ever COCK A DOODLE DOO! COCK A DOODLE DOO! He was the happiest rooster that

day!

Te next morning Kasturi remembered that she had le her easel out. She ran to the field andwas totally surprised at the scene in ront o her! Not only were there mountains that she had

painted but there was also a beautiul, bright, round, orange sun! She removed the painting andrushed inside her house to her parents. Kasturis parents were also curious and surprised! Teywondered loudly Who could have painted the sun?

As i in reply Disco crowed outside in the arm Cock-a-doodle-do! and winked at C hestnut,Warrior and Milky!

-Nitya


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My husband and I started coming to Te Fathers House church rom April 2013 and

have heard about Te Speak Lie meetings held every Friday evening. Tough we could

not attend the sessions directly because o my 21 month old Jonathan, recently we prac-

ticed it at home. Due to the distance, we were in dire need o a car to commute (I stay in

perungalathur - almost 25 kms) saely with the baby, but were short o the finances. So

we decided to speak that God will provide us with a car (we were thinking some second

hand car about 1lakh or so....) and aer some time started to declare that God will pro-

vide us ree o cost!!!! (I really did not have an idea o how...........while declaring).

My dad offered to put in some amount or the car we were going to buy, I admitted to

him that I could only afford a Maruti Alto with his help. Suddenly he offered to buy

something better (our choice) though all other latest models cost around 5-7 lakhs. Weended up buying a oyota Liva ree o cost (o course my dad paid it........ when he did

not have to). My Abba Father was so aithul to His word, that a simple declaration was

greatly honoured.

-Vani Suresh

English is internationalEnglish, the uniying language o the world,

exists in a multitude o different varieties. Na-

tive English speakers speak the language in

hundreds o different regional dialects, each o

which has unique eatures in pronunciation,

vocabulary, and grammar, while non-native

speakers o English mostly tend to carry over

these aspects rom their mother tongue into

their English speech, giving rise to another

host o local dialects. Keeping all these startling

acts aside, English in its purest orm, however,

known as the Queens English is supposedly

spoken only in Southeast England - by Queen

Elizabeth hersel. Should this imply, that the

rest o the English speaking world ace each

other dumb-struck when trying to converse?

Not always. Since members o a particular

people group would use a common set o lan-

guage codes, they, thereore, would be able tounderstand each other easily. But how about a

German, Japanese, English, and Indian person

trying to do conversation with each other in

English? rust me that misunderstandings will

crop up as surely as eggs are eggs.

Te English of Indian speakersSo, in order or a man in Britain to understand

his counterpart in South Arica, he should bear

in mind that a usage like just now in South A-

rican English means something totally differ-

ent rom the British English equivalent. Like-

wise, we, living in India, just like everywhere

else in the non-native English-speaking world,

use words/phrases/expressions specific to the

spoken and written English o Indians, mainly

taken rom a British English that other English

speakers have stopped using. Tus, official let-

ters may include phrases such as please do the

needul, ... will revert back ... and you will be

intimated shortly.


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Likewise, in conversational speech it is not uncommon to ask, What is your good name? where a

Western English speaker would omit the word good. For us, these usages may not sound strange,

because we are used to hearing this orm o English. However, a person who has not been exposed to

our way o speaking might be at a loss at times wondering what we might have meant. So, it is relevant

to avoid these, particularly when speaking in a business environment, and especially when speaking

with users rom abroad. Aer all, its not enough or people to just understand what is communicated

to them and vice versa. Te way your thoughts are conveyed matter too!

aking these acts into account, below are a ew examples rom our day-to-day lie and some tips on

how to make these common usages in our speech sound better in general and more comprehensible to

English-speaking people outside India, in specific. Here they are:

Passing outWhen you complete your studies at an educational institution, you graduate and not pass out rom

there. o pass out means losing consciousness.

Out o stationAn outdated expression to say that one is away. Whats wrong with out o town or not in Chennai?

PreponeIs assumed that it is logically the opposite o postpone and is used in the sense as to advance something.

We may say, Lets prepone the discussion rom 1 pm to 11 am but it is better to say Could we bring

the meeting orward to 11am?

Order orAs in Lets order or a tea. Te best thing one can do when one needs something is to order it. ry

not to order or it.

o reachI am on my way, and should reach in 10 minutes. Replace reach with arrive to make it sound bet-

ter: I should arrive in 10 minutes

Common usage Tis is better

Whats your good name? Whats your name?

Well be taking care o this We will take care o this

Lets discuss about this Lets discuss this

Were having a problem We have a problem

Me and my riend My riend and I

When are you shiing? When are you moving?

I had an operation three years back I had an operation three years ago

She is absconding She has absconded

Tis is my native (place) Tis is my home town

Redundancies:

Redundant phrase Better way to say it

When will you return back rom your journey? When will you return rom your journey?

Te same principle applies to reply vs. reply back , repeat vs. repeat once again, revert vs. revertback

Redundant phrase Better way to say it

We have received your request. We will need 3

days to process the same

We have received your request. We will need 3

days to process it

By the way, did you know that

How do you do is not a question. It is a ormal way o saying Hello. Te correct response to this is:Pleased to meet you or How do you do or just HelloHow are you, on the other hand, is a question, or which the person asking this doesnt really want toknow the truth about your aching back. A polite response would be: Im fine thanks. And you

Last but not least - pronunciation rules

I you thought that a good vocabulary is all you need, know that good pronunciation is also important.Here are a ew common mispronounced words used by non-native English speakers:

Asterisk: as-ter-isk, not as-ter-ixAthlete: ath-leet, not ath-a-leetCandidate: kan-di-dayt, not kan-i-daytDilate: di-late not dia-lateEtcetera: et-set-er-a, not ek-set-er-aEspecially: es-pecial-ly not ex-pecial-lyLibrary: li-brar-y, not li-bar-yMischievous: MIS-che-vus, not mis-CHEE-vee-usemple: tem-pel, not dem-bilChaos: kay-os, not tchay-osPizza: peet-sa not pissaFebruary: Feb-ru-ary, not Febyu-aryProbably: pro-bab-lee, not problyBirthday: birth-day, not bird-daySuite: sweet, not sootEvening: eef-ning, not ee-wening

Happy pronouncing and remember, good practice makes perect. Te sky is the limit or attaining per-ection in any area. So, lets wait or next time to explore more on how English is your English?

- Jeniev Myladoor

TFH Magazine Jan - Feb 2014

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