I was thinking about authority as a subject and how Jesus said to His followers that He had given them His authority. I realised that this authority is on one hand like his signature. We are able to 'write letters to God' and afix Jesus' signature to them thus making them official. And of course seeing as Jesus is the one writing the letter it carries great weight and importance. This means that firstly we are going to get our prayers answered, and second that we should be careful how we use the 'divine letterhead.'

The second thing I realised about this authority (using Jesus' name) is that we have power to command situations to change. Just like Jesus commanded the wind and the waves, and at other times He commanded other things. We have this authority. However just like a policeman who doesn't wear his badge has lost his authority... sometimes we don't seem to carry it with us... we have little faith and we act like we actually do NOT have any authority.

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Tonight we are going to visit a church on the way to Pondicherry and then tomorrow we are visiting the orphans that the church here works with. Life in India is never dull. You should come to India to see.

Today was Sunday in Chennai and I preached 3 times at the Calvary Community Centre here in Adayar. The people are very warm and I have the highest regard for Rev. Vincent and his son Ps. Premnath Samuel. They are godly men called and chosen and comitted here. One of the things I like the most about Ps. Premnath is his heart for missions and how he has already organised the planting of 5 regional churches in remote areas where the gospel is most needed. This is a great blessing to hear about and its very enjoyable being able to serve them here in their church in India.

On Saturday in India we were able to relax and be tourists for the day. India is a fascinating place where you never know what to expect, or at least I didn't. On Saturday evening we ate at a genuine Indian restaurant where banana leaves are laid out on the table and a variety of sauces and rices put on the leaves. The food is typically hot and there are lots of curries and spices. In typical Indian style it is all vegetarian. After this we went and saw some of 'the sights' including a Catholic Church which focused very heavily on worshipping Mary. This was a shock to see people bowing and kneeling before a statue of Mary. They were selling bottles of holy water for 10 rupees. I have heard of this kind of idolatry before but this was the first time I saw it with my own eyes. The Bible says we are not to worship images, and whilst Jesus Mother Mary was his physical Mother in the earthly sense, she is definitely not the 'Mother of God' as is claimed. Mary is a created being lik... more

After flying in to Chennai late on Friday we had a meal and straight away I was asked to preach at a Healing and Deliverance Service which the church here has as an outreach. This was a good evening with the people all speaking the Tamil language. I was able to share with them from John 15:1-8 about abiding in Christ and then prayed with many people.