About the Book
"Jeshua Hamashiah" by Morris Cerullo is a book that explores the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, focusing on his identity as the promised Messiah. Cerullo delves into the significance of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and how he fulfills prophecies from the Old Testament. The book emphasizes Christ's role as the savior of humanity and the importance of accepting him as one's personal savior.
Henry Martyn
Martyn was born in Truro, England, where his father worked as head clerk of a merchant house. After attending Truro Grammar School, he proceeded to Cambridge to read mathematics. Influenced by his younger sister, and by Charles Simeon, he soon professed evangelical faith. He graduated (as Senior Wrangler) in 1801, also earning the Smith’s Prize. In 1802 he became a fellow of St. John’s. Admiration for David Brainerd persuaded him to abandon legal ambitions for missionary service.
A curacy with Simeon at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, followed. Changed personal circumstances made missionary service impossible for him, so instead, he accepted a chaplain’s commission with the East India Company. During the 305-day voyage to Calcutta, he studied Urdu and Bengali. Until he was posted inland, he assisted the Serampore Baptists in Bible translation work. He was chaplain from 1806 to 1809 at Dinapore and from 1809 to 1810 at Cawnpore. In both places, his refusal to regard Indians as inferior and his respect for India culture annoyed and alienated many of his peers. Encouraged by fellow evangelicals, he took as his main task Bible translation. With the assistance of munshis (translators), he produced Urdu, Arabic, and Persian versions of Scripture, thus focusing on Muslim languages. Confessing that ignorance of Islam handicapped his ability to communicate the gospel, he also “read everything [he] could pick up about Mohammadans.”
Late in 1810, suffering from consumption, Martyn took a leave of absence to travel through Iran, to test his Persian translation, and to benefit from a drier climate. He hoped eventually to return to England to persuade a childhood sweetheart, who had refused an earlier request, to marry him. In Iran, he thoroughly revised his Persian translation of the New Testament, which, with the help of Sir Gore Ouseley (1779-1844), was presented to the shah. Reluctantly, Martyn also agreed to exchange tracts with the Muslim ulema (religious scholars), later published as his Controversial Tracts on Christianity and Mohammedanism (1824). Martyn died at Tocat at age 31, cared for and buried by Armenians, whose ancient church he had long admired. Martyn’s ecumenical openness, his desire to implant the gospel in Indian culture, and his concern for spiritual exchange with Muslims have often been obscured by his reluctant use of polemic. Nevertheless, his legacy inspired later missionaries, such as Thomas Valpy French and Temple Gairdner toward a more irenic approach to Muslims and to Islam.
Clinton Bennett, “Martyn, Henry,” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 438-39.
This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.
Building Your Marriage on a Deep, Godly Love
What is it that defines, more than anything, the person and ministry of Jesus? After all, he did the things Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians. What about His miracles? His faith? His martyrdom? Read back through that last paragraph. A word is missing … You know the answer. It’s love. His love for us. He went to the cross not as a martyr but as a savior. He went to lay down His life for His friends. He went to rescue us. He went because of His great love for all who would die to self and follow Him. And in order for you to be a dispenser of the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13, you have to first be a receiver of God’s love for you. You have to recognize that you have lived a life in rebellion against God. A life focused first and foremost on yourself. Your life has been committed to you. And the Bible says that while you and I were still in a state of being committed to our own self-interests, God demonstrated His great love for us in this—Christ died for us. What does the hymn say? Jesus emptied Himself of all but what? Love. He bled for Adam’s helpless race. “Amazing love, how can it be, that thou, my God shouldst die for me.” The character qualities that define agape love listed in 1 Corinthians 13 are not some kind of self-improvement checklist. They are descriptors of the kind of love that God has for us, and that is produced by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those whose lives are being transformed. Bob Lepine in Building Your Marriage on a Deep, Godly Love The character qualities that define agape love listed in 1 Corinthians 13 are not some kind of self-improvement checklist. They are descriptors of the kind of love that God has for us, and that is produced by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those whose lives are being transformed. The more we realize the depth of God’s love for us, and the more we meditate on how we are recipients of God’s grace and love for us, the more we will begin to grow in grace and love for others. Your marriage will only be built on a foundation of agape love if both of you are growing in your understanding of God’s love and grace for you. The kind of love the Bible describes in 1 Corinthians 13 is not essential for a couple to have a happy marriage. That statement may shock you, but it’s true. There are plenty of couples who have negotiated a workable arrangement in their marriage that is mutually satisfying. Adjustments are made, basic desires are met, and everyone is comfortable with the setup. But God’s goal for us in marriage goes far beyond comfort and mutual satisfaction. God’s goal for marriage is that we would taste something deeper, something sweeter, and something more glorious in our marriages. He wants us to experience the kind of joy that the Father, Son, and Spirit have always known from long before the world began. He wants us to experience the profound joy that comes from a kind of oneness that is only found in Him. And the only path that leads to that kind of soul-satisfying oneness and joy is the path where the kind of love described here is being cultivated and is flourishing. When that happens in marriage, we’ll know a kind of joy and contentment we’ve never known before. And God will be exalted in the process because we’ll be showing to everyone around us that His ways are perfect and right and true. Bob Lepine