Rev.Dr. DEXTER.S.MABEN- PROFESSOR-THEOLOGIAN- LED BY PRINCIPLES-SPEAKS ON BAPTISM- CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

Rev.Dr. DEXTER.S.MABEN- PROFESSOR-THEOLOGIAN-

LED BY PRINCIPLES- SPEAKS ON BAPTISM

AND CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

at CSI Christ Church Palyam, Trivandrum                                                                                on Sunday 8 August 2026

Messages exchanged afterwards

Thank you for the thought provoking message today.
Nobody knows the effort you put in for it.
Baptism is a challenge for the speaker. 
You need the Holy Spirit to lead you on.
God bless you for conveying the idea in a short span

Dear Achen,

At home I listened to your message thrice.

It is something beyond the word 'good.' Transponds the listener to another plateu. 

The flow was a torrent. Torrent of ideas.

'Identity' is the one thing we all search for. And in Christ we have our identity bestowed upon us through baptism 

Fact is, baptism holds as aloft, holds us together.

The digression on pigeons strikes home. The humour hits hard. Baptism is not for the  creation of a community of 'nam ke vasthe' Christians.

I was thinking of the effort you must have put in to deliver 10 to 15 minute of excellence.

A slight deviation here.

Our grandson, 14 years, was devastated when his performance in an examination was disappointing.

I posted to him that failure is part of life. I added, only when you fail and fail you are going to win.

I went further.

Excellence is what we strive for and often where we lag.

There is no magic solution 

We reach there when we understand that  'effort +effort= Excellence'

Beg your pardon for going personal.

But your articulation made me think about the post mentioned. 

I could understand the pain you took to enable us understand the WORD.

Grateful indeed

Regards

sd/-

One suggestion. Your messages must go all around the World. 

How? I don't have to tell.

Dear Sir, 

Thanks so much. Feel very humbled. All glory be to God. So happy about your blog. It is very important and please keep writing. Please keep me in prayers. 

Warm regards, 

Rev Dexter Maben

Rev. M. VARGHESE OF THE MARTHOMA CHURCH CONDUCTS A MEMORIAL PRAYER

 

The Trivandrum  Pattoor MarThoma Church's Beach Area Prayer Group held a memorial prayer at our house yesterday, 8th August 2026.

It was in memory of our Achachen who had departed 42 years ago, and our Ammachi who passed away 6 years ago. 

It is done every year, lest we forget them.

I wrote this much as a background

Rev. M. Varghese, led the prayer and delivered a wonderful message.

Later I wrote to the respected Pastor

"Thank you Achen and Kochamma for coming to our place.

Grateful for the thought provoking powerful message today and encouraging Lila(the younger daughter) to share  memories of her dear parents.

Bethany and Bethanya I have seen in so many places.

I always thought it was just the name of a place. And people were naming their ventures or houses to be biblical.

Your short, extempore message opened my eyes to Bethany or Bethanya. It was a revelation.

References to Messi, Argentina and Che Guevara showed us that you do not rely on Bible alone. It shows you can comfortably link the contemporary with the biblical.

This is the need today.

The speaker of today unlike of yesterday has to engage the well oriented.  The former had the ignorant in front whereas today the brilliant sit in front of the speaker.

It is the challenge the speaker faces today"

The respected Pastor responded.

Thank you. 

I fully agree with your observation that today’s audience in front of the speaker is brilliant. Speaker must be aware of that.

NARENDRA MODI - RESPECTED PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA

THE REAL COMPETITION IS WITH ONESELF

Addressing the 57th convocation of IIT Delhi, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, congratulated the graduating students.

He said," Every generation has a responsibility, but the responsibility of each generation is different."

He emphasised, "The young generation must use its knowledge and skills to build a developed and self-reliant India."

And added, "The next 30-35 years of the lives today's youth would have a major impact on India's journey towards becoming a developed nation."

His message to the graduates was simple:

Those who keep learning will win. 

He urged them, to remain curious, question accepted ideas and most importantly, have the courage to find solutions

He advised them that whenever a challenge appeared too big, they must break it down into smaller parts, just as they had done in laboratories and projects.

"You are leaving the institute with more than just a degree. You are leaving with the ability to solve difficult problems."

He concludes,"Do not measure your lives by someone else's salary, company,city, country or startup."

"Life is not a leaderboard; the real competition is with oneself."

Excerpts from The Times of India 9 August 2026

(A leaderboard is a visual list or board that ranks people, teams, or players from best to worst based on their scores, points or performance. It shows who is in first place and who is winning in a game, sport, or competition.)

Gen Z IS NOT ON A RAMPAGE

 

If you are a teacher or a parent or an administrator:                                                        Please listen Gen Z is not on a rampage

Gen Z is a force that cannot be ignored

The determination and aspirations of the youth are much higher and beyond  perception. 

The responsibility of the controllers (Teachers, Parents, Administartors) is not to put them down 

The teacher or the parent or the administrator may not like the stubbornness of the Gen Z

But the new generation must be understood than resisted.

They must be heard.

If the entire youth is determined on issues very much significant to them nothing can override their resolve.

GONE WITH WIND - MARGARET MITCHEL

GONE WITH WIND 
MARGARET MITCHEL

A husband's joke and a broken ankle gave the world one of literature's greatest masterpieces.

In 1926, Margaret Mitchell was trapped at home with a severely injured ankle that refused to heal. Day after day, her husband John brought her stacks of books from the library to pass the endless hours. But Margaret, a former journalist with exacting taste, found herself critiquing nearly everything she read.

One evening, exhausted by her complaints, John placed a typewriter before her instead of a new book.

"Peggy," he said with a smile, "if you can't find a book worth reading, why don't you write one yourself?"

It was meant as a gentle tease. Neither of them imagined what would follow.

Alone in her apartment, Margaret began typing. Not because she dreamed of being an author—she had never harbored such ambitions—but simply to fill the silence and escape her pain. She wrote about the American South, about war and survival, about a woman as stubborn and resilient as herself.

For years, she kept her growing manuscript hidden. When friends visited, she would quickly tuck the pages away, embarrassed by what felt like a private indulgence. Even as her ankle healed, she continued writing in secret, crafting what would become over a thousand pages.

The manuscript might have stayed hidden forever. But in 1935, a visiting editor from Macmillan made an offhand remark: she doubted Margaret could ever finish a complete novel. That casual dismissal sparked something fierce in Mitchell. The next day, she handed over her manuscript.

"Gone with the Wind" exploded into the world in 1936.

Within months, the book had sold millions of copies. It was translated into dozens of languages, won the Pulitzer Prize, and became required reading in schools across America. The 1939 film adaptation earned ten Academy Awards and gave us Scarlett O'Hara's immortal line: "I'll think about it tomorrow."

Overnight, the shy housewife became one of the most famous authors in the world.

But Margaret Mitchell was never comfortable with fame. She rarely gave interviews, avoided public gatherings, and largely retreated from the spotlight after the film's premiere. Success had found her, but she chose solitude.

She never wrote another book. Whether she had nothing more to say, or simply preferred the quiet life she'd known before, remains a mystery. On an ordinary August evening in 1949, while crossing a street to see a movie with her husband, she was struck by a speeding car. Five days later, she passed away at age 48.

Margaret Mitchell entered history as the author of just one book—a book she never intended to write, sparked by a husband's playful challenge on a difficult day.

Sometimes the greatest stories come from our most unexpected moments.

I have no idea who wrote this beautiful article. But I am sharing it here as I feel it has to reach the maximum audience, if it hasn't yet. It certainly conveys a message

MOHAN BHAGWAT Sarsanghchalak (Chief) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

Mohan Bhagawat Sarsanghchalak (Chief) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
Times of India 7 August 2026

"If asked whom to believe, I'll say Gen Z"

Calls for structural reforms in education

Says dissent is fundamental to democratic consensus-making

On police action involving pellet guns and lathis he said, "I don't have all the information.......but if you ask me whom to believe, I will always believe Gen Z"

On allegations that demonstrators at Jantar Mantar were hostile to the state, he said, "These are our children, they cannot be anti-national."

"Protest is a way of dialogue. In democracy protest is a way of making consensus. If a thing that you are saying is not heard, then you can protest. But it should be to create consensus not divide."

He advocated a hike in education budget.

SHOULD THE BEAUTIFUL KUTTANAD BE RUINED BECAUSE OF ADMINISTRATIVE INEFFICIENCY OR INCAPABILITY

When I posted yestrday, MMA CHAMPION SANJANA GEORGE AFFECTED BY FLOODING IN CENTRAL KERALA , a friend responded with a salute.

I replied:

 I put that there because I have lived through floods countless times.

I am from Thalavady, Kuttanad.

Our house has one and a half feet of water inside.

The resilience of people there is incredible

Pat came the query:

What about now?

The response was quick

I have not gone there. But I have close relatives there. 

They told me flood waters that entered their houses hadn't receded. 

While the main road has been raised the lanes are lower. It means you'll have to wade through flooded lanes. You'll have to be careful. You don't know where you'll put your foot next. You can slip.

One big advantage is, (in the old days) the whole landscape would be one sheet of water. You can take a country boat and travel quickly as the barriers would be non existent for a while.

The administration since independence hasn't done what is really needed. They'll go to Holland. They won't do anything to replicate Holland here.

It was wonderful in 2018. They opened the shutters of all the dams at one go.

Then they kept the shutters of Thottappalli Barrage and Thannermukkam Bund closed. Guess what happened. 

This time it would have been worse

But they kept the shutters open. 

Else it would have been tragic.

The simple question is, should such a beautiful place be ruined because of administrative inefficiency or incapability.

And the landslides in the High Ranges

I grew up in Munnar.

You can see my exposure is a bit more than many 

He agrees:

Yea