The first step and the last step of a race are most important. These can make or break the race. The brother who gave me the first major push in book-publishing is Samuel John, a person who did not even know me at that time.
From my childhood I wanted to be a published writer. I wanted to publish books — many books. The first opportunity came when GLS Bombay in 1986 invited me from their side to submit a book on Bible and Modern Science. Since I had been working on such a book for almost 16 years, I completed the book the same year and submitted it to them. They promised to publish it the same year.
Continue reading “Samuel John: He Transformed My Ministry!” »
The actual writing of the Systematic Theology book started in December 1996. The publisher gave us 12 months to complete the project, and all of us got heavily involved into the project with the deadline in mind. This was no easy task, but the team had an unusual determination.
Saneesh and Shibu would pay full attention to their classroom studies during day and would complete all their academic assignments during library hours and in the evenings. This way they were able to maintain their high grades during their BTh studies. Both of them were judged as exceptionally meritorious students by their teachers.
Continue reading “Systematic Theology: The Birth of a Classic 006” »
Pic: Dr. OM Samuel around 1996 When He Agreed To Join The Systematic Theology Team
Writing an indigenous Systematic Theology for the first time in an Indian language (Malayalam) was an unusual challenge. Such a work was never done by any in the Assemblies anywhere in the world. What is more, while I understood Malayalam language very well (having Sanskrit as my second language), I was not fluent in written Malayalam. I therefore asked Dr OM Samuel to join us as a fellow writer. He happily agreed to join the team but told me clearly that he would not be able to write anything. Instead, he handed me over his already published work on Eschatology and asked me to use it as his contribution to this book. This was a book published about 6 years before that time.
Continue reading “Systematic Theology: The Birth of a Classic 005” »
Pic: Sampson D’Cruz (Now In Full-time Ministry) Who Joined The Project As A Scribe
As soon as Vadavana’s Magazine announced that we were going to write and publish a Systematic Theology, there was a big commotion in the Kerala Christian community. Kerala is a small stake in India, but has the largest concentration of Christians anywhere in India. The course of church and evangelism all over India is decided mostly by Kerala Christians. As a result, there are many protocols in the Kerala Christian community which everyone is supposed to follow. We had dared to break the protocol.
Continue reading “Systematic Theology: The Birth of a Classic 004” »
The first step and the last step of a race are most important. These can make or break the race. The brother who gave me the first major push in book-publishing is Samuel John, a person who did not even know me at that time. 
