Finding Purpose & Meaning In Life [should I say it is found when I experience 'whatever my eyes desired' (see this website's name) to borrow the lines from a Bible-author (Ecclesiastes 2:10)? Read this blog to discover the answer].

Duke Jeyaraj’s Goodnews Blog

  • Unique Jasprit Bumrah, Unique Someone Else

    Duke Jeyaraj

    Vivek Krishnan writes these well-worded lines about Jasprit Bumrah, ‘In theory, Harshit Rana is Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement in India’s squad for the Champions Trophy. In reality, of course, there is nobody in India, or elsewhere, with the skill and control to fill in for Bumrah. From the uniqueness of his action and release point to the sheer mastery over his craft, the 31-year-old ace pacer is in a category of his own’ (The Hindu, Feb. 17, 2025).

    This reminded me of the One who ultimately in a category of his own. This reminded me of the One who is uniquely unique! His name? Jesus! The Bible proclaims Jesus’ uniqueness, again and again. He is THE unique to the Father (John 14:6), that is he is THE way to God (he too is the only God-in-flesh). He is THE unique which saves humankind (Acts 4:12). He is THE unique mediator between God and Man (1 Tim. 2:5). He is THE unique person who is worthy to announce about end time judgment and be the judge in that end time judgment (Rev. 5:2-5, 6:16). Pluralism is a lie. Repent from it. Repent from sin and put your faith in the unique Jesus. Now.

    (Reach the author of this piece if you have questions. Download the ESV Bible app if you want to read the Bible, God’s Word in human words, or hear it via audio).

  • INDIFFERENT TO THE CHRISTMAS CHILD, THE WAY MBAPPE WAS INDIFFERENT TOWARDS…?

    Duke Jeyaraj

    Do you treat Christ, the God who took on flesh and bone, during the first Christmas over two thousand years ago, the way, French Football Superstar, Kilian Mbappe treated the French President Emmanuel Macron after the goose-bumps giving World Cup Football Final of 2022? Siddharth Saxena wrote these lines to throw more light on this, rather shocking event: Here was the foremost star of the world game almost seeing through his country’s president. Barely 24, Mbappe’s rather indifferent treatment of French president Emmanuel Macron as the premier offered commiserations on the Lusail turf afterwards was a cold-shoulder in full glare of the world… “Macron, miles offside,” a section of the French media headlined their opinion on this visit to the French dressing room to offer a pep-talk…

    Several innkeepers indifferently and nonchalantly shut the doors on the faces of earthly parents of Jesus, Joseph and Mary! Despite knowing that Christ fulfilled prophecy accurately through his team of Bible Scholars, King Herod was not only indifferent towards to Christ who was born, but also wanting to finish him off!  In the case of Mbappe, it was Macron who was off-side! In the case of Christ, we who ignore him are on the off-side and he is on-side, being only one who never ever committed sin!

    Today, won’t your possibly indifferent heart be moved by the love that Christ demonstrated by taking on flesh, a flesh was pierced for your sake on the Cross as a punishment for your sin? Will you repent of your sin and come to him in Faith? Then life will become meaningful and purposeful!

    (To know more about Jesus, download the ESV Bible App and read/listen. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to the author of this piece via emailduke@gmail.com or WhatsApp, +91-8886040605).

  • The Most Heart-Stopping of All World Cup Finals With The Most Important Message of All Time At The End!

    (Poem written on the 2022 World Cup Final between France and Argentina played on 18 Dec 2022 by Dr. Duke Jeyaraj)

    A first half without a single goal attempt – France started very slow

    Messi and Di Maria made it 2-0 by the time Half Time said hello

    With 10 mins to go for the final whistle, it was still an impeccable Argentina Show

    But that’s when Mbappe’s late twin strikes, including a wow twitter-storm stirring volley, forced the game’s length to thankfully grow

    When Messi’s extra time second half goal came, it was party time again for the team in light blue and snow

    But Mbappe’s ice-cool, on target, penalty kick got France, once again, out of the certain defeat deep burrow

    The Score could have been 4-2  easily after Extra-Time First Half, but for the brilliant defending by Guinea Bissau-origin French Defender Dayot Upamecano

    Randal Kolo Muani missed the opportunities of a lifetime in Extra Time second half to make it 4-2 for France and irreparably spoil Messi’s final bow

    As the match meandered to the penalty shoot-out stage, the tension was unbearable, you wanted to close your eye-brow

    Thanks to the gigantic Emiliano Martinez’s goal-saving antics, France for the World Title, Argentina did barely manage to out-elbow

    As Gonzalo Montiel scored, watching the match in India using Jio Cinema you could heard the Argentine fans in Lusail Stadium bellow

    It was a sight to see Messi, like Maradona once was, being paraded on shoulders and posing with the trophy, with his wife and kids in tow

    It didn’t matter if you watched this final from one of the nine countries represented in the immigrants-overloaded French team or if you were an Argentine, brown, white or yellow

    Or if you watched this goose-bumps giving game sitting in Glasgow or Lucknow,

    For many of this was simply ‘The best game of football I have ever watched’, (as Sunit Chhetri put it), a game that made our hearts, swell and glow!

    In his day of no error, Mbappe made it 1-0 in the Penalty Shootout, before Messi restored the Status Quo,

    But the Bible truth is all of us are full of errors, sins, blunders, and we rightfully deserve God’s Woe!

    Just as Mbappe wiped out Argentina’s lead 2-0 in under 2 minutes, Jesus, the only God-in-flesh can wipe out your sin, right now, and make it go!

    Into the football pitch to comfort the disconsolate and disinterested Mbappe – came Emmanuel Macron, France’s ‘Pharoah!’

    Jesus himself came to our pitch to take our sin punishment – his back became like a field ran through by a crude plough!

    After Angel Di Maria scored, we saw Olivier Grioud blowing his nose – did he and teammates have a virus – as  the press did incessantly crow?

    But the bigger and more important discovery would be this one: each one of us reading this – except Jesus – belong to the sinner row!

    After Angel Di Maria scored to make it 2-0, he flashed the love symbol with tears cascading down below,

    While as Jesus went to the Cross, he demostrated God’s grand love even for us (us who are sinners though),

    Come to Jesus in repentance and faith, and receive the joy which the most thrilling football match cannot give, a joy He alone can bestow!

    Mbappe was livid that he did not take a shot at the goal at the fag end of extra-time, after dribbling into the Argentine Penalty area somehow!

    And you could be livid with yourself on judgment day if you stubbornly choose not to come to Christ now!

    (To know about Jesus further, download the ESV Bible App and read or listen via audio. If you have further questions, feel free to WhatsApp the author at +91-8886040605 or email him at emailduke@gmail.com).

  • THE HEART-STOPPING FORMULA ONE COMPETITION & THE PRIORITY NUMBER ONE DECISION! – Duke Jeyaraj

    This was going to the final chapter. The end of an epic battle that captured everyone’s attention! What we don’t know, is how this blockbuster ends! So said the commentator! 21 races were done and dusted the season. Two Formula 1 car racers were tied as they headed to Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi for what would be the 2021 season’s last race. It was like a penalty shoot out kind of race. It was like a super over kind of race! It was, as they called it, the winner-takes-it-all 58-laps of rocking racing. For the 36-year-old Briton Lewis Hamilton, winning in Abu Dhabi on December 12, 2021, would have made him the most decorated Formula 1 World Championship winner over-taking Michael Schumacher’s seven-title record! For the Dutchman Max Verstappen, 12 years younger than Hamilton, a win in Abu Dhabi would make him Formula 1 World Champion for the very first time! There were five laps to go for what was dubbed as the inter-generational race to finish! Hamilton had a clear lead of 11 seconds – an eternity in Formula 1 terms as New York Times’s Tariq Panja put it – over the second place Verstappen at this juncture! Verstappen’s dream of winning his first Formula 1 championship was now going a toss! Red Bull team boss Christian Horner quipped: “We need a miracle.” That’s when a miracle happened! Nicholas Latifi had an accident with just five laps of the 58-lap race to go! His Williams car smashed into wall changing completely the context of the race. The safety cars soon arrived. This neutralized the lead Hamilton had over Verstappen more or less. The five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen were asked to unlap themselves. But he did not allow the rest of the field to do the same. Meanwhile Verstappen grabbed the chance to have his car tyres changed as the post-accident mess was being cleared but ‘Hamilton did not stop for new tyres because that would have meant he returned to the track in second place’ – so writes Mikael McKenzie. Now there was going to be an one lap shootout between on-fresh-wheels Verstappen and on-race-worn-out-wheels Hamilton. It was going to be a 16-turn, 5.2km race all the way to the chequered flag! As soon as this final shoot out lap race started Verstappen took the title-winning overtake of Hamilton in turn five. He had to fight a cramp on the throttle controlling right foot in this nerve-wracking final lap.  At the one point in the final lap, at turn 9,  Lewis Hamilton rapidly slicing the distance between him and Max Verstappen and almost made contact seeking furiously to overtake him. But Verstappen held onto the lead and his nerves more importantly somehow and drove home as the winner with Hamilton only behind by 2.256 seconds triggering chaotic celebrations in the Red Bull garage as Claire Cottingham express.co.uk reported! Mercedes, Hamilton’s team were not happy!

     

    Latifi’s accident gave Verstappen a miracle chance of a title win which he grabbed with both hands! But it was not a case of an accident that gives us a miracle chance of salvation. Jesus’ death on the Cross, the place our salvation rests, was no accident. It was planned from eternity past. Jesus, the Bible declares, is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). Just as this accident gave Verstappen an opportunity for fitting new tyres onto his Red Bull car, Jesus’ eternity-planned no-accident death on the cross provides us an opportunity to become a “new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17). Verstappen did not wait till the end of the final lap to overtake Hamilton in the final lap – he did it turn five in the 16-turn lap! And we must not procrastinate racing past the adrenaline-rush causing sins, namely porn, sexual passions outside marriage, blurted out foul words in moments of anger, etc., for the Bible says, ‘now is the time of salvation’ and those who refuse to repent store up wrath against themselves for the day of God’s wrath when His righteous judgement will be revealed (2 Cor. 6:2; Rom. 2:5). Then one day when Jesus returns all of heavens will wave chequered flags as we cross over from earth into eternity – either because of our death or because of the any-second Second Coming of Jesus (Heb. 9:27-28). Yes, this Heart-stopping Formula one competition can trigger the priority number one decision in our lives! We can call turning from sin and coming to Jesus as the priority number one decision for what will it profit us eventually, if we shall gain the whole wide world but yet forfeit our soul to eternal damnation (Mark 8:36)!

    (Visit http://www.purposenmeaning.com to read more such articles by Duke Jeyaraj).

  • I COULD NOT TAPE MY MOUTH WHEN I HEARD OF THE POLLACHI RAPES

    -Duke Jeyaraj

     

    The horrific news coming out of Pollachi town in Tamil Nadu. The temperatures usually soar in March, but this March 2019 they appeared to soar even more – courtesy, this nasty sex scandal. I have been mulling over this stomach-churning news from Pollachi. Some thoughts came into my mind, fueled by the greatest book ever. Well, I could not tape my mouth, when I heard of these rapes. Let me share them:
    LONELINESS LESSON: This rape-video creating gang of Pollachi would lure girls via social media. One member of these beastly buddies would send a friend request to girls on Facebook in the locality. Some of these girls – friendless, lonely ones – would accept their requests even though they were strangers. After that the gang leader would start chats with these girls. Romantic chats. Chats that would be spiced with, “You are cute. You are pretty. I am thinking about you, all day.” The girls would fall for these, hook, sinker and line. They would agree to meet in a place they were comfortable with – restaurants, parks, wherever. Once they show up, they would be lure them into a car (there were times when these boys promised these love-lorn girls long car drives loaded with romantic conversations). Once inside the car, the would replicate what a quotation gang did to a popular Malayalam actress in February 2017: disrobing, sexual touching, rape turn by turn – while the entire thing was filmed (again turn by turn). This gang had created 1000 plus videos like these by sweeping off their feet about 250plus women – including a doctor, homemakers, etc (I gathered from a news agency report).
    Do not let anyone take advantage of your loneliness. There is a solution for that. Become friend with the only God in flesh Jesus who is called in the Bible this: “a friend closer than brother” (Prov. 18:24, The Bible). He will lift the shotput ball of loneliness from your heart.
    NAKEDNESS LESSON: This group obviously believed that the nakedness of any girl they spotted Facebook was theirs to enjoy. But the Bible – God’s Life Compass for us – tells us something different. A woman’s nakedness belongs to the eyes of her husband alone – that is the lesson of Leviticus 18 (KJV/NKJV) [this is a Bible chapter]. Watching the nakedness of a woman other than one’s wife shatters the peace of one’s heart, because it is a sin against God – that’s the message of Song of Songs 8:10 – a Bible verse.

    SUBSTITUTION LESSON: A member of this gang brutally beat a girl this gang entrapped with a belt, till she got out of her clothes and then went onto film her, despite her protests that were littered with several “anna”s (the Tamil word for elder brother). Have you heard of anything more cruel, more sickening, more disgusting, in your entire life? I have. This cruel thing happened over two thousand years ago. It happened when Jesus was whipped with leather belts studded with broken bone-pieces and metal-chips by cruel Roman soldiers – as strong as the Thuppakki movie villain, Vidyut Jamwal. This strong-armed army thrashed Jesus atleast 39 times. They whipped him till strips of flesh were hanging on his back. They spanked him tell his back would look like a ploughed field as the prophets had foretold (Psalm 129:3, The Bible). Why did the only sinless man who was also the number one unselfish miracle-worker have to go through all this? The Bible explains why: he became a substitute for our sakes. Jesus loved each one of us and gave himself for you and me (Gal. 2:20, The Bible). He was the sinless, spotless lamb who was sacrificed on our behalf (Isaiah 53, The Bible). Each one of us have sinned (Romans 3:23, The Bible). Without exception. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23, The Bible). Jesus, God-in-flesh, voluntarily decided to taste the cruel wages of sin on our behalf (John 10:18, The Bible). That’s why he endured the blood-splattering wild whipping and eventual crucifixion. As 100% God, he was infinite, he was beyond time. So, he could die for all people of all time. As 100% human, he could be a rightful legal substitute for a human, which is what all of us reading this are.

    SATISFACTION LESSON: This evil group was obviously creating videos in response to a demand – the demand for naturally shot rape videos featuring the rape of girls who like the girl next door by porn-watchers (are you one of them?) world over. These porn-watchers believed the lie of the Devil. The Devil told them, “Visit this particular porn site and you will have unmatched satisfaction for your eyes!” And when they did in obedience to that lie, they figured out that that satisfaction was short-lived. They soon were thirsty for more depraved forms of porn (shall we say, rape-porn?). And they kept searching. Using porn to satisfy the hole in your heart is like drinking salt water to quench your physical thirst – after the drink you are even more thirsty! The Bible talks about this phenomenon accurately in Hosea 9:1-2 where we read, “All that party food won’t fill you up. You’ll end up hungrier than ever” (The Message). The “you” here included folks who tried sexual depravity to quench their soul’s hunger. The only one who can ultimately and permanently satisfy your soul’s hunger is Jesus Christ, the only God in flesh. Jesus said in-effect, “Drink the water of sex you will thirst again. Drink the water of whatever you will thirst again. But if you drink the water, I give you – that is, if you turn from sin and trust in me who died to shed my blood for your sin’s forgiveness – you will never thirst again!” (John 4:14, The Bible).

    JUDGEMENT LESSON: The Pollachi gang made a costly miscalculation. They thought none of the girls they video-graphed nude would have the nerve ever to report the matter because they would invariably tell each of them, this: “If you open your mouth about what happened to you, we will upload this video we have shot on the Net!” For two full years, they faced no program. They thought they would be only counting the rape videos they had created. They had no idea, a day will come when they would counting the rods standing behind a prison. That day came. Slowly. But surely. It came when one day, one girl had the guts to talk about what happened to her. She told her brother (during mid-February 2019) about her horrific experiences with this rape-video creating ring. This brave brother of hers found out who-on-earth these gutter-minded guys were. When he confiscated their phones, he found it to be full of rape-videos, sexual-harassment videos (over 1000 of them as per reports). He then handed these the phone to the police (which eventually led to arrest of the culprits even though they were well-connected and rich). The mob gave them a sound thrashing and razed to the ground a liquor shop which one of the culprits owned.

     

    Well, sometimes when punishment for a crime does not come immediately, one’s mind become emboldened to commit more such crimes. “When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong” – the Bible observes in Ecclesiastes 8:11. But that is only the part of the story. As one reads the full Bible – a book which is a library of 66 divinely-inspired books – this is clear – judgement is coming. It may come even on this side of the grave (Think of Herod in Acts 12:23 and False Teacher Jezebel in Revelation 2:22 in the Bible). If not, it is coming on the other side of the grave, most certainly (Acts 17:30-31). There is a day of judgement. Jesus, the only sinless person on this planet will be the righteous judge on that terrible day where folks will ask mountains to cover them without success (Rev. 6:15-17, The Bible). The books of God’s record of every sin will be opened (Rev. 20:12, The Bible). Every sin, every crime will be accounted for. There is an eternal hell for those condemned that day (Rev. 20:14, The Bible). But the Bible also says, if we truly repent and confess our sin to the alive-forever-now Jesus who died on each one our behalf, we will be acquitted on that day of judgement (Rom. 8:1; I John 1:7-9). And the acquitted will live with Jesus in heaven forever, the Bible declares (John 14:1-3). So, do not hide your sin – small sin, big sin. Repent from it. Confess it to Jesus. He will cleanse you. You will have joy unspeakable and full of glory. You will have a happiness that does not depend on happenings.

  • THE IPL11 FINAL WATSON OF HORRIBLE STARTS MAY BE YOUR PAIR, YET…

    – Duke Jeyaraj on the Chennai Super Kings-Sunrisers Hyderabad Final on 27 May 2018 with a message at the end

    He suffered a hamstring tear,
    At 36, he wasn’t exactly young, he himself was aware,
    The 0 runs he scored off his the first 10 balls he faced gave Chennai Super Kings fans a scare,
    An as-usual defeat in the IPL Finals, at this real possibility did CSK stare?
    But his 117 off his next 47 balls, gave the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers a nightmare!
    The first ever IPL Final century in a chase – Watson’s achievement was that rare!
    And gave the CSK Fans, the feeling of walking on air!

    When it comes goofing up at life’s starts the Watson of IPL11 Final may be your pair,
    When you come to Jesus, from the pit of a horrible start, he will enable you to climb the stair!
    Your mess up with sin, notwithstanding, run towards Jesus like a hare!
    To turn from sin and to trust in Jesus, you, may I dare?

  • SAVITRI SEARCH FOR SERENITY WASN’T A SOLO SEARCH!

    – Duke Jeyaraj

    I translated into English a moving song from the movie Mahanati (Telugu)/NadigaiyarT hilagam (Tamil)  on the life of the 1950s and 1960sactress Savitri which released in the early part of 2018 with Keerthi Suresh playing the lead. The song is titled, Chivaraku Migiledi (Telugu)/Irudhiyil Enna Enjum (Tamil). 

    Is this the mirror that saw the beauty called Savithri?

    Is this the mirror that saw the woman with fame and riches?

    Or is there a crack in that mirror (and what I am seeing – my deplorable/miserable self – is not real)?!
    Tell me why? Tell me why?
    Tell me the answer – the poem I am about to sing?
    I don’t know the answer…I do not know the answer…Tell me the answer poem!
    What is left at the end?(repeat four times)
    When I was a born there was a struggle (my father died)
    When I am about to die still in my forties (with deception by the love of my life and addiction to alcohol speeding this process), there is a struggle
    Between these two events there is a small celebration (I became famous in the movie world! Yes, people wanted my autograph! Yes, people wanted to be around me! Yes, people said, you are the most beautiful woman in the world who can also act amazingly well!!)
    At the end, it was all a big disappointment!!!!
    Where are those celebration days? Where is that romance (with Gemini Ganesan) that was so dear to me?
    Tell me the answer, time! Tell me the answer, my poem!! Why is life so empty, meaningless and disappointing, when I sort of enjoyed everything the world had to offer?
    What is left at the end, great actress? (repeated eight times)


    I feel the theme of the Bible book of Ecclesiastes inspired the writing of this song. The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible talks about man’s futile search for meaning in wine, wit, wisdom, work, women, wows and the world (read chapter two).The theme verse of this book is found in Ecclesiastes 2:25 and this message unfolds: Life under the Sun is meaningless, unless we make a connection with the One Above the Sun!
    One statement which Savitri made in the course of this movie particularly illustrated the truth I learnt from the Bible book of Ecclesiastes and Jesus’ conversation with the sex-with-different-men chasing Samaritan Woman found in John 4: “I was a fool to imagine a sexual thirst that did not abate post your relationship with Alameluakka (Gemini Ganesan’s first wife), Pushpavalli (Gemini Ganesan’s mistress) would abate following a sexual relationship and marriage with me!”
    A comment on YouTube video of this song in Tamil which went this way: “This song suits every human in this world!” Abhishek Vaidya left this comment in the first week of June 2018.
    I would say, the above song could be the song of everyone who has not experienced and drunk the living water and the only God-in-flesh Jesus in a personal way (John 4:14)! Jesus also said in John 10:10- “I have come that you may have life – life to the full!” – and eventually shed every drop of His sinless blood to open the only way for peace to flood our sin-tormented souls (Romans 5:1, The Bible).
    Living life without having a living daily relationship with the resurrected again Jesus will never be full!! It will be meaningless. It will be without serenity.
    Yes, Savitri’s search for serenity wasn’t a solo search! This kind of search for peace is what human kind world-over does!

    Have you been searching for peace lately knocking at the door of sex, drugs, affairs, fame, money, etc.? Have you been bitterly disappointed following a ‘small celebration’ and ‘initial elation’? [Yes, there is passing pleasure in sin (the Bible teaches this in Hebrews 11:25)].
    Come now to Jesus, turning from sin and placing your entire trust in Him, for your salvation. And when you do that His peace – a peace which the world cannot give, money cannot buy, and the Devil cannot take away will be yours (John 14:27, The Bible)! Peace amidst the storm will be yours when you are under Jesus’ wings (Luke 19:42, The Bible).
    (To read more such Gospel presentations of Duke visit www.purposespot.blogspot.com, a website which Florussel Sathya Prachnio voluntarily manages for our ministry). 

  • FRANCE’S SUBLIMATION OF INDIVIDUAL BRILLIANCE FOR A GREATER CAUSE & THE ULTIMATE ACT OF SACRIFICIAL SUBLIMATION EVER


     – Duke Jeyaraj

    “I have never seen or lived through such a World Cup,” said Coach Didier Deschamps of France!

    So would have said the 1 billion people who watched the Final as if they were in a trance!

    Six goals were scored in the regulation time and the 78,011 Luzhniki Stadium Crowd did dance!

    Following Mario Mandzukic’s headed own-goal, France did make a 1-0 advance,
    Within 10 minutes the score became 1-1 thanks to Croatia’s Ivan Perisic’s bullet shot brilliance!
    Ivan Perisic was deemed to have to done a ‘handball’ in the box as he tried a ball clearance!

    Griezmann slotted in the penalty given via Video Review with his demeanor as cool as ice!

    Pogba and Mbappe scored off lip-smacking long-range shots that lifted France to the skies!

    When Mandzukic scored – helped by a careless goalie dribbling – poaching on a half-chance,

    4-2 it was and this plunging the punching-above-their-weight Croatia into despondence,

    Small Croatia, with a population of over 4 million, did win something better than bronze!
    Their President Kolinda Kitarovic, Player of the Tournament, Moderic, held in tight embrace! 

    France’stop-talents ‘were willing to sublimate their individual games to a collective mission’ – those were, about this Final, Andrew Das’ lines of magnificence!


    Lines which reminded me of Jesus who was willing to do the ‘ultimate sublimation’, leaving the glory of heaven and become Flesh, for the grander-goal of our sin-deliverance!

    Jesus’ death on the shameful Cross opened the door for peace, joy and forgiveness-assurance!

    The French players did not delay in depositing champagne on their coach, Didier Deschamps’ head and you don’t have to delay putting your faith in this unique Jesus and insin-repentance!

  • THE BLUE WHALE & THE ONLY CURE FOR THE LIFE THAT HAS GONE STALE

    – Duke Jeyaraj shares the ultimate Goodnews surprisingly starting from the Sadness-Causing, Suicide-Encouraging, Sickening Online Game


    Blue Whale. We are not talking the big fish in the sea. The “Blue Whale,” referred to in this piece, is an online game that ultimately dares its players to act out a death-wish – their own! This smartphone game pushes the users of this game to carve an outline of a Blue Whale on their skin and eventually drives them into suicide. That’s one reason this game got the name “whale” – a fish with suicidal-tendencies that is known at times to deliberately swim towards beaches only to die. If a player refuses to obey the “dare” for a dangerous task, threats such as, “We will have your parents killed…” rapidly follows. Yes people – including children and teens – World-over are either talking about the Blue Whale challenge or playing it.

    The Blue Whale is ultimately indicative of a “true tale” – certain truths about Life – life about living with capital L. Only a person deeply disillusioned with life would take the lead from games such as this and eventually decide to end it. But the Bible, God’s Word in human words, presents Satan as the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:9). It is quite possible that Satan uses online games such as the Blue Whale, get unsuspecting folks to fall-in-line with his sinister plan of destruction. In the Bible, we read of a demon-influenced man ‘cutting himself with stones’ – attempting suicide (Mark 5:5). Satan does not just sow inside of us thoughts of suicide. The Bible teaches that His primary goal is to lead us towards fleeting-pleasure offering sin – something that separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and robs us of all lasting joy. “Joy” leaving our lives, when “Sin” enters is not just a fact found in the Bible (Lamentations 5:15; Psalm 51:12) but an experience we all relate to in our day-to-day lives. The shot-put ball of guilt in the heart after a sin – be it an affair with a colleague in the work-place or hours of porn-surfing when your spouse is asleep – stands testimony to that.

    No, we do not read of anyone in the Bible narrative playing the Blue Whale game. But we do read of some folk who ended up committing suicide. The circumstances in which they committed suicide gives us key-perspectives about why people think of taking their own life. Abimelech (See Judges 9:54 in the Bible) did not want to be killed by a woman, and so he asked a young man to kill him instead. We see here that PRIDE (the first ever sin of the universe, according to the Bible) cannot give us purpose and meaning in life. But tragically, it can even be instrumental in the finishing of our life.

    Let’s move on Suicide No. 2 recorded in the Bible. King Saul feared torture by enemy forces as a prisoner of war and he decided to fall onto his sword while on a battle field to finish-off his life (See I Samuel 31:4). In his case, PANIC (the result of sin according to the Bible – See Genesis 3:10), robbed him of his desire to live and he sadly chose to put a fullstop to his own life.

    Now moving on the suicide story number 3 in the biblical records. Ahithophel, a professional Counselor to the king, upon discovering that his advice was not followed, decided to hang till he stopped breathing (2 Samuel 17:23). He chose to hang, instead of a life of having to hang his head in shame. However awesome a PROFESSION is, it cannot that person meaning, purpose, lasting joy in life. This I figure-out from this story.

    The next suicide event in the Bible relates to a once-servant-of-the-king turned throne-usurper Zimri. His reign was short-lived as Omni, the commander of the army gathered around the place he stayed. Instead of owning up his sin of usurping the throne, Zimri, set fire to the house of the King, where was put up and died as the flames enveloped him (I Kings 16:8-18). He committed suicide unwilling to face the ramifications, the BY-PRODUCT of his sin. Even today, people commit suicide being afraid of the consequences of their sin. Here’s the goodnews: your sin may be unprintable, it can be still forgiven (see Isaiah 1:18 in the Bible). There may be an earthly punishment for it. But Christ is able to give a place in heaven to worst of sinners, if only they would repent and turn to Him, in faith.

    Let’s get into the last story of suicide found in the Bible – the story of the Jesus-betrayer, Judas. The hole in his heart became bigger after receiving a PAY for leading an arresting party to the place the only the God-in-flesh, Jesus, often met with his disciples. This suicide story tells me that money cannot bring ultimate purpose and meaning to life.

    This leads me to a well-known statement that Jesus made that is found recorded in the Bible: “I have come to give Life – Life to the full”(in John 10:10). This implies, apart from the “alone and apart from everyone” Jesus (Jesus said he was the ONLY WAY in John 14:6 of the Bible) no one can find that paramount peace, that supreme serenity, that maximum meaning, that Himalayan happiness.

    Apostle Paul, a Jesus-follower, wrote about the “purpose in each step” (I Corinthians 9:26, NLT, The Bible) that Jesus gave him, when he followed Jesus through the smooth and stormy phases of his life.

    One of Jesus’ names in the Bible is this: “Author of Life” (Acts 3:15). He is also the maker of life – this the Bible teaches (John 1:3). Human Life was made “for” Jesus Christ, the Bible notes (Colossians 1:16-17). When we wade though “the book of life’s journey” living “for” Jesus, life will become meaningful and purposeful!

    The same Jesus who said, “I have come to give you life,” also mentioned that he came to die as a ransom for the sins of the World. This, the Bible records (Mark 10:45). This was the price he he had to pay to give us a meaningful life – through his cruel death on the Cross. When Jesus shed his precious, sinless blood for us, he opened the door for each one of us to escape from living an “empty” life on this earth, the Bible declares (I Peter 1:18).

    Jesus rose from the Dead. Jesus promised to return again to judge the World. Those who firmly and finally reject Jesus, the name of the only person who qualifies to save humankind by the virtue of his absolute sinlessness, will live a life of “living” hell here and now and go to a “literal” hell.This the Bible, a book which has never gone wrong when it comes to predictions, predicts.

    As I end this essay, let me narrate a Bible Story that involved a big fish – a whale perhaps. A disobedient prophet named Jonah ended up in the stomach of a fish. It seemed all over for him as the digestive juices of that fish started working on him. But that’s when he cried out to God from the belly of that “whale”. God heard his wailing from inside of a “whale”. He was rescued miraculously. The “whale” obeyed the “spit-him- out” order of God. Then the Word of God came to Jonah the second time, the Bible records (Jonah 3:1)!

    The God of the Bible wants to give you a second opportunity! Have you been fooled into thinking by the Blue Whale Challenge or any other life challenge (a heart-breaking divorce around the corner/a dreaded disease that is taking its toll/etc) that “all is over and there is no hope whatsoever – therefore the only way ahead is to commit suicide”? Don’t buy that black lie from the Devil. When the Devil speaks, he speaks his native language which is telling lies, the Bible declares (John 8:44). God wants to give you a second chance, like he gave Prophet Jonah. Would you turn to him in repentant prayer? Would you not turn to Christ, God-incarnate, who died and rose again for your sake, right now?

    What should we do now, exactly? Would you pray this prayer with faith? ‘Dear Father in Heaven, I come to you in Jesus name. I turn from sin (Luke 13:1-5, The Bible). I come to Jesus in faith (Matthew 11:28 & John 1:12, The Bible). I am coming now (2 Corinthians 6:2, The Bible). Please forgive me. Please cleanse me. From this day on, I will live for you, with your Spirit enabling me. I love you Jesus. In your name I pray.”

    (To know more about Jesus download a Bible app onto your Smart Phone and read it/play it. Suggested App: ESV Bible. Order a copy of the Bible from Amazon. Try the Voice Version of the Bible – it is easy to understand. You can walk into a Bible-Believing church so that you would receive continual encouragement to follow Christ. If you choose to contact the author of this article, use this email id – emailduke@gmail.com. To know more about the author’s reader-supported ministry log onto www.dukev.org)

  • PHOTOSHOPPED SEVERED DHONI NECK & THE DEVIL WHO IS AFTER OUR NECKS IN ACTUALITY

    – A Duke Jeyaraj poem on the India-Bangladesh Asia Cup Final 2016 on 6 March 2016 With A Message At The End

    The enthusiasm the Bangladesh Cricket Fans show for the game can’t be ever matched,

    But that photo-shopped picture of Taskin carrying a severed-at-neck Dhoni’s head was far-fetched,

    India needed a tricky 22 runs off 14, when promoting himself into the middle, Dhoni marched,

    Al-Amin Hossain’s in-the-slot-to-be-hit, for a monstrous 104 meter six, he fiercely launched,

    That’s when Bangladesh fans hopes of seeing their team’s first ever major tourney win, staunched!

    After his 20 runs off 6 balls, Dhoni walked back into the Indian dugout seemingly untouched!

    A gloom descended upon the Sher-e-Bangla stadium and the fans went home gut-wrenched!

    Can I tell you that when the Devil was REALLY after our necks, our Heavenly Father could have just watched?

    Spurning his wow love, each one of us, chose to follow the Devil being so sinfully wretched!

    That’s why He sent Jesus to save us and for our sake, and he hung on the Cross, blood-drenched!

    When you come to him in repentance, he will give a joy that be can’t be yours even you are zorched!

    Do not refuse Jesus’ Calvary love and turn against the Only Way of Salvation, with your fist-clenched!

    (Dr. Duke Jeyaraj is the founder of Grabbing the Google Generation from Gehenna Mission, a ministry to presentday people that is supported by those who are blessed by Duke’s messages and writings. Find out more by visiting www.dukev.organd liking www.facebook.com/googleduke).