The Lone Star
Dr. John K. Mathew
It is easy for us to define history as, "History is the record of what man thought, said and done". But it is not easy to narrate history in an objective manner. The socialistic view is that "History is not the product of great men or chieftans, but it is the product of ordinary men in the pursuit of their ends". This definition is true to a certain extent. But, in practice, history revolves around great men. If we were to write the history of the past years of the 20th century, we can`t ignore the names of either Bill Clinton or Saddam Hussien because they have played a vital role in "present history" There are a lot of people who support them in their "mission". They are the people who really take pain for "history" to be written. But the real people who create history are great men as stated by Thomas Carlyle "History is nothing but the biography of great men and that it is a record of human accomplishments, particularly of great souls".
The 7th chapter of the Book of Acts is an interesting and important portion in the scriptures. A brief but authentic history of the Judaic Community is given there by Stephen. That shuts the mouths of his opponents although he had to suffer persecution and death in the end. This is true even today. If we stand for the truth and proper history, we may be stoned. Don't worry it is for the sake of truth. Let me remember the names of great servants of God who contributed a lot, and, dedicated their lives for the growth of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God. Pastors P.M. Samuel, P.T. Chacko, K.C. Cherian, K.C. Oommen, T.G. Oommen, K.J. Samuel, T.N. Abraham, George Varghese, C.K. Daniel, P.L. Paramjyothy, P.R. Purushotham, Oommen Abraham, K.E. Mathew and Pastors V.T. Joseph, M.V. Chacko, P.M. Philip.
Even today, Pastor T.S. Abraham and the elders who are alive, are still labouring for God.But there are others who have served and still serve the church and the Lord sincerely and silently without any motivation for earthly rewards. That list is too long. It is not just a group, its a crowd! I can’t forget the valuable service of the women ministers and lay leaders who denied all the promises of life just to please God and build the church. On that great day of rewards, across the Jordan, we will see them marching forward to receive their crowns.
World famous historian H.G. Wells has used the following words to glorify Asoka the great: "Amidst the tens and thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesty's graciousness, serenities and royal highness and the like, the name of Asoka shines alone almost as a star". Yea, there were numerous rulers and monarchs who contributed enough to occupy a berth in history. But Asoka was unique, unique in his philosophy, personality and power. although not as a historian, but as a humble student of history let me modify the above statement to refer to the name of Pastor K.E. Abraham, the founder of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God as " Amidst the tens and thousands of names of Apostles that crowd the columns of the history of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God, their gracefulness, graciousness, serenities, royal priesthood and the like the name of Pastor K.E. Abraham shines alone almost as a star".
