About me
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Hi. Welcome to Comfort & Counsel. My name is Jacob Ninan. I came to know Jesus as my Saviour and Lord while I was a student about 50 years ago, and since then I have been studying the Bible seriously, reading it again and again. I have read hundreds of Christian books and listened to hundreds of messages, each time examining whatever I heard by checking with the Bible. I am now a qualified counsellor with a master's degree in counselling and psychotherapy, and three advanced levels of training as a Christian counsellor (apart from a master's degree in engineering). I have been accredited by the Association of Christian Counsellors. I retired from the Indian Space Research Organisation as the Programme Director for International Cooperation, and now I devote my time to counselling individuals and premarital and married couples (at 69, Hutchins Main Road, St. Thomas Town, Bangalore 560084, India), and also writing and speaking. You can call me to fix appointments for counselling at +91-9986008205. Email address is 'jninan@c-n-c.org'. The map location is given below.
I do not charge any fee from the counselees but do this as a ministry from God to people because 1) God has given me more than what I need, and 2) I would like to express my gratitude to God for what He has done for me. Whatever you share with me in counselling will be kept confidential, and if you write to me your email address will be used only for replying. I shall not be adding you to any mailing list or groups without your specific request.
I was born with a congenital heart problem and I was not expected to survive beyond the age of 18. I went through many episodes of sickness as I grew up through which all God took care of me even though I did not know Him personally at that time. Since I could not take part in sports or games, and I was made the target of ridicule from my classmates, I withdrew into the world of books and music. When I was entering into my twenties, heart surgery became available, and my heart was set right surgically.
When I was in my mother's womb she dedicated me to the Lord saying that if I turned out to be a boy, I should become a priest in the church. In my teenage years, when I heard about this, this was one thing I was determined never to become! Later on I gave up going to church saying that it was all a sham, and went on to become atheistic, then agnostic and then confused during my college days. I was caught up with the 'in' things, with movies, novels, rock music, etc. Church attendance was nominal, and when a college prayer group invited me to attend their meetings my response was that they were all hypocrites and I knew what Christianity was all about! But all my extra-curricular interests affected my studies, and then I found myself unable to change myself. But Jesus reached out to me. Once when I was walking on the road I saw a banner about a youth meeting in a church. I went in out of curiosity, and I was surprised to hear several testimonies from young people who had been in hopeless situations with drugs, alcohol, broken relationships, etc., and whose lives Jesus had turned around. I began to think that if Jesus could do this to all those people, perhaps He could help me too. I went back to my room and prayed a sincere prayer to God in Jesus' name. I asked God to take full control over my life and deliver me from my wrong ways, promising Him that if He was willing to help me I would be willing to do anything He wanted me to do, even to the extent of becoming a priest or a missionary. But I wasn't sure I would be acceptable to God because of my sins, and so I added that if God thought that He wouldn't help me then He should take away my life. I didn't want to go on living in the way I was. I went to sleep, frankly not being sure whether I would be alive the next day.
The next day, Jesus began to change my life! He forgave my sins and gave me a desire to obey and serve Him. I suddenly found myself with a great longing to study the Bible and to pray. I started also to devour Christian books and listen to messages. I started going for the college prayer meetings. I became very active in the church with preaching, writing, editing, counselling and any mundane thing that needed to be done.
From the time I was born again, while working as an engineer I have been an avid student of the Bible, listening to hundreds of Bible teaching messages, reading innumerable Christian books, fighting my personal battles, and carrying out my study seeking to reach my own conclusions about various doctrines. I have also learned many valuable lessons from my own mistakes and watching those of others. During this time I was also involved in speaking in churches and conferences, writing and counselling people personally. Now that I have retired from engineering I am able to devote more time to this ministry. My greatest satisfaction is in helping people individually to deal with their problems.
As I studied the Bible I have been shocked at the many wrong interpretations many people have been making from the Bible, and I started writing about them to warn people. You can read all my articles and other writings on this web site.
With regard to my belief I am like the Brethren and the Baptists in respecting the word of God but avoiding dry intellectualism without the Spirit, like the pentecostals and charismatics in much of the doctrine and experience with respect to the Holy Spirit but avoiding the extremes of practice through checking with the Bible, orthodox in that I avoid new fangled ideas by checking with the word of God, and anti-traditional in that I discard mere tradition that has no support in the word of God.
I like this song so much that I could call it my theme song. It's called "If I can help somebody." The words are like this:
If I can help somebody as I pass along.
If I can cheer somebody with a word or a song.
If I can show somebody they're traveling wrong, then my living shall not be in vain.
If I can do my duty as a Christian ought.
If I can bring back beauty to a world up wrought.
If I can spread love's message that the Master taught, then my living shall not be in vain.You can listen to Glen Payne singing this on YouTube
I am in my early seventies, and my wife and I have five grown up children and eight grandchildren.
Jacob Ninan
Comfort & Counsel
69, Hutchins Main Road
Bangalore 560084
India
Email. jninan@c-n-c.orgMap location: Zip.pr/in/JACO1234
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