Having been born in India, I grew up in Macomb, IL, where my father was a Mathematics professor at Western Illinois University. Though my parents were devout Jains, they did not indoctrinate me and my sisters. As a child, I had some exposure to Christianity but knew very little about specific Christian beliefs.
As a college-student, I pursued New Age teachings and practices. While engaged in such activities as meditation and hypnosis, I also had exposure to some Christian beliefs through friends, books, and occasionally going to church. After reading some books that explained the dangers of the New Age movement, I became more interested in Christianity. God led me to read some apologetics books that presented me with evidence for the historicity of the Resurrection. Through that reading and a tract on my car windshield, God opened my eyes and brought me to himself in January of 1990.
I believed in God’s raising Jesus from the dead and asked Him to save me. God led me to Calvary Baptist Church in Cookeville, TN, where I was living and working at that time. Pastor Bob Bradberry baptized me by immersion there about 3 months after I was saved and I became a member following my baptism. He also got me started in door-to-door evangelism soon after I was saved and opened up his personal library and ministered extensively to me.
Pastor Bradberry brought me to visit Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC, in the spring of 1991. My application to study the Bible at BJU was accepted, and I came to BJU as a teaching graduate assistant in the fall of 1991. After 5 years as a graduate assistant, I completed an MA in Bible. I then served for six years on staff at BJU.
God then directed me back to pursue a PhD in New Testament Interpretation at BJU. I taught Greek as a graduate assistant for three years while doing my coursework and graduated with that degree in May of 2010.
I have been attending Mount Calvary Baptist Church since I first came to Greenville and became a member in 1996.
My testimony concerning music: From Heavy Metal, Soft Rock, and Pop to Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
I have been thinking about the ccm points from class on Sunday. I hear of people going to church and remembering the popular music words and testifying about how they enjoy the songs, but they can’t seem to remember or mention much of a 20 minute sermon that was directly after their music.
That’s an interesting point that I have not heard. If that is a common experience, it would seem to indicate another problematic aspect of the use of such music.
Rajesh,
I remember many nights of street hockey on Madison street in Macomb! Happy to see that God has put you in presence. Take care
Dave
Dear Rajesh Gandhi, I want to thank you profoundly for your blog, “The ‘Sabbath’ Psalms,” which has furnished me with wonderful fodder for a book I am writing on the seventh-day Sabbath. Thank you for sharing your insights. I am definitely going to visit your pages again! Many blessings to you this Sabbath and always! May Jesus continue to bless and guide you in your ministry.
Melissa
You are welcome, Melissa. So that there is no misunderstanding about my views, I would like to make clear that I am a firm believer that Christians are to worship God corporately on the Lord’s Day–the first day of the week.
Thank you so much for your testimony, Rajesh. Would you be willing and able to share about your involvement with new age/occult? Did you experience the dangers yourself?
I ask because I have repented and gone back to God because I was consulting all sorts of ‘healers’ and meditations.
Second, I have mostly thrown out all my old new age books, but still have some ‘academic’ books on the Buddhist canon and wondering if I should throw them out as well? I thought I would keep them as philosophical reference some day but I want to get rid of them if they are an abomination to even keep in my home. But then I wonder where to draw the line with other ‘worldly’ books.
I think the Spirit is calling me to let them go but if there is some scriptural basis for this, please let me know.
Lila,
You are welcome. My involvement was limited to lots of reading of New Age materials and engaging in individual activities, such as visualization and meditation. I also got some materials from one group but never joined it. God graciously prevented me from getting involved directly with any other people during the entire time.
Concerning your disposing of such materials, God directed me to throw out everything that I had accumulated. Acts 19:17-20 supports doing so. Hope this helps.
Rajesh,
Somehow I only saw your response to this. In the interests of preventing spam, might it be possible for you to please take out my email from the above comment? I am not sure how that happened…
Yes, I have thrown out many things, including those buddhist texts. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed! Some things bother me. What about philosophical texts about ancient Chinese philosophy which would include e.g., Tao de Ching or similar thought? Even if they’re not explicitly occult or New Age? Or psychology texts that may promote non-christian ideas?
Thank you again and the LORD bless,
Lila
Lila,
I took out your email. Getting rid of the counsel of the ungodly is always a good thing!
Rajesh
Hi, I stumbled across your blog and noticed that you have an interest in biblical languages. I am working towards building a Biblical Greek (and later Hebrew) study tool website that I hope can become a free resource for anyone all over the world. One of the things I want to do is find people who have familiarity with languages other than English so we can start putting together at least basic translations of words so we can have (for example) free flashcards that aren’t just Greek-English but also Greek-other language. Now I know that you said above that you grew up in the US but have an Indian background, but I was wondering if either yourself, or someone you know, might have some interest in helping with translation for Indian translations of key words so we can help Indian Seminary students. If not, no worries at all! I just figure it was worth asking just in case ????
Thanks for your message. My abilities in Hindi are very limited so I am not able to help with a project of this nature. May God guide you in His will.
Happy to read about your background Dr Rajesh Gandhi. I think you must have come from a freedom fighter’s family. I love your last name or family name.
Arputharaj
Rajesh Bhai,
Very happy to read your life journey and praise the Lord for How the Lord is working in and through you.
I am Raju, from Ahmedabad and have few Gandhi friends who studied with me in Collage, in મહુધા.