The Ministry of the Word

The Ministry of the Word sounds familiar to me and this has been a tagline for me in my official service in the literature distribution. Yet little did I realize that this has very deep connotations in relation to God's move on the earth today. When we were informed that there would be a Serving Ones Training in which we were to read messages from chapter 8 to 14 of the book by brother Watchman Nee, The Ministry of God's Word, I decided to read the entire book. I took that as an opportunity to dive into the truth which I used to distribute. Sadly enough, though I had been promoting that book in the past, I had not read it once. This was the time for me to read before the training.

As I began reading from chapter 1, I was ushered into the depths of the word of God. I could see things which I never saw before. The depth of the spiritual understand brother Nee had was amazing. If not for the Lord's special anointing I do not believe that any human can reveal such deep revelations. As I read the book, perhaps studied the book, word by word, phrase by phrase, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, page by page, and even chapter by chapter, I was altogether in a different realm. I am running out of words to describe the feeling I had while reading the book. On the one hand, I regret that I did not read that book earlier, yet on the other hand, I thanked the Lord that I did not read it earlier as I would not have appreciated it as I did this time. To read and understand this book, I am deeply convinced, one has to attain a certain degree of spiritual maturity. By the Lord's mercy, I have attained that and that's the reason why I could appreciate the Lord's speaking through the ministry of brother Watchman Nee.

The ministry of the word has very much to do with the minister himself. If the minister is not proper, there can never be the proper ministry of the word. The minister must have attained a certain level of learning, dealing, and substantial growth in life to be a vessel for the Lord to flow through. He must have light from the lord concerning the word of God. That light is the revelation the Lord reveals to him through the word. As he muses not the revelation and even prays over, the Lord will give him the thoughts which are being conveyed into the inner word understood by him. As he considers even more on the fine and minute detail of the word, the Lord would give him the outer word, the utterance, to describe the revelation in words intelligible and understandable to man, the target of the minister's ministry of the word. To pass through these processes require definite and specific learning and dealing from the Lord. The breaking of the outer man is of utmost importance here for the release of the word that can become the Rhema word to the hearer of the ministry of the word.

O how I long and desire to be such a minister of the word! Only the Lord can deal with me and perfect me to be such a minister of the word. The Lord in His mercy may grace me to be such a minister. From my part, with this aspiration, I would pursue the Lord in His word diligently and with much prayer. I am in the Lord's hands. May He mold me and shape me according to His heart's desire.

From the deep spiritual lesson I have learned, I was assigned to apply in a way of ministering the word in the Serving Ones Training conducted by the work in India for the responsible brothers in all the local churches. Twelve brothers were assigned to learn and exercise to minister the word, of which I was one to exercise as well. I took that as an opportunity to learn and practice whatever the Lord has taught me especially in the reading of the book, The Ministry of God's Word. I had prepared and prayed over the message assigned to me. I have no idea how much of my exercise had really benefited the brothers who listened to the word. Only the brothers may know and the Lord knows. But from my side, I really enjoyed the flow of life in my exercise to minister the word as we were taught so. 

Thank the Lord for gracing me the opportunity to learn and also to practice by exercising to minister the word of God to the brothers. I should and must exercise daily, and even all the days of my life to learn the word and minister the word to whoever the Lord would bring His people. 

Lord, grace me to be a minister of Your word! 

Seekers' Seminar

On the 24th of September, we had a Seekers' Seminar which was conducted by the churches in North India to follow up on the seeking believers who have downloaded eBooks from Rhema website. This was the new way taken to reach out to the seekers in different parts of India. Despite the lockdown when traveling has been very much limited and even gospel preaching one on one, face to face has been restricted due to the global pandemic raging the world, the Lord has His way and many more could be reached through electronic media.

The Seekers' Seminar was significant in at least two points. First, it was a unique way paved by the Lord to gain His remnants among the Hindi speakers. We have been very burdened for the Hindi speaking people of North India. The spread of the gospel is very less in comparison to other parts of India and much less, the Lord's testimony in His recovery. Second, the coordination among the churches, the work, and the literature serving ones was greatly strengthened. This time our coordination was so sweet and strong. I enjoyed the Lord's presence and anointing in all the coordination while we delivered the word of God. A brother and I were assigned to do the speaking. While preparing the message and the presentation (PPT), I enjoyed the Lord's presence and anointing richly.

The message we spoke was on "Calling on the Name of the Lord". A very common and basic truth in the church life. Yet as I prepared and spoke the truth again, it was very living and fresh. I felt as though I am hearing the message for the first time again. Though I was very familiar with the points of truth, I was not so deeply impressed as it should have been in the past. But this time, every point became living and fresh. It became a fresh message to me.

Through this seminar, the sisters in Gurugram too came to sing the hymn and we all gathered together in the meeting hall despite the ongoing pandemic. We all exercised to participate in the meeting and enjoyed the Lord's rich blessing. Praise the Lord!

Besides, the attendance of the online meeting was very significant. About sixty to seventy new ones joined the meeting, which is a big number for us as we endeavor to reach out to the Hindi speaking people of North India. In fact, even if only one attended, it would have been worth all the labor. Now, sixty to seventy is a very big number. May the Lord speak to them and gain them for His testimony.

Some of the points I was so deeply impressed with were:

The Purposes to Call on the Name of the Lord.

• To be saved 
• To be rescued
• To receive the Spirit
• To enjoy the riches of the Lord 
• To participate in the Lord’s plenteous mercy

To be saved (Rom.10:13) Psalm 116 “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” (v. 13). “Call upon His name!…Cry out and give a ringing shout” (Isa. 12:4, 6). “O Lord Jesus, You are so good to me!”

To be rescued from distress (Psa. 18:6; 118:5), from trouble (Psa. 50:15; 86:7; 81:7), and from sorrow and pain (Psa. 116:3-4).

To receive the Spirit (Acts 2:17a, 21).

To participate in the Lord’s plenteous mercy is to call upon Him.  The more we call upon Him, the more we enjoy His mercy (Psa. 86:5). 

To enjoy the riches of the Lord (Romans 10:12) The Lord of all is rich to all who call upon Him. (1 Cor. 12:3; 1:2).

The best way to experience His presence with all His riches is to call on His name.

The Way to Call on the Lord

• Call on Him out of a pure heart 
• Call corporately (2 Tim. 2:22)
• Call with a pure lip (Zeph. 3:9)  For then I will change the language of the peoples / Into a pure language / That they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, / To serve Him with one accord. 
• Call with an open mouth (Psa. 81:10) I am Jehovah your God, / Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt; / Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
• Call His name daily (Psalm 88:9) My eye wastes away at the affliction; / I have called out to You, O Jehovah, every day; / I have spread out my hands to You.
• Call as long as you live (Psalm 116:2) Because He inclines His ear to me; / Therefore I will call upon Him all my days.

Shepherding: A Local Family

The Lord has sovereignly placed us in this city, Gurugram, for His testimony. We have been praying and taking the stand to bear the Lord's testimony here. We have also been praying for the salvation and gaining of many local people who will also stand for the Lord's testimony. The Lord has been adding new believers into the church and a good number of local families have also been gained. Our prayer has been for more and more local people to be saved and gained. In fact, we have been doing our best to preach the gospel among the locals and shepherding open families. Though the rate of salvation has not been that great, still the Lord has been adding new ones, one by one.

Two weeks ago, I received a fellowship from a brother to contact a seeking believer who was contacted through online Rhema eBooks promotion in Hindi. From our city, this is the only one contact we have. First, I called the number which was not answered, then I called again a few days later which was still not answered. I assumed the person was either busy or not interest to receive a call from an unknown number. A week later, a brother fellowshipped with me to call and send him a text message. I tried calling again and since it was not answered, I texted him instead. Then I received a call back from another number but from the same person. Then the contact was established.

I spoke to him over the phone stating that his number was passed on to me. I introduced myself as a Christian serving the Lord in Gurugram. Then he asked me two questions. What is the name of your Chruch? and What is your doctrine? I did my best to explain to him in my simple and broken Hindi that we are, as Christians, the called-out believers, and that we do not have any name like the denominational churches. In fact, we came out of the division of denomination and are gathered together to meet as the church in Gruugram. Then for the next question, I told him that the Bible is our basic belief, and every teaching in the Bible we uphold it faithfully to the best of our ability as the Lord graces us on. With these simple answers, he seemed to be satisfied. 

From the phone call, I sensed that he is a seeking one the Lord reserved as a remnant for His testimony. Therefore, I fellowshipped with two brothers with whom I am coordinating and serving together. And one brother came along with me to visit him at his home in Kanhai gaon, a locality of the local people of Gurugram.

In our meeting with this brother for the first time, after a brief introduction, I further answered the two questions he asked me over the phone. We had a wonderful time of fellowship on the church on her different aspects, especially, the church as the Body of Christ in Ephesian 1:23, and the church as the One New Man in Ephesians 2:15 and  Colossians 3:11. Then, I further fellowshipped on the teaching of the Bible that we adhere to and abide by. To make the points of truth clear to him and requested that we all use our Bible to read the key Bible verses. I even asked him to read the verses in Hindi by himself and I did the interpretation based on the revelation I received through the ministry.

He was very impressed and felt satisfied that we could meet him. In fact, he confessed that he has been looking for a proper Christian group to fellowship with. He has been a Christian for the past twenty years and has served with a couple of Christian groups. But for some reason, he did not stick around with any of them, though he conducted some kind of Christan leaders gathering now and then. He was glad that we could meet him, and perhaps, he has found the group he has been looking for. Or, the Lord has finally brought him into fellowship with the church in his own locality.

The Lord only knows how far this brother would be gained for His economy. Though he has his own group of believers, he seems to be dissatisfied in his Christian life. From my side, I felt very joyful and thankful to the Lord for this brother. Whether he will be gained to bear the Lord's testimony of not, is all up to the Lord. But one thing for sure was, I really enjoyed flowing out the truth of the Bible that I have been enjoying and being constituted with. By the Lord's mercy, I have been pursuing the truth day by day. The word of God has been accumulated in my being and the constitution of the truth has been growing. I definitely enjoy the word of God. Much more, the flowing out of the word of God to a needy and hungry seeker has been such a joy. I think, more than the brother I minister the word of God to, I enjoy more of the very word I ministered. After being locked down physically for months altogether, overflowing my enjoyment of the word of God to hungry and thirsty believers is such a joy!

May the Lord preserve this brother and gain him fully for his testimony here in Gurugram!

Life Lesson: Marriage Proposal

As brothers bearing responsibilities in a local church, we have been very burdened for the single saints to get married as we have a good number of unmarried brothers and sisters. In fact, in my family prayer, I have been praying for them, and in our group meeting on Tuesdays, we have been praying for the single saints to get married. Once the brothers or sisters are not fully open and are willing to take the fellowship, it is difficult for us to make any arrangement for marriage. Saints are simple in truth but very complicated in marriage matter. Everyone has their own natural choices and preferences which we could do nothing about. At best, I can only fellowship and pray with them for their marriages. The rest, the Lord has to come and lead them personally.

We have been considering a particular brother and sister for marriage. But we were very careful in bringing the matter to each one of them. Since the two are aging and we wanted to shepherd them in marriage matter. But because of the complicated situation of the brother's family, we tread so cautiously and slowly. We did not want a sister to be led astray should they get married as the family believes in a cultic teaching that do not believe in Jesus Christ as the true and living God. But for the sake of the brother we have been trying to shepherd him in marriage matter. Therefore, we had multiple rounds of fellowship with the sister and the brother separately. 

But when we revealed our burden for them to come together in marriage union, the brother expressed a very strong disagreement without any specific reason. He simply said he did not have peace at all. In fact, he said since the time the proposal was made known to him he lost his peace and could not even sleep in the night. He requested that the matter be stopped. We were shocked and could not understand him for his negative reaction. Since the brother showed forth his strong disagreement we had no choice but to stop.

This experience made me consider how much I could practically help the saints. I may have feeling concerning certain brothers and sisters but if they are not ready to take the fellowship I really don't know how to help further except to pray for them. So we stopped the marriage proposal and left the matter to the Lord.

What next? A lesson I am still learning. I have been married but how to help the young saints in a proper way for their marriage? This is still a mystery to me. Perhaps, I need to grow more mature enough to be able to discern the will of the Lord, not just for me but also for the saints. Hope, the Lord will come in and reveal who's for whom and all the single saints can get married and be established as a family and bear the Lord’s testimony. 

Tears of a Sister

The past few days I received a frantic call from a sister who has been going through a lot of marital issues and family problems. Her husband is a bother I have been shepherding, of late. The two of them opened up to me for fellowship about their personal matters. The brother would call me whenever he was in a desperate situation and the sister would also call me whenever she could not bear the situation she has been going through. As far as I am concerned I open myself to both of them; I prayed for them and prayed with them and shepherded them with the word of God every time they called.

A few days ago this sister pour out all the pain and struggle she has been going through with tears for over an hour. I patiently lent my ear to whatever she had to say. She had been deeply troubled by her husband whom she claimed had become very worldly. To the extent that he had gone back to all the bad habits, he used to do before he was saved in their pre-marriage life. She poured out all her pain and concern and confided in me as she shared her anxieties as she was also aware that I have also been in fellowship with her husband. As I listened to her woes, on the one hand, I sympathized with her and on the other hand, I was very burdened for her and her husband. According to all that I have heard, right or wrong, one thing is for sure, the enemy's hand was behind both of them, trying to separate them and even to point of divorce with sinful moral issues. 

I only take grace from the Lord to be able to bear with all the sisters had to say. My only consolation was that the Lord would remember her tears that she has been shedding for her husband and for her family. The Lord would turn her bitter tears of Bacca to tears of joy one day, perhaps, very soon. Then I encouraged her not to take any action in herself or by herself, knowing fully well that that will not solve the problem at all. It rather might complicate the matter instead. In fact, she called to confirm from me if she should take action against her husband by leaving him for a while or file a police complaint of domestic violence. My soft answer was neither of them. But to simply leave all the matters to the Lord. Then we prayed together., and she also prayed with tears. 

The same day, after the phone call fellowship, she called me again narrating another family problem of her husband with her in-laws, a case of verbal fight resulting in family chaos. What else could I do except to pray? So we prayed over the phone again. Then, a few hours later, I received a call from her husband. The brother called me up to confess his sinful situation and was seeking for fellowship. I was glad that he called. I reckon that as the immediate reply from the Lord of the tears shed by the sister. I need not correct him of his immoral deeds based on his wife's fellowship. He himself confessed that he was wrong in the way he behaved with his family, though he did not get too much into detail. And he expressed that he needed a fellowship. That's why he called me and also his wife; all of us on a conference call. 

I simply ministered the word by declaring the truth in the Bible that we should live and walk by the Spirit else everything is a problem. The enemy is so subtle that he can attack us from all angles, deceive us, and even drive us to commit heinous sins. Only in the Spirit can we not live and walk according to the flesh. Our only safeguard is in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Spirit in our human spirit. So w must exercise to live and walk by the spirit. I encourage both of them to spend adequate time to pray personally and also to pray together daily. I also encouraged them to send a copy of HWMR for their daily pursuit, nourishment, and enjoyment of the Lord. And we all prayed together.

The tears of this sister were very genuine and it sprang forth from her deepest being. I had the confidence to assure her that the Lord would sure remember her and would wipe away all her tears. The Lord will indeed turn all her tears of pain and sorrow to tears of joy and gladness. And her marital issues will be resolved and her family will be restored. Perhaps, even revived that they will become pillars to bear the Lord's testimony. Amen.

Hindi Recovery Version

Hindi language, the second-largest speaking population in the world by the second language of 637.3 million people, needs to be given the proper translation and interpretation of the word of God. We have been so burdened for the translation of the Bible, at least, the New Testament into Hindi to start with. For this purpose, we have been praying for years altogether now. To this extend, we have even trained some saints to learn Greek for two years and prepared them through the pre-translation assignment of some crucial ministry books, the Life-study of Romans, The Kingdom, and The Experience of Life. Besides, the translators are regularly working on different title books. After years of preparation and waiting, finally, the time has come to actually start the translation.

Today, the 19th of October 2020, we have officially started the translation of the New Testament Recovery Version into Hindi. The prayer, preparation, fellowship, and patiently waiting for the proper time have been paid off. It's worth the waiting and it has been indeed a tremendous experience to have done so. In the midst, I could also witness the frustration the enemy tried to bring in in various forms were nothing new to me. Any spiritually significant work will always be opposed by the enemy. Such attacks are confirmation that we are touching the work of the Lord and the enemy cannot tolerate it. He tried his best, and he is still trying his best, and he will still continue to try his best to thwart the translation work in whatever way possible. We need the Lord's covering and the prayer of the Body as we embarked on a five-year project. The work the Lord has begun, He will also successfully accomplish it on time.

The first frustration was the need to find proper persons to do the Hindi Bible translation. Initially, we started off with six Greek learners for the Hindi translation, but only two could complete the Greek course. The second frustration was the lack of perper person to complete the team of four. The third frustration was the need for proper financial support to meet the need of the project for five years.  The fourth frustration was the lack of absolute oneness in taking up this translation project. But through much prayer and fellowship, the Lord cleared off all the frustration one by one. To complete a team of four, a sister was released and a brother has been trained to qualify for the work. The financial need was also met through the support of the churches in North India with the church in New Delhi taking the lead and bearing the entire responsibility. And finally, we went through a series of fellowships among the brothers in India; the literature serving ones, the brothers in North India, and also the brothers serving the work in India. And also with the brothers in LSM, the main publisher of the Bible.

On the 3rd of October, we had a fellowship with the coworkers in India, on the 8th we had a fellowship with the brothers in the church in New Delhi with the four translators to be,  on the 16th Oct we had the orientation with LSM and the translators, and on the 19th, we had another round of orientation and officially started the translation work. 

I feel blessed to be a part of the Recovery Version Bible translation project in India. Now seven languages are simultaneously translating the Recovery Version New Testament into Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Mizo, and Hindi.  I trust the Lord will complete the work He had begun.

The Body is praying and supporting these translation works. Though there are multiple languages, we consider the entire project as One Recovery Version Translation Project. Now, praying and waiting for the printed copy of the Bible to be made available in Indian languages.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all! 

The Lord's Timely Speaking

The Lord's speaking is very timely, He speaks what He needs to speak. I thank the Lord for His faithfulness and care for me and the church. This year is coming to an end. At the beginning of every year as the church, we have been planning for growth and increase in that year. In pursuit of that goal, we have been planing very vital and practical steps for all the saints in the church to follow. Some of the specific ways we adopt are, especially these days, as we have been trumpeting over and over again. 

• Being Revived: Be revived every morning, spending personal time with the Lord daily, and be deeply rooted in Christ.
• Shepherding: Each one shepherding at least one in a week. 
• Gospel Preaching: Each one contacting at least one and bringing for the gospel meeting on Friday or Lord’s Day, preaching the gospel to our new ones and shepherding them. 
• Household Salvation: Pray for the salvation of all the family members of the saints.
• Pray for the gospel preaching by going out every Friday and Saturday afternoon in coordination with the trainees. Pray for the salvation of the local people, even household salvation, family by family. 
• Our Goal for 2020: 100 regular saints meeting on the Lord’s days.

The Lord is sovereign in giving us the burden for the year and Hs is also faithful even for showing our true condition so that we may know how to go on. The ministry speaking that we dive into and are pursuing every Saturday afternoon, the recorded speaking of Brother Witness Lee on the training and the practice of the vital group was very apt, to me personally, and to us as the church.

Some crucial points from brother Lee's speaking that help me a lot and are:

Serving the Lord in coordination by fellowshipping with our companions. By the Lord's mercy, the Lord has given me a wonderful companion, my brother who serves with me in the church and also in the literature service. I cannot imagine serving the Lord without him. He has been my vital partner without which I cannot go on in my church life or in my service life. How I thank, praise, and worship the Lord for the Lord's sovereign arrangement. He is the one to whom I can open myself up for fellowship on many deep, secret, and important items related to the church and literature service. 

Three enemies that need to be conquered are:

Deadness: The deadness of Sardis (Rev. 3:1-2). This can be conquered in the Body life (Rom. 12:3-10). I must present my body as a living sacrifice to God and being transformed from the fashion of this age by the renewing of our mind. For this, I need to consecrate myself to the Lord every day. I should not keep myself in my own hand but I must hand myself fully over to the Lord.  Every part of my being must be consecrated to the Lord. And I must not secretly follow this age; the fashion of the age makes one dead. The age is very subtle and deadening and one can be deceived unconsciously.  One can seem to love the Lord opening yet he can be loving the age, the world, secretly. This will cause deadness.

Lukewarmness: The lukewarmness of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-16). This can be conquered by the seeking of the riches of Christ (Rev. 3:17-18, 20). I must seek the Lord, pursue Him, and enjoy Him in a very subjective way. I must not be slothful in zeal (Rom. 12:11a ) and I must be burning in my spirit, serving the Lord (Rom. 12:11b).

Barrenness: The barrenness of the degenerating believers. Unconsciously, I might have been drifting into this danger. This can be conquered in desperation. Desperateness is a matter of life or death. I must be fearing to be cut off from the enjoyment of Christ’s supply in this age (John 15:2a).  I must care for the discipline in the coming age (Matt. 25:24-30). Therefore, I must be disciplined in my Christian life. 

To overcome deadness, lukewarmness, and barrenness, I must be desperate to pursue the Lord, to get myself filled up with the Spirit, be thoroughly dealt with by the Lord by confessing my sins, failures, wrongdoings, weaknesses, trespasses, and faults. Then, gain my vital partners and be desperate, even in fasting and prayer, then  Lord will give me the fruits. 

Lord, grace me, save me, enliven me, and deliver me from the three enemies, deadness, lukewarmness, and barenness. Lord, thank You for your timely speaking.

Fellowship: Family Matters

A brother has been calling me these days to fellowship about his family situation. He has been going through tough times as his relationship with his in-laws is not so sweet nor smooth. Though they live together without any open fight, there seems to have been many internal struggles and misunderstandings cropping up among them. Therefore, he calls me now and then for fellowship and prayer.

I am not a family counselor, nor am I an expert in family matters. I am a family man too and I am still learning it. There are many biblical truths that I know doctrinally how a Christian family should be, but I don't stress too much on doctrine unless that truly become my own experiences. 

By the Lord's mercy, the Lord has blessed me with a wonderful family. My wife, especially, has been so much blessing to me. In fact, all that I would desire in a sister for my wife before marriage are mostly in my wife. I thank the Lord for the Lord's sovereignty in bringing me and my wife together. Letting the will of the Lord done in my marriage life is one of the best decisions I have made. I have no regret ever since. Instead, I am full of praise and thanksgiving for my wife and the beautiful and wonderful family the Lord has blessed me with.

Some crucial points I always emphasize before marriage is, the perfect will of the Lord be done; let the Lord choose a sister for me and not my choice. The Lord knows the best and I would accept the Lord's choice for me. After marriage, prayer, and oneness with my wife in all things, is my family principle I have been following.  So far, I have proven it to work successfully. My prayer with my wife has always been, "Lord, cause us to love You and to love one another more, and to be one with You and to be one with one another more." The Lord answered such prayer and He honors it. So while fellowshipping with the married or unmarried, I always fellowship with them on these principles which I have proved to be a great blessing.  

As fellowshipped on marital issues, I told my brother to decide everything in prayer and in fellowship with his spouse keeping the principle of oneness and love between husband and wife. Should circumstances allow, the family should always stay together, live together, and do everything together. Now, because of the pandemic, one great blessing has been released to all working saints, Work From Home. So, they can stay with the family and still carry out their jobs. I have strongly advised any ones against separation or divorce, no matter what the marital problems may be. It is never God's will that husband and wife stay separately or even divorced. My fellowship has always been on oneness and love, and pay any price to achieve this oneness and love in the family.

In-law's problem is universal because it is in the law. When the in-law is replaced by in-the-Lord then there will not be any problem. I have spent hours fellowshipping with brothers facing marital issues and prayed together with them, and strongly chastened them when they try to do things otherwise.

I myself, though not perfect, am learning to spend more and more time with my family. In midst of all the responsibility of my service and also the church, I still could spend my little time with them. It is a great joy to see my children grow and live life in joy and happiness. I pray that all my children grow up to love the Lord and serve the Lord all the days of their lives in whatever way the Lord leads them. I would do my best to give them the best education and the best learning I could and leave the rest to the Lord. I am fully aware that how my children turn out to be is all up to the Lord's mercy. But I must do my best to do what I am supposed to do as a father.

Though I am still young, the lesson the Lord has been teaching me has been a profound help to a good number of brothers and sisters I have been fellowshipping with. I am glad that, I can be a positive testimony and pattern to my peers and the young generation. I hope that all the brothers and sisters I fellowshipped with, in marital issues are graced to take the fellowship. And I pray and wish them a God-man family life as much as I do for my own family. After all, all our family lives are for the Lord's testimony, are for the building up, and are for the fulfillment of the Lord's purpose in creating man in His image and likeness to express Him and represent Him on the earth, and even unto eternity.

Lord, bless my family and the family of the saints.

God's Sovereign Mercy

For to Moses He says, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Rom. 9:15-16

But go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Matt. 9:13

The morning nourishment in one of the morning revival portions speaks about God's sovereign mercy. I could relate my experience with all the points as experienced by brother Witness Lee. These days my experience has also been matching the truths I have been pursuing and this testifies to the genuineness of brother Lee's ministry. It's amazing, the truth of the Bible is similarly experienced by many saints!

God’s mercy is absolutely according to His sovereignty. Being a vessel of mercy is not the result of our choice; it originates with God’s sovereignty. It is of God’s sovereignty that He created us vessels of mercy to contain Himself. His sovereignty is the basis of His selection. 

If we would serve God in His New  Testament economy, we need to know that it is wholly a matter of God’s sovereign mercy. Through many years of experience I have become strongly and deeply convinced that everything that happens to us is of God’s mercy. All is a matter of God’s mercy. The more we see this, the more we shall spontaneously bear our responsibility before the Lord. However, even the bearing of responsibility is of God’s mercy. Why is it that some believers are willing to bear their responsibility and that others are not? The answer lies in God’s mercy. In Romans 9:15 Paul quotes the Lord’s words, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy.” Because of God’s mercy we responded to the gospel when others did not respond, we received a word about Christ as life when others refused to receive it, and we took the way of the Lord’s recovery when others drew back from taking this way. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1184-1185)

I have no more words to say except amen and amen to the above statement. I am what I am today because of the Lord's mercy. I never thought about this before, I never labor for it nor sought for it, but the Lord just made me what I am today. Be it my personal life or family life or Christian life or church life or service life, all are because of God's sovereign mercy. To all these, I can only worship the Lord God Almighty. Looking back at my life story and looking at what is happening now, everything indeed is because of the Lord's mercy.

As I have received so much mercy from the Lord, I also must exercise and show mercy to the saints especially to the ones serving with me. Cases of serving ones not being faithful in their services have been brought to my notice. Generally, I trust all the serving ones. But there always is an exceptional case. In this regard, there are two brothers who have not been doing well in their services and of late, their services have come under a scanner. If it were someone else in place of me, I guess these ones would have been fired already. But the Lord's mercy has been so fresh to me and firing would be the last thing I would do as long as the Lord placed me in my service and responsibility. 

As for me, I would rather pray and try to make things work. I look at all the serving ones as my own brothers and sisters. Most of them have families to care for and their only source of income is the support from the literature service. My heart really sympathizes with them. At the same time, I must also be faithful to the responsibility the Lord assigned to me. Wherever possible, I tried my best to balance between responsibly and mercy. Most often, mercy triumphs over responsibility and I would still care for the serving ones who should actually have been fired. 

In fact, a brother once called me up and asked me why one particular brother has been kept in his service to date when he was found to be unfaithful in his service. I did not reply neither in the positive nor negative. I simply shrug off the question with a simple ok. In order to shepherd them, I had called for fellowship and made a couple of phone calls. Even then, still paid them what was righteously due to them, and beyond. In fact, last month, one brother's support was less than half of his general income. It was so because of the little quantity of work he produced. But out of much mercy, we paid him extra support to make sure that his family has sufficient for the month.

I believe, in the future too, cases like this will come up again and again. As long as the Lord graces me on in my service, I will still apply the Lord's mercy upon everyone even as I applied to myself.  Lord, continue to show mercy on us. Praise the Lord for His mercy!

“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

Blessings of Baptisms

In the midst of the ongoing pandemic the burden of the church is still gospel preaching. Be it online or offline, the gospel preaching is the great commission the Lord has commissioned us with. For several months now, the Lord has been leading us on and on in preaching the gospel online on Fridays and also on the Lord’s days.

Besides, the trainees started coming every weekend, on Fridays and Saturdays, and goes out to preach the gospel face to face. Though their have been reservation in the minds of many in fear of Corona virus, there were also the Lord’s chosen ones who were open to listen to the gospel. Now and then, I fellowshiped with the trainees on their progress in the gospel preaching. As we considered together, we have come up with a specific goal for each team as follows:

Each team of two should contact at least ten new ones within two hours, out of which the gospel should be solidly preached to three and gain at least one open contact. There are five teams of two trainees each. And they have a goal of at least two baptisms in a week.

Last week we just agreed on this goal and the Lord truly honored it. As we finalized our goal on Friday, the Lord graced and blessed the trainees to achieve the goal by Saturday when two new ones came, believed and received the Lord, and got baptised. Hallelujah!

It was a great joy for all the trainees and all the saints especially during this pandemic time. The Lord is the Lord and He has His way of gaining people. 

Following this, two sisters who have been shepherded by a family called me up on Monday to confirm that the two new ones would like to be baptised as well. On Tuesday they came and got baptised. This was another great news for the saints in the church in Gurugram. Again despite the pandemic and universal fear of virus, the Lord’s chosen ones still could be saved and be baptised. Hallelujah!

These baptisms were very significant as it confirms the burden we have been trumpeting in the church these days. On the line of gospel preaching, two brothers got baptised, and on the line of shepherding, two sisters got baptised. The  Lord truly honors the burden of the church.

May the Lord continue to bless our burden and our labor for His increase for His testimony.

Marriage Pre-Fellowship

 Serving the Lord as a slave with all humility. Acts 20:19a

In the matter of shepherding I have been reminded again and again by the Lord that I am a "slave". As such, I have no choice but to follow the Shepherd wherever He leads me. This sounds like I have no freedom to choose nor decide for myself.  But actually, I am freed from making my own natural decision and expressing my opinion. It was true freedom indeed from the self. I need not try to exercise my soul-life, but simply, in obedience, follow the Lord's sovereign arrangement.

As the church is growing in life and in numbers, more and more saints need shepherding. A family with two brothers and a sister who are all young adult, educated and settled in their career, and yet not yet married, came into the church life. As they are enjoying the church life and are growing in the Lord, we also care for their marriage. In fact, the eldest brother among them approached me last year concerning his marriage. Since then I have been considering,  and in fellowship, with my brother in the church, we have been praying for him and his siblings for their marriage.

For the past few months, we have been considering for him a sister. Since his parents are not in the church life, we are careful to make sure that all that we do is of the Lord. Therefore, we prayed and waited for the right time to meet the parents first before we go ahead. The sister we considered has fully given herself to the Lord and to the brothers' fellowship. As we are responsible for any proposal we make, we wanted to make sure that we have done the right thing at the right time. Therefore, we met the family of this brother.

Since the siblings have come into the church life leaving their parent's faith which is not orthodox according to the Bible, the father definitely had a say when we visited them. He treated us so badly by trying to argue with us on the topic of the church or Christianity veering away from the main top of the discussion, their son's marriage proposal. It was a unique experience for us too when we were verbally abused and scolded yet we did not open our mouth to counter or defend ourselves. Our burden was not to debate on which Christian group is right or wrong. Our burden was to talk to the parent concerning their children's marriage, and also to get to know the family better so that we can help them in the most appropriate way. Our meeting opened our eyes and we ourselves are the witnesses to the true condition of the family especially the father. In fact, that was exactly why we wanted to meet the father of the brother for whom we are proposing a sister.

I personally took that as a lesson of shepherding as well. Frankly peaking I was not hurt by all that he said, as I knew he has been going through a lot in his life after he broke up with a Christian group and now has been captured by a cultic group. When a brother and I went to fellowship, our burden was not merely for the marriage of his children, but much for the restoration of the family and shepherd them into the church life. For this, we would pay any price as a shepherd who pays the price to search for one lost sheep leaving behind the ninety-nine. The loving heart of the Father has indeed been gradually developed into our hearts. Therefore, our heart was to shepherd the entire family, spiritually in truth and life, and physically, to help all the siblings get married in the church life.

After we met them and were about to leave, the father who abused me, apologized for his behavior and begged for our forgiveness. He even shook my hand before I left the house. As we drove back, we simply prayed for the family that the Lord would come in and recover the father first of all. Later, both their son and daughter sent me a message of apology for their father's behavior with us. I replied both of them back as follows:

Dear Br. D______ and Sis. S______,

Praise the Lord! Thank you for welcoming us to your home.

We appreciate your father as he was genuinely expressing his feeling. We understand the pain he has been going through. We are not hurt by anything he said. In fact, we prayed and prayed before we came and after we left from your home. We are glad that we could talk face to face. We sincerely sympathize with him and pray for your family. 

Please convey my love and thanks to your mom and dad. I personally consider them as my parent too, as your brother in the Lord.

We feel that the Lord is gracing your family for His divine purpose. It would be healthy and proper for you all to have more family fellowship with your father and mother. No argument, yet not compromising on the truths of the Bible, but as children comforting your parent.

In this way, with much prayer, the Lord will heal all the wounds within and fully recovery your family. And the Lord will arrange marriages for the three of you. 

Much grace, brother and sister.

Romans 14:17-19

17. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

18. For he who serves Christ in this is well pleasing to God and approved by men. 

19. So then let us pursue the things of peace and the things for building up one another.

Now, the matter is in the Lord's hand. I felt I have done my best. And now the sister we considered has to take the final call if she is willing to continue with the brother whose family we have met. If this is truly of the Lord, the Lord will work it out. Otherwise, the Lord's will be done. Meanwhile, I have experienced a lot. That itself is already worth it. Praise the Lord for the lesson of shepherding! 

Wedding Ring

It was on the 10th of October, last Saturday, that a sister and a brother were joined together in marriage. The family had invited a brother and me to witness the marriage and also participate in the wedding in sharing the word of God and pray for the couple. My portion was to bless the ring and help them exchange the ring with a marriage vow. As brothers in the Lord taking care of the saints, we both participated and carried our assigned responsibility.

Since the marriage was conducted during COVID-19 where the restriction has been imposed on public gathering, no other saints in the church apart from both of us could attend. Moreover, this being a family arrangement, we complied with the arrangement. Our presence to grace the occasion and bless the couple with the family was the best that we could do.

My brother gave the word of God from the Bible explaining the spiritual significance of marriage, pointing to Christ and the church. And I gave the word on the significance of the wedding ring as a type of the sealing Spirit that seals the ones who wear the ring and claims the right of ownership. God, our Father, has sealed us, all His children, with His sealing Spirit  and claims His right of ownership upon us. Therefore, we all belong to God, as children of God. 

In a similar manner, when the bride and the groom exchanged the wedding ring, they exchanged the right of ownership of one another. The bride belongs to the groom and the groom belongs to the bride. They co-own one another, and they both are owned by God Himself who is the reality of the ring, the sealing Spirit. And I also prayed for the couple on the burden of ownership and oneness, that they both be one with God and one with one another all the days of their lives, that they both be faithful to God and faithfully to one another all the days of their lives, and they both love God and one another to one another all the days of their lives. That was the blessing bestowed on the newly wedded couple based on the truth. 

The Lord has been reminding me again and again of shepherding. According to His word, a shepherd shepherds the sheep by giving them all-inclusive care. When the Lord places one in the responsibility of a shepherd in a local church, he must function likewise, serving as a slave. 

Serving the Lord as a slave with all humility. Acts 20:19a

I am glad that I could be counted worthy to be one of the Lord's slaves to serve in coordination with other slaves in shepherding the saints with all-inclusive care. In fact, this was the second marriage I attended for the same family. The first one was when the elder son got married where we conducted the marriage and also shared the word of God and prayed for the couple. This time it was for the daughter. We did all these with the heart of love, care, and shepherding.  

May the Lord preserve the entire family for His testimony.