Blessed Family: Time Together

Amidst my busy schedule, I time out to spend quality family time together as a whole family.  Last week on my wife's birthday, we visited a new family where we were asked to share testimonies of our salvation, God's call to serve full-time, and how the Lord led us together to be husband and wife. It was no coincidence that we could testify to new ones on my wife's birthday. I bet that is the best way to celebrate a birthday for new ones spiritual births too. After which, we all went to eat out at McDonald's, our children's favorite. Perhaps, this was the first time we ate out as a family after the pandemic struck last year. We had an enjoyable family time.

Yesterday, we decided to paint our house, only the interior walls, though. All my children were so excited to participate in the painting work. Though the house itself needs painting badly as many parts of the wall were stained with painting and drawing from my own children. Now they themselves decided to clean and paint and maintain it clean. I intentionally took the two younger ones to a painting shop and allowed them to choose the color. They decided to go for a lime breeze, light green. In this way, I made them feel important and trust them in their decision-making from the age of 6 and 11. To me, any color is just fine. Yet, through any occasion, I would impart something important to my children and the people around me.

Generally, since we live in a rented house and pay rent, it should have been the house owner's responsibility to do the paint works which is due for years now. But I took that upon myself, pay my own money, and with all my family members took that opportunity to serve and learn together. I could have simply told the house owner to do so, perhaps that was legally correct. Or, I could have simply hired painters to do the work, perhaps, that would be secularly correct too. But, doing it, I would miss all the lessons and opportunities to serve together as a family. 

Though I knew very well that my children could not paint professionally, anyway, I am not looking for professional work. I wanted them to paint their heart out. They were on holiday and wanted to experiment with new things, learn new things, and do new tasks. That itself will give a sense of responsibility and satisfaction. So, I gave full liberty to all my children to paint and work together. We painted the whole afternoon and did the cleaning work of the house. By the way, we also got to deep clean the house and arranged stuff in the house.  It was indeed a wonderful family time together.

I believe such family time will impress them deeply about family values, taking up responsibilities, and learning to serve together as a family. Of course, for all the hard work they have done, today I treated them with their flavors of ice cream. That's a wonderful family life. Praise the Lord for the blessed family!

Lord Jesus, thank You for the family You blessed me with and the time we could psend together!

Serving in Coordination

Last Saturday, we had a day-long meeting, beginning with the brother's fellowship at 6 AM. Later, at 9:30AM we had the church perfecting meeting with the saints in the church in New Delhi. Afterwhich we all ate lunch together, a wonderful time of blending with the saints. And then at 4 PM, we had our church prayer meeting. Then at 6 PM, we had the Christian online seminar. The one-day, full-packed meeting was well coordinated in fellowship in oneness. I personally experienced and enjoyed the Lord's blessing upon all the saints through the coordination.

The meeting could be attended online as it used to be. But we intended that we come together for the sake of blending and uplifting the atmosphere of the meeting. Though it was tiresome for some saints as they had to prepare food and come all the way to be with the saints the whole day, the price they paid yielded the intended result.

The topic was "The Key to Experiencing Christ: the Human Spirit". A brother and I coordinated to release the word of God with translation for 15 minutes each. But within that 7 minutes of releasing the word of God, we enjoyed the Spirit's anointing. The anointing was so rich upon all of us that as we spoke the message, the Lord's speaking was spontaneous. Word by word, there was the strong release of the spirit. As one of the speakers, I could strongly sense the life flowing out by my inner sense within me. There was indeed the ministry of the word. Paise the Lord!.

Behind such a blessed meeting was the prayer of the saints for the meeting, the preparation for the meeting. In fact, we had two rounds of rehearsals, and everything was coordinated so well that the Lord blessed the meeting. 

This is just a model and a picture of how our church life should be coordinated. In prayer, in preparation, in standing together as one, though not all released the word, they stood in oneness with the ones who spoke the word of God. The result is the Lord's commanded blessing upon the brother standing together in oneness, and the building taking place among the saints.

Serving in coordination is the key to the Lord's blessing in the Body. What a wonderful lesson to learn today! Praise the Lord for such a vision and practice in the Body! 

May the Lord grace and preserve us in the Body in oneness to serve in coordination all the days of our lives.

Just As I Am

Today, in my study of the word, I got a light concerning the Lord's choosing of man for His purpose according to His heart's desire, and how He equips His elect for the same. God looks at the heart of man. Whom He has chosen are the ones who have a pure heart before God and man. And the chosen ones always come with a certain character trait. To note a few are "prudent in speech and of good presence and Jehovah is with him."

But Jehovah said to Samuel, Do not regard his appearance and the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For it is not how man sees that matters; for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart. And one of the attendants answered and said, I have just seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing and a mighty man of valor and a man of war and prudent in speech and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him. 1 Samuel 16:7-8

The Lord also prepared His chosen ones through their family background, environmental brought up since their childhood. In fact, everything in such a person's life is the training and preparation by the Lord for His use one day. David being a shepherd was no accident. Only by being such, he learned how to deal with lion and bear, protecting his sheep from these fierce predators. That was how he was trained to one day deal with an uncircumcised Goliath. 

Both the lion and the bear did your servant strike; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the ranks of the living God. And David said, Jehovah, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and may Jehovah be with you. 1 Samuel 17:36-37

Since God had already trained such a one in his natural habitat, there was no need to further equip him to deal with Goliath. He already had the experience of killing lion and bear, and it was no difficult task to kill Goliath. Here is the lesson the Lord taught me. 

Often I used to think, to deal with certain matters I need to be equipped for that matter. Meaning, if David was to deal with Goliath, he should have the competence to deal with it. That's what Saul tried to do. Goliath being heavily armed with his warrior armor, Saul tried to arm David with similar armor, but it didn't work for David. His training was on real-life experience in the wilderness, not in a palace with warlords. David should simply meet his opponent as he was. That was the lesson I learned. 

Come just as you are! The Lord has already trained His chosen ones for His chosen tasks. Simply come just as you are! To put on something one is not familiar with, just to be competent, is to carry an unnecessary extra load. Perhaps, this unwarranted extra burden might only lead to a defeat. When the Lord called, come just as you are. the task at hand will be accomplished because Jehovah is with His chosen ones.

And Saul put his own garment on David, and he placed a bronze helmet on his head and put his armor on him. And David girded his sword over his garment and tried to go, for he had not tried the armor. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go in these because I have not tried them. And David took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them into the shepherd’s bag that he had, that is, in his pouch; and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have defied. Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand. 1 Samuel 17:38, 39, 40, 45, 50

David prevailed over Goliath with just a sling and a stone; no armor needed, no sword, no spear, no shield, no garment, yes, nothing extra was needed. Because he was already trained and equipped by the Lord!

In like manner, I need not bother to get extra "qualification" to do what the Lord called me to do. In fact, I have been considering upgrading my academic qualification to facilitate my service for which the Lord has called me. But the Lord has made it clear to me that He has been equipping me already and that I must come to Him just as I am. If anything extra is needed, He will see to it that I have them too, in time. As of now, I simply must drop the idea or consideration of acquiring extra qualifications with the assumption of meeting extra tasks assigned to me.  

What a light! I am being saved from unnecessary pursuit. To take on whatever is or will be assigned to me, the Lord's presence is all that is needed. The secret to the victory is not what one has or not, but the presence of the Lord. With the Lord's presence, just come as you are. Then, the task is already done!

Lord, I come to You just as I am. All that I need is You and all that You need is me, just as I am. Lord, I come to You just as I am.

Ministry of the Word

I have the privilege of traveling to different parts of India to introduce and distribute the ministry books. While I am not traveling I am still honored to minister the ministry of the word to the saints. Whether I am traveling or not the Lord is gracious to give me the opportunity to participate in the ministry. While I traveled the ministry is to different Christian groups, ministering the word of God, mostly based on my truth constitution as I did not know who I am meeting and what message would be appropriate for them. I followed the inner anointing and minister as the Lord leads inwardly. While I am stationed, I minister mostly to the saints and it's mostly an arrangement in the Body through fellowship that I know what to minister. In fact, I studied first, prayed over, prepared myself, and ministered the word. Either way, I am participating in the ministry of the word. What a blessing!

Once I came back from my ministry literature journey, I was engaged in the local church perfecting meeting, then the Karnataka seekers' meeting, and the church's PSRP meeting. The ministry of the word is so rich that I do not need to produce new teachings per se. I simply have to go through the prepared outlines, pray over, study, enjoy, and minister. In a sense, I need not go to the field to plow, sow, and then reap the harvest. The field has already been plowed, sowed, ripened, and harvested. I simply need to cook the produce of the field and serve it to the saints. I simply inherit from what the brothers have already labored. After all, we are in the same ministry. What my brothers have already worked on, I simply picked it up and reproduced the same thing. The ministry has been attested and approved, it has been experienced by many already, and I am benefiting from the brothers' labor and passing it on to the saints. Praise the Lord!

"Life grows by regulation toward maturity and function" was the message for the perfecting meeting. In this meeting, the regulation was emphasized. The best training is the strictest one. Life grows best in a training environment with strict rules and regulations. 

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

The goal of our growth in life is for our maturity in life and functioning for the building up. Such functioning also depends on our diligence. 

Though I was the one to minister this truth in coordination with a brother, I feel I need this message the most. I am not a teacher though I minister, I am a learner too even as I minister.

Another message I coordinated with a brother is on "THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST", an excerpt from The Basic Elelemtn of the Christian Life Vol. 1.

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

Why do you need the blood of Christ? Because, essentially, fallen man has three basic problems. These three problems involve three parties: God, yourself, and Satan. Toward God, you often sense separation. Within yourself, you often sense guilt. And from Satan, you often sense accusation. These three—separation from God, feelings of guilt, and accusation from Satan—can be three big problems in your Christian life. How can these be overcome? Only by the blood of Christ.

SEPARATION FROM GOD

Because God is righteous, He cannot tolerate sins. God loves you, but He abhors your sins. For God to come, sins must go. There is only one thing in the entire universe that can take away sins—the precious blood of Christ. No amount of prayer, no amount of weeping, no ritual, no penance, no promise to do better, no guilty feeling, no period of waiting—no, nothing but the precious blood of Christ—can remove sins. When you confess your sins, immediately all distance between you and God is gone. If God esteems the blood of Christ sufficient to remove your sins, can you do the same?

GUILT IN YOUR CONSCIENCE

Sins offend God on the one hand and defile us on the other. What is guilt? Guilt is the stain of sins on your conscience. 

Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more will the blood of Christ…purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” 

The blood of Christ is powerful enough to purge, or cleanse, your conscience from every guilty stain. Because Christ’s death has paid the debt of sin, His blood may now wipe out the record of that debt. Remember 

If God forgets your sins, you may forget them also. Don’t remind God of something He has already forgotten. 

ACCUSATION FROM SATAN

Satan, “your adversary…as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). For this warfare, you need the proper weapons. One important weapon which you must utilize is the blood of Christ. Nothing cripples a Christian spiritually more than accusation. 

God’s demand is at once satisfied by the blood. If you confess your sin and claim the precious blood, yet some uneasiness continues to tug at you within, you should stop praying immediately. Do not confess anymore. Rather, turn to the source of the accusation and say something like

this: “Satan, I have confessed my sin to God. He has forgiven my sin, and the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed me from it. The Christian life is a kind of warfare. 

A DAILY LIFE FULL OF GOD’S PRESENCE

By the power of the precious blood of Christ, it is possible for a Christian to live moment by moment in God’s presence.  “Let us come forward…with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” (Heb. 10:22).  “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.” (1 John 1:7)

At the PSRP meeting, I enjoyed ministering on these points which helped me. 

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6

In order to live according to the principle of the tree of life, we need to follow the inner sense of  life—v. 6; Eph. 4:18-19; Isa. 40:31: The sense of life on the negative side is the feeling of death—Rom. 8:6a. The sense of life on the positive side is the feeling of life and peace, with a consciousness of strength, satisfaction, rest, brightness, and comfort—v. 6b.

We learn from Romans 8 that we need to turn our being to the living One who dwells in our spirit and stay one with Him—v. 6b; 1 Cor. 6:17. When we set our mind on the spirit, we have life, peace, light, comfort, and strength; our thirst is quenched, and our hunger is satisfied—Rom. 8:5, 6b; John 4:14; 7:37-38; Matt. 5:6. When we set our mind on the spirit, our mind is full of life and peace—Rom. 8:6b: We have peace because there is no discord between our outward behavior and our inner being—v. 6b; Isa. 9:6-7; 26:3. When we speak with our mind set on the spirit, life is embodied in our words because we are one spirit with the Lord—Prov. 18:21; John 6:63; Eph. 4:29.

A Timely Promise

Every place on which the sole of your foot treads I have given to you, as I promised Moses. Joshua 1:3

Today, the 20th of March 2021, as I was reading my bible, as usual, a verse caught my attention and upon careful study, it became a Rhema word to me from the Lord. It is the Lord's promise for all the ministry journeys He has been leading me and the brothers in coordination in the Body, with the Body, and for the Body.

In fact, of late I have been reconsidering the ministry literature journey that I had undertaken. Though the burden was to introduce and distribute the ministry literature to different people at different places, there also is a need for considerable sales as it cost money to undertake such journeys. Nothing is free, everything comes with a price, even a big price in terms of finance, time, and energy too. I just expressed my feeling about being more on the propagation of the ministry rather than the sales,  to the brother coordinating with me. Yes, initially there needs to be some investment in terms of money and time. Even as I reckon all the gifts of ministry books to some Christians as a foretaste for them, it was indeed a "time-bomb" spiritually to explode one day for the Lord's testimony through whom these books would sow the seed of the ministry and grow and develop. When in such mood and consideration, the word of God came as a timely reply to my concerns about the recent distribution journey where we gave out more books as gifts rather than sales.

The word of God is plain and clear. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads I have given to you. As I recollected the names of the places that I undertook recently, they are very encouraging. It spans over four north Indian Hindi-speaking states, namely Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Bihar, so far this year. I believe the promise holds true for all the past journeys and the future journeys to happen as He leads on and on. So far the names of the place that we actually trod with the soles of our feet are Bilaspur, Khariar Road, Korba, Raipur, Ranchi, Khunti, Tatanagar, Patna, Dehri On Sone, Itwa, Bahuara, Talimpur, Rajewpur, and Sirhara. The Lord will raise up His testimony in all these localities. That's the promise of God, and He will do it in time!

Besides, the word of God further states:

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall muse upon it day and night so that you may be certain to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and take courage; do not be afraid or dismayed. For Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:8, 9

The condition for the fulfillment of the promise is to abide by the word of God, which today is the abiding in the Lord as the Spirit in my spirit, and my obedience to all His words. With such conditions fulfilled, the promised prosperity and success will be fulfilled. His word says, "you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success". Once in obedience I submit to His word, it is I who will make my way prosperous, and then I will have success. This is the principle of incarnation, God working with man, and man working with God. For God to gain what He wants to gain He must first gain man through whom He can gain what He wants to gain.

May the will of the Lord be done. May His promise be fulfilled. May He gain me to gain what He wants to gain through me.

An Impromptu Interview

It was last Thursday, while I was winding up the urgent things that needed to be done before I left for a week's ministry literature journey when brothers from New Delhi came to visit my family to interview my wife for a gospel propagation work. The burden is to hear from those who have served and who are still serving in India in the gospel move. This interview was concerning their living, burden, and the situation, perhaps, information or testimony to others to pray for India. Better would be that this will work out to burden many young saints to love the Lord and love what the Lord loves, to preach the gospel, and raise up the Lord's testimony as a preparation for His coming again. The series of interviews is title "Flying Eagles" translated into English, verbatim. 

As I welcomed and made arrangements for the hospitality to the visiting saints since they came to the literature office where the video recording of the interview also took place, I deemed it my responsibility to treat the saints well. I did my bit and was rushing to get ready to eat my lunch and catch my flight. Then I was informed that before I left, I need to be interviewed as my wife was also to be interviewed. At such a busy and tight scheduled, I still tried my best to be ready for the interview.

There I was, dressed up formally, and faced the camera for the interview alongside my beloved wife. The inward preparation I had was, I exercised my spirit, turning to the Lord, and let the Lord answer in my answering to the interviewer's questions. The first question was to describe how the Lord began His move in the North East, especially, the present day of the church in Aizawl. My innate reply was, it was the move of the Spirit, seeking and searching for the ones He had already predestinated. And I explained, to the best of my knowledge, how the Lord moved in the hearts of some seekers, through the ministry literature, The Orthodoxy of the Church by brother Watchman Nee. And explained further how this book which was translated to Mizo became instrumental in raising up a good number of local churches all over Mizoram. I also described what transpired when I first visited Aizawl in 2006, then in 2007, and how the church was recovered into the fellowship of the Body of Christ.

The second question was how I got married to a sister from Taiwan; what was my feeling when we went through the proposal, and how it all worked out that we both could get married and be brought together for the Lord's move in India. I gave the testimony of my experience of the Lord's was leading me in my marriage, and how the Lord did the preparatory works in me by dealing with my self with all its preferences and choices. And that how the Lord began to gain me even in my marriage for His testimony. I also testified to the Lord's specific leading in how I actually said amen to the brother's proposal for my marriage with a single word "amen". And how the Lord has been leading me on and on and blessed my family life till today, and that the Lord will do so in the coming days. 

This was my first impromptu interview with the historical fact as my objective description and my exercised spirit as my subjective expression. With this impromptu interview, I fulfilled my responsibility based on the brother's request. I hope this would mean something to someone, someday.  

Our Coordination: The Lord's Move in Bihar

Three weeks ago while we were in Ranchi, as we fellowshipped the burden for visiting Bihar came up. Later, we prayed about it and decided to pursue it further. As I brought the matter before the Lord in prayer, I got a confirmation in my spirit that we should plan and proceed. Then I checked with my brother if he should draft the letter to be written to the particular organization we planned to visit to seek an appointment. His immediate reply was that I should do the drafting. Though I tried to make excuse by stating that I had other things to do, the Lord led me to simply take that as His leading and I replied back with the word, "Amen". The next day, I drafted the email, we fellowshipped about it, and then finally sent the following:

To:

CEO and General Secretary

GEMS, India

Subject: Seeking an Appointment

 

Dear Brother,

Greetings in the Name of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ!

We are a full-time serving staff from Amana Literature and Rhema Literature Distributors. We are writing to you to seek an appointment and fellowship with you concerning the Christian literature we have been translating and distributing in India, particularly the Hindi literature, of books by Brother Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. We have the Hindi literature both for FREE mass distribution and for SALES as well.

We are very impressed by the Lord's work through you and the ministry the Lord, as the Head of the Body, has apportioned to you. We look forward to the privilege of meeting with you and having an eye witness to the works the Lord has been doing through you and introduce to you the books we are distributing.

Our tentative plan is to visit you between 11 (Thursday) and 12 (Friday) of March 2021, according to your availability, or you may kindly suggest your convenient date. Please do let us know of your availability so that we can plan our journey.

Awaiting your reply and looking forward to meeting and fellowshipping with you.

Thank you, Brother.

Your Brothers in Christ,

Palmeichung Rongmei, Director - Amana Literature

Babu Venkadesh, Managing Partner - Rhema Literature Distributors

A. Fredrick Melwin

   

A brief description about us: 

Amana Literature is a representative of Living Stream Ministry that is primarily dedicated to the publication of the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and publishes the books of Living Stream Ministry with permission. Just as these two servants of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully continued the heritage of ministry that the Lord delivered to the church, it is our aim to follow their faithful pattern by distributing the riches of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ. Their writings focus on the enjoyment of the divine life and on the building up of the church, the goal of the work of God with man in this age. 

Amana Literature has one goal: to supply spiritual food for the nourishment of all believers that they may grow in the divine life for the sake of the building up of the Body of Christ. Amana Literature - The Ministry of the Word for All! 

 

Rhema Literature Distributors is a group of believers throughout the earth engaged in a single mission - to actively distribute the highest quality Christian literature. In over 100 countries and more than 35 languages, we distribute according to a simple principle - all our literature is given away completely free. We are distributing the books that have helped us the most to understand the Bible and to know and experience Christ in our daily life. In particular, we work closely with Living Stream Ministry to distribute a number of key titles by their authors. We are a nonprofit charity whose distribution is made possible by gifts from believers and churches from all over the world. They have entrusted us with the means to be a free and broad channel of supply to all those seeking to know God in a deep and satisfying way. In India, free distribution of books is carried out in 8 languages. Free Christian Books | Rhema Literature Distributors (rhemabooks.org)

After a few more exchanges of emails, the plan was confirmed to visit GEMS in Dehri On Sone from 12 to 14 March 2021. 

One thing I experienced very particularly was when we were asked to share a message on the Lord's day even before we met them. This was the first time in my life in which I was asked to share a message in a big gathering by a well-known Christian leader even before we actually met and fellowshipped. When I took the matter to the Lord in prayer, the Lord's speaking was definite: He is a member of the Body so are you. It is I, the Head(Christ), who arranges the meeting. Then, I was comforted and confirmed of the Lord's leading and trust the Lord for His fulfillment. The Lord also gave me the burden to share on the three subjective signs of the Lord's called ones in Exodus 4. So I fellowshipped with my brother and prepared accordingly.

We visited and experienced the Lord's leading step by step as blogged in http://palmeichung.blogspot.com/2021/03/gems-visit.html

After the visit, we wrote back a mil of thanks today, A Note of Thanks!

Let brotherly love continue. Heb 13:1

Dear Bro. Augustine Jebakumar,

Thank you so much for your time of brotherly fellowship and prayer. It was indeed the Lord's grace and sovereignty that we could meet and fellowship face to face at your residence. We were so thankful to the Lord for all that He has been doing through you and the saints serving in coordination with you.

 

May the Lord continue to grace and bless you and the ministry He has apportioned to you in His Body for the building up of His Body. 

And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers,

For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11,12

 

We pray that the little that we could offer in the form of Christian literature will be a blessing. Should there be any need for more literature in English, Hindi, Tamil, or any other Indian language, please do let us know. As much as the Lord graces us, we would willingly participate in whatever we can, within our capacity.

Let brotherly love continue. Hebrews 13:1 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your (our) spirit, brothers. Amen. Galatians  6:18

Our prayers will be with you and for the Lord's move in the Hindi-speaking belt of North India, especially Bihar.

Note: Attached are the photos we took on 13th and 14th March 2021.

Thank you, Brother!

Your Brothers in Christ,

Palmei, Babu, and Fredrick

Our brother in Patna who just had shifted from Ranchi became a stepping stone for His move to Bihar. And another contact through two sisters in Gurugram became another stepping stone for the Lord's move. In marvelous ways, the Lord worked everything together for good. The saints were praying as we traveled to different parts of Bihar; Patna, Dehri On Sone in Rohtas, and Itwa in Chakia. So it was the move in the Body, with the Body, and for the Body!

Ministry of the Word Literature Journey to Bihar

In Itwa, Bihar, where we visited for the ministry literature distribution, our host had welcomed us into their family and their church meeting for fellowship. Every morning they have the family habit of getting up at 5 AM for a family devotion, followed by prayer, personal Bible study and prayer, then household work, and then going to village by village for the gospel ministry. 

In our two nights stay there, we enjoyed wonderful hospitality according to the standard of our host, and we adapted to it with the all-fitting life of the Lord Jesus in us. When a special seekers meeting was arranged, we introduced the free Rhema books, and then I ministered on the three aspects of salvation: the eternal salvation, the daily salvation, and the household salvation.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life. 

Philippians 2:12-13

12. So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13. For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure. 

Acts 16:30-31

30. And leading them outside, he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household. 

This simple message has touched the hearts of the Christian leaders so much so that they came to fellowship with me on how much blessed they were through the ministry of the word. After this, our host's trust in us in Biblical understanding, expositions, and revelation of the truths had grown so much that they requested us to stay one more day and minister the word with them to the new people. In fact, our spiritual bond became so strong in just a day's time that we fellowshipped dearly as brothers in Christ on many family and spiritual matters.

In two mornings' devotion, we shared on Christ making His home in our hearts and calling upon the name of the Lord, which was also new to them. Immediately, they began to practice calling upon the name of the Lord. In fact, as they called audibly, they also experienced the Lord intimately. The head of the father was the one most happy in calling upon the Lord’s name. He called the Lord’s name over and over again even when we met new people together during the two days of ministry.

Above all, we also met with a brother, known as Panditji, from Bhillai, Chattisgarh, who has been testifying again and again of his testimony of salvation in Christ Jesus. He served as a Hindu priest for over 25 years until he experienced the true and living God, the Lord Jesus Christ, just five years ago when in the midst of depression and at the brink of committing suicide. In his preaching, he explained the vanity of many rituals he had done in a religion filled with darkness and superstition and joyfully testified of how Jesus is the fulfillment and reality of all types, forms, figures, and prophecies in the Old Testament, and that in today's New Testament age, Christ is all and Christ is in all. He has the answer for every religious deed he had done in blindness and darkness in the past. Now, the great Light, Jesus Christ, has shown on Him and he is a changed man altogether. It was a new experience to learn and serve with such a brother. 

I have also gifted the key brothers, a few selected ministry books in Hindi and English. Though I did not minister on the truth concerning the church this time, the truths in the form of books were gifted to them as the ministry seeds. I believe, one day, it will bear forth fruit, and the Lord's testimony will be raised up all over Bihar.

Praise the Lord for the ministry of word journey to Bihar!

Gospel Trip to Bihar

A brother who was known to me through two sisters in the church in Gurugram was introduced to me a few months ago. This time in our trip to Bihar, I checked with him if we could pay a visit to him. It so turned out to be the Lord’s arrangement that as I contacted him he immediately invited us. So we visited him though we need to travel over five hours from Patna.

It was a beautiful bus ride from Patna to Chakia, and then to Chorma, and then to a remote village in Itwa. The moment we arrived, after all the formal greetings, we went to a village for the gospel ministry. I was surprised to behold a crowd of about 100 people gathering, most of whom were not even baptized yet, and mostly, village women of low stature. Yet, they loved the Lord and were simply following the leading of the brothers in singing, testifying, ministering of the word, and prayer. Later, I came to know that the gathering commenced with a sister whose son had once been possessed with demons to the extent that he was bound with a chain. This one was miraculously delivered by the prayer of two brothers over the phone and one brother who visited him. This marvelous deliverance initiated the meeting in that sister's compound. This was a weekly meeting and the Lord has been preparing the people there for Him; a good number of them have received the Lord, among whom the solid ones have decided to take water baptism.

The next day we were supposed to leave for Patna. But in the morning I received an SMS from my flight company that it would be delayed by 12 hours. Similarly, my brother's flight was also canceled and he booked for the following day. We didn't know why our flight timings had to be postponed. But the brother invited us to stay for another night and visit another village. I believe that was the Lord’s sovereignty. 

The village we visited welcomed us with about 500 seeking gospel friends waiting for us. They were fully packed in a makeshift tin-roofed with bamboo pillars, which we learned later that was built by a father and daughter who were instrumental in gathering the people together. This father-daughter duo was saved through the elder daughter who was delivered from demon possession. That led them to believe into the Lord Jesus Christ and later many villagers followed suit. Now the number had grown up to 500+ and increasing!

In the spur of the moment, I was asked to share my testimony of salvation, which I did impromptu, trusting in the Lord’s testifying through me. Then, there was singspiration in local Bhojpuri dialect, the Word of God ministered by two brothers, and ended with prayer. The move of the Spirit was so strong that many of them were being delivered from their bondage of religion as evidently seen in their obedience to the word of God, in doing away with the superstitious red thread tight around their hands. We also led them to call upon the name of the Lord besides sharing the gospel. A man, in particular, who was chained with an iron rod by his family due to his mental condition, somehow escaped and participated in the meeting. On hearing the gospel of Jesus who delivers people from the bondage of Satan, he received, believed, and called upon the Lord’s name and was saved. Following which his chains were removed as well. To this, he was in tears of the joy of being freed!

The Lord intended that we eye-witnessed what He has been doing in the villages of Chakia, Bihar, of His great deliverance from darkness to light, from Satan to Christ, and from superstition to the Holy Scriptures. There, the Spirit moves and people came in hundreds to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!

I could hardly believe my eyes as I witnessed the Lord’s move in North India among the Hindi-speaking people.

Praise the Lord for this miraculous gospel trip to Bihar!

GEMS Visit

Gospel Echoing Missionary Society(GEMS) has been pioneering the gospel move in Bihar and other parts of North India and has been actively involved in uplifting the local people in the field of education, medicine, and many other social and rehabilitation work in addition to evangelism. I have heard about them and the founder Bro. Augustine Jebakumar for many years now. It was only in the past two weeks that we decided to come and pay a visit to him and the organization. 

Then, I started collecting information about GEMS through some known contacts, did some research online, and in fellowship with my fellow brothers, wrote an email to the brother and to their office for an appointment. To my surprise,  I got back an immediate reply from Bro. Jebakumar himself. Then, as he instructed I wrote to the concerned person for visit related to ministry literature, and finally decided to come to visit.

A few days later, I received a call from their office confirming our visit and was surprisingly asked to share a message on the Lord’s day. It was a little surprising as we never met yet, but assigned to minister in a congregation of his stature. The first time in my life, we were being assigned to speak not knowing each other. Then, I fellowshipped with the brothers coordinating with me, and we prayed together for the Lord's definite leading in this matter. Meanwhile, all other practical things of travel itinerary and books sending were done, and prayer burden released for the saints to pray.

The day before yesterday, we were picked up from Patna and arrived at GEMS Campus, Dehri On Sone. Yesterday, we had a series of meetings and fellowship with different brothers. In all the meetings, we experienced the Lord’s presence and enjoyed the fellowship.

Our first meeting was an orientation by a brother concerning the founder's life story and how the Lord led him and the society he started, decade by decade from 1972 till date. Then, we had a campus tour with a brother briefing us on the activities of the various departments. 

In the afternoon, we had an important meeting with the key leaders of the organization. We introduced the ministry books in Hindi and in English as well. They also clarified the soundness of the teaching the ministry books uphold and its acceptance among various Christian groups. On being asked about our basic "doctrinal" belief, I explained that we hold onto the sixty-six books of the Bible as God’s word without overstretching any point of truth nor undermining others. And explained further, the ministry books we introduced were all for the supply of life to all the children of God. Besides, I also clarified a few other questions related to the ministry of brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. Then, the key brothers have peacefully agreed to accept the ministry books, and after further studies, they would place orders for their libraries, missionaries, and different local churches. Out of the deep burden that the ministry of the word must be tasted by as many children of God as possible, I have presented a set of Hindi and English books for their campus library. It indeed was a wonderful and important meeting the Lord led us through with key directors.

Then, we met with Bro. Augustine Jebakumar and presented him the Holy Bible, Recovery Version, along with some selected books by Bro. Watchman Nee and Witness Lee with a brief introduction of each. As brother enquired to know more about the impact of the ministry books in our lives, the lives of the saints, and how we serve the Lord in cities like Delhi and Gurugram, we gave testimonies as answers to all his queries. He also shared his precious experiences and burdens he has concerning the Lord’s move in North India. We all enjoyed the wonderful fellowship for about two hours. We then requested our brother for prayer and took a photo for remembrance together.

Today, on the Lord’s day, our brother introduced us to the church gathering of about a thousand believers present at the auditorium and it was also streamed live, perhaps, or recorded for other "satellite churches." The word we ministered was on the service of the Lord’s called ones, from the life of Moses, the three subjective signs of the Lord’s called ones with the cutting and matching in Exodus 4. To complete the sharing of the truth with subjective experience, I also shared my testimony of the Lord’s calling, by throwing my "staff" and picking it up by the tail, and using it for the Lord’s service. 

We then had another round of campus tours, enjoyed lunch together with two young brothers, and then left for Patna. It was like a fairy tour. The Lord had marvelously worked out everything in His own time and in His best way. All glory to Him! Amen!

The visit to GEMS was indeed a gem. May the Lord bless all the saints with the ministry of the word for the growth unto the building up of the Body of Christ. 

Marriage

On the 28th of February, I saw the desperate post of a sister of her wanting to get married. In the church-life, we have a good number of single brothers and sisters who really need help in marriage matters. They have been enjoying the church-life and are going on with the Lord, but for some reason, they could not break through in marriage matters. Some of them have been proposed for their marriage but they outrightly rejected for the reasons best known to them. But as I understood their situation, it was simply because they were expecting a "better" one, they already harbored in their hearts, their own standards, who would match them.

I was so burdened to post in the church's WhatsApp group to express my feeling and burden. In response, I posted the following, it also is based on my experience of how the Lord dealt with me and led me for my marriage.  

A Word of Love to All the Single Saints

As we pray for your marriage:

Consecrate yourself fully to the Lord without any reservation.

Pray for the perfect will of the Lord to be done; NOT your choices, likes, types, or preferences.

Give up your opinion and hidden standard of who or what kind of person you like to get married to, to the point that you can simply amen whoever the Lord arranges. 

Trust the Lord’s sovereign arrangement, He knows what is best for you. Don't trust your own "feeling or discernment"; only God knows the past, present, and future, and the real condition of everyone. 

As a preparation, it may be helpful to read:

Messages for Building Up New Believers, Vol. 2

https://www.ministrybooks.org

Message 30: Marriage

Message 31: Choosing a Mate

Except from the Ministry:

In the Bible, Jacob's marriage to Rachel was a matter of his own selection, whereas Isaac's marriage to Rebekah was a matter of God's selection. The one who had his own selection suffered much, but the one who accepted God's selection did not suffer at all. This proves that God's selection for us is the best choice. The more we exercise our preference in choosing a spouse, the more we should be prepared to suffer. (CWWL 1971, vol. 3, p 142.)

Much grace to all.

Pray that this year the Lord will open the way for the single saints to get married.

_____________________________

Hebrews 13:4

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and the bed undefiled*; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. 

2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not become dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?

The next day, as the follow-up of what I had posted on marriage, I quoted from the ministry and posted another excerpt on marriage.

MARRIAGE

Marriage Being Ordained by God

1. “Jehovah God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper as his counterpart” (Gen. 2:18).

When God created man, He saw that it was not good for man to be alone, so He determined to make a helper for man as his counterpart. This shows that marriage is according to God’s divine and holy ordination. Marriage was ordained by God when God first created man. Marriage did not come in after the fall of man, nor is it based on the lusts of man. Marriage was ordained by God for man in creation, and it is a primary matter in our human living. In our living, only creation is higher than marriage, and all other matters are headed up by marriage. The origin of man was through creation; the continuation of man is through marriage. In the beginning God created man, but the continuation and propagation of man is through marriage. Therefore, marriage is important to God, and He ordains that man marry.

God ordained man to have a helper as his counterpart because it was not good for the man to be alone. Being alone is not good for several reasons. It is not good in regard to reaching God’s goal, and even more, it is not good in regard to man himself. *Both physically and emotionally, in human living and human affairs, it is not good for man to be alone. Therefore, God determined to make a helper as a counterpart for man.*

2. “He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife; the two shall be one flesh’” (Matt. 19:4-5).

In the beginning God not only ordained that man have a helper as his counterpart in marriage, He also created them male and female and ordained that the two should be one flesh. Man has an inward need for marriage, which comes from God’s creation. God created this need in human nature. The Bible reveals that God’s goal in the universe is with man. In order for God to accomplish His goal in the universe, He must gain man, and in order to gain man, He must ensure that the man He created for His purpose continues and propagates through marriage. Therefore, God not only ordained marriage; He also created a need for marriage within man.

God’s creation of man was very special. He created man so that a male and a female would need each other in order to be a complete person by becoming one flesh. According to the teaching of the Bible, neither a female nor a male is a complete person. In order to be complete, a male and a female must join together as one. Just as two halves of a watermelon are needed in order to be a complete watermelon, only a man and a wife are a complete person from God’s point of view. A brother once invited a couple over for dinner, but the husband came without his wife. The brother mentioned to his guest that only half of a person came. According to the Bible and God’s original ordination, I felt that this word was correct. God wants male and female to become one flesh; therefore, He wants man to marry. Marriage is God’s original ordination.

The Scripture quoted by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 19:5 was in response to a question concerning divorce. In His word the Lord acknowledged God’s original ordination concerning marriage. Furthermore, the Lord indicated that man should honor God’s original ordination concerning marriage. In the New Testament the Lord’s consideration of the importance of human marriage matched God’s consideration in creation.

3. “Let marriage be held in honor among all” (Heb. 13:4).

This word was spoken by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament through the apostle. It shows that the Holy Spirit, just as God in creation and the Lord Jesus in the New Testament, considers marriage to be an important human matter. The apostle said that marriage should be held in honor among all. Another translation of this word is “let marriage be held in all honor.” No one should despise marriage, and nothing related to marriage should be despised, because the Holy Spirit says that marriage should be held in all honor among all. This is the first relationship in human relationships. It comes out of God’s holy ordination. We absolutely must not consider marriage as being something unholy.

4. “Teachings of demons...who forbid marriage” (1 Tim. 4:1-3).

Marriage was ordained by God for man so that man could accomplish His goal. In contrast, the forbidding of marriage comes from demons. Demons have a desire to destroy the accomplishment of God’s goal, which depends upon human marriage, so they forbid people to marry. They not only forbid people to marry but also teach the forbidding of human marriage as a doctrine. People practice this doctrine in Buddhism, Catholicism, and other religions. Attacks on this divine matter of God’s ordination come from enemies who have an intention to destroy God’s goal by causing people to marry loosely or by forbidding them to marry. We should be aware that an ideology not to marry comes from demons, God’s enemies.

5. “If you do marry, you have not sinned; and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned” (1 Cor. 7:28).

Since marriage is according to God’s ordination and should be honored by man, no one should consider a proper marriage as sinful. Only a filthy or unstable mind will consider a proper marriage of a man and a woman as a sinful thing.

We should not have the thought that those who love God should not marry. This is not God’s thought. If we follow this thought back to its root, it comes from demons. Without marriage, there would be no propagation, and without propagation, the human race would end, and there would be no one through whom God could accomplish His goal in the universe. Therefore, the matter of marriage is not only right but also necessary in God’s eyes.

https://www.ministrybooks.org/index.cfm

(Excerpt from Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, vol. 3, ch. 33)

I believe some of them would be helped by the burden released on marriage. I prayerfully look to the Lord that this year 2021, all the single saints can get married and many new families are raised up to bear the Lord's testimony here in the church in Gurugram. As being burdened for this matter, I also pray that the Lord would lead me through in discerning the Lord's sovereign arrangement of matching the single saints to get married. This is one important function in shepherding.

Grace me Lord to shepherd the single saints for their marriages.

Lesson on Faithfulness

On the 26th of February, I received an email that required my immediate attention. It was related to signing an official document for a brother who is applying for a business visa to India for his official trip. With the aftermath of the recent pandemic, it has been so uncertain of foreign travels and countries' relationship; economic and political. Therefore, the matter was deemed urgent.

Had it not been for its urgency, I could have waited and took the way of  pick-up service from FedEx company, but that would be a day late. I took the burden upon myself and would not take any chances. After finding out FedEx detail in Gurugram, I went by scooty myself to book the document for sending. To my surprise, the road that led to the office was just closed as construction and rennovation works started on that very day I went. After a little hurdle to reach the office I was told the office had already shifted to another location. I was tempted to give up the idea. But the thought of faithfulness took over my mind. And I determined to finished the work I was to do. Come what may, I would still finish the work I set out to do. So I would not budge an inch.

Blocked road, polluted and congested road, I had to brace them all, and searched for the office new location. Finally, I found and send the documents by FedEx. I just felt a sense of joy and relief after the work was carried out. Not to boast nor to pride in, but an accomplished task. I have been grace to be found faithful in what I am assigned to. And I would choose to be faithful, trusting in the Lord's grace in all things.

This little experience may seem trivial, but it is in matter like this that one's character has been put to a test. By all means, I would do my best to pass the test. This is a matter of faithfulness. I'd rather pay any price and be found fatiful than take the easy way. In this too, I learned the lesson of faithfulness. 

Lord, grace me to be faithful in all things by experiencing Your faithfulness. 

Copyright Agreement

As a serving one in the literature service, there was a need for me to get a copyright agreement between our main publisher LSM, and all our translators sign the copyright agreement. The matter was first brought up many years ago when brother Robin Fenwick was still alive and serving in India. The work was initiated but was never executed. Last year, in one of the literature fellowships, it was brought to notice the need for carrying out this exercise. 

I took that as a challenge and an opportunity to learn how to do things properly especially in legal matters. I started looking at the draft that was given to me. I did research online on copyright laws of India and a few other intellectual property laws with the many rights that exist in the publication work. Then, I came up with a draft and presented it to the brothers. LSM then consulted their intellectual property lawyers and gave me a go-ahead in this regard. 

First, I created an online data entry form for all the serving ones to fill online. Then, I sent a mail to all the translators for signing the copyright form. Meanwhile, I consulted two lawyers and personally went to the court to find out the practical detail of making the copyright agreement legally valid. 

The first batch of signed copyright agreements came in. Then, I need to follow up with many others who did not respond on time. I personally checked the documents one by one, page by page, and made sure that things were done properly. Then I realized that the Bible translators need to sign an agreement on their Bible translation work. The entire process was redone again for the New Testament Bible translation team. 

Still, there were some who did not read the email properly or who did not follow the instruction given to them in signing this copyright agreement. Those were identified, and I had to contact them and asked them to do their works properly. I ended up visiting the court here in Gurugram four times until all the copyright agreements were signed, stamped, and notarized. 

Then these documents have to be cross-checked one by one, page by page again, then scanned, and checked again, and finally organized properly and submitted to LSM. 

During this process of four months, a few important points were followed strictly:

Do it right. Do not take a shortcut. The longest and difficult ways are often not the easy way, but it's always worth the price in the end. 

Be faithful and diligent in all the works assigned to you or to your responsibilities. In minute and material matters, one's faithfulness and quality of work is tested.

Pray and look to the Lord for all things, and experience His grace all the way long.

I had a sense of joy and satisfaction after the fifty translators have signed their copyright agreement. In the process, I learned my spiritual lessons, and officially my responsibilities have also been carried out in the best possible way.  It was on 3rd March 2021 that the final scanned PDF copies were sent to LSM. And the reply I received from the brothers reminds me of the word in Matthew 25:21, 23. 

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.