Wake Up Call!

Today, we had a brothers meeting in Delhi as a follow up of the training we had seven weeks ago. The burden was a review of what transpired since the last meeting and how much we have progressed in carrying out the shepherding of the dormant saints. The reason for such an exercise was to bring the saints into the practical building and blending life of the church. 

In the two hour and half session. There were testimonies, a scriptural review of the ministry, and a respeaking of the Lord’s uptodate speaking. 

What woke me up spiritually was on some of the points of fellowship. A revisitation of the practice of the God-ordained way and a statistical analysis of the increase in the Lord’s Day meeting as compared to the names in the name list. One key practical point noteworthy was the brothers' labor in shepherding the saints, especially the dormant ones.

As I considered the church in our locality, the practical step we have been taking, the labor we have been puting in to visit the new ones or the dormant saints, I was enlightened of my own shortcomings. In fact, I was chastened through the brothers' fellowship, particularly in the burden of visitation. 

The reason being, I had completely given up on some new ones who I used to visit regularly but they never really were established in the practical church life. Such responses, kind-of, disappointed me and I thought, perhaps, the church life was not meant for them. So, why bother? So, why labor in vain? So, why waste time?

In my disappointment, I deeply felt that my labor did not bear fruits. I gave up on many such ones. I only did one thing, I stull pray for them, at least with a faint hope.

However, recently, through circumstances, a family that I gave up shepherding on, needed my help urgently. As I did my best to shepherd the family, at least, our fellowship was recovered back. By the way, we even stop contacting for years altogether. Praise the Lord, the Lord has His way to shepherd me so that I can continue shepherding others. 

Therefore, right after the brothers' meeting, I felt the burden to visit this particular family. When I checked with my brothers how they felt about visiting the family, they all felt good. So, we visited them at their house which we used to visit regularly fifteen years ago.

Moreover, many other families too, the Lord reminded me to revisit them, shepherd them, and recover them into the flock. Now, with this wake up call from the Lord, I had to deny my self; my feeling and opinion about the new ones, and revisit them again.

On a personal note, I was alarmed by the fellowship of one brother from Delhi concerning the serving ones in his district which he felt was tending towards the way Christianity has been carrying out their "pastoral" responsibilities. Though a new brother, he could sense where the church was heading to. This alarmed me. Though all the functionings of the brothers were spiritual, they over-functioned, may be, and replaced the saints' function. As I heard his fellowship of concern, it also served me as a warning in my own locality. I was alarmed and warned that I might as well be overfunctioning with a legitimate burden of my own for the church. I immediately turned to my spirit and checked with the Lord if I had overfunctioned. It was a wakeup call for me too, an urgent warning! Thank the Lord for such a timely wake up call!

Lord, recover our service according to Your ordained way, save us from the religious way of serving, and also recover all the new ones and the dormant ones. Lord, recover all the saints and their spiritual services in the Body.