Time With Family

Only once or twice in a year I could get to visit my family. And whenever I did too, most of my time was with the saints and new ones. This time the Lord gave me time to spend with my family solidly. At least thrice we sat together for discussion on family matters, and also for prayer. The most solid time was when we sat together one morning, and one night just before I left for Delhi.

The point of fellowship worth mentioning are as thus.

My dad wanted me to inherit a piece of land adjacent to our house which he purchased from my aunty some thirty years ago. As we were discussing the matter the Lord reminded me again and again of the word I spoke to my day in May 2003 when I decided to serve the Lord full time against the wishes of my mom and dad. Though I did not want to disobey them, I could not disobey my God either, who called me to serve on 1 Jan 2003 from the following verse.

Deuteronomy 10:12And now, O Israel, what does Jehovah your God ask of you except that you fear Jehovah your God so that you would walk in all His ways and love Him and serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul;

Since I could not go against the Lord’s call, I spoke by faith to my parent, "Thank you for supporting me till today. From now on, I am serving the Lord and He will provide all my needs. If He blesses me I will share the blessings with you. But I will not receive anything from you from now on."

These words which I spoke by faith came ringing in my ears as my dad proposed to give me an inheritance. Then, I told all my family members, especially the key ones; dad, my younger brother, and elder sister, that I would not inherit the property. Further, I suggested that the three pieces of land be divided among my younger brother, elder sister, and youngest brother. After I made this proposal that I need not be considered for any family inheritance, but gave it to other siblings, such a peace and joy flooded me. I believed the Lord approved of what I spoke by faith. Even my entire family were very happy with my suggestion, otherwise they would never have gotten a property nor get their portion too. I was happy, and the whole family was happy too. I even said, if the Lord would wish me to possess a property He would definitely give me one at His time.

I further suggested that they can change the name of the property to the respective family members' names and settle things once for all.

I also fellowshipped about delivering my brother from his debt. To this effect, I enquired the amount and the detail of the debt that I promised to bail him out. Of course, with a condition that he would not enter into debt ever again. Only the Lord's mercy can fully deliver him so. Later, the Lord graced me to send the specified amount to deliver him from his debt. That was also the Lord's blessing and grace to me and my family.

All these fellowship were very sweet and I could sense the presence of the Lord. Especially I felt that the Lord's anointing was upon me when I said I would not inherit any family inheritance which was in line with the words I spoke by faith when the Lord called me to serve full time. It was a very wonderful fellowship.

May the Lord continue to bless our family for His testimony. It was a wonderful and blessed family time together indeed. 

Fellowship with In-Laws

Fellowship at Lamka

With much burden for the saints, as usual, I visited the church in Lamka. The brothers came together the same night I arrived there for a special time of fellowship. The burden the Lord imparted to me was to take care of the growth in life, especially in truth pursuing and constitution coupled with a proper God-man living. Besides, I also clarified a misunderstanding brought in by some religious fanatic proclaiming that obtaining a national identity number, AADHAAR, is obtaining the mark of the beast, 666. I encouraged the brothers not to be tossed by every wind of teaching. We then concluded the fellowship with a verse from the Bible and prayed together.

Ephesians 4:14-15That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error, But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.

The next day I was fully occupied with family visitations; altogether four families were visited, the closest ones, to my understanding. Later in the night we had a fellowship with the church on the all-inclusiveness of Christ. I released my burden at length expounding

Deuteronomy 8:7-9For Jehovah your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of waterbrooks, of springs and of fountains, flowing forth in valleys and in mountains; A land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees with oil and of honey; A land in which you will eat bread without scarcity; you will not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and from whose mountains you can mine copper.

The saints' responses were so positive and many of them were blessed as they testified after the ministering of the word.

The next day though I intended to leave, I stayed back due to a road block. That gave me even more opportunity to meet four more families, two of them were new, and they later became so open for home meeting. One family especially had been questioning us about our faith as it did not fall in line with many religious practices like Christmas, Good Friday, Ester Sunday, etc. That gave me the ground to open up the Bible and show to them the real significance of the Lord's incarnation and crucifixion, with an emphasis on His resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit. After bringing out some crucial truths, the brother who doubted us commented that we were much more orthodox than the so called mainline churches. Thus, he became very open to us and to the truths of the Bible.

That was the visit to Lamka. I could release my burden for the saints and the new ones.

May the Lord recover all of them for the Lord's testimony in Lamka.

Fellowship at Chandel

This Locality has been in my heart for years now as I used to spend my vacation with my dad as he was posted there while I was in school, and college years too. Though the church in Chandel was raised up few years ago, the saints went through a lot of opposition from the main line churches. Moreover the timing for the local saints to rise up and bear the testimony has not yet reach to fruition. The result was that of maintaining the status quo of a church life by one family. It has been going on this way for years. Last year I did try to visit them but it did not work out. And this year the Lord gave me the opportunity.

I was at my mother's quarter in Leikun, a few kilometres away from the town. I spent time time fellowshipping with my mom who works as a nurse in the defence deployment there. I was in touch with the brothers and they came to visit me. 

The point of fellowship the Lord gave me was on being equipped with the truth. I was so burdened to minister to the brothers the importance of a proper constitution of the word of God and a proper living testimony as Christians. It was not a matter of what high peak truth you profess to preach and propagate, but more of what kind of Christian life you live and what testimony you bear. The brothers were so touched by what the Lord burdened me to fellowship with them in love in a way of shepherding. They themselves acknowledged how they were short in the matter of truth pursuing, constitution, and God-man living. I did give some real life examples and testimonies to strengthen my burden.

The next day they invited me to meet up with some seeking believers in town. A Catholic politician and a Baptist officer were my first time to meet, the friends of our brother. I knew nothing about their background, but the moment I saw them my burden was to minister on the need of growth in life with some relevant Bible verses. Though the friends questioned me on the matter of truth and practice of righteousness I used Bible verses to answer their questions. They were so supplied by the word of God quoted to meet their need at the proper time. At the end of the meeting, they were really humbled and subdued and accepted my proposal; first they should spend adequate time with the Lord in the Word and prayer, and they also should spend time with one another for prayer and fellowship. The meeting was so rich as the Lord's presence was felt richly. May the Lord gain them all for His testimony there.

In the evening I also spent time with the executive members of a religious organisation and expound the matter of God's creation of man for His expression and representation on the earth through the church. After the fellowship they acknowledged that they we were mistaken to reckon us as propagating "false teaching." Now that they came to know the orthodoxy of the Bible we uphold, they feel that the misunderstanding of the church life by the denominations as "anti-Christ" was a gross error on their side, and also the lack of proper explanation of the truth from our side. Anyway past is past. At least now that they were clear, the brothers should go on without any fear to bear the Lord's testimony. 

That night I had fellowship with the lone family who stood for the Lord's testimony and encouraged them to spend more time in the basic practice of the God-ordained Way and an exercise of a God-man living. We then had prayed together and took rest. 

The visit to Chandel was quite fruitful. May the Lord strengthen the saints and bless His testimony in Chandel!

Fellowship at Imphal

It was my younger sister's marriage that brought me back home to Imphal. Though it was supposed to me a family visit, my fellowship with the saints was inevitable. Once I met the saints in Imphal, the word of God just flowed forth like rivers of living water. 

The first fellowship was in the morning when we had a meeting arranged for the my villagers for my sister's marriage. Though it was all an impromptu arrangement, the brothers from the churches in Imphal and Lamka were the source of encouragement and strengthening. When the program was scheduled, I wished and longed for the brothers to be present. Few minutes later they arrived and it was such a relief and joy. We prayed together and fellowshipped for the meeting, with the brothers taking the lead in prayer, speaking, and gracing the meeting. Though I myself was not very clear what to speak, when it was time for me to speak, the only thing I could do was simply preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can testify, it was the Lord behind the scene as many of my villages are yet to believe into the Lord; in fact, we have been praying for their salvation. That gospel message, perhaps, was the first public gospel preaching in a very conservative religious society that my villagers are trapped in till date. May the seed of the gospel sown into them bear fruits one day!

The following Lord's day was very timely for me to release my burden during the prophesying meeting. Though I did not intend to release any specific burden, the general burden of the church led me to minister the word on the line of being measured in the Body in coordination and oneness. One of my cousin brothers seemed to have some misunderstanding regarding the way my sister's marriage was carried out. Though I had no intention to bring this matter up, as I began to speak, I spoke on the matter of the Lord's sovereign arrangement of everything in the Body for the Body. Even as  the elder brother of my younger sister I had no say in what the church had arranged for my sister's marriage in Delhi. I simply amened what the brothers had arranged and it turned out to be very good. The Lord's blessing and sweet presence was there in the meeting, and many saints testified to this fact. 

The point was, in doing anything and everything, it must be by prayer and fellowship in the Body as we are just a member and only Christ is the Head. As such I claim no authority over anybody even on my sister's matter though I have the right to. In the Body, everything is done in fellowship and coordination. After the meeting, my cousin understood the matter and the hidden issues were resolved. And the saints were supplied to with this testimony of being a member of the Body in reality.

Besides, the brothers had arranged for a time of fellowship with the young people for Lord's day afternoon when I ministered on "time with the Lord by calling the Lord's Name, prayer and reading the Bible," and on the next Lord's day again on "Loving the Lord." Another two significant fellowship was in the home of a sister who lost her husband where we encouraged her with the word of God. She even decided to open her home for home meeting and it was carried out a week later. Another meeting was with a police officer who had misunderstanding on the ministry and tried to convince a brother to leave the way of the recovery. With this brother, I shared my testimony as he wanted to know how I ended up in the ministry of the age, the following week on my request he shared his testimony too. Then I shared on the importance of growth in life for a normal Christian life and the orthodox way of meeting as the church on the ground of oneness for the Lord's testimony. 

The fellowship at Imphal was very timely, sweet and fruitful. May the Lord continue to bless the saints in Imphal.

Marriage Message

As soon as we, my younger sister for whose marriage meeting we came and my niece, arrived Imphal, the burden of the day was on how the marriage should be conducted. A healthy discussion at length took place, looking into the minute detail of marriage arrangements, keeping in view the practices of the family and the consideration of the village we hail from. I kept my calm and allowed the Lord to work in His own way.

It was in the morning of the day before the scheduled marriage meeting arranged by the bride's side, we decided to conduct a small "sent-off meeting" for my younger sister. Within few minutes, everything were arranged and I also had to speak from the bride's side. The meeting went well with prayer and support from the brothers from the church in Lamka and Imphal. Though no prior arrangement was made, the presence of the members of the Body was such a comfort. I simply relied on them and we coordinated for the entire meeting. Everything fit in perfectly well in time. Praise the Lord! And I ended up preaching the gospel publicly to all my villagers, especially to the village head-men who were specially seated on the font row. Though I did not really intend to do it, the Spirit led me to do so when I actually stood up to speak. This was the first ever public gospel preaching in the history of our village who has been opposing the gospel of Jesus Christ since the very beginning. (I believe the Lord has been answering our prayer for our village, therefore, He led me to preach the gospel in a marriage sent-off meeting!)

For the main marriage meeting the following, we were escorted to the bride's place by a host of twelve vehicles. I was lodged in the quarter of the meeting hall where the marriage was conducted. The night before I was looking to the Lord in prayer what to speaking within the five minutes given to me to speak from the bride's family side, then the Lord gave me the following verses and burden:

Glory to God: Firstly to give glory to God as all things are out from Him as the source, and through Him as the course, and to Him as the goal. I made it clear that the marriage was God's plan for God's glory. 

Romans 11:36 - Because out from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.  

We are the Lord's: All the family members and all the believers (about two thousands) attending the meeting are the Lord's. It was not a marriage between Naga and Kuki tribe nor between Palmei and Lunkim clan, but between a brother and sister in the Lord in the presence of the church for the Lord's testimony.

Romans 14:8 - For whether we live, we live to the Lord, and whether we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore whether we live or we die, we are the Lord’s. 

Christ First in All Things: Christ must have the first place in everything; in this marriage, in the relationship between husband and wife, in the family, and in the church. Christ is love, peace and joy, therefore, in Christ, there will be love, peace and joy in the family and in the church.

Colossians 1:18 - And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things;  

Live Christ: Since we are out from Christ, belongs to Christ, and Christ being the Head, we must live out Christ in our marriage life, family life and church-life.Philippians 1:21 - For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  

Family of God: The two brothers who stood with me in ministering the word in this marriage are the church brothers from Aizawl and Lamka. I have no blood relationship with them, but they are my dear brothers in the Lord. Therefore, I reckon them as my own family member in the Lord, and they spoke after me from the bride's family side. Matthew 12:50 - For whoever does the will of My Father who is in the heavens, he is My brother and sister and mother. 

This message was loud and clear as I prayed and prepared for the mesaage. The previous night I pray-read these verses, and the light of God shone upon me inwardly. In the middle of the night too, I woke up and prayed over these verses, and in the morning of the marriage day, I enjoyed these verses over and over again. Then when the time came, I simply overflowed the enjoyed of the word of God as my sister's marriage message. This speaking became even more subjective as I shared the same in five different meetings in different localities which I visited after the marriage meeting.

Praise the Lord for His speaking even in "marriage message!" 

Fellowship at Allahabad

It was after the Christian Leaders Seminar that three brothers stayed back to fellowship further with the group whose Pastor was our main coordinator for conducting the seminar. He invited was to minister to his congregation the following Lord's day, each brother ministering the word in one of the three meetings each. As a preparation for what to minister, we fellowshipped and prayed together the previous night. What the Lord burdened us was to minister on strengthening the burden of the experience of the "All-Inclusive Christ." 

Three of us ministered the word in sequence and released our burden. My particular burden for the believers was on the growth in life. As the Spirit led me I ministered extensively with experiences on the essential factors of growth in the divine life. And encouraged all the believers to pursue the Lord in His word unto full maturity. Right after the meeting, a couple came and testified how much touched they were. They even testified that it was their burden for this matter that I spoke out what they had been longing for and even speaking about as they also serves the Lord within their capacity as opportunities arises. They are doctor couple whose husband is working for the military. Despite their busy schedules as Indian Army doctor, they found time to preach the gospel and shepherd new believers. It was also to this couple that I introduced Rhema books and the Recovery Version of the Bible. The brother immediately purchased the New Testament online. 

This one day staying back also gave us the opportunity to fellowship with the main pastor. Few significant things we fellowshipped were: the burden for the distribution of the ministry books all over Allahabad, the burden for sending some twelve brothers for the training to Gurgaon where our training center is, and the burden for conducting seminar in other cities as well.

Though a cordial relationship was established, the crucial points are, the seeing of the vision of the Body of Christ, the oneness of the Body, the practice of the church-life for the building up of the Body of Christ. If not for these crucial points there can be a danger of human organization as a repetition of the degraded Christianity. I only hope and pray that they may see the vision of God's economy, Christ and the church, and be for the Lord's testimony in Allahabad city.