Follow-up Shepherding: Khariar Road

In 2014, through a phone call from a brother, who enjoyed the ministry books distributed by Rhema and who later received the New Testament, Recovery Version, and called for the Holy Bible, Recovery Version, we visited him. Since then, the Lord has been faithfully supplying a group of brothers with the life supply through the ministry of the word. And it was this group of brothers who also left the denomination that we went to visit for a follow up shepherding.

We were welcomed and received by our brothers. Here, the burden was simply to fellowship and encourage them to go on until the time is ripe to fully establish the church. In fact, they have been practising the church life, though few in numbers, and with some brothers whose wives still need to be fully recovered. In our fellowship, we touched various practical points of life and truth. The daily and regular pursuit of the Lord in prayer, the word of God and the ministry, personally and corporately; the fellowship, blending and building up among themselves in oneness; and the functioning of all the members to shepherd the new ones as well as one another. We practically enjoyed the church life with the saints during our visit. 

We also spent time with two new ones: a Christian worker and a new believer's family. With the Christian worker, the Lord led us to share strongly on being poor in spirit and pure in heart.

Matthew 5:3Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
Matthew 5:8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

For reason best known to God and to our new ones, the ministry of the word was very strong. We renounced all impure motives in the name of serving the Lord, of dreams and visions mixed with self seeking ambition and interest. We also ministered strongly on the need to be stripped off of all religious and spiritual baggages; be poor in spirit, leaving everything behind and stretching forward to the things before in pursuit of Christ and the Church; and the need to be pure in heart, and single heartedly seeking nothing but God Himself alone and His economy. After such a ministry we prayed, hoping that our Christian brother would be helped to be poor in spirit and pure in heart, and be simply a brother to blend with the saints in Khariar Road. 

The other family was a new believer's family, who were not yet baptised. To them we shared the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with an emphasis on the regeneration and growth in life. In time, the whole family will be baptised. We leave that to the local brothers' discernment and decision. 

We also spent time with another brother who has an end time ministry background. To him, our speaking was frank and direct, charging him to drop all kind of teachings and focus only on the most important item of God’s economy: the building up of the Body of Christ until we all arrive at the oneness God so desired. 

Ephesians 4:13Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

After such a strong word was ministered, he happily acknowledged the truth and accepted our nourishing shepherding. Though he is much elder to us in age and in experience, he has the heart to receive our fellowship. May the Lord blend him fully with the saints for His testimony in that locality.

As we all prayed together a strong prayer for the full recovery of the church in Khariar Road, the new ones and new localities we visited, and also for Chhattisgarh and Odisha, we also had some practical fellowship with the brothers for their weekly coming together for prayer, corporate truth pursuing with their wives, and the brothers fellowship, besides the Lord's day meeting. And having thus released our burden, we all headed back for our own localities.

Praise the Lord for the recovery of the church in Khariar Road!

Follow-up Shepherding: Raipur with New Ones

As we came to this city, before we could meet the saints, we were given hospitality in the house of a brother's relative. With this family, we shared personal testimonies to encourage them in their Christian lives. Since the son wanted to serve the Lord, we encouraged him to pray and seek the Lord's leading so that he could serve in the way he ought to serve. Besides, we fellowshipped with them the need for daily enjoyment of the Lord in the word of God and in prayer, and we gifted brother Watchman Nee's biography, A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age. 

As we were in the city, I also got a pastor's number from another brother. This brother came to meet us, then we fellowshipped with him on the matter of the church. The truth is the truth, so we faithfully ministered the word as presented in the Bible. We hope that he could receive the word and serve according to the word. 

This brother also invited us on the Lord's day morning before we went to the saints' meeting place. We had just thirty minutes for the word as we had to attend the Lord's Table Meeting. In that thirty minutes, we ministered from the gospel of Luke, on the good Samaritan and the one thing needed in serving the Lord. In fact, that was the instant speaking of the Lord to me that morning. 

Luke 10:34-35And he came to him and bound up his wounds and poured oil and wine on them. And placing him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, Take care of him; and whatever you spend in addition to this, when I return, I will repay you. 

Luke 10:39And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His word. 

Luke 10:42But there is need of one thing, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. 

The Lord's shepherding us like the good Samaritan; coming down to us as a man, binding up our sinful wounds and healing us, giving us the Holy Spirit as the oil, dispensing the divine life as the wine, and shepherding us into the church life so that we can serve the Lord by taking care of the one thing: Sitting at the Lord's feet and listening to His word.

The new ones so hungrily received the word of God. Our burden was just to minister the word as the Lord led us.

Few days later, we met the same pastor again on our way back, during our transit at Raipur. He gave us lunch and fellowship with us something of his pastoral service. My heart was burning to minister to him on what to serve and how to serve. Therefore, we fellowshipped with Him from the epistle to the Ephesians. 

Ephesians 4:11-13And 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, Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

At length, we fellowshipped on the church as the Body of Christ and how it needs to be built up by being recovered into the ground of oneness and the perfecting works in the ministry. For this, there needs to be a seeking heart and pray that the Lord would make His ways known: To know God, and find His favor and serve Him accordingly. 

Exodus 33:13Now therefore if I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know now Your ways, that I may know You, so that I may continue to find favor in Your sight. Consider also that this nation is Your people.

A book, The Tree of Life, was gifted to him for his pursuit of Christ as life, and if he is really seeking the truth, we told him we would send more books in Hindi.

May the Lord recover Him also for His testimony in Raipur.

Follow-up Shepherding: Raipur with the Saints

An elderly brother who is in his mid seventies has been studying and enjoying the ministry books which he got through a Christian festival in a nearby town. Since he touched the ministry through the books, he has been teaching all the believers under his care. He not introduced the books, but he also taught the ministry in a way of shepherding. In fact, he studied and translated The Economy of God into his local language and taught from house to house for one year. Though he and the believers with him have been practising the church life according to the vision they have seen so far, and they practised it faithfully. We just came to witness and confirm what the Lord has been doing in this city Raipur.

As the saints came together we fellowshipped on the basic practises of a Christian life by breathing, eating and drinking the Lord by calling upon the Lord's Name, pray-reading His word, prayer and fellowship. The burden was from the Lord, and later they testified that it was their urgent need. Though they knew the truth concerning the church, they lack in the practical experiences and enjoyments of the Lord. Truth and life must be balanced and should go hand in hand.

On the Lord's day, we carefully considered before the Lord and had fellowship among ourselves and also with the leading brothers concerning the bread breaking meeting. Then, we were clear that their standing was not on any divisive ground. Therefore, we participated in the bread breaking meeting which they have been partaking regularly. 

Before the bread breaking meeting, we had a session on the gospel, and then ministered on the significance of the Lord's Table Meeting with the bread and the wine, and the warning attached to it.

Matthew 26:26-29And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body. And He took a cup and gave thanks, and He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, For this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I shall by no means drink of this product of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of My Father.

After ministering on the significance of the bread and the wine, we also emphasized on the warning associated with it; the need to discern the body. The break must represent the Lord's body broken for the believers to partake of in oneness as remembrance to the Lord by eating and drinking Him, and declaring His victorious death until He would come again in the kingdom.

1 Corinthians 11:24-29And having given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is given for you; this do unto the remembrance of Me. Similarly also the cup after they had dined, saying, This cup is the new covenant established in My blood; this do, as often as you drink it, unto the remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you declare the Lord’s death until He comes. So then whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and in this way let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not discern the body.

The same day evening more brothers and sisters, who could not join us in the morning session, came for fellowship. As the Lord led us, we fellowship on the truth concerning serving the Lord.

The Lord saved us from the enemies to serve the Him! Luke 1:74

To grant us that we, having been delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear. 

The Lord saved us from idolatry to serve the Him! 1 Thessalonians 1:9

For they themselves report concerning us what kind of entrance we had toward you and how you turned to God from the idols to serve a living and true God. 

The Lord saved us and purified us with His blood to serve Him!  Hebrews 9:14

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

Therefore, as saved ones, we must be serving the Lord. All saved ones must serve the Lord. Then, we also ministered from the life of Moses, the way to serve God: By the supply of God's divine life, trusting and depending on Him alone without any confidence in ourself nor in the things in the world. 

The next day we all enjoyed a time of morning revival, showing them practically how to come to the Lord in pray-reading the word of God. The saints are being recovered and they wanted to receive the Holy Word for Morning Revival for their daily pursuit and nourishment. Thus, our burden for this time was released and we look to the Lord for our next meeting. 

May the Lord recover the church in Raipur into the oneness and fellowship of the Body of Christ. 

Follow-up Shepherding: Rourkela

The Lord has brought a brother to be an Assistant Professor in NIT in this city. He and I were together in a Christian group and both of us came into the church life at the same time. The Lord has carved the path we have to tread. His function is through the academic line and mine, through the ministry of the word. Whether on full time academic service or full time serving in the ministry of the word, we are all serving the Lord. We enjoyed mutual fellowship, encouraging one another.

There, in the campus, we also met a man who is a relative of a brother. I was burdened to preach the gospel to him. I did so in English with a brother translating it into Oriya. He received the Lord in prayer. May the Lord preserve him to be a seed for His testimony.

As we took a walk around the campus we had mutual sharing of testimonies, encouraging one another. And later, we had a fellowship on the subjective signs and experiences of the Lord's called ones from Exodus with the burden that the Lord's work will be given its due priority. 

Exodus 4:2-4And Jehovah said to him, What is this in your hand? And he said, A staff. And He said, Throw it on the ground. And he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses recoiled from it. And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out your hand, and take it by its tail — so he stretched out his hand and seized it, and it became a staff in his hand. 

The "staff" should just be a staff to assist us in our walk with the Lord. It should be a means through which the Lord's work is carried out. It must never be that we become a slave to the "staff". For the staff could be anything we depend upon for our livelihood; perhaps, our jobs or businesses. Yes, they are needed, but they should not occupy us nor should we be occupied by them. We simply use them to meet the Lord's need. 

With all these fellowship we also prayed together, for our brother and also for the Lord's testimony to be gained in Rourkela. With prayer, we look forward to the day when the Lord will gain His testimony in the city. 

Follow-up Shepherding: Ranchi

In fellowship and coordination with the work in India, along with two brothers we traveled for the follow-up shepherding in five select cities where the ministry of the word had already been distributed and the Lord had manifested some genuine seeking ones. The first city we visited was Ranchi.

In this city we were received by a brother who has been enjoying the ministry of the word. In fact, he came into the church life few months before he was transferred to this city. Though there are not as many families to stand fully as the local church, they are meeting when all the ones who are clear concerning the church comes together. 

Our day there was mostly spent in fellowshipping and strengthening the saints. Besides, we also met three seeking brothers at different time. The first one was an ex-pastor and very interested in the truth. We shared briefly on the orthodoxy of the church and the need for recovery of the church. The second one was a Bible translator, so we shared on the correctness of the truth in translating the Bible. The matter of translation was our opening key to fellowship on the need for the recovery of the truth. He was interested to become our Hindi translator, and therefore, we gave him a trial translation portion. The third one was the house owner of our brother. He is one of the elders of a spiritual Christian group since the past some twenty five years. With him we fellowshipped on Ephesians 4:11-13 with an emphasis on the oneness. 

Ephesians 4:11-13And 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, Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 

This brother was so interested that he genuinely shared his desperateness for the reality of the church. He even purchased a bundle of books as he loves to study the truths. In fact, among all those we met, he is the most solid one, a local brother too, and with a good testimony. May the Lord recover him for His testimony in Ranchi. 

We also met with a family who has been in the Lord's recovery for about a decade in another locality but shifted to this city for business and children education. Through our visit, two saints families were brought together through our visit. They all were very glad that the Lord graced our visit to bring them together to stand for the Lord's testimony in Ranchi. 

May the Lord fully recover His testimony in Ranchi. 

Blending and Building

Hallelujah for the Body!

1 Corinthians 12:24But our comely members have no need. But God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked,

One of the blessings of the Body life is the fellowship among the saints and the churches. The church in Gurugram is blessed to blend with many visiting saints and churches worldwide. Now and then, we have the blessing of hosting meeting and lovefeast for the visiting saints. The most recent one being the visit from the church in Pingtung, Taiwan.

As the church, though we just enjoyed our outdoor blending among ourselves, the saints are more than eager to host another blending. Especially, the sisters have functioned quite well in preparing the lovefeast. The most wonderful part is the coordination and blending of the sisters in preparing the food. I was very happy to see even new ones blending into the service. Besides, other new ones were also blended in, in a way of their participation. 

When this fellowship was initiated, we were concerned about how saints would be able to participate as the day was a working day, Monday. All the saints in the church are all working ones. Nevertheless, on the the day all those who could turn up did turn up. It was not a mere gathering of the saints, but the blending together. Much more than the meeting itself, we enjoyed the coordination in the preparation of the blending. 

We all enjoyed the time together, especially we also received life supply from the saints' sharing on the practice of the God-ordained way; how they carry out shepherding in their localities. An encouraging word from a new one was her testimony of how much she felt loved and cared for, and how much blending actually happened among us. By this way of blending, we are all brought into the reality of the church life and are being blended together. And we all were very joyful!

Looking forward to when the Lord will grace us another opportunity for blending. Blending is the way for building up the Body of Christ.

Flesh Versus Flesh

The enemy, Satan, knows too well about our being in the flesh. He has the excellent expertise of stirring up our flesh and make us fight with another man's flesh. That's perfectly his business. And that's what he is doing since ages past, and I bet he will intensify it in the coming days until he is fully judged and cast into the lake of fire.

I will never forget the statement of a brother when he said he hated Satan the most for all the problems among brothers and sisters, and among families. For the root cause of all the problems of the world is Satan behind the scenes. Indeed, he is the ruler of the world, nevertheless, he has been judged already by the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross. 

John 16:11And concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 

We need eyes to see the source of all problems, then we will not ignorantly fight with others, much less, our own brothers, for whatever reason. In fact, if all Christians are aware of this satanic tactic, there will be no contention among believers. Even if one is to happen, before doing or saying anything, we would resort to prayer and never let our flesh do anything. O what a salvation to see the vision of the flesh, the vision of Satan's subtlety, and the vision of living and walking in the spirit. 

Having said this, I had my own failures too. In fact, I learned from my failures. Trust,  the Lord will keep me in Him not to repeat history. I had a terrible failure few days ago, and I regret it, repented for it, and hopefully leart my lesson from it. 

It was to do with my own children who sometimes disobeyed stirring up my flesh. I do not blame them, though at times in anger I tried to discipline them. But frankly, even in the name of discipline the enemy can lead us easily to our flesh. That's what happened to me very often. The same goes with my brother who is living with me. 

Things happened in my family especially with a brother who needs a tender care. At times, he would stoop so low as to even behave unbecoming of a family member or a Christian. I understand his past habit but it's hard to tolerate many times. And it was to him I lost my temper. Then, the Lord reminded me in His mercy: Do not fight the flesh with the flesh. 

From my view point, I may be justified as the Lord placed me in the position of a family head. My real head should be Christ even in my family. After experiencing a terrible failure, the Lord convicted me of my unlawful actions. It brought me to my knees in repentance and it was there and then, I learned my lesson: Never fight the flesh with the flesh. Never. 

Though children of God in the spirit, our flesh is still the flesh of sin, and it will be until the day of full redemption. The flesh must be crucified with Christ, fully subdued, and under the complete control of the spirit.

What a lesson! Lord, grace me to never resort to my flesh. But always walk by the Spirit. 

Galatians 5:16But I say, Walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh.