Spiritual Warfare

Continuous spiritual warfare has been raging between God and Satan since eternity past. The same has been going on and has been felt practically in the church life here in Gurugram. The Lord has been moving on in this city, and we, as the church, has been actively participating in the Lord's move in coordination. Yet, the enemy subtly tried to sneak into our coordination and thwart the Lord's move. Thank God, Christ is Victor!

Since the time we began the propagation in our city, Gurugram, the brothers who are to be on the forefront were being knocked out from "the line of duty." A brother suddenly stopped joining the gospel preaching without any fellowship nor without any explanation. On being encouraged to participate, he simply said that he could not make it. My innate reaction was, "What! we have been praying and preparing ourselves for this, and how come you simply backed down when you are most needed?" Well, that's just my feeling. I can't force him to join back in. 

Another brother who was supposed to join full time became so busy with physical works, though propagation related, he could not come for the gospel preaching on the field. Physical responsibilities suddenly became stumbling blocks for him to participate in the actual preaching of the gospel. On being asked, he simply said he will take care of all the physical things except the gospel preaching. Though his function was well appreciated and was also needed, it was not really up to the mark, as the actual burden is not the physical arrangement for food and transportation, but the gospel preaching. 

A sister suddenly had a misconception about her participation in the gospel move and felt being neglected besides having a misunderstanding with her husband and her children falling sick. Concepts and opinions plagued her soul that she eventually avoided coming to the meetings, much less, the gospel preaching.

Despite all these, we were not hindered in our gospel move. It made us more aggressive and prayerful. Deep within me, I knew we were on a battlefield; the enemy's darts were hurled at us, we should not back down, neither retreat nor surrender, but charged forward in prayer and preaching the gospel. That's what we exactly did. And the Lord's victory became our victory!

These experiences were nothing new to me. I have been experiencing all kinds of attacks. But it all proved to me strongly that we are on the right track. We are causing harm to the enemy. The gospel is being preached, many sinners began to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives, and many began to call upon the Lord's name and receive the Lord Jesus Christ. The word of God is spreading,  growing, and multiplying. The church is spreading and growing. No wonder, spiritual warfare is also raging.  The outward attack of the enemy helps in most cases, therefore, the inward attack within and among the believers are no surprises. As the church in our locality, we will go forward to preach the gospel and gain increase for the Lord's testimony.

Praise the Lord for His move and His testimony in Gruugram!

Life Lessons for Serving Ones

The word of God is plain and clear. With the help fo the ministry, my eyes have been opened and enlightened to see some intrinsic matters related to the serving ones of the Lord. Despite the apostles of the Bible being the pioneers in the propagation of the crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ, the Bible honestly records their failures too, for our learning. My initial natural and religious understanding was, all the apostles were anointed and whatever they did was absolutely accroding to God. Well, not so in every case. I felt blessed to be able to see and learn from the apostles, not only of and from their successes but even more from their failures too.

Thre important points that touched me recently are:

Religion, Natural Concepts, and Opinions: Outward Problem

The early apostles were mostly Jewish and from Judaism. Even in the new testament, after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit both in the inward essential and outward economical aspect, they were not fully set free from their background of religion and natural constitution. Even when the Holy Spirit wanted to move among the Gentiles, an extraordinary vision was needed to finally convince them to move out of their religious concepts and follow the leading of the Lord as in the case of Peter in Acts 10. 

We must learn from the lesson of Peter to be saved from the veils of our religious traditions and old background so that we may see and live under the vision of God’s eternal economy to hold the truth of the gospel (Acts 10:9-16; Gal. 2:11-14).

This was the problem encountered in the spread of the church, the limitation, and bondage of Judaism (Acts 15:1-34). The believers in Judea were Jews who still kept the traditions of Judaism; they looked at the church from a Jewish viewpoint.…The Jews believed that their law, ordinances, and rituals were from God and pertained to piety; therefore, they considered themselves as those best able to keep God’s word. Satan used this thought to severely limit the church.

We must learn from the lesson of Apollos to be saved from a ministry that lacks a complete revelation of God’s New Testament economy and from not being fully one with the ministry of the age (Acts 18:24—19:2; 1 Cor. 1:12; 16:10-12). We must learn from the lesson of the mistake of James and the devastating mixture of the church in Jerusalem (vv. 18-26; Matt. 22:7; 24:1-2). We must learn from the lesson of Paul to be saved from the mixing of Judaic practices with God’s New Testament economy, which is not only erroneous but also abominable in the eyes of God (Acts 21:18-27, 31, 36; Heb. 10:29).

Natural Relationship and Preferences: Problem Between Workers

In serving the Lord, our preferences should be that of the Lord's and our natural relationship should in no way hinder the Lord's move, nor our oneness with one another. We must learn from the lesson of Barnabas to be saved from human opinions and natural relationships—disputes that arise among the coworkers because of personal relationships are terrible (Acts 13:13; 15:35-40; Col. 4:10). 

Barnabas and Paul could not be in one accord (Acts 15:35-41). Barnabas wanted to take Mark to visit the brothers, but Paul felt it was not suitable, and an argument arose between them. Their argument was the work of Satan. The spread of the church was greatly damaged because Barnabas andPaul could not be in one accord.

Self and the Flesh: Inward Problem

One subtle problem today in the Lord's move is not outward persecution or opposition, but the undealt self that has not learned the lesson of the cross enough and thoroughly well. Spiritual comfort zones are easily created when one is welcomed in a locality where he is a shepherd. He is well respected, honored, and even "blessed." But the Lord may want to go forward and move on. 

We must learn from the lesson of Paul in Acts 16:6-12; these verses indicate the problem of workers coming to a place and tending to become set and settled down, not wanting to move; old relationships, old affections, old inclinations, and old concepts keep us from following the inner leading of the indwelling Spirit.

While studying these portions from the Bible with the help of the ministry, I am alarmed and alerted. I am not immune to these problems. I, therefore, look to the Lord for His mercy that I may not repeat these mistakes in my service. 

Lord, grace me and have mercy on me to learn these life lessons thoroughly and absolutely well.

Gospel Meeting with Saints

After the one week of gospel preaching preparation with the trainees, the saints from abroad, Hsinchu-Taiwan, came to coordinate with us. Through this, I learned a lot of spiritual lessons.

Seeking the Lord in Prayer in Coordination as the Body

As the host, we were praying for weeks altogether. This enlarged our capacity in taking care of the church and in serving the Lord in a local church. Until the very last week before the saints from abroad came, we were not clear where to propagate. But we prayed and prayed until the Lord made all things clear through prayer and fellowship in the Body. This itself is a precious lesson in learning how to seek the Lord's will in prayer and in coordination. Finally, the places for propagation were finalized at DLF-3, Sector 55,56 & 57.

Serving in Coordination in Practical Matters

Many practical preparations of food and transportation for the entire period of propagation was also a blessing for the church. Brothers and sisters consecrated their time and energy to participate in the Lord's move. The sisters' function was especially noteworthy. They coordinated so well and prepared meals daily for about 40-50 people. This also enlarged their capacity in taking care of the meal service, not just once, but daily; not alone, but in coordination. Through this kind of propagation, the functions of the saints were manifested and enlarged. The practical lessons learned is worth all the prices paid.

Serving God Spiritually as the Army of God

The spiritual services of forming into teams as an army of God, going team by team to different communities, street by street, knocking door by door, and propagating the kingdom of God is marvelous! Many of the local people we preached the gospel to are hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives. Many of them called upon the name of the Lord and prayed the sinner's prayer to receive the Lord for the first time in their lives. Many received the gospel tract and the Bible for the first time. I have no scale of judgment to gauge the "success" of this gospel preaching. Statistics of seeking contacts is good, but the fact that the word of God is preached and sinners are saved is most precious. Only the Lord knows how many are saved. Our responsibility is to preach the gospel. No matter what the result is, preach the gospel. Whether people accept or reject, the gospel is being preached! This is how we serve God spiritually as the army of God!

Gospel Harvest and Feast

At the end of the week, we conducted another gospel meeting for the new ones contacted in the communities we propagated,. For this, we gave the opportunity to all the saints from abroad to fucntion. They functioned so well, and the gosple meeting was very rich. Five sisters and two brothers gave testimony of their salvation experience, two brothers led the meeting, and two brothers coordinated to preach the gospel message. In this meeting, three new ones got saved and were also batpised too! The meeting was so rich and enjoyable! Besides, the spiritual blessing, the sisters' coordination in preparing the meal for the gosple meeting was also amazing! The Lord has blessed the church and increased our capacity in hosting guests and conducting gosple metings. Praise the Lord!

Saints' Sacrifices

One more thing worth mentioning is the prices paid by the visiting saints who used their very precious annual holiday of one week, the Chinese New Year holiday, for the preaching of the gospel. They paid their own prices of buying flight tickets and meeting their own expenses for the kingdom of God, and bringing blessings to the church in Gurugram and also blessing the country! The Lord remembers the saints' sacrifices and will reward them accordingly. 

Praise the Lord for the gospel preaching and gospel meeting in coordination in the Body of Christ!

Gospel Meeting with Trainees

As a preparation for the combined gospel preaching in Gurugram with the brothers and sisters visiting us from abroad, we had a combined gospel preaching with the trainees first from the FTTND. Though our burden for the gospel preaching was in communities, for the sake of the younger trainees we considered it best to preach the gospel in DLF-3 where we already preached before; meeting young working people on the streets and also door-knocking of their rooms, most of whom are single. This comparatively is better for the younger ones who are learning to preach the gospel in communities. So for one week, we formed teams and went to preach the gospel.

Preaching the gospel on the streets and among the young working class can be done without language barriers as most could understand English. Besides, it is more conducive for beginners in gospel preaching to start from this class of people. I also joined a team of trainees and went to preach the gospel on streets as well as from door to door. All the other teams did likewise. And at the end of the one week, we had a gospel meeting as a harvest for the one week labor.

Our burden in conducting this gospel meeting has multiple goals. To harvest our labor on the field in the gospel preaching, to train the trainees to function in gospel meeting, and to bring blessing to the church with a gospel harvest and feast. For this gospel meeting we fellowshipped to let the trainees function in all the crucial aspects; in giving testimonies of salvation, preaching gospel message, leading people to baptism, and conducting the gospel meeting itself. Prayer and preparation were done, and the Lord also blessed the gospel meeting.

As planned and prepared, everything went well, and one new one got baptized! The trainees functioned very well though it was their first to function in this way for most of them. Even for the church, it was a good harvest time; for the saints to function in inviting people, preparing for the gospel meeting, and much more, it was a time of feasting!

Such a gospel meeting is always a win-win case. The entire church get to function and also receive the blessings from God! The trainees too received the blessing by their learning and functioning.

I myself am blessed to learn to coordinate with the trainees, and my wife too fully participated in cooking the meals for all the participants for the entire week along with a few other sisters. Praise the Lord!

Believe the Word of God

For “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13

In my gospel preaching, whoever opened up, I used to lead them to call upon the name of the Lord and pray the sinner's prayer, believing in the word of God that “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In the first two weeks of this month, the Lord graced me to actively participate in the propagation in our locality, Gururgram. In my team, we went house to house, door-knocking and preaching the gospel. The Lord opened the door for us wherever we went. To my surprise, almost everyone we met, opened up and listened to the gospel we were preaching and ended up calling upon the name of the Lord. I collected their names and phone numbers for future contact. In this way, we have a good number of seeking contacts.

Towards the end of the propagation for two weeks, the Lord struck me with a verse that I have been preaching, For “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The Lord's question to me was, "Palmei, do you believe this verse?" The questioning within my being went on for a couple of days. 

Literally, yes, I believe the word of God that “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” And many have called upon the Lord through my gospel preaching. The specific question was, "Palmei, do you believe that all those who called upon the name of the Lord through your gospel preaching are indeed saved?" Honestly, the Lord cornered me and put me on a spot. My innate reply was, "Yes, Lord, I believe." But deep within, I also doubted whether all those who called upon the Lord's name are indeed saved. For, the major religion of my countrymen believes in pantheism, and they would accept any "god" being introduced to them, be it Jesus or whoever, for that matter. This was the reason I struggled for some time.

Then eventually the Lord spoke again and again to me, to believe in the word of God. And I am now fully convinced that “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  I have to stop to doubt the Lord's word, and I have to stop my doubting of the people who called upon the name of the Lord. Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9 was saved simply by calling upon the name of the Lord! I simply have to believe in the Lord's word and not trust my own human analytical judgment. Take the Lord at His word!

The following Lord's day, I gave testimony in the church meeting of my struggle with God on this verse, and how I eventually believed His word. No matter what my feelings may be, the Lord's word is faithful, true, and abiding. For “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

What a relief to get a clear cut confirmation from Himself concerning His word directly! Praise the Lord for the word of God!

Experiencing Christ in Gospel Tract

Beginning this year 2019, the Lord has been moving in us and among us here in the church in Gurugram. As the church in Gurugram, we are also blessed to begin our year with the propagation of the high gospel of the Kingdom. The Body is coordinating with the local church here to gain this Millenium city teeming with young professionals in various fields.

Initially, we were not too sure where and how to carry out the preaching of the gospel in this city, nor were we clear what should our way and goal be, but we committed all the matters to the Lord and also shared the burden to the whole church. As we were praying and consdiering many practical things, the Lord has led us to design a new website, get new email ID, and also design and print new gospel tract. I was especially graced to take care of all these practical things.

A new website with a new domain name were purchased. I personally designed a new tract for the gospel move. It took me a couple of days to work on it. Then check with the brothers, edit it, and finally sent for printing. Even after the printing, I was furhter graced to bring the printed tracts from Chennai back to Gurugram, as the printing was done in Chennai. And finally, as the propgation began, I was blessed to use the very gospel tract I designed, printed, and brought for distribution in the gospel preaching.

In fact, it was today afternoon that I went along with the saints for preaching the gospel using the gospel tract. The Lord graced me to preached the gospel to as many as twenty-five people, face to face, using the gospel tract and led some to pray and receive the Lord Jesus Christ. When the burden and practical participation was there, the Lord also blessed the burden. And many other saints who used the new tract testified of how useful the gospel tract was in the gospel preaching. 

The gospel tract has the same content of The Mystery of Human Life designed as bi-lingual, English and Hindi, with attractive diagrams and colour. In this simple thing as gospel tract, Christ can be experienced and I experienced Him practically. 

I have been using the same tract in a different format too, but this time since I personally was involved in designing and printing and distributing the new tract, the feeling and the burden with which the gospel tract was used was special. This is the experience of Christ through the gospel tract!

May the Lord continue to bless these tracts to save many sinners in the coming days!

Forgiving a Brother

Last night and the night before, as I was on my way back to Delhi from Chennai by a train, the Lord reminded me about my attitude towards an elderly brother who opposed the ministry of brother Watchman Nee and Witness Lee to the extent that he warned and spread false accusation of the ministry of the word being a "cult" to many believers, which he himself have not read even one book by Witness Lee. This is how Satan attacks the Lord's work subtly through so-called "Christian leader" who has not even bothered to study the truth and check with the Bible like the Berean.

Acts 17:11 Now these people were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

In 2012, the Lord graced me to meet this brother at a Christian book exhibition in Bangalore, I was further graced to confront against his lies and false accusations with facts. He blindly accused Witness Lee without any basis of truth, nor has he read any book by Witness Lee, nor did he have any solid biblical point to dubbed somebody as "cult". Whatever his stand may be, to me, he is still a brother in the Lord. His misinformation is not going to hamper the Lord's work in any way. Anyone who dares to fight against the truth would be the greatest fool. A few years later, I met him again, though we greeted with smiles in Delhi, and then again last year at Mumbai. Though he addressed us as brothers and we addressed him too as a brother, he still seems to subtly warn people of his misunderstanding and misinformation.  

As a man, I did have some feeling, and the Lord reminded me to simply forgive him for whatever he said or did. It was not easy for me to easily forgive someone who arrogantly and blindly attacks the Lord's work. But, I simply gave in to the Spirit's leading within me, and said, "Lord, only You can truly forgive. May Your forgiveness be my forgiveness." And I prayed for that elderly brother that the Lord would open his spiritual eyes and repent. Whatever damages he might have caused, it may be restored fivefold. The Lord may grace him to not linger in his blindness and ignorance. Rather, he would be graced to be instrumental for His move on this earth at this age.

Now, the Lord's work in me is to change my attitude towards him. This is also not easy. I simply look to the Lord that as he leads me to forgive him, I must also have a proper heart and attitude towards him; he is a dear brother in the Lord. The Lord will grace me so.

As the Lord graces me, I decided to help him in the matter he requested a help from me the last time I met him. No matter what his attitude towards the ministry may be, still he is my brother and I should treat him as a brother in the Lord, and maintain a good relationship and fellowship with him.

Much grace to me and my brother.