Shepherding: Two Couples

Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.  Acts 20:28

Shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not under compulsion but willingly, according to God; not by seeking gain through base means but eagerly; 1Peter 5:2

The Lord in His sovereignty has placed me in Gurugram where I could function as a shepherd with other saints to shepherd the church. By the divine life supply, shepherding is a function with life supply and I have been enjoying it so much. Every time I shepherded someone I was being shepherded in return, and I believe the sheep were shepherded too. Recent experiences of shepherding are noteworthy.

An Unmarried Couple 

A brother and sister are in a relationship and they both are in the church life. As shepherds, we feel good to shepherd the couple in a way that they both live a life worthy of God with all purity and holiness. Falling into a romantic relationship among young people is very common both inside and outside the church life. People are with emotions and they get attracted to one another. Therefore, young people need to be preserved by proper shepherding. As much as we can, we wanted to help them to maintain a proper relationship not to violate God's ordained principles found in the Bible. 

One afternoon, some brothers had to spend hours together to shepherd this couple who are in love. For them to go on in a proper way, we wanted to help them engaged as they are not ready to get married now. But the families of both the brother and sister need to be contacted for their consent. Though the young ones are in love, they can not simply proceed to consummate their love in engagement and marriage as they wish. Everything has to be done in a manner acceptable and honorable to both God and man. Therefore, I felt blessed to be a part of the fellowship to help this couple. 

After spending time with the brother, we also fellowshipped with his family members. In the process, we experience substantial shepherding and learn new lessons in life in caring for the different needs of the saints. Yet another lesson we are to learn is from the sister's side whose parent vehemently opposes their daughter's relationship with this brother. Paradoxically, their daughter has already made up her mind to only marry this brother at the proper time. Now a situation arises in which this brother has consecrated to be trained for two years in Biblical truths and church services which required him to get properly engaged to a sister if he were already in a relationship or he has to cut all relationships for two years. It was hard for both to accept the latter. Therefore, the only option is to go for the former; to get properly engaged in the church and they can still meet once in a while even if the brother went to the training.

This matter is a new lesson for us brothers in the church, and for me personally too. I took this as an opportunity to learn new things from the Lord in caring for the need of all kinds of people. My main burden in helping them is twofold. First, for the sake of the Lord's testimony in the way we handle a case like this in the church, and second is to even shepherd the families of the couple to show them what the Lord's way of doing things is, gradually and ultimately to gain them for the Lord's testimony as well. For this, I took the time to pray, consider, fellowship, and bring in more saints to coordinate. How the matter will go depends on the Lord. By all means, through all these, I am being shepherded, and all the people involved will also be shepherded.

A Married Couple 

It has been a couple of months that a family is being shepherded. As time passed by, many things regarding the couple got revealed one by one, stage by stage. Initially, we set up a home meeting, then, the couple had issues with one another and they could not be together in the same place at the same time for a meeting. Many of their past and present issues propped up one by one. 

The sisters fellowshipped with some sisters all the issues she has been having with her husband, and the husband confided to me all the issues he has been having with his wife. Both spoke the same language in tone and content, confessing and accusing the other of the fault within that has been clogging them for years. The situation seems to get worsen by the day with the health of the sister deteriorating. Even talks of complaints against one another led to verbal abuses. They both even contemplated a divorce. Though I objected to both their proposal for divorce to their faces, I also prayed for them and considered to shepherd them that they may be reconciled and their marriage life will be recoverd.  

I took this as an oppotunity to learn from the Lord how to shepherd such a couple who openly confessed that they cannot live together anymore, and all their points sound very valid, except that the word of God which says, "the two shal become one flesh". The solution is not separation, but the expereince of the crucified Christ. Though they professed to be Christians and seem to know the word; it is more of a doctrinal knowledge with very little life expereince. My emphasize to the brothers as I shepherd him is to come back to the basics of Christian life and lerarn the fundamental truth and practices of the Christian life. I prayed with him and encouraged him to spend more time in prayer with the execrecie of the spirit, even to call upont the Lord's name. 

My last visit was with a burden to help him understand the importance of exercising the spirit and the way to exercise the spirit. So we read together, "Calling Upon the Lord's Name" booklet. This is something very basic that I felt they both need to learn. The sister also called me to share her viewpoints and her decision to go for a divorce. But I questioned her with a very basic matter on believing husband and wife to be together as one. This is a true-life case the Lord gave me to care for. I believe the Lord will come in and recover their personal spiritual life and their marital life.

Through these two couples, I am being shepherded to shepherd people who go through such situations. May the Lord as the Shepherd come in and shepherd all of us, in His way, in His time.

In Remembrance of a Brother in Christ

A Brother in Christ

Brother H S Shylla, to me, was my dear brother in Christ. Before the 7th of August while he was in the hospital and when he could talk over the phone, we prayed together whenever he had the physical strength to. He was so happy that we could pray together. Every time he prayed, he gave thanks to the Lord and asked the Lord to bless me. And he requested me to pray for him and that the will of the Lord be done in his life. He even said, once he gets well, he will fully give himself to serve the Lord and come along with me to travel the whole world to preach the gospel and visit the local churches. I amen his prayer and prayed for him too. 

Prayer for His Recovery

My sincere prayer for my brother was that the Lord would recover him fully for the sake of the Body of Christ and for the sake of the Lord's testimony in Shillong and Meghalaya. What the Lord had begun in him and through him must be accomplished to bring all the saints in fellowship with the fellow members of the Body of Christ. My prayer was for his physical recovery for the spiritual recovery as well.

The Lord Took Him

The Lord is the Lord, and I amen all that He deems best. The Lord took my brother on the 7th of August morning and it took me quite some time to digest the sad news; I could do nothing but read the word, and prayed and prayed. On the same day, the online news report read:

Meghalaya veteran political leader H. S. Shylla passes away, NorthEast Today
Former Meghalaya Assembly deputy speaker HS Shylla passes away, NorthEast Now
Former Chief Executive Member of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and a former MLA and a Minister of the State, H S Shylla passed away on Friday at around 10 am following a brief illness. Shillong Times

To the world, he was a veteran politician. But to me, he was my brother and my relationship was just this, a brother in Christ, nothing more, nothing less. 

My First Contact

It was on the 3rd of May 2012 that I received a phone call from a brother who introduced me to brother H S Shylla over the phone. Later, I prayed over and sent him an SMS, "Praise the Lord brother! We are all members of the Body of Christ. We fellowship with CHRIST our Head and with the many local churches, the local expression of the universal Body of Christ. Grace be with you all." A day later he wrote me a letter which read:

From: H.S. Shylla
Date: Fri, May 4, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Subject: From Shillong.
To: PALMEICHUNG@gmail.com 

Dear Brother,

We have started the Local Church at Shillong from June 2011. We are yet to learn so many things. We are happy that we do not divide the body of Christ any more (1Cor.1:13). We are really very surprise to learn that in Manipur they have already march ahead. It is really the work of our heavenly Father. The Books of Watchman Nee has really open my spiritual eyes. It would be very kind of you if you can suggest other websites which I can learn more about the local churches. I would like to spend some time with you all at Gurgoan. I may come next week and hope it is God's will that I should be there. Please feel free to tell me anything with regard to local churches. Bye for now. Our Lord Jesus Christ will bind us with His love.

Yours in Chirst,
H.S.Shylla
Demthring, Shillong-793021

Since then, my relationship with brother Shylla began as a brother in Christ. Though we did not meet yet face to face, we started fellowshipping over the phone which went on for over four months until we finally met on the 5th of May 2013 in one of his houses where the believers in Shillong just had their blending meeting.  A Miraculous Connection One morning in my morning revival, I enjoyed the verse in 1 John 3:2 so much so that I text him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is. 1 John 3:2  Since that incident, we had a miraculous closeness and mutual trust in one another. A year later, when I met him he narrated the reason behind the miraculous connection. He was in great need of finance then. Yet the only source he had was to sell his wife's ancestral property, which was a very unlikely and unwise thing to do according to the custom of the local tribe there. As he was contemplating the matter and visited a friend who had dealings in lands and properties, he casually inquired what would be the cost of his ancestral property. The reply his friend gave was astounding. A huge amount, as the piece of land was located near the main road. But he was in a dilemma if he should sell or not. It was at that very moment that I sent him an SMS of the above Bible verse, not knowing what transpired in Shillong while I was in Gurugram. I sent that message because I had a strong leading from the Lord to do so.  That message became an affirmative answer to his dilemma. He took my SMS of Bible verse as the Lord's leading and went home to fellowship with his wife, and the deal was done. In his word, he told me, the deal was done in just one day, miraculously! This experience of his strengthened our brotherly fellowship which led us to pray together over the phone almost daily until we finally met a few months later. Often, he would call me to pray for his sick grandchild. I would simply pray by faith. Then, the next day or later in the evening he would call me and exclaimed, "Brother the child you prayed for got healed!" So, we would prayed together again giving thanks to God. My First Meeting When he met me the first time on the 5th of May 2013, he exclaimed in awe, "Are you brother Palmei? I thought you must be a very elderly man!" Then he hugged me and took me to his new home where we spent about three hours "fellowshipping". By the way, I later learned that I am as young as his youngest daughter, physically speaking. But we embraced each other as brothers in Christ; thank God, age no bar in Christ. An "Interview?" In fact, in our very first meeting, he was very cautious about the truths and the ministry I believe and uphold. So, questions after questions were asked to me. But the Spirit of the Lord led me and I answered all the questions with much grace, quoting relevant Bible verses whenever necessary, to support my answers.  After the "interview" fellowship, I jokingly asked brother Shylla, "Brother, did I pass the interview?" He laughed out loud and exclaimed, "Praise the Lord brother!" Then, he made an arrangement for me to stay in his youngest sister's home where I ended up staying for the entire week, with everyday fellowship, full of life. My experience of my first meeting with brother Shylla and the believers there was recorded on 18 May 2013 as below:  18 May 2013 https://palmeichung.blogspot.com/2013/05/spiritual-discipline.html  Last year the Lord burdened me to pray with a brother in Shillong over the phone almost every day, and we did it faithfully for about four months. In prayer, the Lord had prepared us in spirit, and many things had transacted between us. When we finally met this year for the first time, we were just in one spirit and our fellowship was so sweet, just in one flow. All the hurdles had been dealt with through prayers already and when we met it was just the harvest of what had been already sown. This led to the recovery of the brothers and those believers with him into the fellowship of the Body of Christ and into the oneness of the Body of Christ, standing as the church in Shillong, a local expression of the universal Body of Christ. Hallelujah! Meeting Out of Burden In fact, I just went to meet him out of an inexplicable burden, not knowing what will happen. I had no idea if I would ever be welcomed or given hospitality at all. But the burden within me drove me "crazy" to meet the saints in Shillong. Till today, I do not understand the inner leading and guts I had to meet them, not knowing. I know the culture there a little bit as I studied at St. Anthony's College from 1995-2000. Only once, one of my female classmates invited us as classmates to visit her as she delivered her first child. That was my first home visit to the local home, never before and never after. One Family in Christ It was at that time I could stay with my fellow brothers and sisters as one family in Christ though I may not be "local" to the ungodly eyes. The love, joy, and fellowship we shared in Christ were beyond words. Christ knows no distinction and made us all one in Him. Khasi, Jaintia, Garo, Bengali, Assamese, Naga, Kuki, Mizo,...all tribalisms, traditions, cultures were crucified with Christ already, and are still being crucified in our experience day by day in the mingled spirit.  I noted the testimony of my meeting with the saints in Shillong as below   https://palmeichung.blogspot.com/2013/05/god-power-and-wisdom.html God' Power and Wisdom (19th May 2013)  1 Corinthians4 And my speech and my proclamation were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 In order that your faith would not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. These were the words the Lord spoke to me before I met different brothers in Shillong in past the few weeks. It was also my prayer that the Lord's words only be spoken and the Lord Himself be my wisdom and words. When I actually met those brothers one by one, though they asked a lot of questions on various topics ranging from biblical truths to life experiences and even church practices, the instant and timely word of God just popped up. (I myself was amazed! I didn't know how that happened, anyway it happened.) All those proves that when we are one with the Lord, His present speaking and instant anointing will abide with us all the time. Because the Lord has to carry out His work through the Spirit, in power, through the vessel available for His use. Not that the vessel itself is special, but of God who please to choose the vessel He uses. 6 But we do speak wisdom among those who are full-grown, yet a wisdom not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are being brought to nought;7 But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for our glory,8 Which none of the rulers of this age have known; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;9 But as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man's heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.''10 But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. One whole week of my stay with the saints, day by day, morning till night, the grace of God was abundant. Every fellowship was full of life, and every question was an ignition for more light to shine forth; a subjective foretaste of the early days church life as in the book of Acts. Besides, there were forgiveness of offenses and debts among brothers; even confession of hidden sins, repentance and consecration to begin a new living; and a glorious baptism of a brother and a sister! Physically or psychologically too, the Lord preserved me. Though my family back home experienced some difficulties due to sickness, the Lord eventually recovered them all. All these were the manifestations of the power of God and His wisdom. What a mercy that I can have such a foretaste! Lord, may my whole Christian life be an experience of Your power and wisdom. Since then our relationship has been one that of a brother in Christ. Once he visited us in Gurugram and stayed with us for a couple of days for fellowship. Then, he visited us again for his medical check-up at Delhi and stayed for another couple of days. A Brother in Politics When he re-entered into politics again in July 2016, I was in California, USA, for a Bible translation project. One afternoon a deep feeling within me prompted me to search for him on Google. To my shocking surprise, a newspaper reported, "H S Shylla entered active politics." I had a very mixed reaction then. I was tossed between the two questions; should I agree with him or should I weep for him. The matter troubled me a lot. Therefore, the following day, I went into fasting and prayer concerning the Lord's testimony in Shillong, especially for the saints in Shillong, and for my brother Shylla. Immediately after I came back to India I fellowshipped with the brothers with whom I am coordinating in the Lord's service about my burden on the current situation in the church in Shillong, and I went to visit my brother in Shillong. A Solemn Visit Brother Shylla came to pick me up from a taxi stand and took me for lunch fellowship. We ate a meal together in a restaurant where he narrated to me the reason for re-entering politics; mostly due to pressure from people to be their voice. Personally, I had no issue as long as the Lord led him, but my main concern was for the Lord's testimony in Shillong. I did my best to shepherd some of the saints who might have been disappointed due to his stance. Anyway, the Lord is the Lord, and I could only pray and do my best to shepherd the saints by WhatsApp messages. That's when a sister invited me to join the church in Shillong WhatsApp group. Since then, I regularly posted truth messages as shepherding material for the saints. That's how the Lord led me so far, and that's all that I could till date.  My Last Fellowship Last year, 2019 Nov, we visited Shillong and that became my last time to meet him physically.  My last fellowship in his presence along with the brothers in Shillong was recorded in my blog: https://palmeichung.blogspot.com/2019/12/shepherding-in-shillong-brothers.html Shepherding in Shillong: Brothers' Fellowship On the 8th of December 2019, the Lord's day afternoon, the leading brothers of the church in Shillong came together for fellowship. Initially, a brother and I thought of fellowshipping on the truth concerning oneness as desired by the Lord in the Bible as expounded in the book, The Genuine Ground of Oneness. But as we gathered together and started the fellowship, the Lord's leading was to speak on the more urgent need, I believe, as the Lord saw it for the church. The burden on truth constitution was released. Constitution For about three hours, we enjoyed the flow of life through the ministry of the word. We ministered from the life of the children of God, how the Lord led them out of Egypt into the wilderness and fed them with just manna and manna only for forty long years with the main goal of reconstituting them. Using this analogy, we fellowshipped at length on the urgency for the saints to be reconstituted with the up-to-date speaking of the Lord in His recovery. For the practical constitution, we introduced the Holy Word for Morning Revival and encouraged the brothers to try it first and then introduce to the saints. To avoid misunderstanding, we also clarified the distinction between the publication work and the local churches.  The publication works are for the feeding and shepherding of the saints in the local churches. For the constitution of the saints, we also encouraged the brothers to pursue the ministry books, especially the Holy Bible, Recovery Version, and also some crucial ministry books. The ministry books are meant to help enjoy and understand the word of God and not to replace the Bible. For this, I also encouraged two brothers to take care of the ministry books; one for Hindi for which I gave one entire set of Hindi books, and one for English for which I left two boxes of the ministry books by brother Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. Fellowship, Blending, and Building We also fellowship the need for the saints in the local church to be blended as one though there may be different language speaking meetings. Here in Shillong, they have Khasi speaking and Hindi speaking meetings. The two meetings should just be one church under one administration within the same local church.  We also encouraged the church to blend with nearby local churches in North East India. If possible, they may also blend with churches in different parts of India and abroad. We released our burden to help the brothers see the vision and the need for fellowship, blending, and building up of the Body of Christ in oneness.  Prayer After a sweet time of fellowship, we brothers prayed together and committed ourselves, the saints, and the church to the Lord. The brothers in Shillong also are in fellowship with at least 15 other local churches all over Meghalaya. May the Lord shepherd and recover all of them! May the Lord bless the church in Shillong!  Last Phone Calls Since then, it was only through phone calls that we could communicate and fellowship. Then I got the news about him being admitted to a hospital, then to ICU. When I was informed that he came out of ICU, I made a call on the 13th of June and prayed with him. He was so happy about the prayer over the phone. Then, I told him he could call me any time he wanted. So he began to call me whenever he got better; on the 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19th of July. Every time he called, we had a wonderful time of prayer and praising the Lord together. He even blessed me and prayed that the Lord would bless me. Then his health weakened and I did not want to bother him. When he got better, he called me again on the 25, 26, 28, and 31st of July. And on the 4th of August, he called me and we prayed together; his voice was weak and I prayed mostly for him, and he requested earnestly, "Brother, please pray for me," to which I replied,  "Amen." And that became my last call with him. A few days later, I was informed that he was taken to ICU, and then, he went to be with the Lord on the 7th of August 2020. I still could not believe that he is no more physically. I wish I could just call and talk to him and pray with him. The Lord has taken him. I have no words to say anything to anyone.  I still feel a void somewhere and pray that the Lord would raise up someone to fill the gap in his absence for sake of the Lord's testimony in Shillong. I could only send a word of comfort in the church's WhatsApp group: A Word of Comfort to All Especially to the Household of Br. H S Shylla Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassions and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction that we may be able to comfort those who are in every affliction through the comforting with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:2-4 1 Thessalonians 5:9-119. For God did not appoint us to wrath but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10. Who died for us in order that whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with Him. 11. Therefore comfort one another, and build up each one the other, even as you also do. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-1813. But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are sleeping, that you would not grieve even as also the rest who have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so also those who have fallen asleep through Jesus, God will bring with Him. 15. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who are left remaining unto the coming of the Lord, shall by no means precede those who have fallen asleep; 16. Because the Lord Himself, with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17. Then we who are living, who are left remaining, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will be always with the Lord. 18. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Shepherding: Two Sisters

Two sisters who used to attend the meeting with the church here in Gurugram were left out in the new church's WhatsApp group when we created a new group filtering out all those who were no longer in Gurugram or are not meeting regularly with the church here anymore. As there was a feeling among the brothers that the church's group should be maintained only for those who are regular. Moreover, the information posted is also meant for practical church life only. Therefore, a good number of those saints who used to be in the previous group were not included in the new group. Though this was just a virtual action, it has an impact on our relationship. I personally felt like they have been "cut-off" for their not being fully one with the church here, practically speaking. In fact, there were considerations if they should be included or not in the new group. But if they were not fully for the church life, there was no point in including them either. Therefore, they were excluded.

Months have passed by, and last week our family situations were such that we had no option but to meet these two sisters. These meetings were related to our children's medical needs. 

My first daughter had a serious ear infection that needed urgent medication. My younger daughter needed her tooth to be removed immediately as a new teeth has overgrown the old teeth and the teeth next to it was shaking too. It needed our immediate attention.  

Due to the rampant spread of the pandemic, it was not advisable to visit any hospital as they were mostly frequented by Covid-19 positive patients, and the number of newly infected ones are alarmingly growing exponentially. Precaution is indeed better than cure. So the hospital option was out. Then, I considered visiting a daycare OPD or clinic. I contacted at least two, but due to the ongoing pandemic, these were also closed down. And amazingly only one option each was available for the two of my daughters.

For the first one, with an ear infection, we decided to visit a medical doctor who is a sister who used to meet with the church and now is being shepherded by another sister. This became the Lord's leading for us to visit her. In fact, she was also so happy to meet us and wanted a fellowship and prayer with us after the medical consultation. The consultation seemed like the Lord's tool to make us meet in her home. For we never visited her home even when she used to meet with us. She used to drop by for fellowship and prayer at the meeting hall before, but we never got to visit her. This time, we visited and had a wonderful time of fellowship on "Knowing God's Will". She has been struggling to discern the will of the Lord concerning her marriage so she requested a fellowship on this line. Therefore, I fellowshipped with her on this line - the Spirit's leading by life and peace, the leading by the word of God, and the circumstantial leading. She was so glad we visited and the fellowship with her was restored. May the Lord shepherd her to fully fellowship with the saints.

For the second one, my younger daughter, a dentist appointment was made by another sister who recently visited the same dentist. As she was being contacted for the upcoming online video training when she expressed her feeling to take the training. On my wife's inquiry about a dentist, she mentioned about this dentist and she offered to take my wife and the children to the same dentist. In that way, our fellowship was sovereignly restored. In fact, I thought she was no more interested to meet with the church. But the Lord sovereignly brought us together again. 

The Lord is the Shepherd. He uses whatever is best to shepherd His children. In this case, He sovereignly used my children's need for medical consultation to recover the fellowship and shepherding with these two sisters. In any case, by any means, the Lord as the Shepherd cares for His sheep and shepherds them too. 

Praise the Lord, I feel blessed to be a part of this shepherding recovery!

Shepherding: A Brother's Family

Last Monday night, just before our family prayer at 9 PM, I opened my Facebook account and was shocked to read a message from a brother. This brother is the to whom I preached the gospel and baptized seventeen years ago and whose family I used to shepherd. His message expressed his grief over His mother who just had gone to be with the Lord. Sad news, but I got the timely message, well in time to shepherd him.

In fact, I have not been in touch with him for over a year as he is in Bangaluru, down south. Immediately, I felt the urgency to call him. I did call him and we had a conversation for about 13 minutes. It was a sudden demise of his beloved mother who seemed so healthy only to find her die so soon. Still, he was not able to understand and digest the fact. I comforted him over the phone and prayed with him and for his family as well. At least, in his hard times, I could contact him and be in touch again.

The Lord reminded me that I should have shepherded him more often. Now he has carved a niche in his career with a "Director" post in a private company. He has climbed up the ladder of his career quite fast. The good feeling I had was He still has the taste and tone of the ministry, as that was how he was spiritually shepherded from the very beginning of his spiritual journey. Only his family with a strong denominational tie could not really bring him into the full-fledged practice of the church life.  Now, the Lord has reconnected me with him again. 

As per his suggestions, I also spoke to his wife and also called his sister who was completely grief-stricken. I had no words but prayer, to comfort her as she traveled overnight from Bangalore to Chennai by a cab. 

Immediately in our family prayer, I brought this family's matter and prayed for them. May the Lord comfort them.

The following day, the Lord impressed me deeply to text them and comfort them. I had no word of my own. Therefore, I compiled relevant Bible verses together and texted them the following.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassions and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction that we may be able to comfort those who are in every affliction through the comforting with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:2-4

1 Thessalonians 5:9-119. For God did not appoint us to wrath but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10. Who died for us in order that whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with Him. 11. Therefore comfort one another, and build up each one the other, even as you also do.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-1813. But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are sleeping, that you would not grieve even as also the rest who have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so also those who have fallen asleep through Jesus, God will bring with Him. 15. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who are left remaining unto the coming of the Lord, shall by no means precede those who have fallen asleep; 16. Because the Lord Himself, with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17. Then we who are living, who are left remaining, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will be always with the Lord. 18. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

This definitely is not a pleasant thing, but even in times like these, the Lord reminded me of the new ones whom I used to shepherd that I cannot give anyone up whatever their situation may be. Irrespective of our feelings toward one another, shepherding must still be there. How can a nursing mother forget her beloved children?  The Lord is opening my eyes to see the deeper matter and importance of shepherding. No matter what, I must continue to shepherd, and shepherd. Near or far, I must shepherd the spiritual children the Lord blessed me with. 

Lord, duplicate Your shepherding life into me.

Teaching for Building

A senior brother has asked me a couple of times a very striking question, "Do you know how to build up the local church?" The first time I heard this question, I was awestruck, not knowing how to answer. For, at that time I did not understand what "building up of the church mean." Then, he began to fellowship along the line of building up the local church using the word of God and giving testimonies of his own and many other brothers who are actually building up the local churches for the Body of Christ. He has been doing these a good number of times whenever he visited us in North India. What a blessing to have such a brother and learn from him!

Today morning, during the training, when he asked me brother asked me to share, I shared beginning with this very question. My answer was, "Yes," on the one hand, I know and I am learning how to build up the local church. Otherwise, I would not have been in the local church serving all these while. Yet, on the other hand, my answer is still "No," as I am not too sure if I am truly building up the church as I should according to God that I may pass the test in Matthew 7

Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, was it not in Your name that we prophesied, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name did many works of power? And then I will declare to them: I never knew you. Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness. Mattthew 7:21-23

The way to build up the church is by the word of God. Not the shallow doctrinal objective word, but the deep living subjective word of God. The New Testament believers, from the very beginning of the church life, has been teaching for building up of the Body of Christ. Teaching the word of God, ministering the word of God, ministering Christ as life is a crucial point in the practice for the building up of the church by the growth of the saints.

Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Acts 6: 2 And the twelve called the multitude of the disciples to them and said, It is not fitting for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables.

Therefore, there is a need for proper and healthy teaching of the word of God all the time. But, the question is, "Who can teach the word of God in the way of the apostles for the building up of the Body of Christ?"

The book of Colossians reveals the way.

Colossians 125 Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God,26 The mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations but now has been manifested to His saints;27 To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,28 Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ;

The word of God must discover Christ in the Bible when I read the Scripture. But this word of God is also Christ in my spirit as the Holy Spirit. When the Christ in my Spirit meets the Christ in the Bible, when the Holy Spirit and the word of God meets, the issue is life. Such life can minister life to others causing the growth in life for the building up of the Body of Christ. The word of God is also a mystery that is concerning Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, Who is in me. This discovered Christ through the word must be ministered in a way of announcing, admonishing, and teaching so that whoever has been taught would be presented full-grown in Christ. In this way, the church can be built up.

I must learn and be taught of the word of God properly with revelation that I may be constituted with Christ as life in me first and then be able to minister this very life to the saints. In this way, I can build up the local church, and in this way, I must build up the local church wherever the Lord has placed me. Therefore, with this basic learning, must with all good conscience be able to answer my brother's question if I were to be asked again.

Meanwhile, I must learn and teach, and teach and learn faithfully and build up the local church I am in, all for the building up of the Body of Christ. 

Lord, grace me, teach me, that I can teach for the growth of the saints.  

Gain Your Brother

In my shepherding of new ones I have been doing my best and yet I expect some result out of the labor and price I paid for. When my expectation of result is not forthcoming, then I kind-of get discouraged and started to filter them out one by one so as not to waste my time and energy. I have had this attitude recently as I felt I have labored enough and waited for a considerable number of years. At this juncture, the Lord came to rescue me through a brother's speaking. I should never give up on anyone and do my best to gain my brothers, including the new ones, the backsliding ones, and the black sheep.

In studying the characteristics of the kingdom life, to gain the people is crucial. In the kingdom living, I must gain my brothers. I should not let go of anyone so easily, come what may. The gospel of Mathew chapter 18 opened my eyes and I could see a very important lesson in this regard.

15 Moreover if your brother sins against you, go, reprove him between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Go: First, I must go to visit a brother should he sin against me, much less offend me. I must care for my brother and reprove him in person.

Alone: If he indeed sins against me, the mater should just be between him and me. I must love and cover him up of all his mistakes, and I should in no way leaked the matter to any third person. Love covers all. This is a proper way of dealing with problems, especially with a sinning brother.

Gain: In this way, I must gain him by all means. All the shepherding is for the gaining of a brother.

16 But if he does not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 19 Again, truly I say to you that if two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens. 20 For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.

Two or Three: If I could not succeed in gaining him by myself, I must take the way of the vital group in the principle of two or three. Hopefully, by this, he could be gained. Even otherwise, I still should not give up. Rather with my fellow vital group members, I must intercede for his recovery. Even pray a binding and losing prayer to release my brother from the bondage of the enemy.

17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector. 18 Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

Tell him to the Church: Even if the two or three brothers' visitations to shepherd him does not work, I must bring the matter to the church that the whole church can intercede for him. I cannot afford to lose a brother and let the enemy has his food. By all means, a brother must be gained for the kingdom life, for the Body of Christ.

21 Then Peter came and said to Him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? 22 Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, Up to seven times, but, Up to seventy times seven.

Forgive and forgive: No matter how many times a brother might have offended me, no matter how bad he may be, I must simply forgive and forgive. The reason is simple: to gain a brother.

The Lord's speaking in the way to gain a brother has totally blown my mind. It completely changed my concept and renewed my mind. I regret not knowing this truth before. I never understood Matthew chapter 18 in this light. I always read this chapter in expounding the truth about a local church doctrinally without caring for the brothers who constitute the local church.

This is the goal of a vital group, to gain a brother. This is also the kingdom life, to gain a brother. This is also the way to live an overcoming life by practicing the church-life, to gain a brother. 

Lord, gain me to gain my brother!

Proper Pattern

For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, even as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.  1 Thessalonians 1:5 

This week I was very blessed to be able to attend the training of the full-time serving ones in India, online. The Lord's speaking through the speaking brothers were very timely and perfecting to me personally. Some crucial points are just too precious not to blog them as my personal record and study, and also a reminder for the future.

Concerning shepherding, a great new light has dawned on me. The only unique Shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Today, He has incorporated His heavenly ministry with His earthly ministry of His disciples. He as the Shepherd has duplicated and reproduced Himself into many shepherds; I am glad I am one of them. As a shepherd, I must be shepherded by Christ the Shepherd, so that I can in turn shepherd others with Christ my Shepherd whom I have been enjoying. The gospel of John chapters 10 and 21 reveals to us about the Shepherd and the many shepherds. On the one hand, I am a sheep being shepherded by the Shepherd and on the other hand, I am also a shepherd shepherding other sheep. This is a mutual shepherding. I need both and the Lord needs both too.

In the New Testament, the best way to shepherd is by giving the sheep the proper pattern. The pattern of the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul are proper patterns of shepherding the sheep with their very life.

The apostle Paul is a pattern of shepherding the saints in cooperation with Christ’s

shepherding in His heavenly ministry. ─ "Even as you know what kind of men we

were among you for your sake” ─ 1 Thes 1:5b; Heb. 13:20-21; 7:25-26; 1 Tim. 1:16; 2

Cor. 1:3-4; Acts 20:20 :

1. The best way to shepherd people, to cherish and nourish them, is to give them a

proper pattern; Paul fed his spiritual children with his own living of Christ—1

Thes. 2:1-12; 2 Cor. 1:23-2:24; 11:28-29; 1 Cor. 9:22; Acts 20:28.

2. Paul shepherded the saints as a nursing mother and an exhorting father—1 Thes.

2:7-8, 11-12

3. Paul shepherded the saints in Ephesus by teaching them “publicly and from

house to house” (Acts 20:20) and by admonishing each one of the saints with

tears even for as long as three years (vv. 31, 19), declaring to them all the counsel

of God (v. 27).

4. Paul had been enlarged in his heart to have the intimate concern of the

ministering life—2 Cor. 7:2-3; 1 Thes. 2:8; Phil. 2:19-20.

5. Paul came down to the weak ones’ level so that he could gain them—2 Cor.

11:28-29; 1 Cor. 9:22; cf. Matt. 12:20.

6. As a lover of the church in oneness with the church-loving Christ, Paul was

willing to spend what he had, referring to his possessions, and to spend what he

was, referring to his being, for the sake of the saints in order to build up the Body

of Christ—Eph. 5:25; 2 Cor. 12:15; 11:28-29.

7. He was a drink offering, one with Christ as the wine producer, sacrificing himself

for others enjoyment of Christ—Phil. 2:17; Judg. 9:13; Eph. 3:2.

8. Paul indicated in his teaching that the church is a home to raise up people, a

hospital to heal and recover them, and a school to teach and edify them—Eph.

2:19; 1 Thes 5:14; 1 Cor 14:31.

Besides these, a brother gave testimony of a shepherd in shepherding a sheep with his tears was very touching. The sheep, a young brother, who has been a church kid all his life and was in a brothers' home decided to leave the home. A brother who oversee the home did not know how to take of this brother who wanted to leave. Truth wise, the young brother has already known much, and experience-wise, he has been in the church-life. He really did not know how to shepherd him. But out of deep and intimate concern, before the young brother left the home, he hugged and wept for him with affectionate tears. That tears moved the young brother and he was shepherded. Therefore, he continued to stay in the brothers' home and later became very useful to the Lord. And now he is one of the elders in the church in Taipei.

This testimony confirmed to me the need for a proper pattern in shepherding the saints, especially the young ones, now that I am shepherding the young people. 

May the Lord's shepherding love be my love in caring for the saints that I may be a proper pattern shepherding the saints with my own life of living Christ!