Gone Too Soon

Last Monday, as usual, I was fellowshipping with the serving ones in the distribution. We started praying together at about 4:00 pm till 4:30 pm. Then, we read a chapter from Hebrew 13, followed by practical fellowship on distribution in different parts of India. I also released my burden related to the distribution and our need to serve faithfully and fruitfully. The fellowship went on till about 5:10 pm. Then, at about 5:30 pm I received a call from a brother informing me that a brother with whom I just prayed and fellowshipped with went to be with the Lord. This brother was one among us who serves in the literature service. I was shocked and surprised and could not believe my ears initially. I did further investigation and found out that he actually passed away due to heart attack while we were still in fellowshipped online via WhatsApp group.

Later, upon further fellowship and consideration, I decided to attend the funeral meeting the next day, Tuesday. Meanwhile, another brother had already come to Gurugram to coordinate with me to go to Uttar Pradesh for the distribution. Somehow, it got postpone due to the key local brother's examination that has been postponed. Then, we planned to go to Madhya Pradesh, that too got postpone due to short notice for practical arrangement. Finally, this news of a brother gone too soon reached me and I needed to go to Chennai.

Yesterday I came to Chenni and went straight to attend this brother's funeral meeting. The brothers gave me an opportunity to testify. I did so with three points on how brother had been useful in producing audio hymns, typesetting the New Testament Recovery Version in Tamil, and how he just released 16 Telugu hymns.

Today, a brother and I visited his family and spent about two hours fellowshipping and testifying of the Lord's faithfulness in taking care of us, His children and serving ones. I gave my own testimonies of the Lord's faithfulness upon me and my family. Then I prayed for the family and the sister especially for the Lord's abounding grace to be upon them. When I requested her to share, I was so encouraged by her testimony. She testified that today morning when she felt so sad, she just turned to the Lord and the Lord shepherded her by the following verse:

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe into God, believe also into Me. John 14:1

This brother who was gone too soon had been suffering from a weak heart and a couple of other medical complications. This serves to me as a positive reminder to take care of my health when the Lord still give me the time. In fact, last night a brother asked a question why a full-time serving one had to go too soon. Well, my feeling was that God is sovereign and, on our side, we must also cooperate with God to take care of our health so that we can live healthily and live long to gain the Lord unto full maturity and be overcomers. 

Brotherly Fellowship in Love

A month ago, as the serving ones in the literature service, we were informed of the situation of a serving one who was distracted from his main service due to pressure from his family and his financial burden. Having confirmed from certain brothers, we had a fellowship with the brother involved, and fellowshipped with him in love to not be distracted but stay focused on his main service which is his portion alloted to him by the Lord. Later, we felt good to keep the fellowship in record and wrote a mail.

Meanwhile, I took the matter before the Lord and let the Lord lead and do whatever He felt best. I would not give my opinion anymore, but simply accepted the Lord’s sovereignty. But deep within my being, as I prayed for the brother I was confirmed by the Lord that everything will be alright. I trusted the Lord’s word. A brother drafted the mail and I just added the Bible verses and then sent to the concerned brother, praying and trusting that the Lord would preserve him.

Dear Brother A,

In continuation to our fellowship yesterday over the phone, we write this email to put in writing the points we fellowshipped for your careful consideration.

As we told you, we came to know through some of the brothers who joined the leading brothers’ training in C______ last weekend that you have recently entered into a multi-level marketing business involving digital currency. When we checked with you about this yesterday, you responded that this is completely a legal business with prospects of earning very high profits within a short time and that the burden is to earn money to repay the home loan and to buy Bibles/New Testaments/books from Amana and distribute them to tens of thousands of seekers for free or at subsidized rates. This sounds very logical. We honor your burden and your heart but disagree with the way you think it should be carried out. As serving ones in Amana, our function is to labor in the translation and distribution of the ministry literature. We need to keep ourselves strictly in this lane of our function. There are other saints to whom the Lord has measured the function of having a job or doing a business in order to labor in the world, plunder it, and offer for the needs of His move. As you know well, Amana does not involve itself in any other business and Amana expects all its full-time serving ones to also follow suit. Brothers who called us to inform us about this told us that as a full-time serving one in Amana, your engaging in business and approaching saints for the same is causing confusion among the churches and affecting the saints. Saints see you as a representative of Amana. So, as we mentioned yesterday, do not let these business prospects entangle you. Please stop this with immediate effect and focus exclusively on your function of distributing the ministry literature. The Lord will provide for the needs of the literature service. Who knows, the Lord might burden saints in the coming days to offer for Bibles for I like Bibles for A. Regarding your personal needs, as we told you yesterday, you may fellowship with us and we will definitely consider if anything can be done from Amana's side.

On a more personal note, we, as your brothers, urge you, brother, not to be enticed by easy money. To us, it sounds like a trap. Read the footnotes on the Ephah vessel and the woman sitting within the Ephah vessel. Also, search the ministry for pure commerce and study what the Bible says about trade. In Messages for Building Up New Believers (2) from CWWN, vol. 49, Brother Nee says the following. Please take time to read this carefully.

No brother engaging in pure commerce can be a responsible brother, for such a person can never be fully delivered from money. Our way is becoming clearer and clearer. God’s children must be fully delivered from the power of mammon. This is the only way for them to serve God and for the church to have a way to go on....

The more we work and produce, the more God will bless. The worst thing that can happen to us is that our brothers and sisters simply make a great deal of money. Nothing could be worse than this.....

We hope that all the new believers will earn their living by their own labor. We hope that they will not make money by taking in with one hand and taking out with the other. Our principle is to increase the abundance of the land, not the money in the world. If we do this, the money we receive will be clean, and when we offer it to God, it will be acceptable to Him. Every dollar will end up in a good place. Suppose a brother makes a basket and sells it and then offers the money to the Lord. This is much better than another brother who buys ten baskets, sells them, and then offers up his profit to the Lord. The amount of money offered may be the same, but the nature of the money is different. We hope that many brothers and sisters will see this principle. We must either labor with our hands or we must produce something. Both are according to the proper principles. I cannot forbid anyone from going into the business of pure commerce, but I would advise everyone to try his best to avoid pure commerce. This occupation will always drag a Christian down. We hope that the new believers among us will please the Lord in their choice of occupations.

As brothers, as we fellowshipped with you yesterday, please consider these verses carefully:

But godliness with contentment is great gain;

For we have brought nothing into the world, because neither can we carry anything out.

But having food and covering, with these we will be content.

But those who intend to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin.

For the love of money is a root of all evils, because of which some, aspiring after money, have been led away from the faith and pierced themselves through with many pains.

But you, O man of God, flee these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, meekness.

Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold on the eternal life, to which you were called and have confessed the good confession before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:6-12

We need you and your service, brother. May the Lord bless you with the longevity of very faithful service to Him.

Your brothers,

SS and PR

Today, a month later, I received the confirmation from this brother that he would continue to serve the Lord as he has been doing so and requested prayers for His service and his function.

The Lord is sovereign. Prayers works and the Lord is always the Victor!

Intimate Fellowship

The Lord has been burdening me to spend more intimate time of fellowship with Him. He has been speaking to me personally and through the Body about the need for intimate fellowship with Him. This burden has been so strong within me that I decided before the Lord, trusting in His grace that I could enjoy at least an hour of intimate fellowship in prayer every day. I look to Him for more grace so that this can be enjoyed all the days of my life.

In my time spent with Him, the Lord began to speak to me in a very personal way concerning so many things in my life. One evening, as I enjoying my time with the Lord, my intention was not to go back home from the park where I had been walking to and fro in prayer, but I needed to go back. In fact, I started my prayer time at 7:00 PM, and at about 7:30 PM I had to go back home as I had nature's call to pee, which generally did not happen. But I felt the need to go back and pee. Then after that, I wanted to continue my prayer but I did not have the leading to go back to the same park where I just prayed for half an hour. I was rather led to go to another nearby park. Then I went. 

There in the park, the Lord showed me what I had never expected but had a suspicion about. I got the shock of my life and could not literally believe my eye. But since I did not have the perfect proof of what I saw and could not confirm it for sure, I took the matter to the Lord and prayed. Later, my suspicion was even clearer as I had the unconfirmed sight of some misbehavior. I kept the sight I saw to myself and could not properly sleep at night. But I used that sleeplessness to pray for a while and read a ministry book and complete the whole book by the next morning.

The next day, I had a strong feeling from the Lord that I should fellowship with a sister which I did and confirmed many points of suspicion. This gave me the proper ground to fellowship at length in depth in an intimate way. It was like a father fellowshipping with his daughter with loving intimate concern. I believed this fellowship was straight from the heart and the spirit and that I openly poured out my whole being with all sincerity and truthfulness, with all faithfulness and fear of God. 

A few days later, I had another time of an intimate fellowship with the sister concerned and poured out all my heart concerning how she needed to be preserved for the Lord's testimony. The fellowship went on and on for over two hours until midnight when I began to touch upon and open up many family-related matters. In fact, this was the best opportunity I had to fellowship with the sister and let her know that she is just like my first daughter and that whatever she does affects me. For good or for bad, I am directly responsible for whatever would become of her. This was the first time I ever fellowshipped on family matters so intimately.  For seven years she has been with our family and we never had such a time together. I believe the Lord arranged this time together to strengthen the family bond and the family relationship.

All things indeed work together for good. If this was not the case I would have never poured out my heart's feelings or fellowship so intimately on family matters. It's time that I open up and strengthen the family tie.

Now I realize the need for intimate fellowship with the Lord and also for intimate fellowship with family members. I believe the same holds true for the new ones that the Lord gave me for shepherding. Intimate fellowship is a way of shepherding too.

Preparation in Abundance

Behold, a son will be born to you. He will be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies around him, for Solomon will be his name, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel throughout his days. It is he who will build a house for My name; and he will be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. Now, my son, may Jehovah be with you; and may you prosper and build the house of Jehovah your God, as He has spoken concerning you. Only, let Jehovah give you insight and understanding, and let Him give you charge over Israel that you may keep the law of Jehovah your God; Then you will prosper if you are certain to perform the statutes and ordinances with which Jehovah charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and take courage; do not be afraid or dismayed. Now then in my affliction I have prepared for the house of Jehovah one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver and bronze and iron without weight, for it is in abundance; and timber and stone I have prepared; and you may add to these. And with you there are workmen in abundance, masons and workers in stone and wood and all manner of men who are skillful in every kind of work. To the gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no number. Arise and do it, and may Jehovah be with you. And David commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, Indeed Jehovah your God is with you. And He has given you rest all around. For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land has been subdued before Jehovah and before His people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek after Jehovah your God; and arise and build the sanctuary of Jehovah God, in order to bring the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah and the holy vessels of God to the house that is to be built for the name of Jehovah. 1 Ch 22:9-19

David a man after God's own heart knew that God wanted to build His temple through his son Solomon. Therefore, he prepared all the materials needed for the building of the temple in abundance. He prepared his God-given son Solomon to be the builder of the temple. This is a type of the building of the church in the New Testament.

Today, the Lord has been raising up many young brothers and sisters for the building up of the temple. All the physical materials prepared in the Old Testament were types of the spiritual experiences of Christ one needs to possess and be constituted with to be the building material for the spiritual house of God, the church, the Body of Christ.

I myself am pursuing the truth in the word of God, looking away unto Jesus, to gain Him more in experiences and enjoyment, that I may be filled with Christ to be a useful material for the building up of the church. All my spiritual pursuits, be it the study of the word of the truth, prayer life, or any spiritual matter, they are all a part of the preparation of the material for God's building.

In my family too, all my children, our daily family pursuit of the truth and prayer life, are also the preparation of the material for God's building. As David prepared Solomon, I must also prepare my children as a faithful father to give them all the necessary education, learning, and training that they can be gained for the Lord to become material for the building of God's house.

In my shepherding works too, all the new ones that I have been praying for and shepherding them are the preparation of the materials. Today, in my fellowship with the serving ones of the College Campus Gospel Service, the underlying burden in shepherding all the young students is to prepare them as material for God's building.

The ministry of the age has provided the saints with all the truth and revelation needed for the preparation of the material for God's building. The Life-study of the Bible, the High Peak Truth series, the collected works of brother Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, the Holy Bible Recovery Version, and all the spiritual publications in abundance, plus all the practical church life practices, the many training, conferences, blending, and perfecting meeting. All are for the preparation of the building material in abundance. What a blessing to be a part of the material and participate in the actual building of the temple of God.

Now then in my affliction, I have prepared for the house of Jehovah one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver and bronze and iron without weight, for it is in abundance; and timber and stone I have prepared; and you may add to these. And with you there are workmen in abundance, masons and workers in stone and wood and all manner of men who are skillful in every kind of work. To the gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no number. Arise and do it, and may Jehovah be with you.

Now is the age of learning and preparation. I must learn and learn and be prepared to be a building material for God's building. 

Lord, prepare me and my fellow brothers and sisters for Your building work.

Lesson from Land

When the Lord called me to serve him full-time in 2003, I consecrated my whole life to the Lord once and for all. When I informed this decision I made in obedience to God's glorious and clarion call to my parent, especially my beloved father,  they strongly objected and opposed my decision to serve the Lord full-time. When he realized that he could not convince me otherwise, out of love and concern, he reprimanded me saying, "I have supported you all these years and now you want to do your own and take your own way?" This question from my beloved dad was very hard to digest then. Inwardly, I wept bitterly. I wish I could only obey my parent if not for the Lord's glorious call. But I cannot disobey the heavenly call from my Heavenly Father at the behest of my earthly father. I cannot be disobedient to the heavenly call. Therefore, I spoke by faith to my father, " Thank you for supporting me all this while. From now on, I will not receive anything from home, not even a rupee. But if God blesses me, I will share the blessings with you." The family meeting ended with a very deep and sad yet glorious note.

In 2006, after I got married to the sister the Lord blessed me with, He also blessed me with a good amount of financial offerings. In fellowship and oneness with my wife, we decided to invest a portion of the Lord's financial blessing on land which He showed and led me to purchase in the following year 2007. In fellowship with a brother whom I trust very much, I insisted on proper land documentation if I were to purchase the land, though it was not the practice then. Therefore, the land I purchased was first to be registered and land "pacca patta" was issued after all the formal processes of measuring and mapping. It was documented in two parts of 1.46 acres and 1.80 acres, a total of 3.26 acres. 

Land Area

1 acre =  43,560 Sq.ft

3.26 acres = 1,42,005.60 Sq.ft

1 Sangam = 27,225 Sq.ft

1 acre = 1.6 Sangam

3.26 acres = 5.216 Sangam (1.3 pari)

Different Units of Area Use in Manipur

Loukhai, Sangam, Louraak and Pari: These are the unit of areas use in Manipuri customary system.

Loukhai: It is equivalent to 13,612.5 sq. ft.

Sangam: It is twice the size of Loukhai and equivalent to 27,225 sq. ft.

Louraak: It is twice the size of Sangam and equivalent to 54,450 sq. ft.

Pari: It is twice the size of Louraak and equivalent to 1,08,900 sq. ft.

Online Manipur Area Converter | KanglaOnline

When it was purchased and properly registered to the government after the village clearance, two very important development transpired. Initially, they were almost "useless" pieces of land as there was no road connection or proper water supply for the land's usability. But after I purchased it and properly registered, two big projects were carried out by the government; a water supply and a government road connection that passed through the border of my land, solving two very important problems. Since then, the lands have been desirable properties. I have been asked a couple of times by different people if I could sell the lands as they are in great demand now. 

Last month when I went to Manipur I took a look at the lands and was told that I need to pay the land taxes due which I was not aware of. Therefore, I got the help of a brother and paid all the taxes due from 2009 till 2022. Now, these land prices have soared up to more than 26 times my purchasing price as of today, in 15 years' time.

The Lord is sovereign in leading me in this purchase of the land. Now, though it is in my name, the source is the Lord. Only in the Lord's leading will the usage of the land be decided. Now, in this land, banana cultivation has been going on with some portion of the land for vegetable cultivation. As long as the land has been utilized properly I am happy and it brings benefit to some saints who labor on it. May the Lord's will be done.

Lands are a type of Christ, the reality of the good land. Through this land, I must gain more Christ.

Lesson from Benson

For the past few days, I have been watching and listening to Br. Benson Phillips' personal testimony,  two videos on "A Meeting to Remember Brother Benson Philips", one in Irving and the other in Anaheim. I personally never met Brother Benson Phillips, but I have listened to a good number of the messages he ministered during the annual feasts, mostly the Summer and Winter Training. My first impression was that his English was comparatively hard to understand and I had no idea who this brother was until later after he went to be with the Lord.

His personal testimony was very impressive and I could relate to him the way he studied the ministry literature and how he made a decision to take the way of the Lord's recovery by closely following the ministry of the age. In this regard, his testimony was very similar to mine. One very important lesson I learned from his life is the matter of coordination. He very well coordinated with the Lord in His move to the extent of giving up his own opinion immediately and following the Lord's leading through the brother's fellowship. No wonder the Lord used and blessed him so much in his service.

As I listened to the myriad of testimony from his family, wife, children, and grandchildren, I simply worship the Lord for such a pattern he was. Though I never met him personally, now I see him in my spirit. I could visualize what kind of person he had been as a family man at the same time being fully absolute in the ministry. I am so much impressed by his lovability and friendliness with his family. He seems to love his family so much and spent a lot of time with them. This is an encouraging truth for me. At the same time, he was absolute for the Lord's ministry too. No wonder, the Lord used him very much wherever He sent him. Be it in the USA or Russia or elsewhere, he had built up the local churches where he served. What a pattern!

AND
One striking point about him as testified by a coworker in the West is his middle name. First, he asked, what is Benson Phillips' middle name? Nobody replied. Then he said, he had a secret and invisible middle name and wrote it on the blue board with white chalk, "AND." Then he explained that AND means coordination. Wherever the Lord sent him to serve he served in coordination. Benson AND brother so and so in this place, Benson AND brother so and so in that place. What a life! Then the coworker asked, "Who is your AND?" Only if you have an AND then can you serve fruitfully.

As I reflect on my service, I am thankful to the Lord that I can testify that He gave me an AND! Wherever I served and am serving, I have my AND too; Palmei and so and so in my literature service, Palmei AND so and so in my distribution journeys, Palmei AND so and so in different parts of India propagation.

Praise the Lord for such a testimony! May the Lord grace me to be a useful vessel to Him and imitate the ones who have gone before me; Brother Benson, Brother Lee, Brother Nee, Brother Paul, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Suspicion Versus Sovereignty

Suspicion is an indicator of a person's inward state concerning what he cares for. This suspicion could be a warning for timely action. Or, it could also be an over-concerned mental attitude towards a person, matter, or thing. 

Last week, I had a suspicion of a brother's behavior toward a sister. Since it involved my own family member, I turned my suspicion into a point of perfecting fellowship without condemning or accusing anyone. This matter triggered in me my need to be on the alert about the people that I care for. I cannot blindly let things go by. Sometimes, the enemy may try to destroy the testimony of the saints and the church through improper relationships. I must stand up and act based on the suspicion that alerted me.  In many cases, the Spirit within me gave me a suspicious feeling, and later upon further investigation, it confirmed my suspicion. Of course, sometimes, though my suspicion may be wrong, still it gave me the ground to be aware and take necessary action before the enemy can do anything.

As I fellowshipped my concern to the sister, I felt that it was right for me to do it as a brother who cares for her well-being. In fact, as I took the matter to the Lord in prayer, the Lord also confirmed that the action I took was positive. Besides, He enlightened me with the matter of His sovereignty. 

When all things work together for good according to the Lord's arrangement and sovereignty, my suspicion has no validity. Whether positive or negative, my feeling does not mean anything. What matters most is the Lord's sovereignty. He is sovereign and He will carry out His heart's desire. So I need not worry about anything as the Lord's sovereignty will not allow anything that He does not allow. With the realization of the Lord's sovereignty, I am at peace to accept whatever the Lord arranged.

What a lesson! The suspicion was good for me to use for fellowship. And the knowledge about God's sovereignty kept me at peace to accept whatever the Lord arranges according to His sovereignty. This is a very precious lesson I have learned of late.

I do believe, now I know how to handle suspicion. Take necessary action and trust the Lord's sovereignty.