Fellowship: Chastening

Following up on the brother concerning his person which I blogged last month on lesson from character crisis, after about three weeks, when things became more clear, the matter was brought for fellowship again. The Lord has been sovereign in letting was wait for a good number of week; giving us, especially me, enough time to consider and reconsider before the Lord in prayer. 

My main concern in not taking action immediately as one would expect was, I fear God and would not misrepresent God in any way. All the people I have been dealing with, in my service are God’s people. I cannot and must not misrepresent God. The incident surrounding Moses has always been a warning to me.

Numbers 20:7-12 RecVer

7. Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

8. Take the rod, and gather the assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, so that it yields its water. Thus you shall bring forth water for them out of the rock and give the assembly and their livestock something to drink.

9. And Moses took the rod from before Jehovah, as He had commanded him.

10. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said to them, Listen now, you rebels: Shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?

11. Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and abundant water came forth, and the assembly and their livestock drank.

12. And Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in Me, to sanctify Me in the sight of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

If a man such as Moses can commit such a serious offense, who am I, not to? I fell before God in fear and trembling. I had been praying and praying concerning this matter even while I was in the ministry journey for twenty one days. 

Once I came back to office, in fellowship with my fellow serving brothers and also with some responsible brothers in the South, things became clear to me. We also fellowshipped with the brother assaulted and heard from him, and we personally apologised to him as responsible ones. Only then, we called for fellowship to chasten the concerned brother in a way of fellowship with the view of shepherding and retaining his service.

As we called for fellowship, in the presence of a leading brother in the church in Chennai with my co-working brother over the phone, we let the brother know of our heart to shepherd him, guaranteed his service as long as he would not commit such an offense again, granted him two weeks leave from the office for him to rest, pray, and deal with the Lord because of the seriousness of the offense he committed, and rejoin the service thereafter. Then, we also clearly defined what his service would be, letting him know that he is not the manager of the office, but as serving one like any ther serving ones. At this juncture, his temper flared up, and accused us of "playing politics." When we tried to explain to him that we were just trying to help him, he replied back stating that he did not need our help and that God would help him. Perhaps, he did all these in a fit of rage. He made his own declaration of resignation and hung up the call. This incident in an evidence of what kind of person he is and a confirmation of what the Lord led us to, concerning his service. Without us initiating, he himself resigned, and we took it as the will of the Lord.

The matter was fellowshipped with all he serving ones in Chennai office the following day, to avoid any confusion, and we all prayed for the brother to be covered and shepherded by the Lord. The matter was also brought to fellowship with the coworkers today, and a new arrangement has been made for the saints to communicate with the office as we await the Lord to release the proper serving one of His choice.

What a marathon fellowship we had with different groups of saints, serving ones, and the responsible brothers. Fellowship after fellowship, prayer and considerstion. In the process, I have been very much helped to contact the Lord and "learn Christ" in complex and critical yet crucial circumstances. 

May the Lord have mercy on me and all the serving ones, and preserve us all in our services to be faithful and fruitful, all the days of our lives.

Knowing God: In the Ministry

Today, I enjoyed the truth-pursuing with my fellow serving ones. I simply praised the Lord for the saints who have gone before; I am learning from them. This portion of the ministry touched me so much so that I posted it in the brothers' group who are coordinating at the national level. Later, as I wrote a report of the recent ministry literature distribution journey, I included it as a part of the conclusion of the entire journey.  What the saints experienced about a hundred years ago, we are also experiencing today. What God did in the early period of the Lord's recovery in China is what the Lord is doing in this country now. The same one God is lording over us all and leading us all too. And we shall see the same result. Propagation and multiplication amidst persecution is the present move of the Lord. Therefore, we serve in prayer and pray as we serve, for our service is not ours only, but it is the Lord's; we have now come to know that the work we do is the Lord's, and He is the working Lord of the very work we are doing. It is His work, and we just follow Him as the Lamb wherever He leads. Hallelujah!

As soon as I came back from the 21 days long ministy journey, the past two days were busy days for me to complete all the pending work that needed my attention. The Lord showed mercy on me, and I have completed all the important and urgent pending work. Besides, He also graced me to complete the report of the ministry literature journey, the conclusion of which is below.

CONCLUSION

No matter what is outwardly transpiring in this country these days, the Lord of lords and the King of kings has opened to us many doors for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ (Colossians 4:3). We have come to know and experience that He is the Lord of the work and the working Lord! We are indeed useless and unprofitable slaves; we have only done what we ought to have done (Luke 17:10). Our experiences can be summed up in what our brothers and sisters who have gone before us had already experienced. 

The Open Door (2), CWWN, vol.32, ISSUE NO. 9, July 1938

NEWS CONCERNING THE WORK

He has opened many doors for the work. The more we see that we are useless and powerless, the more we see His work. He teaches us that hidden prayers are more important than quick-paced work. Gradually I have come to know Him as the Lord of the work and the working Lord! May glory be to His name!

Lan Tsi-yi May 23

We have to pray while we work. Anything that is not produced from the Spirit is not spiritual and will not affect the spirits of others. Anything that is not from heaven will not receive blessings from heaven and will not lay up fruit in heaven. May the One who started this work in your heart also accomplish it.

Ruth Lee June 29, in Wan County

Ministry of the Word to Paipedu, Jammalamadugu, Dabbudupalli, Mudigubba, and Dharmavaram

The second phase of the distribution was carried out this time with the view of shepherding the new contacts the brothers were burdened for. To me, we were carrying out the local brothers' burden for the propagation of the truth using the ministry literature as a channel. I just followed the brothers arrangement in going to places and ministering the word as the Lord gave the opportunity. And as the situation deemed fit, the Telugu New Testament Recovery Version was introduced. 

Paipedu and Dabbudupalli were remote places with mostly farmers and hunters. The need there was more of the ministry of the word and prayers as many were barely able to read by themselves. Nonetheless, they needed the word of God, in "oral dispensation." While in other places, the study of the word using the Recovery Version was encouraged. 

In Jammalamadugu, a meeting for the youth was held and the burden released was on consecration using the Nazarite vow in Numbers 6.

In Mudigubba, the Lord led us to "God Servants" who warmly welcomed us with a lovefeast meal even before we ministered the word. Their hospitality was amazing and exemplary. Once they cherished us, it was our time to nourish them with the solid food of the word. As we introduced the Telugu New Testament Recovery Version using selected footnotes, three sisters and a brother, all of them responded positively. Every query they asked opened up the corresponding truth points. They were very impressed with the truths presented in the form of footnotes. They purchased a copy for each one, and for one young sister, we gifted a copy, the daughter of one of the elderly sisters. Later, she opened up about her spiritual, psychology, and physical situation, seeking prayer and help. 

As they requested me to pray for them and the ministry they were involved in, I did so with all sincerely for the Lord to show them the vision of Christ and the church, for them to love the Lord more, gain Him more and more that, one day, the Lord’s testimony in the locality may be raised up. 

Once my prayer was over, and everyone amened, I saw the young sister kneeling down right in front me. Perhaps, it was her habit to kneel while praying? Then, she requested for another special prayer for her because of her weak physical and psychological condition. On her request, in front of her mother and the other elderly brother and sister, I prayed again as per her request. We then introduced her to the brother serving in Tirupati as she will rejoin her college there a few weeks after. This was a very unique experience of seeking believers the Lord led us to, for shepherding. 

In Dharmavaram, I was informed of a Pastor who harbored a negative notion about the saints in the Lord’s recovery concerning the reading of the ministry books and the word of God. Therefore, when we met, I simply testified of how I have been reading the Bible from my childhood and how the ministry books helped me in understanding the Bible that I have been reading. I gave an example of brother Nee's book, The Normal Christian Life, which opened my eyes to see the practical matters of the church. Then, I asked the brothers with me to introduce the Telugu New Testament Recovery Version. He immediately purchased a copy for himself, in contrary to the negative view he once had concerning the ministry. 

Later, with another two fsmilies, I fully gave the two brothers with me, the opportunity to function to introduce the Recovery Version Bible. They did so well. They exercised their spirits, and released their burden for the spread of the truth. Thus, the minsitry literature journey for this time came to a satisfactory conclusion. 

The two brothers volunteered to drop me to Bengaluru Airport from Dharmavaram, about three hours drive. Though I had my train ticket, they insisted to drop me so that they can have more fellowship with me. Indeed, we had a lot of fellowship on the way, and even at the Airport, for about an hour, until we finally had our thanksgiving and departing prayers. Then, I checked in to board a flight back to Delhi.

May the Lord bless His move in Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh.

Ministry of the Word to Kamalapuram, Rayachoti, Rajampet, Railway Koduru, and Kadapa

As the Lord burdened and led us in fellowship again this time, the ministry literature distribution was carried out in coordination with the local brothers who were burdend for the spread of the ministry in localities where the local church is yet to be raised up. Thus, the distribution was planned in two phases. In between, there was a two days gap which I intended to use for Hebrew studies and exam but I was again occupied with meetings arranged by the brothers. 

In the first phase, we covered five localities. In all these, we visited the Christian leaders and seeking believers and introduced and distributed the ministry books, especially, the Telugu New Testament Recovery Version.

Everyone we met paid careful heed to the ministry literature introduction. In many cases, the brothers we introduced the New Testament to, ended up purchasing a copy for themselves. In two meetings, the pastors carefully checked and decided to place order at another times. Nonetheless, we were glad that we at least released our burden and did our best to introduce the Recovery Version and ministry title books in Telugu. While in all other meetings, the pastors, Christian leaders, and seekers paid the price to purchase the ministry books.

In Rayachoti, we met with a Pastor and an aggressive TV Christian debator. I didn't know who they were while I was speaking to them, only afterward, I was informed. The Lord led me to introduce the Recovery Version with all the features. I even used the footnotes concerning the spiritual significances of "Son of David, Son of Abraham, and wife of Uriah." The brothers paid careful heed to the introduction. 

In Rajampet, we had a Pastors' gathering where the Lord led me to minister boldly on the church, the ground of locality, and the oneness required for her building up. After the ministry of the word, many Pastors expressed their agreement to the word ministered despite my gues that some of them might get hurt. One Pastor, who was also the President of the Pastors Association kept telling me, he wanted to "come me with me to learn." He was so touched by the ministry of the word that he voluntarily led us to a few other Pastors who all received the words we ministered and purchased the Telugu New Testament Recovery Version. 

In Railway Koduru too, a Pastors' meeting was arranged and I ministered on Philippians 1:19 on the revelation of the Spirit in the Bible with an emphasis on the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Then, a brother introduced the Telugu New Testament Recovery Version. Almost all the Pastors present purchased it.

Finally, in Kadapa too, we met a couple of Pastors who all ended up purchasing the Telugu New Testament, and one Pastor purchased the English Holy Bible Recovery Version after we clarified to him some misunderstandings he had about the ministry. 

Thank the Lord for His leading and guiding in all these localities. May the Lord gain His seekers in these new places and raise up His testimony one day. 

Fellowships With New Ones

In the ministry journey to a Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh, the brothers took me to some remote villages where the Lord has began His work of saving, shepherding, and building for His own testimony. The saints in these two new localities are all new believers, many of them still on the process of drinking the milk of the word as new born babes.

Paipedu

Last Lord’s Day evening we drove for more than an hour to a rocky village where about ten families have believed into the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour and God. By profession, they are shepherds and farmers mostly. Some entities had helped them build houses and did some foundational works. Now, our brothers have preached the gospel and a good number of them have believed into the Lord Jesus Christ. 

According to their present need, brothers asked me to fellowship with them on assurance of salvation and clearance of the past, which I did so, using all the relevant Bible verses. Since these ones were mostly illiterates, I repeated the crucial Bible verses again and again to help them understand the word of God. The Bible verses read and explained were, Romans 10: 9,10,13; 8:16; 1 John 5:1-3; Luke 19:1-9, and Acts 19:18-19.

After the fellowship, we enjoyed a meal together, and then visited the local families, house by house, praying for each family. This was the way the brothers have been shepherding, with warmth, love, and tender care.

Dabbudupalli

Yesterday night, after the meeting in Jammalamadugu, the brothers drove us to another rocky village, a very remote village, where a brother and I coordinated and  ministered on God’s dream of having His dwelling place on the earth, the fulfillment of Jacob's dream, and the way of fulfilling that dream today as living stones growing in the divine life by feeding on His word. In addition to releasing the burden of God's dream, we also helped them to see the matter of eating Jesus through the pray-reading of His words. Finally, we helped them all to memorise John 6:63

John 6:57 RecVer

As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

John 6:63 RecVer

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

After the meeting, we had a time of lovefeast in a joint-family of twenty members. They fed us with different types of meat available in the village, one of which, I ate for the first time.

These are all new believers and are under shepherding. May the Lord continue to shepherd them.

Fellowships With Young People

In the ministry journey this time, the local brothers have arranged meetings with the young ones and requested me to minister the word. As usual, I followed the brothers leading unless the Lord led me otherwise. I prayed and considered what was the burden from the Lord  for each group of people,  and according to the Lord’s leading, faithfully ministered the word. This time alone, in three localities, a special time with the young people was arranged.

Parnapalli 

On the 4th of Sept, a group of Christian students had an outing at a dam site. Though I did not join the outing per se, I attended the crucial part of the meeting for the minsitry of the word, the final session. As the theme of the outing was on the burden of fellowship, I ministered on the need for vertical fellowship with God and horizontal fellowship with one another. My main burden was to help these young brothers ans sisters to inculcate the habit of having a personal, intimate, fellowship with the Lord on a daily basis. 

Pulivendula 

On the 5th of Sept evening, I was invited to take a "Bible Study" session with  a group of Engineering students at the resident of a brother. The burden the Lord gave me was to minister on the meaning and purpose of human life. Once I got the message from the Lord, I prayed for the Lord’s anointing and for the proper utterance best fit for the students according to their situations, and also their mental and spiritual capacities. 

The Lord answered my prayer and released His burden as rivers of living water for about an hour. The students were supplied with the Lord's word. It was indeed an eye opening to many of them as they testified later, including the faculty members who were present in the meeting. May the Lord's word sown as a seed grow and develop, working out God’s plan in each one of them. Amen.

Jammalamadugu

On the 8th of Sept, a meeting was arranged mostly for the young people, together with some elders too. As I considered the burden from the Lord for this meeting, the Lord led me to Numbers 6, to minister on the Nazarite vow. First, I prepared and enjoyed the burden myself when I went through the relevant Scriptures. Therefore, when the time came to minister, I simply released the burden, point by point.

Numbers 6:1-8 RecVer

1. Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, When a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazarite, to separate himself to Jehovah,

3. He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink, nor shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh or dried grapes.

4. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.

5. All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to Jehovah; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.

6. All the days that he separates himself to Jehovah he shall not come near a dead person.

7. He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is upon his head.

8. All the days of his separation he is holy to Jehovah.

The word of God spoke by itself. The four points on consecration were ministered: The need to abstain from the world with its enjoyment and pleasure by loving God, the need to submit to God and His deputy authority by fearing God, the need to stay away from spiritually death people, and the need to overcome natural affection. For this, a willing consecration to choose life and blessing by daily consecration to take Christ as life was ministered using Deuteronomy 30: 15,16,19,20.

Then, a brother followed suit in confirming, completing, and concluding in coordination. 

May the Lord gain all these young vessels for His divine purpose.

Blending in Pulivendula

Last Lord’s Day, a bending meeting of seven nearby localities was planned at the meeting hall of the church in Pulivendula. This plan was informed to me only two days before the meeting. Therefore, on Saturday morning, I prayed to the Lord to reveal His burden as I was assigned to minster the word. As I prayed, the Lord gave me a verse in John 12:24 and the message to be ministered was on "blending and building." Even on the Lord’s Day morning, I still looked to the Lord for more details on this burden. So, when the time came to minsiter the word after the bread breaking meeting, I released the burden. 

One lesson the Lord taught me in the minstry of the word was, once the burden was received from the Lord, I simply should trust the ministering Spirit and follow the anointing to minister. Though this was the way I used to minister, this time, somehow I tried to depend on the outline and already printed materials. Therfore, I was slightly distracted. So, I had to exercise my spirit more to emphasise on the very burden God burdened me with. In between, I even resorted to singing hymn concerning building, hymn # 841. Thank the Lord that the saints atleast got the burden: One God, One Ministry (the building of the Body), and One Goa (the New Jerusalem).

In the evening, the church brothers arranged another meeting. There, I learned my lesson not to be distracted by anything else, but simply focus on the burden from the Lord. I just stick to the burden and released the burden, verse by verse, point by point, as God led me. The burden was on, "the prohibitions and warnings in the building up the Body in serving the Lord."

Using Leviticus 9 and 10, the ministering was on a warning on offering "strange fire" which resulted in the death of Nadab and Abihu for not following the way ordained by God. 

Leviticus 9:23-24 RecVer

23. And Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting. And they came out and blessed the people; and the glory of Jehovah appeared to all the people.

24. Then fire came forth from before Jehovah and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they gave a ringing shout and fell on their faces.

Leviticus 10:1-2 RecVer

1. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in them and laid incense on it, and they presented strange fire before Jehovah, which He had not commanded them.

2. And fire came out from before Jehovah and consumed them, and they died before Jehovah.

Using 2 Samuel 6, the ministering was on a warning of what David and Uzzah did. Though their hearts were good and their intention to bring the Ark back to the proper dwelling place was proper, the way they took was not according to God-ordained way. So, when the ox carrying the Ark stumbled and the Ark was about to fall, the good intention of Uzzah in trying to protect the falling Ark caused his own death as this broke God-ordained way in Numbers 4:15.

2 Samuel 6:6-7 RecVer

6. And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out for the Ark of God and took hold of it; for the oxen had stumbled.

7. And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the Ark of God.

Using Exodus 30, the ministering was on the anointing not to be applied on the flesh and not to make any duplicate of the anointing.

Exodus 30:32 RecVer

Upon the flesh of man it shall not be poured, nor shall you make any like it, according to its composition; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you.

Exodus 30:38 RecVer

Whoever shall make any like it, to smell it, shall be cut off from his people.

Thus, the burden from the Lord was fully released and the saints were so much supplied with the ministry of the word.

Finally, in the night after our dinner, we had a time of fellowship with the key brothers. Answering to a brother's question on how to know God's will, I gave the four practical points on knowing God's will through:

• Prayer, exercising the spirit to discern by life and peace (Romans 8:6)
• The understanding of the word of God, even with the help of the ministry 
• The fellowship in the Body for clarification and confirmation 
• The circumstantial evidences 

Besides, the Lord burdend me to minister the need for the experiences of breaking through the cross of Christ resulting in the death in the natural man, and then resurrection which leads to the building issuing in the Lord’s blessing. 

The brothers were so touched by the timely speaking of the Lord. We then prayed together and went back to rest. As we were about to rest, I had a time of fellowship with a brother who hosted me.

It was indeed a blessed day of ministering the word of God! The Lord’s heart was on the building up of the Body of Christ. 

May the Lord bless the saints, the brothers, and the church.

Praise the Lord for the ministry of the word!