Dear friends,
This is the first Sunday of the Year. I write this letter from Ranni
of Kerala State where I have come to preach in a District Convention.
May God make you more fruitful than ever in this New Year! There’s
so much to be done in His Vineyard. Our usefulness depends on how much
we make ourselves available and yielded to God. Walk humbly before Him.
His grace will flood into your soul (Js 4:6). And make sure you have
no selfish, ulterior motives.
The Indian Government has declared 2007 as the “Water Year.”
Poor irrigation and acute dependence on rainwater have seen farmers
getting poorer over the years. Rural poverty is on the rise. Is this
not the state of affairs in the Church also? Mercy drops round us are
falling, but where are the showers? Religious excitement is no index
of genuine Revival. On to our knees “until” the Lord would
rain a Revival of Righteousness in the Church and the Country! (Hos
10:12). Give a fresh reading of the Book of Acts and books on the Revivals
of the past. Quoting Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994), “Revival tarries
because we have learnt to live without it!” Did you ever come
across his book, Why Revival Tarries? Grab it!
New Year decisions are commonplace. Include in your list a decision
to maintain a Bible Notebook in which you would jot down points of inspiration
from your daily meditation of the Bible. Unless you do this, you are
bound to forget many a rich truth God teaches you from His Word. Seeds
which lie uncovered by soil on the wayside get easily snatched away
by the birds (prince) of the air! (Mt 13:4,19; Eph 2:2). My diaries
are my treasures. I have stacked them for frequent reference. The most
important thing is that you must write it then and there. Even the next
day would be too late to recollect!
1. How not to Pray |
7. How not to Suffer |
2. How not to Meditate |
8. How not to Plan |
3. How not to Give |
9. How not to Believe |
4. How not to Worship |
10. How not to Work |
5. How not to Battle |
11. How not to Think |
6. How not to Minister |
12. ? |
Some of the friends of the Kannyakumari District in Tamilnadu came up
with a request to pack the first 10 of these talks in VCDs as a set
and supply them 100 sets. They have planned to sell these to keen Christians
in the District as an attempt to stop the floods of false doctrine.
Great! You can also plan such a VCD Distribution Programme (VDP) for
your District or region. The retail price of each set (totally 23 VCDs)
is Rs. 1000/- only. It’s attractively packed in booktype cases.
The case of each title has the 10 subtitles of the Talk printed on the
back cover for ready reference. If you order 10 sets or more, you get
a discount of 25% . That will take care of your local expenses for this
distribution drive. Sit with your friends and chalk out a plan. If we
sleep or stay inactive, the enemy will countinue to sow weeds among
wheat! (Mt 13:25). Contact me for your requirements.
There were certain works I could not do while I was the Chief Executive
of the Blessing Youth Mission from 1971 to 2003. There were simply too
many things demanding my time and energy. After my retirement from the
organisation (not from ministry, of course) I have started to take up
some of those untouched works one by one. Bringing out my recorded sermons
in VCDs is one of them. I started this in a humble way two years ago.
I am surprised that the number of my sermon VCDs released so far in
English as well as with vernacular translations has exceeded 75. This
is the Lord’s doing! I’ve enclosed herewith a Catalogue.
This is a time-consuming job but I do it joyfully as a “service”
to the Body of Christ to edify, exhort and encourage its members. Ours
is an audiovisual age. Last month, the Blessing Youth Mission has purchased
from me 8000 sets of the “How not to Work” VCDs for its
life subscribers for the year of 2006 which it observed as the Year
of Excellence. This Talk I had delivered in the BYM’s Annual Camp
of 2006. Kindly go through the Catalogue and find out if you would thus
need large quantities of any one or more titles for your Church or Organisation.
The series of Talks I delivered in Germany, English to Tamil, in 1993
and 1995, respectively on the themes, “Holiness unto the Lord”
and “First His Kingdom,” each for a duration of totally
15 hours, are now made available in MP3 format, each as a 3-CD set.
Earlier these were in audiotapes only. It has been an enriching experience
to thousands who listened to these tapes. Each MP3 set of 3-CDs is Rs.
150/- only, plus forwarding. Order these from the Blessing Literature
Centre, 21/11 West Coovam Road, Chintadripet, Chennai 600 002, Tel:
044-28450411.
The afternoon Talk I delivered in the Trichy Bible Conference on 2
Sept 2006 titled, Ministry or Business? has impacted many. In this 1hr
30 mts English to Tamil Talk I have pointed out the following 7 differences
between a “ministry” and a “business.”
Ministry |
Business |
- The glory of God is the primary motive.
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- Expansion of the work is the top priority.
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- Dedicated to bless people.
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- Interested in using people.
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- Endeavours to please God in preaching.
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- Preaching to the taste of the hearers.
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- Reports are for praise and prayer
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- Reports are to impress the readers and raise contributions.
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- Builds the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God.
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- Multiplies buildings and raises empires for self.
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- Focusses on the poor, the downtrodden and the needy.
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- Goes after the rich, the affluent and the influential.
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- Essentially guided by the Holy Spirit.
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- Predominantly influenced by public opinion and the modern
trend.
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I am burdened to gift this Talk on DVD to atleast 1000 Preachers and
Pastors. Religion is getting highly commercialized. Please send me before
Feb 15 the residential addresses with telephone numbers of Evangelists,
Pastors and Preachers known to you whom you think would be benefitted
by this Talk. I shall be happy to send this DVD to them as my gift without
mentioning your name. If you want copies for your own use or distribution,
these are available at Rs. 100/- per copy. 25% discount if you order
10 or more.
I have received so many requisitions for the Application Forms for
the “Preach Better Seminar” scheduled for May 22-24. Here’s
a bookmark for your prayer. If interested, ask for an Application for
yourself or a friend, before Jan 31.
Praise God for the wide circulation of my 432-page Daily Devotional,
Better Everyday, in English, Tamil, Hindi and Kannada. Pray for the
speeding up of the translation work in Malayalam, Oriya, Telugu, Marathi
and Gujarati. Do you own a copy? The price is Rs. 150/-
Besides inviting people to listen to my Sermons and to read my books,
I have been regularly introducing to them various authors and preachers
over the years. The cost of the overseas edition of Leonard Revenhill’s
Revival classic, Why Revival Tarries, was prohibitive for an average
Indian buyer. With his permission I got it reprinted in India in the
1970s by the Blessing Youth Mission. The same has been translated into
several Indian vernaculars. Another one is Rev. J. David Pawson from
England, a Conference Speaker and Author, whom I greatly respect. The
BYM reprinted his book, The Normal Christian Birth, in India and had
him as the Guest Speaker for its Bible Lovers Camp in Danishpet in 1992.
He is now 76. It’s difficult to come across another Bible Teacher
like him. With his permission I am now reproducing his audio and video
CDs in India. His 66-VCD or 44-DVD set of Unlocking the Bible, an overview
of the whole Bible book by book from Genesis to Revelation, is going
like hotcakes. Enclosed is a pamphlet about it. Order this precious
teaching material for you and your friends.
I have several such projects in mind, to equip God’s people.
But I am ever-conscious of the Word: “It is not of him who wills,
nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Rom 9:16). David
was a man after God’s own heart. It was in his heart to build
a Temple for God. But God did not allow him to build it. He gave that
assignment to Solomon. Let God be God!
I beseech you to pray for a rich anointing on me and for good health
as I prepare to preach in the forthcoming meetings of this month and
February—
Jan 26-28 |
National Staff Retreat of Haggai Institute,
Hyderabad |
29 |
National Consultation on Revival, Blessing Youth
Mission, Hyderabad |
Feb 2,3 |
Video recording of a few short sermons |
9-11 |
District Convention of IPC, Tiruvalla, Kerala |
23-25 |
Interchurch Revival Meetings, Davanagere, Karnataka |
If you desire to receive brief news of my meetings then and there, kindly
send your mobile number with a request by SMS to Mr. T. Ruso, 098423-68424.
In turn you may forward the messages to your circle of believing friends
to increasingly mobilize prayer support for me. This letter is on my
website also which you can copy and forward to your e-mail contacts.
Thank you so much.
During the last two years I have been sending out letters like this
one, only in Tamil, to some of my Tamil friends. From now on I will
send the same in English also, responding to numerous requests from
non-Tamil friends and to be in touch with new non-Tamil friends. You
may give copies of this letter to anyone who would love to pray for
me. I shall be happy to add them to my address list. A line of acknowledgment
now and then from you will be an encouragement. My prayers are with
you that you would find God’s enabling grace sufficient for you
each day of the year.
R. Stanley