Above I find myself privileged to be sitting between Suresh, gifted singer, associate pastor and worship leader, and his lovely wife Swapna, and Rev. Vijay Raj, pastor and founder of Christ Gospel Ministries, and his equally lovely wife Swarupa. For five weeks this summer, we led six EPI pastors’ conferences in two states (Andhra Pradesh and Orissa), 5 on Leadership for over 600 pastors total, and 1 on Marriage for 90 couples.
The enthusiastic response was humbling as God was clearly using us for His purposes and glory. We are already planning our next series of conferences for pastors in India in the early part of next year.
As an example of what we taught, here are the six purposes of Marriage:
1. Partnership (Gen. 2:18-24);
2. Procreation (Gen. 1:28);
3. Protection from Sexual Immorality (1 Cor. 7:2,9);
4. Pleasure (1 Cor. 7:3-5);
5. Picture of Christ and His Church (Eph. 5:22-33);
6. Personal Sanctification (Prov. 27:17; the “one anothers”).
We also taught the following three essentials of godly leadership:
1. Character (1 Tim. 1:5; 3:1-13; 4:12; 6:11);
2. Courage (1 Tim. 1:3, 18; 5:19-22; 6:17-19);
3. Commitment, or Faithfulness over time (1 Tim. 4:6-16; 6:12, 20).
These men are holding some of the books that we sent to Vijay through EPI’s M-Bag Leader’s Library ministry. These future pastors will be able to get a theological education in the Training Centre behind them, which will begin its first class on August 20 with 25 students.Here are the books that are included in the M-Bags:
1. The Reformation Study Bible (English Standard Version)
2. The Crossway Comprehensive Concordance (for the ESV)
3. Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus
4. Africa Bible Commentary (for Africans only)
5. New Bible Commentary (Wenham, Motyer, Carson, France, editors)
6. New Bible Dictionary
7. The Christian Counselor’s NT and Proverbs (Jay Adams)
8. The Westminster Confession of Faith, Modern English Version
9. Salvation Belongs to the Lord- Intro to Systematic Theology (Frame)
10. Systematic Theology (Wayne Grudem)
11. Overcoming Temptation (Ralph Lloyd)
12. The Portable Seminary (David Horton, general editor)
13. According to Plan- Intro to Biblical Theology (G. Goldsworthy)
14. Essential Truths of the Christian Faith (R.C. Sproul)
15. Now, That’s a Good Question! (R.C. Sproul)
16. Getting the Message- A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible (Dan Doriani)
17. Biblical Eldership (Alexander Strauch)
18. The NT Deacon (Alexander Strauch)
19. Knowing God (J.I. Packer)
20. Tell the Truth (Will Metzger)
21. A Ready Defense- the Best of Josh McDowell
22. Basic Christianity (John Stott)
23. How Long, O Lord? (D.A. Carson)
24. The Liberation of a Resentful Wife (Carol Arnold)
25. Great Words (Jack Arnold)
26. Charts of the OT (John Walton)
27. Charts of the NT (Wayne House)
28. One to One Discipling (Al and Lorraine Broom)
29. When the Road is Rough and Steep (Harry Kilbride)
30. Heaven (Randy Alcorn)
31. The Purity Principle (Randy Alcorn)
32. The Treasure Principle (Randy Alcorn)
33. The Grace and Truth Paradox (Randy Alcorn)
34. Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (John Piper)
35. Let the Nations Be Glad! (John Piper)
36. Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die (John Piper)
37. Christ-Centered Preaching (Bryan Chapell)
38. Prepared to Preach (Greg Scharf)
39. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Mark Dever)
40. How to Study the Bible (Kay Arthur)
I am planning to spend the rest of this year purchasing these books and packing them in M-Bags to send overseas. My goal is 75 M-Bags, most going to Africa, some to India, and a few to other parts of the world. If you would like to help finance this project, make your check out to EPI, write “M-Bags” in the memo section, and send it to my home address. I promise that 100% of your donation will be used for this purpose.
Smiley and her dolly (given to her by Vijay and Swarupa) and I thank you on behalf of the most faithful but untrained pastors of the world!
