R. Stanley
Brother R. Stanley, an Indian post-graduate in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, born in 1947 and born again in 1962 is in fulltime Christian service since 1975. He has been honoured with a Doctorate in Divinity by the Hindustan Bible Institute, Chennai in 2000. Notes, outlines and sermons born out of the personal Bible meditations of R. Stanley can be read at www.StanleyOnBible.com Materials from this website, launched on 31 August 2002, can be copied for private circulation, but not for publication.The books authored by Brother Stanley in English and translated to a number of Indian languages, and tapes, are available from the Blessing Youth Mission (BYM), www.BlessingYouthMission.org an inter-Church revival and missionary-evangelistic organisation in India.
Many a young Christian has ruined his life because of unholy alliance in marriage. Marriage is a yoke. The Bible forbids unequal yoke (2 Cor 6:14). "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together" (Dt 22:10). Both the Old and the New Testaments strongly condemn intermarriage with unbelievers. Intermingling the "holy seed" with the unconverted is called as "trespass, transgression, iniquity and guilt" (Ezra 9:1-6). Even a widow who is a believer is not permitted to marry an unbeliever. "She is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord" (1 Cor 7:39).
Arranged marriages, until recently, have been normative in Indian culture. But now the number of love marriages is on the increase. Arranged marriages are an inconceivable idea for the westerners. Eventhough the eastern culture is considered to be too conservative, divorce rate is much less and family ties much stronger here. . . . . Eventhough love marriages are becoming more and more common in India, a recent poll in some of the major cities reveals that nearly 80% of the young people prefer arranged marriages. This is encouraging. However no two young people are alike. Even within a family one child differs so much from the other. 
An oft-quoted Bible verse in Christian discipleship programmes is 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new!" But the new disciple soon finds out that at least in his case this Scripture is not experienced. He wonders why. He dares not ask others about it. He struggles within himself, sometimes even for years, without finding a satisfactory explanation. May be, dear reader, you are in such a condition. The total change promised in this text seems to be out of your reach. You are however constantly bothered by the question, When will I ever change? 
Blogs by this Author
Hero Worship
- By R. Stanley
- Published 03/2/2010
Reading: Revelation 22:1-9"You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power; for You created everything" (Rev 4:11) God uses human instruments of His choice in revival. We should ...
Guttermost To Uppermost!
- By R. Stanley
- Published 02/10/2010
Reading: 1 Samuel 2:1-10"The Lord raises the insignificant from the dust and lifts the lowly from the rubbish" (1 Sam 2:8) The childhood of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was spent in poverty. One day a ...
Merry Christmas!
- By R. Stanley
- Published 12/25/2009
Reading: Luke 2:1-20"Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift" (2 Cor 9:15) The Church calendar has fixed December 25 as the Christmas Day. There is so much of dispute over its accuracy, but it does ...
Holiness & Health
- By R. Stanley
- Published 12/4/2009
Reading: Isaiah 53:1-12"He who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your bodies by His Spirit which dwells in you" (Rom 8:11)All the three Persons of the Godhead are interested in our hea...
Intelligence And Influence
- By R. Stanley
- Published 08/31/2009
Reading: John 7:1-10"You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light" (Eph 5:8) God is not against us acquiring knowledge. But He would not have us put "knowledge"...