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Miles J. Stanford
Miles J. Stanford (1914 - 1999). American Christian author and Bible teacher born in Wheaton, Illinois. Raised with little religious background, he centered his early life on baseball, golf, and heavy drinking until a profound conversion on September 19, 1940, at age 26, prompted him to study the Bible eight to ten hours daily. Serving in the U.S. Army Engineers from 1942 to 1945 as a cartographer in England and Germany, he began corresponding with Christians, writing to nearly 200 by his discharge. From 1946 to 1955, his study and correspondence grew, and in 1951, he married Cornelia de Villiers Schwab, who shared his passion for spiritual growth. They ministered together, leading Bible studies in Brooklyn, New York, and later at Pleasant Hill Community Church in Warrenville, Illinois. In 1960, Stanford launched The Green Letters series, a newsletter that became his seminal book (1964), followed by titles like The Complete Green Letters (1975), translated into 12 languages. A self-described Pauline dispensationalist, he drew from Plymouth Brethren and Lewis Sperry Chafer, emphasizing positional truth and sanctification. Based in Colorado Springs from 1962, he maintained a global correspondence ministry. Stanford’s words, “Our part is not production, but reception of our life in Christ,” reflect his focus on grace. His works, freely shared online, continue to guide believers in spiritual maturity.
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Miles J. Stanford preaches on the unity believers have with the Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit, emphasizing how the Spirit constantly directs our focus to Jesus, engraving His image in our hearts, thoughts, words, and actions. Stanford highlights that spiritual growth is not about perfection but about making Jesus the central focus of our lives, with the Holy Spirit guiding us in understanding divine truths and transforming us from within. He reminds believers that true growth comes from yielding to the work of the Spirit, allowing the Cross to crucify our fleshly desires and worldly attachments, ultimately glorifying Jesus in all aspects of our lives.
The Spirit's Object
"He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (with Him)" (1 Corinthians 6:17). We are one spirit with the Lord Jesus by the one and only Holy Spirit. "I can always know when the Holy Spirit is leading me, because He ever occupies me with the Lord Jesus. True, He may have to call attention to my own condition, but if He does, He turns me to the Lord Jesus, not merely to convict me, but to relieve me." -J.B.S. "Spiritual growth is the Holy Spirit engraving the Lord Jesus on a man's heart, putting Him into his thoughts, his words, and his ways, just as the Law was engraved upon stones. It is not that there is no failure. A man who is seeking to make money does not always succeed; but everybody knows what his object is. Just so, the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of the believer's life." -J.N.D. "The believer is not to clamor for the solution of perplexities or for intellectual mastery of divine mysteries. What knowledge he has in this realm is his because the Holy Spirit has declared it to him; and for the Spirit's declaration he must wait." "None of us is ever beyond the work of the Spirit in us. Many think that because they have the light of a truth, they are in all the practical reality of it. No! You may know and reckon on all the Bible, but there is no growth beyond the measure of the Holy Spirit's work in you." -J.B.S. "The Holy Spirit is only truly yielded to as the Cross, with its crucifixion of the flesh and the world, has become the attitude of our heart and mind." "He (the Holy Spirit) shall glorify Me" (John 16:14).
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Miles J. Stanford (1914 - 1999). American Christian author and Bible teacher born in Wheaton, Illinois. Raised with little religious background, he centered his early life on baseball, golf, and heavy drinking until a profound conversion on September 19, 1940, at age 26, prompted him to study the Bible eight to ten hours daily. Serving in the U.S. Army Engineers from 1942 to 1945 as a cartographer in England and Germany, he began corresponding with Christians, writing to nearly 200 by his discharge. From 1946 to 1955, his study and correspondence grew, and in 1951, he married Cornelia de Villiers Schwab, who shared his passion for spiritual growth. They ministered together, leading Bible studies in Brooklyn, New York, and later at Pleasant Hill Community Church in Warrenville, Illinois. In 1960, Stanford launched The Green Letters series, a newsletter that became his seminal book (1964), followed by titles like The Complete Green Letters (1975), translated into 12 languages. A self-described Pauline dispensationalist, he drew from Plymouth Brethren and Lewis Sperry Chafer, emphasizing positional truth and sanctification. Based in Colorado Springs from 1962, he maintained a global correspondence ministry. Stanford’s words, “Our part is not production, but reception of our life in Christ,” reflect his focus on grace. His works, freely shared online, continue to guide believers in spiritual maturity.