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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 about the faithfulness of the Lord in establishing and guarding believers from evil, emphasizing the importance of trusting in God's purpose even when facing trials and challenges. He highlights the ultimate goal of God to conform us to the image of His Son, guiding us to focus on manifesting the character of Christ in our lives. Stanford also discusses the necessity of holding onto faith in God's truth despite feelings or experiences that may contradict it, and the significance of allowing the life of the old self to be inoperative so that the life of the Lord Jesus can be revealed in us.
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Cross Purposes
"The Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and guard you from evil" (2 Thessalonians 3:3, R.V.). When once we see and accept His purpose for our lives to the extent that it becomes our will also, the details of His process cease to matter. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job. 13:15). "The one purpose our Father has in view, in all His ways, is to conform us to the image of His Son. This may explain our perplexities as to the past; it will govern our behavior in the present; it is to be our guide in the future. The chief concern of our Lord is not to instruct us about a multitude of details, not to explain to us the reason for the trials which we are called to pass through. He is working out everything to serve His one supreme aim in manifesting the character of His Son in His saints." -H.F. "The God-given experiences of the Spirit's working within many a time passes away, and leaves the believer apparently dull and dead. This is only until the double lesson has been fully learned: (1) that a living faith can rejoice in the Living God, even when all feeling and experience appear to contradict the truth (Romans 8:28, 29); and (2) that the Divine life only predominates as the life of the old man is held in the place of death, inoperative (Romans 6:11a). The life of the Lord Jesus is revealed as His death works in us (2 Corinthians 4:11,12), and as in weakness and nothingness we look to Him (2 Corinthians 3:18)." -A.M. "While our Father is dealing with someone in discipline, when He is applying the Cross in a life, be careful how you sympathize with him. You may be taking sides with him against God. By such sympathy, you may, indeed, draw him away from the work of the Cross." "For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11).
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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.