Saints,
I wanted to write this short notice to let brothers and sisters on SermonIndex know the reason why we have removed "all" Ray Stedman materials from the website.
On Oct 11, 2016 I received a lawyer letter from the Flagler Law Group demanding that we remove all materials: "the Owner herebydemands that your company remove all links to the Infringed Materials from the Site." This was with no attempt from the believers from Ray Stedman Ministries to reach out and let us know their wishes.
We obtained most if not all the Ray Stedman recordings from Fire Fighters for Christ tape library which has been freely distributing many speakers such as Ray Stedman for 15 years and ourselves for 12 years.
This has been grieving to see a ministry act in this way which is not biblical, and not even personally reaching out to other fellow believers. Sadly money, organizations and control come into play and trying to distribute God's Words preached for money.
George Fox spoke of this in his day:
"The earthly spirit of the priests wounded my life; and when I heard the bell toll to call people together to the steeple-house, it struck at my life; for it was just like a market-bell, to gather people together, that the priest might set forth his ware for sale. Oh, the vast sums of money that are gotten by the trade they make of selling the Scriptures, and by their preaching, from the highest bishop to the lowest priest! What one trade else in the world is comparable to it? notwithstanding the Scriptures were given forth freely, and Christ commanded His ministers to preach freely, and the prophets and apostles denounced judgment against all covetous hirelings and diviners for money. But in this free Spirit of the Lord Jesus was I sent forth to declare the Word of life and reconciliation freely, that all might come to Christ, who gives freely, and who renews up into the image of God, which man and woman were in before they fell, that they might sit down in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
-George Fox
God forbid that we ever control and try and sell the sermons here for financial profit. Jesus came to the temple system in his day and cleansed it from such mis-use of His Words and Name.
John 2:13-17New King James Version (NKJV)
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten[a] Me up.”