THE
MESSAGE FROM THE MISSION
August 1999 Volume 1
Dear Fellow Missionaries:
Welcome to our first newsletter! Through the hard work of all those who
have contributed to this newsletter, we finally have achieved the prized
product. To all that have supported this, thank you. Your sacrifices and
commitment are the reason this project could be accomplished. For every
one of you that reads this newsletter, thank you. I pray that God may
bless you through these words, and that He would speak to your heart.
Thanks again to everyone for their dedication and commitment to the church,
and this newsletter.
-Michael
Kwag, Editor
Living
the Christian Challenge of Love
By Pastor Casey Toews
Our 1999 theme as chosen by Pastor Lee is "Care for one another with love".
Love is a powerful law to live by. In fact, Jesus tells us that ALL the
commandments of the Old Testament Law are summarized into two LOVE mandates:
1) love God; 2) love mankind. In fact, by fulfilling these two simple, yet
profound mandates, one fulfills all of the Old Testament law!
Imagine yourself being able to fulfill all of the legal requirements stipulated
in the Old Testament: rules about washing, eating, traveling, working, relating,
even tithing! Well, you, nor I could fulfill all of those rules: there are
just too many, and we are just too weak. But what is even harder to imagine,
perhaps, is fulfilling those two simple mandates that Jesus taught. For
in those two mandates we find the meaning of Christian life, and its daily
challenge.
The Mandate to Love God:
Loving God is a no brainer! Right? All you have to do is love Him. But loving
him is more than just going to church on Sunday, or saying a prayer once
or twice during the week. Loving God is an ongoing 24 hour per day, 7 days
a week devotion that never gets intimate enough. It is something striven
for, but never fully achieved. We hunger and hunger for God, and yet in
the end we realize how much we have rejected Him and pushed Him away. He
always wants more of us, and we always need to be willing to give more of
ourselves to Him. To love God is to be in a constant position of repentance:
to continually recognize one's need to turn back to Him again and again.
Love God! Not so simple after all, is it?
The Mandate to Love Mankind:
Love mankind! Now this second mandate should be easier. In fact, this mandate
is our 1999 theme, is it not? To love one another should be easy, especially
for us Christians. But in fact, loving one another is real tough. First
of all, we do not always like what one another does, and therefore, we develop
attitudes of disapproval towards one another. We think down on others. And
when things get confrontational, we even speak down to others. Instead,
we should always look up to one another in humility. But that is a hard
thing to do. So, we need to be full of compassion and mercy towards one
another, willing to forgive others who hurt us, and willing to accept those
who we might otherwise dislike. This includes non-Christian friends and
neighbors. Love all of humanity. This too fulfills the Old Testament law.
And this too, is not simple after all. Our 1999 theme captures much of the
challenge of Christian living. And indeed, it is a challenge. I close with
this warning:
I predict that many of you are in danger of not successfully handling the
Christian challenge. I fear that when you finish high school and enter college,
you will no longer be forced by your parents to attend church. You will
wander from God. You will find your spouses, your careers and your new homes...but
you will have lost Jesus! I ask you this important question: 'If your parents
did not make you come to church, or said they would not drive you, would
you come to church anyway?' If you would not come to church if your parents
did not make you, you are in real danger. If you are not currently involved
in your high school class, if your are not involved in what God is doing
on Sundays and Wednesdays at our meetings, if you lack a certain excitement
and passion about Jesus, then your are in real danger. The enemy is seeking
to devour you. But take hope in this: the body of Christ is far more powerful!
On your own you will not be able to love God or love mankind. But with the
support and friendship you can find in the life-flow of The Mission, you
will not only survive but you will become all that God has intended for
you: an awesome expression of His glory.
Be committed to God and to your friends at The Mission. This is our 1999
theme, and this is ALL that God has commanded!
Love from your Pastor,
Casey
