A. What Is Biblical Mission? “Biblical mission means more than simply going overseas to plant churches or spread civilization. It means the church participating in the ‘mission of God (Missio Dei)’ and seeking the restoration of God’s rule and glory throughout the whole earth. Mission is not a program that begins with human enthusiasm; rather, it is the heart of God that runs throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and is a fundamental reason for the church’s existence. Let me clearly summarize five essential principles of true mission as presented in Scripture. 🌍 1. The Mission of God (Missio Dei) The subject and initiator of mission is not human beings but God. In order to save fallen humanity, God first comes to us, sends His Son, and sends the Holy Spirit. He is the “missionary God” who sends. Biblical basis: “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” (John 20:21) Key meaning: The church acknowledges that God has the initiative in mission and serves as His agent, obed...
Tough Love
A long time ago, on the radio program Focus on the Family, I remember
Pastor James Dobson mentioning the term tough love. That memory came to mind today while I was
having a conversation with three sisters whom I met for the first time. Perhaps the reason it resurfaced was that we
were discussing family matters—particularly how we, as parents, should love our
children—and sharing our concerns and thoughts on the subject. When I mentioned to them that as parents, we
sometimes need to show tough love to our children, one of the sisters responded
by saying that she had considered loving her children unconditionally (just as
God loves us unconditionally) but had never really thought about the need for
tough love before. In response, I
explained that while God does indeed love us unconditionally, His love is also
a tough love. For example, just as God
led the Israelites into the wilderness during the Exodus, He sometimes leads us
into the wilderness to humble us and to teach us that man does not live by
bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy
8:2). Therefore, I believe that when we
love our children, we must maintain balance. God’s love includes both
unconditional love and tough love. In
the same way, we must love our children with that balance.
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