Things to Come

[Page 158]

     Our plan for MISSION MESSENGER in 1968 has been fairly well outlined. The theme of our writings for the entire year, if our precious Lord wills, is to be "God's Community." We will present a series of studies in the nature and life of the primitive saints which will be destined to give the concerned ones in our own day a real feeling of that continuity in the reign of heaven which is a creation of the unfailing Spirit.

     It is useless to talk about renewal through recovery of the apostolic proclamation, purpose and power, if these terms are meaningless to those who listen. There is no incentive to renew that which has no relevance to one's own life and being, or to recover something to which one has no personal commitment. We shall not be writing for the philosophers and the theologians among us, although we will not object to their reading our messages, but we will be seeking to convey vital knowledge to the great mass of those who think of the ekklesia as "the Christian Club" to which all nice people ought to belong.

     We will explore the meaning of some of the terms which are so glibly bandied about. We plan to recapture for those words the content given them by the Spirit, but which has since been squeezed out of them, leaving them limp and flaccid, to be blown up and shaped into whatever image fits the current wish of designing men. We will be writing of the long ago but with a pen dipped in the ink of the present. In a certain sense nothing related to the church can ever be history if it is an expression of him "that was, and is, and is to be."

     Perhaps those who care will tell their friends about the series which will start in January, and urge them to subscribe now. We could wish that many would send in the names and addresses of those whom thy love and thus guarantee that they will not miss an issue. The subscription rate is only one dollar per year!