News > North America

Shippensburg, PA
April, 3, 2014

TO LEARN TO BE MORE LIKE CHRIST

Key Verse: Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

2014 Vision and Strategy

I chose Galatians 2:20 as my key verse for 2004: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” In December 2013, God blessed Msn. Deborah and me to travel to Turkey along with eight other missionary friends from Washington and Belize. Through visiting Cappadocia, Pisidian Antioch, Seven Churches of Asia Minor and Istanbul, we were reminded of the faith of the early Christians who endured and overcame extreme persecutions. I was also moved by St. Paul’s passion to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ even as he was suffering from a serious illness, and by St. John’s sincere desire to learn and practice the love of Christ until the moment of his death at his old age. Most of all, I learned from the trip that true happiness comes when I become more like Christ. Eugene Peterson’s the Message translates Galatians 2:20 bluntly: “Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not ‘mine,’ but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.”

So how can I learn to be more like Christ? How can I imitate him who has given me the grace of salvation and also the grace of calling to mission? I must know him personally. I must learn what Jesus did and what he taught by studying his words carefully and diligently. While on earth, Jesus preached the kingdom of God. He taught the word of God in season and out of season. He prayed in the early morning. He healed the sick. He cared for the needy. He loved his disciples to the end. He taught how to be humble by washing their feet. All of these are areas that I must struggle hard personally in order to deny myself and follow Christ. May God help me to pray more and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit!

For our ministry, we will continue to pray to be a fellowship of believers who love God and love one another. We will begin the year by holding our Leadership Retreat with the title, “Be Strong and Courageous” based on Joshua 1:9, in Harpers Ferry (January 24-26). We pray that all our coworkers may grow to be spiritual generals that God can use to fight the good fight against the corrupt and unbelieving culture of our generation. We will join the Washington UBF for a spring Bible conference and other Mid-Atlantic regional ministries for a summer Bible conference. Our prayer topics are:

● God may help us to be more like Christ in all areas of our life of faith and mission
● God may strengthen us by granting a powerful John’s gospel message each week
● God may raise up 12 disciples of Jesus through our faithful 1:1 study, discipleship ministry and sincere prayers
● God may help us to continue to cowork with the Mid-Atlantic region ministries through conferences, visitations and personal interactions
● God may bless our children to be raised up as future spiritual leaders for their generation

One word: To learn to be more like Jesus

Daniel Y. Lee