Manna Editorial Team

The year 2017 marks the centennial of the True Jesus Church, the restored apostolic church established by the Holy Spirit during the latter rain period. As the end-time true church, founded on unshakeable truth and equipped with power, we are commissioned to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This is the time to reflect on our humble beginnings and the phenomenal growth that followed. In the articles In Retrospection and Reflection: One Hundred Years of Spiritual Grace, My Journey of Serving the Lord, and A Letter to Our Youths: Sharing the Grace of God, veteran church workers share the amazing grace with which God has blessed His church throughout the last century, and the simple but powerful faith manifested by the early believers.

While we are grateful for a hundred years of spirituality and grace, we need to look into ourselves honestlyXhow does the second half-century of our existence compare with the first? Are we pressing on upwards or are we slipping down? Do we still model ourselves after the apostolic church and courageously make a stand against and apart from the worldly religions and philosophies? Is our zeal sufficient to propel us forward till the furthest lands are conquered with the gospel? These questions are posed and explored in the theme articles Straight From the Heart and Revive the True Church (Part 1).

In this issue, we also reminisce on how God has preserved His church through many past storms in Complete the Construction of the True Church (Part 1). But we also see Gods continuing love and protection over His church today in the testimonies God Opened a Way for His Church and Gods Unfailing Grace in a Troubled Land, which reveal the recent challenges the church has faced in Papar, Malaysia, and Mindanao, Philippines, respectively.

We know that, come what may, God will always abide with and nurture His beloved church. But, as His church, we also have our part to play. As we read in Marching to Zion and Passing Down the Faith, we have much work to do in our journey to perfection, ensuring the uncorrupted and true faith is preserved and passed down from generation to generation. So, at this juncture, let us take stock of our current stateXboth our strengths and shortfallsXand let Gods yardstick determine the gap we need to close before we are ready for the next step forward.