The Author and Perfecter of Our Faith
“Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2)
Jesus is the Author of faith, the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith. In ourselves we do not have faith…Unbelief is the fiber of our constitution. Hence, in ourselves it is impossible to meet the New Testament requirement of faith (Gal. 1:16). When we look unto Jesus, He as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) transfuses us with Himself, with His believing element. Then, spontaneously, a kind of believing arises in our being, and we have the faith to believe in Him. This faith is not of ourselves but of Him who imparts Himself as the believing element into us that He may believe for us. Hence, He Himself is our faith. We live by Him as our faith; that is, we live by His faith (Gal. 2:20), not by our own.
Jesus is the Perfecter, the Finisher, the Completer, of our faith. He is not only the Author, the Originator, of faith but also the Perfecter, the Finisher, of faith. He will finish what He originated; He will complete what He inaugurated. If we look to Him continually, He will finish and complete the faith that we need for the running of the heavenly race. Once Christ has originated this faith within us, He will never let it go. Rather, He will complete, finish, and perfect it…Day by day our faith will be under the Lord’s perfecting until we meet Him on the day of rapture. (Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (3), msg. 8, III, IV; The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3827, 3831-3832)
Knowing the Truth for the Spread of the Lord’s Recovery
“Our Savior God, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3b-4)
The New Testament says repeatedly that we should know the truth. Moreover, when referring to this matter, Paul repeatedly says that we should come to the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:25; 3:7; Titus 1:1). This means that we must know not just a small part or one aspect of the truth but rather the truth in its entirety and in all its aspects. Paul also says that the church is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). This implies that the truth in the Bible is like a large building that is not one-sided but complete on all sides with a foundation and a roof. If we are going to spread the Lord’s recovery today, we must know the truth and be able to expound the truth. For this reason we must know every side of the truth without any biases or particular leanings. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 5, “Truth, Life, the Church, and the Gospel—the Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 4, pp. 393-394)
Please pray that the saints would see their need to come to the full knowledge of the truth for the proper testimony of the church and the spread of the Lord’s recovery.
Church in Los Angeles
The whole church in Los Angeles—all halls, districts, and languages—will meet together starting at 10:00 am on Lord’s Day, November 23 on the UCLA campus at Covel Commons. As lunch will not be provided, saints are encouraged to create opportunities to blend together afterwards. For our young people and young working saints, respectively, there will be a special time of blending and fellowship after the meeting. More information will be communicated to these groups in the coming days.
Please pray for all the preparation and coordination and for the saints to attend. Lord, release Your speaking and Your burden into us for Your moving onward in each of us and in the church in LA!
SoCal Christian Students Fall Retreat
This weekend, November 14 to 16, college students from across Southern California will gather at Oak Glen for a conference. From Los Angeles and Torrance, nearly ninety students have registered; fifty of these are joining for the first time. The general subject is “The Wonderful Jesus in the Gospels: John.” Please pray:
- That each student’s heart would be good soil to receive His word.
- For the Lord’s covering of everyone’s health and safety during travel, especially with circulating sicknesses and the potential for inclement weather.
- For rich fellowship, genuine blending, and the building of solid companionships, and that each student—especially the new ones—would touch and enjoy the Lord personally.
CEEB Blending Conference
The Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans (CEEB) geographical region encompasses the northern part of Central Europe, including Poland, the Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. It also touches Romania in the east before turning south to the Balkan countries, including Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, and Turkey. In these eleven nations there are more than 30 local churches, some of which have been meeting since the 1990s. Most are in cities that may be less familiar to those of us in the US.
This weekend, November 15 to 16, there will be a blending conference for the CEEB region in Bucharest, Romania. Please pray for the release of the Lord’s timely word and for the blending of the saints.
Baarlo Conference Follow-up
We thank the Lord for providing a sweet, clear atmosphere at last month’s International Blending Conference in Baarlo, The Netherlands where He could release His speaking to over 1000 saints from 37 counties. Brother Ron Kangas spoke on the matter of “Praising and Overcoming at the End of the Age.” Recordings of the four messages plus a fifth meeting with reports on the Lord’s move in Europe are available in English, Chinese, and Spanish at www.elimsprings.de/english/
May the Lord gain the sacrifice of praise in all the churches to overcome all spiritual attacks!
Brussels, Belgium
Brussels is the administrative center of the European Union (EU) and the capital of Belgium. It has a population of over 1 million. There is a local church there that started in 2000 and now has about 45 saints meeting, but the burden is for the strengthening of the Lord’s testimony in such a crucial location.
Pray for saints to migrate under the Head and in the Body to strengthen the Lord’s testimony in Brussels!
Laos and Thailand
Laos is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia with a population of almost 8 million; there are currently six local churches there, including in the capital, Vientiane. The country shares a long border with Thailand, which has over 71.5 million people; there are currently 73 local churches, including in the capital, Bangkok.
From November 10 to 24, trainees from the Full-time Training in Bangkok are going out in 22 teams throughout Laos and Thailand for propagation trips. Saints from the Middle-age Training in Bangkok will join for the second week. Four teams will be in Laos, the rest in Thailand. The burden is to go out and preach the gospel in existing localities as well as in places where there is a burden to establish something new.
Please ask the Lord to supply the traveling trainees richly with His grace and hide them from any attack of the enemy. Pray for a good coordination with full-timers and local saints for the Lord’s blessing and testimony to spread in this region.
Announcements
- Morning Revival: Week 32 of Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (3), vol. 6.
- SAVE THE DATE: Lord’s Day, November 23 we will have our fall LA Joint Meeting—all halls, all languages—beginning 10:00 am on the UCLA campus at Covel Commons. More details to come.
- Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: The weekly ministry series continues this Wednesday 7:25 pm, in-person at the MCC in Anaheim or online at lsmwebcast.com.
- December 2025 Semiannual Training: For saints in LA and Santa Clarita, registration for the video training (December 22 to 27) closes on December 7 ($130) at tinyurl.com/wintertrainingla.
- Bibles for America’s blogpost “Do You Need Help Understanding the Bible?” is at bfa.org/blog.
- The LA Years: This oral history project at www.layears.org documents the early years of the church life in Los Angeles from 1958–1974, including written history, photos, and first-hand testimonies.
- Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/
members/offerings.