The Reason These Couples Are Glad
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August 03, 2008 |
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A married couple is closer to each other than they are to their own parents and siblings. When they turn their backs on one another, however, they become strangers without any remorse. As the number of married couples becoming strangers in the twilight of their lives has recently been on the rise, a surge in divorce rates is today a serious problem in our society. God tells us, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord," and "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:22, 25).
The power of faith rooted in God's Word makes a "beautiful married couple" based on service and love a reality. This edition of Manmin News features 3 such families of faith.
 "A husband meeting God... he now fixes his eyes only on his wife"
~ Ki-Joo Song & Jum-Soon Lee (2-20 Parish)
A slothful husband who does not like to work, parents-in-law sick in bed, and a workload to which there seems no end... she was always pressed to make ends meet no matter how much she worked.
The husband used to harbor a morbid suspicion about his wife's chastity from early on in their marriage. Whenever he drank, he would become suspicious, start swearing at her and beating her. It was not uncommon for him to overturn the dinner table if anything displeased him. Then in 2006, a silver lining began to beam on her.
"I came to Seoul to help out with my eldest son's restaurant and ended up going to a church. I had never been to one but at the request of my goodhearted daughter-in-law (Deaconess Kyung-Hee Jeon), I just followed along."
Upon arrival at the church, the wife immediately fell in love with the messages of life. Suspicious of his wife, the husband had followed her to Seoul. He soon began to enjoy the messages and said he felt good whenever he was at church.
After he began attending the church, the husband's attitude changed completely. He quit smoking and drinking and, having repented of his wrongdoings of the past, has become a kindhearted and tender husband who makes every effort to be good to his wife.
"I am so glad these days. Just like a sunflower fixing its eyes only on the sun, I fix my eyes only on my wife. I don't know why I fought so hard with her and even hit her. I am sorry. I want to recompense for all of that with love for the remainder of my life."
Since she began attending the church, the wife has been healed of depression, skin diseases, and urinary incontinence.
"I had never imagined I could be so glad."
The wife's face, which had not known laughter for years, brightened up like the sun.
Anything that seems an unimaginable dream is possible in faith and a privilege for God's children.
 "Jesus Christ is the Master of Our House!"
~ Hang-Yeol Kim & Jung-Song Oh (Las Vegas, U.S.)
At 9 o'clock every evening, everyone in the family comes together for prayer and praise. This family joins Manmin Central Church in Seoul, Korea, for its worship services on the Internet and is leading a joyful life in Christ. The couple in deeply in love with their God has set an example for their children.
Jae-Yoon (17) and Chan-Young (11) have been reborn by the gospel of sanctification and have become children deeply in love with God themselves.
"Jae-Yoon used to be a troublemaker and have difficulty adjusting in school. After he began listening to the Senior Pastor's messages, his life has turned around. Almost every day after school, he shares the Gospel with his classmates. In the morning, he devotes himself to 15 minutes for the "Flag Pole Prayer" before school starts. In his sophomore year, he was in the top 3% of his class and in the upcoming school year, he is placed in advanced classes. His vision is to become a missionary spreading the Gospel.
"Meanwhile, Chan-Young sheds tears whenever he prays. He is very discrete and considerate of others. On Wednesday, June 4, during the moving-up ceremony, Chan-Young was awarded the President's Education Award given to all-around students with outstanding scholastic achievements."
The husband and the wife say they feel the love of the Lord even more whenever they gaze upon Jae-Yoon and Chan-Young, God's gifts of blessings. Jesus Christ is indeed the Master of this family who truly loves God.
 "Love Served by the Same Hope"
~ Jae-Jung Ko & Hee-Yeon Shin (1-4 Parish)
The wife had grown up in a family of faith and she prayed earnestly to share the Gospel with her unbelieving husband. It was "The Lectures on Genesis," however, that brought the husband, who had been clouded by his speculations, over to faith.
"Before the wedding, I used to go with my then-girlfriend to the Friday All-night Service. The Service ends at 4 o'clock in the morning and I wanted to take her home. That was the first day of 'The Lectures on Genesis.' I soon found that the Senior Pastor was talking about a world I had not seen or heard of. I was captivated by it and soon fell in love with it."
They are grateful to God as they fix their eyes upon the same place with a hope for heaven.
From the way the husband says the wife serves him and the wife says the husband serves her, one can easily see how these "best friends" are considerate of each other even in areas that cannot be easily seen.
The two are always busy, with the husband working in the trade industry and serving as the general cell leader of 1 Parish and the wife as a television writer, but they are always filled with glee.
Like clothes that fit so perfectly, perhaps a "couple very much in love" is a fruit of small service that has become habituated to every-day life.
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Manmin News 
