Dear friends,
Shalom in His grace and Happy Thanksgiving.
I am sure you are grateful for all the Lord has
done in your life and in the life of your friends
and family.
Years ago, I did my master’s thesis in seminary on
Psalm 119. I examined the supposed synonyms
for the Hebrew word Torah (Law) in this lengthy
psalm of 176 verses! I concluded that the various
terms that seemed to be interchangeable with
Law—commandments, testimonies, judgments,
etc.—were actually different parts of the corpus
of the Law and not merely synonyms. It was a
fascinating study and I learned to love the Word
of God even more than before! But one of the
added benefits of the project was that I regularly
had to pass through Psalm 118 to get there!
Psalm 118, which invites us to thank God for His
lovingkindness and mercy, and for His person, is
quite different from Psalm 119, which teaches us to
appreciate God’s Word. The two psalms are fairly
close in theme and are great portions of Scripture
to read and reflect upon during the Thanksgiving
Day meal. Of course, if you read all of Psalm 119,
your turkey might get cold!
David writes regarding the Law, the true love of
his life:
O how I love Your law! It is my
meditation all the day (119:97).
How sweet are Your words to my
taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to
my mouth (119:103).
Your word is a lamp to my feet and
a light to my path (119:105).
Therefore I love Your commandments
above gold, yes, above fine gold (119:127).
These are beautiful words and an invitation
from the King to feast on Scripture and not
just on mom’s delicious sweet potato casserole!
I find myself grateful for His provision of the
Bible as I am able to better understand the
will and mind of God and be guided by His
Word to live according to His holy plans and
purposes.
I am thankful for the Word of God and
the beauty of His person.
His nature is also revealed in Scripture and
by His Spirit in my everyday experience. As the
psalmist penned, “Give thanks to the Lord, for
He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting”
(Psalm 118:1).
I rejoice this Thanksgiving because of Him. He
is good and He is gracious! The Hebrew term
chesed, translated lovingkindness, should be understood
as “covenant loyalty.” I am grateful He
is a loyal God who cares for His children. And
further, His grace and loyalty to me and to the
Jewish people extends throughout eternity.
125 Years of Service for the Lord on
Behalf of the Jewish People
Your Mission to the Jewish People has
experienced 125 years of this loyalty and love!
In fact, we only have one more month to go
in our celebration of 125 years of ministry
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It has
been a wonderful year of joyous celebration.
On November 15, we concluded our year of
gratitude with a gala in Brooklyn, where we were
born as a ministry. We heard from Jay Sekulow
and praised the Lord in music with members of
the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. We were blessed
by Janet Parshall of Moody Radio, America’s
most beloved radio host. We heard testimonies
from Chosen People Ministries staff workers
in Israel and Brooklyn and from friends of
our ministry who were able to testify to God’s
transforming power in their lives through the
work of this 125-year-old ministry among the
Jewish people.
Very Humble Origins
As you know, we were founded by Rabbi Leopold
Cohn who came to the United States from his
native Hungary in the late 19th century. Not long
after he arrived, he heard a Polish Presbyterian
missionary and preacher on the lower side of
Manhattan proclaiming the gospel inside a
Dutch Reformed Church. Once the Lord gripped
the heart of the rabbi, he committed himself to
the lifelong effort of reaching his fellow Jewish
people with the gospel, and before his death,
baptized almost 1,000 Jewish people!
I am the seventh president of the Mission and
grateful to be called by God to this incredible
position. I know the value of Chosen People
Ministries because it was this mission that
discipled me, paid my way through Bible college,
2
THANKSGIVING
Praising God for
His faithfulness
over 125 years
of ministry and
moving forward
FROM THE PRESIDENT
The Chosen People | NOVEMBER 2019