Monthly Archives: March 2008

For the Love of the Game

by David Ahn

Over the past 3 months, the sports world witnessed two of its marquee stars signed to record-breaking, long-term contracts. In baseball, the Yankees signed Alex Rodriguez to a 10 year, $275 million dollar contract in December. Just a couple months later, the hockey world watched the Washington Capitals sign Alexander Ovechkin to a 13 year, $124 million dollar contract extension. While it might be easy to get caught up with the mind-blowing salaries, allow me to draw your attention to the lengths of the contracts as well. 10 and 13 year contracts! To gain some perspective, Lighthouse Bible Church has not even been around for 10 years. 13 years ago, I was in the middle of my fifth grade; 13 years from now, I will be in my upper thirties, hopefully practicing as a full-fledged doctor and supporting a family (Lord-willing). It is amazing to think that these sports franchises consider it a worthy financial investment to commit to one player at such a high price, and for such a long amount of time.

Obviously, these lengthy contracts aren’t given to every athlete that walks into the clubhouse. They are reserved for the most consistent players who have shown a dedication to the sport that will not fade after the check clears. If these athletes were doing it solely for the money or for the celebrity or for a comfortable life, they wouldn’t spend hours on end in the off-season training, or in the film rooms studying their game, or on the field/ice honing their skills. Why can certain athletes be trusted to put their all into every game and every practice, even after the security provided by a long-term contract? It’s because, for some of them, the money is not their primary motivation. Instead, their desire is to be able play their sport at the highest level, in hopes of achieving as many accolades and trophies as possible. They are being paid to do what they enjoy, what they truly love. It’s because of their love of the game. Now, you might be asking, why is this article in the LBC newsletter and not on ESPN? It is because, for those of us that are genuine Christians, WE have been given a contract of infinite value that is guaranteed for the length of eternity, by God’s grace and through Jesus’ death on a cross. After the point that we have dedicated our lives to Christ and genuinely believed the truth of the gospel, we now have Christ’s righteousness standing in the place of our sinfulness. The question is, how do we respond to this?

Unlike A-Rod or Ovechkin, we might find ourselves dragging our feet, hesitant to put forth any effort or sacrifice that might be required to grow in the process of sanctification. Some of us might struggle with the most basic of disciplines, looking to expend the minimal amount of energy to just limp into heaven, content with the security of our salvation. Maybe some of us ran hard initially, but over time have grown complacent with just maintaining our spiritual knowledge and level of commitment.

But this is not the biblical picture of a Christian. Rather, we are called to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12), to “lay aside every weight and sin,” and to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). How and why are we to do these things? The writer of Hebrews continues in verse 2: “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.”

For those of us that might find ourselves struggling to run hard, we must remember what we are running for! We must fix our eyes on Christ. We must remember the cross and the immeasurable grace that we, deserving of absolutely nothing, have received. Left to our own will, we would be continuing further and further on the path to destruction, but God loved us so much to sacrifice His own Son to pay the penalty for our sin. This sacrifice on our behalf should cause us to love Christ and treasure Him all the more. Comparing sports and the Christian walk is not something new. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-25, Paul writes, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”

Sports stars might strive for the perishable wreath of the Pennant or the Stanley Cup; we strive for the imperishable “prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14) They aspire to be in the record books and the Hall of Fame; we aspire to be in the Book of Life and the Halls of Heaven. They do it for the love of the game; we do it for the love of Christ. We can not and must not allow ourselves to lose sight of this.

Augustine

by Kevin Au

Few figures stand taller among even the most prominent men in the halls of church history than Augustine. The man’s influence emerges from a time even when world history threatens to drown it out with the momentous fall of the Roman Empire. His writings and teachings have shaped history to an unimaginable extent. Before Luther, before Zwingli, before Calvin, Augustine’s influence predates and sets a foundation for them all. The impact of the reformers and men after the 5th century all owe something to this man’s testimony and work, as his work has oft shaped the thoughts and works of later theologians.

Augustine lived in the tumultuous time in the dying days of the Roman Empire. Born in Thagaste, North Africa in 354 to a middle income farming family, he was bred to pursue worldly pursuits by cultivating his talents as an orator and teacher. His father was an unbeliever, but his mother exemplified a woman of prayer, with her well-documented persistence in praying for her worldly son.

His mother’s prayers would prove fruitful, but not without much persistence, as Augustine did not come to faith until relatively late and after much inner struggle and turmoil. By his own confession, Augustine was a man inflamed with the pleasures of this world and ignorant of the pleasures in heaven. He took a mistress in his youth and had a son by her at the age of 16. After his childhood he took off for Carthage to study and soon after began teaching. Eventually, his teaching took him to Rome and Milan, where he encountered the philosophy of the Manicheists which taught perversions of true Christian doctrine. Augustine was heavily influenced by these worldly philosophies, but later in his life, he became dissatisfied with them as he found them unfulfilling. He encountered Bishop Ambrose in Milan, and after his re-exposure to true Christianity turned away from the worldly philosophies and began to pursue the truth and stop running away from God. He soon came to conversion in Milan.

Augustine, a new man, stripped of the traces of his old life as he parted ways with his mistress and lost his son, would soon receive his ordination as priest and became the bishop of Hippo, a region in Northern Africa. It was here where he began the work that would define his life. It was during this time that Augustine wrote Confessions. He also wrote The City of God, a work written in response to the sacking of Rome, addressing politics and society from a Christian standpoint. He also completed a host of other major works during this time, contributing much of early Christian thought and doctrine.

Many have posited as to why Augustine is such an influential figure in Church history. Much it owes to his place in history, politically and ecclesiastically. With the exception of the Apostles themselves, his work came much earlier than anyone comparable to his stature in church history, so his influence is immeasurable. He also came at a crucial turning point as the world turned over into the medieval ages, also near the beginning of the established Roman Catholic Church, which ironically hails him as a prominent figure in Catholicism as well. Some point to the humanity and breadth of his appeal as the reason for his influence. The details of Augustine’s coming to faith are well known through his most famous work Confessions, a theological yet personal autobiography of his journey wrestling with truth and philosophy, experience and God.

The genuine humanity that readers can see in his Confessions, theologically and personally tells the story of every believer and their struggles with the truth. The philosophical struggles appeal to the intellectual, the earthly passions appeal to even the least of men. The story of a man running from God is one that we all share.

The greatest reason, theories and propositions aside, lies simply in the fact that he had a voice. He did not keep the thoughts and truths in his brilliant mind to himself. He stood against the heresies of his day, and behind it was a man who could not deny that he had been saved from the pitfall of early desires, transformed into a heavenly minded man, who lived and loved God.

The Power of Encouragement

by Pastor John Kim

Hebrews 10:24-25 gives a very clear directive that we are not to forsake the gathering together of the fellowship of believers. It is the habit of some to minimize the importance of the corporate nature of the church as embodied in the local church assembly and the consequences are telling. One of the most practical ways in which a healthy church shows itself to be honoring to Christ is by how active the ministry of encouragement is taking place. While it is to be very much a part of characteristic of a genuine Christian to be an encourager, it is all too often something that is missing and instead replaced with a critical and discouraging spirit. It is amazing how some people in the church don’t even think twice when they send sarcastic words that can rip into a person’s soul and drop them to their knees in tears. There are others who are always quick to point out something negative about a person’s actions, no matter how hard they have tried in other respects to do their best. It is like the child who brings home a report card that has all A’s and one B+ and the parents can only notice the B+ and not say anything about the areas that someone has done well. This is just wrong and sinful and it must stop.

I have to say that at a personal level, I have gone through seasons where there has been much encouragement and other times when the criticisms and discouragements seemed to never end. There were times when people were just downright mean and unloving and they didn’t seem to even care that their words and how they said them were just crushing. Now there are some who are maybe more thick-skinned than others and so they don’t seem to care when people treat them badly. But there are others who are more sensitive and while it is a struggle not to simply cave in to fear of man, there is still a human reality factor that makes it difficult to deal with and those who are the “stronger” in this area don’t give any real consideration to the “weakness” of others.

Now this is not to say that there should not be times where sin is called out and confronted seriously. But there should always be the foundation of a genuine loving spirit that has been evidenced by an encouraging and supportive spirit that comes alongside a brother or sister and endeavors to see that person truly grow in their walk with the Lord.

Encouragement is a powerful ministry. To give affirmation, to point out something positive, to lift up the spirit in the midst of adversity can make all the difference in the world. That is why coming together as a church family is so crucial so that the ministry of encouragement can thrive. But it takes everyone making a contribution. The command is not to “be encouraged” (passive) but to encourage (active) and so we are called to actively fulfill this call to action by taking it upon ourselves to go to someone else and do the work of encouraging. Try it sometime. Look for something, even if it seems small, but try to affirm someone. Maybe it’s even just showing up. Maybe you’ve seen someone take some small steps toward growth. They are taking notes of the messages. They came out to an activity. They tried to share the gospel and even though they got shot down, they still were challenged to continue. There are so many things that we could do to affirm what is going on the lives of others if we only take the time to seek it out.

Last month Pastor Patrick wrote a similar article regarding this issue. I hope that we can really continue to consider how we might use the tongues that we have been given and let them be filled with words of encouragement that build up and not tear down.

Meditate on Ephesians 4:29. Then live it out every time you communicate – via e-mail, instant messenger, text messaging, phone, video, in person, and whatever other ways you can communicate. Christ will be honored and you will be a blessing to many.

Editor's Note: March 2008

by Steven Hong

It’s only March, but many Lighthouse members are already looking forward to the summer. That’s because Summer Missions Applications have just been turned in and the leaders are busy preparing for the annual missions trips to Argentina and the Czech Republic. In this issue of The Beacon, you will find a preview of what’s in store.