Monthly Archives: April 2010

The Beacon

by Stephen Rodgers

As I sat down to write this article, I was confused (which isn’t going to surprise anyone who knows me). I could have sworn that I already wrote something to this effect, and in a sense I have. There is a lot of information scattered about, mostly in the Editor’s Notes since October 2009, that pertains to this blog, its purpose, and its hopes and dreams for the future (at least, insofar as a blog can have hopes and dreams).

But I guess I failed to articulate exactly what it is that the Beacon DOES, and WHY.

Just like it says in the sidebar over there, the Beacon is the official newsletter of Lighthouse Bible Church. We’re NOT the website…you’ve already met Kyle and his band of merry rogues who handle all of that. Rather, we’re the central means of communication on the website. This is where the pastors and elders write their weekly messages to the church. This is where ministries highlight their goals and needs. This is where the staff of the newsletter posts articles to inform, edify, and encourage. (Ok, that’s hard to link; just look under CATEGORIES to the right). At the end of the day, we’re just a 21st century means of promoting what Paul talks about in Ephesians 4.

Let me walk you through it if you don’t mind:

  • Working for the Beacon will test your humility, gentleness, and patience (Eph 4:1-2). The editor (moi) is tested when he hounds the writers for their articles. I’m sure the writers are tested in the hounding as well.
  • Sometimes squabbles ensue. Guess what? There’s directions for that too (Eph 4:3).
  • As a staff member, sometimes it’s easy to think that the Beacon exists for your benefit. Not true. We’re primarily here to serve and assist the leaders of the church (Eph 4:11) as they serve and instruct the church (Eph 4:12) for the purpose of dragging all of us, kicking and screaming, in Christ-likeness (Eph 4:13).
  • Sometimes that means that the articles focus on what we’re doing WRONG (Eph 4:14)…
  • …but there’s a WAY that is done (Eph 4:15)…
  • …and there’s a REASON for it to be done that particular way (Eph 4:16).

I could go on and on, but I trust you get the point. You can (and should) read the rest of that chapter for yourself. It’s not always easy to accept, particularly the application, but as the kids say these days, “that’s how we roll.” (Or at least, that’s how we SHOULD if we are obedient to God and sensitive to the Scriptures).

Lately however, I’ve been struggling a little bit with the enormity of the SCOPE of this command. And by that I don’t mean the fact that it pertains to my entire life as a Christian and not just “Church stuff.” No, I’m talking about the scope of the audience.

Now I need to be careful here so that this doesn’t come out of a place of pride, but lately we’ve been growing like crazy. In the past six months, our readership has increased by around 1,000%. In the last month alone, it’s up by about 40% and there’s no sign that we’re slowing down yet. In fact, I tracked where our visitors have been coming from for the last 30 days, and this is what I discovered:

Beacon Readers

I know that’s not the best map (we’re working on a better one for next time), but let me break that down for you briefly: thousands of people from six continents are reading this. Now the vast majority of them are from North America, that’s not a huge surprise. And I can guess who some of the others are: my fiancee’s church is most likely the dot in the Czech Republic, and I still have a few friends from the time I spent living in India. Given the demographics of our church, I’m not too startled we’ve got a dot in South Korea, and we have members and former-members currently living in northern California and the east coast. But Saudi Arabia? Sweden? Australia? I have no idea who they might be. And honestly, I don’t need to know.

Because God does.

You see, in this way, the Beacon is a microcosm of the Christian life. We go through this world, putting off the old man (Eph 4:22), putting on the new (Eph 4:24), loving God and loving our neighbors (Matt 22:37-39), and we’re never quite sure who might be watching. (And a quick reminder, if you’re only going through the motions to be seen in the first place, you’re doing it wrong. Jesus talked about that in Matthew 6:1 and following). Rather, we’re the spiritual version of those guys on the street corners with the signs. We’re here to point people to someone else; we’re not the show, we’re the messengers. It’s not given to me to know with certainty all the primary, secondary, tertiary (and so on) effects of that message. God’s in the business of handling that.

But occasionally, through something as ridiculous as a JPEG of the earth, I get a tiny glimpse. And that glimpse is more than enough to excite me and humble me all over again.

This is way too long; so I’ll summarize.

You may have noticed that I sign all my posts with the Latin phrase “Pro Rege.” Yes, I stole that from Van Til, but that’s not the point. You see, “Pro Rege” means “For the King.” It summarizes the Christian’s mindset and motivation for all that they do, including getting out of bed in the morning.

And including this blog.

(HT: Dan Phillips for the original idea)

Pro Rege

Living Theology #17 – Angels, Satan, and Demons

by Garrett Glende

Continuing on in the study through Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, we come to a portion that I believe many of us lack a clear understanding of. Perhaps this is because the nature of the issue is completely spiritual, so it seems almost irrelevant to our daily lives. However, this could not be further from the truth, as the doctrines of angels and of Satan and demons have immense consequences for our daily living. Grudem deals with the topics in two separate chapters, but I have chosen to combine them into one article because of how closely linked the principles of application are.

The inclusion of these issues at this point in the book stems from the theme of creation. This is the first important point to understand about angels, Satan, and demons. They are all created beings. Explicitly, this means that God has complete sovereignty over them, just as He does the rest of His creation. Spiritual beings never rival God in His power or deity because they lack the very essence that makes God who He is. Angels are defined by Grudem as “created, spiritual beings with moral judgment and high intelligence, but without physical bodies.” Colossians 1:16 tells us that “by [God] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities…” This is an all-inclusive declaration of the totality of God’s creative act. He has indeed created all things, including angels. The purpose of God in creating these angels is diverse, but we are given clear pictures of the ways that angels act in Scripture. We see a beautiful picture of worship in Revelation 5, the Apostle John describing the scene:

“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

From this passage, we see that angels spend much of their time worshiping Christ. Specifically, they praise Him for His worthiness as the sacrificial Lamb of God. Because of this, they attribute to Him all power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. Scripture also shows us that angels are used directly to carry out God’s plan. They bring about judgment on the enemies of God as well as provide blessings to God’s people. One example of the ministry of angels is seen in the life of Christ Himself. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus was helped and comforted by angels from God. After He was tempted in the wilderness by Satan angels came to minister to Him (Matthew 4:11) and while He was suffering in the garden an angel was there to give Him strength (Luke 22:43). It was during these two crucial points in Jesus’ life on earth (the initiation and climax of His ministry) that God saw it fit for angels to intervene. From these passages, we can infer that angels surely have some sort of special abilities that have been given to them from God. They are unique beings, specially and purposefully created by God to carry out His works.

Angels are not the only spiritual beings that inhabit the spiritual realm. God has also created angels who have fallen from their original state. We call these beings demons. Grudem defines them as “evil angels who sinned against God and who now continually work evil in the world.” They were at once in communion with God, being completely sinless, but followed the rebellion of the chief of all demons, Satan himself. Satan was the first being to sin, thus bringing evil into existence. Since God’s purpose is to magnify Himself, specifically His holiness, Satan does all that he can to oppose this work. His desire is that people be blinded to the hope of the gospel and the glory of God. The main way that he tried to do this was to stop Jesus from accomplishing the Father’s will. As we see Jesus getting closer to the cross, we see Satan’s attacks intensify and Jesus draws away from the crowds to go to the Father in prayer. The main tactics that Satan will use against people today are lies and deception. He wants people to believe something other than the truth about God and himself. So long as people are unaware of his influence over their lives, they will not see the greatness of God and the problem of their own sinfulness. Satan also tempts believers so that their usefulness for the kingdom is limited. The Christian’s witness in the world is hindered when Satan causes “doubt, guilt, fear, confusion, sickness, envy, pride, [and] slander” to enter into their lives. He is not the cause of all of the evil in the world, for our very natures are prone to sin. We don’t necessarily need to be tempted by Satan to fall into sin because our own flesh wages war against us. However, we must be aware of his influence in the world so that we can properly fight against Him.

This is the real challenge that we face as Christians. We must understand that the battle we face is not against the things of this world, but against spiritual forces (Eph 6:12). Satan and demons are real and we must be on guard against them. It’s important to understand the different ways that Satan works so that we can recognize attacks when they come. Just as Satan’s works increased when important events in God’s plan were taking place, so he works in our lives today. Whenever we endeavor to do something meaningful (at least more than usual) for God, we should be especially alert to attacks from the devil. He does not want our plans to succeed and will try hard to stop us from bringing glory to God. This is particularly relevant to our church today, as we seek to plant a church in San Jose. Obviously this would be an advancement of the gospel around the world, something that Satan despises. He will surely bring about trials in the life of our church, so each and every member must be walking in the Spirit and clothed in the full armor of God in order to withstand his attacks. On our own we will fail, but God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to stand firm in the face of temptation, knowing that God has ultimate control over Satan and his demons. This battle is not between two equally powerful opponents. God will ultimately crush the devil, as He promised in Genesis 3:15, and there will cease to be evil in the world. Praise God for He alone is God and there is no one like Him!

Encouragement of Trials

by Elder Mike Chon

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” Psalm 127:3. In these times, children are usually looked upon as commodities, assets, as a goal in life, an inconvenience, a mistake, or a nuisance. God’s Word tells us that children are a heritage or gift from the Lord. It is the blessing of God that He would provide children to come into this life. Not only that but later in verse 5, God’s Word tells us that the father is blessed to have more children. “Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” Like so many things in our life, Scripture is contrary to what the world would define as “blessed”. Usually when I tell someone about our family and how we had three kids under three years of age at one point, they usually say that I’m crazy and ask if I know how babies are formed. Sometimes I wonder if I missed that lesson in biology. But all kidding aside, there are many days that I wonder how I am blessed. (Please see my last article in the Beacon for examples.) Parenting is definitely a challenge but at the same time I am learning and realizing the truth of God’s Word that I am truly “blessed”.

One day as I returned home with the kids, my oldest was taking time getting out of the car. Then he took time getting into the house from the garage. He was intentionally stalling for no good reason. So as my patience was running out, my voice began to raise and become very stern. Then I found myself yelling, “You better get in the house right now!” At that instant, my son looked up at me and said, “Don’t talk to me that way!” This was the moment of truth. I could of allowed my pride, my anger, my frustration to lead me to discipline my son for speaking back at dad, but instead I realized the truth of his statement which revealed to me my sinful heart at that moment. I took my son aside and gave him a big hug and asked him to forgive me. As always, he was quick to forgive. My three year old son took the truth of Scripture, that out of the heart a man speaks (Luke 6:43-45), and rebuked me for being a hypocrite. Then again I realized how “blessed” I truly am to have a son that would reveal my sin to me and cause me to seek holiness in my life.

In our everyday lives we are faced with numerous trials and difficulties that come from life. Whether it is a death of a loved one, being laid off of work, not being able to find work, feeling lonely, physical pain, being unfairly treated, and the list goes on and on. What the world would see as a bad luck or worse, that “karma” is at work, God says that we are blessed. (1 Peter 3:14) All the trials of life are there to bring us to a deeper and closer relationship with God. (James 1:2-4) No matter how difficult the situation is and how hopeless at times it may appear, we must trust in the Word of God that we are truly blessed. Some of us are walking through the darkest and most difficult times of our lives. We look at Scripture and think that there is no way this could be a blessing. Only when we take our eyes off of our circumstance and off of the things that we physically can see and feel can we begin to see the great spiritual truth behind the Words of God. We begin to trust in the God that did not spare His own Son for us. We begin to trust in the world to come and not in the world that we live in. We begin to trust that life here is truly a vapor. We begin to trust that life is more than living comfortably or as expected. We begin to trust that God is truly good. We begin to trust that my spiritual life is more important than my physical.

If I were to just look at my kids and only see the challenges they bring, I would be like the rest of the world and see children as an inconvenience to my life. But instead, if I understand the purposes that God has for my children, to make me holy, I can find encouragement in knowing that through the most difficult moments God is changing my heart to be more Christ-like if I trust in Him and His Word. Likewise, our trials are in our life for a reason, and that is to make us holy. So if you are facing difficult times at this moment, the question to ask, is not “How am I coping?” or “How am I dealing with the problem?” but instead it should be “What is God teaching me through this trial?” “How is God changing my heart to be more holy?” May we look beyond what we see and feel and trust in the good God that is sovereign over all things, who desires His children to be holy (1 Peter 1:15-16), and say in our hearts that we are truly “blessed.”

Church Plant Interviews – Pastor Patrick (part 2)

by Richard Shin

Lord willing, you will be the head of LBCSD. Let’s imagine Pastor John won’t read this. What would you like to do differently?

I would like to preach through the Book of John and preach it slowly. Haha… I know John really wants to finish the Book of John. I’m actually surprised that he has kept up the pace and gone through this far. I didn’t think he would be able to do it. There’s so much to preach in the Book of John. And I know it’s torturing him; there’s so much in the Book of John. But I think it will be a good thing for us, Lord willing, to go through the book.

What would I do differently? Hm…I mean, in seminary, they always warn you if you ever take over another ministry to be careful of changing everything. Like I said, people don’t like change. And sometimes it comes across as “I know better.” And I know that’s not the case.

But I think to a certain degree, change will be necessary just given the people that we’re losing and all of that. I’m sure people will step up and fill in the gaps too.

What would I change…? I’ve joked around about losing the tie on Sundays. But that might be my youthfulness coming out.

Let’s say you stepped into the building of Lighthouse one Sunday morning in ten years. What would you like to see happen?

Sure. I’m going to steal this one from Pastor MacArthur because he just celebrated forty years. I don’t know if this is true because I don’t go to Grace. But MacArthur said that the series that he gave during his first year at Grace Church was the series he gave in his 40th year. Meaning that the principles that he committed to at the outset never changed, they never turned to the left or the right, they kept right down the road in terms of what they were committed to. They wanted a high view of God, they wanted a high view of His Word. Everything that became the pillars for the church that are built on Biblical principles, they’ve committed to over that long a span of time. And that’s remarkable for a church. Given all the fads and trends that have come and gone, to not have gone the course of those things. There is a lot of temptation to do that. If every church looks a certain way, and you don’t, it doesn’t look good for you. And I think that’s one thing I’ve really come to appreciate at Grace Church. It’s that unwavering commitment to Biblical doctrine.

I would love to do that same thing. And that’s something I planned on doing as soon as the church plant leaves, to teach a series on “What are the foundations of Lighthouse? What are things that are non-negotiable? What are the things that we really want to build this ministry on?” I would love to do that series again in ten years, and we haven’t turned to the right or the left. That would be sweet. That would be great.

If you were to ever plant a church yourself. Where would you like to go?

San Jose. Haha, I’m just kidding. I would say the only place in the world that has particularly drawn us that we’ve seen a great need, and along with that, a heart to be there, was Argentina. There’s already a strong church with whom we work with and to partner with in our work out there, but one thing that’s been of concern is the lack of theological training that is available there. And to have been seminary-trained, and to be able to go out there and help other pastors would be just an amazing work. There’s a tremendous need. If the Lord would work it out that we could do that someday, that would be awesome. While right now, I think it would be helpful and better if I had some years of ministry under my belt. Some of these pastors have been serving there for years, and here I am coming up on year one on being senior pastor… I don’t think I’ll have a lot to say. To be able to relate to them, it’ll be hard.

Also, related to that, I’ve always been taught that a pastor should anchor himself to a ministry. So many pastors… I think the average is that pastors tend to stick around three years or something like that before they move on. And a lot of pastors treat ministry as a stepping stone to greater things. And that’s never been my desire. I’ve told people this too, Christine and I are not making plans to leave any time soon. We would like to anchor ourselves here and be here for a significant time. I think that’s important for the members to see that. And I think it’s helpful for the church as a whole. And this won’t be like a three years and out of kind of thing… unless I die or Jesus comes back. Hallelujah!

What’s something people don’t know about you?

Um…I’m exceptionally charming?

You mean, people don’t know that about you?! Hm. Let me rephrase. What are some things people don’t know about you that might help us understand you better in terms of your ministry?

Haha! Here’s one. I feel like people already… you get what you see. I talk a lot more than I probably should. And because of that, I think I expose everything inside. I’m a lot more comfortable in front of people than I am one-on-one or in small groups or things like that. Not to say I’m not willing to do all that. Obviously it comes with the territory, and that’s something I need to do. If I had a choice between leading a small group, and teaching a Sunday school class, I would teach Sunday school class ten out of ten.

I mean, I enjoy the one-on-one and small group times, but when I am teaching or giving a message, I really get that sense that this is what I’m supposed to do. And I think that’s why when I preach, I smile so often. I really, really enjoy preaching. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I love talking about God, I love talking about His Word, I love seeing people’s eyes widen when they hear something they’ve never heard before or when they learn something new, I love the feedback I get when people tell me they’ve learned something that day, they’re growing or they got saved. It’s what keeps me going. I really enjoy teaching. I don’t know… maybe people already knew that.

How can we as a congregation encourage you in the upcoming year? And how can we pray for you?

I don’t know…keep doing what you’re doing? Christine and I have been so blessed. What church sends their pastor to Cabo for a week? The generosity of the church has been so amazing. And it’s not just this year; it’s been like that since day one. The church has been amazingly supportive. It really is the best scenario that we can possibly be in.

One thing I might throw in, but in comparison to the support we’ve already received, this is a minor thing. I would caution the members about expectations. Expectations destroy relationships, especially unfair expectations. Christine and I know I’m not John Kim and she’s not Angela Kim. Those are tremendous shoes to fill. One thing I’m thankful for is God led them to this point too. They didn’t always have the insight that they have now; they started at a certain point too. And it is going to take a little bit of patience. We have a very seasoned pastor in Pastor John, a very experienced pastor, just a brilliant communicator. He’s a really good pastor! And I think a lot of people might be here just for John. And that is the inevitable thing: when John leaves, I’m not John. I’ve been trained by him, but I’m not him. We’re going to have different styles, different weaknesses and strengths. Some people might enjoy the changes, and for others it might take some getting used to.

Beware of those expectations. It’s like that in any relationship. In marriage, if you have unfair expectations for your spouse, it’s going to be a disappointing relationship, but if you understand that anything you get out of it is grace, then it makes the relationship so much more meaningful.

Any last words?

One thing I would like to see in the upcoming months is for the church to rally together, and really stand behind this church plant. I couldn’t think of any other way to encourage John and the church plant more than for the home church to be completely onboard, excited and supportive. And I think a lot of it will come down to the way we present it, to help people remember that this is an offshoot of our Biblical way of ministry. We’re not doing it for the sake of doing it; we’re doing it because we’re committed to certain principles Scripturally. If you’re passionate about Scripture, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be passionate about this plant. It’s doing God’s work God’s way. People might question the timing of it, the wisdom of it, or whatever. To that, I would just say, when is it ever going to be convenient? I’m so thankful for the team that’s going. Pastor John recently asked us as leadership, why do you support this church plant? And my answer was, “Because I can’t go.” God has made it clear that He wants me to say. And I’ll stay and be as supportive of this church plant as I possibly can be. And I hope that’s the same with other people, that if God has made it clear that they should stay, that they should be as supportive as they possibly can be. That would be sweet to see. It’s like when we first announced it. When we first announced it, we had this great ovation. And I was thinking to myself, “I know we’re excited now, but let’s see if that excitement carries on to the very end.” Because it’s going to have its difficulties.

They Did Eat of the Fruit…

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Joshua 5:12

Israel’s weary wanderings were all over, and the promised rest was attained. No more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses: they came to the land which flowed with milk and honey, and they ate the old corn of the land. Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be thy case or mine. Joyful is the prospect, and if faith be in active exercise, it will yield unalloyed delight. To be with Jesus in the rest which remaineth for the people of God, is a cheering hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double bliss. Unbelief shudders at the Jordan which still rolls between us and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us. Let us banish every fearful thought, and rejoice with exceeding great joy, in the prospect that this year we shall begin to be ‘for ever with the Lord.’

A part of the host will this year tarry on earth, to do service for their Lord. If this should fall to our lot, there is no reason why the New Year’s text should not still be true. ‘We who have believed do enter into rest.’ The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance; He gives us ‘glory begun below.’ In heaven they are secure, and so are we preserve in Christ Jesus; there they triumph over their enemies, and we have victories too. Celestial spirits enjoy communion with their Lord, and this is not denied to us; they rest in His love, and we have perfect peace in Him: they hymn His praise, and it is our privilege to bless Him too. We will this year gather celestial fruits on earthly ground, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord. Man did eat angels’ food of old, and why not now ? O for grace to feed on Jesus, and so to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year!

1.1a

Jonathan Edwards Resolution #62

by Pastor John Kim

To the LBC family and friends,

Jonathan Edwards Resolution #62
Resolved, never to do anything but duty; and then according to Ephesians 6:6-8, do it willingly and cheerfully as unto the Lord, and not to man; “knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.”

The approval of man is something that we all seek in one way or another as we reveal on the flip side that the fear of man is often a driving motivation to why we do what we do. This is revealed from our heart attitudes in the daily responsibilities of our lives, whether it be in marriage, parenting, friendships, working relationships, or church ministry. We are driven by the desire to hear the praise of man, to hear a “well done” by someone tangible as opposed to our Father in heaven, and so we subtly or not so subtly mimic the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day who would pray long prayers and look miserable as they fasted.

When Edwards talks about “duty,” I don’t think it’s so much just the sense of obligation that he is referring to as this is addressed by the “do it willingly and cheerfully” description that should be the heart attitude behind doing the will of God. We do have a duty to do the will of God. Unfortunately many of us are driven by a sense of obligation rather than an attitude of joy in our obedience to Christ. This stems from a heart that is not centered on the cross, that does not rejoice in the finished work of Christ on our behalf. While we might believe that we have been justified by grace, we think sanctification is solely by our works and there is a tendency toward either legalism or a guilt-driven motivation that strips our obedience of its God-centered enthusiasm and replaces it with a man-centered mentality that in every way contributes to our distortion and mis-perception of God and His truth.

Instead of being people-pleasers, we really need to be not only God-pleasers, we need to be God-rejoicers, knowing that not only have we already received from the Lord our salvation in Christ, we continue to receive His grace and mercy through His daily provision through the work of the Holy Spirit and the truth of His Word that ministers to our hearts, our souls, and our minds.

When God is front and center of our lives, then our man-centeredness is forced to vacate and the fear of man or the approval of man loses its appeal as the glory of God rises in our sights and our hearts in all we do. As Edwards says, “Resolved, never to do anything but duty” – this idea seems to be pointing toward a very simple yet profound thought – in whatever I do, let it all be done to the glory of God. This is everything that I should be doing.

Romans 11:36 says, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.” If God’s glory is all about the source, the means, and the ends of all things, then it really does mean that all things should be done before Him alone and not to man. Even though from our vantage point we can’t help but see the physical aspect of it, we must transcend our earthly bound thinking and remember that God is ultimately the one that we should be considering when we think about who we should fear or whose approval we should seek.

So think about that this weekend, especially as we contemplate the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, that the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior should result in a life that is lived for Him because we love Him, because He first loved us.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Announcements:

  1. Good Friday Service will be held on April 2 at 6:30pm at the church. There will be NO Bible studies that evening. The whole church is invited to come for the Lord’s Table that evening as we celebrate the work of Christ.
  2. Easter Breakfast and Service on April 4. Breakfast will be served starting at 7:30am until 8:30am. The service will start at our regularly scheduled time of 9:00am. We will also have our Sunday School classes continue this Sunday.
  3. Members Meeting this Sunday, April 4 at 4:45pm. Dinner will be served and we will be sharing about some of the transition preparation to take place as the church plant in San Jose moves forward this summer.
  4. Project Ahualle and Project Ostrava are still in need of support. Please prayerfully consider a gift if you have not already had a chance to do so. Thank you to all who already have made a contribution!

Weekly Links (4/2/2010)

by Stephen Rodgers

Alright, it’s Friday again, and that means another batch of links. However, I’d like to take just a moment and remind you that it’s Good Friday. And because of that, I’d like to share a few links specifically to that end. I know that the “fun” stuff is farther down, but let’s just take a moment to really reflect on the cross:

Also, before you panic because there’s so many other links, don’t worry: a lot of them are very brief. So without further ado…

See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

Web Team

by Kyle Grindley

Much like Robin Hood and his merry men, the LBC web team is a loosely organized group of ragtag folks joined for a common goal.  However, rather than the illegal redistribution of wealth, our goal is the redistribution of knowledge, specifically knowledge of what is going on at LBC.  We take information from those ministry leaders who have a wealth of knowledge and freely give it to those congregants who lack it.

While Robin Hood was motivated by altruism and an apatite for adventure, we want  to see Christ’s church grow.  The web site was designed to be a tool for helping LBC accomplish its MVP.  This idea should permeate every feature of the site.  The calendar’s purpose helping ministry leaders coordinate with members of their ministries.  The mailing list is in place to make it easier for the pastors to communicate to the congregation.  Ministry lists help LBCers find somewhere to involve themselves.  The member directory allows people to easily contact one another so that they can love and serve one another.  There are also many people who have found our church because of the web site, so the information should to reflect what is going on so like minded Christians and those curious about Jesus can find us.

Also, like Robin Hood’s band we like to skulk around behind the scenes; they in Sherwood Forest, we just kind of blend in around LBC.  If you are wondering who is named among the merry band at LBC, you’ve come to the right paragraph.  Have you ever downloaded a sermon from the media section?  Well, Terence Kim was a major part of its design and Paul Chen diligently ensures the latest sermons are up.  Have you ever checked the announcements page?  You have Kim Phan to thank for that up-to-date list.  Collegians, next time you see Michael Kwon say thanks because he maintains the College Life site.  Sinlges, Ryan McAdams designed the bulk of the Single Life site (and coined “We’re LBC! And we’re single!”).  If you have been enjoying the members directory you can thank Peter Lim as he wrote most of the code for that.  Steven Preslar also helped in the early stages of the member directory development.  Dan Baker designed a new look that we hope to roll out this year and worked on the Beacon 3.0 along with Stephen Rodgers.  Kevin Chan, Stephanie Cheng, Harold Kim & John Mark Wendler are newer members of the web team and are all excited to help out.

Some of the features we are hoping to add in 2010 are:

  • Members section improvements including adding pictures the the directory.
  • A new layout for the main site that will showcase the newest sermons and Beacon articles.
  • Mailing list improvements
  • A bunch of behind the scenes changes that you probably won’t notice, but trust me, they will be sweet.

We hope that you have found the web site helpful in some regard as you work to build up the church.  We are always looking for ways to improve the site and find new features that would be helpful.  Since no one knows what the ministries could use better than those involved in the ministries that puts you in a unique position to help us.  If there is something that might help your ministry please let us know, we would love to give it a try.  Also, as the ragtag bunch we are, sometimes things don’t work the way we expect; servers go down, bugs are missed all sorts of problems arise.  If you come across a problem please tell us right away; chances are we don’t know about it yet.  You can send any ideas, questions comments, problem reports to web@lighthousebc.com.  You can also help us by praying that we would use our time and resources in a way that furthers the MVP.

Editor’s Note: April 2010

by Stephen Rodgers

It’s hard to believe that 2010 is 25% gone already, but the calendar doesn’t seem to be lying in this case. I hope that even though the time is flying by, you’ve been enjoying the Beacon so far this year, and that in our own small way, we’ve been able to edify and encourage you in your walk with the Lord.

There’s not a whole lot to say this month, except for two announcements:

  1. The first announcement is that with today’s post by Kyle, we have completed our tour of the ministries at LBC. However, don’t worry because we’re going to loop back around and get updates from them again. However, rather than focusing on just what they do, this time we’re going to try to give you a more personal or specific glimpse into each one. That may mean photographs, interviews, reports, or something else entirely. It’s always an adventure around here. So keep an eye out for those beginning on April 8th.
  2. The second announcement is that in keeping with Pastor John’s exhortation and John Piper’s recommendation, we are going to begin a new series here at the Beacon. The plan is that starting this Saturday, and running indefinitely, we will post a brief devotional by Spurgeon. I realize that such materials are freely and abundantly available (TeamPyro has their version, GTY has three RSS feeds for Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Drawing Near, and Strength for Today, and there are a ton of non-devotional reading plans as well). However, not everyone avails themselves to those materials, and out-of-sight-out-of-mind can and does nip at the heels of all but the most disciplined of us. We may just be another trickle in a much larger stream, but God speaks very clearly about the need to dwell on His word (Jeremiah 17:5-8).

Plus, Spurgeon is awesome.

ps. For the GTY links, you may need to copy/paste the link into your favorite RSS reader to make them work.

Pro Rege