Author Archives: Stephen Rodgers

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.”

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

Living Theology #16 – Prayer

by Garrett Glende

It took me a while to figure out how to start writing this post. My usual format, if you haven’t noticed, is to refer back to the previous week’s article and give some sort of linking phrase to tie it all together. I felt like being a tad more creative tonight, but nothing really came to mind immediately. Then it hit me – maybe I should pray! I know what you’re thinking, “God obviously doesn’t answer prayer cuz that sure ain’t creative.” Maybe so, but at least it’s something. Plus it goes to show how often I fail to seek God’s help in my own life and I have a feeling many of you can relate as well.

In chapter eighteen of Grudem’s Systematic Theology, he defines prayer and fleshes out some of the basic concepts of the practice. He writes that prayer is “personal communication with God” and includes “prayers of request for ourselves or for others, confession of sin, adoration, praise and thanksgiving, and also God communicating to us indications of his response.” The concept is simple: we converse with God. But there is much more to it than just that. We aren’t just hanging out talking with God over a cup of coffee. We are communing with the sovereign Lord of the universe. He is a righteous and holy God, so we must not approach Him flippantly. He demands respect and reverence for no other reason but that He alone is God and we are not.

But what does prayer actually do? Does God hear our prayers? And what is its purpose? Personally, I often find myself wondering if God really does hear my prayers. It’s easy to think that my performance determines the generosity of God in responding to my prayers, but this is not a biblical perspective. Prayer does change the way God acts, as we see in the life of Moses when he prayed that God would not bring His judgment against the people and God “relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people” (Ex 32:11-14). Grudem writes of James 4:2 (“you do not have, because you do not ask”) that “failure to ask deprives us of what God would otherwise have given us.” Surely God does hear our prayers, for He is omnipresent and omniscient, seeing and knowing our every thought. But this does not mean that all prayers are answered in the way we would like. We must seek God’s will in prayer, as a means of laying aside our own desires and trusting that God’s plan is perfect. Many times God’s will may be obvious if it is illustrated in Scripture, but there are other circumstances that the Bible is silent about. We must do our best to pray in accordance with the things that God has revealed to us, trusting them to be true and relying on God to give us wisdom about things that are not present in His word. In this way, the purpose of prayer is to increase our dependence on God and to develop an attitude of humility. The proud person does not often pray because he believes that He does not need to go to God for daily sustenance. Not only is a humble heart cultivated, but we can also express our thankfulness to God through prayer, giving Him the praise that He deserves. These elements, along with the confession of sin, are a basic outline of what we do when we pray and are explained by the familiar model ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication). In prayer, we come before God and praise Him for who He is, confess our sins, express our gratitude, and ask for His will to be done in our lives.

The application here seems obvious. We need to pray. If we think we pray enough, we should pray more. JC Ryle, in his pamphlet titled “A Call to Prayer,” challenges the prayerless man with the following thoughts: “I warn you that you are in a position of fearful danger. If you die in your present state, you are a lost soul. You will only rise again to be eternally miserable. I warn you that of all professing Christians you are most utterly without excuse. There is not a single good reason that you can show for living without prayer.” So I would just want to echo the same question that Ryle asks: Do you pray? It should be as natural for a Christian to pray as it is for a husband to talk with his wife or for a son to speak with a father, but so often professing Christians fail in this area. If someone claims to have an intimate relationship with another person, yet never speaks with them, does this relationship truly exist? I would venture to say that it doesn’t. So how can a person claim to know God, yet rarely come before Him in prayer? It may be that there really isn’t a true relationship at all. These are somber words, but I fear it to be the case for many.

We must seek to understand the riches and blessings that God provides us through prayer. It is through prayer that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be useful for God’s kingdom purposes. All effective Christian ministry is fueled by an intense devotion to seeking God’s will in communion with Him. It is my own prayer that we would all humble ourselves, recognizing that we need to pray without ceasing, fully aware of our own insufficiencies, and trusting in Christ to provide all that we need.

DTR3

by Pastor John Kim

As we have been addressing the issue of dating relationships yet again for the third time in LBC history, I would like to share a few thoughts that I hope will be both encouraging and challenging to those who would be single and wrestling with the various aspects of dating as well as those older married folks who could hopefully fulfill the mentoring and discipling roles that would provide the kind of support that those who are going through what is often a stressful, even torturous period of life that is filled with uncertainties and hardships that are forgotten once married.

There are three significant foundational points that I have addressed in the first two meetings that have taken place. I have shared other things as well but these are three that I would like to highlight.

1. The Glory of God in Dating

Romans 11:36
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

The glory of God must be the chief end in the life of the believer and so it stands that the chief end of dating should be the glory of God as well. The fundamental problem that I think plagues many Christians in the issue of dating is that God’s glory is relegated to the sidelines and my own glory is put at the forefront. We are more concerned about ourselves, about having our desires fulfilled, our expectations met or exceeded, and the pursuit of my happiness is still considered an inalienable right that supersedes God’s glory. For the Christian that desires to fulfill 1 Corinthians 10:31, that in whatever we do, even in our eating and drinking, and yes, even in our dating, the glory of God must remain front and center in every aspect.

I think that the whole dynamic of dating exposes many Christian men and women in the superficiality of their commitment to seeing God glorified. While it is very understandable that a lot is at stake, potential marriage being the greatest possibility, it would seem to be clear that there should be nothing that escapes this mandate. But why is this most basic and fundamental tenet set aside?

Romans 11:36 helps provide some additional thoughts that I hope will be helpful for all to consider. When we recognize that all things are from God, that all things are only possible through God, and that all things are to ultimately point to God, it leaves nothing to ourselves in terms of receiving glory. We are to acknowledge that God is the source of all things, that God provides the enablement and empowerment for all things, and that He is the ultimate goal in all that we do. Every part of the process from beginning to end in our lives is accounted for in this verse.

Our problem is that we struggle with handing over the reins for the whole deal. We want a say in every aspect, even to the point where we would make demands of God that are more self-serving rather than God-glorifying. We forget that it is by grace that we receive anything and so all that is from God is a gift, even the gift of singleness. We forget that it is by the divine enablement of the Holy Spirit through the counsel of the Scriptures that we are given the tools to live out our lives to His glory. We forget that the chief end truly is God’s glory and we set ourselves up instead to be the chief end in receiving the attention that we so desperately desire. So it is no surprise that we fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and are caught in the throes of sinful attitudes, sinful thoughts, sinful motivations, and ultimately sinful behavior that really mimics the world through its conformity rather than showing a life transformed by the cross.

That leads the to second foundational point:

2. Gospel-Centered Dating

The cross of Christ should be at the heart and soul of how we live the Christian life. The cross not only justifies us but the cross also should sanctify us in that we live in light of the finished work of Christ and the righteousness that was secured and imputed to us. To live in light of Christ and Him crucified is not something that happens passively. It is a deliberate choice that then sets the reference point for how we are to engage in every arena of life, including dating.

Do your dating relationships celebrate the cross of Christ? It would be tough to say so if you are indulging in sexual immorality. Does knowing Christ and the fact that His grace has saved you from your condemned state before God make a difference then how you are to uphold separation from an unbelieving partner? Does the forgiveness that comes through the redemption found in our Savior provide the basis for how you handle conflicts regarding relationships? It is strange that for so many Christian, the cross of Christ seems to become nothing more than jewelry instead of the defining point for how we live from day to day.

I would like to challenge each individual, whether you are dating or not, whether the cross is truly central to your life on a daily basis. Or have you setup another idol that would affect your outlook toward life, namely even the concept of dating, or the absence of it? If you live in light of Christ’s death and resurrection and consider it of first importance as 1 Corinthians 15 describes, that it will provide a whole different outlook toward life and I believe it will definitely affect your outlook toward dating.

3. The Richly Indwelling Word of God

Colossians 3:16-17
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

God’s Word needs to be more than just a visiting neighbor in our daily lives. The Scriptures need to take residence and permeate our entire being so that we would be equipped to do all things, every word and deed in the name of our Savior. Then we truly can give thanks because we will then be doing exactly what Romans 12:1-2 calls us to do, to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. We show that we are not conformed to worldly philosophies and human wisdom but instead having been transformed by the renewing ministry of the Word of God, we will be able to discern what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. This is crucial for all aspects of life but all the more crucial for dealing with the issue of dating.

Too many people claim that the Bible has nothing to directly say about dating but that is to reveal utter foolishness and ignorance. The Bible has everything to say about dating because it deals with the heart issues to our conduct that takes place in the dating realm. That’s why to hear, read, study, memorize, and meditate on God’s Word is a non-negotiable practice if we are to not only glorify God in our lives, but even in how we are going to teach and admonish one another in the issue of dating.

There are so many instances when I have heard of the kind of counsel that people give in regards to dating and it really is nothing more than earthly wisdom. There is nothing about the glory of God being at stake. It reflects nothing of the gospel of Christ and in the end it reveals a lack of Biblical foundation and substance. This is tragic, that the people of God would forsake the Word of God in the time that it is needed most. The wild and crazy ride of the dating rollercoaster can only be tamed by the sure and sufficient Word of God that will provide the solid foundation as well as even the practical wisdom that is needed. So immerse yourself in the Word. Failure to do so will lead to failures that you will regret. But to meditate on the law of the Lord will lead you to be like that tree fimrly planted by streams of water (Psalm 1). You’ll never regret living according to God’s Word.

Well just a few thoughts for now. More to come on April 11 and 18 at 6pm at the church. We’ll be looking forward to looking at what men and women should be to become marriageable and we will also take a long hard look at the issue of purity. So come out, invite your friends, even your unbelieving friends, and let’s tackle this issue and trust that God will accomplish great things in your lives!