Author Archives: Stephen Rodgers

Loving Beyond Our Limits

by Roger Alcaraz

One hundred fifty. What is the significance of that number? It’s known as Dunbar’s number and it is theorized to be the cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. How someone came up with that precise number is beyond what I care about. But what I will take note of is the fact that people generally understand that the more people there are in your life, the harder maintaining relationships will be.

Coincidentally, there are close to 150 people in College Life including the staff members. Could you name them all? First and last name? Their hometowns? Their personalities? Their interests? How about their…what’s that? You said “No” by the first question? Well then, it emphasizes a point–it will be impossible to have a meaningful relationship with everyone even in College Life, let alone the rest of the church, let alone the rest of the people in your life! So…good luck.

Ok fine, I won’t end like that. Perhaps it goes against what you might think, but the goal really shouldn’t be to know everything about everyone. But what I do want to see is every person being cared for. If we make it our goal to personally know everyone, we’ll only be able to develop shallow relationships. We are limited by our time and even our ability to remember so much. That being said, this is no license to slack in your calling as a Christian to love every person as yourself. This means that if an opportunity to serve someone you don’t know well arises, you must take it, regardless of your familiarity.

People sometimes ask me how I feel about cliques, which can easily become something harmful to the church. However, I understand the need for a closer circle of friends. Even Jesus had the twelve in whom he invested more than the rest. Yet his close relationships never stopped him from serving those outside of the twelve and even serving the multitudes. The problem with cliques isn’t that people have a close circle of friends; it’s that they become exclusive such that if you’re not part of my circle, then you are not part of my concern.

But my encouragement is twofold:

  1. that while the church is increasing in size, you would pursue deep and meaningful relationships with others, and
  2. that you would genuinely seek the care of all those around you.

How can you do both when they seem mutually exclusive? I’ll give an example. Let’s say you see someone new on Sunday. You know the look. They’re standing next to a wall by themselves or perhaps with another newcomer while looking at nothing in particular. You notice them but figure someone else will take care of them. But while you mingle with your friends, you fail to notice them leaving without ever receiving an invitation to lunch. Far better would be to include them in your conversation and even invite them to lunch or whatever you had planned. Sometimes when I meet someone after service but I know that I’ll have to leave soon, I’ll introduce them to some people who could continue the work of caring for him.

I can tell you a lot of other practical ways to love the people that stroll through our doors, but honestly, if you have a heart to see people plugged into the life of the church, that will take you the furthest. Maybe this is a simple idea, to love your neighbor, but take some time to see how you might change how you talk to people after service this week. Will you care for the unnoticed around you and view them with the eyes of Christ? Take some time to pray that your heart will be ready when the time comes.

I’m thankful for how loving this church is to all people. If anything, this is an encouragement to excel even more. But I know there are people on the fringe of our church who are still lacking the fellowship needed for spiritual growth. Find these people. They might be older than you, younger than you, it doesn’t matter. Find them and love them.

Beyond Function: A Biblical Understanding of the Mind

by Pastor Mark Chin

INTRODUCTION

Where do religious thoughts and impulses come from and why? With the advent of new dynamic neuroimaging techniques such as petscanning, neuroscientists like David Linden and Michael Trimble are now eagerly attempting to furnish the world with the answers.[1] Their quest to locate in the brain a definitive neurobiological source for religious thought highlights three modern scientific assumptions about the mind of man:

  1. the human mind is merely the higher faculty of the brain,
  2. the functions of the human mind such as thinking, understanding, desiring, or judging are biologically generated and thus synonymous with the “higher” functions of the human brain, [2] and,
  3. the answers to the riddle of spirituality in the human mind lies within, not without.

Hopefully, most conservative Christians would object to such assumptions about the mind of man along with their implied scientific reduction of spiritual thought (or for that matter sin, salvation, and sanctification) to evolutionary aberrations of neurochemical impulses. For the Christian, the mind is something much more than the sum of the brain’s neurochemical transactions. Yet in spite of such a conviction, why is the conservative Christian’s working definition of the human mind so remarkably similar to the modern secular definition? The Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible defines the mind as “the part of the human being in which thought takes place, and perception and decisions to do good, evil, and the like come to expression.”[3] Dr. Zemek describes the mind of man as the seat of mentality, consciousness, intelligence, emotion and will.[4] By comparison, the Oxford Dictionary’s definition of the mind is almost identical, referring to the mind as “The seat of consciousness, thought, volition, and feeling or a pattern or way of thinking or feeling.”

The similarity can be accounted for by the fact that contemporary Christians and secular evolutionary scientists have both chosen to narrowly describe and define the mind primarily in empirical terms of observable function (i.e., what the mind does). The conviction of this writer is that a modern empirical focus on observable function is inadequate for a true understanding of the human mind. Scripture’s teaching on the mind of man extends well beyond observable function, distinguishing its definition of the mind from that of the modern world by describing it in terms of divine design, divine relationship, and divine purpose. It does so for good reason. The world attributes to the mind a primary role in the identity, behavior, and destiny of man. The Bible attributes to the mind a critical role in sin, salvation, and sanctification. How one understands the mind of man directly affects how one understands and addresses man’s relationship with his Creator. The stakes are immeasurably high. Christians can ill afford to conform to the the modern world, especially in its understanding of the mind of man.

THE MIND IN SCRIPTURE

How does God’s word define and describe the mind of man? In the absence of a specific Hebrew word for the mind[5] and with infrequent mention of it in the Gospels, answers to this question often focus on the apostle Paul’s teaching. With the Koine Greek word for the mind, nous, being found almost exclusively in Paul’s epistles, it would initially appear that a study of the mind should center primarily on Paul’s writings.[6] However appearances, as the cliché goes, can often be deceiving.

The modern functional description of the mind as the seat of man’s volitional and rational functions is often drawn from Paul’s use of the word nous. Based on Paul’s writings, four major functions have been used to define the mind:

  1. Disposition, inner orientation or moral attitude (Eph 4:17),
  2. Practical reason, i.e., moral consciousness as it concretely determines will and action (Rom 7:22-25),
  3. Understanding, i.e., the mind as the faculty of knowledge and the seat of wisdom (Phil 4:7),
  4. Thought, judgment, and resolve (Rom 14:5).[7]

However, the reference to such functions is not unique to Paul or his use of the word nous. The same functions are found in the use of the Greek and Hebrew word for heart, kardia in the NT ( disposition, Lk 16:15; will, 2 Cor 9:7; understanding, Mk 7:21; resolve, Ac 11:23) and leb and lebab in the OT (disposition, Gen 6:5; will, Jer 23:20; understanding, Prv 19:8; resolve, Is 10:7). Furthermore, the LXX, the version of the Scriptures most familiar to Paul’s original Hellenized and Gentile audience, also used the word nous six times as a translation for the Hebrew word leb or lebab.[8] Clearly Paul, a man of the Scriptures and, prior to his conversion, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, was not developing a unique functional theology of the mind to be understood apart from the context of the entirety of Scripture. His use of the word nous connects his readers to the grand theocentric OT anthropology of the heart, “the king of anthropological terms” and must therefore be understood in light of this relationship.

THE MIND AND HEART CONNECTION

The heart, leb/ lebab, in the OT refers to the whole inner person, and is distinct but not separated from the soma, the physical component of man.[9] In its fullest sense it is a broad entity that encompasses a wide range of functions, including but not limited to the faculties of thinking, judging, understanding, and conscience – those that are most often associated from the NT onward with the mind. In accordance with this OT understanding, the LXX, communicating biblical truths to Greek speaking Jews, deemed the heart as the organ of noein – thinking, judging, understanding, and willing (Jn 12:40; Is 6:10).[10] From a NT perspective, the Greek term nous or mind represented the intellectual or cognitive aspect of the OT concept of the heart.[11]

This is demonstrated when Jesus quotes to His NT audience the first and greatest command of Dt 6:5, “…you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mk 12:30).” Everyone present, including the Scribes, accepted his quotation as the word of God (Mk 12:33), even though His quotation includes a fourth noun (mind) not present in the original Hebrew text.[12] Far from adding something new to the Scriptures, Jesus use of the term “mind” emphasizes a particular intellectual aspect or agency of the heart that is understood to be present in the original Hebrew text in Dt 6:5. As such, the mind is not an agent or a faculty of the physical brain, which, for the Greeks, would have been identified with the soma, but rather it is an agent or faculty of the heart as defined by the OT.

THE MIND: THEOCENTRIC AND HOLISTIC

If, then, one is to understand the mind in the same way that both Jesus and Paul did, one must understand it within the context of the anthropology of the OT, specifically the OT anthropology of the heart. In sharp contrast to the empirical compartmentalized anthropology of the modern world, the OT anthropology of the heart is a theocentric and holistic one, built upon three key presuppositions. These presuppositions direct our understanding of the mind beyond mere function.

  1. The first presupposition begins with a very simple truth, “ In the beginning God…” It is God, by His will and word, who has designed and created the whole of man, including his heart and mind.
  2. The second presupposition is that God designed and created man, with all his complexities, as a unified whole, not as a bundle of separate parts functioning independently of one another.[13]
  3. The third presupposition is that God has designed man, including his heart and his mind, for a particular divine purpose. Ultimately that purpose is to glorify God by being a true image or copy of the Sovereign Creator (Gen 1:27,28).

In light of these presuppositions, the Scripture teaches that the heart, as a reference to the whole inner person, serves to describe the core relationship between God and man.[14] It is the tabernacle of the soul, the entity of deepest connection or opposition to its Creator, the place where the glory of God resides in the life of the saints. The mind then, as an inseparable agent of the heart, participates at the deepest level of man in this relationship with God. This truth is borne out in Paul’s use of the word nous, where it is quite clear that his references to the mind are made in terms of this central relationship between the whole of man and God (e.g., Rom 1:28, 12:2, Phil 4:7, etc.). He identifies the mind of man as the core repository of the truth of God or the lies of man.

Within a holistic Scriptural framework, the heart never functions in isolation from the rest of man but is dynamically interwoven with the spirit, the soul, and the body. Scripture informs us that the heart relates to the rest of man by serving as the “mission control center” of man.[15] The heart directs the whole of man (Prov 16:23; Isa 32:6).[16] The mind, then, is the faculty or agency used by the heart to do so. The whole of man, including his behavior and his physical body, is directed through the thinking, understanding, judging, and will of the mind (Col 1:21). The whole of man is transformed by the renewing of his mind (Rom 12:2). So then the brain, as part of the body or soma, is a servant of the mind and not its master, as Linden or Trimble would lead us to believe. Furthermore, the nature of a man is the fruit of his heart and mind, not the fruit of his neurotransmitters or the chemical balance of his brain.

From the perspective of divine design, the purpose of the mind is perhaps most clearly demonstrated by Jesus in Mk 12:30, “… and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” The mind, with its capacity to think, understand, weigh, and will, is a faculty that was designed to enable man to love His Creator and Savior in all truth. This includes providing man with the capacity to know God, by understanding His truth and by proving His will (Lk 24:45 ; Rm 12:2). It also includes the capacity to direct the whole of man, including his behavior and his body, to serve God rightly and fruitfully as an expression of His truth and His love (Eph 4:23,24). It is a faculty which, through the renewing power of the Spirit, allows man to fulfill his ultimate purpose – to glorify God by being like Him, walking in His footsteps, thinking His thoughts, and loving with His love (Eph 4:23, 24), essentially living in union with his sovereign Creator.

CONCLUSION

Where do religious thoughts and impulses come from? Scripture teaches us that they come from the heart by way of the mind. However, Scripture does far more than just identify the mind as the producer of thoughts, impulses, decisions, or behavior. Beyond function, Scripture informs us that the mind is a faculty or agency of the heart of man, a creation of God, designed to be the tabernacle of His truth and wisdom, enabling man to know and love God entirely, directing the whole of man to be one with His Creator, for the praise of His grace and the proclamation of His glory in Christ.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., D.Sc., “Seeking God in the Brain – Efforts to Localize Higher Brain Functions.” The New England Journal of Medicine 358:1-5 [Jan 03, 2008]: 6.

[2] Snyder, in the above cited article, notes that Linden attempts to tie religious impulses or beliefs that defy “everyday perception of reality” to speculative neural mechanisms.

[3] Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible, s.v. “Mind/Reason.”

[4] George J. Zemek, “ Aiming the Mind: A Key to Godly Living”, Grace Theological Journal 5/2 (1984), 205-207.

[5] Theo J.W. Kunst, “The Implications of Pauline Theology of the Mind for the Work of the Theologian” [doctoral thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1979], 6.

[6] Of the 23 times Nous is used in the NT, 21 are in the apostle Paul’s writings.

[7] TDNT, 958-959.

[8] Ibid, 953.

[9] BTDB, 528.

[10] TDNT, 950.

[11] Theo J.W. Kunst, “The Implications of Pauline Theology of the Mind for the Work of the Theologian” [doctoral thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1979], 15.

[12] The literal translation of the Hebrew text for Dt 6:5 contains only three nouns. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Jesus’ quotation includes a fourth noun, dianoia – a compound derivative and synonym for nous, translated as “mind.”

[13] BTDB, 528.

[14] Zemek, A Biblical Theology of the Doctrines of Grace, 17.

[15] Ibid, 16.

[16] TDNT, 950.

God, Even Our Own God

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Psalm 67:6

It is strange how little use we make of the spiritual blessings which God gives us, but it is stranger still how little use we make of God Himself. Though He is ‘our own God,’ we apply ourselves but little to Him, and ask but little of Him. How seldom do we ask counsel at the hands of the Lord! How often do we go about our business, without seeking His guidance! In our troubles how constantly do we strive to bear our burdens ourselves, instead of casting them upon the Lord, that He may sustain us!

This is not because we may not, for the Lord seems to say, ‘I am thine, soul, come and make use of me as thou wilt; thou mayst freely come to my store, and the oftener the more welcome.’ It is our own fault if we make not free with the riches of our God. Then, since thou hast such a friend, and He invites thee, draw from Him daily. Never want whilst thou hast a God to go to; never fear or faint whilst thou hast God to help thee; go to thy treasure and take whatever thou needest-there is all that thou canst want. Learn the divine skill of making God all things to thee. He can supply thee with all, or, better still, He can be to thee instead of all.

Let me urge thee, then, to make use of thy God. Make use of Him in prayer. Go to Him often, because He is thy God. O, wilt thou fail to use so great a privilege? Fly to Him, tell Him all thy wants. Use Him constantly by faith at all times. If some dark providence has beclouded thee, use thy God as a ‘sun;’ if some strong enemy has beset thee, find in Jehovah a ‘shield,’ for He is a sun and shield to His people. If thou hast lost thy way in the mazes of life, use Him as a ‘guide,’ for He will direct thee. Whatever thou art, and wherever thou art, remember God is just what thou wantest, and just where thou wantest, and that He can do all thou wantest.

4.27a

A History of Missions at Lighthouse Bible Church

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Developing Long-term Relationships for Short-term Missions

Timeline of Missions and Church Planting at LBC:

  • 1996 – John and Angela Kim begin praying about planting a church in San Diego
  • Spring 1998 – Several families pray together and begin planning the church plant
  • July 15, 1998 – Bible studies begin at the home of Peter and Jinny Lim
  • December 6, 1998 – First Sunday Service for LBC San Diego
  • May 2, 1999 – Official Inaugural Service for LBC San Diego
  • July 3-26, 2000 – First summer missions trip to the Czech Republic
  • July 21-August 3, 2005 – First summer missions trip to Argentina
  • July 11, 2010 – Send Off Service for LBC San Jose
  • July 18, 2010 – First Sunday Service for LBC San Jose
  • January 30, 2011 – Official Inaugural Service for LBC San Jose
  • November 4, 2012 – First Sunday Service for LBC East Bay
  • April 14, 2013 – Official Inaugural Service for LBC East Bay
  • October 20, 2013 – First Sunday Service for LBC Los Angeles
  • February 16, 2014 – Official Inaugural Service for LBC Los Angeles
  • October 12, 2014 – Official Inaugural Service for LBC Orange County (formerly Pillar Bible Church)

“Our plan is to take over the world.” I will never forget this succinct explanation of the goal of missions for Lighthouse Bible Church by Pastor John Kim. Back when the leadership team of LBC San Diego was first being developed, Pastor John communicated the importance of not only establishing a missions program early in the life of the church, but also developing a philosophy of missions that would be part of the church’s “DNA.” This commitment to missions flows out of the church’s philosophy of ministry, which is summed up in the MVP Statement.

Mission: To Make Disciples of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20)

Vision: To Plant Churches (Acts 1:8)

Passion: To Love God and People (Matthew 22:37-40)

In this way, missions has been the commitment of Lighthouse Bible Church since its inception. While many people thought sending a missions team in the church’s first year of existence (with a small number of members) was impractical, the leaders came to agree on the importance of demonstrating the church’s commitment to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and to support the work of church planting.

By God’s grace, through a number of circumstances and redirecting of plans, the Lord introduced us early on to Meinolf Mellwig, a full-time German missionary to the Czech Republic. The Lord used Meinolf and Martina Mellwig, and their five children, to plant a church in the city of Ostrava at roughly the same time as Lighthouse San Diego. The relationship built has been sweet especially since each church has been able to track the growth of the other with each passing year.

One of our primary goals in our summer missions program is to cultivate a long-term relationship with the churches we partner with around the world. This is much more difficult than it might sound. Two churches can have a deep sense of love for one another without really having a basis to work with each other in ministry. In order to accomplish a long-term partnership, at the very least the two churches must share a common philosophy of ministry and have doctrinal compatibility. For instance, this means practically for missions that the churches not only need to agree on the message of the gospel, but also on the philosophy and methods of evangelism. When these factors are met, what results is a profound trust that is built, which in turn strengthens the love between the two churches.

For almost every summer since July 2000, Lighthouse Bible Church and the Christian Church in the Czech Republic, led by Meinolf Mellwig, have partnered together to host a week-long English camp.[1] English camps are a wonderful avenue to promote the gospel because Czech students have a strong interest to improve their English and meet native English speakers. The camps are advertised as a church event and the campers are invited to attend an optional evening program where the gospel is presented. Thankfully, each year, most of the campers have come to the evening programs, and we are tremendously grateful that some have shared testimony of how God has used these camps to help bring them to salvation and change their lives.

In July 2005, Lighthouse sent a second team to Argentina. Pastor John Kim had previously travelled to the country to participate in a national pastors’ conference. During his time there, he was introduced to Eduardo Buldain, a church planter who works just outside Buenos Aires. Through Eduardo Buldain, we were introduced to Pastor Jorge Ahualle, who helped plant Missionary Bible Church in the city of Tucumán.

The culture of Argentina is vastly different than the Czech Republic. Much in part due to the influence of communism, the Czech Republic is predominantly an atheistic nation, even with its rich Christian heritage. Argentina, on the other hand, is almost exclusively Catholic with a spattering of ultra-Pentecostal churches that teach a false gospel. As a result, in both countries, there are very few churches that teach the Word of God and preach the gospel with integrity.

Each year, the teams we have sent to Argentina have helped the church conduct a week-long door-to-door evangelism campaign. Each day, the team would travel to a different barrio, or neighborhood, to preach the gospel from house to house. While the Argentine people have generally been very warm and inviting, this has also proven to be a great challenge with evangelism because the people tend simply to nod in agreement with just about anything that is shared with them. But this has also helped demonstrate the importance of establishing long-term relationships with the churches with whom we work. In so doing, we are able to see the long-term effects of the gospel in people’s lives and the fruit of evangelism and the gospel through changed hearts. It seems almost every year, Pastor Jorge is introducing us to another individual or family that was saved by God’s grace during one of our evangelism campaigns.

Because of LBC’s devotion to establishing long-term relationships with churches who are doctrinally and philosophically like-minded, another great benefit is the mutual edification and encouragement that is experienced through the relationship. When our teams go overseas, we make it clear that we are going to assist the churches there in their ministry. We are not going to push our agenda in some unilateral approach to missions. What we have experienced by the grace of God is a rich partnership in ministry where both churches are strengthened and invigorated. Because of the doctrinal and philosophical trust that has been established, we ask Meinolf Mellwig, Eduardo Buldain, and Jorge Ahualle to teach our teams about ministry abroad. We have even had them come to preach at the church in San Diego.

One last benefit to having doctrinal and philosophical unity in missions is greater confidence to invest in the ministries with which we work. Since we were mutually able to see the possibility of a long-term relationship with the churches in both countries, it gives us a greater confidence and desire to invest in these ministries and support these ministers. Summer missions trips are not cheap. Each year, the church spends thousands of dollars to send these teams. Knowing we are working with churches we trust makes the investment worthwhile because of the relationships we are seeking to build upon.

We have been so blessed to work with the churches in the Czech Republic and Argentina all these years. A deep-seated affection has grown between our churches that is strengthened with each trip. But one of the greatest aspects to our short-term missions philosophy has been the desire to develop long-term relationships with churches and missionaries. This has resulted in greater ministerial trust, a strong bilateral investment in each other, and confidence to invest in these ministries and work towards the future.

[1] The Mellwig family originally helped plant the Christian Church of Ostrava-Poruba but have since moved on to plant the Christian Church of Beroun.

Blessed Is He That Watcheth

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Revelation 16:15

‘We die daily,’ said the apostle. This was the life of the early Christians; they went everywhere with their lives in their hands. We are not in this day called to pass through the same fearful persecutions: if we were, the Lord would give us grace to bear the test; but the tests of Christian life, at the present moment, though outwardly not so terrible, are yet more likely to overcome us than even those of the fiery age. We have to bear the sneer of the world-that is little; its blandishments, its soft words, its oily speeches, its fawning, its hypocrisy, are far worse. Our danger is lest we grow rich and become proud, lest we give ourselves up to the fashions of this present evil world, and lose our faith. Or if wealth be not the trial, worldly care is quite as mischievous. If we cannot be torn in pieces by the roaring lion, if we may be hugged to death by the bear, the devil little cares which it is, so long as he destroys our love to Christ, and our confidence in Him.

I fear me that the Christian church is far more likely to lose her integrity in these soft and silken days than in those rougher times. We must be awake now, for we traverse the enchanted ground, and are most likely to fall asleep to our own undoing, unless our faith in Jesus be a reality, and our love to Jesus a vehement flame. Many in these days of easy profession are likely to prove tares, and not wheat; hypocrites with fair masks on their faces, but not the true-born children of the living God. Christian, do not think that these are times in which you can dispense with watchfulness or with holy ardour; you need these things more than ever, and may God the eternal Spirit display His omnipotence in you, that you may be able to say, in all these softer things, as well as in the rougher, ‘We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.’

4.26p

Weekly Links (4/3/2015) (Good Friday/Easter Edition)

“And if the Lord your God wishes to judge you, say, “Lord, between Your judgment and me I present the death of our Lord Jesus Christ; in no other way can I contend with You.” And if He shall say that you are a sinner; you say, “Lord, I interpose the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between my sins and You.” If He says that you have deserved condemnation; say, “Lord, I set the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between my evil deserts and You; and His merits I offer for those which I ought to have, but have not.” If He says that He is angry with you; say, “Lord I set the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between Your wrath and me.” And when you hast completed this, say again, “Lord, I set the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between You and me.”” (Anselm of Canterbury, “Exhortation to a Dying Man”)

by Stephen Rodgers

Well, not only is it the first Friday of the month (wherein I drop by with free resources), but it’s actually Good Friday as well. So we’ll throw a few Easter-themed links into the mix, at no extra charge.

Alright, well that does it for the typical monthly resources. Now, as promised, let’s end this with some Good Friday / Easter resources:

Enjoy!

Pro Rege

LBC Weekly SPARK – April 2, 2015

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Dear LBC family and friends!

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful week and have been reflecting on the amazing truths of the gospel as we head towards Resurrection Sunday. While we gather every weekend in celebration of the atonement made for us on the cross of Christ and in the triumph of His resurrection, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday offer us a special occasion in the year to take a break from our usual study of God’s Word to focus primarily on the gospel. What an amazing demonstration of grace and love that God would send His own Son to die on the cross for our sins. What a display of victory and power that by His own authority He rose again from the grave. As we head into the weekend, I would encourage you to take some time to meditate on these truths. Read through the Gospel accounts of Christ’s suffering, death, burial, and resurrection. Let the gospel engulf your minds and hearts. Then as we gather for corporate worship this weekend, let us worship the Lord in the fullness of joy with our hearts united in faith.

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

Here are some opportunities for ministry that you should know:

  1. Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. This Friday, April 3, we will be having a Good Friday communion and prayer service at the church at 6:30pm. This will give us a chance to think on the cross of Christ and pray for one another. On Resurrection Sunday, April 5, come to the church early for a breakfast fellowship at 7:30am. Then at 9am, we will have a special Resurrection Sunday service. This is a wonderful opportunity to invite your family and friends to hear the message of the gospel. Also keep in mind that because of the holiday, Sunday School will not be meeting this weekend.
  2. Lighthouse Kids’ Club. Please remember that LKC will be meeting tonight, April 2, at 6:30pm, at the church. Grace Life Bible study will not be meeting, but we will still be having a program for the kids.
  3. Monday Night Volleyball. The days are growing longer with summer approaching so we’ll be starting up Monday Night Volleyball once again at La Jolla Shores. Come out at 5:30pm to enjoy some fun in the sun!
  4. Men’s Purity Seminar. Be sure to mark your calendars for an upcoming four-part seminar on the topic of “Personal Purity in an Internet Age.” This is a special seminar for the men of the church that will be on April 12, April 19, May 3, and May 10. Each session will begin at 6pm.
  5. Women’s Seminar. Ladies (youth age and up) are invited to a women’s ministry event on Saturday, April 18, from 9am to 12:30pm. Come out as we walk through a study of Ephesians 5 with the theme of “Redeeming the Time.” You can RSVP with Mrs. Grace Lee (gracelee357@aol.com).
  6. Vacation Bible School. Our VBS will be on June 22-26! Applications are now available if you would like to serve on staff. Contact Josh Liu for more details.

Five Fantastic Facts Concerning Children

by Jacob Garcia

Kids are great…challenging at times…but wonderful nonetheless. It can sometimes be difficult to remember that, especially when in the midst of disciplining or a particularly rebellious stage!

Serving in the Sonlight children’s’ ministry, I have the opportunity to see some of the kids’ best moments, such as when they know the answer to a question, recite a bible verse, or volunteer for an activity.

However, despite my positive experience in Sonlight, I realize that parents can have truly challenging periods of time when it comes to raising their children. Seasons when exhaustion, impudence, or busyness make it difficult to count children as blessings.

Keeping all the different circumstances in mind, however, it’s important to turn to the Scriptures to discover what God has to say about the young ones in our lives. Hopefully, He will grow in us a greater appreciation and love for them! So, here are five fantastic facts concerning children:

1. They are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)

We are all created in the likeness of God. Individually, we each bear the image of our Maker. Now, some image-bearers may be smaller and younger than others, but that doesn’t mean they’re worth less!

The littlest child is every bit as much of a person as the CEO of a major corporation, and the small kid playing ball on the street has the same intrinsic value as the greatest NBA super star. They are all image-bearers of the Lord God Himself!

2. They are a heritage from the Lord (Psalm 127:3-5)

In contrast to what the world might say, children really are a truly amazing gift from God. In fact, they are even said to be a reward!

This is especially relevant in a self-centered, career-focused culture, where children are sometimes seen as little more than obstacles to our own progress. God doesn’t think so! On the contrary, the psalmist mentions how blessed the man is who “fills his quiver with them.” What a great reminder!

3. Scripture addresses them specifically (Ephesians 6:1)

It can be easy to overlook the needs and desires of children. We might be tempted to wait for them to “grow up” before we concern ourselves with their spiritual development. However, in this passage, we see that God loves children in their current stage of life. They do not slip under His radar.

He truly wants children to believe and obey, and not just for behavior’s sake, but that they would obey “in the Lord, for this is right.” So, in essence, God wants them to obey for His sake and for the right reasons. He really is concerned with their heart in it all, not only their actions!

4. The way we live drastically affects them (Proverbs 20:7)

A righteous person can do much for their children in so many ways. Whether it’s by providing a safe place for them to grow up, teaching them the fear of the Lord, or just being a good example for them to follow, a godly parent is invaluable on a multitude of levels.

In contrast, a wicked person’s actions will have destructive consequences on their offspring, as they will be prone to imitate the errors of their parents (Deuteronomy 5:9). Therefore, we must be diligent to walk in integrity, not only for our own sake, but also because little ones constantly observe us, and what is observed will be copied, for good or for bad.

5. We must become like them to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3)

Often, one of the most difficult things for us to grasp is the concept of a child-like faith. We may, in our pride, assume that the kingdom is for the wise and super-spiritual, not for those that are infantile in their thinking.

Yet, the Lord in His infinite wisdom has deemed that heaven is a place for those who are humble and child-like in their dependence on Him. This is an amazing reality, one that should break us of all arrogance, relying on God with all our being. Just like little children depend on their earthly parents, we should trust in the Lord!

Treasuring Children

We must be careful that young kids in a congregation not go unnoticed, underfed spiritually, or simply tolerated. That would be a great shame, because, children can be a huge encouragement to us in their love for the Lord if we would just take the opportunity to minister to them.

So, let’s make it our aim to pray for the young ones around us. Not just so that they would “behave well” or act like “good kids”, but asking that their lives would overflow with the love God, as He graciously pours it into their hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Thank God for children!

Debunking the Myth of Non-Verbal Evangelism (Part 1)

by Pastor James Lee

There are all sorts of myths and lies that people have believed or still believe that are factually erroneous upon objective evaluation. Yes, the earth is not flat, Neptune does not rule the sea from some lost city Atlantis bemoaning his boy-smitten daughter, tomatoes are fruit not vegetables, and dropping a penny from the Empire State Building won’t end up killing someone (though it might really hurt). Likewise, we would do well to remember that false doctrine inhabits our false doxology and false praxis because we are misinformed about what the Bible actually teaches in some given area. When we don’t invest ourselves regularly, thoughtfully, carefully, devotionally, theologically, and humbly, and if we’re used to being spoon-fed the stuff that lines the shelves of pop Christianity, pop psychology, and pop culture, we will continue to simply do what we’ve always done and think like we always have thought: imbibe what our feelings and experience and friends teach us, without any ongoing reexamination, reordering, reformation and redirection. Therefore, we end up unknowingly perpetuating error. If we are not diligent, devoted, and discerning, in certain pockets of our functional theology. Our entire paradigm in a given matter can all be whack, if you get my drift, and we don’t have any idea that we’ve been suckered into such misdirection.

We might think our vision is clear, our interpretive grid so sound, be it our doctrine of parenting, our theology of work, our paradigm for reproof. But all of us are guilty at times of thinking that we’ve got it all down, because we got a few verses in our back pocket, gone to a conference, or because we’ve lived a bit longer and think that automatically makes us wiser (it doesn’t, by the way). When it comes down to it, we’re ignorant of what the Scriptures actually teach us. Jeremiah 17:9 warns, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.” And if we actually believe what the Bible says what our biggest problem is, then we have to realize our pride and depravity and laziness often has the wheel until we plow through the next intersection.

So it is always a very delightful, but very dangerous business, to come to the Word of God. Every time we hear it and read it, we stand at a kind of sanctifying crossroads, so that by it, we always live accountable, and will choose to either to resist it or bow beneath it. We can perpetuate error with the tunnel vision that just wants to see the comfortable truth, not the whole truth, or we can seek to truly humble ourselves before the Lord, with fear and trembling and adoration and expectation, at the very outset. Unfortunately, let me suggest that very often the least prepared time to hear the Word of God, is the time of the Lord’s Day sermon. We might come, but come unprepared, come with our “checklist” Christianity. Frustrated with the kids and spouse, we arrive late, then out comes our mental checklist. Come to church, check. Greet everyone, check. Sing, give offering, check, check. Bow my head and close my eyes allowing my mind to wander until I hear, “In Jesus’ name, Amen.” Listen to the sermon, leave service, and judge in a few seconds what the pastor has spent 20-30 hours of study and prayer on his knees and really his entire life up to that point to be enabled to say. Eat lunch, then do my thing. If we’re honest, that’s so easy for me to do, you to do, for all of us to do. But we must not come that way or leave that way when it comes to His inerrant truth. We must come as slaves, servants, soldiers of Christ, children of God, as humble learners.

Otherwise, if we try to put God into our paradigm, rather than allowing God to demolish it and mold us by His truth and His Spirit, then we’re going to perpetuate the very myths that short circuit our discipleship. One such myth that needs to be demolished and eradicated is the idea that one can evangelize without verbal proclamation. There’s a popular quote among evangelicals that has been falsely attributed to St. Francis Assisi, an imposter of biblical teaching, an urban legend disguised as truth, that says this: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” Not really. Actually, just, “No.”

Folks who like to say that might be sincere and genuine about reaching our fellow sinners. I don’t want to minimize that. Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s so innocent, as Glen Stanton comments, “It is intended to say that proclaiming the Gospel by example is more virtuous than actually proclaiming with voice. It is a quote that has often rankled me because it seems to create a useless dichotomy between speech and action. Besides, the spirit behind it can be a little arrogant, intimating that those who ‘practice the Gospel’ are more faithful to the faith than those who preach it.”

Consider: is there a reason why that saying is so popular, and why most people don’t really bat an eye? It subtly tickles our ears and attempts to absolve us of evangelistic responsibility. Why? Because when theology takes a back seat to methodology, and we drink the contemporary kool-aid of wanting to be liked, we’re going to find some sanitized ways to justify our non-evangelism. It might be wrapped in the language of faithfulness, but it’s total unfaithfulness. So we’re going to debunk the mythical non-sense that we can evangelize without actually speaking the truth in love. And we’re going to do it ironically with a verse that often serves as the proof-text, poster-boy, and punchline to the comic tragedy of non-proclamation. Our Lord Jesus authoritatively declares in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Now in saying all that, I am certainly not saying that our good works and demonstration of love for others somehow don’t matter. They do. They do! While I understand there is a need for us to be pursuing, persistent, persuasive, and very, very patient, and prayerfully pleading that the Lord would sovereignly regenerate dead souls… I understand that there is an opposite error of viewing our evangelism as merely some data drop of a neatly packaged gospel outline right before we go on our merry way, without actually cultivating the possibility of relationship and being winsome in our conversations with our lost friends (yes, as real friends)…. What I am saying is that if we’re merely kind in the ways moral goodness, or social justice, or cultural etiquette might dictate, then we haven’t actually engaged in faithful evangelism, at least not yet… Preaching the gospel necessitates words! At some point, we have to be unashamedly His mouthpiece! We have to speak the message and content of the gospel, verbalize, talk, use our mouth, make it known, enunciate, teach, confront, give hope, explain, defend, articulate, clarify, answer questions, shout it from the mountain top, clearly, lovingly, boldly, gently, faithfully, obediently… say something!

Whenever I’m on a flight, I aim to share the good news with the person who sits next to me, and I can tell you that I’m equal shares of doing that out of faith, and failing to do that out of fear. But to my memory, I’ve never sat next to someone, who was anything but kind and respectful towards me (not always towards the gospel). And by His grace, I don’t think and I hope that I wasn’t anything but kind or respectful either. Nevertheless, l will argue that it would be difficult for me to testify with any kind of integrity that I preached the gospel to the precious soul next to me, in the paradigm of only “if necessary, use words.”

Before I was a “full-time” pastor, working in the marketplace, I had a lot to learn about evangelism amongst my coworkers that stretched and challenged me a great deal. I had a lot more failures than I did success, and it was a different context than the campus and street evangelism training I had received as a collegian with the Navigators. By the way, to momentarily encourage, that’s why some of the best personal evangelism I’ve seen is by those who aren’t in “professional” ministry. In my office environment, it was less an event than a process. So perhaps the timing of sharing the truths of the gospel might manifest differently, but a context never makes the sharing of it, any less urgent, intentional, and necessary! Thus, as your brother and co-laborer, it is my prayer that we will wrestle together in the importance of debunking the myth of non-verbal evangelism, for the good of the church, and the glory of God! Romans 10:14-17 exhorts us:

But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

John MacArthur commented, “God’s only witnesses are His children, and the world has no other way of knowing Him.” Let us together continue to shine brightly in bold, loving, and verbal gospel proclamation!

This Do In Remembrance Of Me

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

1 Corinthians 11:24

It seems then, that Christians may forget Christ! There could be no need for this loving exhortation, if there were not a fearful supposition that our memories might prove treacherous. Nor is this a bare supposition: it is, alas! too well confirmed in our experience, not as a possibility, but as a lamentable fact. It appears almost impossible that those who have been redeemed by the blood of the dying Lamb, and loved with an everlasting love by the eternal Son of God, should forget that gracious Saviour; but, if startling to the ear, it is, alas! too apparent to the eye to allow us to deny the crime. Forget Him who never forgot us! Forget Him who poured His blood forth for our sins! Forget Him who loved us even to the death! Can it be possible? Yes, it is not only possible, but conscience confesses that it is too sadly a fault with all of us, that we suffer Him to be as a wayfaring man tarrying but for a night. He whom we should make the abiding tenant of our memories is but a visitor therein.

The cross where one would think that memory would linger, and unmindfulness would be an unknown intruder, is desecrated by the feet of forgetfulness. Does not your conscience say that this is true? Do you not find yourselves forgetful of Jesus? Some creature steals away your heart, and you are unmindful of Him upon whom your affection ought to be set. Some earthly business engrosses your attention when you should fix your eye steadily upon the cross. It is the incessant turmoil of the world, the constant attraction of earthly things which takes away the soul from Christ. While memory too well preserves a poisonous weed, it suffereth the rose of Sharon to wither. Let us charge ourselves to bind a heavenly forget-me-not about our hearts for Jesus our Beloved, and, whatever else we let slip, let us hold fast to Him.

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