Author Archives: Stephen Rodgers

Weekly Links (12/21/2012) – Christmas Edition

“To an open house in the evening
Home shall all men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.”
(From “Christmas Poem,” by GK Chesterton)

by Stephen Rodgers

Long-time readers of the Beacon…and anyone with halfway-decent search-fu…will know that every year around this time we do a special Christmas-themed edition of the weekly links.  We’ve done it before in 2009, 2010, and 2011, and it’s that time once again here in 2012.

APOLOGETICS

One site that has done yeoman’s work on the issue of “Christmas apologetics” is the (in)famous Triablogue.  They have their own overview of annual post on the subject going back several years, along with an entire category dedicated to the subject of Christmas.  Here are a few specific examples:

SANTA CLAUS

Ah yes, the ever controversial man in the red suit. No, not that one; I’m talking about Santa Claus.

THEOLOGY & CULTURE

Again, I’d encourage you to review the posts from previous years, since you’ll find a host of related information there as well.  This year, we wanted to highlight:

Merry Christmas everyone.

Pro Rege

Single Life Update

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” (Colossians 3:20-22)

by Joseph Ho

The single life kicked off the fall quarter with a bonfire night filled with food, fun, and fellowship! In our regular Wednesday night Bible studies, Pastor Patrick continued in the book of Colossians. In the past four studies, we dived into Colossians 3:20-22, learning about the instruction regarding the relationship between parents and children and the relationship between slaves and masters.

First, regarding the relationship between parents and children, we learned that the Greek word for “children” in Colossians 3:20 can mean both little children and adult children. We are reminded that as adult children, we are called to continue to honor our parents through our acts of love and acts of obedience (1 Timothy 5:8; Exodus 20:12). This is definitely an area of struggle for most of us because as adult children, we desire independence. But God calls us to obey our parents so that we can benefit from the wise counsel that comes from their years of life experience (Proverbs 6:20-23, 23:22). Certainly with exceptions, there may be times where our parents command us to sin, then we are to obey God and not men (Acts 5:29). During the Q&A time, Patrick addressed some specific situations including dating, career choices, and our faith in Christ, where our desire may be in conflict with our parents’ desire. While our parents may not always be right and ready to offer biblical advice, we learned that as believers, we can glorify God in resolving these conflicts by being Christ-like in our words and attitudes (Proverbs 15:1; Colossians 4:6).

Next, regarding the relationship between slaves and masters, how do we apply these instructions in today’s world? While that particular slave/master relationship was only unique to the homes in the first century Roman society, we can certainly apply the principles behind the passage towards our relationship with our employers at work. We learn that in all things lawful, we are to pursue diligence and excellence in our work because ultimately we report to God. For most of us at work, we all have experienced the temptation where we are a little too liberal with our break time or just simply wasting time surfing the internet instead of working. It is certainly a good reminder for us that while our earthly boss may not be watching us, God is watching us all the time. It matters not whether we are a teacher, an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, or a soldier, we need to develop a healthy fear towards God and a singleness of focus to earn His approval and reward.

Now as we are getting ready to enter the last chapter of Colossians, I just realized that we have been studying Colossians for over two years! I am grateful to Pastor Patrick for slowly unpacking the truths in this book for us. I pray that as singles, we will continue to implant these truths in our hearts so that we may shine as lights in our workplace and in our homes.

Our annual Christmas party is coming up next. I look forward to some friendly fun as we play the white elephant gift exchange!

FOF #8: Prayer and the Believer

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Prayer is one of the greatest blessings God has bestowed on men. Growing up in San Diego, I always appreciated the friendships that were developed over the years. This is especially true of the relationships I have built at Lighthouse. One of my favorite things to do is just to sit around and chat with my friends, sometimes talking about nothing significant at all. It’s the company that is so enjoyable, the time spent together. That is the great thing about prayer. There are many things we do to direct our attention and service to God, but prayer is God’s way for us to enjoy intimate communion with Him. How awesome is it that we can talk with the God of the universe without dread (cf. Heb. 4:16)!

I love to teach God’s Word. There are few things that exhilarate me more than to open up the Bible with others and dive into its depths. I know that I should also have this same excitement for prayer, but sadly for whatever reason it isn’t always there. I know that many believers struggle with the same thing. While our times of prayer should be the most precious moments of our day, too often we as Christians struggle in our prayer lives and only have sporadic times alone with God.

I’m certain Satan is pleased with the believer’s struggle to pray. There are all sorts of reasons for our failure in this. Sometimes we don’t pray because we don’t feel like we need to. A sense of self-sufficiency guides our thinking and we believe we can handle things on our own. Because of this, we only go to God when our circumstances become extremely dire. Of course, we would never admit that we don’t need God, but our actions betray us and bring this attitude of self-sufficiency to light.

There are other times we fail to pray because of our lack of faith. We simply don’t believe it will accomplish anything. Perhaps we have been too discouraged by what we would perceive is a lack of response from God. Maybe we have asked for things in the past only to be disappointed. We know from what we read in Scripture that God is eager to answer prayer. Jesus taught His disciples to ask, seek, and knock (Matt. 7:7), and though we would perhaps never admit it, we sometimes wonder, “What good will it do?”

These attitudes truly reveal the sinfulness of our hearts. Not only does this demonstrate how little at times we trust God, but it also reveals our general lack of true wisdom. Like Christ’s disciples, we need to ask God to teach us to pray (Luke 11:1). The Apostle James makes it clear that we don’t have because we don’t ask, and that we ask and don’t receive because our motives are wrong (James 4:2-3).

The Bible promises us that God works through the prayers of His people. Certainly our prayers don’t change God (cf. Num. 23:19; Mal. 3:7), but our prayers do change things (cf. James 5:17). Perhaps more importantly, our prayers help change us, molding and shaping us to think more like Christ (cf. Phil. 4:6-7) and make His desires our own (cf. Ps. 37:4). Because of how important prayer is for the believer, God instructs us not to cease in it but to persevere (Eph. 6:18; 1 Thess. 5:17).

Our struggle to see prayer accomplish much in our lives usually comes from our lack of understanding God’s will. God answers our prayers according to His purposes for our lives. This is why the Apostle Paul draws a close relationship between Scripture and prayer (Eph. 6:17-18). We are to take the Word of God praying, because it is through God’s Word that we can understand what He desires for us. When we pray according to the will of God as Jesus did (Mark 14:35-36), God is sure to hear and answer us.

Think of what an awesome resource is at our disposal that we can talk to God and that He desires to hear from us! Especially when we consider our sinfulness and from what Jesus saved us, how comforting to know that God is eager to hear from us (cf. Ps. 8:4). Prayer needs to be our constant lifeline to the Father. We must not grow weary in it. Is it any wonder we fail and falter in our walks of faith as often as we do when we do not pray as often as we should?

I Have Chosen Thee In The Furnace Of Affliction

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Isaiah 48:10

Comfort thyself, tried believer, with this thought: God saith, ‘I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.’ Does not the word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yea, is it not an asbestos armour, against which the heat hath no power? Let affliction come-God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayst stride in at my door, but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayst intrude, but I have a balsam ready-God has chosen me. Whatever befalls me in this vale of tears, I know that He has ‘chosen’ me.

If, believer, thou requirest still greater comfort, remember that you have the Son of Man with you in the furnace. In that silent chamber of yours, there sitteth by your side One whom thou hast not seen, but whom thou lovest; and ofttimes when thou knowest it not, He makes all thy bed in thy affliction, and smooths thy pillow for thee. Thou art in poverty; but in that lovely house of thine the Lord of life and glory is a frequent visitor. He loves to come into these desolate places, that He may visit thee. Thy friend sticks closely to thee. Thou canst not see Him, but thou mayst feel the pressure of His hands. Dost thou not hear His voice? Even in the valley of the shadow of death He says, ‘Fear not, I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God.’ Remember that noble speech of Caesar: ‘Fear not, thou carriest Caesar and all his fortune.’ Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials, His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. ‘Fear not, for I am with thee,’ is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in the ‘furnace of affliction.’ Wilt thou not, then, take fast hold of Christ, and say-

‘Through floods and flames, if Jesus lead,
I’ll follow where He goes.’

3.3a

Live for the Line, Not the Dot

by Hansol An

Pastor John Kim once illustrated the importance of having a big picture view of life and the decisions that we make. On a white board he drew a horizontal line with arrows pointing out at each end. “This is all of time,” he proclaimed as he gestured back and forth along the line. Then, in the middle of the line, he drew a small dot and said, “This is your life.” He went on to explain that God wants us to have an eternal perspective of life since our lives on earth are so short in the grand scheme of eternity. He went on to say that our decision making process should take eternal ramifications into consideration. “Live for the line, not the dot,” he said. That was such a simple but profound principle that stuck with me ever since, changing the way I approached every decision I made.

Colossians 3:1-3 says, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Paul understood that having a heavenly perspective in life is part and parcel with being a Christian. It’s fundamental, not optional. If we fulfill the criteria he set forth in the beginning and ending of those verses (died and raised with Christ), then this applies to us. As Christians this is a command that God fully expects us to carry out.

Unlike other, more tangible imperatives, this requires more from us than just an outward action. This requires a wholesale change in the way we think. We are to “seek the things that are above” or those things that are eternal and not the “things that are on earth” or temporal. When we evaluate anything in life, we need to look at it from God’s point of view. We don’t have the benefit of omniscience, like God, but that’s why He gave us the Bible. Obviously, explicit detail is not given for every situation that we’ll face but the foundational instructions given to us through Scripture provides the principles we need for every situation, event or decision. The Word of God is all we need (Psalm 19:7-9).

When we forget to view things from God’s perspective, we tend to get shortsighted and temporal in our thinking. The world we live in seeks immediate gratification instead of the future fruits of prudence today. This results in limiting our consideration to the immediate benefits and consequences, when in reality there may be ramifications for years to come.

One area where this is exhibited over and over again is dating. Guys will often say that they “like” a girl and that they are going to ask her out. But when probed about why they like that particular girl, the answers usually reveal that thought has only been given to what she is like now. She serves in this ministry and that ministry. She’s kind, fun and smells good. She doesn’t run away when I come into the room. All are good reasons but rarely is there consideration for what all that means in the long run. Her service in ministry might reveal a heart that puts others before herself. Her kindness might exhibit the unselfish love necessary for a godly wife. Her fun attitude might show that she truly is joyful always. Her ability to maintain good hygiene would be desirable for wife and mom. The fact that she can stand your presence might show mercy. These are biblical attributes that are desirable for a godly wife. If dating is for marriage, shouldn’t every potential girlfriend be evaluated on her potential to be a god-honoring wife and mother? This is one example and there is so much more to consider even within this one example but the issue remains whether or not we have a temporal or eternal perspective.

There are many benefits to living for the line and not the dot but perhaps the most important one is that we don’t focus on the immediate rewards and consequences but also consider the long term, even eternal implications. One way to challenge our perspective is to ask and consider, “How does my decision affect the Great Commission?” Because what we believe is determined not by what we say but rather by what we do, everything we do reveals what we truly believe (James 1:22-25). What you do now has implications for years to come – live for the line, not the dot so that God would be glorified through every decision you make.

Editor’s Note: The original “live for the line, not the dot” quote should be attributed to Randy Alcorn (from his book The Treasure Principle).

LBC Weekly SPARK – December 12, 2012

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Dear family and friends of LBC,

I hope you are doing well and walking in the Lord. During this holiday season, I want to encourage you to do all you can to be a faithful witness of the gospel of Christ.  Opportunities abound all around us and yet too often we are content to see them pass us by. Because of our love for Christ and desire to see Him glorified, we ought to tell others about God’s saving grace. Who knows? Perhaps God would use your next conversation to save a soul. Think of the deep joy that comes from seeing a life transformed by the grace of God. Those who have no hope in this world could have true, lasting hope. Let’s do all we can to tell others of the love of Christ for the sake of His name!

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

Here are the announcements for this week:

  • Single Life Bible Study. The singles Bible study will be meeting tonight, December 12, at the church at 6:30pm. All single adults are invited to come out for a great time of fellowship and worship. As always, dinner will be served!
  • Grace Life Christmas Dinner. This Thursday, December 13, Grace Life will be having a Christmas dinner at 6:30pm in Room 107! Bring $5/person for food and a dessert to share. Prizes will be awarded to those who are most festively dressed! This will be a great time to celebrate and enjoy some fun together! Please email Pastor Patrick by Wednesday evening to RSVP so we can adequately plan for food (pastorpatrick@gmail.com).
  • Christmas Concert. Our annual Christmas concert will be this Saturday, December 15, at 6:00pm. This is always a highlight of the year and a great opportunity to enjoy God-glorifying music! Please invite your friends, family, and neighbors to come and enjoy this time together and to hear the message of Christ.
  • Christmas Concert Rehearsal. We will be having a rehearsal and run through for Saturday’s concert on Friday, December 14, at 6:00pm. Please come prepared and focused so that we can work through all the details expediently and efficiently.
  • Sunday School. We will be having Sunday School classes this weekend during the Sunday School hour. This will be the last Sunday School until after the New Year.
  • PB Homeless Ministry. Contact Joyce Kang if you are available to help assemble care packages for the homeless. This will take place on Sunday, December 16, at 2:00pm, at the church.
  • L.A. Church Plant Interest Meeting. For those who are interested in being a part of the church plant team to Los Angeles, there will be an interest/planning meeting on Sunday, December 16, at 6:00pm, at the church. Please contact Pastor John Kim to let him know you plan to attend (pastorjohnkimlbc@gmail.com).
  • Christmas Service. On Sunday, December 23, during our regular worship time, we will be having a special Christmas service. It is a great opportunity to invite unbelieving friends and family to hear about Jesus and the significance of His birth. Refreshments will be served!
  • New Year’s Eve Service. We will be having a special service to close out 2012! This will be on Monday, December 31, at 5:30pm, at the church. We will have dinner together as well as a time for corporate worship. Afterwards, we’ll have some fun counting down to the New Year!
  •  Lumos Winter Retreat. The youth group will be heading out to Julian for their winter retreat on January 4-6! The cost for the weekend is $75/person. Contact Josh Liu for more details!

Prayer Needs:

  • Please continue to pray for Erick Min as he is currently deployed in Afghanistan. Pray that God would continue to watch over him and cause him to grow even while apart from the church family.
  • Please pray for Alex and Maria Ko and their family as they continue to deal with Baby Eliana’s ongoing health needs.

Signs of Spiritual Maturity #8: Ready for Solid Food

by Elder Peter Lim

It doesn’t take a parent to realize that newborn babies require milk to grow before graduating into mushy versions of adult food. Before you know it, they are able to eat solid food. That’s the imagery that is given to us in relation to or spiritual maturity in 1 Cor. 3:1-3:

1And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.
2I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,
3for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

These young Corinthian believers had many issues including worldliness, jealousy, and strife. These are the same sort of issues that exist in any church. How sorrowful the Corinthians must’ve felt upon hearing this rebuke from Paul.

Rather than focus on the Corinthians, how would we fare under Paul’s evaluation? As he said, a mature Christian should be ready to eat solid food instead of milk. In other words, a sign of a mature Christian is that he would be willing to chew a little more and digest solid teaching on more “heavy” doctrines beyond the basic gospel message from the Word of God instead of being scared off by them. No longer content to be spoon-fed only the basics of Christianity, he would be willing to study diligently to accurately handle the Word and pursue approval from God. (1 Tim. 2:15) For the mature, there is no such thing as bad sermons as long as it is based on Scripture. Bad communication skills of the preacher are secondary to the glorious truth that is being taught. Mature people are the easiest to feed because they can feed themselves from the morsels of solid food given to them. When someone says that he doesn’t get anything out of messages that are Biblical, the problem is obvious. That person isn’t getting anything out because he isn’t being teachable. It shows a lack of graciousness and humility.

If you find that you are struggling with things that the immature struggle with such as: consistent time in God’s Word, prayer, or any other “milky” issues, it’s time to grow up and be mature. Here are some suggestions to help you to grow:

  • Start a Bible reading plan. There are many to choose from but I like John MacArthur’s suggestion of reading a book such as 1 John all the way through, once a day, every day, until you get a good idea of the overall flow of the book.
  • Read a good Christian book. I understand that not everyone has developed a discipline of reading. Just do it. Start. Reading. Today. Pick an easy one to begin with so that you’ll be encouraged to finish it. Then read some more. The kind without pictures. I know you have that shelf with books that you’ve been meaning to read.
  • Turn off the TV. Get off the internet. Start with a half-hour everyday of nothing but silence to meditate on the previous Sunday’s message. Try very hard to recall what it was about. Think of ways to apply those truths.
  • Pray. Don’t just use the phrase “I’m praying for you” as a way to sound spiritual when you’re not really praying for them. Although Jesus never prescribed praying on your knees with your eyes closed and hands clasped, this posture of prayer can really help to get your body to conform and concentrate on what you are doing.
  • Start writing encouragement notes. You know what I’m talking about. Those little slips of paper in the Sunday Bulletin that you tend to ignore. Start your ministry to people by encouraging them! Here’s a little secret: You not only encourage them, but you feel encouraged yourself as you recognize others to be thankful for.

As a growing child grows stronger by eating solid food and is able to accomplish more, we also grow by learning more about the heavier doctrines from God’s Word. We become more capable of helping people by being more qualified to help others through giving Biblical counsel. Because a stronger Christian understands doctrine more, he is then able to help people who are caught up in cults or in weak churches with poor doctrinal teaching. His pursuit of excellence in spiritual things becomes a testimony to his friends and family. Frankly, a church doesn’t move forward because of the leaders. It moves forward because of committed members who are committed to feeding themselves with the aid of the leaders. This is the picture given to us in Eph. 4:12:

12for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

The leaders are to equip the saints (Christians) so that all Christians would do the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. We aren’t to simply pay pastors to do everything. They are to equip us so that we can do the work. Men, you can begin by being a good manager of your own households. Our time on Earth is temporary and short. We are but vapors that vanish quickly. Let us redeem our time with useful ministry for God.

Unto Me, Who Am Less Than The Least Of All Saints…

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Ephesians 3:8

The apostle Paul felt it a great privilege to be allowed to preach the gospel. He did not look upon his calling as a drudgery, but he entered upon it with intense delight. Yet while Paul was thus thankful for his office, his success in it greatly humbled him. The fuller a vessel becomes, the deeper it sinks in the water. Idlers may indulge a fond conceit of their abilities, because they are untried; but the earnest worker soon learns his own weakness. If you seek humility, try hard work; if you would know your nothingness, attempt some great thing for Jesus. If you would feel how utterly powerless you are apart from the living God, attempt especially the great work of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, and you will know, as you never knew before, what a weak unworthy thing you are.

Although the apostle thus knew and confessed his weakness, he was never perplexed as to the subject of his ministry. From his first sermon to his last, Paul preached Christ, and nothing but Christ. He lifted up the cross, and extolled the Son of God who bled thereon. Follow his example in all your personal efforts to spread the glad tidings of salvation, and let ‘Christ and Him crucified’ be your ever recurring theme. The Christian should be like those lovely spring flowers which, when the sun is shining, open their golden cups, as if saying, ‘Fill us with thy beams!’ but when the sun is hidden behind a cloud, they close their cups and droop their heads. So should the Christian feel the sweet influence of Jesus; Jesus must be his sun, and he must be the flower which yields itself to the Sun of Righteousness.

Oh! to speak of Christ alone, this is the subject which is both ‘seed for the sower, and bread for the eater.’ This is the live coal for the lip of the speaker, and the master-key to the heart of the hearer.

3.2p

Weekly Links (12/7/2012)

“As we will see, there is an inextricable link between the doctrine of God – His attributes and properties – and the biblical understanding of who Christ is.  This should not be surprising. If indeed we know who God is by virtue of his revelation to us, the quintessential knowledge of God will naturally come by way of the quintessential revelation of God, which is given to the world in Jesus Christ. It would not be an overstatement to stay that the way to a proper understanding of God and his character is given foremost in a proper understanding of the Son of God come in the flesh, Jesus Christ.” (K. Scott Oliphint, God With Us)

by Stephen Rodgers

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See you Sunday.

Pro Rege

The Blessings of Youth Ministry

by Josh Liu

In light of the recent Thanksgiving holiday, I’ll take a moment to reflect back on this past year for Lumos: I began serving at the beginning of August; met with the staff on numerous occasions to plan, coordinate, and bond; Lumos hosted a few events for the staff and youth to fellowship; resumed Friday night Bible studies in September; hosted its first Gospel and game nights in October; and launched the first of hopefully many Saturday seminars in November. Simply amazing! God has been gracious in pouring out many blessings! I’ll mention some:

The blessing of a faithful, servant-hearted, like-minded staff. As I shared in my last post, the staff is passionate about ministering to the youth. It has been an incredible blessing to serve along side with them. They humbly serve and patiently follow my leadership; they are very willing to sacrifice much for the youth. All of this stems from their genuine love and passion for God and the youth. I believe their counsel is God-exalting and biblically founded. I trust them very much. They contribute much joy in serving.

The blessing of Bible study. In my limited experience, it appears that many other youth ministries do not focus on preaching the whole counsel of God’s Word in their discipleship programs. It is an enormous blessing to have our youth nights center on God’s Word; and it is an enormous blessing to see the youth enjoy it! Fellowshipping over the study of God’s Word guides us to retain a Christ-centered and gospel-centered youth ministry.

The blessing of special events. Even though we may take breaks from our normal Bible studies, our special events provide other opportunities to present or reflect on the gospel and to deepen relationships. A gospel night, which is a night devoted to reflection on the gospel, directly reminds us of God’s good news. Like Israel in the Old Testament, we are prone to forget God and His righteous deeds. Setting aside time to reflect on Christ’s life, death, and resurrection and man’s sinful condition refocuses our hearts on eternal things, confronts us with challenging introspection concerning salvation, and encourages us to witness to others. Gospel nights provide youthies with the opportunity to actively reach out to their friends and family. Another opportunity for youthies to invite their friends and family to church is our game nights. A game night helps build camaraderie within the youth group and novel, and perhaps unorthodox ways (e.g. Jeopardy), to interact with God’s Word.

The blessing of Saturday seminars. We are privileged with opportunities to host special training and workshops. Cesar started us off with an introduction to the foundations of the Christian worldview – quite important! It is encouraging seeing the youth excited for these workshops and sacrifice a part of their Saturday to be at the church! These Saturday seminars allow us to continue teaching the whole counsel of God’s Word on very specific and relatable topics.

Those are just a few ways we have seen God pour out His blessings to the youth ministry. We continue to depend on God to grow what has been planted, to save souls, and to raise up a generation that will stand as His witnesses. I give thanks to God because He is good, not necessarily because of the good things He has blessed us with. To borrow C.J. Mahaney’s words, we’re doing better than we deserve, for all we deserve is God’s wrath for our sins. Yet because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God – the greatest blessing; anything more is grace upon grace.