by Hansol An

Even though I’ve realized it for some time now, I’m always amazed to reflect back on a year and realize how fast time has passed. In the beginning of the school year I wrote the first College Life article for the Beacon. In it I expressed some early excitement (and apprehension) about the 2010-2011 school year due to all the changes that were happening. All I can say is that it’s been an amazing year! The staff: amazing. The collegians: amazing. God: amazing, of course. No one knew what to expect but God has given us a year where I have witnessed the equipping and growth of so many in so short a time. The ministry has displayed tremendous servant-hood at every turn. Peter Lim, Johnny Kim and I can attest to the graciousness of this ministry, firsthand (thank you for the kind gifts!). I’ve seen how so many students are eager to serve one another as well. I’ve witnessed the discussions about what people have been learning. I know people are reaching out to those who are hurting. But what really amazes me is that these external actions are pointing to something more – the manifestations of what’s in the hearts of our collegians. To see them applying what they have learned, becoming doers of the word and not hearers only, is the greatest encouragement. The external fruit is nice but the prospect of what God is doing in the hearts of our collegians is the most exciting part.

Having attended a commencement ceremony this year brought back many memories of my own graduation and college life. It gave me a chance to remember where I was in my walk with Christ and how it could have all turned out so differently. By God’s grace, I can say that I am not at the same place, spiritually, that I was back then. How sad would it be if I was in exactly the same spiritual state? I have seen God work in my life and in my heart to live more for Him and less for myself. Though I’m very much still a work-in-progress I can safely (and gladly) say that who I am now is a testimony to a devotion to God and his desire for my life. That devotion was nurtured in college. That’s why I like to say that college is so formative. It’s not just myself either. Those that truly loved the Lord and made decisions for His kingdom before their own desires while still in college, are the ones I still see faithfully seeking His glory.

For the 20 graduating seniors (and for the rest of you collegians for that matter) my prayer is that you will be able to look back and say, “I’ve changed…for the better.” Sadly there are many who peak spiritually in college. In a way it’s understandable. All of your close friends are Christians. You’re going to church activities constantly. Your life is very much infused with Christianity. The danger here is that when you enter the “real world” you’ll lose your source of spiritual zeal, if that source is misplaced. It might be a good time to assess the source of your Christianity. If it’s the people around you, Lighthouse Bible Church or anything else other than Christ, you need to acknowledge that now. In John 14:6 Jesus makes a clear statement about the exclusivity of the source of our salvation. Luke affirms this in Acts 4:12.

Hopefully all you College Lifers have grown as much as it appears you have. You might feel like there’s so much time for you to address any shortcomings later. Time will only go faster and faster as you get older and you don’t get any of it back. Before you know it you’ll be looking back on your graduation ten years prior. How you look back on that time will depend on what you do with your life now. Live like you believe that Christ is the way, the truth and the life.

by Johnny Kim

Hi! My name is Johnny Kim and I have the privilege of serving as a staff member in the College Life ministry. Together with my beautiful, lovely, kind, and gentle wife Mimi (hopefully she’ll read this), we have the blessed opportunity to take part in the lives of our collegians and to witness God working in them in different ways. One side effect of serving in the College Life ministry is that it has also provided me with plenty of opportunities to think back on my own college experiences. I have found that spending time with the collegians can sometimes trigger some long lost memories from my days as an undergrad; some that I would actually prefer not to remember. One example is all the times I had to painfully endure midterms and final exams. Upon graduation, there was probably nothing that I looked forward to leaving behind more than all the tests associated with college.

For those of us out of school, academic tests are thankfully a thing of the past. Nowadays, the closest thing to academic testing we might encounter is the occasional “How Well Do You Know Me?” quiz on someone’s Facebook. However, as Christians, we know that when it comes to our faith, spiritual tests are here to stay. Likely for the rest of our lives here on earth, until we “graduate to heaven,” God will continue to test our faith through various trials and circumstances. It’s the way that He has designed for it to be and accordingly, He calls us to receive and respond to these spiritual tests in a way that is different from tests in school.

During our College Life Friday Night Bible Study, we are currently going through a study of the book of James. In his study guide, John MacArthur points out that the book of James can be broken down and seen as a series of guidelines which we can apply in our lives to test the genuineness of our faith. It’s quite fitting for us to be learning about the testing of faith in College Life since tests are never too far from the minds of our collegians. However, unlike the tests in school, tests of faith are for a greater purpose and have far more value. In particular, we learn that God uses spiritual tests in order to grow us and mature our faith. In James 1:2-4, James extols the virtues of spiritual tests and the subsequent attitude of joy that we ought to have towards them.

Whether we’re dealing with tests in school or tests of a spiritual nature, cultivating an attitude of joy in either case can be quite the challenge. However, having joy in the face of even the most difficult spiritual test is not impossible; otherwise God would not have commanded it for us! So then, what are some things we do to ensure that we face spiritual tests with a joyful attitude? Let’s take a look at how our collegians deal with tests in school to find a couple parallel, practical applications that we might be able to apply towards spiritual tests in our lives.

Do You Attend “Study Hall?”

What are your studying habits like when it comes to studying the Word? Do you set aside a specific time and place to read and study it without distractions? When it comes to preparing for a test in school, our collegians spend countless hours reading and studying their textbooks. On any given night during finals week, you can find the collegians pulling all-nighters during Study Hall at church. They sacrifice sleep and comfort to study and gain the knowledge needed to ensure success on their tests. In the same way, we ought to prepare ourselves to respond rightly to spiritual tests by equipping ourselves with knowledge from the Word that comes from studying it. With a better understanding of God’s character, His will, and His commandments, we can joyfully make the right decisions and have the right outlook on any spiritual test that comes our way. In fact, in passages such as Joshua 1:8, we’re assured that meditating on the Word day and night will lead us to success!

We All Need “Care Packages”

During finals week, the wonderful Care ministry of our church works hard to prepare care packages for the College Life ministry. Our collegians are greatly encouraged when they receive a care package and it helps them, even if in a small way, to study hard for God’s glory with the support of the church behind them. Even the most stressed out collegian will feel a little joy at receiving snacks, candy, and other treats! During the toughest of trials, we Christians also need the encouragement that comes from fellow brothers and sisters within the church family. Our hopelessness can turn into hopefulness and joy when a brother or sister is at hand to remind us of the Gospel and to pray for us to persevere through a spiritual test. On the flip side, we should also be looking to encourage others in the midst of their own spiritual tests. Whether it’s through prayer, a meal, or an encouragement slip, there is always some sort of “care package” we can give to spur them on towards joy. As 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 states, we can ultimately encourage one another with the great hope of salvation through Jesus Christ!

Spiritual tests are a part of the Christian life and we should be thankful that they are! While the rewards for passing tests in college might be good grades and a diploma, James 1:12 shows us that successfully facing spiritual tests leads us receive that which is infinitely greater. Let’s look forward to every opportunity to test and prove our faith, challenging each other to look to the Word for guidance and encouraging each other to respond with joy along the way!

by Brandon Cai

As many of you probably know from the sudden inflow of pictures of cheery-faced collegians on Facebook, (or if you aren’t an avid user of online social-networking websites), are suddenly hearing ridiculous stories about snowball fights, pantyhose competitions (Editor’s note: it’s not what you think), and dance-offs…it’s that time of the year again. Assuming you’ve been to Lighthouse Bible Church before or personally know some of the collegians, (otherwise this introduction would have been quite nonsensical), Lighthouse recently hosted its annual February College Life retreat at Pine Valley, California.

If you haven’t already scrolled down the page due to lack of interest (I understand) then I must congratulate you. You already know more about the retreat than I did when I loaded my bags into the car and prepared for the trip down to Pine Valley. I did not expect to be pelted by snowballs in a wonderland of white. Nor did I expect to compete against an opposing team member with only a pantyhose over my head and improvised head-twirling techniques. Most of all, I did not expect to be heading off to retreat to be learning about a topic I already knew about, or at least I thought I knew.

The theme of this year’s College Life retreat focused on the grace of God. Reading this aloud to yourself, you may readily accept this given theme without any hesitation. But here already, we have an expression that is contradictory to the character of the God whom we worship. From what I discovered at retreat from our speaker, Dan Nah, pastor of Cornerstone Bible Church, the grace of God simply cannot be defined as “grace.” Rather, there needs to be a defining adjective which, quantitatively and qualitatively, only can satisfy the true attribute of our God’s grace. This is why our theme for this year’s retreat was phrased, the “Scandalous Grace” of our Lord God.

“Okay,” I said to myself, God’s grace can be defined as “bountiful,” “abounding,” “rich,” and the list goes on and on. But out of all the words that could be used to describe grace, why “scandalous?” The point is, Pastor Dan states, some of us one end of the spectrum may know how gracious our God is in our daily lives, but we do not realize just how far His grace encompasses us, even to the worst of sinners. From our reactions towards His grace, it is evident some of us may feel as if His grace does not fully satisfy our sinful nature; we work and work, often with futile efforts to satisfy the Law. On the other end of the spectrum, the nature of God’s grace is so foreign to some that they react in outrage and anger towards the grace of God, desiring to go as far as to murder the One who stops stones from being thrown and restores even adulterers to positions of righteousness. God’s grace is simply put, outrageous in every respect.

There are so many evidences of God’s grace in the Bible, from the splendor of the Garden of Eden given to man in Genesis, even to the last book, Revelation, written to give hope to those who suffer for Christ’s sake. Pastor Dan focused on several books of the Bible that shine the spotlight on just how outrageous God’s grace is. Genesis, 1 Kings, Hosea, Jonah, Matthew – these books all depict numerous accounts of God’s loving good will towards those found righteous or sinful in His eyes.

But what I found most compelling from Pastor Dan’s sermons on scandalous grace was how God’s grace reveals so much more of our Creator’s own character to us. What I discovered in my reflection were four aspects to God’s character that are depicted in the giving of His grace to us.

1. God is true to His word when He gives it. When God tells Jonah to preach to the city of Ninevah, He does not go back on His word. He forgives all the people of Ninevah and the whole city is saved from disaster in the hands of God. (Jonah 3:10) When God provides Elijah with strength in the wilderness, He does not only give courage in words, but sustains Elijah with food and nourishment. Twice! (1 Kings 19:7) God does not relent in His grace when He decides to give it. He overwhelms us with His grace.
2. God reveals His glory through His overwhelming grace. What God desires to show in His grace to us is the glory of His perfect, righteous, and holy being. (John 1:14,16) In bringing Elijah strength and sustenance, He reveals His glory to one man. In saving the city of Ninevah, God reveals His glory to a city. In crucifying His Son on the cross, God reveals His glory to the whole world.
3. God pursues those He saves. In the whole book of Jonah, God graciously pursues Jonah from the beginning in his refusal to preach to the city of Ninevah, till the end when He rebukes Jonah for his hatred of the sinners of Ninevah. God never ceases to give up on the prophet He commissions even when he blatantly disobeys God.
4. God gives because He loves. 1 John 4:19, states that “God first loved us.” He loved us before the beginning as He foreknew us, He loved us after the Fall of Man, and He continues to love us even when we sin against Him. He so loved the world that He offered as the ultimate act of grace to mankind, the sacrifice of His most precious possession: His Son. (John 3:16) And He gives not according to how righteously we live, but because He loved us first and fully.

Knowing the character of our gracious God not only reveals more of His glory and supreme being, but as Pastor Dan told all of us who went to retreat, the magnitude of our sinfulness as well. The degree to which they offends our Holy God is significantly magnified for us who live in the faith. To know and belong to a Father who loves us so deeply that He desires to give to us more than anyone else could ever give and more than we could ever deserve to receive – this knowledge should heighten our love and deepen our respect to our God who deserves more than we could ever give. It should be the driving force for our hearts in constantly glorifying Him in our daily walk, forever worshipping the God who so graciously extended His hand to sinners who were in complete rebellion against Him. All the glory be to Him forever.

by Teddy Yu

Hello, my name is Teddy Yu and God has richly blessed me and many others with the joy of serving on college staff and to intimately witness God at work in the lives of the collegians here at Lighthouse. College life is a critical time where many young men and women live away from family and begin to make many independent and important decisions. It is during this time that many decide a career path, develop lifelong habits, and even pursue a potential spouse. But more importantly, college ministry presents the unique opportunity to minister to many young men and women while they are ready and willing to listen to the Gospel. For it is during this time that they are in the process of forming convictions on matters of life and faith that will guide them through the rest of their lives.

So just as there is joy before the angels of God over each sinner that repents (Luke 15:10), it is our great joy to witness, by God’s grace, steady spiritual growth in the lives of each of the beloved collegians. It is a blessing to be used by God to encourage the collegians by being involved in their lives on a personal basis with weekly small groups, individual meet-ups, or even unexpected and sometimes late-night emergency phone calls. Even simple gestures of kindness such as providing a simple meal or chatting in the hallway at church or writing a quick encouragement note or praying faithfully for them can go a long way in encouraging the collegians. And while it can be humbling and intimidating at times, do not underestimate the influence of your counsel, teaching, and example of holiness, whether in a formal or informal role, to either build up or tear down the faith of the collegians.

These personal relationships with the collegians make it all the sweeter to witness the spectacle of God’s powerful grace in their lives as they: hear the Gospel and respond in faithful repentance, grow in conviction of sin and submission to Christ, publicly identify themselves with Christ through baptism, commit to membership at Lighthouse, delight more in the faithful teaching of the Word, serve with humility, etc. And just as Paul rejoiced at proven of faith (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:6-7) so too do we rejoice as the collegians bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and continue to run hard in the worship of God after graduation. And especially for those who choose to stay in San Diego after graduation, it is a rich blessing to serve as co-laborers of Christ to bring glory to God together. It is to this end that we in the college ministry strive so that God would, by His grace, work in the hearts of the collegians to bring Him glory in all that they do.

Press on in the faith with perseverance collegians!

by Emily Kuo

There is a plethora of books written on leadership, ranging from what makes you a good leader to ways to get people to follow you or ways to get people to do tasks for you. I know this because I was once myself buried beneath the pile of books about leadership. Before I became a believer, I had the great ambition to lead my high school class to foster “inclusion.” I wanted to abolish the social hierarchy in high school and close the gap between the popular kids and nerdy kids. That vision and pursuit today is now vain to me because I have a greater and eternal purpose to have the privilege to take part in God’s kingdom plan. As I have been called to serve on the leadership for our church’s college group, I am excited but at the same time feel and know that I am inadequate. I have the heart’s desire to serve the Lord in whatever way and capacity, but questions flood my mind. How do I know that I am ready? Or will I be effective? How do I know this is the ministry and place God has called me to serve? Studying over the “Qualification for Leadership” packet, my questions were answered and my ministry to serve the Lord in College Life was more affirmed. In sum, the qualifications for a leader are character qualities that every Christian should strive for after regardless of where God has called them.

“Those called into leadership are not necessarily called because of their ability but because of their character.” God commanded David to be prince over his people because he was a man that sought after God’s own heart (1Samuel 13:4). If a servant’s heart is completely surrendered to God and is in a continual pursuit to earnestly know Him and His will, the servant’s motives will be purified and the desire to cultivate character pleasing to God will be simply an aftermath or overflow. However, is the servant faithful? Has he proven himself? Or is it as Chris Mueller puts it, is it “a flash-in-the-pan sort of spiritual enthusiasm”? When I first became a believer, I had strong desires and was in continual euphoria. I was ready to share the gospel to any stranger I met. I couldn’t put the Bible down as I found gem after gem. And I couldn’t take my mind off the things of God. However, my faith was still weak. My convictions were shallow. And my character was inconsistent with the Word. I needed a lot of pruning and shaping of my character and faith. One of the character qualities for an elder is to that he is not a new convert. God’s ways are always wise, if I were to serve on leadership for College Life two or three years ago, I would have been puffed up and had the arrogant heart that God hates. Thankfully, over the years God has placed me in various trials to purify my faith and to shape my character. Indeed I can now see why Paul asks us to rejoice in our suffering, because it “…produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…” (Romans 5:3-4). Though some of the various trials sometimes felt heavier than I can handle or brought tears and pain to my soul, they were given because He loves me and with great purpose. Through the trials, He taught me humility. He taught me to depend on Him as He comforted me and was my hiding place and tower. He taught me faithfulness as He Himself was faithful to me. He taught me service that though in the midst of difficulty, my calling to serve and love my church family does not cease. And He taught me worship, for my heart sings to Him not because I know about Him but because I know Him as He’s proven Himself true in my life.

There is still A LOT more work to do in my life as I look at the character qualities that God expects of me. I am encouraged to see that His Spirit and truth has been sanctifying me but at the same time I am humbled and excited to know that “[H]e who began a good work in [me] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Therefore, in His grace and power, may I strive to be the woman He calls me to be, so that He may be most glorified. And may my service to Him be motivated by His love for me and a desire to “bring people into the kingdom of God and help them to grow in respect to their salvation.”

by Caroline Shin

Hello! I’m Caroline, a fourth year at UCSD, and this is my last year being a part of Lighthouse’s College Life Ministry. College Life was previously led by Pastor Patrick, but now that he is our head pastor (woohoo!) and heading the Single Life ministry, Hansol An and Johnny Kim have taken charge of the college ministry with Peter Lim as our overseer. It has honestly been a huge encouragement seeing the college ministry continue to thrive, even without our old college pastor.

We are currently going through the parable of the four soils (Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8). So far, we’ve gone over the path soil, the rocky soil, and the thorny soil, which have been taught by our male, senior staffers. It’s been awesome so far getting teaching from a different staffer each week. To sum up the past three messages, there are dangers to being a path soil, a rocky soil, and a thorny soil. Each soil represents the condition of a person’s heart. If you’re one of these three soils, it is due to the fact that you have a shallow view of your sins and do not desire to live in light of the gospel.

Aside from the messages, after every bible study, the collegians enjoy eating out and playing games together. Our after bible study hangouts have always been a highlight for College Life. These are the times when collegians and staffers get to deepen their relationships with one another. I’ve personally seen the benefit of fellowshipping during our trips to hole-in-the-walls and game time at the collegians’ apartments. Many of the collegians, who are members, have been intentional in furthering their conversations with newcomers by meeting with them outside of bible study and church. It’s neat to see collegians take on the discipler-disciplee attitude.

One blessing that I’ve seen from College Life this year is the number of freshmen who have decided to stay at Lighthouse. I’ve been really encouraged by their eagerness to learn, grow, and serve the church body. Although I’m notoriously known for being the grandma of the collegians, being surrounded by the freshmen’s presence really helps me to feed off their energy and make me feel younger. I’m truly excited to see how God will prove His faithfulness to the college ministry this year!

by Hansol An

God has seen fit to bring about many changes at Lighthouse Bible Church in 2010, the most notable being the San Jose church plant. That one stone caused ripples that have effected every ministry at the church and to no small degree, College Life. Since its inception in 2001, Pastor Patrick Cho stoutly led this college-centric ministry from a handful of students to a thriving presence on the campus of UCSD and a ministry plant, of sorts, at SDSU this past year. Now with Pastor Patrick becoming the Senior Pastor of LBC and taking on various other ministry responsibilities, for the first time since it’s inception, he would not be leading College Life. In addition there have been many changes to the rest of the staff as well. Some have left to be a part of the church plant while others were called to new ministry opportunities. The composition of the staff this fall is very different from graduation day only a few months ago.

When I was asked to help lead College Life, post-Pastor Patrick, along with Johnny Kim and Peter Lim, I had my concerns; many of which related directly to the staff. What member of LBC would step up and fill staff needs? Was there anyone willing or qualified that wasn’t already serving in other affinity groups? Who was going to preach every week!? As the summer went on God started to answer these questions. Several people would soon express interest in joining staff. Other were identified and “recruited.” Eventually Sam Chong, Terence Kim, Richard Shin, Alice Ting, Emily Kuo, Sarah Hu, Grace H. Lee, Jonathon Yang, Deborah Wong, Mike Hasegawa, Jen Hasegawa, and Michael Chung would all be affirmed as new staff members. They now join the 10 returning staffers to form what is the largest College Life Staff ever.

Each staff member brings their unique experiences, gifts and talents to serve the collegians, but more importantly they bring a passion for God and His people. As a staff they all understand how formative this life stage can be, having experienced it themselves. For most people the convictions they form in college lasts the rest of their lives.

As the school years begins God has once again shown his abiding faithfulness. The staff is working hard to prepare for messages and opportunities to fellowship. The teaching responsibilities will be shared among the men on staff. Every week a different staffer will rotate through a schedule that begins with the Parable of the Soils, continues on through the book of James and intersperses lessons on various other religions/cults throughout the year. The goals for the teaching schedule are to make sure they collegians know the true Gospel, respond to the Gospel and live out the Gospel.

With all that has changed, somethings will not. Many traditions will live on, many familiar events will continue and, God willing, the life of LBC collegians will be impacted by this ministry and the Word of God.