by Stephen Rodgers

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

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

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

Plus, Spurgeon is awesome.

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

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

The RSS button in the sidebar has been fixed. So if the only thing preventing you from enjoying RSS updates was my inept code, that obstacle has been removed.

If you prefer to enjoy the site simply by visiting it everyday, then nothing has changed for you.

Also, since we are once again benefiting from the DTR3 series at church, I wanted to bring your attention to some of the DTR-related content we have here on the Beacon:

• Review of DTR1
• Preview of DTR2
• DTR2 Preview – Part 1
• DTR2 Preview – Part 2
• DTR2 Preview – Part 3
• The Crystal Clear Truth About Marriage
• DTR2 Is Coming!!
• Intro to DTR2
• Defining the Relationship
• DTR2: Waiting for Magic?
• Defining the Relationship
• Membership in the Local Church and Dating
• What’s the Problem with Dating?
• Pursuing a Gentle and Quiet Spirit
• Practicing in Dating What You Know to Be True

Just letting you know.

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Well, March is now upon us, Beacon 3.0 has been running smoothly (except for the couple hours last week when I broke it during an upgrade; by the way, thanks Kyle!), and we’re all another month deeper into 2010. I don’t know about you, but the time just seems to fly by!

This month brings with it a few new changes to the Beacon. Personally, I’m super-excited about all of them, but just to highlight a few for you:

• Garrett Glende has moved up to the San Jose area in preparation for the church plant, but that isn’t going to stop him from completing his Living Theology series (current motto: “about 14 done, only 44 more to go!”). I know that I’ve been enjoying it immensely, so please keep him in prayer, since he’s going to be juggling work, moving, and writing.
• Cesar Vigil-Ruiz has joined the staff, and he has a desire to keep us all supplied with a near-endless stream of book reviews. I worked with Cesar years ago on the original Beacon, and let me tell you, this is going to be good stuff. So keep a weather eye.
• And last but not least, Richard Shin has put together a series of interviews for the upcoming church plant that really are a must-read. His asks a lot of questions that expose a more personal side of the preparation, and getting to see these has been like an early Christmas for me. I think you’re going to enjoy them and well as be encouraged by them.

And as you might have figured out, these additions mean that we will be moving from a 4-times-a-week-schedule to a 5-times-a-week schedule. So unless something goes wrong, you will have new content every weekday.

Well, I hope that serves to whet your appetite for what’s coming. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or ideas, feel free to track me down at church, or send me an email.

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

I hope everyone had a great time yesterday, watching the gold team play against the blue team in that football game. (Hey, I’m doing my best here). I know that many of us had a great time with the Lim family. I think some people actually watched the game too.

If you’re looking for something to feed your brain along those lines, Kevin DeYoung had an article on sports in general, and CJ Mahaney had an article about the Superbowl in particular.

And one last thing. Since the new Sunday School classes have started at LBC now, make sure you put in the time to get the most out of them. Do the reading. Come prepared. If you miss a week because of personal reasons, that’s ok; don’t give up!

And if your teacher told you to email him, you should probably do that soon. Just saying. ;-P

Have a great week everyone!

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Well, I’ll actually keep this one brief.

First of all, welcome to all our new visitors. I don’t know exactly who you all are, but our normal traffic has almost tripled since the presentation at church. I hope you find some great resources here to encourage you in your walk with the Lord.

Second, I would briefly direct your attention to a few articles that we recently rescued from the College Life website. They’re all by Pastor Patrick, and they are now making their debut on the Beacon (although some of them are several years old):

• Are You Resolved?
• Incomparable Joy In Christ
• Lessons From Parenting
• Getting Back to Basics – Part 1
• Getting Back to Basics – Part 2

Other than that, there’s not much else to say except that we hope you enjoy the new site!

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Welcome to Beacon 3.0! As we outlined earlier this month, this is our new home for the foreseeable future, and we hope you enjoy it! If you’re having trouble with your links and/or RSS feed, then you should repoint them to http://www.lighthousebc.com/beacon. If you’re still having trouble understanding how everything works, don’t panic: we’re going to go over it at the member’s meeting this Sunday.

(You did remember there’s a member’s meeting right?)

In any event, welcome to the new home of the Beacon, and we really hope you enjoy the ministry as much as we enjoy the ministering.

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Congratulations to Pastor Reverend Patrick Cho on passing his ordination with flying colors! We are all duly proud of your accomplishments, but even more so of your character and witness in giving all glory to the Lord who has so richly blessed you. May you continue to use your gifts in His service.

Sincerely,
The Staff of the LBC Beacon

ps. We’re still going to call you Pastor though.

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Well, I was hoping that this was going to be the Editor’s Note where I gave my big announcement, but it looks like that is only going to be half true. The plan was that you would log into the Beacon on January 1st, and everything would look quite different. But that’s probably going to happen sometime in the next few weeks instead, so I guess I’ll have to settle for telling you about it instead of showing you. So without further ado, put on your imagination caps and I’ll take you on a tour of Beacon 3.0.

• All the features that you’ve come to love in Beacon 2.0 are still there: RSS, searching, categories, and the archive will all still be part of the site.
• All of the articles from Beacon 2.0 will be there, AND we’re going to be incorporating all the articles from the Shine the Light! blog as well. That means that all those articles can now be searched and indexed as well.
• We’ve added some new code (RefTagger) which will automatically display little tool-tip bubbles with Scripture in them when you mouse-over the link. So if an author just writes “John 3:16” in their article, by mousing over the reference, it will popup the text of the verse. This is the same code that Grace To You and Desiring God are using on their websites.
• Additionally, we’ve added some new code that will allow you to push an article to your Twiter, Facebook, or Myspace just by clicking a link. So if you read something you like and want to share it, it’s never been easier to do so.
• Last but not least, we’ve made some subtle changes to the layout and text to make things easier to read.

Like I said, you should notice a change one of these days when we convert over to Beacon 3.0, but as long as you are still pointing your browser to http://www.lighthousebc.com/beacon, you shouldn’t need to do anything other than enjoy the new bells and whistles.

At least that’s the plan. ;-P

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

Hey Everyone,

Just to let you know, I have been so encouraged by all of you visiting and reading the Beacon. I’ve had people thank me, challenge me, and seen conversations flying around on Facebook. And that makes it all worthwhile.

However, all this work doesn’t take place in a vaccuum. With Christmas here, the team needs a rest, I need a rest (mostly to work on other Beacon-related activities), and quite frankly, you all might need a rest to spend time with your families. And you should.

That’s why the Beacon is taking a two-week vacation (sort of). There won’t be any updates to the blog except for the Weekly Links feature (since I do that, and if I build up three weeks of links, it won’t be pretty). However, we should resume new LBC content on January 4th. And just to whet your appetite, there should be a big announcement then, so you don’t want to miss it!

Also, since I wrote my other post regarding Matt Chandler, I thought it appropriate to provide you with something of an update. Please keep him and his family in prayer.

Thanks again for making the first few months here at the Beacon a wonderful time.

Pro Rege

by Stephen Rodgers

It’s hard to believe that December is here already. The Beacon has only been up and running in it’s new form for about a month, but I’d like to share some numbers with you:

• We’re updating about four times a week, usually Tuesday through Friday, with an occasional bonus article.
• Overall traffic is up significantly from where it used to be.
• There are currently 244 articles for you to read on this blog. That’s three years of Beacon!

That being said there are still some areas that we need help and prayer. Please consider the following:

• This blog/newsletter is a free ministry of LBC. It’s completely run and staffed by volunteers. No one gets paid for this. Every single member of staff does this because they see this as a way to serve the body of Christ to the glory of God. So please, make our work meaningful: enjoy it! Read the Beacon. Share it. Tell us if you think something could be improved. Talk to a writer about their article. Everyone is encouraged when they know their work is used and appreciated.
• Pray for the Beacon ministry. Seriously, this is a great support for us. The importance of prayer is hard to over-emphasize.
• Last but not least, if you feel so inclined, share with the church via the Beacon. We’re happy to receive submissions from non-staff writers, and we’ll work with you to get an article edited, polished, and published if that’s something you’re interested in.

Thank you again for all your support. We all feel truly blessed to have this opportunity to serve.

Pro Rege