by Elder Mike Chon

All true believers would affirm that the Bible is the Word of God. We may even affirm that the Bible is authoritative and sufficient for all of life…which actually is becoming much more rare in the current evangelical church. But for those that affirm these truths of God’s Word, we sometimes do not live by them. Especially in the many decisions we make in our life such as, where to go to school? Which career to choose? Which person to date and marry? Whether you want to have children or not? How to parent? Even though we affirm the Bible to be authoritative and sufficient, we usually go to every other source and person before looking at what the Word of God has to say about these things. In the following articles to come, we will evaluate how our worldview affects how we life our lives.

A worldview comprises one’s collection of presuppositions, convictions, and values from which a person tries to understand and make sense out of the world and life. A worldview is, first of all, an explanation and interpretation of the world and second, an application of this view to life. Everyone has one and is usually formed by presuppositions. For the believer, they would have two major presuppositions, “the eternal existence of the personal, transcendent, triune, Creator God. Second, the God of Scripture has revealed His character, purposes, and will in the infallible and inerrant pages of His special revelation, the Bible, which is superior to any other source of revelation or human reason alone.” (MacArthur, Think Biblically!) You would think that with these as the believer’s presupposition that all believers would turn to the pages of Scripture for all decisions in their life. But the reality is that for most believers they don’t believe that the Word of God is truly sufficient for the things of every day life. It is good for someone’s salvation, but in terms of addressing other matters of life, it is insufficient. That is why for many believers, they live their life following everything and anyone else other than the Word of God.

Pragmatism has become the new authority for many believers. Even in a church that holds to a high view of God and a high view of His Word, pragmatism has become king in many people’s lives. Pragmatism is the notion that meaning or worth is determined by practical consequences. As long as it works or the outcome is favorable we believe what we are doing is right. The problem is that far too many of us make decisions in our lives to accomplish our goals even though these goals and decisions are not ultimately consistent with Scripture. Our belief is that “if it works it must be of God”, for after all, the outward blessing of God is the criterion by which we often measure the approval of God. Have you ever wondered if your decision was truly God-glorifying? Do you base that decision on the outcome of your decision. For instance, I really want to date this person, even though he or she is a very immature believer, so I will ask them out and if they say “yes” then it must be God giving approval for this decision. Or give excuses such as if God really didn’t want me to do this He wouldn’t of allowed it to work out in this way. Or this worked for me, so you should try it. All of these pragmatic thoughts are based on secular thinking, and which are inherently relativistic, rejecting the notion of absolute right and wrong, of good and evil, and of truth and error. There is a great danger that has infiltrated the church in this culture and that is of pragmatism. I pray that the following articles to come will help you to examine how you live your life in light of the sufficiency of Scripture. It would do well for us to meditate on the warning found in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

to be continued…

by Elder Peter Lim

I have a vision for LBC that we would be full of people who are ready, willing, and able to carry out the work of a pastor. That when a visitor enters through our doors, it would be difficult to distinguish who belongs on the welcome team, new visitor team, same affinity group, and even who the pastors are because it seems everyone is concerned with showering them with the love of Christ and are genuinely happy to welcome them. Many of our people already come on Sunday mornings with this mindset and it’s awesome to see how they go out of their way to reach out to people. Unfortunately, some of us find it daunting to break out of our comfort zone to initiate conversations that are centered on Christ. We may find it easier to excuse ourselves because we are in a particular phase of life that makes it difficult to talk to new people. Middle School and High School students may consider themselves to be too young to talk to older people…such as Collegians. College students may feel a pressure to hurry up and leave so that they can study or to meet other collegians or they may be intimidated by older people and hang out with their own college crowd. Singles may feel a hesitation to talk to other people, especially of the opposite gender because they don’t want to be perceived as “scamming” every new visitor or giving off the wrong signals. Dating couples oftentimes disappear from the public eye and spend way too much time with only each other instead of ministering to other people together. Married people probably have important things to do on the weekends such as furniture shopping, home improvement, visiting in-laws, pulling weeds, and just spending time with their spouse. Those with young children often have the best excuses of all since it’s obvious that they need to take care of their little ones or leave at odd times for naps…for the kids of course. Older people may feel out of place at a younger church like ours. Some may wish to reach out to younger people but don’t want to appear like a creepy older person making younger people feel uncomfortable.

Whatever the excuses are, I just want to say stop! Let’s consider what a church is supposed to be. It is a place where older men and women are to train the younger men and women (Titus 2:1-8), the pastors are to train the people to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-12), and all the people are a part of the body of Christ who speak the truth in love and work together for the building up of itself in love (Eph. 4:15-16). Since we know that self-deceived people and the curious public also attend our services, we also make it a point to present the gospel every week in fulfillment of Matt. 28:18-20. Are those other activities that we do on Sundays so important that we fail to adequately do what we are supposed to do? I don’t want to separate Sundays as if that’s the only day we need to “do” church but it seems that even setting aside that one day for corporate ministry is so difficult for many people. Christians, let us inconvenience ourselves for the sake of ministry to others. How else can we do the “one anothers?” No one ever says on their death bed that they wish they would’ve spent more time shopping for nicer furniture or study more to get better grades. Life is about people, either to share the gospel with them or to encourage them to walk closer with Christ. Let’s never have the mindset that all the spiritual leadership is a job of the pastor or the other leadership types.

by Stephen Rodgers

This is the hub post for Elder Mike Chon’s seven-part series on encouragement. From this page, you can easily find and refer to all posts in this series.

All posts in the Encouragement series:

• Encouragement of Children
• Encouragement of Trials
• Encouragement of Others
• Encouragement of Friends
• Encouragement of Family (Part 1)
• Encouragement of Family (Part 2)
• Encouragement of Family (Part 3)

by Elder Mike Chon

The church is much more than a group of individuals meeting together on a Sunday to sing songs, hear a sermon and spend some time together. It is more than some religious activity. The church is the family of God made up of those that Christ died for. The church is the family of God that has been adopted and made co-heirs with Christ. The church is the family of God that shares the love of God to each other and to the world. The privilege to be part of the family of God is incomprehensible but along with that privilege comes great responsibility.

The love that we have for one another is not based on whether someone is deserving of that love. The love we have for one another is based on the love of God. That God would love us to send His Son to die for us. We are to love because God loved us first. (1 John 4:10-11) On the contrary, those that do not love actually do not love God because God is love (1 John 4:8). For the believer, to love someone or not, is never the question. There is no decision to make. If you know God, and if you know the love of God, then you will love your brother. Not only will you love your brother because you know God but you will love your brother as a member of your family. Remember we have been adopted into one family. The church is the true family. We are true brothers and sisters. Our identity is with Christ and our family is the church.

The church is the testimony of the love of God. Our love for one another as family is the testimony of the reality of the love of God. Is the love of God divided? Is the church divided? Do we only love those that are easy to love? That are convenient to love? Do we only spend time with those that we consider our “friends”? Christ prayed for the church that we would be one as He is one with the Father (John 17:21-23) so that the world would know who Jesus is. That is some privilege and responsibility. Not only that but the world will know that we are His disciples by our love for one another (John 13:35). The love of the church, the family of God, reflects both the testimony of our salvation and the testimony of Jesus Himself. Do you love the church? Do you love your brother and sister? I pray that our church would not be a church of cliques or a bunch of individual families, but instead it would be a true family that experiences the love of God in every interaction with every member of our church. Who is your family? The church is.

Here is an example of what love looks like in the church. Around AD 260, a devastating plague afflicted the city of Alexandria. People were dying constantly, and the church family as well suffered great loss. But through this tragic time in history, the love the church showed for its members gives us one of the most powerful examples of true familial love that you will ever see. Dionysius, the overseer of the Christian community in the city writes:

The most, at all events, of our brethren in their exceeding love and affection for the brotherhood were unsparing of themselves and clave to one another, visiting the sick without a thought as to the danger, assiduously ministering to them, tending them in Christ, and so most gladly departed this life along with them; being infected with the disease from others, drawing upon themselves the sickness from their neighbors, and willingly taking over their pains…In this manner the best at any rate of our brethren departed this life, certain presbyters and deacons and some laity….So, too, the bodies of the saints they would take up in their open hands to their bosom, closing their eyes and shutting their mouths, carrying them on their shoulders and laying them out; they would cling to them, embrace them, bathe and adorn them with their burial clothes, and after a little while receive the same services themselves, for those that were left behind were ever following those that went before. But the conduct of the heathen was the exact opposite. Even those who were in the first stages of the disease they thrust away, and fled from their dearest. They would even cast them in the roads half-dead, and treat the unburied corpses as vile refuse. (Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 7.22)

The church is where we find our greatest encouragement from our fellow brothers and sisters. Who else except those that have been saved by grace through the work of the cross can and is able to encourage us to love God more and to help us glorify Him in all that we do.

by Elder Peter Lim

Upon seeing the title, you may be thinking ahead that I am writing about something spiritual… as in not letting bad morals into your life that grows into something bigger which starts growing and spreading itself. Hmm, not a bad idea. Maybe in a future article. For now, I am talking about actual weeds that are growing in my back yard. And about the bathroom that needs renovation, and the carpet that needs to get shampooed, and the room that needs to be painted and organized, and the playhouse in the back yard that needs to be completed. These are possibly signs that I’ve been lazy and that I need to get my act together and finish my tasks. Or maybe they are signs that I’ve chosen to use my time doing higher priority tasks. That’s always the struggle for me. I have many hobbies and projects that I’d like to spend more time on, but I can’t get beyond the fact that by spending time doing these things, I would have to give up time serving my family, my church family, or attending church events. Unfortunately, many of us fill our lives with things that don’t have eternal value. And then we spend time and money and effort into maintaining those things that don’t have eternal value.

My goal is not to make anyone feel guilty who skipped out on a church activity or spending time with their spouse or kids but the point I’m trying to make is that we often go through life without even considering what really matters in this life. We often go on cruise control and make decisions without thinking about the values that those choices represent. Do you struggle with these sort of choices too? When you decide to forego a church activity, ministry, or spending time with family, do you do so because you’ve thought through what you are giving up? I’m only partly interested in the final decision as to what you and I choose to do. I’m mainly interested in the thought process and the heart behind the decision. Of course in the end, all things are to be done to the glory of God. This is true whether we decide to go to a church picnic or whether we decide to stay home and fix a sprinkler. I find that if it were not for my own laziness and lack of self-discipline, I would have adequate time to do all those things that I feel like I need to choose between. This humbles me and causes me to be more dependent upon Him who gives me the strength to do all things. Ultimately this causes me to want to excel still more and optimize my life as well as my lifestyle. If you struggle with living your life with excellence for the glory of God, that is a good sign that you are truly a believer. If you don’t struggle with this, you need to ask yourself whether you value the things that God values. I hope my sharing here encourages you to walk closer with Christ.

by Elder Mike Chon

In the last article we asked the question, “who is your family?” We saw that as believers we have a new Father and new brothers and sisters. Even though all of us have a natural family, our spiritual family should and ought to be more of a priority than our natural family. So how important is this family?

In the days of antiquity, the family structure was much different than how our families are shaped today. First of all, members of a family never made decisions to satisfy individual needs. They always sought to do what was best for the family or group. In America today, everything is very individualistic in regards to what type of job or career to follow, where to live, who you are going to marry. In the New Testament times, people worked, lived, and married to benefit the family not just the individual. As well, the closest and most intimate relationships that people had were between siblings, not husband and wife. People did not marry so that they would have their emotional and physical needs fulfilled. They viewed their brother and sister as the closest relationships they have and would speak to them in regards to any personal needs or decisions they may need to make. If we are to consider our church as our family, we should live and make decisions in light of our church being our family. I believe too many times as believers we say that our church is our family, but never truly live out those words in our lives.

If the church is your family, then our decisions in regards to our career, where we live, and even who we marry should be considered in light of our church. Can you just leave your family as easily as so many Americans do a church? How many people do you know that jump from one church to another because they are dissatisfied with something or someone? Would you leave your family because someone is hard to get along with? Would you leave your family because you didn’t like what your father had to say during dinner? Do we only consider ourselves when making a decision in regards to work or where to live even though it will take you away from your church? Is a job or a house more important than your family? Is your church truly your family?

Of course there are legitimate reasons to leave a church. But for most of us we have made decisions that are separate from our church being a family. It is not the decision ultimately that shows your view of the church. It is how you made that decision that ultimately will reveal your view of the church. Is it just some institution that is there to benefit my life, to help me grow, to help me know God better, to help me become a better person, to help me meet more friends? If it is, then your decision to leave the church will be based on your personal preferences and goals. Everything will be centered on yourself. Then the church was and never will be truly a family. For those that are married, if you think that you need to do what is best for “your family” by leaving a church so that you can grow, has never seen the church as a true family. Sadly, most believers will affirm that church is a family, but will never live their lives in that way. That is why it is so easy for people to leave for any reason that may meet their individual needs or for someone to never become a member of a church. These believers are the “only child” in God’s family. They have no siblings and have never learned what it means to be part of a family. In the American church culture, there are thousands of these “only children” filling churches throughout the states and it has become the norm for church in America. But if the church is truly a family, with brothers and sisters that have been adopted into one family through the cross of Christ, if we are God’s household, then as members of that household we should live as one family.

Do you truly consider the church your family? Do you consider the church when you are making decisions in your life or the life of your natural family? Do you seek counsel in regards to your decision-making from an older brother or sister in your church? The church is your family. If you love God as your Father, then you would love the church as your family. You cannot separate those two things. In the next article, we will look at the impact our church can make in this world by the love we have for one another as a family.

by Stephen Rodgers

This is the hub post for Elder Peter Lim’s two-part series on examining priorities in this life vs. realities of the next. From this page, you can easily find and refer to all posts in this series.

All posts in the No Better Place on Earth series:

• No Better Place on Earth (Part 1)
• No Better Place on Earth (Part 2)

by Elder Peter Lim

When I wrote Part 1 a few months ago, I had in mind the road that leads to Heaven in general as the best place to be. Of course I still stand by that truth. However, I wanted to write a little more specifically of why that place is San Diego for me in particular. Actually, there are many places in the world that I would like to be at. It’s not because it would be fun, or beautiful, or better food, or low cost of living, or job/business would be better, or people are friendlier, or people in San Diego have made it difficult for me to stay, or just need a change, or just want to see the world, or any number of other reasons. No, the only reason I would like to be anywhere else is because of the opportunities for ministry there. As of a few days ago, my missionary friends have had to leave their homes within a moment’s notice because of civil unrest in the Islamic country in which they are serving in and bands of men are walking around with guns and other weapons, killing hundreds of people. I wish I was there with my friends. There is a church half way around the world where it’s freezing cold and much blood has been shed historically for the cause of Christ. I wish I was there with fellow believers who have become dear to my heart. There is a little church plant about 8 hours North of San Diego who can use some more help to reach the lost and strengthen the members there. I wish I was there with fellow church planters. There are small churches all over the world where they are praying for someone with any knowledge of scripture to come and help them to grow. I wish I was there with strangers who are fellow brothers.

So what in the world am I doing here in the comforts of San Diego? Good question. Why are you where you are? I am here in San Diego with a definite purpose: to minister in the church here. We have a need for faithful people to serve sacrificially in a difficult situation. The difficulties here include: a culture that is indifferent or even hostile to Christianity, pseudo-intellectuals who ignorantly follow the influences of the world, a church-culture which produces either baby Christians or self-deceived “Churchians” who think that they are saved when they are not (Matt. 7:21-23). We San Diegans need a beacon that shines brightly in this dark world in order to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in a clear light. This gospel needs to be clearly preached and demonstrated to the many young people who come through our fine city. The mission field is right here in our own church as many people are finding out that they’ve been walking through life with a worldly world-view that can barely be considered Biblical. We have seen people testify that they had been deceiving themselves into thinking that they were Christians when they couldn’t even give a basic outline of a gospel presentation, let alone understand the extent of their own sinfulness before a Holy God with a brokenness in spirit. Many are thinking that it’s okay and normal for a “Christian” to go through life arguing about the technicalities of where to draw the line between liberty and legalism rather than living under the power of the Spirit and contriteness of heart. There is much work to do right here in San Diego.

In the movie “Star Trek: Insurrection”, there is a scene in which Captain Picard discusses with one of the planet’s residents regarding life. Picard asks her why she and her people never took advantage of their superior technical knowledge by building starships to explore the universe. Her answer is, “Anywhere I could go, would only take me away from here” meaning that she is already in the most wonderful and best place to be. Why would she ever want to leave? In the same way, I can only think of one reason why I would ever want to leave San Diego and the work we are doing here… in obedience to the call from God to evangelize to the lost elsewhere, which reminds me of our frequently quoted phrase, “the definition of missions is just church over there.” That’s why I believe God has sent me here to San Diego, to minister to His bride, Lighthouse Bible Church, as she reaches out to the lost here in America’s Finest City. If you share my desire to reach San Diego and you plan on being here long term, please let me know and I’ll add you to my personal list of coworkers that I expect to minister with for the next 40+ years.

by Elder Mike Chon

Who is your family? This question for most people should be easy to answer. Most of us will answer this question by saying who our parents are, who our siblings are, if married, our spouse would be considered family and if you have children they would be your family as well. What may surprise you is that as believers, who we consider family and who actually is our family may be different. Again, we need to start with the Bible as our source of truth to find out who our family truly is. Next time, we will look at the significance of this in how we live our lives.

We will begin by looking at who Jesus considers to be His family. In Matthew 12:48-50, the question of who are His mother and brothers was answered by Jesus Himself. He considers those that do the will of His Father to be His brother and sister and mother. His family are those that are true believers, not just those that are His natural family members. As my last article questioned who your friend is, we must now question who our family is.

So who is your family? Who do you consider your brother and sister? Even though we all grew up with different natural families we were all born under one spiritual father according to the Scriptures. None of us were born as righteous, and Jesus tells us who our father truly was in John 8:44. There are only two spiritual fathers: God and Satan as it written in 1 John 3:10. Before being a believer we were all sons of Satan, because we followed his ways and were disobedient to God (Ephesians 2:1-2). So our family before being a believer included Satan as our father, and all the other unbelievers as our brother and sister.

So who is your family? As a believer our father has changed from being Satan to now being God. You may have heard in the past how a parents’ love for their baby is an example of God’s love for us. Since the baby can’t do anything for the parents but yet the parents love the child unconditionally. But this picture of God’s love falls short of how great His love truly is. A better picture of God’s love, is actually found in a parent-child relationship, but it occurs when a parent adopts a child that is not their own. For the child being adopted are given new parents who they don’t choose but instead the parents choose them. Not only does the child receive new parents they may also receive new brothers and sisters that are part of this new family. As believers we are all adopted into the family of God, when before we were all in the family of Satan. Not only is our sins forgiven, not only are we justified, not only do we receive the gift of salvation, but our relationship with God has completely changed and he becomes our Father (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5-6). So who is your family? As a believer we would consider God as our father. Along with God being our father, we also are given brothers and sisters in general who are all the other believers in the world, but specifically your brothers and sisters are those that are fellow members of your church.

So who is your family? If God is your Father, then your fellow members of your church are your brothers and sisters. Hopefully you have seen a theme in the past few articles that I have written in regards to encouragement. The main theme is that the spiritual aspect of our lives should out weigh the physical aspect of our lives. Even though children may bring physical difficulties they are an encouragement in our spiritual lives. Even through trials are difficult physically, they are an encouragement to our spiritual life. Even though “others” may make life difficult, they are an encouragement to our spiritual lives. And in the last article our friends are those that encourage us spiritually to love God more. So if we continue with this thought, if we consider our natural family and our spiritual family, our spiritual family should and ought to be the priority of our life because through our spiritual family we grow closer to our love for God and for Christ. Our adoption into God’s family and our identity with God as our Father will change the way you live your life and the way you view the church. But you will have to wait for the next article as we consider who our friends and family truly are and how we should live in light of this truth.

by Elder Peter Lim

I’ve always been a fan of old epic movies such as “Ben-Hur” and “Gone With the Wind.” One of my favorites is “Spartacus” starring Kirk Douglas. It’s the story of a Roman slave who is mistreated and trained to die in a gladiatorial battle. He escapes to form a band of men who try to fight and escape from the tyranny of Roman slavery. Near the end of the movie, the men are captured and the Romans try to find out which one of them is Spartacus and offers to suspend their death sentence in exchange for revealing which one of them is Spartacus since he’s the one who led the revolt. They intend to make an example of him by executing him. Just as Spartacus is about to stand up and announce that he is Spartacus, one of his buddies stands first saying, “I am Spartacus.” Then another of his men stands up to claim that he is Spartacus. Before long, all his men are standing up claiming to be Spartacus. The movie ends with Spartacus and all of his men being crucified on crosses and publicly displayed along the Appian Way. The reason this movie hits me in a particular way is because these men were formerly slaves who would’ve done anything to escape, without caring for anyone else except for themselves. Near the end of the movie, they are willing to die to protect Spartacus because of the kindness and self-sacrificing example he showed. This isn’t a Christian movie and these men are not seeking to glorify Christ in any sense. Even the line “I am Spartacus” is really a lie unless it is Spartacus speaking. But the reason I am moved by this scene particularly is that these men are willing to step up and die because of the inspiration they received from Spartacus.

How much more so when we have a Savior who died the death that we rightfully deserved. This silly movie example hardly compares with the calling from our glorious risen Lord. When Isaiah received his calling as a prophet (Isaiah 6:8) in a vision, God asked the question, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”, Isaiah replied, “Here am I. Send me.” This enthusiastic answer to His calling came just a few verses after Isaiah cowered in fear because of his sinfulness, upon entering the presence of God. What happened? What transformed him from one who cowers with fear to one who is enthusiastically willing to do God’s work? His unclean lips were touched by the burning coal which symbolizes the purification of God, the atoning work of Christ. He had been cleansed and was now qualified to do God’s work.

He calls us now to evangelize the world. He calls us to that by being members of his body, the church (Eph. 5:30). When our church is in need, it is our role to fulfill whatever needs she has. With our church plant happening just a few weeks from now, the reality of many faithful servants leaving San Diego has definitely begun to show. Many of us are probably getting a little nervous about all the new people who need to step up into roles being vacated by these faithful servants. Fortunately, God has sovereignly given to our church all that we need in order to move forward. People have begun to expand beyond what they were comfortable with and have challenged themselves to serve more and at a greater involvement. But still more opportunities remain. Will you be the one to sacrificially make yourself available to do the Lord’s work? Are you willing to say, “Here am I. Send me?” Or would you rather stay in your comfort zone without being challenged and stretched in order to serve in an area that will definitely cause you to fall on your knees in prayer because you feel so inadequate?