by Elder Peter Lim

“A carnal unregenerate mind is not at all worried if it never has time for spiritual thoughts. But a truly spiritually minded soul will mourn when it misses an opportunity for spiritual meditation and is determined to be more watchful in the future.” (John Owen, “Spiritual-mindedness”)

In today’s society, our secular western world is built on the notion that our actions matter more than our hearts and motivations. It teaches us that we are innocent until proven guilty no matter what thoughts are going through our minds. This is understandable in our society because there is no way for anyone to know with absolute certainty what is going on in the minds and hearts of people. Even if that kind of technology was available, our society is built on man-made principles and definitions of right and wrong. Throughout the history of the world, Christianity/Judaism has influenced the world, but today it is not universally accepted as truth, even in matters of morals and ethics. Of course I am not advocating changing our laws here in the U.S. so that we are guilty until we prove ourselves to be innocent. However, what I am saying is that some people project our “innocent until proven guilty” mentality over to the spiritual realm and falsely judge one another by only what we do instead of who we are.

I’m not suggesting that obedient actions are worthless. On the contrary, 1 Samuel 15:22 tells us that obedience to God is better than any sort of religious ritual that lacks heart. However, the heart matters. A man who lusts after a woman is guilty of committing adultery (Matt. 5:28). Matt 15 tells us that the heart is the source of our evil. Christians understand that God is not pleased ONLY with our obedient actions but especially with our hearts. They will understand that the ends do not justify the means but that God is to be honored and glorified at every step, with every breath of our being. There are no areas of life that are exempt from this. A mature Christian will go beyond mere understanding of this truth but will mourn when he sins in his heart or fails to take advantage of every opportunity to honor Him, although he hasn’t actually taken any sinful actions. It’s this heart that loves God and wishes to glorify Him that is the hallmark of a mature Christian. It’s not about crossing over some imaginary line into sin. It’s about hating sin and staying away from it as far as possible. Moreover, it’s about seeking after Him during our free times and meditating on Him. May we all seek to pursue this intimate relationship with God and be satisfied in Him despite any difficult circumstances we may encounter in life.

Hopefully these words sparked some thoughts that causes you to want to think Godly thoughts right now. I leave you with some additional words from the theologian John Owen:

“How can any man set his heart on the things of this world who has taken Christ as his example and pattern of life? How can anyone who claims to live by the power of the cross of Christ set his heart on this world and things of this world?” (John Owen, “Spiritual-mindedness”)

by Elder Johnny Kim

In the Bible, there are several metaphors that are used to describe the church.  Such metaphors include the church being described as branches on a vine (John 15:5), a building (1 Corinthians 3:9), and as a harvest (Matthew 13:1-30), just to name a few.  And while in our current culture and context are relying on our own experiences, we may not be as readily familiar with some of these metaphors. There is one metaphor for the church that is no doubt familiar to a great majority of us: the church as a family.  Many of us have been brought up in families, have families of our own, and in the absence of either of those experiences, many of us at least have some understanding of what a family is and how it should function.  Scripture’s use of the family as a metaphor for the church can be seen as an appeal to what is familiar to us.  The metaphor of the family serves to richly describe the true nature and character of the church in a way that most of us can understand, and it warrants deeper consideration from those who desire for the church to be as God intended.

To the world outside the church, and perhaps to some even within, the church can seemingly resemble nothing more than a sort of corporate entity.  A company.  People can view the church as little more than a non-profit organization comprised of workers being led by leaders, all of whom are working together to provide certain benefits and services.  However, when the Bible describes the church as a family, we can’t help but be brought to an understanding that church is much more than just a gathering of dissimilar strangers coming together to accomplish tasks.  In other words, we don’t come to church just to stay put within our usual pews, never venturing out to meet and greet new people, much like office workers who just confine themselves to their cubicles.  We don’t just show up Sunday mornings for worship service and then leave promptly thereafter much like workers who show up to the office and clock in, put in their time, then clock out and just rush home at the end of the day.  Nor do we just limit our interactions only with those within the ministries we serve in much like office workers who only interact with fellow co-workers within their specific group or department.

If we are a true church, then we are far from being like cordial co-workers, only concerned with maintaining strictly professional relationships.  Within the church, we are all members of one family and we are to relate to one another in familial ways.  As a family, those within the church are to be joined together in intimate relationship.  Our interactions with one another should be deep and personal, mirroring the relationships we see within blood-related families (1 Timothy 5:1-3).  So then, we are to care for the older men and women of our church as if caring for our own parents.  We are to provide for the widows in our church as if providing for our own widowed mothers.  We are to encourage and exhort fellow brothers and sisters as if we’ve known them our entire lives.  And we are to teach and nurture the children in the church as if they were our very own.

Each of the various church metaphors used in the Bible impart unique facets and characteristics of what God desires His church to look like as a whole.  When we think of the church as a family in particular, we ought to be constantly convicted of the love and affection we are to show one another.  As a family sharing in the love we have from God our Father (2 Corinthians 6:18), we ought to strive for deeper relationships through the way we care for one another, bear each other’s burdens, and sacrifice for one another just as Christ sacrificed for us all.

So what is your view of the church body?  How would you characterize your relationships with fellow members in the church?  Do you see the church as being filled with family members or just being filled with co-workers?  Because in the end, the idea of the church as a family is much more than just a nice sentiment or a clever metaphor.  It’s a guide for us to know and understand an important aspect of God’s desire for His church.

By Elder Peter Lim

A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city,
And contentions are like the bars of a citadel. (Prov. 18:19)

The book of Proverbs doesn’t tell us that this is the way things ought to be but rather It gives us wisdom to understand that this is the way it is. We can all agree that this warning is true and that contentions and being offended are nearly impossible to overcome. Therefore we must take care to make it our top priority not to offend and not to be offended. Much has already been written regarding how we should avoid offending people. After all, no Christian that I know actually tries to offend people. We all try not to offend each other. Instead I wanted to focus on something that we can control, the topic of not being offended. Of course this can be difficult and no one tries to be offended either. I wonder though whether those who are often offended consider some of these thoughts:

A mature believer is difficult to offend because:

1. Factually, we are all sinners deserving of death anyway.
2. Maturity implies an additional capacity or ability to tolerate offensive remarks or situations.
3. Mature believers take the focus off of themselves and their own pain and compassionately focuses on the fact that the offender needs God’s grace too.

There are multiple passages in the Bible that describe God as one who is slow to anger. (Ex. 34:6, Num. 14:18, Neh. 9:17, Ps. 86:15, etc.) Prov. 15:18 describes a man who is slow to anger as one who calms a dispute rather than making things worse. This means that when we are tempted to be offended, we must slow down and consider the above list so that we would be a calming influence on the situation which would set the stage for true peacemaking. Being offended and responding sinfully against another is an immature response. I understand that there was pain and hurt. These are not good reasons to respond sinfully. Jesus had plenty of reasons to be offended for the way He was treated by His own creation, but He never responded sinfully. Instead He showed mankind the greatest kind of love possible: by dying for their sins in order to pay the price for them to be redeemed.

This is not to say that weak people who get offended nor those who get angry are useless. There is a real sense that we are all weak to some degree and that God chooses to use us to accomplish His will anyway, warts and all. However we shouldn’t be content to stay weak. We need to grow stronger in order to be effective ministers of His people. Any time we work with people who are sinners, we have the potential to be offended. I often say that it’s a good thing that we are mortal beings… because if we were immortal while we are still sinners, we all would find some way to offend each other eventually. It’s far better to serve God during our useful lives and then die and be in His presence forever in a state of sinlessness. What a glorious day that will be!

by Elder Johnny Kim

This past Mother’s Day, Pastor Patrick preached a fitting sermon entitled, “The Honor of Motherhood” (you can listen to it here). On a day when Mother’s are honored for a whole host of reasons, the Mother’s Day sermon pointed us to what God’s Word has to say about women and the honor that comes to them for pursuing Godly motherhood just as He intended. For all the current mothers, mothers-to-be, and aspiring mothers listening to the sermon, it was no doubt both encouraging and challenging to hear, and will certainly continue to be a challenge as they seek to apply the truths they heard into their lives.

Now for the guys who were listening, the Mother’s Day sermon may have presented a different sort of challenge. Aside from the blessing and enlightenment that comes from hearing any of God’s Word preached, some of the guys might have been wondering about the implications of such a sermon for our own lives. Is there any practical application that a guy can live out in light of a sermon about motherhood? What does this type of sermon specifically mean for guys in terms of how we might need to change? What follows are but a couple points of application that I would encourage all guys to consider in response to the truth about the honor of motherhood.

Application 1: Pursue the Woman Who Pursues Motherhood

For those guys who are not-yet-married, the Mother’s Day sermon provides us with a picture of the type of woman we ought to pursue for marriage. We ought to pursue a woman who in her own life pursues the high calling of motherhood. While the ungodly man might pursue a woman primarily for her academic degrees, career accolades, and other accomplishments out in the world, we ought to value in women the same things that God values in them. After all, He is the one who created them, redeemed them, and gave them purpose according to His perfect plan. If God values motherhood, as is evidenced by the fact that He would use it as a means to restore and bless women (1 Timothy 2:15), then us guys ought to value it as well in our potential spouses. We should desire to marry a woman who exhibits a high view of motherhood and has every intention of being a mother, God willing. If you are a guy who routinely fails to make mention of motherhood when speaking about the important attributes of who you should choose to date or marry, this sermon should rightly elevate your view of motherhood, and you should recognize just how beautiful it is when a woman seeks after and fulfills that role. In the end, if we guys are truly seeking in our own lives to give God the most glory and to be obedient to His Word, then we shouldn’t be able to help but be genuinely attracted to a fellow sister-in-Christ who desires the same for her own life, especially when it comes to a desire for Godly motherhood.

Application 2: Make Decisions That Will Support a Woman’s Desire for Motherhood

Men are called to love and lead their wives out of a desire for their wives to be without sin and to mirror Christ (Ephesians 5:25-27). Husbands have a responsibility to ensure that their wives are living in obedience to God and His Word and living in a way that pleases and glorifies Him. In other words, husbands need to love and lead their wives toward what is their highest calling in the Lord: motherhood. From listening to the Mother’s Day sermon, we can understand that it can sometimes be a challenge for women to maintain a biblical view of motherhood and to strive for it in a God-honoring way. Externally, women face the pressures and influences of a worldly society and worldly thinking that would denigrate motherhood, while at the same time, internally facing the reality of their sinful nature with its selfishness, pride, and worldliness offering up every reason to put off motherhood. The last thing that our wives need is for us husbands to lead them into situations that might make it more difficult for them to pursue motherhood. Husbands, should you lead your family toward the purchase of a new home that can only be paid for with two incomes, leaving your wife with little time for motherhood? Husbands, should you consider accepting a less-than desirable job if it means a more stable income with health benefits for your spouse and family? Husbands, should you consider ditching your dreams of a Ph.D. or medical school so that you can start working now and your wife can start pursuing motherhood now? These are but a few examples of decisions husbands can make that will be either hurtful or helpful to our wives and their pursuit of motherhood.

There are plenty of other points of application that guys can make in response to the Mother’s Day sermon, but the thing to realize is this: the issue of the honor of motherhood is not only an issue solely for women to be concerned with, but one that concerns us guys and implicates us as well. If we truly desire to glorify God and to live out His truth in our own lives, then a high view of His Word should also lead us to a high view of motherhood. As guys, let us continually affirm our fellow sisters-in-Christ; in turn, having a high view of them as they strive for the honor of motherhood.

by Elder Peter Lim

One of the things that people look for when they first attend a church is genuine care and community. They might even count the number of times that others initiate discussions with them and attempt to befriend them. Repeat visitors often judge a church based on how many people actually remember their names and maybe invite them to activities that will further integrate the newcomers into the community. These are not bad things of course and we all want them. However for the mature believer, their goal is not to be served, but to serve. Having this servant mentality was the point of Jesus’ instruction in John 13 as He exemplified this by washing His disciples’ feet. Both Galatians 5:13 and 1 Peter 4:10 mention how we are to serve one another. That was the purpose of spiritual gifts. Surely these thoughts are not new to any Christian. A mature believer who is visiting or looking for a new church to fellowship with will look beyond the surface and evaluate the hearts of the servants who are serving there. Here are some situations where immature and mature people behave differently (click to enlarge):

Unfortunately, many have an entitlement mentality rather than a servant mentality. They would prefer to be served rather than to serve. Do you have an entitlement mentality? Take this quick test:

• When groups of people are excused to stand in line at a banquet or wedding reception, do you get offended if your group is called to go last?
• When the praise team is leading the church in worship, do you criticize the style of music because it’s not the style that you like?
• When the sermon runs longer than usual, do you complain about the length rather than trying harder to pay attention (despite the difficulty) knowing that the pastor has worked hard at preparing the sermon and is passionate about this particular topic?

Few would admit that they have this entitlement mentality but these attitudes can be seen by their lack of service when opportunities are present. Spiritually mature believers consider it an honor to serve, rather than a chore. Of course it’s not a complete denial that service can be difficult, inconvenient, nor unpleasant. If serving was always fun, we wouldn’t need to be encouraged nor taught to do this by Jesus Himself. But this is exactly why this servant mentality is a sign of spiritual maturity; serving people is a desire of the heart despise one’s own selfish inhibitions because it reflects a heart which sees reality through God’s values rather than natural, fleshly values. His values call for us to humbly serve one another with no air of superiority over another because we are all fellow slaves. This makes us more like Jesus Himself since He came to serve rather than to be served.

When was the last time you actually served someone else at church? Is it hard to think of it? If so, it could be a sign that you are not taking seriously enough our calling as servants. In fact, the original Greek word for servant is actually better translated slave. Although it’s not popular in modern American society to call each other slaves, the Biblical understanding is that we are willing slaves of Jesus Christ. We serve Christ by serving one another and by serving His bride, the church. There are many opportunities to serve. To serve others, you can start by getting to know people more deeply so that you can find out how to help. To serve the church, you can look at our Sunday bulletins to see where the service opportunities are. One word of caution though, many opportunities to help are not glamorous. It may require much sacrifice on your part and faithful execution. Be careful what you ask for because you may end up getting it. Also, you may be challenged to stretch yourself in ways that you previously didn’t think you could. That is a blessing. Let’s make our church a living example of Christians who love to serve one another and labor hard for the Lord.

by Elder Johnny Kim

The start of the month of April signals the start of the Major League Baseball season and the start of fans flocking to stadiums everywhere to enjoy America’s favorite pastime. Following the off-season hiatus, excited fans are eager to start rooting for their home teams and to start cheering on their favorite players. However, save for the most committed fans, some of that excitement will inevitably wane as the season progresses. At 162 regular season games, the baseball season is the longest out of all other major professional sports in terms of the number of games (82 games for the NBA and NHL, 34 games for the MLS, and 16 games for the NFL) so understandably, only the most die-hard baseball fans will follow each and every game.

Even the professional baseball players themselves realize that they are in for a long season and it’s always interesting to note how that affects their attitudes towards the game. When a sports writer interviews any given player or manager whose team might be off to a horrible start, the response is almost always along the lines of, “There’s still plenty of season left to turn things around!” Likewise, a player who might be going through a terrible hitting slump early on might respond, “Don’t worry, I have many more at bats ahead to get back in the groove.” A long season coupled with the certainty of knowing exactly when it ends allows for the luxury of such attitudes, attitudes that certainly don’t apply off the playing field out in the real world.

Yet even as Christians, we can find ourselves harboring this same type of attitude about life in general. I would even say that the younger we are, the stronger those sentiments might be. It is easy for us to think that we are still in the early stages of the season of our lives with plenty of life left to live. If we find ourselves lazy with our spiritual disciplines, we might think to ourselves, “I’m okay, I have plenty of time to get serious about Christianity!” Likewise, given an opportunity to share the gospel with an unbeliever, we might be inclined to put it off for a more convenient time in the future. Or if we find ourselves falling for the temptations of sin over and over again, we might even rest in the thought that we have more than enough time to turn our lives around.

However, God makes it clear to us through His Word that Christians are to live a life of urgency and intentionality. James 4:14 reminds us of the brevity of our lives and that tomorrow is never a guarantee. Far from being just scare tactic, the Word here is presenting us with yet another precious truth. One doesn’t have to look any further than the front page of the newspaper for proof that indeed our season here on earth is short and can come to an end at any time. Proverbs 27:1 advises us against presuming upon the Lord to provide us with more days of life ahead. In the end, God desires for us to live our lives with urgency; urgent to know Him and everything in His Word, urgent to conform our lives to Christ’s, urgent to share Christ with people who are physically and spiritually dying all around us.

Do you live your life with a sense of urgency? Are you intentional in how you spend your days, and even hours, living for Christ? Are you doing your UTMOST to bring God the most glory TODAY? Because unlike in baseball, the time for a “late-season comeback” in life may never come at all.

by Elder Mike Chon

As children, we may have had dreams of what we wanted to do when we grow up. For many of us, we went through college wondering which career choice was the best. For some of us, even after college, we are wondering what we should do with our lives. These are choices that we make based on our desires, giftedness, talents, etc. But for all believers there is one call that is common for all of us which God has given to all believers. This call is the one purpose we are here in this world to fulfill. This call is not an option, but rather a command. This call is not just for those that are mature, but is a call for all believers. This call is the means by which God saves sinners. This call is evangelism.

This call of evangelism starts with the love of Christ. It is the love of Christ that motivates us to live for Him and not for ourselves (2 Cor. 5:14-15). He has called us to be his ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20), to represent Him to this world and to spread the message of reconciliation through Christ. The “Great Commission” is Christ’s command to us to go into the world and to make disciples of Christ. If there is anything that is clear in Scripture, it is that our call as believers is and will always be to evangelize the lost in this world. This again begins with the love of Christ. Our love for one another will be motivated by the way that Christ loved us. (1 John 4:7-11) Jesus wept during the account of Lazarus’ death (John 11:33-35), not because Lazarus died, but rather because He saw the unbelief of the Jews. He showed compassion and it caused great sorrow in our Lord when people did not believe in Him. This is the type of love that motivates believers to share the gospel to the world.

Not only do we need to cultivate compassion for the lost, but we also need to realize that evangelism is a command from God. This is not an option. God clearly calls believers to go and share the gospel to the ends of the world (Matt. 28:18-20). Whether you are a student, a professional, a laborer, a housewife, retired or a pastor we are all called to evangelize. Our calling is not dependent on our talents, giftedness, occupation, physical abilities, mental capabilities or our circumstances, but instead our calling is dependent on the one who calls. If Christ is the one who holds all things and controls all things (Col. 1:15-18), we would be wise to heed His command to go and make disciples of Christ.

Consider all the different occupations and positions a person can hold in this world. Even becoming king or president of a nation. None compares to the call to share the one and only truth that can cause someone to be saved from darkness to light. No other person or occupation can ever do that. Doctors can save physical lives but the person will eventually die. Kings can give great privileges to his people but they will all eventually die. Presidents can cause reform and make life in this world more enjoyable but the people will all eventually die. As believers, we carry with us a message that gives eternal life to those that are dying. No job or occupation can ever compare to the great privilege, honor, and passion that comes with being able to be an ambassador for our Lord. May you consider your calling today and go and share the gospel to this dying world.

by Elder Johnny Kim

When thinking about San Diego, most people are likely to associate “America’s Finest City” with beautiful beaches, year-round great weather, and an overall laid back lifestyle. However, beyond those leisurely aspects, the second largest city in California also happens to be home to a multi-billion dollar biotechnology industry. In fact, several pharmaceutical companies literally call San Diego home, having located their headquarters here to carry out research and development of what might be the next life-saving drug. Now imagine for a moment a scenario in which any one of these companies successfully developed such a drug and shipped it all over the world, all the while neglecting to make it available in San Diego as its residents fell ill to the very disease this drug cured. Even as a hypothetical situation, it sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

Hopefully that would never metaphorically become the case for Lighthouse Bible Church San Diego as we strive to faithfully carry out our Vision to plant churches (Acts 1:8). After starting out as the original Lighthouse Bible Church plant, by God’s grace LBCSD has been able to plant churches and support church plants in the past couple years. However we do so while remaining just as committed to the ministries that God has given us in San Diego. For as long as there are people in San Diego who are spiritually dying, and maybe even some within the church, the call is ever present for the members of LBCSD to remain faithful to the work of the church here.

As we prepare now for the newest Lighthouse Bible Church plant in Los Angeles and anticipate members leaving, the occasion affords those of us who are staying an opportunity to evaluate our own commitment to LBCSD. There will be voids left in various ministries and the remaining members will once again need to step up and serve, not out of obligation or compulsion, but ultimately out of a love for Christ and His Church (Ephesians 1:22-23). For those of us who are not involved in the life of the church, cultivating a desire to serve in the ministries of LBCSD and invest in the members of the body starts with a commitment to LBCSD and a commitment to living out the Mission, Vision, and Passion. In the case that we are not willing to commit to LBCSD or find that it is difficult to do, we should consider if we are harboring in our hearts what I like to refer to as a “default attitude”.

Sometimes we can treat the church we attend as if it is our default church. In other words, we are simply here for lack of better options and we default to attending a church that is the closest, has the most familiar faces, or is the most comfortable. This “default attitude” hurts the church because as people choose a church based on convenience, it becomes more difficult for them to serve in any ministry or be involved in any way that might then pose an inconvenience. However, for the one who is truly committed to LBCSD, it is anything but their default choice. Rather, LBCSD is their first choice and there is no other church where they would rather be as long as God would allow. More than they want that dream job, that perfect house, that prestigious education, any of which might reside anywhere but San Diego, the committed member wants to be at LBCSD because of the people in the church and the opportunity to labor alongside them in carrying out the MVP specifically in San Diego. It is hardly ever convenient to attend all the various church events, to fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters during a busy week, or to sacrificially give of our offerings among other things, but we are called to do so because we love Christ and we love His church for which He gave His life (Ephesians 5:25).

Likewise, it is definitely not convenient to quit your job, uproot your family, and sell your home at a loss all in order to go plant a church. In fact, the prospect of church planting itself is an opportunity to consider if we indeed have a “default attitude”. After much prayer, counsel, and effort spent considering biblical principles in the Word, some members have committed to join the LBCLA church plant. Yet for those who have decided not to go to LBCLA, it can easily become just a default choice then to stay at LBCSD. If we truly desire to be committed to LBCSD in the same way, should we not also make even the decision to stay at LBCSD after much prayer, counsel, and effort spent considering biblical principles in the Word? Or could it be that we are staying at LBCSD by default simply because it is more convenient? In the same way a commitment is required by those who want to join the LBCLA church plant, a commitment is required from those who want to stay at LBCSD because ultimately, the work to be done at Lighthouse Bible Church San Jose, East Bay, or Los Angeles is no different or no more serious than the work that God is calling us to do here through the church in San Diego.

Let us not have the attitude and mindset that LBCSD is simply our default church. Rather, let us be intentional in our decisions to stay at LBCSD, to serve and worship God together with the members of LBCSD, and to reach out to the lost outside of LBCSD. Let us commit to LBCSD as if lives in San Diego depended on it, for the gospel of Christ which we have to share is the lone cure for the disease of sin in San Diego and all around the world (Romans 1:16).

by Elder Peter Lim

David F. Wells defines worldliness as: “that system of values, in any given age, which has at its center our fallen human perspective, which displaces God and his truth from the world, and which makes sin look normal and righteousness seem strange. It thus gives great plausibility to what is morally wrong and, for that reason, makes what is wrong seem normal” (Losing our Virtue, page 4).

Given this definition of worldliness, the sign of spiritual maturity that I am highlighting this month is the exact opposite of worldliness. To maturing Christians, righteousness looks normal and sin seems strange.

This different perspective on life becomes very evident especially when we compare our view of entertainment to the world’s. Certainly we share some commonality as well in our sense of humor, but as we sense growth in our spirituality we become increasingly uncomfortable laughing at inappropriate topics, and indeed we recognize that there are such things as inappropriate topics. Vulgar or crude humor becomes less funny because we see how such words/topics can be offensive to God. When Jinny and I first got married in 1994, the popular TV show of the day was “Friends.” Like many others, we became hooked on the show for it’s witty sense of humor. Of course we realized that much of the show was about celebrating immorality but we excused it away as just the way things are in the world. But then we noticed that as we grew spiritually, making light of sin wasn’t as funny as it used to be. It just seemed strange that we were watching a show that depicted an immoral life as normal and a righteous life by biblical standards strange, and being entertained by it. It was apparent that shows like this had a hidden agenda, to challenge any notions of impropriety and to question morality and even the mere existence of morality. We stopped watching the show because it just became less funny to us and we didn’t want it to fill our minds with what the world considered as being normal. “Friends” of course is far from being the only show to depict sin as being normal. It seems that almost every TV show’s goal is to one-up other shows to push the bounds of immorality or further the homosexual agenda or whatever immorality of the day.

So how is a maturing Christian to respond to this? The Bible doesn’t tell us how to choose movies or TV shows to watch, does it? It does better than that. It gives us principles to live by which goes beyond simply which shows to watch:

• Friendship with the world is hostility toward God. (James 4:4)
• Do not love the world or its values. (1 John 2:15-17)
• Deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live righteously. (Titus 2:12)

We need to understand that as Christians, we are inherently enemies with the world and its values. The devil is prowling about like a lion, seeking to devour us! (1 Peter 5:8) We don’t belong here in this world because our home is in heaven. We are aliens here and we live as ambassadors to represent Christ. (1 Peter 2:11, 2 Cor. 5:20) If we find that we are comfortable here and there is no struggle against the world in our own hearts, something is wrong. We are being too friendly with our enemy. We need to see sin as strange for ourselves. On the other hand, when we always seem to struggle against the world, that’s appropriate. In other words, righteousness looks normal to us.

by Elder Mike Chon

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming to a close with our troops returning, we are reminded that we live in a world that is constantly in turmoil. Many of us have read in our history classes about the numerous wars that this world has experienced. There are countless lives that have been lost or affected by these wars. Presently, our world is not any better even after what it has gone through. We continue to see tragedy upon tragedy of lives being taken or affected by others. The one thing that many of us would want is “peace on earth.” On a personal level, many of us are living lives that are so hectic and busy that we are barely hanging on with our own sanity. Stress has become an epidemic in our country affecting millions of people and causing them to seek medical help to cope. For so many of us our one desire is to experience “peace in my life.” Unfortunately many seek help through psychology, therapy, vacations, money, medication, alcohol, and illegal drugs, while for some their search for peace ends in suicide. The one problem that all of us have in common is sin. That is the one reason that none of us can experience true lasting peace in this world without a relationship with Jesus Christ. Scripture teaches us that when we love the world more than God we choose to become an enemy of God (James 4:4). Therefore Scripture teaches us that we are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3) and that God will judge the evildoer (Psalm 5:5). Fortunately for us, God did not leave us in this state but gave us an opportunity to experience true peace in this life.

Peace begins with Jesus Christ. Scripture even calls Christ by the name Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Only if we repent and believe in Jesus Christ will we be justified. And only if we are justified can we be at peace with God (Romans 5:1). If you are looking for peace in this world apart from Jesus Christ, you will never find true lasting peace. It is only through Jesus Christ that anyone can find true peace. For those that believe and are justified, we are able to live in this world in peace no matter what the circumstances might be. We are called not to be anxious (or stressed) about anything but instead we are to come before God in prayer with a heart of thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6).

How can we be thankful in the midst of our circumstances and stress?

1. We need to be reminded of is that we have been saved through the work of the cross. When we were once the children of wrath, now we are adopted sons of our God. Instead of being God’s enemy we have become one of his children of blessing (Romans 8:14-17).
2. We need to remember our salvation is secure. There is nothing that can take us away from God’s care for us (Romans 8:38-39). We can be thankful that there is nothing in this world that can ever separate us from the love of Christ, even those circumstances in life that cause us to be anxious.
3. We need to be reminded of the fact that God is sovereign. So many of us give lip service to the sovereignty of God, but when difficult circumstances come into our lives we seem to have amnesia in the fact that God is sovereign. This one attribute of God should help us be thankful even in times when we are anxious or stressed. Since God is completely in control we are reassured that what is happening in our life is meant to happen for our good and for His glory (Gen. 50:20; 1 Cor. 10:13).

What is the result of praying to God with a thankful heart when we become anxious or stressed? Does God take away the circumstances? Does God provide a vacation? Do I receive a divine timeout in life that lasts as long as I need? Does God miraculously shut the mouth of my boss like He did to Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father? Instead of changing our circumstances or even taking us out of our circumstance, God changes us. In Philippians 4:7, God promises that His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. What is amazing is that no matter what the circumstance is in your life, no matter how difficult life might become, God promises to provide peace that surpasses all understanding. Have you ever seen a believer that has gone through a tremendous trial or tragedy in their life and they respond with peace? Have you heard of those being tortured standing firm in their faith? Have you seen the mother who has to raise her kids by herself who is always joyful and thankful? Have you seen the person that has to work three jobs to make ends meet but is always willing to pay for lunch? Have you seen the parents forgiving the murderer who took away their son from them? This is the peace that surpasses all understanding. This is supernatural miraculous peace that God provides in our time of need when we come before Him with a thankful heart. This is true peace. Before turning to other means to cope with anxiety or stress, may we turn to the source of peace, and come before Him with a thankful heart letting our requests be known to God. And He promises that He will provide peace that surpasses all understanding to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.