by Pastor John Kim

The delicacy of communicating the truth in love is one that is not easy to find and too often imbalanced both in the presentation as well as in the reception due to the bias of the speaker as well as the hearer. For example, by virtue (which is disputed by some) of being a graduate of The Master’s Seminary and having attended Grace Community Church for many years, much of what people hear is filtered through a preconceived grid that I presume to know more than others about the Scripture and that I, and only I, have the correct view and everyone else is dead wrong. Not only that, there is an assumption that I am totally lacking in love and simply want to win the theological debate at any cost. It is a foregone conclusion for many to simply assume that I will parrot whatever John MacArthur says out of blind loyalty and that I do not have a mind to think on my own. To add the whipped cream and cherry on top of all that, it is also assumed that I am anti-everything that is opposed to the hyper-fundamentalist viewpoint, which typically equates to being anti-Holy Spirit, anti-women, anti-love, anti-fun, and anti-reality.

To all this I would simply respond in this way – I am an earthen vessel, not fit for anything of my own merit but because of the imputed righteousness of Christ, I have been called to the heavenly grace of salvation granted by the atoning death of Christ on the cross on my behalf, and through His resurrection am secured to the hope of eternal life. Not only that, I have been granted a stewardship of the mysteries of the gospel as a preacher of God’s Word, not because I deserve it, but because I have been called to proclaim His excellencies as opposed to the caving in to the agenda of the world.

I have to admit that I am not quite perfect, in fact, far from it. Yet I am compelled by a high view of God and a high view of His Word not to accommodate the tickling ears of the majority, but to simply please my commander by accurately and boldly conveying His message. To that end, I hope to be a humble vessel, not seeking to draw attention to myself but to point people toward the one way, the one truth, and the one life – Jesus Christ.

So for those of you who have a difficult time understanding why I preach what I do, it’s because I’m not ultimately called to preach for your sake, but for the sake of honoring God. And the preaching of God’s inspired Word does include the purposes of teaching, reproving, correcting, and training in righteousness. We must defend the honor of Christ most of all. As He is our Lord and Savior, anything that demeans Him and defames Him must be addressed without hesitation and without shame. I am all the more convinced that those who would advocate the idea of our Lord “cussing” and dropping F-bombs on people with His speech (alluding to my response of a certain speaker commenting on the cleansing of the temple in Luke 19:45-46) are at best showing an insensitivity to the holiness of Christ for the sake of being sensitive to man, and at worst, blaspheming the holy name of our Lord Jesus by attributing sinful speech to the perfect Son of God.

There is no room for “holy cussing” (as alluded to in the title) in the life of our Savior. Neither should it be in our own lives. In a vain effort to try and make Christ relatable to sinful man, we are never to denigrate and defame our Lord with such insidious claims. This is to cross a line that is not to be crossed. We treat God as holy because His holiness demands it. Not that we are perfect in doing so – we all do fail each day in our own lives to our sinfulness, which will never be fully dealt with in regard to its presence in our lives until we reach heaven in our glorified state. But I am not talking about us in this instance. I am talking about the person of Christ and how we are to present Him and to portray Him not only to this world through our evangelism, but also in edification to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Consider Colossians 1:13-29 – we are called to proclaim a high view of Christ and are called to ADMONISH and TEACH every man with all wisdom to present every man complete in Christ.

Jesus is the Word (John 1:1). Let’s not put words in His mouth that He would never speak forth. Instead, let us humbly submit to the words that have come from the mouth of the Son of God and humbly obey them.

Sola Christus – Christ alone
Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone
Sola Gratia – grace alone
Sola Fide – faith alone
Soli Deo Gloria – to the glory of God alone

Amen.

by Pastor John Kim

After much deliberation and consideration, I have finally decided to enter the blog world. While I have wanted to make entries and comments for some time, I would refrain from starting an account, not wanting to get drawn into endless debate with individuals who would only be looking to argue.

Now that I am enlightened to the power of blogging, I have decided to make my foray into this electronic world of communication so that I might offer my thoughts on various issues as it relates to the church. I hope to provide some challenging entries and would welcome your comments (though they most likely will not get posted).

As a prelude, I would like to say that my study in Romans has been most challenging in light of the mercies of God that have been presented through the first 11 chapters. As we have just introduced Romans 12, it looks like we will be studying the first two verses for some time, especially addressing the issue of what it means to offer up our lives as living sacrifices to God in worship. It has been very convicting as well as exhilarating to consider the truth that because of God’s mercies, I have been granted the high calling of offering up my life daily as a living sacrifice to God, a sacrifice that is to be holy and acceptable to God which should exhibit itself in every aspect of life being an act of worship to God.

What amazes me is how much the church has sold out to the world and in fact has become more and more conformed to the spirit of the postmodern age. While we are not called to be ignorant of the culture around us, we are not meant to conform to the world (Romans 12:2). We are called to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, which should take place by the regular intake of God’s Word through the illumining work of the Holy Spirit, which should be sufficient to teach us, reprove us, correct us, and train us in righteousness that we might be adequate and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Lighthouse Bible Church is committed to shining the light of God’s truth AND love – never are the two to be separated. We are challenged to communicate the truth IN love (Ephesians 4:15) so that we are not simply stating cold orthodoxy but with the intention of winning people to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness in every area of life (Matthew 6:33). So let us take a firm stand on both speaking the truth in love and loving people in the truth.

Tomorrow – we get it on!!

by Pastor Patrick Cho

The pastors of Lighthouse Bible Church have decided to call this blogspot “Shine the Light!” because it seems to have become a sort of unofficial church motto at LBC. However, it also comes as a reminder of the believer’s responsibility and privilege to be a bright-shining representative and ambassador for Christ in a darkened, unbelieving world. In Matthew 5:16, Christ preaches, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” As believers, we are to Shine the Light!

There has been so much emphasis upon “inreach” in churches and Christian organizations nowadays that outreach has taken a sort of backseat in many ministries. For many churchgoers, outreach is just one of several functional programs in the life of the body (i.e. hospital visitation, door-to-door evangelism, summer missions, etc.). There is a tendency to forget that Christians are a constant presentation of the gospel in their daily lives. 1 Timothy 3 lists the qualifications of a biblical elder and what is interesting is that very little is written about what the elder must do and much is written about what an elder must be. The more daunting fact that comes across is the comprehensive scope of the elder’s example. Whether in the home with wife or children, whether in the community with neighbors and unbelievers, whether in finances or pleasures, the elder is called to be an example of godly living. At any given moment of the day, anyone should be able to examine his life and say, “That is what being a Christian (let alone a Christian leader) is all about.”

Any believer is given the same responsibility of bearing consistent Christian character in everyday life. 1 Peter 2:12 exhorts us, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” In this clear statement regarding lifestyle evangelism, Peter instructs believers not to be conformed to the sinful practices of the world but to live holy lives so that it would lead to the salvation of those who observe their behavior. Certainly faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Rom 10:17), but the effectiveness of the proclamation of the gospel is weakened if it is done through a mouthpiece of unholy living.

Is your life an outreach ministry? Shine the light!