Homeless Ministry Update

by Joyce Kang

The PB Homeless Ministry was the first ministry I joined when I became a member of Lighthouse. Four years later, it still remains a ministry that is very near and dear to my heart for a number of reasons. I am often asked why I serve in this ministry, and quite frankly, my response can be summed up in our church’s passion statement: love for God and people. Christ’s death on the cross has given every believer a new life and purpose. As I continue to grow in my understanding and love for Christ, I desire to share this great gift with others.

We live in a world full of lost people, and it is the responsibility of every Christian to follow Christ’s command to evangelize and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) As Christians, our aim in this life is to make disciples of Christ because it is through the salvation of lost sinners that our Father is glorified. At Lighthouse, we are truly blessed to have solid teaching, praise, and fellowship on a regular basis; however, they are not the end goal of the church. The purpose of the church is to make worshipers of Christ by seeking and saving the lost.

The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the workers are few. The Great Commission tells us to GO and make disciples; therefore, we must be obedient and heed that command. If we truly desire to imitate our Savior and reflect His love for us, we must fervently labor to win men and women to Christ. The need for missions exists everywhere, so a good place to start is in our local community.

It has been a humbling and joyful experience to witness God’s faithfulness to this ministry over the years. Although the fruits of our labor are not always evident, there is great joy in knowing that we are faithful to Christ’s command. The PB Ministry has been a tremendous source of encouragement to me and I would like to challenge the members of Lighthouse to consider serving in this ministry. I would also like to encourage you to partner with us by praying for the following:

  1. The Gospel to remain at the forefront of our minds as we labor.
  2. God’s word would go forth convicting and changing lives for His glory.
  3. Ample opportunities to build relationships with the homeless and boldness in sharing the Gospel.

Living Theology #31 – Regeneration

by Garrett Glende

In case you haven’t been following along, the past few topics in this series have been under the umbrella of the application of the atonement in our redemption. We have been walking through what theologians call the ordo salutis (order of salvation), studying the process of our salvation from election to glory. The issue at hand this week is the wonderful doctrine of regeneration: God’s act of giving new life to dead sinners by awakening their hearts to see the glory of the Son and their need for His forgiveness.

Grudem defines regeneration as “a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us.” The crux of this definition is that regeneration is fully an act of God. Jesus gives us insight into this “secret act,” as Grudem describes it, in John chapter 3 where He encounters Nicodemus. Here Jesus tells him, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Nicodemus’ response suggests that such an occurrence would be impossible, to which Jesus replies:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8).

Jesus illustrates the mystery of regeneration by comparing the act of God, particularly the Holy Spirit, to the wind. We cannot see the miracle of the new birth take place, but we are able to see its effects. So it is with the wind: we only know that the wind is blowing because we hear its whistle and see the swaying of the trees. Just as we cannot control the course of the wind, we also are at the mercy of the sovereign will of God in regeneration. As spiritually dead people (Eph. 2:1), running as fast as we can away from our Creator, we must be brought about to a whole new life in order to make any sort of movement towards God. In support of God’s regenerating work, James speaks of the Father of lights, who has “of his own will brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). Peter also declares that God has “caused us to be born again…” (1 Pet 1:3). Indeed, we see throughout Scripture that God is the only person who is able to grant spiritual life.

Now that it is clear that God is the one who gives new life, we can look at what actually happens in regeneration. As stated above, much of it is a mystery and we cannot explain all the details of the process, but we can glean certain truths from Scripture. One thing that can be noted is that the Bible often relates the new birth with ideas such as washing, cleansing, and renewing. We see this clearly in Titus 3:5 where Paul writes that God has “saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Echoes of Ezekiel 36:25-27 come to mind:

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Again, we see that God is the one who gives this new life to His covenant people, purifying them through the washing that comes from the Spirit. This passage from Ezekiel is a beautiful picture of God’s grace in removing our hearts of stone, hardened to spiritual truth, and replacing them with hearts of flesh that are alive and receptive to God’s word. We who were once alienated to God and hostile towards Him, completely dead in our sins, have now been brought into life where we are able to worship and glorify our maker (Col. 1:21).

The book of 1 John offers much practical application in light of this doctrine. As a benchmark for true saving faith, John cites many fruits that will be exhibited in result of the new birth. We must examine our own hearts to see if we are truly living in accordance with what the Bible describes a born again person is like. John writes that “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9). We see clearly that regeneration results in a changed life. The sins that we once lived in – the very same ones that enslaved us – no longer control our lives. We have been given a new heart that now desires to please God in all that we do. This does not mean that we never sin again, but there should be a distinct mark in our attitude towards sin and its outward manifestations. By this hatred of sin, we will be assured of our salvation, as John writes that “you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him” (1 John 2:29). Perhaps the greatest display of the Spirit’s work of regeneration is our love for God and people. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). It seems simple, but it is often one of the hardest things to do – love one another. Consider if your life displays the fruit of the Spirit. Do you claim to have been born of God, but fail to love your brother? These types of questions are difficult to ask yourself, but it is good for us to diagnose what is really going on in our hearts. But this we know for sure: that for those whom God has given new hearts of flesh He will never cast out. He will continue to mold and sanctify them into disciples of Christ, all by the marvelous power of the Holy Spirit that powerfully works within us. May we truly live as those given new life, fighting sin and loving others, all to the glory of God.

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.

Editor’s Note #3: July 2010

by Stephen Rodgers

And just like that, another hiatus comes to an end. From the previous notes you can see what our goals were for the break, and I’m happy to say that most of them were met (although a couple will continue to resolve in the next week or so).

Just to let you know, the recent LBCSJ church plant has had a rather significant effect on our staff. Some faithful workers were a part of that team, and have since left. Now don’t get me wrong, they left with our best wishes and prayers, but they’re still not here anymore. Other staff members have taken the initiative to step into some of the positions in other ministries left vacant by their departure. And while they’re still here in the broader sense, that means they’re not here as much in the narrower sense.

To make a short story shorter, we’re a bit understaffed from where we used to be. The plan for dealing with it is simply that we will continue to post Tuesday-Saturday on our regular schedule, and Mondays will become a bit of a…can I say surprise? Like a party? Or a weekly Christmas that sometimes just doesn’t happen sometimes?

In other words, if I have an article for Monday, I’ll be sure to post it for you. But that won’t always happen.

This might change for a number of reasons. A current staff writer might get a wild hair to write more. A new staff writer might emerge from the shadows. I might try to create a new series that doesn’t require much effort (a la “Random Post from the Archives” or the like). But in the meantime, we’re just going to take a tiny step back, take a deep breath, and see what happens.

We’re still here five days a week.

Thanks for reading!

Editor’s Note #2: July 2010

by Stephen Rodgers

A quick update for anyone who keeps track of such things:

  • The migration to WordPress 3.0 went off without a hitch.
  • The old SPARK category no longer exists; it has been merged into the Lighthouse News category. You can find all the previous entries there now.
  • The 2010 College Graduation testimonies have been posted.

As a matter of personal curiosity, does anyone use the “Share on…” links at the bottom of each article? I know when I post on Facebook, I just copy the URL. If they’re not getting much use, it might be better to put something that would be helpful to more people there, like a “Similar Articles” list. If you have an opinion on that, please track me down and let me know.

Thanks!

LBC Weekly SPARK – July 19, 2010

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Hello to all our LBC family and friends!

I hope you are doing well and walking in the Lord. It’s a bit strange to think that Pastor John and the San Jose team are now in Northern California. I had a chance to talk with him on the phone on Saturday evening and we shared how weird it was that they now call San Jose “home.” Still, how exciting it was that this past Sunday they were able to enjoy their first service together as a church plant. I heard that there were about 90 people in attendance! Let’s continue to support the team and pray for LBCSJ as they begin life up north.

Here in San Diego, it was an equally strange time to have our first service without the church plant team. Certainly, some of the familiar faces we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on Sundays were absent. We’re totally going to miss everyone who was on the team. Still, it was also exciting to begin our new chapter at LBCSD. It is indeed exciting to think where the Lord will lead each of these congregations, and how we will be able to work together to be a mighty force for the gospel here in California and to the ends of the earth.

We’re toning things down for the summer so you’re not going to see too many events planned. But there are still some things happening this summer that you won’t want to miss. Please read through the announcements below for more information.

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • The Beacon. Don’t forget to check out The Beacon online newsletter (www.lighthousebc.com/beacon)! It is constantly being updated with new articles, ministry updates, and weekly links. If you are a member and would like to help serve on the Beacon team, please contact Stephen Rodgers for more information.
  • Babysitting Ministry. The Care Ministry provides complimentary babysitting for our members’ families each month. Planning a date night or need to run some errands? The Babysitting Ministry is sure to be helpful! If you need a babysitter or would like more details, please contact Stephanie McAdams (stephanie@mcdoulos.net).

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • Men Discipling Men Conference. Please pray for the men who will be attending the MDM Conference this weekend at The Master’s College (www.mdmconference.org). The dates for the conference are July 23-24, and registration is still open. The cost of registration is $85 (if your spouse attended the WDW Conference, there is a discount for both of you). If you plan to register, please contact Peter Lim as he is helping arrange housing (peterlim@yahoo.com).
  • Fun In The Sun Day. Break out your sports equipment! Our first FITS of the year will be this Sunday, July 25, from 11:30am-4:00pm at Torrey Hills Community Park. This weekend we’ll be playing some softball and volleyball, so be sure to bring a change of clothes to church. The college ministry will also be serving lunch as a fundraiser for their ministry. The cost is only $5/adult and $3/child (ages 3-12). Come out to the park for a great day in the sun!
  • All Church Luau. We will be having our annual all church Luau on August 14 from 10:00am-4:00pm at Mission Bay Park behind the Bahia. This is always one of the highlight events of the year. Come out dressed in your best Hawaiian clothing and join us for some great fellowship.
  • All-Church Vision Quest. We’re bringing back an old LBC tradition! The All-Church Vision Quest will be on August 27 from 6:30-8:30pm. This will be a time to be reminded of the MVP and to have some fun showcasing the church’s talents. The theme for this Vision Quest will be musical talent. If you are interested in performing an act, please contact Pastor Patrick (pastorpatrick@gmail.com).
  • Membership Class. We will be having a membership class on August 28 and 29 at the church in Room 107. On Saturday, August 28, the class will be from 9:00am-12:00pm, and on Sunday, August 29, it will be from 1:00-4:00pm. Both classes are required if you would like to become a member. Please contact Pastor Patrick if you are interested in attending or for more information (pastorpatrick@gmail.com).

AFFINITY GROUPS

  • Lumos Youth Ministry. The Lumos youth group will be meeting this Friday evening at 7:00pm for Bible study in Room 107. The group will also be meeting on Sunday morning after the morning service for Sunday School. If you have any questions about Lumos, please contact Roger Alcaraz (rogeralcaraz@gmail.com).
  • College/Singles Ministry. The joint College and Singles Friday night Bible study will continue meeting this Friday at 7:00pm at the church. This summer, we are walking through the book of Colossians. Visit the websites for College Life (www.lighthousebc.com/collegelife) and Single Life (www.lighthousebc.com/singlelife) for more information about the respective groups.
  • Summer Kids’ Club. Summer Kids’ Club is for all kids going into preschool through 5th grade. We continue this Wednesday from 6:30-8:00pm at the church. This summer, we will be conducting a series on the “I Am” statements of Christ from the book of John! This is sure to be a wonderful series focusing on the importance of the gospel. Registration forms are available from Joshua Liu (liu.joshuac@gmail.com). To promote greater involvement, the cost is now FREE (if you have already paid your money will be refunded)!. Please sign up your child(ren) as soon as possible!

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

  • Cleaning Ministry. The cleaning ministry is currently looking for more servants to help tidy up the church on the weekends. This is an invaluable ministry to the church. Talk to Andy Shin if you are interested in joining the crew.

SUMMER READING

Interested in doing some good summer reading? Here are a few titles you might want to look at:

  • The Ultimate Priority, John MacArthur
  • The Faithful Parent, Martha Peace and Stuart Scott
  • A Quest for More, Paul Tripp
  • It Is Well, Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence
  • What Is a Healthy Church Member, Thabiti Anyabwile
  • Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology, Mark Dever, C. J. Mahaney, and R. Albert Mohler
  • The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love, Jonathan Leeman

Editor’s Note: July 2010

by Stephen Rodgers

Just in case you were wondering where today’s article is, I wanted to let you know that the Beacon is taking a short break. We’re taking two weeks off to…

  • give our writers a breather (they’ve earned it!),
  • adjust to some recent changes in the church (San Jose church plant),
  • finish a couple of Beacon-related projects (including something for the hallway at church),
  • do some site maintenance (WordPress has a new version out, there’s some cleanup to be done in the archives, Dan has some spiffy new designs),
  • and plan the rest of the year.

We’re planning on returning on 7/26.

See you then!

The Iniquity of the Holy Things

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Exodus 28:38

What a veil is lifted up by these words, and what a disclosure is made! It will be humbling and profitable for us to pause awhile and see this sad sight. The iniquities of our public worship, its hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness, irreverence, wandering of heart and forgetfulness of God, what a full measure have we there! Our work for the Lord, its emulation, selfishness, carelessness, slackness, unbelief, what a mass of defilement is there! Our private devotions, their laxity, coldness, neglect, sleepiness, and vanity, what a mountain of dead earth is there! If we looked more carefully we should find this iniquity to be far greater than appears at first sight.

Dr. Payson, writing to his brother, says, ‘My parish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden of the sluggard; and what is worse, I find that very many of my desires for the melioration of both, proceed either from pride or vanity or indolence. I look at the weeds which overspread my garden, and breathe out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why? What prompts the wish? It may be that I may walk out and say to myself, ‘In what fine order is my garden kept!’ This is pride. Or, it may be that my neighbours may look over the wall and say, ‘How finely your garden flourishes!’ This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds, because I am weary of pulling them up. This is indolence.’

So that even our desires after holiness may be polluted by ill motives. Under the greenest sods worms hide themselves; we need not look long to discover them. How cheering is the thought, that when the High Priest bore the iniquity of the holy things he wore upon his brow the words, ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD:’ and even so while Jesus bears our sin, He presents before His Father’s face not our unholiness, but his own holiness. O for grace to view our great High Priest by the eye of faith!

1.8a

Weekly Links (7/9/2010)

by Stephen Rodgers

Welcome back! It’s Friday, which is a bit of a surprise for all of us who work due to the shortened week (hooray for holidays!). But hooray as well for the weekly links:

  • There’s been a little bit of back and forth on this issue lately between some folks blogs, so over at his blog Justin Taylor laid out A Primer on Limited (or Definite) Atonement. It’s worth a read. And if you’re still interested in reading a little bit more on the topic, I would recommend James White’s article Was Anyone Saved at the Cross.
  • Speaking of atonement, Michael Horton has written an article over at the Resurgence on Why Substitutionary Atonement Remains Crucial. It’s also available in an easily-printable PDF version with footnotes (hooray footnotes!).
  • It’s the end of an era. The Albert Mohler radio program is no more. I’d highly recommend the last two episodes, which are explained here, (or you can just go here directly). Also, Al has written a summary of what he spoke about on the last day which is worth thoughtful examination.
  • Speaking of radio, or at least things that make sound (ok, awkward segue I’ll admit), the free book for July from christianaudio.com is A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. If you don’t know who Tozer is…well, he’s awesome. Seriously. GET THIS FREE AUDIO BOOK.
  • The July edition of Tabletalk is out, and it’s all on the subject of worship. By now you know about Tabletalk, and you know how good it is. Enjoy!
  • And ladies! I have something for you too…(ok, wait, that sounded creepy). I have something about you! (That really wasn’t an improvement). Ok, nevermind the clever intro…the latest edition of the 9Marks eJournal is out, and it’s on the topic of Pastoring Women. Everyone’s favorite/mandated author Jonathan Leeman writes an excellent article for it as well.
  • You’ll recall that a couple weeks ago I linked to notes from the 2010 Ligonier National Conference. Well, if those interested you (and I’m sure they did!) you can now view any of the talks online. C’mon! The video is available! What are you waiting for?
  • You all remember when I posted the link to John Piper’s famous Don’t Waste Your Cancer article/sermon right? It’s amazing…it’s Biblical…but for a lot of us, it’s difficult to relate directly. That’s why I appreciated Dan Phillips’ posting this funny-sounding but very serious correllative entitled Don’t Waste Your Feeling-Really-Yucky.

That’s it folks. See you Sunday!

Pro Rege