July Hiatus (2017)

by Stephen Rodgers

As we’ve done in years past, we’ll be taking a brief hiatus for the month of July. In case anyone is curious as to the reasons behind that, in no particular order they are:

  • This is a time where a number of our members who support the Beacon directly and indirectly are unavailable: many collegians are out of town, summer mission team members are out of the country, etc.
  • This is a time where we like to give our pastors, elders, and ministry coordinators a little bit of a break from writing articles. Some use it to catch up, others to get ahead, but they really do appreciate a few weeks off. And this year, some of them are also out on the mission field.
  • Last but not least, this gives us on the Beacon staff an opportunity to update, upgrade, and generally tweak some of the code under the hood, without the fear that we’ll inadvertently bring the site down and prevent you from receiving fresh content. (We just inadvertently bring down the site and prevent you from receiving any content whatsoever…just kidding…mostly).

In the meantime, I’d encourage you to take the opportunity to explore and catch up on some past articles you may have missed.  Here’s a few of my favorites:

That’s it for now. See you in August!

Pro Rege

Missions Monday #14 – AR Prayer Requests

by Josh Liu

Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said, “a man is what he is on his knees before God, and nothing more.” No one ought to presume that they are able to accomplish anything apart from the sovereignty and power of God, and prayer is a means of such dependence. As the missions teams labor and prepare to leave, we all must depend on God through prayer. Regardless of what occurs on these trips, we consider it a failure if we do not go in dependence on God (through prayer).

While the Czech Republic and Argentina team members go, evangelize, and serve, it is the responsibility of the church to pray–for the church is the team. As a church, we unite in prayer in carrying out the Great Commission of making disciples. Please labor in praying for the ministry of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the following areas.

For IBM Tucuman

  • The raising up and maturing of faithful godly leaders
  • The spiritual edification of the members
  • The biblical and gracious confrontation of sin
  • The exposing of unrepentant sin and false professions
  • For financial, physical, and spiritual provision for the church
  • For the IBM Tucuman Family Retreat – For the Holy Spirit to work through His Word to bring deep conviction, encouragement, and transformation

For the Evangelism Campaign

  • Working with saved, faithful translators
  • Opportunities to plant, water, and sow seeds of the Gospel
  • Souls to be saved
  • Mobilization of IBM members

For Pastor Jorge and his Family

  • Spiritual encouragement and strength
  • Perseverance and faithfulness in ministry
  • Wisdom in leading and shepherding

For the San Diego Team

  • Spiritual and physical preparation and protection
  • Unity and commitment to peacemaking
  • Preaching of God’s Word

Missions Monday #13 – CZ Prayer Requests

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Prayer Requests for the Czech Team

  1. Please pray for the English Camp in the Czech Republic to run smoothly. Pray that God would allow all the preparation and hard work to pay off with a successful camp.
  2. Pray that the gospel would be faithfully and powerfully proclaimed and that many would come to faith in Christ for salvation.
  3. Pray for the church in Beroun that their ministry would grow and bear fruit. It is an incredibly challenging place to do Christian ministry.
  4. Pray for the Mellwig family to be encouraged in the work they are doing in the Czech Republic. Pray that God would sustain, protect, and provide for them.
  5. Pray for the team from Lighthouse that we would be protected to and from the Czech Republic. Pray for the team’s health and overall safety.
  6. Pray that the team would remain united in Christ and that serious conflicts would not arise within the team.
  7. Pray that God would be honored through the work that is done this summer in the Czech Republic. Pray that the hearts of the team members would be right and that they would maintain God-glorifying attitudes.
  8. Pray for Martina Mellwig as she continues to battle cancer. Pray that God would be gracious to heal her of this sickness and restore her to good health.
  9. Pray for wisdom to work through any unexpected challenges during the trip. Each trip is different and there is no way to be able to predict what to expect. Pray that the team would be flexible and dependent on the Lord throughout the trip.
  10. Pray that the team would return home with valuable lessons learned and that each member would have grown spiritually with their hearts encouraged. Pray that they would faithfully put into practice what they learned.

Missions Monday #12 – AR Testimonies

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz (and other contributors)

Over the years, many people from our church have been a part of the Argentina missions trips, and have been very appreciative of their time there. I personally have benefitted greatly from the multiple conversations I’ve had with Pastor Jorge Ahualle, Eduaro Buldain, and many of the leaders and members of IBM Tucuman. They have been a joy and a model of how to do ministry, wherever you are. Here are some other members from previous trips who have some experiences to share with you. We hope you enjoy them!

Hwa and Suzie Park (LBCSD)

I think Suzie and I were recently married when we went together to Tucuman to share the Gospel to the beautiful people of Argentina. Looking back it was an amazing experience we both shared that set the foundation for our marriage of what it means to make disciples of Christ. Going door to door, sharing matte with complete strangers all while avoiding wild dogs were both exciting and adventurous. We still talk about Tucuman  from time to time and would love the opportunity to go back one day for sweet fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters in Tucuman.

Ryan McAdams (LBCSD)

The Argentina Missions Trips have a very special place in the story of our family. My wife and I essentially met preparing for the 2007 trip, and after both also going on the 2008 trip, we returned on the 2011 trip for the first time as a married couple! We also took our baby daughter with us when we returned on the 2013 trip. Though we haven’t been able to return since then, the trips have still helped to shape the very core of our family, inside our home and out.

Every trip emphasizes the M of Lighthouse’s MVP statement, the fact that the Lord Jesus has called us to make disciples of all nations. Every trip demonstrates the difference between coercing an individual to answer Yes (or sí, as the case may be) to a series of questions and the implantation and germination of the seed of God’s word into a person’s very being, that making of a disciple that results in a true follower of Jesus Christ. While these truths drive our planning and execution of the mission trip, they also affect our family’s home life, even in the shepherding and development of our children. Rather than force an insincere confession of faith from them before they understand the truth, we want to trust God with the regeneration of their hearts, and will work to provide an environment that will present the truth of God to them in its fullness and majesty.

The trips have also reinforced the idea that missions doesn’t just take place overseas. Perhaps, by definition, missions happen somewhere else, but then the work of missions should not differ much, if at all, from the work of our own church. This idea has anchored our family as well, as we have sought to avoid compartmentalizing the church, and including it as a vital part of our family life instead. During our time in Tucumán, the church would have almost every meal together, and while they certainly meet together more often during our visitation, the principle of community as a platform for ministry drives our family’s willingness to spend time together with the rest of our church body. Even this serves the goal of disciple-making, since those among the family of God minister internally by helping each other grow further in obedience to all of God’s commands.

Even though we miss dearly our brothers and sisters in Tucumán because of our absence from them, God has used our times there to draw us closer to him individually and as a family even to the present.

Josue Ahualle (son of Pastor Jorge Ahualle, Iglesia Biblica Misionera)

Hello! I am pleased to be able to share with you some of my experience with the LBC visits to our church in Argentina.

The first time we visited I particularly was very small but I will never forget the joy and the unity that was produced in our congregation. It was beautiful to see how we struggled to communicate, the funny signs and gestures that harmonized an atmosphere of happiness and love between brothers and sisters. Each year we were able to make new friends and even though we do not share a lot of time together, each one of these brothers who came won a place in our hearts.

Today I can understand what it means to be part of a missions trip… Sacrifice, time, preparation… that’s why I give thanks to God for each and every one of you! Without a doubt God used you all greatly in our lives. It’s been a great encouragement and help each year you have visited us, many brothers and sisters who are attending today, are the result of the evangelistic campaigns that we have done together. There are many experiences that God has allowed us to enjoy together and I hope there are many more.

Once again I want you to know that I am very happy to have known you and I very much admire the love you have toward God and his work.

God bless you!

…Because We Have Sinned Against Thee

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Daniel 9:8

A deep sense and clear sight of sin, its heinousness, and the punishment which it deserves, should make us lie low before the throne. We have sinned as Christians. Alas! that it should be so. Favoured as we have been, we have yet been ungrateful: privileged beyond most, we have not brought forth fruit in proportion. Who is there, although he may long have been engaged in the Christian warfare, that will not blush when he looks back upon the past? As for our days before we were regenerated, may they be forgiven and forgotten; but since then, though we have not sinned as before, yet we have sinned against light and against love-light which has really penetrated our minds, and love in which we have rejoiced.

Oh, the atrocity of the sin of a pardoned soul! An unpardoned sinner sins cheaply compared with the sin of one of God’s own elect ones, who has had communion with Christ and leaned his head upon Jesus’ bosom. Look at David! Many will talk of his sin, but I pray you look at his repentance, and hear his broken bones, as each one of them moans out its dolorous confession! Mark his tears, as they fall upon the ground, and the deep sighs with which he accompanies the softened music of his harp! We have erred: let us, therefore, seek the spirit of penitence. Look, again, at Peter! We speak much of Peter’s denying his Master. Remember, it is written, ‘He wept bitterly.’ Have we no denials of our Lord to be lamented with tears? Alas! these sins of ours, before and after conversion, would consign us to the place of inextinguishable fire if it were not for the sovereign mercy which has made us to differ, snatching us like brands from the burning.

My soul, bow down under a sense of thy natural sinfulness, and worship thy God. Admire the grace which saves thee-the mercy which spares thee-the love which pardons thee!

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Weekly Links (6/23/2017)

“Worry begins when a person is trying to love equally both the Creator and something in creation (or when they are not trying to love the Creator at all, having replaced him with something in his creation). That something may be ourselves, of course. And to love Creator and created equally is impossible.” (Timothy Lane, Living without Worry: How to replace anxiety with peace)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! Praise God for those who have been blessed with a summer off! Hopefully, that translates to more undistracted devotion to Christ! Here are this week’s links to get you all started!

  • Paul Tautges examines Scripture’s call to the older and younger men in the church. May we never get tired of hearing what God calls us, both young and old, to be.
  • Not to leave the ladies behind, over at the True Woman blog, Laura Elliot provides some great encouragement to anyone who may not see themselves as teachers to see their calling within the church to bless those who are younger. Please take this to heart, ladies!
  • What in the world is a worldview, and what does it consist of? RTS professor James N. Anderson gives a concise overview of the topic, while mentioning some of the predominant contenders in opposition to Christianity. If this is your first foray into the subject, Anderson is a great guide.
  • After the showing of the documentary Is Genesis History? some of the people behind it have created a conference for students, ministers and educators going into more detail about the many topics covered in the film. A schedule with names of all presentations can be found on their website, while the videos of all presentations are currently on their Facebook page. This will definitely be an in-depth introduction to young-earth creationism, if you are looking for a good place to start studying the topic.
  • Tim and Michael Keller have been doing a series of posts on evangelism at the university that should be a source of interest of anyone who knows college students. It’s been a great read thus far. Here are the posts: “The Uniqueness of University Evangelism,” “The Challenge of University Evangelism,” “4 Promising Opportunities in University Evangelism,” and “5 Principles for University Evangelism.”

That’s all for this week! Please be in prayer for youth group, as they have their Grad Night/Lock-In today and tomorrow. See you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

A Gospel of Repentance

by Roger Alcaraz

Back in high school, I would always sign my close friends’ yearbooks with a message, and somewhere in that message would be the words, “Don’t ever change.” That was because, in my mind, that was the greatest compliment or sign of love that I could give. It’s like saying “You’re perfect just the way you are.” It was only after I became a Christian, I realized how wrong I was.

Nobody is perfect, and the gospel we proclaim is not only about the forgiveness of sins, but about repentance. “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:46-47).

Repentance is a complete change of heart that grieves over sin and, in response, seeks to live a changed life. It’s turning your feelings, thoughts, and actions away from sin and toward Christ. This has always been the heart of the gospel call. We often think of evangelism as preaching the forgiveness of sins, but Christ has told us to also preach repentance. Why? Because without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sins. Yet repentance is perhaps the single most neglected aspect of contemporary evangelism, especially in an age when it’s all about accepting people as they are and just letting them be. This nation teaches that if you want to show love to someone, you must accept them as they are, without changing them.

Now, I’m not arguing that acceptance is bad. But there is definitely a good way and a bad way to practice it. If a doctor had a patient with diabetes, and the doctor accepted his patient without wanting him to change, that’s bad. But consider Scripture and how the heart of mankind is desperately sick and how mankind is heading to Hell. Would accepting people without any desire for change be what’s best for them?

Coaches tell their athletes to change all of the time. Parents tell their children to change all the time. If you saw a child practically inhaling sugar, and the parent casually said, “Let him be,” you would say, “You’re a bad parent.” And so if calling for change is the mark of a good parent, and it’s the mark of a good coach, isn’t it also the mark of good friend?

The world has believed that calling someone to change is unloving, but as I consider my life, it’s quite the opposite. The people who have loved me the most were the people who called me to change. And the greater test of love isn’t whether a person accepts you as you are; love is demonstrated when, as a person seeks change and growth another, that they bear with them with gentleness and patience. So we’re not beating people over the head with the command to repent and believe. We’re urgent yet patient, firm yet gentle, always seeking what’s best for them based on the truth of Scripture.

And so while the world might look at our gospel of repentance and say, “Why can’t I just keep living how I’ve always lived?” you can say, “Because I love you too much.” If your friend were planning to rob a bank and you knew that this bank was an impenetrable fortress guarded by hundreds of police officers, you would probably tell your friend to stop or else he’ll be thrown in prison. And he might object and say, “I thought you supported me. Can’t you just let me be me?” And if you were a good friend, you would say, “No.”

But would you be quicker to warn people of prison than you would of Hell? We have to remember that as each person dies, they will stand before the God who created them and have to give an account for their entire life. Everything will be exposed before God as he determines their fate. How sad would it be for people to stand before God and think, “I had Christian friends. Why didn’t they tell me I would be here one day?” Therefore, let us warn the world of their fate if they do not turn away from their sins and turn to Christ. It is a loving thing to turn them away from fire.

Making the Most of Your Ministry

by Pastor Patrick Cho

One of the potential challenges of local church ministry is that most of the people who serve do so on a volunteer basis. If you are serving on a ministry staff, the reality is that while you might want to give your all to it, you most likely also have other commitments like work, school, and family that rightfully demand your time and energy. Being involved in church does not mean that you are called to abandon all other commitments. Providing excellent service in church ministry does not require quitting your job, dropping out of school, or leaving your family.

However, it is sadly easy to treat church ministry as if it is on a lower tier of importance than these other commitments. One reason for this is an incorrect assumption that most of the ministry should be performed by the pastors and leaders of the church, while the rest of the members are simply there to assist. There are some who believe that since pastors are paid to do ministry, it is only right that they shoulder the bulk of the work of ministry. Another reason is that people in the church compartmentalize spiritual things and do not see how Christ impacts every area of their lives. One outworking of this error is that people pursue marriage and career much like the rest of the world, treating these things as of ultimate importance. Church ministry, then, is relegated as optional or time-permitting, not much different than any other hobby or recreation. The thinking is essentially, “God, let me take care of all the ‘me’ stuff, and then I will give myself to the ‘You’ stuff.”

Because of these reasons and more, there can be a tendency to grow lax in service of the church. We put in less of an effort and do not strive for excellence in what we do. It is easy to procrastinate, get lazy, and drop the ball. Since you are probably not paid for your ministry to the church, it can be easy to develop a mentality that you will only serve when it is comfortable or convenient. On the other hand, it might simply be that you have been running so hard for so long that you are simply tired and so you are not serving at the level of excellence you once did.

While there is an understanding that church ministry is not all you are supposed to do, what you do ought to be done well to the glory of God. There are several reasons we need to be careful not to relegate church ministry as an inferior commitment.

  1. The Lord is ultimately the one you serve. Whether it is at home, at school, at work, or at church, God is the one we ultimately serve (cf. Col. 3:23-24). He is Lord of all. Thus, we must not compartmentalize certain aspects of our lives as ours and others as His. It is all His. Additionally, when it comes to our service in the church, we ought to strive for excellence because what we do is offered to God as worship. Everything we do is to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). God demands our best because we have been set apart unto Him who is most excellent.
  2. You are called to serve, so you are not just a volunteer. A volunteer is someone who freely offers to do something. But believers do not serve out of the goodness of their own hearts. We are commanded to serve, and this service is to be done from a loving, willing, and joyful heart. The Bible teaches that this is the higher purpose for which we were created (Eph. 2:10). It is not only the responsibility of the church leaders. Ephesians 4:11-12 says that the members of the church are equipped to do the work of ministry. It is something all believers are called to do.
  3. You have been gifted and equipped by God to participate. Your service in the church is a stewardship of what God has entrusted to you by His grace. Oftentimes, we fall into the mentality that our talents, skills, gifts, and abilities are there to heighten our experience as individuals. We want to improve ourselves. While this is not necessarily evil in and of itself, believers are given a greater purpose. God has blessed you to be a blessing. This is why Paul employs the body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14. Although each member of the body is unique in its ability and giftedness, all the parts are required to work in conjunction in order for the body as a whole to thrive and mature. You have not been given what you have only to invest it in you. You have also been given these skills and abilities to employ them in the service of the church that others might benefit and be blessed.
  4. Other people are counting on you. When you are unfaithful to your ministry commitments, it affects more than just you. Again, Paul likens service in the church to the physical body. Imagine if part of your body decided to take a break or not function at 100%. That is detrimental to the entire body. We can serve with excellence as an act of love to our fellow brothers and sisters. In Christian discipleship, our commitment to excellence can also serve as a helpful example for others to follow.
  5. You can reap an eternal reward. When we commit ourselves to the service of the church in obedience to Scripture with excellence and from a right heart, we can be assured that God is well-pleased. It is good to be reminded that we strive for something greater than the rewards and accolades of this life. By investing in what is eternal, we store up a heavenly reward that is imperishable and unfading (1 Pet. 1:4).

In the end, consideration needs to be given to each side. The church should not overburden its members requiring so much that other commitments suffer. Take family for instance: if the church demands so much of your time that it is detrimental to your family because you are honestly left with little time for your spouse and children, then the church should reconsider its program to ensure that it is not designed to cause you to sin against your family by neglecting them.

At the same time, there are many people who use family as an excuse not to get involved in the ministry of the church. We need to be wary of using family this way as a sort of trump card. The Bible does not say that we are all members of one another until we have families of our own. It does not command us to love one another and serve one another until we start a family. Of course, it can be challenging to discern how to be excellent both in church ministry as well as in our homes, but we are called to both.

Delight Thyself Also In The Lord

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem very surprising to those who are strangers to vital godliness, but to the sincere believer it is only the inculcation of a recognized truth. The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion at all, it is either that they may gain thereby, or else because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most men, that no two words in their language stand further apart than ‘holiness’ and ‘delight.’ But believers who know Christ, understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts, find that His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace. Such joys, such brimful delights, such overflowing blessednesses, do the saints discover in their Lord, that so far from serving Him from custom, they would follow Him though all the world cast out His name as evil. We fear not God because of any compulsion; our faith is no fetter, our profession is no bondage, we are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Delight and true religion are as allied as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty; they are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

”Tis when we taste Thy love,
Our joys divinely grow,
Unspeakable like those above,
And heaven begins below.’

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