Growing Pains: Introduction

by Kristen Lim

Growing up can be painful. That’s why there’s even a T.V. show called “Growing Pains.” Certainly we all have various circumstances in our upbringing, but surely no one would say that their adolescence was a breeze with absolutely no difficulties.

In a similar way, being a young or new Christian can be a confusing time as you begin this journey of living for God’s glory, and you find that it’s not an easy task. There are both external and internal pressures that war against the pursuit of holiness. It is a constant battle to set our minds on the things above and not allow culture or worldliness to dictate life choices. You may mentally agree on the Christianity 101 basics, but there are still lingering questions with the mechanics of how God impacts the mundane day-to-day living. There is an itch to grow in maturity quickly, yet the same recurring sin keeps on appearing, bringing discouragement and possibly doubts of salvation. And when you do overcome a certain struggle, there is a temptation to take pride in that accomplishment rather than to give praise to God. Add in other sinners to the mix, and now there is the issue of peacemaking and loving others when they unintentionally offend you, or even intentionally sin against you. And oh, what to do with spiritual disciplines if I don’t “feel” like doing them? Do I need to have perfect and pure motives before serving God?

Thus begins a series on common spiritual topics (aka “growing pains”) that young Christians grapple with in the process of sanctification and development of a Biblical worldview and God-centered outlook on life. This series will be a grab bag of thoughts, experiences, temptations, and pitfalls young and new Christians may go through. My goal is to show you that God’s word really is sufficient for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) and has answers to the various emotions and circumstances that may make you feel stuck and confused.

If you consider yourself a young Christian and relate with some of the questions listed above, may you find encouragement that God did not leave us to ourselves to blindly navigate the rapid waters of life; we have His complete and inerrant words. Psalm 119:9 reads, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.” If you are hungering to be more in God’s word, you’re on the right track.

If you consider yourself a more mature, seasoned Christian, then hopefully reading this series will remind you of struggles you once had and may God give you a heart to reach out to the baby Christians and take them under your wing (Titus 2). Reading a blog post certainly can’t and shouldn’t replace human-to-human discipleship.

Disclaimer: I have to mention that I myself am a young person who doesn’t have many years of life experiences, and I certainly am not the spiritual maturity guru. But since I am relatively young, I still recall the vivid memories of working through the various topics in this series, searching Scripture for guidance, and asking those more mature than me for their counsel. Rather than reading this series with the mentality that it holds all the answers, think of it as an ignition to whet your appetites to study these topics in further detail and spark more intentional conversations within your church family.

I’m excited to begin this series of various spiritual issues young Christians may ponder. Stay tuned next month for the discussion of the first growing pain!

Further reading related to spiritual growth and maturity:

Only Be Thou Strong And Very Courageous

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Joshua 1:7

Our God’s tender love for His servants makes Him concerned for the state of their inward feelings. He desires them to be of good courage. Some esteem it a small thing for a believer to be vexed with doubts and fears, but God thinks not so. From this text it is plain that our Master would not have us entangled with fears. He would have us without carefulness, without doubt, without cowardice. Our Master does not think so lightly of our unbelief as we do. When we are desponding we are subject to a grievous malady, not to be trifled with, but to be carried at once to the beloved Physician. Our Lord loveth not to see our countenance sad. It was a law of Ahasuerus that no one should come into the king’s court dressed in mourning: this is not the law of the King of kings, for we may come mourning as we are; but still He would have us put off the spirit of heaviness, and put on the garment of praise, for there is much reason to rejoice.

The Christian man ought to be of a courageous spirit, in order that he may glorify the Lord by enduring trials in an heroic manner. If he be fearful and fainthearted, it will dishonour his God. Besides, what a bad example it is. This disease of doubtfulness and discouragement is an epidemic which soon spreads amongst the Lord’s flock. One downcast believer makes twenty souls sad. Moreover, unless your courage is kept up Satan will be too much for you. Let your spirit be joyful in God your Saviour, the joy of the Lord shall be your strength, and no fiend of hell shall make headway against you: but cowardice throws down the banner. Moreover, labour is light to a man of cheerful spirit; and success waits upon cheerfulness. The man who toils, rejoicing in his God, believing with all his heart, has success guaranteed. He who sows in hope shall reap in joy; therefore, dear reader, ‘be thou strong, and very courageous.’

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Weekly Links (12/4/2015)

“In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.” (William Booth)

by Stephen Rodgers

It’s the first Friday of the month, and that means that you get me. And not just me, for I travel with links as my boon companions. Here we go…

  • The free audio book of the month from christianaudio.com is Recovering Redemption by Matt Chandler & Michael Snetzer. I’m not familiar with it, but historically Matt Chandler books have been quite good.
  • Logos is going a bit crazy this month: first up, they have their free resource of the month, which is The New Testament Library Series: Ephesians by Stephen E. Fowl.
  • Second, they’re also giving away the Folger Digital Texts Shakespeare Collection (42 vols.). If you’ll pardon a second quote: “Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?”
  • Lastly, they’re also giving away a free resource for every day of Advent. So if you’re a devotee of the Logos platform, you won’t want to miss that.
  • If there’s any other Shakespeare snobs out there, you might quibble with my use of the previous quote. “But Stephen,” you’ll say to me, “with all these free resources, you’d have been better off quoting Macbeth: ‘Nought’s had, all’s spent,Where our desire is got without content.’ ” If that’s you, then you’ll be pleased as punch to know that the December issue of Tabletalk magazine is on the topic of Contentment.
  • When it comes to apologetics books, Josh McDowell’s Evidence That Demands a Verdict doesn’t quite rise to my if-I-were-stuck-on-a-desert-island list, but I’m still rather happy that there’s apparently a free online version of it now.
  • And last but not least, if December’s attendant vacation days wouldn’t be restful without some additional reading material, fear not: there’s a new issue of the TMS journal, a new issue of the JBMW, and last but not least, the folks over at RPTS decided to throw their hat into the ring and start a journal as well. Enjoy!

That’s it for this time around, see you Sunday! (Unless of course you’re just reading this on the internet with no connection to an LBC church, in which case, hopefully the folks at your particular church will see you on Sunday, and vice versa). But if you’re near one of our churches, either in San Diego or elsewhere, we’d welcome you to join us.

Pro Rege

Reflections from the Fireflies’ Ministry

by Sallie Yang

As the end of the calendar year approaches, we are able to reflect on how God has been faithful to LBC and in particular to the Fireflies’ ministry. In Fireflies, we have seen a good number of babies born and enter into our care on Sundays. We have welcomed new families in with their little ones. We have seen helpless babies grow and develop to become curious toddlers. And, we have joyfully seen a good number of our little Fireflies become Sparklers. In addition to the children of Fireflies, God has been faithful to provide so many committed nursery workers from different affinity groups, all who love the Lord and the kids. Even as some of them have had to move on to other places or ministries, God has continued to be faithful to provide 33 nursery workers, including 7 teachers to our growing Fireflies’ ministry of 16 babies in N1 and 20 toddlers in N2.

While we have the privilege of ministering to the families and children of Fireflies, we have sought to expose the kids to simple truths about God and Jesus through Bible lessons, memory verses, and songs. We focus on one truth and memory verse for an entire month, ending that lesson with a craft at the end of the month. The truths we cover include: God is everywhere; God always wins; God knows everything; Only one God; God is good; Jesus is here; Jesus is a friend; Jesus is the boss; Jesus is alive; Jesus loves me; God made everything; and only God is big. As a teacher, I have loved watching the young toddlers start off N2 with blank faces, a little unsteady on their chairs, and not totally aware of what is going on during lesson/memory verse time to later seeing them as older toddlers, participating in lessons and enthusiastically singing the memory verse songs with hand motions. Although those moments will not be there every time I teach on Sundays, it is sweet to see them when I do. It is our hope that we would be able to share God’s love and the joy of the Lord with them.

As a parent of two children who have gone through Fireflies and moved on to Sparklers and Sonlight, I have appreciated the foundations of truth laid by the Fireflies’ ministry. Even now when I prepare for nursery teaching time, my kids love to listen to the Bible lessons and sing the memory verse songs with the hand motions. As fun as it is for them, I especially love that they love to learn about God and are hiding God’s Word in their hearts so young. We pray that what was true for Timothy would be true for the children of our church.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:14-15

It is our prayer that the Fireflies would love God more and more as they learn about Him in His Word to the end that they would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We thank the parents of our Fireflies for the opportunity to serve them and partner with them in this way. To God we give the glory, thanks, and praise.

The Call of the Redeemed to Love

by Pastor James Lee

Dale Galloway shares the following story:

Little Chad was a shy, quiet young fella. One day he came home and told his mother, he’d like to make a valentine for everyone in his class. Her heart sank. She thought, “I wish he wouldn’t do that!” because she had watched the children when they walked home from school. Her Chad was always behind them. They laughed and hung on to each other and talked to each other. But Chad was never included. Nevertheless, she decided she would go along with her son. So she purchased the paper and glue and crayons. For three whole weeks, night after night, Chad painstakingly made thirty-five valentines.

Valentine’s Day dawned and Chad was beside himself with excitement! He carefully stacked them up, put them in a bag, and bolted out the door. His mom decided to bake him his favorite cookies and serve them up warm and nice with a cool glass of milk when he came home from school. She just knew he’d be disappointed; maybe that would ease the pain a little. It hurt her to think that he wouldn’t get many valentines – maybe none at all.

That afternoon she had the cookies and milk out on the table. When she heard the children outside she looked out the window. Sure enough here they came, laughing and having the best time. And, as always, there was Chad in the rear. He walked a little faster than usual. She fully expected him to burst into tears as soon as he got inside. His arms were empty, she noticed, and when the door opened she choked back the tears.

“Mommy has some warm cookies and milk for you.” But he hardly heard her words. He just marched right on by, his face aglow, and all he could say was:

“Not a one… not a one.”

Her heart sank.

And then he added, “I didn’t forget a one, not a single one!”

In a spiritually dead world that is constantly and selfishly searching for “love” in all the wrong places, and thus unable to truly love, remember that as the elect of God, you are loved eternally and immensely, not because of you, but in spite of you. I find it terribly humbling that as the only people who are loved as completely as we are loved by our Creator, I am still terribly deficient in my love for people. Even the best kindness of an unbeliever, who also is made in the image and likeness of God, is nothing compared to the God-glorifying and soul-satisfying love that the Lord can work through His redeemed people, the church. The utterly amazing love of God for His children ought to make us great lovers of souls – because the white hot love of our Creator for His adopted ones is not only sufficient for our every need, but overflows beyond what we ourselves can possibly hold. We will never run on empty or be left alone in this world, if we love others, even our enemies, as He does, no matter how completely we give of ourselves.

Let us live this day and each day after as people who are consciously shattered and built up by how greatly we are loved, bearing more and more fruit of the Spirit in love. By responding to our Holy Master in daily submission to His Word, daily trust in His Sovereignty, and daily delight in His beauty, I pray we will find ourselves more and more like our Good Shepherd who already proved His love for sinners (Romans 5:8). Recently, old wounds began to bleed profusely in me and a sinful anger welled up in my depraved heart towards someone who hurt me deeply. It is so difficult to love our fellow sinners who sometimes cause us such bone-shattering sorrow. But as His elect, we are not our old flat-lined selves, but we’ve been raised to newness of life in Christ, so that even as we are in the process of being conformed into His image (Romans 8:28-29), we are enabled and are responsible, to love others as He does.

“For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)

I Am With You Alway

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Matthew 28:20

It is well there is One who is ever the same, and who is ever with us. It is well there is one stable rock amidst the billows of the sea of life. O my soul, set not thine affections upon rusting, moth-eaten, decaying treasures, but set thine heart upon Him who abides for ever faithful to thee. Build not thine house upon the moving quicksands of a deceitful world, but found thy hopes upon this rock, which, amid descending rain and roaring floods, shall stand immovably secure. My soul, I charge thee, lay up thy treasure in the only secure cabinet; store thy jewels where thou canst never lose them.

Put thine all in Christ; set all thine affections on His person, all thy hope in His merit, all thy trust in His efficacious blood, all thy joy in His presence, and so thou mayest laugh at loss, and defy destruction. Remember that all the flowers in the world’s garden fade by turns, and the day cometh when nothing will be left but the black, cold earth. Death’s black extinguisher must soon put out thy candle. Oh! how sweet to have sunlight when the candle is gone! The dark flood must soon roll between thee and all thou hast; then wed thine heart to Him who will never leave thee; trust thyself with Him who will go with thee through the black and surging current of death’s stream, and who will land thee safely on the celestial shore, and make thee sit with Him in heavenly places for ever.

Go, sorrowing son of affliction, tell thy secrets to the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. Trust all thy concerns with Him who never can be taken from thee, who will never leave thee, and who will never let thee leave Him, even ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’ ‘Lo, I am with you alway,’ is enough for my soul to live upon, let who will forsake me.

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Weekly Links (11/27/2015)

“This Thanksgiving, YOU are not going to convince your relatives and friends of the truth of the gospel. You can present evidence or argue with them till you are blue in the face, and they are not going to budge. A least you cannot win them over by argument alone. Remember, the reason people do not change their minds about what they believe is because their affections control their reasoning, their motivations, their presuppositions and their intuitions (John 3:19-20; Rom 1:18-21). Affections shape and bias the way we all process information and so people tend to rationalize on behalf of outcomes they want to see. People are skeptical of, and hardened toward, information they don’t want to believe and have deep motivations to protect information they do want to believe. So evidence, by itself, is a really bad way to try to convince someone of the gospel. But join your evidence and the gospel with your persistent heartfelt prayers for your friends and family and God may show up and surprise you. The seeds you plant and water may be germinated by the Spirit. So do not stop reasoning and persuading, but remember that understanding the gospel is a supernatural event where God changes hearts of stone to flesh (Ezek 36:26; 1 Cor 3:7; 12:3; 1 Thess 1:4, 5) so continue to look up in prayer for God’s help as you lovingly communicate the only truth which can deliver them from their captivity, of which we all once were a part.” (John Hendryx)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Thanksgiving! Since most are on vacation during this time, I’m presenting a beefed-up post of links for you all to enjoy while recovering from dinner. I pray this set will fill you up with thanksgiving to our great God and Savior!

That’s all for this week! Hope to see you all on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

Reflections on Ten Years of Marriage

by Patrick and Christine Cho

2015 has been a memorable year for the Cho home. This is our daughter’s first year in public school, and with all the fears we had going in, we are pleased that it has gone (and is going) much better than we could have hoped. We also had a chance this past summer to visit the Czech Republic with the church’s missions team, and it was a wonderful time of ministry and fellowship with the brothers and sisters in Beroun. We were even able to spend about a week in Paris for a family trip. Although it was completely exhausting, it was also tremendously fun! The main reason for that trip, and the biggest reason this year stands out for us, is that October 22, 2015 marks our ten year wedding anniversary.

I’m sure especially with a young church, a decade of marriage may sound like a really long time to some. Understandably, it also may not seem as long to those who are a bit more seasoned. In either case, the time really has flown by and this milestone serves as a fitting time to reflect on lessons learned and blessings experienced. Christine and I recognize God’s kindness to carry us through ten years of marriage, and there are many things we have been able to learn from it all. Here are some of the things the Lord patiently taught us over the past ten years.

  1. Marriage is truly a gift of God. One of the lessons we have learned is not to take the gift of marriage for granted. We still stand behind the words of Proverbs 18:22 which state, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.” Whatever the Apostle Paul might say about the value of singleness in 1 Corinthians 7, we also understand that marriage itself is a profound blessing. It has been a great journey walking together in faith. It has also been a blessing to simply undergo the process of learning one other. We know that there are many who desire marriage that for whatever reason in the purposes of God will not experience it, so we are extremely grateful for this gift of grace.
  2. Marriage requires teamwork. This is a theme that we cover in any premarital counseling sessions with other engaged couples. Love is not easy. Yes, there are times when everything seems to be working really well in the relationship and we are pushing in the same direction with a profound like-mindedness, but there are also times when the relationship is more difficult. There are times it seems we are seldom on the same page and are not understanding each other. There have been times that we have hurt and failed one another. And there have been times when it has been necessary to share a hard word with our partner. It’s in these times that it has been tremendously helpful to remember that we are on the same team. Whatever hardships we might walk through, we are walking together. We are cheering for each other and desire each other’s success. I know I want the best for my wife and she wants the best for me. It reminds me of the thought from Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, that there is strength in numbers. Being on the same team means that there will be times that we need to lean on each other, especially when one is not as strong. There will be times that we need to protect and defend each other. There are times when we need to encourage and cheer for each other. Being on a team means that we don’t speak ill of each other to others. We don’t throw each other under the bus. Instead, we work things out in private until the relationship is good.
  3. There is value in affection. Christine and I joke around that we are still in our honeymoon phase. We enjoy each other’s company because fun is a non-negotiable factor in our relationship. I sometimes tell other married men in the church that you cannot express love to your wife enough. You can’t say it enough and you can’t demonstrate it enough. Some may have heard the joke of the husband saying to his wife, “I told you I loved you when I married you, and if anything changes I’ll let you know.” But especially in a Christian marriage, love is the ultimate expression since it is the summation of the Law of God (Matt. 22:37-40), and there should be a consistent expression throughout the marriage relationship. As Dr. Ernie Baker recently shared at our recent married couples’ weekend conference, the Bible instructs us to love our neighbor (Matt. 22:39), and perhaps our closest neighbor is our spouse. Of course, there are many different ways to express love and affection (e.g., physical affection, intimacy and sex, verbal communication, acts of service, acts of sacrifice, gifts, etc.), and different occasions will warrant different expressions. The important thing is that it is being expressed and that the relationship is being affirmed.
  4. There still is a lot to learn. There are many other lessons and blessings I could add to this list that Christine and I have gained over the past ten years, but if anything is concrete and clear, it is that we are not at the journey’s end. We still have so much to learn about marriage and each other. We have much to learn about what it means to love one another in the love of Christ. Our selfishness and pride oftentimes get in the way. We constantly find ourselves returning to the throne of grace begging for mercy and help. Even with all the lessons learned, we praise God for the arena of marriage where God continues to make and mold us into the man and woman He desires us to be.