Signs of Spiritual Maturity #18: A Passionate Desire to Grow in Maturity

“There are many Christian people in our churches today who do not want to be taught. They object to teaching and only look to be entertained. They say as much and criticize ministers who are trying to teach them. They insist they want something from the heart, and say they cannot be bothered with doctrine – it demands too much effort on their part. They will not read solid books, therefore, but only snippets and digests. They do not believe in studying God’s Word.”(DM Lloyd-Jones on Romans 14:17, Romans)

by Elder Peter Lim

Although there’s no shortage of topics to write regarding Spiritual Maturity, I will bring this series to an end here. If you haven’t figured it out by now, pretty much all the articles here on the Beacon are designed to increase your spiritual maturity in one way or another, so I’m sure I’ll be getting the other topics that I’ve been thinking about into a Beacon article in the future.

As this quote by DM Lloyd-Jones says, many people don’t want to work hard in order to pursue spiritual maturity. Or they want to be mature without going through a difficult process of study, conviction, and refinement. Sometimes people will even express a desire to “want to want” maturity. That is, they don’t actually want maturity because they know that it’s not going to be easy to give up the things of the world and pursue Christ. I’m not talking about people who truly seek to be spiritually mature and are finding it difficult, or are experiencing some failures along the journey. I’m talking about those who claim to have been Christians for a while (or want to be one) who have simply given up hope that they can grow or the that cost is too high.

Typically these are people whose desire to change their questionable lifestyle is shallow and short-lived. They are satisfied with lack of growth or are too lazy to think deeply about holiness. They tend to question whether gray area issues are so bad because they don’t mind going toward the direction of the “sin border” rather than away from it. They get bored easily and would rather be entertained by worldly entertainment. They sometimes have doubts about their own faith and they struggle with sin regularly.

In contrast, a sign of someone who is growing in maturity is a passionate desire to grow. They are not satisfied with the level of their current personal holiness and look for ways to continue to change. This is true whether they’ve been a Christian for a short time or for decades. Presumably, those who have been a Christian longer should be more mature which ironically leads to a greater desire to mature. This desire to grow is a result of a firm understanding that the most mature of us still lack holiness by a wide margin, and our desire is to be holy as God is holy. (1 Peter 1:16) If you desire to grow in maturity and be challenged, ask someone to help keep you accountable to put this desire into action and to sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron.

It should be fairly obvious by now that the things mentioned in this series of articles are calls to a never-ending journey toward a direction, not merely a destination. Well, almost never-ending. All this maturing ends in the presence of Jesus Christ when we dwell with Him forever
in Heaven.

LBC Weekly SPARK – February 7, 2015

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Dear LBC friends and family!

I know it’s been a couple weeks since the last Spark (there goes that New Year’s resolution!). I hope you are doing well and walking in the Lord! These last couple Sundays, we have been walking through a biblical understanding of church membership and church discipline. I hope it has been a helpful series. My plan is to continue walking through a short series on the church before moving on to other things, but this Sunday we’ll be introducing the theme for 2015. We have been doing this since 2000. Here are the themes we have covered in the past:

2000 – SHINE THE LIGHT
2001 – SEE THE GLORY
2002 – JESUS IS LIFE
2003 – LIVE THE LIFE, LIVE TO TELL
2004 – LIFE IS NOT ABOUT YOU
2005 – MUCH ABOUT JESUS
2006 – LOVE THEM LIKE JESUS
2007 – BUILDING THE BODY
2008 – IN CHRIST ALONE
2009 – FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST
2010 – UNTIL THE WHOLE WORLD HEARS
2011 – BOUND AS ONE
2012 – DYING TO KNOW HIM
2013 – MAKING GOD BIG
2014 – ONE THING I DO
2015 – ???

As always, I hope you are looking forward to opening up God’s Word together on Sunday morning and delighting in the fellowship He has provided for us through the church. Have a wonderful weekend!

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

Here are this week’s ministry opportunities:

  1. Grace Life / Single Life Fellowship Activity. Yeehaw! Grace Life would like to host an evening of food and fun with the folks of Single Life! Come on out on Saturday, February 7, at 5:00 PM, for some good ol’ country fun! Singles, please sign up with Lance Toy. Grace Lifers, please sign up with Kristie Rudolph.
  2. Members Meeting. Don’t forget that we’ll be having a members meeting on Sunday at 4:45 PM. All members are highly encouraged to come. As always dinner will be served!
  3. College Life Retreat. Please be praying for our collegians as they head up to retreat on the weekend of February 13-16. Pastor John Kim of LBC Los Angeles will be their speaker as they cover the topic of “True Love.”
  4. LBCLA. Please also keep praying for LBC Los Angeles (and all the LBC church plants!). This weekend, LBCLA will be celebrating one year of ministry! Congratulations to Pastor John and the members of LBCLA!
  5. Membership Class. Our next membership class will be on the weekend of February 21-22. Part 1 of the class will meet on February 21, from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, at the church. Part 2 will meet on February 22, from 1:00-4:00 PM. Attendance at both classes is required. Please contact Pastor Patrick for an application or if you have any questions about membership (pastorpatrick@gmail.com).
  6. Baptism Service. We will be having a baptism service on Sunday, February 22, at 4:00 PM. Come out to support those who will be sharing testimony of how God has worked in their lives to bring them to faith in Christ.
  7. Single Life Retreat. The Single Life annual retreat will be taking place March 13-15 at Pine Valley Bible Conference Center. This year’s guest speaker will be Pastor Alton To from San Francisco Bible Church. The cost will be $150 per person and registration will open in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned for more details!
  8. Czech Republic Missions. If you are interested in applying for the Czech summer missions trip, please join us Sunday after Sunday School hour for a brief introductory and info meeting. We will plan to meet as soon as Sunday School is over in Room 107.
  9. Care Month. Don’t forget that February is Care Month! Stayed tuned each Sunday as the Care Ministry provides unique opportunities encourage your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ!

Thou Shalt Not Be Afraid For The Terror By Night

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Psalm 91:5

What is this terror? It may be the cry of fire, or the noise of thieves, or fancied appearances, or the shriek of sudden sickness or death. We live in the world of death and sorrow, we may therefore look for ills as well in the night-watches as beneath the glare of he broiling sun. Nor should this alarm us, for be the terror what it may, the promise is that the believer shall not be afraid. Why should he? Let us put it more closely, why should we?

God our Father is here, and will be here all through the lonely hours; He is an almighty Watcher, a sleepless Guardian, a faithful Friend. Nothing can happen without His direction, for even hell itself is under His control. Darkness is not dark to Him. He has promised to be a wall of fire around His people-and who can break through such a barrier? Worldlings may well be afraid, for they have an angry God above them, a guilty conscience within them, and a yawning hell beneath them; but we who rest in Jesus are saved from all these through rich mercy. If we give way to foolish fear we shall dishonour our profession, and lead others to doubt the reality of godliness. We ought to be afraid of being afraid, lest we should vex the Holy Spirit by foolish distrust.

Down, then, ye dismal forebodings and groundless apprehensions, God has not forgotten to be gracious, nor shut up His tender mercies, it may be night in the soul, but there need be no terror, for the God of love changes not. Children of light may walk in darkness, but they are not therefore cast away, nay, they are now enabled to prove their adoption by trusting in their heavenly Father as hypocrites cannot do.

‘Though the night be dark and dreary,
Darkness cannot hide from Thee;
Thou art He, who, never weary,
Watchest where Thy people be.’

4.22p

Weekly Links (2/6/2015)

“If we, as theists, believe that the universe is fundamentally personal in character, it follows that our ultimate understanding will not be in terms of things, which occupy space and may or may not possess certain properties, but of persons, who characteristically do things. Action, not substance, will be our most important category of thought. It is a truth too long neglected by philosophers.” (J. R. Lucas, Freedom and Grace)

by Stephen Rodgers

Oh hey look, it’s the first Friday of a new month. And ‘lo! I have returned as well! With free stuff, as has been our custom for oh-so-many moons gone by now.

So let’s get to it:

And that should keep you busy until our paths cross again. See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

Counseling the Depressed (Part 1)

by Roger Alcaraz

Depression seems to be taking over the world like a virus, sometimes bringing people to a seemingly hopeless state that could last for years. It is a serious problem, yet I believe many counselors make it worse by not focusing their attention on the root cause of it. The goal of this article is to explain what depression is, how it’s typically treated in America, and finally, in part two of the article, how to think about depression biblically.

The Christian Counselor’s Medical Desk Reference defines depression as “a persistent mood that is characterized by intense feeling of inadequacy, sadness, hopelessness, pessimism, irritability, apprehension, and a decreased interest in or ability to enjoy normal activity.” This mood must last at least two weeks before being considered as clinical depression. Sadly, many people look at the circumstances of a person’s life and try to figure out what caused the depression rather than look at it from a biblical perspective: identifying not the circumstances around the person, but the condition of the person.

Depression could be caused in response to many things such as: guilt, preoccupation, stress from a tragedy, etc. It also takes on many forms such as: loneliness, irresponsibility, hopelessness, over-sleeping, insomnia, sickness, thoughts of suicide, loss of appetite, etc. The variety of causes and symptoms alone should indicate that there is no direct single causal factor of depression—meaning that even if a doctor had all the information regarding a person’s life and medical reports, there would be no way of knowing for sure whether or not the person would fall into depression. This means that if the counselor ever wants to get to the heart of the problem, he is going to first have to ask a lot of questions to understand the circumstances that led to this depression and how it is manifesting.

The most common treatment to depression is to take drugs. However, The New England Journal of Medicine found that drug companies selectively publish studies on antidepressants. Drug companies have published nearly all the studies that show benefit while withholding the numerous studies that show these drugs are ineffective. This warps peoples’ view of antidepressants, and it has fueled the tremendous growth in the use of psychiatric medications. Companies like the makers of Viibryd, Zoloft, and Cymbalta are now part of the second leading class of drugs sold.

Not to mention there are huge risks in putting so many chemicals in your body. These side effects include: nausea, weight gain, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, drowsiness, insomnia, dry mouth, blurred vision, constipation, dizziness, agitation, irritability, anxiety and even increased thoughts of suicide. Some of the side effects go directly against what the drug is trying to accomplish, revealing just how uncertain the outcome of taking them will be. I mention all this because if you’re counseling someone who has been diagnosed with clinical depression by a doctor, chances are that they’ll be taking medication. While this article gives a simple overview of them, it’s your responsibility to know what they do. As counselors, it’s not our place to tell someone to go against their doctor’s advice, but we can encourage them to study for themselves and come to their own conclusions.

The second remedy is to develop good habits like eating healthy, sleeping regularly, exercising, and being involved with a support group. Similar to the drug remedy, all these cater to the symptoms rather than the cause. Even still, these are all good things we want to promote, not as the solution to depression, but as help along the way. Developing good and healthy habits can help someone overcome sin. Rather than becoming a sloth, it is good to put some effort into how one takes care of himself because it often reflects how hard he is willing to be disciplined in other areas of life.

As Christians, we know that discipline is not enough. We must have a heartfelt desire to do what God wants for us, otherwise, it’s not pleasing to God. But it’s like the times when I haven’t eaten in so long that eating food actually hurts my stomach. I have no desire to eat in those times because I know the pain that would come, but food is what I need and so I eat apart from desire. Similarly, a depressed Christian will likely not want to read the Bible, pray, serve others, or be involved in church. However, the very things that he doesn’t want to do are the very things that will help him. He doesn’t want to read about God, but only God can help. He doesn’t want to serve others, but he needs to take his eyes off of himself. He doesn’t want to be surrounded by people, but he needs good community and accountability. Therefore we must encourage right living even if the depressed person has no desire for it because it can lead to right thinking which can lead to triumph over depression. God designed mankind such that if we walk in obedience to his will, we will find contentment– and contentment is just what people are longing for.

Ultimately, as counselors, we need to guide them to think about depression biblically and remind them of the hope we have in Jesus. We do this by understanding their situation, caring for them, keeping them accountable in their disciplines, and pointing them to Christ through Scripture and prayer. In my next article, we’ll be looking at the biblical understanding of depression and how we can help others to fight against it.

@LBC (2/4/2015)

by David Zhang

Sermons

Why Church Discipline by Patrick Cho (Matthew 18:15-20)

  • This week we talked about the purpose and proper execution of church discipline. Check out this sermon to learn more about the biblical theology behind member care!

Special Feature

In light of care month and the sermon this past Sunday, here is an article written by Pastor Patrick that talks about caring for members through discipline. And here is the Beacon’s hub post on the topic of church discipline (where you can find the aforementioned article as well as other resources).

Along Came An Eichenwald

by Stephen Rodgers

Every year around Christmas time, “we” get “presents.” I use scare quotes here because when I say “we” I mean “Christians” and when I say “presents” I mean “attacks on our religion by the mainstream media.” And if we’re being thorough, this happens at Easter as well…remember the “Jesus’ Wife” manuscript drama from a few years back?

Often these articles have some sort of seasonality to them: an article at Christmas might attack certain conceptions of the Star of Bethlehem. I suppose that makes sense, although I have to admit I haven’t noticed any corresponding pieces in the New York Times addressing…oh, let’s say…inconsistencies in the Qu’ran right when Ramadan begins.

So when Kurt Eichenwald’s article “The Bible: So Misunderstood It’s A Sin” appeared in Newsweek right before Christmas, I really wasn’t surprised that it had showed up. Based on past experience, it was right on time. What did surprise me was how fundamentally confused… or dishonest… the author was. In fact, the author was so far afield of accepted scholarship on the Bible that even some of the scholars he quoted… many of them admittedly hostile to Christianity themselves… have been publicly distancing themselves from the article.

That’s a special kind of wrong.

Still the article itself is informative. This is (apparently) what some people believe about the Word of God in particular, and Christian doctrine in general. Or in some cases, this is what secular apologists hostile to Christianity want people to believe. That’s a scary thought.

To that end, I thought it might be helpful to collect some of the responses to the article. These serve not only to refute the article itself, but in many cases provide valuable context on some of the issues that Christians would do well to familiarize themselves with. Some responses are longer than others; some responses are more comprehensive than others. And honestly the respondents represent a somewhat diverse set of theological positions and convictions. But they all share a common feature in that they expose the Newsweek article for the factually-challenged hit-piece that it blatantly was.

Responses

Him Hath God Exalted

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Acts 5:31

Jesus, our Lord, once crucified, dead and buried, now sits upon the throne of glory. The highest place that heaven affords is His by undisputed right. It is sweet to remember that the exaltation of Christ in heaven is a representative exaltation. He is exalted at the Father’s right hand, and though as Jehovah He had eminent glories, in which finite creatures cannot share, yet as the Mediator, the honours which Jesus wears in heaven are the heritage of all the saints. It is delightful to reflect how close is Christ’s union with His people. We are actually one with Him; we are members of His body; and His exaltation is our exaltation. He will give us to sit upon His throne, even as He has overcome, and is set down with His Father on His throne; He has a crown, and He gives us crowns too; He has a throne, but He is not content with having a throne to Himself, on His right hand there must be His queen, arrayed in ‘gold of Ophir.’ He cannot be glorified without His bride.

Look up, believer, to Jesus now; let the eye of your faith behold Him with many crowns upon His head; and remember that you will one day be like Him, when you shall see Him as He is; you shall not be so great as He is, you shall not be so divine, but still you shall, in a measure, share the same honours, and enjoy the same happiness and the same dignity which He possesses. Be content to live unknown for a little while, and to walk your weary way through the fields of poverty, or up the hills of affliction; for by-and-by you shall reign with Christ, for He has ‘made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign for ever and ever.’ Oh!, wonderful thought for the children of God! We have Christ for our glorious representative in heaven’s courts now, and soon He will come and receive us to Himself, to be with Him there, to behold His glory, and to share His joy.

4.22a

Weekly Links (1/30/2015)

I have little doubt that the single greatest obstacle to the impact of the gospel has not been its inability to provide answers, but the failure on our part to live it out. (Ravi Zacharias, Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend)

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Feliz Friday! It’s flocks week, and though our various affinity groups may be on break, this week’s links are not! So, without further ado, here they are!

  • Do you know your church history? If not, here’s a recommended list of books that will put you on the right track.
  • How do you deal with emotions when tempted to make decisions based on them? Christina Fox gives some timeless wisdom on this roller-coaster of a topic.
  • How would you counsel a student if their biology teacher teaches evolution, assuming any alternative is false? Here is a concise answer that will be of help to anyone who currently faces this situation or will be facing it soon.
  • What does biblical godliness look like? Many would answer spending time in the Word and in prayer, evangelizing the lost, going on missions, etc. However, if there’s one area that is sorely missing in people’s minds about a true mark of godliness, it’s the practical outworking of loving others. Pastor Sam Byers challenges us to reconsider our priorities in light of what we already agree is essential to true godliness.
  • Desiring God has been producing some quality content of late, and I wanted to point you to only two (there’s more) of their very wonderful articles: John Piper’s reflections on his 69th birthday and the ultimate purposes of God, and a mother’s reflections on her miscarriage, and the goodness of God.
  • Though written for a specific audience in mind, pastor Mark Jones asks some questions that I think everyone needs to grapple with, not just for this upcoming Sunday, but for every Sunday. Will your attention be diverted from Christ on Sunday because of the Super Bowl? Please read and consider before the big game comes on.
  • Confirmation of Scripture coming from God has included His power in fulfilling prophecy, but many doubt that Scripture has fulfilled prophecy within its pages. Nathan Busenitz gives five responses to common objections on prophecy that every believer should be ready to explain to doubters and skeptics. Very informative and faith-affirming.
  • Denny Burk highlights the naive attempt on the part of the Mormon church to support protections for LGBT people with the hope that their religious freedoms will be protected. He provides insightful analysis and links to responses from other Christian leaders.
  • Do you find church to be boring and/or disappointing? Maybe a mind-shift is in order.
  • Should we teach our kids early that life isn’t fair? Candice Watters believes so, not just to make them ready for the real world, but because it can always point us back to what we ultimately deserve: an eternal hell separated from God. Storing this for future reference.

That’s all for this week’s links! I hope and pray that you all continue to pursue God with all your heart, mind, and strength! Let’s worship our Lord with our hearts full of praise together on Sunday!

Soli Deo Gloria

The Gift of Friendship

Group Photo

by Josh Liu

What is friendship? If you were asked, “What does the Bible say about friendship?” would you be able to answer? Do Christian friendships differ from non-Christian friendships? These questions are only a few of the many questions that demonstrate how significant the topic of friendship is. No man is an island; every person, to a degree, will be confronted with having to interact with or relate to another person. Friendship is particularly a significant issue among children and youth. Perhaps you have heard the old axioms, “One apple spoils the bunch,” or, “If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?” The first phrase reveals the concern of bad peer influence, while the question reveals a struggle for parent authority or personal responsibility (over and against peer relationships). Perhaps, while growing up, you wanted answers for the following questions:

  • Can my best friend be a nonbeliever?
  • Can my best friend be from the opposite gender?
  • How do I make friends?
  • Why did my friend leave me?
  • What do you do if there’s a fall-out with one friend in a group?
  • What do you do if friends begin liking each other?
  • Do I have to be friends with everyone?

At this past Lumos youth winter retreat, we spent four days at Big Bear Lake Christian Conference Center (from January 1-4), and studied what God’s Word taught on friendship. It was a blessed time of fellowship, games, learning, playing in the snow, and discussion!

During the first session, Jon Yang from LBCLA preached on friendship with God from John 15:5-17.

As James 4:4 says, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Those who refuse to submit to God in faith and obedience are actually in submission to the world (cf. Eph. 2:1-10; Rom. 6:17-18). To not have a relationship with God is to have a relationship with the world. If you are not reconciled with God, you remain under His wrath for your unrighteousness. There is no intimate, peaceful relationship there. However, through Christ’s death on behalf of the repentant sinner and resurrection from the dead, He gives the gift of a reconciled relationship to God, to be His friend. Jon gave four fundamentals for a friendship with God: (1) It is only possible because Christ laid down His life (vv. 12-13); (2) It is characterized by a loving and trusting obedience (v. 14); (3) It is characterized by different relationship (v. 15); And (4) it is characterized by love for the redeemed (v. 17).

In the second session, Cesar Vigil-Ruiz preached on how the Tri-unity within the Godhead impacts friendship.

The Trinity is a nonnegotiable distinctive of Christianity, which requires our utmost attention. The unity and relationship within the Godhead is absolutely transcendent. Thus, this section does not conclude that the Trinity serves as a model of friendship. Rather, as we pursue to love God and love people, our knowledge and worship of God will overflow into our love and service of one another. Cesar gave three applications for the pursuit of a biblical friendship: (1) Learn from the wise, caring, and goodness of the God the Father’s exercise of authority (Eph. 1:3-12); (2) Learn from God the Son’s submission to His Father done in joyful love (John 8:23, 28-32); And (3) learn from the behind-the-scenes character of God the Spirit.

Later, we divided between the boys and girls and had separate breakout sessions.

In the third session, I preached on the distinctives of a biblical friendship.

What is the difference between a worldly friendship and a biblical friendship? Is the basis of your friendship with someone formed around common interests (e.g. sports, music, hobbies), circumstances (e.g. event, project, trial), or some other commonality (e.g. nationality, culture)? The same things drive even friendships of unbelievers. If your friendship with a person is not founded upon and driven by Christ, you may be guilty of a worldly friendship. Here were tentative general definitions I provided: A worldly friendship is a relationship that serves a personal need/desire or expectation; A biblical friendship is a relationship that gives opportunity to live as a witness of and for God’s glory. I gave three distinctives of a biblical friendship. First, the foundation of a biblical friendship is Christ. This is the most important distinctive, which has been mentioned above. Christ is the bond between persons. Through Him, there is true commonality (or unity, intimacy, fellowship, relationship): common experience (of conviction and salvation), common victory, common authority, common pursuit or direction, common goal, common conduct, common family, common desires, and common sacrifice and suffering. A second distinctive is that, because of who Christ is and what He has done, all believers are called to friend others–to love and serve enemies and neighbors (cf. Matt. 5:47), to be witness of Christ to them (cf. Acts 1:8; Matt. 25:31-40). Third, since Christ is the bond between persons and the example of pursuing all others, believers share real unity and lasting intimacy. Friends come and go, but the fellowship of believers goes beyond time and circumstances.

Lastly, for the fourth session, I preached on friendship between boys and girls.

Sin has twisted relationships. There is a lot of confusion and inappropriate “friending” between men and women. First, I provided a five reasons why men and women ought to be friends (living a witness of and for God’s glory toward one another): (1) God created men and women in His image; (2) Relationships between men and women are included in the body of Christ; (3) Men and women have the same biblical commands (e.g. one another commands); (4) Men and women experience temptations, trials, and suffering; And (5) men and women have the same need–Christ and His Word. Next, I provided six ways to pursue an appropriate friendship with the opposite gender: (1) View each other as a precious sibling; (2) Live with above reproach wisdom; (3) Understand and honor other relationships–parents and spouse; (4) Fulfill biblical men’s and women’s roles; (5) Confront personal sin and temptation; And (5) devote to “one anothering” wisely.

Through this update and summary, my hope is that you are encouraged by what is going on in the youth ministry, exhorted to love God and others more, and challenged to examine your life and heart.

Will you pursue friendships as opportunities to live as a witness of and for the glory of God?