Ekklesia Atlanta Christian Fellowship

Ephesians 4:29 Memory/Meditation

2023-11-12T23:51:00.003-05:00

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, so that it gives grace to those who hear."

Hi EACF,

This brief passage has been stewing on the stove of my mind for quite a while, and I apologize that I'm only finally getting around to sharing some thoughts.

In this brief passage, we can see a progressively escalating standard for the kind of speech meant to characterize God's people, almost like rungs of a ladder that take you from the bottom to the top. Let me just take things phrase by phrase.

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths..."

When I first started reciting this passage to memorize it, my eyes immediately fixated on the word "corrupting". The meaning of the original Greek word is "rotten" or "putrid". It is the same word used when Jesus compares the fruit derived from a good tree versus the "bad" (rotten) fruit from a diseased tree (Matthew 7:17).

Most if not all of us have heard some version of the old English proverb, "One rotten apple can spoil the barrel/bunch". There's actually scientific truth behind that statement, since physically damaged apples release ethylene gas, which speeds up the ripening process of surrounding apples, which inevitably leads to premature ripening and spoilage of the rest of the bunch. We've all likely not only experienced but at some point in our lives also perpetuated the destructive power of gossip and slander.

Another (perhaps even nerdier) analogy is that of prion diseases. If any of you have heard of "Mad Cow Disease"- it is caused by prions (here is a cartoon video for those who are interested). Prion diseases happen when a specific protein found on the cell surface becomes abnormally folded, and in turn starts a chain reaction by causing other normally folded versions of that protein to become misfolded. This leads to clumps of misfolded protein in the brain, resulting in memory loss, personality changes, difficulties with movement, and ultimately death. It's pretty incredible that just one copy of one misfolded prion protein can trigger such a devastatingly fatal disease. Similarly, our tongues indeed can be a fire, a world of unrighteousness (James 3:6) that not only express the rottenness inside ourselves, but in doing so spreads the rot just as an uncontrolled fire consumes swaths of a forest.

"but only such as is good for building up...." While the initial rung was to command against what our speech should not be- the next rung of the ladder shows us what our speech should be for- good for building up. In this context, the meaning of "building up" is to seek the growth of our brothers and sisters - to encourage one another towards their renewal into the image of our Creator (Colossians 3:10, Romans 8:29). Indeed, the purpose of all our gatherings and activities together as a local body of Christ is for the sake of such "building up" or "edification" (1 Corinthians 14:26).

"as fits the occasion...." If Paul had stopped at the phrase "building up"- we could potentially misinterpret the passage and walk away with a vague principle that we just need our speech to be positive in some general way. But not only are our words meant to build people up towards Christ-like maturity in general- they are to literally be "according to the need". We shouldn't flippantly spout off spiritual platitudes to one another (no matter how much biblical truth they hold). Instead, our words must be informed through paying close attention to the need of the other person in that particular moment or situation. This requires a posture of humility, and an intentional openness and desire to come close enough alongside someone to even help bear any burdens they may carry (Galatians 6:2). We can sometimes fixate so much on our own lives that our conversations merely consist of taking turns talking about ourselves. May the Lord grow us into intentional listening and speaking to one another in truth and love.

"so that it gives grace to those who hear...." Finally, the last rung at the top of the ladder brings us to the desired fruit of our speech towards one another. Our conversations are meant to truly benefit one another- to be gifts, expressing genuine good-will and lovingkindness, reflecting no less than God's own desire for each one of us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When you combine these descriptives- they give great weight to the worth of our words- perhaps so much so that it could even seem intimidating. Perhaps you're looking back on words you've said and realize that as Jesus himself said, "out of the overflow of the heart" our mouths have spoken in destructive ways aplenty. What then? Does this mean that a church made up largely of introverts (like EACF) should just choose to be silent? May it never be! Paul would have never written such an exhortation if it were impossible...but what is the foundation for our confidence to speak such words of grace to each other?

Brothers and sisters, let us remember that on the cross, Christ Himself received the ultimate word of condemnation that the perfect and holy law of God demanded of us, so that we would in turn receive the ultimate word of grace from Christ himself- "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do". Having received such manner of love from God the Father to become His children, we have been given His Spirit and grace which trains us to renounce ungodliness, to avoid irreverent babble, and to encourage one another and build one another up. Since we have freely received grace upon grace, may we in turn freely give of that grace to each other. May we drink so heavily in the fountains of His grace towards us that our hearts and mouths will overflow with it for one another.

Grace,

Mike

2 Corinthians 5:17 Memory/Meditation Part 2

2023-09-29T01:05:00.003-04:00

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come".

Hi EACF,

The last time I wrote you regarding this brief passage, I focused on the spiritual realities of what it means to be "in Christ"- to be a "new creation" and for the new life to take hold in place of the old. Of course, the spiritual realities will inevitably show forth through changed lives, whether the changes be drastic or gradual.

This time, I'd like you to come along with me to look around 2 Corinthians 5 through a wider-angle lens to take away some implications for those who belong to Jesus. In other words, "If I've been made a new creation in Christ, what then does it look like? What does it mean for me in my day-to-day life?"

From my reading, I see 4 new "P"s for those who are new creatures Christ:

Those who are in Christ are driven by a new Passion, have been given a new Purpose, have been given a new Perception, and have a new Pursuit.

Passion

"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;" v. 14

Every time I read this particular passage, I am in awe of the kind of life that God has given us and called us to embody. For many of us, having control of our lives is a subtle but recalcitrant idol. Our internal/fleshly voices tell us that life is truly good ONLY when everything is going as WE planned- (e.g. our jobs are secure, we make enough to not live from paycheck to paycheck, we have married someone we love....and if we have kids they are going to the best schools...and you have a set of relationships that we are comfortable with...). When any of those things (and other things I've not mentioned as well) fall out of joint or goes awry...we start questioning God's goodness, as if we were entitled to every comfort.

Does the idea of being controlled by the love of Christ bring you joy and gladness, and a willingness to serve Him regardless of what it costs you? Or does it seem far-off, something unattainable, something for "super spiritual" Christians? Regardless of how that phrase hits you, the truth is that if you belong to Christ- this is your destined reality. You and I were called out of darkness and into his marvelous light not so that we could live as we wish, but to be conformed to the image of His Son. If our lives are meant to become like Christ, that transformation always begins on the inside and works its way out.

Purpose

"and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. v.15

"So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him." v.9

If the love of Christ is the all-encompassing and centering passion of our lives, then it makes complete sense for us to make it our aim to please the one who loved us and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20).

Just as we went through the first question in New City Catechism: "What is our only hope in life and death?" "That we are not our own, but belong, body and soul, both in life and in death to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ"- so we have been bought with a price, and therefore are meant to honor God with our body (1 Corithians 6:20).

Perception

"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer." v.16

When the love of Christ begins to take hold of our lives, we will find that we are given new eyes (sometimes drastically, other times more gradually) to see everyone and everything in a different light. We start to see that there are no longer people who are irredeemable, no matter how lost they seem- no matter how wrong we consider their perspectives on life (politics, society, philosophy, faith) may be- because we know that apart from God's grace we were just as dead in our sins and unable to save ourselves.

We also start losing the fleshly tendency to see others as a means to our ends- and instead realize that other people (whether they belong to God's family or not) are made in His image and are worthy of care and love regardless of how they treat us, or what they can potentially offer us. Ultimately the love of Christ breaks our hearts for the hurt and brokenness that sin has wrought in the lives of the people we rub shoulders with.

In addition to this, we start to see that all the earthly/material gifts that God has blessed you with are ultimately to be stewarded for the sake of bringing Him honor and glory....and so we reassess and redirect all that we have towards the controlling passion of our lives...

Pursuit

"Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience." v. 11

"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." v. 18-19

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." v. 20

And so as the love of Christ grows in us and takes ahold of us, we will inevitably seek to channel that love towards faithfully representing Christ to those around us- in every way that we are led by His Spirit to do, employing every means we have at our disposal so that God would make his appeal through us. Living in this way may not look as you imagine. It may require you to sacrifice comfort and control- actually it's quite certain that you will relinquish control to Christ as you seek to obey Him. We cannot follow Him without losing control. God has given US the ministry of reconciliation. We are the messengers who are to proclaim what God has done in Christ.

As I mentioned in a previous post- I took a trip to Berlin for a conference, and had the opportunity to visit certain monuments- and one of these included a mile-long strip where the wall used to occupy and divide Germany. There was formerly a church that literally straddled both sides of the wall that was torn down to make way for the wall. Now a small chapel has been built in memory of that church, along with several remaining relics from that building. There was a sculpture next to that new chapel called "Reconciliation". The sculpture was such a poignant expression and reminder of how reconciliation is a messy, hard, and painful work- but because of Christ (see the Bible between the two people)- it is possible and worth it. How much more so is reconciling people to God!

Brother and sisters, this kind of life controlled by the love of Christ is not just an ideal- the Lord gave us these words from Paul so that we could know that it was (and is) possible in real life- but NOT by our own efforts.

If this kind of life feels like a far-off impossibility, I encourage you to go back to the beginning- start with the love of God in Christ. Ask the Lord to mesmerize you with the length, breath, height and depth of His love for you, the love the passes all understanding yet which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit so that we can cry "Abba, Father" to our gracious heavenly Father. May Christ's life, death, and resurrection grow in becoming the most precious truth that undergirds your life. Hide yourself in Him. May His life be your life.

May the Lord direct our hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.

Grace and Peace,

Mike

P.S. For anyone interested in the rest of the Berlin Wall Memorial, I've shared an album here:

Proverbs 18:10 Memory/Meditation

2023-09-08T00:12:00.000-04:00

Hi EACF,

My apologies for the recent pause in these meditations- they've been in my head/heart, but I haven't made the time to actually write things out. So here we go! :-)

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe."

Although this passage is short, there's actually a lot that we can think and meditate upon. I want to briefly touch on three aspects of this passage.

"The name of the LORD..."- In Scripture, the idea behind one's name was not just a identification label- but represented their nature or essence- their character, identity, and reputation. Whenever we we see "LORD" in all caps, it represents the actual name of God, that is "YHWH" (pronounced "Yah-weh", and often translated in older english Bibles as "Jehovah"). So in effect, this passage would read "The name of YHWH is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe". In just the Old Testament, there were a number of names attributed to God such as "The LORD Almighty", "The LORD of Hosts/Armies", "The LORD our healer". For a brief primer on such names, here's a link to explore: OT names of God
"...is a strong tower". In the time of Israel, towers within fortified cities signified strength and a place of refuge where one could hide from dangers below. We repeatedly see in the Psalms that the Lord is described as a hiding place (Ps 32, 119), a shield (Ps 3, 28, 119) a refuge, a rock of salvation (Ps 62, many others). Furthermore, those who take refuge in him are assured of receiving the goodness of God, of being blessed (Ps 34).

So at this point, we can see at least that God's character and identity can be trusted to protect.
"..the righteous man runs into it and is safe." Notice here that the righteous man is utterly dependent on God to keep him safe. He doesn't just saunter over to the tower at his own leisure- he runs into it. There is an urgency because the man knows that unless he finds refuge, he is not safe from deadly threats about him. Our individualistic/do it yourself culture often assumes that someone who is righteous has strength within themselves to weather and ultimately outlast the trials and troubles of life. But may we heed the word of the Lord, and not our own intuitions- nor bow to the winds and currents of our culture. The righteous man is not self-sufficient. His security comes from the character and identity of the LORD.

What does all this mean for us? How does this apply to us? I'd venture to say that we oftentimes run to anything BUT God for our sense of security and well-being. We seek the safety and salves of money (and the toys/comforts it afford us), relationships, the affirmation of achievement (be it in the workplace or even in the church context) or of human praise (in-person or virtual). Anything to tell ourselves, "Yea, I'm doing okay- everything's under control- I got this- I'm good".

For those of us who have received Him and have received the right to become children of God...let's forsake believing the lies behind those counterfeit towers that will crumble. Our lives are hidden in Christ, and only in Him are we truly secure- through his life, death and resurrection we have been set free from slavery to sin and to the fear of death. Christ Jesus is our "wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1) and as his kingdom of priests, we are called to declare the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into light- to the praise of his glory.

How well do we truly know the character of our God? How often have we thought upon his steadfast love? When we think of our Lord, would our first thoughts about God be congruent with how God first revealed himself to Moses? (Exodus 34:5-7).

In John 17 when Jesus prayed his priestly prayer for his disciples and for those who would believe through them (that's us!!), he finished it with these words:

"O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:25-26

If we want to grow in understanding the name/character of our God- let us keep looking and ultimately depending upon Christ- all that he has done, who he is and forever will be for us together as his body. May the Holy Spirit continually and increasingly illuminate our hearts to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6), so that our collective boast may be in the Lord alone (Jeremiah 9:23-24, 1 Corinthians 1:31, Galatians 6:14). As we grow in knowing the Lord, may the very love that God the Father has for God the Son be in us by the power of his Spirit dwelling in us, all to the glory of his name.

To help us continue meditating on the name of God, I recorded a brief medley- hope that it encourages you to press on to know and love the LORD.

Jehovah Medley

Grace and Peace,

Mike

2 Corinthians 5:17 Memory/Meditation

2023-08-11T00:17:00.002-04:00

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come."

This week's memory verse is relatively short compared with the past several entries, and is likely very familiar to most of us.

But sometimes our familiarity with such a passage actually keeps us from growing in our understanding- we often end up making ourselves aloof to God's treasures for us by glossing over it. So let's slow down together and ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.

What does it mean to be "in Christ"? It means that we've been united with Christ for salvation through faith in his death and resurrection. By faith we have been baptized with Him through baptism into his death, and just as He has risen unto new life by the power of the Holy Spirit, so we have the same power and presence of the Spirit to walk in the newness of life (Romans 6). To slightly paraphrase what a famous preacher has said, "For those who have put their faith in Christ, what is true of Christ is now true of us." It means that we are holy and dearly loved as an adopted children in God's family, known in God's mind before the creation of the world. It means we have been redeemed from the penalty and power of sin (Ephesians 1), and that we have not only received forgiveness for those sins, but have received the righteousness that does not come from law-keeping but from Christ's perfect life credited to us through faith (Philippians 3). It means that our lives are secure and hidden with Christ in God, and that when He returns, we will share His glory (Colossians 3). Brothers and sisters, it's healthy for our hearts to "get carried away" with what Christ has achieved for us through the gospel. May we treasure the preciousness of our salvation and constantly set these truths before us each day!

What does being a new creation mean? Back in Genesis, we see that humans were made in the image of God- we were meant to reflect His likeness in governing creation with care, in relating with other image-bearers in loving-kindness. But because of sin, the image of God in every human has been marred and deformed, resulting in disordered loves that ultimately manifest themselves in rebellion against the Creator and His purposes in myriad ways- human hearts unyielded to God become inventors of evil (Romans 1)! But for those who are in Christ we have been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we may walk in them (Ephesians 2). Those who are in Christ have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator (Colossians 3). God is at work to conform his children into the image of Christ, and will use every circumstance to accomplish His purpose (Romans 8). As those who have been brought from death to life, we learn make it our aim to please Him because His love is what controls us (2 Corinthians 5). We start putting to death all that is earthly in us- putting off the old self and its deceitful desires- and being renewed in the spirit of our minds, putting on the new self created in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4).

"The old has passed away." But it doesn't always feel that way does it? We still struggle to put off the old self day in and day out. Allowing our own desires, thoughts, and behaviors to fall back into sinful patterns is never out of the realm of possibility. It happens more often than we'd like to admit. But the truth remains- what does it mean? It means that those who are in Christ are free from having to choose sin. Sin no longer has dominion over those who are under grace (Romans 6). The power of sin has been broken. This not only means we can choose a godward life characterized by ongoing repentance and growth in holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit- it means that we will actually grow to prefer/love it. If you are experiencing any kind of struggle against sin- let's praise the Lord that we are still fighting! It means the Holy Spirit is at work in us to convict us to turn and to love the truth. Even when we fall into sin and experience sorrow- may His kindness continually lead us to repentance.

"Behold, the new has come." The abundant life Christ came to give (John 10:10) is meant to be lived out in community through His church to His glory by the power of the Holy Spirit- be it in how we eat or drink, or whatever we do- but particularly in how we love one another (1 Corinthians 13, John 13). Even though we ourselves have not seen God visibly, we have been given new affections God and for His kingdom (1 Peter 1). It's why Jesus teaches His disciples to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done"- the true subjects of the king will long for His return and His rule. The Spirit and the Bride (the Church) say "Maranatha!" Come Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22).

Whenever I think of this passage in 2 Corinthians 5, I always remember this bronze sculpture.

Born Again by Dean Kermit Allison

May we remember that God is the one who works in us to will and to work according to his good pleasure (Philippians 2)- all glory be to Him!

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 Memory/Meditation

2023-07-25T18:05:00.002-04:00

“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Hard times by definition are exactly that. Amidst difficult times our minds typically perceive a meandering elongated path to our desired state or destination. Sometimes we’re so disoriented by hardship that we begin questioning the reality of our perceptions- we’re not sure whether what we desire is truly good- we’re not sure we’re meant to make it to the light in the tunnel- or whether that light is actually an oncoming train to avoid at all costs.

When Paul wrote this passage, he himself had been walking such a path. Earlier in the letter to the Corinthians he had written about being “so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death." (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)

How was he able to navigate such hardship to be able to see such afflictions ultimately as “slight” and “momentary”?

Paul was able to do so because he understood 1) the Purpose of the affliction, 2) the Prize beyond the affliction, and 3) the Person of Christ.

1) Paul saw that afflictions have purpose. Afflictions are God’s way of preparing His people for glory- elsewhere he reminds believers that “through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

A simple analogy to consider is that of how diamonds are formed. The starting material of a diamond is simple carbon- unless it undergoes extreme pressure and heat over long periods of time (estimated 1-3 billion years!), it remains as it is. One form is common and worth relatively little- while the other form weathered by pressure is transformed to be beautiful and precious.

Paul writes elsewhere that Christians are called by God to be conformed to the image of Christ, and that He makes all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8). The promises are secure as Christ’s death and resurrection, so that we can say with confidence with Paul, “If God is for us, who (or what) can be against us?”

2) Paul understood the magnitude and beauty of the prize that such afflictions were preparing for God’s people. He speaks of the afflictions being slight and momentary, and that they don’t hold a candle to the eternal weight of glory that is being prepared for God’s people. But what does this glory entail?

For one, it involves knowing God and his goodness like we’ve never known before. Paul knows God will spend all of eternity showing his people “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7). No matter how well we may know God’s word- no matter how closely we may walk by the Spirit, may we never let ourselves think that we’ve already plumbed the depths of the riches of God’s grace toward us. May it humble us so to consider that it will take the Father the coming ages of eternity to show us just how kind He is to us!

But there is another aspect to this weight of glory; one day we will know and have in full what God has created us for. We know that when Christ returns, we will be like him, for we will see him as He is (1 John 3:2). We will receive imperishable bodies (1 Corinthians 15), just like Christ’s resurrected body. Every tear will be wiped away, and pain will be no more (Revelation 21:4). There is certainly much more than I’ve briefly mentioned here- so I encourage you to explore the depth and breadth of this glory we will have!

3) Ultimately in Paul’s mind any kind of suffering or affliction would not have the last word because Paul knew the person of Jesus Christ. When we read just a couple of verses earlier in 2 Corinthians 4, we see this:

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-10)

Let me take the diamond analogy just a bit further. Diamonds are only possible provided that the carbon atoms are arranged in a particular way. Specifically, only the tetrahedral arrangement of carbon enables it to endure the enormous forces required to become a diamond. Any other molecular arrangement of carbon could not withstand such pressure.

In our world, hardship more often than not doesn’t result in glory. Pain and suffering decidedly aren’t automatically followed by better times. We know too many instances where pain begets pain, and how suffering can lead one down spirals of sorrow upon sorrow. The self-centered late-modern Western culture in which we live and breathe does not have a coherent ethic to understand or deal with suffering- it only seeks to avoid it at all cost.

Only those who trust in Christ’s death and resurrection- those who behold the face of the glory of God in Christ- have the true and living hope through which our hearts and minds are renewed and reconfigured to perceive and endure afflictions. Christian hope isn’t just about having the ability to have a “grin and bear it” facade as we bear our hard times, but to be able to do so with unshakeable joy.

Brothers and sisters- are we captivated by the love of Christ? Is He becoming increasingly precious to us? Are we actively learning to consider everything loss for the sake of knowing him in the fellowship of his suffering as well as in the power of his resurrection? (Philippians 3:9-10).

Let me conclude with an encouragement from James:

“As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

Even we walk through this world-marred by our own besetting sins and the brokenness we experience in human relationships big and small- may the Lord grant us grace to increasingly see each hardship as a doorway that leads to incomparable glory- all because of what Christ has secured for us through the Gospel. In our lives, especially amidst our afflictions, may we trust our gracious God to transform our Valley of Achor into a door of hope (Hosea 2:15).

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Psalm 103:19-22 Memory/Meditation

2023-07-09T00:40:00.002-04:00

"The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!"

For those of you who have been following our mini-journey of memorizing and meditating on Psalm 103- congratulations- we've come to the final verses here! I pray that the Holy Spirit has been blessing your heart and mind as you've sought to make a dwelling for His word in you.

Psalm 103 has thus far been an extended meditation on the steadfast love of the LORD- but in these final verses, David reminds his fellow singers (remember the Psalms were written to be sung!) of God's sovereign rule- "his kingdom rules over all". While it may seem a simple truth or thought at first glance- if we allow ourselves to think upon it further- God's sovereignty is such a foundational bedrock for our salvation and joy. It's at the heart of Roman 8:28- "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose". It's precisely because God is sovereign over all that we can rest secure in and through the storms and hardships of life- because nothing- not inside nor outside of us can thwart God's purposes for us.

But there will be times when it won't feel so easy to swallow the truth of God's sovereignty.

Two weeks ago I took a work-related trip to Berlin, Germany. Most of us are at least vaguely familiar with the Holocaust during World War II, in which over 6 million Jews were systematically exterminated under state-sponsored Nazi ideology. In some of my down time, I had the chance a particular memorial site dedicated to explaining in painstaking detail why and how things ended up the way they did. It was called The Topography of Terror (link includes some photos I took there). While I only spent about 2 hours at the memorial, I was struck not only by the intentionality and systematic entrenchment of such evil- but also the banality of it. This extraordinary evil was also ordinary- because it was so well ensconced that an entire nation became complicit. While Adolf Hitler certainly (and deservedly) earned his right to become the prototypical villainous tyrant- every officer that carried out orders from above to round up Jewish families en masse, to conduct mass killings, to perform dangerous experimental medical procedures on humans considered sub-human...was every bit as guilty as he. To some of those who live (and die) through such evils- God is utterly absent to them and all faith is lost. As I perused the exhibit, there was a real heaviness I felt- and part of me would ask, "God...even over this?"

And yet for us in Christ- the answer to that question is "Yes, indeed God is still sovereign- even over this." This truth is not meant to be an easy band-aid solution to make everything fine and dandy. The sovereignty of God should awe us to worship and reverence. If God was sovereign over the world's greatest evil- the death of the only innocent man who had ever graced the face of this earth (our Lord Jesus Christ) (Acts 2:22-24)- then He indeed is sovereign over all. Even amidst my own heaviness that day, the LORD was gracious to send a visual reminder of His sovereignty to me through a rainbow.

So in view of the steadfast love and sovereignty of our God- the only right response is to call for praise! David calls the heavenly hosts and all of creation to bless the LORD! And in calling forth such praise, he reminds himself (and us) of our rightful response to join in that chorus.

EACF, my prayer for us is that we would grow in becoming a people of praise- not just when visible and palpable blessings abound- but especially amidst difficulty and trial. May we become a people who will consider it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds, for we know that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness. Moreover may we remember that we are blessed when we remain steadfast under trial, for after we have endured, we will receive the crown of life which God has promised for those who love him. (James 1:2-3; 12)

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Psalm 103:15-18 Memory/Meditation

2023-06-24T01:34:00.001-04:00

"As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments."

Our current passage provides a poignant reminder that our days are fleeting.

"As for man, his days are like grass...."

I grew up in Northern California, and those who are familiar with the region know how perpetually dry it can be- with hills that are yellowish-brown for 95% of the year. On the off occasion that it rains, the hills turn green almost immediately- but even within a week or two without rain, they go back to their default hue.

The Psalmist tells us that our lives are like that too.

"...the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place remembers it no more."

Not only are our earthly lives transient, we are fragile- we are gone with the wind, so to speak. It doesn't take much to unmoor us from the illusions of success, safety, and comfort we often strive so hard to obtain. As much as we may try to plan for contingencies, we are always susceptible to loss- be it an unanticipated loss of a family member, losing a job, or losing a treasured friendship/relationship.

If that wasn't bad enough- we're reminded that we are forgotten- "its place remembers it no more."

As people grow older, it's natural to look back on one's life and consider whether their life counted for something. And in our society which often embodies hyper-capitalistic tendencies- we often mistaken activity and productivity for significance. An underlying fear of our own insufficiency and inadequacy will always have us asking ourselves whether we are "enough".

"Did I provide my kids enough academic/social/spiritual enrichment through their summer activities?"

"Have I done enough to make sure I have the life that I want for myself (or for my family)?"

"Have I done enough to care for those around me that they would remember me fondly?"

"What kind of legacy will I leave when I die?"

For such anxious souls as ours- David turns our eyes away from our fleeting frailty and towards the boundless compassion of God.

"But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments."

What a contrast, and what a comfort! Though our lives are fleeting, fragile, and forgotten- the LORD's love for those who fear him never ends...and if God's love for his people never ends...that implies that his people will not come to an end either.

Ultimately God demonstrated his steadfast love toward us in giving us Jesus Christ. Through His sinless life, his suffering sacrifice on the cross to pay the debt of our sin, and his death-defeating resurrection- He secured our rightful place as heirs of eternal life that begins even now, adopted into His family to live and reign with Him forever. Praise be to God for his indescribable gift!

So EACF, may the steadfast love of the Lord be the anchor of your soul- may the good news of Jesus Christ never cease to amaze you, and may the Lord teach us to number our days, that we may gain hearts of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

Grace,

Mike

Psalm 103:11-14 Memory/Meditation

2023-06-09T00:17:00.003-04:00

Hi EACF,

May the Lord bless and keep all of you this summer- I know that many of us are on the road to see friends, family, beautiful sights around the country, and perhaps outside the country as well!

Even as we are out and about, I want to invite you to keep storing God's word in your heart- whether you are feeling great or feeling down and out, or somewhere in between- the Lord wants to remind you of His nearness and His care for you.

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion on his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust."

Many of us are probably quite familiar with this passage. But let's not let our familiarity allow us to pass over it without meditating on it.

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth....." When this Psalm was written, the author and his readers could glimpse endlessness of the skies through their own eyes- they undoubtedly saw many more stars at night than we do now since we've got so much light pollution in our modern world (remember how God told Abraham to number the stars...if he could?).

And yet, through to the development of increasingly sophisticated telescopes across the last several decades like the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and most recently the James Webb Telescope (among others as well!), God has given us an unprecedented glimpse of just how much higher the heavens are truly above the earth. The Webb Telescope itself sits over 900,000 miles away from the earth- and recently detected a galaxy cluster ~ 30 billion light years away! Just one light year is already 5.88 trillion miles (5,880,000,000,000)...and now multiply that by 30,000,000,000! (For those who are curious, the total number of miles is 176400000000000000000000 = 1.764 × 10^23)

How great is His steadfast love towards those who fear Him! The heavens indeed declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim the works of his hands (Psalm 19). But even further beyond the gargantuan numbers, we know that in Christ God condescended from infinite heights of holiness to not only meet us sinners where we are, but to experience pain, sorrow, and grief through suffering in the worst way for us. None other could bear the weight of the sins of the world past, present, and future but the Holy and Anointed One of God. Jesus bore our sin in His death, clothed us in His righteousness through His perfect life, and through His resurrection has secured our salvation forever as children of God. Why did He do it? He did it for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12). The prospect of doing His Father's will to rescue those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:15) brought him joy!

"He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust." As our Creator, surely God knows how we are formed/shaped. He knows how short our lives are- our lives in view of the cosmic time scale is miniscule....and yet what magnificent mercy and patience He shows us- what kindness and generosity He has shown us in Christ! Be amazed EACF, that God would go to such lengths to rescue dust like you and I, and that He chooses to conform us into the image of Jesus. He is in the business of making beauty even out of the dust.

Let me just leave you with an image, and one final passage from Psalm 8:3-4, as it encapsulates this meditation.

(For info about this picture of the Eagle Nebula (often called the Pillars of Creation) https://esawebb.org/images/pillarsofcreation_composite/)

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?"

May the Holy Spirit grant us a deeper grasp of God's unfailing love for us!

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Psalm 103:6-10 Memory/Meditation

2023-05-26T00:01:00.004-04:00

"The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made his ways known to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities."

Last time we looked at the first 5 verses of Psalm 103, in which the Psalmist calls us to remember how God is worthy of our praise for all that He does- forgiving our sins, healing our diseases, redeeming our lives from the pit, crowning us with steadfast love and mercy, satisfying us so that our youth is renewed like the eagle.

These are undoubtedly wonderful blessings- and the majority of these blessings work personally and internally at the level of our hearts. In this next section, we're reminded that God's blessings are demonstrated visibly in public.

The Psalmist presumes that his readers/singers are familiar with their own history. He reminds them of how God remembered His promise as He heard the cries of the oppressed Hebrew people languishing as slaves in Egypt, and rescued them with a mighty hand and outstretched arm (Psalm 136). He used Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt- and showed great signs in the wilderness (e.g. leading them with a cloud by day, pillar of fire by night; manna for sustenance, water from the rock in the desert) in their tortuous path towards the promised land of Canaan. And we know that they wandered for 40 years before entering Canaan due to their own grumbling, complaining, and outright faithlessness towards God. The Psalmist knew that if God really treated Israel as they deserved- well, they would have been extinguished long ago. But because God is who He is- slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love- Israel was not consumed; and hallelujah bless the Lord, neither are we!

We are beyond blessed to be on this side of the resurrection of Jesus Christ- God's mystery having been fully unveiled to us (remember the song we sang on Sunday?)- God's love fully demonstrated for us as shown through Christ's life, death and resurrection. Our hope is unwavering, and the unshakeable joy we have is only a foretaste of our deliverance!

Ok, so now that we have seen God's plan unfold in Christ- and anticipate the new heavens and the new earth when He returns- does this mean that God has nothing left to show us of His ways in the meantime? May it never be! God in his gracious love, continues to show us his kindness that leads us to repentance. Even as He allowed Israel to wander for 40 years in the wilderness (as a way to discipline the faithless), so he will discipline those He loves, to conform them to the image of Christ (Hebrews 12:6; Romans 8:29). We are no better than the Israelites- their history is our history- there is nothing they've done that we are not every bit as prone to doing- making idols of all sorts of things (relationships, careers, comfort, among many others) that steal away the affections of our hearts from the only One who is worthy. We need the Lord to continually be gracious and merciful to us- and in Christ we know He is absolutely committed to keeping His promise to make us a people filled with His Spirit, walking in love and obedience to Him.

So with that said- I want to encourage us to ask ourselves- How has the Lord been making His ways known to you? How has His mercy and love been leading you to repentance (because repentance is not just a one time thing...)? How has he shown Himself slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love towards you? Has He been using various circumstances to show you your sin? Remember that even when you feel like you're at the darkest moment- He has not (and will not) leave you nor forsake you. He is still at work in you and will continue sanctifying you until He comes again (Philippians 1:6).

Brothers and sisters, may we be free to tell one another of God's steadfast love and mercy in our lives- particularly in how He continues draw us out of the darkness to walk in the light. Let's mutually share more reasons to bless His name together! How great is His mercy towards us!

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Psalm 103:1-5 Memory/Meditation

2023-05-12T00:55:00.000-04:00

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Our next several meditations will be taken from Psalm 103- I encourage you to try and memorize as much of it as you can. For every two weeks, it's just about 5-6 verses. The idea of memorizing verses can seem daunting- but just take it a verse at a time- don't let yourself move onto the next verse until you've got one verse down verbatim. But as you try- ask the Lord to use your efforts to hide His word in your heart to grow your love for Him- in your affections and your actions- it will delight His heart to hear you pray in such a way.

Have you ever felt as if your heart is divided? When you're driving on your way to church on Sunday morning, or as you are listening to God's word being preached, do you ever feel certain desires drawing you away from seeking and praising the Lord? Or during the week, when you're finally finished with a long day at work, does the draw of mindless activity take precedence over seeking the Lord? Congratulations, you're not alone! :-)

King David knew this experience- otherwise he wouldn't have written these words- "and all that is within me, bless his holy name!" (see also Psalm 86:11). He wrote these words to remind himself (and all of God's people) that we are made to praise the Lord with all of ourselves- that we are not to hold back any part of us in declaring His praise. He knew that our sinful tendency is to compartmentalize, often living like we belong to ourselves even though in reality we've been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20).

And how often we need to be reminded of why we are to bless the Lord! We simply forget! We must remember the goodness of the Lord in order for our hearts to praise Him accordingly. So David reminds us to turn our minds towards who God is. We praise the Lord for the forgiveness of our sins, ultimately accomplished through the cross of Christ. He has bought us (redeemed us) out of what we earned through the wages of sin (eternal death), and brought us out of darkness into His eternal kingdom of light. In Christ we are treated like sons and daughters of the King- because we have been adopted into the King's family. We are thus crowned with the steadfast/unfailing love and mercy of God. Because Christ is our life, our hearts are ultimately satisfied in His love (God's love is our greatest good- his love is better than life! Psalm 63). Bless the Lord indeed!

But there is one line that I didn't mention. What about that line saying that God "heals all your diseases"? Everyone knows that even after Christ's death and resurrection- we are met with the inevitability of disease, pain, and death. Surely David knew himself that even though God forgave him for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba- their firstborn son did not survive past 7 days (1 Samuel 12) What are we to make of this?

While the word "disease" typically connotes physical ailment, it is also used to describe moral and spiritual malaise. Now I don't want to tritely over-spiritualize things and say that David was just talking about spiritual healing- but I do want us to consider how God often uses pain to wake us up from our spiritual deadness.

There is a famous quote from C.S. Lewis' book "The Problem of Pain":

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

God often uses our pain, suffering, and affliction to expose our idols- the things we truly value/worship. God in his sovereignty may even see it fit for some of our afflictions to never go away, but to serve as reminders of our utter dependence on Him. But these afflictions always serve the purpose of purifying and sanctifying our lives- healing us from the lingering effects of our greatest disease- that of sin. In and through our earthly suffering (be it physical, mental/emotional, relational), the LORD is at work, accomplishing his purposes, making us more like Christ.

Indeed the writer of Psalm 119 says:

"It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes."

EACF, may you bless the LORD with all that is within you, never forgetting his benefits, trusting in His sovereign hand to heal you through your afflictions, remembering that as a child of the King, nothing in death or life can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Grace,

Mike

Romans 15:1-2 Memory/Meditation

2023-04-30T00:20:00.004-04:00

"We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up."

This passage is connected along the same line of thought with the last passage I shared about (Romans 14:7-8)

Paul is writing to Roman believers who found themselves at odds regarding eating certain foods. Those who were weak in faith likely still had their consciences bound by Jewish law and wanted to be careful not to eat foods potentially offered to idols (meat), whereas the strong in faith had freedom in their conscience to eat whatever they pleased since idols were false gods to begin with.

Paul however warned the strong in faith against allowing their own freedom to eat to become a stumbling block to those who are weak in faith. He wrote, "For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died... It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble." (Romans 14:15, 21)

So from this we can gather that in regard to any particular issue, the freedom of a believer stronger in faith must always be circumscribed by love for their weaker brethren.

If Paul had ended his exhortation there, we may conclude that all that is practically needed is for the strong in faith to avoid exercising their freedoms the presence of the weaker, and that would be that. Left on its own, one could see the community potentially devolve into the strong separating themselves from the weak.

But Paul wasn't done.

He explicitly states that the "strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and to not please ourselves." He calls the strong in faith to "please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." What does this mean practically?

It means that the strong in faith literally "owe" it to the weak in faith to "carry/take up" their weakness in faith/conscience.

It means that the strong cannot separate themselves from the weak- they must walk closely enough to lift the weak mental/conscience burden of weaker believers so as to ultimately build him up in faith. This is in line with what Paul writes elsewhere "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)

We live in a society where "survival of the fittest" is assumed to be how the world works (be it in biology, socio-politico-economically), and in a culture where one's individual freedom to determine and express their individuality is of utmost importance (aka "Expressive Individualism"). "You do you, and don't let anyone/anything get in your way".

Even as those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, our own sinful nature still clings to us and deceives us to prefer pleasing ourselves. But brothers and sisters- we've been redeemed to live like Christ- we are free by the power of the Holy Spirit to choose to love deeply, to sacrificially bear one another's real burdens with the other person's good in mind, for their edification and growth in the Lord. As we learn to walk together with one another in this way, may we remember how our Lord did not please himself, but through the cross carried the reproach/condemnation we deserved (Rom. 15:3).

I want to leave you with a final thought. I think it's easy for us to read such an exhortation and subconsciously assume that we are in the position of the strong believer. However, even as I share these meditations as your elder, I acknowledge that there are (and will continue to be) ways in which I am weak and will need to be born up by others as much as anyone else. On this side of heaven, we will always have stronger and weaker consciences in different ways regarding different issues. The likelihood of the weak in faith of the Roman church being Jews (who were familiar with God's law) versus the strong being the Gentiles is just an example of how even our own culture/upbringing can influence our faith/consciences. May the Lord grow us in humility and love as we seek to honor Him together.

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Romans 14:7-8 Memory/Meditation

2023-04-16T00:32:00.004-04:00

Hi EACF family,

We have just come through the season of Lent and have celebrated Christ's death and resurrection through Good Friday and Easter- Praise be to God!

But we know that our celebration is not yet finished. While Christ's death and resurrection and thus his victory over death is undoubtedly accomplished- it is also a preview- the firstfruits and foretaste of the renewed heavens and earth that is to come when Jesus returns to judge and rule as King forever! (Maranatha Lord!)

Likewise, we who are in Christ Jesus through faith are already called new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). We who are sealed with His Holy Spirit are also meant to be signposts to the coming reality of a renewed cosmos- the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God in full. I believe that our passage has some things for us to consider regarding how we live as faithful signposts in the meantime.

"For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's."

In thinking upon this passage, there are two themes that emerge.

1) Security in the Lord

When one reads this passage in isolation, there is a clear and simple takeaway at the end of it- that in life or in death, "we are the Lord's." That on its own is true, and is an unshakeable comfort we have as those who have been united with Christ through both his death and in his resurrection (Romans 6:4-11). This is why we celebrate Easter as we just have! We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God!

2) Serious implications of belonging to the Lord

This second theme requires a bit more of us- not only in our reading, but for the way we apply this passage to our lives. If we take a step back and read this passage in its context, we'll see that it is embedded in a discourse on life in the Christian community- namely about ways that believers despise and judge one another due to quarreling over strongly-held opinions.

It is into such a scenario that Paul writes, "For none of us lives to himself...." How should belonging to Christ affect the way we deal with brothers and sisters who disagree with us on views/practices that we hold dear? What if acceding to another's preference/practice would result in a restriction on our own freedoms and preferences? How would you respond? Would such conflict be the point where you cancel them? Would you more or less ignore them and just say that "I don't hold any ill will toward them...." but functionally exclude them from your life? Would you despise them in your heart for being too prudish/legalistic, or judge them for being too liberal?

Or, if a believer sins against you personally, would you love them enough to openly confront them for their wrong- but for the ultimate purpose of restoring fellowship and not harming them? Or would you out of spite want to make them feel as much shame as possible? I know this scenario is rather stark and seems easy to answer- but perhaps in practice our hearts may not always be so willing to choose forgiveness and restoration over condemnation.

Do you see how this passage does so much more than just reminding us of our belonging to Christ- how it points us to inevitably real implications for our lives in community as believers?

Will we choose to live unto the Lord amidst conflict in the Body of Christ? If you haven't experienced such conflict, you will at some point- and if you've already experienced conflicts within church life in the past or even the present- have you thought upon how our belonging to Him should shape or reshape our perspectives through conflict?

As those who belong to Christ Jesus, we have crucified our fleshly desires and passions (Galatians 5:24). That doesn't mean that such desires and passions disappear- but it means that they are no longer the defining ruler in our lives. We by the Spirit no longer have to obey such desires. So may we live unto the Lord, and die unto the Lord- rejoicing that we belong to Christ- and out of that joy live in faithful love and harmony amidst real conflict living as a community of Christ followers.

I encourage you to read through all of Romans 14 and up to Romans 15:7.

In closing, I'm just reminded of the title an old Rich Mullins song:

"Oh We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are"

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Psalm 84:10-12 Memory/Meditation

2023-04-02T00:16:00.004-04:00

"For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!"

For those of us who are older- this verse likely reminds you of the worship song written by Matt Redman by the title of "Better is One Day".

This psalm is written from the perspective of an Israelite journeying to Jerusalem to worship God at the temple. If you read the entire psalm, you cannot get past the longing and desire for the psalmist to be in God's presence. Remember at that time, the temple was THE place where God had promised to dwell among His people. The Psalmist simply says that he'd rather have a moment in the Lord's presence than an eternity anywhere else in comparison.

Have you ever been bitten with the travel bug (aka wanderlust)? When you see beautiful pictures of pristine beaches, snow-capped mountains, crystal blue lakes, isn't it easy to wish you were there? When life gets hard in any way (and if it isn't so for you now, it will be at some point in your future) isn't it easy to wish you were somewhere else? We've all seen those bumper stickers or license plate frames that show some rendition of "I'd rather be (fill in the blank)", be it fishing, skiing, traveling etc.

But not only does the Psalmist prefer the Lord's presence than anywhere else- he'd also rather render himself a menial servant in house of the Lord than to live contrary to God's ways. As a predominantly white-collared congregation, many of us at EACF are often conditioned to look ahead for our next job opportunity, the next promotion/raise. As high-achievers (whether pressured from within or externally), we're perhaps used to success and the tangible fruits thereof.

While such things are certainly not wrong in and of themselves, and can even be gracious gifts granted by God, perhaps we need to be all the more diligent to ask ourselves whether the goodness of God leads our hearts to humbly serve Him? Is God's goodness to us in and through the Gospel moving us towards a self-emptying attitude like Christ's (Philippians 2:3-10)? Will we trust the Lord to be the one who grants us favor and honor, and not run after such in our own strength according to our own desires?

Will we lay down our mistrustful suspicions that somehow choosing God's way will make us miss out on something better (aka FOMO)? "No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Will we take God seriously on His promises?

This idea of walking uprightly does not mean that God's favor rests on the degree of our good behavior- rather it describes the life of those who choose to live life according to God's ways. This encompasses confession and repentance, seeking to honor the Lord in and through our brokenness and rebellion; as I've encouraged us to do here and there on Sunday mornings- familiarize yourself with the Psalms, and you'll get a multifaceted picture of what life is like walking with God.

May we as EACF grow in our trust in the Lord, not just as individual members but as a body together, and find ourselves truly blessed by our gracious God in more ways we could have asked or imagined!

Grace,

Mike

Psalm 79:9 Meditation/Memory

2023-03-10T00:21:00.003-05:00

"Help us O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name! Deliver us and atone for our sins, for your name's sake!"

When was the last time you asked someone for help? Did you find it easy or natural to do, or was it difficult? If it was difficult, what made it difficult? For some of us maybe asking for help is hard because it's a hit to our pride and self-sufficiency- for others it may be that we just "don't want to be a nuisance" to others (which can still be pride just taking on a different form). If asking for help from others comes relatively easy for you, perhaps you've seen your parents' and older generations struggle with doing so- having this idea of "bu4 hao3 yi4 si" 不好意思, - being embarrassed to ask for help.

In any case, the reasons behind our reluctance to ask often has to do with a fixation with preserving our image or reputation- or in other words, our name.

But here in Psalm 79:9, the psalmist's wholehearted plea for help shows a radical God-centeredness.

For a little context, we can take a look at the whole of Psalm 79, and quickly find a pretty bleak situation (v.1-4). Jerusalem has been invaded and leveled, its people slaughtered; in short, Israel has become the butt of jokes among the nations, the very nations they were called to bless and be a light unto. I suspect that for most modern people who would find themselves in such dire circumstances, their question would be "Why would a good God let me suffer like this?"

But for the Psalmist- the question effectively was this- "Lord, how long will you allow your great name to be derided among the nations because of the ruin of your chosen people and city?"

Just from this one single plea for help, we can see three things about what the Psalmist believes:

1) God is the only hope for salvation, for deliverance

2) God's name is glorious and is worthy of honor

3) God forgives the sin of His people

What about us? How often and how boldly do we go to the Lord for help? We believe the same things about God that the Psalmist believed, right? Through Christ's life, death and resurrection, we have the ultimate evidence of God's love and forgiveness in the Gospel. And having been saved by grace through faith, we exult in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2), and live for the praise of His glory by making this gospel known among the nations (Ephesians 1:12-14, Luke 24:47). And having the assurance of God's unfailing love as His children, we go boldly to the throne of grace and anticipate receiving mercy and well-timed help (Hebrews 4:14-16).

As I meditated on this short plea for the past few weeks, I couldn't get past how this plea very much mirrors the heart behind the Lord's prayer that he taught His disciples.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (Matthew 6:9-13)

May the Spirit of God living in us increasingly enlighten the eyes of our hearts to treasure the greatness of God's grace through the gospel, to see how worthy He is of all honor and glory, and enable us to go to our Lord for help frequently and boldly- and to honor Him as He comes through for us!

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Isaiah 64:4 Meditation/Memory

2023-02-23T20:26:00.012-05:00

Hi EACF family,

As you know, we are still searching for a new lead pastor, even as Pastor Dave gets closer to finishing up as our interim pastor in the course of about 1.5 months.

Some of us may find ourselves understandably growing anxious, wondering why God seems to be taking so long to bring us a suitable lead pastor. After all, it's 2023- can't we just get one on Amazon Prime (as PD has joked before)? Is there actually any of us that wants to wait? We can find ourselves tempted to be flustered/impatient at something so small as when someone with a stuffed grocery cart happens to be in front of us at the checkout line when we only have 2-3 items in hand. (Btw true story- happened to me just about a week ago at Lidl).

But hear/read how the prophet Isaiah speaks of the Lord:

"From of old, no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him."

Our God shows up on behalf of those whose hope is NOT in their own abilities, accomplishments, intelligence, wisdom or experience- but for those who trust, hope, and rely solely on the Lord's sufficiency and generosity.

We also know that the kind of waiting Isaiah meant was certainly NOT the passive type that says, "Well, God's going to do what He's going to do, so let's just roll on with life and see what happens." (Isaiah 62:6-7)

So how can this passage speak to EACF at this particular point in time?

1) Pray

As we begin the season of Lent this coming Wednesday, I want to encourage you not only to be praying for your individual walk with God, or even only for a pastor for EACF. I ask that you would intentionally be praying for God's larger purposes for EACF as a body of believers- not in a detached sense as if we're praying for some kind of "light bulb" moment (e.g. finding a pastor) that would allow us to feel like life can get back to "normal". Pray for nothing less than God's wisdom to be displayed through this local body of believers at EACF (Ephesians 3:10), and for us to discern together what that should look like practically. God wants to grow us out of "normal" so that the fruit we bear by His Spirit would indeed be a faithful witness to His glory and grace.

2) Don't waste this period of time.

The Lord has sovereignly ordained this particular time for us-- and this time of waiting, hoping, trusting, and pleading to Him together is meant for our good and ultimately for His glory. God means to grow us into His likeness and to expand our hearts for His kingdom whether in the presence or in the absence of a lead pastor. Not having a lead pastor is forcing us to listen that much more carefully to the Holy Spirit, and is teaching us to actually become doers (and not only hearers) of the word. We can trust that God through His promises has provided all that we need to grow into His likeness (2 Peter 1:3-4), and that He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

So come EACF, let us pray together fervently and faithfully, rejoining in hope in His goodness, and enduring patiently in affliction. May the Lord bind us together through love and grow us in a way that only the Spirit Himself can enable.

Finally, I'll leave you with a new acronym to help you pray: :-) (HT to David Platt)

P- Praise

R- Repent

A- Ask

Y- Yield

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Romans 8:38-39 Meditation/Memory

2023-02-01T23:54:00.007-05:00

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

This passage is likely familiar for many of you, as it comes at the end of one of the most famous and oft-cited chapters in Romans (read it in its entirety!).

As I thought on this passage, I dwelt on the phrase 'nor life'. It's common to think of Christ's salvation as being rescue from death as the final word- and it is certainly is that- we were freed from lifelong slavery to fear of death (Hebrews 2:15). But the older I get, I see and experience the truth of how life in all its twists and turns, can threaten one's sense of security in God's love. We can find ourselves seeking comfort and security in human relationships- and making them idols by prizing them over our Lord. Or we can seek that sense of security in accomplishment, wealth, power. None of these are bad things in and of themselves- viewed from a proper perspective, they can all be gracious gifts from God. But when they become ultimate, watch out!

In the parable of the sower, Jesus mentions those who receive the word, but are choked away by thorns symbolizing "the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things" (Mark 4:19). These things ultimately make one unfruitful for the Lord.

Yet even in the face of such real threats in life- Paul is sure (and we can be too!) that such things in life cannot separate us from the love of God.

But let's not allow ourselves to mistaken this passage to mean that since we are ultimately safe in God's love that therefore our lives will be free of hardship.

Recall that Paul is the same person who wrote in a letter to the Corinthians that he felt burdened beyond his strength so that he "despaired of life itself" (2 Corinthians 1:8) You may or may not have found yourself in a similar state of mind/heart as Paul- anyone familiar with Paul's life will know that he endured more hardship than most of us will ever know. And yet, because of Christ's death and resurrection, he knew he could be sure of his security in God's love.

May the Holy Spirit be reminding us of that rock solid assurance that because of Christ's finished work on the cross and His resurrection- that nothing- NOTHING will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Jeremiah 32:40 Meditation/Memory

2023-01-24T09:16:00.003-05:00

"And I will make and everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they will not turn from me." Jeremiah 32:40

When we experience relational pain through being wronged or deeply disappointed by someone we've shared life with- when we fail to find as much common ground as we'd hoped for- sometimes it can feel easier to abandon the relationship altogether. The last several years of the pandemic have epitomized how it can become increasingly difficult to countenance those who hold opposing convictions on politically/socially charged issues. It's just easier to ignore such people, or at least to find ways to avoid them if you have to be in the same room. It's just feels easier to turn away.

This week's passage in Jeremiah takes place while Jerusalem is under siege by Babylon- Jeremiah is locked up by King Zedekiah for prophesying Jerusalem's defeat through the word of the Lord given to him.

Yet it's in this context that the Lord gives Jeremiah a tangible vision of His promise for their restoration. He has Jeremiah purchase a field in spite of the pending defeat, and tells him to keep the purchase deeds secure because He will one day rebuild His city and gather His people in it

God doesn't sugar coat the reasons for Jerusalem's fall- He doesn't sweep away Israel's sin under the rug. He clearly calls them a people who have "done nothing but provoke me to anger," who have "turned to me their back and not their face". And it is to such a people that our memory verse is spoken.

Knowing that Israel had not the ability in themselves to keep the covenant of Moses, He promises to make a new covenant- one in which He accomplishes and provides all that Israel would need to stay in right relationship with Him. To a people who persistently turned their faces away from Him- the Lord in His mercy refuses to turn away from them; He will not turn away from doing good to them. Not only that, the Lord does not do so begrudgingly- he will rejoice in doing them good (Jer. 32:41)! Israel has no merit in herself to lay claim to such mercy!

For us who live on the other side of Jesus' death and resurrection, we know this new covenant was ultimately fulfilled through the gospel of Jesus Christ. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do, by sending His own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement would be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4). Those who trust in the work of Christ alone have been given the Holy Spirit, who will lead.us into all truth and conform us into the image of our Creator.

I encourage you read all of Jeremiah 32- God gives a such a beautiful and merciful vision of what He has for His people in the face of their faithlessness. And to know that all of this is truly fulfilled for those who have His Spirit now through faith in Christ is worth heartily rejoicing over! We worship a God who rejoices in doing us good, even through our hardships, even through our waywardness and stumbling! May the Lord who keeps us in in His love grant us the grace to continually turn to Him in repentance, to seek His strength continually. And may His Spirit increasingly make us a people who will adopt and embody this same ethic to turn towards one another in the face of conflict, hurt and disappointment.

2023 - A weekly/biweekly verse to meditate on and memorize...

2023-01-16T00:44:00.004-05:00

Hi EACF,

This is Elder Mike. Two years ago, I decided to start a journey of regularly memorizing passages from scripture based on an old flip-binder I had purchased decades ago coming out of college (yes, I am old). They were called "Fighter Verses"- meant to help followers of Jesus keep the sword of the Spirit in their hearts and minds so as to wage war against the schemes of the devil. For those who are interested in coming along this journey, I'll be sharing a short passage hopefully at least every two weeks, and provide a brief comment on it. I'm not theologically trained like Pastor David, but I hope something simple like this will be of encouragement for any of us who would like to grow in loving God's word. May the Spirit speak and move among us as He ordains- as the Lord's word certainly will not go forth and return void, but will accomplish His purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11-14a "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the LORD." (ESV 2001)

As I briefly touched upon this morning in Sunday service, these words were written as part of a letter from prophet Jeremiah to the Israelites in Judah who had been taken into exile in Babylon. In accordance with His word, the Lord uprooted them from Jerusalem for their idolatry and faithlessness to God's law (Jeremiah 25). The temple in Jerusalem was razed, its treasures looted, and the city walls were torn down (2 Chronicles 36:15-21). So the recipients of this word are a subjugated people severed from their homeland, and having witnessed and survived the ravages of being conquered, are receiving just punishment from the LORD.

But God wasn't going to leave them that way indefinitely. Even in the midst of their punishment, the Lord speaks words of hope to them, reassuring them that He is decidedly NOT done with them as His people, but has good plans for them. Even as Judah suffers the consequences of their own evil, He reminds them that He desires and ordains plans for their wholeness (that word is "welfare" in more updated translations) and not for evil- moreover, He still wants to be found by them! He still wants wholehearted fellowship with His wayward people!

This was God's heart for Israel, and His heart hasn't changed for His people, including us His Church, whom He bought with the precious blood of Christ.

As we walk into 2023, may the Holy Spirit grant us hearts that seek Him earnestly, with our whole hearts, and may we remember that no matter what kind of hardship we walk through together as a body of believers together at EACF (as well as individually)- that the Lord has plans ultimately for our good through it all.

Grace, Peace, and Love,

Mike

P.S. The Fighter Verses have been updated and revised over the years, so I'm going to share a link for those of you would like to take a look. https://www.fighterverses.com/verse-index. They also provide some practical tips/tools to help both parents and children alike to memorize scripture: https://www.fighterverses.com/tools

Returning to God, Not Just Church

2021-05-13T18:09:00.000-04:00

No question, it's been a long, hard fourteen months since COVID hit us with stay-at-home orders, social distancing, and masks. Some of us have been itching to go out and get back to life as we knew it. Some of us are pretty content to stay at home and don't mind it one bit. All this and the political season, social (media) turmoil, and coronavirus variants, and we are still needing to navigate life with awareness and wisdom.

So...how is your relationship with God?

I get to ask this question of many people, in person, over text, in email, or on phone or video calls. Some are doing great! Like legitimately, actively growing through the difficulties. Many others have had difficulty navigating the changes, and their relationships with God have been a struggle. So let's provide some context:

1. How have your relationships with family members been? Have you missed each other? Have you been able to help each other along?
2. How have your relationships with friends been? Do you still talk? Do you still love and care for one another?
3. How has your work or schooling continued? Are you still productive or have you been too distracted to get anything done?

Each of those areas of our lives demonstrate aspects of a resilient spirit and approach. You know that work and school need to get done, so you make adjustments, do your best, and sometimes innovate to accomplish things. You flex with the needs of the circumstances. That should also be true with family relationship and friendships. You may not see each other as much as before, but you love each other so you do whatever you need to do to help one another and keep connected.

So what about our relationships with God?

A friendship based only on activity or circumstance can dissolve when circumstances change. If your relationship with God was based on simply a habit of going to church, then when obstacles arise to that activity, your relationship may dissolve. As in your relationships with good friends, will you pursue God despite the changes in circumstances, despite the obstacles?

As things in the United States start to open back up again, maybe the great lesson to learn from all this is not to ground your relationship with God on some activities or rituals. Instead of going through the motions of relationship, let's build a deeper friendship with God, a family relationship with Him and with our church family members. How do we do this? Here are a few things to reflect on:

- Does God love you? How has He shown it? How do you experience God's love every day?
- Do you love God? What do you love about God, not just what He does for you but who He is? (e.g. God is beautiful, the most beautiful person I know.)
- Do you show love to God? How do you or how can you show love to God every day?
- Do you love your church family? How does God demonstrate His love through your church family and how do you participate in that?

Let's get ready to return to God and not just to church!

Lent 2021 Passion Week - Hope

2021-03-31T05:00:00.001-04:00

In the midst of suffering, we wrestle not only with our pain but with a deeper turmoil. It is a battle of our spirits, our intellects, our hearts, our beliefs, and our will. It is the battle between hope and hopelessness. Whether we are talking about social issues, a broken marriage, a wayward child, or failing health, we wonder, in the midst of suffering, can God really help me? Will He make things better?

It was into centuries of such turmoil that Jesus came to the earth. The Jewish people had reached high points in their history, industry, artistry, international relations, and religion - Solomon had built the grandest temple and had the greatest influence on others. And it all came crashing down due to centuries of apostasy. When the hammer of judgment came down, Israel and then Judah were exiled by the Assyrians and Babylonians respectively. How long would they suffer? The period between the end of the Old Testament and the Good News of Jesus' birth was over 400 years.

Think about that: many people were born and died in that intertestimental time. Does that mean their lives were devoid of any light from the Lord? No. God had given His promises. By faith alone were people saved, even people in the Old Testament as they were looking forward to the gracious provision of God to come. But still, their entire lives were spent waiting for something, someone...who never showed up!

We cry foul at the thought! What right does God have to not provide relief for me in my lifetime here on earth! Isn't God supposed to make my life on earth good?

There are Christians being martyred on this earth even today. Maybe here in America, we have gotten so caught up in our American dream and sense of entitlement that the idea of suffering for the entirety of our lives seems antithetical to what we believe are our inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But God never promised us happiness in this life. He did promises us His presence. He promised us joy in knowing that He is with us, that He has secured our place in eternity with Him, and that we are saved because of what Jesus did.

And isn't Jesus' life the pattern for ours? "Follow me," said Jesus. To the cross and through it to the other side. What's there you ask. The life that He has for us.

It is the life we've always hoped for. But it's different from the life we often find ourselves chasing. Are you hoping for happiness? Or are you hoping to be with Jesus? If we devote ourselves to Jesus, He will provide for us all that we could ever hope for.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7 ESV

I'm ready to let go of false promises of happiness. The older I get, the more I do not find meaning in that. I'm ready for something more lasting. I want more of Jesus. I place my hope in Him.

Lent 2021 Week 6 - Forgiveness

2021-03-24T05:00:00.002-04:00

The shootings at Atlanta area massage businesses have stirred up a lot of emotions and thoughts regarding violence, treatment of women, race relations, socioeconomic marginalization, shame, media bias, police bias or insensitivity, and more. One question some are asking is exactly how much racism is there in our communities and in our nation? The polarization of viewpoints over the past year+ through our political season, pandemic response, and social debates seems to show very different viewpoints...and a desire to separate that is just as strong as our desire to unite. So if we have all these differing viewpoints, how can we ever get along? The social consciousness says, we will not get along until there is justice and equality.

Those are valid pursuits. They are God's goals for us: justice, mercy, love. The way the Gospel shows us to pursue them, though, is through grace, and namely, His grace toward us. Heart change is not possible until someone meets God and makes peace with God.

Until then, how much are you willing to forgive?

What causes us to forgive? If we are waiting for reparations, then it is not so much forgiveness from us as it is repair work done by the offender. If we say we forgive, but then we also refuse to have anything to do with the offender, then we have not reconciled. It is forgiveness in name, but it is not forgiveness in experience.

What is forgiveness? Like with everything else in life, we have two options for how to define forgiveness. One is man-centered, based on our experiences, reason, and capacities. From this baseline we can say forgiveness is impossible, or depends on the offender's attitude (are they remorseful?), or allows us to forgive but not forget. These are all based on what our hearts and minds tell us what we ought to do.

The second way to define forgiveness is God-centered. If we look through the Bible, and we examine the life and death of Jesus, we find that God's definition is pursuing reconciliation. I'm thankful for Psalm 51, King David's song of repentance, but I'm also aware of how poorly he managed the relationships in his household in his later years (lots of drama). I'm thankful for Philemon, the short letter from Paul that talks about a man reconciling with a runaway servant (not quite our own American definition of slavery), where the ideal is that the master would not treat his servant poorly but rather he would treat him well. This exceeds just dealing with the offense; it is about fulfilling God's vision for what any and all of our relationships ought to look like.

I know some who are in abusive relationships need to be on guard - physically, emotionally, and mentally. I also pray that God would let His Holy Spirit break into all our hearts and minds to guide us. Is forgiveness possible? Anything is possible with God, as much as God allows it to happen.

We strive to emulate God, but it requires our obedience to God's work and pace.

God has forgiven us. Let us do our best to show this grace to all around us. Let us pray.

Responding to the Atlanta Shootings from March 16

2021-03-20T23:01:00.001-04:00

(sent on March 18, 2021, to the EACF congregation)

To my dear brothers and sisters of EACF,

As a predominantly Asian American congregation scattered throughout the Atlanta area community, we may have been shocked to hear of the killing of six Asian American women and two others (and injury to another) connected to three massage businesses in our area. This tragedy may have impacted us on many different levels.

On one level, violence against Asian Americans - and in this instance, the shooter isolating Asian women in Asian massage businesses may have indicated the targeting of each aspect of that profile - affects many of us. Are we being targeted? Is there some sense of othering that is happening, where our type is not considered friend but somehow gets labeled foe? The shooter may not have had an overt racial intent, but his actions were limited to one particular subsection of our broad, diverse community. So when the result is isolated violence, it disturbs us. Personally, I don't know enough to label him racist, but I am noting and am greatly troubled by the narrowed scope on Asian women. I do not think of this as exactly the same as other recent violent acts against Asians in our country (those seem more random and this incident has other layers to it). But I understand how this is a moment when some people's consciousnesses are awakened. For many of us, it is another aggression added to a mountain that has been largely ignored.

On another level, mass shooting in our Atlanta community brings these issues close to home. I read of unprovoked, seeming random attacks in the Northeast and the West Coast where Asians of both genders and many ages have been assaulted. It was disturbing, but somewhat distant. Whenever something happens closer to home, it invades our sense of peace and security. It becomes even moreso part of our lives. Again, though, many of us have already dealt with aggressions. Some of us have wounds that have been hidden for a long time, and that is often moreso the case for women.

On a third level, any time someone takes the life of another, or lives of multiple others, it should unsettle our spirits on a human and especially on a Christian level. We live in a world where there is evil. If we've ever pretended that this is not the truth about our world, we have believed a lie. And if we've ever thought God promised us not to have to deal with these things, then we have also misunderstood. As Christians, we are able to more acutely grasp sin and brokenness because we have a vision for something that was (Eden) and will be (heaven) better. Sadly, as the other elders and I have been emailing about this, we know that this brokenness can also be found in our Christian experience. The shooter attended church and claimed to be a Christ-follower. Yet somehow, some way, his discipleship did not bring him to transformation through Jesus Christ. This challenges our own understanding of what it means to be Christian, to confess our sin, and to beware the evil within. He came to see the solution to his problem was to eliminate others, namely Asian women working in massage parlors. He did not see them as fellow image-bearers of God who also need the love and grace of Christ. He saw them as an obstacle, a hindrance, the problem. The sadness and despair that we feel drives us to the Gospel.

This is why Jesus died.

Christ died to break the power of sin. His gracious work transforms us from the inside out. We have a new heart, new spirit, new life, and new relationship to others because of the cross and empty tomb. And God has secured us in the present and future.

Now, having said that, and while trusting in the provision, power, and presence of God, we still have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And it is wearying, heart-breaking at many times, and sad. But this is also a time when God uses us to comfort one another, within our predominantly Asian American community, but also as we hear from allies who would want to sit with us and walk with us, to grieve, and also to promote something better. God has given us hope in this darkness. Our greater identity in Christ calls us into His comfort and His strength, to fight against sin, evil, hatred, mental illness, insensitivity, callousness, ignorance, and passivity. No, we do not fight the battle like others do: Jesus is, after all, the one leading us into and through this battle. But we cling to what is good, and pray for God's mercy, and promote justice and peace.

What can we do?

First, pray. The Spirit will groan with us (Romans 8) and will renew our thoughts, sight, and emotions (Ephesians 4, Ezekiel 36). Sit with your Father. He catches our tears and bandages our wounds. Too often we dismiss prayer as simply mental exercise or meditation, but as Christians, we believe and know that this is our time to connect with and be ministered to by the Father and Spirit. Go to your knees and pray. We cannot accomplish anything significant with God.

Second, support one another. None of us are meant to live in isolation, so reach out for help or to help, even if it's just to sit in silence as we feel the weight of the world a little bit. Our culture too often emphasizes internalizing our pain and suffering and emotions. God calls us to carry one another's burdens. Let's share and carry.

Third, talk with our non-Asian friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates - anyone who will listen. What will we say? We might talk a bit about the other acts against Asians that haven't been noticed as much. There has thankfully been much more written lately to highlight the history of Asian American in this country.

But even more importantly, we can frame all of this within the larger conversation of racism, hatred between individuals and groups, the fallenness of the world, and the hope that we have in Jesus entering into these broken spaces. Because even when we sign petitions, form support groups, share knowledge, or build relationships, we're always needing to see how true change only happens when we take it all to Jesus. Human-to-human conversations will help, but human-to-Jesus is when light shines into the darkness.

May God give us all hope in Christ and by His Spirit.

If you want to talk, I and the other elders are available to listen. If you want to pray together, call, text, or email. If you prefer to speak with a professional counselor, we have two or three that we can recommend and help you set up an appointment. Our church fund can cover the initial costs as well. We are here for you.

May God give us all comfort in these days.

With faith, hope, and love,

Pastor David

Lent 2021 Week 5 - The Suffering of Lent Is Love

2021-03-17T05:00:00.001-04:00

Do you like to suffer? I know, I know, that sounds like a dumb question.

Our culture primes us to want comfort and ease, and now we have robot vacuums and lawn mowers and self-driving and self-parallel parking cars! We usually prefer a sense of security, and don't we all like a good night's sleep?

Gospel culture takes us the opposite direction. Jesus gave up His place in heaven and humbled Himself in becoming a human. The incarnation (God becoming man) was humiliation.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV)

Jesus gave up His comfort and ease, entering into our human spaces and experience. That in itself was suffering. But he continued, all the way to the cross.

What does that mean for us? It means that He loves us. His suffering was because of God's love for us.

Our culture too quickly dismisses suffering as bad. But there are plenty of ways in which suffering in our lives is an expression of love. Childbirth. Doing chores so your spouse or parents can rest. Working hard at your job so that you can provide for your family. Talking with a friend late at night and helping them unload some of their emotional turmoil. Giving money to help a family in need, even if that means changing your plans to make funds available.

And God calls us into the culture of the Gospel. It is when we find the love in Christ's suffering that we come to understand both what the suffering means and what love is.

Dying to self is actually a good thing. It is a joyful, conscious choice to surrender our broken, misguided will to follow God's life-giving and love-filled will. It is where we meet Jesus.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matthew 16:25 ESV).

Again, I'm praying that you will find your life in Him.

Blessings,

Lent 2021 Week 4 - Life from Jesus

2021-03-10T05:00:00.001-05:00

The annual Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta is 6.2 miles down Peachtree Road from Buckhead to Piedmont Park in Midtown. Right around the 3-mile mark is the beginning of a long hill, nicknamed Cardiac Hill, which happens to pass by Piedmont Hospital. When the summer sun heats up the asphalt and the tens of thousands of runners flood the streets, that hill tests the participants' energy, will, and resolve. From where will their strength come? What reserves are left? What is their source of life?

The pandemic has rearranged so much of our lives, our communities, and our priorities. Combined with the issues of our day, our political season, and social media, we have become exposed in surprising ways. Where do we find the energy to endure, to keep going, to maintain hope? When churches are not offering full services or fellowship gatherings, when relationships are curtailed, we are left with just us and God. Is He enough?

He is. More than enough. We often focus too much on other people rather than directly on God. Think of this: do you rely on others to help your relationship with God, or do you find that your relationship with God actually helps you to relate to others? Both are true, but my hope is that the latter is our usual experience. God can use people in our lives, and He places us in faith families and calls us to love one another and carry each other's burdens. But the source of life, the life-giver, the strength-restorer, the hope-affirmer is always God.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul reminds his brothers and sisters of this truth. When things are difficult, we come back to our source. If we've been relying on other people and they are taken from us (or at least socially-distanced), then we falter and feel aimless. We can come back to Jesus. We die to ourselves, die to our fleshly, human-focused idolatries, and we can find that Jesus is the only one who can actually give us life. This is what we reflect on during Lent, when many of us choose to go without something, so we can learn or remember that when we have Jesus we have everything that we need.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:7-12 ESV)

I'm praying that you will find your life in Him.

Blessings,

Lent 2021 Week 3 - Can You Believe Jesus Did That?

2021-03-03T14:07:00.001-05:00

We are coming up on the one year anniversary of virtual church - March 15, 2020, was our first Sunday shifted to virtual church due to the pandemic.

One of the most interesting aspects of how we have experienced this past year has been how individualistically we tend to think. This is related to how we come to know what we know about the world, about life, and even about God. Our basic epistemology is "I know it because I experienced it." Related to this is a skepticism toward those considered experts or authorities on various subjects. So we have people say/think things like, "It doesn't matter what the epidemiologists say! I saw on YouTube that the whole thing is a hoax!" And while that example may sound extreme, I do hear from various people that they have a hard time trusting the media, the government, big business, and even healthcare officials (we do call it the healthcare industry sometimes!). If we aren't going to trust others, whom will we trust? The final answer to that question is that we will trust ourselves. I will trust my own intuition, research, intellect, reason, and, yes, experience. I will be my guide. There is, after all, no one else.

Do you believe the Bible? Do you believe the Gospel, the Good News, that Jesus was born as a human being but showed the power and presence of God because He was also God? Do you believe that He lived, loved, helped, taught, and wowed? Do you believe He gave His own, innocent life, and that it was an injustice? Do you believe He came back from the grave? Can you believe Jesus did all that?

We can believe it, but we have to humble ourselves and take off our epistemological blinders to be able to do so. Our pride, and sometimes our pain, causes us to withdraw into our own experiences and opinions, and sometimes it really is to protect ourselves. I get it. But we can be honest about the fact that we do take things on faith all the time: yes, there really was a holocaust, a moon landing, and a place called Africa (I've never been there myself but I know people who say they have been).

But maybe the hardest things to take on faith include love. When someone says they love you, you have to have faith. You don't know what's going on in their minds or hearts. You can see some of their actions, but you may never know for sure. You have faith.

Jesus showed His love for us by coming to us, suffering with us, suffering for us, and overcoming the curse. You can believe it. And this truth changes our lives. And He is loving us today. He is with us in His Spirit. Day by day, through this season of Lent, ask Him to make His love for you and us more and more real. And to give you faith in His loving presence.

John 1:9–14 ESV

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.