New School Year Begins

School year of 2020 - 2021 started last Wednesday with completely different ways of attending and learning in school. Now everything is done in on-line. No more physically driving kids to school or riding a bus, carrying a book bag, packing a lunch and water bottle, carrying your projects, etc.

None of it. Now they just wake up and turn on their computer and login to their class. That’s it! Completely changed how students learn and interact in school. Is it better?

To be honest, I don’t know. But I know things have changed and we don’t know how long it will go on like this. Maybe for another semester or another year? This made me think, Is this (on-line school) gonna work as a long term solution? Are we seeing changes that will come in our education system?

One of the oldest system we have in our society is education system and that hasn’t changed much compare to technological advance we have in other parts of society.

The pandemic challenged and forced us to evaluate and change many areas in our life. I believe education system is going to face dramatic changes in our time and I want our children (not just mine) to be guided in positive ways.

I used to not care much about what was happening our society because I believe at the end, God will take care. It’s true, but I’ve learned over the time that there are things that God has placed in my responsibility to be in-charge, plan and act.

I still believe God will take care our children at the end but I need/want to be responsible during this challenging time by providing good guidance and support to our children.

In times of uncertainty, it’s time for us to pray for God’s guidance in all of us.

• Pastor Rein

House Church Conference for Pastors in Sep

Each year, there are two House Church Conferences for Pastors and due to the Pandemic, Spring Conference got canceled and we weren’t sure about the Conference in September.

I felt like we must do something about it but didn’t had much solution to it and I’m sure a lot of pastors were feeling the same.

But we have one Pastor who can provide clear guidance and his name is, Pastor Chai… ^^;

He basically post a letter saying (I’m paraphrasing) that we can’t stop the House Church ministry movement and must continue to host seminars and conferences throughout the year with churches that are willing to host. Because the Pandemic is expected to go on for another year or two and it won’t be wise to stop everything we’ve been doing for next 2 years. As a church we must continue on with our ministry from God.

Amen!

So, we are having House Church Conference for Pastors in September but instead of physically gathering in one place, it will be all on-line conference using Zoom and YouTube.

I’m little disappointed that there won’t be a physical conference this year but at the same time, very excited what changes this will bring after the conference in September.

There are many uncertainties in our society and even for a church that are not able to hold worship service on Sunday.

I hope this conference will renew and reaffirm our commitment in God’s ministry of building up people of God.

Life goes on, as church stands.

• Pastor Rein

His Resurrection Proves It - Pastor Chai

People today don’t like to be told what they ought to do because we live in a pluralistic society. People have this idea that everyone is right and no one is wrong, so it’s all right for people to have their own convictions but they shouldn’t impose them on other people.

The basic assumption behind this idea is that there is no absolute truth. But this assumption is illogical and self-contradictory. If we take that belief as truth, there is no reason to take that belief seriously because the belief itself may just be an opinion.

Taking something illogical as truth seems to be the sign of the times. Instant messaging and texting seem to encourage this trend because this way of communication encourages expressing the feelings of the moment without going through a logical process.

This pluralistic milieu also seems to affect ideas about religion. Many people seem to think that all religions are essentially the same. They pursue the same goal and differ only in method. So they criticize Christians for being dogmatic when they say that people are saved only by faith in Jesus Christ. They oppose public displays of faith and condemn missionaries who go to foreign countries and try to convert people.

If Jesus is merely the founder of a religion like Muhammed, Buddha, or Confucius, Christians are indeed wrong in saying that people can be saved only through him. But if there is enough evidence that Jesus is truly the only savior of mankind, it’s not Christians but those who criticize them who are wrong because Christians are merely stating the facts.

Before criticizing Christians as dogmatic or close-minded, they must see whether their claims about Jesus are justified. A good starting point is his resurrection. The founders of every major religion died and were buried. Muhammed died and was buried; Muslims even believe that visiting his tomb enhances their chances of going to heaven. Buddha died; his disciples cremated his body and sent the ashes to 8 different locations, building shrines at each. Confucius died and lays in his tomb. But Jesus has no tomb because he rose from the dead. There was no body to bury.

I once read that a law professor whose specialty was in court evidence once said that the case for Jesus’ resurrection is so strong that jurors in any U.S. court would have to agree based on the evidence that Jesus indeed rose from the dead.

Light On My Path

In my late teens and early twenties, I was just like any other kids. Lost, confused, yet trying to find my own path and identity.

I have to say, a lot of resources I had… let’s say… wasn’t resourceful. Because most of them came from my peers and they were lost as I was. Like a blind leading a blind. We weren’t helpful to each other, at all…

Some made it out, some didn’t, some are in a good place, some aren’t, some are still around, some got lost…

For me, everything changed (gradually) after I became a Christian and the biggest vehicle that led the change in me came from the Bible.

At first, it wasn’t easy to read and understand but the Biblical meditation paved the way for me to build a good habit to spend time with God and allowed me to ask all kinds of questions and receive answers from the Bible.

It provided clear path and guidance that I’ve never experienced in my life and build up who I am, not according to what others say about me but who I am as God sees to me.

Whenever I feel lost or not sure of what to do or have any worries, I open up the Bible, ask God questions in my heart and wait for His answers. He surely answers back to me…

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

• Pastor Rein

Life Goes On

It has been about 4 month since we went into hard lock-down but the virus are still spreading and economic impacts from the lock-down aren’t improving.

There is common belief that the virus is here to stay for at least next 2 years. So what should we do then? Stop everything we do and wait till it goes way?

I think we just have to continue on with our lives. We just can’t live in fear and scare to do anything. We need to continue to live our lives. Of course there are some adjustments we need to make, like wearing a mask when we go out to shopping, washing hands frequently, be extra careful on crowed places, etc.

When it comes to economy, we need to expect that things will get worse in next 6-12 month, especially after the election and prepare those times by start saving little more than what you did before.

As a church, we continue to do what we are called to do by equipping ourselves with the word, learning and practicing God’s character and be a witness of risen Jesus by reaching out to people around us.

Our future might looks dim but throughout the history, there were always times of trouble and hardships, especially for Christians, but God always came though.

Let’s not worry too much about what we don’t have control of but focus and do the things we can do. Life goes on…

• Pastor Rein

Biblical Meditation

One of the most beneficial spiritual practices that I have learned in my life in God is biblical meditation and it has become part of my life for past 12 years ever since I learned.

There isn’t one way to get to know God so I won’t say biblical meditation is the best way to build relationship with God but I will say, it is one of the most practical and beneficial tool for anyone to know and learn about God through His words.

It helped me to clear my thoughts by focusing on the word, gives me wisdoms and guidances on things that I needed help with, learned to focus on the word and not on people’s opinions and circumstances around, learned God’s character and to trust him deeper in times of distress.

One of the most challenging thing in the beginning was to be consistent with meditation. There were days I did, there were days I didn’t… But one things I kept on going was not to give up and actually being a pastor helped. ^^;

I hope Living Life QT booklet helps and few things I would like to remind you on biblical meditation.

be Delight - any worries or be in mindful of any, toss that to God as you be with Him the Word - have your booklet with you or the Bible. Meditate the word, not your thoughts Day and Night - set a time to meditate will remind you each day

• Pastor Rein

True Maturity - Pastor Chai

I once saw maturity defined as “the ability to live with ambiguity.” I agree. When we’re young, we see everything as black and white. A person is either good or bad. An opinion is either right or wrong. But as we get older, we begin to realize there is a lot of gray. Even good people have some hidden vices in their lives, and even bad people have some commendable virtues. All good advice has some drawbacks and all bad advice has some merit. As we get older, we become more flexible in our judgments of people and situations, and I consider that maturity.

The Apostle Paul warned us about making hasty judgments against people. He cites two reasons: first, we don’t know their true motives (1 Cor 4:5) and second, God alone can judge (Rom 14:10). Following his command to not judge prematurely requires maturity. And maturity enables us to follow his instructions. These two feed each other.

Perfectionism is another sign of immaturity, because perfectionists only think in terms of right and wrong and can’t accept anything wrong, including themselves. As a result, they’re constantly frustrated by the people around them and depressed by their own imperfections.

Perfectionists can be dangerous. A good example is Adolf Hitler. He wanted to establish a perfect society on earth. He considered the Aryan race a superior one and fit for this task. In contrast, he believed the Jewish race an inferior one whose existence was detrimental to his perfect society. This belief led him to send millions of Jews to concentration camps and the gas chamber. Obviously, there was only one Hitler, and few perfectionists become criminals. But in their pursuit of perfection, perfectionists hurt people around them. The more power they have, the more hurt they can cause. Eventually, they destroy themselves.

Some perfectionists may argue that God demands us to be perfect. This is true. Scripture says that we should be perfect just as God is perfect (Matt 5:48). But the perfection our Lord was talking about is not about our character. He meant to be perfect in our impartiality. As God loves both good and bad people and sends the same rain to both of their fields, we should also be impartial and love both good and bad people.

Pursuing perfection itself is not wrong. In fact we must try to imitate the perfection of our Lord. When we do our Lord’s work, we must do our best to do it perfectly. We must try to live blameless and perfect lives so that we can say with Apostle Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” But we must also remember that while this is our ideal, it’s unattainable on earth. We cannot live perfect lives and cannot become perfect persons no matter how hard we try. We must accept imperfections in others and ourselves. That’s maturity.

Dreams 02

Second dream that God places in us is for his community. A community formed by believers whom pursues his first dream.

That was given by Jesus to his disciples on Matthew 28:19-20

[19] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

As an individual, to love God and others as ourselves are all we need to pursue as our dream but as a community, we need to pursue second dream, which is to save the lost and make disciples of all nations.

Our community, city, state and nation is still recovering from Pandemic and economy shutdown and this is when we need to recover and focus on the goal that God has given us, to our community, to our church.

Let’s wake up our passion by reaching out to VIPs and pray for their soul and life.

There are several things I would like to start that will help us to focus on two dreams that God has given to us.

Meditation QT booklet. Practice biblical meditation to build healthy relationship with God and others by having his words in us.

VIP List I’m going to ask all of you to pray and get names of people that you believe God has leading you to pray and serve them to know God.

Life Series in Fall semester Starting a Life Series to equip us as a disciples of Jesus

Well, those are couple of things I’m considering to start our engine again and I would like to ask you to pray for me and our community to continue to run the race with faith and hope in God.

• Pastor Rein