A few months ago, we looked at one of two ordinances established by Jesus: the Lord’s Supper. We approached the ordinance from a Biblical perspective, laying aside the mindless traditions that have caused us to forget the significance of the Lord’s Supper. In the coming weeks, we’re going to look at the other ordinance—namely, baptism—with the same approach and hopefully reclaim the full meaning behind the ordinance.

To “baptize” someone in the Greek language literally means to “immerse” that person. But the Christian baptism signifies much more than the mere physical act of immersion. Much like the Lord’s Supper, we practice baptism because Christ Himself commanded it (Matt. 28:19-20). But we don’t do it merely out of duty to obey our Master; rather, we obey because we love Him (John 14:15). And as we’ll see in the coming weeks, there’s a striking parallel between both ordinances in that Christ Himself participated in both baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

At Lighthouse, each baptism candidate must take a baptism class where the candidate learns the fundamentals of baptism, such as why every Christian must be baptized and why we emphasize and practice immersion (as opposed to sprinkling). After the completion of the class and the candidate’s decision to proceed forward with the act of baptism, the candidate must share their salvation testimony. Afterward, the candidate proceeds to the baptismal tank at the front of the sanctuary where the administering pastor will provide a few words of encouragement and affirmation to the witnessing congregation. Then, the pastor will baptize—in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the candidate by fully immersing the candidate in water.

It’s no mere accident that in Matthew 28:18-20 (also part of our MVP), Christ commands us to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” It’s a package deal. Conversion and baptism are intricately linked and understood as a progression of one after the other. That is why it’s commonly understood by Baptist Christians that the first act of obedience as a new believer should be the purposeful act of baptism.

In the weeks to come, we’re going to look at baptism a little more deeply. First, we’ll look at the history of the Christian baptism, and how its significance sheds light unto Jesus’ ministry. Then, we’re going to understand how baptism was commanded in the lives of the apostles at Pentecost, and how one particular apostle—Philip—carried it out. Then we’re going to understand how baptism was taught by two very influential people in the early church: Paul and Peter. Through this, we’ll have a better understanding of how baptism serves the believer as a perpetual reminder of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

From Job 19:26

Mark the subject of Job’s devout anticipation ‘I shall see God.’ He does not say, ‘I shall see the saints’-though doubtless that will be untold felicity-but, ‘I shall see God.’ It is not-’I shall see the pearly gates, I shall behold the walls of jasper, I shall gaze upon the crowns of gold,’ but ‘I shall see God.’ This is the sum and substance of heaven, this is the joyful hope of all believers. It is their delight to see Him now in the ordinances by faith. They love to behold Him in communion and in prayer; but there in heaven they shall have an open and unclouded vision, and thus seeing ‘Him as He is,’ shall be made completely like Him.

Likeness to God-what can we wish for more? And a sight of God-what can we desire better? Some read the passage, ‘Yet, I shall see God in my flesh,’ and find here an allusion to Christ, as the ‘Word made flesh,’ and that glorious beholding of Him which shall be the splendour of the latter days. Whether so or not it is certain that Christ shall be the object of our eternal vision; nor shall we ever want any joy beyond that of seeing Him. Think not that this will be a narrow sphere for the mind to dwell in. It is but one source of delight, but that source is infinite. All His attributes shall be subjects for contemplation, and as He is infinite under each aspect, there is no fear of exhaustion. His works, His gifts, His love to us, and His glory in all His purposes, and in all His actions, these shall make a theme which will be ever new.

The patriarch looked forward to this sight of God as a personal enjoyment. ‘Whom mine eye shall behold, and not another.’ Take realizing views of heaven’s bliss; think what it will be to you. ‘Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty.’ All earthly brightness fades and darkens as we gaze upon it, but here is a brightness which can never dim, a glory which can never fade-’I shall see God.’

1.10p

Alright, it’s Friday, and that means another collection of links from around the Christian blog-o-sphere. Enjoy!

• Lately, in both Christian and secular circles there has been quite a bit of discussion revolving around the idea of manhood and coming of age. Mars Hill Church did a month-long series entitled the Month of Manhood which pulled together quite a bit of material on the topic.
• Jared Wilson, pastor, blogger, and author recently wrote an article on the topic of missions. What makes it so interesting is that he identifies the region of New England as the new American missional frontier. I’ll let you read the article for yourself.
• I’ve discussed a number of Bible study software tools here in the past, but here’s a new one for you. Crossway is rolling out the ESV Online. They have some basic tools for free, with more available for purchase.
• Douglas Wilson, in his own inimitable style, has a bit of a different take on the proposed Muslim mosque/community center near Ground Zero. The article is absolutely worth a careful read as he handles the topic of conflicting worldviews supremely well.
• It’s a new month, and that means new journals! The new edition of Tabletalk is out, featuring the topic of The Good, The True, The Beautiful. And the new edition of the 9Marks eJournal is out, on the subject of Hell.
• The interview with Randy Alcorn continues with videos on the issues of a Christian approach to family planning as well as recommended reading.
• Ok, I’ll admit that my eyebrows got stuck in my hairline when I read this, but apparently Justin Taylor has scored an interview with the Apostle Paul.
• And here’s one for the PIT crew. Collin Hansen asked a number of theologians what is the one thing they would change about seminary. And if you were in my apologetics class, yes, that is the same Pratt.

Pro Rege

My name is Suzie Park, wife to Hwa Park and mother to Kasey, Ethan and a baby to be born in Jan 11′. I’ve been part of the refreshment ministry for 10+ years and I love being in this ministry because food is one of my passions in life. I started serving in the refreshments ministry after I met Hwa in college. I remember the first time that I visited LBC while a freshmen in college the first person that stood out to me was Hwa. At the time, I didn’t know who he was, but he stood out to me because he was serving refreshments at the end of the service and not to mention, but he was wearing the most hideous shirt! I thought it was interesting that a guy was doing refreshments for the church…usually you would think it would be a gal. The refreshments spread was a HUGE platter of Cluck U Chicken and some sides…it looked great! I was thoroughly impressed!

After getting to know Hwa for a while, we ended up dating and while we were dating I started helping out with refreshments. Needless to say I fell in love with BOTH! If there’s one thing you need to know about me, it’s that, I love to eat, I love to cook, and most of all I love to feed people. It’s always a blessing serving the church at various church functions. I love seeing people with happy faces and full bellies! We have a wonderful group of people that LOVE to serve the church and none of it could be done without them. Over the years the refreshments at our church has evolved and changed so much and it’s been amazing to see how God has grown this ministry. This has been a ministry that we have been serving together, with Hwa as the head and we hope for many more years to come.

More recently, with both me and Hwa having a pssion for food we’ve been trying to grow our own food and raise our own chickens for the purpose of eggs and even meat. Everytime Hwa goes out to collect chicken eggs from the chicken coop he says its “mana from heaven”. Its been a challenge to grow vegetables in dry San Diego but we’re learning some things as we go. Its been a blessing sharing what we grow with our Church family and hopefully we can continue this for many years to come. A prayer request will be for the refreshments ministry to serve sacrificially and excellently with the goal of pleasing our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you are interested in joining the team we are always looking for more helpers. Please contact me at suzie4jc@yahoo.com or Hwa at hwapark@yahoo.com if you are interested. Thanks! =)

Chicken Coop

Fresh Eggs

Homegrown Veggies

A few weeks back, we looked at the doctrine of justification and saw that it is the act of God that brings sinners into right legal standing before Him. This week we come to chapter 38 in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, dealing with the issue of sanctification. The two topics are often confused, leading to serious problems in daily life and application. In order to live a gospel-motivated and cross-centered life, the differences between the two must be clear in our hearts and minds.

To begin, Grudem defines sanctification as “a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.” This definition is purposeful in differentiating sanctification from justification. Instead of a one-time action, sanctification is progressive; it is a process that flows throughout our lives. Not only a work of God, sanctification is synergistic; involving the efforts of both God and man. Rather than being declared righteous, sanctification is the path to becoming Christ-like, though never perfect. Grudem also notes that justification is the same in all Christians, while growth in holiness is experienced to different degrees.

The initiation of our spiritual growth begins immediately at regeneration. We see this displayed in the stark contrast Paul describes between the one who is in slavery to sin and the one who is a slave to righteousness. There is no middle ground between the two. Once someone is regenerated, they immediately lose their status of slaves to sin and begin a new life striving towards holiness. This gradual climb is something that continues until our lives on earth are through. We are constantly being renewed into the image of our Creator as we strive towards the upward call that is in Christ Jesus (Col 3:10, Phil 3:13-14). Speaking to redeemed believers, Paul also says that we “are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18). This lifelong battle will finally end at death, when we will be given perfect resurrection bodies and sin will no longer remain. There will be no more growth because there will be no more room for it – no more need to fight against sin, as it will be gone forever.

Misunderstanding the way sanctification works can have profound impacts on our daily lives. One instance this can occur in is when sanctification is believed to be fully a work of God or fully a work of man. Both stances are wrong and guide us into improper living. If God is the only one behind spiritual growth, then people are bound to be lazy, just waiting around for growth to occur. However, the reality is that we can’t grow without putting in the effort in disciplines such as Bible study and prayer. On the other hand, if one relies completely on their own works, then legalism is liable to set in. Devotional times become merely intellectual studies and our spiritual lives are full of activity, but there is no true growth. Instead, we must trust first and foremost that God is the only one who can really carry us along towards holiness, while at the same time striving hard after Him. Paul prays for “the God of peace himself [to] sanctify you completely” (1 Thess. 5:23), while also encouraging believers to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). Both are essential parts in the Christian’s sanctification and we must make every effort to understand the proper balance as we continue pursuing holy lives, all because of the gospel.

Upon seeing the title, you may be thinking ahead that I am writing about something spiritual… as in not letting bad morals into your life that grows into something bigger which starts growing and spreading itself. Hmm, not a bad idea. Maybe in a future article. For now, I am talking about actual weeds that are growing in my back yard. And about the bathroom that needs renovation, and the carpet that needs to get shampooed, and the room that needs to be painted and organized, and the playhouse in the back yard that needs to be completed. These are possibly signs that I’ve been lazy and that I need to get my act together and finish my tasks. Or maybe they are signs that I’ve chosen to use my time doing higher priority tasks. That’s always the struggle for me. I have many hobbies and projects that I’d like to spend more time on, but I can’t get beyond the fact that by spending time doing these things, I would have to give up time serving my family, my church family, or attending church events. Unfortunately, many of us fill our lives with things that don’t have eternal value. And then we spend time and money and effort into maintaining those things that don’t have eternal value.

My goal is not to make anyone feel guilty who skipped out on a church activity or spending time with their spouse or kids but the point I’m trying to make is that we often go through life without even considering what really matters in this life. We often go on cruise control and make decisions without thinking about the values that those choices represent. Do you struggle with these sort of choices too? When you decide to forego a church activity, ministry, or spending time with family, do you do so because you’ve thought through what you are giving up? I’m only partly interested in the final decision as to what you and I choose to do. I’m mainly interested in the thought process and the heart behind the decision. Of course in the end, all things are to be done to the glory of God. This is true whether we decide to go to a church picnic or whether we decide to stay home and fix a sprinkler. I find that if it were not for my own laziness and lack of self-discipline, I would have adequate time to do all those things that I feel like I need to choose between. This humbles me and causes me to be more dependent upon Him who gives me the strength to do all things. Ultimately this causes me to want to excel still more and optimize my life as well as my lifestyle. If you struggle with living your life with excellence for the glory of God, that is a good sign that you are truly a believer. If you don’t struggle with this, you need to ask yourself whether you value the things that God values. I hope my sharing here encourages you to walk closer with Christ.

Hey Everyone,

I’m writing this from the Mellwigs’ kitchen table in the Czech Republic to let you know that due to an unfortunate combination of events, we’re not going to post any new articles this week. However, the plan is that we will just pick it up next week like nothing ever happened.

However, since we have the “related posts” section at the bottom of each article, I thought that this might be a good time to draw your attention to some articles in the archive that would be a good springboard for exploring.

• First of all, there’s an entire category on the subject of missions.
• Or you could use the search box on the right to search for various words like Czech, missions, or Meinolf.
• And last but not least, did you know that we have three sermons by Meinolf in our sermon archive? You should check those out if you haven’t heard them before; they’re “gweat!”

Enjoy everyone, and we’ll see you when we get back!

Pro Rege

Update: Some people have noted that it’s difficult to find Meinolf’s sermons. So, ease of access, let me list them for you here:

1. Missions in the 21st Century
2. Two Reasons for Missions
3. Get Ready to be Involved in Missions

From 2 Timothy 4:8

Doubting one! thou hast often said, ‘I fear I shall never enter heaven.’ Fear not! all the people of God shall enter there. I love the quaint saying of a dying man, who exclaimed, ‘I have no fear of going home; I have sent all before me; God’s finger is on the latch of my door, and I am ready for Him to enter.’ ‘But,’ said one, ‘are you not afraid lest you should miss your inheritance?’ ‘Nay,’ said he, ‘nay; there is one crown in heaven which the angel Gabriel could not wear, it will fit no head but mine. There is one throne in heaven which Paul the apostle could not fill; it was made for me, and I shall have it.’

O Christian, what a joyous thought! thy portion is secure; ‘there remaineth a rest.’ ‘But cannot I forfeit it?’ No, it is entailed. If I be a child of God I shall not lose it. It is mine as securely as if I were there. Come with me, believer, and let us sit upon the top of Nebo, and view the goodly land, even Canaan. Seest thou that little river of death glistening in the sunlight, and across it dost thou see the pinnacles of the eternal city? Dost thou mark the pleasant country, and all its joyous inhabitants? Know, then, that if thou couldst fly across thou wouldst see written upon one of its many mansions, ‘This remaineth for such a one; preserved for him only. He shall be caught up to dwell for ever with God.’ Poor doubting one, see the fair inheritance; it is thine.

If thou believest in the Lord Jesus, if thou hast repented of sin, if thou hast been renewed in heart, thou art one of the Lord’s people, and there is a place reserved for thee, a crown laid up for thee, a harp specially provided for thee. No one else shall have thy portion, it is reserved in heaven for thee, and thou shalt have it ere long, for there shall be no vacant thrones in glory when all the chosen are gathered in.

1.10a

Sorry for the late update, I had some issues with work that kept me from updating as planned. But without further ado…

• Continuing their interview with Randy Alcorn, the folks over at the Resurgence ask the question Is There a Connection Between Birth Control and Abortion?
• Kevin DeYoung wrote an excellent series on rebuke, which Andy Naselli gave a great overview of. I’ll link you to Naselli, since he gives you all the links in one place, and provides some other related articles and resources.
• Every member at our church is familiar with the Peacemaker Pledge, but did you know that Peacemaker ministries has a lot of other free resources? If not, you might want to check them out.
• You know how much I love theological journals, so rejoice with me that the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has put all their back issues online for free! Justin Taylor has some recommended articles to get you started. There are some amazing authors there: Carl Henry, Al Mohler, DA Carson, Mark Dever, John Piper, Douglas Moo…I’m looking forward to delving into it.
• So on a topic that calls for less rejoicing than free journals…Joe Thorn has a good series on common myths about Hell. And in the same vein, RC Sproul has a insightful comment on the worst thing about Hell.
• Last but not least, I’m getting ready to re-read a lot of books by CS Lewis, and I appreciated what Jared Wilson had to say on his “gospel wakefulness.”

Pro Rege

Since the launching of the Photography Ministry, there have been constant pictures of the events documented and updated on SmugMug. Officially launching the ministry enabled more professional task handling, which in turn resulted in vast improvements of the event coverage and the photo quality. Thankfully, new members have joined the team: Andrew Lin and Christina Chon who help out eagerly on many events. Because of the departure of the San Jose team, the Photography Ministry decreased in number; however, it won’t be affecting the quality of the photos due to the improvement of the photo-taking skills of the team.

There have been concerns about the selection of the photos uploaded on the website. It is inevitable that the photos might not be the most pleasing to the one whose photos are taken. If anyone is offended by the photos on SmugMug, it is crucial to let the team know as soon as possible; it is likely for others to feel the same way about certain photos. There is a strict self-examination among the team members before uploading the photos online. We first focus on what glorifies God the most through these photos while protecting the reputation of the church and members, especially our elders. But it can be difficult to define something being “fun” from something being “offensive”. The last thing the team wants is stumbling the church members due to the photos taken from the events. Communication between the photographers and members are very important. We as a team want you to feel comfortable when the photos are taken. So please talk to us and “smile” when there is a camera pointing at you.

I thought this would be a great time to introduce some of the team members as photographers, and I would like to highlight some of the distinctive styles of the team members. First, I like to introduce the most active yet former member of the team, James Lim. As a professional part-time wedding photographer, James has encouraged the members of the team to take the ministry more seriously. He challenged many of the team members to seek the ways to improve the photo quality while not losing focus on why we are serving in the ministry. He is the most influential member at criticizing the photos and make suggestions to improve the quality. His strong point as a photographer is that he can frame the photos that convey a unique perspective not found from other team members. His distinctive style enables viewers to distinguish his photos from the rest of the members’. He mainly serves in the video ministry these days but he always helps the photography ministry members by giving advice.

Courtney Chow, who is a member of San Jose church plant team, has left the team; however, her unique style is worthy of being mentioned. Her style as a photographer is very different from the rest of the members due to her use of bright natural light to highlight the object (in photography jargon, over-exposed). Her photos, therefore, convey the style popularly used in wedding photography. Her photos are also easy for the viewers to distinguish from the rest of the members.

Last but not least, Chris Cho, myself (hopefully you may not feel uncomfortable referring myself in third person), is a photographer who fell in love with heavy photo processing that shows neither blemishes nor imperfections in the photos. However, this can be skipped occasionally when he is busy with other stuff while the deadline for uploading photos has passed. Then the most natural and almost non-post-processed photos can be seen on SmugMug. He is not very photogenic, which results in him avoiding cameras while asking people to smile in front of his camera. His photos can be easily identified because of his use of vintage style filters on pretty much all of his photos uploaded on SmugMug.

There are many more members who are not mentioned in this update faithfully serve in the ministry to glorify God. They are precious gifts from God. They serve the body and carry out the Great Commission. On the next update, the styles of the others members will be mentioned.

Our goal as a team is to serve the body of Christ faithfully while using our passion for photography to benefit the church. Our focus is on Christ and carrying out the MVP of our church. One request from the photography ministry to the church members is to get to know the photographers in the church. It is natural for photographers to take pictures of people whom they are comfortable with. This results in absence of many members in the event photos despite their participation. So please talk to the photographers and they will appreciate it very much.

Editor’s Note: In case you missed it earlier in the article, you can check out all the LBC photos on the SmugMug page.