by Pastor Victor Chen

With the new year comes various resolutions that can be easy to start but difficult to sustain. For Christians, the new year can mean restarting a Bible-in-a-year reading plan or attempting to read the Bible everyday.

And like other resolutions, we can start well with Genesis 1, yet sputter at Exodus and give up entirely at Leviticus. Or we keep up through day 15 yet give up somewhere around day 40.

If that’s you, you may think, ”Why should I even try this year?”

Reading the Bible consistently is a difficult discipline to keep (I speak from personal experience). It doesn’t help that reading is becoming more of a lost art, as social media news feeds have relegated us to speed skimming (or scrolling).

The last thing we want as Christians is to view reading the Bible as a chore or assignment we just check off, but engage very little with.

So if you’re having trouble reading the Bible everyday, try starting here.

Try reading a Psalm a day.

Psalms are easy to read because they are songs

What can make the Bible difficult to read, is how many different genres there are in the Bible and their corresponding difficulty. Narratives read easier because they read like story. Genealogies … not so much. The apocalyptic presents a whole range of questions and the laws can read like …. laws.

The Psalms are songs to the Lord meant to be sung, recited and memorized. There’s great emotion captured in the psalms intertwined with great truth about the Lord.

Psalms are easy to read because they are prayers

When we crawl out of bed and crack open our Bibles, we are often searching for something to grasp onto to help us through the day. That is why we can be discouraged when we open the Bible and read laws or genealogies and even narratives. When there is nothing apparent for us to take from the passage, we can make the mistake of trying to “spiritualize” what we read and draw out something that was not intended to be there.

But when we read a psalm in the morning, what we read becomes our prayer for that day. It becomes less about what we can get out of the psalm and more about aligning our hearts with the prayer of the psalmist.

Psalms are easy to read because they come in manageable portions

Reading the Bible regularly according to chapters can feel arbitrary because the chapters or verses don’t always follow the train of thought or movement. That is because chapter and verse designations were put there later by people to help break up the Bible in specific pieces.

The psalms on the other hand, are self-contained units, often with helpful introductions. Aside from a few long psalms, most psalms come in manageable portions. Psalms don’t feel daunting to get through.

But what about the rest of the Bible?

Reading a Psalm a day is not meant to discourage you from reading the rest of the Bible. If anything, it will encourage you to read the rest of the Bible. (The book of Psalms is the most quoted OT book in the NT!)

This suggestion is merely meant to help get you started each day in the practice of daily Bible reading. After reading a psalm in the morning, you can proceed to read a portion of the Bible during your lunch break, afternoon break or in the evening.

In other words, reading a Psalm everyday keeps you reading the Bible everyday!

For those who enjoyed the book, “Gentle and Lowly”, author Dane Ortlund has written a book with a daily Psalm accompanied by a reflection, “In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions through the Psalms”. Feel free to contact me at vchen@evergreensgv.org to order a copy.

Participants: Ron and Rica Chan, James and Julie Chow, Ed and Sally Lum, Randy and Angela Quon

Thank you for your prayers and contributions of SD/Micro-SD cards and funds for their purchase. Over 130+ cards and over $1000 will provide the Word in countries where the Bible is forbidden to have. An example of how biblical digital media can be shared in restricted countries can be heard at the following link (Voice of the Martyr Radio): https://youtu.be/vjzhn6mAiwQ

We traveled to the Voice of the Martyrs headquarter in Bartlesville, OK to serve in their Mailing Distribution Center and become stewards of the testimonies and stories of the persecuted believers around the world. We were made aware of the present state of the persecuted believers and how we can support our brethren as they suffer loss of home, livelihood, and lives for the name of Jesus.

God gave to each one of us different experiences. The best way to summarize our experience is to share paraphrased statements from the team:

1. “It was detox for the soul” – We were immersed in a refuge away from the banter of politics and social change and had the opportunity to dwell just on Christ and his work.  

2. It was “unexpected” rich fellowship – We shared our life stories with sympathetic hearts 

3. It was a “challenge” to step out and walk with the persecuted – Our minds were renewed so we can begin to think and feel what our persecuted brethren go through.

4. It was “distributing” the stories and prayer requests of the persecuted – With zealous enthusiasm we increased our daily output from 6k to 10k prayer calendar packages to be sent across the nation.

Some of the most moving interactions came from hearing fresh testimony from the VOM field workers and staff.

1. One such meeting was with Jonathan, the Vice-President of International Relations. He gave us insight to the heart of Afghan Christians as the Taliban was taking over the country. Despite hearing mainstream media stories that the Christians are fleeing the country, he assured us that the believers that they had contact with were not leaving. They knew if they departed, the gospel presence could be lost. VOM is seeking to partner with our brethren who choose to stay. In addition, Jonathan also put in perspective that the greatest threat to the Afghan Christians is not the Taliban but the immediate family members who are taught that those who convert must be convinced even by force to return or face death.

2. A second such meeting was with Lebanese Pastor Pierre. God had called him to start a church on the Israeli-Lebanon border.  He shared that hundreds of Muslims that he interviewed are following Jesus because Jesus appeared to them in a dream or vision. This personal “invitation” prompted them to seek Jesus at the local Christian churches. The Christian churches are learning to extend the hand of fellowship to these Muslim converts despite suspicions of their conversations. Pray for their unity.

3. Other interactions gave us impactful insight to the courage and faithfulness of our brethren. Feel free to ask us about these other stories.

 Voice of the Martyrs helps us to love the persecuted church in four ways:

1. VOM provides persecution response by “stopping the bleeding” and “re-establishing lives”.

2. VOM provides Bible distribution in whatever translation and method most compatible to the hearer/reader. It is their belief every believer should have a bible!

3. VOM provides support to the frontline worker. For our brethren who choose to stay as a witness, VOM provides the tools and support to carry out their gospel mission.

4. VOM provides the communication that shares our brethren’s stories so we might learn to become faithful as they have shown by their example.

Begin your journey to support the persecuted church by connecting at www.persecution.com and www.icommittopray.com. We are looking to return next year in mid to late September. Join us (the team, the VOM staff, and the persecuted brethren) and be transformed!  
Blessings, James Chow

by Pastor Victor Chen

Mere months into leading our 5th/6th grade Church School department, I was faced with the task of identifying a person to head our 1st/2nd grade department. It was the beginning of the 2020 school year and we were still in the midst of a “stay at home” order. 

Church School was still largely done online and I was having a difficult time recruiting help for Church School. Finding a Department Head seemed impossible.

What were we going to do?

I remember proposing a solution to our other Church School Department Head leaders after much prayer. Though they admired my heart, they were concerned this was too much.

I admit it sounded crazy.

I would lead both 5th/6th and 1st/2nd grade departments. The only way I could do this is if we had a unified curriculum across all grades. I would produce pre-recorded lesson videos each week to be shown online, followed by break-out small groups by our Church School teachers. I would teach in person outdoors to everybody 0-6th grade and break everybody out into small groups according to their age groups.

Over six months later, we continue to offer a unified curriculum, “The Gospel Project”, across all grades through high school. For grades Pre-K through 6th, we continue to offer an online option with small groups. On May 2, we began having a unified Church School gathering indoors at 9am in the MPR. I teach the lesson in person, after which everybody breaks out to their respective departments for small groups and activities. 

More families are coming out as things reopen. children online and in-person are beginning to grasp the rhythm of the curriculum — the key passages families can commit to memory and the overarching themes for each unit of 4-5 lessons. The curriculum covers the entire Bible over three years, specifically highlighting how each part of the Bible points to the good news of Jesus. I especially appreciate the resources the curriculum provides to facilitate family worship throughout the week. With a unified curriculum, a family with multiple children can review the same lesson, the same theme and the same key passage.

Looking back, I had always wanted to introduce a unified curriculum for our Church School departments. My wife dreamed of being able to track with all three of our children and what they had learned in Sunday school. 

Who knew a unified curriculum would provide a solution to our church in a difficult season? Praise God that we have a clear path in “The Gospel Project” for a unified journey through the Bible and discovering how it points to Jesus.

This fall, The Gospel Project will begin its 3-year cycle going through the entire Bible beginning with Genesis 1. Join us as our Church School goes through The Gospel Project together. There is even a potential option to add an adult track so everybody can join along! Feel free to contact me at vchen@evergreensgv.org for more information. 

by Victor Chen

Nobody could have imagined a Christmas like this.

Being apart from extended family and friends feels cold and lonely. Having to stay with immediate family can be a difficult thing. 

We can feel bitter against the government for the order that brought us here.

There is ethnic tension and political distrust. 

There is fear and despair over the future.

Where are you, Lord?

Nobody could have imagined a Christmas like this.

Yet here it is, right in the Bible.

A Roman government order goes out that everybody be registered.

An unwed couple with child has to travel nearly 100 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. 

There are no family and friends for them to stay with. Scandal surrounds their family situation. 

This unwed, expecting couple probably felt lonely, unwanted and cold.

And it was here that Christ the Lord came — to a lonely, unwanted, scandalous family situation amidst ethnic tension and political distrust between the Jewish and Romans.

So if you can identify with anything that was just described this Christmas, rejoice. 

Rejoice, because the Lord came on Christmas for people just like you.

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. - John 1:9–13 (ESV)

by Victor Chen

When we think of Thanksgiving, we can imagine a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting — a warm family with beaming smiles, eagerly gathered around a picturesque table as the father prepares to carve a delicious turkey. 

That becomes the standard for our Thanksgiving. That becomes the feeling we try to capture. That becomes the setting we try to recreate.

And we fall woefully short, year after year.

Expectation turns to disappointment. Anticipation turns to bitterness. Our families aren’t idyllic. Our homes turn out to be more cold than warm. Our situations don’t seem very happy at all.

But let’s reset and try to find Thanksgiving in the Bible. 

Picture the apostle Paul in prison, awaiting impending execution. Even if he was under house arrest, imagine the social stigma and the loneliness. 

There is no warm meal to be shared around the table. There are no friends or family to enjoy company with. 

And yet, it is here that we find Thanksgiving in the Bible. Not the American holiday to be celebrated (or dreaded) each year. But a true heart of thanksgiving that is not contingent on situation or close company. 

Thanksgiving in the Bible is not a holiday or a setting or even a feeling. 

Thanksgiving in the Bible is a matter of the heart and it comes supernaturally only through the Lord.

Every day, in every moment and in everything, I pray that we, like the apostle Paul, would be marked by this happy thanksgiving.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11–13 ESV)