The wilderness is no fun! It’s hot, it’s dry, it’s barren. Food is sparse, beauty is lacking, and danger is real. Granted, there are some hardy, adventurous folks who find delight in the challenge of hiking or camping in the wilderness, but even for them, it’s only enjoyable because it’s temporary—very few would be inclined to settle in and live there.

So also for the people of Israel, after God delivered them out of Egypt, the wilderness was not their destination of choice. Rather, because of their disobedience and their lack of trust in God, they wandered and hungered and thirsted and complained for forty long years in the wilderness. It was not fun.

But God says something to his people through Moses, as they are about to leave the wilderness and enter the Promised Land. God gives them a different picture of the wilderness than perhaps how they were viewing it. They likely saw the wilderness as a punishment for their sinful grumbling and disobedience. But God tells them it was a test. “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.” (Deuteronomy 8:2, italics added) 

Notice that God says he led them in the wilderness. God was present with them, intentionally leading them, not just through it but in it. And the purpose was to humble them and test them, to reveal what was in their heart.

That is what any kind of test does—it reveals. When I failed my DMV behind-the-wheel driving test as a 17-year-old, it revealed (much to my chagrin at the time!) that I was not yet ready to be driving a car on the road. I’m thankful (now) for that test—it’s possible that it saved my life or others’ lives by making me wait and learn further before driving on my own. Tests, whether in school or the workplace, reveal whether or not we have mastered the skills or material we’re learning.

Hardship. Suffering. Loss. Pain. Grief. These are all tests for us, like the wilderness was a test for the people of Israel. God leads us in them—though we may not feel his presence—not to punish us but to reveal what is in our hearts. Will we trust that his heart is good, even when we suffer like Job did? Will we hold tightly to Jesus in our pain, or will we seek relief outside of relationship with him? Does our loss or grief start revealing self-centered beliefs that everything should go our way? Do the everyday pressures and stresses of a life that is hard prove our determination to live independently from God?

Or…are we learning to lean on the wisdom of God when that unexpected diagnosis comes our way? Will we train our hearts to truly know it is well with our soul even when the “sorrows like sea billows roll”? Can we trust in the mercy and kindness of our Lord rather than running after empty escape or relief? Are we reminding ourselves of all that Jesus suffered on our behalf, in order to give us life and hope beyond this broken, sinful world? Tests also reveal the ways that our hearts are being transformed to reflect the glory of Christ more and more.

As God reminded his people of his faithful presence in the wilderness, he also warned them that the comfortableness of the Promised Land would be another test. Thus, he instructed them not to forget the Lord their God… “who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.” (Deuteronomy 8:16, italics added) May we who are in Christ also rest in that assurance that the hard things in our lives are given by God to do us good in the end.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light 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.

(2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

All-Church Equipping Conference, October 14-15, 2022

Who is God? And how important is it, for us as Christians, that we have a right perception of God?

Christian pastor and writer A.W. Tozer answered that question in this way:

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.

We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God.

A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: HarperCollins, 1978), 1.

 How we think about God affects our worship of Him. What we believe about Him influences our praying, our parenting, our counseling, our evangelism, our working, our resting, our planning for the future. Every area of our lives is impacted by our perception and thoughts of God.

Because this is of such vital importance, not only for us as individual Christians but for us as a church family, we are planning an equipping conference for our whole church this fall, and the focus is on the doctrine of God. We are blessed to have pastor and professor Dr. Erik Thoennes come to teach us about this foundational doctrine, and our hope is that as we behold our God in deeper ways, our hearts and lives will reflect His glory more and more (2 Corinthians 3:18).

When our own Pastor Jeremy worked as an adjunct theology professor at Biola, he was privileged to serve under Dr. Thoennes, so he is super excited that all of us are blessed with this opportunity to learn from him as well. This is Pastor Jeremy’s introduction of him to us:

Dr. Erik Thoennes is a professor and chair of theology at Talbot School of Theology, Biola. He also serves as a pastor at Grace Evangelical Free Church, La Mirada. Dr. Thoennes is Biola's most sought after professor of theology as he is known for teaching theology in a way that connects biblical doctrine to practical life, discipleship, and missions. He has taught theology and evangelism at the college and seminary levels and has received the Biola University award for faculty excellence and professor of the year. In addition to teaching in the local church, and at Biola University, he is also an author and frequent speaker at various conferences and retreats such as Mount Hermon's Family Camp.

It's a joy to have Dr. Thoennes teaching us on the doctrine of God. I know you will be blessed at this conference as he helps us Behold our God.

COVID restrictions have interrupted our usual rotation of church retreats and we have not been able to have our all-church summer conference since 2018. Therefore, this equipping conference is designed to be an all-church event to gather us together around the Word of God in a manner more conducive to our varying degrees of health risk (i.e. less than 24 hours with no overnight accommodations). It will begin on Friday evening, October 14, and continue Saturday morning through afternoon on October 15, all on the Evergreen Church campus. So mark your calendar and plan to attend with the whole family! More details and registration coming soon.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 

Isaiah 40:9

by Dan Christian

From the beginning, God has ordained rest as a necessary and significant part of His creation. God’s rest on the seventh day of creation was not because He was worn out, but in order to establish a pattern of work and rest for His created beings (Genesis 2:1-3). Part of God’s good design for human beings—before the fall into sin—is that we require daily sleep. To be a creature rather than the Creator, a finite being rather than the infinite God, means that we are bound by certain limits. We cannot live without air or food or water…or rest.

Because of sin, our human need for rest is not merely a physical limit of our finite bodies; rather, it has also become a deep need of our souls. Thus, Jesus gives us a compelling invitation: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29) Our souls need rest, a rest that only God can provide. 

God calls us to enter His rest through faith and obedience (see Hebrews 4:9-11). That can happen in part here and now, but will only happen fully when we are taken out of this sin-sick world and brought into our eternal rest in the very presence of our God. And so even as we strive to learn godly rhythms of work and rest in the midst of our labors here on earth, we long for that fullness of rest in Christ that will be ours someday. 

One helpful rhythm of work and rest that we have been granted as full-time pastors at Evergreen SGV is the opportunity to take a 3-month sabbatical every fifth year of our employment. The stated purpose for these sabbaticals (according to our staff policy manual) is: 1) Rest and relaxation from the rigors of ministry, 2) Spiritual renewal and replenishment, 3) Growth in specific areas of life and ministry, and 4) Time to visit and learn from other churches and ministries. 

We recognize that we as pastors are better equipped and able to serve and shepherd this church family when we are experiencing rest for our souls in Christ. Granted, much of that rest can—and does—come through daily, weekly, and yearly rhythms of rest and retreat, individually and in community. Yet there is a different level of rest that can only come through pulling away entirely from our regular responsibilities for an extended time—that is what a sabbatical provides.

I was due for a sabbatical last year, but initially decided to postpone it because of all the transition happening in our church, and then the pandemic shutdowns further complicated those plans. So I have finally been able to schedule my sabbatical for this summer—it will be starting on May 9th and continuing through August 7th. I am so grateful for the generosity of our church to grant this kind of restful space for me!

As I enter in to this sabbatical time, would you please pray for me?

• Please pray that I could truly rest and be refreshed, and that God would invigorate my soul for this next season of ministry ahead.

• Please pray for my family—it is not just me that is exhausted, but my whole family is very weary also. The constant demand of caring for our daughter with special needs takes its toll, and with this past year+ of pandemic quarantines, that toll has climbed exponentially. There is no sabbatical from family pressures—pray for strength and grace day by day.

• Please pray that our daughter could return to the various places where she receives care and services (which have been unavailable during the pandemic), and that she would not continue to regress.

• Please pray that God would give me vision and direction for the new areas of ministry that I will be overseeing: biblical counseling, young adults, retreats and conferences, and baptism/Communion.

In order to facilitate this time of rest, you will most likely not be seeing me on Sunday mornings or hearing from me in various communications for the next three months. But please know that I will be praying for you during this time, and I will look forward to entering back in to this joyous work of shepherding souls, to which God has called me. Until then, it is time to rest.

by Dan Christian

When you hear that meeting together in-person as believers in Christ is what Scripture calls us to do, don’t miss the beauty of all that frames that biblical command in Hebrews 10:25. And then think carefully about what virtual gathering can—and cannot—provide. 

The command to not neglect meeting together is actually just one phrase in a very long sentence that stretches from verse 19 through verse 25 of Hebrews 10. It is a densely packed summary statement that bookends the central idea of the whole book of Hebrews. So when verse 19 starts with “Therefore, brothers and sisters,” it is referring back to all that has preceded it about the superiority of Jesus as our great and perfect high priest.

Because of all that Jesus has accomplished for us as our great high priest, the author of Hebrews is saying, we then respond in three distinct but connected ways, delineated by three statements of “Let us”: Let us draw near, let us hold fast, and let us consider. We are to draw near to God in faith, hold fast our confession of hope, and consider how to stir one another up to love. Faith, hope, and love are all wrapped up in this call to respond to Jesus’ priestly ministry. 

Stirring one another up—or spurring one another on—to love, by definition requires connectedness with one another; it is not a solitary action. Therefore, the author says, we must not neglect meeting together, but instead encourage one another continually. The word for “neglect” is much stronger than simply being lax about getting together—it means to “abandon” or “forsake” a covenant. The author says that attitude of giving up on meeting together is something that could become habitual, thus there is need to intentionally fight that tendency. 

The flipside of not abandoning our gathering is instead to encourage one another. So in one sense, the author is making gathering together synonymous with encouraging each other. This is the same word “encouragement” that is used in Hebrews 3:12, where we are commanded to “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” The kind of encouragement that comes through meeting together is not mere positivity, but is a deep soul care that keeps us walking faithfully with Christ.

In the flow of this long, beautifully crafted sentence, the encouragement of meeting together connects directly with the third exhortation to stir one another up to love. There is a mutual, good provocation that comes with gathering together, which deepens our capacity to love. However, it’s not a stretch to see that meeting together and encouraging one another also boosts our faith as we draw near to God, and strengthens our hearts to hold fast to hope. Thus, just as the priestly work of Christ provides the basis for our response of faith, hope, and love, so the act of gathering together provides the context in which all of that can happen. 

So does a virtual gathering, like a Zoom meeting or a livestream worship service, accomplish this same mutual encouragement toward faith, hope, and love? Yes…and no. I believe significant aspects of this mutual encouragement are only possible in a physical gathering together. Virtual meetings are helpful and can facilitate some aspects of this kind of mutual soul care, but let’s not settle for the virtual and miss the fullness that comes with actual gathering. And as we come back together in-person, let’s not bypass the benefits that we gain with physical proximity.

Think about a few of the differences between virtual and in-person gathering. Virtual gatherings miss out on most of the significant pre- and post-meeting conversations that happen spontaneously while simply hanging out. Often those conversations are where we process and apply what we have just heard in the sermon or meeting, and where relationships are deepened as we listen and share with one another. Those conversations can—and sometimes do—happen virtually, but in a much more limited fashion than when we are present in-person with one another. Thus, as we come back together, let’s make sure we make the most of these times to connect deeply before and after, rather than showing up late and leaving early. 

Virtual meetings miss much of our nonverbal communication and are devoid of physical touch. There is much encouragement that comes through our nonverbal engagement with one another—whether sighs or smiles, tears or a gentle touch—which gets lost (or is downright impossible) in a virtual gathering. Thus, as we come back together, let’s make the most of the opportunity to engage our whole being with one another as we were created to do. 

There are many other distinctions between gathering virtually and in-person, but I’ll mention only one other here: Virtual meetings generally cushion us from spontaneous, sanctifying interactions with people we find uncomfortable to be around. I recognize this may not be a reason that excites you to come back together, and yet this is an important aspect of Christian community. We are called to love the unlovable, to care for the least of these, to extend kindness and grace to those different than us. In the gathered community of the church, we have ample opportunity to grow in these ways, as uncomfortable as they often are. Again, these opportunities could happen in virtual gatherings too, but it is easier to avoid them when they are not physically “in your face.” So, as we come back together, let’s open our hearts to the opportunities God gives us to love difficult people.

In this pandemic time, there is much good that has come from our virtual gatherings, and I am certainly thankful for the opportunity to connect virtually in an otherwise extremely isolating time. However, as the situation continues to improve and there are increased opportunities to gather in-person, I hope that (to the extent that we can) we will not settle for the virtual substitute but will come together in-person to encourage each other to draw near to God, to hold fast to hope, and to spur each other on to love. 

by Dan Christian

Who have you prayed for today?

The biblical command to pray for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ (James 5:16) is at once a call to the impossible and a call to something so simple that any Christian can do it. It is a call to the impossible, in that God alone can rescue a person from their suffering or sin, and He alone can bring lasting change in their heart and life—you and I as mere Christians cannot produce that kind of transformation. Yet the call to pray for one another is a call to a kind of comfort and care that any Christian can provide—no advanced degree or specialized training is required.  

Praying with and for a fellow struggler is one of the most typical, everyday forms of care that Christians provide for one another. But in contrast to the kind of care that is typically given in the office of a professional therapist, praying with a sister or brother in Christ actually stands out as quite unique. How so? Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a 20th century pastor-theologian (whose father was a psychiatrist) writes this:

The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus. The greatest psychological insight, ability and experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is. Worldly wisdom knows what distress and weakness and failure are, but it does not know the godlessness of man. And so it does not know that man is destroyed only by his sin and can be healed only by forgiveness. Only the Christian knows this. In the presence of a psychiatrist I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother I can dare to be a sinner. The psychiatrist must first search my heart and yet he never plumbs its ultimate depth. The Christian brother knows when I come to him: here is a sinner like myself, a godless man who wants to confess and yearns for God’s forgiveness. The psychiatrist views me as if there were no God. The brother views me as I am before the judging and merciful God in the Cross of Jesus Christ.  [Bonhoeffer, Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible, p. 115.]

Because God alone can change a human heart—including your own—you must pray. In Christ, we have been granted access to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), and we come with confidence that our prayers are not only heard but acted on, by the One whose Spirit has power to abundantly do beyond all we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). God calls you to a work that is humanly impossible, but He unites you to Christ, whose power to bring change knows no limit.

Because praying together is something that any Christian can do—including you—you must pray. We have a unique ministry to bring to one another, a ministry that the psychotherapeutic profession will not provide. If Christ is in you, and you are in Christ, you have a vital ministry to offer, the ministry of praying for and with others. 

Who will you pray with today?