by Fred Kawashima

I’ve been a member of the prayer ministry for over 10 years or so. However, the Lord has been teaching me how to pray since the day I received Him in high school over 44 years ago (gasp!). But it really wasn’t until the last 10+ years that I gained a deeper understanding of this thing called prayer. For most of my Christian life my prayers were like throwing jelly against the wall to see what stuck. I often viewed God as my personal genie using Scripture verses out of context such as Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you...” John 14:14 “If you ask me anything in my name I will do it.” John 16:24 “...Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full.” I did not purposefully take scripture out of context, I just did not study it enough to get its true meaning. There is more to prayer than just asking. It’s about understanding the Word of God. It is also about hearing from the Holy Spirit. It is both the logos, written word of God, and rhema, God personally speaking to us. You need to know what you are praying is scripturally correct and appropriate for the situation.

The best example of how we are to pray is in Matthew 6:9-13, the “Lord’s Prayer.” One thing that jumped out to me was verse 10, where it says, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” With the Holy Spirit’s clarity, I gained a deeper discernment of how to pray. In a nutshell, it is to pray according to God’s will. His will is what is happening in heaven and we want the same thing to happen on earth. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). Well, how do we do that? I am still learning but it involves knowing His Word, having an intimate and ongoing relationship with the Father through just talking to Him, and being led through hearing the Holy Spirit (distinguishing His voice from ours like sheep hear their shepherd’s voice).

Of course, this takes consistency, similar to spending time with friends and family where after a considerable amount of time you know their voice, their likes and dislikes, etc. You know how they will react and respond. You become more intimate with them. So, it is with our Jesus. When we pray with that type of relationship, we can pray specifically, not general, and with greater faith because we have a greater understanding and sensitivity to what God is doing. That is the objective which I am still pursuing: a work in progress indeed!

Not too long ago a good friend of mine from college was very ill. I was able to visit him in the hospital and went with “great faith” believing the Lord would heal him: he died. What happened Lord? Did you not hear me! Well, I did not ask Jesus how to pray for my friend. I had my own agenda and so did God. I prayed according to my will on earth and not that of heaven/God’s will. I wasn’t listening to the Holy Spirit either. It was a heartbreaking lesson to relearn. Since then, I’ve had other opportunities to pray over our church members and remembered that lesson. My dear sister Donelle Murakami passed away recently. Before that, we were able to visit and pray for her. This time my prayer was different. I know that God's ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not mine, they are much higher (Isaiah 55:8-9). She was my sister and prophetic prayer partner for a long time. She will be missed.

We are all called to understand how to pray and do so without ceasing. Praying is not only for those in the prayer ministry or church staff but also for every believer. As you learn how to pray effectively, you can pray for yourself, family, or others in specific ways. Essentially you will be in the prayer ministry which is our calling. You will be equipped to go anywhere and to pray for anyone.

At our All Church Summer Conference, I was going to share the story of the Hive, when Evergreen Baptist Church became Evergreen SGV and Evergreen LA. As I was preaching, I realized that I would have to edit the sermon and decided to leave out the story of the hive. For this blog, I am going to share the genesis of the hive.

There were two important Bible verses in my life as a pastor. In 1 Samuel 3:9, the High Priest Eli instructs Samuel to listen to the Lord after Samuel hears someone calling to him at night. Eli tells Samuel to say, “Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.”

I have always attempted to listen to the Lord regarding our church and my life as a shepherd.

After listening, there was a second step that Samuel learned about listening to the Lord found in 1 Samuel 15:22, which says, “Samuel said, ‘Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.’” After hearing from the Lord, Samuel always attempted to obey the Lord’s voice.

The Bible teaches that “to obey is better than sacrifice”. Sacrifice was perhaps the single-most important act in Israel’s relationship with God. Yet, Samuel understood that obedience trumps sacrifice. Over the years, the Lord has spoken to me and I needed to obey.

In 1995, Evergreen was confronted with the challenge of outgrowing our campus. We were beginning to experience sociological strangulation. Sociological strangulation happens when the physical facilities cannot handle more people.

The symptoms of sociological strangulation are when 80% of available parking spaces are used, seating capacity in sanctuary is at 80% or more and classroom space is 80% utilized.

We looked for remedies. We tried to purchase additional adjacent property. We prayed about moving to a larger site or starting a satellite church.

In 1995, while at a conference, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Split the church”. When I returned from the conference, I began to share about the possibility of planting a church with either Ken Fong or me leading the plant.

No one was in favor of the idea at first. But, I knew that if it was from the Lord, it would happen. Gradually, the church family warmed up to the idea as they began to see the benefits of such a venture. Rather than calling it a split, we coined the term “hive” for the venture from the Lord.

In 1997, after about two years of prepping the church family, we hived the church and Evergreen SGV was given birth. The rest is history.

Listening to the Lord and being willing to obey has resulted in incredible blessings as we moved forward as Evergreen SGV, and with every blessing, may God be glorified.

How is God speaking to you? Are you willing to obey?

Something to think about…

by Pastor Terry Gee

Music on demand. iTunes. Youtube. Spotify. Thousands upon thousands of songs, ready for your consumption. Listen to a new album every single day and you won’t exhaust the music available to you.

And not only is it readily available, there is countless variety, easily seen in the Christian music arena alone. Like rock n’ roll worship? You got it. Folksy worship your thing? Easy. How about Christian Dubstep or Christian Norwegian Prog Metal? Yep, it’s all there. Everyone can get what works for them - and get it instantly.

And this is a wonderful thing. The variety of music highlights the various facets of God and His glory in different ways. Worship music being widely and easily available has made worship music common, from the car to the kitchen, not just something we have to wait until Sunday morning to hear and sing, storing up the songs in our hearts and minds. 

But has this also hindered Sunday morning worship?

I would contend that there is a dark side to the current worship culture that we must guard ourselves against. While having pitch-perfect, professionally mixed, studio quality recordings in our ears all week is great, do we then easily become disappointed with the music on Sunday? And while listening to whatever song I want in the style I like is marvelous, am I then put off when my tastes aren’t met in service? I listen to a new album every week, as the same old songs are played Sunday after Sunday, or I stick to my favorite album over and over, never being bothered by singing along to any new, unfamiliar songs either. In short, I’m in control, and that includes the all important volume knob. Enough said.

All of these things can subtly add up to a Sunday morning letdown of a worship time if we’re not careful. No favorite songs. Too loud. Too soft. Not as good as the recording. 

So what should we do? In the middle of whirlwind of preferences, how do we guard against becoming spectators or unintentional critics of Sunday worship singing?

Remember What It Is.

It’s not a concert. It’s not a coffee house. 

It is the chosen people of God - the One who upholds the entire universe - coming together as one to offer up their hearts and bodies in praise that is God-exalting, Christ-adoring, Spirit-empowered, flesh-crucifying, and hell-shaking, that moves the heart of heaven and unifies the church on earth to carry out the mission of God into all the world. It is a company of pilgrims together on a dark and painful journey towards everlasting joy, and when we come together, in one heart and one voice, to declare the praises of Him who drew us out of death and darkness and into His marvelous light, we are strengthened to press on with the name of God exalted and honored above all things.

So don’t lose the vision. Don’t let preferences for new songs, old songs or musical styles keep you from wholeheartedly worshiping the One who loved us and gave himself up for us. Remember what worship is, and you will be able to worship God in any and all circumstances, with any and every musical style and song that confesses His praise, and so delight in Your Savior with His people every single Sunday

by Irene Kawashima

The following is an adaptation of Irene’s presentation on April 28th at the Ladies’ Tea.

Recently I was observing a toddler pushing his toy through a play area. He had come to an impasse and as much as he tried to push, the toy wouldn’t move forward because one of its wheels kept hitting a barrier. His mother, standing to the side, was quietly giving him direction as to how to move his toy into a clear area so that he could move on. But the little boy was not listening, being too focused on pushing the toy forward. At one point his mother tried to move the toy herself but the toddler pushed her hand away and persisted in moving the toy back and forth hitting the barrier. Eventually frustration grew and he began to cry and fuss. It was then that his mother gently and simply moved the toy over and the little boy was able to push his toy into an open space, happy as ever. As I watched this toddler dismiss his mother’s input and help, I realized this situation reflected what my life and walk with God has been at times.

You see, I have wrestled with an innate desire to control situations and events in my life. This need for control contributed in me being a strong willed, independent and stubborn child (just ask any of my siblings!). However, it wasn’t until my senior year in college that I became aware of just how deeply rooted this issue was within me. It was Fall quarter and an extremely busy time of extracurricular activities, classes and part time jobs. Like other seniors, I was challenged by the uncertainty of my future. Do I apply to graduate school or find a job? What job and where? What should the priorities of my life be and how do I balance it all? As a Christian, I knew cognitively that God had a plan for me and to simply trust in Him. However, emotionally I felt that I needed to “help God out” so I plowed ahead with my own actions. Regrettably, my attempts to set my life on what I thought was a nice orderly path created a stress level and fear in me that eventually manifested itself in a traumatic physical illness. Rather than me controlling the issues, they in fact controlled and affected me!

Jeremiah 29:11-13 speaks of God’s plan for our lives and of His desire for a “heart” relationship with us. I realized that my attempts to gain control over situations in my life only occurred because I kept God at a distance. And so I spent the remainder of my senior year seeking after a deeper connection with God. It was through this intimate relationship that the Holy Spirit was able to bring understanding and life to God’s words. It was this heart relationship that helped me to trust more and allow God to have His way which led to my physical healing. Just as that little toddler eventually allowed his mother to guide him to a clearer and easier path for his toy. I had to learn how to simply “let go & let God” be in the driver's seat for my life.

So how exactly does one “let go & let God” do His thing? Basically, stop striving and start abiding! John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me, you can do nothing”. We don’t have to strive or “help God” to make our life or situations turn out a certain way; we just have to abide in Him (rest, connect with). You see when we strive to make things happen, one of two things occur − we become either stressed or depressed. That’s because things aren’t happening in the way we want or as fast as we want. These feelings result from being in conflict with God, we’re trying to control things that only God can control. The more you do, the more you’re in opposition to Him. Stress relief starts with letting God be God. What is stressing or depressing you right now - family, work, relationships, finance, singleness? Are you in conflict with God?

No matter what you’re facing, be encouraged, for God holds everything together (Colossians 1:17, Living Bible). That means we don’t have to hold onto things so tightly out of our own desires or fears. We can “let go & let God” be in control with whatever arises before us. When we seek after Him, He will always respond; when we are obedient to Him, He will always come through!

“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9

Have you said something to the effect that “Enough is enough!”?  In other words, you have had your “fill of it”, you are “stretched to the limit”, you are “taxed to death” or it’s time to “walk away from it”. These are all expressions that enough is enough.

It’s like a sumptuous ten-course Chinese banquet. Dish after delicious dish is spun around to you on a circular table on top of a circular table. You start strong, but fade fast. When the fried rice is finally served, you cannot eat another bite… enough is enough.

Back when disco was king, Donna Summers and Barbra Streisand sang a song subtitled, “Enough Is Enough”. The song is about being a bad relationship that was going nowhere and it was time to leave it because enough is enough.

The Apostle Paul had an “enough is enough” moment in his life. He was struggling with a thorn in the flesh issue. No one is exactly sure what Paul’s malady was, but suffice it to say that it was plaguing him.

Paul prayed at least three times for the Lord to heal and relieve him from his pain and suffering. He then received a life-changing realization from the Lord. Through the trials and tribulations of this life, through the pain and suffering of a world gone cold, Jesus is enough.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” He came to the realization that God’s “grace is sufficient”. God’s grace is found in Jesus. In other words, Jesus is sufficient; Jesus is enough.

Whenever we are experiencing the hardships of life and we are having an “enough is enough” moment in life, remember that Jesus is always enough. When this becomes a reality in our lives then will come the understanding that when we have had enough, then it is time to make the enough of Jesus be enough.

Something to think about…