SCC Pastors' Blog

Without question the greatest threat to myself and I believe the church at large in the world is the threat of losing heart in trying times and thereby losing faith in God’s plans and purposes.

When fatal hardships pound down upon us, it is easy to think God has forgotten us or worse that He doesn’t exist. I’m fairly sure we’ve all struggled with doubt at one time or another. When constant and often countless circumstances seem to speak a hallow mantra through our minds,

“God where are you, how come you allowed this to happen?”

That’s why it’s so important to be reminded of Jesus own words,

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Friends, “The Kingdom has come, the Kingdom is coming!”

So what do we do in the meantime? Well according to Jesus we seek justice from our Father in heaven continuously.

And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. Luke 18:7, 8

We accomplish this by remembering to not fall victim to one of the two positions I outlined last Sunday. False triumph-ilism or living with defeatism. The former seeks to pretend all is well and to deny the reality of the “whole not yet” part of our faith. The former falls into resolute and abject resignation that little if anything good can come from this life until Jesus returns. But remember Jesus didn’t validate either of these positions. He tells us yes you will suffer in this world, but not as one without hope, and as we pray God still does miracles, we can see daily the evidence of the Kingdom come.

But we chose to remain hopeful, because we know the best is yet to come, and all the ill’s of this world will one day be finished and Christ shall put all His enemies under his feet including death itself.

However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8

Yes He will. Why? Because until then we ask, we seek, we knock, and most of all we never lose faith in the great promises of God no matter what befalls us in this life.

He told me to tell you.

Lover never fails,

dan

Hi Everyone,

Sunday’s message was a good reminder to me about how easy it is to get way off track while professing our loyalty to God.  It was somewhat comforting to read Jonah’s story and realize that even God’s prophets threw tantrums when God didn’t perform to their expectations . . . I’m sure it must have been “righteous indignation” right!?  I guess I’m not the only one!

It’s good to remember that we are not defenseless against the idols that permeate our hearts.  We can identify them and replace them if we will regularly take an honest look at our:
IMAGINATIONS – What do you daydream about when your mind is in “neutral”?
HOW WE SPEND OUR MONEY – Do you spend more on recreation and entertainment than you give to support ministry?
FUNCTIONAL DAILY SALVATION – What is your life really devoted to?
UNCONTROLLABLE EMOTIONS – Look for idols behind your emotions, especially when they trigger emotional melt-downs, prolonged periods of gloominess, or drive you to do things you know are wrong.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Colossians 3:1 – 5

Blessings,
 
John

By this time it was noon and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle.  Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my Spirit into your hands!”   Luke 23:44-46
  
We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way  He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins!
 
But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole He was whipped so we could be healed.   All of us, like sheep have strayed away.  We have left God’s path’s to follow our own.  Yet the LORD laid on Him the sins of us all.   Isaiah 53:3b-6
  
But God showed His great love for us by sending Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.   Romans 5:8,9

Good Friday, for you and me was a very good day.  Take time to connect with the Maker of all things today, Jesus, and thank Him for what He did for you that day on Calvary.
 
See you for the celebration!
 
Love you,
 
Dan

WOW! how cool is this. A blog. this is a first for me. I like it. I’m a blogger! I’ve been called worse.

Yesterday was a Blessing beyond words for me. It’s been 2 1/2 years since I’ve been in the pulpit and I had forgotten how that third service can be testing.  I pray that every person left with the knowledge and the belief that God’s Mercy is the original “trickle down” theory.   I know, I always thought it was Ronald Regan too. The truth is “The more we are willing to grant Mercy … the more God’s Mercy is poured out on us.”

Think of it in the same way we think of our giving. We are asked for 10% but promised that the more we give the higher our return will be.  Just today I received a letter from a member of our church addressing this very thing.  I hope he won’t mind my sharing a bit of that letter here.  He wrote: “Knowing that God is a loving and generous God, we knew we could never out give Him,”  and as Jesus said in Luke, 6:28, “Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Paul tells us in Galatians 6:7 that “Whatever you sow, so shall you reap” but also tells us in 2nd Corinthians 9:6 that “The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and that the person who sows generously will also reap generously.”   It just makes sense that the more you sow, the more you stand to reap.”

Take these words and apply them to the Forgiveness and Mercy we are willing to sow in our relationships.  Please!

I believe that if Adolf Hitler could have awakened from his nightmare and realized his sins, and confessed those sins at the feet of God, and Repented and begged for His Forgiveness…that God would have poured out His Mercy on this skumbag.. So why do I still have times in my life where I doubt that He would do the same for pitiful me?

In the 12 step programs, we have a story dealing with Forgiveness that tells us to pray for the person we hold resentment against.  Pray for 10 days and ask God to give to this person all the good things we would want God to Bless us with. Try it. I think you will be surprised at the results.

Finally, I want to share a thought with you that was imparted to me by my dear friend Dr. Bob Andrew (I miss him so)  If you have sinned (let me correct that) WHEN you have sinned against another ask for forgiveness three times… if they won’t forgive… the sin becomes theirs. ” THEN MOVE ON.”

I don’t ask for forgiveness and mercy for them (whoever “them” may be) and I don’t grant forgiveness for them either… I do it for me…  I do it so I can keep My side of the street clean. I want to give God a clear shot at my heart and mind…

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you”.  Lewis Smedes, Forgive and Forget

Please remember my invitation to contact any of the pastors for an appointment to discuss this or any issues keeping you from being “Free in the Lord.”

God Bless,     Rex

Ah, leave it to modern sports to continue to give us endless illustrations of how to live well… or not in some cases. Going to bed last night, I thought, “I don’t know what I’ll blog on yet from my message last week.” After reading this morning’s news, it’s the Olympics to the rescue, they gave me just what I needed!

This one is golden (ok maybe just silver, depending on how you look at it…)
I was looking at the news events of the day – not the Olympic news, and a headline caught my eye, “Putin attacks Plushenko judging.” I wondered what the Russian Prime Minister was so hot about? Imagine a politician ranting about the judging of an Olympic sport! It turns out that the American beat the favored Russian. But what really caught my eye was the gracious words from the silver medalist Russian…

“You can’t be considered a true men’s champion without a quad,”
“For someone to stand on top of the podium with the gold medal around his neck by just doing triple jumps, to me it’s not progress, it’s a regress because we’ve done triples 10 or even 20 years ago,”
“Just doing nice transitions and being artistic is not enough because figure skating is a sport, not a show,”
“I was positive that I won. But I suppose Evan needs a medal more than I do,” Plushenko said through a translator. “Maybe it’s because I already have one…”
“Now it’s not men’s figure skating, now it’s dancing.” Plushenko said.

Hmm… I confess I didn’t watch the interviews (maybe he really was a gracious second place finisher), but the comments seem to underscore a less than complementary attitude. An attitude that is more concerned with “me” than others. I know it – I’ve had it.

When I was in High School I played water polo. I won the MVP award on the JV team. I went home and threw it at the wall and the arm broke off (I still have it in my garage somewhere, I now keep to remind me of the attitude). I was so upset because I didn’t get my varsity letter that year. I practiced with the varsity and played on the varsity team in most of the non-league and tournament games. I thought I DESERVED the letter. I was so angry that I was unable to enjoy the award I had gotten. Pride is a ruinous thing. I wonder if some people are unable to celebrate God’s gracious gift of salvation because it is ultimately about Him, and giving Him the thanks and praise He deserves, because in doing that, it takes the spotlight away from their focus on themselves? Or even serving others because then you can’t be serving yourself?

My prayer for us all this week is that we would embrace Philippians. 2:3 …”Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

OK, I know the score: two weekends, two messages on Biblical authenticity.  You’re thinking ahh, yea, that’s right.  I seem to remember something about that.

Well my friends, and I do consider you friends and family, seeing as how we will be enjoying God’s eternal provisions together in the not too distant future.  It’s time to make a change.
Yes, it’s time to make a change.  I will not allow another moment to pass in your life where you don’t stop and consider the depth and meaning of a God who knows your every thought, motive, and action.

After you’re done wrapping your mind around that incredible truth, start thinking today how that should make it a lot easier to begin conversations with others in the faith of Jesus Christ with a clear declaration of God’s greatness and your great need.   Start talking about it in every facet of your life and do it with God and do it with each other.

Remember –  Authentic people tell the truth about themselves because they know what God knows about them.  So encourage those that confess to you and encourage yourself while you’re at it.  God actually loves you beyond human reasoning through Christ Jesus.

Two: What I am asking for is legitimate transparency, so find someone you can trust, form a small group for accountability purposes, heck I don’t care, just take your faith to the level of ‘real’ today.  If you don’t know anyone then get plugged into Bible studies or men’s or women’s groups and start meeting fellow sinners saved by GRACE,  please!

Three: Accept that other folks have weaknesses/sins different from yours.  Don’t condone them but remind them of God’s great forgiveness and mercy and that you’re there to help them win the day over whatever ails them.

Please know the pastors here love you and care deeply about your commitment to Christ and we believe a life lived authentically is our absolute best opportunity to impact the people we know, both in faith and without faith. 

Let’er rip!!!

love being your pastor,

dan

I coached YMCA basketball for a few years while I was in High School.  Two of the years we won the championship.  It wasn’t because of my coaching, I had the three best players in the league!  Several of the games they would get so far ahead, so quickly that I told them they had to make five passes before shooting just to take up more time!  They were so good that I think we could have gone without practice all year and still won every game.  So my goal was to make practice meaningful.

One of the things I did was to work through drills at the beginning of practice then end practice with a scrimmage.  To keep score, rather than count each basket, you only got a point if the team used one of the skills we practiced before the scrimmage.  So for instance if I had them practice left handed lay-ups in a drill, when they scrimmaged they would score a point for each left handed lay-up they made.  Like most people they lived for the scrimmage and hated the drills, but as the season went on, I could see that they took the drills more seriously, knowing they count when we played at the end of each practice.

On Sunday I gave you all homework.  I wanted you to practice telling someone “Three Stories That Matter” – God’s Story, My Story (My – being you own) and Your Story (yours – being someone you know).  Many of you are like the players I coached, very talented people, but just like my team, practice made good players even better.  I know that if you work at telling these stories in a clear, concise, and compelling way, come time to share others – you’ll be ready to make a difference in the life of someone you love!

Ok I have to admit it I forgot I preached last Sunday.  I have been down in L.A., Lakewood to be exact, helping my Mom transition into her Alzheimer’s Care Facility.  It’s a nice place as these places go, but in the end my Mom is having a hard adjustment, therefore it’s been hard on me and the rest of my family as well.  I tell you this simply because I think it’s the reason for my forgetfulness. 

Then I think of our friend Bob Andrew, and of course the tragic events in Haiti and, well, you get the picture.  Life can come at us in waves, and truthfully, I have experienced the most depth of trust in God and the worst examples of faith in this past week.  I feel manic spiritually, one moment in sync, the next disobedient.

One thing I’ve learned is that God isn’t leaving me, it’s always me leaving Him.  So it makes this passage from last Sunday all the more poignant in my journey to stay close to Him.

“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—… Acts 17:27

God’s purpose … I love that thought — but when you realize the desired outcome from our Creator’s purpose is that we find Him, well, I am left speechless at such a concept. I’d love for us to meditate a few moments of our busy lives this week and consider a God who loves you enough to orchestrate history so that we might “feel our way toward Him” and actually, “find Him”.  Then perhaps when we find Him we might work vigorously to keep that line of communication open and ongoing. 

I hope the depth of God’s love on such a grand scale as history will warm your gizzards as the storms line up this weekend.

Love being your pastor and sharing my life with you,

dan

The Book of Acts is full of “historic moments.” These were events in which the decisions and actions of people like the Apostle Paul literally changed the course of history. The results of those decisions are still rippling through our lives to this day.

Consider this: Paul had been determined to carry the news about Jesus to the people of present-day Eastern Turkey, Georgia, and possibly Azerbaijan. But in obedience to a vision he sees while in the town of Troas (Acts 16), he changed direction and went west to northern Greece instead . . . and the rest, as they say, is history.

But here’s the question: Do you think Paul and his companions knew they were doing something historic or do you think it all seemed like another “normal” day in the life of a missionary? Do you think Lois & Eunice ever dreamed that Timothy would play such a significant role in the spread of Christianity while they were raising him? (2 Timothy 1:5)

My point is that our actions and decisions matter because they start chain reactions that ripple through time. So make each day, each decision count . . . some of them may turn out to be historic!

Blessings, Pastor John

My message this week was focused on creating an atmosphere that is conducive to growing your relationship with God.  My third ingredient in creating growing atmosphere was:  Authentic Relationship. 

Although I only knew Bob Andrew for a short time we spent lot of time together.  We shared a passion for spiritual disciples and teamed up to teach our 201 course “Disciples for Life”.  Bob was Jewish and had rich appreciation of his heritage that gave me beautiful insights about  faith in Jesus.  Bob wanted the best for me and wanted to see me grow in my ability to teach and lead and shared some great advice with me.  I have one additional thought for you as you think about being committed to maturing in your faith, it comes not from me but from Bob.  It is the from his outline “Keys to a Quality Quiet Time” -

4.  Willingness To Obey
This attitude is crucial.  You don’t come (to the Bible) to chose what you will or won’t do, but with the purpose of doing everything God wants you to.  Come to meet the Lord having already chosen to do His will, no matter what.

What gift Bob is for those who traveled with him!  Bob went to be with Jesus this last Sunday night.  Dan is sending an email regarding his memorial service.
 
 
Noah Largent