What's Your Treasure?

I will never forget the first time I heard it. There was the sound of clinking coins and a cash register, and then in the background, the sound of a grinding bass in 7/8 time.

“MONEY!” It was loud, forceful, and unmistakably the voice of David Gilmour of the English band, Pink Floyd. While the bass kept up its grinding rhythm, Gilmour let loose with the following lyrics ;

“Money, get away. Money, get a good job, and you're okay.
Money, it's a gas. Money, grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four-star daydream… Think I'll buy me a football team.
Money, get back. I'm alright Jack. Keep your hands off my stack!

I was still in my teens at the time and totally enamored with the message. I mean wasn't this what life was all about? Wasn't money the central dynamic of everything?

I left my teens a long time ago, but unfortunately the message from that Pink Floyd hit is still quite contemporary. Cultural wisdom tells us that to get ahead financially we must get all the money we can, can all the money we get, and then sit on the can to make sure no one takes anything from us.

That kind of mentality puts money front and center as the ultimate treasure, and the path to wealth and security. But does this work in reality? I wonder how many successful celebrities must crash and burn in front of us before we realize that money brings neither true wealth nor security.

We are designed by God to find security and meaning in relationship, not money. God knows that financial treasure will never satisfy us, but only leave us troubled and void deep within. He tells us to seek a relationship with Him first and foremost, and He will provide everything we need. He wants us to treasure our relationship with Him above all our “stuff.”

The problem for many of us is that this is backwards from the way we currently think. We trust our ability to amass wealth to give us security, more than we trust any relationship. So we refuse to take God up on His offer to be our provider.

The Bible records the quandary of a single mother faced with the choice of trusting God, or her own resources. In 1 Kings 17:7–16, we are introduced to a widow who was living during a time of severe drought. She and her son had only enough food for one last meal.

The prophet Elijah was instructed by God to go meet this widow and ask her for some food. The widow informed him that she had only enough for herself and her son. Elijah informed the widow that if she would trust God and prepare a meal for him, God would continue to provide her with food until the drought ended. Although Elijah’s instructions violated all her reasoning, the widow trusted God and said Eli jah first. From that day forward to the end of the drought, she and her son had an ample supply of food. The widows treasure was her relationship with God, and He supplied everything she needed.

What's your treasure, money or relationship with God? It can't be both. One treasure leads to emptiness and discontent, while the other provides satisfaction and security. The choice is up to you.

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. Our current series is “How to Be Blessed Financially,” And my topic this week is “How to Have a Financial Breakthrough.”

Pastor Che

Giving: Love in Action

They are hardly everyday names: Margaret Anne Cargill, Wang Jianlin, Richard Jacobsen and Charles Feeney. Who are they? They are multimillionaires, or in some cases, billionaires who have each donated tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars to various charities, universities and research institutes. Unlike their more famous counterparts, these philanthropists elect to make their donations anonymously.

Before you spend time wondering why anyone would donate such vast sums without attaching their name, think about the last time you gave someone a gift. Did you include the sales slip so they knew how much the gift cost? Did you casually drop in conversation your cash outlay? Of course not! The point of your giving was the love and value you place in the person receiving the gift, not how much the gift cost you.

When we love and value someone, we naturally want to give to them, We desire to express our love to them in some way, and even when it may cost us dearly, we still want to give, and do it with joy. In fact, this selfless type of joyful giving is considered a hallmark of love.

We have all heard stories of the single mother, who works several jobs so her children are able to attend college, something she could never do. I remember hearing one well-known personality describe how his father took a second job six months before his 16th birthday, in order to be able to buy him a motorcycle. My own father immigrated to the United States to pastor a Korean church in the DC area, wanting to provide a better life for his family. It took him over two years to get the necessary documentation and funding so my mom and we kids could join him.

Giving is an expression of love. Giving is love in action. The greatest love gift of all time was given by Father God, and it was given to each one of us. John 3:16 tells us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only, Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Father God loves us so much, that He spared no expense, but gave the costliest gift, the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. Scripture makes it clear that He did not do this begrudgingly, but actually the death of His Son pleased Father God. (Isaiah 53:10) He knew that Jesus was taking our sin upon Himself, thereby freeing us forever from the penalty of sin, and making us capable of receiving His love.

We are offered the love of God as a free gift and invited to give His love to others. God loves cheerful givers, those who are so in love with others that they don't stop to count the cost. In 2 Corinthians 9:6–7, we are told: “Now this I say, the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one of you must give just as they have purposed in their heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Only giving that is motivated by love produces joy. Let God fill you with His love today, and discover the joy of putting that love into action through your own selfless giving!

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. We are beginning a new series, “Supernatural Finances,” and I will be discussing “Five Financial Keys from Solomon.”

Pastor Che

Humble Heroes

In our culture overflowing with reality shows and “videos gone viral,” it's easy to gain instant fame. There seems to be no end to the fascination with the spotlight, and many people will do almost any act, no matter how extreme, to attract public attention. But fame is fleeting, and the public has an extremely short memory.

I'm much more impressed with “humble heroes.” Humility is an admirable quality that is becoming increasingly difficult to find. It’s the attitude of a person who may have done a lot, but doesn't necessarily need to brag about it or call attention to themselves. In fact, they are not concerned with themselves. Their concern is directed to others.

I'd like to tell you about a few notable “humble heroes.” First there's Mary and John Ferraro from Fullerton, California. Mary found out she was carrying quintuplets and was advised by her doctor to do a fetal reduction. This is a common procedure in which several embryos are destroyed in order to assure the viability of the remaining embryos, and provide a safer pregnancy for the mother.

Mary comments: “We decided it was not our place to choose which of our babies would live and which ones would die. If God was giving us five babies, there was a reason. We made a decision to see them as a precious blessing from God above and not as burdens we needed to eliminate.”

I'm happy to report that one week ago, Mary delivered the quintuplets. Mother and all five babies are doing fine.

Then there is a British couple, Pam and Gerald Patterson. They have adopted four children with Down’s syndrome. While most of their friends and neighbors were supportive, some criticized them for adopting so many developmentally delayed children. “They thought we would be swamped by the challenge,” Pam explains. “But actually we've been swamped by the love. These kids have given us so much more than we have ever given them.”

The last humble hero I want to mention is Jim Caveziel. Most of you will recognize him as the actor who portrayed Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ.” What you probably don't know is that he and his wife have adopted two children from China with brain tumors. These children were considered unadoptable because of their illness and their life span is still in question.

Jim explains their decision: “That is what faith is to me; it's action. It's the one who does, and does without bringing attention to themselves.” Jim states, “Our children are the center of our lives. I can't imagine what life would be like without them.”

These humble heroes don't view themselves as extraordinary people, just ordinary people motivated by love. Their willingness to defend the week and helpless, and defend the cause of those who have no voice is inspirational. They are willing to extend themselves and live with the challenges and inconvenience of carrying for others that society might consider “expendable.”

Their lives remind me of another “humble hero:” Jesus Christ. What could be more humble than God in human flesh, coming to Earth as an ordinary person, living and then sacrificing His life on the cross in an act of ultimate love? (Philippians 2:5–8) He died for a human race that often still rejects Him, but He humbly persists in loving us anyway.

He encourages each one of us to accept His unconditional love and become a humble hero by sharing that love with others.

Come join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. I am always happy to have my mentor and dear friend, Dr. Peter Wagner as a guest speaker. He will be speaking on “Humility.”

Pastor Che

The Power of One

The first Presidential debate occurred this week, and we are on a countdown to the election. If you're like many people, you may be thinking, “Thank God, the election season is almost over!” Maybe you have voted in many elections, or maybe this is the first time you will be voting. Regardless, do you realize how privileged we are to live in a country where we can take an active part in determining our leadership?

It's easy to discount the importance of our one vote when think about the millions of people who will cast their votes on election day. But do you realize how many times the course of history has been changed by just one vote? Consider these examples:

1645 Oliver Cromwell gains control of England by one vote in Parliament
1649 King Charles I of England is beheaded by a margin of one vote
1868 Pres. Andrew Johnson is spared impeachment by one vote in the Senate
Texas, California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho were all admitted to the union by a margin of one vote in Congress
1923 The new Nazi party elects its leader, Adolf Hitler, by one vote

God has a habit of doing incredible things through the life of just one person. He used one man, Noah, to save the human race from extinction (Genesis 6:5–8). He took an orphan girl, Esther, and made her queen of Persia to save the Jewish people from being slaughtered (Esther 4:24). He saved a baby boy, Moses, from certain death, made him a Prince of Egypt, and used him to deliver Israel from slavery. (Exodus 1–14).   

Israel Houghton captures our significance well in his song: “Power of One.”

Please don't close your eyes, please don't turn away
Let your voices rise, put love on display
I believe you and me can make a difference now
It all begins with one, the power of one
Joining the hundreds of millions of people believing…
In one, the power of one

As we approach election day, remember the power of one vote, your vote. And most important, never forget the significance of one life, your life to Father God. He intends to change the world through you! 

Come join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. This Sunday is “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” and I will be discussing important issues to consider in the upcoming election. 

Pastor Che

What's Your Devotion Quotient?

The other day, I was at a good friend's house and as we were rummaging through his storage shed, I noticed a nice golf bag with a nearly new set of clubs. I commented to my friend, “I didn't know you played golf.”

He looked at me rather sheepishly and mumbled, “Yeah, that was sort of a flash in the pan venture.” He paused for a moment and then chuckled more to himself than to me. “You know the golf lifestyle looks so good… beautiful fairways in gorgeous vacation like settings. A leisurely day spent with friends, ending at the clubhouse with a nice lunch or dinner. It seemed like the perfect past time to take up.”

He walked over and picked up the golf bag. “So on the advice of a golf pro I bought these clubs and started taking lessons. But I found out it wasn't everything I thought it would be. For starters, golf didn't come easy for me, and even with lessons my progress was slow. I thought I would really like it, but quite frankly most of the time I was just plain frustrated. I began to realize that if I was to ever be proficient at the game, I was going to have to give golf a lot of my time, much more time than I bargained for.”

He paused and chuckled again, dropping the bag back onto the floor. “Yeah, it was a real flash in the pan venture.”

I smiled to myself as my friend shared his story, remembering two exercise machines I had at home that now lay collecting dust. At the time I bought them, I was convinced they would give me the rock hard abs I saw on TV. But the commercials neglected to emphasize how much effort the exercises would actually involve, even with the “magic machines.”

I think if most of us are honest, we can identify one or more “flash in the pan ventures,” things which were terribly exciting at the time, but which quickly lost their allure. We thought we would be committed to them, but in actuality our “devotion quotient” was not high enough to sustain our interest. It's easy to be intrigued with something new, only to find out it is much more difficult to sustain effort in the face of difficulty or challenge.

Jesus understood this tendency in our human makeup very well. He told His disciples: “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ In the same way any of you who does not consider the cost, cannot be my disciple.” (Matthew 14:28–30; 33)

No one could ever accuse Jesus of false advertising. He repeatedly promises to give us abundant life, and He honestly tells us that similar to acquiring any skill, operating in abundant life requires our time and energy. In order to learn how to access and walk in abundant life, we must be committed to following Him, seeking His counsel and obeying His promptings.

We all want “the good life.” But what's your devotion quotient? Are you willing to count the cost of walking in the abundant life Jesus promised?

Please come join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. Our own Pastor Karl Malouff will be discussing “Promotion through Devotion,” another message in our current series, “Promotion in the Lord.”

Children of Light

Ever had someone in your life who was totally irritating, or even worse, actually hated you?  How did you handle that person?  I want to share a beautiful letter I received last week from India that describes how one of our HIM pastors dealt with just this type of difficult situation.

“Mr. A., a devout Hindu, hated his neighbor, Pastor D, with a passion, and looked for ways to destroy his life. He vowed to ruin Pastor D’s name and discredit his ministry. Mr A was constantly hurling insults at Pastor D and trying to stir up trouble in the neighborhood.

He made life very unpleasant for Pastor D, but even though it was difficult, Pastor D was friendly to Mr. A. The Pastor and his church chose to pray for Mr.A regularly.

A year later Pastor D was surprised to get a phone call from the wife of Mr. A. She was crying and frantically begging Pastor D to come quickly to the hospital. Pastor D initially was hesitant to open himself to further abuse by Mr.A, but he agreed to go and took some of his church elders with him.

Mr. A had kidney failure and had been receiving weekly dialysis treatments at the hospital for months. But this particular day, the doctor informed his wife that Mr. A’s kidney was not able to handle dialysis anymore and all his organs were beginning to shut down. He gave Mr A only a few hours to live.

Entering the hospital room, Pastor D encountered a very different Mr. A. There were tears streaming down his face as looked up at Pastor D, begged for forgiveness and asked for a blessing.

Pastor D prayed, "Lord Jesus Christ, just as You have forgiven us our sins, we are called to forgive others...so I along with my church forgive Mr. A. In your name Christ, we release healing along with forgiveness and freedom to Mr.A.”

The next morning was Sunday, and the doctor visited Mr. A. expecting to see a dead body. Instead, Mr. A. was dangling his legs from the side of the bed and smiling at the shocked doctor. After running a series of tests, the doctor found no sign of any kidney failure.

Mr. A and his family went straight to Pastor D’s church where Mr. A faced the cross and begged loudly for God to forgive him.  He and his whole family embraced Christ.”

The Pastor concluded his letter: “What did we learn from this ?!!

That as disciples of Christ, we have the authority not only to release

Forgiveness, but to release healing and freedom as well. So lets use our tongue to release His goodness on earth and bless people wherever we are!!”

Think how differently this story would have ended if Pastor D had responded to Mr. A with hatred. As children of God, we have something far more powerful than hatred and revenge.  We have the power to transform others by releasing love and blessing into their lives.

“Live as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.” (Ephesians 5:8) “Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Please come join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM.  We will discuss how to walk as children of light in my sermon, “Servant Leaders,” part of our current series, “Promotion in the Lord.”

Gifted for Life

My wife, Sue, has an incredible gift. She is the most encouraging person I have ever met. When our children were in school, Sue always managed to enclose a cheery note in their lunch each day, reminding them how wonderful they were. I travel a lot, and almost always somewhere in my suitcase, Sue has included one or more little love notes with words of encouragement. I'll find them folded in my pajamas or rolled up in my socks, just when I need them.

Sue's gift of encouragement ripples far beyond our family. She never misses an opportunity to thank staff and members of the congregation for the contributions they make. She has an incredible eye for detail, providing praise to the efforts of our most junior members, the young children. Her thoughtfulness flows forth so consistently, and gives her so much joy, that I know it is truly a gift.

One of the things I have learned to appreciate as a pastor, is the various gifts that members of the church bring to each other. When a situation arises, it is wonderful to watch the way people respond with their “giftings.”

For example, if an unwed, pregnant teenager shows up, someone organizes a drive to outfit her with maternity clothes. A member who is a social worker locates free pregnancy services at a local clinic. Another member volunteers to drive her to her clinic appointments, while two members of the youth group offer to be her birth partners and attend Lamaze classes with her. And someone else, who is a vocational nurse, puts her self “on call” to answer any questions about pregnancy or childbirth the “mom to be” might have. A businessman hires her part time to work in his sandwich shop, and the youth group throws her a baby shower.

Each person is offering what comes naturally to them, and what they enjoy doing. Without realizing it, they are gifting this young woman by validating her worth, making her feel welcome and wanted, and including her in the life of the community.

We all have natural interests and abilities or “giftings” that come from God (Ephesians 4:8; James 1:7) We can consume and waste them in selfishness, which leaves us feeling empty and hollow inside, or we can use them to give life to others, and in so doing enhance our own life.

Have you ever noticed how wonderful you feel after you've done an act of kindness to someone in need, no matter how small it might be? Did you ever wonder why it feels so good? When we extend our gifts to meet the needs of others, we are actually offering them life, giving them hope, encouragement, and joy. We are affirming they are valuable to us. We probably aren't aware, but we are doing a priestly act.

Have you ever thought of yourself as a priest? Probably not. But a priest is someone who stands between God and a person, and represents God to them. When we use our gifts to extend life to others, we are representing God to them. By offering life to others, we are actually giving our gift to God, and He shares His joy with us.

Be a priest today! Use your “giftings” to extend life to someone and reap the gift of joy in your own life!

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. Our special guest speaker, prophet and seer, James Goll, will discuss how we live our lives as priests of God in his message titled, “You Were Meant for Ministry: Every Believer of Priest.”