“Love… as I have Loved”

I think we can all agree that the last words a person speaks are very important, perhaps the most important words they have ever spoken. Today we remember the final hours of Christ's life before He was crucified. Scripture tells us that the night before He died, “Jesus knew that His time had come to leave this world and return to His Father. He had loved His disciples during His ministry on earth, and now He loved them to the very end.” (John 13:1)

In His final moments with His disciples, Jesus took one last opportunity to give them His most important object lesson, and leave them with His most important commandment. He became their servant by washing the feet of each one of them and he told them, “Love one another, even as I have loved you.” (John 13:34–35)

Of all the things Jesus could have done and said, why did He leave them with this action and these words? I think the key lies in the statement, “… and now He loved them to the very end.” He wanted to leave them with the very best that love could provide… the Truth that would set them free. He was demonstrating to them what real love is, how real love acts.

Real love is selfless. It empties out itself in the service of others, and understands that abundance in life is obtained through giving, not getting. Real love experiences the peace and joy that comes by focusing on the needs, rights, and feelings of others and living to see them fulfilled.

Real love understands that self-centeredness is a cancer in the soul that consumes our personality and wastes our life. Just like cancer in the physical body, the cancer of self-centeredness crowds out everything and everyone else. It has a voracious appetite that can never be satisfied, no matter how many toys we have, how much fame, power or wealth we may acquire. In the end, just like physical cancer, self-centeredness will feed on our life until it destroys us.

Jesus wanted to show His disciples a more excellent way, a path to perfect freedom and complete life. He understood this way because He has lived it throughout eternity in the community of the Godhead. He knew that only selfless love could release His disciples to live forever free and be forever blessed with the riches of an abundant life beyond anything they could imagine.

He knew that in our own strength of character, none of us could attain this type of love, so he went to the cross, bore our weaknesses and failings, and gave to us the gift of real love. Through His death, we are all invited to die to our own self-centeredness and come alive to the reality of selfless love. In His sacrifice, we can all be set free from preoccupation with our needs, rights and feelings, and be filled to overflowing with life, joy, peace and contentment.

If you have never said “yes” to Jesus Christ, I encourage you on this Good Friday to take a few minutes and ask yourself, “Is my life consumed with me or am I fulfilled with real love?” If you're being consumed by the cancer of self-centeredness, come to the cross and allow Christ to immerse you in His death and fill you with His real love.

Come join us this Easter Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 1:00 PM. We have a powerful theatrical presentation, “What Did I Do with the Cross?” My message is, “Resurrection Life.”

Are You Bugged?

For those of us who depend on the Internet, the question “Are you bugged?” has become a very serious one in the last few days. It turns out that the lock that signals to us that a website will keep our information secure has actually left our private data unsecured for more than 2 years. The encryption technology that's supposed to keep us safe has been compromised by what is being called “the heartbleed bug.”

It isn't a virus that attacks your computer; rather it's a breach in the way the encryption system on websites works which can allow personal data such as passwords and credit cards to be compromised. Since the majority of Internet websites employ the compromised security system, hundreds or even thousands of websites may have been affected. The “bug” leaves no trail, so it's impossible to know if your information has been “bugged.”

The only thing that users can do is wait for websites to clear the bug from their systems, and then change all passwords on those sites that have our confidential information. It is also suggested that users monitor credit card statements and bank account information carefully for possible irregularities. Virtually everyone who uses the Internet has probably been affected, but it is impossible to tell how much personal data might have been compromised.

Awareness of the existence of the bug and vigilance, to determine if any of your information has been compromised is your best protection from possible damage by the heartbleed bug.

While this latest computer security breach is certainly serious and demands our attention and protective action, there is an even more widespread and pernicious “bug” that we are all exposed to, but few of us realize. It is called “spiritual warfare” and it is a battle that takes place in our minds.

Scripture warns us that we are fighting, not with other people, but with spiritual principalities and powers that are called “strongholds” and “high and lofty imaginations.” We are urged to tear down these forces that come against us, but many of us do not recognize them, for they are cleverly disguised, and like the “heartbleed bug” they don't leave a clear trail for us to detect.

Our best protection is first to remember that this warfare takes place in our minds. The spiritual forces “bug” us with thoughts that we automatically assume are our own. We find ourselves trapped with repetitive ideas of worry or fear. Our minds recycle memories of personal hurt that keep our anger and agitation stirred up. Our inner calm is disrupted, we are restless and have difficulty focusing or maintaining a positive outlook.

We need to remember that when we have negative thoughts we can't shake, our minds may very well be “bugged.” We can “debug” our minds by filling them with God's word. Meditating on God's promises of love, provision and protection is the most effective way to eradicate the “bugs” of spiritual warfare.

Are you bugged? Start spending time in God's word everyday. Focus on what He is saying to you, and those troublesome thoughts will stop bugging you!

Come join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM or our new afternoon service time at 1:00 PM. I will be discussing God’s wonderful promises available to us through our covenant in Christ Jesus. My sermon title is “Shadow and Substance.”

Pastor Che

From Dream to Destiny

Over 30 years ago as a young pastor, I received two powerful visions from the Lord. The first was the promise of my call to Southern California being followed by a great harvest of souls, and the second was establishing an apostolic base from which we would reach all the nations. I had many ideas about how and when these two visions would happen, but weeks turned into months and months turned into years and still my visions remained unfulfilled.

After several decades of patient obedience through times of blessing and times of discouragement, I have come to understand more fully that our visions are really bits and snatches of God's dream for us. His dream is so wonderful and vast that we are told, “No one’s eye has ever seen, no one's ear has ever heard, and no one's heart has ever imagined all the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

God does not deliberately hide His plans from us, but He can only reveal bits at a time because our minds and our hearts cannot contain the totality of His dream. We must progressively mature into a more complete and fuller understanding, so He reveals step-by-step how we are to proceed as He takes us from dream to destiny.

I've learned that reconciliation is at the heart of God’s dream. Through His mercy and loving kindness in Christ, He calls His human family back into a restored relationship with Himself, reversing the curse our sin brought upon us. In that reconciliation, He restores to us the blessing of our original dominion and prosperity. He also reconciles us to one another restoring family and community relationships. Finally, He reconciles us to ourselves, giving us His peace and making us whole physically and emotionally.

If we are obedient to follow His leading, He plots our course and fixes the path of our life so that we enter into the destiny He calls us to. Our destiny in the body of Christ is to co-labor with Him in His great dream. He gives to us the incredible privilege of representing Him to the rest of the world in His ministry of reconciliation.

“All things are from Father God, who through Christ has reconciled us to Himself, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. In Christ, God is reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us this message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:18–20a)

At HRock Church an important next step in our destiny as co-laborers with God in His ministry of reconciliation is to become an apostolic reformation center. We are to train, equip and support an apostolic network that will reach the nations with the transforming power of God's call to reconciliation.

This Sunday, HRock Church will celebrate its 20th anniversary. We will have only two services, a morning service from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM and an afternoon service from 1 PM to 3 PM. We invite all of you to join us for a celebration reception from 11:30 AM to 1 PM. Some special guests will also join us, including His Honor, Bill Bogaard, Mayor of Pasadena. I will be speaking on our destiny as an apostolic reformation center. My sermon is “From Dream to Destiny.”

Pastor Che

Be Still…… And Know

“Are you busy?” It’s a simple question we frequently ask each other multiple times every day. It can be the way we start a phone conversation, an impromptu meeting in the hallway at work, even an exchange with a family member at home. Usually the reply is something like, “No, what's up?” Actually, I think if we were honest we would reply, “Yes, I'm busy, so make it short.”

For too many of us, multitasking has become a way of life. We eat meals while driving and talking on the phone. Standing in line, we are checking our e-mail, texting responses, or doing online banking. We are instantly accessible, virtually anywhere in the world and some of us even sleep with our smart phones. There are well over a million mobile applications available today.  They allow us to do everything from establishing goals for our day, to setting up a personal fitness program, checking current data on any sport we follow, or having an alarm remind us it's our wedding anniversary.

Often we must check with our phone before we can commit to anything or anyone. The technology supposed to provide us with more convenience and access to information, in many ways has become a ball and chain that tethers us to our incessant busyness.

I was reminded of this recently when we had guest speaker Bob Hartley give HRock Church a prophetic word for our upcoming 20th anniversary in April. He said, “Busyness devoid of life must cease. We must learn to stay at the table and commune longer with Father God in order to go to the next level of intimacy with Him. We don't get birthed into His love to get more busy.”

He went on to say that we are entering a new season in which Father God wants to expand our wisdom of Him by giving us a whole new level of insight into His ways and purposes. But we must be still and wait upon Him in order to get above the clouds of our activity long enough to understand what He is doing. If we don't get out of our busy reactive mode long enough to understand that He has another way to accomplish His plans, we may well construct something prematurely that we will only have to tear down later.

It's time to be still… and know our identity, whom we are in Christ, and what gifts He has given us to fulfill the destiny He calls us to. Father God wants to bless us in every way, and He wants us to take His blessing into the places where we spend our life and bless others by giving them a future and a hope. He tells us in 1 Peter 4:10, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.”

In Psalm 67, Father God instructs us to pray, “Be gracious to us and bless us. Make Your face shine upon us that Your way may be known upon earth, Your saving power among all the nations.” God's way to accomplish this is not by increasing our busyness, but by taking us to a new level in the knowledge of Him and His ways. We can only do this if we will “Be still… and know.”

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 2:00 PM. Dr. Okawa, pastor of the largest charismatic church in Japan, will be our guest speaker and he will be speaking on "The Keys to Everything" at the 9 and 11 AM services. Our own Pastor Linda Wallace and my daughter, Mary Ahn will be sharing at the 2 PM service.

Pastor Che

That's My Kid

Everyone who knows me knows that I am a sports enthusiast. Over the years, I've attended a number of great professional games, but I attended the most exciting game of my life a few weeks ago in early March.

My son-in-law, Steve Baik is basketball coach at Chino Hills High School. They had an outstanding season this year and went to the playoffs for the CIF Division 5 finals. They came up against the number one nationally rated team, Mater Dei, for the Los Angeles championship. The game was played before a crowd of 10,000 at the Honda Center and I've never been more riveted on court action.

With less than 10 seconds to go, Chino Hills was only 2 points down, had possession of the ball and called a timeout. They had time for one last play, and the plan was to take the ball down court for a basket to tie the score, or if the opportunity opened, to go for three-point shot and win the game. The cliffhanger moment felt like a scene from a movie. I just knew we were going to win! Little David was going to bring down the mighty Goliath!

The opportunity opened and the Chino Hills player made his shot, but unfortunately, it hit the rim and bounced off. Mater Dei regained possession and snatched the victory with a final score of 48–44. Needless to say, we were devastated. The players were disappointed, but we were proud of them and encouraged them for playing an outstanding game. And I couldn't have been more proud of my son, Steve. I kept telling everyone around me, “That's my kid!”

Recently, I was reliving the final moments of that game and my pride over my son Steve's achievement. The Lord said to me, “That's exactly how I feel about each one of my children.” I wasn't exactly sure what He meant, but then He gave me a picture. I saw Him in the stands looking at the game of my life being played on the court. He was wearing a jersey with my number on it. In one hand He held a chili dog, and with the other He was gesturing to everyone around Him, pointing me out and proudly exclaiming, “That's my kid!”

Frequently, He shouted my name, saying, “Great play! You’re a winner! I'm so proud of you!” His enthusiastic support filled me with motivation and determination to take the ball down the court and score. With His backing, all doubt left and I was confident I would succeed.

As God's child, do you know that He feels the same way about you? You may think “There is no way that God could ever feel that about me. You don't know what I've done in my life, how many times I've blown it. God can't be that excited and proud about me.”

Remember the story that Jesus told about the Prodigal Son? He was a number one loser that blew everything! And yet when he returned home, his father was so excited that he ran to him and couldn't stop kissing him. Jesus told that story to help us understand how Father God feels about each one of us.

When Father God looks at you, He sees a gifted winner. Regardless of how you see yourself, He knows your true identity and the destiny He is calling you to. Look up and see Him in the stands in your game of life. He's wearing a jersey with your number on it, proudly telling everyone around Him, “That's my kid!”

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM, or 2:00 PM. Pastor Karl Malouff will be speaking on part 4 of our continuing series, “How to Wear the Love of God Well.”

Pastor Che

Is Your Transponder On?

The one question dominating world news this past week has been, “How can you possibly lose something as large as a 777 jumbo jet?” And yet, that is exactly what appears to have happened. Malaysia flight 370 left Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, March 8 at 12:41 AM bound for Beijing, China. At 1:30 AM, 45 min. after takeoff, air traffic controllers in Vietnam received the last contact with the plane. All attempts to discover its whereabouts have led to dead ends. It's like flight 370 simply vanished into thin air.

Equally mysterious is the fact that the aircraft's transponder suddenly ceased to function at about the same time as the last radio contact. A transponder is a radio transmitter located in the cockpit that works with ground radar. When it is contacted by radar, it returns what is called a “4 digit squawk code,” that helps locate the aircraft's position, altitude and distinct call sign. This enables air-traffic controllers to identify the flight and track its altitude and trajectory.

Typically, the transponder remains on and can also be used by the pilot to send a code indicating an emergency such as a hijacking, communications failure or plane malfunction. What might cause a transponder to suddenly cease transmitting? Something catastrophic like an explosion or a massive mechanical failure could do it. But it can also be deliberately turned off from the cockpit.

In trying to understand what happened to flight 370, the fact that the transponder cut off has led to speculations of hijacking, an act of terrorism, or even deliberate pilot manual turn off for unknown reasons. The possible area in which the plane may have gone down is mostly ocean and so vast that it may never be located. But the search continues, and probably will for some time to come because we refuse to simply lose something as large as a jumbo jet.

While we can't believe that it's possible to lose something as big as a jumbo jet, people often feel that they can't find God. He seems distant and unreachable to us. Maybe we used to have contact with Him, but now He seems to have disappeared, vanished off our spiritual radar.

This happens in spite of His reassurances that He is everywhere and He never leaves or forsakes us. (Deuteronomy 31:6b) Psalm 139:7–10 tells us: “Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”

How can we possibly lose Someone as big as the Creator of our universe? When we can't seem to find God, we need to ask ourselves, “Is your transponder on?” When we turn off “our transponder” we cease to communicate with Him, and it feels like He disappears

Keep your transponder on! Take God at His word and continue to communicate with Him in prayer, praise,and worship. Meditate on Scripture, even when it feels like He's disappeared. One of my favorite verses to meditate on is Jeremiah 31:3: “I've never quit loving you and I never will. Expect love, love and more love!” (The Message Bible) I guarantee if you keep your receptivity to Him open, He will communicate loud and strong with you!

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 2:00 PM. We have a guest speaker in the morning, Danny Silk at 9 AM and 11 AM and Bob Hartley at 2 PM.

Pastor Che

Hidden Treasure

At first glance it is extremely challenging to see anything that these two people have in common. She was a portly, frumpy, middle-aged woman, currently unemployed and had lived her entire life in the same small town. He was a teenager with shoulder length hair, black fingernails, his electric blue eyes thickly lined in black, wearing a black leather jacket and leather pants.

People thought they were a joke standing there and wondered, what could they possibly offer? But when they opened their mouths, the most beautiful singing came from each of them. She sang “I Have a Dream” from “Les Miserables” with such clarity and conviction that people were moved to tears. He sang an aria from an Italian opera in perfect soprano pitch that earned him a standing ovation.

Suddenly everyone watching was aware of the hidden treasure of their talent. Minutes before they were no one, but now their lives would never be the same. She is Susan Boyle, and she appeared on Britain's Got Talent in March 2009. Her audition went viral and so captivated the world that to date it has been viewed by over 200 million people. She has had a meteoric rise, cutting several record albums and enjoying worldwide acclaim.

He is Andrew De Leon, a shy teenager from Austin, Texas, who describes himself as an outsider, used to rejection and not good at anything. His audition in June of 2012 for America's Got Talent was the first time he sang before anyone, even his parents. One of the judges remarked, “Andrew you've been hiding all these years. You've never let the world see who you really are.” In less than two years, he has cut two albums, and appears to be embarking on a promising musical career.

Susan and Andrew’s stories remind me of someone else who has a great hidden treasure. That person is Jesus Christ. Like them, Jesus hardly seemed to be anyone significant. Raised in the backcountry of Galilee as an uneducated son of a carpenter, He didn't stand out in a crowd. Yet when He opened His mouth He invited His listeners into a new dimension of reality, the Kingdom of God.

Jesus emphasized that the Kingdom of Heaven is a “hidden treasure.” (Matthew 13:44) What did He mean by that? The Apostle Paul offered this explanation. “But we are revealing a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. No eye has seen and no ear has heard, nor has the heart of any person ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him. These things God has revealed to us through his Holy Spirit… that we might understand the things freely given to us by God.” (I Corinthians 2:7, 9–10, 12b)

The hidden treasure Jesus spoke of was the incredible blessings that Father God wants to give to all those who will come to Him and receive them. But they remain hidden to our understanding until we say “Yes” to Father God. Perhaps you keep passing Jesus by because you have never really understood the hidden treasure contained in knowing Him. Ask Him today to open your spiritual eyes to see all the blessings He is holding reserved for you.

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 2:00 PM. As we continue with part 4 on God's blessings. My sermon is, “How to Wear Your Blessing Well by Loving Others, Part III.”

Pastor Che