Author: jeremiahtan963404

Be sure to read (or at least scroll) to the bottom of this document for important prayer requests and announcements, including a baptismal service & church potluck this Sabbath!

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

April 20th, 2022

“Jesus… for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

I hope you and your families had a blessed Easter weekend. After our special church service on Sabbath*, we had an early Sunday morning hike with about 20 of us, which was lovely, despite the fact that the sunrise was obscured by cloud cover to the east. But we sang some songs, and discussed the contrast of our happy hiking vs. the dreadful task the women (thought they) were on their way to do that early Sunday morning so many centuries ago. We talked about how Christ conquered in victory over the grave & the tomb, and promises to share that victory with everyone who allies themselves with Him, believing in His name. (John 3:16)

Then, this week, we hosted a choral group for a choral workshop at the Anaheim church one evening, and the same group sang for our Orangewood sister school the following morning. And I was so blessed, in both circumstances, with both the aesthetic beauty of what I was perceiving, and also the concept of young people building their talents, developing their abilities for the glory of God. I couldn’t help, in contrast, thinking of all the darkness, tragedy, shame, and ugliness in the world: dysfunctional & broken families, crime & vice, and of course, as we’re currently seeing going on in Ukraine, the horrors and tragedies of war.

And I couldn’t help but be wrapped up in the thought of: look what beauty and loveliness we can aspire to, yet what depravity & debauchery we can descend to! And I thought: truly this reveals our dualistic nature: we come from the hand of Divinity, purity, and perfection, yet are corrupted by sin with selfishness, vice, and destructive capabilities. Truly the Great Controversy is being played out societally, as well as in each of us!

Now, secularists would deny that either source of that which I mentioned above really exist: they would say the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ we exhibit are just flip-sides of the coin of reality, and should not be seen as anything special or strange. Perhaps, even more extremely, they would posit that ‘good and bad’ don’t really exist at all (perhaps being mental, social constructs), and therefore shouldn’t even be reflected or remarked on.

Such a view begins getting close to the ‘yin & yang’ concept of eastern philosophy, which states that good and evil are locked in a perpetual cycle around each-other, and that even the good has a little bad in it, and the bad has a little good in it. While such a philosophy may be a way to make some sense of what we see in the world, it is in the end utterly depressing, in that it jettisons hope for any resolution, any solution, or even any improvement in the overall situation. If you try to maximize the good, the evil will rise to be right there beside it. Under such a belief, one could even call ‘heroic’ those who maximize evil, because good would also necessarily arise to counterbalance it! One can see that this leads to relativism, fatalism, and ultimately lack of hope for anything ever fundamentally good and lasting happening.

But we are called to actively resist & protest any such philosophy and its conclusions. I for one am so glad that we believe one of these is older than the other, more the ‘default position of the universe’ than the other, and will ultimately outlast and outcompete the other. I am obviously talking about the “good” being original in God from everlasting, being the ‘equilibrium state’ of the universe, and being that which will outlast all other distractions and detours, and even of any material creation itself. Meanwhile, the “bad”, though being a horrible scourge of devastation, is at root a foreign invader, a detour from God’s will, but one that will eventually be defeated.

From the first Messianic prophecy in the Garden of Eden, of Adam & Eve’s offspring crushing the head of the serpent, even as the serpent strikes a blow to the heel of the descendant (Genesis 3:15), it was told firmly & reliably that the power of the serpent would have an end. We should rejoice in this!

I cannot think of any better news, friends, than that sin will have its final day, its promised destruction, and its eventual nonexistence. And all the beauty, all the loveliness, all the excellence and wonder that we experience will be maximized to the utter extreme! And so it will be for all time. “Affliction will not rise up a second time” Nahum 1:9 promises us.

So let’s never give in to the pessimism that is the resignation to evil as a perpetual part of reality (perhaps even one that shouldn’t be striven against, but rather accepted & possibly embraced). Let’s hold out hope that Ultimate Good will come and conquer, obliterating evil & sin into the rear-view mirror of existence, fading in the rear distance as we continue forward. May such a hope ever motivate and spurn us to good actions, words, and motives in all we do.

May God bless you & your families this week and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

* Last week’s Easter church service is available on video here in case you missed it: https://youtu.be/LNHq4ip0_WE

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

April 13th, 2022

Oh, how the mighty have fallen! 2nd Samuel 1:25, 27

I don’t know if you have heard about the factors I am going to be discussing today: while both of them are related, and have been in the news recent weeks, neither of them rose to the prominence of ‘first-line headlines’.

They both have to do with the falling of once inspirational leaders: those of Tony Hsieh, the head of the “Zappos” shoe corporation, and of Carl Lentz and Brian Houston, 2 prominent pastors and leaders of the “Hillsong” Pentecostal church, largely known for their wide dissemination of praise & worship music.

While I hadn’t heard of Tony Hsieh before, apparently he was known in the business world as a hero of both profitability and positive corporate culture. He founded the internet advertising company “LinkExchange”, rocketed the “Zappos” online shoe company to huge profitability, revitalized Las Vegas’ downtown area (where the company is located) via investments from his own finances, and wrote an award-winning corporate culture book called “Delivering Happiness”.

But, while Tony exuded happiness and success externally, the pressures apparently began to mount, and the image began to be more of a brand to keep maintained externally than actually lived and maintained healthfully. Toxicity crept in among leadership of the company, drugs and alcohol increasingly entered Tony’s personal life, and he sadly ended his life in suicide in late 2020 (with the pandemic and its secondary effects likely exacerbating Hsieh’s mental state, as it was surely difficult for all of us). His death was a shock to the business world.

Then there’s the recent ‘implosion’ of Hillsong’s network of churches amid scandals & resignations among two of its prominent leaders. Carl Lentz, the lead pastor of the New York Hillsong church, and Brian Houston, the CEO of the International network headquartered in Australia, have both recently been publicly stained in admitting to financial and sexual scandals. In the past several weeks, the group has lost the majority of its branch churches here in the U.S., and the viability of the continuation of Hillsong as a whole is in question.

Both of these situations left me saddened (obviously particularly the religious one), because I often want to be an optimist and have inspirational leadership examples to look up to as well! But the Bible’s phrase “oh how the mighty have fallen (2nd Samuel 1:25, 27) seems to continue to be repeated time and time again.

And it got me thinking: I wonder if pedestalization, and the elevating of the mythical hero-leader figure could be a big part of these downfalls. Obviously, not everyone who gets elevated to national or semi-national attention ends-up falling, but a significant proportion of them do.

Obviously the temptations of success are real, and are just as lethal as the temptations that surround the ‘gutters’ of failure and poverty in society. Having nearly unlimited wealth, fame, and respect and responsibility can warp one’s view of the world, including what is and is not possible. Sex, drugs, and corruption offer themselves tantalizingly before the successful, and these figures, figuring they can continue handling their leadership roles while dabbling in indulgence, often find it knocks them from their pedestal.

While I, personally, of course want to be successful in ministry, and have my work valued & appreciated, I’m personally glad to not be ‘pedestalized’ & spotlighted’ like that. I take it as an extension of the ‘do not covet’ commandment (Exodus 20:17): be happy with where God has placed you/permitted you to be. Don’t long for greater positions than you’ve been given.

I for one am glad to be part of a religious system that doesn’t include glorification of the individual over a unifying message (of theology and destiny in eternity with God). Obviously we have some pastors who get more ‘known’ and influential than others, but in terms of pay-scale and employment expectations, they are the same. I’m glad there’s an overseeing organization keeping the reigns on pastors getting rich and exposed to risk through success.

I think, whether being in ‘plenty or in want’ (Philippians 4:12), the key is to remain level-headed, with Jesus as the focus. It is only to our own peril that we take our eyes off Him, and inevitably falter (as Peter frightfully learned in Matthew 20:29-31).

May God bless you and your families this week and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pastor Mark Tatum

* For articles on both of these organizations’ leaders and their downfall, check out the following links.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-death-of-zappos-tony-hsieh-a-spiral-of-alcohol-drugs-and-extreme-behavior-11607264719

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/29/us/hillsong-church-scandals.html

* Interestingly, though I’d heard about both of these cases separately before, there was a single morning talk news program that discussed them both in the same hour. Here is the link to a recording of that:

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444294/air-talk

(go down the list and click on April 4th)

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

April 6th, 2022

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease.” Genesis 8:22

Well, we are in springtime, when it is said the elements of summer and winter battle against each-other. This week, we are experiencing one of the biggest temperature swings I can recall in recent memory, with days having been gray and cool Sabbath-Monday, but then hot and in the 90s here in the latter half of the week!

But even this temperature disparity is small within the range of our planet. The coldest temperature ever recorded on earth was -128.6°F (-89.2°C) in Antarctica in 1983, whereas the hottest was 131.4 °F (56.7 °C) in death valley in 1913. That’s a span of 260 degrees Farenheit (or 146° C)!

But even this range is small compared to known temperature disparaties in the universe. From “absolute zero” of -273.6°C (-460°F) to the hottest star (“Sirius”) at 18,000° F (9,400°C), nearly twice as hot as our own sun. The universe experiences temperature a disparity of nearly 18,500 degrees Farenheit (nearly 9,500° C). So, we experience just a tiny percentage range of that fluctuation here on earth (a mere 1.4%, if my math is right).

Why? Two reasons: first of all, our atmosphere and the oceans regulate (“even-out”) the earth’s temperatures. Without them, the sunny areas would soar in heat, and the dark areas would plunge to sub-zero temperatures constantly. Secondly, we are in the “goldilocks zone”, or ‘ring of survivability’ in our solar system. To be more than a few %s closer would too hot for life to survive (think Mercury or Venus), and to be more than a few %s farther would be too cold (with Mars and the further planets getting progressively less hospitable).

Now: some would just call these factors to be fabulously fortuitous or incredibly lucky; but we as believers believe this is all because life was intentionally placed here. Indeed, we are in the ‘goldilocks zone’ of physical factors in dozens if not hundreds of areas. I’ve heard it said that if the gravitational constant of the universe was either 1% stronger or weaker, life would not be able to exist anywhere. If the moon were either 1% closer or farther from earth, life wouldn’t be able to continue on earth. If water’s solid form (ice) were denser than its liquid form (as is true for almost all other liquids), life would not be sustainable for us. This and countless other factors of density, friction, viscosity, etc. would eliminate life if just slightly different.

So what do we chalk it up to? Incredible coincidence and fortuitousness on both the universal and local (solar system) levels? Or do we affirm that a superintelligent designer (God) was behind it all? For me, it is far easier to believe the latter. To quote tongue-in-cheek believer, Norman Geisler: “I don’t have enough faith to be an Atheist”*.

Just late last week we had “April Fools” day, and the Bible says “the fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no god’” (Psalm 14:1). We’ve obviously got lots of highly intelligent people who say there’s good reason to deny God’s existence, but do they still look like ‘fools’ to the heavenly intelligences? I believe they do: I frankly believe that a cosmology that excludes God is one that is made out of a primary motive, a desperation really, to deny the existence of God, and therefore to excuse oneself from a source that we would be accountable to.

The Apostle Paul put it well in Romans 1 (and I’m so glad he did), saying: “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (v.20)

I, for one, am greatly interested to see how atheistic scientists will attempt to defend themselves on Judgment Day: I don’t wish them ill (would much rather they would repent, believe, and find eternal life), but, according to the scriptures, they will have to give account for having violated conscience by ignoring overwhelming evidence of God’s existence, and promoting such perspective to others, to (partially) soothe their consciences in negating God as well.

In the meantime, let’s praise God for having given us a protected zone in the extremely hot/cold universe in which we can live and thrive!

I pray you and your families are blessed the rest of the week and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

In fact, Geisler wrote a book called “I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist”. You can check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Have-Enough-Faith-Atheist/dp/1433580756/ref=asc_df_1433580756/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=525188730924&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7164407384995709916&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031592&hvtargid=pla-1296189864614&psc=1

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

March 30th, 2022

“[God] causes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends His rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:45

We had a pretty sizable storm come through on Monday! As I was driving, I saw water streaming off rooftops, filling the curbs, and rushing down culverts. I had heard on the radio that, though getting 1 – 1½ inches of rain was good, it wasn’t going to make much of a dent in our water needs with the current drought. I thought: “What a shame that this water is spread so broadly, so much of it ‘wasted’ in going down storm drains and out to the sea! If only this could all be concentrated in our snowpack & reservoirs!

Then I imagined a hypothetical conversation between local & state leaders and God. And the governmental leaders were asking God: “Couldn’t we get the rain to fall just where it can be captured and reclaimed? We could really use it over here, but not so much over there… and while we’re at it, the sun shines so broadly… couldn’t we have it just shine more concentratedly on the solar panels, where its energy could be captured & utilized for clean energy?”

And I actually feel we have a similar desire about the Bible: “Couldn’t we pack down the doctrinal information more densely? Couldn’t we get, like, bullet-point format, or, principles diagrammed out, rather than having to glean out principles that are peppered so widely throughout various stories, proverbs, & parables?”

And to all of these hypothetical requests, I imagine God responding “No, I apply my blessings just as I intend to: broadly and liberally, to everyone equally. You are more than welcome to move them around, collect them and whatnot once they’re amply delivered, but, consider the benefits of my method of dispersion!”

And this is where we have to humble ourselves and admit that, yes, God’s ways are better than man’s ways (Isaiah 55:9).

Just what do we get from God’s methodology of broad blessing dispersion? We get lavish, green hills, arrayed with flowers (I’m considering the breathtaking beauty of Santa Ana Canyon in the weeks following a good rain: also the poppy fields in the high desert (which are currently blooming, as I saw a few friends posting pics from up there this past weekend!)), we get cheerful meadows and stunning sunsets lighting up the sky. Regarding the scriptural teachings: we get God’s truth communicated through gripping accounts of how He’s led in the past, and we also get a reward for the diligent (Hebrews 11:6), in that “seeking, you will find” (Matthew 7:7) and “You will find me when you seek with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

In all this, I see that God lavishes his blessings broadly, insinuating that He gives out of His abundance, when we too often are concerned with managing scarcity. I don’t doubt that things like the drought are tough, and we need to be diligent in managing our water use, but we can also use this as an opportunity to trust God, rather than despair or wish things were different.

Above all, I pray that we’d all a) have the patience and trust to recognize that God’s way is the best way, and b) look for the blessings in the broad distributing that God provides. I believe that in doing so, we will find our hearts overflowing like an abundant fountain in joy & thankfulness. (see Psalm 23:5 & John 7:38).

May God’s blessings be abundant in your lives, and may you have the perception to recognize & accept them with gratitude!

I pray a good remainder of the week for you and your families.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

March 23rd, 2022

“Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.” Psalm 37:27-29 ESV

In light of the recent war in Ukraine, with its heart- and gut-wrenching images of death, destruction, and devastation, I have been appreciating anew the stability, the peace and prosperity, in which we live. While so many of these things can be taken for granted, while ‘first world problems’ of reputation, career advancement, and life satisfaction can come to the forefront of our minds, it is important to stop and be appreciative that our attention can even be occupied with these secondary- or tertiary concerns, rather than “will I have food tomorrow?” or “will my house even be standing tomorrow?”

It is so easy to lose sight of it, but we are truly blessed. While it can certainly be an irksome or concerning difficulty to pay the higher gas prices recently, compared to the scope of struggle & trauma others are having, I hope we can gain some perspective in what constitutes a “life well-lived”.

We have been hugely blessed in this country, under, among other things, our government & constitution, in which “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are held to be basic, guaranteed rights. But those principles take effort to maintain, and no small amount of public debate as to just how those rights are best effectuated to as many as possible.

Over the past couple of days, as I’ve been driving around & doing my errands, I’ve been listening to the congressional hearings for the new Supreme Court Nominee, Katanji Brown Jackson. It has been interesting and enlightening to say the least. Members of opposing parties take turns questioning the prospective justice, but often speak well over her head to either members of the opposing party, or to constituents at large in their home districts, knowing they have a large microphone for several minutes. I’ve heard very broad political and societal assertions being made, and it makes me realize that principles of freedom and democracy are sometimes (even often?) in tension with each-other.

Societal concerns are not foreign to the Bible. Particularly in the minor prophets, God repeatedly urges Israel to pursue social justice, liberty for the oppressed, etc. For example, the prophet Isaiah asserts, in chapter 58 of his book, that the reason the Israelites receive no response from God, despite fasting and making sacrifices, is because they ignore social justice issues and disregard the poor and oppressed. Similarly, Amos exclaims “Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (5:24)

So, bringing this to our current day, we have a perpetual 2-party system, who both affirm the general phrase “liberty and justice for all”, but have very different priorities as to how, when, and to whom those principles should be applied!

I, for one, prefer the internal, word-based debates to the external, forced-based ones like we see in warfare. Though at times it’s difficult to know which ‘side’ one should be on politically/socially, I pray we would have strong resolution Spiritually to be on God’s side. Let’s remember that whereas “the thief does not come except to kill and destroy”, Jesus has come “that they may have life, and that they may have it to the fullest” (John 10:10). Therefore, any policy that leads to life, liberty, and freedom is in agreement with Christ, whereas any policy or implementation that limits or harms it is against.

I pray that we would all be “wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16) in discerning how to navigate societal issues personally. We occasionally get to vote in a local, state, or federal election, which we should take seriously, but in the meantime between those times, we should be lifting up “…petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” 1 Timothy 2:1-4.

I pray you and your families have a blessed rest of the week.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

March 16th, 2022

“You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to man-made traditions!” Mark 7:8

Well, this week we find ourselves between two minor occasions on the calendar that only get attention for a few days: the changing of clocks for daylight savings time, and Saint Patrick’s day, which occurs tomorrow. One of these may be going the way of the Dodo bird, in that the senate unanimously voted yesterday to stop moving clocks twice per year,* and the other could practically be called extinct already.

Not that Saint Patrick’s day has become invisible: no, no. You can currently buy green donuts, green coffees, silly t-shirts, green beers, etc., you will see politicians wearing green ties or green scarves tomorrow, and I’m sure every radio and local TV news will be giving it a shout-out. But what has changed over time is that it has practically entirely ceased to be about Christianity IN Ireland, it has just been ‘generalized’ to now be a day in American culture recognizes Ireland/Irish culture (and, nearly universally, a 2-dimensional, stereotyped form of it at that).

Now: the history of St. Patrick and Christianity in Ireland is significant: last year I wrote my mid-week update all about that history (when the day fell on a Wednesday). At the risk of seeming lazy or self-plagiaristic here, I won’t do so again this year, but if you’re interested to re-read it, you can find last year’s e-mail by typing “St. Patrick” into your e-mail history search, or you can simply reply here to this e-mail requesting it, and I’ll forward it to you. 🙂

But I just want to reflect today on the prevalent de-specifying of holidays’ original meanings, to become more ‘palatable’ to the broader society. We’re obviously aware that this happens with Chrsitmas: Santa Claus and Christmas trees replace the baby Jesus in the manger, and also Valentine’s day, when a historical Christian character gets exchanged to the general concepts of “love”, red, and chocolates. But St. Patrick’s day seems to have been ‘de-fanged’, redefined even further, in that now St. Patrick’s day seems to be observed mostly as an occasion for drinking & carousing, which are actually opposite of the principles of Christianity, and therefore “Saint” Patrick actually stood for.

I suppose I need to “put the shoe on the other foot” regarding what an overtly Christian holiday might mean for a person in a minority religion in our county. I have to admit that, if I were in a country in which Christianity were a minority to another (monotheistic or polytheistic) religion, I’d be happy about a gradual de-specification of the religious aspect of holidays, and of having more of a “let’s all just have a general celebratory time together” feel. I still feel I’d likely not participate in such festivities, the histories of those holidays being incongruous with my beliefs, but I suppose I’d like to not have the religious aspect ‘shoved down my throat’ too much.

But for adherents of specific religions to gradually forget the historical reasons they/we celebrate their holidays is particularly tragic. For a Christian child to celebrate the cultural trappings of a holiday without intentional instruction as to its original significance is a loss of a golden opportunity! You can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be telling my kids a simple version of the story of St. Patrick tomorrow as I drive them to school in their green outfits!

So I guess I get it: Starbucks and Target want to have something ‘special to celebrate’ to try to spur sales, while not alienating clientele of religious (or anti-religious) convictions of another direction, but if that’s the end of people’s perceptions, what you end-up with is just a milk-toast version of the holiday for general gaiety’s sake.

I want to be careful here in what I advocate: a form of ‘Christianity’ being “shoved” upon society is what will bring on the time of trouble in the last days (Revelation 13:11-17), so maybe we should be thankful of secularization trends, rather than religious coercion ones. But we still have an important role to take in our families & faith communities: to remember what these holidays originally commemorated, and keep that understanding alive year after year.

I pray that you will be grateful for “Saint” Patrick’s efforts in Ireland so long ago, and that we would strive to have similar influence within our own families and social circles. May God bless us as we continue to shine his light into our community (Matthew 5:14-16).

May God bless you all

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

* how often does a bipartisan, much less unanimous vote happen in the U.S. senate?! But it’s not a done deal yet: apparently it still has to be voted by the congressional House & signed by the President. But that would be significant, and I’d say it looks likely!

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

March 9th, 2022

“Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!” Revelation 18:16-17

If you drive a gasoline-powered car, you have no doubt been experiencing ‘pain at the pump’ lately, with gas prices having floated well above the unprecedented $5/gallon mark this past weekend, and probably headed up to and beyond $6 soon. While this was almost entirely unexpected 6-months ago, interestingly, contrastedly to other times gas prices have surged, I have not heard the outrage expressed as I have with previous fuel price peaks. News reports I’ve seen in which reporters interview gas customers as they fill up have been more filled with resignation to the fact, rather than being livid with anger or vitriol.

And that is largely because this latest price surge (on top of the post-pandemic surge in demand) has a very different and dreadful reason behind it: the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the subsequent sanctions, and the resulting volatility in the commodities market. I think that people realize that, while it is certainly a discomfort for us paying a full dollar more per gallon than we did a few weeks ago, it is a comparatively small and light burden, compared to the devastating bombardment and attacks that Ukranians are daily facing in their homeland. The images and reports coming from there are just wrenching my heartstrings. I pray you’ll join me in praying for them.

Jesus of course predicted that wars and rumors of wars would continue up to the time of the end (Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7), but that we shouldn’t be overly concerned about them. They themselves will not bring about the end: the end is yet to come. How terrible for those who have to endure it, though!

But it does surprise me that a war being waged halfway around the northern hemisphere from us (Ukraine is 10 hours ahead of us in time-zones) would affect our gas prices so sharply. I understand that oil is sold, and therefore the prices are set, on the international market. So, despite the fact that oil can be dredged and refined right here in California, the worldwide supply vs. demand factors influence the value, and therefore selling point, of each barrel. This is part of what comes with an internationally-integrated, worldwide economy. I suppose sometimes such a system works to a majority of people’s benefit, but it sure feels like a drawback right now.

Perhaps surprisingly, a worldwide, mutually integrated economy was foretold by scripture. The great “Babylon” of Revelation 17 is described as a global religio/political and economical empire. While the religious/political aspects are often highligted in prophecy seminars*, the economical aspects can tend to be overlooked.

Yet, when the Babylonian system falls in Revelation 18, over a third of the chapter is spent on producers, shippers, merchants, etc. wailing in agony over the loss of their lucrative trade deals. While obviously for Christians, the fall of a corrupt and oppressive empire is good news, those who got inextricably involved in such an economic system can do nothing but lament its downfall. Verses 11 through 19 are kind of a laborious, churning record of the angst of the traders. Though of course in the Apostle John’s time & place (1st Century eastern Mediterranean), a worldwide system of communication and travel couldn’t have been imagined, yet we see prophetically portrayed here a worldwide integrated system of trade and money. But the prophecy also dictates that the gigantic system must fall (and quickly! “One hour”, which would indicate somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 weeks using the prophetic day/year prophecy principle).

So: let us take Jesus’ advice of not putting trust in money/trade or wealth-amassing, but rather in God’s everlasting Kingdom of Righteousness (Matthew 6:19-20, 33). While it may seem ‘backwards’ to the world, it is the only way to avoid the inevitable lament of those who’ve committed everything they had to such systems.

I hope we can all take this latest inflation & price surge in stride, remembering that our problems are comparatively small to what others are going through. Let’s be compassionate for them: praying for them and donating aid when & where we can. I encourage you to go to either www.unicef.org or www.adra.org to see how you can help in a practical manner.

May God bless you and your families this week and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pastor Mark Tatum

* The religious aspect is depicted as a woman (often representing a church, in either its pure or impure form), while the political aspect is described as a beast (frequent symbolic usage in Daniel for nations). Combined they are described as a prostitute riding a beast. Revelation 17:3.

Please read (or at least scroll) all the way to the bottom of this update, in order to see important prayer requests (many health ones), and announcements, including the repopulating of our activity calendar!

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

March 2nd, 2022

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

I don’t know if you are aware, but last night was the annual presidential “State of the Union” address to congress. Whether you watched or not, you are likely familiar with how it generally goes: The president enters the large house chamber in the capitol building, to much applause and fanfare. He takes the podium, and begins to give an open-eyed assessment of the state of our nation. He is expected to take an optimistic yet resolute tone, inspiring America to pull together and move forward. He is not to sugar-coat problems, but give confidence in how they will be overcome and resolved. And, of course, the speech would never be complete without the strong assertion at some point that “the State of our Union is Strong”, drawing a long, bipartisan standing ovation.

Then, of course, comes the rebuttal from the opposing party, in which a prominent (or rising) personality in that party comes on the TV screen and partially deconstructs the president’s speech, and partially establishes an alternative narrative for moving forward as a nation. Though the two speeches are often at cross-purposes from each-other, they both affirm American freedoms, ideals, and workers as the backbone of our society.

As I heard on the radio a few days ago that President Biden’s speech was coming-up this week, I wondered to myself ‘What if God were to give a “state of the world” speech sometime?’ What tone would God strike in speaking of affirming the good, yet resolutely facing the challenges, that lay ahead? Would he have more good or bad to say? What ideals and motivations would He employ to motivate people to pull together to accomplish lofty goals?*

I hope He would have plenty of good to say, in addition to the necessary bad. I recall that Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount started with blessings and upliftings, before getting to more hard-hitting parts. I don’t believe He would mince his words about the real problems and struggles that need addressing, but I hope that the goodness & grandeur would shine through to give a mostly optimistic tone.

And then, in contrast, if Satan were to get a “rebuttal” speech as the alternate party does afterward, what would he say in response/opposition? I imagine he’d say something like “God shouldn’t be so serious about all this stuff! Yes, we’ve got hardships, but let’s celebrate! Let’s take it easy! Let’s make this place a little more like a party, let’s make it more like Vegas, baby!”

And that message would probably appeal to a broad swath of people who saw God’s speech as too stodgy or formal. “Yeah,” people would say, “let’s live it up while we’ve got it!” as they choose the path of revelry.

But I can’t help but remember Jesus’ strong words, in the scripture passage from John 10 quoted above: The thief, the devil, Satan, does not approach except to cause damage, to harm, to ultimately destroy. And every source of seeming thrill and fun and fulfillment ends in utter destitution and misery. Satan leads people down the primrose path to destruction, while God holds our hands on the path leading to fulfillment and prosperous life everlasting. Jesus described these two paths overtly in Matthew 7:13-14.

Of the two options: I have to pick God’s way. Both claim to offer freedom and life while the other one offers limitation. But who is to be believed? The one who gave us this planet and every day of life and opportunity? Or the one who used his God-given life and freedom to rebel against Him?

To me the choice is so clear: so obvious, it boggles my mind that the deceiver is able to lead astray so many. We shouldn’t be surprised though, Revelation 12 calls him “that serpent of old, the devil or Satan, who deceives the whole world” (v. 9), and “the accuser of the bretheren, who accuse them before God day and night (v. 10).

And, contrasted to those descriptions, what about those who resist and refuse him, they do so how? “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (v. 11)

So friends, the scripture is clear: life will not be easy for those who choose God’s side. In fact, “everyone who seeks to live a godly life in Christ will suffer persecution” 2 Timothy 3:12. But let’s not be overly discouraged by that: let’s remember that the long-term destiny, the final point of the imagined “state of the world” speech by God is a glorious one, while the main thrust of Satan’s speech is a short-term one, only geared to immediate (supposed) happiness.

Let’s take the long view, friends: after all, “The world and it’s ways are passing away, but the one who does the will of God, endures forever” (1st John 2:17)

May God bless you and your families the remainder of this week and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

*I realize that these questions are similar to ones I asked about what Jesus would say to our society/churches in the recent sermon on the 7 churches of Revelation. In case you didn’t see that sermon, you can watch it by following this link: https://youtu.be/TKIJV0-alqc

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

February 23rd, 2022

“Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise” Proverbs 20:1

Early last week, I had an evening free in my schedule, so I proposed to my wife that we go somewhere for dinner. “Where would you like to go?” She asked. “Well, I’d be good with El Torito, with Chili’s, or with the Argentinean restaurant up on Tustin Ave. in Orange…”. “I’ve heard of a couple other Argentinean restaurants nearby, we could try one of those” she responded. “Great”, I said “Text me the address, and the time to meet you & the kids, and I’ll see you there.” She did so, and I set my GPS to that address at the proper time.

As I pulled close, I didn’t see any Argentinean restaurant, but rather a… strip mall with a liquor store? I pulled into the parking lot to check my GPS, thinking “perhaps it’s a ‘street’ vs. ‘avenue’ thing, or a ‘north’ vs. ‘south’ on the street name… but as I was trying to review my phone, my wife & kids pulled up in the parking space next to me, smiling & waving.

“This can’t be right,” I said, “Are we at the wrong place?” “No, it’s here: look! That sign says ’empanadas’ right there.” Sure enough, written vertically on the pole supporting the liquor sign was the undeniable sign. “It must be in the liquor store” Jime said. “It can’t be!” I retorted. But as she went to the entrance, she said “Yeah, I see tables & chairs in the back half.” As she and the kids went in, I had a weird moment of eeriness come over me: ‘Am I about to go in a liquor store?’ I thought. I’d been in plenty of grocery and convenience stores, of course, which sell wine & beer, but nothing like this: with neon signs in the windors, and shelves of colorful bottles displayed on shelves of mirrors that went to the roof! I surreptitiously glanced back and forth to make sure no-one was watching me (church members or otherwise :-p ), and slinked in.

Sure enough: in the back half of the liquor store, there was a second business: a window to order food at, that had Argentinean candies and souvenirs, and a menu above to read from. Several tables with tablecloths and chairs were arranged in front of it. Behind it, a nice little lady was smiling, chatting with Jimena about Argentina, and discussing the hot food that could be ordered.

After we ordered our food, the woman tore off the receipt and handed it to us, saying “You pay at the cashier up front”, and so, man! I had to stand in line with people buying liquor to pay for our food! I was appreciative that the cashier didn’t look at me funny, or ask why I was in a liquor store in a suit (although, come to think of it, I’m sure plenty of business people come straight after work to ‘get their fix’.)

The rest of the meal turned out to be uneventful and quite tasty: the husband came out from the kitchen in the back and, along with his wife, talked with us friendlily for several minutes about their homeland. They said they’d moved to the U.S. about fifteen years ago, and that they had been in their current location there for about 3½ years. They also showed us a bit of the new money that’s been printed down in Argentina, more recently than the last time we visited. We parted afterward with friendly ‘ciao’s, and promises to come back sometime (or better, order the food for delivery, I thought).

So that was a unique moment for me. Upon driving home, I was reflecting: what was making me so uncomfortable going in there? Obviously, liquor stores are places of bad repute, and of course a number of bad or violent evenings for folk begin at such places. But it was kind of remarkable how ‘normal’ it felt inside. Like so many things in life, you had the good right next to the bad (I even saw they had bottles of Martinellis in there for purchase! I picked one up and put it on the table to show Jime as a joke).

As I continued reflecting, I wondered whether Jesus, were he here currently, would visit liquor stores and bars and the like, and I concluded that, fairly likely, he would! As he said at Levi the tax collector’s house, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick”. (Luke 5:31)

Speaking of which, that brought me to something else I noticed while we were eating there. The whole time we were there eating and chatting with that Argentinean couple, there was a pretty steady stream of clientele coming in and making liquor & beer purchases up front. There were women, of course, but I’d say probably 80% men, plenty of them young & healthy looking. I thought about how many stand-up men we see at church on a given Sabbath, and it’s probably about the same number that came in during that 40-minute or so period we were there that evening: meaning that, if you extrapolate it out through the night hours and seven days a week, far more people (predominantly men) are visiting that little liquor store than our visiting our churches. Obviously I shouldn’t stereotype: not all those men are ‘off the wagon’ or non-church attenders, but I couldn’t help feeling some melancholy over “where are our men in society? Far more here at the liquor store than in our churches.” And I thought about how liquor is an escape: of how many people use liquor (and stronger drugs) to ‘medicate themselves’ to deal with life, their histories, regrets, etc.

I had a great longing to talk to those people: to ask them what their life consisted of, and what brought them to the liquor store that evening. Though I kind of wanted to, I didn’t approach any of them: how many people would like to talk to a guy in a tie at or in front of a liquor store asking about life? But I wondered what Jesus would do in that situation.

Sometimes I get asked by young adults if they should travel in certain circles, or go to certain parties. Some of them say “I had this circle of friends back before I converted, shall I still hang out with them, or should I stop?” And my answer usually consists of something like this: “If you are sure you can be a positive influence on that group, then go ahead and go: if you’re concerned that the group will be a negative influence on you, then you’d better not.” Jesus could go into any situation in his day, because He knew His radiant holiness would undoubtedly be a good influence on them. But with us, we need to be careful and discerning. Even the Apostle Paul warns us: “if you think you are standing firm, be careful, lest you fall!” (1st Corinthians 10:12) So we should never haphazardly enter into dangerous situations. But he goes on to give us the positive advice in verse 13: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. But God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” So this means that, while we do not approach temptation intentionally, we can have confidence to endure and/or escape tempting situations in the power & space that God gives us.

<sigh> I wonder if you’d join with me in praying for how we can reach hurting people in society who are trying to ‘fill the void’ through alcohol or other means. We know that God’s love, His vision, His salvation, and the fulfillment that He brings are the solutions to all the social problems people experience, but many times people don’t want the ‘cure’ when they can have the supposed ‘medicine’ that numbs the symptoms for a time. (Never mind that it hurts the brain, liver, and relationships in life in the meantime).

I don’t know whether I will ever visit that liquor store again: I kind of doubt it, I only went that first time because I had no idea of the situation in which that little Argentinean café was oriented. But it was an experience that gave me much to reflect on. I certainly hope Jesus can reach those people: let’s resolve to be available to anyone who shows the slightest inkling of interest: after all, Jesus says “No-one can come to me unless the Father draws him” (John 6:44).

I pray you and your families have a blessed week and beyond. Hope to see you at church this Sabbath (and I’m glad I didn’t see any of you at the liquor store! 😛 )

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum