Author: jeremiahtan963404

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

August 24th, 2022

“…Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.” James 5:7

We here in southern California are used to having droughts: it seems like about half of my lifetime here we’ve been in drought conditions. Given that we have a similar climate here to Israel, I always found it easy to identify with the periods of drought talked about in the Bible. “Oh yeah, I’m familiar with that”, I would think.

Though I really wasn’t: we of course have means to mitigate the effects of drought very effectively, which people in Bible times couldn’t have dreamed of. We have the aqueduct coming from Northern California, a series of dams and culverts from the Colorado River, and, if all else fails, we have the ability to do desalination, effectively doing mechanically that which evaporation does naturally.

But in recent weeks I’ve been hearing of drought on a whole new scale: significant drought across broad swaths of the world’s northern hemisphere! A couple of weeks ago, my parents were doing a river cruise in Europe, and the company had to change their itinerary because the river was too shallow in places! Since then, I’ve been hearing of low river levels of the Yangtze, the Danube, the Rhine, the Colorado, the Indus, the Yellow, and the Canadian rivers.*

This is surely of major concern (as it also affects hydroelectric output capacity), and of course environmentalists are signaling this as a result of global warming-based climate change, which I don’t doubt that it is. But I can’t help also seeing it as illustrative as to what appears to be happening to our culture Spiritually.

Jesus himself said “because of the lawlessness of those days, the love of most will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12), and I’m afraid I see that happening in our society. From aggression on the freeways, to angry school board debates (sometimes turning into fights) over what should be taught to kids in public school, to political vilification of the other side of the political aisle, I just kind of get a ‘bleh’ feeling in my soul about society going forward. Were it not for my faith, I wouldn’t see much cause for optimism at all!

What we really need, what we really need as individuals, as well as as a church, as well as every sincere believer in the broader society, we need times of refreshing from the Lord (Acts 3:19). While, yes, we need physical rain, we even more need the “latter rain” of the Holy Spirit nourishing us, tenderizing our hearts, and preparing us to give God’s last message of mercy to the world boldly.

Let’s remember that we can only have a hope to effectively help & minister to a parched, frazzled world, if we ourselves are refreshed. Let’s take Jesus’ invitation to drink the water of life! as he discussed with the woman at Jacob’s well in John ch. 4.

The hymn “Showers of blessing” come to my mind as appropriate given this sentiment: sing it in your heart to yourself & to the Lord just now.

“There shall be showers of blessing;”

This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above…

[Refrain]
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need!
Mercy drops ‘round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead!

Verse 2:
“There shall be showers of blessing”

Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain…

Verse 3:
“There shall be showers of blessing;”

Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing;
Come, and now honor Thy word…

Verse 4:
“There shall be showers of blessing;”

O that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call…

I pray that in our own hearts, in your own households, there would be no shortage of water, physically, nor spiritually. Recall that we can always “go to the well” and drink deeply of the Savior’s love (Rev. 22:17), if we’ll put away the rushed aggression of the world.

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

* Links to a few articles that have been posted recently about low river levels:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-21/northern-hemisphere-drought-germany-italy-france-photos/101341444

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/20/world/rivers-lakes-drying-up-drought-climate-cmd-intl/index.html

https://a-z-animals.com/blog/10-rivers-that-are-running-dry-in-2022/

Please read (or at least scroll) to the latter parts of this update to find important prayer requests and announcements!

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

August 17th, 2022

“Your rod and your staff, they comfort me” Psalm 27:4

I sometimes marvel how we are permitted to live in a very comfortable time and place in earth’s history, in a generally very inhospitable and very uncomfortable world of sin. In some ways, we wish we could have it better, but we all probably recognize that we could’ve been born into a situation much worse.

We are a species who longs for, who strives for, comfort. If you were to Google “comfort”, you’d likely get links back trying to sell you shoes, or bedding, or fluffy couches, but I doubt there’d be much on the level of soul comfort.

The world has its ways to soothe & entertain us during our free time: you can pay to get whisked away to a pristine beach, you can go experience the thrill of a casino or a sporting event, you could even get a luxurious massage at a spa. But again, in the area of soul comfort, it comes up short.

I suppose many ignore the fact that our souls need to be comforted and embraced, but I suppose meditation practices and support groups try to address this fact.

We are so blessed as Christians to know that our primary comfort comes from God. From King David taking consolation from God’s presence & instruments of directing in the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ in Psalm 23 (quoted above), to Jesus offering rest for our souls in his famous “come unto me” passage late in Matthew 11, we are blessed to have a God who wants to do more than exact obedience from us: but bless us, accompany us, and fulfill us.

Look how Paul discusses the emphasis of soul comfort over physical comfort in this passage from Philippians 4: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (vv. 12-13.

Another beautiful passage comes in 2nd Corinthians 1. This passage was highlighted in a worship service this past Monday morning at the conference office which I was so blessed by. As you read, remember what a rugged time the early Christians lived in: there was no air-conditioning, only very rudimentary cushioning, and 90% of transportation took place on foot (unless another person or animal was transporting you – to their great discomfort!).

I encourage you to read it slowly, let this principle sink deep into your soul, and receive solace from the Lord wherever you are.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” 2 Cor. 1:3-7

You see that the passage doesn’t talk about God externally removing trying circumstances, but rather accompanying and soothing us through them. So I pray, whatever you’re going through, that you will affirm & draw comfort from the God of comfort. Never question his love for you, and (metaphorically) let yourself be held by his loving embrace. May He dwell in you and fulfill you in all you do (as he promises to! Matthew 28:20) this week and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Please read (or at least scroll) to the end of this update to see important announcements, such as a celebratory potluck for a recent wedding, and an up-coming change of Pr. Mark’s role.

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

August 10th, 2022

“When Gideon realized that it was the angel of YHWH, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign YHWH! I have seen the angel of the YHWH face to face!” But the YHWH said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” Judges 6:22.

Something happened to me twice last week that was pretty remarkable to me. I’m sure it’s happened to you too, but we may not realize how profound it really is. I was at an airport, and had gotten a bit separated from my group at the security check area. So, once I got through, I was scanning the faces, just to see if I could spot one or more of them. Instead of finding one of them, my sight caught another face, the face of another man I’d been in a seminar with that week. Among hundreds of faces, my brain caught that one in an instant. Since I’d seen him recently, though, so I smiled and shrugged to myself and moved on.

But then, on Sabbath at church, it happened again, with a man I hadn’t seen in more than 8 years! I was greeting some visitors sitting toward the back of the church, and when I came to the last one, I recognized him and said, “I know we’ve met before”, but couldn’t place where and under what circumstances. He said, “I am Pastor James, who invited you to come speak at the medical center college in the Philippines back in 2014.” I was shocked, and pleasantly surprised to see him! And he was surprised to see me too, not having known this was my church: he was just looking for an SDA church near Disneyland, as he was bringing some guests to SoCal for a few days. What a happy coincidence!

But this really made me think of our brain’s face-filing and scanning abilities. I hadn’t thought of this man in months, if not years. But as soon as I saw him, I knew I’d met him. And if I’d had 30 seconds to think about it, I might have been able to place where I knew him from. (I almost surely would have if his hair were darker, as it had grayed significantly over the years (as has mine!)).

But think about it: you obviously can recall the faces of your family, friends, and acquaintances just now, but how many ‘face files’ do you have in your memory? Thousands? Likely. Tens of Thousands? Possibly. Yet, whenever we’re in a crowd, our brains are always running this scanning program in the background to see if we recognize anybody. And we can tell in an instant if we do. And only very occasionally are we fooled for a moment, having to take a “double-take” at somebody to see if they’re who we think for a moment they are.

It doesn’t seem like faces would be so variable that there could be billions of distinct ones. The combinations of two eyes, a nose, mouth, eyebrows, ears, hair color and style seem like several dozen or perhaps a few hundred variations could be formed, yet our brains imprint thousands if not tens of thousands of particular faces to constantly test new faces against. Surely, facial and body proportions, particularity of voice sounds, etc. help our brains in the discernment process.

This is so remarkable! It is yet another reason for me to exclaim “God is great!”. I mentioned this on Sabbath afternoon at Sociedad de Jovenes, and for our Bible activity, we brainstormed stories in which recognizing faces (or perhaps disguising faces, only later to be recognized) played a significant role. We thought of several: Tamar disguising herself to lure Judah to impregnate her (Genesis 38), Jacob disguising himself to fool his blind father and get his brother’s blessing (Genesis 25), Jacob getting tricked by Laban into marrying Leah instead of Rachel (Genesis 29), Joseph recognizing his brothers, but them not recognizing him (Genesis 42 – gee there are a lot of these in Genesis!), and Obadiah recognizing Elijah after some years (1 Kings 18).

Significance of recognition (or non-recognition) comes up in the New Testament too: Three times after Jesus is resurrected, he is not recognized: Mary Magdalene in the Garden doesn’t recognize him at first (John 20), the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus don’t recognize Jesus’ face or voice for some hours (Luke 24), and the 7 disciples who went fishing didn’t recognize him at first either (John 21). In each of these, it’s not known whether some form of ‘supernatural cloaking’ was involved, or simply if factors of distance, shroud-wearing, or just the perceived impossibility of it possibly being Jesus factored in, but it’s an interesting thing to ponder.

And then, of course, there’s the big one. Though it is our central longing to, none of us have seen the face of our Lord (1 John 4:12), but one day we will know the particularities of his features. We will see the proportions, the factions, the specific creases of Jesus’ faith, as Revelation 22:3b-4 says “His servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads”

That will be a face to burn into our memories! Even more strongly than our own mothers’ faces, whom we see and imprint on within minutes of being born. That face, that sweet face of Jesus, the one who made us, saved us, and will live forever with us will be indelibly marked on not only our minds, but our souls.

I finish with the text to the beloved hymn “Face to Face”. Slowly sing it to yourself now, as a way to savor how precious that will be.

Face to face with Christ my Saviour,
Face to face, what will it be,
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ, who died for me?

Face to face shall I behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory
I shall see Him by and by!

Only faintly now I see Him,
With the darkening veil between,
But a blessed day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen.

Face to face shall I behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory
I shall see Him by and by!

May God bless you and your families this week, and may he hold us tightly in the community of faith, until we see him, face to face.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Please read (or at least scroll) all the way to the bottom of this update to see important announcements, including funeral for Millie Wolford this Sabbath, and an upcoming deadline for tuition assistance at Orangewood Academy.

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

July 27th, 2022

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” Revelation 14:12

I’m sorry for having been out of touch for a couple of weeks – you may be aware that I and my family went to Argentina to see Jime’s side of the family, and, praise the Lord, it was a wonderful time. Lots of hugs, big meals, laughter and tears, and catching up with folks over the near decade it’s been since we’d last been able to visit.

Something quite inconsequential about the trip, but which caught my attention, was that when we went to a “big box” store that we had gone to several years ago, the name had changed. Nine years ago it was a Wal-Mart (which we’re all obviously familiar with), but now the same store, painted differently, was called "Chango Mas". Curious, I looked online, and found that Wal-Mart withdrew from the Argentinean market in 2020, selling its stores to a Brazilian chain, at a loss of $1 billion dollars. Evidently economic outlook made Walmart take the financial hit, rather than try to continue to do business there.

And that made me think of a string of stores that have gone defunct here: former giants such as Sears, Toys R Us, and Blockbuster, and numerous other mid-size chains like Radio Shack, Alpha-Beta grocery stores and Souplantation (r.i.p!). One could make (and no-doubt has made) a list some 50 or more entries long of shuttered business chains.

And that made me think “Sheesh, could the Adventist church ever go under financially? Cease to exist?” I think about how small our churches seem compared to the imposing power of those former giant companies listed above, and it daunts me: if they could fail, with their huge assets and business professionals at the helm, what hope is there for us?

But then I remember that we have something those big stores didn’t: the promise of Jesus that his faithful would endure ‘till he returned. He never mentioned “The Seventh-day Adventist Church”, mind you, our copywritten name, logo, and business structure, but the “remnant”, the faithful, organized in faith communities, he promised would endure. “On this rock”, Jesus said, referring to the truth of his identity as the Son of God, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18 Furthermore, the apostle Paul speaks of “we” who are alive at the return of Christ, rising to meet him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

So: the long and short of it is: we needn’t fret! We can just focus on God and faithfulness to His kingdom principles of righteousness, and He will see to it that we endure ‘till Jesus’ coming. What a relief and freedom! We can praise without concern for future existence of God’s faith community.

This understanding actually has a funny consequence: in comparing ourselves now to gigantic corporations, it is they who should be “shaking in their boots”, rather than we, for their existence! Think about it: it is actually more likely that Amazon, Wal-mart, Disney, or Google will cease to exist on earth than it is that God’s remnant people would disappear. What a crazy idea!

It just goes to show that “strength” in God’s eyes is evaluated on a fundamentally different level than man’s. Paul even advises the wealthy in one point (I think it rightly applies to corporations, too) : “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” 1 Timothy 6:17

I hope that you can be free, mentally, to unrestrainedly praise God, worshipping Him in Spirit and in Truth, as He deserves (John 4:23-24). Let’s leave the big concerns to Him: our main task is to faithfully endure, with Christ in our hearts.

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum