Category: Pastor’s Updates

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

January 11th, 2023

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” James 5:17-18

Boy, we have been having a wet winter so far! I remember last winter we had a wet December, but then as soon as January started, the spicket seemed to be turned off! But so far this year, we have continued to have a couple of storms per week it seems – I’m finding myself thankful for days I can see the sun! But I have been loving seeing the grass-covered hills, and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. I pray this continues through February – March!

This of course has been a great relief to our multi-year drought, but it seems to be too much too fast! My heart is wrenched seeing scenes of flooded homes & streets, and hearing of deaths occurring due to the floods. We of course know that the earth itself suffers under the burden of sin (Romans 8:19-21), which, in my opinion, doesn’t exclude the possibility of man-made global warming & climate change. We are much of the sin problem, after all!

But, droughts and periods of famine have long affected and worried humanity. The first such drought mentioned in scripture is in Genesis 12, which caused Abraham to go down to Egypt, setting off a chain of events there.

Droughts & periods of rain are also sometimes accredited to the will of God in the Bible, such as the 7-year famine in Genesis 41-47, and Israel’s 3½ years without rain in 1 Kings 17-18 (referenced in the James passage above). Imagine how stressful & desperate these must have made the people, given that they did not have resources like we do, of reservoirs, canals, or desalination plants!

Peter’s Sermon in Acts 3, after the healing of the paralytic man, emphasizes what happens when we repent & turn to God: “That times of refreshing will come” (3:19). We’re currently being refreshed literally in California, but how much more important is the Spiritual aspect?

I think of what a spiritually refreshing time it was for Israel when Jesus came. In contrast to the Pharisees, who’s conversions were more effective to making people be children of hell than of God (strong language, Jesus! See Matt. 23:15) Jesus’ message included “preach[ing] the Good News to the poor; …heal[ing] the brokenhearted, to proclaim[ing] liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

What a refreshment that must have been to the people! Contrasted from a religion that created a “burdensome loads” for the people (Matthew 23:4), Jesus started his most famous sermon with a list of affirmations and blessings. Though you’re probably familiar with it, I encourage you to read this passage slowly, letting the refreshment of it “saturate” down into your hearts. Let Jesus speak this truth to you today:

“Blessedare the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those whohunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds ofevil against you falsely for My sake.Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, forso they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:3-12

Affirming this is of course not to say that Jesus didn’t have standards: He gave many challenging and high-bar teachings further on in the Sermon on the Mount. But I think it’s worth pausing to really hear, and feel, and believe, and internalize these affirmations: they are the context in which the rest of the sermon is given.

I pray that you would be refreshed today and this week, more than on the surface literal level, but deep down to your roots, that you may be, as Psalm chapter 1 says:

“…Like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever [is done] shall prosper.”

(v.3)

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

January 4th, 2023

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

Happy New Year! I hope your 2023 is blessed, filled with joy & fulfillment for you & your loved ones. Though it’s been gray and soggy for the most part so far, we know it will lead to beautiful greenery on the hills, and hopefully a significant dent in our drought conditions!

I’d like to share with you a thought process I went through last evening: you may know that each Tuesday evening we need to get the church’s dumpsters pushed up to the front of our property, to be collected Wednesday mornings. It’s something I have on my schedule each week: sometimes there’s some help, sometimes there’s not, but it’s not a big deal. What I do mind, though, is when it’s cold & rainy when I have to do it (which fortunately only happens a few times a year, given our climate). Working hard, while shivering and getting soaked? Ugh!

But, last evening was one of those. So I was grumbly as I headed to the church, and I was grumbly as I walked over to the dumpsters on the far side of the parking lot. And, though I was somewhat happy to see that only 2 of the 3 needed pushing, I was grumbly again to see that it was the “hard” and “medium” dumpsters that were full, the “easy” one to push being empty (I’ve learned their temperaments!)

And so, I pushed in the drizzle, taking breaks every now and then, thinking about what lay ahead for my week and all. I struggled a bit to keep them out of the trough in the driveway where the water runs down (which was a little tough, as they were slippery).

But as I finished the 2nd dumpster, and started to go back to the church to wash my hands, I realized something: I wasn’t cold anymore! I was warm to the point that I took off my jacket and slung it over my shoulder. My inner furnace had “revved-up” at the work I was doing, and I was toasty warm! I actually felt I could’ve pushed that 3rd dumpster without too much trouble.

And I just thought what a life lesson that was: something you dislike doing, grumbling as you’re approaching it, pushing through it (in my case literally), but you find it actually strengthens you and makes you more accommodated to the hardship (in my case, the cold) afterward.

And I thought of how many times and ways through life that principle rings true. We may struggle greatly in a high-school or college class, but we trudge through it, and are better for it in the end. We may be intimidated by the discipline needed for a new stage of life (say, starting college life, or entering the military, or prepping for a marathon, what have you). And I of course remember how my toughest year of life, my student missionary year in Costa Rica (which I’ve mentioned before), really grew my faith and ‘toughened me up’ for further chapters of hard work & potential discouragement in my life.

So we find that development is accomplished through adversity & perseverance, rather than ease and lax discipline (which is what we much more want in the short-run!). I believe God knew this as numerous times he called his servants to work through a problem, rather than simply be carried through it. He increased the workload of Adam & Eve in getting their food from the earth after the fall. He called Noah and his family to construct a boat to survive the flood (rather than providing it for them). He called Moses & the Israelites to trudge through the wilderness, learning perseverance and dependence on him, rather than simply transporting them to the promised land. And he let the Apostle Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” remain, rather teaching him that “My strength is made perfect through your weakness” (2nd Corinthians 12:9).

And Jesus, no less than any of the others, learned submission, obedience, and perseverance through incredible hardship, that he might become our Savior and worthy of the praise of the entire universe (see Philippians 2:6-11). Whereas I’m certain Jesus received praise and adulation before his incarnation, how much more once the angels & unfallen worlds saw how far he was willing to go to save the lost!

So, in light of that, I’m going to try to anticipate the benefits of challenges & hard work, rather than begrudgingly approach them. I pray you’ll be able to face difficulties similarly in 2023 and beyond.

May God be praised for giving us the strength and resources to overcome many an obstacle (See Jesus’ 7 promises to “overcomers” in Revelation 2 &3)!

May God bless your family this week and beyond, indeed for the whole of 2023.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Hello again,
Oops! I realized I failed to attach the graphic for Sabbath afternoon’s hike. Here it is:

Please be sure to read (or at least scroll) down to the latter part of this update to see important prayer requests and announcements, including church potluck this Sabbath, and a Sabbath afternoon hiking trip!

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

December 28th, 2022

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Hello dear brothers and sisters,

I hope your Christmas celebrations and gatherings with loved ones and family members this last weekend were a joy and a fulfillment to you!

Now we are in the somewhat strange “limbo week” between Christmas and New Years, in which society’s kind of on vacation, but plenty of us still have work to do. I think that, rather than reflecting on Christmas (which the past couple devotionals have been focused on), or on the new year (which the next one will be), I will take a ‘pause’ this week to focus on our concept of God.

God is of course the God of Christmas: the one who sent his only Son to earth in love for the purpose of salvation (John 3:16), and He’s also the God of new opportunities, new creation, making all things new! (2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 21:5)

But, for the in-between times, just what kind of God is it that we love and serve?

Is it the ‘entirely fluffy’ god, the god of only certain selected Bible verses? An edited god, made after our preferences?

Or, for some of a different mindset, is it the mainly stern and demanding god, who’s also edited, crafted, formed under a different set of preferences?

I hope you can see where I’m going with this: we want neither of those above-mentioned partial gods, we want the Actual God: the Living God! The real, active God who intervened so many times in Israel’s history, in Jesus and the Apostles’ ministry, in the early church as recorded in the book of Acts, and countless other times through history, including the Reformation, the 1st & 2nd Great Awakenings here in America, in the founding of our church, and continues to do so in innumerable and unrecordable times & places around the world!

I mention this, because, in our mid-week prayer & book discussion group, we are currently in the portion of Patriarchs and Prophets that reflects on the stories & lessons from the book of Numbers, one of the toughest portions of the Bible; which contains numerous stories that many of us just wish were not there! There seems to be a lot of harshness, without a lot of redemptive stuff there. (I, for one, am finding myself thankful that we have a recent commentator in Ellen White who helps us understand the intended lessons and purposes of God in those accounts there).

Whether through subtly avoiding parts of our Bible, or outright ignoring them, we can find ourselves attempting to ‘edit’, or ‘modify’ who it is that we worship. We chalk-up certain attributes to God, but not other ones that are clearly stated! (See Exodus 34:6-7 for a stark example of this).

I once heard summarized by a kind of humorously cynical person: “God creates man in His image. Man rebels and falls into sin. Man then turns around and makes God in his image.” This is of course overtly true in idolatry (how many Buddhist and Hindu (not to mention Catholic) statues have the human form as the basis for their designs?). But I think many Protestants and Adventists do this as well, only on a more subtle level!

So: I want to be resolved in the New Year to take my concept of God from the Word: receiving it from the Bible, not generating it in my mind and then attempting to conform portions of scripture to it. Because this is where the power and vitality will be: when we are tapped into the real God, the real author and creator, perfecter and finisher of our faith! As intimately as a grape branch is attached into its vine. (see John 15 for Jesus’ illustration of the vineyard).

Though some parts of God’s Word to us may be tough to receive, we will find that they are just as vital as the ‘favored’ spots of ours. And over time, I believe we will find that the Living God is not merely the god we wanted; but rather, so much more than that: the God we really need!

For, undoubtedly, it will be this God who saves us: the one who gloriously and climactically invades earth from the heavens, who exists in external reality, not the one we conjure up in our minds to agree with our own opinions and conclusions.

I started with quoting the Isaiah verse above to emphasize how different, how much more categorically outside our best ideas is the greatness of God. I see him saying in that verse ‘Don’t just magnify your best thoughts and concepts upward, and consider that to be me: I am of a whole different type and scope and definition than your categorizations!’

So: I hope you’ll join me in loving and affirming and following the One True Eternal & Living God! Who by definition cannot be contained, defined, adequately summarized or conceived of, and who certainly cannot be represented by any earthly forms. He is truly high and exalted, unapproachable (except by his gracious invitation), and fundamentally different, operating on a whole nother level than we!

Alright: I’ve probably gone overboard in my effusiveness. But I pray that some of it is enlightening and inspiring to you. I pray you’ll be resolved to affirm the God who lives outside our heads & best concepts, who dwells in unapproachable light (1st Timothy 6:16).

As always, I pray a blessed week for you and your families, a good end to your 2022, and a prosperous and fulfilling 2023.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

December 21st, 2022

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed… And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.” Luke 2:1,3

Well, we are getting to the core of the Christmas season, when (hopefully) our weeks- or months-long preparations can wind down to some quality togetherness times with family and loved ones.

“No way!” You might say “I’m as hectic as ever!” “I’m hosting people at my house this weekend”, or “I’m flying out tomorrow, and connecting through Denver!” Certainly lots of Christmas songs and movies accentuate (or, conversely, poke fun at) the hectic times that surround Christmas more than the core of it.

I guess you could say even the Biblical Nativity story has that pattern of hectic movement and stress before settling in to enjoy God’s provision. Mary & Joseph got late news that they would have to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem (a journey of about 90 miles as the crow flies – and don’t forget: there were no highways, gas stations, and drive-thru food along the way! Would’ve been a trip of a couple of weeks one-way at donkey-walking speed), when they got there, there was no lodging available, and, on top of it all, Mary began to go into labor!

I can’t think of one example of Christmas travel/logistics in which I’ve been nearly so stressed as they must have been. But to then contrastedly pause; to look at the babe in arms which was direct evidence of a miracle of God; to receive surprise worshippers of shepherds and magi, must have filled Mary and Joseph with awe and reverent wonder.

I pray that we will similarly get some time to pause and reflect, and drink in the reason for which we’ve gone through all the bustle and hassle and hurrying, navigating crowds, putting up decorations and the like.

It’s that God has drawn near to us. And that we, in emulating God’s desire to draw near, similarly seek intimate times with our families and loved ones.

Reflecting on the reasons for Christmas makes me also consider why we do all we do: do we live to work, or work to live? The line of delineation can certainly become blurry in our modern society.

But let’s remember: all the travel and inconvenience were worth it for Mary and Joseph, only because of what resulted: The Son of God coming to dwell with us. And similarly, our work and stress and frantic preparations are only worth it if we stop and reflect and love and cherish those whom we’re working for, and are glad to God for having in our lives.

I pray that you will get a chance to drink deeply of family time, and God’s love in this Christmas season. If we lose that, we’re no better than big city Jerusalem missing the blessing (or even actively attacking it, once discovered) that God intended.

May God bless you and your loved ones this Christmas and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

December 14th, 2022

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

The other day, as I was driving the food bank van for pickups, I heard something on the radio that made me tear-up with love! I was listening to a secular radio station which was playing Christmas music, and between songs the DJ played a clip that has apparently gone viral of a 5-year-old kid who heard his dad and grandfather discussing their concerns about the family business. Then this little kids’ voice came over the radio saying “Daddy, grandpa, don’t worry about tomorrow, just think about today, that’s what God says. Every day has enough trouble for it’s own. God will take care of it.”

And I just thought: how sweet! Out of the mouths of babes come pearls of wisdom that adults really need to hear. And for Jesus’ sermon on the mount to be quoted on a secular radio station (a very popular one, that lots of people listen to around the holidays) was just such a surprising blessing! I praised the Lord for that family that has brought up that child with a knowledge of the scriptures, and was thankful that, apparently the ‘virality’ of this clip justified it’s being played on the airwaves. In the hustle and bustle and clutter of messages, God’s word got a little moment there through the mouth of a child.

Obviously, in sermon preparations and the like, I’ve been thinking of the Nativity story a lot lately. Things went so crazy for Mary and Joseph, several times over! Yet the word “worry” or “anxious” isn’t found in those passages (not to say they didn’t experience them – can you imagine not being able to find even a hotel room for your wife while the press of labor is intensifying on her? And the son of God, no less!). But it’s just perfect example of God providing every step of the way. Scripture identifies a half-dozen times how this apparently crazy story, on the surface level, was actually making prophecies from hundreds of years prior click into place (see Matthew’s account for the bulk of these).

And Ellen White elaborates on the idea in the Desire of Ages how the three gifts of the wise men were God’s provision for the necessary flight (fleeing) to Egypt. Mary and Joseph had no idea that gifts were on their way, nor that fleeing would be necessary. But God knew, and handed them the gift (which had begun its journey months before) right on time, likely mere days before it was needed.

So, I realized, I need to trust more, too. I mean: he’s caused the sun to shine, the air to come into my fully formed lungs, my brain to keep my conscious mind awake, and here I am worrying if I’ll be taken care of? Surely, the angels must shake their heads at we fickle humans.

The verse quoted above from Philippians 4 discusses a great exchange: we can give our anxieties to God, and in return receive his perfect peace. What a great thing to receive during the holidays! It makes me realize that trust is, yes, an intentional decision that requires effort, but it’s also a great relief and benefit to all who invest in it.

So I just invite you to put your lives, your needs, into the hands of the One who made all and is over all today. I close sharing some lyrics from a favorite hymn of mine. It’s not a Christmas hymn per se, but read/sing it slowly to yourself and pray it to God just now, asking Him to come into your heart and give you that gift of peace.

‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

just to take Him at His word

Just to rest upon His promise;

Just to know “Thus saith the Lord”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!

How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus

O for grace to trust Him more!

I pray that God’s love, God’s peace, and God’s comfort can fill your heart today and for the remainder of the week and beyond. And let’s be sources of peace and encouragement to others at every opportunity.

May God bless you all.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

December 7th, 2022

"If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" John 8:36

I had a pretty interesting phenomenon happen to me a couple weeks back, and you’ve likely had it happen to you too.

On the same Friday, there were 2 potlucks going on: one at my wife’s work for lunch, and one in the evening for an Agape feast at the Orange SDA church. So my wife decided to make a big pot of corn chowder (my mom’s recipe, which I grew-up with, and love!). She started early in the morning, so I awoke to the savory aroma of spices wafting through the house. I commented to her how good it smelled!

Then, in the usual processes of getting the kids’ breakfasts ready, and getting them off to school, I didn’t think of the smell anymore, it went out of my mind. However, when I re-entered the house some hours later, I was hit by the strong (wonderful) odor again – and I marveled: how is it that I stopped smelling it earlier, as I was getting the kids ready for school? And the same occurrence kept happening over the next day as well: staying in the house, we didn’t particularly notice it. But to go out and return? Wham! There it is again!

I looked up this phenomenon, and it is called “nose blindness”*, and it happens for both good and bad smells. It is basically the brain’s ‘filtering out’ of a constant stimulus, and it’s the reason farmers don’t constantly smell the manure they’re surrounded by, or why cultures that don’t use deodorant don’t smell their own body odor. It’s not that there’s anything physiologically wrong with the nose, it’s just that the subconscious receptors that are constantly receiving the smell (good or bad), stop bothering to send the signal to the conscious brain.

In John 8, when Jesus shocked and offended the people by telling them that they were prisoners steeped in sin, and that only He could provide freedom (vv. 34-36), they were certainly experiencing the Spiritual aspect of what I’ve been describing above. They were indignant! “We’re not slaves of anybody!” they exclaimed. And, truly, many secular people in the modern day make the same claim when we try to tell them they need a Savior.

Such is the seductive nature of sin: one can become so steeped in it, that it ceases to be perceived as a problem at all. This is why God’s law is truly such a gift to us: it lets us know what pure spiritual life (atmosphere) is like, and makes our contrast to it immediately evident. Maybe this is why some are so vehemently opposed to the Ten Commandments! Why else would something pure be argued against? Because they are an affront to people who are otherwise blind to their own sinful condition.

Conviction is not a pleasant feeling, but it is a primary job of the Holy Spirit. (See John 16:8, for example). Similarly we, who are the aroma of God (2nd Corinthians 2:14-16) are to some a delight, but to others a displeasure. We should not be ashamed of this: it was so of Jesus, and all of God’s faithful people who’ve gone in generations before.

I pray that we can be an antidote to our community’s “sin-blindness”; not in that we’re intentionally ‘stinky’, but certainly noticeable, in a distinct and unquestionable way.

Let’s let love be infused in all we do: not the world’s corrupted, superficial definition, but rather God’s thorough and complete version.

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

* To read an article on the phenomenon of nose blindness, click here. https://www.healthline.com/health/nose-blindness

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

November 30th, 2022

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

A couple weeks ago, with the Santa Ana winds we had, we lost power at our house for about half-an hour. We took it in stride, basically switching from tablets & home devices to cell-phones to have continued interconnectivity with the outside world. When the power came back on a while later, we were happy, but basically shrugged our shoulders and continued on.

I got to thinking, though: what if our power outage had gone something more like 12-24 hours, and our phones had lost power? Then the panic would begin to set in, with us only being able to interact with people in our immediate vicinity?! What torture! (I suppose we could’ve charged our devices using our cars: not a particularly “green” way to keep connected, but it would’ve gotten us through in a pinch).

And then I got to thinking: I wonder if we’re more ‘addicted’ (dependent) to internet connectivity, or to general electricity as a whole. While the two are of course connected, would we rather go without internet for a couple of hours, or without electricity for those couple of hours, but still have our cell phones with internet on them? In the short-term, I’d bet we say internet is more important. But if we got to longer-term, such as multiple days or up to a week, general electricity would probably become the bigger need (think: heating, doing laundry, keeping food refrigerated, etc.).

I got to thinking how affected our lives would be if we had to go without either electricity or internet for a week. What a trial that would be! ;-p Our work, our awareness of the world around us, our personal comfort would be greatly impacted.

But then, man, I was humbled, because I got to thinking of the wireless interconnectivity we have with heaven: through prayer, through the Holy Spirit, through the comfort and fellowship we experience in the community of faith. I asked myself how my life would be affected if those were to be disconnected for a couple of hours, a few days, or up to a week. Would our inconvenience, and our rising sense of panic, compare at all to the afore-imagined loss of electricity and/or internet?

Yet, on a fundamental, life-as-a-whole level, which do we have to admit is more encompassing, for fundamental to life & wellness? You know: Jesus could’ve come down and shared with us electricity, or the internet, yet He neglected both of those in favor of the Holy Spirit. Here are some of the things he said about the cruciality of it:

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. …He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:16-18

“the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” John 15:26

“It is to your advantage that I go away…If I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” John 16:7-9

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth… and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13

…and, of course, the highlight verse quoted above:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Of course: there’s much more that can be said (and experienced, and utilized) regarding the Holy Spirit! We are only scratching the surface here: this topic cannot be plumbed in a brief devotional thought: it is indeed the task of study & a lifetime’s cooperatory participation with for the Christian!

But these above verses supplied make it abundantly clear that it is in Holy Spirit efficacy and empowerment that we function! And, Praise the Lord, we needn’t worry about “loss of connection” with heaven or the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ promise is firm, that, through the Spirit “Surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matthew 28:20. May it be in this truth & with this affirmation that we operate.

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

November 23rd, 2022

“Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is Good” Psalm 107:1

Pshew! I don’t know if it seems the Fall calendar is flying by for you, but Thanksgiving week is already here. I hope you get a bit of a lighter work week, and of course, much more importantly, that you get a chance to gather with loved ones and reflect on God’s goodness to you.

Pausing to reflect on, and give gratitude is not something that comes naturally to us! I’m thankful for our forebears who did so, and established a pattern and a holiday for doing so. It is so oft and so easily overlooked! To be covered-up by thoughts of shopping or of football, or even worse, of the stresses we must face going forward, is a tragic loss for such a time with such pure intended purpose.

I even believe it’s harder to pause and be grateful to God now than it was in the days of my own childhood: I believe that the fast-paced, rat-race, social media nature of our society actively makes pausing and reflecting harder. This is for several reasons, which I will outline here:

Stress & anxiety are incompatible with peaceful gratitude. And what do we specialize in immersing ourselves in as a society? Just those things. Not intentionally, of course, but as a by-product of our microwave, dash-about, run to-and-fro lives. But what does God say in His Word? “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). If we’re not fulfilling the first half of that verse, it’s very hard to fulfill the second: maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that acknowledgement of God is on the wane in our society.

And regarding anxiety, what did Jesus say “Do not worry.” He says it no fewer than 3 times in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 6, vv. 25-34), and 8 times throughout the synoptic Gospels. Rather, he counsels us to ‘seek first God’s Kingdom and righteousness, and God will see that all these (anxiety-provoking) things are provided to you.’ (6:33, my paraphrase).

Another big gratitude-blocker that I perceive is covetousness. God put it in His 10 Commandments, saying plainly “Do Not Covet”, and listing a few things that are usually top sources of covetousness. But this is a sin that cannot be observed from the outside: someone can get dressed nice and come to church for years, while their souls are twisted and corrupted, made desolate internally because of covetousness. And our modern society attacks and undermines us on this one as well, because I perceive that the advertising industry actively urges us to covet. Isn’t the subtle message behind so many advertisements “covet, covet, covet”? I don’t care whether you’re talking about billboards, banner ads, TV, radio, internet, what have you. “Your life isn’t complete: you don’t have this thing. Get it, and you will feel fulfilled” is the whisper. Whether or not the purchase is made, the message conveyed is a drop on our foreheads: a chink in our armor.

Meanwhile, we have a message in our Bibles that directly contradicts covetousness. Woe be to us if we don’t actively restore ourselves with God’s prescribed remedy, His worldview re-orientation regularly.

Read/Pray this beloved Psalm slowly, and ask God to root out any covetousness, stress, and anxiety from your life. And ask Him to make you truly grateful.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;

For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Amen.

I pray a wonderful remainder of the week, and particularly Thanksgiving day blessings for you and your loved ones. Pass-on God’s goodness by being good to somebody else unexpectedly this week!

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

I apologize for not getting this update out last week! Just got swamped with things, and couldn’t catch-up. This week is going better so far, though. 🙂

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

November 16th, 2022

“Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw… are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.” Revelation 17:15

You may have heard the news earlier this week (though it’s understandable if you didn’t, as it was crowded-out by many other things) that our world’s population was projected to surpass 8 billion people this week. While specific numbers are not knowable, of course, the United Nation’s statistics and trajectory lines pointed to this week (yesterday, actually) as the approximate time our population would surpass that milestone.

8 billion! That’s a number that’s hard to fathom. I don’t think I can even really conceptualize the quantity number of 1 Billion, though I know it’s a thousand millions. So, it’s eight of those. Uh… I still struggle to comprehend it.

I remember being a kid and hearing some statistical program say “the earth has nearly 3 billion people”, and I knew the program was already old when I saw it, it was probably from the ‘60s or so. But, from that time, when my parents would have been in their teens or early 20s, the population has nearly tripled! I guess if every person had 3 kids before passing away, (or 6 per couple)…

As I heard that this milestone was coming-up, and has now been surpassed, I had a sense of weight in my soul: a feeling of “ugh, how can the earth support so many people? Especially given what I’m hearing about climate change and difficulties in farming and crop yields due to droughts in some areas, and too much wetness in others?”, and I sent-up a prayer, saying “Lord, please take care of your children.”

But then, in an interview I heard yesterday, a health/population expert was putting a much more positive spin on it: she was saying that population tends to increase when lifespans get longer, when wars and starvation subside, and when health and medical care improve. And so this statistic could be viewed as a success by those measures. That helped me balance my thoughts on the matter, while I am of course still prayerful about it.

I wonder how our recent “population explosion” looks from God’s perspective. Each child is obviously beloved by Him: totally unique, and made in His image. Though we can only conceive of a mass of humanity, he sees each one as a precious individual. I don’t know about you, but I am thankful to have a God like that. “How precious to me are your thoughts about me! They are more than I can comprehend.” Psalm 139:17

I also see this 8 billion people statistic as daunting in terms of Jesus’ statement that the Gospel must “be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14. While, numerically, Adventists (and broader Christians) have continued to grow, that growth has been out-paced by world population, so that a smaller percentage of people are Christian/Adventist now than 100 years ago! I’ve also wondered if it’s another way of Satan’s trying to ‘drown the woman with a flood by spewing a river of water at her’ (see revelation 12:15 and 17:15), in that he knows the Great Controversy can’t be wrapped-up until everybody can hear the truth and make their choice for (or against) God. Perhaps allowing for this immense population growth is a delay tactic of his! Though it obviously can’t continue forever.

But then I think of what a blessing wide broadcasting and the internet are: the ultimate "megaphone" to get messages spread far and wide instantly! These means of communication would have never been imaginable in Bible times, but certainly match the prophecy in Daniel 12 that in the last days “men will rush to and fro, and knowledge will increase” (v.4). But then again, these new communication means are “flooded” by folly, misinformation, vice, etc. to again ‘sweep away’ true messages trying to get through by an abundance of dilution. Rrgh.

I guess I see that the stakes are high on both sides. It would be very easy to get discouraged and consider the hurdles of huge population & media inundation as too high to overcome. But, let’s never lose sight of the fact that God has prophesied that this will happen. The Gospel will be preached to all mankind. Jesus will come again in glory. And “every knee shall bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” Philippians 2:10.

I praise the Lord for those out on the forefronts: both of missionaries who literally, physically go out to far-off countries to share the Good News, and of internet & multimedia ambassadors who reach far more people than individuals could by their own means.* We, too, have an increasingly worthy mission-field here, as America becomes more "post-Christian".

You guys have heard me speak of it before: discouragement and cynicism are always in the back of my mind, threatening to take over. But I have to remain optimistic in Jesus. His coming, and the new creation He promises (Revelation 21:5) are the only long-term solution to the problems we face. I have to resonate with the Bible’s last words, crying out “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

Until then, I pray that you and your families would be blessed with health, physical safety, and of course increasing faith on this pilgrim journey we share. Speak well of Jesus! In any opportunity you encounter.

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

*I’m not sure if you’re aware, but there has been a prominent advertising campaign lately, called “He gets us”, that is connected to our Adventist message. I first became aware of it at an MLB baseball game I was at last summer, where, during about the 5th inning, the screens displayed the simple words “hegetsus.com”, and a person sitting next to me (who would know) said it was an Adventist-affiliated organization. Since then I’ve seen the ads on billboards and commercials, including one during the World Series I heard about. Check it out! It’s all about how Jesus sympathizes with our struggles, because He went through them too. (sounds largely like the “Sympathetic High Priest” idea from Hebrews 4:14-15 & 2:17). I read that it’s a $100 million advertising campaign, and, while folks can certainly debate the best way to use $100 million, you can’t say that they’re not trying to get the message of Jesus out there, publickly visible! May they have great success.