Category: Pastor’s Updates

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

November 2nd, 2022

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

I found myself in kind of a strange state last Friday evening: I got home from our Spanish Evangelism meeting @ Anaheim, Jime and I got the kids into bed, and Jime, being tired, went to bed too. I, though not particularly sleepy yet, had my sermon pretty ready for Sabbath morning, had my Sabbath-school lesson read, and had an hour or more until my usual bedtime, so I thought, “Well… wow! What shall I do?”

I remembered I’d seen a really fascinating sermon some months back by George Knight, well-known Adventist Historian, on the differences we have concerning the recent Gift of Prophecy, with how we hold our view of Ellen White’s writings and authority, contrasted with how Mormons hold those of their founding prophet, Joseph Smith.1

And I thought “I wonder what would happen if I YouTube searched the single word “prophet”? So I did so: and man, what I found! There were hundreds of YouTube videos claiming prophets and prophecies, posted within just in the couple previous days! And many of them had several thousand, if not tens of thousands, of views already! I saw on the list thumbnails for everything from political prophecies (including the overthrowing of the government before Thanksgiving), to illuminati prophecies, to end of the world prophecies within the current year 2022, etc.

And I realized 2 things: Firstly: There are a lot of people out there claiming to be prophets! And Secondly: evidently a lot of people feel a need to find guidance, insight, perhaps even ‘secret knowledge’ through looking-up prophecies!

I was simultaneously fascinated and discouraged by this: people of course should be looking primarily to God’s word for insight and the ‘daily bread’ of Spiritual nourishment (and of course, millions upon millions do), but this extremely high level of claimed prophets & prophecies, as well as the apparent high demand for them indicated to me that there’s a general sense that God hasn’t done enough through His written word.2

So: I’ve been mulling on this the last few days, as I’ve been going throughout my tasks. Here are some thoughts I had:

Firstly: while the easiest thing to do would be to immediately “shut down” all of this in our minds, that’s not what we’re scripturally called to do. Scripture never says the gift of prophecy will cease before Jesus comes (this is a point we often make when discussing Ellen White’s prophetic ministry with skeptics), and in fact that we can expect a great outpouring of God’s Spirit in prophetic form the last days according to Joel 2:28-29. Repeatedly in the New Testament, we are told not to shut our ears to claimed prophecies, but rather to be discerning about them. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:15-20 says to be vigilant, and to evaluate a claimed prophet by their fruits: do they metaphorically produce grapes & figs, or thorns and thistles? By those fruits (evidences), you can know. The Apostle Paul similarly states in 1st Thessalonians 5: “Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.”

So then (secondly), just how do we discern? The Bible, again, gives us several tools. The first is to pray for the Spiritual Gift of discerning between Spirits (1st Corinthians 12:10), and to remember that Spiritual things are Spiritually discerned (1st Corinthians 2:14). The second is to always hold Scripture as the standard by which any and all other claimed prophetic voices are evaluated. Regarding claimed prophets and prophecies, the Prophet Isaiah wrote in 8:20: “[Go] to the Law and the Prophets! If they [claimed prophets] speak not according to these, it is because they have no light in them.”3. We see this methodology being used by the honorable Bereans in Acts chapter 17, where they are assessing Paul’s message of Jesus as the Messiah, by checking and evaluating his claims with the scriptures (17:11).

Now: the prospect of trying to evaluate every claimed prophet and prophesy that there is on the internet is an exhausting one. It could easily consume all our waking hours and quite scramble our brains in the process! This is a shame: I view it as an evidence that Satan frequently tries to “drown out” true movements of God by “flooding” the landscape with false ones, therefore discouraging everybody about the whole matter (see Revelation 12:15 in its context). Let’s not let him have his way!

So, here’s what I do to manage that overwhelming prospect: I daily seek God’s wisdom and guidance in His Word, the scriptures, and at least weekly in the Spirit of prophecy writings.4

Then, with any claimed prophecy that comes my way, I prayerfully evaluate by Scripture. If a co-worker brings up a book that they read that has certain claims, or if someone sends a YouTube link to me, I’ll give it some time, but will always, always, check it with the Bible (at least mentally with my stored-up knowledge of the Bible) to see if such a person might be on a right track. If they’re clearly not, I let it go by the wayside. If so, I acknowledge that the person/claim deserves more attention, and generally continue: I see where it takes me while continuing to assess based on Scripture. Should it really merit consideration and potential affirmation, I would bring it up with a trusted circle of Spiritual friends and discuss there. Church small groups, discussions over potluck, etc. are a great venue to do this in!

In summary, while it’s certainly easier to shut-off ourselves to the possibility of the existence of continuing messages containing God’s communications, it’s the less scriptural and less authentic thing to do. It would basically be giving the Devil’s falsification-spreading strategy its intended effect if we did so!

To be open-eared, and discerning, takes effort, but it forces us to keep our ‘blades sharp’ of mental acuity and spiritual discernment. It makes God and His working something that is, in our conceptualization, alive and acting, rather than boring, cobweb-ridden, and rotting on the shelf.

Let’s make no mistake: God in His merciful generosity has given us everything necessary for a knowledge of Him, and a wisdom that leads to salvation in the Bible (2nd Timothy 3:15), but to have the opportunity for continued counsel from Him is an opportunity I do not want to miss out on!

May God bless you, your families, and our broader community, as we go forward ‘on our knees’, always humbly seeking to discern, digest, and implement God’s will in our lives.

May God bless you all.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Please be sure to read (or at least scroll) to the end of this e-mail, to see important praises, prayer requests, and announcements, including a family-friendly halloween alternative taking place at the Orange SDA church this weekend!

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

October 26th, 2022

“The mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart. That is what makes a person clean or unclean.” Matthew 15:18

What do you “put in your tank”?

I remember, back when I was teaching at Mesa Grande Academy some fifteen years ago, the outdoors club at our school went for a weekend camping/boating trip to Lake Havasu. Several of the teachers and parents came along, along with our school science teacher/assistant principal.

As we got everything packed, and everyone gathered and organized into the several vehicles, we agreed we’d stop at a gas station before getting on the freeway for the long drive. There, we filled-up, made sure bladders were empty, tummies were full, and got on our way. I was riding in a “dually” pickup, it’s bed in the back packed to the gills, and also pulling a trailer.

Several miles down the freeway, the dually (being driven by the science teacher/assistant principal) started to sputter and shudder quite strongly! “What’s going on?” we thought, “Do we need to stop and go to a mechanic?”

What we discovered had happened was that, at the gas station, the science teacher/assistant principal had filled up the dually’s tank with diesel fuel instead of gasoline! I don’t remember whether perhaps the vehicle was borrowed, or belonged to someone else in the group, but somehow he wasn’t familiar with the vehicle and, assuming it was a diesel engine, had put in the wrong type of fuel.

Several of us worried and wondered aloud whether we’d be able to go on at all, of if we’d need to abandon the vehicle (and perhaps the whole trip!) because of this error. But no, he said, being a science teacher, he knew that a gas engine can run (albeit poorly) on diesel fuel. Plus, it was a mix of gas and diesel in there, since the tank had some leftover gas from before the fill-up.

He explained that the reverse is not possible, though: that diesel engines cannot run on gasoline at all, because diesel engines do not provide a ‘spark’ to the ignition chamber: diesel fuel explodes on compression, whereas gasoline needs a spark.

So we continued down the freeway several hours to our destination. It was an uncomfortable ride, though: our teeth were jostling, and our ears were suffering from the sound!

Years later I thought of that experience in relation to how we live life: what motivates us: our actions, our words, even our thoughts.

God made our hearts, our “tanks” to run on something, but are we all too often putting in the wrong kind of ‘fuel’ to motivate & power us?

I think the blend of ‘fuel’ that many people put in their tanks is a mix of ambitions, fears, resentments, and aggressions. These are their primary thoughts which motivate and push them. Such people live pretty unhappily, and may even face a shorter lifespan due to stresses, addictions (entered into in order to cope with the negative effects of living in such a way), and even subjecting oneself to physical danger (perhaps through ‘thrill seeking’, or even drug use).

Then there’s the more gentle ‘fuel’ of competition, competitiveness, that probably much of society fuels itself on. Competition is viewed as healthy and overall helpful in the world of commerce & business, sports, politics, even evolutionary theory! “Survival of the fittest”, and “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” are common phrases based on such an outlook.

And I somewhat agree: competition often causes us to strive and perform at our best. Students in law school or business school, what have you, study their hardest to achieve their best, knowing that great success, wealth, and reputation lie down the road of victory. Athletes reach the very peak of physical and strategic ability in perfecting themselves for competition. And, competition ensures that only the most efficient companies, with the best return on investments will survive to sell another day. In this widely-accepted view, competition is really what makes the world go round.

But, is that the ideal ‘fuel’ God intends for us to put in our tank? Or does it result in the similar sputtering and shuddering that we experienced in the dually that day? While competition seemingly makes all parties strive for greatness, there are some who look at the whole pyramid of competition and just feel intimidated or even exhausted by even the prospect of entering into it, and never even get into the mix of things. Others, by definition of the majority, strain and struggle and might achieve a moderate level of success, but ultimately have to admit their limitations and accept that something/someone is practically always going to be better than they are. Though there are of course many psychological ways to cushion the blow and comfort oneself, competition inherently creates more losers than winners by its very nature.

So what would be the ideal ‘fuel’ God would have us ‘put in our tank’, to motivate and drive us? Is there a fuel that doesn’t exhaust, doesn’t intimidate, doesn’t eventually humiliate the majority?

You may already have a sense of where I am going: God’s solution, His ideal motivator in life for us is love. As 1st Corinthians 13 reminds us: love always cares, always protects, always hopes, always forgives, always perseveres, and *never* fails. It consoles and encourages the weak and the young, it motivates acts of kindness, goodness, and charity. And, possibly best of all, it doesn’t divide people into camps of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. Everybody feels good in a loving environment! The strong use their strength to lift others up, and the week find themselves lifted up by others. Everybody benefits! It’s a worldview that bases itself on different fundamental principles than the competitively-based world does.

I think many many Christians try to run with both kinds of ‘fuel’ in their tanks simultaneously. “Love yet competition” is probably what’s actually in the minds of most people in the pews on a given weekend. But can they mutually coexist? Can each philosophy thrive without endangering or squelching out the other? I’m not sure. I think of the average male Sunday churchgoer, who listens to a lovely sermon on love and perhaps enjoys a potluck in Christian community, but then goes home to watch football players smash each-other for hopeful victory and glory (and lots of money coming in). Which of those messages makes the stronger impact on the soul? Which impresses the mind more strongly? Which one is the hypothetical person more likely to talk about with his co-workers on Monday? Again, I think of that sputtering, uneasy trip we had to Lake Havasu, with a mix of unintended fuel in the tank.

I’ve got to tell you: I’m kind of down on competition. As a teen, I never liked the way the athletes carried themselves in school (even though it was a Christian school). I never liked aggression, or the concept of “victory over” someone else. I read once in Ellen White’s writings that we shouldn’t engage in competitive sports, and I was surprised to read that, since varsity teams are really ubiquitous in our schools. But, it’s true: since reading that I’ve just seen it too much: that though it causes our students to strive and improve and strategize and cooperate toward a group goal (and keeps them physically fit in the meantime), I’ve seen competitiveness bubble-over into defining self-worth (either self-pity or pride, depending on their ability to achieve), I’ve seen parents go over the edge in the stands, yelling and cussing at the referees or the coaches (or even their own kids!) for what they’re doing out there. And, of course, a certain percentage of kids receive injuries they have to recover from for weeks, if not months. I wonder if similar damage could be going on in their hearts.

I’m really not here to judge anybody, I enjoy my fair share of sports too, but I just believe there’s a corrosion at the center of competition that is just inherent to it, which love doesn’t have.

Perhaps it comes from my joyful belonging times in choirs, plays, or worship teams that make me feel it’s so much better to be involved in cooperative endeavors than competitive ones. Of course: a running team, a cycling team, a camping trip, or a building project can all provide camaraderie, physical striving, and an overall situation in which people can come away all feeling fulfilled, like they’ve aided and contributed, rather than “I’ve won” or “lost”.

So, obviously I’m not advocating an extreme position that would exclude all types of competition (no pickup basketball games? No potato sack races? To propose such things would be absurd). I just want to ask the question: What’s the fuel you’re putting in your tank? Is your ultimate goal to uplift, help, and encourage everyone? Or to squash someone else so you can have victory?

I think whatever your answer is has far-reaching implications in life, in relationships, and in the professional arena. I believe over time the fruits of the one or the other will make themselves known. And of course, we know which motive/philosophy will exist and dominate in heaven. I don’t think I even need to say which one will. Let’s remember Jesus’ key line (among many) in the Lord’s prayer.

I pray a blessing for you and your family the remainder of this week and beyond. Greetings to your family from ours.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

(Please be sure to read all the way through this update, to find important prayer praises & requests, and announcements, including Hispanic Evangelism this coming week, and a Halloween alternative activity taking place at our sister church in Orange.)

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

10/19/2022

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9

If you know me very well, you know I am a BIG fan of memes. My fascination probably started as a kid with those 1-panel “Far Side” comics: such wry humor, making you think and realize the absurdity of an aspect of life, in a single frame! Then, in high-school government class, I learned that single-panel political cartoons had been around for decades if not centuries.

I ingest a healthy diet of memes on almost a daily basis. Sometimes I go searching for memes on certain topics, other times they just show-up in my social media feed. Most are funny, some are thought-provoking and stimulating, but then there is a third minority category that I dislike: memes that bother me, and give me a sickening feeling in my stomach.

I had a huge one of those come across my feed earlier this week, of all places, in an Adventst Pastors’ group. There is plenty of fun and also serious discussion that goes on there, but we also sometimes post & discuss difficult and painful things, because it is of course important to know what the outside world is thinking & saying about Christianity & matters of faith and the church.

The following meme had behind it a picture of a denim-clad kid crying in a corner (like the one shown above). This text was in bold, white letters. The following emphasis points are from the meme itself:

“The entire basis of Christianity is that you are BROKEN, WEAK, sinful, and inherently bad. It then tells you that only Jesus, through the Church, can fix you. You are nothing without them. THIS IS ABUSE.”

This accusation stopped me in my tracks. It made me feel equal parts maddened, offended, and sickened. It made me pause for a minute and say “Can this be true? Does the church serve to perpetuate spiritual abuse rather than spiritual healing & help?”. I’ve long heard accusations that institutional religion is primarily a means of controlling people and getting their money, but this meme struck me differently. It was, I don’t know, more accusatory of Christianity and church being toxic and destructive to the individual soul, rather than to the broader society as a whole.

And I knew that having hundreds of thousands of people see this accusation come across their feeds would be instantly harmful to faith and church affiliation, because, in a way, it can partly match with a superficial understanding people have in society of what Christianity and church are and do. While doing that, it obviously highlights the negative, while pointing out none of the positive.

The comments posted in our group below it showed a variety of offense vs. admission that this is how we’re perceived. And I thought “How did our public perception get this way?”

After chewing on this for a bit, and settling my emotions, I thought of what I’d like to say to the person that wrote this.

First of all, I thought, I would want to listen: I would want to hear what motivated the person who created this to do so. Rather than go on my first assumption that they were just trying to twist the narrative & purpose of Christianity to appear destructive, I would want to know: were they somehow hurt by the church themselves?

Jesus reserved his probably most forceful and shocking words to people who hurt little ones (and I believe this includes spiritually, within the church or faith context) “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck, and they were thrown into the sea.” Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2.

A pretty well-known, simple, but profound phrase says “hurt people hurt people”, and I wonder if that’s what’s happening here. Someone was wrongly treated by the church or someone in a church, and they’ve decided to spew venom at the whole concept of Christianity because of it.

And then, after listening and helping them know they’ve been heard & understood, I’d gently ask them about some of their presuppositions. Is it really the church, externally, which tells people they’re bad? Or do our own consciences tell us that? Does the face in the mirror tell us that? Does the daily news on TV or the internet tell us that? If the similar accusation were made “Doctors tell you that you’re sick and that only they can cure you”, is it them who made you sick? Is to make someone aware of something distinctly different than causing it? And I hope they’d concede the point on that one.

I suppose it could also be that they want to ascribe to the feeling that humanity is generally good, rather than bad. And we, of course, want to feel like generally a good person. Largely, though, we do that by comparing ourselves with others: we soothe our consciences by thinking of criminals, the homeless, or drug addicts, what have you, and think “I’m better than most”. Christianity should drive us away from such thinking, but I don’t know how much it does in practice. What other contrast do secular people have to feel good about themselves, though? I don’t know. I can’t get into the heads of other people, whether Christian or atheist.

And in response to the 2nd half of the meme, I do believe that only Jesus can “fix” us, but is access to Jesus exclusively through the church? I wondered if this person knows of the historical and theological differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, because, yes, in the sacramental/Catholic model, the church does distribute grace as it provides the sacraments (including forgiveness being based on confessing one’s sins to a priest), but in Protestantism, the religious institution is secondary to the direct communication line between the individual and God: both in God communicating to us through His Word, and in us praying to Him in open and honest sharing of our feelings, needs, and hopes. Yes, these things are done and facilitated at church, but by no means are they the only place where they happen! Jesus himself said the most important place where communication with God takes place is in the private prayer time, the closet prayers, mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:6. And of course, hearing a sermon once a week is no substitute for daily feeding on God’s word in personal study/devotional time.

And thirdly I would ask the person: Does the priest or pastor who oversees the church not themself need the same benefit that the members do? The forgiveness and acceptance of God? The need to be educated & corrected on their own daily walk? The accusation that church leaders more-or-less say “you must bow before me/my authority to have access to Jesus and His salvation” is hugely problematic. I have had numerous occasions in sermon preparation times where I’ve changed the pronoun direction from “you” to “we/I”. Not “YOU need to get right with the Lord/obtain His forgiveness/get on a right path with Him”, but “WE/I” do!

So, I just left this meme feeling hurt and discouraged, because obviously I couldn’t actually reach the person who created this meme, to hopefully come to a more balanced understanding with them. And I couldn’t and can’t reach the probably hundreds of thousands of people who have seen/will see this meme online. The damage is done. And what can I really do to improve it?

Well, I tell you what I can do, what we can do as a local church community: we can do our very best, prayerfully, intentionally, to make sure the narrative and accusations described in this meme are NOT in the subtext of things we say and do. Jesus is a compassionate Savior! And he came to all humanity, to heal and help, and ultimately save. He doesn’t condemn us (John 3:17), we are naturally condemned to the grave by the ‘natural’ order of things in this world. Even atheists have to agree with that. And the church, in its right posture before people, doesn’t tower over the masses to demand obeisance toward it: rather, it itself strives to be the bride that Christ deserves (Ephesians 5:27). The church doesn’t stand in the place of God to the world, the church stands in the place before God of the ones needing help & purification from our heavenly fiancé! And we weekly (and personally daily) ask him to wash us and make us white as snow before him (Isaiah 1:18).

So: the light of such accusations makes me re-realize just how important our daily witness is to others. We of course have no idea what kinds of feelings & possible resentments people around us have to matters of faith, Jesus, and the church. But let us intentionally make sure all conversations are sprinkled with kindness, love, encouragement, and helpfulness. That when people who know us come across such an accusation, they say “No! That doesn’t match my experience with authentic Chrstians: whoever said this is off in their assessment.”

It is still with a burden in my heart over this that I wish you and your loved ones a good rest of the week, covered by God’s loving grace. May we be a light amidst the darkness!

Sincerely,

Pastor Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

October 12th, 2022

“He who is faithful with little will also be faithful with much, and he who is unfaithful with little will also be unfaithful with much.” Luke 16:10

At the “manufactured home” complex in which we live, our neighbor’s mobile home has a fenced-in porch that faces toward our space’s driveway. The family there has two dogs, a gray bulldog and a little brown chihuahua, who fly into a rage anytime they perceive something or someone moving in their sight. Sometimes we will hear the “alarm” of their barks going off, only to glance out the window and see that the Amazon delivery person (or UPS, what have you) has dropped-off a package. And when Jime, or the kids and I go out to get in the car to go somewhere, they go absolutely wild! Agressively barking and snarling, as if to say “if only this fence weren’t here, we’d rip you to shreds!”

Now, my kids like dogs very much. They’ve repeatedly asked us to get one (the answer is always “no”), and when we go to the grandparents’ house in Riverside, they spend a good amount of time playing with their dog (they’ve even told their teachers that that dog is “their” dog, apparently ;-p ).

So I’m sure that, if these neighbor dogs were nicer, that our kids would happily go over and talk to them, pet them through the vertical slats, and maybe even ask the neighbors to go onto their porch to play with the dogs. But as it is, they keep their distance from the fence of that porch, and never mention wanting to build a relationship with those dogs.

Sometimes I wonder how similar or different we as a society may look to heavenly intelligences. We are allotted our ‘little space’ in our society: the little property of our homes, but also the circles of influence in our workplaces and social circles. And I wonder if our interactions are more welcoming or aggressive in the aggregate.

Just as I think it’s a loss for both those dogs and my kids that they don’t take a friendlier posture toward them, I wonder how many opportunities for good interactions, friendships, and even bonded relationships are lost because we take a default posture of defensivism, or even aggression, toward others.

And, while I don’t believe we’re saved by our actions, I believe the record of our actions, amassed over time, gives testimony to the heart of the person. So if angels & unfallen beings are asking themselves “should earthlings be permitted to come join us?” our kindness & generosity vs. defensiveness & aggression here and now can clue them in to how wise that prospect would be.

Lately there’s been verbiage in the outside world that churches are hateful places that breed intolerance: I hope nothing we do serves to feed that narrative. Rather, I pray that the Spirit of Christ would be shown, both through our personal lives as well as through our corporate body when we gather together.

Above all, I hope that when Christ returns, He will indeed ‘find faith on the earth’ (Luke 18:8), partially because of our faithful, encouraging, friendly interactions and invitations into Kingdom life with Him.

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

Sincerely,

Pastor Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

September 28th, 2022

“From heaven the Lord looks downand sees all mankind;from his dwelling place he watchesall who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all,who considers everything they do.” Psalm 33:13-15

In my daily commute to Riverside earlier this week, I had an experience that you have likely had a time or two yourself: I saw one of those “Google street view” cars, with the funny circular camera mounted on top. I even paralleled it coincidentally for a few blocks. That made me think of times I’ve used Google street view*, and thought ‘huh, well, that’s how they get those images’. I wondered whether the images were stored on a hard-drive and uploaded, or simultaneously streamed to Google’s servers.

Then I got to thinking about how crazy amazing it seemed to me when Google Earth came out, in the early 2000s. I remember spending probably in the neighborhood of 10 hours on my computer in my dorm room that week, looking at everything from familiar places and neighborhoods, to beautiful places like bays and national parks, to different capital cities and governmental centers around the world (like the Mall in Washington D.C.).

I remember thinking how amazing it was that images like these could be available, for free, at my fingertips at any time. I also remember thinking that it seemed crazy that it was legal! Minus a few “top-secret” places that were blurred out, you could see just about anything, anywhere that you wanted. But then I figured, well, the visuals are out there in the real world to be looked at by people’s eyes at any time, perhaps putting them on the internet isn’t such a logical leap of public availability.

Google satellite view changed the way I see the world. Of course, I’d used maps on family trips before, and I’d see the weather forecaster standing in front of their big wall map, but getting a ‘birds-eye-view’ just really put my life in context, simultaneously making sense of my place in it, but also making me feel really small!

I feel that the Bible does the same thing for us: it helps us “zoom out” from our own neighborhood and daily circumstances, to see and understand the meta-narrative that is around it: How God created this world, implemented the plan of salvation to redeem it, and is to soon come and conquer its nations (Daniel 2:44-45, Revelation 11:15). It both puts my life in perspective, with its joys, sorrows, challenges, and victories, and also makes me feel very small in the midst of the grand narrative! Yet, to know that I am seen, loved, cherished, and intimately known as an individual in the midst of all of it, boggles my mind to the point of scrambling my brain. "How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" Psalm 139:17

In ancient days, people could only climb a really tall tree, or stand on a cliff-edge of a mountain to get a bit of perspective as to the layout of the land. Through the centuries, we’ve steadily advanced until now we have Google satellite and street views.

Similarly, Bible characters of previous generations only knew portions of God’s grand narrative. We know much more now (this is the positive side of the prophecy in Daniel 12:4 that knowledge would increase in the last days). But soon we will be lifted even higher, to see integrated purposes of God that go beyond our current understanding, but within which our world, and our personal story fits in like an interlocking jigsaw piece.

I’m thankful to Google for the added perspective it’s given me. But I’m even more thankful to God, eternally so, for giving us the “bird’s eye view” of His perspective on us, through His Word.

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

* I often look-up satellite & street views before going somewhere new. I regularly do it before visiting Adventist churches, and did so before I first came to interview for our church at Anaheim! I still remember thinking “Can that be right? That church looks kind of weird and disproportional from the front!”. :-p

Please be sure to read (or at least scroll) to the bottom of this update, to see important prayer requests, and announcements such as communion, potluck, and kids clubs’ social event, all happening this Sabbath!

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

September 21st, 2022

“And the God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:31

Even though I’m working during the week at the conference office now, I’m grateful that I still get to help with food bank pickups once per week. The familiarity, the physical nature of the task (where I can let my mind wander, or think of other aspects of my work), and knowing I’m helping with a practical good in the community, all help me feel good about it.

Sometimes we get food given to us by the stores that are unfit to distribute. Both our local food bank training, as well as certified food handler procedures state that rotten food, food that hasn’t been properly refrigerated, or packaged food with broken seals can’t be distributed.

Each week we find a few leaky/sticky packages, a few pierced or sliced plastic-wraps, and an occasional punctured yogurt cup lid. We toss them in the trash, or, if they look good enough to eat ourselves, we can take them home, knowing the slight risk we run.

But I had a thought as I was arranging things a couple weeks back: in general, the fruits and vegetables we receive & distribute don’t have to be packaged. We handle while boxing and distributing items such as bananas, apples, citrus, onions, potatoes, etc. as is, and I began to ponder: why are there strict packaging rules on some things, but not on most of our produce?

I realized: it’s because the “packaging” God gave these fruits & veggies is sufficient to pass food-handler’s quality standards! An orange can roll in the dirt, but, since you un-peel it to eat it, it’s okay! A banana can be squashed and ugly externally, but still be nutritious & delicious inside! A carrot can be grimy from its growing place in the ground, but wash it off, and it’s fine for consumption.

Beyond that, nature’s packaging is informative: telling you both the type and quality of the food inside. Additionally, it’s biodegradable, causing no harm to the environment – can even be great for composing! Furthermore, peels often edible (though we may prefer not to), and can be used humorously (in the case of an orange peel being used as a funny smile, or a banana peel to make someone slip!)

To me, that’s just a microcosm of how God’s ways are better than man’s. Every system God made in the natural world, be it the weather cycle, the decomposition cycle of animals & plants alike (and even humans), the revolving nature of our solar system, is all recyclable and sustainable. In a word, brilliant!

We are the ones who really muck things up by making chemical reactions to produce things that don’t break down, can’t get re-used productively, and end-up causing much more long-term harm than the brief benefit they offer. I was just reading the other day about an industrial toxic waste dump site north of the Santa Ana river in Riverside that was used for about 20 years from the ‘60s to the early ‘80s. That site is desolate and untouchable now: the article said it will take some 500 million years for those toxins to neutralize!

So, sadly, we’ve exacerbated the needs for a new heavens* and a new earth. We’re gradually ruining the one we’ve got!

Praise the Lord, he had a contingency plan in place far before we knew we needed it. “Behold, I am making all things new!” is Jesus’ bold proclamation in the second-to-last chapter of the Bible (Rev. 21:5). And I say “Bring it, Lord Jesus!” Beyond being fascinated to observe the re-creation process, I wonder how similar or different the new creation will be to the one we know now? We’re given a few tantalizing clues, a ‘glimpse through the door-crack’ in Revelation 21 & 22, but, as C.S. Lewis says, God is just whetting our appetite to be eager for the full revealing of what he has in store.

So, the next time you bite into a piece of fruit (whether it’s the type that you remove the peel for, or bite through), think of God’s superior designs & mechanisms to man’s, and how there is much more to come!

May the Lord bless you & your families the remainder of your week.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

* the reason the word “heavens” is pluralized in much of scripture is because in Bible times they had a concept of 3 levels of heaven: first is what we’d call sky, the blue part, the breathable ‘dome’ of our atmosphere (it may seem weird to us that they’d use the same word for our local sky as for God’s dwelling place, but Spanish and other languages still do it too), the second level would be what you can see at night: the planets, stars, and galaxies beyond our reach, and then the 3rd level would be God’s glorious dwelling place. This 3rd level is what’s referred to by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4.

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

September 14th, 2022

“There is no longer Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

If you’ve even glanced at a screen, or heard a single news report in the last week, you’ve no-doubt heard of the recent passing of England’s Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96. She had an inarguably remarkable reign, ruling for 70 years on Britain’s throne, during the presidencies of 14 U.S. presidents, and the premiership of 15 British Prime Ministers.

The images have been polarized: a nation in mourning yet full of loving gratitude, and scenes of pomp and ceremony in the midst of loss and sadness. While I haven’t been ‘engrossed’ in the proceedings, nor have I done a ‘deep dive’ into the particularities of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, it’s given me a lot to reflect on.

Firstly, I’m touched with scenes of broad grief for a person who seemed to be very lovely and kind. I found tears welling-up in my eyes as I heard Brits talking about how much they’d loved her, and how they were going to miss her. But then, on the other hand, I think of what her position, her ‘seat of authority’ represents, and has represented, around the world.

Of course, our current practice of elevating democratically elected leaders to power is quite new on the world scene from a historical perspective: all nations used to be ruled by a “King”, either a system of dynastic succession, as is the case in England, or of militaristic conquer. Similarly, things like term limits and intentional limitations of power (by, for example, splitting the roles of government into three branches as we have) would have been a foreign concept in the old world: reign was total, and the term, a lifetime.

It was in that worldview in which both Jesus and the Apostle Paul made statements regarding leaders and how we should relate to them: firstly, Jesus stated to Pilate when he stood before him “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” (John 19:11). This means that civil authorities, imperfect and corrupt as they may be, are on at least some level permitted by God to have earthly authority. The Apostle Paul takes the implication further by instructing in Romans ch. 7: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” (vv. 1-7).

Now, before we might be tempted to say “Well, they had no idea what kind of government we’re dealing with here nowadays!”, let’s remember that both Jesus and Paul suffered persecution and died under corrupt governments! The world & governmental rule we experience is certainly more gentle (particularly religiously so) than was the ancient world of the early church. In fact, much of Paul’s counsel above seems to be motivated by a desire to avoid unnecessary persecution, and preventing the church gaining the reputation of being a civically rebellious institution.

But then it seems, as we progress forward in time, that a country that learns and espouses Christian principles should put down the structure of kingship and monarchy, no? All this pomp and fanfare over the queen’s death, as someone who was uniquely special seems to fly in the face of the Biblical principle that no-one has extra favor in God’s sight for their position of influence or wealth, all are equal before God (see James 2:1-8, Hebrews 9:27, and Galatians 3:28, which is quoted above).

But the historical record is not so! Despite the fact that God’s ideal plan was that His people shouldn’t be ruled by a king (1st Samuel 8:6-7), Christianity-cloaked Europe for centuries perpetuated the practice of kings, emperors, and popes with practically unlimited power over commoners. England was even an early adopter of Protestantism (of sorts), gave us the first English translations of the Bible, including the King James Version, which so many enjoy and find inspiration in to this day!

Yet this kingdom, for centuries, did not undo its monarchical structure, such a thought was inconceivable! It was only after America had successfully shown a much better system of governance in democracy, that Britain adopted a partial system of democratic leadership in 1832.

But they still actively participated in their practice of Colonialism: taking over broad swaths of land to helm their leadership, supposedly manage their resources, but of course ship a good percentage of the country’s wealth home. That’s where the wealth and decadence come from! Even in relatively recent history, when Queen Elizabeth came to power in 1952, England was still ruling over India, Australia, Ghana, South Africa, Barbados, and Jamaica, to name just a few. Though Queen Elizabeth didn’t cause this situation, the system she was born into perpetuated it.

On the one hand, I’m hearing such glowing reports of what an exemplary person Queen Elizabeth was: how she was stable, circumspect, supportive, steady, and a class-act. And she did use her position to bring to light many causes of injustice, promote charity work, etc. And I thought “well, maybe a person being elevated so that they can shine a light and raise up others is justifiable”. And of course, colonialism did wane significantly during her reign, and most of those exits were peaceful, I believe.

But on the other hand, all the pomp and luxury that surrounded her, which could’ve been put to use helping impoverished people and nations the world around seems pretty inexcusable. I can’t make myself feel good about it.

There are questions over whether Britain’s monarchy will continue much longer. Since it is pretty much a symbolic figurehead now, it almost seems like it’s Britain’s version of keeping up an expensive pretense, almost a dollhouse, for the sake of nostalgia and image.

I am of course in no position to judge Queen Elizabeth, the rest of the monarchy, nor the system that existed/exists to support it. It is God whom she and others will stand before to give account after their lives regarding what they’ve done (Hebrews 4:13).

The problem of earthly leadership and governance is an inherently problematic one for we who have a selfish & sinful human nature. Even democracy is far from perfect, as evidenced by recent machinations and surgings of the government!

I am frequently grateful for the peace, stability, and prosperity which we enjoy, but acknowledge only 1 king and sovereign over me: the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Revelation 19:16), who will come soon to make the kingdoms of this world His own (Daniel 2:44-45, Revelation 17:12-14, 11:15).

I pray a blessed week for you and your families, as we consider to mull over themes regarding appropriate rulership in the light of this recent change in England.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

(Some information for this devotional was sourced at https://time.com/6212772/queen-elizabeth-ii-colonialism-legacy/ “The Queen’s complex legacy” by Time Magazine, Sept. 13, 2022.)

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

September 7th, 2022

“Sorrow may last for a night, but joy comes with the morning” Psalm 30:5

We’ve been having an exciting time in our household lately, as in the last two weeks, my two children have combinedly lost a total of 3 teeth! Toward the beginning, there is the fun and excitement of wiggling the loose tooth, yet the dread of the added pain on the horizon. I remember having that conflicting combination of emotions as a child well. They crescendo as the weeks pass!

I also remember, and I see it in my kids too, putting off the dreaded climax of pain, by eating foods in strange positions, trying to avoid use of the increasingly wobbly tooth. Imagine, for example, trying to eat a sandwich without using your front teeth! My kids did this for weeks as I thought (and occasionally said) “Let’s pull it out and get this done with already!” “No daddy! Nooo!!” they’d wail. “Alright…”

But then, inevitably, the crucial moment comes. Intense shrieks of pain and tears soon give way to shrieks of joy and giggles, as the kids show-off their tooth, now in their hand, and the resultant gap in their smile. :-b The fun continues in telling friends, as this is no doubt “big news” in elementary-grade classrooms. And there’s the promise for a bit of money to boot!*

In light of all this excitement – increasing pain and turmoil leading up to a crisis moment that ends-up resulting in joy, I got to reflecting on the life lessons it brings. We all know that pain and suffering are inevitable in life, yet after the valley of anguish, there is often relief and resultant gratitude that comes (see the Psalms verse quoted above). Children experiencing this pattern in a small, non-life- threatening way is an excellent way to teach this difficult yet necessary truth in life, and I found myself thankful to God that this is the process by which we grow up. Could this have been His intention in making our bodies to work like this? By doing this I’m not minimizing the ‘crisis’ in the kids’ minds, but I think our grown-up crises can look very similar to God. They are urgent and critical to us, but in His view, all is under control. Yet it can be a learning lesson.

I remember hearing a similar thought once regarding animals: after some years of bonding, the childhood experience of the loss of pets is bitter, but in reality is a gentle, helpful way for them to learn about the pain of death. It is certainly no small crisis in their minds, but they learn that, even after the loss, the sun shines again another day. Having lost a couple of pets in my childhood, I remember passing through those experiences with tears, yet the experience was a stepping stone for having to endure much larger loss, much more acute pain, later in life. Again, I wonder if dogs’ and cats’ short lifespans in relation to our own might have been made with the intention to facilitate life lessons for children.

So, I just find myself thankful to God that we have these “mini-experiences” that help us lead up to the big, truly daunting experiences we must go through in life. The harsh realities of this Great Controversy are oft devastating, but I find myself thankful that God has set up mini versions of these crises to prepare us, in the “kiddie pool” of childhood, when there are adults around us to support us, hug us, and assure us that everything is going to be okay.

Whenever we do suffer losses, small or large, let’s try to ask ourselves (and God) what future cause this could be preparing us for. Perhaps we can bring comfort to others in the future, going through a similar issue in their lives.

I pray peace and God’s blessings to you and your family members the remainder of this week and beyond.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

*Though we don’t promote the idea of the “tooth fairy” with our kids at home, we do put a few dollars under their pillows as they sleep. While we were in Argentina a little over a month ago, we got to discussing children’s tooth-loss with Jime’s family down there, and I was laughingly surprised to find out that in Argentina, rather than a tale of a “tooth fairy”, the myth is of “Raton Perez” who comes and takes the tooth and leaves money – a rat! Lol!

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

August 31st, 2022

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…” John 3:16

Over the years, I have really been convicted that, in the later part of life, God continues deepening our understanding of him, and drawing us into deeper appreciation of him, by sharing with us experiences that represent his relation and perspective to us.

This is shown in a couple places in scripture by examples of God telling his servants to do strange or seemingly terrible things: First, he commands Abraham to offer-up his son Isaac as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:2), and, generations later, he tells Hosea to marry a prostitute, and then to pay money to bring her back into his house from her continued prostitution (Hosea 1:2, 3:1). While the emotions these prophets went through were no doubt shocking to the point of agonizing (and God could be considered cruel for asking this of them), it shares with us the intensity of emotion of what God must go through with us.

A while back I experienced a similar ‘lesson’ of God’s perspective that hit me to my core. It was many years ago, but I still remember it vividly. Perhaps the new school year, and seeing kids and (some new) teachers heading towards their classrooms have brought that lesson back to memory just now.

I was doing my student-teaching program at Mesa Grande Academy, and had been observing my master teacher teach his Bible class for about a week. In all honesty, I didn’t think he was that great, and that I could do better. My first opportunity to teach a class was approaching, and I was looking forward to it! I was going to revolutionize Bible Teaching!

As I planned my up-coming lesson, I was imagining a dynamic discussion, in which the kids would be on the front of their seats, raising their hands, eager to contribute to the conversation… their eyes would glisten as they perceived the profound truths presented! As I looked at the lesson in the textbook that was to be covered, I thought “oh yeah, this is going to be so great! So sweet!” and, really, the culmination of years of imagining myself as a Bible teacher was coming up fast. This was so exciting for me, and I was prayerfully excited as I developed my lesson plan.

Then the class period itself came. Particularly as it was the first period after lunch, the kids were not enthusiastic to be there. Many of them came wandering in late & distracted, and chatting with friends, even as I tried to call the class to order. After prayer, I enthusiastically dove into the discussion topic, but was surprised to not get proportionate zeal in response from them: they were dozing, passing notes, looking at the clock and sighing, playing with the hair of their neighboring student, etc, and I think someone even threw a crumpled-up piece of paper. Frustrated and perturbed, I soldiered on, doing the best not to let my disappointment show.

When I handed out activity sheets, it was to rolled-eyes. And when a kid did raise their hand, it was for "Can I go to the bathroom?" Talk about pricking a pin into a balloon!

A few minutes before the period ended, my master teacher left to go make some photocopies in the office or something. So when the bell rang and the kids left, I was left alone to reflect on the class period.

After a few minutes of stewing in my frustration and disappointment at them, I was overcome with a thought that pierced right into my soul, and sent me into racks of sobs. When my master teacher returned from the office, he found me hunched-over, red-faced, mucus-covered, tears streaming down; utterly inconsolable in my devastation.

“Whoa, whoa! Take it easy on yourself! It wasn’t that bad!" He said. "These guys are just teenagers, that’s how they often are no matter how well you do”. “No, it’s not that!” I responded, pained. My intense grief was in a whole nother arena than my master teacher thought I was upset about.

What I’d realized (and it still makes me tear-up to think it), is that the way those unappreciative students had appeared to me, is just how we, humanity, must appear to God! And my feelings toward them must have been similar to how he often feels toward us. Here He has prepared things in high hopes! He’s prepared the most marvelous environment for us, has revealed His perfect nature to us, has opened himself up to be known by us. And when we threw it in his face in rejecting him, he sent His Son to us to teach us, and assure us of his love. And what did we do? We despised and rejected him, tortured and mocked him, and put him on a cross to kill him. “Ungrateful wretches!” must’ve been the thought frequently going through Jesus’ and God the Father’s mind.

And it continues today! So many of us who know the Gospel shrug our shoulders at it, and metaphorically ‘fall asleep in church’. We’d rather share the latest gossip with a friend, or mess with our appearance in front of a mirror. We’d rather follow “influencers” on social media. We’d rather pedestalize sports and music stars, and make idols out of money, success, and fame. We’d rather pursue power. We’d rather get into political back-biting and conspiracy theories. We’d rather roll in the mud than come to Him and be clean.

I feel God shared his perspective with me on that frustrating-turned-devastating afternoon. Here He’s prepared so much for us: messages through His prophets: promises of love, protection, and future glory. Jesus is literally preparing a place for us in heavenly places!(John 14:2), and how do we respond as individuals, as a church, as a broader society?!

I can’t help but think we look like sniveling, unappreciative dunces to heavenly intelligences. I would not blame him in the least for slamming the book closed and angrily saying that class is dismissed. But the profound thing is that God keeps the instruction going! Keeps the invitation open! Keeps the arm extended, the hand outstretched, the invitational look in his eyes! Not unlike Hosea returning to his prostitute of a wife, God keeps wooing us to himself persistently (Hosea 2:14-20), and I just can’t fathom why.

Jesus says not to “cast our pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6), but that is not too far a description from what he really does to us! His love and persistence are really incomprehensible to the place of dismay.

So I just resolved that day, that I am never again going to be in the place of a dozing, distracted, or defiant student before Him (I had my share of those too, over the years). I am going dedicate myself to be astute, involved, appreciative, enamored! It’s of course something I’ve briefly lost sight of at times (we’re all fallible, after all), but when I’m reminded, I repent and come back to that place of humility before God and eagerness to learn.

I pray this story has some value for you as well. I pray it makes you perceive a bit, and somewhat understand God’s point of view, and hopefully love him more for putting up with it. I promise, I don’t mean to instill guilt in sharing this story, but I rather hope for us to soberly consider our position before and attitude toward God, who has been so over-the-moon, so bend-over-backwardsly gracious to us. He really is far-and-beyond a better God than we could’ve deserved or even hoped for.

I pray a blessed remainder of the week for you and your families. I pray love and affirmation in your households. I pray safety, peace, and health, until we can see each other again, hopefully in person at church, if not in some other context.

I conclude in sharing the "priestly blessing" God instructed in Numbers 6:24-26. Hear God speaking it to you now.

“The Lord Bless and Keep You,

the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

That’s my prayer for you. Go in the love and grace of God, today and always.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum