Category: Pastor’s Updates

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

August 24th, 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“There shall be showers of blessing;”

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

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

Verse 2:
“There shall be showers of blessing”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

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

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

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

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

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

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

August 17th, 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

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

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

August 10th, 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

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

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

July 27th, 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

July 6th, 2022

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

Well, we are just a couple of days after the 4th of July holiday, I hope it was a great one for you and your family. I love that we pause to take a break and reflect on our forefathers’ (and mothers’) break from tyranny to establish this country with its inherent freedoms we enjoy.

People I was with at a party were remembering the bicentennial back in 1976, and I was doing a little math in my head, and realized that we are just 4 years shy of a quarter-millennium as a country! That will be quite a symbolic achievement and a significant marker!

But let’s remember that our freedoms never actually come from the government, they come from God and are merely recognized by the government. The country’s founding documents recognize this, the preamble to the declaration of independence stating: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

You’re likely aware that there’s been lots of controversy lately over whether what the supreme court has been doing is right or wrong. Abortion, prayer in schools, and gun rights have all been in deliberations and rulings again recently, and people are up in arms. In many cases, the debate seems to hinge around the idea that either the secular public or the religious public claim to be at risk of oppression and persecution by the other.

“Puruse Justice” is a Biblical mandate (Isaiah 58, Micah 6:8, Amos 5:24, etc. ), but, justice for who, and how? Very sincere people can be pushing against each-other in ethical gray areas (for example: justice for women vs. justice for the unborn).

I remember, when I was teaching Senior Bible classes for several years, in the 3rd quarter we would hold student group debates over controversial societal issues (just as I had done when a Senior in academy myself, and remembered fondly). We covered numerous issues, such as same-sex marriage (which at the time wasn’t federally recognized), legalization of prostitution, abortion, marijuana, harder drugs, etc. The students would get into teams of 3 and debate, and it was always dynamic and engaging. At the end of the period the class would ‘vote’ on which side made the better case for their side. Teachers from the later class periods even told me the debates often informally followed into the next period!

Over time, what I realized so many of these debates hinged on was: is it better for society to condemn something that’s harmful and make it illegal (and spend money & resources fighting it), or is it better for the society to allow it, but regulate, monitor, and tax it? Everyone knows that people will get abortions and do hard drugs whether or not it’s legal, but is it better to push those into dark and dangerous corners, or to bring them out into the open to remove the most dangerous and oppressive aspects of them, but also inevitably imply a perceived ‘respectability’ about them?

And the reason so many of these things have recently been legalized (and I’m kind of in favor of it, even while disliking the things themselves is) you can’t legislate morality. People will do what people will do, and the government might get outward, surface level compliance by passing a law, but the heart being turned aright is something that cannot be forced from outside. It must, rather, be a personal choice, being made by conviction, and seeing the wisdom and rightness of a good path.

Some are saying that, with the recent decisions and rulings, that the Supreme Court is breaking down the barrier between church and state. Are they really? Or is this kind of crying that the sky is falling? I’m not sure. You may be aware: Seventh-day Adventists have long been proponents of separation between church and state, partly because we know that, should religious legislation go far enough, we will be outside the bounds of ‘orthodoxy’ and be among the oppressed minority.

But hopefully self-interest is not our only (or even our primary) motive: Jesus’ “Golden Rule” states “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12). So, if I were in a country where I was a member of a minority religion, would I want my freedoms respected to worship as I please? Absolutely! So it’s the least we can do to extend that to others.

I guess you could say that all of this is part of the great “experiment” of American democracy. We debate issues in the public square, and “majority rules” while there’s assurance of “minority rights”. This was a mantra I remember hearing frequently in my academy government class, and indeed, it is crucially important!

As the government and courts continue to do what they will, I pray that we will all be about the business of drawing people to goodness, to thoughtful consideration of justice, and ultimately to God. Remember: we can’t fundamentally push, but rather let Jesus pull. As He said “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

June 30th, 2022

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

Apologies for being a day late with this update again this week, we have been “all systems go” with Vacation Bible School each evening!

I tell you: it has been wonderful to see the kids’ faces, their excitement, their optimism, their eagerness to have fun and learn about Jesus in a creative setting… it warms the heart to see them playing and learning and growing and deepening their faith in Jesus.

But perhaps even more heartening has been how the numerous volunteers of both churches have come together in such a great spirit to serve our kids, contribute to the overall vision, and really ‘be the church’ in creating supportive community in which our families can thrive. There has been a wonderful lightness and optimism, and a sprit of helpfulness (even as some last-minute changes have needed to take place behind the scenes), where people have stepped up to contribute time, energy, and sometimes even financial resources.

Contrastedly, the world gives us so much to be cynical about, so much to be frightened about, so much to be guarded about, so much to be pessimistic about: It’s easy to forget that goodness, generosity, love, and openness can still thrive in our strained and stressed-out society.

So if you haven’t dropped by to observe an evening of VBS, I encourage you to do so! Consider this your invitation. Come be part of thriving Christian community, not just for an hour on Sabbath morning, but get involved in the daily living of the Gospel. And don’t forget that, even after VBS week finishes, we have mid-week prayer groups, food bank, zoom worships, etc. you can be a part of. Don’t hesitate to ask about particulars of what we offer, or even offer to host a gathering/activity of some kind. The church facility is available to you, or activities can be held of course in the park across the street, your own home, etc.

I pray you and your families have a good remainder of the week as you find and fulfill your purpose in Jesus.

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

June 23rd, 2022

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18

One day last week, while I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw an ad for a device that looked like an asthma inhaler, and the ad said it was a “drug-free” way to reduce stress, anxiety, and interrupt oncoming panic attacks. I thought: “That’s interesting, I wonder how they do that without ‘drugs’, (which can mean any chemical compound that has an effect on the body), and why it looks like an inhaler if that is so?” So I clicked on the ad to try to find out what the device actually does. After scrolling through testimonials and the like, I finally got to a description of what it does: when you start breathing into it, it activates a sound recording counting slowly, indicating when to breathe (stops hyperventilation, regulates breathing rhythm), while emitting a soothing scent (and there were a few to choose from). So: a counter to regulate breathing, and a pleasant scent to smell. Would work, I suppose, on a basic level.

But that got me to thinking about breathing, and how it’s generally involuntary, but can be controlled voluntarily when intended. And it made me realize, we have several involuntary functions our muscles perform (such as heart beating, intestines digesting, kidneys filtering blood, etc.), and of course voluntary actions we control with the conscious part of our brains (walking, working with our hands, turning our heads left & right, etc.), and then there are a few which are ‘blended’, able to be either voluntary or involuntary. Blinking would be one of those (think about it: how many times have you blinked today? But how many times have you consciously commanded your eyelids ‘blink now’? Yet you can voluntarily do so any time you choose (in fact, I bet you’re consciously doing it right now!)), and breathing is another.

I praise the Lord for the involuntary aspect of breathing, since it would be incredibly tiresome to have to consciously tell our lungs every several seconds ‘breathe in/out now’, and what about when we sleep? And what about babies? So the involuntary aspect is crucial. But it’s also needfully voluntary, in cases like blowing on hot food, holding one’s breath for swimming, singing in a choir, etc.

Going back to our highlight verse above, we’re told to “pray without ceasing”. At first thought, we might be inclined to react, “but that’s impossible!” For some of us, to sustain a 10 or even a 5-minute prayer can be difficult. Also, we need to work and talk to people and drive our cars and the like, so just what was the Apostle Paul meaning when he wrote this?

I think this verse necessitates another way of conceiving our prayers. That they not be so much ‘events’, or voluntary communications we undertake, but more like breathing. More like something we constantly do which sustains (spiritual) life. Ellen White uses the illustration of prayer as breathing in saying “Although there may be a tainted, corrupted atmosphere around us, we need not breathe its miasma, but may live in the pure air of heaven. We may close every door to impure imaginings and unholy thoughts by lifting the soul into the presence of God through sincere prayer. Those whose hearts are open to receive the support and blessing of God will walk in a holier atmosphere than that of earth and will have constant communion with heaven. …Let the soul be drawn out and upward, that God may grant us a breath of the heavenly atmosphere. We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun.” Steps to Christ, p.99

So I pray that our faith relationship with God would be less like picking-up & hanging-up the phone, and be more like having the communication line continually open. When you were a teenager, did you ever just keep the phone line open with your girlfriend/boyfriend so you could constantly be in their presence? I’ve even known people who’ve fallen asleep with the phone line open with their dear one. Could it not be so with God as well? Just, making our mental space a welcome place to Him at all hours of the day & night? Down to the minutia of daily tasks and the like? According to scripture, He wants to hear. It’s crazy to imagine! That is some kind of love.

What a blessing and opportunity it is to be connected to heaven, even constantly! We need never walk in darkness, we need never feel alone, knowing that God is attentive, caring, and interested in our day-to-day mundanity.

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum

Please read (or at least scroll) to the bottom of this e-mail to see important prayer requests & announcements, including Vacation Bible School starting June 27th , and church Blood Drive & Car Show events.

Anaheim SDA Church

Mid-week Pastor’s Update

June 15th, 2022

“Many who heard [Jesus] were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. ‘What’s this wisdom that has been given him?’” Mark 6:2

In addition to the many societal problems we seem to be enduring recently (which I discussed in last week’s devotional), we seem to be in a renewed period of “culture wars”, debates over issues covering everything from sexuality/gender to reproductive rights to political vilification. I have to be transparent that, in addition to the personal level, I experience trepidation on a pastoral/professional level in trying to anticipate navigating questions and conversations about such topics. So many of them are not really discussed in the Bible, yet, we are called to “be ready in and out of season” (2nd Timothy 4:2).

So I look to Jesus. What would Jesus say? How would he navigate such issues? The obvious answer is deftly and wisely, perfectly! But how does that play out on the practical level?

So I ask myself: What were “culture-war” type issues in Jesus’ time and place during his ministry? And upon looking, we find many. There was the issue of the Roman occupation of Israel during this time. There were issues between the Jewish subgroups of Pharisees & Sadducees. And there were debates as to just how to enforce Moses’ law in such an environment.

We’re likely familiar with the stories in which people tried to ‘trap’ Jesus in impossible scenarios. But each of the ones we’ll look at below have to do with these “culture war”-type issues. The first is the time Jesus was asked about paying Roman taxes (Luke 20:20-26), the second is Jesus being questioned regarding marriage in the afterlife (Mark 12:18-25), and the third is about Jesus being grilled regarding stoning a woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:3-11).

So, first: regarding the tax question and the issue of Roman Occupation: Jesus is presented with a seemingly impossible binary choice: to affirm the paying of exaction of pagan occupiers or not? To answer the one way would be popular with the people, but attract the ire of Rome, and certainly distract from Jesus’ Spiritual purpose in his preaching. To answer the other way, however, would be to offend everyone from the Pharisees to the Zealots. But Jesus does an amazing thing: rather than simply answer “yes” or “no”, he nimbly evades their ‘cage’ of merely two answers by affirming God’s supremacy, and putting money in its true place: ‘If Rome cares about these pieces of metal so badly, then give them their pieces of metal’ (my paraphrase). He contrasts that with what God is due, and how much that is more important (many times over!). The people are, rightly, astonished and impressed by his answer, and question Him no more.

Then, the issue of marriage in the afterlife: the Pharisees and Saducees had perpetual debates about whether an afterlife existed at all: so a group of Saducees presents Jesus with, again, a seemingly impossible scenario, in which a hypothetical multiple times-married woman ends up with multiple husbands in the (supposed) afterlife. Jesus rebukes the premise of their question and responds that people will be similar to angels in their non-marrying status in heaven. Again, his critics are silenced, and slink away sheepishly.

And finally, Jesus is publicly pressured to answer as to whether a woman caught in adultery should be stoned, as Moses’ law insists. Again, rather than go with the seemingly necessary “yes” or “no” diametrically-opposed choices, Jesus takes some extra time, subtly pointing out the woman’s accusers’ secret sins to them (Desire of Ages p. 461), and stating that whoever had no sin could rightly throw the first stone. And the woman’s accusers backed away, ashamed and humiliated. (Interestingly, using this metric/standard, Jesus Himself very well could have done so himself! But he didn’t, living out the principle of John 3:17, that he had come to the world to save rather than condemn people).

So what do we see in each of these 3 cases? Rather than submit to his accusers’ pre-packaged “boxes” of binary choices, Jesus impressively chose a 3rd way which elevated principles upward and forward, rather than conforming to presumed conclusions.

Could we, as church members, be called to do something similar in the current ‘culture war’ environment of society? “Are you for or against Black Lives Matter?” “Are you for or against the LGBTQ movement?” “Are you for or against abortion?” “Are you for or against gun rights?” “Are you for or against Trump and the narrative of what happened at the last election?”. Notice: with any of these, if we say a simple “yes” or “no”, we’re going to make friends of some and enemies of other (and no-doubt the forcefulness of the ‘dislike’ of the one group will be stronger than the ‘like’ of the other).

So what if, in each of these (and other) scenarios, we rather directed people’s attention upward to God and positively forward to understand the issues in a new context? This would no-doubt take supernatural wisdom, creativity, and nimbleness beyond what we naturally possess. But the Bible clearly says that God/the Holy Spirit can supply wisdom, and even words, when asked for! “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5. “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. “Do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Luke 12:11-12. Admittedly, that last quote is about more serious situations of arrest, and defending oneself/one’s positions publicly, but couldn’t it also be true in a lesser sense in individual situations? Is this not something we should pray for in personal interactions?

I can’t spell-out for you how you should answer any of the societally difficult questions posed 2 paragraphs up; your responses will of course need to be determined by what you know of the person asking you the questions, and just how they’re posed. But I think to depend on Jesus’ example, and the Holy Spirit’s wisdom are the only way to rightly navigate these discussions.

God of course would not have us get distracted and “into the weeds” of these societal debates and issues. We cannot let them distract from the main purpose we have as Christians: to witness well to a loving God who plans to solve all issues shortly. We need to have a God-honoring, encouraging response to all of these issues, and we cannot let them take our primary purpose, our “eyes”, off of God’s great plan of salvation and promise to rescue his faithful people at Jesus’ 2nd coming. Let any discussions on the topics above be bridges to speaking positively of God, His Word, and His will in our lives, and may we be faithful in honoring Him in all we do and say.

As I leave you today, I want to quote a verse that, as read, deals with temptation. Study Bible footnotes will contain a note here that says the word can also be translated as “tested”, so I have put it that way in the example below. Again, I ask if this principle couldn’t also be true for giving wise, creative, and “out of the box” answers that open up people to higher considerations and conversations in daily life?

“No test has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1st Corinthians 1:13

I hope that we can always be praying for, looking for, and finding, those “ways out”, both in our temptations, and in our “tests” of giving good answers as Christians, to tough issues.

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

Sincerely,

Pr. Mark Tatum