So this past Sunday, I spoke about God’s call on Gideon. 

It’s such a bizarre story. Gideon is minding his own business, deep in a pit, threshing wheat like a coward where no one can harass him. And somehow God finds him in this pit, and declares that he’s a mighty warrior.

I don’t think Gideon was looking to pick a fight with the Midianites. I don’t think being a hero was anywhere on his radar. He admits that he’s the weakest member of the weakest clan. All he wants to do is find enough grain to feed his family. And yet God calls him to fight this incredible, epic battle against the enemies of Israel.

It makes me wonder…does God have bigger dreams for me than the everyday, monotony of living, eating, being a dad, being a pastor, sleeping, etc?  

Is there a greater battle for me to fight where God would declare over my life “Mighty Warrior”?  

But then I wonder if it’s a foolish, melodramatic wish see  great big battles. Perhaps I need to see the genuine battles that are being waged in my life and around my life everyday. The battle against sin. The battle to intercede in prayer for those who are suffering. The battle to lead our church deeper into the gospel. The battle to shepherd my children and love my wife with the love of Christ…

Maybe it’s strange to see these things as battles.

But in light of how hard my flesh pulls me towards inaction, apathy, deadness, and neglect—it really is a battle of the first order to do the “small things” well. And I figure when I’m valiantly fighting these battles and seeing victory, the larger, more glorious battle will be all the more apparent. And I have this sneaking suspicion that by the time I see this greater battle, I’ll realize that I’ve been fighting in it all along.  

Pastor D

We all struggle a lot with those chains that we don’t even realize are there.  These unseen chains deceive us into thinking that our life of bondage is normal, acceptable, and sometimes even necessary.  *It’s hard to believe that sometimes we even “depend” on these chains to bring us a false sense of security, worth, and control.  But in essence, they bind us.

Lies keep us in the dark, turning us away from God. 

Ungodly vows keep us from trusting God.  Instead, we trust in ourselves, or we let other people or events dictate whom or what we will trust in.  These vows are often associated with guilt, shame, self-blame/hatred, self-performance, burden, anxiety, fear, etc.  What a contrast to the His “vows” and His way of life for us … He brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22).

Even after being a follower of Jesus for 25 years, I still struggle with unseen chains.  For me, most of my chains were forged and shackled on me through childhood/adolescent years.  Perhaps I was most impressionable in those years.  I also see some chains shackled onto me in the painful seasons of my life, those times when I was reeling from a dramatic event and was looking for an answer … I looked into myself or let the experience define “truth”/reality for me. 

Satan seems to wait for the most vulnerable times in my life to shackle me.

Against Satan and all these chains, I see Jesus.  He is Light.  There is no darkness in Him.   He is truth, and He sets me free.  I’m learning to find freedom in Gal. 2:20 … to die to myself daily and to find life as I trust more and more in Jesus.  Rather than building my life upon lies, I’m seeking to build upon His promises.

And so, we look forward to seeing our church family running towards Him.  Fallen chains are strewn across the field.   Laughter and joy fills the air.   We’re free.

So I have a splitting headache.
And I can’t tell if it’s because I slept wrong, and the pain in my neck is leaching into my head, or it’s because I haven’t hit my daily dosage of coffee yet. 

Regardless, I just realized I have not updated this blog, and I’m in too groggy to write anything of theological substance. So just a few musings for today.

I have taped onto my wall a great quote from Iranaeus, the ancient church father: “The glory of God is man fully alive.” I love that quote. What it would be like if I was FULLY alive?  If I were to allow the resurrection life of Jesus to truly bring life to all the dead parts of my body and spirit–what would I be like? What would change? What would be amplified? What would be diminished? I wonder.

Wow. This past Sunday was incredible.

Peter and Sunny Choi shared their lives with us. It was a raw, unedited account of God’s miraculous work of healing and transformation in their lives. If you missed it, download last week’s message off our website. It was the best way to end our campaign–with a real taste of the life God promises when we fully embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God did not save us years ago only to leave us to fend for ourselves. The Gospel is for today. It’s for our broken marriages, our wayward children, our depression, sinful strongholds, bitterness, lust—whatever holds us captive. Jesus has come to set the captives free. 

Praise God for last Sunday. May it only be a foretaste of what is to come at Open Door!

PD

I read a great article in Leadership Journal by pastor John Ortberg. He writes about the formal and the hidden curriculum:

     “Many years ago I heard a great teacher make a distinction I never forgot. Every educational institution, he said, has two kinds of subject matter. There is the formal curriculum. And there is what might be called a hidden curriculum.”

       Stuff like Algebra, geography, English lit., history–that belongs in the formal. It’s the official ‘education’ that we’re supposed to receive from our teachers. But then the stuff that we learn in the hallways, the stuff we pick up from the school cafeteria, the pecking order from jocks to chess club members that we not only see but imbibe, our observations of who gets laughed at or lauded–all these things belong to the hidden curriculum. And according to Ortberg, when the formal curriculum ends and all the final exams pass—much of the formal curriculum is forgotten. But hidden curriculum is never forgotten.  He also writes that if there’s ever a contradiction between the formal and the hidden–people always believe the hidden. Always.

   Get’s me to thinking about our church. Here’s the formal curriculum: Open Door to a LIfe Changing Grace. But what is the reality of our hidden curriculum? What do people really, see, feel, experience at Open Door? Because no matter what we have on our banners, and what we say from our pulpits, people will always walk out of our church believing the hidden curriculum.

So write me. Let me know what you think.

P.Dihan

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lag time. Ever since missions month and with all the guest speaker, we haven’t been updating this blog regularly. And before we completely flatline, we’ve recommitted ourselves to publishing posts—as long as there’s still interest out there in reading this stuff.

Let’s see. Last week was a straightforward gospel message from Romans 5:1-8. I guess I could take the time to rehash it–but honestly–you have the mp3 or the video to look at. So, if you can afford me the detour, I’d like to blog about something else

The other day, while talking to Amanda, my eldest daughter, about God, she interrupted me with an honest question: “Daddy, I don’t see God. How come I can’t see him?”

I wasn’t expecting to struggle with a question from a 4 yr old, but for some reason, I found myself fumbling for an answer.

 I know I believe in God.  I am convinced that he exists just as much as I know without  a shadow of a doubt that Mongolia exists–though I have never seen or touched that land. But Mongolia doesn’t affect my life. It’s just assumed knowledge, a fact I store away in a drawer full other non-essential facts.

And so I wonder…has God has become a non essential fact in my life? Is God real to me like God was real to Abraham, or Moses, or David—real enough where you’ll leave your own land and wander, or face down the most powerful ruler in the world, or sing countless love songs in the desert? Is God real to me like he’s real to the saints? 

All this flashed through my mind as I was fumbling for a response to my 4 yr old’s question. I managed to mutter something about faith and creation and Sunday School—but I went to bed with a general unease. And then, as I lay there unable to sleep, I realized the unease was actually hunger. I want to see God. Here is a pastor confessing that he needs to see more of God. Hope that doesn’t disturb you. 

Do me a favor–if God is real to you–and you’re seeing him in technicolor glory–blog about it. Let us know what your’e seeing. If he’s not, and it’s painful, blog about that too. We’d love to hear and pray for you.

Peace

PD

This past Sunday, we spent time studying 2 Corinthians 1:3-5.  As a congregation, we came to understand more (… hopefully) our God who is both compassionate and comforting.  We also commissioned our Stephen Ministers and Leaders to provide care for those in need in our congregation.

With regard to our 2 Corinthians passage, it’s amazing to consider our God, coming alongside of us and suffering with us.  At the same time, He also comes alongside of us and strengthens us.  As we’re comforted, His heart is for us to go and comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received.  That was the outline of our passage and message.

Just to back-track a bit, I was most caught off guard (in a wondrous sense) by the Lamentations 3 passage, declaring that  God’s compassions never fail.  Amazing!  While we lack compassion — due to our inability to relate, lack of time, lack of concern, need to insulate/protect ourselves, our forgetfulness, etc. — He can be fully, perfectly compassionate, wholly engaged, not limited, not holding back.  His compassions are new every morning! 

This passage reveals a very wrong and off-mark view that some of us (myself included) hold of God.  In times of personal suffering, I often see God as being distant, disengaged, generally uninvolved.  Perhaps, I’m too busy trying to survive and cope to notice whether or not God is near.  But perhaps at a more deeper level, I’m still perceiving God as one who is too “sterile” and transcendent to be involved in the suffering of His people.

This past Sunday, we saw that the opposite is true.  God is not far.  God is near.  2 Cor. 1 tells us.  The cross shows us.

So, have you made a resolution for 09?
Not me. At least not in the typical sense.

I gave up on resolutions a while ago because I usually break them within the first week of the new year. But this time around, I’m making a very different kind of resolution. You might not even really call this a resoluton because it runs in the opposite direction–it’s not a promise to be strong or more effective, but to be weak.

I love what the apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor 12:7-10. I love how honest he is and how freely he admits his weakness. I love most how Paul sees his weakness as an invitation to know the sufficiency and power of Jesus Christ. So Paul actually resolves to be weak, to delight in weakness, to boast in weakness. “For when I am weak” Paul says, “then I am strong.”

So I’ll follow Paul’s lead for the year 2009. I’ll be weak. That’s something I can’t screw up. And even if I do, it will only add to my weakness. Fantastic.

May you, in your weakness, delight in the sufficiency and power of Jesus in this upcoming year

God bless!
Dihan

So

So, have you made a resolution for 09?
Not me. At least not in the typical sense.

I gave up on resolutions a while ago because I usually break them within the first week of the new year. But this time around, I’m making a very different kind of resolution. You might not even really call this a resoluton because it runs in the opposite direction–it’s not a promise to be strong or more effective, but to be weak.

I love what the apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor 12:7-10. I love how honest he is and how freely he admits his weakness. I love most how Paul sees his weakness as an invitation to know the sufficiency and power of Jesus Christ. So Paul actually resolves to be weak, to delight in weakness, to boast in weakness. “For when I am weak” Paul says, “then I am strong.”

So I’ll follow Paul’s lead for the year 2009. I’ll be weak. That’s something I can’t screw up. And even if I do, it will only add to my weakness. Fantastic.

May you, in your weakness, delight in the sufficiency and power of Jesus in this upcoming year

God bless!
Dihan

So

There was a time when magic pictures were really in vogue, these computer generated images that you had to stand back, defocus your eyes and enter a coma-like state in order to see correctly. People would even get them hung on their walls like real artwork – I call these people suckers.

I’m just kidding.

But to be honest, we need to look at the Bible in a similar way, taking a step back from it to see it as a consistent whole rather than a random collection of stories. When seen in this light, we see that a story runs through the entirety of Scripture, a story of a wonderful beginning, a terrible fall, a time of struggle, the coming of a hero, and a final battle, and final peace. This is the story of salvation, God’s love song to his creation and his children, which is woven into all of human history.

Christmas is a moment of this story, a reminder of a larger plan, and also a revelation of God’s wonderful character. Through Christmas and the salvation story, we know that we have a God who has a plan for our lives, fulfills his promises, and understands our pain.

And even now, we are in the very midst of this story, part of God’s plan and unfolding salvation plan. We find ourselves caught up in it, as recipients of this grace, but then messengers of the same. We are not merely passive observers of this story, but have become its main players. So as we celebrate Christmas, let’s also take a moment to reflect on how we can proclaim Christmas and this love story.