When You Gotta Go
Big Bear Lake, CA
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Our friends returned to the mission field last week. They had to go.
In January, they left Kyiv (because, you know, war) and returned to the United States but it was always temporary. They have a call on their lives. Os Guinness defines calling, saying,
"calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.” [1]
Jeff preached on Acts 13 yesterday and he touched on the topic of calling. He explained how when you have a court summons, you have to go, because a higher authority has told you to be at a certain place at a certain time. What he failed to mention is that he has a subpoena to appear in court next month. Dun dun dun.
Don’t worry, he’ll be going in as a witness. A few weeks ago, someone rang our parsonage’s fancy-schmancy-video doorbell, it called Jeff, he looked at the cameras, and it was clear the person was up to no good. It was nice of the burglar to call us. Jeff scurried over to the church. One broken window discovered later and Jeff has a date with the law.
In Acts 13, the believers in Antioch were doing normal church practices (worshiping and fasting) and during a normal meeting, the Holy Spirit spoke.
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” Acts 13:2-3
So in the midst of staying, Paul and Barnabas were called to go.
This passage is awesome and touches on the core values of our church.
We believe prayer is a priority. We believe that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing of eternal value.
We are passionate about God's Word. We desire to know and obey God by seeking truth from the Bible and applying it to our lives.
We believe that meaningful connections happen in small groups where we cultivate accountability, care, and spiritual growth.
We know that we can accomplish nothing without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
We are a river, not a reservoir. The great commission mandates that we GO and make disciples. We train, encourage, and support our church members to be sent out.
As the Lord allows, we try to keep these core values and meet regularly with a sense of expectation, but without an agenda. We don’t want to open any doors ourselves. We just want to follow Jesus where He leads us.
Where He goes, we’ll go, and where He stays, we’ll stay.
And in staying, and in going, we lift up our prayers to God. Pray for the person who broke our church window who needs Jesus. Pray for the Hopes. Pray Luke 10:2, that there would be more laborers in the field to be sent out. And if you’re in the Chula Vista area, feel free to drop by our Sunday night prayer meeting, our Tuesday night small group, or our Sunday morning service as the Lord leads.
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Guinness, Os. The Call. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc. 2003), 4.
We sat on cold metal chairs in a white room, leaning against a cold metal examining table...waiting. Our beautiful dog Sabrina had been hurried to the back of the emergency clinic without us. She was in danger and distress.
It’s been a minute.
I love that phrase. I probably overuse it. And my repetitious use of it probably annoys those in my listening (or instant messaging) range.
Why did the tomato blush? He saw the salad dressing! Thank you for laughing. I appreciate it.
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Our friends returned to the mission field last week. They had to go.
Lakes are pretty cool places. One might say that they're refreshing.
Months ago, we taught Silas how to count to twenty. Recently, he has been skipping six. Poor six.
I’m a huge fan of Os Guinness (and his ministry The Trinity Forum.) If you haven’t heard of him, go look him up on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube because he is a gazillion times more articulate than I am.
In the past ten months, I have had to hold fast to Hebrews 13:1-2a, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.”
Hospitality to strangers is easy to neglect.
What do you think of when you hear, “when strivings cease?”
“When the burden is too much for you to bear, you do not need stronger shoulders, you need weaker knees.”
Dr. Mitch Kim
What do you do when life is rough? If you’re a follower of Christ, what do you do when your pursuit of Christian maturity keeps calling you onward and upward, to terrain that is steeper and more challenging?
What do you do when life is rough? If you’re a follower of Christ, what do you do when your pursuit of Christian maturity keeps calling you onward and upward, to terrain that is steeper and more challenging?
Our cool-factor here at SBCA has been notched up tenfold the past month. Why you may ask? Great question!
Yesterday was Palm Sunday. We had a lovely time at church.
And while no Dickensian Ghost-of-Palm-Sunday-Past visited me, I found myself reminiscing. Holidays and rituals are meant for such a thing, I suppose.
We attended a Christmas party last December and within two minutes of our arrival, Silas (age 2) showed me a toy he had just found. We were outside, in the dark, and on time (meaning not many people were there yet.) Looking around, I asked him, “where did you find this tractor?”
I nerded out this weekend at a ‘Faith and Science’ conference held here in San Diego. Praise the Lord for paid time off and for a grandma who is willing to watch the kid.
In the summer of 2007, in the sticks of San Diego county, Jeff and I met at Indian Hills Camp.
Oh Indian Hills Camp. So dusty. So Wild West-y. So can’t-ever-forget-that-camp-song-y.
No, this isn’t about Eutychus (Acts 20:9.) This is about the first Sunday of March in 2019 when someone suddenly died at the church we were serving at.
It’s early March and the evenings are still too chilly for me, even in San Diego. Since I’ve committed to staying inside in the evening until the weather warms up, it seems like a good time to start spring cleaning.
I am a terrible movie watcher. I don’t cope well with plot holes. Everyone else will talk about the scenes they loved, the parts that captured their imaginations. I, however, will talk about plot holes and major oversights.
During a short vacation to the mountains last summer, I had the time to read a few books
A few Sundays ago, we were singing ‘Be Still My Soul’ at church and my not-so-still two-year-old ran up on stage. Uggh.
Which of the four did I pay attention to (or do I plan to pay attention to) this weekend: the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, my mom’s birthday, or an anniversary?
This Wednesday is the first anniversary of Cat Lawyer! I love Cat Lawyer so much that I felt it appropriate to give him an homage via blog.
I’m an institutionalist. I believe we’re stronger as a team - that’s dedicated to the mission - than we are siloed off.
Two years ago while preparing material for our homegroup leaders, I came across a word study that shifted my thinking, or at least readjusted my focus: “Created for good works…so that we would walk in them”, (Eph.2:10). The word “walk” in the Greek does not imply the simple straight line from point A to point B, but has a more spherical quality.
I live in suburban America. Here in suburbia, we have companies that come to our houses on a weekly basis and take our trash away. It’s wonderful. Until the week before Christmas, when the magic stopped. The garbage workers went on strike. Womp womp.
Last night, we ditched our Sunday night prayer meeting, packed up Silas, and drove 98 miles to see a commissioning service at Celebration Church. One of their pastors and his wife will be returning to Cambodia to share the good news of Jesus with the people of Cambodia who have not yet heard His name.
Why start a blog? Here is a list of questions that I asked myself before starting this.
Kylene Lopo
Kylene Lopo is a pastor’s wife, a BI Reports Developer, and is the mother of Silas (age 4) and Hosanna (age 0.) She has a masters in Biblical Literature from Alliance Theological Seminary and is an official worker with the C&MA in the South Pacific District.