“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth... For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:14 and 16 (ESV)

When I was in college back in 1985, I read a book titled, In His Steps, by Charles Monroe Sheldon. It’s a classic that was published in 1896, and like all classics, its message is timeless. The main character of the story is a pastor named Reverend Henry Maxwell who goes through a faith-arresting experience that causes him to question the authenticity of his faith. As a result, he makes the following one-year resolution that before making any decisions, he will ask himself, “What would Jesus do?” and then do it no matter what the cost. He invites his congregation to join him in this challenge for one year. The rest of the novel is basically about what happens in their lives as they resolve to do as Jesus would do. I think it’s a good read, and I recommend it.

However, there’s one major assumption that I don’t like about the book. It’s that the author assumes that if people ask themselves the question, “What would Jesus do?” before making a decision, then they’ll be able to correctly discern the answer for their particular situation. Unfortunately, that’s an incorrect assumption.

Although a person might make a better decision if they ask themselves the question “What would Jesus do?” before they react to their circumstances; the opposite can also happen. Regrettably, people can, with all sincerity, make a worse decision by asking themselves that same question.

The truth is that it all depends on if the person asking the question has a truthful and accurate picture of who Jesus is. If their beliefs about Jesus are inaccurate or wrong, then their answers to what he would do will also be wrong.

The apostle John writes that Jesus’ glory and who he was was full of grace and truth. In other words, if John were to describe what stood out most about Jesus, it would have been his grace and truth. Jesus was characterized by steadfast love and faithfulness. He embodied unfailing, committed love and favor for people regardless of their background, AND he also spoke truth and truthfully to people regardless of their background. Jesus’ grace did not compromise his truth, and his truth never nullified his grace.

But what does Jesus’ grace look like and how is it lived out in relationships?  And what’s the truth that Jesus reveals to us about Old Testament Scripture, true love, humanity’s nature and the meaning of life? These questions and more are necessary for us to pursue if we are to intimately know Jesus and become like him in word and deed.

As we journey through the Gospel of John on Sunday mornings, my hope and prayer is that our understanding of Jesus’ grace and truth will grow deeper and wider so that we gain a clearer vision of who Jesus is. And as our vision of him grows in clarity, we’ll be able to respond rightly to the question, “What would Jesus do?”

By Thomas Tom

On Friday, November 4th, perfect weather was upon the second annual Evergreen SGV Health Fair. Forty-one faithful Evergreen volunteers with servant hearts came together. The Evergreeners shared the love of Jesus with the Don Julian community. In addition, Spanish speaking volunteers came from our partner Vida Church.

We give thanks to the Lord for using Evergreen’s Health Fair to share God’s Love. The inspiration was “Loving God, loving others, make a difference by serving others.” We continue to pray for building up relationships with the Don Julian community. 

La Puente has one of the county’s highest population (39%) without health insurance. The reason is the number of undocumented residents. The Health Fair was an opportunity to care for the physical and spiritual needs of the local residents. The core planning team included Wil Chew, Peter Chee, Allen Yee, Harry Yen, and Thomas Tom.

From the surrounding neighborhood 118 guests came. In this outreach ministry project, we served alongside Vida Church, LA County Department of Public Health, and
Evergreen’s Community Food Pantry (partnering with the LA Regional Food Bank.) The faithful volunteers showed and shared God’s love by providing free medical care. 
Activities included blood pressure and sugar checks, dental and eye screening, health education, and prayer. Those needing medical follow-up were referred to County Clinics while those needing spiritual care were prayed over.

From the beginning, God revealed His will. For example, the Department of Public Health normally does not host Flu Shot Clinics at new sites, but because an administrator was a former student at Don Julian Elementary, LA County provided free flu shots along with sending out their public health nurses.

We truly hope everyone was “blessed to be a blessing” to others! 

The Mentoring Community at Evergreen called Transforming by Twos (TxT) has been a great resource and support for learning about mentoring and developing the skills to be an effective mentor.

As a first-time mentor, Organic Mentoring by Sue Edwards and Barbara Neumann, was the first of three books I was given to read during my season of preparation.

Here is a brief summary…

Organic mentoring is a style that provides an alternative to the traditional methods of mentoring. This fresh, new approach came out of a need for change because authors, Edwards and Neumann, discovered programs don’t work for younger women. It has been reported that 80% of young women abandon traditional mentoring programs in the first six months of participation which indicates a ‘disconnect’ between the mature women and the next generation.

Edwards and Neumann look to God’s word to find an answer to this mentoring crisis. The answer was found in Deuteronomy 6:5-7:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength. These commandments are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

The term ‘organic’ applies to a way of life that is simple and natural. It describes a mentoring style that “flows more naturally, informally and with less structure.” Edwards and Neumann found this to be more of what young women were looking and yearning for in a mentoring relationship, one that is not forced and allowed to develop on its own.

Edwards and Neumann focus on “helping mentors understand, feed and grow other women in the Lord.” The authors address the challenges some mentors may face as they begin implementing some of these new practices. They provide assessments, information and insights to help the mentor feel more confident before making the transition.

The authors are quick to note a ‘common thread’ and what unites women of all ages, which is “our love for God and salvation through Jesus Christ, our desire to be godly women, and our need for relational connection.”

Personal notes…

The time and effort Edwards and Neumann poured into this book was fueled by their passion to bring young women back into mentoring relationships. Though change isn’t always easy and is often met with resistance, citing the differences between the modern woman (born before 1965) and the postmodern woman offers a better understanding as to why mentoring methods need to change.

God calls His people to leave a legacy of godliness to the next generation and mentoring relationships are one of the ways He gives us to accomplish it. By partnering with the Holy Spirit and following His lead in the relational process, He makes change possible. When mentors and mentees meet with committed hearts, surrendered to His will and purposes, the result is a more dynamic, engaging, and fruitful mentoring experience.

To God be the glory…

By Alicia Liu

Recently through Kay Carey’s introduction, I read “Transforming Together - Authentic Spiritual Mentoring” by Ele Parrott before I embarked my journey as a spiritual mentor. I didn’t know what to expect about this book, but as soon as I started reading the book I couldn’t put it down until I was done. 

The stories of each woman intrigued me. I saw how much pain and suffering each one of them endured and sympathized with them. At the same time, I’m thankful that Jesus has a purpose in all their pains and wants to heal them wherever they are. Looking at their stories, I realized how much I’m blessed and my life has not had so much up and downs as some other women. It also reassures me that Jesus wants to heal my own pain and brokenness for His glory. As I cried over the stories while reading this book, I prayed and believed that Jesus can transform them and me. 

This book also made me realize how much God loved me by blessing me with spiritual mentors in my early 30’s to shape and mold my mind to be more Christ-like. They loved me because God loved me. They sacrificed their precious time listening to my stories, praying over me, speaking truth into my life, and giving me affirmations that my parents didn’t. 

I’m very thankful that I can have an opportunity to be a spiritual mentor to someone younger and hopefully able to do it the right way - the Jesus way. The way Jesus mentors people is so contrary to the way the world mentors. Jesus is full of knowledge and wisdom, but in His loving and patient ways he helped people to realize their root problems by asking questions and listening actively, instead of rebuking them even though He has every right to do so because He knows the situations and their hearts. Jesus walked with us through the process so that they can gain greater understanding. Jesus really humbles me.    

I’m also relieved that I don’t have to be all together for my mentee. My strength and wisdom come from my partnership with the Holy Spirit. He leads guides and answers me always. I just have to be present, grieve and celebrate with her whatever the situation calls. I don’t have to fix her problems and I’m not responsible for her choices. At the right timing, the Holy Spirit will prompt me to speak truth into her life. It is such a privilege to able to serve my mentee in this way. 

I hope that you will be encouraged by this book and I pray that you will join the Holy Spirit to start a new exciting adventure with the Lord in spiritual mentoring soon too. 

These are the trees I saw every afternoon after my class lecture, a reminder of who my God was and where my identity was found. 

By Lauren Hall

When I was growing up, I developed an understanding that good things came to people who worked hard. Whether my pursuit was academic or recreational, diligent efforts typically led to success. If they didn’t maybe my effort wasn’t sufficient enough.

This theory was put to the test towards the end of high school, as well as the beginning of college. It was challenged the most after a couple semesters when I enrolled in a class required for my major that was positively insurmountable. The professor lectured too fast, and each classmate seemed much brighter than me. I spent hours upon hours on each problem set, holding my breath when I received each grade back. I was anxious every day about how much studying was necessary to understand the material, and threw my hands up in frustration every night when each effort seemed all for naught.

One day, a friend prayed over my predicament: “God, we thank you that you have given Lauren the brain she has and the opportunity to study. Though this class is burdensome, we pray that she will rely on your strength, and seek to glorify You in her studying.”

I found this peculiar. I granted that God created my brain, but every effort felt solely my own, and every achievement, my own – as well as every failure. Additionally, relying on God’s strength sounded good in theory, but what did that look like in light of this class? Moreover, what did it mean to study for God’s glory?

I struggled with these questions throughout the semester and continually asked God to teach me what it meant to glorify Him in my studies. The class finished, and though the outcome wasn’t preferred, God had given me peace in it (Phil. 4:7). As it turned out, the most meaningful lessons I learned had nothing to do with anything on the syllabus.

First, I had to grapple with why I was so preoccupied with working hard in this class. I realized I was worried about what the outcome would be, believing a bad grade would negatively affect my life. I looked to achievement, and even the consolation that I had worked my hardest, to define myself. I held onto this so tightly until I was forced to realize that it wasn’t leading to success as the world promised it would. At this point, I had to acknowledge that my strength was not enough to overcome this class, and instead rely on God’s strength. I had to trust that in this current burdensome task, He would carry me through. I had to ask that His will be done, regardless if the outcome was what I preferred or not.

When I had overcome what seemed insurmountable, I saw that God’s power had been made perfect in my weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). This is where I saw God glorified in my life through my studies. He had demonstrated to me that it was not by my own hard work that I prevailed. Rather, it was by a combination of the abilities He had given me, as well as the strength with which He had supplied me, that I was able to persevere. In this process of learning to surrender the hope of working hard, something that I had previously held so tightly within my control, this trial was testing my faith and producing steadfastness (Jam. 1:23) – and this was even more important than any grade, any degree, any job, any “successful” or “comfortable” life.

I am reminded that even my salvation was not earned through hard work; it is a gift I received through God’s grace (Eph. 2:89). For so long, I had thought that “good things came to people who worked hard.” While this was often the case, and while it is good to work hard, these “good things” are not the end goal. I had turned achievement into an idol in which I placed my security, and when that failed me, the notion of “hard work” stepped in as an backup idol as if to say on my behalf, “Even if I didn’t attain success, I still worked hard.” But when Christ died for my sin and reconciled me to God, hadn’t I become a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)? This meant that I died to my old self, that my identity was no longer found in the things that this world prizes. Rather, my identity was found in being a child of God who called me His own upon confession of faith through Christ, even after I had chosen to live apart from his will. Because of this, I no longer have to look to achievement or the consolation of “working hard” to define myself – or to anything else the world offers me.

When our hopes for this life aren’t manifested through our diligence, I pray that we will remember that none of these define us nor encompass our identities. In whatever trial you are currently encountering, I encourage you to take heart! Lean into God and His perfect understanding when self reliance stands in the way (Prov. 3:56). With every struggle we encounter, may He use each one to remind us who we belong to and continue changing our hearts for His glory.