Authority: by Faith not by Sight Interview with Maxwell Chen Testimony by Melanie Thio Conflicts in Church
IFGF Pinole Monthly Newsletter August 2016 AUGUST 2016 • 1
Most of the times, when we hear the word of authority we think of a king ordering decree that put limit on a lot of people’s life, or a traffic cop who writes a ticket to a defenseless driver. We think of authority as something someone possesses and it has generally a restrictive effect on our lives. Furthermore, we see a lot of people abuse their positions and power in wrongly exercising their authorities. These thoughts and realities make the word “authority” to have negative connotations and form our dislike of authorities in general.
From Pastor’s Desk
But what if authority is actually a gift that God gives to every child of God in order to live a successful life? What if the authority is actually needed in order to defeat our nemesis, the devils, and the effects of their evil deeds in our world? What if the authority is absolutely necessary in order to fulfill God’s purpose in our lives? Yes, this God-given authority is all of the above! Iit is time to view authority, especially God-given authority, in favorable lights and start experiencing the benefits of rightly practicing spiritual authority in our lives.
God has given us authority yet we have been lied to by the devil to think that authority belongs to someone else and that person most likely will abuse it. If we never thought we have it on the first place, for sure we will not learn to live and practice it. If we never practice it, we will never enjoy the benefits of it. This month, we will learn to walk in God given authority, and examine His word to see how he instructs us in practicing authority in different areas of our lives. Let’s start by believing God’s word: “Jesus said, “I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy.” (Luke 10:19 The Message)
Show on Front Cover: Christian Hendric 02 • GENESIS NEWSLETTER
This is Our Church
Maxwell Chen Student at UC Davis / CareGroup Leader
So tell me more about yourself. Where do you go to school? What’s your major?
Being a leader, was it difficult juggling church, school, and a personal social life?
I’m going to UC Davis and my Major
Yeah it is challenging but I would say that church and
is Managerial Economics.
my social life are intermixed so it’s not too difficult. You really can’t keep one in the back seat though I
What are your hobbies and what do you do on your spare time?
think you have to give them both equal time or else
Right now I’m trying to learn how to longboard.
itself; I didn’t find myself lacking time for anything.
one starts to suffer. It wasn’t a huge challenge in
I’m getting good at it. I enjoy longboarding and
Right now I’m just leading the Warriors Care
I am sure that being a leader must have come with some sort of spiritual warfare. And you must have seen it within your CG members as well to have been extremely affected by it too?
Group and helping out the morning service
Uhm yes. Definitely. I mean being a leader itself
but besides that I’m not doing much else.
comes with a set of challenges and I think that
playing Pokemon Go at the same time.
So back to church life; What ministries are you in?
you know, on top of that, maintaining your fire
Aren’t you a leader in both church and your care group?
and passion for God is definitely something that
I’m not a leader in the church. I just help with
will notice. It would hurt your group as a whole.
you have to monitor very closely or else people
the morning service but small group yeah. I wouldn’t call it much as lead but share and plan meetings. I like to think that everyone contributes as much an equal amount to the group.
What inspired you to be a leader? I wouldn’t say ‘inspires’ is the word but put the small group together. Since small group is really important for a lot of reasons and you know someone’s got to do it. To me it’s worth it. I love seeing people get together, sharing, having a good time, and hanging out. That’s what keeps me going; Well it’s not just that it’s also learning more about God and getting closer together and keeping each other accountable.
Maxwell is currently the CG Leader of CG Warriors, he is going to be leaving for UC Davis in the fall.
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What would you do to encourage CG members through spiritual warfare?
from the second service but it’s really good where
I would just remind them on why we are actually here on
because before they would not feel comfortable
this planet in the first place. It’s not to get a good degree
going. But now I have a place where I can confidently
and get a good job, but we are here to love each other,
invite my friends, where they can fit in.
I have a place where I can personally invite people
help each other, and support each other. I know that the root cause of this whole church movement is enough
Now that you are going to be going off to Davis, what’s going to happen to your ministry?
and kind of remembering what is at stake is enough.
People who are currently there are going to have
sometimes it’s easy to forget that but just remembering
to step it up. You know, have to fill in not just my
From a leader’s POV, people get discouraged a lot in and outside of church. What do you think could afflict discouragement the most and how to counter it?
shoes but Chris’ and Karen’s as well. They are going to have to lead the CG themselves and it’s not like I’m going to be gone forever I’ll be stopping by.
Any relationship, anything worth fighting for and
evaluate whether you’re doing something important.
I heard that our Church has a CG down there as well. Are you planning on joining them or joining a different organization to spread your wings out?
Then when you encounter something hard and
Unfortunately I’m not planning on joining our church’s
challenging and frustrating then that’s when you
CG down there. Tiffany (pastor’s daughter) has a small
know that it is good and has some value in it. You
group down there that is also all Asians. I’m trying to get
know leading a church and a small group is difficult
out of my comfort zones and hangout with people that
and challenging but you know it wouldn’t be worth
I don’t usually hang out with. I think that is an important
it if it didn’t have such a hefty price on it.
thing to do while you are still in college and still learning.
So being a part of the first service; Do you miss it all? Does it change up the scheme of things? How do you like the shift so far?
Are you excited for your adventures out there in Davis?
I feel pretty good about it. Of course I miss people
and I are going to do things that I have never done
worth having is going to be hard to obtain. So anything you obtain easily, that’s when you should
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Absolutely. It’s going to be a great time. My roommates
before; That I know will lead to my personal growth and discovery about life and I’m really excited for that.
Where did you go to school before UC Davis? I went to Berkeley City College; It was a small building but the Professors there were great and they, for the most part, were very helpful. I feel like I got a very good general education preparing me for UC Davis. LET’S PRAY
What advice would you give to up and coming community college students?
FOR AUGUST with Joan Wirolinggo
Work hard. You’re only going to be there for 2 years. Well at least that’s the goal. Do your best, have a goal in mind, and don’t be discouraged that you might get a few bad grades. Don’t worry, it happens.
Our pastors and their family. Pray for protection upon them, and
Now before we close. For the people in the congregation that is currently a leader or dreams of becoming a leader one of these day, what would be your advice for them?
zealous heart in their walk with
Off the top of my head, every leader should have a
Pinole and San Ramon. Pray for
mentor or coach. I think coach is a better word since
the church to have unity and
it seems more proactive. Everyone needs someone to
zealous heart in serving their
basically advise them, encourage them, and help them
community and fruitfulness.
God. Our two services in downtown
stay accountable. And if you don’t have that, it’s so easy to lose track of yourself or your ministry. I think
Our congregation to have walk in
that’s the number one or the most important thing every
faith and the power of Holy spirit.
leader has to do. Every leader won’t immediately have a coach but they have to seek them out and ask them.
Holy Spirit power to work within us that we can be the vessel to our
Where would you suggest for the congregation to begin their search for a good mentor or coach?
community.
Find someone who is already a leader in your church and
Our care group gathering. Let’s
ask them if they can coach you. By coach I mean have
pray that there will be unity,
them meet with you once a week, spend time together,
growth, and evangelism heart.
and talk about stuff. It doesn’t always have to be about spiritual things. My mentor was Har (Haryanto Tanjo) and all we did was play tennis every week but what he did was that he basically kept me grounded while he was here, which was crucial to my spiritual growth.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
AUGUST 2016 • 05
Testimony
I Can 100% Rely On Him by Melanie Thio
I am an active pinolean and a germaphobic (hates
because I want a job. I actually have no knowledge about
germs) film-majored human who graduated in 2015.
this field”.
When I looked for a job I was annoyingly picky. I wanted something Christian related, film related, and requiring as
But despite that craziness, I knew, I believed, that God will
little transport as possible.
put me wherever He wants to. Isaiah 55:9 says “For just
Being the over-confident Christian I was, I told myself,
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
“God will give me a job and He will give it fast! I will beat others in job competition because God’s favor is on me!” And I believed it. But it didn’t happen.
One day, after 9 months, I got a phone call from a film company. The role was to edit short films - testimonies.
As the months went by my criteria became lower and
This company turned out to be a Christian company.
lower. I was desperate. I wanted to stay living in San
Because it’s a start up and they have no office yet - I got
Francisco, you know for ‘holy’ reasons such as, “What
to work from home (no transport, no germs).
about my caregroup? What about my ministries? Who would replace me?”. It was part responsibility, and part
Are you in awe like I was? If I got hired for any of the
wanting to stay in my comfort zone. It was an excuse.
dozen interviews I was rejected for, I wouldn’t have gotten this one. I was chosen in a crowd of 500 applicants -
During that time I felt fear, humiliation, pressure,
God’s favor WAS on me. The company said they accepted
rejections one after the other, unwanted, and worthless.
me because of the ministries on my resume, which was
My prayers became a complain session. There was no
also the reason most companies rejected me for.
lower point and I began to just surrender it all. Whatever negativity you have or had towards God, I applied for jobs I had no knowledge in. Graphic design,
He will always be faithful to you. That is His unconditional
Web design, Architecture, even Medicine. I applied to jobs
love for you. For me, this gives a whole new meaning to
outside of the state. Washington, Los Angeles, New York,
living by faith and not by sight. I learned to surrender all,
New Jersey, Portland, even to Paris and London. If God
even though it’s quite scary. What He can do to me, He
wants me to leave Pinole church and ministries, so be it. I
can do for you.
was prepared to come in the interview and say; “I applied
06 • GENESIS NEWSLETTER
Article
Conflicts in Church by Maxwell Chen How many of us have been in conflict with another church member? I know, it sounds crazy! But here’s the
Here’s what we need to realize as a church: Every genu-
truth, if you’ve been going to church for over a month,
ship is far more important than being right! For Christ’s
chances are you’ve had some sort of conflict with some-
sake (I mean that literally)! How easily we forget that we
one. You might even be thinking of them now.
were put on this planet to share God’s love, and support
ine relationship has conflict, and maintaining the relation-
one another in this already cruel world. To quote CS Lewis, Here’s the thing with church though - Conflicts in
“If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and
church feel like a forbidden topic. After all, we’re
if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to
christians aren’t we? We’re of one mind, one heart, etc
pray for them.”
etc. Inside we know that’s not always true, but because we think that we should be this way, we don’t discuss it
In conclusion, answer for yourself this: Is this conflict really
openly, so many church-goers don’t know how to deal
worth it? I know you probably don’t think so, and so I urge
with conflicts.
you. If Jesus can forgive someone for nailing Him to the cross, you can forgive that person too.
As a result, many people in church hold grudges silently. And let me tell you, there is no better way to tear apart a small group or ministry or church than hidden bitterness. Jesus equates hating someone in your heart to murder, and with good reason: The devil LOVES it when people in church start to resent each other more than asian girls love candid photos.
AUGUST 2016 • 07
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AUGUST EVENTS
SF ARISE - SAN FRANCISCO
FAITH (Tuesdays, 8PM)
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AUGUST BIRTHDAYS
Documentation - Eric Timotius
1
Hendry Yang Suki
Multimedia - Catherine Santoso
8
David Ng
CG FRONTIER - SOUTH BAY
Praise & Worship - Yosia Urip
11
Graciela Christina
Adi 415.463.9010
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17
Emmanuel Calica
Antony 408.685.1540
Publication - Melanie Thio
24
Nathania Tan
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Refreshments - Nathalia Prasetyo Jo
CG FRONTIER - EAST BAY
Sound System - Ronald Arnanjaya
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Nita 408.718.0834
Transportation - Leonardo Saerang Ushers - Renaldi Website - Yosia Urip
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SUGI HENDRIC Senior Pastor
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08 • GENESIS NEWSLETTER