June 30, 2024 - TO THE EDGE!!!
When a person accepts Christ as Saviour, that person has chosen to be different from the surrounding society. This decision means we are welcoming a new value system and viewpoint of the world. Our goal has become to see our surroundings through the “eyes of Christ.” We have become citizens of the Kingdom of God! This makes us aliens and strangers within theworld in which we reside, for our world is not “God sensitive” toward His commands and expectations. The closer we get to Christ and His values, the farther we will get from the things of this world. Are you prepared to live this life of constant growth?
A “domesticated Christian faith” is one that is trained for the “rights and wrongs” of moral obligation. Yet, for the liberated follower of Christ, we serve Christ out of our freedom (Gal. 5:1) and our very being! Reward and responsibility are not our motivators. We don’t spend our efforts separating things between sacred and secular or common versus spiritual. The things of God are integrated into our motivations, plans, values, decisions, work, play, and all things sacred to us.
Today, I desire to remind us to never compromise/settle for being a domesticated or tame follower of Christ. Jesus modeled anything but a domesticated or “boxed” Jewish leader. We too must learn to be “cutting edge” with our dreams, goals, and service to the Father if we expect CBC, and ourselves, to be blessed for our courage in serving our Lord!
Donald Gardner,
Senior Pastor
June 23, 2024 - So What's in a Name?
"Chinese Baptist Church" tells anyone that we are a number of things. We are, at the very least, a group of Christians that meet together in the city of Houston. We have a belief system that follows the Baptist denomination. We are probably made up of mostly ethnic Chinese individuals. Beyond that, who are we?
In the Book of Revelation, the church of Ephesus is said to have "lost its focus...and first love." The church of Laodicea was described as being "lukewarm," and neither hot nor cold. Let us consider, for a moment, how others might view CBC and describe us? Which descriptions would you choose for us to be known as?
1. "Left Its First Love"
2. Comfortable and Secure
3. Financially Stable and Predictable
4. Bold and Risk Taking
5. Careful and Selective
6. Burdened and Creative
7. Significant and Adventuresome
8. Non-threatening and Courteous
9. Honest and Offensive
10. Safe and Traditional
11. Generous and Sacrificial
12. Other?
Who are we and who do we "hunger" to be? The Scripture challenges us to "hunger and thirst after righteousness." It may be "safer" to stay in our homes and church buildings in order to avoid the problems of life. But in fact, our greatest impact is found in how we make decisions and engage life and people. When we think about Jesus, He impacted people not because He remained in an environment of security but because He dared to boldly push forward, questioning the values of His society and world. Let us pray for clarity and the courage to push beyond our own "comfortable Christian bindings." The Church Must Be the Church and that is us!
Donald Gardner,
Senior Pastor
June 16, 2024 - Jesus Hated "Religious Boxes!"
Christ's walk on earth was that of "the" holy man as He modeled the definition of Christian Discipleship. He found clarifying truth within the superficial terminology and limitations of the religious thinkers of His day. His model was one that screamed dissatisfaction with a compromised and unengaged life. He lived fully as He lived for others. Where was the selfishness and personal concern for comfort, recognition, and worldly success? Where is the man fighting for His own rights? Jesus taught "Beyond" Scripture....Beyond the established habits, customs, and expectations of customary religious understanding. He started with an accepted and understood standard and then "pushed the meaning" to the point of relevancy and application!
A)"Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:28)
B)"Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's Throne!" (Matthew 5:34)
C) "Whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. If a man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, give him your cloak also." (Matthew 5:39-40)
D)"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you that you may be children of your Father which is in heaven: for He makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good...." (Matthew 5:44-45)
E) "When you pray, do not be hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets to be seen by men. They have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you. Don't use vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they assume they will be heard for their much speaking." (Matthew 6:5-7)
We must all Choose: Is our Lord the one of religious teaching or the one that stretches us to be practical and relevant within our society? Is our Lord a Sunday appointment or a daily fellowship friend? Am I taking from the church or am I contributing to the body of Christ with my time, my prayers, and my commitment to serve? Daily, we all choose!
Donald Gardner,
Senior Pastor
June 9, 2024 - Missionary Strategy Mindset
With a goal of reaching a specific people group with the gospel and seeing a Church Planting Movement occur, prayer has always been foundational for missionaries and not merely optional. For those of us who are "workaholics," many would assume that prayer is secondary for us. This is not the fact. Any work, regardless of its appearance, that is not founded on His strength and purpose is "living on a fault line!" Prayer is the most foundational form of social action, as this act changes us and those around us.
Most missionaries across East Asia have had, for many years, a clear focus to reach the lost with the gospel and start churches. Within a "thesis-sized" master plan that these individuals develop, they present evangelism, discipleship, outreach, partnering, and other plans for achieving their goal. Yet, the 1st strategy step is always the same....Prayer! They enlist prayer partners from around the globe to pray for their people, group or city because we all recognize that God blesses the prayers of a righteous person. May we, at CBC, respect God enough to "attempt great things for Him while expecting great things from Him.....(William Carey)."
Donald Gardner,
Senior Pastor
June 2, 2024 - Children Choir in the Summer
Dear Church family,
I just wanted to make sure you all know that we are starting the Children’s Choir practices very soon. In fact, the first rehearsal is on June 9, 2024 from 1:30 pm - 3 pm in the chapel. We will meet for rehearsal every Sunday afternoon until August 4 th. On August 11th, we will have our concert program at 2 pm in the Sanctuary.
Why are we having a children’s choir? Here are a couple good reasons:
1. The Chinese school is on break during the summertime, and this is a good opportunity for our children to sing familiar Christian songs and learn Bible stories.
2. It will be a great outreach opportunity to non-church families who have not heard the gospel message. During the children’s rehearsal time, we will have adult interest groups for the parents to join. It will be a great opportunity to connect with each other and share the gospel.
I would like to encourage CBC families to invite your children or grandchildren to sign up. We also covet your prayers and support for this wonderful ministry. Lastly, please plan to join us at the concert on August 11th at 2 pm in the Sanctuary. I promise that you will be blessed!
Kai Yuen Choi,
Cantonese Associate Pastor
May 19 & 26, 2024 - In His Grace do we Move and Flow!
Galatians 5:1, 5:4-5 says,
Stand fast! (never wavering) in the Liberty provided by Christ as He has set us Free to not be entangled in the
bondage of laws/rules.... Christ has become of no effect unto you. IF you seek to be justified (for your sins and
life actions) by the law (Scripture)....and we become "fallen from His Grace!”. For we should, through the Spirit
of God, look toward the hope of righteousness by faith.
Different things bother all of us. We have a little internal "book of expectations" that we mentally carry around within ourselves and that "book" impacts our daily reception of the actions and approaches that others take toward various things. Judgmental? Probably...yes. Yet, we are human and learn slowly!!!
Recently, I attended a meeting that contained a mixture of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" (an iconic Clint Eastwood movie). We heard policies and rules that were employed to assist our interaction and considerations for decisions. Churches often choose more of a democratic structure than a representative one so everyone has an opinion about various matters and has the freedom to share their thoughts. With the policies/rules in place, we talked candidly about our burden for the church's direction. Emotions were seen at times but, ultimately, the rules/policies weren't what dominated the meeting. The structure became but a tool to grasp our goal of Christian Decision Making. Were all the decisions made of "perfection" in form? I doubt that.....for again, we are just human. We were dreaming together. Yet, it is with the Grace of God that we all walked out of the meeting praying for God's continual direction for that body to be "Risk Takers for the Kingdom!" We didn’t agree on every decision that came our way but, then again, what family does? My prayer for our church is that we are less policy driven as we find joy in being salt and light in all our efforts and ministries.
In His grace, we face each day!
Donald Gardner,
Senior Pastor
May 12, 2024 - Tragedy is Sometimes an Opportunity that we may not fully Understand!
This past week, I learned of a friend's death in California. As we know, life is precious and not to be treated lightly, for each of us is created under the careful direction and planning of our creator God! When life & death matters come, many of us quickly jump to the "what ifs" or "if only they had done this or that" types of responses regarding the matter. Yet, such thoughts by us seldom make any difference as the circumstances can seldom be undone or reversed.
A number of years ago, one of our Hong Kong missionary families returned to the USA for furlough after 4 years of ministry. With 5 children who had all been born overseas, this family was well known for being a larger family that had integrated pretty well within the overseas community during their 22 years there. After being back in the USA for a number of months, it was time for the missionaries to return overseas even as they left 3 of their children behind in various USA universities. It was at that time that one of their sons tried to explain his struggles with cultural adjustment in the USA and his lack of confidence to remain here "alone" from family. Yet, the missionaries had their commitment and "call" for returning to overseas service and departed. Three weeks went by as their son got a gun and committed suicide. What does this say? How hard was it for the parents who had, in faith, returned to overseas ministry roles?
We missionaries are just people with our own set of struggles and challenges. We are highly dependent on the "Call of God" to guide our decisions and direction. We are not guests overseas but have, hopefully, become part of the community in our adopted location. Like many Christians, the Romans 8:28 passage is sometimes painful and hard to grasp as it says, "All things work together for good to those who are called according to His purposes." Our earthly experiences and problems often push us to ask the "why" question of God? We can't see the future or the "good" that is supposed to be in our lives when all that surrounds us seems painful or disappointing.
I am not much of a "touchy-feely" kind of guy and don't usually enjoy spending great amounts of time with persons who are indecisive. Camping on past experiences or looking at how people have previously responded can't be a regular limiting factor of relevant decisions in the "here and now." There are simply all too many things that demand our Christian strength more than our indecision. Indeed, the Jesus that I see in Scripture was not afraid to stand up to challenges that arose on any given day and "own" His actions and ideas. The Jesus that I see in Scripture is not "second guessing himself" but boldly "activating" His theology with full expectation that His right actions will bring about God's desires. Certainly, the prayers of Jesus revealed His modeling of where His courage came from and showed us what we need to be doing more of! Yet, His prayers were followed with bold words and action throughout His life. My prayer is for more courageous Christians who do less gentle second-guessing with their lives, as they stand up and risk being a follower of the one who modeled bravery even to the cross. May we never fear persecution or a courageous faith but only fear becoming overly indecisive or insensitive toward others.
Donald Gardner,
Senior Pastor
May 5, 2024 - Transformation Element
How many of us have a plan and desire to live a short and exciting life? Is it not true that most of us want to have a long and smooth life without too many trials and struggles? Yet, we are "followers'' of the one who died before middle age and His death was on a cross for the very people that were crucifying Him! Jesus didn't die to set us free from death but to prepare us for death...without fear!
As we know, Jesus' prime critics were religious leaders. We must be careful not to forget that Jesus came to be a "transforming agent" in how we view our lives and our world. He didn't come to create a religious culture where the "blessed of God" are to spend their every working effort seeking out "Self-help books" whereby we may be "more blessed"! Jesus is an "untamed Lion' (Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe). Jesus never modeled the "safe and comfortable life" but he challenged us to live "meaningful and bold lives of faith and expectancy".We must choose what our life is to be and remember, "A Ship in a Harbour is Safe, but that is NOT what ships were built for".
Donald Gardner,
Senior Pastor
April 28, 2024 - Join the Stew!
Each day, people pass each other on the streets in quiet respect but without great interaction. Hmmm, why? Some have said that diversity results in the "melting pot" experience within society. Personally, it is easier to buy into the concept of the "stewing pot" identity that is found in a cross-cultural society. A stew is made up of carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, beef, and other things. When the stew is served, you can easily distinguish the various elements of the dish, and yet, each bite of the food has been enhanced by the cooking (interaction) with the other elements.
In society, we daily have a choice as to how much we value our interaction (cooking for a savory flavor) with others. We absolutely will come in contact with people who differ in morals, values, dreams, and spiritual understanding from ourselves. Yet, how we treat this daily reality reflects on us. Do we seek to appreciate what we can gain from knowing people who differ from ourselves? Do we grasp that we become more "savory" as we rub shoulders with others who may not always share our life views? If we, as Christians of CBC, desire to be the salt and light of Christ for a lost world, let us be people who dare to be the loving "ginger in the stew" that adds meaning and flavor for others.Donald Gardner,
Senior Pastor
April 21, 2024 - Even Orange Trees Don’t Live Forever
I grew up as a country boy on a small farm in Texas. We had all types of vegetables, fruit, and a few animals along the way. Yet, we had no citrus fruit but had figs, apples, pears, cherries, and we liked them. After moving to Phoenix in 2017, we found two nice orange trees in our Ahwatukee home! Over those years in Phoenix, we enjoyed eating more oranges than ever before!
Unfortunately, one day a surprise came our way when we got up in the morning to find that the high winds of the night before had blown over and broken the old large orange tree. We had pulled the oranges off the tree just 2 days earlier so we had the sweet tasting fruit again that year! As I inspected the root/trunk of the tree that was broken, it was a miracle that it had lasted even to that day!
This Orange tree is much like a human, in that it gave all it could to be; (pardon the pun) even up to the point that life was gone. Providing sweet and beautiful produce just two days before the real depth of the tree would be revealed by the powerful wind that blew over the tree, I still had no idea how serious the tree's problem was until it was too late. With humans, we often are exactly like that tree and want to be so! The idea is that we too should hunger and desire to be a blessing with our lives for every moment that we live. If we are a tree that has a short or long life, that is not as important as us producing good things with the time we have. My prayer for you is not that you worry about how long you are in this world but that you learn to make the most of the time you have to bring a positive Christian impact on those around you! May God Bless Us All!Donald Gardner,
Senior Pastor