Pastor's Blog

Is this the end? Considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest throughout the country and the entrenched political polarization, I have had this question posed to me on more than one occasion. And now as I sit down to write this article, I am watching the attack on the Capitol Building with horror and disbelief that this is happening in the United States of America. Is this the end, indeed?

When I look up synonyms for the word, apocalypse, the suggestions I get are destruction, disaster, catastrophe, Armageddon and Judgement Day. This word that comes to us almost without change from the Greek – apokalypsis – has most comprehensively come to mean, the end of the world.

I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon of late. While citizenship, immigration and national borders are being hotly contested and defended, there is a concurrent, growing interest -- at least in more affluent countries -- in our personal ethnic, racial and geographical heritage. Due to the availability of low cost in-home DNA testing, we can now receive a kit in the mail, use the included Q-tip type instrument to swab our cheek for a saliva sample, mail said instrument back to the company, and within a short time receive quite extensive results as to where we came from with percentages of our ethnic and racial makeup -- full color charts and graphs included.

In June of 2007, after many years of starts and stops, I finally completed the requirements for my master’s program and received my degree. My master’s thesis was a directed reading focusing on the works of Lesslie Newbigin, a highly influential missionary, pastor and world church leader in the middle to late 20th century.

In light of the upcoming election, the “threat” of alien hordes at our borders and the continuing political, racial and religious divisiveness and violence in our country, it seems like a good time to revisit our mission statement.

Here’s the full version: “Central Congregational Church of La Mesa exists to be a diverse, inter-generational church that worships, fellowships and serves together in the name of Jesus for the Glory of God and the Good of our Neighbors near and far."

The short version is, “For the Glory of God and the Good of our Neighbors near and far.”

The shorter version is simply, “For the Glory of God and the Good of our Neighbors.”

The other day, my daughter, Karisa, and I happened to be driving north on the five freeway through Camp Pendleton just as the sun was setting. Now I grew up near the beach in Ventura, California, I’ve lived in San Diego for 23 years, and I’ve been to Hawaii a couple of times - I’ve seen my fair share of gorgeous sunsets. That said, I have never seen a sunset as big and beautiful as the one Karisa and I saw that day. The sky was fairly clear, and due to the position of the earth to the sun, and the bit of haze in the air, the sun shone as a gigantic, shimmering ball of stunning orange and yellow descending into the Pacific Ocean like some kind of god out of Greek mythology. It’s no wonder people throughout the ages have been drawn to worship the Sun - it is beautiful, majestic and glorious.

Main Menu