When it’s hard to love those around us…How do we do it?

The family unit, the basic building block of society, is disintegrating rapidly in the United States today.  As more and more reports are published on family demographics, we see that an increasing amount of couples are opting out of marriage and choosing co-habitation, the majority of divorced family with kids can only look to a mother-figure for support (75 %),[1] and of course more and more families feel the strain of the economic recession and the stress of being out of work.

Yet even among families who seem whole and complete by statistical standards, harsh words and tones, disconnection and isolation, and a general lack of love pervade the home.

When things seem hard, the story of Joseph in the Bible speaks to us: “maybe I can never live up to my father’s expectations…but at least he hasn’t considered killing me! (As Joseph’s brothers did.) Maybe my brother and I don’t get along, but at least he hasn’t sold me into slavery!”

The main thing we learn from the story of Joseph as it relates to the modern family is to fix our identity in God’s love. Emotional wounds from our family hurt more than pain caused by anyone else. If we don’t fix our identity in God’s love for us, it would be easy to live our lives as an abused animal lashing out with barred teeth to anyone who comes near.  Yet when we realize our status as children of God and found our lives on this truth, we are able to offer grace to those who have hurt us…breaking the cycle of affliction, just as Joseph did.

Are you placing the love of God as the central influence in your household? Or do other things (like the media, friends or the stresses of the world) take prominence?

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another”.  1 John 4:7-11

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[1] Marital Events of Americans: 2009  (US CENSUS)

How to Keep Our Hearts Refreshed

Last weekend I talked about a key element in the Modern Biblical Family: kindness. But how is that attained on a daily basis?

Proverbs 4:23 gives us a straightforward answer: Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” (New American Standard)

This verse and its reference to “springs of life” remind me of hiking in the mountains. If you take a long hike, you can only bring so much water with you. At some point you will run out and need to look for fresh water in the mountains. Yet you must be very careful from which source you choose to fill your bottle and drink.

Those without a lot of mountaineering experience often dip their canteens in the convenient streams which cross the trail. This is a novice mistake. The water may look clear and delicious but if you drink from these streams you will pay the consequences later. Animals drink (and sometimes urinate) in these brooks. The water has collected many toxins along its journey. Drinking from these easy-to-come by springs will most definitely make you sick, causing further dehydration.

Yet if you can find the source of the spring it is an entirely different experience. A good mountaineer knows where to find these spots and the water is the best tasting liquid on earth.

Just as our bodies need refreshment, so do our souls. The NIV translation of the verse says: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” The philosopher and theologian Dallas Willard summarized it like this: “we live our lives from our hearts.” It is so important to keep our hearts pure because it affects everything we say, do, and the attitudes we pass along in our sphere of influence.

Jesus alone can purify our hearts and we need this all the time. This should come as no surprise. The thoughts and attitudes that pollute us and our relationships come out of our hearts: pride, malice, envy, bitterness, and a host of other toxic things. We need to keep our hearts clear and refreshed for our families and church community to be healthy. We need to be continuously refreshed from the Jesus, the source of living water!

Have you been renewed by the Source today? If not, take a moment, step out for five minutes, and commit your day to the Lord in prayer. Ask him to temper your heart and relationships with kindness.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim

Frequently Asked Questions

As a child I always had so many questions. I was the one in class who always had his hand up. With her back turned to me, my teacher would often reply, “yes, Rey,” because she knew I would be the one with a question.


In the church my childhood curiosity was squelched. When I asked questions of my church community, I began to understand that some issues and themes that were off-limits. It was not appropriate to ask about hell, homosexuality, or desire mathematical proofs for God’s existence.

At the cathedral, we want to break the taboo that some issues are off-limits in the church. We want to create a culture where questions are okay, even encouraged! We, ourselves, certainly have questions sometimes (especially me). Faith is not the absence of questions, but leaning into God with our questions.

Thus, we have created the summer preaching schedule with this goal in mind: to create a culture of authenticity with our questions.  The only problem is that we don’t know what questions YOU have and what you want to talk about!

For the next 2 weeks, we are asking everyone to send us a list of their biggest questions regarding God, life, and church.  Nothing is off limits.  If you don’t feel comfortable asking the question, feel free send us questions anonymously (commenting on this blog is a great way to do so).  After we receive the questions we will pray and choose the eight issues that Pastor Tim and I will address each Sunday this summer.

Would love to hear your feedback!

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- - Pastor Rey

 ¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for. – Hebrews 11:1

Top 10 Reasons to Join a Small Group (TLC)

Our summer small group session begins the second week of May and goes through mid-July. We are offering 26 TLCs for you to choose from, each covering a different theme or topic.  You may be wondering why we think it is important to join a small group.  Here are the top 10 reasons to join a TLC: 

10. Receive encouragement from other people doing their best to follow Jesus.

9. Give encouragement to others trying to follow Jesus, each at different points along the journey.

8. Get to know some great people deeply….more than just: “what are your plans for the summer?” acquaintances.

7. Understand the Bible better and learn how to apply it to your life.

6. Share the burden. Benefit from having others pray for you regularly.

5. Feel the freedom to share openly, knowing that the concerns of your heart will not feed into that week’s gossip circle.

4. Experience the joy of serving alongside your friends.

3. Receive loving accountability in problem areas of your life.

2. Get off the “spiritual island”: thinking that you're all alone in the struggle for holiness.

1. Develop relationships that will last a lifetime.

Any one of these reasons is a good enough reason by itself for you to join a TLC.  We are praying for you to experience God at a whole new level these next 10 weeks.  But there are only two more weeks of sign- ups before it is too late and the TLC is closed for the summer! (TLC sessions are different now, you can’t just drop in and out, you need to sign up for a session).

SIGN UP HERE

(On the contact form, list the TLC or the TLC leader that you would be interested in joining).