The Battle of the Bear (and My Heart)
The Battle of the Bear still gets to me. For those who don’t know, it’s the rivalry game between Orange Glen High School (my alma mater) and San Pasqual High School. You’d think I’d be over it by now—but my senior year in the mid-90s, we lost. That loss stung. And for some reason, it lingers.
Now, to be clear—San Pasqual isn’t some evil empire. In fact, my wife graduated from there, and she’s one of the best things to ever happen to me! The issue wasn’t really the game—it was what it represented. They acted like they were better than us. Their uniforms were fancier, they had this little up-and-down warm-up routine that drove me nuts. And the thing is, these weren’t strangers. These were the same kids we grew up with—played Little League and soccer together, attended birthday parties, even went to church together. But for that moment... they became my Nineveh.
I didn’t want God to bless them. I wanted God to side with us.
The truth? That wasn’t their issue. It was mine.
The Ninevites in Jonah’s time were cruel, violent, and deeply broken people. Jonah didn’t want to see them blessed or forgiven—and honestly, we can understand why. But God’s grace doesn’t always go where we’d prefer. Sometimes we label people as “Ninevites” simply because we’re hurt, angry, or insecure. It might be someone from another culture we don’t understand, a neighbor who breaks all the HOA rules, or even a friend who betrayed us. Whatever the reason, we find ourselves hoping that God won’t show them favor.
But here’s the challenge: we don’t get to choose who deserves grace. That’s God’s job.
I’ll admit—I’ve struggled with this. When someone hurts me, my first instinct isn’t always to pray for them. It’s to pray about them... and not in the most godly of ways. Can you relate?
So what do we do when we feel this way?
We remember that God’s grace is sufficient—not just for me, but for them, too (2 Corinthians 12:9). Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44–45). That means we surrender our sense of justice and trust Him to work in us and them.
And you know what? I’ve seen it...even at San Pasqual. FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) is growing. Students are stepping into leadership. Teachers are gathering, praying over students and showing them God’s love. My heart is full when I think about that. Because it reminds me—God is working. Powerfully. In every school. In every person. In every "Nineveh."
So today, ask yourself: Who have I labeled a Ninevite? And are you willing to pray that God blesses them?
He just might.
Pastor Jeremy Johnson
God’s Side
"Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city." —Jonah 4:5
Isn’t it interesting that the prophet Jonah—after reluctantly delivering God’s message—goes outside the city and waits? The text tells us he “waited to see what would happen to the city.” I can’t help but wonder: was he still hoping God would destroy it? Maybe this had been his plan all along—preach doom, watch the people ignore it, and then sit back with a front-row seat for the fireworks.
It’s a little revealing, isn’t it? Jonah still seemed to think he was in control. He was acting like God should be on his side, rather than humbly seeking to be on God’s side. Apparently, being swallowed by a great fish didn’t fully shift his perspective.
I just hope you and I can be a little quicker to learn.
Our God isn’t one who takes sides in human causes as though we were in charge. He is in charge. He defines the sides. That’s a lesson Joshua learned in dramatic fashion:
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” —Joshua 5:13–14
Joshua started that moment assuming his side was the one that mattered. He ended it on his face in worship, recognizing that the only side that matters is God's.
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was reportedly asked if God was on his side. His response is both humble and powerful:
“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”
May we be people who care less about proving God is with us, and more about making sure we are with Him.
Josh Rose
Family Pastor
God Appointed
In Jonah 4, there’s a word that keeps showing up: “appointed.”
God appointed a plant.
Then He appointed a worm.
Then He appointed a scorching wind.
Each one of those appointments was God doing something on purpose - it was God’s will in action. And Jonah was totally fine with God’s appointments, so long as they lined up with his preferences. The plant gives him shade, and Jonah praises God. However, when the plant dies, Jonah gets angry enough to die.
Jonah’s story reminds us that anger often reveals a deeper resistance in our hearts, a refusal to trust that God’s will is better than our ways. That’s why God asks Jonah a soul-piercing question: “Do you do well to be angry?” In other words, “How’s that anger working for you?” The truth is, it’s not. Anger sucks the life out of us. It raises our blood pressure, wrecks our sleep, fogs our thinking, and even weakens our immune system. But more than that, it steals our joy and keeps us from trusting God.
Maybe that’s why some of us feel stuck spiritually. Our outer lives might look fine, but our inner worlds are full of resentment, bitterness, and a low-grade frustration that God isn’t playing by our rules. Here’s the invitation we encounter in Jonah 4: What if we laid our anger down today? What if we said, “God, I want your will more than I want my way”? Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Maybe the rest we need starts with releasing the anger we’ve been holding.
Today, pray this portion of the powerful Serenity Prayer:
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference. Amen.
Pastor Ryan Paulson
Boiling Water
And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” Jonah 4:4
I saw an interesting quote this week–”You cannot see your reflection in boiling water. Similarly, you cannot see the truth in a state of anger. When the water calms, clarity comes.”
When Jonah repeatedly spoke of his anger and displeasure in Jonah 4, God repeatedly tried to show him that HE was in control, not Jonah. I know that acknowledging our feelings to God is a good thing, and I doubt anyone reading this hasn’t been angry at some point in their life. Jonah wasn't learning and was letting anger control him.
Toddlers throw tantrums out of anger and frustration when they don't get something they want. Gently teaching them that those outbursts won’t get the desired result usually stops the tantrums. Sometimes just ignoring it does the trick I found.
Anger in itself is not sin. Anger is a natural human emotion, and the Bible acknowledges that even Jesus experienced anger, though his (righteous) anger was against the money changers dishonoring God. When does our anger become sin? Here are few ways:
Anger that is not managed and leads to destructive behavior
Anger stemming from pride or a desire for revenge
Anger directed at God
Allowing anger to fester into bitterness
"Be angry and do not sin." This verse in Ephesians acknowledges that anger can be appropriate, but it warns against letting it lead to sin. Out of control anger is destructive to the person experiencing it, and there is always collateral damage. Anger not acknowledged causes bitterness that affects every area of life.
I’m searching my own heart today, will you join me in this prayer? “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and restore a right spirit in me. Help me to be eager to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.”
Deb Hill
EFCC Member
It is Hard to See when the Problem is Me
Have you ever seen someone “freak out” on others for not very good reasons? Sometimes, anger and outbursts can be directed at others while displaying that the real trouble is inside. Bitterness warps a person’s perspective like that.
It is said that psychologist Sigmund Freud died at 83, bitter at the world. In 1918 he wrote, "I have found little that is good about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all" Veritas Reconsidered, p. 36.
Embittered people only see the problems out there. Bitterness blinds people from seeing the hate and grudges they manifest on the world.
Two shopkeepers were bitter rivals. Their stores were directly across the street from each other, and they would spend each day keeping track of each other's business. If one got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his rival. One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, "I will give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your competitor will receive twice as much. Would you be rich? You can be very rich, but he will be twice as wealthy. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and healthier. What is your desire?" The man frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "Here is my request: Strike me blind in one eye!" – Told by Thomas Lindberg and found on SermonIllustrations.com.
If you would prefer to see someone fail, bitterness has crept into your heart. This is where the book of Jonah wraps up, with a prophet that does not celebrate God’s mercy and the repentance of Nineveh. Instead, he laments God’s mercy and wants to die. “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” – Jonah 4:2b-3.
Embittered to the point of despair because of God’s mercy. Do you despair, are you critical of a lot of things and a lot of people, are you nursing a grudge against someone or a group of people? Jonah had legitimate complaints against the evil of the Ninevites, and so does everyone that becomes embittered. But what they miss while in that emotional place is God’s love. What will you let fill, and flow from, your heart?
Pastor John Riley
The Heart of the Matter
Series: JONAH
Text: Jonah 4:1-11
Speakers: Pastors Ryan Paulson and Esteban Tapia
April 13, 2025: On Sunday, Pastors Ryan Paulson and Esteban Tapia completed our sermon series on the Old Testament book of Jonah. The last message in this series is entitled "The Heart of the Matter."
The God Who Watches is the God Who Sees
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.” Jonah 3:10 (NIV)
Just to recap, God allows Jonah a second chance at obedience. Jonah preaches the shortest sermon ever, 5 words in the Hebrew language, “40 more days, Nineveh done!” And the strangest thing happened….the Ninevites believed God. The people repented, The King repented, even the animals went through the motions of repentance. Nineveh did a 180. They turned from their evil ways, with zero guarantee this God they had just met, might have mercy on them.
Here’s what gets me. God was watching.
For years, I’ve watched my four sons play hours upon hours of volleyball, football, baseball and basketball games. I watched a lot, but I missed some games here and there, I missed some plays, some hits, some serves, especially if my kid wasn’t on the field.
God watched these Ninevites, these awful, sinful, despicable, bloodthirsty, far from God people…and God didn’t take his eye off of them. He saw everything they did, and what they did mattered to God. He saw their reaction to Jonah’s words, he saw their sorrow, their fasting and sackcloth, he heard their urgent calls to him, begging for mercy. He saw their broken, repentant hearts and watched them change their ways from evil to good.
It must have brought the biggest smile to his face. What God saw that day in Nineveh is what God longs to see every day.
In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells 3 parables about lost things: a sheep, a coin, and a son. In verse 7, a lost sheep is finally found. The finder rejoices, celebrating with neighbors. Jesus says, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” One sinner repenting causes a celestial party. Imagine the incredible celebration in heaven when the entire city of Nineveh repented!
John 3:16 says “God so loved the world….” God loved the world before a baby was born in a manger. God loved the world he created from the beginning. He loved prophets, like Jonah, he loved scared to death sailors with small gods, and he loved the vile and very lost people of Nineveh— And because he loved them, he kept his eye on them, watching them and longing for them to turn away from evil ways and turn towards Him.
That same God loves you, created you and has his eye constantly on you. Turn towards his love today.
Donielle Winter
EFCC Member
Who Knows . . .
Sometimes you just know what you gotta do, but you don’t know what the result will be.
It could be a confession and apology that might not make a difference and might be hard to say.
The folks in Nineveh heard a quick message from God’s prophet, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” – Jonah 3:4, and immediately knew what they needed to do. They started to fast before the Lord and the King issued a decree saying, “but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish” – Jonah 3:8-9.
“Who knows?” the king wonders. The people didn’t know if their actions would help or change their situation, but they knew it was the right thing to do regardless of what happened next.
Life is like that a lot. People are left wondering what the result of their actions will be. We crave certainty rather than obedience. Jesus was asked to give a sign to help the Pharisees believe and he rebuked them for it. “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here” – Matt 12:4.
Even when you do not know what the outcome will be, trust the Lord and do the right thing! God has given us all the certainty and example we need in Jesus. “Who knows?” God does, and he has already shown us how the story ends. Trust him and do the right thing!
Pastor John Riley
It Starts With You
Change often begins with just one person. In Jonah’s story, we see how powerful the obedience of a single heart is when aligned with God’s will. At first, Jonah didn’t want to go. He was afraid, reluctant, and angry at the idea of sharing God’s message with the people of Nineveh. But God wasn’t giving up on him. He called Jonah a second time, and this time Jonah obeyed.
What happened next is nothing short of miraculous! The people of Nineveh—every one of them, from the king down to the smallest child—responded to God’s message with hearts full of repentance. Their lives were changed as they turned from their evil and repented. And here’s the beautiful part: God saw their repentance and had compassion and extended His mercy.
God can use even the most unlikely people to bring about incredible change. It started with one person, willing to step out and be obedient. And through that one act of obedience, a whole city was transformed. You might feel like you’re just one person, or that your actions might not matter, but God is a God of multiplication. God works powerfully through our willingness to be His vessels, no matter how small we feel. He can take our small, obedient steps and turn them into something beautiful that affects far more than we could imagine.
God is calling us to be changed and bring about change—whether in our family, our workplace, or our community. It may start small, but don’t underestimate what God can do with a willing heart. Obedience can lead to extraordinary outcomes. Sometimes, the hardest part is simply saying "yes" to God’s call. He is always ready to use one willing person to be a catalyst for change. Are you willing to say ‘yes’?
Lord, thank You for Your patience with me. I want to be part of the change You’re bringing, even when it feels hard or uncertain. Help me to be brave enough to say "yes" to You, knowing that You can do incredible things through one willing heart. May it be mine. Amen.
Jessica Klootwyk
Discipleship Director
Short Sermons - Big Change
Years ago, the great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, entered a church where he was invited to speak in order to check out the acoustics. He decided to quote Scripture from the platform and said in a loud voice, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." Unknown to him a workman in the church heard this as the voice of God to him. He responded by looking to Jesus and trusting him as his Savior. Many years later the man shared with Spurgeon that it was his brief word that day that led him to trust in Jesus. Spurgeon is well known for his powerful sermons that called people to repentance and helped them see the unmerited grace that comes through Jesus Christ alone. While Spurgeon’s sermons will forever go down in history, it is curious to consider the impact of the few short words from the Lord that changed this workman’s life.
Many refer to Jonah’s words in Jonah 3:4 as the shortest sermon in the Bible. It says, “Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ The Ninevites believed God.” Eight simple words changed an entire city: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
So what exactly is the purpose of a sermon? From where does its power and impact come? And what is expected of the preacher who is preaching the sermon? In churches across the U.S. today, one might define a sermon as a 30 minute message where a qualified, seminary trained preacher exposits Scripture in three catchy phrases that all start with the same letter. The preacher would likely provide relevant examples and anecdotes to prove these points, then conclude with how the lesson could be applied to our lives today. This is no doubt easier said than done! Preachers receive a ton of pressure and criticism! Far too often though, how a message is presented; whether or not it is expressed with eloquence, energy, and empowerment (Sorry - I couldn’t resist giving you 3 E’s! :) is up for critique rather than considering what the Holy Spirit might be saying to each individual who is listening.
Jonah disobeyed God. He was told to go to Nineveh and tell them to repent, then he ran the opposite direction. I’m not sure at what point while he was sloshing around in the belly of a fish for three days that he decided to obey God, but once he did, he likely spent more time considering whether or not he would be killed for saying what God told him to say as opposed to how polished it would come across. Jonah was given a message from God, a prophetic, life changing 8 word sermon. His task was to go and speak, regardless of how it was received. The rest was up to God.
We know that teaching or preaching is a gift given by the Holy Spirit. Some receive this gift but Scripture tells us that ALL are commanded to proclaim God’s truth. 2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” If we say that we are followers of Jesus, and we are listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit, then we are commanded to share what he reveals. The truly exciting part of this is that the results are not up to us! We may have the opportunity to offer many words or just a few - but the truth remains the same; when God says to speak - speak! I can only imagine the fear that Jonah must have felt as he entered the savage town of Nineveh. Yet he must have done so with an incredible peace knowing that he was being obedient to God and that it was God who would change the hearts of the Ninevites, not him.
Lynette Fuson
Care & Counseling Director
