A few weeks ago, I spoke to our congregation on the topic of ‘Put To Death, Therefore…’ – a passage taken from the Book of Colossians, Chapter 3.  My hope was to spur men and women of God into action, and to share how the Lord has blessed that very task in my own life.

As a follow-up, I would like to share with you an excerpt from the book ‘The Pursuit of God’, by A.W.Tozer.

The answer usually given, simply that we are ‘cold’, will not explain all the facts.  There is something more serious than coldness of heart, something that may be back of that coldness and be the cause of its existence.  What is it?  What but the presence of a veil in out hearts?  A veil not taken away as the first veil was, but which remains there still shutting out the light and hiding the face of God from us.  It is the veil of our fleshly fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It is the close-woven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged, of which we have been secretly ashamed, and which for these reasons we have never brought to the judgment of the cross.  It is not too mysterious, this opaque veil, nor is it hard to identify.  We have but to look in our own hearts and we shall see it there, sewn and patched and repaired it may be, but there nevertheless, an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress.

This veil is not a beautiful thing and it is not a thing about which we commonly care to talk, but I am addressing the thirsting souls who are determined to follow God, and I know they will not turn back because the way leads temporarily through the blackened hills. The urge of God within them will assure their continuing the pursuit. They will face the facts however unpleasant and endure the cross for the joy set before them.  So I am bold to mane the threads out of which this inner veil is woven. It is woven of the fine threads of the self-life, the hyphenated sins of the human spirit.  They are not something we do, they are something we are, and therein lies both their subtlety and their power.

To be specific, the self-sins are these: self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them.  The grosser manifestations of these sins, egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion, are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, from any people, to become identified with the gospel.  I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the Church visible.  Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice.

One should suppose that proper instruction in the doctrines of man’s depravity and the necessity for justification through the righteousness of Christ alone would deliver us from the power of the self-sins; but it does not work out that way.  Self can live unrebuked at the very altar.  It can watch the bleeding Victim die and not be in the least affected by what it sees.  It can fight for the faith of the Reformers and preach eloquently the creed of salvation by grace, and gain strength by its efforts.  To tell all the truth, it seems actually to feed upon orthodoxy and is more at home in a Bible Conference than in a tavern. Our very state of longing after God may afford it an excellent condition under which to thrive and grow.

Self is the opaque veil that hides the Face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction.  We may as well try to instruct leprosy out of our system.  There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free.  We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us.  We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment.  We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Saviour passed when He suffered under Pontius Pilate.

Let us remember: when we talk of the rending of the veil we are speaking in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost pleasant; but in actuality there is nothing pleasant about it.  In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain.  To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed.  To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all.  It is never fun to die.  To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful.  Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free.

Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life in hope ourselves to rend the veil.  God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust.  We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified.  But we must be careful to distinguish lazy ‘acceptance’ from the real work of God.  We must insist upon the work being done. We dare not rest content with a neat doctrine of self-crucifixion.  That is to imitate Saul and spare the best of the sheep and the oxen.

Insist that the work be done in very truth and it will be done.  The cross is rough, and it is deadly, but it is effective.  It does not keep its victim hanging there forever.  There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies.  After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the Presence of the living God.

Lord, how excellent are Thy ways, and how devious and dark are the ways of man.  Show us how to die, that we may rise again to newness of life.  Rend the veil of our self-life from the top down as Thou didst rend the veil of the Temple.  We would draw near in full assurance of faith. We would dwell with Thee in daily experience here on this earth so that we may be accustomed to the glory when we enter Thy heaven to dwell with Thee there.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

That passage states so succinctly what has been on my heart lately and what I had hoped to convey to our church body.  In essence, every single one of us has a sin life that needs to be put to death, and that is not easily done.  We deny it.  We minimize it.  And often times when we do finally get to work, we stop very short of what is necessary to put our sin nature to death.

I also appreciate Tozer’s ability to clearly point out the One doing the actual work.  “God must do everything for us.  Our part is to yield and trust.  We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified.”  Each of us is very much involved in the process – yielding, trusting, confessing – but none of that means anything without our Lord’s healing touch.  Our job is to be in His presence – in His hands – where the work can be done.  To be sure, even that is much easier said than done.

Have you asked the Lord to show you what He would like to put to death in you?  If not, find a moment today to beseech the Lord along that line.  When He reveals that to you – and He will – put a foot forward so that it might be “put to death”.  In humility, confess it to God, and then confess it to a Christian brother or sister in whom you can confide.  After the first step, you take another… and another… and another.  It may take years, my friend, but keep at it and let the Lord do the work He so desperately desires to do – changing each of us from the inside-out.

“The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Blessings to you as you step out in faith.

Scott Hunter

April 1, 2009

Dear family and friends of CCC,

On Sunday, in our journey through 1 Thessalonians, we studied chapters 2:17 to 3:5 where Paul shared his intense longing to get back to the church he planted in Thessalonica. He knew that, because of their new faith in Jesus, they were being heavily persecuted and were suffering greatly. Suffering from things, such as persecution, is never easy, especially for new believers as the Thessalonians were at the time. You can imagine they asked God why. And Paul wanted to be there to answer their questions, to build them up and encourage them in their faith. If you find yourself in the midst of suffering or you know someone who is, let me remind you of some of the answers to the “why God” question. Because…

1. There are things that we can only learn through trials. Patience is a good example. You can’t learn patience by reading about it in a book, but by going through those problems that require us to have patience. James said it best in James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops patience. Patience must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

2. Trails prove the reality and genuineness of our faith. Peter says (1 Peter 6-7) “For a little while you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

3. Trials enable us to comfort and encourage others who are experiencing them. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

4. Trials build character and hope. Romans 5:3-4 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

5. Trials provide us a way to relate to the Lord in a deeper way. 1 Peter 4:12-13 “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

Now this list is certainly not meant to be exhaustive and there are many other good things that God does in our lives through trials. But that doesn’t necessarily make the suffering any easier or less exhausting. If God loves His children enough to allow us to grow through trials, we should love each other enough to be a “Paul” or “Timothy”. What did they do? Paul wanted to get back to Thessalonica, to follow up on these friends and new believers, but he was unable to do so. Instead, he sent Timothy. And for what purpose? “To strengthen and encourage them in their faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials” (1 Thessalonians 3:2-3).

Is there someone you know that needs to be built up and encouraged in their faith? Give them a call. Send them a note. Invite them to lunch or dinner and be “God’s fellow worker” in their life. Or, if you find yourself in the midst of trials, don’t be unsettled but be strengthened and encouraged in your faith. Our Lord Jesus is in complete control, He knows what He is doing, and He desires to accomplish these good things mentioned above (and many others) in your life.

God bless you with His presence.

Your pastor and friend,

John

Dear family and friends of City Calvary,

New believers are a blessing to be around, especially those who are passionate for the Lord.  When Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, he was writing to a group of new believers.  He had been in their city for just over three weeks, but in that time, was able to lead many people to Jesus and establish a good and healthy church.  Some of the new believers were Jews, others were Gentiles that had converted to Judaism, and others were regular old pagans “who turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1:9-10).  The young church gathered around Jesus and as Paul, Silas and Timothy brought the Good News, “it came to them not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction” (1:5).  But, as we read in Acts 17, Paul and his companions had to leave Thessalonica at night because a mob had been gathered against them and it was too dangerous for them to stay.

What would become of this church, which was essentially a new believers class without a leader?  Paul wanted to know so he sent Timothy to find out.  Timothy would return with a wonderful report and so Paul writes his first letter to his friends in Thessalonica.  This fellowship may have been a group of new converts but they lived as ones having deep maturity.  Their lives were changed.  The three great virtues that should be in every believer are FAITH, HOPE, & LOVE.  And to these Thessalonians, Paul writes, “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord” (1:3). 

This new believers class became a “model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia” (1:7).  I think they can be a good model for us too!  They were people in love with Jesus, who served Him, suffered for Him, and were longing for His return.  May we be people who are in love with Jesus, who desire His return.  May the three virtues of faith, love and hope be as big a part of City Calvary Chapel.   And may God’s word come to us with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.  Sunday we begin chapter two.

I would like to thank the people who signed up to adopt a missionary from our southeast Asian country.  We still have a few more people in need of sponsors so please call the church office if you have an interest.

Sincerely,

Your pastor and friend – John

THE UNITY OF HUMILITY

(1 Corinthians 4)

Last Tuesday, The Attic studied 1 Corinthians 4. Paul goes to great lengths in this chapter to emphasize the importance of walking in humility with one’s fellow believers, as opposed to walking in arrogance manifested by comparison and judgment. Paul’s words are particularly forceful in verse 7, when he asks the Corinthians “who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”

In earlier chapters, Paul had already voiced his concern that the Corinthians be united as one body in Jesus, not divided into cliques that follow individual spiritual leaders. Paul hammered home this point – that to trust in the wisdom, leadership, or eloquence of men was carnal and immature. The answer to this mess, Paul said, is to walk in humility and to put one’s trust in the simplicity of the gospel.

It’s interesting how unity and humility feed one another; it’s a bit of a snowball effect, for better or for worse.  You really can’t have one without the other. If you insist on holding onto your ego, you’ll never truly be able to hold the hand of your brothers and sisters. If, on the other hand, you let go of your pride, you’ll find yourself enjoying a greater sense of unity within the body of Christ than ever.

Paul, exhorting the church at Ephesus to combine unity and humility, instructed them to “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:2-3) Humility is a prerequisite for unity; unity is a byproduct of humility.

I played one year of junior college baseball and fifteen years of slow pitch softball. Without a doubt, my years playing softball were more enjoyable. The reason? By that time in our lives, there wasn’t a lot of ego left in any of us… we weren’t athletes, we were just trying to work off a few calories! With that frame of mind, we were able to joke with our opponents the same way we did with our teammates. That’s what happens when our ego is taken out of the picture – love can move in.

In Psalm 133, David writes of a peculiar place of blessing where humility must certainly be found in abundance:

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard,

running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.

It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

May we be those who walk in the humility that leads to unity.

Pastor Bill

WHOSE CHURCH IS IT?

(1 Corinthians 3)

On Tuesday night The Attic turned its attention to the third chapter of 1 Corinthians. Paul has tackled a number of problems in the preceding chapters, and at this juncture he addresses factions that have exalted one teacher over another. Paul deals with this problem in a unique way, one that I in all my “wisdom” would never have thought of.

Faced with the church’s propensity for identifying itself with gifted, charismatic leaders, my approach would have been to return Paul and Apollos to even ground and leave it at that. Although Paul initially starts down this road, he in fact allows for their different roles (“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it…”) and puts their labor in perspective by pointing out that it is “God [who] made [the church] grow.” (v.6)  Lest the Corinthians miss his point, Paul really lowers the boom on anyone who would try to claim ownership of the church: “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Cor. 3:7-9)

It’s strange how we find excuses to take pride in things that have nothing to do with us. In 2001, we were all so proud of the mighty Mariners — in 2005, it was the Seahawks. What exactly did any of us contribute that we should take such pride in our sports teams? We simply lived in the greater Seattle area! Another example — I have a brother-in-law who used to play drums with a famous guitarist. I loved to brag about my connections with this musician until I realized that the only thing I’d accomplished was to be the brother of the woman who married this great drummer who played for this great guitarist — not as impressive when you put it like that!

God has given us the noble, important task of representing Christ to others, but the results are completely of God. Somehow He does the heavy lifting and we get an eternal reward! We must never forget who is doing the supernatural part of the work. For example, someone referred to praying with someone to receive Christ as “saving them”… I knew what they meant, but I just couldn’t let that go. I’m no savior, regardless of how many people come to faith in Jesus through my ministry.

We end each Bible study with “Takeaways & Application Challenges”, and the first one on the list was so great: “The church belongs to God – we are rewarded for our labor, but He makes it grow.” 

Truly, the hard work is God’s, and the church belongs solely to Him — not to us or to the “super saints”. Here’s an acronym to remind us that if we have to ask WHOSE church it is, we might be straying from our focus upon the One who makes things grow:

Wood

Hay

Or

Straw,

Esquire

(see 1 Cor. 3:12)

May we labor in such a way that no one can question the driving force behind our work, and may we never forget that the Lord is unquestionably the owner and builder of the events in our lives.

Pastor Bill

BIBLICAL BOASTING

(1 Corinthians 1-2)

The first positive public speaking experience I can recall was when I was about 30 years old, working in the Frequent Flyer Program at Alaska Airlines. Twenty of us were competing for four management positions, and part of the competition was for each of us to deliver a speech about why one of our fellow competitors deserved to be promoted! We were each randomly assigned a person to speak about, and I drew a guy named Ray Prentice. Years later, Ray would become the “big cheese” in the Mileage Plan group – he was a great guy, incredibly competent and likeable. Ray was easy to boast about.

Perhaps that’s why I did so well in this public speaking experience – I could be sincere about my respect for Ray while at the same meeting my objective of boasting about him in public. There’s a confidence that comes when the object of all your pride is truly worthy of it, and this was one of the few times in my life when “the walker lived up to the talker.” That’s a rare occurrence – even the 2001 Seattle Mariners, with their record 116 regular season wins, failed to deliver in the playoffs and fell short of an appearance, let alone a win, in the World Series.

In The Attic’s Tuesday night study of 1 Corinthians, we’ve come upon a priceless passage (1:26 – 2:16). Paul’s major theme for the section is encapsulated in 1:31 – “As the Scriptures say, ‘The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done.’” Let’s dissect that verse for a few minutes and see what we come up with.

The first thing we notice is that most – if not all – of us have an inward desire to boast. You might think this only applies to arrogant celebrities, but it really is true for most people. We were born to worship, to get excited about God: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” (Col 1:15-16) Boasting was a part of our nature even before the Fall… it’s what we do with it that makes all the difference.

This leads us to our second point: the difference between pride and biblical boasting is the object of the boast.  Listen to these words from the prophet Jeremiah: 

            “This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his             strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he             understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on             earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Paul boasted of his weaknesses (2 Cor 12:9), and I’m guessing a pre-fall Adam would have boasted a little to all of creation: “Look at this partner God has made for me!” Boasting isn’t wrong in and of itself, but should be judged by the aim of the boast. In other words: it’s okay to boast in God!

Finally, our boast should be primarily in “what the Lord has done.” Reflecting back upon God’s faithfulness empowers us to face future challenges with courage rather than with fear. At home, my wife and I have a “memory box.” We call it that, first of all, because it has four sides and a lid – which seems rather obvious, but you can never be too certain! We call it our memory box because inside are dozens of mementoes of God’s faithfulness in our lives… when we show this box to visitors, we’re boasting in what the Lord has done for our family. It’s wonderful to be able to look back in faith. Ultimately, then, we’re able to look forward to what the Lord will do for us – though because He dwells in the realm of eternity, He’s already done it!

Going back to our text in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, Paul reminds his readers that he doesn’t want their faith to rest in the words of eloquent speakers but upon the simple and powerful gospel message of our Great God… may we not be seduced by formulas and celebrities, but instead boast in what God has done for us.

            May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been         crucified to me, and I to the world.  (Gal 6:14)

Pastor Bill

LOVERS OF JESUS, UNITE!

(1 Corinthians 1)

Musically speaking, my high school class of 1978 at Shorecrest (that makes me 26, you do the math…I never lie) was divided into three factions, each rallying behind the banners of their favorite bands.

Faction #1 loved heavy metal groups like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith. They looked angry and smoked in the south parking lot during school. They went to massive concerts at the Kingdome, and many of them didn’t graduate from Shorecrest – at least not on their first try.

The second faction loved middle-of-the-road music and (gasp!) disco groups like Styx, Boston and the Commodores. They dressed “stylishly” and went to class faithfully, taking the bus to school to avoid their angry classmates in the south parking lot. They went to mid-size concerts at The Arena, and most of them graduated on time.

Faction #3 loved Abba and Barry Manilow. They looked frightened and ran quickly through the south parking lot to get to their classes which, of course, they aced because they had no social lives of their own. Instead of going to concerts, they listened to “Waterloo” and “Mandy” in the safety of their own homes; they all passed with honors and received full-ride scholarships to Ivy League universities.

In our Attic Bible Study on Tuesday night a couple weeks ago, we got into the first chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. A major theme that emerged was the truth that Jesus alone died for our sins – He alone is at the center of God’s wisdom, the Gospel. Paul emphasized this in response to a report from Chloe’s household that there were divisions among the believers. In this case, the divisions weren’t based on their favorite musical styles – but rather on what spiritual leader they were following. Paul, Apollos, and Cephas were three of the most popular leaders of the day, and the church (which was about four years old at the time of this writing) was quickly dividing into factions.

Satan has long used the strategy of “divide and conquer” with the Body of Christ, limiting our effectiveness for Jesus by preying upon our insecurities and pride. Let’s take a quick look at three antidotes for disunity in the church:

First, God places an extremely high value upon love. In John 17, shortly before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed for the unity of His followers. To love God and to love man are the two commandments, Jesus said, upon which all the Law and Prophets hang. Paul said he could have all of the most impressive spiritual gifts, but without love, he didn’t have anything. When you go to your next Bible Study, or class, or meal with your family, or soccer game, or (fill in the blank), please remember – God wants to express His love for others through you. Here’s a great prayer: “Father, love someone through me in this situation.”

Secondly, notice how susceptible we are to getting our sense of worth from the temporary things around us, which only puts us in a perpetual state of self-inspection and competition with others. “I can’t believe she dresses like that.” “At his age he’s still struggling with that sin?” “No way I could reach out to someone that messed-up.” The protective shells we form to feel good about ourselves come at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let’s get our sense of worth from belonging to Jesus, and nothing else – talk about security! No one can take that away from us. As Paul said in Philippians 3:9, he wanted to “…be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith…” As fellow believers in Jesus, we are on the same side… we should delight in each other’s successes, knowing they’re all meant for God’s glory anyway.

Finally, let’s enjoy others as we acknowledge that they (not just us!) are uniquely, fearfully, and wonderfully made by God. Getting my eyes off of myself is so freeing…it allows me to become a giver that God can express Himself through. When you’re getting to know someone, the key at any age is to take an interest in what they’re into, even if you don’t understand it. Last week my son was trying to explain a concept to me from his University of Washington logic class, and it was hard work! I kept thinking, “Must not look stupid! Don’t appear confused! Head must not explode!” I really had to work at it! All that effort to understand was worth it, though, because it was really important to my son, and my son’s really important to me! Discovering and appreciating how God has developed others will grow our capacity to love them in a way that will impact them deeply.

As Paul taught the Corinthians, Christ isn’t divided – there’s enough of Him to fill His entire Church. May we never fall into the temptation to fracture God’s people into sub-groups that don’t even speak to each other, let alone love one another. Instead, let’s enjoy the unity He has purchased with His blood.

Gal 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Pastor Bill

THE GOD OF MESSES

A few weeks ago the City Calvary Chapel High School Ministry (The Attic) started our Tuesday night Bible study of 1 Corinthians.  On that first night we read the first six chapters out loud then broke into small groups, looking for major themes.  One major thought that emerged from our reading was that the church in Corinth was a MESS!  (Random thought: MESSES occur when I put ME first…ooh, how clever!)

It got me thinking about what a mess we can make of our lives, even as believers in Jesus…we sin, we wander, we doubt, we depend upon ourselves instead of upon God, we excel at making messes.  I’m filled with hope, though, in the knowledge that God is the God of messes and that He is totally capable of dealing with messes, even when the messes are us!  Here are a few thoughts along that line:

First, God is never disappointed with us.  As Pastor John has pointed out in our Sunday study of Romans, God knows exactly where we’re at in our growth in the grace and knowledge of Christ.  In our pride we may think that we’re further along than we are, but God knows the truth about us, so He’s not taken by surprise when we blow it.  In fact, He may allow the heat to be turned up in our lives to expose the crud that only He can get rid of! (Proverbs 25:4)  All our sins, past, present and future, were placed upon Jesus on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).  That means that even though you haven’t yet experienced many of the sins that will trip you up from time to time in this life, He already has, because He carried those sins upon His back when He died for you.

Incredibly profound thought number two: God doesn’t get discouraged with our spiritual progress!  After dropping out of college, never to become an accountant, I got a full time custodial job on the campus of SPU, my “alma mater.”  The most discouraging place I was assigned to clean was the men’s dormitories, because no matter how clean I got them, the next day there was a new mess to deal with.  I still have nightmares about pizza boxes stacked to the ceiling and garbage chutes clogged with unspeakable atrocities…don’t worry, a few more years of therapy and I should be as good as new! (twitch, twitch…)

Here’s the deal…because God can’t be limited by time, He has an eternal perspective on everything.  You and I might be stuck mentally in the realm of “What shall I have for lunch on October 16, 2008?”, but God sees the entire picture, including the part where every believer worships and loves Him in unhindered bliss for a bazillion years!  As that ancient (for teenagers) Amy Grant song says, “We’re just here to learn to love Him; we’ll be home in just a little while.”  God is a God of encouragement! (Romans 15:5)

A final thought:  Cleaning up messes is God’s job (not ours).  I did a load of laundry the other day, and because I didn’t “spot-clean” a stain on my shirt before I put it in the washer, my wife tells me the stain is now permanent.  Please, it’s a maroon shirt, and if you see me in it, don’t point at the stain and yell, “Hey, look at that hideous stain on his shirt!” (I’m so sensitive.)  The point is, I wasn’t even capable of dealing with that small (now permanent) stain on my shirt, let alone the bigger messes I’ve made of my life!  

Have you ever had a cleaning project (perhaps your bedroom) that required such thoroughness that it actually got worse before it got better?  God is thorough in His loving cleansing of our lives, but that sometimes requires the destruction of property, the renting of a big ugly dumpster, and the neighbors looking on in terror as they exclaim, “They’ve really let their house go down the toilet!”  A thorough work is a deep, often painful work, but God is using the messes in our lives to ultimately bring glory to Himself along with healing that can spread to others.

Brothers and sisters, don’t despair when you realize that there are messes to be dealt with!  Your job is to abide in Jesus (John 15:1-5) as He deals with those messes.  He’s the only one who can!

          Inside…a  change is happening on the inside

          And it makes no sense for me to hide what I don’t want you to see

          Come see everything that lies inside me

          ‘Cuz amidst the mess I’ve made of me you might see the Lord

          –From “Inside” by John Fischer

Pastor Bill

[Originally posted via email on February 20, 2008]

Greetings from Ryazan.  The day that I arrived, so did the Russian winter.  This winter has been mild by Russian standards, but yesterday, the temperature was 20 degrees below zero.  Not to worry; however, because Slava and Olga’s home is warm, cozy, and full of love.  Antinina, Olga’s mom who lives with them has been taking very good care of me and is making sure that I am stuffed full with her delicious Russian cooking.  Such a treat!  I especially enjoy my new friend Nastia, the beautiful little girl that Slava and Olga have adopted.  She calls me “Uncle John” and we tell each other many wonderful things even though neither of us has a clue what the other is saying.  We do know we like each other and tickling and laughter have no language barriers. 

The church urges me to give you all a big “HELLO” and to say thanks for the faithful support that City Calvary has shown all of these years.  It was wonderful to be with these friends again, to see many familiar faces, and to encourage each other in Jesus.  I taught, from Mark chapter 4 about the parable of the soils.  Thing are changing in Russia.  Western influences are becoming increasingly obvious as well as this economy is rapidly growing.  Considering all these new distractions, I shared my concern about the cares of the world (thorns) chocking out the word and I encouraged them not to let that happen but to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. 

Good soil, in the heart of a believer, begins with God’s love.  We love Him because He first loved us.  Paul says in Ephesians 3:16-17, “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.  Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him.  Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”  God’s love is the basis of good soil.  May we seek the Holy Spirit to empower us to know and experience His love, allowing our roots to grow deep into His life giving soil.  This will keep us strong.  You guys, let’s be a church that is filled with God’s love.  Let’s be a church that radically loves Jesus.  Will you please join me in praying for the Holy Spirit to truly empower us to know and experience God’s love as well as to share His love with each other and with our world?  No building, program, bank account, or any invention of man will ever take the place of God’s love.  May we be strong in Him and may the soil of our hearts, both individuals and corporately, be rich, fertile, and able to produce a harvest of 30, 60, even 100 fold as we allow God’s word to be planted in our lives.

Thanks for supporting me in my visit to our two churches in Russia.  It is a privilege to be your representative to these wonderful brothers and sisters here.  I also want to say that my heart is with you and I’m so grateful for my calling to be your loyal sheepdog at City Calvary Chapel, encouraging you to stay close to the Good Shepherd.  Please continue to pray for me.  Slava and I will be leaving in a few hours to catch the evening train to Moscow and then the midnight train to Smolensk.  I love you all and I miss you.

Your pastor and friend,

John

[Originally posted via email on February 14, 2008]

Being home-school parents, Melissa and I (mainly Melissa) have been called upon to go back into the old  memory banks and pull out the times tables, spelling rules, vocabulary lists and so on as we endeavor to provide an education for our kids.  History has been especially interesting.  This past week, we studied about Christopher Columbus.  Now we all know that “In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue” and he discovered America.  That was pretty much the extent of my recollection of the story except that he had 3 ships (Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria) and there was something about a fear of sailing off the end of the earth.  Thanks to the kid’s home-school history book, I now know a little more.

Did you know that Christopher Columbus was looking to discover a new trade route to India/ Asia that would provide Spain better access to the exotic treasures of that land?  That’s why he sailed west and, after a long and difficult sea voyage, he found land.  After going ashore, looking around a little, and naming the native people “Indians”, he sailed home to tell the king and queen of Spain that he had found the backdoor to India.  There was a big celebration, Columbus was called the world’s greatest seaman and everybody wanted to be his friend.  He was then given bigger and better ships in which he made 3 more trips to this backdoor of India.  But there was a problem.  He found none of the splendid cities of the East.  He found no spices, no jewels, no silk, nothing to bring home.  People lost interest and Christopher Columbus died a sad and broken man in 1506.  It’s a little like Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story”. 

The reason I tell this sad tale is that it’s an interesting picture of how people can sometimes study the Bible.  The problem with Columbus wasn’t in what he discovered.  The problem was in what he wanted to discover.  He wanted to discover a new trade route to India and that is what he believed he found.   But when his discovery turned out to be something different, it left him disappointed and empty.  However, just imagine if he set sail with the heart of a real explorer, excited to discover what was truly out there.  “My fellow Spaniards, I didn’t find the other side of India but instead I discovered a new world, a giant continent that no one knows about.  Its beauty is without words.  The people who live there are unlike any I have ever seen.  It’s incredible…”  Way to go Christopher Columbus, you discovered America. 

There is a temptation to explore God’s word with a desire to have it say what we want it to say or what we feel it means to us rather than looking into God’s word for what it is, God’ word.  It is so important to approach the word of Lord with the heart of a true explorer, desiring to discover what the Bible says rather than what we want it to say.  The power of His word isn’t in what we want it to say but in what the word actually says and how it applies to our lives.  That is why we talked about “exegesis” and “hermeneutics” on Sunday when we began our study of Romans.  We want to know Paul’s intended meaning to the believers in Rome “then and there” so that we can have a better understanding of how the Holy Spirit wants this applied in our lives in the “here and now”.  Be sure to get the CD if you weren’t there.

I’m looking forward to getting back to the expository study of God’s word at church on Sundays and I’m especially excited to see how God is going to bless our lives and our church as we explore this incredible book of Romans.  I’m also thankful for the time we spent looking into the topic of maturing as disciples of our Lord Jesus.  Keep growing in your relationship with Him.

·         Read your Bible.  It’s God’s love letter to us.  Read Romans so that you’ll be ready for Sundays.

·         Pray.  Spend time talking and listening to the Lord.  Will you please remember me in your prayers while I’m in Russia?  I really need it

·         Fast.  Fasting helps our prayer lives.  A little hunger in our tummy reminds us of our need to hunger for the things of God.

·         Serve.  We all need each in the body of Christ.

·         Evangelize.  Tell people about Jesus

·         Stewardship.  Everything belongs to the Lord so let’s be good stewards of what he places in our care in our time, talents, and resources.  Spend wisely, save diligently, give generously.

·         Have someone to be accountable to.

One more thing.  That 10 year celebration on Sunday was a gigantic blessing.  Thanks to all of you for being a part of this church.  I can’t tell you how much I cherish all of you as friends and brothers and sisters in Jesus.  We serve a mighty God!!!  I’ll see you in a couple weeks.

Your pastor and friend,

John