Samson the Nazirite

Judges 13:2-5 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her,

"Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

In this passage, Sampson is chosen by God to live the life of a Nazirite, from the womb, and all of his life.

There were three conditions a Nazirite had to observe:
• He could not touch a dead body of any kind.
• He was not allowed to drink wine or strong drink, or even to have any contact with the grapes.
• He was to let his hair grow long.

The Nazirite was to follow these conditions as a sign that he was called, set apart, and visibly chosen for a specific task for the Lord.

These Old Testament provisions, again, are symbolic snapshots of things which hold true in our spiritual life today. A Nazirite in the Old Testament symbolizes sanctification, so how can we apply this to our lives today?

In the New Testament, "sanctified" means "set apart” for a particular purpose." Those of us who know Jesus Christ as Lord are said to be sanctified, to be set apart to serve him. And the same three conditions obtained under the Nazirite vow are true for us in the spiritual realm:

#1 We are not to touch anything dead.
We are to have nothing to do with the old life. We are not to go back and attempt to resurrect the old life, the flesh which has been crucified with Christ, and try to live out of that resource. Paul says in his letter to the Colossians:

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:2-3)

We have been given a new life, a resurrection life, which Paul says is life indeed.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Cor 5:17)

#2 Find our satisfaction in the Lord
We should find our joy not in the things of this life, from wine or any other natural thing, but rather, from the Spirit of God. The prophet Habakuk wrote:

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Hab 3:18)

#3 Long Hair?
The provision regarding long hair is very interesting. In the Scriptures long hair is said to be a shameful thing for a man (1 Cor 11:14). It is a sign of weakness. This refers, of course, to excessively long hair--longer than the accepted length for women at any particular time. Even though long hair was considered shameful, the Nazirite would put himself under that condition in order to indicate his weakness, because his strength would grow out of that weakness.

The same is true for us. The Scriptures say that where we are weak that is where we are strong.
For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:10)

If we sense our need for dependence upon another resource, if we are not counting upon our own credentials, our own strength, our own abilities--that is proper recognition of our weakness. It is in weakness that we discover our strength in our indwelling Lord.

So, just as a Nazirite was to fulfill these three conditions of separation, we too have been called, set apart, and chosen for a specific task by the Lord.

It is also interesting that Samson was called to be a Nazirite from his birth, which was unusual. Ordinarily a person would take this vow later on in life, generally for only a short term. But Samson was to be one from his birth.

We, as well, are Nazirites from our birth, our new birth. So from the moment we are born into God’s family, we are called, set apart, and visibly chosen for a specific task.

(this application nugget was taken from our Wednesday evening study of Judges, click here to listen to the entire message, or other messages from our Judges study)

...till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Serving @ CCW

To the servants of the Lord!

I use that phrase specifically, because recently I have had a few people ask “How can I get involved at Calvary Chapel?”

As I have taught from the pulpit, it is a natural response for someone attending our fellowship to at some point think; “Hey, I’d like to get more connected to the fellowship!” While there are many ways that we can develop connections socially, one of the most rewarding aspects of being in a church is finding your place to serve the Lord!

I heard someone say recently “It’s a blessing to serve the Lord”, and it truly is! Not only that, but it really does take the concerted effort of many volunteers to pull off a church service every week! And, there is always room for more!

So, say your kinda new to the church, you’ve been coming a while, and you want to get ‘involved’. Well, here’s how:

1. First – head over to the Info Desk located in the church lobby (It’s the big desk with lots of signs and things on it!).
2. Talk to one of our cheerful Info Desk volunteers, and ask them for a “Servant Information Sheet”. This will tell us a little about you, and what your area’s of interest are.
3. Fill out the Servant Information Sheet, and hand it back to the person at the Info Desk.

It’s that simple! Someone from our ministry will be in contact with you within the week to discuss with you how you might fit in at CCW!

(If you are internet savvy, head on over to our Volunteer Ministry web page, and all the information you need is just a click away!)

At Calvary Chapel, we love to worship God, teach His word, and minister to His people – and you can be a part of that! What are you waiting for!

Current Areas of Opportunity:

• Children’s Ministry
• Helps Ministry
• Ushers & Greeters

...till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

This Week @ CCW

Greetings saints in the Lord!

It has been a busy week at CCW – we held our men’s breakfast (35 guys – awesome!), started our Foundation 103 series, held our first Small Group Leadership training, and that was just one week!

On top of all that, we have been watching the events in the Republic of Georgia unfold, and praying for our friends there. It seems that things have calmed down a bit, however we should not think that Russia is finished intervening in the affairs of this small nation. The difficult part is that while the politicians talk, people are suffering. Please continue to pray for the people and the YWAM DTS staff in Georgia (holtsingeorgia@gmail.com).

We are going to hold our Baptism this Sunday at Wrightsville Beach, pray for good weather! Click here for info and directions.

...till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

calvaryofwilmington.blogspot.com

Georgia Says Russians Bombing, Looting Gori, Violating Truce

BREAKING NEWS — Russians have bombed and looted the city of Gori outside the breakaway province of South Ossetia on their way deeper into the country, witnesses said Wednesday.

Read the full story here

Send a prayer to our missionaries Dennis & Korrine Holt here

Russia orders halt to war, Georgia sceptical

Latest Rueters update -

OSCOW/TBILISI, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military operations in Georgia on Tuesday but Tbilisi cast doubt on the announcement, saying Moscow was still bombing towns and villages.

Another Update from Georgia

This is from Jenny, one of the staff from DTS in Tbilisi.
------------------
Hello brothers and sisters,

This is Lauren again--Jenni wrote this morning asked me to forward you all another update for her:


I just received an update that the Russian troops are not stopping. People/different countries are trying to mediate peace, but the Russians are still going. They've occupied Gori (it's a town that is/was a military center) and the Georgian troops are heading to Tbilisi to protect the capitol. I don't know how it all happened for sure. One person said that the Russians took it, one said that the Georgians left and the Russians walked in, but whatever the case, Gori is occupied. I am actually not in Tbilisi, I'm still in a small village about an hour away, and we are very safe so far. But I have many friends in Tbilisi, including Marina and her kids David & Irma, so part of me is still in Tbilisi. Also, there is another problem, since some places have been bombed, there has been a flood of refugees entering Tbilisi, and other cities, and it's creating quite some problems. The refugees are breaking into houses to steal food and stuff, so that's part of why I'm really worried about Marina. People in Tbilisi are just in panic and the president is on the television every hour trying to calm people down.

Many of you responded to my last email with the advice to leave. I want to say I appreciate your concern, but it's still not in my plans. Of course I'm scared (and really trying to give my fear up to God), but I'm ready. I don't feel like He has told me to leave, and I don't want to. Many people have left with their families and I understand why, they are responsible for more than just themselves. But I am choosing to stay, and I'm praying for God's strength to do that. Who knows, maybe it will all end tomorrow, maybe it will continue for a while. I have no idea, but God knows and I'm trusting and learning to trust Him in that and also with my very life.

Please pray for us, especially for my friends in Tbilisi. Please continue to pray for Georgia and also for Russia. And most of all, pray that neither Georgia or Russia would win the battle, but that GOD would win.

" Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
Psalm 27:14

Update on Georgia

For the next few days I'll be posting updates on the situation in the Republic of Georgia.

Russia Forces Move to Within 35 Miles of Tbilisi
Monday, August 11, 2008

Video - Russian Planes Bomb Georgia

Youth 25

Hey I want to let you know about something we are planning later in August… YOUTH 25!

What is Youth 25? Well, you know we are working to finish off the Youth Building next door, to make space for our ever-expanding Youth Ministry, as well as free up some classrooms for the younger kids, and we are going to need some dough to finish the project!

As I thought of sharing this with the Calvary Community, it occurred to me that many people may think “I can’t afford to give hundreds of dollars to the youth, so I cant be involved.” But in fact, that is just not the case! God can do a lot with a little (as we recently learned in our study of Gideon). If many give a little, it adds up to a lot!

We just completed the electrical work, and are about to start the plumbing – we need about $2500 for the plumbing. Guess what, if 100 people give $25, that equals – you guessed it - $2500!

So coming up Sunday August 24th, we are going to have “Youth 25” Sunday. We are asking everyone to bring $25 with them to church, and plop it into the Youth 25 buckets (our youth will be manning the stations!), and let’s see what God does!

And if you cannot bring $25, just bring what you can – every little bit helps us reach our goal!


...till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay