Why Jerusalem? 2 Samuel 5:6

And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites - 2 Sam 5:6

Now that David was king over all of Israel, he needed a capital city to reign from.  Choosing a capital city is a big deal – not just any place will do. There are political, geographical, and military implications that play into the choosing of a capital city – the “heart, soul, and mind” of a nation. And, Jerusalem was an interesting choice:

Politically
Hebron, where David had ruled, would have offered more political and tribal support to David.  Gibeah, where Saul had reigned from, would have sent the message that David did not hold any grudges against Saul or the Benjamites.

Spiritually: 
Bethel, where Abraham had built an altar to the Lord, and where Jacob received confirmation of God’s covenant to the descendants of Abraham (the ladder dream), might have been a better choice.

Or Shechem, another significant city where Abraham erected an alter, and where Joshua assembled all of the people to reaffirm the covenant with God before entering the promised land – that would have been a better choice.

But Jerusalem actually was apparently God’s choice, with two significant events that give us a clue to why. Three events that have eternal significance:  (click the link below to read the entire article)

A follow up to the election...

My friends, so the election is over...  it was a close and hard fought race, with both sides feeling very passionate about their candidate and the issues.  But the voters have spoken, the polls are in, and now it is time to get back to the things that are truly important:  Loving our family, loving one another, reaching out to the hurting, and reaching people with the good news that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Regardless of whether your candidate won or lost, there is only one God:

…yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. (1 Cor 8:6)

Our God is just, He is gracious and merciful, and He is sovereign:

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings;
 He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things;
 He knows what is in the darkness,
And light dwells with Him. (Dan 2:20-22)

Please join me in praying for our nation, our leaders (including the President), and for God’s blessing to be upon our lives, and our great nation.

Pastor Clay

Information on Hurricane Sandy Relief

For those of you that are praying and are concerned about the situation in the NY/NJ Calvary Chapel community, here is an update from Chris McCarrick and Lloyd Pulley in New Jersey;

"The people in NJ and the rest of the east coast are so grateful for the outpouring of prayer and comfort in this our great time of need.

As we begin to uncover the scope of this storm we are seeing that it is far greater than any of us could have ever imagined. There are many people without power, still over 3 million in NJ and we are being told it will be at least a week and perhaps as much as two weeks before most of us get power back. The hardest hit areas are not going to have power for much longer than that.

The most devastated areas are not even accessible to the public and it seems like they will never recover. There are houses moved hundreds of feet from their original locations and whole towns that are covered by many feet of water where the ocean and the bay met.

The main relief effort is being formulated thru Calvary Chapel Old Bridge and Cornerstone Calvary Chapel. If you want to donate funds, you can go to ccob.org to donate online or send your check to:

Calvary Chapel Old Bridge
123 White Oak lane,
Old Bridge, NJ 08857

Please write in the memo area of your check: Calvary Relief

We will have a web site up in the next few days and we are planning to receive relief teams as early as next week but we ask that you coordinate thru us. We will take your names and contact you as soon as we are able to once we have begun to set the schedule. We cannot accommodate too many people at a time so please let us know you are coming before you just show up. You can give your name and info to Michelle at CCA and we will return the call in the order they are received. Thanks for your interest in helping us and please keep praying."

The Power of Prayer - RECAP

Last week we finished out our three part series on prayer with a powerful reality:  Our primary calling as Christians is to be present, and active in the kingdom work of God to reach the lost with the life changing gospel message of Jesus Christ.  It is our purpose!

But working against us is the enemy of God, and the enemy of our soul; Satan, and his legion of fallen angels.  He is the god of this age who works to blind the lost to the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor 4:3-4), and the tools of his trade are lies, theft death, and destruction (John 8:8, 10:10).  We also learned that one of the most effective strategies that Satan has is to keep Christians bogged down and enslaved with every sin and problem and issue that he can lure us into. And know this: Satan isn’t interested in keeping you down just to be mean, he wants to immobilize you from your purpose and calling in the kingdom.

This understanding of Satan’s strategy helps us to realize the importance of a strong and faith-filled Christian walk: Our marriages need to be strong, our relationships need to be right, and our walk needs to be spirit-filled so that we can be ready and available for the role that God has for us in His kingdom.  When we become consumed with “our problems” and “our issues” and “our struggles,” we are unavailable for God’s purpose in our lives. We cant run a race with chains tied to our feet.  That’s why the writer of Hebrews wrote:

…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Heb 12:1)

Guys the race isn’t just about running, it isn’t just about getting to heaven;  It is about finishing well, with our glory being the people that will surround us in heaven as we stand in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, for all eternity. 

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy. (1 Thess 2:19-20)

That is why our prayer life is so important:

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ… (2 Cor 10:4-5)

• Praying in the Name of Jesus; according to His nature, His character, and His will.
• Praying in faith; Believing God is who He says He is, and that He will do what He says He will do.
• Praying with authority; based on our position of authority under Jesus Christ
• Praying scripture: The truth and promises of God.
• Having a life of constant, open communication with God, praying always!
• Praying for our unsaved friends and family:  that God would break through and strongholds or arguments to the light of the gospel, and for an open door of opportunity to share Christ.

 So, what’s next in our LevelUpCCW series?  Well now that we’re strengthened by the word of God, and the power of prayer, now we need to look at our gifts and calling, and how God wants to put those gifts and calling to use in His kingdom.

Join us Sunday at 9:30 or 11:30 AM, for the next installment of our LevelUpCCW series: “Engage”

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Level Up Week 4 - PRAYER

Last week concluded our three week mini-series on “The Word of God,” and hopefully you came away from that with a few powerful truths:

The bible is the intact, inerrant word of God, preserved through the ages.

The bible is life for us, truth that we can apply to our lives, and useful for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

We will be blessed and grow if we will spend time reading, understanding, and applying God’s word to our lives.

I even issued a challenge:  if you are not currently reading your bible, I challenge you to spend time every day for thirty days – reading, understanding, and applying it to your life – and I guarantee you will see a change in your life!

But spending time in God’s word is not just for instruction; it’s also for developing a relationship with our God.  Learning who He is, what He thinks, how He feels about us.  It’s important that we get to know God!  Yet relationships are not one way, but two way.  Both parties express their thoughts, feelings, sharing their heart.  And that is where this next mini series comes in: Our communication to God – PRAYER!

Often we assume that all Christians know how to pray, and do so often.  That may not always be the case, as I have found:

• Some Christians don't pray at all
• Some Christians don't know how to pray
• Some Christians have never experience an answer to prayer, and they wonder why, perhaps even give up.
• Some don’t understand the powerful reality of what prayer can do in their life.

Starting this week, at Calvary of Wilmington, we will spend a few weeks unraveling the mysteries of prayer.  I hope you’ll join us!

Pastor Clay

The Challenge

So we’ve finished up the first part of our #LEVELUPCCW series, “The Word of God.”

Hopefully you have come away with a few things:

1. Why we can know that the bible we have today is indeed the inerrant, intact and complete word of God, handed down by the apostles and the prophets.
2. How to read, understand, and interpret the word of God:  Read, Understand, Live.
3. Our Relationship to the word of God

Now comes the fun part: The Challenge!  “The challenge,” you say?  Yes, THE CHALLENGE! 

Sometimes we need a challenge to help us form new disciplines in our lives.  Sales teams set a challenge to make a certain number of calls.  Personal trainers set a challenge to work out a certain number of times a week.  A few months ago my wife and I challenged each other to lose twenty pounds.  Having a challenge, a goal, gives us something to shoot for.  Otherwise, how do we know if we have made any progress?  It is also known that in order to establish a new habit, you have to do it for at least thirty days.

So I am going to lay a challenge out in front of you:  Read your bible, every day, for thirty days. 

I’m not going to tell you how much to read, that can be up to you.  The book you choose can be up to you.  But pick a book, and read at least a half-chapter each day.  If you are not sure of which book to read, pick the gospel of John, or the book of Romans.  Here is a pattern to follow:

• Budget your time – Set aside at least thirty minutes.  You have to budget the time, otherwise you’ll skip it. Yes you may have to get up earlier. You would do it to surf, so go ahead!
• Pray – Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you
• Read – Read through the section 2-3 times
• Understand – Remember the questions we suggested:

Who are the people mentioned in the passage?

Who is the author speaking to?

What event is taking place?

Is there a theme of the paragraph?

Is there a situation being addressed?  

Was there a specific right/wrong being addressed?

Is there an expected result or resolution being sought?

Is there a comparison or a contrast being given? 

• Apply – Write down at least one thing you can apply in your life

Is there a habit I need to change?

Is there a sin I need to confess?

Is there a truth I need to embrace?

Is there a lie I need to reject?

Is there someone I should apologize to?

Caution:  Our enemy, Satan, does not want you reading your bible.  It has waaayyyy too much truth in it for his purposes!  So recognize that you will experience some resistance. Push through it.

Here is the good exciting part:  If you will commit to read with word of God every day for thirty days, you WILL see a difference in your life.  Your peace will increase.  You’ll have more joy.  You’ll find wisdom that will be directly applicable to situations in your life.  Here's why:  The word is LIFE!

So, take the challenge, you won’t regret it.

Pastor Clay

The Bible: Dig in! #LEVELUPCCW

As Christians, we would all agree that we should be reading and studying our bibles. We should all be “bible literate.” But there is a dirty little secret in the family of God, and that is that many professing Christians spend very little time in the word of God. A recent survey found that:

• Readership of the Bible has declined from the 1980s overall, from 73% to 59% today. 
• The percentage of those who read the Bible at least once a week, has decreased slightly over the last decade, from 40% in 1990 to 37% today.
• About one American in seven reports an involvement that goes beyond reading the Bible. 
• Fourteen percent currently belong to a Bible study group.
• In terms of frequency of readership, 16% of Americans say that they read the Bible every day, 21% say they read it weekly, 12% say they read the Bible monthly, 10% say less than monthly and 41% say that they rarely or never read the Bible.

Those are some harsh stats.   Why do people not regard the bible as an important book to invest in?  Perhaps because it's one of those disciplines that can be easy to set on the back burner for a multitude of reasons:  I’m too busy; it’s too hard to understand; I listen to sermons on Sunday, etc.

But the question has to be asked:  So what? So what if Christians don't read their bibles?  Is it really that big of a deal? The answer is – YES!  There is an impact to not being in the word; Arrested Spiritual Development, which is another way of saying spiritual immaturity.  Arrested Spiritual Development (ASD) has many symptoms:

• Rash and inappropriate reactions to situations in life.
• The tendency to make poor decisions
• Inability to apply sound principles to life situations

 As an example, imagine two soldiers standing in formation:  Both have uniforms, equipment, and weapons. They look the same standing there in line. But when the bullets start flying, the one that has not taken part in the physical conditioning, or the combat training, that soldier will fall.  Those two soldiers might look the same, but they will no respond the same in battle. 

ASD is not a new malady; the writer of Hebrews gave a similar assessment of his audience:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (Heb 5:12-13)

That writer might be describing the Christian sitting in church today, raising their hands to praise the Lord, knowing the Christian platitudes, even having the bumper sticker, but that Christian is still a babe when it comes to the oracles of God. That Christian looks just like every other Christian, but when the bullets start to fly, how will they respond?

If someone cuts in front of them in line - what is their response?

When something doesn't go their way – how do they act?

When they are faced with the temptation to cut a corner to get ahead – what is their choice?

Or when one the huge storms of life hits – will they stand or fall?

When we have the truth of Gods word imbedded into our hearts and our minds, our responses begin to align with how God would respond to those situations. We will know how to act.  We will know how to make wise decisions.  We will be trained to instinctively respond to any situation that presents itself in our life. 

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Join us this Sunday for “The Bible; dig in!”  #LevelupCCW

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay