Calvary Monterey

I’ve never experience THAT before. Interesting. Since our church is located of Highway 68, there is only one road that accesses our driveway, so a car accident this past weekend shut down the road entirely for the entire duration of our Sunday services. Slight bummer.

Here are some lessons from the weekend:

First and foremost, we are serving Jesus! After the first service, once it became apparent most people weren’t getting through the police barricade to attend service 2 and 3, I was asked, “do we go on?” Yes! Although slightly awkward holding worship services in a mostly empty sanctuary, it was refreshing. We grouped together, prayed, and reminded each other that this is all for Jesus, an attitude that must follow us into each and every ministry endeavor.

I love technology. Having the services broadcast live online was actually a major reason to push forward with the services. We knew we wanted to take care of everyone who hit the roadblock and were forced to go home to watch online.

I have silly fears. Confession time. I had a quick worry that everyone would just drive to another church, enjoy it, and stay there in the weeks to come. Just being honest. That tells me I’ve got some work to do in allowing the Holy Spirit in to crush some of my fears and insecurities as a pastor. It’s just gotta happen!

All that said, I hope we don’t have a Sunday like that for quite some time. My heart goes out to my brothers in other parts of the country who deal with the Sunday effects of snow, heavy rain, or other weather difficulties on a regular basis. It was hard preparing all week to teach, only to have the message reach a much smaller group than anticipated. God knows!

A couple months ago while teaching at Calvary Monterey I made a reference to a yearly all-day planning meeting Christina and I conduct to help us get our priorities straight for the next year. A friend of mine recently emailed me to ask if we had a template of subjects to discuss. While I did not, I was able to quickly jot down a few ideas and thought I’d share them with you.

This is not really comprehensive, but hopefully it helps.

Our worship: church, bible-reading, prayer lives, Christian book reading.
Our marriage: romance, intimacy, dates, goals for the next year, scheduling, lifestyle pace.
Our children: goals for each child, parenting strategies.
Our work: financial goals, career goals, savings goals.
Our ministry: hospitality, friendships, new ventures, review current.
Our household: projects, savings plan, big purchases.
Our bodies: health goals, exercise.
Our dreams: think out loud.


If you’ve never really talked about these things with your spouse I would advise you to go slowly and keep it light. If you aren’t used to this kind of dialogue you might want warm up to it for a year or two. All of this, of course, should be accompanied by much prayer. Christina and I like to take a full day to discuss this stuff, accompanied with and broken up by walks, meals, and coffee throughout the day. Have fun!

PS. While much of this is marriage/family centered, much of it is not, so I would encourage you to do something like this even if you are single. Just adapt it to your needs!

Mark 12:44 Jesus said - “For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Jesus watched the wealthy give their financial gifts to the temple treasury. He watched “how” everyone gave. He saw a lone widow give “more” than anyone else. From man’s perspective she gave next to nothing, but from God’s perspective she gave the most. How?

This woman put in “out of her poverty,” while the rest had given “out of their abundance.”


The Abundant Life

The life we want to live is the one where we give our lives to the Lord out of poverty, not out of abundance. We want to live in the “out-of-our-poverty” level.

I’ll be honest, this woman’s life wrecks me. I get rocked reading about Jesus and His value system. It works me to think about the kind of devotion and life He adores.

It has always been this way. God has always loved acts of mercy more than acts of outward worship. He wants our bodies to obey more than He wants our lips to profess.


My Prayer

I am asking God to help me see the areas of my life where I can go deeper into the poverty-level of giving. This is hard. But Jesus, as the Son of God, was rich and became poor for me, so I want to give my life back to Him (2 Corinthians 8:9). I am also asking God to give me the guts to actually do what He shows me.

I would encourage you to do the same. Ask Him to open your eyes to this beautiful, abundant, out-of-poverty life!

Mark 9:8 “And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.”

I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to be Peter, James, and John, the three disciples Jesus reserved wonderful and specific mentoring and teaching for. These disciples saw Jairus’ daughter raised from the dead, heard Jesus pray in the garden on the night of His arrest, and in this place, were called up to the mountain to watch Him transfigure. They literally caught a glimpse of His deity peak out from His humanity as He prayed.

It was then that Moses and Elijah, two prominent Old Testament figures who represented the Law and the Prophets, arrived to speak with Jesus. Peter got the idea to build tents, go camping, and remain on the mountaintop - not a horrible idea, but not the best idea! While he spoke, the cloud descended and the Father spoke; “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” The cloud dissipated and they saw none but Jesus!


Our Tendency

We love to do much of the same. We will often embrace Jesus as a good thing, but along with a bunch of other “good” things. Family, church work, business, recreation, friendships, financial planning, a spouse, fiancé, or boyfriend/girlfriend can all easily occupy too high of a position of prominence in our hearts.


Our Aim

Our aim is to hear Jesus. To hear Him. It was only by hearing Jesus that Peter would ever successfully interpret Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets. And we will only be able to interpret the good things in our lives correctly by placing Jesus where He belongs, alone and first in our hearts, recognizing Him as the one deserving preeminence, the King.

When Jesus is first, all the rest in our lives will be viewed correctly.

Your spouse, family, friendships, relationships, work, finances, recreation, or any other thing can only be viewed correctly when Jesus is in the first place. We only see them accurately when He is on the throne.


Our Push

I encourage you to allow Jesus to sit on the throne of your heart. Perhaps you have believed in Him, but have allowed a measure of spiritual apathy to invade your heart. Perhaps you have drifted. Perhaps some very “good” things in life have overtaken you like an all-consuming fire.

If this is you, get alone with Him. Pour out your heart, mind, and soul in confession before Him. Tell Him that you’ve been wrong to allow anything else to sit on the same level with Him. Receive His grace and mercy. Walk afresh with Him.

When He is first, everything else can become clear, but when He isn’t everything will become cloudy. Hear Him.


In Christ,
Nate

Psalm 46:4-5 - “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.”

The verses around this text depict chaos. Specifically, the earth giving way, the mountains melting into the sea, waters roaring and foaming, and mountains trembling. Sounds like the world falling apart.

In the midst of this shaken world, however, is a wonderful river that flows into the city of God. This river brings peace and, it seems, the very presence of God.

Perhaps your world is “falling apart” or stress filled. Rush to God. Rush to His river. Only the presence of God - made possible only by the blood of Christ - can offer the calm and peace we need in a chaotic world.

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I have always appreciated the life of David. One facet of my admiration for this man is the way that he handled his enemies. Although he was far from perfect, David’s life is littered with moments where he “took the high road” in his interactions with those who were against him. I think you and I have much to learn when we consider how David handled his enemies.

 

In 1 Samuel 24 King Saul and 3,000 soldiers chased David and his 600 men down into the Wilderness of En Gedi, a region loaded with caves perfect for hiding. It is in one of these caves we get a glimpse of David’s honor. Saul unknowingly steps into the very cave David and his men are hiding in. David spares his life, cutting the corner of his rope in the process, and then steps out of the cave in an attempt at reconciliation. Here are some lessons to glean.

 

Don’t take matters into your own hands.  David’s men actually told him that God had given him this opportunity to kill Saul. When enemies and difficult people arrive there will inevitably be people around you who fill your mind with thoughts of revenge. David rejected this garbage and was determined to let God defend him.

 

Have a sensitive conscience and be innocent. David did, however, cut the corner of Saul’s robe. This is obviously not as bad as cutting Saul’s throat, but David was still broken over his actions. It is important for us, especially when enemies arise, to have a tender conscience that is unwilling to even speak an ill word.

 

Try to reconcile. This is, of course, not always possible, but David at least made an attempt to come out of the cave and reconcile with Saul. It should be noted that David could have easily remained in the cave and let Saul move on with his soldiers.  Instead he came out of the cave to make things right. As much as is possible with us, we should strive to reconcile with those we are at odds with.

 

Recognize that God is shaping you. Repeatedly in the passage David refers to Saul as “the anointed of the LORD.” He meant this in the sense that Saul was still the anointed king of Israel. When enemies arise for us, however, I think we can see them as anointed by God to help shape us and mold us. I know many people who been shaped just as much by their enemies as they have been by their friends.

 

Be as humble as you can. When David approached Saul he referred to himself as a dog and as a flea. He was using the lowest in the animal kingdom in reference to himself. His posture, his words, and his attitude all expressed great humility. When dealing with an enemy it is good not to approach them with great pride and arrogance, but with the humility of Christ.

 

Give it to God. David ended his pleading by saying that the Lord would judge between him and Saul. This is a wonderful thing to recognize in dealing with an enemy. Ultimately, the ball is in God’s court. Commit it into His hands. Trust that He will judge the situation in the right way and in the right time.

 

In watching David I am reminded that these are simple lessons, but not easy lessons. Let us be reminded that we need the grace and strength of God’s Holy Spirit in order to find the ability to respond this way in the face of our enemies. The fruit of the Spirit is love, so let us give ourselves to prayer, the word, and fellowship with God so that his Spirit has opportunity to work deep within our hearts.

 

In Christ,

Nate

This past weekend at Calvary I took a few minutes to make an exciting announcement regarding our Wednesday night services. As many of you know, I have always been a huge fan of our midweek times together. These nights filled with the Word, worship, prayer, and fellowship have been very instrumental in my own walk with God.

 

For over two years, however, the I have been asking God to clarify the focus of that night in my mind. Is it a time to accelerate Bible learning? Is it a church service for those who can’t make it on the weekends? Is it primarily a prayer and worship night? Through this season of prayer, God was faithful to continue to bless our times together.

 

A few months ago it began to be increasingly obvious to the pastoral staff that the focus of the night is Ephesians 4:11-12. It is there we learn that God has given to the church “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry.” I feel strongly that God desires to use our Wednesday night services to help practically equip people for the life and ministry He has called them to.

 

To that end we will end our current midweek service run on June 2 and relaunch on June 23 as Life Church. I can’t wait. Life Church will still have the backbone of expositional teaching. I will start by going through the pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus). However, I will be teaching through books of the Bible every other week. The rest of the teaching slots will be filled with various series, topics, pastors, and guest speakers on specific subjects. To begin with I will begin a series out of the book of Proverbs dealing with subjects such as men, women, parenting, finances, fear, friendships, and planning. We will also schedule in various doctrinal and defending the faith teachings to help bolster you in your Christianity.

 

Additionally, we will share an inexpensive meal together before the service. Starting at 5PM dinner will be available for the families of the church to come enjoy together. I look forward to the convenience, but more so the fellowship.

 

We are also going to attempt to open up some of the Life Church teaching slots to question and answer after the teaching via text message. Some of these discipleship subjects need practical questions from people to really help the rubber meet the road.

 

I’m also excited because I know our time of worship will be dynamic and rich at Life Church. Can’t wait. Additionally, I’m looking forward to some things we have planned for after the service that I think will be of aid to people within the body.

 

All in all, I’m excited to enter into this new season with Life Church. My hope and prayer is that every man and woman would be made complete in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:28). Stay tuned as we release the speaking schedule shortly…and pray for God to do a mighty work through and in the ministry of Life Church.

Here are some thoughts I recently shared at our monthly Men’s Fellowship at Calvary. Like many of you, I love the life of David. His life, trials, and victories are so incredibly easy to relate to. The following is a devotional teaching on one portion of his life.

As a young hero David quickly became despised by the jealous King Saul. His victory over Goliath had propelled him into the minds of Israel, a reality Saul grew increasingly uncomfortable with. This, of course, culminated with Saul’s attempts at taking David’s life.

 

Psalm 59 is a beautiful song where David recounts God’s faithfulness in protecting him from the hand of Saul during a time when Saul tried to kill him in his own house. Over and over again in that simple song David credits God as His protector.

 

1 Samuel 19 is a wonderful chapter that gives us the background to David’s song (Psalm 59). It is here we discover that, while God was the ultimate one to protect David, He offered that protection through people He had placed in David’s life. Here is a list of who protected David, along with how they protected him. I believe God longs to use similar relationships to protect us today.

 

A Friend - Jonathan

Jonathan first protected David by giving him wise counsel. Good Christians will wisely select their friends, friends who are able to counsel them from the Scripture. “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.” (Proverbs 12:26).

 

Jonathan also protected David by going to his father and pleading on David’s behalf. This type of action is often called intercession in the Bible. Intercession is, of course, a wonderful picture of prayer. It is good for Christians to select friends in their lives who will pray and intercede for them before God.

 

A Wife - Michal

David had a far from perfect relationship with his first wife, Michal, but in this story she protects him wonderfully. She does this first by honoring her husband. Instead of siding with her father, Saul, by delivering David into his hand, she sides with her new husband.

 

She also helped David escape. She let him down through a window. She took an image and some goats hair and made it look like David was in his bed sleeping. She even made excuses for David when the messengers of Saul arrived. She helped her husband. Good men will allow their wives to help them become better men.

 

A Mentor - Samuel

David, in fleeing, ran directly to Samuel. Samuel was the old prophet and priest of Israel.  He had anointed David as its future King. Samuel would provide spiritual counsel and advice to David. Samuel could speak into David’s life like no one else could.

 

It is good, as a Christian, to have spiritual leaders in our lives who are willing to tell us the difficult things. Samuel could provide something for David that Jonathan and Michal couldn’t.

 

The Supernatural - The Spirit

At the end of 1 Samuel 19 we discover a wild story where the Spirit of God intercedes and protects David. It is not a stretch to say that this protection was both spiritual and supernatural. When we cry out to God for his protection, we are open to the idea that, as we are spiritual men and women, God may provide and protect us in very supernatural ways, seen and unseen. We do not, after all, wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of darkness, so it should come as no surprise that we look to God’s unseen protection in that spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12).

 

To David, all of this was from God. In reflecting upon this chapter in his life, he could only confess “God is my defense.” (Psalm 59:17). Let us allow God to protect us through the people He has placed in our lives.

This was taken from yesterday’s teaching on Mark 10:1-16. Visit calvary.com for the full teaching audio or video. I have been on a PowerPoint rampage lately. Here is a recap of the five points I mentioned via my incredibly high-tech slides.

Broken hearts, dysfunctional homes, and rising divorce rates often cause us to forget that marriage was a perfect gift from God in the Garden of Eden. Before sin entered the world God instituted the first marriage. In fact, Jesus goes to great lengths to remind the Pharisees and others of that first marriage in Mark 10. These Pharisees, like many in Israel, had centered their ideas of marriage around the law, but Jesus longed to take them back to the original marriage in Genesis 1-2. From that original marriage I believe we can learn some foundational lessons about how to have successful marriages in our day and age.

Be softhearted - Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this precept…but from the beginning of creation (Mark 10:5-6). Jesus clearly taught that hardheartedness was to blame for the “certificate of divorce” passage in Deuteronomy 24. Had the Pharisees been “softhearted” they would have been more concerned with God’s ideal than pushing the limits on divorce. A softhearted marriage will long for God’s best. A softhearted person longs to know God’s ideal scenario. Jesus demonstrates that God’s ideal is that one man and one woman would remain married until death do they part.

Know your roles - God made them male and female (Mark 10:6). In successful marriages the husband and wife recognize they are different from one another, and that those differences lead them to very distinct roles. The husband understands he is called to provide, protect, lead, and to love his wife. The wife understand that she is to follow, submit, and respect her husband. The roles are defined. The roles are understood.

Create a new circle -  Leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife (Mark 10:7). Many call this the “leave and cleave” principle. This obviously takes maturity on the part of the man, but also an ability to defend the new circle that God has formed with his wife. Unwanted advice, ungodly counsel, wicked friendships, and meddling parents should not be allowed inside that inner circle. It must be protected.

Cultivate oneness - No longer two, but one flesh (Mark 10:8). In marriage much of your personal identity is lost and you become one with your spouse. Marriages tend to break down when people behave as two single individuals with distinct and separate goals. When oneness is cultivated physically, emotionally, spiritually, and practically, the marriage has a good chance for great success.

Be covenantal -  What God has joined together, let not man separate (Mark 10:9). Ultimately, even though the church and state are involved in marriage, God is the one who presides over every married couple. In other words, God is the tie that binds us together. Not the state, not the church, but God. This view allows a person to see their marriage as an act of devotion, worship, obedience, and stewardship towards God. A covenantal attitude, rather than a contractual attitude, will lead a person to never give up or never give in on their marriage.

In a day where tweets and pop psychology often gives marriages a false sense of direction, only Jesus Christ is able to truly take us to the very core of the matter. As our designer, he understands exactly what is necessary within marriage. Let’s obey Him in our quest for excellent marriages.

“Likewise all the men who had hidden…when they heard that the Philistines had fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle.” - 1 Samuel 14:22

 

In Scripture, I’ve always been impressed with the leadership abilities of Jonathan. The son of King Saul, Jonathan sensed early on that the kingdom would not be his, but would instead be given to David.  Still, that did not negate the fact that he was a great leader.  Never highly vocal, Jonathan was a man who refused the spotlight, but did lead the people of Israel through his actions. 

 

It all started one simple day when Jonathan looked at his armor-bearer and wondered aloud at the victory God could give just the two of them. His logic was simple - two men plus God could defeat a Philistine garrison. He knew the strength of God was more than sufficient. So, with the support of his armor-bearer, Jonathan battled and defeated the Philistine garrison. 

 

This, of course, led the people of Israel into a war against the Philistines, and they were incredibly victorious. In short, the initiation and action of Jonathan led many fearful and timid Israelite soldiers to pick up their weapons and fight like men.

 

I love this brand of leadership. I love watching men who quietly, unassumingly, and sometimes anonymously toil behind the scenes in order to victoriously lead the people of God. You might be a husband, a father, an employer, a soldier, an employee, a manager, a friend, or a student, and in each one of those roles God gives you an opportunity to lead by your actions. When you take those steps of faith people of God around you will be motivated to do as you have just done.

 

The world is a scary place. Therefore, the world will naturally be filled with timid Christians. Those of you who boldly lead will set a great example for those who are struggling in their timidity. Your holy boldness will lead them to exert themselves and do the things they know to be right.  Just as Jonathan would not allow compromise to settle in, the godly leader will encourage others to keep from that life of compromise. He will do what is right, trusting God, and in so doing will motivate the faith of others.

 

I encourage you. Motivate the faith of others by leading the charge, believing God, and doing what is right. As iron sharpen iron, so will your actions sharpen the lives of the friends, family, and people around you!

Partly through observation and partly through carrying out my own fatherly duties, God has placed a burden in my heart for fathers. I truly and honestly believe that many of the social ills facing our world and nation would disappear or lessen if there were a widespread return to the true and biblical meaning of fatherhood.

 

Regarding our text yesterday morning at Calvary (Mark 9:14-29), we were able to observe a wonderful father who, through personal revival in his own soul, coupled with necessity in the life of his child, was driven to the feet of Jesus. Here are a few elements about this father we should observe:

 

1. He repented of his sin. Whatever had led his family and his son into demonic oppression and possession was cast off by this father as he watched his son reach this moment of desperation. Good fathers will repent of sin. This will sometimes include asking your children for forgiveness.

 

2. He prayed for his son. This father knew that he needed to intercede for his child. Good fathers will pray for their kids.  This includes adding them to your daily prayer list, praying for them with your spouse, and involving your friends and family members in interceding for your kids.

 

3. He protected his son. This man saw demons ripping his son apart, but would not sit idly by. He knew he needed to be active in bringing his son to Jesus. Good fathers protect their kids by bringing them to Jesus any way they can.  This includes discovering creative ways to playfully and joyfully bring Jesus into your relationship with your children so that you can lovingly teach them the ways of God.

 

4. He believed God for his son.  Although the man also confessed unbelief regarding his son, he did have a measure of belief in what Jesus could do for his child. It is important for parents to believe that Jesus is able to work in the lives of their children. Good fathers believe in God’s work for their kids.  This speaks of an important attitude of the heart towards your preschool age, elementary age, teenage, and adult children or grandchildren - an attitude that will color your entire approach to their nurturing and development.

 

Being a dad, I understand that perfection is impossible. I am, after all, a fallible human being who is prone to error and mistakes. I am thankful my children have a loving Heavenly Father who is perfect and holy in all of his ways. That said, I invite God’s men to join me in the pursuit of being excellent and biblical fathers. Let us pray that God would accomplish this work in our lives!

This last week Christina and I enjoyed the luxury of six days away, without our three beautiful daughters, in Seattle, Washington. We liked the idea of visiting Seattle, so we made the preparations and enjoyed a great time together. It was a very refreshing time physically, emotionally, spiritually, and maritally.  Each of them are fairly obvious, but here are some lessons from our time away.

Trips can offer rest - It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out, but allowing your mind and body to slow down can be very rewarding. As Pastor Geoff Buck always says, “vacations are an investment.” To rest from time to time means that you are investing in your long-term fruitfulness. Also, rest is just plain old fun, and your marriage is supposed to be just that.

Trips can offer reconnection -  Life is busy. Life is challenging. Doing life as two who are to operate as one can be quite difficult. Sometimes the main things - communication, romance, fellowship - can take a bit of a back seat to the pressing needs of the day. Time away gives you a chance to take a breath and reconnect.

Trips can offer re-prioritization - More than once I was able to look at Christina on this particular trip and say, “you really are the most important person in my whole life.” This ought to be obvious to any husband, but sometimes you need isolation with your spouse in order to remember it.

Trips can offer perspective -  Whenever I leave Monterey I inevitably am filled with vision and insight and perspective for what God is doing in my life back at home. Time away can often give you that simple insight, wisdom, or direction you’ve been searching for. This is magnified on a trip with your husband or wife, in that inevitably as you fellowship together you will be able to make good, solid decisions about life.

 Although easily considered a luxury, I highly recommend making the necessary sacrifices to take even the smallest times away. Be sure to bring your Bible, your notebook, and your pen, so you can squeeze every last drop of benefit out of your time away.