C.C.C. and Eat, Pray and Love

Did you know that Calvary Christian Center and the new movie Eat, Pray and Love have something in common?  The movie (which I don't plan to see), opens August, Friday 13^th, starring Julia Roberts.  There's been a lot of hoopla surrounding its release, so I thought I'd read up a bit.

One reviewer called the movie, which is based on the book by the same title, a, "A thin story, on paper as well as on screen." It's story about a privileged, 30-something woman who ends her marriage for vague reasons and decides to get in touch with her true self. She begins her journey, supported by a $200k book advance, in Italy first, for the cuisine; then it's on to India to meditate and then on to Bali in Indonesia to find love.

It's the Bali connection that C.C.C. shares with the movie.  Back in 2009, C.C.C. partnered with Faith Comes by Hearing to provide the New Testament on a Proclaimer, a digital player dedicated to playing God's Word, in this case, in the Balinese language.  We raised $6,000 to provide Proclaimers  for reading groups in small villages throughout Bali.  

It's our continued prayer that the Balinese people find love in Bali as well – the love of God in Jesus Christ!

Pastor Van

Purchasing Access or Receiving Access

It must be tough being a Duchess these days.  I didn't realize that the financial benefits were so measly that one would have to resort to selling access to your former husband, the Prince!  Poor Fergie.  If she just could have lived a hundred years ago she wouldn't have had to worry about video and Internet technology.  Now the whole world can view her, caught in the act of offering to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, in return for 500,000 pounds (about $724,000).

Don't misunderstand me.  I'm certainly not throwing any stones.  I think I can understand why Fergie would do such a thing.  I remember as a teenager when I realized that my older cousin was married to Bill Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys.  Why I'd have been more than happy to sell access.  Twenty bucks would have worked for me!  Before I have any takers I must sadly report that they are divorced.  Hey…wait a minute, that didn't stop Fergie!"

Actually this small nugget of news reminded me of something precious.  I'm sure there would be many who would and have paid to gain access to a famous person.  How about access to God?  How about having access to His mercy and His listening ear?  There are many who try to earn such through a transaction.  They offer their good works, their best efforts, in hopes that God will accept them.  But according to the Bible access to God is not something we pay to receive.  It's already been paid for:

For through him [Jesus Christ] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. (Eph 2:18)

Jesus didn't come and try to sell us access to the Father.  Instead, He paid the price for access at the cost of His own life.  And if you want to catch Him making this transaction you won't find it on a video on the Internet – you'll have to look to the cross at Calvary.

Pastor Van

 

Babies and Their Creator

In September of 2009 I began preaching through the New Testament book of Romans.  In chapter two of Romans we noted that we have been endowed by our Creator with a sense of right and wrong.  Recently, I ran across an article that I considered to be thought provoking, so I want to share it with you.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1275574/Babies-know-difference-good-evil-months-study-reveals.html

Pastor Van

I'm Pulling For The Nice Guy

Opening day for baseball was yesterday.  Now I'm not a huge fan of baseball, but this year I'm going to keep a closer watch, especially on the National League – particularly on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yes, I know that most people around this area most likely will pull for the Cincinnati Reds, but not me.  I'm pulling for the Cardinals.

My reason is very simple – Trevor Miller is a relief pitcher for the Cardinals.  Trevor and his wife Pari were once members at C.C.C., back when Trevor was, interestingly, signed with the Reds.  Sadly they had to leave us, when Trevor moved on to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Someone told me they recently heard a baseball commentator speak of Trevor, saying that he was known as "the nicest guy in baseball."  Wow!  What a compliment.  And from what I remember of Trevor, I would have to agree 100%.  The Miller's were and still are a dear family.

And by the way, here's an opening day highlight – Cardinals 11, Reds 6.

Pastor Van

Easter 2010

We set the target, we aimed, and we hit it – and then some!  Our goal at C.C.C. was to have 500 in attendance for our Easter services this year, and at the end of the day we had a grand total of 529 – praise the Lord!

This is a great tribute to our congregation, for we would not have reached our goal without their diligent effort.  Many within our church family have been inviting friends and family members for weeks.  Simply put, our success was not the result of a brilliant publicity campaign, nor was it the result of a community mail-out campaign (though I think there is nothing wrong with that approach), rather, our success was the result of our dear people inviting people.

O how I thank God for our caring people.

Pastor Van

The Sin Beneath the Sin of Hypocrisy

This month the hunt for the Air France jet that disappeared in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean last year will resume.  However, it's not going to be all that easy to find, considering that the area where the plane went down is up to 13,000 feet deep.  That's why an armada of the world's most advanced underwater robots are being used in the search, leading some involved in the project to say, "If it's in there, they'll find it."

Wouldn't it be great if hypocrisy was that hard to find?  But it's not – is it?  It's not that difficult to detect when one is pretending one thing while in fact practicing something contradictory.  The question is, however, why does one behave hypocritically?  What is the sin beneath the sin of hypocrisy?  Why is driving hypocritical behavior?

The New Testament, in particular the words of Jesus, are very helpful in answering our question.  For example, he warned his disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees:

"…he began to say to his disciples first, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." (Luke 12:1)

The Pharisees were among the religious leaders of Jesus' day, and he warned his disciples to beware of the leaven (the corruptive influence) of the Pharisees – which was hypocrisy.  There it is for all too see, Pharisees pretending one thing while in fact practicing something contradictory.  But what's driving such sinful behavior?  Let's make it more personal – what drives our hypocritical behavior?  Jesus tells us:

"They do all their deeds to be seen by others." (Matt 23:5)

There it is!  Send all the robots home, we don't need them, Jesus has discovered and revealed for us the sin beneath the sin of hypocrisy – it is valuing the praise of man over the praise of God.  We enjoy the honor and praise of men so much that we will work overtime to keep up an outward show, all the while concealing the inner disposition of our heart.

For many who hear the gospel message and begin to take a closer look at Christianity, they are put off by the hypocrisy of some who profess the faith.  If you're one of those people, what is the remedy?  How can we keep from getting caught in the vicious circle described by Kenneth Bailey? :  "Law-keepers often condemn lawbreakers as 'sinners'.  Lawbreakers generally look at law-keepers and shout 'hypocrites.'"  So what must we do?

We must be like the woman who came to the house of Simon the Pharisee, to wash the feet of Jesus with her tears (Luke 7:36-50).  Her total focus was upon Jesus.  May that be our focus as well.

Pastor Van Morris

Secrets

On Sunday mornings at C.C.C. I've been preaching through the book of Romans, and recently we looked at St. Paul's statement in chapter two, verse 16:

"…on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." (Rom 2:16)

It appears that God's ability to discover "secrets" is being put to the test.

A new iPhone application called the TigerText allows users to set a time limit for a text to hang around after it has been read.  When the life span has been exceeded, the message will disappear from the recipient's phone, the sender's phone and any servers.

In addition, those who need an even more comprehensive way to cover up their mis-deeds, the "delete history" option will eliminate any evidence of a given phone call. No more getting caught by the old "press redial" routine.

Just think, if this works cheating spouses can relax, knowing their "secret" is safely suppressed.  They can now move about freely, destroying their family and others.  Teens who are in to "sexting" can expose themselves without fear of their youthly indiscretions coming back to haunt them later in life.

So for now we can all breath easier.  There is, however, one final test as to the effectiveness of this device - Judgment Day.  So we'll have to wait and see.

Pastor Van