From the Council

In preparing to write this short article I was reminded of how excited my two brothers and I were on Christmas morning. We would wake up early if we went to sleep at all, and we would sit together at the top of the stairs that led to our upstairs bedrooms. These stairs also led to the first-floor living room where our parents always set the Christmas presents under the tree. Although we could not see around the stairwell wall to see the presents, all three of us knew that soon we would be able to enjoy opening the presents that were so nicely wrapped in colorful paper.

While reflecting on this exciting time, my mind went to one of the most amazing moments that man has ever known. The Apostle Luke recorded this moment when he said: “Then the angel said to them (the shepherds), “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:10-14 NKJV). Now, that is the greatest present that man has ever known!

There before their eyes, Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled which said: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14 NKJV). Now, that is truly a reason to be thankful—God’s greatest gift has come into the world!

Later on, Isaiah would expand his revelation of who this Child was when he said: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). Could this reality, be the true ‘Reason for the Season?’ I for one would say emphatically YES!

During this Christmas season, may we slow down enough to thank God for the greatest “Gift” man has ever been given which is found only in the Person of Jesus Christ—eternal and abundant life (John 14:6). May we remember to share our “Gift” with others that are waiting, as my brothers and I were to open the gifts that would bring only temporary joy and happiness to us. May we share with boldness the words of eternal life through Jesus Christ this Christmas season, and bring unspeakable joy and happiness into the lives of those who have ears to hear!

God bless you, and may your Christmas season be one where you experience God’s peace and blessings
-Bill Goodrich

Jesus said “I am the good shepherd and I know My own, and My own know Me…and I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:14,15

Discouragement. All leaders go through it, as do fellow Christians. Some of us hide it better than others, but discouragement in ministry is a real concern. I can’t count how many times I wanted to quit and go back to making surfboards, something I knew really well and was good at until the Lord called me into ministry.

As people were bailing out from following Jesus because of something He said (John 6), He turned to the twelve and asked ‘will you also leave me?’ Their response was the same as what I felt when discouragement hit; “Lord where would we go you have words of eternal life”.

In the early days when Pastor Chuck was coming to Hawaii, we roasted a pig and had Chuck and his group out to the North Shore for potluck fellowship. I got Chuck alone and began to pour out my heart telling him about people and problems I was having in ministry. I figured Chuck had the answers. He listened patiently until I finished and said ‘Well, Bill…people will be people’ and turned and walked back to the potluck. I have used that line a lot with younger pastors. Much of our discouragement has to do with people issues.

It is interesting that of all the animals God chose to compare us with he picked sheep. Why sheep? Because the behavior of sheep is much like that of humans. It is not a very flattering comparison. Sheep more than any other animal need endless attention, meticulous care and constant watching over. Sheep don’t naturally care for themselves. Sheep have a crowd mentality. If one walks off a cliff others will follow. If one is spooked the whole herd panics. Phillip Keller, a rancher in East Africa, in his book ‘A shepherd looks at Psalm 23 writes, “Just as sheep will blindly, habitually, stupidly follow one another along the same little trails until they become ruts that erode into gigantic gullies, so we humans cling to the same habits that we have seen ruin other lives”.

A few years ago, in Japan, Hideto Matsumoto of Band-X hanged himself w/ a towel on a doorknob. The next day a 14-year-old fan hung herself in the same way. Sheep have a herd mentality. I’ve seen in churches where someone gets upset and leaves the church and their friends and others follow for no good reason. Sadly, it is the herd instinct of sheep.

Sheep are helpless when left to themselves. They will graze until the landscape is barren without seeking new pastures and die of starvation.

Sheep will stand eye to eye w/ a predator that proceeds to eat them while other sheep look on, not realizing they are next on the menu. Sheep have no fright and flight mechanism. Cults devour sheep one after another.

When we consider the makeup of sheep we begin to understand the high calling of the shepherd. Sheep tend to hammer and batter each other; no wonder one pastor called them ‘attack sheep’ when they turn on the shepherd.

Shepherds of Judea had a hard and tedious task. Pasture land was scarce along the narrow central plateau which plunged down steep cliffs to dry desert. Sheep would wander into dry canyons or onto perilous precipice and the shepherd would risk his life in a rescue attempt. Sheep are oblivious and indifferent to being rescued. A certain type of weed, if eaten, would make sheep sick and even die.

It is discouraging when sheep in the church take a course of action detrimental to their spiritual health and refuse to respond to the shepherds attempt to rescue them. Often wolves in sheep’s clothing come into the flock wooing sheep into false doctrine or aberrant lifestyles. It’s heartbreaking for a shepherd to see a once thriving, strong believer now in a place of compromise and carnality. We might feel like throwing in the shepherd’s staff and giving up. And yet the good shepherd, Jesus Christ, leaves the 99 and goes after the one. Maybe that one is you. We too are the sheep of His pasture Ps 100:3.

Discouragement comes with the calling but you don’t have to give into it. He is the same God who called you in the beginning and has promised never to leave or forsake you to the end. He is the same God who will bring you across the finish line to heaven and say to you and the ministry He entrusted to you ‘well done my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord’. He has promised to finish the work He began in you. So don’t give up but do give in to the Great Shepherd of your soul who loves you and died for your sins. Let discouragement be the tool that drives you to the throne of grace and a new place of intimacy and dependence upon our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And remember, until we arrive in heaven ‘people…will still be people’.

Matthew chapter 9:10-13 records the story of Jesus being invited to the home of a Jewish tax collector. This man was what was called a publicani, a man who served occupying Rome against his own people. He collected money from the Jews and was responsible for the collection of toll taxes, import duties, business license fees, boat docking fees and a variety of other fees imposed on them. Because of his job, as a tax collector, he was despised. Part of the reason was that Jews could buy franchises that entitled them to levy taxes, and many were extortioners, others could be bribed easily and many of them became wealthy in this way and as a result, were hated by the people

According to the Rabbis, there was no hope for tax collectors and and they were considered unclean. Their money was tainted and defiled any who accepted it and was declared to be an outcast, classed with harlots, gamblers, thieves, and one per centers!

Is this so? Was there really no hope for people like this? Well, the fact is that the tax collector mentioned in the story is none other than Matthew himself, one of Jesus’ chosen apostles.

After Jesus had called Matthew to follow him, as a response Matthew opened up his home and invited Jesus over for dinner, an invitation that Jesus accepted. He went to Matthew’s home, and Matthew records that Jesus sat at the table in the house and many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. This outraged the Pharisees, and Mattew records that When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your Master eat with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said to them, Those who are whole do not need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

This incident reminds me of something that occurred early in my Christian life.

I had just discharged from the Army and was living at my parents home. As I was seated in the kitchen, I had heard a knock on the front door and went to open it. Standing directly in front of me was an old friend, a friend I hadn’t seen since I was fifteen years old. We had attended elementary school, Junior High, and up to the second year of High School together. We went through our early and rebellious teen years together and had experimented with drinking and taking drugs together. We lost touch when he was a sophomore in High School, and it had been eight years since I had seen him last. Now, I had been saved for three years, and he was back in my life. Standing right in front of me.

I remember him saying “How’s it goin’, man? What’s been happening in your life?”. By the way that he spoke to me, I could see that he was under the influence of some drug, or alcohol, or perhaps a combination of both. It turns out he was under the influence of a combination of alcohol and a barbiturates known as seconal, (or reds as we used to call them).

He said “I’m going to walk to the corner, to the liquor store. I’m going to buy some beer. Would you like to come with me? We can rap about old times, and you can tell me what’s new in your life”

Immediately I thought about my reputation in the neighborhood. For several years, my neighbors knew me as a crazy and out of control kid. I was known for drinking, taking drugs, and basically just running wild. Since becoming a Christian, I had done my best to erase that memory from their minds and really wanted to keep my new reputation for being a Christian untainted. How could I be seen walking down the street with an old friend, who was staggering drunk? Those who saw me might think that I had gone back to my old way of life.

At first, I was tempted to just let him walk to the store alone. I thought that I could have him go buy his beer, and then have him come into the house when he was through drinking it. But something inside me prompted me to walk to the store with him. The Spirit clearly reminded me of how Jesus was called a friend of sinners. I obviously was no better than Jesus, so I did what I felt He would have me to do at that time. I took a walk with my friend.

When we returned, I shared the love of Jesus with Him. As I shared with him, he looked at me and asked a simple question. He asked: does Jesus forgive every sin? I looked at him and said Yes, He forgives every sin. He has forgiven me all of my sins and He will forgive you of yours, too. I told him that I had lied, stolen, been drunk, did drugs and so many other sins but He forgave me of all of them. He then asked, does He forgive murder? When he asked me that question I said, Murder is not always an action but is recognized as a desire of the heart. He then said something that made me stop in my tracks. He said, David, you don’t understand. I murdered a man.

As I looked into his face, I couldn’t help but think that this simply was not possible. I had known him since we were young boys, how could that be possible. He then began to share with me what he thought was murder. He had been serving in the Army and was responsible for carrying classified documents. While carrying documents someone had taken his briefcase and tried to steal it. He called out for the thief to stop and when he wouldn’t, he shouted a warning and the proceeded to fire his weapon and took the man’s life.

After sharing with him a few things about what murder actually is, and taking into consideration how he viewed his actions we returned to the subject of forgiveness and I shared with him Yes, God forgives of every sin and this is what you need today. Forgiveness
That day, my friend bowed his head in prayer and received Jesus as his Lord and Savior. As I had the joy of praying with him, I could not help but thank God, because indeed, He still is the friend of sinners.

Today, you will have many opportunities to minister the gracious love of Jesus to those who are quite obviously sinners and others who hide their sin well. As ministers of the gospel, we are not to be afraid of loving those who obviously are not aware of the gracious love of God, in Jesus. When possible, we can use the opportunities granted to us to introduce our loving Savior to those who have yet come to understand God’s gracious love towards them and His immeasurable grace towards us.

It is always good for us to remember, as Paul said, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!”

Where would we be if it were not for the Grace of God? I am so thankful that God turned me around when He did. Who knows what would have become of me. Yet I came so close to living a life that surely would have ended in hell.

I think of the conversion of great Apostle Paul and how he almost made it to destruction. Saul of Tarsus was just about as wrong as a person could be. A zealous Pharisee determined to stamp out, Christianity,  what he thought to be a cult. Believing he was doing God’s work in his zeal he set about persecuting the church with the passion of a man on a mission. Determined to eradicate all those who believed in Jesus of Nazareth breathing out threats and with murderous intent not satisfied with purging Jerusalem, he desired to pursue the believers to the city of Damascus.

We read in Acts chapter nine that Saul asked the high priest for permission to carry out his vicious plan to capture and bind any followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem for judgement. He almost made it for the scripture says “as he journeyed he came near to Damascus.” It was then by the wonderful Grace of God that the Lord Jesus Christ arrested him. He was wonderfully converted and became the great Apostle Paul missionary to the gentiles.

His conversion is a marvelous story and part of a wonderful apologetic that testifies to the reliability of the biblical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The dedicated life he went on to live, the wonderful triumphs of his ministry has caused many to believe him to be the greatest Christian minister that has ever served the Lord Jesus. Yet what strikes me most in his story is that he almost made it to his ghastly destination and accomplished his dreadful goal. He surely would have, had Jesus not stopped him in his tracks.  Such blessed apprehension! Such gracious detention!

Some folks come perilously close to destruction. They do not realize how near they are to the edge. None of us know how long we have to live or how far we will be allowed to travel down the path to hell. I fear for those who play games with the Grace of God.  I have seen men and women stubbornly determined to have their own way.  They pigheadedly insist on walking the broad path that they desire rather than the narrow road the Lord would have them walk upon. The tragic truth is that some of them succeed.
I am so glad that Jesus stopped me in my tracks. I was blind and hopelessly lost, headed in the wrong direction until Jesus arrested me and turned me around. Sometimes I look back and think of the times I almost made it to a life that would have been to the destruction of my soul. I was in a rock band before I was saved. An opportunity arose for us to go to Hamburg Germany and play the same clubs the Beatles were at before they were well known.  Who knows what would have happened if we would have gone.  I was so angry at my lead guitarist because he refused to go and the opportunity slipped away. So close. He left the band and I replaced the uncooperative guitarist with a young brilliant guitar player, fifteen-year-old Alwyn Wall. Later he and I left the band and formed a duo, Malcolm and Alwyn. We started writing our own songs. It’s a long story but Beatle George Harrison arranged a meeting for us with the director of the Beatle’s newly formed “Apple” record label that he might listen to our songs with the hope that he would sign us to their label. We met with him and played our music for him and he turned us down. So Close. Oh blessed rejection! We almost made it. Where would we be today had we been successful?  Instead Jesus grabbed us and we had the great joy of giving our talent back to Him and singing for His glory.

Oh, but had it not been for His Grace it could have been so different. I am so thankful for His Grace but let’s not fancy that it does not include the operation of our will.  Let us not imagine that Saul was left with no will with which to choose or that God’s grace is irresistible. Many years after his conversion as Paul was giving his testimony before King Agrippa, when he came to the part where he told of his experience on the road to Damascus he said “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”

Jesus did not take away Paul’s will. Paul chose to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ from that point on and every day thereafter. When Jesus appeared to him on that Damascus road Saul asked, “who are you Lord?” and when he found it was Jesus his next question was, “what do you want me to do?” Total and full surrender to the Lord.
Those two questions sum up the whole Christian life. “Who are you Jesus?” We need to know Him.  Then, “what would you have me to do?” We need to serve him.
So was Saul wonderfully converted, saved by the Grace of God after he almost made it to the place of disaster. What about you? Are you kicking against the goads? Are you going your own way? I hope you don’t make it. God has given you yet another day to turn around and turn to Him. Be sure to avail yourself of His glorious Grace.

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”
I Timothy 4:13

A primary distinctive of Calvary Chapel is our endeavor to declare to people the whole counsel of God. We see this principle illustrated when Paul met with the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. As they were on the shore of the Aegean at Miletus, around the coastal area of Ephesus, Paul said that he was innocent of the blood of all men, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27).

Now, how is it possible for a person to claim to have declared, ‘the whole counsel of God?” The only way a person could make that claim to his congregation would be if he taught through the whole Word of God with them, from Genesis to Revelation. Once you’ve taken your congregation through the Bible, then you can say to them, “I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God.”

This can’t be done with topical sermons. Topical sermons are good, and they have their place, but when you’re preaching topically, you’re prone by nature to preach only those topics that you like. And there are topics in the Bible that aren’t very inspiring. They don’t excite the people, but they are necessary issues that have to be dealt with. The human tendency, however, is to avoid these. If you’re only preaching topically, you may also tend to avoid controversial or difficult topics, and the people won’t gain a well-balanced view of God’s truth. So the value of going straight through the Bible is that you can say, “I have not shunned to declare to you all the counsel of God.”

Now, I believe that I can say to the people at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, “I have declared unto you the whole counsel of God,” because we have taken them from Genesis to Revelation seven times. We’re currently beginning the eighth round. We don’t skip anything. And that’s why in the majority of the Calvary Chapels, and the most successful ones, you’ll find the systematic teaching of the entire Word of God, going through the Bible from cover to cover.

For the most part, the teaching ministry of Calvary Chapel is expositional in style. It doesn’t mean that on occasion we don’t address a particular topic or give topical messages. We’re not saying that topical messages are wrong or evil. They have their place. We don’t want to fall into strict legalism where we analyze every sermon to see if it was homiletically correct and expositionally presented. But, for the most part, we seek to follow the example of Isaiah who said, “But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little;” (Isaiah 28:13). These verses are describing the people’s reaction to Isaiah’s style of teaching.

They were making fun of his method, but it was an effective method. They were complaining about him, mockingly saying that he ought go back and teach the kindergartners because his teaching was “precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” They said these words in derision. Yet, it’s so important to take the people through the Word, line upon line, precept by precept. When we do, we are delivering to them the whole counsel of God.

Another advantage of teaching the whole counsel of God is that when you come to difficult issues that deal with problems in an individual’s life or within the Church body, you can address them straightforwardly. We need not worry about people thinking, “Oh, he’s aiming at me today.” People in the congregation know that it’s simply the passage of Scripture being studied that day. So it can’t be, “Oh man, he’s really picking on me,” because they realize that you’re going straight through the Book, and you’re not jumping from topic to topic. We’re just going straight through the entire Word of God.

In Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 8, when the children of Israel had returned from captivity and were rebuilding the city, the leadership gathered the people together and constructed a little platform. They began in the early morning to read the Word of God to the people. Nemehiah 8:8 declares, “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”

I believe this is a worthy definition of expositional preaching – to read the Word, give the sense, and cause the people to understand the meaning. I have found that many times I really don’t begin to grasp the meaning until I have read a particular passage maybe 50 or 60 times. Suddenly it begins to come together in my own mind. I believe it’s valuable to use good commentaries to help in understanding the meaning of a passage. I appreciate the insights God has given to other men on passages of the Word. But in saying that I appreciate and do read commentaries, I must also confess that often I will read pages and pages from commentaries and get absolutely nothing that I can use. Sometimes when you read seven commentaries on a particular passage, you’re more confused when you’re through than when you started, because there are so many different concepts or ideas on a particular passage. So I believe that one of the best commentaries on the Bible is the Bible itself.

It is important to remember that we don’t generally see immediate or spectacular overnight results in a Calvary Chapel. It takes time to whet and develop the appetite of the people for the Word of God. It takes time for them to grow. For most Calvary Chapels that are planted in a new area, it takes a couple of years to lay the foundation, prepare the ground, plow the hardened soil, work the soil, and plant the seed in the fertile soil. Then you have to wait. The seed doesn’t bear fruit overnight. The seed has to grow and to develop. But, eventually, it begins to bear fruit.

Most of the fellows that I have observed have gone out and by the end of the second year, they’ve hit the crisis point. They’re usually discouraged. They feel it isn’t going to happen where they are. They start believing that the people there are different from other people, and that it’s just not going to happen. You’d be amazed at how many have gone out, and after two years have called me up saying they were going to be leaving because it just wasn’t happening. I’ll encourage them to stay for just another six months or so, telling them, “Look, you’ve come through the hard part. You’ve been through the plowing. You’ve been through the cultivating of the soil. You’ve been through the planting. Now wait and watch and see if any fruit will come forth.” As a general rule, it’s in the third year that you begin to see fruit as a result of planting the Word of God in the hearts of the people. “The seed that falls on good soil will bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred fold,” (Matthew 13:8). But it doesn’t happen overnight.

This can be rather discouraging when there are those who come in with a flash and a fire, and seem to generate an immediate crowd. People are thronging to see the miracles, to watch the fireworks, and here you are just plodding along. You can’t see much development or growth, and these other guys seem to have instant success. But as the Lord said to Daniel, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3).

On the Fourth of July it’s fun to watch the fireworks, the sky rockets, the blazes of glory, and all the color filling the sky. Everybody is “oohing and aahing,” but it only lasts for a short time. Before you know it, it’s just ashes. It’s a big flash and the it’s over. You have to determine which sky you want to shine in. Do you want to shine as a star forever and ever? Or do you want to be like a sky rocket with a sudden flash, coming on the scene dramatically, but with no staying power?

The question has been forced upon us: “Can a born- again Christian be possessed by a demon?” The answer based on the Scriptures and on logic is an unequivocal no!

The proponents of this unscriptural doctrine use such terms as Christians being “invaded by demons” rather than demon possessed. This is nothing more than a word game and a smoke screen to hide the scriptural weakness of their position.

They also present an illogical supposition that demons can invade or control the mind or body but not the spirit. God’s Word declares that the body is a temple of the Holy Ghost who is in us. We’re told to glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits, which are His (I Corinthians 6:19,20). In II Corinthians 6:14-16 the question is asked:

What communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial… And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them.

To say that a Christian’s body or mind can be possessed or invaded by demons is to contradict the Word of God and declare a communion of light and darkness, that God and Satan are dwelling together.

The Scriptures also teach us that Christ is seated in the heavenlies, far above all principalities and powers and mights and dominions (Ephesians 1:21,22). These are references to spirit beings – and Christ is far above them.

Where am I as a believer? According to Ephesians 2:6, I am seated together with Christ in the heavenlies. As Christians we’re in a warfare against these principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12). We need the help of God to stand, for these rulers of the darkness can and do attack us in a variety of ways. But they cannot come in and take control of our lives.

The Scriptures also teach that we are in Christ, and that He is in us (John 14:20). It is Christ in us which is our hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Christ said concerning Satan, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me” (John 14:30). If I’m in Christ and Satan has nothing in Him, Satan can have nothing in me – praise the Lord!

We also read in I John 5:18,

We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
What about these experiences of Christians having demons cast out of them? What are the voices that name themselves, the writhing on the floor, and the regurgitation? I don’t know. I’m thankful that, since I don’t engage in these unscriptural practices, I don’t have to explain them.

Some of the names given by these supposed demons which are more popular are lust, hatred, liar gluttony, envy, fear, and jealousy. These things are classified in Galatians 5:19-21 as the works of the flesh. We’re told to “put off all these” (Colossians 3:8), or by the Spirit to “mortify the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13; 6:3-14). Not once are we commanded to have them cast out.

It seems to me that this whole Christian-and-demon trip is a cop-out for the flesh. I would like to find some easy way to get rid of my fleshly nature, and rather than the painful process of crucifixion, I’d just like to have it cast out. It’s also a way of escaping the responsibility for my fleshly actions. How can I be blamed if “the devil made me do it”?

There doesn’t exist one piece of evidence in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ, His apostles, or the early Church once sought to cast demons of the flesh out of anyone in the Body of Christ. The works of the flesh were recognized, and we’re instructed in how to deal with them. Never are we taught that they’re to be exorcised.

Even in the supposed cases from the Scriptures which would confirm that demons could inhabit a Christian – such as Ananias and Sapphira, “Why hath Satan filled thine heart” (Acts 5:3), or Simon the sorcerer, “Thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity” (Acts 8:23) – Peter didn’t practice exorcism. Instead, there was instant judgment of death in the first case and a call to repentance in the other.

It is sad that many Christians and non-Christians seem to have a greater interest in Satan and being possessed by demons than they do in Christ and being possessed by His Holy Spirit. Those who fall into the practices of exorcism soon seem to be looking for and placing a greater emphasis on the power of Satan to attack than on the power of Christ to keep. Demons become the center of their conversations and teachings rather than Jesus Christ .

We can rejoice in God’s Word, “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4). Thanks be to God

Who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord! We as Christians are told in James 4:7 to “resist,” not “cast out,” the devil – and he will flee from us.

Holiness. A Christian must be set apart––they must live holy lives before God. Holiness is a process and not an achievement. The Word of God needs to take effect in a believer’s life; they need to be transformed and changed (Romans 12:1-2).

Enoch left behind a remarkable testimony. He not only walked with God, he pleased God, and incredibly, he was taken by God (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5). How we need more godly people like Enoch in the Church! Why? So that the world can believe the message of the Gospel! When the message of Christ penetrates our own hearts, then it will penetrate into other people’s hearts. We need to live holy lives so people can see the truth of God’s love, mercy and grace in our lives––fully and completely.

However, instead of God’s Word completely saturating the hearts of His people, and making a lasting change, the Church––the body of believers in Jesus Christ––have allowed something dreadful to happen. Christians have welcomed the world into the Church. We have lost the fear of God and sinned against Him, even willfully. The Church needs to repent!

When we can walk into an R-rated movie or watch pornography on a computer, something is wrong. There is no longer any conviction, and we put Christ to shame. Sadly, the world has captivated the Church. Yet, God pursues the Church He loves. Have we not understood that we are called to separate ourselves from all the things of the world? Do we not realize those who are lost in the world without salvation are watching our lives to see how we behave?

Honestly, I am broken hearted because those who do not know Christ will no longer believe our message. If they do not believe the Gospel, then they will perish. I realize that within each one of our lives, we will have tremendous spiritual battles. Satan wants to disqualify every individual person. So, we must ask the Lord to fill us daily with His Holy Spirit, so we can live the Christian life.

The Apostle Paul exhorts us to live holy lives––separated lives: Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus . . . For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:1-2, 7). Holiness is a preeminent word in this exhortation. We are called to be sanctified and separated to God as we live a holy life before Him. If we desire to please God, then we ought to walk in holiness. Have these important principles, in Paul’s exhortation, taken effect in our lives? Seriously, for God to use our lives to the fullest, we must get rid of sin. Only then can we become truly effective. It is only through living a life of holiness that we can become examples to the Church, our families and the whole world!

The fear of God is more important than being influenced by the world. If we are to copy anyone we need to copy the example of Jesus Christ. We should want to be more like Jesus––a Servant. God will use us to freely love people, from all walks of life. Jesus loves people. We can become salt and light to them (Matthew 5:13-16).

Christians should be sanctified and separate themselves from the things of the world. We need to examine our lives before the Lord, so we can be ready for God to use us. 1Peter 1:15-16 gives to Christians this high standard:  but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” The more a believer in Christ surrenders and submits to God’s authority, the more they will advance to new levels of accomplishments. God wants to anoint and use our lives so we can be powerful in these last days––set yourself apart, and live a life of holiness.

Perspective is a remarkable thing, the times we experience the greatest leaps forward in our Christian walk are often anchored to a divine change of perspective in our lives. Struggling in our own strength we completely open our hearts to God and get a glimpse of His will…His perspective through a scripture that speaks to us, a teaching that convicts us, circumstances we are placed into, a song, a divine encounter, the timely words of a brother or sister, and we suddenly realize the shortfalls of our own human perspective, seeing in a brand new light…God’s light.

For a marathoner or long distance paddler, competitions test every fiber in their being, mile after mile on the road, or in the water their focus and determination is fading, muscles are sore, tired, and aching. Lungs long for a full relaxed breath, and the mind slips into a slow focused pace on the very next stride or stroke at hand. Then not knowing the finish line is close they look up and the realization floods them. With the finish now in sight energy returns, muscles strengthen, resolve increases, breathing quickens, and the sprint for the finish is on.

What an exciting time to live in as followers of Christ, the world around us is rapidly changing. Extreme shifts in geopolitics, the moral slide we are seeing in society, the steady weakening of teaching and conviction of God in our churches. The pressure by the world to push God out of every facet of our lives. Things that used to be considered absolutes in common sense are now questioned and turned upside down. More so than any generation before us, we can now look up and see the finish line looming. We have been blessed with a spiritual perspective no other generation has seen, and that realization should flood each of us.

There were moments in the Ministry of Jesus that he would winnow the crowds with his teachings… by either changing or testing their perspective. Jesus saw that the pews were filling up, the gatherings were massive, so he deliberately preached a message that would thin out the crowds, those that were just holding on, those that were the fair weather disciples. They’re going to walk away, and so we see with the Lord that He is more interested in quality than he is in quantity, more interested in spiritual growth than in great numbers of people, He wants maturity in our lives, He wants depth in our lives, not just a multitude of people. So He thins the crowds out like a thresher winnowing wheat as he throws it up and the wind blows the chaff away.

25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:25 (NASB)

Now we know from the Greek language at the time of Jesus that hate as used here (μισέω miséō) is not used in the same way we normally think of the term today – “Every member of man’s family is a human being, and the love shown to humans compared to the love shown to Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, must be so different that the former seems like hatred” (CWSB Dictionary). So we can understand this as loving less than.

This start to the “winnowing” by Jesus lead right into the heart of things 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Followed by advice to actually take the time to gain a complete understanding of the consequences and rewards of what it will mean to follow Christ. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

Now we have the words of Jesus before us, and we can read about the result of these words on the crowds in his day, but in the here and now these words are speaking to us in light of the spiritual perspective given to us by the times we are living in (our looking up). The finish line to eternity is growing larger as it gets closer and closer, with eternity in view is our spiritual energy returning, spiritual muscles strengthening, spiritual resolve increasing, spiritual breathing quickening, and the sprint for the finish on?

Christians this is time for each of us to reflect and truly count the cost in following Jesus, which side of the winnowing is your life falling on?

Bill Stonebraker

Recently I visited a part of the country where Calvary Chapels have struggled to gain traction. I was informed of two pastors who after twenty years of ministry were thinking of shutting down their churches. I have known these men for many years, and think of them as capable pastors. Now after twenty years, circumstances have collided to cause them to evaluate closing their doors. This is not the Calvary Chapel story we like to write. We prefer the mega-church with the mega-success – big buildings, large crowds, multiple ministries, missions all over the world. This makes for easier reading, and is a less troublesome way of connecting the dots. We tell fledgling pastors, “Do ministry the Calvary Chapel way and people will come.” I wonder if we in Calvary Chapel have created our own prosperity doctrine for church growth.

The truth is, when God calls a man to Christian ministry there is no guarantee of numerical largess. God’s call to us is faithfulness. His sovereignty and His Spirit are responsible for the results. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” The work of the Kingdom is accomplished in the individual person’s heart, regardless of where their body happens to be sitting or how many bodies are adjacent. We build large sanctuaries to accommodate more people, but the work of King Jesus is done in the privacy of the heart regardless of the brick and mortar accommodations we have arranged. How many large auditoriums that once housed crowds of people seeking Jesus, are now cold and empty. Ultimately, the trappings of church are irrelevant.

In evaluating my ministry and its results, I have come to realize the building we built, and the accruements we assembled, were only a means to reach the souls of people. And it’s those people – their lives, their families, their destiny – that make up God’s Kingdom. If tomorrow we shut down the programs, and bulldoze the building, does it diminish what was done for so many years in the hearts of people? All tangible evidence of our ministry can be wiped away in an instant, but heaven views it differently. Pastors are not always privy to the scales God uses to weigh what goes on in the unseen realm. God sees the souls saved, the love shown, the Word taught, the pastor’s faithfulness even when it got hard. And in the end, heaven hands out its rewards accordingly. As we are told in Daniel 12:3, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.”

So pastor, even after you have labored for twenty years, and your lease is up, and your building goes back to retail space, and the people remaining have found other church homes, it does not invalidate what God did through you for two decades. Unlike us, heaven never mistook the physical frills of church as an advancement of the Kingdom. Heaven kept its eyes on the redemption of people – and not only how many, but how thoroughly. And this continues to be heaven’s evaluation into the future. This is how God can still say to a pastor who has nothing left to show for his efforts, “well done, good and faithful servant.” Perhaps your time in that part of the field is over, and God needs you elsewhere.

As a young teen I was totally turned off by traditional church and its people. My disdain was not due to any lack of sincerity or love on their part. Truth be told, I simply wanted to sin, so I walked away from church and church people, and thought I would never look back!

When some ambitious evangelist would cross my path, I had ways to dismiss his enthusiasm pretty easily.  When some contemporary representative tried to “cool” his way into my life to share the gospel, I could see through him a mile off and would remain unmoved. Yet in the end, I was influenced to return to the Lord by the most odious of all approaches- a pushy family friend speaking to me at a time when my self-made philosophies had crashed and burned. While at the time I was delighted to find that the Jesus Movement had a contemporary look that made me feel more comfortable, the “relatability” of those Christians was just the frosting on the cake. I was God’s no matter what!

Growing in Calvary Chapel a few years after my conversion and eventually getting called to ministry through Calvary, I was blessed to find a place where I fit in socially. But those social intangibles were nothing compared to the great essentials of the Christian faith that I was ingesting. Those essentials of abiding deep in the Word of God, of focusing on Jesus, and of learning a new dependence upon the Holy Spirit were life to my soul!

A few years ago, an internationally-known pastor asked me a leading question, inquiring what Calvary Chapel was all about. I suppose he meant to challenge the relevance of expository Bible teaching as a way to reach the people in his demographic.

My response was that Calvary Chapel pastors don’t just believe expository teaching. We believe in the effect of expository teaching and preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit. One pastor expressed it well – in every message there must be milk, meat, and manna, which is that timely and applicable word drawn from whatever Scripture is being taught. I can’t count how often I have heard people remarking after a message that God was speaking directly to them. I have often said that while I am fumbling with words to communicate God’s amazing Word, He is having a private conversation using those same words to reach the hearer.

That pastor who questioned me has also asked how speaking from the Old Testament recounting the doings of the prophet Elijah, for example, could possibly impact those in his church. In his field of service he said there were many hanging by a thread and who are in dire need of the simple Gospel.

The thought of what was meant by the simple Gospel made my head spin. Yes we know we can express the Gospel in simple terms. But some take the argument to the degree that one can condense the entire Bible down to a simple, essential Gospel message.   That may be possible, but it then leaves some questioning, “Why bother with the Old Testament anymore since we have the New Testament?” Some groups have even felt the need to only dispense New Testaments, with perhaps Psalms and Proverbs attached. Yes it is less expensive, but are we missing something here?

This is where the genius of God’s Word comes in! God speaks His whole counsel to us. We are built upon the “foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). When a mother speaks to her infant, she does so with the thought that while he does not understand what she is saying now, the more she speaks, the more that child will comprehend and in time will learn that language. In fact, studies clearly show that mothers who engage in verbal communication face to face with their infants see a dramatic difference in that child’s comprehension and ability to speak, compared to moms who don’t. Some mothers have learned the hard way that dumbing down their language to a cute-sounding baby babble has only hindered their children from learning to speak properly.

Are we smart enough to decide what a young believer can handle? Shall we not instead encourage them to read through the entire Bible? Clever pedagogues who edit out the difficulties of God’s Word may only handicap believers who need a solid diet of the whole counsel of God’s truth.

True, there are places in our inner cities that harbor a world of brokenness, with people slipping into eternity every hour. So if I approach a member of the Bloods or Crips in the inner city, will my first thought be to share about the “cloud the size of a man’s hand” in the Elijah narrative? Probably not! Well, maybe, if the occasion warrants it. After all, is there an Old Testament reference that does not have a contemporary application?

Perhaps, to stick with my Elijah theme, approaching the gang member with the account of God working through a small remnant, the cloud, may very well speak to him. He may realize that all the huffing and puffing of his ego to effect control on his contemporaries cannot compare with the little ways in which God affects real change. Don’t despise the day of small things since after all Jesus became a baby in a manger. Perhaps that gang member would also wonder how some pastor is unafraid to speak the truth to him. After all, “every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him” (Proverbs 30:5).

The proven, whole counsel of the Word of God is important! In equipping the saints for the work of the ministry and deepening them to be spiritual warriors, John writes, “you are strong for the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the wicked one”(1 John 2:14). And of God’s word the Psalmist declared, “Will he not magnify His word above all His name (Psalm 138:2)?

Jesus also likened His Word to seed falling on soil. Every seed has a string of genetic code guiding every detail of the plant’s growth and quality. A single acorn contains every bit of information required to create a future, massive oak tree.

So the Word of God, like a seed planted in the human heart, has all that it needs to form a new, magnificent creation. The spiritual DNA in that little seed even has the power to rewrite our existing, corrupted code. God’s Word can actually change lives that have been given over completely to drug addiction and countless other vices. This is the power of the Word of our Living God! Our clever distilling of the Gospel to a few words may be enough to arrest that gang member, to convict him of sin, but he will need a full array of God’s truth to come into the fullness of God and His purposes.

Jesus spoke even more forcefully on this to His disciples in John 6:63, “…The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” Words are more than words. God speaks and transforms us by that implanted word in our hearts. You will not be the same!

Bible illiteracy is at an all time high, even among evangelical churches. Running on a few spiritual pop tarts may provide temporary energy, but without the substantial diet of the Word of God, Christians will falter when the deeper challenges come. We need a balanced diet of Old and New Testaments, taught faithfully and enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God.

On a personal note, I want to exhort you all and especially those in ministry. As pastors, it can be easy to wax professional and make the time we spend studying to teach the only time we spend in the Word of God.   As determined as I am to “study myself to death and pray myself alive again”, I am equally determined not to get lazy with my personal study. I need to open the Word of God for me, apart from what I am prepping for a message, and let God speak to me personally. In doing so, I am confident His Word is having its effect on me. Then and only then am I prepared to dig deep into my study for the church fellowship.

Coming back to our commitment to the whole counsel of the Word of God, I understand that there may be some among us who get lazy in their sermon preparation, believing they need but turn to a verse, make a comment or two before going to the next verse, and so on. Not so pastors! As a general rule, I often allow at least 10-15 hours of study for every hour I speak. Study the Word before you teach it. Put time into preparing that perfectly balanced meal of milk, meat, and manna.

But if on the one extreme we see a lazy yawning form of verse by verse teaching, on the other extreme, we have seen a great amount of diligence being given to devising all manner of gimmickry, props, and humor that also falls well short of the point. I am certain that there is no methodology of man capable of reaching third generational narcissistic Christians not to mention a world adrift and bereft of God. But God’s Word can cut though the most difficult hearts.

This brings me back to my answer to the pastor who inquired about Calvary Chapel. I believe in teaching and preaching the whole word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. I am confident God’s Word will not return void!