From Pastor Paul

Stealthily they walked through the jungle, a single column of men, cautiously looking right and left as they traveled. They were well armed as they moved through the brush. Their enemies would have been fools to rush them head on. Instead, one by one, they began to emerge from the bushes grabbing the last man in line, carefully covering his mouth so he could not cry out in warning to the others.

Isn't that the way it usually goes? I couldn't tell you how many movies I've watched wherein it happened this way. You'd think they would get wise to this plot after a while and put two men back to back, heavily armed with some sort of siren device on them. That way when the enemy tried to pick them off from the end of the line they would be very well guarded. But no they continue doing it the same old way. I've tried to tell them as I watched, "Look behind you buddy!" But they just refused to listen to me.

But isn't life a little like that? Many live day to day looking back to what happened yesterday. We fret and worry about what we have done. Many a movie star or sports star has ruined their lives and careers because of choices they made yesterday. Perhaps they are sorry for what they've done, although in too many cases they are only sorry after they have been caught. Regardless, we can't change what took place yesterday. We can apologize if an apology is in order; we can try to repay others if we have cheated someone. We can attempt to make right what we did wrong yesterday. Still, the mark is there and we cannot erase it.

Many have said, "If I could just live that incident over I'd do things differently." You know what? If we made the choice we made yesterday, unless we could relive it with the knowledge we have today, more than likely we'd make the same choice as we did before.

Let's just face facts here; we make bad decisions. We get angry; we feel justified and we do things in haste as a result. God calls it sin. If we could only have a heavily armed guard in the rear protecting us from those wrong choices, mistakes, and sin that we did yesterday wouldn't life be a whole lot easier?

In Isaiah 52:12 God, through the prophet Isaiah, speaks of this very thing. It says, "For you shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard." Isn't that a neat thought? It tells us that God will not only go in front of us but He will also be the heavily armed guard in the back. If we listen to Him, and if we follow Him, He will not only lead us down the path of safety but He will also be at the end of the line taking care of the enemy who desires to pick us off one by one from behind.

In essence He is also saying that if we are faithful in following Him, by doing what He tells us in the Bible as it witnesses to our conscience, He will not only take us down the right road of the future, protect us and guide us today, but He will also be there to help us make the right decisions that will protect our yesterdays. In other words, we won't have to live in regret of yesterday.

I know we all make mistakes and wrong choices. The Lord knows that I've certainly made my share, and then some, of bad decisions. But that only happens when we aren't in tune with God; when we act without seeking His will and His instruction. But when we are orchestrated with the God of Heaven, and we are following His music, the music of life, then He will become our guard against yesterday.

See You Sunday,

Pastor Paul

From Pastor Paul:

One of my favorite Easter stories comes from the Gospel of John. It takes place a few days after Easter, Jesus has appeared to the disciples twice now. And one day Peter and a few other disciples decide to go fishing. It seems like a perfectly normal thing to do, after all they have spent the majority of their adult lives fishing.  

And so now that their time following Jesus around Galilee seems to have come to an end they return to fishing.  

But they were not very successful. They fished all night and they did not catch a single fish. They are discouraged and frustrated, and then just after dawn they hear a man standing on the beach asking them if they have no fish. When they honestly reply that they do not, he tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat because there they will find fish.  

So, figuring it can't hurt to try, they cast their nets to the other side. And they cannot even haul the nets into the boat because they were so full with fish.  

Immediately they recognize that this stranger on the beach is the risen Jesus and they quickly go to shore to meet him, build a fire, and feast on fish with him.

I love that the disciples, at a loss for what to do now that Christ has risen, return to something familiar. They return to what they know.  

But they find that it does not quite work out for them anymore. And here comes this man with a ridiculous suggestion that the problem is simply that they are fishing from the wrong side of the boat! The man tells them to cast their nets to the right side of the boat. Like all fishermen at the time, the disciples were fishing from the left side of the boat. This is because the steering apparatus was located on the right side of the boat and thus fishing from that side risked tangling the net with the steering apparatus when a full net of fish was raised into the boat.  

This meant fishing from the right side of the boat could result in damage to the boat or the net, something any fisherman would want to avoid. And yet the disciples find, when they allow the risen Jesus to change their old fishing habits they get an abundant catch. 

We are so like those disciples returning to fishing. After celebrating the Easter season many of us return to our old habits, routines, and patterns of life. Like the disciples, we too return to what we know.  

Jesus does not admonish the disciples for returning to their old way of fishing. Instead he offers them a small but significant transformation, a twist on the old way that has huge results.  

The risen Jesus offers us a twist on the old way, we are called to respond to the Resurrection with fearless love that transforms even our smallest habits, routines, and ways of life.  

What would it look like for you to fish on the other side? What would it look like for you to go about everyday life responding to the call of the risen Christ?  

Cast your nets to the other side. Allow familiar ways to be transformed by resurrection love.

See You Sunday,  Pastor Paul

From Pastor Paul:

Every year when the NCAA men’s basketball tourney takes place I am often reminded of past tourneys and feats of heroics (and no I’m not referring to IU’s 5 National Championships, sorry Boilermaker fans). In mid-March every year teams take the stage with high hopes of going as far as they can in the tourney regardless of the odds.

One tourney that sticks out as one of my favorites took place in 1983. That year the North Carolina State Wolfpack won eight consecutive games which propelled them into the title game.  They faced the University of Houston Cougars, whose twin towers, Clyde Drexler and Hakeen Olajuwon, had earned the nickname “Phi Slamma Jamma.”

Experts considered the championship match an afterthought. Houston needed to go only through the motions. But the Wolfpack had other ideas. Another contest as an underdog didn’t faze Jim Valvano’s team.

NC State used the same strategy that had carried it on its winning streak. The team stuck to a controlled offense, tight defense, and planned to foul late to force Houston into pressure free throws. The tactics worked well. The Wolfpack led 33-25 at the half.

Houston regrouped and went on a 17-2 run. With three minutes remaining, the Cougars forged ahead 52-46. NC State began to foul. The plan worked. Houston missed free throws, and the Wolfpack hit buckets.

With the score tied at 52, Valvano ordered his team to work for the final shot. But the Pack’s offense wasn’t clicking and time ticked away. Dereck Wittenberg fired a desperation shot that touched nothing but air. Suddenly, two monstrous hands reached up, grabbed the ball, and stuffed it through the hoop as the buzzer sounded. The hands belonged to NC State’s Lorenzo Charles. The Wolfpack reigned as the NCAA Basketball Champs.

NC State proved that things don’t always go as planned. The strongest and the swiftest don’t always win. The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote: “I have seen something else under the sun: the race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise nor wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11)

Time and chance happen to all. And God controls both. Let that be a reminder to us as we continue the work God has called us to here at Calvary. The Wolfpack’s 1983 championship season is a powerful statement as to what can be accomplished if one stays focused on the task at hand. As we move forward in ministry let us continue to pray for the readiness to receive the unexpected from God.

See You Sunday, Pastor Paul

From Pastor Paul:

As I sit here in my office looking out the window, it’s raining and the wind chill is hovering around 30 degrees. It’s on days like today when I think how nice it would have been to stay in bed wrapped in a warm blanket or to be sitting in front of a warm fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate. However, I realize that we can’t always do what we want to do. In fact many times in life we find ourselves dealing with climate changes (and I don’t mean just the temperature) that we just don’t want to face. We would rather be anyplace but where we are.

Every year, many of us resolve to do things differently in the coming year. We do so in hopes that maybe the coming year will be the year that we overcome some of the addictions and habits that have become a burden in our lives. Maybe you resolved to lose weight. Maybe you thought that it was time to lay off the chocolates or caffeine. Maybe you decided this was the year you were going to make amends with someone whom you have had a falling out with. One month into the New Year, I can’t help but wonder how many of you are struggling to keep those New Year’s Resolutions that you set. We tend to make excuses and the climate might not always seem right for change. Many outside circumstances force us to alter our commitments and so we struggle along doing the best we can.

As Christians, we have been called to present the Gospel message to the world. To do so, we need to change our way of thinking and find a way to come together. It is only when we come together that we are truly the body of Christ. It is as a collection of members that we accomplish the works of apostles, prophets, teachers and healers. It is only when we work together that the whole Christian story can be told.

Last Sunday we embarked upon a journey to be unified in prayer as a church community. Through this Prayer Initiative we are making a commitment to come together in prayer (this prayer can be found in this month’s E-Navigator, our weekly Guidelines for Prayer and the bulletin each week) on a regular basis and listen for God’s guidance (nudgings) through the process. The leadership at Calvary believes that this is one way we can come together as a unified body and as we share our stories about what God has laid on our hearts we will begin to understand how God is calling us to present the Gospel message to the community that we serve. This will allow us to focus on matters outside our own personal lives and perhaps change the narrative of this church as we venture out into the unknown future.

So, how will we tell the Christian story in the year that lies ahead? What New Year’s Resolutions will we make as the body of Christ in our church today, and what will we do to show that our commitment is more than skin deep? This is the year to:

• Show real warmth as we reach out to the community, welcome visitors to our congregation, and work to strengthen the bonds of Christian community among us.
• Demand authenticity in our Christian education, congregational care and personal interaction inside, and outside, of the church, so that we won’t settle for pat answers to difficult questions or challenges.
• Encourage passion in our worship and outreach to our community, so that everyone will feel and see, our commitment to the work of our gracious and powerful God.
• Focus on Jesus in every aspect of our church’s life, so that we will be able to deepen our relationship with the One who is our Lord and our Savior.

Warmth, Authenticity, Passion and Jesus. These are the four key characteristics of a healthy church, and they are the four qualities that will be decisive for the vitality of the body of Christ in 2023 and in the years to come. See you Sunday!!

Pastor Paul

From Pastor Paul

November 27th begins the season of Advent. For 28 days, we journey to the manger where we experience God’s presence become flesh and dwelling among us. God’s good news takes human form to tell us we are not left alone in this life. Emanuel, God with us, comes to us. It is a life-changing story that we enter at this time of year.

This year, I wonder how we will get there. It seems now with the branding of Christmas that there are many other paths to Christmas Day. For some, Christmas is now about what sits under the tree after searching at length for presents we may or may not need. Encountering God’s life-transforming presence seems less interesting if it is even remembered as the story of this season.

The basic definition of Advent means the coming or arrival of a notable person, thing or event. As Christians, we know how our familiar story ends (or begins) with God arriving through poor, unknown parents in a back alley of a small city. In a poem unrelated to Advent yet very pertinent, T.S. Eliot speaks about being in a familiar place and yet exploring it until we arrive at the same place and know it in new ways. He writes,

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

~T.S. Eliot

We know the destination of Christmas, but what path will we take in our travels through Advent to the manger and Christmas Day? Jesus’ own words in his Sermon on the Mount can be helpful: seek and we will find. We find God’s way in the midst of searching for it. We find God’s dream for us when we follow the Way of hope, peace, joy and love.

What if we take that path, a path less traveled this season? Let’s search for the manger using God’s Way of hope, peace, joy and love as if they are points on a compass and we are seeking ways to live authentic and faithful lives to a story that has transformed us and wants to do so again. What might we see in an otherwise routine and annual story? What unexpected turns will we take? What stops will we make along the way?

I’m looking forward to our journey together and what God will reveal to us along the way and on Christmas Day. I’m looking forward to searching for God’s Way this Advent and the ways God will make us living examples of God’s presence in the world.

Traveling Mercies,

See You Sunday,

Pastor Paul

From Pastor Paul:

Driving around northern Indiana this past week I have been somewhat hypnotized by the trees and the brilliant colors on display. It seems to me that they are more prominent than in years past. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older and have learned to appreciate things more. I don’t know? Whatever the reason this has always been my favorite time of the year. However, when I stop the car and get out I am reminded that the leaves are falling off the trees and that this particular beauty will be short lived. Winter is right around the corner. Winter is the time when I often reflect upon the changing seasons of life. It is a reminder that there is an end to everything and I begin to wonder what legacy I might leave behind when my time on earth is finished.

Have you ever thought about what you are going to leave behind when you die? Most people think in terms of possessions—property, money, stocks and bonds, and so forth. But let’s think in terms of spiritual heritage. What kind of lifestyle, what kind of understanding of who God is and what the Scriptures say will be your legacy?

You may say, “Wait a minute. You can’t give someone else your faith. That’s something everyone has to experience on a personal basis. You can’t really give your faith away.” You cannot give away your experience, I admit, but you can hand down your faith. You can leave your sense of moral values, the understanding of the principles of Scripture, those principles of the Word of God that have guided you and led you as you made your decisions in life….

If you are a Godly parent, or grandparent, look at what you may have to give to your children. You may not be able to leave them even a small amount of money, but if you have loved God and practiced the principles of Scripture, if you have loved your children and listened to them, you will leave them a faith to sustain them through every difficulty, every heartache, and every trial of life.

As the seasons of life come and go, our challenge as parents and as a church is to build strong Christian homes. To teach our children everything we know about God and life. By doing so we will in fact be leaving them the greatest treasure they will ever receive. 

See You Sunday,

Pastor Paul           

From Pastor Paul:

Back in the late sixties a group called Simon and Garfunkel wrote a song that stated, "I am a rock, I am an island." It indicated that no matter what happened to them they could stand strong and that they had isolated themselves so no one else could hurt them. It may sound like a noble statement, but in reality we are flesh and bone and we have been created as social creatures and cannot function normally without contact with other people.

I have to confess that it has been a battle in my own life to get close to others. As a pastor you feel like you need to have all the answers, all the time, and that you can never get down because you've always got to be positive. We've been taught and frankly, most people expect, their pastor to always be up, never depressed and ready with the answers they need in their lives. The truth of the matter is that no one pastor can completely and always fulfill such a role. That's because we are all human. We all need friends and someone we can confide in. That's a lesson I've learned the hard way. Over the years I've shared many of my own blunders, mistakes, and sometimes outright sins through my sermons and personal conversations. I've done that because frankly people need to know that pastors are human too. They do make mistakes and they do need friendships and understanding from others.

We need each other and the Bible has many statements giving us instructions on how to treat each other. Here are some examples:

Romans 15:7 tells us that we are to accept each other just as Christ has accepted us.

Galatians 5:13 tells us that we are to serve each other in love.

Galatians 6:2 tells us that we are to carry each other's burdens.

Colossians 3:13 tells us that we are to accept each other and forgive those things that come between us.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us that we are to encourage and build each other up.

And 1 Peter 4:9 tells us to be hospitable to each other without grumbling or complaining.

I'd say that this is a lot of proof that we need each other. Always remember that the sign and evidence of our Christian experience is that we love one another. All of these passages that talk about how we should treat our fellow believers are examples of this love. This is how the world knows that we are Christians. It isn't by how holy we are or how much we know, but how much we love our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

See You Sunday,

Pastor Paul  

From Pastor Paul

Hard things. What makes them bearable? Doable? Where do you find the inner strength that you need to endure them?
     I decided recently that I can put up with almost anything, endure tough things, stretch my comfort zone, and deal with hurts and disappointments. If they are for the Lord. I mean if my attitude ultimately impacts someone for the Lord, then it's worth it. If I sacrifice something for the Lord, it's worth it. If I'm hurting but I know that ultimately that hurt will be worth it because I'm giving it over to the Lord and He will use that situation or hurt for His greater good, then it's so worth it. But things just don't seem very bearable or doable without being able to lean on the Lord or knowing that He will use them.
     I think that is where hope is so valuable. In my life, I have hope because I know I can turn to God and He can bring good from what I am going through or use it in a mighty way. If I couldn't turn to Him, things would just feel so very lonely, hopeless and empty.
     Hard things come into our lives all of the time. It's hard to forgive someone who has hurt us deeply. It's hard to sacrifice our desires, dreams, and wishes especially if other people benefit who may not deserve them. It's hard to feel like we are forgotten or "shafted" not noticed. It's hard to do the right thing when the wrong thing feels so good at the moment! It's hard to swallow our pride, let go of our bitterness, or squelch our anger. It's hard.
     Doing something hard is worth it though. It's worth it if you do it for the right reasons. Do it for the Lord and not yourself. If you do it for yourself that only keeps the focus on yourself and you don't really benefit in the long run. But if you do it for the Lord, then you have a greater cause and something that motivates you to be better, stronger, wiser.
     Yes, doing something hard is worth it, if it's for the Lord. I know that I can do anything if it's for my God. You can too. Find the inner strength you seek by giving those hard things over to God today. 

See you Sunday, 

Pastor Paul   

From Pastor Paul

When I think about the text in Mark 4:35-41 it reminds me, once again that the storms in life are inevitable.  There are circumstances that are out of our control.   

            Think about your life as a boat and the circumstances of life as the storms.  I ask you three questions today. 

            #1 Is Jesus Christ in your boat?  You know if he is or isn't.  If you have asked him into your life he is there.  If you haven't you can.  If he isn't in your boat, your life, during stormy times you will be frantic and experience fear.  It will seem that you have no one to turn to except others who are also in the storm and trial with you.  If Jesus Christ is not in your boat all you need to do is say, "Jesus Christ, come into my life, come into my boat."   

            #2 If Christ is in your boat, your life, what is he doing at this present time?  Is Jesus sleeping and wanting you to see him at peace.  Is Jesus giving you peace in the midst of the storm?  Or is he waking up to speak to your storms and silence them in some dramatic fashion?  Is Jesus giving peace by his actions? 

            #3 If Jesus is in your boat during a storm have you responded with fear instead of faith?  If you have responded, like the disciples, in fear for your own lives do you hear the words Jesus?  "Why are you afraid?  Don't you have any faith?"  The words sound so harsh, and so direct.  Understand that the same grace that followed the rebuke to the disciples is yours as well.  Jesus continued to teach and love the disciples, he did not write them off.  He gave them another chance to show and express their faith.  Jesus Christ extends his loving grace to us today in the form of a second chance and hopes that we will respond in faith on another day. 

              One of my favorite hymns is "It is Well with My Soul." Horatio Spafford wrote it in 1873 after he found out that his four daughters died.  They died when the ship S. S. Ville du Havre sank in November 22, 1873.  The words to this song speak of peace and serenity.  Yet, this song was borne out of intense grief and suffering.  Can you imagine the loss of four of your daughters?  I cannot imagine the suffering.  Yet, Horatio in some way was able to express his faith in this beautiful song. 

            Listen to the words of the first verse.  "When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.  It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul." 

             We have the same man, Jesus Christ, who is in our boat, in our corner, in our lives no matter what storms we find ourselves in.  I want to offer up a special prayer for those who are in the midst of a storm that they might face their fear, they might ask Jesus to come into their boat, that they might see Jesus and might hear his words.   

See You Sunday, 

Pastor Paul