1 Co 12:17-18 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

There he was, standing with his baseball glove in his mouth, staring down the batter at home plate. My third baseman, my hero, the terror of Pee Wee Little League baseball players everywhere, Joseph Andrew Rosales.

Joseph was never much interested in sports. For him, involvement in athletics seemed to be something you would do once in awhile, but not necessarily something that one should get too involved in.

Being home, kicking off his shoes, and just relaxing with the family seemed to be all he was interested in. Baseball certainly wasn't something he had ever been too caught up in, but he did play for a couple of seasons, and I can't help but believe part of the reason he did this at all was because he thought I would like watching him play, and he was right.

But there he was, all eight years old of him. Standing next to the bag, chewing on his glove, waiting for the pitcher to somehow discover where the baseball had hidden in his glove so he could wind up and throw his marshmallow towards the backstop. Only this time, the pitcher actually threw the ball across the plate, and the batter somehow connected, and the ball screamed towards Joseph standing quietly at third base.

Joseph made a beautiful stop with his chest.

Dazed as he was, he somehow got control of himself, picked up the ball, threw it over the first baseman's head, and then ran off the field, directly into the arms of his Daddy who was standing on the sidelines.

As I cradled his little head in my hands, and as I consoled him and kissed his little face, I could not help but to think of how many times I have run into the arms of my heavenly Father.

Times that I have been caught off guard, hurt, and embarrassed.

Times when I needed to be held by Him, consoled by Him, encouraged by Him, loved by Him.

Touched by Him.

I also learned something else that has impacted my life tremendously.

I came to realize that I too was part of Joseph's team.

Though I wasn't on the field, still, my presence was necessary. My presence was an encouragement to Joseph, and to the rest of the team.

Then I thought about the Church, which in a way is God's team.

This led me to realize that every person on God's team is necessary; not only the ones who are on the field playing, but also the ones who are there, encouraging others.

In church, sometimes we may get the mistaken idea that only certain people are on the actual team. We may think that the pastor, elders, deacons, musicians, or Sunday school teachers are the real players, and we are only spectators, cheering them on as they fight valiantly for Jesus. We may even become sorrowful, because we think we will never be on the first team.

To make this application more personal: you may not be able to do the things you once did. Perhaps your body does not respond to commands anymore. Perhaps you lack transportation, or are unable to perform the kind of ministry you once performed, and you feel useless and unnecessary.

You need to remember one thing: you are still on the team.

Today, you just may be used by Jesus to love and encourage someone who needs a gentle word and a loving touch. You may be used today to bring comfort and security to someone desperately needing to hear from the Lord, or you may hear of something that needs immediate prayer.

Be ready, because you never know when you will be called on.

Wait and be ready, because you are on His team.

Consistency !!

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. (Lu 24:50-53) Blessing led to worship, joy, and consistency! What we enjoyed yesterday can be continuous!

Good morning! Tomorrow is Good Friday and we have (2) services scheduled! The first one begins at 12noon, and will be about 1hr in length, just perfect if you are planning to attend during your lunch time. Our Good Friday evening service begins at 7pm. I will be sharing a different message at each service on Friday, and we will have worship with our CCCV Praise Team!

On Easter Sunday morning, we have (3) services: 8am, 9:45am, and 11:30am. I'll be sharing an Easter message, and we will be joined in worship by our CCCV Praise Team and Choir!

We would love to celebrate our Risen Savior with you all, so remember to invite your friends and family to Good Friday and Easter Services at Calvary Chapel Chino Valley!

He is Risen !!

Christians everywhere are looking forward to celebrating Easter - in remembrance of the price that was paid, as Jesus Christ rose from the grave, conquering sin and death, so that we could be given new life in Him! Yet, during this time it can be easy to get bogged down in church programs, traditions, or spring-time events - not fully understanding the impact of His Resurrection on each of our lives. As Christians, we should be different people than we were before we knew Christ. Our thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions should no longer reflect our sinful nature, but rather our new spiritual nature. The Truth that sets us free is reflected through a changed life. The apostle Paul said that we are to, "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:31-32) Paul also tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23a) The truth is that Jesus died and rose again, not only to give us eternal life, but to give us abundant life now! As we prepare to celebrate Jesus' Resurrection, may we reflect that Spirit-filled life that is ours in Him.

We have begun a new year what a great time to ask ourselves the question, "Do I spend enough time alone with God?" You see, Jesus' ministry on earth was a busy one, He was thronged by people at all times of the day or night. Mark 1:32-34 gives us an example of a typical day for the Lord, "Now at evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him." Even though Jesus was 100% God, He was also 100% human and needed physical strength to meet the needs of the day. He needed to nourish His body with food and find time to rest as well. But Jesus recognized that there was an even greater need - that of spiritual nourishment - and time and time again the Bible tells us that the Lord spent time alone with the Father in prayer. Whether it was getting up very early in the day, or walking to a deserted place in the evening, Jesus consistently took time to be alone with God, the Father. If Jesus needed time alone with the Father in prayer, how much more do you and I need that time of communion? None of us will ever have demands put upon us like Jesus, we will not go about healing people, casting out demons on a daily basis, nor will we face the persecution; shame, and pain of the cross. But we will face daily temptation from our own fleshly desires, the world, and Satan. And we will consistently face problems of diverse kinds in this life - maybe it's relationship trouble, financial trouble; health trouble; job trouble, or family trouble. Our priority must be to stay in close communion with the Father - to do His will every moment of the day. All to often, we get immersed in the busyness of the day and the trials and troubles invade our life and we leave no time for personal fellowship with God. The very thing that we put on the back burner should be put first in our life - time alone with the Lord. Is it any wonder that we are on edge; giving in to temptation and defeated in our Christian life? Let's start this new year out on the right foot and get our priorities straight! We must see the importance of praying and reading His Word on a daily basis. Don't allow yourself to be tempted to think that you can "go it alone" on any given day! Jesus said, "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matt 26:41) As you make this a priority in your life - the Lord will strengthen you and give to you the power and peace to face life's trials.

God is good

The children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years, not because
that was how long it would take to get to the Promised Land - but because
they continually rebelled against God and were unfaithful to His commands!
When we read of the account, we find it hard to believe that they would
continually forget all the miraculous deeds the Lord did in bringing them
out of Egypt and providing for their needs in exile. How could one forget
all the plagues that came against Pharaoh? How could one forget how the
Lord parted the Red Sea? How could one forget the manna that God provided
each and every morning, to feed them while they were in the desert? But
wait...before we shake our heads and roll our eyes at their actions, maybe
we need to take inventory of our own lives. Could it be that we have
forgotten the glorious deeds that the Lord has performed in our lives?
Sometimes, people who have been walking with the Lord for a long while,
will forget the kind of person they were prior to God's grace and mercy
upon their lives. They can become self-righteous and arrogant - looking
down on those who are living a sinful lifestyle. And though the Lord does
not want us to remember our sins, He does want us to remember that,
"...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)It is
when we, as believers, walk through dark valleys, unable to understand the
hurt, pain, and sorrow that surround us, when our world seems to be
falling apart and the Lord seems to be silent, that we need to remember
how the Lord has rescued us in that past. We need to remember all the
times that God intervened; answered our prayers; opened or closed a door;
and led us safely to the other side! When we determine to remember God's
glorious deeds from the past we can set our hope anew on God for the
future! And the more we remember what God has already done for us, the
more we will obey Him now - in the present, when our circumstances are
difficult and filled with temptation.As we enter into the holiday season,
I don't know what you might be going through, but I do know that God has
been faithful to you in the past, and will be faithful to you now and into
the future. May I encourage you to take time to remember all that He has done for you -
He has given you eternal life and adopted you into His family! He has
taken care of you and will continue to do so. Learn a lesson from the
children of Israel, and make sure you always remember what God has done!

Genuine Revival Pt 2

Cal Thomas wrote something interesting, and I consider it worthy of reading and thinking about.

In calling for a spiritual revival in America at his Lincoln Memorial rally Aug. 28, talk show host Glenn Beck reached back into history and touched on a familiar theme.

What would a genuine revival look like and how did those that have transformed America several times in the past get started? Earlier revivals were not created from the mobilization of large crowds. They occurred when people did something infrequently observed in modern times: humbled themselves.

Depending on how you count them there have been at least three “great awakenings” in American history. All of them—along with revivals in other countries—had one thing in common. They all began with what the late revival historian J. Edwin Orr called “a concert of prayer.”

The 1857 revival is instructive. It began when two men working on Wall Street decided to meet once a week on their lunch hour to pray for revival. They soon decided to meet daily. They did not issue a press release. Other men soon joined them. The group grew so large they started meeting at night in churches and invited their wives to participate.

Revival came like a brush fire, exploding not only in New York City, but also up the Mohawk River and down the Hudson, into Appalachia. According to Revival-Library.org, from February to June 1858, “around 50,000 people a week were added to the church—in a nation whose population was only 30,000,000. Across the Atlantic another million were won to Christ by 1865. . . . Ulster saw 100,000 converted, Scotland 30,000, Wales 100,000 and England 500,000.”

Besides prayer, another characteristic of the 1857 revival and all other revivals was genuine repentance and a confession of personal guilt before a holy God. Anyone familiar with the Old and New Testaments knows that humbling one’s self before God gets His attention faster than any earthly pursuit or agenda.

Modern evangelicals, so preoccupied with who is in the White House or which party controls Congress, might benefit from studying the results of the revivals. As Orr tells it, not only did the 1857 revival have a profound social impact on America, it also dramatically affected every society it reached. Following the revival of 1905, crime virtually disappeared in London. The police had little to do, so they formed quartets and sang at the revival meetings.

A Chicago shoe salesman named Dwight L. Moody wanted to teach Sunday school at a local church, but was told by its superintendent that the church already had 16 teachers too many. The superintendent instructed Moody to “get some boys off the street” and “take them to the country. . . . They will be your class.” That was the beginning of a ministry and missionary work that lasted 40 years.

Revivals don’t ratify the earthly aspirations of humanity, including selfish political agendas. They are about glorifying God. Too many modern Christians have it backward. In a real revival the Lincoln Memorial event would have been a result, not an attempt to cause a revival. People would have assembled who had already repented in private. They would not have bemoaned a decline in American “morality,” but instead have fallen on their knees (or faces) and cried out in genuine repentance and humility.

On his blog, Dr. Russell Moore, dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., writes: “Too often, and for too long, American ‘Christianity’ has been a political agenda in search of a gospel useful enough to accommodate it. There is a liberation theology of the Left, and there is also a liberation theology of the Right, and both are at the heart mammon worship. . . .”

What passes for American Christianity today is increasingly counterfeit. It appears more focused on a transient earthly kingdom, rather than a heavenly eternal kingdom. That is idolatry and violates the First Commandment: “Thou shall have no other gods before me.”

When Christians obey that Commandment, and humble themselves, only then might revival follow.