What does it mean to be a mother?  I suppose the first thing we think about is producing new life.  A mother brings new life into the world.  But not by herself.  She needs the help of a male, preferably one with who she is married.  But bringing the little squealing, squirming bundle of life into the world is only the beginning.  The new life is not simply deposited here and left to fend on his or her own. The mother must feed the baby, and God in his great design has provided the nourishment right from the mother’s body!  Time goes on and mother teaches the baby to take nourishment from outside the mother’s body, she teaches the baby how to get on in this new world to which she has brought the baby.  The baby becomes a toddler, an adolescent, an adult, at each stage receiving the appropriate teaching, discipline, correction, education to enable the person properly to respond to each new step of life.  Do you see the parallel to the Christian experience?  Not every woman becomes a biological mother, but every woman can be a spiritual mother, leading people to Jesus, then not just leaving them but helping them grow in their new life.  There are many examples in the Bible of every kind of mother.  We thank God for the mothers of Calvary Chapel.  You have succeeded and you have failed.  You have triumphed and you have been defeated.  But you have gotten up when you have fallen and your lives are a bright light in a dark place.  I love all of you with all my heart and thank God for you. God bless every one of you!

Dr. Richard L. Shaw Ph.D., Pastor

This is in reference to the April 20 letter, “Compassion isn’t limited to believers in God, religion.”

The writer dogmatically affirms: “You do not need to believe in any god or higher power to have compassion. … You do not need to be a member of any religion to have values, morals, and ethics. … People are moved to incredible acts of kindness and generosity fueled by their religious beliefs, or can be swayed to unfathomable acts of violence from those same beliefs.”

True, all human persons have a sense of morality, of right and wrong, good and evil. The letter writer doesn’t inform us as to the origins of these categories or qualities.

The Christian explanation that we are made in God’s image and so reflect his character provides an explanation plausible in all cultures and aspects of the human story.

This is not to say that atheists cannot have a sense of morality, for they are created in God’s image, even though they deny it. But they possess no rationality for differentiation of moral world views.

One’s sense of what fills the category of morality or of kindness can be perverted, even though the “moral imperative” (Kant) is ever present. One could claim that Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Saddam Hussein, et al, thought they were doing the moral thing by murdering millions of people. So how does the atheist rationalize on whose morality is right?

Religious belief has indeed done “unfathomable acts of violence,” as the letter writer states. But the belief that it is moral to kill “infidels” is no part of Christian belief.

No informed Christian denies that atheists have done some good works of compassion. But the great works of compassion are to the credit of Christianity.

The first hospital was built by the Bishop of Antioch around 350 C.E. A hospital provided by the Christian Sabas in Jerusalem in 550 had 200 beds. One of St. Sampson’s in Constantinople had 400 beds.

These and countless other costly acts of compassion are unparalleled by atheists. Respect should be granted all human beings, but history speaks loudly for itself.

Rev. Richard L. Shaw

Much of contemporary thinking assumes that faith is a refuge for the mind when evidence for faith is lacking or unavailable.  This is a consequence of the erroneous assumption that faith must be blind, or somehow a substitute for reason and evidence.  But, faith is based on historical, empirical, experiential fact.  Remember that Thomas, in the New Testament, was not rebuked or dismissed when he expressed his need for evidence to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.  Jesus presented him with the evidence he requested.  What is also important, when Thomas was confronted with the evidence, he then believed and confessed Jesus to be his Lord and God.  So Thomas was not using intellectual doubt as an excuse for not believing.  If one chooses to not believe something, something can always be said against it, whether the objection is plausible or not.  So Thomas was sincere and willing to believe if he could do so without sacrificing reason and plausibility.  It is also true that faith is a gift of God.  Ephesians 2:8, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.  “That”, refers to salvation, grace, and faith.  But a gift must be received for the transaction to be complete.  Being a gift does not preclude our will or response to God’s offer.  Nor does it imply that searching, testing the proposed evidence as a basis for faith is precluded or minimized.  This is all implied in Isaiah’s words from God, that we will find him when we seek him with all our heart.  Salvation is provided for everyone, but it must be received by faith, which does not come automatically but is received as God’s gift when one wants to receive it, and believes God for it.

Dr. Richard L. Shaw Ph.D., Pastor

Some 2000 years ago today the greatest event of all time occurred. A man who had been dead for three Jewish days came back from the dead! Certainly no greater miracle had ever happened before or has since.  But the miracle was not self-contained or self-bounded, i.e., it did not stop with its own occurrence.  It was the precursor of many miracles. Billions of them. The Christian Church would never have been established in the midst of Judaism, Roman imperialism, and the pagan worship of many gods, without the supernatural intervention so obvious as the coming back from the dead of one who came into this world from the Father. And that Church has remained on the earth for 2000 years and today covers the globe with thousands being added to it every day.  Resurrection victory is everywhere! The power of the risen Christ is in Iranian prisons, in schools and churches and pizza parlors and wherever there are Christians.  And millions of people of every nation are experiencing the power, peace, and joy of this risen Christ.  All this in the midst of increasing persecution and martyrdom of brothers and sisters in schools, colleges, churches, etc., everywhere.  This all-out war on Christianity is negative testimony to its power. Who would even bother with them if their lives did not show a power that is truly not of this world? It deeply disturbs the human heart and makes those who resist it determined to rid the world of every mention or sign of the Cross and Resurrection.  Brothers and sisters, pray as never before for an outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit throughout the World.

Dr. Richard L. Shaw Ph.D, Pastor

In this Lenten season the Church typically emphasizes the events surrounding the crucifixion of Christ.  This is not unbiblical nor necessarily biblical, but it seems like a good way of assuring that these events are not neglected.  The danger in it is that some churches then put these important events aside for the rest of the year.  This is unfortunate for many great truths lie buried within these events.  Of course, the crucifixion itself should always be emphasized, for it is the very basis of our Christian faith and experience.  Without Christ’s death on the cross there would be no Gospel, no heaven, no Christian life, no forgiveness of our sins.  As Christians, we stand by the cross with Mary, Jesus’ mother, the other two Marys, and the”disciple whom he loved”,  probably John.  The Cross of Christ is a transforming event to this very day.  Lives are radically changed for the good when the power of the Cross touches them.  Whole cultures have been transformed by its power.  It everywhere stands as a symbol of God’s love and humanity’s sin and rebellion.  Even the Cross itself is transformed by its power!  Imagine such an instrument of torture and agony being worn as jewelry around the neck as a sign of God’s love and forgiveness!  The instrument of death being erected over graves of loved ones as a sign of life!  The Cross stands as a powerful sign of God’s claim on our lives and its power to deliver us from the shackles of selfishness to a life of service and dedication.  The ownership of our lives shifts from us to God when we claim the power of the Cross.  

Written by

Rev. Dr. Richard L. Shaw, Pastor

Urgent times call for urgent dedication.  This is not a time for half-hearted so-so Christianity.  ISIS is gaining territory by the day, and the few places where we have held back their advance are nothing compared to their stolen gains.  And ISIS is not the only threat to Christianity and the peace and safety of the world, but it is one of the most formidable.  An unbelievable 20,000 fighters recently joined their ranks.  But what are they against, the Lord God Almighty?  The battle is, in the last analysis, more of a spiritual battle than a physical one.  As Christians, our armor is already provided.  It is the spiritual armor of the helmet of salvation, meaning that God’s rescue of  His people covers and protects our intellect, our thought processes.  The breastplate is the purity of our emotions centered, not on our enemy, but on Jesus.  If we center on the enemy, our thoughts bring the emotion of anxiety instead of peace.  The belt of truth buckled around our waist is strengthened by our meditating on, and studying, God’s word.  It is also the area of reproduction, which happens easily and spontaneously as we pray and witness faithfully.  Our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel is our ability to not be thrown down by the attacks of the enemy, and our willingness to go to our neighbor with the Good News.  Hold the shield of faith before you, trust in God’s promises, and the flaming arrows of Satan’s accusations will fall short of you.  And use the mighty sword of the Holy Spirit, God’s word, to pierce the consciences of the hardest hearts and bring them in love to Jesus.

Written by

Rev. Dr. Richard L. Shaw, Pastor