I am outraged beyond words at President Obama’s address at the Prayer Breakfast this past Thursday.  His attempt at soft-pedaling atrocities being committed daily by ISIS and other terrorist groups, and suggesting moral equivalency with Christians in the crusades and slavery in the U.S. is simply heinous, irresponsible, and incredible beyond anything we should have expected in a time when the world desperately needs courageous and clear-headed leadership.  He urges us to get off our high horse, atrocities have also been committed in the name of Christ.  But the crusades were committed over a thousand years ago, reluctantly called by Pope Urban II in response to urgent and repeated cries by Christians for protection and help from radical Islam!  American and British slavery was desperately fought and brought to abolition by evangelical Christians.  How anyone with any sense of history and morality and justice could make such comparisons surely escapes normal thinking.  Today we have radical Muslims burning alive a fellow human being ( a Muslim at that) in a cage, kidnaping and raping ten year old little girls, crucifying and burying alive little boys, beheading reporters and others, burning towns and God knows what all else.  And our president dares to say that we who protest should get off our high horse!  Could anyone ever have thought in their wildest imagination that this sort of violation of morality and human decency could ever come out of the mouth of a president of America?  I could not be more urgent or serious when I say, folks, this is a desperate call for prayer, Christian witness, and godly Christian living.  Let’s lead the way!

Written by

Rev. Dr. Richard L. Shaw, Pastor

Whatever one’s viewpoint regarding the end times – whether you believe Jesus is coming to take his church just before the seven-year tribulation period of Revelation 6-19, or that he comes in the middle of the Tribulation, or at or near the end, no one can accurately deny the fact that we are living in dangerous
times.  Many factors make the present times of trouble unique in all of history.  Not one or two countries but the entire world is threatened by evil forces whose brutality is unequaled.  People have done terrible and arbitrary things to enemies during wars, but the brutality done by these terror groups goes way beyond the vanquishing of an enemy force, or demoralizing of a country’s citizens.  The Taliban, for example, has attacked over 1000 schools and slaughtered their children and teachers!  ISIS and the other terrorist groups take fiendish delight in competing with each other for vicious unrelenting cruelty.  It seems that their consciences are totally dead and unable to respond to any situation with any kind of mercy.  Our only real victories are those gained by the brave
Kurdish soldiers as they beat back ISIS and took back some of their land.  If we had provided them with weapons comparable to the ones used by their enemies, they would have beaten them back long ago and saved many innocent lives. We call upon Christians everywhere to pray for God to protect his people.  Pray for a deep and wide spiritual revival.  We at Calvary got a good push in that direction with the two Aglow speakers Thursday, and last Sunday with Tyrone Paul, South African pastor in charge of ten churches, a world traveler and dynamic, enlightening speaker.  What a blessing these three were to us!  God give us many more like them.  Don’t let the fire they started go out!  Fuel it with God’s word, fan it with prayer, and spread it with passionate witness. (And thank God for June Rosato’s leadership of Aglow!  God used it to give us a full church for Aglow with at least two coming to Jesus!)

 Written by

Rev. Dr. Richard L. Shaw, Pastor

Are we living in the last days, i.e. the time just preceding the return of our Lord Jesus Christ?  It would seem so.  “Men’s hearts failing them for fear” seems a good description of what we call “terrorism”.  The most recent incident that brought worldwide attention was the murderous attack on a magazine printing office in Paris.  It aroused a sleeping world.  About four million demonstrators gathered in France, over one million in Paris alone, to protest the continuing acts of terror.  Some 40-world leaders stood arm in arm in the greatest show of unity and outrage that France and perhaps the world has ever seen!  What a beautiful sight that was!  But one great nation was conspicuous by its absence.  That nation was our own great United States of America!  No President.  No Vice President. No Secretary of State.  No Attorney General. (Though he was in Paris that very day!).  We totally snubbed a history making show of force and anger against the greatest threat to worldwide freedom in history!  We should have been there. Regardless of your political affiliation or non-affiliation, you should be outraged at such indifferent inaction by our “leaders”.  Will we never learn?  What an opportunity was missed!  Meanwhile terrorism grows almost unchecked.  Sharia law is gaining ground in some states.  Some 20 enclaves (no go zones) are active in the U.S., 721 in France.  These are places occupied by militant Muslims where our law enforcement officers are kept out, and they are a law unto themselves.  Folks, let’s wake up.  Earnest prayer is a good place to start.  Bringing others to church, praying for their conversion to Christ should be next. Develop a deep walk with God.  We don’t know how much time we will have.  Only a great spiritual revival will stop the spread of terrorism. There.

Written by

Rev. Dr. Richard L. Shaw, Pastor

The gift comes from God, the calling from the church. When the gift is received and treated as just that, a gift, something not of our own making, but something that has been given to us for our nurture, cultivation and stewardship and when the church recognizes it and calls upon us to exercise that gift and when we accept that call and exercise it in a way that brings the Glory back to God, then The Body of Christ experiences the very best that God has for Her. This principle is borne out in scripture and is seen in its highest in the gift of Christ Himself; given to the world, the church recognizes this gift given to the sinner and calls the sinner to exercise it. When the sinner accepts the gift and exercises it by allowing Christ to do His living through him, Glory is given back to God from whom it came. In the highest, anything less is eternal damnation for the sinner. For the body, anything less can bring much trouble. Non- gifts that the church accepts because of political or other impure reasons can stunt the growth of the body. God given gifts that the church fails to recognize starve and deprive the body. Gifts recognized and called, but exercised for self-glorification poison the body. So as we start the New Year when weight loss clubs and gym memberships hit their annual peak, let us in Christ’s Body renew our commitment to the exercise of our God given gifts and call upon the sinner to receive theirs!

Eyes and Ears Dear Brothers & Sisters

Written by Larry Gould

Church Treasurer

A New Song – Psalm 40:3, He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. And Psalm 98:1, Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

New Heavens and new earth – Isaiah 65:17 “See I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 66:22, As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure.  Revelation 21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth, o” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 

New Covenant Jeremiah 31:31, “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.  Luke 22:20, In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you 1 Corinthians11:25, In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  2 Corinthians 3:6, He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Hebrews 8:8, But God found fault with the people and said “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 

New Mercies Every Morning- Lamentations 3:23, They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

New Spirit – Ezekiel 11:19, I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

A New Heart and New Spirit- Ezekiel 18:31, Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel?

New Commandment- John 13:34, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

New Life – Acts 5:20 ^“Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” Romans 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

New Creation – 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!

New Attitude – Ephesians 4:23, to be made new in the attitude of your minds

New Self – Ephesians 4:24, ^and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Colossians 3:10, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Well, we made it through another Christmas!  Though our wallets are thinner for it, it was worth it all to see little faces light up and voices squeal with delight as colorful wrapping paper litters the living room floor.  Bright lights and green wreaths will find their places once again in a dark attic to await Christmas season 2015.  Hundreds of calories, stubbornly sticking to stomachs and posterior, will have to be worked off at neighborhood gyms or in some extra laps around the block.  As a church, we welcomed some new members and several new attendees, and rejoiced with others in their initial commitment to Christ and the church.  We anticipate many more coming to faith in Christ in the coming year.  Our nation unfortunately cow-towed to an arrogant dictator in North Korea, and retreated in several other areas of international affairs.  A couple days before writing this pastor’s pen, two cops were murdered while sitting in their patrol cars in Brooklyn, N.Y.  Two widows mourn, left without partner, love, and support.  Children mourn the loss of a loving father. Those who chanted, “What do we want?  Dead cops.  When do we want them?  Now! “got their morbid desire, and are at least in part to blame for the tragedy.  Doubtless, they will not be satisfied with the granting of their bloodthirsty desire, and will cry out for yet more shedding of the blood of those who have come to protect them.  May God open all of our eyes this new year to the value of all human lives and of souls that will never cease to exist.

 Rev. Dr. Richard L. Shaw, Pastor

Luke (Gospel of Luke 1:26f)  tells of the visit of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, informing her of glad news that she was to birth the promised Savior into the world he would come redeem.  His first words to Mary were, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!  The Lord is with you.”  He says it again, “…Mary, you have found favor with God.”  This was, of course, a particular favor of being the one chosen, out of all the women of Israel, to be the mother of the world’s Savior.  What a privilege!  But in a sense, this is a microcosm of God’s plan for all of us.  We are all highly favored.  God favors us, loves us, died for us, rose from the dead for us, calls us, pleads with us, warns us, paints word pictures      (parables ), and in every possible way, short of violating our free will free, reaches out to us in favor and love to draw us to Himself.  His love is boundless, relentless, and unstoppable.  Christmas is at once a merry, joyous, festive time, and a very serious time.  Nothing could be more worthy of joyful celebration than the eternal God coming in human flesh to our neighborhood to take our sins upon Himself, dying and rising from the dead, so we could live forever with Him.  And nothing could be more serious than our responsibility to answer His call by trusting Him as our Lord and Savior, and surrendering our lives to Him.  Nothing has more unending consequences than our decision to accept or reject His offer of love and forgiveness.  If you haven’t done so, make this your best Christmas ever by saying “Yes” to His incredible offer of love and life.

REV. DR. RICHARD L. SHAW, PASTOR

Here we are again, on the threshold of another Christmas.  This season evokes many memories, good and bright for some, dark and sad for others.  It is a time for exchanging gifts, commemorating the magi who brought gifts to the child Jesus. “Shepherds” will dig out their bathrobe for the church’s annual Christmas play; moms will go over their food lists to make sure they have enough sweet potatoes and apple pie.  Gift lists will get a last minute surveillance to insure that Uncle Winford and Aunt Matilda were not forgotten.  Families will gather for joyful, sometimes hazardous reunions, and radios will be alive with old familiar Christmas carols and new Santa’s Sleigh Ran Over Grandma type songs.  All this is good.  But let’s be sure to remember the real reason for the season to make alive in our memories that God invaded this desperate world for us all of us.  We came under the control of the usurper Satan, and God incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth came to deliver us.  He came as the Wonderful Counselor, because we all face problems in search of solution.  He came to show us the way and to be the Way.  We are troubled nations make war against nations, and psychiatrists’ offices are filled, because we need the reconciliation brought by the Prince of Peace. And we need the power, stability, and endurance of the Mighty God, and the strong, loving reassurance of the everlasting Father. So this Christmas don’t cheat yourself and others by being so” wrapped up” in family and personal celebrations that you miss the true meaning intended to be remembered at Christmas.

 Rev. Dr. Richard L. Shaw, Pastor

This is in response to The Pastor’s Pen Personal Interchange on November 9, 2014 regarding the use of smart phones. I spoke with a Sister in Christ regarding the Pastor’s letter. She said it may be too harsh for the congregation. I love my smart phone and I use it every day. However, Pastor’s letter really spoke to my heart. I must agree with Pastor Shaw, that the smart phone has really taken away intimate face-to-face, voice-to-voice contact. I do not agree that Pastor’s message was too harsh. The first scripture that came to my mind is 2 Timothy 4:3-4(NIV) 3 for the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. This is why it’s so important to read the Bible, God’s word, every day. John 8:32-33(NIV) Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So let us not feel judged when we hear the truth. Let’s be willing to learn and grow. The Bible is not a book of condemnation, it is a book to teach us how to love, believe, and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. It also teaches us to love one another, bless one another, and have hope. Hebrews 10:23-27 (NIV) 23 let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Your’s in Christ

Janet Emley

Church Secretary