Calvary Chapel Canyon Hills Easter Services
Do you have a place to go for this weekend's Easter celebration? Join us in Canyon Hills as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Good Friday service at 7 on April 18th. Easter services at 9 and 11 on the morning of April 20th. With child care provided at both Sunday services! Please use the below graphic to share about our services on Facebook too! And here are a few more images of the newspaper I helped design for our local newspaper. Hope to see you there!
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
We arrived at the hospital at 8 p.m. By 10:30, we were able to give little Parker a kiss on the cheek and praise God for his little life. Granted his mama had been there since 6 a.m. :) Either way, litte Parker's arrival got me thinking about life. And how intricate God has made each and every one of us. And how "the big bang theory" doesn't fly with me when you see a half hour old baby, see him cooing right up against his mommy. Knowing that man and wife created this life by God's grace. That doesn't just "happen." That doesn't just evolve. Because really, our bodies fall apart over time. They don't evolve throughout our lifespan and get better, they slowly decay. So no, I do not believe that life came from a spark or whatever the latest evidence and research has proven. I believe whole-heartedly that there is a God who created me, created you, and created this world for our temporary enjoyment. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. I whole-heartedly believe that life starts at conception,
Set Your Hearts on Things Above, Colossians 3
Warning: this post may get a little heavy and personal. Don't say you were never warned. When our Bible study read through the Bible last year from cover to cover, the activity interrupted my own reading through the Bible cover to cover. Except I wasn't attempting to do it in 90 days. Instead I was reading in depth and at most a chapter a day with a commentary in hand—which I started in the summer of 2008 and am still going right along. But the 90 Day read couldn't have come at a better time in my life. My walk with God had grown stagnant. I was just in a funk the year before—the many woes that come with this world were just getting to me. There were just a lot of tragedies and sadness in the lives of my friends and family and I was allowing it to get me down. My daily reading of even a chapter a day of the Bible dwindled down to not reading at all. So getting back into reading every single day, about 12 pages every day, really got me back into the habit of digging into the scriptures. In April of last year, when the challenge
Monday Musings
Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others
Bible Commentary Recommendation: Jon Courson Application Commentary
Who is your favorite teacher? You know that teacher who can explain the most complex concept into a simple idea. I first found Jon Courson's studies through K-WAVE a few years ago. He would always be on during my commute to work. After looking more into him, I found his Bible Commentaries. The series is divided into three books with the OT testament split in half. He goes verse by verse through Scripture, explaining the simple truths of God's word. What I have always loved most about Courson is his ability to make each portion applicable to life. He does this in a few ways but one of my favorites is when he ties it back to Scripture, almost always in each message he compares the New Testament verses into a story from the Old Testament. I really love that as it ties the whole Bible together and gives more life to the Old Testament. In addition to the verse by verse study, sprinkled throughout the commentary are Courson's topical teachings that focus a few a pages on just one topic or just two-three verses. Not only does he have the commentaries, but you can now listen to each of his messages
Recap of the Bible in 90 Days Challenge
What a feeling it was to have finished the book of Revelations knowing that a mere 3 months ago I had started the book of Genesis. Reading the bible, cover to cover, in such a short amount of time, was like taking a plane ride from California to New York. I got to see all the sights but without the depth of stopping at each one—giving me a chance to take note at what I may want to visit again later. What I love about studying the bible, is the study. The inspection of the details, learning about each verse, each word. But sometimes studying verse by verse I lose sight of the context. Reading each book as a whole helped me with seeing each book, each prophecy, each letter in context, as a whole—and seeing Jesus, as a woven thread throughout from Genesis to Isaiah through Revelations. I would highly recommend reading through the bible, maybe given 4 months rather than 3, it may have been easier to stop along the way and dig a little deeper, I just felt so rushed that there wasn't time to do that. In the summer of 2008, I started reading through the bible,
Week 13 of the Bible in 90 Days Challenge
This last week of the Bible in 90 Days was really just a few days covering Hebrews through Revelations. While I may have said 1 John was my favorite previously, I really liked reading Peter's epistles. After an in depth study of the gospel of John with our bible study, I have looked at who Peter was in a different way. I never thought before about how much Peter is like me, like many of us. Fumbling through his walk, shining in one moment to be in total darkness in the next. Isn't that how life is? How life with Christ is? Struggling to be the best person you can be, the most like Christ you can, just to realize that you can never come close. But if you truly want to be like Christ, we have to suffer as He did. 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4) Then, earlier in his epistle, Peter wrote
Week 12 of the Bible in 90 Days Challenge
Having never just sat and read through the whole book of Romans before in one sitting, I finally realized why it is so many people's favorite book of the Bible. I loved not only reading all these amazing verses in context, but I found myself again and again being cut straight to the heart by Paul's words. Right off in chapter 2 I felt convicted by Paul's description of those who pass judgement on others. Without meaning to, I do this all the time! I may think badly of someone's actions and am in fact doing the exact same thing! 1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. We all need saving by Jesus, no matter if we have realized it yet or not! 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. The best part
Week 11 of the Bible in 90 Days Challenge
I really wanted to stick to an Old Testament topic last week, but this week I want to talk about Matthew's account of Jesus walking on water even though the week only covered the gospels of Mark, Luke and John. The reason I am using Matthew's version is because of these words by Jesus: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” In context, Jesus had just fed the 5,000 with only only five loaves and two fish. He sent the disciples out in their boat while he stayed on shore to prayer. A great storm came and the disciples became very afraid. During the night, Jesus walked out to them and Peter asked Him if he could walk out and join Him on the water. When Peter started walking he became scared and started to sink and called out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” Jesus of course stretched out his arm and said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” While reading this, I have always thought Peter was so silly for wanting first wanting to join Jesus on the sea during a storm but then to immediately lose confidence in this and start to drown himself. But really,