Calvary Norfolk Blog

A Godly Man

2010-01-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

Boaz was indeed a godly man in a day when there were very few godly men. He was honorable, genuinely loving, a man of integrity and considerate of others. Here are some verses from chapter two that display his godliness.

Ruth 2:4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, "The LORD be with you!" And they answered, "The LORD bless you."
Ruth 2:11-12 But Boaz answered her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!"
Ruth 2:14-16 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine." So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her."
Ruth 2:22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted."

Boaz was a redeemer in the image of Christ who was without sin and loved his people even while they were wayward and impoverished. We can be thankful that Jesus did not succumb to the evils of his day but stood above them enabling his sacrifice to be effective for our salvation.

A Loyal Faith

2010-01-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

I want to begin the new year with some comments on the book of Ruth. We have a women's Precept Bible study that will be studying this book on Wednesdays at 9:30 am. I was struck by Ruth's loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi. Ruth acts in faith as she accompanies Naomi back to Bethlehem even while nothing of promise awaits her. Ruth is a foreigner to Israel, she has lost her husband to an untimely death and as a result she has no standing in Israel or means to earn a living. Yet her love to Naomi keeps her moving forward to support her mother-in-law in whatever way possible. Ruth said to Naomi with determined resolve, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you." And so Naomi gave in to Ruth's argument and invited her to go with her. Naomi's other daugther-in-law, Orpah, returned to Moab after kissing her mother-in-law. Orpah's resolve was weak and tentative compared to Ruth's.

Ruth reminds us of the kind of faith we should place in our Lord Jesus. Ruth displayed a faith that was singularly focused, unwavering in loyalty and devoted to no other but one. I think of Mary Magdalene when she saw Jesus following his resurrection and she clung to Jesus. She would not let go. Paul, the apostle said that he considered all things rubbish that he may gain Christ. May our faith in the new year be singularly focused upon Christ and none other. Jesus is our faithful savior and ever present refuge. Many times we follow the path of Orpah who kissed Naomi and returned to her homeland. We show affection to Jesus but ultimately we still cling to the pleasures and promises of the world. May Christ be as beautiful to us as Naomi was to Ruth and even to a greater degree.

Star of Bethlehem

2009-12-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

I received an article from a friend discussing the possibilities of what the star could have been that led the Magi to find the child Jesus in Bethlehem. The article entitled, What was the Star of Bethlehem by Michael E. Bakich, looks at this topic from a scientific viewpoint and the possibilities are very interesting. Among the theories are a comet, a star going supernova and a lunar eclipse. The article argued against these theories with compelling reasons. The most plausible theory was the aligning of the planets Jupiter and Venus at about the time of Christ so that the two planets would have appeared as one. This occurrence would have been brilliant in the sky and could be easily seen with the naked eye. Further, no one alive had ever seen a sight like this before. This theory was further enhanced by the consideration that the aligning of these two planets was within the constellation of Leo which was considered by some to be a reference to the Messiah who was referred to as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Perhaps this inspired the Magi to begin their journey eastward. Whatever the case, the Magi had to be looking for this sign and must have been perceptive to the positions and movements of these astronomical bodies. Today, we look not at stars or planets to lead us to Christ our Savior. Rather, God has given to us His Spirit, the Word of God that contains His promises and laws, the fellowship of believers and the prayers of our hearts to draw us ever nearer to God the Son. We must be just as diligent in our seeking of Christ because the noises and voices of the world will continually seek to draw us away. During this Christmas and new year there is no greater joy that being near to our Savior. Merry Christmas to you and your family and remember this promise from Deuteronomy 4:29 that says, "But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Learning From Jesus

2009-12-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

I want to revisit Mike Bechtle's book, Evangelism for the Rest of Us. I continue to find his teaching on evangelism unique and refreshing compared to what is the norm for material in this subject area. Bechtle writes that the church continues to look at evangelism as an event and given America's emphasis on being productive we tend to be more concerned about the results rather than those we are trying to reach. Bechtle shares three ways that Jesus went about reaching the lost that we would do well to follow. First, Jesus ministered to people that he encountered while going about his daily life. If we survey the Gospels we will find that most of the people Jesus ministered to sought him out rather than the other way around. In other words, we can simply look at our ordinary encounters as opportunities for witness. Consider the people that God has already brought into your lives. Second, Jesus met people where they were and moved them one step closer to God. Jesus was never in a hurry to present the Gospel but simply to help people along in their relationship with God. Third, Jesus prayed for God to minister through him. Here we rely on God's power to work through us rather than being self-reliant. It is amazing what God will do when we look to Him. I find Mike Bechtle's book freeing because we can be ourselves in the most important calling upon our Christian lives.

Welcome to Calvary's New Website

2009-12-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Calvary's new website! I hope to offer a thought provoking message that will invite your comments, stimulate your faith and challenge you to dig deeper in considering the issues that affect our lives. I welcome your comments that may be line with our Reformed tradition as well as those that may be in disagreement. In other words, I want all to feel safe in expressing your opinions. My desire and goal is to blog once a week concerning something that I have been reading or dealing with in ministry or personal life. I hope God will bring blessing to all who visit this site even if in a small way.

I have been reading a book entitled, Evangelism for the Rest of Us by Mike Bechtle. The message I have gleaned is that God has made each person a certain way and he wants us to be content and useful according to who we are. Bechtle writes to encourage introverted people in the sharing of their faith. He says that most evangelism programs are authored by extroverts that try to fit introverts into their mold and personality type. Bechtle argues that this is not helpful. He writes that just as God never intended for turtles to fly so he never intended for introverts to be different from who God created them to be. Bechtle states that introverts have a great deal to offer in the cause of evangelism in that they are good listeners, deep thinkers, patient in letting God use them and tend to build deeper relationships. God doesn't want us to be someone we are not. Each one of God's children have something to contribute in the mission of outreach according to our own personality and giftedness.

Welcome to our Blog!

2009-12-08T09:44:00.000-08:00

Calvary Presbyterian has hired Paul Michanczyk to be our new youth director and assistant to the pastor. He will begin working with us in July 2010. Until then, please check our CalvaryNorfolk.org youth page for information on upcoming events.

How to comment on a post

2009-12-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

Click on the word "comments" to access the comment form.

Please choose a method of identifying yourself. You may choose "name/URL" from the drop-down list at "Comment as: Select Profile." Type your name when asked. You do not have to enter a URL.

Some people have experienced difficulty leaving a comment. If you are having trouble while using Mozilla Firefox browser you may be able to make your comment if you set Firefox to accept third-party cookies using the Tools, Options, Privacy settings. Close and reopen Firefox after making this change.

OpenID is a newer method of identifying yourself by borrowing an already-established ID from another service such as Google.com, Yahoo.com, Flickr.com, MySpace.com, Blogger.com, AOL.com, and more. You can choose the OpenID option at "Comment as: Select Profile" and then enter your service where you have an established ID. You will be transferred to that service to log in and then transferred back to the blog to make your post. Learn more about OpenID at www.openid.net.