Calvary Belmar

New Calvary Belmar website is live!

2011-01-20T12:32:00.000-08:00

Our new website for Calvary Belmar is up and official! All future blog posts will be made there.

Go check it out: http://www.calvarybelmar.org

Thanks for keeping up on what God's doing with our new church in Lakewood, CO. All of our old posts are moving over to the new site, and we'll keep you updated there about what God is doing in Lakewood with Calvary Belmar!

Blessings in Christ,
Nate Morris
Pastor - Calvary Belmar

New website coming soon!

2011-01-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

I know, I know... I am a web designer by trade, and our church STILL has this dinky little blogger template site up. But, I will have the new site up soon! It is under construction right now, and I will post when we launch it.

Even atheists angry at God

2011-01-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

I just read this very interesting article that discusses a study that shows even atheists get angry at God.

Yes, you read that right, people who don't believe in God get angry at Him. In reality, we Christians know that this is because the truth is that everyone on some level knows there is a God, they just don't want to admit it. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has "set eternity in the hearts of men." Deep down we all not only believe in God, we know He is real.

Read this section of romans with me.

Romans 1:19-23

19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Men know that God exists, they know he is real, He has set eternity in their hearts. So, don't be afraid to share testimony of how God is working, don't be afraid to share your faith. Sometimes all someone needs is a nudge towards Jesus.

Here's the link to the article:
http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/01/anger-at-god-common-even-among-atheists/?hpt=C2

Join us for Church Sunday nights at our new location!

2010-12-26T11:26:00.000-08:00

6:30pm Sunday Nights!

We will be meeting in the Alameda Hills Baptist Church building @ 8525 West Alameda Avenue - Lakewood, CO 80226.

Click here for a map

First service in our new location this Sunday night!

2010-12-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

We are moving! Our first service at the new location will be this Sunday night at 6:30pm. We will be meeting at the Alameda Hills Baptist Church building at 8525 West Alameda Avenue - Lakewood, CO 80226. Click here for a map

What an exciting time for our church. It has been a blessing to meet in out home, and it will be a huge blessing to be able to use this facility to hold our services.

Please be in prayer as God leads us in this new direction. We will have huge opportunities to impact the community, and bring in people who may not be comfortable coming to someone's house.

Remember, we will no longer be holding services on Thursday nights, so no church this week until Sunday!

Exciting Changes Coming Soon!

2010-12-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

I'm getting excited for church tonight! Bitter sweet in that it will be our last night of having church in our home. It has been such an incredible blessing to let God use our home as the springboard for Calvary Belmar! We are going to be moving into the Alameda Hills Baptist Church building. They are an amazing church, have a very nice pastor and staff, and are beyond generous in sharing their building with us. God has really blown my mind in opening the doors to meet there and we can't wait to see what He has for us as we venture into this new season!

Prayer Request

2010-12-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

We have a new prayer request! Calvary Belmar has the opportunity to move out of our house into a church building to host our services. This is much needed at this time, as we've simply run out of room! What a blessing it's been to have had a house to meet in for these past 5 months, but it's definitely time to grow into a bigger space.

So, a local church is prayerfully considering allowing us to use their building for our services. They have the final decision meeting this Thursday night. Please be in prayer for them and for us in this. Our desire is to be where God wants us, so please pray for His will in their meeting and in this situation.

We are not and will never be about a building, we are about the Church, the body of Christ. But, it would be great to have some space for the kids to play and have kids church, and for the adults to be able to attend service without distraction, in an atmosphere where they can seek the Lord in peace.

Thank you for your prayers!

Love and blessings in Christ!
Pastor Nate

Re-joy (return to joy in the Lord)

2010-10-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice!

Finding our joy in the Lord is of the utmost importance to our Christian walk. We may walk in the power of the spirit, leave lives of sin behind, cast out demons, lead people to the Lord, know all manner of scripture truth, but unless we know the joy of the Lord, we are but empty vessels. We have forsaken our first love, as did the church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-5). Jesus Christ needs to be the center of everything that we do.

In Revelation 2:5, when Jesus is speaking to the church at Ephesus, He says to “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” He said to repent and do the first works. What are these “first works” He is speaking of? When you first came to the Lord, when you first believed, what were the works that you did? How did your heart feel when you heard His name? How did you react to the gift of eternal life that you had been given?

I imagine that if you are anything like me, you trembled at the sound of the name “Jesus”, you poured out your heart unabashedly in worship, sometimes to the point of tears, you marveled that God could accept someone who had messed up as many times as you had, you prayed earnestly for Him to remove sin from your life, and sought Him passionately. But, somewhere along the road, we tend to forget our first love in our Christian walk, we get busy with serving God and forget to love Him. We get busy with the day to day business of our lives and put Him in a corner, saying, “You can have this part of my life God”, but reserve the rest for ourselves. We forget the mercy and love and grace He poured out for us on the cross, and become content with our Christianity being a hobby, or a social gathering. We forget our first love, and leave behind the joy of the Lord.

Let us return to that joy, let us return to Jesus.

Excellent Book "Revolution in World Missions"

2010-10-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

I'm reading a really good book by K.P. Yohannan. It's been very challenging and encouraging for me, I would highly recommend it! Plus, it's free! They'll send it to you free of charge, no shipping or anything!

Order yours here:
http://www.gfa.org/offer/freebook/

Blessings,
Pastor Nate

Just a little something...

2010-10-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Word of God is so amazing - this is one Psalm that I could read every day. I pray that it blesses you today as it did me! ~Jen

"(1) For the choir director. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me. (2) You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. (3) You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. (4) Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. (5) You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. (6) Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

(7) Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? (8) If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. (9) If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, (10) Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. (11) If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," (12) Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. (13) For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. (14) I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. (15) My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; (16) Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

(17) How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (18) If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. (19) O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. (20) For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. (21) Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? (22) I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. (23) Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; (24) And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." - Psa 139:1-24 NASB

Pray for all men

2010-09-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

1 Timothy 2:1-4
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

I think that sometimes we need to be reminded that we, as followers of Christ, are called to pray for ALL people. God desires that everyone would come to the knowledge of the truth, and a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. For God so loved THE WORLD... That includes everyone, even those who are against us. He loves the most prominent atheist just as much as he loves Billy Graham.

Often as Christians, we get our feathers ruffled by non-believers. We get offended that they don't hold our morals, or that they don't understand our way of life. We get vocal and political against non-believers, and forget that our battle "is not against flesh and blood. but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Eph 6:12 We forget that Jesus told us "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" - Matthew 5:44

Remember, non-believers are not our enemy. They just don't know Jesus yet... Our job is to introduce them, not argue with them. I think if we (the Church) would get this teaching, we would see a lot more people come to know Christ, because rather than fighting for our morals and our values, we'd be loving them with the most powerful force in the universe, the love of Christ. Remember what Paul said about love? "Love never fails."(1 Cor. 13:8) Let's stop trying to legislate our ideals, and instead focus on loving people with a God kind of Love. Rather than get angry about political leaders and the direction they are taking the country, let's pray for them. After all, all governing authorities that exist are appointed by God - Romans 13:1 - "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God."

If you want to be effective in changing the direction of our country and our world. Stop trying to do it by the world's methods, and start doing it by the Spirit in prayer. We are not fighting against flesh and blood, we are fighting against spiritual forces, and must do battle on the spiritual level. Prayer is the most powerful weapon we have in this world, and too often we ignore it.

So, go and pray for those who persecute you, pray for our nation's leaders. Pray that God would bless them and lead them, pray that they would come to a knowledge of the truth. That is what God wants, and I don't know about you, but I want what God wants, He knows way better than I do.

New Women's Bible Study Beginning!

2010-09-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

For all of those who have visited or attend Calvary Belmar, or even if you haven't checked us out yet, I want to invite you to join a new Women's Bible Study that is beginning Monday, September 20th, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM.

We will be working through the book Loving Your Husband by Cynthia Heald. If you're married or in a serious relationship, I'd love to have you join us for this Biblical study of the beautiful role of a woman and wife in relationship with her husband. This study will encourage you in your personal Bible study and walk with God while challenging you with practical ways to love your husband.

If you would like to be part of the study or would like to purchase the book for independent use, let me know!

Jen Morris

The Sacrament of Sacrifice

2010-09-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is last Thursday's devotional from "My Utmost for His Highest". I love this clear concise picture of how the Christian life is to be spent. We are called to pour ourselves out for others. We are called to have the same attitude that Paul had (Phil. 2:17) in that our lives are not to be lived for our own enjoyment, even if our enjoyment is in God. Our lives are to be lived to be poured out for others. To be spent on behalf of the weak and the helpless, to be used up and emptied for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

My Utmost for His Highest: 9/2
He that believeth in Me . . out of him shall flow... John 7:38

Jesus did not say - "he that believeth in Me shall realize the
blessing of the fulness of God," but - "he that believeth in Me out
of him shall escape everything he receives." Our Lord's teaching is
always anti -self-realization. His purpose is not the development of
a man; His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the
characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure. If we believe
in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that
counts. It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but
that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot
measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us,
and we cannot measure that at all.

When Mary of Bethany broke the box of precious ointment and poured it
on Jesus' head, it was an act for which no one else saw any occasion;
the disciples said it was a waste. But Jesus commended Mary for her
extravagant act of devotion, and said that wherever His gospel was
preached "this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a
memorial of her." Our Lord is carried beyond Himself with joy when He
sees any of us doing what Mary did, not being set on this or that
economy, but being abandoned to Him. God spilt the life of His Son
that the world might be saved; are we prepared to spill out our lives
for Him?

"He that believeth in Me out of him shall flow rivers of living
water" - hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. It is
time now to break the life, to cease craving for satisfaction, and to
spill the thing out. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?

Click Here to Subscribe to My Utmost For His Highest

Work it out!

2010-08-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

God's Kingdom is about action. It is going somewhere. Never static, never stale, never stagnant, always moving, always new. And if we are part of His Kingdom, we are called to action as well. We are called to be moving, working, carrying out His will on the earth.

In short, we are called to good works.

"But wait," someone will say, "we are about faith, not works!" That is where you are wrong. We are saved by faith, not by works, but we called to good works. In fact, Ephesians tells us God predestined us to good works! That we were created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So, work it out! Work out the salvation that God has worked into your life. Spread the news, share God's love, leave your sin behind and follow Him.

And here's the coolest part of all of this, it is God who works in us to will and to work. When we take that step and work it out, God works in us, and empowers us to do the work, so that we are not actually the ones working, but God is working in us! It's not about what we can do on our own, but what God can do through us.

So, here's the bottom line. His Kingdom is always moving, he has a plan he is carrying out on this earth, and we can choose to either be a part of that work, or not to be a part of that work. We can sit by on the sidelines and warm the bench for the players, or we can get in the game, and experience the thrill of the God of all creation working through us.

So work it out!

What's broken around us?

2010-08-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

Nehemiah 1:1-4
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

The book of Nehemiah was written during the Jewish exile. Basically the Israelites had disobeyed God, and God allowed them to be overtaken and sent into exile in another country. Hundreds of years had passed since the exile at this point, and a group of Jews had already returned home to Jerusalem, with the majority remaining in Persia and Babylon.

When we read this portion of the story, we see that the gates of Jerusalem remained broken down. The interesting thing about this is that people had lived there for nearly 100 years since they first returned to Jerusalem. People were living in their homes, going about their business, living day to day life, and they had become used to the walls being broken down. They saw the walls broken down every day. Many of them had even been born there, and only knew them having been broken down. They got so used to them that they no longer noticed. It may have bothered them a little bit, but they probably thought "Well, those have been broken for so long, they're never going to get fixed."

Nehemiah, however, had a tender heart and eyes to see what was broken around him, and it affected him. So much so that he wept and mourned for many days! He took notice, and it broke his heart. If you know the rest of the story, you know that God used Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and to get the city back on its feet again. God took Nehemiah's brokenness about the situation and used it to create beauty and restoration and healing.

Several years back we bought a house, and were super excited about it. The only thing was that there was this wall in the hallway that was completely covered with wood shingles. It was the most hideous thing we had ever seen. Someone must have been on drugs when they put that thing up. So, when we first saw it, we said, "That has got to be one of the first things we fix..." But, we moved in, and got settled, and after a while, we got used to it, we stopped noticing it. We lived in that house for 2 years, and those shingles didn't get pulled out until we put it up for sale! We no longer took notice of them.

What are the things that have been broken down around us so long that we no longer take notice of them?

Here's an example, when I first moved to Denver in 2000, I was taken back by how many homeless people there were. I was moved by it. But, after a while, I got used to it, I got used to seeing them on every corner at rush hour, and I became apathetic. The problem seemed too big for anybody to really be able to affect it. But with God, all things are possible! (Matt. 19:26)

My prayer is that God would give us fresh eyes to see the things that have been broken around us, in our city, in our lives, and in our Church. That those things would break our hearts, that we would mourn over them, and allow God to come and use us to repair them.

Nehemiah wasn't anything special, but God used his broken heart to heal a nation. Take notice of what's broken around you. Let it break your heart. A broken heart is a heart that God can use. Do you know how long it took Nehemiah and his people to rebuild that wall? The entire wall around Jerusalem took the people 52 days to complete. A work that no one thought was possible was completed in 52 days. I don't think we could complete that wall in 52 days even with all of the advanced construction equipment we have today. God did a work, He took a broken heart and used it to do a God-sized job. Imagine what He could do with you or I if we would simply let our hearts break for what's broken around us?

Psalm 51:17-18
   The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
   A broken and a contrite heart—
   These, O God, You will not despise.

   Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
   Build the walls of Jerusalem.

Update time!

2010-08-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

I guess it's about time for an update, as I've only posted devos lately!

God has been so faithful! We have been down here in Denver for about 7 weeks now, and God has already done an amazing work. We moved in and got settled for 2 weeks, and then went straight into having Church in our house! It was a bit crazy at first, but I think we are getting in the groove at this point.

God has brought together such a cool group of people for our little fellowship. We've had 14 people come to our Thursday night services (not counting kids, we've had 8 kids!) , and it has been such a great time of community building and fellowship in the Lord. It's been so great to get to share a meal together each week and really talk about life and grow in the Lord together. We start with dinner at 6pm, and spend some time in fellowship, and then at 7pm we worship the Lord together in song, and spend time in the Word. God has been growing us and stretching us all to love Him and each other more in the Word (you can listen to our bible studies on the "Talks" page). We've typically had 8-10 adults here each week, as some people cannot make it every week.

We certainly did not expect that God would bless us with such sweet, quality fellowship right from the start. It's been such a blessing to be a part of.

We have named the Church, as you can probably tell by the title on the website. We are "Calvary Belmar." We chose the name "Calvary" as we were born out of the Calvary Chapel movement, and the word Calvary has such rich connotations with the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. As our desire is to be about "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2), we feel this name is appropriate. And the Belmar part, well, we are located in the Belmar area of Lakewood, so it just makes sense ;-)

Right now the things that you can pray about for us are:
- SPACE! We are already running out of space, and need some room for the kids to hang out and play, and more people to be able to sit and hang out for study. We are praying that we would either find a good solution here in our home, or be able to find a meeting place that is either free or really inexpensive.

- Continued community growth in our little body. We've already established such cool relationships, I can't imagine what God's going to do with this group, but it's going to be good! Pray that we would keep our "small church community" feel as we grow. Our heart is that people would be able to plug-in and connect with the body, not just attend church, but BE the Church (see blog post "church or Church?"). To that end, pray that we continue to engage in meaningful relationships with each other, and with the Lord.

- Work for me! I have started my graphic and website design business up again to be able to provide for us, and so far God has blessed us incredibly with some work. But, please pray for our daily bread, and that God would provide enough that I wouldn't have to get another job (and, if you know someone who needs some web or graphic design work, send them to www.vervecreativedesign.com!)

- Matthew 9:37-38

Love, love, love... because of His Love!
Nate

What entangles you?

2010-07-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

2 Timothy 2:4
No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

Imagine a soldier in Afghanistan. He gets deployed, and arrives at his new base. He works hard for a few weeks, and follows orders. The one day he decides that he's tired of living on the military base, he's going to go into town and rent a house. He lives a ways off base now, so he decides that he doesn't want to make the drive back to the base for drills or exercises, he'll just go out with the troops when they go on missions. He doesn't really spend time with his fellow soldiers, as he's got a lot to take care of at his new house in the city, he's got plants growing, and he just bought a dog that needs lots of attention. He comes in for the really important meetings to make sure he's still in the loop on the big stuff, but is nowhere to be seen for the day-to-day activities on base. He seems to show up less and less for his unit's drills and exercises.

Now, we know that in the military, this would not take place, this soldier would be declared awol for missing meetings and drills, and would be punished. But imagine if it could happen. Imagine if a soldier could do this. What would happen when the unit goes out to fight? He would be totally unprepared. He would likely be the first one taken out, because he is not connected with his unit, and doesn't know all of the calls and commands that are given. He may have had a bit of a nice life at his house in the city, but the minute he stepped out onto the battlefield, his life would be over, all because he got entangled with the affairs of the world around him, rather than being focused on his mission.

As followers of Christ, we are like soldiers on a mission. Now, our warfare is not the violent kind, it is the kind that spreads the love of God, but it is a battle nonetheless, and we are soldiers on a mission from God, each of us. So, what are you entangled in? What are the affairs of this life that you've let yourself get wrapped up in? Is it material things, a car, a house, a boat? Is is a relationship? Is it an achievement, recognition, a new position at work? What entangles you?

None of those things are bad in and of themselves, but when they get our focus off our mission, we are in trouble. Slowly we start to lose our focus on God. We start to read our bible less. We spend less time with God and with other believers. We may go to church on Sunday, but we don't connect outside of that. Our focus is on paying off the debt, or getting the new house, or impressing this or that person. We are entangled in the affairs of this world. When the battle comes, we will fall.

Remember, if you are a follower of Christ, you are a citizen of Heaven (Phil. 3:20). You are an alien here on earth. This place is not your home. It is only a temporary base that God has you stationed to carry out His mission to spread His message of love and grace to the world.

Whatever is entangling you, throw it off! Don't let it dominate your thoughts, your time or your checkbook anymore. Instead invest your energy, thoughts, time and money in the Kingdom of Heaven. Carry out your mission.

What is the mission? Love like your life depends on it. Share God's amazing love with every person you can, however you can. If we keep our focus on how good God is, it's easy to carry out our mission!

Think about it this way, if you are in a relationship with your husband or wife (boyfriend/girlfriend, etc...), you probably talk about them a lot. They come up in conversation all day long. Why? Because you love them! Because you are thinking about them, because you spend time with them. If you are in a relationship with God, shouldn't He come up just as easy? Yes, and He does. We just too often choose to leave Him out of our conversations. I did it just the other day. I had a chance to talk about what God was doing in my life with a stranger, and I passed it up. Why? Because I was nervous about it. I had my thoughts entangled with worldly cares of what people think about me.

Take chances. Love with crazy love. Live like you don't belong here.

Throw off the stuff that's entangling you and run free!

Empowered by Grace

2010-07-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. - 2 Timothy 2:1 (NKJV)

What does it mean to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus? Isn't grace just God's forgiveness?

Absolutely not! Grace is soooo much more than just forgiveness. Grace is all that God has to offer us. It is His forgiveness, His mercy, His love, His justification, and in this instance, His power.

Grace is God's power for us to live. So, when Paul is telling Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, he's literally saying to be empowered by Christ's grace. The word translated strong literally means to be "continually empowered."

Be continually empowered by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Many of us might look at that verse and miss this. We might say, "Be strong in the grace, or forgiveness, of Christ," and simply try to remind ourselves that we are forgiven (which is the truth by the way). But God wants us to move past "just forgiven" to living lives continually empowered in Christ Jesus. He wants us to move past the basics to living a life empowered by God! (Hebrews 6:1-3)

Why else would Peter tell us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? (2 Peter 3:18) Do we need to grow in being forgiven? No! That would mean we need to sin more, which the Bible clearly does not teach. No, we grow in the grace of God by growing in His empowerment, growing in His strength, growing in His love.

I don't know about you, but I could use to grow in the grace of Jesus. I could use to be continually empowered by the grace of Jesus Christ. I need him like I need air to breathe. I couldn't live my life good enough before I met Jesus, and I can't live it good enough since I met Him either. I need His grace to empower me. I need the grace that saved me to be the grace that gives me life.

God doesn't desire to just forgive us, but to perfect us, and we can only be perfected by His grace. Let's grow in grace together, and be continually empowered by His grace through the Spirit.

Amen!

Dad's life, holla!

2010-07-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

Kickin' vid from COTM in Tulsa... ;-)

Love the socks in sandals!

Re-kindle the fire!

2010-07-19T09:46:00.000-07:00

2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NASB)
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

Are you on fire for the Lord today? Do you feel His flame burning in your heart? Do you feel overcome by His presence?

Or, do you feel blah, weary, tired, worn-out? Do you feel like you've been walking on your own for too long, and you need a break?

Paul wrote these words above to his dear friend and "son" in Christ at a time when we can see that Timothy was struggling. He was wearing out and wearing thin. He had reached the end of his rope.

Paul's encouragement to Timothy is to re-kindle his gift, walk in a spirit of power and love. He's saying "Stir up those dying coals, add some fresh wood, get that fire going again!"

Often, we ask God to be set on fire for Him, or that He would stir us up and get us excited about serving Him or following Him again. But, here's the thing. God's fire, passion and zeal is always available to us. We don't need to pray really hard for Him to give it to us. It's always there! The Holy Spirit is the source of that power, of that love, of that fire, and the Spirit is ALWAYS with us. So, we always have access to that fire, that passion, that power.

Then why don't we always live in that state? Why doesn't God just keep us there, keep us fired up? Because that fire is for us to take, not for Him to force. He wants US to get the fire going! Just as Paul told Timothy to kindle afresh the gift of God in him, God is saying, "I've given you all that you need! Just use it! Fall in love with Me, pour out your heart to Me, know Me!" You see, it's knowing Jesus that sets us on fire for Him. When we know Him, we can't help but be on fire. Now, you're probably saying "I know Jesus, but I'm not fired up right now, in fact I feel burnt out!" Let me ask you this, do you "know" Jesus, or are you "knowing" Jesus? There's a difference. Saying "I know Jesus" is good, you need to know Jesus to be saved, but having met someone is different than living with someone right? Knowing Jesus is living with Him day in and day out. Waking up to Him in the morning, going to bed to Him at night. Learning about Him during the day. Knowing involves active participation in a relationship, it's more than having Him as an acquaintance. Knowing Him is experiencing Him, and you cannot experience God and not be moved.

I was pretty tired and weary the other day. Just having a rough morning, and Jen and I went to church with her mom, just to visit her church. As we started to sing worship songs, at first I didn't feel much like worshipping. The music was loud, and the sound mix wasn't very good (there's my musician brain kicking in). I just didn't feel like it. But then I started to let my guard down a little bit, I let go of my weariness and frustration. I began to move toward Jesus. And when I did that, God met me in a powerful, love filled wave of fire. It was too much for me! Being face-to-face with the God of all creation overwhelmed me and I began to cry, I couldn't keep the tears back. It was power, it was love, it was life! It was experiencing God. You cannot experience God and not be moved, but you have to be willing to experience Him.

Are you willing? Take a look in His face today. Worship Him today. Take a break and put on a worship song and sing to him. Don't let it just play in the background, actually sing out to Him. If you need to leave work during your lunch break and get in your car to be able to sing, then go do it! Take a step toward Jesus today. Re-kindle the fire in your heart. Let it burn for Him. Let yourself be overwhelmed by His presence.

What are you worried about?

2010-07-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

This is something that God has been consistently speaking to me about lately. Jen was sharing this scripture with someone the other night, and in hearing it, God gave me a devo...

Matthew 6:31-34 (NASB) 31"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'32"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Notice that Jesus says that the gentiles (those of the world) eagerly seek all these things. They have their minds and hearts wrapped up in earthly things. Things that include provision. Food, drink, clothing, housing. When you think about it, that doesn't seem like bad stuff to worry about does it? We all need food, we all need clothing and housing. Shouldn't we worry and work hard and eagerly seek these things? How else will we live? How else will we get food on the table and clothes on our backs? I mean, it's not like we're eagerly seeking after plasma TV's and BMW's right? Wrong.

God says we are not to worry about provision. The Word says that our heavenly Father knows that we need those things. He knows what we need, He doesn't need our help to provide what we need, He doesn't need us to worry for Him to be able to provide. He wants us not to concern ourselves with provision and the things that we need in the world, but rather to concern ourselves with His kingdom. We're called to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and He'll take care of the rest.

So, what does it mean to seek first His Kingdom? It means being faithful with what God has put in front of you right here, right now. Whether that's work, or ministry, or service or spending time with Him, do it! Do what He's placed before you with everything you have, not looking forward, not looking back. It means not stressing about how God will provide for the future, but rather thinking about how we can serve Him today. It means taking a step towards Jesus today.

Are you are taking a step toward Jesus today? Or are you taking a step toward a promotion at work, or toward paying off your debt, or toward paying your rent? None of those things are bad in and of themselves, but they should be done secondarily to our relationship with Jesus. He must be first in our hearts, first in our minds, and if we are worried about money or material things, He cannot be first (Matthew 6:24). Remember, God knows what we need, He will provide what we need, our job is to look to Him!

We had a cool example of God's provision this past week. We have been living in our new house for about 3-1/2 weeks now, and we have not had a washer and dryer, because we cannot afford to buy one. So, we've been doing laundry at friends' houses whenever we could. Needless to say, it's kind of a pain to do laundry at a friend's house, a blessing to be able to, but a pain to coordinate. Well, this past Saturday, we came to the point of saying "OK, we just need to go and get a washer and dryer, we need spend whatever it'll cost and get something." We were stressed about it, worried about it, and focused on it instead of on Jesus. Guess what God did?

The next morning, I was sitting in the basement reading my morning devo, which was in Psalm 23. I had just read "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want", or translated a little better, "the Lord is my Shepherd, I will not lack anything." Just as I was reading this, my doorbell rang. I opened the door, and there stood my neighbor Dwight, who said "Can you help me with something?" We walked over to his garage, and there was a washer and dryer sitting there! He had purchased them on Saturday, and hid them in his garage so he could give them to us on Sunday. As we were stressing that Saturday, God was busy providing. What a waste of time that stress was! We could have spent time studying the Word or fellowshipping with friends or put our energy into something for the kingdom. Instead, we were busy stressing and worrying about it, and the whole time, God was busy working it out.

Take a step toward Jesus today. Let the stress of your situation, whatever it may be, fade away in the light of His presence. Trust that He will provide if you are faithful to follow. He loves you, He wants good for you, not evil. Trust in Him, He will not let you down.

The Lord is my Shepherd, I will not lack anything.

Love this... play on postmodernism

2010-07-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

Check this video out. It is a great, funny, succinct encapsulation of postmodern thought and behavior... if I lost you there, just watch the video, you'll get it ;-)

This poem was written by a non-believer, but has some really good insight into a trend that's been going on in the Christian world. A trend that says "Well, we can't really KNOW the truth, I mean, how can we really KNOW anything?" That's a very dumbed-down, simple way of putting it, but in essence, what has been called the emergent movement is saying just that.

Remember, Jesus said "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32

Let's speak with conviction, let's be bold in what we KNOW to be TRUE. Nobody is impressed by our self-deprecating doubt and lack of certitude. And no-one will turn from their current way of life to live and believe a gospel that we can't proclaim with certainty ourselves.

First Church gathering!

2010-06-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

It's been set! Our first gathering as a Church will be next Thursday night, July 8th. We'll meet at 6pm to share a meal together and have a time of fellowship and community, and then at 7pm, we'll spend some time together in worship, the Word, and prayer.

Our heart in gathering is to follow what we can see that the first Church did in Acts 2:42:

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. - Acts 2:42 (NASB)

That simple method of being the Church is what gave the Spirit room to move and changed the world with the message of the Gospel.

The Word, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer. Let's do it!

All are welcome, if you want to join us, either reply to this post, and I will get in touch with you, or call me at 303.875.4378 for directions! We'll be meeting in Lakewood, near Alameda and Wadsworth. I would put more specific directions here, but I don't really want to post our home address on the internet!

Love in Christ,
Nate

church or Church?

2010-06-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

In planting a new church, I've put a lot of thought into what church is... what does it look like? How should we "do church"? Answers for questions like these can only be found in the Word. And what I've found is that we shouldn't "DO church", we should "BE Church". If I'm really honest, when I compare most churches I've seen or been a part of to what I see in the Word, the two don't line up, which makes me really sad. Most churches I've seen or been a part of are shadows of what Church should be. They are lacking true community, and lacking the power of the Spirit in the midst of the people.

I'm not saying all churches are this way, on the contrary, there are great Churches out there, living the gospel, and breathing the Spirit, walking the Way of Christ. Jen and I were just part of a Church much like that in Vail, which was what actually gave us the inspiration to plant one here in Denver. There are really great Churches out there, but they seem few and far between.

Now, as a preface to what I'm about to say, please understand that I am not a church basher. I love the church, the body of Christ, of which I am a part. I simply want to see us live up the the very best that God has to offer. Any criticism I have of the church is criticism of myself as much as anyone else, there is no "us and them" when it comes to the Church, we're all part of it, and we are all responsible. So, here it goes...

It seems to me, that a large portion of American Christianity has given up Church with a big "C" (led by God, empowered by God, populated by His Children, a family in Christ) for church with a little "c" (led by man, empowered by cool programs, populated by spectators and consumers). Out of a sincere, well-intentioned desire to share the gospel and see people come to know Christ, we have turned Christianity into a consumer product. Something to be packaged, bought, and consumed. But, as we have discussed in another post, good intentions do not equal good results. You see, by making Christianity a product, we've lost it as a lifestyle, as something to be lived out, rather than just taken-in. Church has become all about how good the message was or whether or not we liked the songs the worship leader picked, instead of being about a community of believers, gathered together to worship our God with one heart, each contributing to the greater good, all growing up together as one body into the Head, Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 4:15-16 (NIV)
15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

I believe that in America we have made church into more of a social club or a spiritual entertainment venue than the living breathing community organism that Church is intended to be. And here's the thing, we all know it. Everyone knows there's something wrong with the way that we Americans have been "doing church". Where do you think that the church-growth, seeker-friendly, and emerging movements came from? But, where each of these movements fall short is that they attempt to fix the problem with the problem... each of these movements basically says this: "Church isn't working, let's make it more appealing to those outside by _____." Fill in the blank there with whatever you want, good music, engaging culture, including eastern meditation, etc, etc.... Do you see the marketing mentality in this? We are trying to sell a product.

If we would simply BE the Church, instead of trying to make Christianity more palatable, I believe the Spirit would move within the Church, empowering us with the gospel message, causing it to grow naturally. You see, no one comes unless the Father draws them (John 6:44). I'm not saying we shouldn't witness, I'm saying we should BE a witness. I'm not saying that entertaining church is bad, but that BEING the Church is better. If we draw men through the world's methods, we're going to end up with "worldly christians", spectators who simply consume Christianity, and never get to the deeper things of God. However, if we simply BE the Church, we will draw men by the Spirit of God, growing as spiritual Christians, actively living out Church in their daily life, not just on Sundays.

Read this section of Scripture with me, really read it, don't skim, let it soak in:

Acts 2:42-47 (NASB)
42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Does that sound like our churches today? No, it doesn't. Why not? What is different about that picture we just got from what we see in our churches? It's Church, with a big "C", the Church, the Body of Christ, living out the gospel, each member actively participating and contributing to the whole by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have church with a little "c" more often than not, church that is made by man, rather than by God. We have a church made up of programs, policies, services, and spectators. An organization only accomplishing what man can do, rather than a living organism accomplishing what only God can do.

I want to live in that Acts 2 Church, I want to be a part of a community of believers that are living out the gospel, each contributing to the whole, a Church growing itself up in love. Anyone want to join me?

Boxes, boxes, boxes

2010-06-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

We moved this past Saturday, and this week has been unpacking and unpacking! Our new place is awesome. Praise God for it, we feel truly blessed, and feel like God overdid it a bit actually! ;-) He is good!

Now to finish getting ourselves unpacked. Back to Vail tomorrow to clean our apartment, then next week we get started on plans for church. Sooo excited to see what God's going to do.

My next post will have a devo, and more thoughts on church and stuff, just thought I'd let you all know where we are at right now.

Blessings,
Nate, Jen & Caleb

Moving, anyone want to help?

2010-06-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

We're moving this Saturday! Anyone want to help?

Need hands in Edwards and in Denver. We're loading up here in Edwards at 8am, and for anyone in Denver who could help, we'll be getting down there in the afternoon.

Let us know, your help would be crazy appreciated!

Nate

Our God is BIG!

2010-06-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

Psalm 97:1-6

The Lord reigns;
Let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitude of isles be glad!

Clouds and darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

A fire goes before Him,
And burns up His enemies round about.

His lightnings light the world;
The earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples see His glory.

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad, let the multitude of islands rejoice! Why? because God reigns! That's good news for us! OUR God reigns, not some other God, not any earthly president or king, but our GOD reigns! And our God is BIG!

I think we sometimes forget how big our God is. Remember, He is the Creator, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end. We tend to put God in human terms so that we can better understand Him, but we need to remember that God is not bound by our limitations and our weaknesses, He is as far above them as we can possibly imagine. Our God is not a God we can put in a box, or keep in control, He's not a tame God or a "safe" God. I love what Mr. Beaver says about Him (in the character of Aslan) in C.S. Lewis' The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe:

"Safe? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. but he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

I tell you, He's the King! Our God holds all things together. (Colossians 1:17) He holds everything from the invisible forces that keep the atoms of our bodies together to the galaxies and constellations in the heavens. In Job 38, God answers Job's questions about God's reasons for His actions by contrasting God's power and majesty with Job's. Here's a little snippet from that conversation:

Job 38:31-33
"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
Or loose the cords of Orion?
"Can you lead forth a constellation in its season,
And guide the Bear with her satellites?
"Do you know the (rdinances of the heavens,
Or fix their rule over the earth?

God is talking about star constellations here, and how He alone has the power to do with them as He pleases, in fact, He holds them and guides them! Here is a picture of the Pleiades star cluster that God is talking with Job about:

Just out of curiosity, can you hold that star cluster together? Can you even hold that star cluster? Can you even visit that start cluster? Obviously, the answer is no! You and I are not even specs of dust in comparison with that star cluster. But God, God holds that thing in His hand, and he binds it together with the forces of gravity and electricity and keeps it where He wants it to be. Wow are we small, but man is God big!

In case that doesn't do it for you, check out this verse:

Isaiah 40:12
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens by the span,
And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?

Our God has marked off the heavens with a span. That means that He takes His hand and holds it up, and the space between His finger and His thumb holds the whole universe. Do you know how big the universe is? Right now, estimates place the size of the universe at around 28 billion light years in diameter, we can never really know the actual size, so that's a small estimate, based on what we can see. A light year is 5,878,630,000,000 miles. So the estimated size of the universe is 28,000,000,000 X 5,878,630,000,000 miles wide at it's diameter. I'll let you do the math on that one.

Here's a picture of what the universe might look like were you to look at it the way that God does, by the span of your hand.

You can't find earth in that image, you can't even find our solar system, in fact, looking at this image, it would be near impossible to point out our galaxy, the Milky Way. The spots that look like stars are galaxies, and even clusters of galaxies! Bigger than our minds can comprehend. Our God holds THAT in the palm of His hand. We serve a BIG God.

When you think about how big our God is, and how small we are, it's pretty amazing that He would care about us isn't it?

Psalm 8:3-9
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?

For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,

All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,

The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

The same God who made those stars and galaxies, and who measures the universe by the span of His hand, loves you enough that He came to earth and lived as a man, and died the death of a lowly criminal for YOU. The God who measures the universe in His hand became smaller than an atom in relation to the universe, and lived humbly, submitting to men, dying on a cross, so that you could have life in Him.

When you think about how big God is, doesn't it make your problems seem small? If God is that powerful, He can take care of the problems and struggles in my life can't He? Of course He can! How small are my problems in relation to the universe? And when God doesn't do things the way that I think they should be done, and I'm going through struggles or hardship, I need to realize that doesn't mean God can't handle it. It means He is handling it in exactly the way He wants to handle it. He is allowing things to happen the way that He wants them to be. He has the power to change every situation I am in, and if He doesn't it's because He is doing a work in my life, and His plans are infinitely better than mine.

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad, let the multitude of islands rejoice! Why? Because God reigns! That's good news for us!

I'm glad that a God that loves me is in charge.

Endings and beginnings...

2010-06-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday at Calvary Vail tomorrow... so bummed to leave behind such good friends, yet so excited. Bittersweet is a good descriptive term for it. Love to all the CCVV crew! You are loved, will be missed, and are forever in our hearts. We are grateful to have had the short time we had with you here in paradise, and will absolutely come back and visit as often as we can.

One week til we move! Crazy!

Love, love, love in Christ,
Nate, Jen & Caleb

We're moving!

2010-06-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

We're packing up and moving on Saturday June 19th! The lease is signed and we're heading out.

Check out today's entry for My Utmost for His Highest, a great call to walking in obedience to the call God has put on your heart. If God has told you to do something, just do it! If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat. Don't wait for the conditions to calm. Don't wait for everyone around you to agree and tell you, "Yes, I think it's a good idea for you to try and walk on water, you're not going to sink." No, if God's calling you to do something, it probably won't make sense to a lot of the people around you. They are not going to understand. You've got to make the decision yourself, are you going to follow, or not?

WHAT NEXT?

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
John 13:17

If you do not cut the moorings, God will have to break them by a storm and send you out. Launch all on God, go out on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and you will get your eyes open. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the smooth waters just inside the harbour bar, full of delight, but always moored; you have to get out through the harbour bar into the great deeps of God and begin to know for yourself, begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know you should do a thing, and do it, immediately you know more. Revise where you have become stodgy spiritually, and you will find it goes back to a point where there was something you knew you should do, but you did not do it because there seemed no immediate call to, and now you have no perception, no discernment; at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-possessed. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to go on knowing.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you work up occasions to sacrifice your self; ardour is mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is a great deal better to fulfil the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. "To obey is better than sacrifice." Beware of harking back to what you were once when God wants you to be something you have never been. "If any man will do . . . he shall know."

-Oswald Chambers, My utmost for His Highest, June 8th

We're in!

2010-06-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. - 1 Chronicles 29:11

God has definitely answered our prayers! Thank you for joining us in praying!

We sign a lease today on a house in Lakewood. It's more than we could have asked for, and in a great location. It's so good to see God's hand moving. We take possession on June 19th, so we'll be down in D-town in about 2 weeks! Crazy!

It's been so cool to see God's direction, blessing, and provision in every step of this process. He's led, and He's provided. You see, everything we are doing is completely contrary to common sense. From leaving well-paying jobs with no work lined-up in the middle of a recession, to leaving behind some of the best friendships we've ever had, and leaving the only church where we've felt like we were part of a true family. Not to mention leaving the quiet, beautiful paradise of the Vail valley, surrounded by mountains and forests and nature, for the busy city life of Denver, the place we never thought we would return.

But, if it made sense, it wouldn't be faith. We know that God has placed a call on our hearts, and God's call usually does not make sense. It's when it does make sense that I start to worry. If everything lined up and made sense, we wouldn't have to trust God.

1 Corinthians 3:18-20
Let no man deceive himself If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God For it is written, "He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS"; and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS."

1 Corinthians 1:25
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men

The awesome thing is that as we keep taking step after step on faith, He keeps meeting us, providing enough direction for the next step, and enough provision for the one we are on.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. - Psalm 103:1

SIDE NOTE: We would love to hear what journeys of faith you are on, so if you're so inclined, please share them in the comments section on this posting!

2010-06-03T14:22:00.001-07:00

Think we found a place! We put in an application today. We're praying that we'll get it if it's the place God has for us, and not get it it it's not. Please pray with us!

It's off wadsworth at Belmar Park, which is awesome.

Stepping out on faith on this one, it's a little more than we wanted to spend, but it's the only place that's lined up so far. Pray for God's will.

God is good!
Nate

Headed down to look for a house to rent...

2010-06-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

Pray for us today, looking for a new place to live.

Philippians 4:19
Ephesians 3:20-21

Looking for a place...

2010-06-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

We're looking for a place!

It seems like things have been moving so fast, it's crazy. We're at the point now of needing to find somewhere to live in Denver. We have looked some over the past couple of weeks, and found a few possibilities, but nothing that really stands out to us. We've got 4 weeks to be out of our place, so we've got to get something lined up soon. I'm so stoked to see what God's got in store. I know it'll be great whatever it is! But, we need your help in this, specifically prayer.

So, here's how you can pray for us:
We are looking for a single-family or duplex home, with at least 2 bedrooms and a yard, for under $1200.00/month, in a very specific area. We feel like we should be between Sheridan and Kipling east to west, and between 6th ave, and Mississippi, north to south.

Pretty specific huh? I know, we're crazy! But, in praying about our move, we really feel like this is the direction that God has given us, in this specific area, and to have a house to hold the beginnings of this church of His in. I know He's got it there somewhere, we just have to find it!

More importantly, please pray that God would begin to stir the hearts of those who are to be a part of this church. Please pray that they would yearn for a deeper knowledge of Him, and have a dissatisfaction with the status-quo. Pray that they would catch excitement at the thought of being a part of God's work, and a desire to leave behind the typical "american spectator church" for something altogether different. Something that is alive and on fire for the Lord and for His desire for the city of Denver.

"Greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city" - Song Lyrics by Bluetree

Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. - Luke 10:2

Thanks so much for the prayers and support.

Love, love, love,
Nate, Jen & Caleb

Yes, but...

2010-05-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

This excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest really spoke to me today.

"YES - BUT . . . !"
Lord, I will follow Thee; but ... - Luke 9:61

Supposing God tells you to do something which is an enormous test to your common sense, what are you going to do? Hang back? If you get into the habit of doing a thing in the physical domain, you will do it every time until you break the habit determinedly; and the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will get up to what Jesus Christ wants, and every time you will turn back when it comes to the point, until you abandon resolutely. "Yes, but - supposing I do obey God in this matter, what about . . . ?" "Yes, I will obey God if He will let me use my common sense, but don't ask me to take a step in the dark." Jesus Christ demands of the man who trusts Him the same reckless sporting spirit that the natural man exhibits. If a man is going to do anything worth while, there are times when he has to risk everything on his leap, and in the spiritual domain Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold by common sense and leap into what He says, and immediately you do, you find that what He says fits on as solidly as common sense. At the bar of common sense Jesus Christ's statements may seem mad; but bring them to the bar of faith, and you begin to find with awestruck spirit that they are the words of God. Trust entirely in God, and when He brings you to the venture, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis, only one out of a crowd is daring enough to bank his faith in the character of God."

- Oswald Chambers: "My Utmost for His Highest - May 30"

We are already on this journey of stepping out into the unknown, but we certainly still have those "Yes, but" moments. Like, "Yes, we're following you to plant this church, but what if I don't get enough work for my business?", or "Yes, we'll follow where you guide us, but what if nobody comes?", or "Yes, we're going to follow you in this, but what about leaving all our friends behind?"

Is God calling you to step out in faith, and do something totally contrary to common sense?

If so, are you playing the "Yes, but" game with Him?

Remember, God is big enough to take care of any situation that you may face. He's big enough to provide for your needs, He's big enough to provide for others' needs. He's God! And if He's really God, we should treat Him as if He is, and trust Him to do what He says He's going to do, and be who He says He is.

If He's really God, we need to step out in faith, trusting that He will take care of the details. Our job is simply to follow, let the dead bury their own dead (Matt. 8:22), and trust that God will work out the rest.

1 Corinthians 3:18
Let no man deceive himself, If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. (emphasis mine)

Little reminders...

2010-05-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

With planning to move to a new city, not having work lined up, and planting a church, there is a lot to think about in terms of finances. And to be totally honest, I've been a little scared. God has always shown Himself our provider, and He's never, ever let us down. But, that doesn't mean that we don't have fear in the face of the unknown. So, sometimes we need little reminders of God's faithfulness. God gave us one of those great little reminders this week.

Now, this is totally a small thing, so don't expect some crazy manna from heaven story, but still a cool reminder that God is our provider, not us. Jen and I have really been wanting one of those tow-behind trailers for a bike, so that we can take our son Caleb with us on bike rides. Well, those things are around $150 - $200, money that we do not have. But, we felt like this could be an activity we could do as a family, and possibly save money by not doing other activities that cost money. I was honestly at the point of saying, "Well, let's just put it on a credit card, because it'll be worth it for us to have that as an activity, and we'll skip other things like date-night or other activities to help pay it off."

Well, apparently God did not want us to put it on a credit card, because I came in to the church today, and in the clothing donation area was one of those trailers, just sitting there. God's provision!

See, we didn't actually need that trailer. We definitely could have done without it, but God wanted to remind us that He's in charge. He wanted to remind us that He's calling us to this new adventure, and He will provide for us. It's not something for us to stress about, it's His problem, not ours. We just get to go along for the ride and watch Him provide.

How awesome is God that He not only will provide for our needs, but sometimes even blesses us with our wants. He is good!

Philippians 4:19 (NASB)
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:25-34 (NASB)
For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Move Update:

2010-05-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

Our apartment has officially been rented, PTL! The people who are taking over our lease signed the paperwork today. So, we will be in Denver by July 1!

We had felt God was leading us to move by the end of June, the only problem was that our lease wasn't up until October. But, where God guides, He provides. He gave us someone to take over our place without us even trying! He is GOOD.

"Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NASB)

Now to find a place down there... looking in Lakewood, near CCU and Belmar. Excited to see what God has in store.

The story... so far

2010-05-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Where to start? Well, I guess the beginning is as good as anywhere. My name is Nate Morris, and I am currently an assistant pastor at Calvary Chapel Vail Valley. My wife, Jen and I have lived near Vail, CO, for the last few years. God called us here. Yep, that's right, God called us to Vail, CO - a ski resort town. Sounds rough huh? ;-)

It's a long story that you can read about here on one of my other blogs if you're interested: http://thoughtfulchristianinsights.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html

Basically, God moved us here for intensive, on-the-job training. After the events that I listed in the above blog post, God blew our minds again, and gave me the opportunity to become an assistant pastor at our church, Calvary Chapel. The last 2 years have been crazy, Jen and I have served in nearly every aspect of church ministry, and God has given us incredible training and equipping. Going through it, I wasn't sure exactly what God was doing at times. And sometimes it was rough being shifted around from ministry area to ministry area. But, looking back, I can see God's hand training us in each of those areas so that we would better be able to serve and lead a church.

So, there's a little background about how we got to where we are. Now to the fun stuff!

About a year ago, God started to speak to me about someday planting a church. I wasn't sure where, or when. To be honest, I felt like it would be sometime in the distant future, and probably somewhere out of the country, like Africa or Mexico.

Over the next several months, God continued to speak to us, and now it seemed that God was leading us towards Denver. This was a surprise to both of us, because when we left Denver to move to Vail, we thought we would never go back! But, God seemed to speak Denver over and over, through the Spirit as well as other external circumstances. This was all during the months leading up to the birth of our first-born son, Caleb. So, we had put the whole thing in the back of our minds, as we were busy having a baby, and then being new parents. Besides, we felt it was going to be much further down the road.

But, about 4 or 5 months after Caleb was born, God started to speak again. And now it was louder. It seemed that Denver came up time and again, and the Spirit was speaking and leading us more and more towards a church plant.

Then I had a meeting with my pastor one day, and He was sharing sort of a vision God had given him for me, and my position with our church, and what God had planned for my future in ministry. Through a series of events in our conversation, God very clearly confirmed in my heart that He was leading us to plant a church, that that church was to be in the Denver area, and that the time to do it was now!

I went home, told Jen, and we prayed about it. We prayed for a couple weeks, and then I came and told my pastor about what God had been speaking. He was super-excited, and felt that God had confirmed it in his heart as well.

And that's that! Since then, it's been seeking the Lord, praying about timing, location, and direction for the church He would have us plant. We have since received direction from the Lord that we are to plant a church in the Lakewood suburb of Denver, and that we are to move by the 1st of July!

So here we are. We are stepping out in faith, trusting that God will guide, provide for and direct us. We have about 6 weeks left until we move to Denver, and we're working on all the details of moving and starting a brand new church.

God has already proven Himself faithful in so many ways. He’s provided renters to take over our lease which ends in September, He’s provided a couple that is going to join us in moving to Denver and planting His church, and He’s already started setting-up people in Denver who have a heart to join us in this new adventure. God is so faithful, and we are so excited to see how He is going to lead us.

Please be in prayer for us, and for His church in Lakewood.

Love and blessings in Christ,
Nate