Calvary Chapel and the Good Ol’ Days

Sometimes I open my mouth before I think. Does that ever happen to you? On Saturday a man came in to buy his planner refills and asked if we still had discounts for pastors. We do, so I asked for his business card to confirm his association. He was a pastor from West Seattle Calvary Chapel.

Without even thinking of the consequences, I said - Hey I used to go to Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa with Chuck Smith. He asked me how long ago and I told him when I was just out of high school, back when the church was full of Jesus People and Maranantha Music was just taking off.

Then came the question: Where do you go now?

I told him I don’t go anywhere. He asked why not and I told him it was a long story. But what I should have said was that I don’t believe any more. Because bottom line, that is the reason, then comes the long story.

He said I should consider coming back to the fold and told me where his church was and a couple of others in the area. He asked if I still had his card and I said I gave it back to you. He asked if I would like it back, but I said no.

He was a very nice guy and seemed genuinely concerned about my lost soul. I have a feeling that if I wasn’t at work he would have said more. I might have even been willing to chat with him because he seemed like he would have been a good listener. He looked like he wanted to say more, and I almost wouldn’t be surprised if he came back in one day to talk.

Those were fun days back in the mid-seventies. Calvary Chapel had a mix of business types dressed in their Sunday best and the Jesus People dressed in their surfer attire - jeans, t-shirts and flip-flops. Every Saturday night there was a concert with a Christian singer or rock band. Chuck Smith was tireless.

I asked the pastor of WSCC about Chuck and he said he is still going strong, well, maybe not strong, but still going. He thinks he is in his early 80’s now.

Yesterday was Sunday and I spent the entire day catching up on the little things, some that I couldn’t do without internet, some phone calls I needed to catch up since we now have a phone, and emails I had to send off. My list was a mile long, but is was a very relaxing day for me, no other meetings or appointments, and it felt good to get all of those things done.


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2 Responses to “Calvary Chapel and the Good Ol’ Days”

  1. John Says:
    December 4th, 2006 at 5:02 pm

    I ran across your blog looking for something on Yahoo.
    I’m sorry you have left the Church, and by church I mean the body of believers. If I may respectfully make an observation…

    I know quite a few disenfranchised so-called former-Christians who have left Christianity for any number of reasons. I’ve heard them all. One of the problems with the so-called evangelical denominations is they have lost their way in terms of faith. Most of what evangelical churches teach these day bunk. They should be re-labled the “churches of what’s happening now.” They dispense theological vomit and the people lap it up like hungry dogs. What I’m driving at is this… almost no one teaches proper doctrine anymore. Pastors tell people what they want to hear… they preach pop-psychology designed to make people feel empowered. They have reduced God to a mindless slot machine that dispenses out favors. There is no mention of sin anymore… that scares people. There is no mention of hell anymore… that’s not popular.
    In ending, I would suggest to you that perhaps, if you have not taken your freewill and written off God entirely, that you look into a proper, orthodox service, and I suggest perhaps a WELS or LCMS Lutheran service… one of the few places where Sola Scriptura is still taught, where pastors don’t drive expensive cars, where there is no “evangelical” mentality, no holier-than-thou junk like Promise Keepers, real communion with the real spiritual presence of Christ as He intended, not people who believe only in symbolism, which is plainly anti-Biblical.

    Something for you to think about. I could be wrong, but we are all searching. We all need to be a part of something larger than ourselves. God provides.

  2. Theresa Says:
    December 5th, 2006 at 9:51 am

    Thank you for your comments John. I agree with you totally about the evangelical churches. There was a time that I said to myself that if I ever returned to church it would probably be the church of my youth - Catholic - for pretty much the same reasons, none of the BS of the evangelical crowd. But truthfully I can never see myself returning to church or Christianity because I do not believe in their God anymore.

    As for being a part of something larger than myself, I am. I am a part of the universe, doing my best to make each day count for myself, the people I am in contact with, and those that will come after me.

    Thank you for your thoughts.

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