I love New York City. I wasn’t born here but since the summer of 1979 I’ve wanted to be here. Since January 1990 my family and I have called this city home. I am very concerned about our city today.

A month or so ago our Fire Commissioner was forced to resign. A few weeks ago our Police Commissioner was forced to resign. By the way the Interim Police Commissioner had his home raided over this past weekend by the Feds. This week our Schools Chancelor was forced to resign. Last night we learned that our Mayor will be indicted shortly. He is the first sitting Mayor to have this happen. Can his resignation be far away?

I am concerned about our city.

Running NYC isn’t an easy task. It can’t be done by amatuers. Serious people are needed. Leaders are needed. Our city is struggling with crime. We’ve seen a mass migration out. White flight, brown flight, black flight. Flight. We’ve seen a mass immigration in. The tax base has fled. Those with their hands out have increased more than 3 fold. Our city is staggering under the weight of the need

Our city is always in a spiritual struggle. The forces of darkness work overtime to cause chaos, produce instability, and oppress and oppose that which good and godly. That has not stopped.

I am concerned about our city.

I am not privy to what is going on behind the scences. I don’t have special information on the spiritual warfare occurring in the heavenlies surrounding NYC. As a Pastor here for 35 years though, I ask you to pray for the stability of our government, the morale of our principals and teachers, the leadership of our cops and firefighters and ems workers and the protection of our city in general.

We are not in a good spot. I am concerned about our city.

Blessings,
Pastor Dave Watson

Calvary Chapel: Celebrating 40 Years of the Goodness of God

“For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” –  Deuteronomy 2:7

     This weekend as a church family we are celebrating our 40^th Anniversary as a Church. As we look back, we are reminded that our LORD has been so very very good to us. Because of His goodness, we just can’t help but praise Him and dedicate ourselves to His Service.

     King David in the Psalms challenges us to “taste and see that the LORD is good”. Over the last 40 years Calvary Chapel has time and time again tasted and seen that without a shadow of a doubt the LORD is good. This is true for us as a Church family and as individual members of that family.

     Looking back, we see God’s goodness in leading our founders, Pastor Lewis and Leah Nelms to start Calvary in August of 1984. We see the goodness of God in providing a space to meet in the Dellwood Manor at the South Shore Country Club. We see His goodness in the church’s early success and in the providing of staff, at first Mark Sweet and later Lou Mancari. Miraculously, in just a short period of time Calvary Chapel was a fully functioning body of believers making a difference on Staten Island. Oh, the Goodness of God.

   Shortly after its formation, Calvary Chapel began a second congregation on the North Shore on Sunday evening. In His goodness the LORD provided a place to meet (Filmore St.) and the multiplication of disciples. In wasn’t long before the two congregation were brought to together under one roof by God’s goodness, meeting at Wagner College. But the goodness of God didn’t stop there.  

     In His goodness the Lord shepherded a smooth transition from Pastor Lewis and Leah Nelms to Pastor Dave and Deb Watson in January of 1990. Not long after that the church was without a place to meet and the LORD in His goodness provided 1055 Richmond Road (St. Simon’s Episcopal Church). For five years. Calvary grew and thrived in that location through the Goodness of God.

     Through the years Calvary prayed and prayed for its own facility. In the LORD’s perfect timing and of course in His goodness, after14 years of praying our Good God provided, miraculously, 30 Maple Parkway. It was exactly what we prayed for. Oh, the Goodness of God. God in His goodness provided the funds to pay off the mortgage on 30 Maple Parkway and to secure another piece of property, 26 Mape Parkway.

      By the LORD’s goodness we have been so blessed. Looking back, He has allowed us to lead people to Christ, baptize them, disciple them and send them our for Him. As we look over these forty years, we have been privileged to minister and to do missions work here in NYC and to do missions work all over the world, including Cuba. Speaking of Cuba, who could’ve dreamed what God has let us be a part of there.  Oh, the Goodness of God.

     The goodness of God has allowed us to start a Bible Institute. His goodness has allowed us to reach out to our city via our live radio broadcast, “God in Our City” heard each Sunday. This same goodness from God has enabled us to start a pantry that ministers to our community twice a month, honor teachers, minister to cops and firefighters, provide school supplies, host immigrants, send gospel opportunities in the form of shoe boxes around the world, support missionaries, and do everything and anything we can to reach the world. Oh, the Goodness of God. Through this same goodness we have survived 9-11, pushed through the financial crisis of the late 2000’s and even thrived even through a pandemic.

      We could go on and on recounting the LORD’s goodness toward us. But, in closing, here’s the incredible news. The LORD’s not done pouring out His goodness upon us. So, this weekend, as we look back, we also are looking forward to another 40 years of experiencing and celebrating the goodness of God. God, in His goodness, has so much yet for us. Oh, the Goodness of God.

Blessings, Pastor Dave Watson

23 Years and Counting

It’s been twenty-three years today, twenty-three years and counting

It’s so long ago, yet it’s not. It’s like yesterday, or like last week or like last fall.

But not twenty-three years ago today!

 But it’s really been twenty-three years, twenty-three years and counting

The pile, the horrible stench, the fear, the tears, the funerals, the bagpipes, the reading of the names

They are all etched in our minds like a bad stain, they can become faded with time but they will never be wiped away

But more importantly we still see the faces

The dad, the mom, the son or daughter the Firefighter, the Cop, the EMS worker

We still see them, we still weep for them, they are still precious to us.

Though it’s been twenty-three years, twenty-three years and counting.

Our nation lost some good people that day at the Pentagon and at Shanksville and at The Towers

2977 souls that day. More than 2977 souls since then to 911 related illnesses

Our City lost some good people that day as well.

Officemates who walked down the stairs of the North Tower together but didn’t quite make it out

Strangers who grabbed each others hands and jumped into eternity

Volunteers giving their all to save a few, some not saving themselves

We all lost some great people that day, some heroes

People who lived out the words of Jesus who said  “Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends”

Heroes who would rather lose their life than to let someone else, even a stranger, lose theirs or lose theirs alone

343 firefighters, 71 law enforcement officers, 8 EMS workers, so may more since

So many lost some very special people that day. We know them all by their names

They went by Daddy, Mommy, Grandpop, Grandma, Uncle, Auntie, Sis, Brother, Son, Daughter, Neighbor, Friend, New Yorker. They were all irreplaceable yet they are gone.

It still stings to think about them. It’s been twenty-three years, twenty-three years and counting.

And with the time the wounds heal but never completely. How can they?

The wounds runs too deep. It has left a near eternal scar on our hearts

23 years later an aging parent still says, “I lost my boy”

23 years later a group of retirees in Florida say it would be great if only Jack or Janet were here

23 years later a pregnant daughter says at her shower, “I wish my mom were here”

23 years later a Yankee fan on their couch says, “I miss my Pop Pop”

23 years later a bride on her big day wishes for the steady arms of her dad to walk her down that aisle

Yes, it is hard to believe it’s been twenty-three years, twenty-three years and counting

So today we gather. We look together for hope

The Good Book says there is a time for every purpose under heaven. There is a time to laugh and a time to cry and a time to mourn and a time to rejoice and a time to embrace…..so we do just that now.

It also says that “He makes everything beautiful in His time”. That is the day we look forward to. When God himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes and there will be no more crying or dying because the former things will have passed away. That is the day we are longing for when there will be a great reunion in the sky.

Until then we look back and remember, remember as we should…. twenty-three years twenty-three years and counting, until the day He makes us whole.

 

Blessings

Pastor Dave Watson