Assistant Pastor Burnie Lund updates us on the status of our building remodel:

Click here to download a wallpaper for Canyon Ridge Baptist Church’s 2010 theme, “Rise Up And Build!”

Enjoy the latest video blog from Pastor Chris Chadwick, recorded 2-26-10.

We’re proud to announce our official purchase of the property at 6866 Linda Vista Rd. San Diego, CA 92111.   Our meeting times and locations will remain the same for now, but will be updated very soon.  Thank you for your prayers and support!  We look forward to seeing you at our new location!

Pastor Chris Chadwick’s latest video blog can be viewed here.

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What?!  We’re almost halfway through 2009?  As the days and weeks slip by, I keep asking myself, “What in the world am I doing with my life?!”

Am I alone here? 

As a Biblical Christian, the ultimate purpose of my life is to have a daily, intimate relationship with Christ.  Without a vibrant relationship with Him, life grows wearisome.  Who cares how many Christian things I do if the spiritual heart that beats within me is chilled and weak? As W. Ian Thomas asked, “How much can you do without Christ?  Nothing . . . It is astonishing, however, how busy we can be doing nothing!” Only Jesus Christ can infuse the life.  The ‘secret’ to happy Christian living is not merely a relationship with Christ but one that’s real.  There’s a phrase I used to hear around a lot: “Keep it real!” That’s what I want to do with my relationship with my Savior.  Keep it real.

An old friend of mine struggled with this.  His outlook was so rules-oriented that it was impossible for him to have a real, intimate relationship with God.  To him, God became a set of rules rather than the personal being that He is.  Now don’t get me wrong–God has standards, and they are good and right, but He is relational.  He is a Being, a personal one Who desires to know us.  He desires that so much that He sacrificed everything to bring us close to Him!  God wants us to know and love Him personally more than He wants us to set up Christian hoops to jump through.  If we know and love Him, we will naturally obey Him.

As we know Him more, however, we realize how vast the separation is between God’s nature and ours.  A holy God without sin knows my deepest thoughts, my hidden dreams, my inner man.  What a frightening thought, were it not for His love and mercy!  I can be honest with God.  I can go to Him boldly and yet humbly.  He knows the real me.  He knows the truth.  He knows Burnie Lund.

Where do you go to be starkly honest?  Who can you tell about the depths of your soul?  Go to Christ!    Who cares about putting up a front with God?  After all, Hebrews 4:13 reminds us that “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” He holds our very life in His hands: “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25b).  Why not be real?

June 2009.  Wow.  Where are you with Christ today?  Is your relationship alive and vibrant?  Why?  Why not?!

Keep it real.

Sincerely,

Burnie Lund, Assistant Pastor

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“Can I really handle more than this?”

As I write this first entry for the Canyon Ridge Online Journal, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.

I know what you’re thinking: “You’re a Pastor.  You should never feel that way.”  There’s a large part of me that would totally agree with you, but that’s how I feel nonetheless.  I struggle tremendously with carrying burdens that… well, to be honest, Jesus has promised to carry already.

As of this writing:

- Canyon Ridge is preparing for a Revival/Bible Conference that starts tomorrow–a great spiritual burden for every Pastor.

- Our church votes tomorrow on whether to purchase a piece or property for three million dollars.  Another church currently occupies the property and they’ll vote Sunday on whether to let us buy it.

- We’re totally revamping our follow-up in a effort to reach more people for Jesus.

-  One of our young men–one of the most amazing teenagers you’ll ever meet–just started chemotherapy. He’ll undergo 48 treatments, and for each he’ll be hospitalized a minimum of three days.  He’ll have at least two surgeries.  At best, he’ll miss his entire freshmen year of high school.  We both share a love for basketball, and it pains me that he can’t play the sport he loves.

- Did I mention we need three million dollars?

Now the above is a list of burdens that apply to me solely as a Pastor.  I didn’t mention the conflicts I face as a husband, father, friend, student, son, brother, employer, and American citizen.

If the burden of Jesus Christ is light (and it is), how then do I deal with all this?  The Bible is clear, and it all comes down to this: Who do you trust?

Psalm 118:8-9:  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

The burden is light when I honestly allow God show Himself mighty through our revival, building votes, sicknesses, and other conflicts.

We often hear, “God will not give you more than you can handle.”  That is a true statement.  The only way we can handle things well is to take our burdens to the Lord, trusting Him to carry the load.  The simple truth is this: He will carry the load. When I read …than to put confidence in man,” I often read it this way: “…than to put confidence in other men.”  Unfortunately, my greatest struggle is not with what others can do for me, but rather what I can do for myself.   It is in my nature to be self-sufficient and independent, when God wants us to be self-deficient and God-dependent.

This is my prayer for the coming week:

“Lord I pray for our church family–that we will honestly trust you enough to turn our burdens over to You.  Will you gently remind us when we start to carry the burden that You have allowed in our lives to show Yourself mighty, to bring honor to Yourself.  Thank you for being good to us.

Lord–just a reminder–we need three million dollars!”

Pastor Chris Chadwick