Here and Now

Ah, another year gone by.   It is time for recovering from the holidays, taking down the decorations, and putting last year behind us as we start anew.   It makes me realize how old I am… It is a time for reassessment.   We all look back at last year with some regrets over what we didn’t do.   We see resolutions last year that fell by the wayside.   We see how some things didn’t go quite the way we had hoped.   We see how the optimism we had 365 days ago waned as the year went on because real life happened, like it always does. It is a time for new resolve.   We determine to have no regrets at the end of the year: we are going to stick to our resolutions.   We are going to affect things so that they go the way we hope!   We are more optimistic than we were last year!!    This is the year things change for the better!!!   This year is going to be different!!!! Spoiler alert : real life is gonna happen again.   Like i...

It is rare that I am at a loss for words.   My mind is going a mile a second, and my heart is bogged down in a way it rarely is.   I spent tonight remembering a man that had probably more influence in my early life than anyone other than my own father.   Dr. Tom Finetti, who was the chorus director at my high school, had the choir room at Belleville High named for him.   It is more than well deserved, but it is not enough.   This man who dedicated his life to children… like I was… he deserves more.   His family revealed to us tonight that he is in hospice care and not expected to live more than a few more days.   My heart breaks.   I wish he had been well enough to see the outpouring of genuine love for him tonight.   The communications department at Belleville High was gracious enough to record messages from any former students to send to Doc.   I got there early to record my message.   I told him how I loved him, and I cried… ...

The Court of Opinion By Jenn M. A few years ago I served on jury duty. I am probably one of the few people out there that actually wants to get picked for jury duty; that doesn’t try to get out of it; that really pays attention. I have always been fascinated with the criminal justice system. It’s a wonder that I didn’t pursue a criminal justice degree considering how up on the subject I am for a lay person! Anyway, this particular case I served on involved a theft. A man was on trial for breaking into a woman’s apartment that wasn’t home at the time and stealing a handful of her gold jewelry. Neighbors reported seeing a man who fit his description on the apartment grounds. By the time the police arrived, they caught him exiting the building (not her apartment) and saw he had a pocket full of the plaintiff’s jewelry. Now, you might have just read that and thought. “Guilty!” It sure seems that way but in our criminal justice system, things are just not that black and white. Hence...

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction… Or Can I? I was having a discussion with some friends about working out and eating habits.   After much debate over the best way to burn body fat (I think prayer works the best…), I was asked about my personal eating habits.   Now, as some of you know, I can eat.   No, I can really EAT!   So the question was asked of me if I eat until I’m satisfied, or do I go beyond that.           This sparked another debate over what it meant to be satisfied when eating.   I mean, I can be hungry, eat one piece of pizza, and I won’t be hungry anymore, but I would hardly be satisfied.   My physical needs being met are not what I equate with satisfaction, especially when it comes to eating (did I mention that I could really eat?).           And that got me thinking: what about our lives as Christians?   What really satisfies us?    ...

Remembering Who We Are           So the first annual Nutley Community Expo has come and gone.   The turnout was great, there were great conversations to be had, and it was not, thankfully, too hot out!   There were a few negatives, though: my feet hurt by the end of the night, the emcee’s microphone was way too loud, and the pizzeria serving pasta ran out of forks at one point.   We all somehow survived… While we were there, I was speaking to my friend Rich who was walking the Expo, and we were talking about my reasons for exhibiting.   I just wanted to give away Bibles, and have one more event where the Reason for Hope name was out there for the community to see.   Well, we gave away a good amount of Bible and tracts, so I left knowing we served part of our purpose.   I would just have to wait and see whether or not I was successful in getting our name out there.   But I didn’t have to wait long… ...

Serving, Eating, and God           Today was our fourth Care Kitchen.   It is a twice per month time of food and fellowship for the needy run by the Methodist church in town and RFH.   It is a wonderful thing that a Methodist church and a non-denominational church can work together for a great cause.   But it goes even further, because, on any given Saturday, there are Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Baptists, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Methodists, and non-denominational Christians working side by side.   So this is not a denominational thing.             We had a very good turnout today, which always makes us all very happy.   It is nice to help Nutley residents get a hot meal, some household items, and some food to take home while they enjoy each other’s company.   But it goes even further, because on any given Saturday there are people from Nutley, Mont...

Lost in Song I remarked in a sermon recently that the human emotional state is so fragile that it is affected by the weather (it’s a nice day today, so most of you all are probably in pretty good moods like I am).   Last night, during the Casting Crowns concert, lead singer Mark Hall commented similarly.   He warned that if we live by our emotions by basing our decisions on them, we are going to get ourselves into trouble.   But He also acknowledged the joy of riding the emotional high that can come along with hearing good music, which a few thousand people were sharing with him throughout the night.   But there were some that looked as if they were not…           Sitting in the back row, I had an opportunity to look over the crowd.   There were so many that were really into the music.   Then there were some that were REALLY into the music (including my wife and me).   And then there were some that were not ...