Saint Matthew's

I received a nice email on Thursday afternoon from someone in Texas who has read this little blog. Apparently, he likes my writing style – “right to the point, no b.s.” The gentleman asked me a few questions, of which I responded to, but I thought it would make an interesting post:

Question 1: “Pastor, are you a college basketball fan and who are your picks this weekend?”

Answer: I haven’t watched any of this year’s tournament. All I know is that Georgetown is back, and being a Big East guy (I love the Red Storm of Saint John’s), I am pulling for the Hoyas. Will I watch the game Saturday night? Nah. It’s Palm Sunday weekend. That means I have a lot of work.

Question 2: “My pastor recently upgraded to Vista and is having difficulties with someone of our church programs. Will you upgrade to Vista?”

Answer: I have a MacBook and an iMac. I will NEVER downgrade from a Mac OS to a Windows environment.

Question 3: “If you had a chance to change something in your life, what would it be?”

Answer: If I had a genie’s ability to make me sleep more than three hours a night, then I would definitely use it.

(Ann Marie) Ciarcia, wife of former Yorktown Town Engineer Dan Ciarcia, was returning from a night of clubbing with her daughter, Alexa, 15, and Emily Cornish on Sept. 18 (2006) when she drove the wrong way on the (Saw Mill River) parkway and crashed head-on into another car shortly before 5 a.m.

She admitted that she had been drinking and had taken the girls to a Lower Manhattan night club for a punk rock tribute to the defunct band The Ramones.

Why is a mom going out “clubbing” with her teenage daughter and her daughter’s friend? Why is a mom keeping her daughter and her friend out till 5AM? Does anyone else see something wrong here?

Oh, there is more to this story … it isn’t good news. The daughter’s friend died in this crash. Mom was sentenced Friday to 1 1/3 years in jail.

Horrible story.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, the current TV District Attorney on NBC’s hit “Law & Order,” is pondering whether he will run for president in 2008. It is expected that he will make a decision sometime before summer.

Thompson is a Christian. He is a believer in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world. But somehow, that doesn’t make him “Christian” enough for Focus on the Family’s James Dobson.

“Everyone knows he’s conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson said of Thompson. “[But] I don’t think he’s a Christian; at least that’s my impression,” Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party’s conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.

 Of course, this has raised a little bit of a firestorm in the pro-Thompson ranks.

But I want to deal with the question: What exactly is a Christian?

Does Dobson have some special “see-thru” glasses that can read a person’s heart and dissect their faith? If he does, then I want a pair!

The fact remains that to be a Christian, one must have faith in Jesus Christ. And unless we can see into a person’s heart and soul, we don’t know if they are telling the truth. Thankfully, God can read our hearts and souls. He knows if our faith is true or just for show. And we leave that to God to figure out!

The problem with some evangelical Christians is that they tend to place a litmus test in front of believers to somehow prove their Christian faith in their lives. Dobson claims that Thompson hasn’t waved the Christ banner around a lot in his public life so he can’t figure out if the former Senator is Christian-enough to be president.

But Thompson was a member of Congress, not a preacher. He passed bills, not the collection plate.

If we were to use a litmus test for the GOP and Democrat candidates, who would rate high on our Christian list? Who among the bunch hasn’t had affairs or has gotten divorced? What about those who have previously mislead others and yet are still running for president? And, oh, we can’t forget that there is a Mormon in the race! 

Whose a better Christian? Leave that to God and not James Dobson.

I haven’t updated since Sunday morning before church … that doesn’t mean I fell off the ends of the Earth. This is a busy time of the year – it is coming towards Holy Week and the services need to get organized.

That’s what I’ve been doing the past couple of days, and going on visits.

Now I will be preparing for our 7:30pm Midweek service tonight.

If you’re looking for something to read, check out this story from today’s New York Times on the continuing fight in the Episcopal Church.

See you tonight at 6 at our Lenten Supper.

While the temperatures are still a little chilly, the expectant 50+ degrees can warm even the coldest hearts. With temperatures believed to hover near or above 60 for most of the week, spring has truly sprung here in Northern New Jersey.

Earlier this morning, I was reflecting on last evening’s Ladies Aid Pot Roast Dinner with a smile on my face. Of course, there were many reasons for the smile.

First, the event was a tremendous success. The Ladies outdid themselves, yet again, this year.

Second, the crowd was large and fun.

Third, we quadrupled our regular Saturday night service attendance (which, of course, got some of us thinking that we should have a dinner every Saturday night to attract people…).

Fourth, and this is a personal reflection, I was happy that my father was able to attend last night’s event. As you know, he is suffering from colon cancer. His doctors are treating it rather aggressively – radiation on a daily basis, chemotherapy via pill each day. They hope to shrink the tumor and catch any possible cancer cells that could have spread, even though all of his blood work is showing that it hasn’t spread. But it is this treatment that is waring on him. He is tired most of the day, even though he goes to work religiously. The chemo treatment is causing his feet to hurt, something the doctors said would happen. He has been getting more nauseous lately. He only has two weeks left of treatment before the doctors schedule surgery. I tell him that it’s only two weeks – but he wishes it was over. So do I.

Now, to finish preparing for our Sunday service.

The latest Barna Group survey finds that nearly 100 Million Americans do not attend regular church services.

A new survey released by The Barna Group, which has been tracking America’s religious behavior and beliefs since 1984, reveals that one out of every three adults (33%) is classified as unchurched – meaning they have not attended a religious service of any type during the past six months. While that figure is considerably higher than the one out of five who qualified as unchurched in the early Nineties, it is statistically unchanged since 36% were recorded as having avoided religious services in the company’s 1994 study.

Some Groups Avoid Churches

Some population segments are notorious church avoiders. For instance, 47% of political liberals are unchurched, more than twice the percentage found among political conservatives (19%). African Americans were less likely to be unchurched (25%) than were whites (32%) or Hispanics (34%). Asians, however, doubled the national average: 63% were unchurched! Single adults continued a historic pattern of being more likely than married adults to stay away from religious services (37% versus 29%, respectively).

Residents of the West (42%) and Northeast (39%) remain the most church resistant, while those in the South are the least prone to avoid religious services (26%). Sexual orientation is closely related to church status, too: while about one-third of heterosexuals are unchurched (31%), half of the homosexual public (49%) met the unchurched criteria.

The question is how we, as a church, respond to this information and evangelize to these unchurched people in our own community.

The American Episcopal Church has raised the anty — they have rejected an international “request” that they stop ordaining and consecrating homosexuals. In their response, the American bishops claim that if they agreed to the ultimatum, they would be disenfranchising gay and lesbians from full participation in the church. They’ve, in effect, have told the rest of the Anglican world to “shove it” while they continue to do their thing in America.

The international body will still try and work things out with their American breathren.

I am routinely asked why I entered the Holy Ministry. Jokingly, I tell people it was for the ‘one-day a week’ work schedule. In all reality, serving as pastor has been mentally trying at certain times, heartbreaking and painful during other times, but it can also be downright joyful. To share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with God’s children brings an unmitigated joy to my heart, even when faced with tragedy and suffering.

My “work” hours are ridiculous. I’m always on-call. I never shy away from late-night or early morning “wake-up” phone calls when I am needed. When I run to a hospital in the wee-hours of the morning or counsel someone at their home at midnight, I do it joyfully because that is what I do. I am Christ’s undershepherd to His flock.

I don’t complain because I don’t get enough sleep. Sometimes I wake up in the morning feeling just as tired as I did when I put my head on my pillow – like this morning when I slept through an alarm I rarely ever hear because I seem to always awaken and turn off the clock before it rings. As I stumble down the stairs to put on coffee, I find my way into my office and turn on the trust-ol’ Macbook and open up my calendar … then my email program … and my sluggishness gets worse.

Today, my calendar is filled starting at 9:30am (or 7:00am if you count setting up and praying Morning Prayer). It doesn’t end until 9:00pm tonight after our Midweek Lenten service. Tomorrow, my schedule is just as full. And Friday— fuhgettaboutit.  Holy Week is going to be a bear with three services a day Monday through Saturday, followed by Easter service. My calendar doesn’t change until April 10th — the Tuesday after Easter Sunday.

However, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with God’s children, those suffering under the plague of sin and despair, is a blessing. It brings joy to my weary heart.

In a church, the pastor hears all things good and bad, and it is the bad that rips at us. We clergy don’t go around moaning when bad things happen. Instead, we tell the Good News of Jesus during those dark times. When someone is sick, we pray and cry to God that He would heal their broken-down bodies. If the illness is too much and our Lord calls His child home, we try to comfort the loved ones left behind. But seeing the pain always breaks our hearts. When families are going through a crisis, we suffer as we see the destruction and pain that accompany those troubles. And we can only try and help sort things out … and pray.

When a congregation is going through hard times – and financial crisis’ are classified as hard times – we ask the Lord to guide and direct for He always provides. Even those times when the Lord’s provision doesn’t seem enough, my job is to spiritually guide, not give financial advice. While I may have some good financial ideas, my job is to preach Christ crucified, not to be a modern day E.F. Hutton.

There are times when I sometimes can’t figure it all out, yet I go on. My body may be achy and tired, and those bags under my eyes grow, I continue to push forward. For I am God’s undershepherd. I share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and during those deeply painful times, the Word makes a difference. My God has led me when I didn’t want Him to, guided me through life’s thorny patches and has placed me in this spot, in this place in His world, in His church in New Milford to do what all those who have been called by God throughout the church’s history have done: To tell the Good News of Christ.

Last night at the Saint Cecilia’s shelter in Englewood, housed in the basement of a church school, a man came up to me with his two little children. All he wanted was for me to say a prayer so that God would help them. I tried my best not to cry – and I held it in, even during my prayers – but I couldn’t help it when I got home. My body was worn out from my Tuesday of work, but that father and those two little children reminded me of what God has done for and to me: He’s saved me and has called me out to talk and preach and pray to help make even the tiniest difference in the lives of two little boys.

Sometimes the smallest things in life bring clarity.

What if someone came to Saint Matthew’s this morning with a check for $1 Million. The only thing that the benefactor would want is that we changed our Communion practice and let anyone who wanted to come forward to the altar and receive the body and blood of Christ, no questions asked. Oh, the benefactor would also like us to change that little “we don’t pray to saints” thing and allow prayers to the dead.

Then, we can have the money.

As a church, we’d say a collective, “No thank you.” Why? What is being presented is a bribe to change what we believe in order to make the church and our mission projects financially stable for a long time. While sounding very tempting, the money that is, the reality is that without doctrine, our church stands for nothing.

This morning in the New York Times, apparently the Anglican Union is facing a similar problem. Their international body wants their American counterparts to stop ordaining and consecrating as bishops openly homosexual clergy. Right now, the American Episcopal Church is standing firm against changing their policy.

But it seems that the Americans have something in their favor: Money. The Episcopal Church in the U.S. donates a third of the Anglican church’s budget. If the international union kicks out their American compatriots, they’d lose the money.

So they are facing a question – do they kick out the Americans and risk losing a third of their budget, or do they ignore the violations of doctrine that the American church has embarked upon and keep cashing the checks?

Regardless of the snow that has blanketed our area – and my “whatever it was” virus that has now subsided – church is open for business tonight at 6:30pm. The Eucharist will be celebrated.

I know, the streets are OK, but it is getting colder and they are refreezing. You’d rather spend this Saturday night at home under the covers while you watch NCAA basketball. You’re thinking that since there is church on Sunday, “I’ll go then.”

Yeah. Tomorrow morning it is going to be below freezing the icy streets aren’t going to be any easier to drive on. At least right now, the sun has been beating down on them for a while. So, make some plans to come to church.

See you there.

Friday afternoon, I came down with some kind of virus that made me thank God for indoor plumbing. “Whatever it was” came over me and just made me feel icky. I actually took a nap on Friday afternoon – a rarity for me – and woke up hours later and answered emails. Then “whatever it was” came back over me. I then went to bed.

This morning, I’ve felt better. I made coffee and read the New York Post (which I receive electronically via PressDisplay instead of getting the paper edition; saves trees). “Whatever it was” seems to have left me. It is now around 11:30am; got to get busy.

Regarding church tonight, I’ll be there, but don’t go crazy to get to church. The parking lot is still snow covered. However, make some time on Sunday morning @ 10:00am and come on by.

I wanted to write some kind of update on what we on the New Milford Senior Advisory Board are discussing and working on. Considering that I am on the Board, I should be crafting some kind of report and posting here. Maybe I will write more about what is happening here in New Milford to help spread the word about the things happening in town. I don’t do a good enough job in our Parish Announcements telling the story of what is happening around town.

Yesterday was our Board’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting at the center on River Road. The Board’s meetings are held every month on the third Thursday at 1:30pm.

Outside of the entertainment committee report (that I missed because I had to leave for a hospital run), the meeting dealt primarily with 2 issues:

1. What is the policy of opening or closing the Senior Center?

2. Should outside businesses be allowed to come into the center and effectively promote themselves and their wares to the seniors?

More after the jump:

(more…)

Two New Milford middle-schoolers got kicked out of school this week after it was learned one of them brought a BB gun to school and the other hid it in his locker. Local police are taking this seriously and are not giving the kids slaps on their wrists.

“It appears that this was a stupid act that can’t be tolerated in the school,” (New Milford Police Chief Frank) Papapietro said. “They’re being charged to the fullest extent of the law, because that is the message we want to send out. You bring a gun to school, you’re going to pay a severe price.”

The Chief is right.

UPDATE: The school’s student handbook says the following about bringing weapons to school:

Students are prohibited by New Jersey State Law and New Milford School policy from bringing andy weapons into the school building. Weapons may include guns, knives, or any other object capable of inflicting bodily harm. Any student carrying or using a weapon will be immediately suspended from school. When there is probably cause to believe that an offense has been committed, the police will send an officer to the school to take custody of the weapon. It is understood and agreed that the New Milford Police department will make an arrest of any student believed to be in the unlawful possession of a firearm or other dangerous weapon. A formal complaint will be filed against a student in possession of a dangerous weapon and a recommendation from expulsion will be sent to the Superintendent.

If terrorism doesn’t prove that Satan rules this sinful world, then nothing will. In this morning’s New York Times, they report about the newest terrorist organization called Fatah al Islam, organized and run by a fugitive terrorist, Shakir al-Abssi.

Per The Times:

He has solid terrorist credentials. A former associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda of Mesopotamia who was killed last summer, Mr. Abssi was sentenced to death in absentia along with Mr. Zarqawi in the 2002 assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan, Laurence Foley. Just four months after arriving here (note: Lebanon) from Syria, Mr. Abssi has a militia that intelligence officials estimate at 150 men and an arsenal of explosives, rockets and even an antiaircraft gun.

Abssi is nothing but evil. Today he is using his “credentials” as a terrorist thug to recruit new members. He is influencing many young people to join his jihad to murder Americans. Apparently, he has been recruiting new thugs and murderers, creating a wonderful environment to discuss his plots to slaughter innocent people in the name of their god.

One paragraph stuck out to me about these recuitment practices:

Mr. Abssi has recently taken on a communications adviser, Abu al-Hassan, 24, a journalism student who dropped out of college to join Fatah al Islam. His current project: a newsmagazine aimed at attracting recruits.

A newsmagazine for terrorists? This is just plain evil. The devil has definitely been working overtime.

But notice one thing – these terrorist leaders seem fit to strap bombs to others and watch them kill themselves in the name of jihad. Would any of these leaders strap a bomb to their chests themselves? Of course not.

Thugs. Murderers. Evil.