20/20 VISION FOR 2020

     I must confess this will be a short blog. I have been battling the flu for the past 3 days and had no energy whatsoever to write. I have spent my time resting and trying to get better, I am about 80% there. I barely have a voice!

     Well in less than 6 hours as I write this, we will be starting a brand spanking new decade. 2020! When I think of 2020, I actually think of a different 20/20. 20/20 vision! For the majority of my life, I always had good eyesight. In fact it was 20/20 vision until 2005. It was right after my 41st birthday. I was on the church platform doing a Baby Dedication and I discovered that I had trouble reading my small print Bible. If I held my arm out far away from my bible, I was able to read it perfectly. Someone in the congregation suggested that I purchase an "arm extender" so I could read the scripture better. WISE GUY! It was time for me to go to Dollar Tree and buy a pair of cheap magnifiers. After my purchase, it was amazing that I was able to read. A few years ago, I had to purchase glasses that I now wear all the time!

     So in 2020, what is your 20/20 vision for the New Year? What goals are you setting? It is my prayer for you and for myself that we all keep our eyes on the Lord and allow Him to work in and through us!

    I wish you all a blessed New Year and God's blessings for you and your families!!

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

     In only 8 days we will be celebrating Christmas. It's so hard to believe how fast this year breezed right by. Right after Halloween, families put their Christmas lights up on their homes and started decorating. Stores began displaying Christmas items and of course, Black Friday was it's usual nightmare. Ahh, Christmas 2019!

 

     As a kid, Christmas had two meanings for me. Being raised Catholic we had our Christian side of it. My brother and sister all knew growing up that the real meaning of Christmas was the birth of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Our Family displayed the nativity and of course we went to Catholic Mass on Christmas Eve which was probably and hour long but felt like 8 hours. Since I wasn't allowed to talk to my brother during mass or whisper loud, I used to count the number of lights the church had or I would look at the stained glass windows and pretend my friends were on the windows not St. Joseph or St. Luke. I would also daydream about what Santa was bringing me for Christmas. Our family joke was always that I asked Santa for a Lite Brite in 1st grade and he must have made a mistake and gave it to some other kid. My brother kindly gave me one recently to amend the bad error by Mr. Claus.

    

     The second meaning was always the fun part. Santa Claus, decorations, lights, shopping last minute and of course watching every possible Christmas cartoon or show usually on CBS or ABC right after the Thanksgiving holiday. Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer, The Year without a Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is coming to town and of course...A Charlie Brown Christmas. I must have watched these shows a gazillion times and I have many of the lines memorized. I always made the excuse that as an adult I watched it because my kids were watching it. Of course being a children's pastor I did have to relate to all kids! 

 

     A Charlie Brown Christmas has always been a special show for me. It was first aired when I was 1 years old so I probably first watched it when I was 4 or 5. Out of every single Christmas cartoon or show, this cartoon is the only one that ever mentions the "Real" meaning of Christmas. In one of the last scenes, Linus gives a speech and in it he quotes a scripture which is in Luke Chapter 2 "For unto us is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." I don't know a whole lot about Charles Shulz, the creator of Peanuts. All I know is that in 1965 when he created this Christmas cartoon he wanted to be sure that everyone knew what was the real meaning of Christmas. A Savior Jesus has been born to us this day. 

 

     Please don't get me wrong I am not saying we should ban every other Christmas cartoon. What I am saying is we need to remember the guest of honor and who's birthday we are really celebrating! Merry Christmas everyone!! Happy Birthday Jesus! May God bless you and your families!!

 

p.s. I will not be blogging next week and will try to squeeze in one more blog before New Years Day 2020! 

BE A VOICE!!

      This past October I began working a third job. I am a Personal Aid to a handicapped college student who is 17 years old and a college freshman at a local university here on Long Island. I work about 17 hours a week and on Wednesdays I get him out of bed, shower and dress him and take him from class to class. He is in a wheelchair and I do all I can to help him. I’m also with him on Saturday evenings.

      About a month ago he told me that he had to attend a mandatory meeting that all Freshman HAD to attend. It was in a lecture hall and he was not allowed to miss it. The speaker who did the lecture was a transvestite who was a man and he now felt the need to dress as a woman. All freshmen were forced to hear his/her story about how this came to be. They were not allowed to miss this lecture and from what I am told it would affect their grade.

      My heart sank as we walked over to this lecture hall. I was very happy that I did not have to attend. As I sat and waited for well over an hour for it to be over, I started praying some radical prayers. "Hey God, please let this individual lose his voice. Please let the sound system go bonkers. Let the power go out!" I realize those prayers are not very nice but I was not very happy all these freshmen had to hear this garbage. It made me think of something real cool. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone in the freshman class had to listen to Franklin Graham or Frances Chan? They would have to hear the gospel and have no choice whatsoever. They would have to hear about the life changing message of salvation and about how much God loves them.

      I realize in today’s day and age that lectures such as this transvestite is more common than not. I have heard that local libraries are allowing Drag Queens to read stories to children. I heard it said recently that since they cannot reproduce, they will do everything possible to recruit. I think it saddens me that many Christians will not take action or be a voice. We just sit back and expect others to handle it. I will just say boldly that I am appalled at what is happening in our world. God did not create man and decide "Oh wait, I made a mistake. You were supposed to be a woman. My bad!!’ He didn’t create Adam so that he could be Andrea or Eve so she could become Eddie! He created man. He created woman. End of story!

      I just want to encourage Christians everywhere to be a voice and to take a stand. We can’t allow lectures like this at local universities or Drag Queens in the libraries to continue. One of my goals in 2020 is to develop a library program on bullying. I am not planning on making it preachy, but I do want to be a "light in the darkness." Come on everyone! Let’s take a stand for the truth!

UNTIL NEXT WEEK!! HAPPY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!

THE FINISHED PROJECT...OR IS IT?

    

     Last July I wrote a blog about a house being built vs. our lives being built by God. Recently I walked past that house on Hetty’s Path that is one block away from where I live and I took a quick picture. Here it is pictured above. The house being built on the left and the same house that is completed pictured on the right! Or is it?

      In 1973 my parents purchased the home I grew up in which is in Smithtown, NY. If my memory serves me correctly, they were the second owners. My parents quickly made changes to the house. For starters, they replaced all of the carpeting in the den, living room, dining room and the upstairs staircase and hallway. Through the years they replaced the kitchen floor, bathroom floors and the walls were painted many times in or bedrooms. They even took down the very much out of date paneling (remember paneling?) and replaced it with sheet rock in the early 1990’s! So many changes through the years yet they could never say the house was finished.

 

     As a children's pastor I used to love experimenting in the ministry to children to see what worked and what didn't work. It was always fun to implement new ideas. I always loved thinking "outside the box" with a new game show idea or new method of teaching the bible. Change was always good and I always welcomed it. After a season I would stand in the back of the gym during Kidz for Christ on Sunday mornings and would be in awe. I would say "Wow! Things are really going so smoothly. There's no need for any changes." Of course after I would think of that in my head the church leadership would always throw me a curve ball and either change the times of services or the age group I was responsible for. So many changes through the years yet I could never say the ministry was completely finished.

     After looking at this new home on Hettys Path its obvious the house is not 100% complete. I'm  sure  a nice family will move in and through the years they will make changes to the inside as well as the outside. They will have great memories and will probably paint their rooms just like my room was painted many colors!

     This also makes me realize that God is not finished with us. He is making changes in us on the inside as well as on our outside. He is working deep in our hearts and He is molding and shaping us into the people and Christians we need to be. I may not understand everything He is doing or what He is changing. All I know is that I need to keep my eyes on Him, let Him lead and I need to put my trust in Him! One day we will stand before Him as His finished project where He will say to us "Well done good and faithful servant!"

 

UNTIL NEXT WEEK!! BE BLESSED EVERYONE!!