THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE!!

     During this pandemic, like many of us, I have tried to get things done. I have also tried, if the weather is okay, to go for long walks to take a break from "getting things done", namely cleaning. Walking around my neighborhood I have seen something I have not seen in years...families spending quality time together. Walking in my neighborhood I was able to see families walking together, a Dad and his son both wearing New York Rangers jersey's playing hockey, brothers shooting baskets into a hoop in their driveway, families riding bikes and siblings playing tag and enjoying each others company. As I observed this, my mind quickly went back to my childhood in Chatham, New Jersey and Smithtown, New York. My family always spent quality time together!

     My Dad was not the most athletic man in the world. He loved watching his New York Giants play football but he certainly would have never played for them. One thing my Dad did do with my brother and I was he did take the time to spend time with us. He would toss Frisbee with us, we shot off rockets, played catch, went fishing and he actually built one of my first bikes, As a kid I have great memories playing football, baseball other games with my brother. We didn't own cell phones, have tablets or worry about social media. We thought we were hot stuff when we got a CB Radio! In today's culture, very rarely do you see kids playing outside, families walking together or even a simple thing like Dad's throwing a football to his kids. It took a worldwide crisis for it to happen. Finally we are seeing families spending quality time together.

     I can't begin to tell you how much it bothered me working at Chick Fil-A and seeing a family of four all sitting at the same table and all four are on their cell phones. They are surfing the web, contacting friends and checking on the scores of their favorite teams, For them it was more important than spending quality time with their family and each other. I entitled this blog "This is how it should be" because I truly believe the invention of cell phones, Twitter, Facebook and all social media has brought the family apart. This IS how it should be! Families need to spend quality time together. Many families drift apart for a number of reasons. One being everyone is so so busy. We all run in different directions forgetting how valuable tine together is. This IS how it should be! Families spending time together!           

FEAR IN 2020

   
     While serving food to many at Chick Fil-A these past few weeks as well as working the drive thru window briefly, I saw fear on a lot of faces. This Corona Pandemic has taken over all of our lives and has instilled fear in many. I saw many wearing masks, people panicking because we touched their bags and many buying more Chick Fil -A sandwiches that would last a year! 
   
     Let's be honest! Fear has always been around but it has especially been maximized this past month once COVID-19 has invaded our world. Should we all be in fear? Should we all panic? Should we all lay awake at night wondering if the world is ending and we are all doomed? Let me share with you what the bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7

GOD HAS NOT GIVEN ME THE SPIRIT OF FEAR BUT OF 

POWER, LOVE AND OF A SOUND MIND!

     Have I ever feared? Of course, everyone has. But to be brutally honest I won't allow any spirit of fear to have it's grip on me. Fear is truthfully a tactic used by the devil himself to control us and keep us away from God working in our lives. He will use it to distract us from being close to the Lord and keep our minds occupied on all negative and fearful things. If you watch the news (I truthfully try to avoid it) especially this past month, it is obvious that our media has tried very hard to instill fear in not only Americans but on the world itself. Should we be cautious with this virus? Absolutely! But we should not however live in fear. God promises us in 2 Timothy 1:7 that He has given us power. love and a sound mind! NOT a spirit of fear. The definition of fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat. My encouragement to you on this late Friday night is simple. Don't allow the grip of fear to control you. I realize in my own life that I will not be working 2 of my 3 jobs. I can't stress over that and worry and fear that collection agencies are going to be banging on my door looking for money. I have to put my trust in God knowing that he will certainly take care of me! He will take care of you all too!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!   

GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE BOOGIEMAN!!

 

     Wow! All I can say is Wow! March 2020 will certainly be memorable for all of us. Coronavirus! It's on every channel on television except for maybe TV Land, some classic TV channels and shopping channels. The term "Social distancing" has become a new phrase. Churches have not met in their buildings in 2 weeks. Many have done their services in "Live Streaming." Many of us are working from home or unfortunately not working at all. Two weeks ago I had three jobs, this morning I had two jobs and now as I drove home from Chick Fil-A I now work only for Home Depot. I have seen fear in a lot of faces. I see a lot of panic and uncertainty in our world which leads me to the topic of my blog...GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE BOOGIEMAN!

 

     In 2002, crazy insane Pastor Dave did a crazy insane thing. I brought a group of preteen aged kids to New York City for an outreach. The kids were all a part of a program I developed in the 1990's I called Kids in Missions. The kids in this program would learn all about missions and would come with me on evangelistic outreaches and either perform dramas or puppet songs. It was a chilly October Saturday as we helped a Christian ministry reach out to the homeless of New York City. As we set up all our stuff in a local park, all heck was about to break loose. Some wacky stuff! We could not get our generator to start and after many attempts the generator started leaking gas in some bizarre places! As we set up our puppet stage, a woman came out of nowhere started yelling at a female homeless worker to the point where she tried to bite her. She made a huge scene. I had to take the kids away from the "scene" and we started to pray. What we found out was shocking, The woman who caused a scene was freaking out because the very place we were setting up our puppet stage was also the very spot where Satanic rituals were performed! I was so proud of these kids. With no sound system and with the police questioning those who were involved, they began to perform the drama "Shout to the Lord" by singing the song. They were not the least bit intimidated by that woman, the Police showing up or anything. The director of the ministry Diane came over to the kids and told them "You all have heart." She then began to sing an old song from the children's video series Veggie Tales. In her tough New York accent she sang real loud "God is bigger than the Boogieman!"

 

     Fast forward 17 and a half years later! When I think of what we are all facing with the coronavirus I realize one thing...GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE BOOGIEMAN! That "Boogieman" for all of us is the virus. It is the fear we hold onto not knowing the future. It's the uncertainty we hold onto. We all need to realize that God is BIGGER than the coronavirus. God is in control!! The same God who saved Daniel from the Lions Den is the same God who will get us through this coronavirus pandemic! One last thought. I believe God has stripped us of so much for one simple reason. He is trying to get our attention! We have no church to go to but we can always go to our heavenly Father. Our Pastor may not be accessible but we can go instead to our heavenly Father.

 

     During this season, let's keep each other in prayer. Now is the time Christians need to unite in prayer and not only pray for each other, but for those who do not know Him as their Lord and savior!!         

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN!!

     No, this is not a blog about Gene Autry riding his horse. I’m sure some of you will be googling Gene Autry’s name right now!  This is a blog about what I had the opportunity to do last Friday. Some of you know me as Pastor Dave the Children’s Pastor. Others know me as Dave the Chick Fil-A team member, shift leader and manager. Others know me as a fellow Northeastern Bible College student back in the 1980’s. This blog is about what I loved to do the most as a children’s pastor. I loved speaking in chapel! Last Friday I was invited to speak at a chapel service at West Sayville Christian School.

     When I accepted the position as the children’s pastor at Smithtown Gospel in 1991, one of the things I set as a goal was to connect with the students at the Smithtown Christian School. Even before I went to speak to the principal who was also a family friend, Mr. Ed Parker, he approached me about speaking at chapel. Their services were on Wednesday’s at 9:00 a.m. in the auditorium. Little did I know then that my sharing in chapel would become a regular routine for the next 22 years? I was invited to speak once a month during that time from September to June. What always blessed me was that they trusted me enough to tell me I could share on whatever topic I wanted to. It really blessed me to share in that chapel and God always put a message on my heart at the craziest times and places. In the shower, walking home, driving on Rt. 347, in the middle of the night, walking in the church basement or even once when I was in Florida. This led me to get invited to share at other Christian schools. It also gave me a place to try out new gospel illusions, new puppet characters as well as new teaching ideas. The students would see me in the lunchroom and the hallways and always ask “When are you speaking in chapel?” I was blessed to hear that. When I resigned my position, I realized my most favorite activity; sharing at the SCS chapel would be over. It hurt!

     Since me departure, I have had opportunities to share at a few Christian schools in their chapel services here on Long Island. They were West Sayville Christian School, Emanuel Lutheran School and North Shore Christian School. The latter two no longer exist unfortunately. When I became ill in late December/ early January of this past year, I had a lot of questions for God. I also felt a little depressed. I was only working one job at the time and was struggling financially. I would go for walks at Sunken Meadow State Park to clear my head and to pray. I asked God repeatedly what my gifts were and what He had in store for me. I also cried out to him about my financial situation. It was during that time that God was silent. I started questioning the call on my life and wondering if maybe my “call” was to do something else besides kid’s ministry. Truthfully, January and February were challenging months for me. In January my landlady asked me to move my ministry stuff I had stored in a room in her house to a different room. I became emotional as I looked at many of the props, gospel magic tricks and of course my many puppets. Some I had not used in years. Does anyone remember Tiki the Toucan? I also realized I had not used Grandpa Lou or Shelton the Shark since the previous summer! Then I got a phone call from West Sayville Christian School from Mrs. Warren the Principal in late January. “We would love for you to come and speak at our chapel, Pastor Dave.” I said “Sure, let’s figure out a day.” We then scheduled it for Friday, March 6^th. She mailed me a letter with the theme and topic I would be sharing on and I was excited.

     After much prayer I made out a schedule for my lesson and was ready to rock and roll. As I was setting up my tables, getting my gospel magic tricks ready and preparing Grandpa Lou, Shelton and Dennis Ball, I felt an excitement I had not felt in years. I was back in the saddle. For me, it was my first Christian School Chapel in well over a year. It went very well! Although I had not shared in quite some time, using my puppets, speaking from my heart and using my gospel illusions felt so easy to do. It was like riding a bicycle. To see the faces of the kids light up and to see them excited brought me back to my children’s pastoring days at SGT. It felt good!

     Before I spoke I heard God speak to my heart and tell me he was not through with me. I have had for some time a burden to reach out in the secular world especially in the libraries. With all the bullying going on around the world, I have had a burden since last summer to work on an anti-bullying program that I would like to present at libraries. It would feature my puppet friends along with some magic, games and I’ll be resurrecting Toybox Theater using dinosaurs!  Working a lot and going through financial issues put a damper on my vision. After seeing how well last Friday went, and being “back in the saddle”, I am going for it. One teacher said to me “How are you going to squeeze in doing a library program working 3 jobs?” My answer was “When there is a will and God places it in your heart, he will certainly make a way!” I am excited about this new challenge and will keep everyone posted. My goal is to get into local libraries by July 1^st! Please keep me in prayer!     

BLESSED!!

     In America we are spoiled. We really do have it all. I have only traveled to one Third World Country and that was 26 years ago. I saw poverty and lots of it. I went home appreciating what I have and made a point to thank God for what I do have. Working in the restaurant industry, I can honestly say one thing does bother me. How much food that is purchased is thrown away in the garbage. I would have to say probably enough to feed a village in Africa per day! It’s so wrong!

     Here on Long Island only a few years ago, a gentleman was caught in a scam. Right along one of the exits off of the Long Island Expressway along the service road where there was a traffic light, he held up a sign that said “Homeless and hungry.” Many people stopped and handed him money as well as food. What people did not know was that this gentleman parked his fairly new SUV at a local gas station and lived in a nice home. He scammed thousands of people daily and was quoted as saying “I made more money in one day begging for money than I would working a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job!” What a scammer! Since that whole thing took place, I am always very leery of handing money to strangers who hold up signs along busy highways!

     I remember being young and hearing about the homeless. My first reaction was always “Go out and get a job people! Stop mooching off of others!!” After working in a homeless ministry and serving on their board, I can now see that being homeless was never a choice. It just happens when circumstances get tough. Nobody decided after graduating High School or College that they wanted to be homeless. It unfortunately happens.

     This leads me to the topic I want to share on this blog. We are so blessed! When is the last time we thanked God for the roofs over our heads? Or for the food we eat? Or how about the beds we sleep in? How about the jobs he gave us? Or better yet, how about the cars we drive that take us from place to place? We are so blessed here in America to have what we have. I know for a fact that some people have no roof over their head and have also had nothing to eat today and they live in our world. Some people have also slept on a sheet of cardboard instead of a bed or maybe even in their car! Many people in this world have no job and are struggling trying to get one. Sometimes they have to settle for a job that pays very little in order to attempt to make ends meet. It’s a struggle not only for a few but for thousands of people who live on planet earth. I thank God for everything and I sincerely know I am blessed. I sleep in a warm bed. The home I live in is heated. There is a roof over my head. My shower has hot running water. My car gets me to and from work or wherever I go. I have never gone hungry in 56 years. I have always been blessed with a job and I’ve never been unemployed. My clothes may not be brand spanking new but I have clothes to wear. We are blessed to live in this great nation we call the United States of America. We have a lot of freedom. Yes, I agree, we are headed in a bad direction when it comes to politics but we can always pray about what the future holds. So the next time you complain that your cheeseburger has no cheese, your fries are cold or you have to sleep in a room with n heat, just remember there are many people in this world who don’t have any of those luxuries and would love to just have one night with heat in their room.

God bless you all! Until next time!!