The E.T.- Galapagos connection

Did you ever wonder how Spielberg and company created E.T.? It turns out that they modeled him after the giant Galapagos tortoise, which we should see personally in a month or so. What a great piece of trivia! What do you think of the resemblance?







(image from http://farm2.static.flickr.com1267/1040941928_4c4eb823ba.jpg?v=1186503154)

Sotomayor and Princeton

I was again sobered today by the new Supreme Court nominee. She overlapped with me at Princeton for 2 years before going on to Yale Law. I undoubtedly passed her on the walk, and maybe even shared some classes with her. Alito, the last nominee, was also at Princeton earlier. This reminds me of how important college ministry is- we need to reach these future leaders today on the campus.

Tomato plants for free

I think I feel more peace in my garden than anywhere else. Today was a perfect day to plant my tomatoes in the garden, since it was cool and rainy. I start them from seed, ordered from seed companies, so that I can grow the best varieties. I put in Sweet Million (the most prolific cherry), Brandywine (considered to be the best tasting tomato by many, an heirloom), Sungold (yellow when ripe), Roma (an Italian paste), Principe Borghese (another paste), Polish Lougisa (something new, an heirloom), early girl, and a few others. The taste of garden-grown tomatoes off the vine is incomparable. You should try them.

I have some plants left over, if anyone wants some. Free.

Our future- Ephesians 2:7

I was blown away reading Ephesians 2:7 (a verse skipped over to get to the very famous Ephesians 2:8) recently. It says that God has saved us, so that in the ages to come He can show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Imagine, we are just starting to experience God's grace and blessings now and here. God will show them to us for ages to come. This is something to get excited about!

Quadruplets

The other night in Sears, while looking at lawn mowers, I looked twice at a lady with twins. Then I realized she had two sets of twins, 2 boys and 2 girls! The quadruplets were about two years old.
She pushed 2, and her husband pushed 2. I have never seen quadruplets before, only in pictures. I wonder how often this woman gets to go out!

God's first command to man was, "Multiply and replenish the earth!" They are doing it.

Memorial day

I just read that the only people who have died for us are Jesus and veterans. Something to think about.

Marriage renewal ceremony

Sunday we did one of the coolest things I have been involved with as a pastor in a long time. We staged a marriage vow renewal for 21 couples in our church. They have been married for 4 all the way to nearly 50 years. It was spectacular, as they walked up the center aisle of the church, one couple at a time, with their original wedding photo posted on the large screens as they walked (oh, some of us have changed!). I counted 4 women wearing wedding dresses, of whom one was in her original dress.

Many of those who renewed had small weddings (or even eloped), so this was a really big thing to them. A lot of the couples were crying during the vows. One couple said they wanted to do it so their kids could get an idea of their wedding, since the kids weren't around for the original wedding. That was a great idea- I would love to have seen my parents renew their vows.

During the ceremony, we had 3 couples share what it meant to them. They were from 3 different stages of marriage and life, married 10 years (newbies to me after 30 plus years) , 23 years (having teens, the hardest stage of marriage according to counselors), and 50 years (grandparents). It made me think a lot of how different the various stages of marriage and life are. We really need to enjoy our spouses while we have them- the future is guaranteed for no one.

After we had a great party at a local hotel for those who wanted to celebrate, about 100 people. Each couple present shared about how they met, proposed, etc.- very eye-opening! Thanks, marriage and family ministry for staging an event to truly remember.

I am published!

For years, Louise has always told me I should write a book. I have responded that I don't have time and don't know what I would write that others would buy.

Now I have a chapter in a real published book. Christian Union, a ministry throughout the Ivy League, and Princeton in particular, just published "Under God's Power, Princeton alumni and the pursuit of faith", "a collection of personal faith stories from more than thirty alumni of Princeton University, including a former Secretary of State, business leaders, a professional athlete, and homemakers. The journeys described herein are as varied as the contributors, yet all describe a grappling with life's most pressing questions and the truth apprehended during that pursuit." My story runs page 74-76.

I hear they are printing thousands of copies to give out to returning alumni, and also undergraduates. This is pretty cool!

If you get a copy, I will autograph it!

Chinatown in Marlboro

I prayer-walked the Woodcliff development in Marlboro today. What was noteworthy was that pretty much every person I saw (and I saw a lot of people) was from a Chinese background. An older couple walking past me even greeted me, "Nihao"! There were numerous grandmothers walking their little grandchildren. I have no idea how such an ethnic concentration developed in this development.

Of course, my bottom-line question here is always- how can we reach them with the Gospel?

Pray with me for open doors in Woodcliff.

Visit the Philippines in Old Bridge

Yes, you can go to another country by traveling only 5 miles!

The other night Christina our daughter said, "I'd like to eat some Filippino food. Is there any nearby?" I had often heard of the Tropical Hut (www.tropicalhutcatering.com) from my good Filippino friend Lamar Rivers, who knows all the best places to eat. Plus, we drive by it at least once a week going north on Rt. 9.

Tropical Hut is like walking into another country. It has a grocery in front with many very exotic Asian foods. Many are unpronouncable, and others are dried formerly alive things! In front of the counter are 3 small tables, where we ate. At the counter, we asked for "typical" Filippino food. It was good, especially the desserts (coconut milk jello, mongo bars, cassava leaf pudding, purple bean cookies). Plus we met lots of friendly people from the Philippines who were fascinated with Christina's upcoming trip (she leaves Thursday).

I feel like I have gone to the Philippines- the easy way!

Why did God create ticks?

Did God really create ticks, or are they corrupted by the fall? Why would God create such a disgusting creature?

Tuesday I prayer-walked Rt. 18 again. The last time I did this, I found a Blackberry Storm (see my very first post of 4-18-09). I was hopeful that I would find something else cool, but here's what happened. I had to cross the highway median, which is a fifty foot wide field of high uncut grass. This made me nervous, as we have lots of ticks in the woods and high grass in the back of our property. But I looked after over my clothes, and did not see any.

An hour later in my office, I found alarge ticks crawling on my head. In another hour, I found a second tick on my neck. After dinner the same night, my daughter saw another on my shirt. Now I felt like I was polluted, and there were probably many more crawling all over me. I was getting a little paranoid. But we haven't found more since.

But it does raise a hard theological question on where ticks come from. They are revolting, and just want to suck your blood. Did God really create them?

Prophetic dream- Jackson

Most friends know that God speaks to me through dreams frequently. I have had some pretty wild experiences-I saw my daughter before she was born, had a major angelic visitation recently, traveled back in time once, and a lot of other things which many would not find very reasonable, but are true. For the past several years, I have started writing my prophetic dreams down in a book. I wish I started doing this a long time ago.

The other night I had a clear prophetic dream- sometimes these things need interpretation. I was in Jackson, NJ, a town near by, in the center of town (wherever that is in the suburbs). Someone told me that there was a revival going on among Russians in Jackson (there is a large population of them in the town, replete with two Orthodox churches with gold domes). I went to the site of the revival, which were two homes on the edge of pine woods (of which there are also lots in Jackson). There were a LOT of people packed into the two houses studying the Bible and praying. The head of the NJ Assemblies of God, Carl Colletti, was teaching people, and was getting burnt out because there were a lot of people coming to the homes. He asked me to please help him.

It was pretty exciting! Keep your eye on the Russian population in Jackson.

Star Trek for a new generation

I am not ashamed (well, maybe a little) to admit that I love Star Trek. I have seen just about every episode of all the series (that’s a lot of episodes), and all the movies. So Louise (also a Trekker, a less derogatory term than trekkie) and I went to the movie on its second night (after missions trip practice at church- don’t worry, our priorities are OK).

The movie is great! The action and effects were great, and it captured the sense of the great science fiction story. But through going back in time, some major parts of the ST saga have been corrupted- Vulcan, the home planet of Spock, is no more? Spock and Uhura are romantically involved? This was like seeing an old friend after a long time, but the friend had changed dramatically.
But it was fun for us trekkers

National day of prayer

The National Day of Prayer is one of my favorite days. I love to pray, and here is one day where we are to gather together to do it. We had a great time at noon and at night in church praying for America, New Jersey, the church, etc.

But I am really crushed by our President’s distancing himself from the day. The Presidential proclamation, which usually comes out weeks in advance in a big signing ceremony with lots of press, is issued late on the day itself in private with no one present. For the first time in 25 years, the President has not sent a representative to the big nonpartisan Capital prayer meeting, nor did he even respond to the invitation. Though I know that the church should lead in prayer, in a certain sense the President is the spiritual leader of the nation, and should lead us to seek God in time of crisis.