Building sale

Thanks for all who have prayed, we finally signed a contract for the sale of our building this past week (actually this is the second contract we have signed, but I think this one will go through). The lucky buyer is Congregation Bris Avrohom of Old Bridge, a young Orthodox synagogue which ministers to Jews who are mainly from Russia. They are one of a group of similar related synagogues in New Jersey. As a commercial deal is much more complex than a residential sale,we had been negotiating with them for the past several months. We announced this as God's gift to us at our Christmas Eve service- the contract was wrapped up in a gift box!

There is a 90 day due diligence period during which the deal could be dropped. After that, we have up to 9 months to finish the building and move. Our builder says completion should take about 7 and a half months from full mobilization (right now things are quiet on the job site). So the bottom line is that we should be in our new building by Christmas, and if things go really well, maybe as early as Labor Day. But we have to be out of our current building in a year in any case.

Please keep in prayer-
-that the due diligence period and inspections will go well and quickly- no surprises
-that more building funds will come in
-that God will give us wisdom as we ramp up for full-speed ahead construction in the spring

My view of the blizzard as a pastor

The Saturday blizzard was something of a disaster for our church. We had about 12-15 inches of snow ending Sunday morning, and a lot more just a few towns south. Christmas Sunday is one of our biggest outreach days of the year. We cancelled 2 out of 3 morning services, making one up with a small crowd at night, and hosting one in the late morning with a small crowd. Plus, our Christmas drama outreach 'The Saving of Scrooge" was postponed from Saturday night to the weekend after Christmas. We would have had lots of new and peripheral people to present the Gospel to, but only the most dedicated made it out to church at all last weekend for any of the five major events (3 services and 2 dramas). I also had a creative first-person narrative message acting out the role of one of the shepherds last Sunday, which only a few saw. Plus, it was a financial disaster for the church, as we did not come close to receiving enough income to pay our bills for the week- when people stay home from church, all but the truly committed keep their tithes home with them. I doubt that anyone who is not a pastor can understand how demoralizing it was to work so hard for this weekend, and then to have it mostly cancelled.

When I get to heaven, I will ask God why He allowed Christmas Sunday morning of 2009 to be snowed out.

Missing cat

The most heartbreaking part of this holiday is that our beloved 10 year old cat Neko was lost in the blizzard last Saturday and has not been seen since. We walked around to the neighbors, gave out "lost cat" flyers, checked out possible hiding spots, called the police and shelters, etc. Even though chances are increasingly slim that we will ever see him again after a week away, yesterday and today the snow pretty much melted and Tim and I put on our boots and raincoats and walked all over the neighborhood (even through numerous neighbors' yards) for probably an hour each day in search of our cat, or his remains. But we found no trace of him. It is sort of a mystery where he went- we have covered all his favorite hiding places.

I'd gladly give up all our gifts to get our cat back.

Philadelphia- an overlooked city

Living where we are in central NJ, people often forget that we are close to 2 major cities- New York and.....what's that other city- isn't it called Philadelphia? It is ironic that many residents know New York extremely well, but have never been to Philly, which is (I may get in trouble saying this) much more historic, and certainly more accessible.

Recently we went there for a day. We started off at TonyLuke's in south Philly (as the locals call it), right off I95. They are known for their sandwiches- the cheese steak, or pork with broccoli rabe can only be called an intense spiritual experience (even with about 20 orders in front of us). You haven't lived until you have had a real cheese steak in Philly (where they and soft pretzels were invented).

Then we went to the Rodin art museum, which is small but really interesting. If you go, get the headphones for the audio tour. His most famous sculpture is the Thinker, which has spawned debates about the true mood of the thinker, cogitating or depressed or something else. But you can see it at the museum, with my son Tim imitating it in the picture above (the sculpture is on the top of the door). It was originally a small part of a huge sculpture entitled "The gateway of hell."

Finally we went to the Art Museum and I made a fool of myself doing the Rocky thing on the steps like a dumb tourist (I wasn't the only one doing this, in spite of how cold it was). Finally we ended our time with some bubble tea and walking around in Chinatown, which is a really nice cultural experience.

Manalapan vision

I had a vision today while prayer-walking Conmack Road, between Gordon's Corner and Taylors Mills Road in Manalapan. I was near Milford Brook. As I looked in that direction, I saw in the Spirit a river flooding and overflowing, and heard the Spirit say "this is how the Holy Spirit will flood Manalapan." Then I came out of the vision and looked at the brook- it was also overflowing.

May God overflow us with the Spirit in Manalapan. I am less than a mile down the road from this spot!

Kamikaze bird

Around noon today a bright red cardinal flew hard into my office window. Maybe he was desparate to get into church? He left a bunch of red feathers on my screen. But- to my surprise- he flew right away. I thought he had died.

It was a little creepy.

Gay marriage no vote (for now)

Thanks to all who contacted their state senators. It made a pivotal difference. Apparently many of them who were undecided or leaning towards gay marriage had a change of heart after hearing from so many constituents opposed to it. I can give you more details personally. Yesterday the bill was withdrawn in the senate since it did not have support to pass. This is a temporary victory.

However the gay marriage lobby is still working to get it passed while Corzine- a huge gay rights advocate and personally highly immoral man- is still in office. So the bill will now be introduced in the state assembly, where it does have enough support to pass, in an effort to build momentum to overcome opposition in the state senate.

Keep this in prayer. It is not over until Corzine is out of office January 19.

NJ gay marriage and praying for leaders

You probably know that gay marriage may be legalized in NJ before the new governor (who is opposed to this) comes into office in January. I was surprised to learn that the decision will come down to the state senate (the current governor is vehemently in favor of it, and the state assembly will vote in favor), and that the decision there hinges on 3 undecided senators. One of those is Jennifer Beck, who represents most of the church area (Marlboro, Manalapan, Freehold, Millstone, Colts Neck, and other towns). She is being heavily pressured by the gay lobby- church people, you need to make your view known NOW before the vote is taken. You can call her at 732-933-1591, or (better) email her at senbeck@njleg.org. Don't complain about the decision after if you don't at least call your representatives now.

I have been disappointed in this whole thing to find that almost no one even in the church knows who their state senator or assembly people are, or what they do. People, we are supposed to be praying for them, as they are in authority over us. How can you pray for them if you don't even know their names? Please learn their names, and pray for them at least once in a while.