The cop and the fox

It was a weird night yesterday. On my way to church, I was stopped by a cop in front of Marlboro town headquarters. When I asked her why I was stopped (bracing myself for a ticket), she said "Your license plate lights are off." I said, "I had no idea!" She said, "Most people don't, you won't get a ticket if your paperwork is in order." I drove off, determined to fix those light bulbs!

A mile away, driving up Rt. 79, a fox ran across the road in front of my car.

Are these connected?

Responding to Haiti

The Haiti earthquake has been heartbreaking for us here, especially with so many in our church with relatives there. The sister of one of our members was crushed under her home, and died a little while later.

Here's how we can respond-
1. Pray- for relief, workers, supplies, comfort, salvations- there are no end of things to pray for.
2. Give- the Convoy of Hope, a large Assemblies of God charity formed to respond to crises like these, is the best option there. They have a program which was feeding 7,000 people a day before the quake, and the huge food warehouse was restocked right before the quake, by the hand of God. In the first week after the quake, they already handed out 290,000 meals, and their work is accelerating now. Your money goes much further with them, as they do not have to hire new workers (they have staffers and local church people volunteering), and they are using existing church and warehouse space (instead of renting space like other charities). They also will share and minister Christ to the people, which will not happen with secular charities. Convoy (www.convoyofhope.org) works with the 66,000 plus AG members and 270 churches which are already on the ground. I already gave online to them, and encourage you to do so too, if you haven't yet.
3. Go- as you may know, our 2010 missions trip is scheduled for Haiti. I have 50 tickets reserved for us in July. We are hoping to change the emphasis of the trip to relief work. As more details come out of Haiti, we will let you know. But I am sure they will need relief, medical and construction help for a long time.

Keep it all in prayer.

Gay marriage vote

As you probably know by now, the bill to legalize gay marriage failed in NJ this week by a vote of 20 to 14, with 5 senators either not voting or absent. This is a victory, though the gay lobby is turning to the courts now to get marriage legalized here. But thanks to the many who contacted your representatives, especially senators. Our local senator Jennifer Beck said that she was very personally conflicted about the issue, but decided to represent the views of her constituents (us!), who overwhelmingly told her office that marriage should not be redefined. Your calls and emails mattered!

If you want to see Beck's statement, or the inside scoop on how the vote went and your senator voted, send me an email.

It's so cold...

It's so cold that iguanas are falling out of trees in Florida. I heard twice on the news this week that when temperatures fall into the 40's, iguanas lose their grip, and fall out of the trees (watch out below!). They don't die from the cold, but just stop moving basically and lie there on the ground. They get started again when it warms up, sometimes days later.

Gay marriage vote

Please pray today that gay marriage will not be legalized in NJ. Tomorrow our state senate is scheduled to vote on it. If it passes there, it will likely be approved in the state assembly, and would definitely be signed by our departing governor (may he depart soon!). There has been an outpouring of popular opposition to its legalization- hopefully our representatives have heard.