Weirdest thing found in a church parking lot

Last week we found a heavy iron 15 pound dumbbell in the parking lot.

Anyone working out?

Beatitudes

I am so excited to be speaking on the beatitudes for the next 8 weeks or so.  God used our first visit to Israel to provoke me to think more about them.  The site where Jesus spoke them is absolutely beautiful, a naatural amphitheater on the side of a mountain sloping down into the Sea of Galilee.  They deal with the character of a believer, and the characteristics that we need in our lives to have God's blessing present.  If there is anything we need in this day, it is godly character.

Join us for this series!

Man of steel

What a great depiction of fatherhood is shown in "Man of Steel", the new Superman movie!  I saw it last night, and much of the story turns around how Superman related to his Krypton father, and also his earthly father.  Both are great examples, and teach and sacrifice their lives for him.  One even keeps guiding him after his death through technology (you have to see it, no more details) . Superman struggles with his identity, and becomes the best of both great examples.  (I am not even going into a theological truth  that Superman is presented as an excellent Christ-figure by the movie, which was planned by the director.)   But this movie is worth seeing for its depiction of fatherhood. The action sequences and scifi were good too!

Odd spiritual experience at the mall

This morning I continued my  2 year old adventure of prayer walking Freehold.  I was at the Raceway Mall, having covered almost all of the town north of that area.  Today I walked the ring road around the mall, which is surprisingly huge.  As I was near the spoke at the corner leading to the movie theater off Rt. 537, the Holy Spirit came on me, and I saw the mall in a different light, a supernatural way (this is hard to put into words).  I felt God urging me to ask the Holy Spirit and His presence to fall on the mall and all those in it.  I believe this happened, and some unusual things will result from this in the future. The experience was exhilirating.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

I have been trying to read some classics lately, and just finished "Uncle Tom's Cabin".  This book is truly great in that it was written by a strong Christian with a very strong Christian message and goal, at a time when almost the whole audience of Americans saw themselves as Christians.  It also had a huge impact in ending slavery by showing how it worked in daily life.  What touched me most, though, was how the slaves, especially Tom, dealt with suffering as Christians.  Their comments are moving and timeless.

This is a great book for you to read some time.

Easter attendance

Several people have asked me how many people were here on Easter Sunday, seeing the large crowd spread over three services.  Our total was 1151, a new record for a Sunday morning.  God has really been blessing the church lately, with many new faces from all over.  I attribute much of this to our 21 days of prayer and fasting starting the year.  God spoke to me a few years ago that the church would one day have 2500 people in attendance, but I am not sure when.  But there are many others who need Christ in the area, keep praying and working.  We may need the next phase of the building plan sooner than we thought.

New ask the pastor question

"Does God want us to be happy?"