pastorrudytlc

Seaside Heights will always have such a special place in my heart as it was the “down the shore” that we who grew up in the “real” North Jersey used to venture down to on the weekends in the summers back in the 1970’s! My Chevy Nova taking me and whatever wonderful girlfriend I happen to be dating at the time down to mile marker 82 on the Garden State Parkway with the song “Free Ride” by the Edgar Winter Group blasting on the 8Track Player is painted forever on the memory canvas in the corners of my mind! I can’t count how many times I ventured with so many of my wonderful friends from The Long Hill Chapel Youth Groups of my past! Then later in the 80’s, when I became a Youth Pastor myself, I would take my own Youth Groups there as many times as I could. We would go to Island State Beach Park to swim and hang out together during the day and hit the boards at Seaside before we headed home the same night.

After Super Storm Sandy last year, I actually cried when I saw the roller coaster of our teenage years literally ripped apart and relocated to the ocean waters. Nothing looked the same as it was. We would never be able to go back again and be able to sit and be where we had once been when we had written so many of the stories of our youth. If you live long enough- the seasons of life have a way of trashing the treasured places that once sparkled so bright with the lights of enthusiasm and fun. Our cities of adventure turn into ghost towns of what used to be.

As I am writing this article today, I am watching the news and seeing the pounding Seaside Heights is taking as a fire blazes out of control torching its way down the boardwalk as we speak! And I can only gasp as I know the efforts that have gone into making this place even presentable again this summer for the tourists that provide so much of this area’s economic stability. I am seeing the blank stares of those being interviewed and the collective expressions of a non-verbal “This is way beyond belief” that it is happening all over again! Happening so soon! And this happening is so terrible!

I am a Pastor not because I claim to have all the answers. I live most of my life pretty clueless as to why things happen as they do to those that they happen to. I myself have been the recipient of some pretty terrible tragedies that I will flat out tell you as I have also communicated to God that I don’t think I deserved! More than a million times I have blurted out the proverbial question, “Why is this happening to me?”

So I share this humbly and also quite graciously that all of the Seaside Heights events of this day remind me again that none of us are stronger than any storms or immune from the tragedies that living life this side of heaven brings to all of us! The best of man’s inventions and creations have not been able to last forever and all of them come to an end and we can’t be indestructible on our own no matter how hard we try and oh do we try! But the good news is that God never expected us to be solo performers and equipped with super powers of our ingenuity. Only we human beings have placed that kind of pressure upon ourselves. We men and women have put on those false faces and faulty fronts and have bragged too boldly and behaved very badly at times thinking that all we needed was ourselves! We have bought hook line and sinker into the lie that without help- we are all that and a bag of extra spicy chips with sass and salsa!

God, there is never a time that we don’t desperately need you! And if ever there was a day that we needed to dial down the hero worship of our own reflections- it is now! God has never promised to provide us places on this earth that would be for us the eternal play lands we secretly long for. I stopped asking God a long time ago to be the architect of constructing such refuges for us where we would be immune to all the happenings that come along with doing nothing more than attempting to make it through another day here on earth! God is not externally making for us a magical building that will never fade away. God is internally making us into a new creation that will be eternal! God’s love for us will lead us into becoming the kind of people where someday soon- no harm or pain or fire or earthquake or trial or tribulation will ever be able to destroy again! I believe this and it is this focus alone that keeps me getting out of bed each day not to avoid pain but to see God redeem real passion in me from it all because we together made it through it all!

Faith is the only vehicle that can get us there! God is the only creator that can pull off such a miraculous masterpiece! But our Lord doesn’t take short cuts nor give in to our demands of it being done within 30 minutes or less. We will all know pain on the way to paradise. It is part and parcel of the path! But God is working all things together for good to those who love him. God has always been about loving people and using things! Don’t you think it is about time that we finally learn from his lead?

Today for Seaside Heights- it is another day of tears! It is another time of terrible tragedy. But it never has to be useless or without purpose. God please help those within these flames today. Lift up their eyes so they don’t lose hope when it seems to be spilling out all over the place! And as we watch, remind all of us today where life is found and what our trust and investment can and should never be placed within. My prayers are not that Seaside Heights become stronger than the storm but that they and we may find your presence God, in the midst of the pelting rain and the driving winds and to discover your sovereignty Lord, despite the loss of property and possessions. People matter most! Help us to live that truth!!! I pray this for all of us! Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! And let mercy be our most prized possession for your mercy is storm proofed! Amen!

Earlier this summer I had a medical procedure called an arteriogram. It is an imaging test that uses x-rays and a special dye to see inside the arteries. It can be used to literally grab a glimpse of our bloodlines in the heart, brain, kidney, and many other parts of the body. I had one done to see if there were any obstacles evident keeping my blood flowing at full capacity through my body to and from my heart!

It made me think about the need to every now and then take the necessary time and procedures to evaluate how we are doing when it comes to the engine room of our spiritual lives. The Bible tells plainly in the book of Proverbs to, “Above all else guard our hearts because from it comes the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23). What is genuinely going on inside the core of that which makes up the true you? I have some questions to ask you that I want to act like a holy dye injected into the veins of our souls that will help us define what makes us learning active disciples who are alive and well in growing in our walk with the Lord! Think of these challenges as just what the doctor ordered to keep us healthy in all matters that matter most!

1. WHAT DISAPPOINTS YOU?
Have you ever thought that there are times that our disappointments with life and the way things go are God’s way of reminding us that we are not as in control as we might think we are? Humility is such an essential character trait when it comes to following God and there will be times that the rug must be pulled out from under us so that we will plainly see that the only foundation worth building upon is a life that anchors itself to the Lord!

2. WHAT DO YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT THE MOST?
What we lament about each and every day can show us what we really worship the most! Whining is when we basically tell the God of the Universe that He is doing a lousy job in our world that unfortunately is suffering only from too much “YOU in your VERSE!” Winning is when you receive whatever you are getting as a gift! It is so important that we stop insisting God give us what we want when true life is found when we invest the necessary tools to uncovering the grace that God supplies us with what we really need!

3. WHERE IS YOUR MONEY GOING?
This isn’t rocket science! It is as simple as just heeding the words of Jesus when he told us that “Where our treasure is- there will our hearts be also” (Matt 6:21). Take a lengthy honest inside look at your spending habits and approach the assignment as if you were someone else trying to conclude what it is that matters most to you!

4. WHAT WORRIES YOU?
You can actually care so deeply about something that it actually can become your reason for living and hence- without you even realizing it- turning it into an idol in your life! Don’t ever give the place that God deserves in your affection to someone or something else. You shall have no other gods before you other than the One and only who deserves the title of deity in your spirit. Don’t allow your life to be robbed by all the “What If” questions. Live in the security of what you know actually is because God said it- and you believe it and that is the truth that will set you free!

5. WHERE IS YOUR SANCTUARY?
Where do you go when you are hurting? Who do you run to when you need a refuge? Don’t tell God that he is your number one if he always ends up as your last resort- and your end of the list go to source! Psalm 46 tells us that God is our constant and faithful provider of strength. The Lord is our help in times of trouble! He is so much so that we should not fear even if the earth quakes and the mountains fall in the sea! No, we are not stronger than the storm! But God is an awesome God and he reigns from heaven above with wisdom power and love! And there is no chance of losing that kind of power no matter how loud the thunder roars and rolls! The “high ground” we seek reveals the geography of our values!

6. WHAT INFURIATES YOU?
What has power over you? What are the real issues that get under your skin? Why do you allow the things that are passing away to steal your joy and rob your opportunities to put your best foot forward? Is bitterness spoiling all the good fruits that God has tried to bless your garden with? Have you allowed your inability to offer forgiveness to rot the landscape of your life? Passion is a result of us allowing God to turn our pain into productivity that doesn’t destroy us but produces indestructability within us?

7. WHAT ARE YOUR DREAMS?
Where do you allow your imagination to go and wander? What fantasies have a grip on you and put a twinkle in your eyes? Aspirations are fine- but the question is what is driving you to those dreams? Is your motivation to use your life to bring glory to God or is it your own fame and fortune? Are you using things and loving people? Are you surrounding your days to the Lords so he may use you rather than you trying to exploit and use him?

It is time to allow Doctor Jesus to create in us a clean heart and provide inside of us some healthy spiritual arteries where the lifeblood of God can be pumping to us leading to a supernatural light shining through us! God longs for your life to be a great adventure and not just an extended nap time! It is time for God to set the table and feed us the healthiest of heaven’s fare so that while we are living here on earth- we will represent fully his presence there! This kingdom is fading fast- but God’s reign will never end! He is Lord! Is he your Lord?

Jesus lived a story of glory because He wholeheartedly obeyed his Father. What kind of story are you living and who is the glory for? Here is my heart Lord Jesus! If you don’t have total access there- then nothing else I may do matters at all! Change my heart O God and make it ever new! Change my heart O God- and make me more like you! Amen!

Have you ever wondered where the phrase “Saved by the Bell” came from? During the Renaissance era when folks were taken to be buried, the funeral workers weren’t always fully positive that the person was actually totally dead. One of the reasons for their uncertainty was because lead poisoning would offer symptoms that someone was dead when they were actually just deep within a coma. Lead poisoning was common back then because individuals of that century used pewter for drinking cups and plates and when you add alcohol or anything citrus to this particular metal- the lead comes out. This is also why they had extended “Wakes” to see if the one they were paying respects to might wake up in the midst of the ceremony!

What those attending the alleged deceased would do was to install bells attached to a string that was placed down within the coffin at the grave site to give that individual one last grasp to ring that thing in case they were just asleep! Hence the term “Saved by the Bell” was coined otherwise he or she would be buried alive. Believe it or not- the term “Graveyard Shift” was coined here also because someone had to stay in the cemetery all night just in case the corpse got antsy! All in all- it was a procedure put into action to prevent people from being dismissed before their time!

Maybe somebody reading this today needs to wake up and ring that bell because it has been far too long since you have been fully alive to aggressively and courageously move forward! These 24 hour periods are far too precious for us to waste by sleepwalking through them! Don’t be singing funeral songs when what you might really need is revile! I know there are seasons when life is so very hard but God’s presence doesn’t abandon us just because we are being tried and tested! Did your teacher make lots of noise when you used to take tests in school? They were there with us in the classroom and didn’t stop being our mentor even though they observed us sweating out the potential answers to the daily problems fixed before our eyes! Pressure is always going to be part of the equation. We might as well as learn how to not give up when we should be looking to clang that bell loud and proud and bold and strong!

Pressure is nothing new to this culture or this planet. James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote to Jewish Christians in the first century in the letter that bears his name. His audience was made up of those facing intense and even unjust pressure. These believers had been dispersed and spread out because of fatal persecution, and they faced the increasing temptation to settle and allow their faith to be nothing more than something ceremonial experienced only in their heads instead of being launched from their hearts and lived in their lives! James rallied these first believers to learn how to use pressure to their advantage and to genuinely push them deeper in their journey with Jesus. Today, James still invites believers to open up their eyes and respond wholly and obediently to the truth of God’s Word and ask God to turn the pressure points coming at us from the outside into a renewed passion for the Lord being produced to heavenly perfection on the inside!

Beginning the weekend of September 7^th and 8^th at The Lighthouse Church, I will be taking the church family through a verse by verse study of this incredible composition that we refer to as the Book of James! We will be dealing with the following topics as we exegete God’s word together during The Celebration Services. Fasten your seatbelts Christians as we are going to make sure and allow that bell to ring boldly so no one mistakes any of us for being dead yet!  I will tackle the following questions such as “Why do Christians have to suffer?” “Why is the lure of sin still so strong even though I love God?” “Is my faith more performance or it truly about pure passion for Jesus?” “How deadly is my tongue?” “Is my goal with others retaliation or relationship?” “What would I define as my main fight this side of heaven?” And I am sure that I will be raising lots more strategies to deal with life’s pressure points rather than waving the white flag and looking for a hole in the ground to hide in!

If you need more information you can check our website at www.tlccma.org or give The Lighthouse Church a call at 609-465-6690. Our Celebration Service times are Saturday at 6PM and Sundays at 9 and 10:45AM! Why not make this September a time to ring that bell and let others know that you are alive and well and ready to move forward as God continues to orchestrate us in this symphony entitled our life story? Good things happen when those bells ring! I’m ringing mine now!   

When I was in the Dominican Republic recently, I was surrounded by a plethora of creativity exhibited in some wonderful young people who accompanied me on this mission. I had never been around so many gifted musicians and artists and thinkers and authors and theologians all under the age of 21. When somebody wasn’t writing a song, or jotting deep soul snippets within a journal, he or she was singing or playing or preparing a new drama for the kids in San Marcos that we were doing for Bible school daily.

An amazing young lady named Angel and two awesome young men named Jahvin and Ryan, under the watchful eye of our Youth Director Adam, actually composed a song in Spanish that we sang over and over again in Puerto Plata. The title in English was “We Will Fly” but I loved the Latin translation “Volveremos” so much better. Everyone both young and old would soar around the room like a bird or a plane, and yes even Superman when we sang it. I loved picking up the little ones and holding them high over my head so they could fly as we vocalized. I also coaxed some of the wallflowers out on the dance floor so they too could be part of the praise jam. You can’t be crooning lyrics like, “I will ascend through the clouds and I will lift my eyes to Jesus, we will fly,” sitting down.

It was in the spirit of all that ingenuity that I too felt a song coming on. I couldn’t write the tune to my words right there in the Dominican because I only play the piano and they don’t travel as well or as easily as guitars do! Anyway, I want to share my composition with you today because you too might need a reminder of the wonderful redemption and renewal that God supplies just when we are desperate for it the most.

Too often we ask ourselves, “What did I do wrong?” when life doesn’t cooperate according to our agenda. But living this side of heaven will never produce a trouble free existence or be without intense pressure at times pounding upon our hearts and minds. Basically it always all comes down to us etching the truth of God within our brain so that we don’t get beaten up by the barrage that nobody escapes fully from.

Jesus is not in my life to make it easier and comfortable. Doing what is right will often lead us to be faced with very wrong results. Jesus is in my life to bring purpose out of the pitiful and perilous seasons. I can’t quit in the middle of a masterpiece that God has promised will finish with a victorious ending. I just need to regularly come clean and be honest and open about the state of faith and my relationship with God. This is what my song, which by the way contains verses that rhyme, is all about. Enjoy, and maybe when the music is complete, I will sing it to you with my own motions.

Set My Soul Free … Words by Pastor Rudy

I have wandered, I have strayed, Left you lonely, Should have stayed.
Broke my promise, Broke my word, don’t remember, all I’ve heard.
But I need you, need you now, More than ever, Hear my vow.
Take me back Lord, Cleanse my heart, Brand new colors, Brand new start.

And the grace of my Jesus, Come rain down on me,
Please untie my knots, and set my soul free.
I want to come home Lord, Come lead over me-
And live all my days Lord, and set my soul free.

I have stuttered, I have stalled, Left me speechless, and you appalled.
Broke my union, Broke my bond, empty embers, Fire gone.
But I want you; Want you near, more than ever, Lord I’m here.
Take me back Lord, Know there’s more, I’m your servant, that’s for sure.

And the grace of my Jesus, Come rain down on me-
Please untie my knots, and set my soul free.
I want to come home Lord, Come lead over me,
And live all my days Lord, and set my soul free.

Let Pastor Rudy know what you think by emailing him pastorrudytlc@comcast

Psalm 66:18-20 “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; 19 but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”

“Cherish is the word that I used to describe all the feelings that I have hiding here for you inside.” Many of you will recognize those lyrics from one of the prettiest love tunes ever written and sung by The Association. Maybe you, like me, actually sang it to the love of your life somewhere along the way. But in Psalm 66, the Bible is not talking about composing symphonies of love to our God! It is referring to actually playing kissy face with the very things that break God’s heart. And if we start loving on the dark side, we will be missing life in the light.

When I read that verse, I was blown away by the reality that too many of us who call ourselves believers actually sing more love songs to our sin than we do to Him who we call our Lord and God. Say what you will, but when we treat our sin with any intention of entertaining it rather than exterminating it, we are in trouble with a capital T! We have to begin to become militant with the wrong that we do so that it doesn’t get in the way of our sacred romance with the Lord. God sent his son Jesus to wipe our sins out by his death on the cross and not to give us permission to party with our enemy. So my simple question to all of us today is: Do you love the very thing that you should be kicking to the curb?

When we experience conversion, we are then ready to be consecrated to God so that He can use us. Religion uses God while Christianity is a faith that allows God to use us for his glory. But God is holy and we are not and while we can’t earn it, those who wear his name should definitely yearn it. But no man can love two masters so we much choose to refuse to let sin do what it used to in our hearts. And this comes when we allow God to totally clean house in our hearts.

To help make this a reality in my own life, I actually wrote a “Dear John Letter” to my cherished sin that I found myself stuck in. Many of you have received that dreaded “Dear John Letter” signifying the end of a relationship. Maybe even more of you have written your share of them over your days. One of my Christian heroes, Keith Green, once recorded a song entitled “Dear John Letter to the Devil” and so it inspired me to write my own. I want to share it with you today:
My Dear John Letter to My Cherished Sin

Dear Sin that I was once chained and caught up in; I ecstatically would like to inform you that you have been eliminated from further contention as the love of my life. As you are probably aware, the competition was exceedingly tough when my flesh was in control. When I put me first, I didn’t care what God wanted, but there is a new Spirit in charge. And now because my new expectations are set by the God of the universe, you have now failed to make the final cut. I am deleting your name from my brain effective immediately. Yes I used to cherish you, but now that’s hard to do because I got some information about the evil things you always want me to do. And because of this we’re through.

Yes, my Mama warned me, and how my Daddy tried, but I bought the tales you told me how you’d always keep me satisfied, but you lied, and exploited my pride, so consider yourself currently denied. You see, now I believe in Jesus and what He says He’s going to do, which is put an apple in your vulgar mouth and cook you in a sulphur stew, one that will never be through, (Is it soup yet? No!)

And if it wasn’t for the Grace of God, then I’d be down there cooking right next to you. Something I don’t want to do, So Goodbye to you! I am a child of the living God, and because of that truth, Jesus loves me and that puts me way out of your league; I suggest you set your sights lower next time. Like back to Hell where you came from. I was going to say that it’s not you, it’s me, but no! It is definitely you! With no intentions of ever missing you. PASTOR RUDY

Here is the good news Family: What God cleanses, God uses, and I want to be more beacon than benchwarmer. How about you? Maybe it is time to write your own letter. I’ll loan you the paper but the Spirit will give you the power to do so.

Let Pastor Rudy know what you think by emailing him pastorrudytlc@comcast

As I write this week’s column, I do so in the midst of our annual venture to San Marcos in Puerto Plata of the Dominican Republic. I am surrounded by 18 other young people and adults from The Lighthouse Church and we have been spending this week immersed in loving and being loved by our wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ in our adopted neighborhood in the Caribbean.

We have been coming here for the past 10 years and since the journey began, we have not only seen the physical building of a church and a community center and water wells all throughout the area, we have seen God knit together the hearts of the people who belong to two distinct and diverse cultures who would have never been brought together any other way except through the power of God’s amazing grace, mercy and compassion. The Lord has made a real family out of a people that would have stayed strangers without the intrusion of the awesome intervention of divine love. When God stirs your soul, it is important to allow yourself to blend right into what He is doing for the mix will change you for good and the aftertaste will last forever and a day.

What I love most about our time here is that every day is really all about relationships. Back home in the USA, the clock seems to dictate what we have to do and where we have to be and if we are honest, time is not always on our side especially when we choose to be run by hours, minutes and seconds. Here in a much slower paced society, the most important project of each day may not be getting the job done as much as it is allowing the task to bring us together.

At times we Americans are so driven to check things off of our “to-do” lists, we don’t even know we are missing the magic of the moments while they are happening right in front of our very eyes. The conversation that we are having with our family, friends and neighbors needs to become as much a priority to us as the completion of the assignment that was given us. When I am in the Dominican, I eat breakfast, lunch and supper with loved ones. I can’t even remember the last time I did that here in Jersey. And it is not the food that I miss the most but the fusion of our hearts and souls and minds to the precious times that are flying by much faster than I care to admit.

I also exercise. I get out and play with the kids. I do physical labor. I move my body. So much of what I do can be limited to an office and God didn’t make men and women to be stuck inside. I know that I am probably at the worst shape of my life because I don’t allow myself the simple of pleasure of taking a walk with my wife or playing catch with my son. I live so close to the ocean and I haven’t been in it once this year and that shouldn’t be something to admire, but actually feel bad about.

We need to stop wearing our workaholics tag like it is a badge of honor. I breathe in the Dominican Republic and I actually feel like a kid again when playing baseball till dark was the primary reason for the day. We play ball with grown men in the park in the middle of the day. How cool would it be if men of our community would take off one afternoon just to play some baseball again down at the Goshen Rec Field? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Is it that farfetched an idea?
And when we worship in San Marcos, we are not in a hurry to get it all done in an hour.

There are churches here in America that use as a selling point that they get you in and out faster than Jiffy Lube. Why are we always in such a hurry to move on to something that is not as important as our relationship with the Living God? How many times have you been in a church service and you are just beginning to sense God really speaking to you but rather than linger in the presence of the Lord and see where the directive might lead you, we look at our watch and realize it is time to go home and watch the ball game or go shopping or get to some other responsibility that will never be as important as just being with the God who loves you.

I hear God and I see God and it has nothing to do with the surroundings as much as it has to do with the difference in me when I am there and not here. Sometimes I hear us saying that we have been blessed with so many more material things than those in much poorer places in this world, but I wonder, are they really blessings if they keep us from all that matters most? Would we be better off with less stuff and more soul? I think we all know the answer to that one.

Every time I come home I determine in my heart that things will be different, and then before you know it, I have been sucked right back into the rat race and I have to admit I am tired of racing rats. I am asking the Lord to give me discernment so that I can live the San Marcos life wherever I may be planted and in doing so, God becomes more real to all of us. I love our family in the Dominican Republic and I am thankful more for what they have done for me, than anything I might have ever brought them and in it all, I see God and smile.

Let Pastor Rudy know what you think by emailing him pastorrudytlc@comcast

While it was a true blessing to have been given a son we named Rudy some 17 months earlier in August of 1986, there is no bond like the one between daddies and their little girls. Leah was all eyes when she burst upon the scene on that winter’s afternoon in Dayton, Ohio. I never saw bigger brown eyes on anybody up until then and I grew up with a crush on Natalie Wood.

But staring in those amazing eyes, I saw an angel sent from heaven that needed to be cherished and cared for and loved in a way that would allow her to realize all the dreams that God had ever designed with her in mind. An independent spirit from the beginning, Leah would need a love that would give her an undeniable affirmation and assurance that she was loved beyond words. But Terri and I learned early in the game that we would also need to care enough about her to provide her the necessary space that she would need to know that we would believe in her clear ability to soar upon her own,

Leah has always declared some defined goals along her journey. We knew she wanted to be a teacher of primary-aged students. And we discovered that she had a distinct calling to take her lessons overseas to a land where God could use her mightily. These past 10 years, Leah developed a strong bond with the people of the Dominican Republic.

The Lighthouse Church has been ministering there from our church’s very start. As a matter of fact, I will be heading to San Marcos with 19 young people and adults from our congregation to spend our annual week there in Puerto Plata from Aug. 2 – 9. But Leah has gone to live there. Leah has gone to be in Santiago and build into the young people and adults there for at least the next two years.

Leah is amazing with kids. She is a first-rate coach and has loved on the teams that she has passionately led here in Dennis Township since she graduated from Toccoa Falls University in Georgia two years ago. Leah was hoping to get a full time teaching job right out of college but many know all too well that there are simply not enough openings to go around. So Leah has been a daily substitute these last few years treating every class assigned to her with the tender loving care as if it was her own.

She excelled but she was frustrated because she longed for a class that she could nurture and truly invest her being into. Doors closed as fast as they might have opened and I could see in Leah’s brown eyes the yearning and a longing that while I recognized it; I could not fix what only a position could fill.

But just when she thought that another year was about to just come and go, only six weeks ago everything changed. Out of the clear blue sky, the Lord gave her an opportunity that no doubt He had put her name upon. She was offered the chance to teach first grade at Santiago Christian School, an English-speaking private school located in the very place that she already had such a burden for. When all seemed silent, God exclaimed out the name of Leah from the heavens and literally dropped down upon her the desires of her heart. And what she thought was going to be another typical summer serving faithfully at the famous Green Cuisine Restaurant in Stone Harbor suddenly turned into her packing up her bags and shoving off to a new adventure by July 26.

Leah looked at my wife and I with those familiar brown eyes and we knew that she would desire our blessing to move forward. How could we say, “No?” To attempt to hold her back would be a grave sin on our part that would only feign a veil of parental protection. We knew that she would only be safe in the arms of her Lord, doing what she was born to do where she was energized to do it. Sure it would mean allowing another of our high flying birds the freedom to bolt the coop from what would be beyond a simple hour’s drive to touch base- but letting go is just another way to say how much we love her so.

So in the wee small hours of this morning we said, “See you later Brown Eyes!” Leah was off upon her vision to live God’s will for her life. There will be a huge hole in the house here on Route 83, but we know that training up a child in the way they should go is not about blocking the doors that God clearly opens. So off she goes into the wild blue yonder. But Leah’s brown eyes are firmly fixed on Jesus and she knows that His hands are even better than her Daddy’s because they are the ones that matter most.

I am already looking forward to Christmas time and have secured Leah and my tickets for our annual date to The Nutcracker in Philadelphia for the day after she gets here. Until then, I pray for my sweet daughter to shine and show them Jesus and make an amazing difference with the precious assignment that she has been given. She has her space to showcase God’s grace working through her and it is going to be amazing. We love you Leah Noel Sheptock and can’t wait to hear the good news of what God is going to do in you and through you! Stay tuned.

Let Pastor Rudy know what you think by emailing him pastorrudytlc@comcast

Most of us live like we have no other choice other than to do our dutiful best to attempt to cover up the emptiness of existence that many of us deal with each and every day! We strive tirelessly towards the illusion of thinking that we can actually arrive to a point where complete satisfaction is genuinely obtained. We are tempted to try to buy into the charade that happiness here can last and linger but we all know that this side of heaven-even the best of times come to a close and we awaken to find ourselves a pumpkin all over again.

I think a limited party is all that this earth at its best can offer us and while it may have its upbeat moments- its fleeting nature leaves us yearning for so much more. That desire was actually designed and placed inside our souls by the God who made us but rather than try to fill that vacuum with pseudo substitute adventures and possessions- only a lasting relationship with our Lord will ever really fill the bill and do the trick! We can’t fix a vertical problem with a horizontal solution!

Left up to our own ingenuity, we compile a tower of coping mechanisms that we look to medicate the pain left by unsuccessful attempts to slay our dragons of despair. I have even experienced a scary inner desperateness although also a helplessness to make the hurt go away and leave me safe and sound in a home where horrors are no longer welcome! Nothing really got better until I gave up trying to hide the chaos and decided to invite God right into my personal nightmare! And with the entrance of God’s presence- I finally felt hope return for the first time in what seemed like ages.

Human beings will do anything they can to escape the pit of futility. They go the route of stockpiling their experiences with lots of noise and distractions in order to numb the loneliness and the crying ache in their inner souls! They settle for shallow acquaintances rather than have the guts to dive deep and allow somebody else the same courtesy to get to the nitty gritty of the heart! We run away from getting serious with the nagging questions by just staying busy! But we are still bombarded with deeper thoughts such as, why am I here? Does anything I do really matter? Is there a God? What is he doing? Why do good guys finish last? Life is short. Time flies. The years go faster and faster. What’s it all for?

I have discovered the hard way that one can’t be rescued until they admit they need help! I found my higher road when I finally willingly entered my dignity of deep despair and allowed God to speak the truth to the mountain of lies that I had allowed to dominate my terrain. Despair does not have to be our final destination- but I believe we must taste of it if we are ever to recognize what healing and hope is actually made of. Because until the wisdom that comes easily now fails to stir you with hope then; Until available pleasures no longer satisfy or even bring more than a temporary relief to your empty soul; Until whatever wealth you have accumulated, whatever possessions define your life, whatever achievements decorate your resume; Until all of it leaves you with the realization that more will not fill the emptiness in your heart; Until time with friends doesn’t energize you as it once did; Until you have nowhere to turn for the satisfaction of your soul’s desire, not to the Bible, not to prayer, not to music, not to friends, not to church; Until all of this happens, you will never be free enough to know where life really is and where it is not.

You will waste countless hours and even days looking in the wrong wells to quench your deepest thirst. You will not hear God’s song of love as clearly and beautifully as angels have learned to sing it. You will not know that every moment of your crazy life is still a perfectly tuned note in the eternal harmony of the masterpiece that God has orchestrated. And God doesn’t want you to stay in the dark about what He is doing with you in the light.

We can all try to settle for the shallow happiness and limited excitement that this earth at its best attempts to offer us- or we can invite God fully into our despair and muck and meet our emptiness head on! You can’t really be rescued until you finally admit that you are drowning! I was almost suffocated by my senseless striving but when I surrendered my futile efforts to His almighty Hands- I finally got a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel and it is not an oncoming train- but the beacon beckoning me to the home I have always longed for! And until I get home-you will find me clinging to Jesus! I am not as strong as I used to pretend to be! I know my weakness and I know that God shows up in my inability to prove that He is able!

So Lord, help me to make space, find the silence and dare to dive right into the deep end of your grace! Help me to recognize your voice there and to tune into your station with the courage to stay there. Empty me of my mess so that you can fill me with what will prove to a lasting joy. Let me desire to love others the way you love me in this brief, but beautiful, journey on earth. And when it is time for you to call me home- may you not have to cry out twice! I’ll be there the second that you open that door. I love you Lord.

Let Pastor Rudy know what you think by emailing him pastorrudytlc@comcast

My brother Robert and I had the privilege of heading to Major League Baseball’s All Star Game last week and we attended all of its festivities. This year’s setting for the annual Baseball Extravaganza was Citi Field in Queens and since 1964, the last time the Mets hosted the party, I had always dreamed of getting to go and experience the magic in person. When it all came together it just seemed too good to be true but last Sunday after church- there was Robert and I heading up the Garden State Parkway for three days of what would turn to be priceless memories.

We got up close and personal with such baseball greats like Cal Ripken Jr., Ozzie Smith, Gaylord Perry, Rollie Fingers, Bert Campaneris, Andre Dawson, Fred Lynn and Lou Brock just to name a few. I got to meet and talk with some famous sports radio personalities like Ed Randall and Christopher Mad Dog Russo. We got to see celebrities such as the King of Queens Kevin James and Alyssa Milano mix it up on the softball field with past Mets superstars Doc Gooden, Daryl Strawberry and Mike Piazza. We oohed and aahed as the Home Run Derby took place with guys like Prince Fielder, Bryce Harper and the winner of the competition- Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes hitting moonshots into the upper decks of the ballpark they said that it couldn’t be done in.

But whatever I do these days comes with an adventure and a new story to share and that is what I really want to share with all of you today. Robert and I had taken the Seven Subway Train to Citi Field all through the madness because the city exhorted us to make sure that we use public transportation. They promised that it would be everyone’s best bet to get to and from the ballpark safely. They lied.

On Monday night after the biggest crowd that Citi Field had ever had come witness an event was dismissed; and after the final dinger blasted during the derby was landing somewhere in Brooklyn–about 10,000 of us attempted to make our way back to the train station. It was a hot, steamy and humid night and human beings could not have been packed any tighter or closer together as we moved like a giant amoeba to the gates. Sardines have more room to move than we had but inch by inch we advanced to the steps leading up to Subway Number Seven and that is when we sensed that something stunk in Denmark worse than the body odor being emitted by the crowd.

Nobody was told anything publicly. No announcements were made. No instructions were given. But as we were moving towards the train–there were others going smack into bedlam trying to get away from the chaos. The word in the midst of the mess being passed down was that the Seven Train had been shut down due to a fire that occurred somewhere along the tracks. The authorities present offered no assistance. The city provided no alternatives. One police man rudely retorted, “It’s closed! How many times do I have to say it? You are on your own!”

To make matters even worse, I got a migraine and my vision disappeared as everything got blurry so I depended on my brother to navigate me out of the stormy sea of humanity. People were frustrated. Others were angry. I was unable to move. If Robert didn’t have the wherewithal to keep his head and come up with a solution–I might still be sitting out there in a comatose state.

Have you ever been left feeling helpless because the one who promised you safe passage abandoned their post? Have you ever been left with nothing more other than a blank stare and a glib, “What do you want me to do?” I thought about life and how many times along the journey we are guaranteed verbally by another that they will take care of us and everything will be alright and we will get home where we belong

. And then the tune changes along the pilgrimage from delight to despair. And what you thought you could depend upon has been deleted from the options with no alternative routes even suggested, never mind provided. I can’t help but think about all the times I was promised the stars but didn’t even get a moon rock. Oh sure, maybe I got to the party, but when it was over and when I got overwhelmed and when I needed somebody to lead me home, I was left stranded and alone. Unless I was willing to humble myself and look up, I would have been rendered busted and bewildered.

People can put God down, but the day will come for each and every one of us that we will need the Lord to lift us up. This world can’t keep its promises. It is not big enough to be able to provide us perfect passage to and from the Promised Land. Who will you call upon when you are dumped in the dust and are heaving from the heat and your head aches and your heart hurts and you are left without a way back to where you know you belong? That is the time you need to look up and give it up to God because only He has the power and presence to come through and finish perfectly what was sabotaged improperly.

It cost us $75 via taxi cab to get back to Manhattan just so we could catch the Path Train back to Jersey. Robert came to my rescue and my younger brother saved the day for his older brother. That might have ended the excursion for some but I have come to expect some detours even on the way to paradise. And this much I do know, that when my final inning of my life has been played, I won’t have to worry about fire on the tracks keeping me from going home. Jesus paid the price and took on the heavenly assignment of bridging the gap between where we are and where God has prepared a place for us to be. And when He comes a calling, there will be no delay and no let downs. He will deliver on what he has already promised and that keeps me from becoming frustrated, hopeless and stranded. How about you?

Let Pastor Rudy know what you think by emailing him pastorrudytlc@comcast

I can hardly believe that it was 16 years ago this summer that I came back to New Jersey from Omaha, Neb. to accept the challenge and have the privilege to become the pastor of The Lighthouse Church. I saw a picture of me the other day from that historic June day in 1997 when at the Seashore Campgrounds, I officially responded positively to the invitation to come to Cape May County. Now I may have lost most of my hair since then but I can honestly tell you that I haven’t lost a bit of my enthusiasm.

Did you know that our English word for enthusiasm literally comes from the root words that mean “In God?” As long as I stay in God and God in me, I will never run out of the fiery fuel that I depend on to go at the highest level that I am able to live at. My body may be breaking down, but my spirit is being renewed as we speak. And as the old Motown song goes: “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now, We’re on the Move!”

I am still so grateful to God for allowing somebody like me to get to do what I do not only as my daily profession but as my deepest heart’s desire and passion. For me, what gets me up out of bed each day may still be simply summarized by me staying true to these two principles. First and of utmost importance, I need to make sure that I am loving God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength and keeping the Lord as the main reason and purpose that I do anything I do! It is what God says to me that matters most and it is His saying to me someday soon, “Well done good and faithful servant,” that is the truest affirmation that I will ever need! The second goal is the one that can be so much fun and yet cause so much frustration at the same time and that is to love other people as God made them and not for what I want to mold them to become! I am here to love others and not try to manipulate matters so they will love me. I can’t lie to you. I know it is hard to be rejected, especially by those that I genuinely and sincerely care about, but love must remain unconditional for it to be at its best.

Once you start needing something in return- I believe that it paralyzes your ability to love another in its truest form. God loves us most because He is able to do so without ego or pride or any other ulterior motive. He doesn’t bully us or try to overpower us into devotion! The Lord knows that for love to be the real deal, it must be offered willingly and with no strings attached. That is the kind of love that has made this life that I have been given the gift to live a supernatural affair.

So often we measure our success by the big and splashy electrifying moments along the way but for me, I have come to see life’s magic in the most ordinary of daily happenings. Let me try to illustrate by sharing the fact that I have been getting my haircut at Sam Repici’s Barber Shop on Mechanic Street since I first actually cleaned his business’ restroom as a random act of kindness during Middle Township’s First Harvest Fest held back in October 1997.

I am loyal to a fault and when Sam told me that he was retiring late last year, I almost cried. Let’s face facts, I don‘t have that much hair to cut so it was lots more than the barbering that I enjoyed and was now anxious about having to replace. I loved the interaction that we always had with each other inside the shop between those cutting hair, those getting their hair cut and those waiting. Another piece of the simple pleasures of life disappearing.

Needless to say, I went a long time without getting my haircut until just last week, my face lit up when I found out that Sam had called me. He was still doing haircuts two days a week and to top it off, I still had a freebie coming my way because my “Haircut Angel” had paid for me and I needed to come on in and take advantage of the gift.

I was elated. I was actually giddy simply because I was going to still be able to stay connected with a guy who even though he has never set foot in The Lighthouse Church is still a very important person in my life. It is all about relationships. It is all about family, friends and neighbors and living out my faith among them. And I don’t want a day to go by without treasuring the little things because they are what make life a big deal.

So let’s push forward and see what the Lord has for all of us as I begin my 17th year at The Lighthouse Church and another year of weekly sharing my thoughts with all of you. It is the kindness of my readers that provides plenty of inspiration to keep plugging away until the day comes when that final whistle blows and the great family reunion begins. Thank you.

Let Pastor Rudy know what you think by emailing him pastorrudytlc@comcast