pastorrudytlc

If Christians are guilty of anything these days, it is the fact that we have put too much an emphasis on head knowledge and not enough priority on experience. When in history the Enlightenment came along and made the intellect the prime avenue of authenticity, society cheapened the importance of also knowing by doing. I am a firm believer that I have no right to tell you that Jesus loves you unless I am ready to love you too.

I sense that one of the biggest deterrents of more individuals embracing the faith is the fact that believers talk too much and don’t back it up with a walk that gives credence to their words. What made Jesus so attractive to so many was that he wasn’t just another Rabbi teaching about love, this Rabbi loved. It is time for the church to be the church and have enough courage to venture outside of the cozy building and take the gospel to the streets.

Faith is more than studying doctrine to be memorized- it is starting to do it and live it and bringing a boatload of love to it. Christians should be igniting a bonfire of benevolence wherever they may be. It is time for the church to be known for lots more than what we are against- but identified by all that we are for.

Those who have been blessed should be willing to bless others. We at The Lighthouse Church are presently working in connection with our denomination, The Metropolitan District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, in the area of how we can be a help to those who did not fare as well as so many of us did with Super Storm Sandy. Now first and foremost, if you live here in Cape May County and have experienced major damage to your home, have you shared what has happened with your church family?

Maybe it has been way too long since you have been a committed part of a believing community and this might be a great time to come back home to where you once belonged? It is also a divine opportunity for the church to step up and be the church and come alongside those who are hurting and need something to hope in. They don’t need a book to read, but a specific body to relate to. And this is not a job for just one “church” with a small “c” but a task for the “Body of Christ,” the Universal Church with a capital “C!” People can’t help what they don’t know about. And we are responsible for those that we say we care about.

What is God calling you to do about this tragedy that surrounds us. Chances are real good that you aren’t hearing Him say to you, “Just ignore it and make your own life comfortable!”

If you want to be part of a Ministry Relief Team that will be God’s hands and feet in helping those who not only need physical support but spiritual encouragement, you could RSVP me also by emailing me at pastorrudytlc@ comcast.net. You might be asking, “What would I do?” These rescue squads are being recruited to do some of the following:

1. Praying for and with people…

2. Comforting people in their loss…

3. Helping people inventory what they lost (insurance and FEMA purposes)…

4. Helping people gut their houses…

5. Helping people remove trash and debris…

6. Helping people disinfect and dry out their houses…

7. Helping people rebuild… (for skilled workers, and not people like me who are actually more dangerous with power tools!)

Another way to lend a helping hand is to do what we Sheptocks have been doing at our house. We are going through our closets and gathering up all the nice clothes we own but really never wear. I can’t believe how many coats I own and I hate coats because they make me hot. And why do I even own a sweat shirt? Every shirt I wear I already sweat in.

We are doing this to get ready for the giving our best away to those who are in need. I challenge all of you who read “Speaking in the Light” and haven’t yet done so to begin to do the same. Let’s admit that as Americans we all have way too much stuff and what a great time to share our surplus with those who are in a huge deficit. So gather it up and then email me and we will distribute it to others who not only don’t have the clothes, but they don’t even have a closet anymore.

And finally, if you would like to share financially, we have organized a “Sandy Relief Fund” you can give to and if you so desire to do so, you could make your checks out to The Lighthouse Church and put “Sandy Relief” in the memo and mail it to 1248 Route 9, Cape May Court House, NJ 08210. Thank you ahead of time to all of you who will sacrificially share the best of your time, the present of your talents and the investment of your tithes.

It was Jesus himself who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and I know from my own life journey that love isn’t really love until you give it away and pass it out with no strings attached, unconditionally and authentically from the heart. Grace is undeserved favor and I have been a recipient of God’s amazing and never ending mercy and I have learned that my merit is not based upon the size of my bank account or the amount of my possessions or the success of my performance, but the reality that the Lord loves me wave upon wave upon wave of His goodness and that is one flood I welcome into my soul.

I know that many of you are already involved and I salute and applaud your efforts. I thank you and affirm the sacrifices you have been making. I write this because this is the time that I believe there should be nobody on the sidelines and everybody get into the game for what is at stake is lots more than trophies that will someday be trashed, but lives that are precious and need to be cherished, each and every one.

Blessings to you all at this season of Thanksgiving for I am truly grateful for another day and it ain’t no sin to be glad you are alive.

Today is Halloween and I have already made it my prayer to shine extra bright today! Rather than running away from these next 24 hours- and rolling up playing dead like an opossum in the fetal position- and withdrawing my welcome mat from my front door- and double bolting the latches so I can safely hunker down out of the sight of all evil- and shutting off all visible and physical signs that I might be at home- and pretending to be safely hidden away in my own little world-proof bunker- I’d much rather choose to do my living right out in the midst of it all! If I am truly to be the light of the world-which was the challenge from my Jesus to me- why would I ever long to hide the beacon under a bushel? How will you ever know about the joy I stand for if you can’t ever find me? How can I share with you the abundant life that I experience if I am always playing hide and seek with you?

To me Halloween is just another glorious day during Autumn- my favorite season of the year! I love the colors that decorate the surrounding displays that these human eyes are privileged to gaze upon each and every blessed day! I love the chill in the air! I love pumpkin spice anything! You put pumpkin flavor in liver and onions- I eat it! I love apples and apple cider doughnuts! I love hayrides and romantic walks under the harvest moon! Cue the great tune by Neil young at this moment! Can you hear what I hear? I love that it is getting darker earlier and there are fires in the hearth that with family near by ignite relationships in the heart! This is why I can’t run from a day that most of our culture will be out and about in their neighborhoods, decked out in their favorite costumes and actually opening up their lives to a little old fashioned community! If I say I love people- why would I send a message that I am not available today to those around me because it just happens to be Halloween? May the good Lord shine his light though me and maybe the heart will receive something much sweeter than a Hershey’s chocolate bar!

Well meaning Christians have told me that I am celebrating the devil’s holiday! Baloney! There are pagan practices associate with just about everything thing we do on this planet! What I try to do is take it under the umbrella of my walk with God. Is giving out candy to kids evil? Is dressing up like a favorite hero evil? Is opening my door to friends who live close by and extending some good old hospitality evil? No more evil than when I sneak a kiss from my beloved bride under the mistletoe at Christmas! No more evil than when I take in the fireworks display on the 4th of July! No more evil than when I eat groundhog on February 2nd! OK, I don’t eat groundhog- but you get the message! Whatsoever you do- do it to the glory of God and do it early and often and to others so that they may see your good deeds and glorify the Father who is in Heaven!

I have already told the devil that we are never ever ever getting back together again so he can go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me- but we are through! We broke up and I admit that it wasn’t that hard to do! I am forever connected to Jesus! He is my Savior and my Lord and the love of my life! And it is my heart’s desire that those who have been burned out by the goofy religious systems of men would come to know that it is not about trying to live up to rules that make you right- but by opening your heart to the Author of life that makes everything right! Don’t celebrate Halloween- but don’t use that a spiritual marker that you are more holy than me! Today I will reach out to others and give out treats and share my compassion and kindness and keep my door open and my lights on and hopefully you will see in me an innocent enthusiasm that wants to shout that it ain’t no sin to be glad you are alive!

So step out of your comfort zone believers! Christians are a lot like fertilizer. Piled up in one place they will burn a hole in the ground beneath them. But spread out over a large field they can do a lot of good! They can actually cause new growth to occur and new seeds to take root and new life to be discovered! Begin to care about everybody! Make yourself available! Bring Jesus to others who aren’t planning to step a foot inside a church anytime soon! Our job is to be seed flingers! We don’t have to hoard the supply as though God was limited in what he can give away! When Christians start loving their neighbors-whole communities are renewed!

So no tricks here from me today- just treats! And I am planning to share them with you whether you are a Christian or not! I am not in league with the darkness! I have set my feet upon the rock who is my everlasting light! Have a great Wednesday October 31st! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will be glad in it and share that contagious exuberance with others!

My wife Terri and I will be celebrating our 30^th anniversary of wedded bliss in a few weeks!  This means it is a great time to take a stroll down memory lane and reminisce a bit about our beginnings! We had been going out pretty seriously for about 6 months, and while I enjoyed taking girls out and getting to know them better by spending some quality time together, I believed that special kisses should be saved for very special girls! It was quickly becoming quite clear to me that Terri was getting to be to me the most special of them all!

It was February 1982 and I still had not made my move to kiss her yet- but oh how I wanted to! We were in college at the time, and we both had gotten quite used to our nightly walks where we would share with one another about all that was going on in our lives and even began to hint and explore about our future hopes and dreams as a couple!  Even now I clearly recall how Terri- although a quiet and shy girl by nature- would just bubble over with contagious excitement whenever she would talk to me. She was absolutely adorable!

I’ll never forget one particular rainy night- when we were out huddled together in the midst of a winter shower- when all of a sudden in a total spontaneous moment I said to her, “It’s time,” and then proceeded to plant the big one upon her lips that set off fireworks in our souls. I wanted her to know that she was the love of my life and the apple of my eye! I wanted her to know how much she meant to me. By the look in her eye after the smooch- I would dare to say that my mission was accomplished!

Did you know that the word used in the Bible when it comes to how we humans should worship and relate and respond to God is the word we use to describe a kiss? The Greek word is “proskuneo” and it literally means to “step towards with the intention to kiss.” When was the last time you were so grateful for the blessings that you were discovering in your life that all you wanted to do was give God a great big kiss? Our relationship with God must go beyond mere formalities. We are not business partners so a handshake is not merely enough! And there is nothing worse than a union with the Lord that settles to be filled with nothing more than menial mechanical meaningless motions! I believe God wants us to get much closer to him than we too often settle for!

Unfortunately in the Bible- the most passionate kiss that Jesus ever got on this earth was from Judas! The scripture tells us that Judas didn’t just give Jesus a little peck on the cheek!  But while it looked like true devotion on the outside- there could not have been a more selfish act concocted from the inside.  Judas was kissing off God to get his own way!  Too often we are no better only kissing up to the Lord when we need something and then nowhere to be found when he needs us!

I believe that the best thing we can do to show our appreciation for all the wonderful undeserved gifts that we receive during any given day- is to make a daily date with God!  We need to engage with him fully and go out for a walk and at just the right time- step forward to give him a kiss! Not just some obligatory gesture mind you, but a kiss that communicates a true love and a genuine passion and a desire for the communion to just get stronger every day!

We have been well trained to protect our stuff, our safety, our reputations, our agendas, and our own physical well-being and we have been expected to also do the same for our closest loved ones! But if God should come to us and invite us to “Come and Follow Me,” even if it means leaving the loft of luxury- it is never right to be content to settle to stay behind! For too long, way too many of us have learned to coddle the very comfort zones that we should be courageously ceasing to inhabit! Contrary to cultural opinion- God never promised any of His followers an easy life!  We have been bamboozled into thinking that because we believe, we deserve!  Grace is the gift of God’s refreshment that is given to us even though we don’t deserve a drop of it!  Mercy is the realization that none of us will have to receive what we really do deserve which, by the way, is not a custom made mansion just over the hilltop.   

Service without sacrifice is superficial! Jesus left the greatest comfort zone in the universe and was willing to come to my graveyard just to resuscitate and rescue me! Why would I give him such a hard time when he just asks me to walk across the street and share a random act of kindness with a stranger in danger? The only response that we should ever give at all to the Lord when He begins to stir us is “Here I am Lord, send me!”  Why not be ready to abandon it all for the sake of the call? Isn’t being included in the work that God is doing here and being given personal and specific assignments from him the only real joy of Christianity anyway?  I wasn’t saved to be safe and to sit around!  I was redeemed to be released into the flow of God’s intervention in what is happening on planet earth now that will lead to the kingdom to come then!  Why would I forfeit eternity because I want to be satisfied with one selfish day?    

It is all about coming to God to get going for God!  Obeying him doesn’t mean that all will go your way especially if he has bigger plans for you being part of God getting his way!  We will be asked to leave the bunker if we want to be part of the real battle for souls!  Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive and love isn’t love until it is given away freely and without strings attached!  It means going anywhere- anytime- to anyone that the Lord may send us to!  He will equip us and escort us the entire way even if it means travelling to some dangerous destinations!  As a matter of fact, I have learned that it is safer to be serving in a mine field if that is where God wants you!  You are better off there than you would ever be if you think that you are going to be nice and cozy and kept from harm hidden away at home if you know God wants you elsewhere! It is perfectly normal and alright  to shudder at some of the things the Lord asks us to do, but it is never acceptable to shirk the responsibility to show up for duty!

Sometimes following your heart is not your best guide if it is getting in the way of you being totally available as an instrument in the hands of the Living God!  To go God’s way, we must be prepared and willing to say “Goodbye” to our coping mechanisms that prevent us from walking the high wire with Jesus.  Faith is the only safety net we will need because he will not allow us to fall into a crevasse of nothingness!  It is time for us to abandon all comfort zones and put them up for sale and evacuate them before we suffocate from all the stuff that wants to hem us in from God’s wide open space of his grace!  Turn down the noise of society that wants to deafen you to his heavenly words that lead to real life!  Open your eyes and see God’s purposes for us!  Ships are safe in the harbor but that is not what the big vessels were made for!  And we were saved to do lots more than creative pew sitting!  I will not allow my lust for comfort and my giving in to my anxieties and fears to prevent me from doing and going and being what the Lord has always dreamed for me! 

It is time and we are the ones who need to dive into the waves of God’s will!  I have to go out every day and give God everything that I have and when I am willing to serve him empty handed- he makes sure that I never leave empty hearted! Some people show more glory in their dying than so many ever do in their living!  I don’t want to be one of them!  I don’t want to be taking up space in a life boat if I can still hear the screams of a brother or sister who is stuck in the raging seas!  I want to take the love of Jesus to the streets, the office, the schools, the gyms, the plants, the stadiums, the prisons, the nursing homes, the neighborhoods and the surrounding community!  I want to be willing to stand fast and be strong and put my own selfishness aside so that somebody else can be rescued and somebody new can be redeemed!  Let us no longer be content to be constrained to our comfort zones!  It is time to return to going away again!   

My little friend Dustin has a social studies project and I promised him that I would give him a hand in getting it done.  The assignment is a project about our community here in Cape May County and a portion of it is a scrapbook that features some people who improve the lives of others in the surrounding area. I am honored that Dustin would even include me on a list of individuals like that!  So he fired some questions at me and my contribution to his masterpiece is answering them and I thought I would share my replies with all of you right here in my column!

QUESTION #1: WHEN DID YOU FIRST MOVE TO CAPE MAY COUNTY AND WHY? 

My move to Cape May County happened in the summer of 1997 it was also my return back home.  Although I was born and raised in the northern part of New Jersey, I had always felt a pull to this portion of our state and I just knew that someday God would allow me the chance to fulfill that calling.  It all became reality when the Leadership of The Lighthouse Church contacted me where I was serving as a Pastor out in Omaha, Nebraska.  They had asked me if I was interested in coming to join what they sensed the Lord was doing in this area and become their Minister.  I knew the moment that I crossed the bridge into Wildwood that this was a very special invitation from God just for me and I actually saw in my heart the clear vision of where He was going to take our church before any of it had ever happened!  It was a no brainer for me to tell my family to fasten their seatbelts because we were all heading east!  It has been a decision that I have never regretted and I am one of the lucky guys who get to call it his job what he would love to do for free anyway!  Now don’t tell all the people that Dustin- or they may just take me up on that!

QUESTION #2: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS AREA?

I love the “small town” feel of our area!  Yes we are very close to major metropolitan cities like Philadelphia and New York and even Baltimore- but where we live still has the makeup that when I go to places like Wal-Mart, or Shop Rite or Acme or get my haircut at Sam’s Barbershop or stop by the Library- I run into neighbors and friends who feel like my family and I know their names and they know me and we stop and chat and catch up on life and what is really going on in the day to day activities!  When I live and move and breathe in Cape May County- I am not anonymous and I can’t just blend into the scenery which challenges me as a pastor and a Christian in general- because it means that my faith must be lived out and real if my messages are going to have any substance of impact at all!  Yes Dustin- I also love the ocean and the beach and the beauty of our area- although I do wish we would get more snow in the winter times- but it is the people that make this little stretch of New Jersey the very best place that I have ever lived and truly my home!

QUESTION #3: HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN LOCAL RADIO AND WHY?

Being on the radio was a lifelong dream of mine ever since I was even younger than you Dustin.  My parents said that I was born with a transistor radio in my soul and a jukebox in my heart.  At the age of 4 while other kids were listening to nursery rhymes and kiddie songs- I was buying the album “Meet The Beatles” with my own money and adding what we called 45 singles like “Chapel Of Love” by the Dixie Cups to my collection and I would pretend even then to have my own make believe radio station and would talk for hours to my own imaginary audience!

When I first became a pastor, I worked for a man named Ron Hutchcraft who was very involved in Christian radio and he showed me lots about how I could create shows of my own for the local ministries that I was involved in.  I was on Christian radio stations in some way shape or form for many years.  In 2000 though, when the Journey 106.3 FM switched formats- a door opened up for me at Coastal Broadcasting and I never looked back and over the years I have gotten a chance to do what I love most- play music and talk to people on shows like “Sunrise” and “Oldies With A Heart” and “Friday Night Live!”  I also had the honor and privilege to twice host the Morning Shows on WILW and FUN 106.3 FM and I wished I could have done that forever but getting up at 4:45 AM every day and still being a Pastor full time takes a toll on your body and I had to let go of it after a while.  But I will cherish the days that I got to say, “Hello Love- How in the World Are You,” on the air and get to meet so many of my radio heroes and the artists that I grew up listening to.  Some of them today have even become good friends of mine!  I still hope to get back on the radio soon in some way shape or form- but Dustin- don’t ever let anybody tell you that your dreams can’t come true! My life is a living testimony that God can do absolutely anything!     

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST UNIQUE THING ABOUT THE LIGHTHOUSE CHURCH?

I love this question!  I believe that what makes us special as a church is that we don’t try to be anything other than what God wants us to be and that is to be a vehicle to take the treasure of the good news of God’s love to Cape May County and beyond!  We have this saying, “No Perfect People Allowed,” because too many human beings think that they have to do something before they can come to God!  They try to clean up their act, or cover up the mess- but the reality is that there is nothing we can do to try to impress the Lord!  He doesn’t want us to just pretend like we have it all together!  He longs for us to come just as we are so that He can make us what we could and would never be on our own!  I love seeing the real miracle of transformation- when God gets ahold of a person and turns them into a living masterpiece of grace!  I love being the Pastor of The Lighthouse Church and I am still so excited about the things that are still to come! 

WHEN DID YOU START WRITING YOUR HERALD COLUMN AND WHY?

When I first got to the Lighthouse Church back in 1997, the Owner of the Herald- Mr. Art Hall had mentioned that they once had a minister who wrote a little something for the paper but he had stopped.  I offered my services right then and there because if there is one thing that I am never at a loss of- it is words!  As many of my readers know, I am the king of run on sentences- and me going on and on about the things that I am most passionate about is very easy to do. I called my column, “Speaking In The Light” because to me it conveyed the picture of the beacon beams coming out of a Lighthouse and I have been doing this now going on 16 years!  It is another way that I can touch people who may never set foot in the Lighthouse Church- but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about them deeply.  In many ways it makes me a pastor for the community! I am sincerely and humbly amazed by how many wonderful individuals through the years have stopped me out and about or emailed me or jotted me a note to just let me know that they read this piece coming from my heart to their eyes and ears every week! They all have blessed me in so many ways!  I may never write a book in my lifetime- but I have 16 years of columns that someday may be compiled into something lasting!  Is there anybody out there reading up for that challenge?

WHAT IS A GOAL THAT YOU HAVE FOR CAPE MAY COUNTY?

It may sound silly and like a cliché Dustin- but I want to make a difference by shining my light before all people so that in me and through me- they might be turned on to how good God really is!  Knowing the Lord is not a religion or a system or a program- it is a forever relationship and when you know you are loved- you are finally free to live in such a way that you look to not just receive- but truly give the best of everything all away!  New Jersey gets a bad rap- but I am proud to be born and raised here and living here and I want to make it hard to go to hell from Cape May County because once you have tasted of the sweet love of Jesus- you never leave the same way you came!

Thanks Dustin for allowing me to do this!  Now go and show them Jesus and unwrap each day as the precious gift that it is!   

I am writing this week’s edition of rambling with  Pastor Rudy from Penang, Malaysia at the Dalat International School.  I had been given the honor to come clear across to the other side of the world to be the keynote speaker at their annual Spiritual Emphasis Week Conference.  Several times during every day in various settings and with ages that range all the way from elementary school through adult, I have been sweating up a storm in a good way as I have been speaking from my heart to these precious individuals.  Many of you who know me know that I love and definitely prefer colder climates and this isn’t it.

It is hot, humid and very rainy in Malaysia at this time of the year but in spite of working in the midst of weather conditions that I would never intentionally seek, it has been so cool where it counts the most as I have challenged and rallied the faculty, staff, student body and their families to get aggressive in their going and growing forwarding in matter of their faith.

I have encouraged them to go after God’s story for themselves and to dive totally into their relationship with the living God. Our theme has been “Soul Food” and we are not talking about the latest food recipes for the kind of spicy sustenance that can potentially give everybody who eats it heartburn. I am enthusiastically exhorting my audience to join me as we gather together around the banqueting table from above where the banner over all of us is God’s love and I am serving up fresh piping hot out of the oven heavenly bread and refreshingly cool and thirst- quenching living water that can ignite in all those who have ears to hear and wills to apply a burning heart.

I can honestly say that I had nothing close to a dull moment as I endured the 36-hour journey from Cape May County to arriving here. Being a big guy of 6-foot-four inches tall, you have to be very creative and extremely persistent when it comes to trying to sleep and relax in a seat that was ideally designed for somebody only 5-foot-2.  And no matter what flight I got on, the little dude who ends up assigned to the row in front of me seems to always have to put his seat back which of course forces my long legs into my mouth.

If I don’t keep my sense of humor in tact and on alert, I would lose my sanity.  One of the ways that I kept my mind off of my body being contorted like a pretzel was my fascination with the whole time zone deal. You see, somewhere along the way I actually jumped a day. I am presently functioning 12 hours ahead of all of you that are still stuck back home in the States. I marveled at the fact that I experienced true time travel because as I write this article today, you are still abiding in yesterday.  I pulled off this colossal feat of going back to the future without even the aid of a flux capacitor, 1.21 jiggawatts of power or a Delorean! Through the miracle of modern technology, I actually just wished Katie Risko who lives in Middle Township a Happy Birthday on Facebook and shared with her that I am enjoying some sweet Roti Babi- a local treat- on her behalf.  But for her, the clock has not yet struck midnight. By the time she gets to her special day, it will already be so yesterday for me as I will have moved on to tomorrow.

I can’t believe that I almost backed out of this adventure.  I get quite homesick these days when I have to be away from my wife, my children and my church for any length of time. I often search for excuses to get out of what I am not even giving myself a real chance to enter into. I am not a world traveler as much as I am a homebody. We can get so comfortable when we become too dependent on the regular rhythms and routines of our every day life.

Often to step out of our habitual agendas is scary and uneasy because we like life when it is manageable and controllable.  But one thing that I know about walking with God is that he will purposely shake us up a bit so that we won’t forget how much we need Him. When I finally listen and obey his directions, I also know that there will be no way that I will be able to finish a particular race that he has entered me in without my total surrender and submission to him.  I confess with embarrassment that I have missed out on way too many God stories for me because I did allow my anxious spirit to keep me from getting on track with the path that God has called me to follow him upon.

I am so glad that I followed the Lord back to Penang.  I was here last in October of 1999.  This place is amazing but so is every place that I go when I know God is initiating the itinerary. Our world is so much bigger than what we can see, taste, touch, smell and hear only in America. And every now and then, I wish that everybody could get an opportunity to go beyond their own comfort zone and exit beyond their backyard and see what God is doing in the big wide wonderful world that we live in.  God is so awe inspiring in his creation.

Some day Heaven will be filled with humans that make up every race, color, tribe, language and cultural background and it is fun to get a head start on meeting those that I will have the privilege of spending forever with.  The kids here have been such a gift to me.  I have enjoyed their questions, their company, their talents, their attentiveness and their tastes. They have embraced me in spite of the fact that I am not cool in any way shape or form, I don’t have spiky hair and my clothes definitely will not get me in any of the latest magazines! But they have adopted the old guy into their young lives and we have made an eternal connection.

Speaking of tastes, I love to try the new delicious cultural dishes along the way. I feel bad for people who only eat from a very small menu of items and won’t explore unfamiliar food because they can’t pronounce it or recognize it and they declare it off limits without even taking a chance. During my pit stop in Hong Kong, I had to try the barbecue goose that hung from a vendor’s cart in the airport.

At the McDonald’s there was something that was called the Shogun Burger, which included a meat pattie drenched in teriyaki sauce and topped with a fried egg.  Here in Penang, the senior class just took me out to lunch with them and I was treated to a bean curd plate that resembled tapioca pudding and was a sweet delight.  I drank down my first ever glass of soybean milk. Last night I ate an oyster dish that was out of this world. And believe it or not, I am presently crunching on anchovy chips as I am creating this masterpiece.

The Bible says “Taste and see that the Lord is good” and I strongly urge you all to be willing to broaden the boundaries of your appetite base when it comes to breaking bread with others that might be different than you, but still very much the same. There is nothing like sharing a meal that leads to the connecting of hearts, souls, minds and spirits. Make time to open the door to a potential new relationship.

I close with a sad reality of my return engagement to Malaysia. When I was here back in 1999, a 14- year-old Kaitlyn Anzelone and her mother Connie accompanied us.  There are many memories of her everywhere that I turn here.  I remember her being a little ticked at me when I made her share her story with the other students. Little did we know back then that she would be taken from us only six short years later.

I would be remiss if I didn’t say that Kait has inspired me so much on this trip.  I think of the need to unwrap every day as the gift that it is and to not wait until later to do what must be done right now just because we can.  We often get so bogged down by our yesterdays and so overwhelmed by our tomorrows that we lose the gift of the present.  Not this time Kaitlyn.  I have done everything here with the same reckless abandonment that you would have.  I have dedicated my mission to her memory and Kait, I think we have had ourselves quite the time. Thanks kiddo for still making a difference in my life.

So I hope to see you all soon when we get back together again in the same time zone.  I have many more stories of the trail to share with you. Until then, to infinity and beyond because that is just the way God does everything and if taking it over the limits is his style, then I want the same approach in my own life.

Now I want to start this column by saying that I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican.  The politics of politics and its ambiguity drive this individual absolutely bonkers.  One of the reasons that I would not make a good politician is because I don’t schmooze well at all!  God wired me to be a “tell it like I see it” kind of guy!  I am not saying that I am always right.  I know that I have been wrong on many an occasion and have sincerely used the words, “I am sorry,” and “Please forgive me,” more times than I have fingers on my hands to count upon.  But I can’t pretend to like something that I don’t!  And I have been known to make the crowd less crowded many times along the way especially when I think the crowd is going in a foolish direction!  And that is what I want to write about today!  I think the crowd is heading for a crash and I would be crushed and crass if I didn’t cry out about it!

When did it become cool to “Boo God?”  You have got to be kidding me!  At the recent convention of one of the parties, when it was recommended that God be reintroduced into the platform- the crowd actually jeered its decision.  Now I am not so dense to believe that everybody must or even will believe in a higher power.  God gave man free will and one thing that power is incapable of pulling off is making one love another!  Truly this is a conscious decision of the head and the heart!  But it is one thing to not believe- it is a terribly disrespectful step and an idiotic move period to openly and publicly boo God!  No wonder we live in a society that has lost its ability to display common courtesy to those in authority.  Teachers take their lives in their hands just to simply discipline students. Poor policemen, who daily put themselves in harm’s way for us, hardly ever get the backing of the people when they make a gutsy move to enforce the law.  Our soldiers who are literally dying overseas in Afghanistan have been forced to be the ones to take sensitivity training so they may better treat their enemies! Even as a Pastor, I recently had a child look me in the eye at church when I told him that he couldn’t go into the gym at that moment and rudely spit out, “Who do you think you are?”  And if we aren’t afraid to defy God- then who else stands a chance?

I believe that wisdom begins to take shape inside a human being’s soul when he or she finally realizes that they are not the center of the universe.  This world was not created as a playground just for their own enjoyment and comfort!  I must ask these questions today!  How can an intelligent and informed individual genuinely come to the conclusion that we can have a fearfully and wonderfully made creation- but no creator?  Think about it!  Use your brain!  Is it possible to end up with an intricate and fine-tuned design in our universe but really come to the conclusion that there is no designer behind it all?  And just go away with the “Big Bang” already!  When have you ever heard a big bang around you and your first thought was, “Wow, something wonderful must have just been created?”  Teacher said every time there’s a random explosion- the universe gets its wings!  Give me a break!  You and I both know that when we hear something go boom- we all think what has come to end- not what has just begun!  Could it really be that not believing in God has little to do with your intellect and more to do with the plain fact that if you are the highest form of life- then nobody can tell you what to do or not to do?  Isn’t booing God nothing more than humanity acting like little kids who have the audacity to shake their fists at the heavens and proclaim boldly and boastfully, “Who do you think you are?”

Booing God doesn’t make the Lord insecure by the way!  He has been booed before and will be booed again!  I just don’t think that it is a good precedent for anyone who wants to be president!  I think the strongest people that I have ever been blessed to have known are those who admit they aren’t the strongest option around.  There is Somebody bigger than you and I and isn’t it amazing that as much as you might not believe in Him- He still believes in you!  He still loves you and longs for you to invite His leadership into your life.  Anybody who thinks that real life is found when you can do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it wherever you may be doing it is very mislead.  Boundaries make the game meaningful.  Standards give the journey purpose.  Respect is another word for love and you won’t love what you don’t respect.  So can I make you believe in God?  Absolutely not!  But be careful when you boo Him!  You may be booing the One who is your best hope for purposeful present and a fulfilled future! As for me, I humbly pray that my life is a standing ovation to the One who has graciously given me not only a reason to live- but a peace to know that no matter who claims the earthly titles- God holds the eternal deed!

In December 1964, a song titled “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” began to be heard on the radio. It was a song that would one day become the 20th century’s “most played” love song on the radio. It was performed by two guys from California – Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield; two guys who came to be known as the Righteous Brothers even though they were in no way related. Their stage name came about after a black U.S. Marine, attending one of their early nightclub acts, shouted out approvingly: “That was righteous, brothers!” The label stuck, and the two singers became a distinctive duet, with Bill Medley, the taller of the two, providing the bass-baritone, and blond-haired Bobby Hatfield singing tenor. Their style would later be dubbed “blue-eyed soul,” and there was no doubt about their vocal talent. They had a range and style that helped create a strong and distinctive sound. But they also had another potent ingredient in their music that helped make it distinctive — a music producer named Phil Spector.

Spector began collaborating with the many song writers who honed their skills in the cubicles of the Brill Building on Broadway in downtown New York City.  One such duo of hit tune makers was the husband-and-wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.  In creating “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” Mann and Weil were inspired in part by the Motown classic, “Baby I Need Your Loving” — a hit song by the Four Tops. As the Righteous Brothers’ Bill Medley would later recall: “Barry Mann wrote this ballad and I remember him telling me he wanted to write a song that was like the Four Tops’ records, and so they wrote this ballad and Phil Spector and Barry Mann sat down at the piano and sang it to us. And they both had real high voices. And when they got done I said, ‘Man, that’s a great song for maybe the Everly Brothers but not so much me and Bobby!  Our voices were not made for this tune!”  Bill Medley could not be more wrong about this right melody!

To get up to the really high notes in the song – a song, it would turn out, that builds and builds – there had to be a low and very slow start, so they kept experimenting to try to find just the right start and sound. The unforgettable opening lyric– “You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips” –was done very uniquely in Bill Medley’s signature deep bass baritone. As a matter of fact, it was so slow and so deep that upon hearing the record, some disc jockey’s thought it was being played on the wrong speed. And speaking of those radio stacks of wax DJ’s, “You Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”had another quirk about it that made it a problem! The song was too long!  It was nearly four minutes in actual play time back during a season when most songs on the radio were in the two minute range. But Phil Spector fixed that by altering the actual 3:50 play time on the disc label by reversing the last two numbers and making it 3:05, which helped get the song past time-conscious music programmers. When the song was finally played, we the listeners knew it was pure gold! The powerful back-and-forth call and response between Medley and Hatfield in their respective baritone and tenor gave the song its dramatic, soulful and legendary flair.

Although it was introduced to America in the midst of the British Invasion- when the Beatles ruled the pop charts- “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” hit number one within only two months of its initial release! And it might have been too slow and too long but it became one of the most successful pop singles of its time! Indeed, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” became the most played love songs in pop radio history, estimated to have been broadcast more than 8 million times in the 20^th Century. The 8 million “radio plays” of “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’” equals more than 45 years of back-to-back airplay.  Yes, 45 years straight of the same song- over and over again!

 But do you know what is sad to me?  It is the terrible fact that the most played love song of our era on the radio is not a love song at all.  It is a ballad all about a love that was lost.  It is the tale of a passion that once was- and had at one time been so on fire but now could hardly flicker a flame.  I believe it also represents a diagnosis of our culture that has been so mislead into thinking that we can receive satisfaction by chasing after things when it is only loving people and prioritizing relationships to be at the very top of our bucket lists that could ever be enough for any human being to live for!  We were made to be loved and to love!  Right from the beginning of the Bible- we are told that we are special not because of what we have- but because of who and whose we are!  God loves us and longs for us to love Him with every ounce of our being!  He also knows we are at our best when we come up with random and creative ways to love on one another!  Do you know why good love goes bad?  Because we stop doing what we at one did!  We stop caring like we at one moment had!  We don’t go out of our way for God and we don’t look to run that extra mile for one another!  We tend to want to get by with as little effort as possible and this rarely results in a beaming bonfire of connection and communication!  It ends up with it being so ironic of how two people who at one time were so close- could now be so far away.

Rarely do you lose anything when it comes to relationships.  You actually have more power than you think you do.  You don’t lose that loving feeling!  You leave it behind!  You stop investing you’re “A” game in one another!  You attempt to impress with leftovers rather than preparing a banquet of your absolute best!  You have bought into the myth that you don’t need anybody as long as you’ve got your every “thing!”  But No “Thing” will ever be enough to fill that gaping hole in your soul!  Only love will be enough and that is why without love- all our service and all our steadfastness and all of our stuff come up pretty small.  So if you want to regain a little of that “lovin’ feelin’” maybe it is time to get back to the basics of love!  I guarantee it will reset the juke box in your blue eyed- brown eyed- green eyed- hazel eyed or whatever color you may be sporting in those sparkling eyes soul!               

They say, “Real trust develops in the dark.” And if that is true then the faith quotient of many should be rising to an all-time high because they live more like a mole than a marigold. Do you feel like it has been way too long since you have honestly believed and expected God to shower the light in on you and bring personal blessings your way? If you do you are not alone!  Too many sadly operate and navigate their way through days as though God labeled them peasants and relegated their residence to that no higher than the basement.

And when life has been on track- anything that is good that happens doesn’t last!  But when they get it wrong- the hammer comes banging down on hearts and souls without rhyme or reason.  And most can honestly admit that they do more wrong than right!  They know that being faithful in keeping regular company with God and pursuing him first like we all know we should is so much easier said than done! Does your life ever seem way too orchestrated and not very raw and real and authentic and genuine?  If you are there or have been before- it results in an experience that amounts to a journey that has all the anticipation of circling an airport but never receives the excitement of actually landing!

It is a sobering moment to get to a season in your life and then start to wonder if this is the best that it is ever going to be on this earth. It can get depressing to think that there is nothing more to look forward to because face it- life can be basically hard and just plain stink lots of the time. Days like these lead to needing more than cliché laden spiritual pep talks! You need passion! You want substance! You cry for understanding! You don’t need a going through the motions church service that lends to be more sitcom than soothing.  When a soul cries out for nourishment and has a burning desire to taste life and not just have to fight longing and hunger and thirsting and pain and disappointment without solution- we need real compassion and mercy and grace!  Is there anything worse than knowing that even those who hate you are happier than you and are receiving what you know eludes you?  As a Pastor I know if individuals could and would be honest- they might be articulating thoughts like: “Why when I play by God’s rules do I get screwed in the process?”  I resonate with the need to deal with what is actually going on in hearts and not just placating our nice and neat little facades that we present so often and easily in public!

I know God is real and I know my times are in his hands and I want them to be right there!  I don’t want to go my own way and get going on a path that strays and veers away from his sovereign love and providence.  But if there are times that I feel like I am busted and rusted and thoroughly disgusted! I am angry and humbled and I’ve erred and fumbled! But I don’t want my life to end like this with this defeat. I want to live again and fly again and rise again and see again and sing again and taste again and thrive and survive and drive and be fully alive!  If that is stirring within me, I know others have got to be sensing similar stuff!  I know the status quo is not enough to make it go!  We’ve got to get back to where we once belonged!  Return to when we once believed!
Have faith that we will still become! 

As a matter of fact, we have just begun a series at The Lighthouse Church simply entitled RETURN!  I have come to accept that the answer to all of these issues is to not try to just make your life work.  We need more than pragmatism!  We need an internal and eternal soul jam revival!  We need to know how to dwell as close to the Lord as we can this side of heaven where nothing is for sure and there are no real guarantees that we can be exempt from evil- both our own and the consequences of the behavior of others!  If you just try to settle, you will miss out by compromising and corrupting what God has deemed best for each and every one of us! 

O God, help us to know the way to enter fully into this mystery of life that if we are open to you-we will never have to taste it without your ever present love on the menu.  It is so much more than making this life live-able!  It knows life within us even when there is nothing but the stench of death all around us!  We know we are spoiled.  We know we demand when we should be asking!  We know we don’t say “Thank You” near enough and our attitude is definitely lacking gratitude!  But you provide us holy-do overs where we get to start again and we worry so much what others think when you have already given us an open invitation to come on home and return to the one who knows us best and loves us anyway!  I pray that we will entrust our hearts and souls fully to your hands!  It isn’t about us just being good to get more good!  It is about us being with you God!  I want me to be all about you!  In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit- Amen!     

True faith is not sentimental, nor is it sloppy!  It is not random, scattered or vague!  It actually must exclude more than it embraces. Being “born again” is not cultural, political, emotional or simply a feel good warm and fuzzy religious exercise.  Being “born again” is not right wing, republican, a pseudonym, or an invitation to cultish like behavior.  Being “born again” is not an option to Christianity but a command from the Lord Jesus Himself!  In the gospel of John, chapter 3 and verse 3, it was Jesus who clearly proclaimed, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Faith is surrender, allegiance and the submitting your own heart to that of God’s word, will and way!

When you catch Jesus declaring something in scripture, it is probably a wise thing to do to pay extra attention to the statements flowing from his heart!  When you see Jesus beginning a sentence with “I tell you the truth,” it literally means, “Pay Attention! This is your Captain speaking and if you ever want to get to a destination worth going to- you won’t want to miss this!” To be born again is for you to allow God to do his “holy do-over” in you.  The Bible’s theological big word is “regeneration!”  It is a miraculous spiritual transformation that takes a person out of the darkness and brings him or her alive into God’s glorious light and everlasting life!

What I do love about Jesus is that when he first made this definitive statement about the need to be born again, he didn’t preface it by also adding- “And by the way- you aren’t allowed to ask any questions!”  If you ever hear that true believers ask no questions- ignore it because it is pure bunk! When nobody asks questions- it is probably a good indication that “nobody cares!”  As a pastor, it deflates my spirit when there is not enough wrestling over the facts!  The first thing that happens after Jesus makes his bold statement is that there are legitimate questions being asked!  ‘How can this be?”  Good question!

The word skepticism in our society has gotten a bad rap!  When it is genuinely defined- being a skeptic is a very good quality to own!  The word skepticism actually means to examine a matter closely, to scrutinize it, to study with great care- and minute detail!  Based on this definition, I would summarize that the church today needs more skeptics! 

Now I have met more than one person in my life who tells me, “I am not a believer because I am a skeptic.”  My first question to that individual is a sincere, “So what did you think when you read and studied the Bible?”  When I hear in reply, “I have never read the Bible” I know that this person is misguided and not a real student at all!  Skepticism is someone who will investigate and ponder and gather data!  One thing that a skeptic is not is lazy!  And I know that too many Americans misuse the title of “skeptic” as nothing more than an excuse that keeps them from making a meaningful and deep search of what they truly believe! A true skeptic is a hunter and a detective that stalks the evidence, laying ambush, rummaging for clues and dredging the river bottom!  A skeptic is passionate about discovering the whole truth and wants to believe- but uses safeguards against the hypnotic power of wanting something too bad- so they do the proper homework to get the answers right!

Thomas is the disciple in the Bible that I believe gets wrongly labeled a doubter when he really is nothing more than a real skeptic!  Thomas doubted not to excuse his belief but to establish a robust and real faith!  He doubted so that his belief might be based on something more than rumor and bandwagon wishful thinking!  Thomas said, “Unless I see it with my own eyes and touch it with my own hands, I will not believe.”  “Unless I see,” is not an expression of a lack of faith but rather an expression of his honest heart position.  He wanted his faith to be found in something concrete, something authentic and something of substance!  And when Thomas’ eyes are finally open- he immediately makes a bold proclamation of genuine devotion when he says to Jesus, “My Lord and My God!”  Thomas didn’t hem or haw or dilly or dally!  He was totally in and went to his death because of his solid beliefs!

But just be reminded along your pilgrimage of asking questions!  The basic flaw of doubt is that it will never be fully satisfied.  Doubt by its nature wants to consume you and not complete you!  You must remember that in your entire quest for evidence- and there will be plenty of that along the way- you must still allow and leave room for the infinite!  You must surrender to the notion that finite can’t put God in a box!  God is supernatural and without faith is it impossible to know God and please God because somewhere along the line- man must admit that he is not God! 

Coming to the Lord means admitting your helplessness and we humans don’t do that easily.  The problem goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when we were duped into thinking that we could really do all that God does!  We thought that it couldn’t be that hard! We thought wrong! Not only is it too hard for us- it is impossible to pull off!  God wants us to come to him- not empty headed but empty handed!  There is a huge difference!  Ask your questions!  Ask them often!  Ask them regularly!  But know that it does take faith to believe in what you might not see with your eyes- but definitely have witnessed the evidence of in your heart, soul and spirit!  And if you want to experience the reality of a “holy do-over in your life” then you must hand over the driving to the Savior!  Jesus take the wheel is not only a hit song- it’s an awesome way of new life!  It is the only way to new life!