The Zebra Church

I have been wrestling with what to do with this pic and finally decided it should stand here. Several years back when Bishop Clarice Fluitt first began visiting our church, she reported back to hers that our church could be known as the "Zebra Church." It's complicated, perhaps a long story, so I won't jump into the reasoning, but one more particular observation you might note is the Menorah. I'd say this pretty much sums up our church at the moment, for even yesterday in our Sunday service we lit the candles for the first day/night of Hanukkah.

Newark Schools Christmas Outreach

It has begun, the Newark schools Christmas outreach, and though the Mission is not involved directly with this school (Hawthorn Ave.), every year I am sent here to fetch dozens and dozens of cupcakes that we will distribute. Therefore, in my mind this is always the beginning of Christmas festivities, the jolliest time of year. Blessing!

Newark 2

Hello she whispers, I want to play. Newark wants to play but the ground is upset by the violence. Say not a bad word about the Brick City, I can hear someone saying, but if we are honest, we can hear the pain of innocence targeted. Who shall speak for the voiceless? I shall, for their voice cries out for justice and I can not be silent. I will not be silent. I shall speak for the voiceless, they whom violence has silenced. They want to be heard—there is hope though, and it is found in Jesus. He died so we could live. Justice can be found by all who embrace the King of kings: He will respond.

Newark

Wild, crazy, a city on edge:

This is the city I know.

Dancing, singing, ignoring the ledge;

Go, low, foe, they all rhyme with know,

But to force a rhyme

Stymies the flow.

Not In Our Town

For service today we watched this documentary that came out of Billings, Montana:

Where did we come up with this and why? Well on Tuesday for Sitting at the Feet of Jesus, Pastor Tilly read The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate and afterward realizing it was based on a true story, someone dug deeper and found the above video. There is power in unity, strength, and even a blessing:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. Psalm 133

Blessings, blessings, blessings!!!

Beautiful Sunset

I am not sure this is the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, after all I don't live in the most scenic environment to complement, but I can tell you when I looked up from reading the other evening to another glorious sight of God's creation, my soul danced within me:

ISIS and Fear

Honesty I don't even know how my fingers are typing these words since I am so tired. So tired! Feeling creative though, so you better watch out! Watch out! :)

ISIS is so evil! They create an atmosphere of fear that can be smelt all the way from Paris. I can smell them from here and they have the smell of death. So I am being serious compared to the beginning of this post and you might be wondering why. Why the shift? :) Well reading a headline about ISIS already entering our southern border got me thinking and wantin to write a bit. The question remains, was the headline fear mongering on the author's part? Even if it wasn't the author's intent to scare us into some sort of social resistance, there seems to be a prevalent aroma of fear being produced by ISIS affecting ordinary American citizens. Is ISIS really a threat to the United States? Could they really influence a terrorist attack here in the United States just like they did in Paris?

To be honest I think one would have to be naive to think this impossible, but at the same time, as Christians has God called us to fear?

Trust ye the Lord! That is the Bible in a nutshell. Obviously the salvation we find in Jesus is what it is all about, but in our day to day living, Jesus does not want us to fear or worry.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 1 Timothy 1:17

Blessings all! And goodnight, the Lord be with you!

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

I can hear the clock ticking and I have only a few minutes before it strikes midnight. Rush, rush, rush, get it done! Things must be done, time is ticking! Rush, rush, rush! There is no time to waste! Tick, tock, tick, tock, yes the clock is ticking and I can feel the amount of time I have left before midnight, running out. Two minutes left, but I'm nearly done. :)

Good night and God bless!

A Little Thanksgiving Humor

It's that time of year again: Thanksgiving. Simile, be happy, though it's always time to be thankful, this is the time of year we can remind everyone to be so ;). Well, as you may be able to see the playfulness already, I'd like to share a little Thanksgiving humor that I ran across last year on facebook and shared with some of my coworkers whom I knew would appreciate it. Without further ado, here is Take Me to the Greens:

 

God Loves Obama Dearm

I was going to record this in my journal but hey, since I'm blogging this A.M. why not shoot for it?

It was very quick dream, and only the third I've ever had with him that I can remember: I was at a four-way traffic intersection with my mother going in a certain direction while Obama was going in the opposite. There was a red light I suppose, because a lot of us, or at least I was and Obama was, were out of our cars. There was a lull in the traffic, cars were stopped but I sensed that would not last very long, so under the unction of the Holy Spirit, which I hesitate to say because something like that should not be said very lightly, I shouted to Obama: "God loves you Obama!"

It was almost like I could hear him chuckle, and as he did so did a few others who heard me. After that the light changed and traffic began to move. I remember my mother seeming to be a bit embarrassed and that I had to explain to her it was what I felt the Holy Spirit wanted me to say and do.

I find a few things interesting about the dream. First is that Obama was in town (Newark, NJ) on Monday. Second I'd say the dream had a mostly positive feel, or that Obama had an approving disposition toward me/my actions. In the two previous dreams, I sensed a sort of negative feel from him toward me for one reason or another. Third I am not really an Obama fan (and in fact would have preferred not to have been in Newark at all had there been even the slightest inconvenience in anything I was doing) and thus his positive reception of my actions for the first time out of three dreams I find interesting. The meaning? What could the Lord be saying? I will definitely be inquiring.

The Torah Blessing

Tuesday for noonday service we watched a video with Larry Hutch on The Torah Blessing:

I thought is was quite interesting and that he explained a lot in a very non-threatening way, in a way where one would not feel obligated to defend what they believe.

Clouds of Glory

Last night as I was riding my stationary bike and thinking about this picture, a memory came to me from about 13 years ago when I first came to Newark: walking around this block for the first time by myself, I had visions of violence and murder near this very spot. Over the years I have come to believe that it was the Lord showing me what to pray for and against: to pray against violence and murder in this area.

I was very moved in my spirit while riding my stationary bike because when I saw this sight on Sunday afternoon, I had absolutely no premonition of violence of any sort but was conscious only of glory pouring in through rays of light. Have things changed in Newark that much that the old days of fearing violence have been replaced by shades of light, a "hope and future"? Perhaps it is now, this is the time the Lord, the God of all flesh, is saying to Newark:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11

The Shemitah and Jefferson Award

Last week or so at the Mission we watched an update by Jonathan Cahn about the Shemitah that I thought to be interesting:

   

 Also I'd like to share a link to an article in the Star Ledger about Pastor Tilly receiving the NJ Governor's Jefferson Award in the area of faith-based services:

Pastor Tilly Giresi's Programs for Newark's Youth Recognized at Jefferson Awards

Kenya Online

Well, so, hey, it's been awhile, so many places to write, so hard to decide where. Well here I am on this blog, Saturday night, 10:15pm scrambling to put something online, but what? Kenya? Shall I put Kenya online tonight? Did I share about Kenya here yet? Going there for two weeks at the end of August? Wow! Incredible trip, blew my mind, check out the video I made of the trip:




Yes, that was my trip, has been awhile since I watched the video myself, but yes, that was my two week experience in 6:26 minutes. Why talk about Kenya tonight? Well I was immersed in the country of Kenya tonight at a fundraiser for Harbingers Ministry which is based out of Kenya. The House of Mercy is not directly related to Harbingers per say, but the children seen clapping and greeting you in the beginning were gathered by a lady named Rose who was once under Harbingers and sponsored by Pastor Tilly. Kind of complicated but not really. Well that's it for now, still so much to do tonight and so little time before midnight is knocking at the door. Blessings!

Pastor Tilly and the Mission

Documentary about Pastor Tilly but involving the Mission:

Psalm 144:1

Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

I'd say this scripture is as accurate a depiction of my life right now as it gets. It's July and our Tilly's Kids summer program is in full blown procession beginning tomorrow. Fun times await! However, everything else still needs to be taken care of too. Neglect is not an option, so the heat is on, the battle has begun. But with God all things are possible!

My mind is jumping around right now as to what direction I want to take this post right now, for there is a multitude of directions jumping out at me. Perhaps the most entertaining is that of two gun shots that woke me up last night around 3am. It is terrible that I want to use the word entertaining, but aren't people fascinated by crime? Unless it touches them personally, of which then it is perceived to be evil, and rightly so. In any case, I can't be certain they were gun shots it being so close to fourth of July, but this whole July 4th season (aside from last night) I have not suspected of hearing any gun shots out off all the fireworks by locals.

I debated calling the police having been woken up by the shots and resisted jumping up to the window to see if I could see anything. Laying there after about a minute of listening and not hearing any screaming or tires screeching, I sheepishly called the local police department only to have it ring about twenty times whereas I then lost patience, hung up and called 911. Talk about annoying! I don't know what is going on with our local police department because again recently something like this happened before where it was automatically transferred to 911 after ringing for awhile. If I wanted to call 911 I'd call 911 but I've found them to be a lot slower with response time compared to calling the local department directly.

In any case after talking to 911 for a minute they said wait a minute and we'll transfer you to the Newark police. I was ready to say never mind but stayed on and talked to a dispatcher. By now it's been about 15 minutes and it's completely silent outside and I'm thinking "what's the point?" I'm sure they sent someone out and at about 3:30am I can't sleep so I get up to check the security cameras. Can't really see much accept for possibly one car chasing another so I concluded to myself that that's probably what it was, one car chasing the other and two shots rang out at South 13th Street and Springfield Avenue.

I realize I am writing about a possible crime that took place but if something worse had happened I'm sure I wouldn't be so openly vocal. I do like to think I possess a healthy enough amount of common sense. Mainly I am trying to express my disappointment in how slow it was to report a possible crime. Not sure why it was so slow or if it will continue to be an issue.

So of all that has happened and is happening, my attention is on the Newark police department. Blah! That is so lame!

For kicks though, let me share this picture I took a couple weeks ago:

Perhaps nothing special, but I took it on the sneak tip, always thinking in my mind the police don't really like cameras. I also just now threw it onto my Panoramio account: Newark Police Truck, West Side Park.

Switching gears if I may, today here at the Mission for our noonday service, we watched Jonathan Cahn on the Jim Baker Show: Days of the Watchman (Day 3).

Jonathan was excellent, explaining how the alter of Satan found in chapter two of Revelation moved to Germany in the late 1800's and how it led to the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. I also found the show interesting because last week I just started listening to Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.

With an hour and a half down, twenty-two hours and fifteen minutes to go. I'll get there eventually.

What else should I say except that I loathe conventional media at the moment, ever since gay marriage was announced to be legal in all 50 states. I used to look at the news all the time but now lately have just been scanning facebook for what I want to see and share. Most of what I want to see and hear is underground Christian news, that which is not promoted by the mainstream media. Have found some great stuff, this for example:

Can Our Country Be Healed?
Yes there is HOPE! Share it to declare it!
Posted by Woodlawn: Dare to Believe on Sunday, June 28, 2015

Bible study is about to start soon, so I'm gonna rap this post up with links to the past three Sunday messages here at the Mission by Pastor Sam that I uploaded earlier today: God our Father, Victory Over Sin and The Judgement Seat of Christ.

InfoWars' Alternative Perspectives

I might not agree with everything InfoWars produces, but it is nice to see content that might be avoided by the mainstream media, such as this video I watched about an armed full-time missionary in Africa who helped to stop a church massacre in South Africa:

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm blogging on my birthday, an hour left. It would have been an incredible day except for some terrible neighbors. After church went out with some friends to celebrate and came home around 8pm to the bar across the street blasting this music:

BLASTING! Is it not? I still have adrenaline in my body from when I was planning on speaking to the owner since the police said that noise complaints start at 10pm. I am still so edgy from the adrenaline that I don't even feel like saying thank you to all my facebook friends who have been wishing me happy birthday all day. Am taking deep breaths right now.

What I also did was write a little story on facebook and tagged as many Newark city leaders as I could. An old friend from the prosecutors office replied that though noise complaints start at 10pm, there is a city ordinance for excessive noise: C.O. 20:3-7

I was kind of relieved to read that and that depending on police availability they should come out with a "noise meter" to determine the decibel level. I am sure that if I still live on planet earth, the decibel level of the above music was way beyond an acceptable level.

Other than all this, today was a great day, sharing it with all the fathers out there it being Father's Day today too.

I still have not watched it yet because of how emotional it may make me, but one of my sisters made this in tribute to our dad:

I am sure when I am ready, I'll watch it, but not yet.

What else can I say but perhaps that yesterday was a great day too giving out about 150 bags of food plus meat. We had brother Jim Miley preach too, which is always a treat, and he got me excited by saying that if I wanted he'd send me over to Uganda as a full time missionary. I am not ready yet but ideally I think I could spend about 20 years in Africa, that is of course if the Lord tarries. I thought I already blogged his message from yesterday but I guess not. His and Pastor Sam I should blog soon and so share the link here. Anyway I'll leave this post here and see what else the Lord will have me do. Blessings!

A PSE&G Type of Day

Today I spent my morning waiting for the meter reading lady and not for the first time on a meter reading day found myself researching solar power. Aside from leasing the upfront costs still seem a bit prohibitive. Having opened the Mission doors around 8am and the meter not being read till about 11:45am, I started to feel real sleepy around 12:30pm since I did not sleep well and came upstairs for a solid nap. Truth is I am not real motivated to write right now.

What has really been on my mind is Charleston and what everyone is thinking and saying. Felt a sad feeling as I went out today to take care of a few errands. Just praying for God's justice, He knows what's best. This kid really just needs to be put to death as quickly as possible. Sure give him the trial our country guarantees, but lets make it quick and his punishment complete. Something like this can not be tolerated.

A Heavy Confession

Yesterday I was gung-ho about this blog but today I've had a creeping thought that makes me feel less enthusiastic: do I really want to create and design a great blog that I don't even own? As in all that I create here ultimately belongs to blogger. I have been wrestling with that question for a few hours and though there is the con of lack of ownership, there is an attractive pro in saving $3.99 a month for hosting. Still as I wrestle with the future, there is content galore I could be sharing. Such as this podcast link to Michael Cabbibo's message from Sunday that I created earlier today: The Coat, the Shoes and the Ring.

Or the link to the podcast of Denise Spinos' testimony and songs that I also created today: Denise Spinos’ Testimony and Songs.

Then there is the half hour conversation I had with two people from American Power and Gas trying to convince us to switch our gas and electric supply from PSE&G to them. Nothing would have made me happier if they could consistently save us money, but after reviewing seven negative customer reviews (with no positive reviews to offer) on Better Business Bureau, they did not sound very attractive after all.

However, what sealed the deal in not following up with them to switch was we have used Ambit as our supplier in the past and they have eight positive reviews and only two negative on Better Business Bureau and we even chose to cut them loose due to price concerns.

Then on a more serious note completely I could mention the shooting down in South Carolina where some demon possessed young man shot and killed nine people in a church. Now it's a race war and Obama used it to say how guns should be limited in America (though the Second Amendment guarantees our right to bear arms). It's crazy I thought because my first reaction was the exact opposite when I was telling someone this morning that if they were all armed in the church this would not have happened. Sure, church should be the last place a gun belongs, but in this messed up world where Satan goes about seeking whom he may devour, it only seems intelligent we do all we can to defend ourselves. Then I'm annoyed because I'm on twitter after work just relaxing and reading how some African American Christians are upset because they think the church in general is ignoring the "black lives matter" crusade. I was reading the twitter feed of one young lady in particular and was surprised to learn that Fox News said, "if the church members were armed then this wouldn't have happened." There was of course a picture mocking the quote, but I thought it was interesting because it was almost word for word what I said this morning.

Then on facebook I run across this video about "what the media is not saying about the shooting." And I ask myself how possibly could this story be spinned? I decided to watch the video anyway out of curiosity and saw it was an Info Wars video of the Alex Jones genre. I was not real disappointed because lately it seems what Alex says makes more and more sense in what I am viewing as a more and more twisted world. In any case here is the video:



After I realized the speaker in this video has strong ties to Info Wars I decided to look up Alex Jones directly on twitter and see what he had to say and ran across this video:



This whole thing about "if you're a white conservative then you must be racist" is just getting on my nerves. I am completely against racism but that doesn't mean I'm gonna support same-sex marriage or gun control to make it look like I'm not racist. That's just non-sense. And on that note, I'll end with a comforting picture I took earlier today of a cross I found in an unexpected place:

Live Streaming

While in prayer the Lord also showed me to embed a live streaming player of our church services:

GoFundMe for Kenya Mission Trip

About two hours ago while in prayer, the Lord showed me to make a GoFundMe account for my mission trip to Kenya at the end of August:

Leviticus Bible Study

Since I just posted our Sunday service's youtube video, I thought why not post our Bible study video from last night on the book of Leviticus:

Sunday Service with Michael Cabbibo

I am not sure if I am procrastinating doing my laundry, which wouldn't be the first time, but it struck me I'd like to post the youtube video of our Sunday service which involves the ordination of a long time friend of the House of Mercy Mission, Michael Cabibbo, and his first official message:

In The Beginning...

The other day it crossed my mind that I should create a new blog concerning my work related to missions and more specifically my work here in Newark, NJ. My thoughts, daily activities or strange occurrences, anything that might strike me as worth sharing, that is the purpose of this blog.

Today is Wednesday, one of my three days off a week, and I desperately need to do laundry. I write that more for comic relief, but one thing I dislike about my situation is the dependence upon laundromats. Though Newark is full of them, and there are several less than a quarter of a mile away, it's been awhile since I have forsaken them for safety reasons.

For example, if you will take a look at this photo I uploaded to Panoramio in November of 2009, you will see that just in front of Bill's Laundromat there was a shooting. I went there once to do laundry I think shortly after coming to Newark in 2002, but it was too uncomfortable for me to ever return. About two or three blocks east there is a laundromat next to family dollar that I liked instead but over the years found it more and more uncomfortable as well (for safety reasons). Thinking about it the word weird seems the most appropriate to describe some of experiences there which ranged from being threatened to being seen and approached as an undercover police officer. Of all the laundromats in the general area that I would still willing go to (though haven't for awhile) is Laundry Depot (at 515 Chancellor Ave Irvington, NJ 07111). I had to laugh looking up that laundromat because it is not even in Newark. That is a shame there are no laundromats in Newark I would prefer going to. In fact I prefer a laundromat in Union, NJ (2630 NJ-82 [aka Morris Ave.]) as my closest favorite. It's a rather old fashion and still takes only quarters.

The last laundromat I'd like to mention is White Tiger Laundromat which is 24-hours in North Plainfield, NJ, off route 22 (993 US-22). It is rather far but because it's safe and 24 hours I have spent more that a few boring hours there. It also has free wifi, so you can't beat that.

So I will leave it at that and hope that this first post which is about laundromats is not as boring as actually being in one.