The Blog of Bob Baril

MASSACHUSETTS DRIVERS : DON'T ASSUME YOUR CAR IS LEGALLY ON THE ROAD!!

2012-02-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13:1)

If you own an automobile in Massachusetts, is there a legal and valid state inspection sticker affixed to your car’s windshield? Don’t be TOO sure!

I can’t help but notice things like license plates and inspection stickers. My father, Eugene A. Baril retired as a Supervisor from the old 100 Nashua Street Registry of Motor Vehicles headquarters back in 1982 after a distinguished career. He was presented with Mass. license plate #280 upon his retirement. Today, that plate is affixed to the Honda that my wife drives. Dad also was known as the “honorary historian” of the Registry of Motor Vehicles. He was often cited in local publications during the early years of his retirement. (If you do a little on-line searching you’ll find the Registry’s history page which includes a photo of him holding up the first license plate issued in Massachusetts.)

Dad left me a number of collectible license plates and inspection stickers upon his death. Decades ago, Massachusetts had (frankly) very boring looking license plates, but the COOLEST inspection stickers of probably any state or province! I actually sell these “mint” stickers at classic car shows. My favorites are the stickers from 1957 through 1981. Stickers of that period are glossy and colorful. In those days, Massachusetts alternated between rectangular stickers and square stickers, based upon the year. The stickers were glossy and bright and colorful. Some are green, some orange, some blue, some red, even some PINK!

Back in the pre-1982 era, it was very easy to tell if a car was not legally inspected. For example, if the current inspection stickers were green and square and your car sported a rectangular and orange sticker, it would be unusual for you to drive around much more than two days before an officer would stop you and issue a ticket. Cars without legal stickers were very rare in those days.

Today, non compliant automobiles ABOUND. Walk through ANY parking lot, and you’ll notice that typically one out of every fifteen cars displays an out-of-date inspection sticker. They’re harder to spot. The stickers are now always the same shape. They do change colors from year to year, but the MAJORITY of the sticker is white and black, AND people may not notice that the large number in the middle of the sticker indicates the sticker has actually expired.

Recently, I wrote to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation pointing out the above facts. My recommendation was a public relations campaign using television commercials warning drivers to check their stickers and to get the car inspected if the sticker is expired.

A few days ago, I received an e-mail from Erin Deveney who is Chief of Staff
of the Registry of Motor Vehicles Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Ms. Deveney states that there are no funds to pay for such a public relations/public education campaign, BUT that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is seriously considering:

“...additional measures that may be employed to compel compliance, including the implementation of a vehicle registration suspension process for the owners of vehicles that do not obtain an annual inspection. “

Did you catch that? SUSPENDING the car’s registration! While that WOULD get many unsafe automobiles off the road, can you imagine one out of fifteen cars having their registrations suspended? That means the plates are gone. That means violations to pay, insurance surcharges, and certainly fees to reregister the cars. The state makes a ton of money, and much of it from decent people who just plain don’t realize their sticker has expired. This reminds be of the fact that a couple of years ago, the state stopped notifying licensed drivers when their licenses were about to expire. NOW, if they’re stopped and the license is expired THERE IS A HUGE FINE!

I think there ARE ways to have a public relations/public education television and radio campaign about the expired inspection sticker problem. What about businesses or foundations who’d FUND such a campaign?! I think a number of the larger auto dealers in Massachusetts would be willing to do this, as well as a number of foundations and some philanthropists.

I don’t think we should let this get to the place that people’s car registrations are suspended. Nor, should we continue to allow for so many uninspected cars to be on the road, risking the safety of us all!

If you care about this, please contact your state representative and state senator. You can also e-mail Ms. Deveney at
erin.deveney@state.ma.us

Let’s do all we can to pass this information on to EVERY Massachusetts car owner!

IMPORTANT TIPS: ON PHONING SOMEONE IN THE MIDST OF AN UNEXPECTED CRISIS

2012-02-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger." (Proverbs 15:1)

Several times in the recent past, I have written about lessons I have learned from working at a telephone answering service. THIS is another. I have learned SO many practical lessons from this job! You know, some day I may even write a booklet or even a BOOK about all I have learned.

What I am sharing now may seem ridiculously simple, annoyingly basic, and logically unnecessary. Please DON'T make the mistake of thinking that! You NEED to read this piece and you need to share it! I am learning that people make SO many communication errors over the telephone! SO many times, people "hang themselves" on the phone- they GUARANTEE they will be misunderstood and/or brushed aside and ignored. This DOES NOT EVER HAVE TO HAPPEN!

Let me tell you about an actual conversation I had while on the phone answering a call this week; the mistakes the caller made, and HOW the caller could have totally turned that call around by just making some MINOR changes in her approach and manner.

I'm changing the name of the medical practice, the location of the medical practice, and the name of the caller and any other details. I'll call it BARIL MEDICAL ASSOCIATES OF CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Here is how the call went:

BOB: Good afternoon, Baril Medical Associates of Canton.

CALLER: I NEED TO TALK TO NANCY JONES!

BOB: The office is open but they're probably getting a high call volume at this time, so that's why the call is coming to us. I can take a message and FAX it to the office, if you like, or you can call back in a little bit.

CALLER: I NEED TO TALK TO NANCY JONES!

BOB: So, you'd like me to take a message?

CALLER: I WANT TO TALK TO NANCY JONES; LET ME TALK TO NANCY JONES!

BOB: OK, now what is your name?

CALLER: Nanette Jones.

BOB: No, not who you wish to SPEAK to, what is YOUR name?

CALLER: NANETTE JONES!

BOB: WHO do you wish to speak to at Baril Medical Associates?

CALLER: I TOLD YOU I WANT TO TALK TO NANCY JONES!

BOB: I'm confused. What is YOUR name?

CALLER: NANETTE JONES! This never happens, I can always get right through! What is going on? Get me Nancy Jones! Get me Nancy Jones!

BOB: So YOU are Nanette Jones and you're calling Nancy Jones? I'm confused.

CALLER: (speaking very fast, and yelling) I had a car accident, I want to speak to Nancy Jones, I'm Nanette Jones, Nancy Jones is my mother, I want to speak to Nancy Jones I want to speak to Nancy Jones (faster and louder) I WANT TO SPEAK TO NANCY JONES now stop all this stuff and give me Nancy Jones!

BOB: OK, please calm down and speak slowly. I just am required to take your phone number and I will patch you right through to the office.

CALLER: (fast and disgusted) 555-555-2068

BOB: (calls inside line- line is answered after TEN rings!)
RECEPTIONIST: Baril Medical Associates of Canton.

BOB: I have a Nanette Jones on the line. She was in a car accident. She needs to speak to Nancy Jones immediately.

RECEPTIONIST: (flustered) oh...oh...is she OK...oh...Nancy...oh...
BOB (to CALLER): Nanette, I have the office

RECEPTIONIST: Nanette, are you OK?

CALLER: (sounding hysterical) I was in a car accident...

(BOB disconnects himself from conversation at this point.)

Now, for those of you who think the caller did nothing wrong, here is how she could have changed that whole situation:

BOB: Good afternoon, Baril Medical Associates of Canton.

CALLER: Bob? My mother works there and I've just been in a car accident. I need to speak to her right away. Her name is Nancy Jones and my name is Nanette Jones. Is there a way I can speak to her?

BOB: Of course, Nanette. I am sorry to hear that. Just give me your phone number for in case we are disconnected, then I will patch you right to the office.

See? What a difference!

The caller was probably around age eighteen. A big lesson I have learned is that the first sentence you use on a call is CRUCIAL! That sentence will make you or break you!
She needed to give me the facts RIGHT AWAY, so I understood what I was dealing with.

Please understand this from an answering service operator's point of view. When we take a call for a medical practice and we hear, "I WANT TO TALK TO NANCY JONES; LET ME TALK TO NANCY JONES!" in a demanding and rapid delivery, we are thinking:

1. Is this person a drug addict who is calling to demand drugs? IT HAPPENS!

2. Is this person a former patient who has an axe to grind against the office?

3. Is this a person who has been asked to NOT call the office for some reason? IT happens!

4. Is catering to this person going to get me IN TROUBLE with that practice? (Later, we could hear, "WHY did you put that person right through to the office? Couldn't you tell they were high on drugs? That person had threatened the life of Dr. Nelson the day before. You COULD have just taken a message!")

You see, WE don't know it's the child of an employee! WE don't know there's just been a car accident. WE don't realize how TIME SENSITIVE the call is.

There are SO many other things I could write.

This week, I've had a few other people angrily hang up when I've asked "date of birth?" or "could I take your phone number?". Some have yelled, "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!!" In fact, I was within seconds of patching them through to the office when they hung up!

TWO RULES TO REMEMBER:

1. Choose your FIRST SENTENCE very carefully. Make sure it contains the information you need to give. DON'T yell it. Speak clearly and at a moderate pace, BUT NOT TOO FAST. And, please TRY TO AVOID SPEAKING IN A THREATENING TONE.

2. Then, as hard as it is to do: LISTEN! I KNOW you don't want to give your phone number. "I don't need to give my phone number, my mother knows it". But I don't know it! I am taking the number because the client (Baril Medical Associates) requires it and so I can call you back if we are disconnected.

Read those two rules again. Next time you are really annoyed when you get a receptionist or an answering service operator, please remember those rules and practice them.

THIS WILL BE A HUGE HELP AND WILL POSITIVELY EXPEDITE THE SITUATION!

THE SKINNY ON BARABBAS

2012-02-08T05:12:00.000-08:00

“But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.” (Matthew 27:20-21)

Barabbas is the title of a 1961 epic film starring Anthony Quinn. Of course, the basis for THAT film was the Biblical account of Barabbas, a notorious criminal being chosen to live and Jesus Christ being chosen to die.

In my personal devotional reading I’ve just read through the last few chapters of Matthew during the past week. While most of the 1961 film is total fiction, there IS some fascinating stuff we can see in the Bible account about Barabbas that most people MISS, ENTIRELY!

The “synoptic gospels” (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) state that Barabbas was an insurrectionist and that he has murdered people in his insurrectionist activities. It’s been speculated that he was a Zealot. The Zealots were a radical group of Jews from the time of Jesus Christ who wanted to overthrow the Roman government’s rule over Palestine. He MAY have been a Zealot, but that isn’t stated anywhere. Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor thought he had a nice little solution to his “problem” of Jesus Christ. (The Jewish religious establishment wanted him dead, but he still had many, many committed followers.) Each year at the Passover holiday, Pilate released a prisoner to them. This would be an easy way out for Pilate. He would have Jesus scourged (a horrific experience from which some DID die), beaten and humiliated, and ask the crowds if they’d rather have Jesus released or Barabbas released. It seemed like a no brainer. As far as Pilate was concerned, there was NO WAY they’d ever want Barabbas released, so they’d pick Jesus and everybody would be happy. Of course, to Pilate’s shock, things did not go that way at all.

There are four words at the end of chapter eighteen of JOHN’S GOSPEL which seem to be totally out of place and/or even incorrect. The words are: “now Barabbas was a robber.” It’s almost like a throw away line like, “Now Barabbas had bad breath” or “Now Barabbas liked Greek women.” Barabbas was in prison for murder and insurrection. That was his crime. If he was also a thief or also liked Greek women, or had a mole on his left cheek, well, SO WHAT?!

Not so fast!

Do you know that EVERY DETAIL IN THE BIBLE IS IMPORTANT?!

Now, we’re going to uncover something I find FASCINATING...the skinny on Barabbas! Did you ever hear what his NAME means. (In the Bible, names almost ALWAYS have significance.) The name “Barabbas” is Aramaic. Aramaic is the language Jesus and his disciples spoke; not Hebrew. If you take the time to check it out, you’ll find that the Aramaic word “Bar” means “son of”. AND, the Aramaic word for father is “abba”. “Bar-abbas” literally means “Son of the Father”. Now, you’ve got to admit, “Son of the father” is kind of a weird name!

Now, do you know what the name “JESUS” means? The name Jesus is actually the name Joshua or Yeshua. (Jesus is the English version of the Greek version of that name; it would actually be more correct to call Jesus “Joshua” or “Yeshua”.) Jesus means “Salvation”...or QUITE LITERALLY “Jesus is salvation.”

I’m not done.

In John chapter eight, Jesus has an amazing conversation and confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders. To anyone who thinks Jesus was a wimp, read that chapter! He tells them they are NOT of God but are of the Devil. In fact, he says something to them that would make them FIGHTING MAD. He tells them Abraham is NOT their father (or ancestor) but that THE DEVIL IS THEIR FATHER. (See John’s Gospel, chapter 8 verses 39-45.)

I’m still not done.

In John chapter ten, Jesus says he came to give life more abundantly, but that the Devil’s purpose is “...to steal, and to kill, and to destroy...” (from John 10:10).

Barabbas was A ROBBER, so like the Devil, he STOLE.

Barabbas was A MURDERER, so like the Devil, he KILLED.

Barabbas was AN INSURRECTIONIST, so like the Devil, he DESTROYED (and was bent on destruction).

Pontius Pilate really had NO IDEA of the choice he really offered the crowds that day. They had a choice between “The Son of the father [the Devil]” and “Salvation- the Son of God” and they chose “The Son of the father [the Devil]”.

Bob Dylan’s great song from his 1979 “Slow Train Coming” album says. “Gotta Serve Somebody”. If you’ve listened to that song, you know Bob admonishes his listeners that, “well, it may be the Devil and it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody”.

There’s no neutral.

Who do YOU choose to serve?

THAT’S the skinny on Barabbas.

ONE WEEK LATER-REFLECTIONS/THOUGHTS

2012-02-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

"I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:
That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.
Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:
Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks , but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us." (Romans 16:1-6)

In the final chapter of the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul thanks a number of people who had been a great help to him through difficult times. That is appropriate for this posting.

A week ago, I was emotionally and mentally stressed to what felt like a breaking point when I posted that "Coming Out of the Closet" piece. It's interesting the reactions you get when you post something like that. Frankly the majority of people I know who read my Facebook page and blog were SILENT. I think a lot of times people are silent because they don't agree with what you did but they don't want to get into a big fight over it. (For others, they just plain don't know what to say or how they're supposed to react.) I did hear from some who were critical of what I wrote. I will say the SURPRISE for me was that I heard from several people by e-mail, by phone, and in person who fully affirmed what I'd written. At least one of them really amazed me, for it was a person I thought would have had a major problem with the piece. I heard some very positive comments and compliments on my "Coming Out of the Closet" piece from some very sensible, and level-headed people including some highly respected evangelical Christians. Honestly, I wondered if that piece would bring ANY positive responses from anyone. So, I am most grateful.

Most people don't understand why anyone would open up in public like that. And, I will admit that as open and vulnerable as I typically tend to be, on THAT piece I went WAY BEYOND anything I have ever done or thought I would do.

I will say, I know of at least one Christian speaker who has gone far beyond what I did in this forum. That's the Christian speaker and comedian Chonda Pierce. Chonda Pierce is a HUGE women's conference speaker and comedian. AND, her videos are extremely popular with Christian women. I would hear Chonda Pierce videos on in the background at various times; to me she sounded like some sort of goofy, very feminine, very hillybilly girly speaker that I could never imagine listening to. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to watch one of her videos. It was NOT so much humorous as it was "very heavy". On THIS video, Chonda spoke freely that in her recent past, she'd ended up in a psychiatric hospital; that she'd been suicidal; that she believed her family including her children would be better off without her; that all the "Christian stuff" people told her...("read you Bible more, pray more, sing and praise more," etc.) did NOT help. This was a very gut level DVD. I was frankly surprised at what she'd shared, and I'M "Mister tell everybody everything about himself". I am not sure even I would go that far! Again, she went way beyond what I did last week. Frankly, I know what Chonda did and what I did are typically NOT well received in the evangelical Christian community. As one perky song says, we're supposed to be "in right, out right, upright, downright happy all the time"! People may ask how Chonda Pierce and Bob Baril who are both talented humorists and who can have audiences in stitches laughing and who can be SO confident talking into a microphone in front of a crowd of people could become so helpless and depressed.

Listen, within a lot of very funny and very public people who love to "ham it up" there's a VERY FINE LINE between comedy and seeming confidence and extreme depression and self doubt. Last week, someone wrote to me, "Don't you know who you are in Christ?!" As Chonda would tell you, those kind of communications DON'T help. They make you feel a whole lot worse. When you're in a Chonda Pierce or a Bob Baril totally stressed out situation, you don't need any Job's comforters. You just need real friends who say, "I may not understand but I care and I'm here".

I want to especially thank R.S., E.R., D.R., G.S., M.S., G.K., P.B., E.S, M.A., and a few others who greatly encouraged me over the past week. I mean this: I will never forget you for your very kind and supportive words at a very difficult personal time.
Chonda Pierce came through her horrific personal ordeal. She will probably always be on medication, but she is back cheering up people and discipling them. By the grace of God, that's also my goal for today and tomorrow, as well!

READER'S DIGEST CONDENSED VERSION...

2012-01-27T09:19:00.000-08:00

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

(With apologies to Reader’s Digest magazine, this is my “Reader’s Digest condensed version” of the post I have entitled, “Bob Baril Coming Out of the Closet.”)

I was off all day yesterday, which was unusual. I DO have almost every Thursday off from VIP Answering Service, but on such off days, usually I work a few hours at BJs doing promotional work. BJs had nothing for me on Wednesday, and I decided to just make Thursday a day off. I took a long walk...what I call a “prayer walk” in the morning, On this walk as I prayed and thought, I decided to put out a frank e-mail in the spirit of networking stating my employment and financial needs, and soliciting help of from anyone who knows of any desirable employment. I took a few classes at the Employment and Training Center in Marlboro over the Fall. Most of the classes were really not “job training; well, one was; MOST of them were motivational classes about learning to sell yourself to employers, how to ace an interview, how to get an interview, etc. One of the most valuable classes I took was about “networking”. The teacher explained that most jobs do not come through Craigslist, nor through online postings, nor even employment agencies. Over 50% of all jobs that people get, they get through networking. That is, someone knows someone who knows someone who opens a door for you to have an interview and the next thing you know, you have a job.

My friend Jim Spence years ago told me he loved having me on the Board of his nonprofit organization because I “network well”. I do. I had decided to put out a networking blog piece and e-mail stating my needs and asking if anyone knew of any employment positions available that would be suitable for me, AND asking that each person pass this along to friends and family.

Sadly, the church I pastored declined. I did everything I could in my own strength to make it work and keep it opened. I failed. In early 2010, the District closed the church. They graciously allowed us to live in the parsonage for one more year. I got a job at VIP Answering Service through “networking”. I liked the idea that on this job I was sitting, talking, and helping people. It’s just that you really are never going to get rich doing this job. It’s a great supplement, but I DO need to find something with more hours and more pay.

We moved into Webster in March of 2011. Didn’t I know that this day was coming...that I would have to move out or have a much better job? Yeah, I did. I’m also still depressed and constantly exhausted. I feel really good that I shave and shower each day, go to work at the answering service and sometimes work at BJs. I feel like that’s been the best I could do. Maybe I am wrong about that.

I have applied for some chaplain positions with the State. As a matter of fact, today I got a letter from a friend about a chaplain position that is available, and I’m dropping an application in the mail today. I have also applied for some other jobs. I DO belong to some of those “job search” things on-line. Daily I get e-mails about applying to be a manager at CVS or a salesperson at a beauty supply place, stuff like that. These just don’t interest me and they don’t usually pay well.

In 2-3 months we have to begin paying for our apartment. If we cannot, we have to figure out where we will live, and likely what we will do with our furniture.
If you know of any possible positions I might qualify for, please let me know.
If you have any ideas at all, please let me know. Thank you.

BOB BARIL COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET

2012-01-27T09:16:00.001-08:00

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

I have to say “right off the bat” that I am not a homosexual, nor do I have homosexual tendencies. I know that a title like “Coming Out of the Closet” will bring that to mind for many people. But I can imagine how difficult it must be for gay people To “come out of the closet”. They risk total rejection and revulsion. They risk the loss of family, friends, maybe even employment. They risk being tarred with a stereotypical brush, and worst of all, being told that God wants nothing to do with them. (Homosexuality is a complicated subject, and a topic for ANOTHER day.) I relate because I am about to share matters in this piece which CAN potentially bring me the rejection of some people. It CAN mean the loss of some family, some friends, and maybe ruin me professionally. So, I do not post this lightly. I originally considered writing this post in two or three installments, as it will be very long. But, for context and continuity, I’m going to do it as one. (I AM going to post a very short “Readers Digest Condensed Version” of this shortly after I post the long one, just because some people will never want to read the long one.)

I was off all day yesterday, which was unusual. I DO have almost every Thursday off from VIP Answering Service, but on such off days, usually I work a few hours at BJs doing promotional work. BJs had nothing for me on Wednesday, and I decided to just make Thursday a day off. I took a long walk...what I call a “prayer walk” in the morning, On this walk as I prayed and thought, I decided to put out a frank e-mail in the spirit of networking stating my employment and financial needs, and soliciting help of from anyone who knows of any desirable employment. I took a few classes at the Employment and Training Center in Marlboro over the Fall. Most of the classes were really not “job training; well, one was; MOST of them were motivational classes about learning to sell yourself to employers, how to ace an interview, how to get an interview, etc. One of the most valuable classes I took was about “networking”. The teacher explained that most jobs do not come through Craigslist, nor through online postings, nor even employment agencies. Over 50% of all jobs that people get, they get through networking. That is, someone knows someone who knows someone who opens a door for you to have an interview and the next thing you know, you have a job.

My friend Jim Spence years ago told me he loved having me on the Board of his nonprofit organization because I “network well”. I do. I had decided to put out a networking blog piece and e-mail stating my needs and asking if anyone knew of any employment positions available that would be suitable for me, AND asking that each person pass this along to friends and family. I had planned to clean our apartment for the afternoon. It was not going to be a “perfect” cleaning, but would be the best cleaning some rooms have gotten in three months. Mary Ann and I are both very busy and usually just too tired to clean the apartment. Something like cleaning an apartment is the best thing in the world for me...it’s physical exercise, it’s mindless, and in the end it gives a great feeling of accomplishment.

Mary Ann very much does not want to be mentioned on this blog or in my e-mails. It’s something she feels very strongly about that is nonnegotiable. I hate to do this, but there is no way I can tell my story without putting A LOT out on the table. This may well hurt and disappoint, her. She may well view this as a broken promise and as totally disrespectful to her. As much as that scares me, I feel compelled to to it. To my surprise, Mary Ann came home early yesterday. I will admit, I was disappointed. I wanted to have that time to myself cleaning. She then stated that we have to talk. She asked me some questions that are very difficult for me. I did not know how to answer. I kept saying “I don’t know”. She did not like my responses.

Mary Ann was not being a jerk. She is very concerned about our financial and living situation. Many people do know know the rental of the apartment in Webster has been provided as a benefit for us by the Southern New England District of the Assemblies of God. This arrangement is coming to an end soon. I had thought it was ending in April, and she believes it is ending in March. Whoever is right, it IS ending soon. The problem is, unless I get a much better job or a very lucrative part-time job in addition to the answering service job, there is absolutely no way we can afford to live at the Webster apartment. Even THEN, it’s going to be dicey. Frankly right now, I am behind in several key bills. We’re just not “making it”. In counseling and one-on-one I have been accused of “not caring” and being in total denial. Mary Ann has said over and over, “I don’t understand, I don’t understand, I don’t understand...”. And, I was reminded of the message of the film, :”Courageous” which says the MAN has to be the “provider” and “protector”. (I guess I always thought God was supposed to be the provider and protector.)

And THEN there IS the matter of the Southern New England District. I sat through meetings with the officials looking at me saying, “His wife worked three jobs at times and he keeps her at am arm’s length”. I looked like the laziest, most irresponsible guy. One official told me, “Once the church closed, Mary Ann stayed in touch with us and did EVERYTHING we asked of her. You did NOTHING. You had to be FORCED to do ANYTHING.” And, I did. These were not my finest hours.

That part is strictly the introduction. We have not gotten into the closet at all, yet. Are you ready to go into the closet? Get your flashlights ready, and take a deep breath:

Many of you know I had very different parents and that I got some very interesting sets of genes from them. My father was very extroverted, very confident, and very authoritarian. He was a leader. He was an outstanding public speaker. My mother was a reader and loved history and current events. She read and read and read. I don’t know ANYONE who read as much as she did. She was a diligent person, but she was not at all a leader. The LAST thing she wanted to do was to be a leader. And, she did not have a lot of energy. During the years she worked 40 hours a week, she would literally just come home and collapse. She always talked about how tired she was, how she had no energy, and she was frequently very depressed. I get my public speaking and sometimes impressive outward persona from my father, but internally I am my mother. I also have struggled all through life about feeling like a misfit, but THAT is also possibly the subject for another day.

I had several jobs at Draper Mills in Canton during my school years. I got them from “networking”; my mother was the Draper Mills payroll clerk. They were some tough factory jobs. I did not LIKE them, but I did them. Well, one job I DID like. One summer the janitor had a heart attack. I spent the whole summer as the substitute janitor. I loved that job because I went through the whole mill every day. I was by myself walking through the mill, servicing the bathrooms, etc. During the summer of 1978, however, I had a traumatic work experience at Draper’s. I was hired to work in the “needle room”. I know most of you don’t understand textile mills, and it’s really too much to explain what the needle room does. But I worked with a guy named Ed Keefer. I wrote a whole piece on the blog about that job with Ed Keefer a few years ago. Ed was a slight guy around fifty with glasses, but his appearance was very deceiving. Ed is one of the cruelest individuals I have ever met. He yelled and screamed at me every day. He actually pounded his hand and yelled and yelled about how stupid I was. He told me he’d once worked with a mentally retarded guy who was as stupid as I was. And he HATED working with that guy. But now, I was as stupid as that retarded guy. He had an excuse and I had no excuse. Day after day, he yelled, pounded tables and yelled about how stupid I was; he yelled and insulted me. It was horrible. I was not one to tell my parents anything like this, but finally after weeks of it, I told them and to my shock they told me to quit. My father was doing some major wall and cement work at home that summer and he would use me doing manual labor there, and that’s what happened. But this experience at Draper’s badly scarred me. It deeply shook my confidence and self-esteem.

Just a short time later, I had another bad job experience. During school that Fall, I took a job at the Maranatha retirement center in the kitchen area. The manager of Maranatha at the time was an ex-miliatry officer and Assemblies of God minister named Brother Durham. He was very military and very serious. One evening, he corrected me about something I did. It was NOT being corrected that I minded. It was how he did it. He was demeaning, and he called me “boy”. I know how the Black people must have felt. “Boy”...and being demeaned. I didn’t care that this guy had been a military officer nor that he was the guy in charge. I was twenty-four and had a Bachelor’s degree. NOBODY was going to call me “boy”. I left that job shortly thereafter, and there was another scar.

In the Fall of 1979 in Sharon, Massachusetts I took a job a new K-Mart. The job was setting up the entire store. There were huge cartons of merchandise all over the floor, AND there were metal shelving units in pieces all over the place. We had to assemble the shelving units, then unpack the merchandise. In some cases, we had to put merchandise together. I was working in hardware, and I had to put some work benches together, for instance. They gave us booklets with black & white photos. There were exact photos of what your shelf was supposed to look like. You had to put it together and pack it EXACTLY like the photo. If you think that is easy, well, honestly, it’s NOT. It’s too bad that show “Undercover Boss” was not on the air then. If you’ve seen it, they have things happen like the head of Pizza Hut is working at one of their restaurants and can’t work the cash register correctly, or can’t make the pizza correctly. He’ll get corrected and told he DOESN’T have what it takes to work at Pizza Hut....later they discover he is the CEO! That show would have helped me.

There was a young woman named Donna that my boss loved. Honestly, she was a lot like my wife Mary Ann,except that she had dark brown hair. She put her shelves together flawlessly. She stacked and displayed the stuff EXACTLY as it looked in the black & white photo. She made it look SO easy!. I tried and tried and tried, and my shelf looked like it was done by a third grader. My boss was furious.

“You’re not even trying, ARE YOU??!!” he accused.

Honestly, I was.

I didn’t stay at that job too long. Once again, I left with extremely low self-esteem. I believed I was more than a misfit. I was stupid. I was incapable. Something was seriously wrong with me. I kept these feelings all bottled up inside. I applied for a lot of jobs in those days and I went on a lot of interviews, but I never came across very well. I’d get the “don’t call us, we’ll call you” treatment form the interviewer and that would be it.

David C. Milley who pastored Christian Life Center, Walpole for many years was a complicated guy. He says he was the easiest person in the world to work for, and he really wasn’t. But a big gift of Dave’s was that he saw what people COULD be and he believed in some people that no one else believed in. When he hired me as a full time Assistant Pastor, I did not hold any ministerial credentials and a lot of people thought I was afraid of my own shadow and would never succeed. I actually developed a lot as a minister and as a person there. I became a Licensed Assemblies of God minister in 1981 and an Ordained minister in 1985. In 1987, I assumed the pastorate of First Assembly of God of Framingham. I so enjoyed those days. Mary Ann and I got married in 1982. We had three kids during the 1980s. I developed into a very good pulpit preacher and a very good teacher. I was never good at the business end, but I DID get enough experience that I really got better at it. I was also never much for counseling but many times God showed me what to say and do when I had no idea.

The church was small, but I DID “network” well. I remember that one Sunday on his vacation Pastor Sam Hollo and his wife Esther came to our Sunday morning service. (Sam and I were in a pastors’ prayer group together.) After the service, Sam complemented the sermon and the service. He said, “Bob, you are the BEST preacher in MetroWest. I tell everybody that. I’m SERIOUS.”

Sam has an earned doctorate and was pastoring Westgate Church in Weston, a large, successful church. That compliment meant a lot. I got a lot of other such compliments. Many times I wrote guest columns for the local newspaper. Despite all my deficiencies, I realized I had an amazing gift for discussing very serious issues in a light hearted way, but in a way that people could and would remember. In speaking, I’d have crowds laughing one minute and crying the next. I still have people who contact me and tell me something I said from the pulpit or in a class or even one-on-one to them totally changed their life for the better.

About that business of Mary Ann working three jobs and me not caring: she DID work three jobs at one time for a year or two in the 1990s. During that time I did all the snow shoveling and all the yard work. I also did 90% of the cooking and laundry. I did all the leaf raking in the fall. If a tree limb fell in the back yard, I’d be out there with a saw cutting it up and hauling it away. I was painting the porch and staining the deck in the summers. My kids say they seldom remember me just laying around. They remember me much more as a workaholic. When my parents died and I received an inheritance, I had Mary Ann take a full year off all work. The next year, she worked only minimal part time hours. THAT year I sold $13,000 worth of stock to make up for the money she would have made. I took her to Cape Cod, bought her a one year old mini van and paid $20,000 cash for it. I paid for us to have a wonderful vacation to Alaska in 2002.

Yes, sadly, the church declined. I did everything I could in my own strength to make it work and keep it opened. I failed. In early 2010, the District closed the church. They graciously allowed us to live in the parsonage for one more year. I was confused and I was furious. Honestly, it took until Sept. 2010 for me to really BELIEVE and GRASP that the church was closed and I would never pastor it again. Mary Ann very much wanted me to become a Pharmacist’s Assistant at CVS. Honestly, I am terrified of cash registers. Terrified. I prayed for a job where I would not have to work a cash register, that would not be too physically taxing, and where I would not be reviled for being “stupid”. The owner of VIP Answering Service and I have a mutual friend, so that was “networking”. I liked the idea that on this job I was sitting, talking, and helping people. Sure sometimes I make mistakes...we take HUNDREDS of calls. We all make mistakes and get corrected, but we aren’t treated like we are stupid or unappreciated. Never. It’s just that you really are never going to get rich doing this job. It’s a great supplement, but I DO need to find something with more hours and more pay.

We moved into Webster in March of 2011. Didn’t I know that this day was coming...that I would have to move out or have a much better job? Yeah, I did. I’m also still depressed and constantly exhausted. I feel really good that I shave and shower each day, go to work at the answering service and sometimes work at BJs. I feel like that’s been the best I could do. Maybe I am wrong about that.

I have applied for some chaplain positions with the State. As a matter of fact, today I got a letter from a friend about a chaplain position that is available, and I’m dropping an application in the mail today. I have also applied for some other jobs. I DO belong to some of those “job search” things on-line. Daily I get e-mails about applying to be a manager at CVS or a salesperson at a beauty supply place, stuff like that. These just don’t interest me and they don’t usually pay well.

It is true that in 2-3 months we have to begin paying for our apartment. If we cannot, we have to figure out where we will live, and likely what we will do with our furniture. AND one of the other reasons this has not been on my front burner is that usually every week there’s some bill I have that I can’t pay and I literally have to pray the money in. That actually happened THIS week with car insurance.

SO, that’s it. I let you in my closet, and I came out.

If you know of any possible positions I might qualify for, please let me know.
If you have any ideas at all, please let me know. Thank you.

BACKGROUND CHECKS...AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

2012-01-26T06:29:00.001-08:00

"...for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." (from I Samuel 16:7)

The City of Newton, Massachusetts is reeling this morning due to the arrest of two city employees who had allegedly been involved in serious criminal sexual behavior. Each involves employees who were around children on their jobs. One was a popular elementary school teacher. The other was a library worker. The library worker did not usually work directly with children, but since children frequent the library, he was certainly around them. Mayor Setti Warren is distressed. The City conducts careful background checks of all of its employees, and will continue to do so. So, HOW did this happen and how COULD it happen?

The answer is that there's an inconvenient truth about background checks, such as the CORI checks (criminal record background checks) often done and often required as conditions of employment in Massachusetts: There are still a number of offenders including sexual offenders who can slip through them. Despite all the "sex offender registration laws" and all the rest of it, none of these things can guarantee safety or security. In fact, they can give us a false sense of security.

This is meant in no way as a slap against Mayor Setti Warren. He is a liberal Democrat and politically we are on the opposite side of most issues. But Setti Warren is a nice guy and a very smart man. He is competent. Yet, he's now learning the inconvenient truth I'm writing about here.

The little church I pastored got quite a taste of this in 2000. Tom D., a prominent and much loved Member of the church, was arrested and convicted of child molestation that year. Thank God, the victim was not someone from our church. Tom D. had led a double life for years. Tom D. came into our little church, First Assembly of God of Framingham, in 1989. He had just been hired as a Counselor and prominent staff member at The Bridge House, "New England Aftercare Ministries". (I was a Board Member of New England Aftercare at the time. Their Executive Director was my good friend, the Rev. Jim Spence.) Tom came highly recommended by his Assemblies of God pastor from southeastern Connecticut. Tom passed a thorough criminal background check. A good teacher, and intense speaker, he seemed to be a good fit for The Bridge House staff. And, our little church was thrilled to have Tom D. as a Member.

Over the years, Tom D. served as a Deacon and as a Sunday School teacher. He became an Ordained minister, NOT through the Assemblies of God, but through the Evangelical Church Alliance. From time to time, I had Tom preach at our church. Tom had a much different persona that I do. Tall and heavyset, he looked like a football player. His style was very "macho". He also played keyboard during our worship services. Tom would often give "Prophecies" during the services. "Am I not the Lord?! Am I not doing a new thing in your midst?!" he would begin. He preached like a football coach trying to fire up a losing team during halftime.

"We're gonna TAKE ON THE DEVIL!!" he would shout.

To many of the blue-collar men at our church, Tom D. was a huge hero. To many of these same guys, I suspected I was kind of a disappointment...not particularly macho, and not always completely sure of myself. I suspected SOME thought, "Why can't Bob Baril be more like TOM? Why couldn't TOM be our pastor?!"

Not everyone felt that way. Many of the women did not like him. Tom did not seem to like women very much. He was divorced and had kids, but said very little about his past. One time a pastor friend of mine (at a ministers' meeting) asked Tom, "Tom, you have any children?"

Tom looked like a wild man, glared at him and yelled, "YEAH!!!!"

One guy at our church named Bill S. did not like Tom. After Tom's arrest, he reminded me that he once came to me and said that Tom reminded him of a child molester and that I'd flatly dismissed the comment. I had to dig way back in my memory banks, but I finally DID remember that. At the time, Tom was loved and admired by so many. AND he had passed a criminal background check. AND Jim Spence loved and supported him. So such a thing was UNTHINKABLE to me.

In late September of 2000, Tom D. was arrested. He had been having a sexual relationship with an under aged boy. His computer at The Bridge House was confiscated and authorities discovered he'd been going to all sorts of unsavory websites. Jim Spence was devastated. Tom was fired immediately. The following Sunday, Jim Spence and I sat with our congregation during the service and frankly told what had happened to Tom. We each apologized for putting this guy forth as a leader, when he was obviously not what he appeared to be. This could not have happened at a worse time for me. I buried each of my parents during mid-2000. My father died of cancer on an Alzheimer's unit in June of 2000 and my mother died of bone cancer in August of 2000. For their final year of life, I was consumed with their crises and frankly just going through the motions of being a pastor. In September of 2000, I was emotionally tired and spent. I really needed the church to be like Aaron and Hur with Moses. But now, the church, for the most part, was devastated. Some were devastated because they loved Tom so much. Others were devastated because I'd let them down as pastor.

Over the next eighteen months, almost all of the key families in the church left. In my heart, I feared the church would die a long, slow death. I struggled and struggled to keep the church alive and to make it grow. I tried anything and everything. The mistake I made (looking back) is that I tried to carry and fix the church on my own, and try as I did, I just couldn't. It was closed by the Assemblies of God in 2010, and at that time I was the one who was devastated.

There are all sorts of seminars about the importance of churches doing background checks on their people, especially those who work with children. I'm all for those, but sometimes they don't work. Tom had no official criminal background.

However:

I admit, there were always some things about Tom D. that did not quite add up. He had been a police officer in Connecticut in his distant past. He LOVED to talk about being a cop. It's obvious that he'd LOVED being a cop. My experience is that guys who love being cops don't just suddenly leave the force to become bus drivers and work in transmission shops. But Tom did. He left the force, moved to Florida, and became a bus driver and later worked in a transmission shop. Somehow, years later he came back to southern Connecticut and became involved in a church and in prison ministry. I now believe Tom was caught in child molestation when he was a cop. I firmly believe there was a cover up. It was probably at that time that his wife divorced him. That is why he never talked about his ex-wife or kid, and why he'd react with such hostility when asked about them. Tom had probably agreed to leave the force and move out of the area and then all charges would go away.

Unfortunately, the experience with Tom sort of validates my son Jon's philosophy of "trust no one". Jon, indeed, tends to keep to himself and really does NOT trust anyone. On the other hand is Claire G. whom I've written about on this blog in the past. Claire G. once told me she took every person at face value. She always expected and believed the very best about all people, and therefore could be easily taken advantage of, and she sometimes was.

I guess we all have to function in life somewhere in the middle.

The bottom line, is if you think CORI checks will protect you and that you can guarantee protection from unsavory characters...well, think again.

ON THIS DAY IN 1979

2012-01-25T06:30:00.000-08:00

"...I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:" (from 2 Peter 3:1)

Thirty-three years.

It was January 25, 1979, thirty-three years ago today that Rachel and Rebecca Rayburn were born.

Rachel and Rebecca Rayburn are identical twin girls who are the children of James and Debbie Rayburn. I went to Central Bible College with James. James Rayburn and I had some things in common. We each held previous Bachelor's Degrees. I had a Bachelor's in History from Stonehill College and he had a Bachelor's in Physical Education from Georgia Southwestern University. I was just a tad older than many of the kids at CBC; not much older, just a couple of years, but James was six years older than me and therefore around eight or nine years older than many of the students. At the time I was at CBC, there were at least twenty-five students in the same boat as we were...those with previous Bachelor's degrees who were classified as "Seniors" for as long as we were there. The typical "Senior" with a previous degree was there for anywhere from one to six semesters. Many went on to the AG Graduate School after a semester or two (it's now called AG Theological Seminary). Many others stayed and graduated from CBC like James and I did. We each have Senior pictures in the 1978 and 1979 yearbooks, but we actually graduated in 1979. The Rayburns hailed from Dawson, Georgia. If you've seen all those Christian films like "Fireproof" and "Facing the Giants" which were made in Albany, Georgia, you may be interested to know that Dawson is just a short drive from Albany. (I have visited both places.)

I arrived at CBC in January of 1977 and James in September of that year. At first, he was very nervous, wondering if he really had what it takes to be a minister and wondering if he'd fit in and could make it at CBC. I had been EXACTLY the same way during my first semester, so I kind of "mentored" him for his first few weeks at school and we really hit it off. I learned that James had good reasons to wonder if he'd ever make it as a minister. He is divorced and remarried. In the late 1970s, and in fact up until less than ten years ago, if you were divorced and remarried, the odds that you would ever be credentialed as an Assemblies of God minister were pretty much ZERO. Some students and faculty told him to go home; that he would never be an Assemblies of God minister. (That issue is really not what this piece is about, but as a side note, James was given sort of a make-shift credential by the Georgia AG District allowing him to pastor there. When the Assemblies of God changed their policy on the national level, James was Licensed and Ordained. He pastors the AG church in Soperton, Georgia today.) Something we did at school which we are still very proud of is that we started a Men's Fellowship group at the Maranatha nursing and retirement complex which is located next door to CBC. We had both retired missionaries and elderly sinners coming out to our fellowship meetings on Thursday nights. James and I met and knew personally some of the great ministers of the Assemblies of God from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s because of our ministry at Maranatha.

If you think you can't get pregnant while on the pill, think again! James and Debbie lived in Boyd Hall, the complex for married students who did not have kids. In the Fall of 1978, to Debbie's shock, she tested positive for pregnancy. Debbie is much younger than James. He was twenty-nine at the time and she was just nineteen. A few weeks later, it was revealed that she was carrying twins. They were excited about the babies coming, but due to other issues, especially finances, this was overwhelming for them. Debbie worked at a local pizza fast food restaurant. As the pregnancy went on and she began getting more fatigued, she had to leave work and James got a job at a cafeteria. Things got really stressful for them.

I was shocked to learn while on my way to morning chapel service on January 25, 1979 that Debbie had given birth the night before; more than two months early! The babies were at Cox Medical Center. Ironically, Cox was just east of the Assemblies of God headquarters on Boonville Ave. in Springfield. The girls were tiny and were in the neo-natal intensive care unit. Things were a lot more sophisticated medically in 1979 than you might think, but certainly not as sophisticated as today. The tiny babies were in little incubators. The Rayburns named them Rachel and Rebecca. Their prognosis was very much in doubt. I remember James telling Debbie it was very likely the babies would die, and I remember Debbie saying she just could not believe God would allow them to die.

The whole school was praying for the Rayburn babies. This was big news on campus. Ironically, I was not one of the "cool kids" nor one of the "popular kids"...far from it. Yet, I was the closest student to the Rayburns so I largely became a contact person between students and faculty and the Rayburn family. The next thing I have to share is an example I often use when I preach about the Gift of Faith from I Corinthians chapter 12. The Gift of Faith is not "saving faith" nor is it "ordinary faith". It's a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit to believe God and have extraordinary faith in an impossible situation. As the days went on, the condition of the Rayburn babies continued to be "touch and go". Little Rachel was in especially critical condition. Fearing for her vitality, the hospital had her flown to Kansas City Childrens Hospital as a last ditch effort to save her life. I traveled to K.C. for a couple of days with James and Debbie during this time. I remember the hospital being right across the street from the Hallmark Cards headquarters. I have often regretted that as a pastor I was seldom, "God's man of faith and power." One key woman at our church once told me I was full of fear and doubt. When the church was in a terrible time of crisis in the mid-1990s one male Board member told me he looked to me for faith and leadership and found none. Those critiques were accurate. So much of the time, I was just a simple scared guy in way over his head trying to get through from day to day. But THAT is what makes this testimony of the Gift of Faith all the more valid! Despite all the gloom and doom facing the Rayburn babies I had PERFECT FAITH for their TOTAL HEALINGS and I never doubted. I prayed for them, but in complete faith. I would proclaim, "I just KNOW they are going to be perfectly fine." And I DID know that. I now know THAT was the Gift of Faith in operation!

In late April, the babies came home. They were amazingly healthy. The Rayburns were cautioned that there COULD be long term effects from the trauma the little twins had gone through. They MIGHT be intellectually and academically slow in school; there might be other issues. Today, they are celebrating their thirty-third birthdays. They are each married with kids of their own. Each girl did very well in school and in any endeavor they attempted. God brought them to perfect health.

On another side note, today my daughter Amy lives in Springfield, Missouri and works as a pediatric nurse at the much newer and very modern Cox South Medical Center. Some days, she works in the NICU. I still find that amazing.

I remember all this today, and I testify of the goodness and power of God!
Yes, that was a significant day; January 25, 1979! Happy Birthday, Rachel and Rebecca!

"REV. KRAMER" i.e. "OFFICER KRAMER"

2012-01-22T12:28:00.001-08:00

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” (Ephesians 4:11-12)

(Yes, my title is a play on the old film title, "Kramer vs. Kramer"!)

This morning (Sunday, January 22) I arrived early for the Adult Sunday School at Bread of Life Church. Glancing at the church bulletin I’d just picked up, I noticed our guest speaker in the morning service would be Rev. Dan Kramer. I hadn’t realized we were even having a guest speaker. (Guess I did NOT read last week’s bulletin very carefully!) My immediate thought was, “WHY do I know that name, Dan Kramer?”

Looking at the next page of the bulletin, I found a “blurb” about the Rev. Kramer and realized I’ve heard him speak before. Dan Kramer is the father Renee Greene, wife of Bread of Life’s Youth Pastor Billy Greene, and music director of the church. Kramer is a most interesting and unusual guy. He hails from Baltimore. It took some guts for a guy from Baltimore to be preaching in the heart of New England on the morning of the Patriots/Ravens game for the AFC Championship. (Come to think of it, the Pastor’s wife, Janis Collette is a New Yorker, and I suppose during baseball season, that takes guts, too!) Kramer has has a long career in law enforcement, and he definitely LOOKS like a cop! (There’s a real camaraderie between all men in blue, and I know my late father would have LOVED him!) Kramer spent twenty-one years as a Baltimore Police Officer. My understanding is that he still works in law enforcement in a different capacity; I THINK with the Baltimore County Sheriff's Dept. Kramer has also become a credentialled minister and has been anointed by God with a powerful healing ministry.

When I heard the Rev. Dan Kramer speak about a year ago, he pretty much gave his testimony of how God has used him to win souls for Christ as a law enforcement officer. I was NOT prepared for the style of ministry Dan Kramer would use today. This was a full blown old fashioned Pentecostal/Charismatic healing service! It was not some phony/baloney kind of thing. Sadly, that has happened quite a bit in Pentecostal/Charismatic circles. This guy moves in the power of the Holy Spirit, and from all I could tell and discern, it’s the real deal.

Readers who were part of Christian Life Center church in Walpole, Mass. back in the 1980s will remember the Benny Hinn services which used to take place there in those days. I was an Assistant Pastor there in those days. This was long before Benny Hinn was nationally and internationally famous. We used to bring him in for services every three to four months. The church would be packed out, and we saw some amazing things happen in those services. This was the closest thing to that which I’ve seen since those days.

Bread of Life is up in Westminster, Mass. near Gardner and Fitchburg. From a lot of places IT’S A HIKE. I drive fifty miles one way from Webster. But it’s worth it. For some of you old time “Walpole” people, you ought to come visit sometime. Bread of Life is not at all your typical 2012 Assemblies of God church and that is a big part of why I drive the long trip to go there. My concern is that many of today’s Assemblies of God churches have moved in one of two directions: They’ve either become very “subdued” and “seeker sensitive” or they’ve become “three ring circuses” with all kinds of “off the wall” stuff going on. Frankly, the subdued/seeker sensitive churches are very common. One doesn’t hear too many sermons on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit anymore. In fact, one doesn’t see or hear the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in operation in many of our services anymore. And, “altar calls”; in many of our churches people would ask, “What are THOSE?!” Bread of Life uses mostly up-to-date music, but most of it is the really good, worship stuff and not the “loud knock ‘em into the other room” stuff. It’s RARE to find an AG church today which has altar calls almost every Sunday morning with the altars packed most of the time.

The bottom line is, Bread of Life was a great venue for Dan Kramer. There was a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. There were a number of people “slain in the Spirit” and I DON’T mean pushed down! There were a number of genuine healings. I liked that Kramer kept giving all the glory to God. He also stressed the importance of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the importance of intercessory prayer.

I had plans for the afternoon due to the game, so I left at 12:45 p.m. The service started at 10:15 and was still going on when I left. Whatever happens with the game (and I have it on RIGHT NOW as I’m writing) I experienced something far more exciting in Westminster this morning.

I sincerely hope Pastor Gary Collette will consider having Dan Kramer come to Bread of Life several more times this year, and that he will heavily promote the services.

CAN GOSSIP EVER BE OK?

2012-01-19T08:47:00.001-08:00

“Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:” (2 Timothy 4:14)

Yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle published a story about a recent University of California at Berkeley study which found that gossip can have healthy and therapeutic aspects. This flies in the face of much of what we’ve heard about gossip. There’s no question that gossip usually causes great harm. Typically, gossip contains malicious (and usually untrue) information and is aimed at harming or even destroying a person’s reputation. Yet, the study found that not all gossip is bad. Quoting from the article:

“UC Berkeley psychologists have found that gossiping - specifically spreading information about a person who has behaved badly - can play a critical role in maintaining social order, preventing exploitation and lowering stress.”

The full article can be found on-line at:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/17/BAAS1MQI6H.DTL

Frankly, there are a LOT of very WRONG ideas about gossip commonly taught in evangelical Christian circles. One time, over twenty years ago, I was attending a meeting of a pastors’ prayer and support group. Someone named something about a woman who I will call “Lucinda” (not her real name). I know Lucinda, and I like Lucinda but she is a character and has some kind of weird characteristics and opinions (such as stating that parts of the Bible are untrue and that sometimes sinful behavior is “OK”).

In my typical Bob Baril entertaining and comical style, after Lucinda was named, I did a very quick impersonation of her. It was not malicious. It was frankly true to character and kind of funny. Immediately I was reprimanded by a Christian counselor who was part of the prayer and support group. I’ll call him “Eddie”. Eddie really let me have it. Eddie said that it is NEVER right or appropriate to discuss a person in ANY way, shape or form without them being present. Eddie said that to speak about a third party with them not present, and especially to do a brief impersonation was absolutely wrong and a bad thing.

When Eddie finished, I felt like I’d been slapped across the face. And I wasn’t the one who brought up Lucinda to begin with! I was pleasant but subdued for the remainder of that group meeting.

On my way out the door, I was followed by my friend Jim Spence. I am using his real name here because I don’t think he’d mind. Jim came right up to me and said,

“I just wanted you to know that regarding the comments to you about it being wrong to speak about a third party behind their back, I DID NOT RECEIVE THAT.”

What Jim meant is that he believed what I had been told, while maybe being “nice” and “politically correct” was in fact not Biblically nor ethically correct and was something I should dismiss and not take to heart. The fact that Jim is not only an Ordained minister (TODAY he is an Ordained Episcopal Priest) and also a licensed counselor really helped me put things into perspective.

The comments I heard that day from Eddie are comments that I have repeatedly heard from the pulpit in evangelical churches and from other Christians in more informal settings.

“God would NEVER want you to talk about another person behind that person’s back- that is GOSSIP and that is WRONG” is what I’ve been told.

Well, in that case, the Apostle Paul is guilty of this grave wrong, and so is the Holy Spirit. Would YOU think that it would be appropriate in SACRED SCRIPTURE to name someone BY NAME, and tell that he had done you wrong, and sort of warn others against him or her? I would say that were that question put to the average evangelical Christian and/or to Christian leaders and denominational officials, the overwhelming majority would say it’s wrong. But Paul DID IT. And, IF we really believe in INERRANCY- that all Scripture is the Word of God without error, then in certain cases, speaking or writing about third parties behind their backs, even saying negative things about them (again IN CERTAIN CASES) is OK!

Missionary Dewey Huston (now retired) told me the story that a pastor in Ohio had told him many years ago. Dewey Huston was visiting a particular Assemblies of God church and over dinner, the pastor told Huston that he’d had TERRIBLE opposition and problems with his piano player. The pastor earnestly prayed,and God revealed to the pastor that the woman was in fact a phony and A PRACTICING WITCH! The pastor went to the woman and confronted her. The woman admitted it! She told the pastor she would leave the church and take a bunch of people with her. And, she did! Not long afterwards, she and her followers showed up as regular attenders at a nearby Assemblies of God church. The first pastor called the witch’s new pastor to warn him. But the second pastor would NOT hear him. He was like the guy who rebuked me for speaking negatively about a third party. He was so “loving” that he totally dismissed the first pastor’s warning as sour grapes, and the witch happily played the piano and sewed discord in her new church.

In 2 Timothy 4, verses 9 through 15, Paul wrote:

“Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:
For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.
The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.
Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.”

Paul, in fact, in Sacred Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit, “gossiped” about Demas, Crescens, Titus, Alexander, and others.

There’s a very controversial verse in Luke 16:8 that essentially says that many times your average non believing secular irreligious person has far more SMARTS regarding life than do Christians! It’s true. You know what?... those who did the study at the University of California at Berkeley once again proved the truth of Luke 16:8!

TODAY'S TESTIMONY

2012-01-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Revelation 12:11)

The above verse from the last book of the Bible is very powerful. I have preached whole sermons on just that verse (using the three ways the Believers OVERCAME the enemy as my three points). I want to focus on point TWO today, "the word of their testimony". How powerful a testimony of what God has done is!

Today, something very special happened to me. Last night, I sat and wrote three letters. You know, it's one thing to write on a computer and push a "send" button, and I do that all the time; and it's one thing to type a letter on your word processor, print it out and mail it. It's an entirely different matter to take paper and pen and sit and write out several letters in script. (For me, printing is easier and I usually print my letters, but last night I wrote three letters in script.) When you sit and write a letter in script to a loved one, it truly is a labor of love.

What I wrote in these letters is very personal. I wrote one to a family member sharing some very special inspiring words. I wrote one to a family friend, sharing thoughts of appreciation and encouraging words. Finally, I wrote one to a good friend who has been going through a difficult time. I knew the weather would be bad today, so I took a gallon sized "freezer bag" and placed all the letters inside. THAT way, they would not get wet from any rain, snow, or sleet.

I left for work fairly early this morning. We had about two inches of snow on the ground in Webster, and by the time I was clearing off the car, it was mostly rain with a little snow and sleet mixed in. I had a lot to carry to the car today; several bags of one kind of another...including the freezer bag with the letters. When I arrived at the parking lot by VIP Answering Service, I noticed that the clear bag with the letters did NOT seem to be in the car. I had only five minutes to get into work but I looked and looked and LOOKED and it was not there!

I've got to tell you, I was heartbroken and I was upset! I figured with all that "junk" in my hands I must have accidentally dropped the clear bag with the letters. Our "back yard" at the duplex in Webster is really not a yard, it is an asphalt parking lot. The other half of the duplex is an insurance company, and before our home was an apartment it was previously a construction company's office. The good news is that the lot gets plowed. But considering the bag with the letters, the bad news is that it gets plowed. I could picture that plow blade just shredding that bag and letters as it deposited them in a snowbank. OR, perhaps they would somehow be spared, but I'd find the letters exposed to the elements and laying soaked in a puddle when I got home.

Something like this can get me very preoccupied. I knew if I didn't get it out of my mind, I would probably make a hundred serious mistakes at work today. So I had to trust the Lord to give me peace and enable me to not think about it and do my job.

Several times today I prayed, "Lord, PLEASE protect those letters, Lord PLEASE spare those letters."

As an act of faith, on the way home I stopped at the Framingham Centre post office on Route 9 and bought stamps for the letters. When I pulled into my residence's parking lot, it had indeed been plowed. I got out of the car, and my eyes scanned the lot and the snowbanks. I saw no evidence of the plastic bag or letters. My heart sank, just a little. I walked up to our door, and saw something stuffed into the doorpost area.

COULD IT BE?

It was!

It was the plastic bag and letters PERFECTLY intact! No wetness, no dirt, no damage. I am not sure if the insurance guy put the bag there, or a neighbor, but the bottom line is GOD did it.

I got choked up and said right out loud to God, "This means so much to me".

I put the stamps on the letters, drove to downtown Webster and dropped them in a mailbox.

And then, I went to the public library's reference room to the computers, for I just HAD to give this testimony!

THOUGHTS ABOUT TIM TEBOW

2012-01-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” (Proverbs 22:1)

I’m a New England Patriots fan, and as such, I enjoyed watching Saturday night’s
(Jan. 14, 2012) big Patriots win against the Denver Broncos in their important AFC playoff game. It was a COLD New England night. It had to be BRUTAL to be at Gillette Stadium watching the entire game in subzero wind-chill conditions, but I don’t think the Patriots’ fans minded. As exciting and just plain GREAT as this win was, there was just ONE aspect of it that was, well, kind of sad for a serious evangelical Christian like me. That’s the fact that the Patriots having such a huge win meant it was a huge loss of Denver quarterback Tim Tebow.

The Tebow phenomenon has been, well, amazing and unusual. This young player that many people had never heard of until November has taken the country by a storm. It was reported just this past week that he is now the most popular athlete in the country. Tebow is just not typical as NFL quarterbacks go. The former University of Florida player has an unusual style for an NFL quarterback. Drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2010, during this season he has led the previously lackluster Broncos to a number of amazing wins, frequently in coming from behind during the fourth quarter. The Broncos’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers LAST weekend STUNNED a number of seasoned football fans and commentators. It’s NOT so much his unorthodox style and amazing achievements on the field that have garnered the bulk of the attention, however. The thing most people are talking about is Tebow’s evangelical Christian faith. His public demonstrations of faith and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ along with his frank revelation that he’s a virgin and that the most important matters in his life are his faith in God, and his practical living out of that faith in missionary endeavors have caused people of every stripe to take notice. The taking notice of Tebow has led to everything from extreme admiration of Tebow from people on the “religious” end of the spectrum, to contempt, sarcasm, and even hatred from nonbelievers at the other end of the spectrum.

The matter of SOME professional athletes and other celebrities being “born again Christians” and sharing their faith publicly in one form or another is not as unusual as one might at first think. Tom Landry, the legendary coach of the Dallas Cowboys back in the ‘60s and ‘70s was an outspoken evangelical Christian who did not shy away from speaking at Billy Graham Crusade meetings. The same kind of thing can be said about Tony Dungy who coached the Colts in much more recent years. Kurt Warner who played for the Packers, Rams, and Cardinals, is a highly committed evangelical Christian. Some of you will recall that he led the Rams in that 2002 Super Bowl meeting with the Patriots in which Brady led the Pats to their first Super Bowl victory. Many long term Boston Red Sox fans know that Rico Petrocelli is a born again Christian as is a guy who played for the Sox in much more recent years. Outside of the athletic arenas, many will remember that Jimmy Carter had the whole country talking about what it meant to be “born again” back in 1976 as did former Nixon “hatchet man” Chuck Colson in 1977.

The thing that is different about Tebow is that he has been SO outspoken and demonstrative about his Christian faith...possibly more so than all of the above Christian athletes and celebrities put together. I know that’s really rankled some folks.

“Religion is a PRIVATE matter,” some have bluntly said, “WHY doesn’t he just keep his faith PRIVATE and QUIET?!”

Some have also quoted from Matthew chapter 6 where Jesus DOES say that people should NOT be doing their praying and giving to charity in public demonstrations to garner praise and support for themselves. They’ve freely accused Tebow of doing this. On the one hand, in certain cases and situations, that argument DOES have some merit. I’ve been moving in evangelical Christian circles for over forty years. I’ve seen a LOT of Christians who in one way or another bragged about their prayer lives or who “prayed” in a sensational manner in public to call attention to themselves. AND, I’ve been around a few Christians who didn’t mind letting everybody know things like, “Hey I REACHED right for my checkbook, and wrote out a check for $5,000 for that missionary! This is my path to God’s blessings!” Yes, there are “Christians” of that ilk who frankly make me want to throw up!

The thing is, I DON’T think Tebow, despite his outward demonstrations of faith and praise, is THAT kind of Christian. When I hear people ask< “WHY can’t these evangelicals just KEEP their faith to THEMSELVES?!” I want to launch into an explanation of what an “evangelical” is. An “evangelical” is one who believes that the “Good News of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ is available for EVERYONE and that God wants this message ACTIVELY AND PUBLICLY PROCLAIMED by all Believers.” There are verses such as Mark 8:38 which indicate that we should NOT be shy and private about our faith. That verse says:

“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

I don’t want to bore anyone with a listing of Bible verses, but if you check it out, the evangelicals’ claim that they MUST be public and freely proclaiming their faith is very much New Testament doctrine and is quite correct.

Now, do I think God really cares if the Patriots win and Denver loses, or vice versa. I feel a little weird trying to speak for God, but my gut feeling is that God doesn’t care. I don’t think we’re supposed to be praying, “God, let my team win.” NOT when there are so many more important things to pray about! But, to thank God for the opportunity to pray in the NFL; to thank God for one’s talents and abilities, to thank God for the coaches and the fans, etc.; to pray that one’s football career could be a positive example and role model to others, well, all that stuff is a very good thing.

Last week, a Patriots fan called up the Jim and Margery show on BostonTalks 96.9 and said that although he wanted the Patriots to win, IF Denver won, he really wouldn’t be all that sorry. I had been feeling the same way. I’m thrilled that the Patriots won and won big. BUT, it bothers me that there’ll be plenty of swearing and obscenities proclaimed against Tebow and his God; an attitude of “We showed that God-guy a thing or two...now he can take his Bible back to the locker room and SHUT UP!”

I’m thrilled the Patriots won, but in my humble opinion, if Tebow never won another game, he is still a winner. He loves God; he is not ashamed to say he’s received Jesus Christ as His Personal Lord and Savior. He’s not out sponsoring dog fighting rings. He’s not at some strip club having relations with every cheap girl who’ll have him. He’s not stinkin’ drunk and foul mouthed. He’s not a selfish jerk. He’s got a good name. And as the verse from Proverbs above says, that’s to be chosen rather than great riches, silver or gold.

EXORCISM

2012-01-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." 2 Corinthians 2:11)

Recently, a person I know asked if I believe in exorcism. I think I blew that person away when I replied that I DO believe in it. That brief exchange got me thinking, and I decided to share some thoughts about it here.

There is no way to do an exhaustive treatment of demon possession and exorcism in a few paragraphs on a blog. It's a very complicated subject; the kind of thing one could easily devote a two or three hundred word book to. This will, therefore, be VERY brief and merely scratch the surface. The question was prompted by the kind of thing which has been shown in films such as the classic mid-1970s movie, "The Exorcist" and more recently in all sorts of horror and semi-horror movies. I have not seen all of these movies, but I have seen parts of "The Exorcist". (I don't think I've even ever seen THAT whole film.) The bottom line is that Hollywood, for the most part, really exaggerates this stuff. There's a LOT of sensationalism they include in films that doesn't happen in real life. This does NOT, however, mean that demons and demon possession are not real and that exorcism is not valid. Exorcism is still considered a very valid rite of the Roman Catholic Church even in the early Twenty-first Century. In addition, the casting out of demons has absolutely taken place in evangelical and Pentecostal meetings; SOMETIMES in public services, and much more commonly with small groups of interceding Christians in fairly private settings.

The origins of demons is itself a controversial matter. Most conservative Christian theologians believe demons are fallen angels...that sometime prior to the Garden of Eden, Lucifer and a group of angels rebelled against God and lost their first estate of being holy angels. There is an allusion to this in Revelation chapter 12 verse 4; as well as in some chapters of the Old Testament. A MORE controversial theory about demons held by a minority of Pentecostals and charismatics is that demons are NOT fallen angels, although there ARE fallen angels. Rather, demons may be the spirits of beings that lived on earth in a pre-Adamic civilization. The pre-Adamic civilization is taught in the study notes of the Dake's Annotated Reference Bible authored by Finis J. Dake (now deceased). This viewpoint is held and proclaimed by healing evangelist Benny Hinn and others. Some advocates of this position argue that it explains the CONSTANT desire of demons to INHABIT BODIES of human beings and animals. I am not 100% convinced of exactly where demons originated. In Bible College we were taught the classic view that they are fallen angels, but I honestly believe the controversial viewpoint of Dake, Benny Hinn and others may have merit.

It's commonly argued that only ignorant and superstitious people could possibly believe in demon possession and exorcism...that this was the belief of ancient peoples who tried to explain away mental illness. A careful study of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) reveals that Jesus came to heal the physically sick, the mentally ill (sometimes called "lunatics"), the neurologically ill (sometimes called "epileptics"),AND to deliver the demon possessed. That was true two thousand years ago, and it is also true today.

You can find some interesting accounts of demon possession in the Bible. If you study Mark chapter 5, it speaks of a demon possessed man who lived in Gentile territory. He was fully naked, and cut himself with stones. The local people tried to chain him up, but he would just break the chains. Jesus cast many demons (perhaps thousands) out of this man. They fled into a herd of pigs; the pigs ran off a cliff and drowned! In the Book of Acts, chapter 19, there were seven itinerant Jewish exorcists called the Sons of Sceva who tried to exorcise a demon possessed man. The demon possessed man actually leaped on them, crying out, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?!" The seven sons of Sceva fled from that place "naked and wounded". Sweet Professor Opal Reddin at Central Bible College pleasantly told our class, "Now, class, now I don't think that the sons of Sceva were totally NUDE!" In fact, I DO think so!

Anybody who has entered into SERIOUS ministry and spiritual warfare IN OUR DAY has encountered demons and forces of spiritual darkness. One missionary to Japan told me that American missionaries ROUTINELY encounter demons in Japan and cast them out. Another missionary, Gordon Bialik has told of demonic encounters in Portugal. One young woman was filled with demons, much like the guy in Mark chapter 5. It took the whole Bible College there days of fasting and prayer to see this woman delivered. I have not experienced anything as intense as Gordon Bialik and that Bible school in Portugal did, but I CAN attest from several personal experiences that this stuff is very real.

There are two erroneous views of Satan, demons, and the powers of darkness. ONE is to disbelieve in them or to totally trivialize them. The other is to become COMPLETELY FOCUSED on them, walking in constant fear, and believing that there is a demon behind every bush. If a person knows Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and is truly walking in the Word of God and with the Spirit of God they can be victorious over the forces of darkness. If NOT, they COULD become prey for the forces of darkness.

Some will accuse me of trying to "scare people into the Kingdom of Heaven". That was a common approach one hundred or more years ago. I admit, I seldom use the approach of trying to scare people into Heaven, but if this piece accomplished this, I would view that as a good thing. Personally, I would not want to walk one more day without Jesus in my heart and life!

The Bible teaches in First Thessalonians 5:23 that man is a three part being made up of body, soul, and spirit. The body is just that...the physical body. The soul is one's intellect, emotions and will. But the SPIRIT is the part of us that is meant to know God and be connected with God. If that SPIRIT has not been made alive by the Spirit of God, that person is not a child of God and a "sitting duck" for the forces of darkness. That's why it is SO important to really KNOW the Lord, to receive Him as your personal Savior and Lord and to walk close to Him.

Yeah, no matter what people think of me, I really do believe in demons and exorcism; and I believe that the Lord is more powerful than all the forces of darkness.

WHO WOULD GOD VOTE FOR?

2012-01-08T14:01:00.000-08:00

"The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." (Proverbs 16:33)

The Iowa caucuses happened just a few days ago, but not they seem like a distant memory. In the world of U.S. presidential politics all eyes are on New Hampshire and its Tuesday Primary election. The New Hampshire Primary has been the "first in the nation Primary" at least since 1952. Many argue that it gives the small New England state a position of utmost importance in choosing the leader of the free world that is not warranted. I suppose that's a topic for another day. Today, I'm looking at the question of "Who would God vote for as President of the United States?"

The above is definitely a loaded question. My understanding of Scripture is that God doesn't especially like voting at all! Throughout the past several thousand years, MOST of the time when it comes to issues and personalities, the MAJORITY has been WRONG! Jesus spoke of following "narrow road" rather than the "broad road"; (see Matthew chapter 7). The Bible is full of references to very small groups of people really having the mind of God...terms such as "remnant" come to mind. My friend D.C.M. used to HATE church elections when he was pastoring. He said there was no precedent in the Bible for church elections; rather GOD chose leaders. In fact, he's correct. That verse I opened with speaks of casting of lots to find out the will of God. I know many folks would argue, "But THAT'S in the OLD TESTAMENT and not in the church!". In fact, if you check out Acts chapter 1, you'll see that the replacement for Judas Iscariot was chosen by the casting of lots and not by a vote.

In the Old Testament, God chose Judges and Kings; but often based on what the people WANTED...so that's SORT of like voting. In times of Spiritual revival, God gave leaders who were great men and women of God. (Yes, WOMEN...remember Deborah in the Book of Judges?!) In times when the people lived like the devil, God gave evil kings and leaders who lived like the devil.

I know that the whole "God" thing in politics really turns a lot of people off. A crowd of college kids BOOED Rick Santorum last week because of his VERY conservative and old-fashioned standards regarding homosexual marriage. Many of who have also heard of the people who have trashed Santorum because he brought his newborn dead baby home so his other kids could meet the baby. Honestly, I'm not sure that I would have done something like that, but there's no reason to trash Mr. Santorum for his strong respect for life and personhood and Biblical standards. On the other hand, he DID say the government should stop handing out money to "black people" and that wss a very inappropriate comment for him to make. (I still wouldn't BOO him for that, though!)

I grew up in a family where politics, current events, and history were all considered VERY important. It was the kind of household where the news was on constantly, and there were pages of The Boston Globe spread out all over the house (later it was The Patriot Ledger). My mother was the MOST interested in politics and current events, but my father also liked to talk politics. I couldn't wait to register to vote at 18 and I JUST made it in time to vote in the 1972 election. I very much take after my parents. I am one who can't seem to get enough of news, current events, and national politics. USUALLY by this time in a Presidential election year, there's a candidate that I've chosen and am excited about. This year has been SO hard for me. I am glad I'm not a New Hampshire resident because I am not sure who I would vote for. (In case you didn't know, I'm a registered Republican.)

Bob Dylan sand that song "With God on Our Side" many years ago. Some people think God's a far right wing Republican. Many think God is a bleeding heart liberal Democrat. Some think God is very concerned about politics. Others believe God is so busy running the Universe that He doesn't care about politics. A few days ago, Pat Robertson announced that God has shown him who the next President of the United States will be. Pat, however, insists on keeping this a SECRET. I know it will make a lot of my theologically liberal friends angry that for the most part I like Pat Robertson. But, Pat, COME ON! If God told Pat who the next President will be, Pat should either have revealed who it is, or better still, just kept quiet about the whole thing. There's a little matter about "casting your pearls before swine" also from Matthew 7 that Pat Robertson seems to have forgotten about.

God hasn't told ME who the next President is supposed to be. I don't mean to be disrespectful to President Obama. Listen, I get a lot of forwarded e-mails that trash President Obama. If they're well written and factual, I may forward them on. But, if they're just racist and disrespectful trash, I don't. A friend of mine, Tom Stevens, who is a Charismatic Episcopal Priest,and a Vietnam combat veteran told me he NEVER criticizes President Obama.

"He is the Commander in Chief," says Stevens, "and my role is to respect the office and pray for him."

I can't argue with that.

I did not vote for President Obama. I believed he did not have enough experience to be President. I also believed he is a very nice guy and a very good speaker, but shows little evidence of being a good leader. For the most part, I still feel that way. John McCain, in my opinion, SHOULD have been President. He's a military hero, a smart man, and a real leader. He was a very good Congressman and has been a very good U.S. Senator. I think we missed a great opportunity when we did not elect him. But that's my opinion.

Many of us "social conservatives" (and I'm honestly less conservative than I used to be) have said that in the 1990s America got what we deserved with Bill Clinton and again got what we deserved with Barack Obama. I will add to that my opinion that all the hostility and stalemate in Washington between the two political parties is (for the most part) not a good thing. I have never seen America so polarized, and I don't think that's something for us to be proud of. I am not sure WHO I would vote for if I were voting on Tuesday in New Hampshire. My guess is that I would either vote for Rick Santorum or Ron Paul. I know that Ron Paul is "out there" on some issues, but you may be surprised that Ron Paul is a "born again Christian" and that he is pro-life. He doesn't tend to be "in your face" about those positions, but he's not ashamed of his Christianity or his anti-abortion stance, either. In life, I have tended to be a guy who "marches to the beat of a different drummer" and who is thought of as "unconventional" so Ron Paul does appeal to me. Santorum's convictions also appeal to me, and I DON'T like him being trashed.

But, back to the question of who God would vote for, it's very possible that person is Barack Obama...for the reason I wrote above, and ALSO so we'll get on our knees and start praying for him and for our nation. Incidentally, I think TOO much is being made about the Presidential election and not enough about the Congressional elections coming up this Fall. I think the Massachusetts Senate Race between Senator Scott Brown and Democrat challenger Elizabeth Warren (assuming she wins the Democrat primary) is possibly a far more important race for our country's future.

Do you plan to vote this year? Are you excited about politics or are you apathetic? Who do YOU think God would vote for?

OBVIOUS! ... OR IS IT?!

2012-01-05T06:21:00.000-08:00

"A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself." (Proverbs 18:2)

There's a fascinating (and frustrating) characteristic of human behavior and it's that the solution to a matter can be SO obvious and yet a person can be SO totally blind to it! I experienced that with a person yesterday, and I'll share that story further on.

First, I want to give an example of the kind of thing I'm writing about. Back in the 1980s I read an interesting motivational book. Parts of the book were fascinating and really caused me to think and to understand how a person can be limited by their PERCEPTION of things. On one page, the author presented an exercise for the reader to do. He wrote that below is a Roman numeral, and that the assignment is to look at that Roman numeral and figure out what letter could be added to that Roman numeral to create a number between 1 and 6. Below that paragraph in large bold type was the Roman numeral IX. I sat and stared at that IX. WHAT could the solution be? IX equals 9. It's the Roman numeral 9. So how could I possibly ADD a letter to the IX and make a number between 1 and 6? ANY letter I would add would make it a LARGER number. I couldn't add a V, or another X or a C or an M or a D. I puzzled and puzzled over it. It COULDN'T be done, I reasoned. What kind of foolishness was this anyway? At the bottom of that page, the author wrote that when I turned the page, the answer would be at the top of the next page. I turned the page, and in large bold type I read "SIX". Boy, did I feel stupid! He made his point. If a person added a letter to that Roman numeral IX, well of course it would create a number between 1 and 6. It was SIX, meaning 6. So often an answer is right in front of us, and we can't (or won't) see it.

My father used to lament that most people had no common sense and that he was amazed that they could not figure out how to handle simple problems. He had a very practical mathematical and mechanically inclined kind of mind. Unfortunately, some of us DON'T have a brain that works that way, and if we're not careful, that can be a real handicap to us. As the author of that motivational book demonstrated, we've really got to CHANGE our way of looking at situations.

Now, here is my story from yesterday:

First, I must give a little background. The incident happened on my job as a telephone answering service operator. I've written previously about all the lessons God has taught me on this job. I would never had "signed up" for the church I pastored to close, and to work at a humble job like this for a couple of years, but God has allowed this and showed me and taught me SO much. We have pretty strict guidelines and policies to follow on the job. Most of the the clients we answer for are doctor's offices and medical practices. We can never give out medical advice of any kind. We can also never tell a caller to DO something. We can SUGGEST something, like "Maybe you need to call an ambulance instead" or "Maybe you need to go to an emergency room" but we have to be VERY careful in what we say. We represent our clients. It's very difficult when a caller tells you what a jerk his or her doctor is or how much they resent the medical practice they're calling. We can never "feed" that thinking or agree with them. We represent the client. That DOES become very difficult to do, at times. Yesterday I took a call from a very frustrated woman. I had spoken to her earlier in the week, too. She has been calling and calling a certain doctor's office and the calls would go to the answering service every time. (Sometimes that happens when there's a high volume of calls.) It was unusual that her call came to us SO many times over a few days. Yesterday afternoon, this woman caller was depressed and furious.

"I DON'T want an answering service, I WANT MY DOCTOR'S OFFICE!" she demanded, "HOW can I speak to my doctor's office?"

Now, normally, I'd patch a call like that through to the office on an inside line. Ninety-five percent of the medical practices we answer for have inside lines on which we can patch people through to the office in emergency situations or in cases like that where a caller is frustrated and just insists on speaking to someone in the office. The problem is that HER particular doctor's office does NOT have an inside line. I explained that to her. I did also explain that I could fax a message to them. She was not up for that. She wanted to TALK to someone in the office immediately."

She was almost in tears and demanded of me, "Well, WHAT SHOULD I DO, WHAT SHOULD I DO, WHAT SHOULD I DO??!!"

I paused and took a deep breath.

"Ma'am," I said, "I do understand your frustration. This is somewhat frustrating for me, too. I am really not allowed to give you medical advice nor am I allowed to TELL you to DO something."

I then added, "There actually IS something you could do, but I can't tell you what that is."

Maybe I was asking for trouble!

She didn't like my response. She then began whining like a 5-year-old who had been told she couldn't have candy because it's so close to dinner time.

"Are you telling me to FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR?" she pressed, "Are you telling me to go to an emergency room?"

"I'm really not telling you either thing," I responded, "But if you THINK about it, there really IS something you COULD do."

I had to leave it at that. In fact, she called back AGAIN, and we repeated the same conversation! I guess she felt like I did when I was trying to figure out how IX could become a number between 1 and 6 by adding a letter to it.

Do YOU know the simple solution to what that woman could and should do? It's frankly obvious. Or is it? I could write it here, but I'm not going to. I'm going to see if you can figure it out.

As the old "Emergency Broadcast System" line used to say, "This is a test."
Can you pass it? Do you know what she could and should do? You're welcome to post a comment here or to e-mail me at:
revrbaril@aol.com

KUDOS TO JOE KENNEDY AND CITIZENS ENERGY!

2012-01-03T11:26:00.001-08:00

"...For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:..." (from Luke 12:48)

"Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker:
and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished." (Proverbs 17:5)

I think sometimes ideologies can become idols.

Biblically speaking, and idol is anything that we make a "god" of - that becomes "front and center" in our lives; but turns us away from God and away from what's right. It's something we may believe is harmless, but can be destructive. When we become prisoners of our ideologies - whether on the political left or on the political right - that's just not of God and it's not healthy. There are a few times that I've written about my political views on my blog and how they've changed. At one time I was quite the "far right" Republican. I'm still a registered Republican. My views today would be described as more moderate, albeit leaning more conservative than liberal,

I felt the need to write all of the above because I have a number of friends and acquaintances who will be surprised that I would write a highly favorable piece about Joe Kennedy and Citizens Energy. Joe's Dad was Bobby Kennedy, and his uncles were President Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy. Joe served for a number of years of the late twentieth century as a Congressman; frankly as a Congressman that most conservatives believed epitomized the worst of political nepotism. Some even felt he was an embarrassment to the people of Massachusetts. Joe Kennedy's been vilified as a bleeding heart liberal who (because of his business partnership with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez) is seen as a soft-hearted and weak-headed Communist sympathizer.

Yes, I'm fairly conservative and I say, "God bless Joe Kennedy!" This will probably make home heating oil dealers angry, and I don't mean to do that, but heating with oil heat, as so many residents of the northeast do, is in my humble opinion a pretty dismal proposition. I grew up in a house heated by oil heat, and my father loved oil heat. Fifty years ago, oil heat was considered cheap and safe, and I guess it really was. Today, it's expensive and can sometimes become scarce. In Massachusetts, the law says a utility company cannot shut off natural gas or electricity between the dates of November 15 and March 15. That just doesn't work for oil heat, though! In really cold weather, even with the thermostat set at 52 degrees, the furnace can empty a tank of its oil pretty quickly. There's no law that says a home heating oil dealer has to drive out and deliver one hundred gallons of oil with the promise to be paid ninety days in the future. Listen, no independent home heating contractor can afford to do that and stay in business. I understand that. But there are poor people, elderly, children, the disabled, and others who live in cold conditions during the winter months which are disgraceful. Someone may comment, "It's their own fault," Honestly, in SOME cases, it is. But in most casts, it ISN'T. (And even if it IS, would the Lord really want us to just let people suffer in the cold?) There are many wonderful people in Massachusetts this year living with these cold harsh conditions. "There but for the grace of God go you and I."

Citizens Engergy is running a very powerful ad this winter. In their ad, Joe Kennedy laments the tax breaks for billions while federal fuel aid is cut. I hope I get his quote correct. If not, it's close. He says something like:

"Of whom much is given, little is required;
and
from those who have little, much is taken away."

AMEN.

I'm no fan of Hugo Chavez...are you kidding?! But Joe Kennedy says Chavez and Citgo are the only ones who'd work with him. All the other oil companies turned him down. If that's true, it's a crying shame! This right leaning registered Republican is saying, "Thank you Joe Kennedy and Citizens Energy. You're doing a truly great work!"

CHURCHES AT OPPOSITE POLES...WHY?!

2011-12-30T08:24:00.001-08:00

“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” (I Corinthians 9:19-22)

My friend the Rev. Mindi Welton -Mitchell posted a link on Facebook to an interesting article. The article, entitled “Generational Road Blocks” is about the results of a Hartford Seminary study. The study revealed that not only is attendance down at so called “mainline denominational churches” but that the average age of attenders and leaders at such churches is well over sixty and that there is a noticeable absence of folks in their twenties and thirties in these churches.
The article also pointed out that such churches tend to be technology phobic. I’ve visited such “liberal Protestant” churches as well as Roman Catholic churches. It IS true than at any Sunday morning service at a liberal Protestant or Roman Catholic church you’re going to see a LOT of white hair, and you’re going to encounter lot of people who were born before 1945. I recall that one time about fifteen years ago I was involved in a joint service at a liberal Protestant church in Framingham, MA. I called the church’s office to ask if they had a sound system that could play a tape cassette soundtrack during the service. The person at the liberal church acted as though I’d asked if they had a launching pad for the Space Shuttle on their property. Fifteen years ago, most liberal Protestant churches and Roman Catholic churches were using the same fairly primitive “P.A. systems” that they were using in the 1960s, and a lot of them are still using those.

If you want to check out that article which Mindi shared the link to, it’s at:

http://christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2011-12/generational-road-blocks

NOW, here is what I find really ironic: The mainline denominational churches are in a time warp, stuck somewhere around 1971. They still use the same hymns and semi-liturgical (or liturgical) formats they were using forty years ago. Their hymnals and corporate prayers are probably “gender inclusive” which they were not forty years ago. (Honestly, I find that “gender inclusive” stuff in worship services DREADFUL!) The pastor at the liberal Protestant church is probably a woman. (I don’t have a problem with that. We have women pastors in the Assemblies of God.) The female pastor is probably fairly young or middle-aged, but she’s dealing with a bunch of senior citizens in church leadership who want everything just the way it was at their church when John F. Kennedy was President. The contrast is that over the past fifteen years or so there’s been a marked change in the “evangelical” and “charismatic” churches. If you go to a fairly typical “evangelical” or “charismatic” church service of today, you’ll find that the pastor is likely dressed as though he’s on his way to go mini-golfing and then out to Dairy Queen (even if it’s February). I say “he” because 90% of the time the pastor is a male and he’s probably in his late forties. He sports a goatee, and he dyes his hair and goatee. He tries very hard to be cool, and frequently uses the words “suck” and “sucks” in the midst of his preaching. The service focal point is PowerPoint on a screen. Everything is PowerPoint. People no longer flip through their Bibles. All the Scripture verses are on the PowerPoint, so in fact, fewer people bring their Bibles to church. There are no hymnals. They began disappearing around 1990 and were gone for good by 2000. Few traditional hymns are sung. In fact, the music is often rock music and LOUD. The services are likely to be long. It is not unusual to see people in the congregation sipping Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts coffee during the service. The crowd is decidedly YOUNGER than you will find at the mainline church down the street. In fact, the bulk of the people are between thirty and fifty. You’ll find some but very few people over sixty-five. Most will say they don’t like the music...that it’s too loud. The pastor is no longer called the “Senior Pastor”. He is the “Lead Pastor”. He’s likely both a salesman and administrator, but he’s “cool” and very much appeals to “Gen X-ers”.

I’m now fifty-seven years old. I was raised Roman Catholic. I received Jesus Christ as my Personal Lord and Savior in 1970 and shortly thereafter began attending Baptist and Presbyterian churches. I visited an Assemblies of God church in 1976, and within a year I was attending the AG’s Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. There is a HUGE difference between the Assemblies of God churches of the late 1970s and today. In 1977, you could walk into any Assemblies of God church in America and predict what hymns they’d be singing and what choruses they’d use. You’d be given a copy of the Pentecostal Evangel magazine. In Sunday School, pretty much every Assemblies of God church in America was using the same material. The format of a service anywhere in the U.S. was almost identical. Today, it’s SO different. The Hartford Seminary study laments the lack of “diversity” in the mainline churches, and that is a very valid point. It’s also a valid point for today’s evangelical and charismatic churches.

I don’t want to say that EVERY liberal church in America is like those that the article described, or that EVERY evangelical and charismatic church in America fits the description I’ve given. In fact, one of the many reasons I attend Bread of Life Assembly of God in Westminster, MA is that they DON’T fall into lockstep with the kind of thing I’ve written about here. At Bread of Life, we DO have announcements on PowerPoint before the service, and we occasionally have video clips during the sermon. But the pastor does NOT depend upon PowerPoint. Most of the time, the PowerPoint is not on during sermons, and I like that. Pastor Gary recently commented that he’s sort of bucking the trend of pastors “dressing down” and that he’s tending to dress up more. Honestly, I like that and I hope he will continue to be his own person and not feel he has to conform to the casual dress trend. Most of Bread of Life’s music is contemporary, but almost none of it is “blastin’ and rockin’”! It’s up-to-date and beautiful but never too loud. The nice thing is that Bread of Life draws people from a wide age spectrum. There are quite a number of folks at the church who are over sixty, and there is one woman that turned one hundred in September. Yet, there is a huge number of people in their forties and a good sized number of children and young people.

In our sphere (Pentecostals and charismatics) there’s quite a belief that if you’re not “up to date” in everything and if you don’t have predominately young people you will not grow and you will not touch your community. I visited a church in Springfield, Missouri in early 2009 that has completely disproven that stuff. Incidentally, another trend I forget to mention earlier is that today’s evangelical and Pentecostal churches are afraid to use the name “Baptist” or “Assemblies of God” in their church name. THIS church in Springfield, Missouri is less than ten years old, and it uses the name “Grace Assembly of God”. The church meets in a converted (small) food store in downtown Springfield, Missouri. It’s a neighborhood where you will find a lot of prostitutes and addicts. Yet, the people in the church come from all over the city of Springfield. The church’s co-pastor is Owen Carr who is in his late eighties but has the energy of a forty-five year old. Many of the church’s constituents ARE over sixty. This church still sings a lot of the hymns and choruses from thirty years ago. I sat next to Sam Balius, a retired Assemblies of God missionary who was in fact one of my Professors at Central Bible College.

“This is the OLD TIME AG!” Sam told me excitedly.

And it IS, but not exactly. They DO use PowerPoint, but they never over use it. The music is certainly not “loud” nor is it “rockin’”. Not EVERYONE at church is over sixty. I scanned the room where about 120 people had gathered for worship. There were several childrean and teenagers and a number of adults in their thirties and forties. Amazingly, the pastors at this church have been active in the neighborhood reaching out to prostitutes, addicts, and very needy people and have seem a number of lives totally transformed.

I don’t think Mindi would ever have imagined how that article she posted would cause me to reflect and to write this piece. I think the whole thing of churches breakinig down by demographics and lacking “diversity” IS a big mistake. I ask,”Why can’t we sing some of the old traditional hymns and some of the older choruses along with the newest stuff?” I also ask, “Why must EVERYTHING be on PowerPoint?”, AND, for my friends at the liberal mainline churches, “Why can’t you incorporate some newer music and worship styles and get a little less stiff?".

Church attendance in America IS, in fact, declining. These are matters we really need to seriously consider.

TWO FACTS OF TRIVIA I'VE JUST LEARNED

2011-12-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

"But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." (2 Timothy 2:16)

I hope this does not fall under the category of "profane and vain babblings" (I don't really think it does!) but I have learned two facts of trivia during the past few days that I want to share with you!

ONE is about the name "Marian". Of course, Marian is a woman's name. It's also the name of the Catholic high school where my wife works and from which all of my kids have graduated: Marian High School in Framingham, MA. I notice that Marian High is OFTEN misspelled as "Marion". People spell it "mariOn" and not "mariAn". At the telephone answering service where I work, I often take the names of women named "Marian". MOST of them are over fifty. Well, honestly, most "Marians" are over seventy. It was not a popular name for anyone born after 1945. Now, I have noticed that about 70% of the women spell the name "Marion" and about 30% spell it "Marian". A few days ago, I took a phone message from a very elderly woman named "Marian" and she spelled it just like the high school. I asked her, "So you spell DON'T spell it 'mariOn'?"

"Of COURSE not!" she flatly replied. Then she added, "What MOST people DON'T know is that Marion is a man's name and Marian is a woman's name. For a woman, it should always be spelled, M-A-R-I-A-N."

Maybe I was just asking for trouble, but I then honestly asked her, "Why, then, do so many women spell it Marion?"

She quickly and curtly replied,
"Because their mothers were STUPID!"

I know you may be thinking you don't know too many men named Marion. In fact, the famous T.V. evangelist Pat Robertson's REAL name is Marion Gordon Robertson.

I guess any women named Marion who read this will be upset with me, but I thought this was worth sharing.

THE SECOND fact of trivia I learned is about the control buttons inside an elevator. Are you like me? Do you tend to push the "door close" button when it doesn't seem to be closing fast enough for you. This morning I attended a class at a training center in Marlboro, MA. There's a nice guy named Dave who was in the class and who has been a fellow student in several other classes I've taken there, as well. We were together in the elevator as we left the building today. He pointed at the buttons and asked me if I knew the "door close" button is NEVER hooked up to ANYTHING in any elevator! Dave knew a guy who worked for Otis Elevator and told him that. It just makes people feel good to push the button and think they caused the door to close. In fact, it's just a trick. It's not wired. The button does absolutely nothing!

Have you learned some things today? Well, I thought these facts of trivia were pretty interesting and I thought I would share them with you!

FRENCH TOAST

2011-12-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

"And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:" (Luke 10:8)

This may seem like a very strange thing to write on the blog on Christmas Eve but today I heard someone in conversation say they can't make good French toast. I'm no gourmet cook, and probably not even all that great of a cook, but I think I make pretty good French toast. I don't know if anybody is thinking of making a nice Christmas morning breakfast, or maybe a "Boxing Day" breakfast. (For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Boxing Day is Dec. 26 and is a holiday in many countries. Its origins are that on the day after Christmas many years ago, people would box up gifts for the poor and go out and donate them.) I like French toast. I used to make it A LOT. Lately, I've been lazy and have not made it as much, but I HAVE made French toast a couple of times just in the past couple of weeks.

I'm NOT one of those "exacting" type cooks who follows a recipe. I'm more like those who throw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that. (Some other time, I will tell you about how I make meat loaf!) Anyway, for French toast you need a loaf of bread, some milk, some eggs, some maple syrup, some margarine or butter, and maybe even some vanilla extract. (I know some people like cinnamon French toast. I like cinnamon ROLLS but I'm not really fond of cinnamon French toast. I think the cinnamon tends to just overpower the meal, but that's my opinion.)

HOW much bread you'll use, and how much milk and how many eggs really depends on how many people you're cooking for. At least a half hour before you start making the French toast, take a number of slices from the loaf of bread and just lay them on a table. If the bread is just SLIGHTLY stale, it makes better French toast. Laying the bread out on a table for an hour or so will help with that. If you're making a small batch just pour a couple of cups (roughly) of milk into a bowl. Of course, if you're making a big batch, you'll want more than that. If you're making a small batch, use two eggs, for a big one use three. It's ideal to use an eggbeater to "mix up" the milk and eggs. If you don't have an eggbeater, and believe it or not, I don't, then you can use one of those wire whip things which is what I do. Just mix it up really good. A key ingredient is putting maple syrup INTO the milk and egg mix. I just give it a good squirt of maple syrup from the container.

You can make French toast on a griddle and I have done that many times. However, my favorite way to make it is to fry it in a pan or skillet on the stovetop. Try not to get the pan TOO hot, as the French toast can burn pretty easily. I put butter or margarine liberally into the pan or skillet. Yeah, you've gotta turn that stove exhaust fan on, and plan on giving the stove top and nearby counter top a good scrub down after the meal! French toast that's really DRY, well, just isn't that appetizing. It's best when it's kind of buttery and gooey. Now I don't mean SICKENINGLY gooey...and sometimes I've gotten it TOO gooey...just kind of a little gooey.

If you're worried about the French toast cooling off too fast and being kind of cold when you serve it, then put it on a plate and put that plate in the oven on low heat.
Another thing I like to do is HEAT UP a small bowl of syrup in the microwave. HOT maple syrup on the gooey French toast...well, it's a meal to die for! (Yeah, I know, if you keep eating meals like that you WILL die, but this is particularly for special occasions and not necessarily for all the time!)

Of course, bacon or sausage will add to the meal. You CAN fry that stuff in another pan. But it is just as easy to heat it up in the microwave...especially the brown and serve sausages and microwave bacon.

Well, I hope you will like my French toast and bon appetite!

INTERRUPTIONS AND INCONVENIENCES

2011-12-22T10:46:00.001-08:00

“And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” (Mark 5:22-28)

It’s unusual for me to quote more than a verse or two at the beginning of one of my blog entries, but I had to use AT LEAST this much to do the story justice. In this passage from the fifth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is asked to go and heal the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue. She is very sick and near death. In fact, by the time Jesus gets there, she IS dead, and He raises her from the dead. But I want to focus on the woman with the issue of blood. She did something many of us just can’t imagine. Right smack in the middle of Jesus being on His way to work a great miracle, she barges into the story and INTERRUPTS Him! I wonder if this really bothered Jairus. Did Jairus think, “LOOK lady; I know you’ve been sick for years and all that but my little girl is gonna DIE if we don’t get there so can ya just get outta here right now and see Jesus ANOTHER time?!”?

Had I been Jairus, that’s what I would have been thinking. In fact, I think if most people will be honest, they’ll admit that’s what they would have been thinking. It amazes me that in this story, and other times in Jesus’ ministry, He is interrupted and He is inconvenienced, and He just goes with the flow. Jesus was SO in tune with His Heavenly Father. Jesus SO walked in the LOVE of God and with love and compassion for humanity. AND with God’s purpose and will at the heart of His life. He really didn’t seen an interruption as an interruption or an inconvenience as an inconvenience. He saw all this as the plan of God and “went with it.” Jesus never became harried or flustered or rude in such situations. In this case, Jesus heals the woman with the issue of blood and ministers to her, THEN he proceeds on to Jarius’ home. Although the daughter has died and there were all kinds of nay sayers in the picture, Jesus raised the little girl from the dead.

Another such passage that always causes me to pause and think is when Jesus and His disciples learn of the beheading of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was not only Jesus’ “forerunner” and baptizer, but John was Jesus’ cousin. Jesus and His disciples were grief-stricken. They went to a remote spot on the Sea of Galilee to just rest, process the whole thing, and pretty much get away from it all. Yet, the crowds followed Jesus and the disciples there. The crowds showed up essentially saying, “Hey, here we are. We want you to minister to us!”

This was at a very difficult time for Jesus and His disciples. They were tired. They were grief-stricken. They needed to be by themselves. What would I have done in such a situation? Honestly, I would probably have “flipped out”! I would have gone out, yelled at the people, told them we were on a private retreat, told them this was not the time for ministry, and told them to go away. Jesus did not do that. Jesus was moved with compassion and with total unselfishness, ministered to them.

I don’t think I’ve ever written or even spoken about this, but early in my pastorate at Framingham, one Board member of the church told me his wife’s impression of me was that I could get very preoccupied and self absorbed and very much give off a vibe of “don’t interrupt me!”. There was not much I could say to that critique, because sadly it was true. This is an area of great weakness for me. I don’t like to be interrupted and I don’t like to be inconvenienced. Oh, listen, I have come a long way and while I’m not QUITE as bad as I used to be about interruptions and inconveniences, I still really don’t like them, and I have to admit I still don’t “totally have the victory” in this area. It’s something I’m very much ashamed of. What will be the test that I’ve come to true experiential sanctification? Probably that interruptions and inconveniences will not really bother me at all.

I have written several times about lessons I have learned while working at my job as a telephone answering service operator. Yesterday, I was reminded of another. Due to confidentiality and legality/privacy issues I have to try to keep the details general, but I took a call from a woman who had a sick child. The pediatrics office she was calling was closed. It listed another practice as covering. In fact, the information I had on my computer screen was incorrect. Was that the fault of one of these pediatric practices, of the answering service staff, or of all of the above? That really doesn't matter at this point. But it told me a certain pediatric practice which I’ll call “Joe’s Pediatrics” was covering. I called Joe’s Pediatrics and spoke to the secretary.

“Well, we’re JUST CLOSING,” the secretary said. She sounded a little annoyed. When I told her the information I had was that their practice was covering for the one the woman’s call had some in on, she disputed that but then told me she would put one of the nurses on the phone.

The nurse came on the phone with the demeanor of a state trooper who’d stopped a driver for driving at 85 M.P.H. in a school zone.

“WHO is it you have on the phone...WHO ??!!” she angrily barked.
“And WHY are you calling us?! WHAT is her problem?! WHAT ??!!
Oh, PUT HER ON!!” she yelled with complete disgust in her voice.

As soon as I’d patched the call through, I heard that same nurse try to say, “This is nurse so-in-so.” She was trying to sound nice, but she really sounded phony.
Of course, at that time, I disconnected my part of the call. (I did inform my supervisor of the discrepancy regarding who was on-call and that all got straightened out.) I couldn’t help but think that if I knew someone who moved into the geographic area where Joe’s Pediatrics is located and they asked me if that would be a good place for them to take their children for medical care, how might I advise them?

We don’t realized that we really are “on” at all times, and how we handle interruptions and inconveniences speaks VOLUMES about who and what we are.

Now, about a year ago, a very different situation took place on that answering service job. A man called an Adult Medicine practice. He was experiencing an medical problem. This was during an evening, and he needed a doctor right away. My computer told me (I’ll make up a name) Dr. Bronson was on call. I phoned Dr. Bronson. He told me, “No that’s a mistake, I’m actually not on call.” Sometimes when you call a doctor who is not on call he or she can become very angry, much like that nurse at the pediatrics practice I just wrote about. I told Dr. Bronson an error had been made and that I was very sorry for calling him. To my shock, Dr. Bronson replied calmly and pleasantly,

“We can fix that later. Right now there is a patient who needs my help. Please put the person through to me. I want to make sure I help that patient.”

THAT spoke VOLUMES to me. If someone moved into the community where Dr. Bronson is located and asked me if I knew of any good doctors there, do you think I’d have any problems recommending someone?

This is Christmastime. Some theologians call the Incarnation (that is God becoming Man at that first Christmas) “God’s great INTERRUPTION.” God certainly DID interrupt history, and God will do so again at the Second Coming of Christ, and I’m glad He did.

Do you struggle with interruptions and inconveniences as I do? If so, I hope this piece somehow speaks to you and helps you. Maybe you want to pray along with me:

“Father, God,

I am so sorry and so ashamed of the way that so often I have poorly handled interruptions and inconveniences. This is selfish behavior on my part. May I be mindful of the example of Jesus Christ. May I be mindful of Your plan. May I do Your will. Help me, Lord to be more like You. And thank you for Your Great Interruption with the birth of Your Only Begotten Son.

In Jesus Name, AMEN”.

ANOTHER OF EUGENE A. BARIL'S RULES

2011-12-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

"A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke." (Proverbs 13:1)

I guess it was about ten years ago that there was that dating book for females entitled, "The Rules". Well, my father had rules; and I suppose you could also call them principles or policies or even convictions. I have written about my father, Eugene A. "Gene" Baril several times on the blog. My Dad was a complicated guy; authoritarian, yet hysterically funny. He was also strict, yet sometimes surprisingly merciful. He was very politically conservative, yet he came to strongly oppose the Vietnam War and voted for George McGovern. Dad was definitely his own person. During the sideburns craze of the early 1970s, he refused to grow them.

"I'm not one of the sheep," he declared about it.

Sometimes I think I should write a book of my father's rules. Honestly, if done correctly, it would be one of those "reads" that would be kind of interesting to a lot of people. It would not be some great work of prose like "War and Peace". Rather, it would be the kind of thing you'd enjoy leafing through in the bathroom.

Today as I saw a young man at a supermarket struggling to push a large cluster of shopping carts (or "carriages" as they're usually called in New England) I thought of another of his rules that I usually DO follow. Dad did 95% of the grocery shopping in the family. Unlike most fathers of his generation, he believed grocery shopping was the MAN'S job and his rule was that he ALWAYS wheeled his shopping cart back into the store when he was done. Dad considered it very lazy and irresponsible to just leave your shopping cart in the parking lot. Now, those "outdoor corrals" of carts that we see today were NOT so popular in the pre-1980 days, but I don't think he'd have thought much of them. You wheeled your cart back into the store; OR if you saw a shopper arrive and get out of their car when you'd just finished up with yours, you offered it to that person. The only time I have ever deviated from my father's rule is when I had very young children. If you've got a two-year-old with you, it can be a pain in the neck to wheel the cart all the way back and then bring your kid back to the car. Otherwise, I always follow my father's rule. And, certainly he'd apply it to DEPARTMENT stores as well as grocery stores.

At this busy shopping season, I don't think following Dad's shopping cart rule would be a bad idea! After all, it's one of those, "random acts of kindness" we often hear we should be doing.

WHAT IS THE MOST COMMON "OFF HOURS" CALL?

2011-12-13T06:53:00.000-08:00

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." (Proverbs 17:22)

I've written a couple of other times about things I've learned on my job as a telephone answering service operator that I never knew before. I've been surprised at what the most common issue is on calls we get "off hours"- that is, on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and evenings - times when most of the regular doctors' offices are closed. Some of my fellow operators may disagree with me, but I'd say the most common call is, "My prescription is not at the pharmacy"; often it's, "My child's prescription is not at the pharmacy". If I had a $5 bill for every time I got one of those calls, I'd have a LOT of money. I never would have dreamed how COMMON this problem is.

The thing I get a chuckle out of are the callers who call regarding this issue who sound shocked and very upset; as though they are the one person in a MILLION whose prescription was actually NOT at the pharmacy as they expected. In fact, it's SUCH a common problem, I'd say it's EPIDEMIC! I'm no inventor, and I'm not at all "technical". If I were, I'd try to figure out a way to minimize this problem. Listen, if some inventor DOES figure that out, he or she will become a multi-millionaire.

You'd think with the fact that the overwhelming number of prescriptions are FAXed to pharmacies or phoned to them (rather than the old fashioned way of the doctor writing a prescription out that no one can read) that things would have gotten much better, but that's not at all the case. (Now, some doctors still DO hand write out their prescriptions, but very few still do that.) Matters can get really dicey and somewhat comical when pharmacies and doctors get into kind of a war of trying to blame each other about why the prescription was not there. I can't name any names, but there's one particularly nice male doctor we answer for. One of my coworkers called him to inform him a patient had phoned to say he never called in the prescription to the pharmacy. My coworker was shocked that the doctor let some choice language fly about that! Pharmacies say the prescription was never received, and doctors insist they sent it. But, alas, many seem to end up in "never never land". And, many times the prescription COMES but its details are WRONG in one way or another. I take two prescription meds, myself, and I've had that experience.

One of my own doctors told me that pharmacies messing up the prescriptions is amazingly common. Well, he was a doctor, so he blames the pharmacies. But it goes the other way, too.

Now, it's actually GOOD for our answering service. For, the more prescriptions that are not at the pharmacies and the more prescriptions that are incorrect, well, the more calls and messages we take, and that's good for us! But, it really isn't good for medical care. I wonder why this problem is SO common and what can be done to fix it?!

A FEW MINUTES FOR MARTIN

2011-12-08T10:17:00.001-08:00

“Render therefore to all their dues:... honour to whom honour.” (from Romans 13:7)

“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” (Romans 12:15)

At this Christmas season, I am hoping that you have a few minutes for Martin.

If you’re on Facebook, you can view Martin’s facebook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/people/Wade-Martin-Hughes/1413480430

I have never met Wade Martin Hughes in person (to his friends, he’s “Martin”) but we have spoken over the phone several times and have exchanged a number of e-mails.

Several years ago, Martin organized a Christmastime project to encourage a disabled young woman he knew in California. It meant the world to this simple woman to receive Christmas cards. SO, Martin put a request out on-line. He e-mailed her U.S. mail street address, and asked if each of us would mail her a Christmas card, and that we’d encourage others to send her a Christmas card, too. I sent out a Christmas card to the woman and at my encouragement, so did several other folks. She got a LOT of cards, and it absolutely thrilled her. That simple person has since passed away, but kindhearted Martin made sure she had a Happy Christmas that year.

I thought about that last night.

Martin and his wife Linda are now facing the greatest time of crises of their entire lives. Most of what they’re dealing with is deeply personal and cannot be spoken about or written about. Martin HAS shared the details with several good friends, including me. One issue is that he’s had a very serious health problem this month. But that pales into insignificance in comparison to other challenges Martin and Linda are facing. Martin is the pastor of a small church in rural Kentucky: Faith Assembly of God in Smiths Grove, just outside the city of Bowling Green. He is also a “Presbyter”. In the Assemblies of God, a Presbyter is like an “area minister” in Baptist denominations. The position could even be called “bishop” in some churches. It means Martin oversees all of the other Assemblies of God churches in the area, offering counsel to the pastors and support to the pastors and church boards during difficult times. In addition, Martin has touched countless lives with the sermons he posts on-line and the CDs that he mails out. I have several of Martin’s sermon CDs. His preaching and ministry of God’s Word is ANOINTED and very helpful. His sermon, “Pour Yourself Into Others” honestly should be listened to by every Christian in America. Martin is also a great guitar player and a good singer. But I don’t want to give you the wrong idea about Martin. Martin is a VERY humble and ordinary guy. He’s much more comfortable wielding a chain saw or running a snow blower than he is prancing around in clerical garb. During some difficult times in MY life, Martin has spent HOURS in prayer for me. The pastors and churches in his area are SO blessed that he is their Presbyter.

Well, Martin got that idea of sending encouraging Christmas cards to that disabled lady, and this year I’ve got the idea to send encouraging Christmas cards to Martin and his wife Linda. Today, I picked up a very nice Christmas card at a drugstore, and I wrote Martin and Linda a few encouraging words, and signed it from my wife and me. I also taped a dollar bill inside the card and wrote, “For all you do, this buck’s for you!!”

I am praying for Martin. That’s what he needs MOST of all.

I’m encouraging you to PRAY for Martin, but I’m also encouraging you to send Martin and Linda Hughes an encouraging Christmas card. If you want to throw a buck in there like I did, that would sure be nice, but the most important thing is to send an encouraging card and pray for them.

CAN I COUNT ON YOU TO DO THIS...TO GIVE A FEW MINUTES FOR MARTIN?

Please address your cards to:

Rev. & Mrs. Martin Hughes
Faith Assembly of God
P.O. Box 331
Smiths Grove, KY 42171

I did not want to give out Martin’s home address, so the cards are going to the church he pastors. I marked the envelope I sent “PERSONAL” just so it would not be confused with regular church business. You may want to do the same.

Please sent the link to my blog to others you know!

STUFFING AND A CAR

2011-12-01T07:16:00.000-08:00

"And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:" (Luke 10:8)

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, today, December 1, 2011, would have been my father's 89th birthday...not his 90th as I had mistakenly thought. Last week, Boston radio talk show host Doug Meehan had people calling in with their favorite turkey recipes and favorite parts of the Thanksgiving meal. After many calls, a gentleman caller came on and said he was surprised no one had yet called about "French meat stuffing".

"French meat stuffing?!" Meehan asked, and commented that he'd never heard of it.

Well, actually it's French CANADIAN meat stuffing. I have absolutely heard of it because my father prepared it each year for Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey dinners. It was his mother's recipe. The meat stuffing is very common in homes of French heritage in Quebec. In fact, it's not only used to stuff turkeys, but is also often baked into meat pies. The meat pie is the traditional New Year's Day meal of the French Canadian family.

There are ALL SORTS of variations on French Canadian meat stuffing, but just about however you make it, it is delicious. My father actually had an electric meat grinder, and would "re-grind" the already "ground beef" and sausage meat. Of course, you don't HAVE to do that! It all depends on how much you want to make, but I'd say you've got to get at least two pounds of ground beef. You also need to buy some of that sausage meat that's sold in the refrigerated section in those packages wrapped in plastic wrap. You know, like "Jimmy Dean's pure pork sausage"...stuff like that. You've got to use at least one of those packages. DON'T buy Italian hot sausage or anything like that. I also don't recommend spicy barbecue or even smoked. Just get mild pork sausage meat. My father liked to use Pepperidge Farm stuffing. It doesn't HAVE to be Pepperidge Farm. You can use Stove Top or some other brand. You mix up in a big bowl the ground beef, the sausage meat, and the stuffing mix. My parents also usually added cut up celery pieces. I THINK you can use onion, too, although I'd prefer it without onion. AND, you can make up a small batch of mashed potatoes and mix in some mashed potatoes with it. My parents used to like to do that. But IF you do use the mashed potatoes, don't "go crazy" with them. A little goes a long way. Otherwise, too much mashed potatoes can make it too bland and not meaty enough. ALSO, my father also always added Bells Seasoning to give it more of that "stuffing flavor". I'll tell you what, if you make meat stuffing like that even once, you'll never want to go back to "regular bread stuffing".

Now, to cars, my father owned all sorts of cars during his life. Today, I'm talking about the Volkswagens. He loved Volkswagens and owned a bunch of them. I think his first was a blue 1963. He owned a tan 1966. He owned a red 1968. He owned a light blue 1970 automatic transmission Beetle, which he hated. (Dad was a big stick shift guy!) Then he owned an orange standard shift 1974 Super Beetle for many years. My kids remember that from when they were very little. Ever see those Disney "Herbie" movies. It was his "Herbie" car!

In October of 1989, he bought a brand new 1989 blue 2-door Volkswagen Rabbit. It was an automatic, because my Mom insisted on that, and he gave in. After each of my parents died in the summer of 2000, I inherited that car. I drove it until February of 2010. At that point there was SO much wrong with it that I took it off the road. I sold it to a young man who is really "into" Volkswagens...fixing them up, restoring them, etc. He picked it up with a big flatbed truck and has big plans for it.

I never saw the car around after that, and I have sometimes wondered what happened to it. It's ironic then that TODAY on my father's birthday I saw what appeared to be that Volkswagen (or one just like it) on Route 20 in the Grafton area heading east. I saw the same car again on Route 9 east in the Westboro area. Was it THAT car? I don't know but I know my Dad would have gotten a kick out of seeing it!

OOPS! IS IT 89 OR 90?!

2011-11-30T06:24:00.000-08:00

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away" (Psalm 90:10)

The above verse about a typical human's lifespan being seventy or eighty years comes from Psalm 90. No, in the title, I don't mean I was confused about whether the verse is from Psalm 89 or 90. I feel like I've had some Rick Perry moments lately (if you're not somebody who follows politics you probably will not know what I am talking about). I've been telling all sorts of people that tomorrow, December 1, would have been my father's 90th birthday. I was totally convinced of this. I think it's largely because I have 2012 on the brain. We have all this medial coverage about the 2012 New Hampshire Primary that's coming up in just about five weeks. We have all the promotions about 2012 cars, and high school seniors are in the Class of 2012. SO, since my father was born in 1922, I kept thinking he would be 90 this week. A couple of days ago, it HIT me that since this is 1922 he would actually be 89! My father was a character. He was a very complicated guy. He was very authoritarian and very opinionated but also could be hysterically funny and have a great sense of humor.

My father was very mechanically inclined and pretty technically inclined. He was pretty good at math. I was TERRIBLE at Math. TERRIBLE! I actually went to summer school in 1969 because I failed Math in my Freshman high school year. In elementary school, I just couldn't "get" arithmetic. I can remember night after night my father standing over me at the kitchen table, making me do arithmetic exercises, and very sternly correcting my errors. Last night, I balanced the checkbook. Every time I do that, I can "hear" him in my head yelling about the correct way to add and subtract! So I guess about me saying he would be 90, he'd be saying, "So, you STILL didn't get addition right!"

(And he'd be correct!!)

I hope to jump on the computer sometime in the next couple of days, and write something of interest about my father. This one won't be about his law enforcement career or about him being a pilot or any of that stuff. I actually hope to write about his French Canadian stuffing that he made every Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you've never had French Canadian meat stuffing, it's a real TREAT! So watch the blog over the next few days, and when I get a chance I'll post that!

MONEY GIVEAWAY - WHAT HAPPENED

2011-11-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

“And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.” (Luke 19:20-24)

It took place nineteen years ago- in late 1992.

I hadn’t thought about it for a long, long, time.

Until this week. I was driving along the MassPike and all of a sudden it all came back to me, as vividly as if I were reliving the events of the autumn of 1992. And, it’s caused me to do a lot of thinking and reviewing and reflecting. And wondering. Wondering what would have happened if things had been different.

There is one big reason why I hesitated in putting this story forth, and I want to deal with that here at the outset. It COULD be badly misinterpreted by some people and COULD be used to try to put former Assemblies of God Southern New England District Superintendent in a bad light or to in some way subject him to harsh criticism. That is the furthest thing from my mind as I write this. “Brother Berkey” as we called him is now retired, and I assume happily. He is an amazing man. Ed Berkey led our District out of a very difficult fiscal situation. He is a very gifted leader and a wise man. He is an insightful man and a warmhearted man. There were several times that I sat in Brother Berkey’s office during his tenure; times when I went there for counsel and advice. He always had time for me, listened to me, prayed for and with me, and loved me. I have only positive feelings and thoughts about him.

Now, back to the story and to 1992. Little First Assembly of God of Framingham’s church building had been a cute but old and tiny white church building on a small lot at the corner of Hartford and C Streets in Framingham for over sixty years. In late 1988 the facility was PACKED. At that time, it only seated fifty-five, and for Sunday after Sunday it was packed. To make a very long story short, our congregation sold that property, and began renting office space in a modern professional building on Route 9 to use as my office and the church’s office, and we began holding Sunday services in a school. It was a lot of work setting up and breaking down every Sunday morning, but prior to the purchase of the 32 South Street former UAW building in 1994, we did that for several years.

In ‘92 the church had two high-interest-yielding savings accounts as well as the regular checking account. We literally never touched ONE of those accounts. Well, not until 1994 when we used its contents as the down payment on the UAW building. The other was being drained week by week. Now, there was a LOT of money in it at that time...I’d say at least $60,000; but it was being drained as our income was not matching our expenses. Everybody was comfortable with these arrangements. I was conformable with these arrangements. Well, too comfortable. Somewhere around Labor Day, I sensed God really challenging me about that money and our somewhat poor stewardship of it. The thought actually came to me several times that we’d be better off taking a giant step of faith and donating tens of thousands of dollars of that to missionaries and other ministries; then believing God to honor and bless that. I didn’t tell anybody about these feelings, but they grew stronger and stronger with each passing day.

Each October, the Southern New England District (now called the Southern New England Ministry Network) has a Ministers’ Retreat. In those days, it was called “Ministers’ Institute”. I never dreamed what would happen in my life at that Fall’s Minister’s Institute. I honestly forget who the guest speaker was that year. Well, he was from the deep South, but I do not remember much else about him. But he gave one very powerful sermon about stepping out in faith and doing something very difficult. I went to the altar after that sermon, got on my knees, and soberly thought and prayed and “listened”. After I got back on my feet that morning, I knew what I was going to do. I was going to publicly propose to the church body that we give away $50,000. of that money to missionaries and other ministries. To be more accurate, I actually was proposing giving away $40,000. and making an investment in a new, big step for our church “in house”.

I now know, I made a huge mistake at that time. I never shared anything about this with my Board or ANYONE. Please don’t get me wrong. My Board overwhelmingly favored my proposal when I presented it. But it was very unfair to them. Ironically, at another Assemblies of God function for ministers, the speaker told us to “never surprise your Board” with something you propose to the church you pastor. I never did that again, but I strongly wish I had brought this proposal to my Board first. At this time, I was still using an electronic typewriter and photocopier. No computer yet! So, I typed up my proposal and ran off copies. I presented it to the church on a Sunday morning.

I was greatly elated when right after that service, Jan Connell, a prominent Member of the church and a Deacon’s wife came up to me with a HUGH smile on her face, looked me right in the eye, and enthusiastically said “YES!!” I received several other very positive comments about my pretty radical proposal, and several somewhat cooler comments of “We’ll have to pray about it”. That was not a problem. The proposal ended with my admonition for us all to take three weeks and pray about it, and then we’d have a Special Business Meeting and vote on the proposal.

Just a few days later, my office phone rang. It was Ed Berkey from the District Office.

“I understand you want to GIVE AWAY THE CHURCH’S ASSETS,” he said with an obviously disturbed tone in his voice, then added, “and as your Superintendent I’m asking you to NOT DO THIS.”

I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. Very nervously, I told him I really believed God wanted this done and that he had now put me in a very difficult predicament.

“You’ll SPLIT that church,” Brother Berkey added, “That is not your money. It’s the money people sowed into that church over many years. It’s their money and it’s not yours to give away.”

I sat sad and stunned in my office for one hour.
What could I do? What should I do? Could I thumb my nose at the Superintendent and just proceed anyway? I concluded I just couldn’t do that.
I phoned Brother Berkey back and told him I could withdraw the proposal and submit to his authority.

To my surprise, I was called in to meet with the highest level leaders of the Southern New England District on December 2, 1992. It was scary. This was a genuine experience of being “called in on the carpet”. They were all very gracious, but each in their own way cautioned me that I must never do anything like that again.

I did learn in that meeting that one Member of our church had seen Brother Berkey at a special function at another church shortly after I had given my proposal. The Member had given Brother Berkey a copy of my handout, and had expressed disdain for what I was proposing. Ironically, over the next few weeks, many, many people came to me saying they’d have absolutely voted for the money giveaway. Like me, they did not REALLY view it as a “giveaway”. Rather, they saw it as a great step of faith and an investment in ministry.

I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if we’d have been able to donate those tens of thousands as we’d planned to. WOULD our church have ultimately declined and closed? Would we have forged relationships with other churches and ministries which would have served to enhance the work of the Kingdom of God? Would we have even reaped some great unexpected blessings?

I’ve already stated my regret about not presenting this to my Board FIRST. Maybe if I’d have done that and a Board member or two had presented it to the Body as OUR idea rather than my idea, things would have been different. And, what if that person HADN’T gone to Ed Berkey? He would not have learned about the giveaway until after the fact. I could have said, “Sorry I won’t do it AGAIN,” but the step of faith would still have been done. And, maybe Ed Berkey should have just left it alone, or have cautioned me about it, but not have actually told em not to do it.

I’d love to know what would have happened, but alas, it’s all speculation.

I welcome your thoughts and feedback about this piece.

PLYMOUTH

2011-11-22T06:56:00.000-08:00

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

At this time of the year, Americans think of Thanksgiving Day: turkey dinners, football, parades, and the official beginning of the Christmas seasons. Historically minded people like me (especially here in Massachusetts) think of Plymouth, which is known as "America's Hometown"- the place there (supposedly) the first Thanksgiving Day celebration took place with Indians ("Native Americans") and Pilgrims present in 1627.
Thanksgiving means a lot of things to a lot of people. For committed Christians and other Believers, it is a time to thank God for His faithfulness and provision.

This morning, I found myself thinking of a Plymouth provision in my life that happened many years ago. This Plymouth was not a town, however, but a Plymouth automobile. In 1988, Mary Ann and I shared one car. In fact for quite a few years we were a one car family. In June of 1988 as we were about to leave for a week's vacation on Cape Cod, we had car trouble with our 1982 AMC Concord station wagon, and so it looked as though we weren't even going to get out of the driveway, let alone from Framingham to South Dennis. At that time, I was having all sorts of problems with the AMC wagon. It leaked oil like no car I have owned before or since. Our driveway was one huge oil slick. As fast as I could pour the oil in, it poured out. The car had numerous vacuum leaks which would cause it to stall out at inopportune times. And, the car had serious carburetor problems. THAT morning, it was the carburetor that was preventing us from leaving. My mechanic friend Bill had to come over, pull the carburetor out and clean it before we could leave.

During the drive to the Cape one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me took place. I heard a voice. It was NOT an audible voice, but it might as well have been. I want to say it was "inside my head" but really it was "in my spirit". It was as real as "If you build it, he will come." This voice (which I believe was God) told me that I would drive this car onto the Cape, but that I would leave this car on Cape Cod and drive off one week later in a different and much better car. I could not understand how this could be. I really couldn't afford a better car. I had no intention of going to car lots and looking at cars. I just did not want to buy a car on vacation. HOW could this be?! I did not tell my wife, as it just seemed so crazy.

On Thursday of the coming week, our family had stopped to tour the Sandwich Fish Hatchery. As we were walking around, I looked and there was Tom Wagers and his daughter. They'd just arrived. Tom Wagers is a fellow Assemblies of God minister. At that time, he was a part time Associate Pastor on Cape Cod and he worked as a salesman at Cape Cod Chrysler-Plymouth. I had no idea what Tom Wagers was doing there. He later told me he'd been to the Sandwich Fish Hatchery before and that he'd had no plans to go there that day. Tom heard a similar "voice" to mine that "told" him to pull into the Sandwich Fish Hatchery and start walking around. Tom walked right up to me and asked, "Do you want to buy a car?"

I nervously answered, "Well, in the flesh, no; but in the Spirit, maybe!" Tom asked me to come to Cape Cod Chrysler-Plymouth on Friday morning. The next morning, our whole family showed up at the dealership. Tom showed us a 1986 Plymouth Caravelle sedan with just over 30,000 miles on it. We took it for a test drive. He started talking prices, and so forth. To make a long story short, we traded the 1982 AMC and purchased the Plymouth. I signed up for a five and a half year loan. In many respects I did not know how I was ever going to pay for the car. As had been prophesied to me, I drove off Cape Cod on the next day in that 1986 Plymouth Caravelle.

The Plymouth was a nice car but it was not perfect. It was the first car I'd ever owned which was equipped with air conditioning and I loved that! I will say, the car had brake problems all the time I owned it. I put several sets of brakes on the car. The brakes were really never quite right. There were ups and downs like you have with any car. Thank God, in 1993 we were able to buy a 1993 Ford Taurus which became exclusively Mary Ann's car and the Plymouth remained my car. I paid off the Plymouth. I made every one of those payments, as God provided! In 1995, I literally junked the Plymouth. It was hauled off to a junkyard.

This Thanksgiving, I remember that Plymouth provision. At a time in my life when there are many difficulties, many challenges, and some discouragements, I remember what God did in the past, and I trust that God can do the same and even more again!

HACKED

2011-11-20T11:03:00.000-08:00

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." (2 Timothy 3:13)

Many of us have watched Matthew Broderick in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" more than once. Ferris is kind of like the guy in the Biblical Parable of the Unjust Steward when he hacks into the school computer and changes his absence record from 9 times to 2. Yes, it's funny in that setting, but when your own personal e-mail account gets hacked, it's not all that funny. My own AOL account was hacked into just a few days ago. Somebody sent out links to a site promoting Viagara to to everyone on my contact list. There are probably over three hundred on my complete contact list. I heard that while most folks on my contact list received one of these promos for Viagara, a few received three or more of the spam e-mails.

I learned of this while I was driving home on the MassPike a few evenings ago. A friend called me and said he'd just received a spam e-mail from my account. I told him I couldn't have sent it because I hadn't been on-line for over two hours and that someone had obviously hacked into my account. At first, I thought maybe someone had just sent out a FEW of these things. Not so. Next morning when I signed on AOL at the Framingham Public Library, there were a number of "undeliverable" e-mails which had gone to people whose accounts no longer exist. There were also a number of e-mails from confused friends wondering why they received a spam link from "me". In fact, whoever hacked my account was only a semi-professional. I'll tell you why. The really sophisticated hackers and spammers hack into one person's account to use their screen name to SEND spam e-mails; then they send them to all the contacts of someone else's account that they've hacked into. In THIS way, the victim likely doesn't even know his or her account was hacked into. I WILL say, sometimes I have received a spam e-mail from my own e-mail address. When that happens, it means someone likely hacked into my account then sent a bunch of spam to someone ELSE'S contacts. In THIS case, the person sent them to MY contacts, so it was pretty obvious what happened.

Literally anybody's account can be hacked into and used to send spam, but some accounts are much more likely to be hacked into than others. If you have not changed your password for awhile, you are more likely to be hacked. (I hadn't.) If you go to a lot of websites, your screen name is "out there" in cyberspace and more likely to be hacked. This is true even if you do a Google search or Yahoo search. If you forward a lot of mass e-mails, you are also more likely to be hacked, and as you know, I do. However, people who DON'T do internet searches, don't go on websites, change their passwords, etc. still get hacked. It's not foolproof.

I had an interesting time changing my password. I've had AOL since 1996. In the past when I wanted to change my password, I just went into the AOL software on our home iMac computer and just changed it. It was easy. Now, I go on AOL through their website. When I tried to change my password through the website I had a hard time. I had to answer a security question which I passed. I then had to enter my first and last name. (You DON'T have to do that on actual AOL software; only on the website.) I entered Robert Baril and Bob Baril and Rev. Bob Baril and Rev. Robert Baril and other combinations. NOTHING worked. It kept saying I was NOT the account holder and that was NOT my name. Finally, it said that I had one more try and then my account would be suspended! I went to my daughter's apartment in Framingham and went on what USED to be our old home iMac computer. I then went on the AOL software and changed my password. BUT, when I then went on the AOL website, it STILL wanted my first and last name even with my new screen name AND IT SUSPENDED MY ACCOUNT! It's a good thing I did not have a heart attack!

I got the number of AOL customer service, and was put on hold for fifteen minutes. Finally, I got a young woman in India...well, where else?! I explained my whole problem. She told me what my actual first and last name are on the account. I learned there is a certain WAY you have to enter your names or it won't work. I had to pick still ANOTHER new password. In fact, I have two AOL accounts, my own and the one that used to be First Assembly of God of Framingham's. I changed the passwords on both. It felt good to then go on the web and find out the AOL worked fine again. I know now I will have to frequently change my passwords. I also learned that if you receive an e-mail from someone you know, but it shows NO SUBJECT and when you open it ALL it contains is a URL address link and nothing else, it's spam and DON"T open it.

One friend asked, "why do these things happen to good people?!" and another answered "sin!" Yup, it's due to sinful man (and woman!). You can't avoid this stuff. I know some people will say, "I'll NEVER forward an e-mail again!" or "I'll NEVER go on a website again!" Can I say (bluntly) that's stupid!? If someone stole and trashed your automobile, would you stop driving?! Of course not!

The internet is a wonderful tool. The revolution in Egypt this year has been credited to one person who began posting on Facebook. Honestly, there's a lot of junk and drivel sent out as mass e-mailings and I've sent a lot of dumb stuff, myself, BUT every once in awhile there's that rare e-mail piece that's powerfully anointed of the Lord and can be used to powerfully minister to thousands and even millions and CHANGE LIVES. So, don't be so quick to NOT use the internet as a powerful tool for the Lord.

And, since Jesus said to pray for those who do harm to you and persecute you: "Lord, please bring that hacker to his or her knees, and please bring that person to true salvation." Amen.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

2011-11-15T12:11:00.000-08:00

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” (Ephesians 4:11)

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31)

Recently, Janis Collette (the wife of Senior Pastor Gary Collette at Bread of Life Church in Westminster) preached an outstanding sermon about getting rid of the “boxes” in our lives. Janis is an Ordained minister in her own right. The sermon was powerful and really got me thinking. This past Sunday, the Lord put a strong impression on my heart during the praise and worship (music) time. I think the impression was the answer to what I’d been trying to figure out about my life and ministry, especially since Janis’ “Boxes” sermon. My friend D.C.M. tells me to not put things on the blog that are “nobody’s business”. And certainly there are SOME things I shouldn’t write here. Maybe D.C.M. won’t like this one, but I don’t feel bad about sharing it. I’ve found that sometimes being an “open book” has been a tremendous encouragement to others, especially some who were greatly struggling and felt like misfits. God made some of us to be just a little bit “different”. And- thank God! So often, it’s these folks who “march to the beat of a different drummer” who make a tremendous impact on the world that no one else could have made.

There ARE some very personal things I’m NOT going to tell you (regarding what’s been happening in my life and ministry over the past two to three years), But I will say, since the church I pastored closed in March 2010, and since I haven’t served in any Pastorate or Associate Pastorate since then, I’ve wondered WHAT my place is...WHERE I FIT. The late Larry Glick used to ask callers to his Boston radio show, “What’s your FUNCTION?” My wife and I have become Members at Bread of Life Church . Even though the church is fifty miles northwest of where we live, the fit is right. I enjoy Bread of Life, but one thing that’s weird for me is that many people in the church call me “Pastor”. I know they're trying to be respectful, and I don’t stop them. But, I’m not their Pastor or Associate Pastor. At Bread of Life, I should be “Bob”. I’m their brother in Christ.

Even so, my identity was “Pastor Bob Baril” for many years, and I admit, I’ve missed that identity. Now, back to “thinking outside the box” and all I started writing about. I still feel VERY much called to preach and to teach and even to evangelize. I will say that a guy recently told me that in my life long-term it was likely the only person who would listen to me when I preached is the Devil! That deeply troubled me, but I prayed about it, and I decided to follow the advice of an old friend and, “take the meat and leave the bones”. I understand that guy’s comment was in the “bones” category. God has blessed me with the Gift of Teaching and with the talent of public speaking. God uses me to make complicated matters simple and understandable; and to sometimes say very “heavy” things in a lighthearted manner (and people DO “get the meaning” of them). I may or may not ever be in the position of Pastor or Assistant Pastor again. I may or may not always be a formally credentialled minister. Yet I am NOT going to neglect or bury the Gift and talent God has bestowed upon me.

It IS difficult when the conventional church roles and titles don’t seem to fit anymore- and may never fit. I think of a very famous Christian; a FAR greater Christian than I’ll ever be, who was in a similar predicament. I am referring to the late Corrie Ten Boom. She and her family hid Jews in Haarlem, Holland during World War 2, and helped many escape. The rest of her family died in the concentration camps, but she was released from Ravensbruck after a horrific time as an inmate there. Corrie traveled for the remainder of her life. She spoke, she preached, she taught, and she wrote during the three decades following the war. Corrie just didn’t fit into the role of “pastor”, “evangelist”, “prophet”, “teacher”, or “apostle”. How did SHE handle that? She gave herself a title: “Tramp For the Lord”! I know “tramp” has a dirty connotation to many of us, but she used it more like the terms “hobo” or “vagabond”. She traipsed around the world with her suitcase, wore out quite a few pairs of shoes, and ministered for the Lord.

Now, don’t panic! I’m NOT going to call myself, “Tramp For the Lord”! But unless and until I ever become a Pastor, an Associate Pastor, or a full-time Evangelist, I’m going to call myself: “Bob Baril; Sales Rep. and Service Rep. for the Lord Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God”. (Well, “Sales Rep. and Service Rep.” for short!) I’m serious. No matter what secular jobs I have or where I find myself, I know I’m Bob Baril; Sales Rep. and Service Rep. It will actually be a great conversation starter. A lot of traditionalists absolutely will NOT understand it, but that’s who and what I am, and who and what I will be. This coming Sunday, I have a preaching engagement at a church in MetroWest and I’m looking forward to that. If any other church would like to invite me to speak, please e-mail me (the address is on the info. section of the blog).

Thanks Bread of Life Church for your services where I’ve been able to process this matter. Thanks to my family and friends for their support. And, most of all, thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ who in His grace and mercy called me to His service.

BILLY McCULLEY'S IN HEAVEN

2011-11-11T08:51:00.001-08:00

“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:39-40)

Most of his friends and peers called him “Bill”. His legal name was “William” and he used “William” in his e-mail address. To me, he was always “Billy”. I received a shocking call on my cell phone yesterday in the late afternoon. I was on the MassPike about halfway between Framingham and the Route 395 Exit. My friend Rob Woods, pastor of the Assemblies of God church in Marlboro was calling and he informed me that Billy McCulley had died.

It seems fitting that I’m posting this on my blog because Billy McCulley was a regular reader of “The Blog of Bob Baril”. He had posted a number of comments on the blog over the past few years. We also occasionally exchanged e-mails. I remember that when First Assembly of God of Framingham was closed I received a very encouraging e-mail from Billy (loaded with Biblical exhortations) in which he said he’d always consider me “Pastor Bob”. It is also fitting that I’m writing this on November 11 because Billy was a Veteran and a very patriotic American.

I want to tell you about Billy McCulley here. Much of what I’m writing about him will seem exaggerated and hyperbolic. It isn’t. It’s true that when people die we tend to give glowing eulogies about them. We “canonize” them and many times we make ordinary slobs into magnificent and Godly people. Well, in THIS case, there’s no need to make anything up. Billy McCulley was in his early forties. He was one of the most Godly people I have ever known. If I were speaking at Billy’s funeral, I would describe him as: gracious, Godly, wise, serene, and intelligent. Now, I know some would hear these descriptions and picture some pious little wimp. But THAT wasn’t Billy! Billy was pretty soft spoken, but he was very masculine and strong. He served in the military proudly and as humble and soft spoken as he was, I suspect he could have decked an opponent with one punch to the jaw if he had to.

Our family met the McCulleys when we came to pastor the church in Framingham in 1987. The McCulleys were one of those kind of families that just stood out among others. They had been active in the Framingham church since 1967 and when we arrived they were the longest term family in the church. Jim, the Dad was in his mid-sixties. This was Jim’s second marriage and second family. The kids from his first marriage were well into their thirties by this time. Jim was highly intelligent, very bald, and an engineer at Raytheon. Jim McCulley was one of the developers of the Patriot missile. Jim’s wife Anneli was (and is) quite a character. Anneli (pronounced AnnaLee) is originally from Finland. She came to America by way of England and Canada, and has a strong accent which is a mixture of Finnish and British. She’s a lovely person, but can be very difficult to understand. When she senses a person is having trouble understanding her she speaks louder and higher. It can be quite comical. The McCulleys had three boys. In 1987, Conrad the oldest was around seventeen. Conrad is highly intelligent and very blunt. He’s the type that will have no qualms about asking you sort of a challenging and embarrassing question. The youngest kid, Matt, was probably around eleven in ‘87. Matt was the best looking and “coolest” of the McCulley boys. Years later, he went on to Purdue University and a distinguished career in the Army.

Billy was a very wonderful young man. At sixteen he was regularly visiting my office to borrow Commentaries and ask me theological and Biblical questions. Unlike his brother Conrad, Billy wasn’t so much interested in intellectual gymnastics as he was interested in really knowing God and getting close to Him. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more Godly teenager with such a hunger for the Lord. Billy applied for and was accepted at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. We were all SO proud of him! During his years at Annapolis, he faithfully attended an Assemblies of God church there, sort of being “adopted” by that pastor and his family as an honorary family member. Billy became an Officer after graduation. . .I forget if he went into the Navy or the Marines, but as I recall, it was the Marines.

I haven’t even mentioned that Billy liked to sing and play guitar. And, he had studied some Finnish. Billy never lived back in Massachusetts again, but he came to visit a lot. Whenever he was home, he came to church and would also just drop by the parsonage to visit. Billy married quite some years ago and settled in Texas.
He and his wife have several children. I think the last time I saw him was two years ago. He had taken vacation time and had come up to do some some work on the family’s Marlboro residence where his Mom now resided as a widow. Billy had been diagnosed with cancer sometime before that, and a tumor was removed. He visited with us and told us he was regularly having medical checkups and was cancer free and feeling well and doing quite well.

Several times this year, Billy posted some great comments on my blog, and once in awhile we’d exchange e-mails. What I did not realize is that the cancer had come back with a vengeance and that a few weeks ago he was given six weeks to live. I am sad that he did not tell me. But, Billy was like that. He was very selfless. Those who know me well know that I tend to be quite sensational and dramatic. If I were given six weeks to live, I’d probably tell EVERYBODY. I would want people praying for me, but I’d also want to say my “good-byes”. That’s me. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I like attention. Billy DIDN’T. The last thing he’d have wanted to do is burden me with his situation. I know he loved, respected, and cared about me. Billy’s the type who would have thought, “The last thing I want to do is dump this on Pastor Bob. He has enough of his own problems.”

I wish he had. I wish he’d told me. I wish I could have prayed for him and with him. I wish, in my own way, I could have told him “good-bye”. I wish I could have told him how much his prayers and support encouraged me; how much his affirmation of me at the time of the church’s closing meant to me. I wish I could have told him I was very proud of him.

As I write, I have the Avril Lavigne song, “Slipped Away” playing in a continuous loop on iTunes on the computer. It’s about how she felt when she got the news of her grandfather’s death. To use a famous line from a Neil Diamond song, “Except for the names and a few other changes” the song expresses how I feel about Billy’s death.

It’s Veteran’s Day. In my heart today, Taps is playing for Billy, a twenty-one gun salute is being fired, and I’m standing at attention and saluting this wonderful young man that I was privileged to know.

"THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD..."

2011-11-08T06:47:00.000-08:00

"My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons." (James 2:1)

There's a line from a Top Forty song of the early 1970s that I'll never forget. (The song is, "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" by Joe South.) It goes like this:
"Well, there are people on reservations and out in the ghetto; and brother there but for the grace of God, go you and I..."

That's a line my mother often used, "There but for the grace of God go you and I". This was also the theme of a Phil Collins song from over twenty years ago entitled, "Think Twice".

How and why do we FORGET and IGNORE the neediest people- the most hurting people- in our society? But we do. Listen; I DO!

I've made a number of references on my blog about my job as a telephone answering service operator and things I've learned from that job. Today, I'm going to write about another. I can be quite a complainer. I can look on the worst side of things. I can sometimes get pretty negative. On this job, I've come face-to-face, well, NOT "face-to-face" but "EAR-TO-EAR" with some deeply hurting people. There are calls that would bring me to tears if I didn't keep myself under control.

Think you've got it really tough? We answer for a neurological practice that specializes in CHILDREN and ADOLESCENTS. Imagine taking a call from a Mom in Boston's western suburbs whose eight-year-old daughter has just had her third seizure of the day and now her speech has become quite slurred. Mom wants to talk to whatever doctor is on call. Can you "type" the paging message on the computer screen without feeling SO sorry for that poor family? I can't. I wonder, "HOW do these families DO it?" Imagine a kid of yours having, say, twenty seizures A MONTH!

It's not just the families with neurological problems that get to you. It's the 85-year-old woman in tears because she just got the news that her doctor of forty years has just retired. I had a call a few weeks ago from a very troubles Dad whose young daughter had cancer. Yesterday, during the midday "lunch time", a woman called a suburban Boston medical practice. She sounded nervous and upset.

"It's VERY important!" she stated, "I need my medical records FAXed to the Shelter I'm moving into down in New Bedford. If they don't get those records I can't move in. I'll be living in my car again."

I took the message and sent it. Then I did something I don't do often at work. I told the caller that I'm an Assemblies of God minister and I offered to pray for her. She burst into tears and accepted my offer; and I began to pray. I finished by saying, "I want you to know God knows you and cares about you." She told me through tears that she's having a hard time believing God cares about her.

People such as I have described here are all over the place. The last thing they need is our judgment and condemnation.

The late Keith Green was killed in a plane crash almost thirty years ago, but his poignant writings and songs continue to prod the church world and make us feel uncomfortable. Check out Keith's song entitled, "Open Your Eyes" sometime.

We've all got to do a lot better about this stuff. That includes me.

ANDY ROONEY REMEMBERED

2011-11-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO ON SEPT. 29 AND ENTITLED "ANDY ROONEY'S LAST HURRAH". IN RESPONSE TO HIS PASSING, I AM RE-POSTING IT. I EXTEND MY CONDOLENCES TO EMILY ROONEY OF WGBH AND ALL FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF ANDY ROONEY.

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." (Proverbs 17:22)

This coming Sunday night, Andy Rooney give his final three-minute blurb at the conclusion of 60 Minutes. He is retiring at age 92. I am not surprised. Up until the 2010-2011 season of 60 Minutes, Andy Rooney's little comical, eccentric, and ironic monologues had closed virtually every 60 Minutes program for over thirty years. It was only once in a great while that the show did not include Andy Rooney. THIS PAST YEAR, it seemed like he was hardly ever there. Maybe my count was off, but I think he's only done about eight of his little pieces over the past year so he was already semi-retired.

Andy Rooney is often called a "curmudgeon". I checked out that work at a site that gives on-line definitions, and it defined the word as "an ill-tempered and surly person." I don't think THAT is the best definition of "curmudgeon". I think of a "curmudgeon" as somebody who's a character; who complains a lot and acts a bit annoying and eccentric, but is somehow lovable at the same time. THAT is how I think of Andy Rooney.

I generally enjoyed his pieces. He WAS controversial. Around fifteen years ago, he wrote a newspaper column stating that homosexuality was not normal. He was "suspended" from writing his column for several months and was greatly condemned by the politically correct set. But, he came back and it seemed like all was forgiven. There's a piece that's been floating around the internet for years which was SUPPOSEDLY written by Andy Rooney. It praises prayer and giving public praise to God. It makes Andy almost sound like a curmudgeonly Billy Graham or Pat Robertson. The problem is: he never wrote it. Andy Rooney is an atheist. He finds little use for organized religion and does not believe in God. Of course, in that area, Andy and I disagree.

I once played Andy Rooney in a variety show at New Covenant Christian School. One year I dressed up as Johnny Most and did a whole bit about him. Another year, I came as Peter Falk/Lt. Columbo. AND, another year, I was Andy Rooney. I wore an oversized and sloppy suit, and dumped baby powder in my hair, AND made my hair kind of messy. I got up and delivered a three minute monologue, Andy Rooney style. Some parents thought that I was out of sorts and not myself that night. I got a kick out of that, because I stayed in character for THE ENTIRE EVENT! If someone said "hello" to me, I would sarcastically say, "Oh HI!" just like Andy Rooney would!

At the time of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Andy Rooney was in town (Boston). His daughter Emily Rooney featured him on Channel 2, Boston's PBS television station. Andy was having trouble using his ear piece. Right no the air, he kept saying, "I can't get this ear piece to work" and acted like a typical confused elderly person. I realized that maybe off camera he wasn't quite as together as he appeared to be on 60 Minutes, but again remembered that he was well in his eighties. Andy started writing for "Stars and Stripes" during World War 2!

Back when CBS tried doing a spin-off show called "60 Minutes 2" they had Boston's Jimmy Tingle doing the final monologue. Poor Jimmy got fired after one season, although I thought he was pretty good. I know there will never be another Andy Rooney, but if CBS is looking for a comical eccentric guy who is a good writer and has an unusual take on life, my son Jon Baril is available for the job, and so am I!

SHOULD IT BE THE MOTTO?

2011-11-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

"Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38)

Yesterday afternoon as I was on a long highway drive I was listening to Hank Morse and Matt Shearer fill in for Michael Graham on BostonTalks 96.9. The topic was, "Should 'In God We trust' be the motto of the United States?" You may know that this week the U.S. Congress voted to reaffirm the "In God We Trust" motto that was originally adopted by Congress in 1956. Hank Morse had no problems with the motto. Matt had a lot of problems with it, feeling the motto should be, "E Pluribus Unim".

The callers were frankly typical and predictable. There were those who had an obvious chip on their shoulder (frankly mostly WOMEN)who argued things like, "I don't WANT God in our country!" Really? Shall we then BAN God as some illegal alien? Then there were those who took a very pro-God viewpoint, and frankly an almost TOO God viewpoint, saying things like, "America is a CHRISTIAN nation!" Really? In fact, American is not a Christian nation. It is a secular nation with freedom of religion that has a strong Judeo-Christian heritage.

Hank Morse argued that the Pilgrims came here for religious freedom, and that "this country was founded on the Christian religion". Well, not exactly. In fact, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts indeed WAS founded on the Christian religion, but the country itself (150 years later) really was not.

Now, I will say I don't really care either way about the motto being "In God We Trust". If I HAD to vote, I suppose I would vote to keep it. But it's not Christian or religious sayings and proclamations that make a country and its people Godly. For us to PROCLAIM "In God We Trust" and then live like the devil is, well, a sacrilege!

I will say I have seen a lot of changes regarding the matter of God and religion in America over my lifetime. During the Kennedy administration, the U.S. Post Office (in those days THAT is what it was called) used "PRAY FOR PEACE" as a postmark! That would be stamped right over the postage stamp, and to the left of the stamp would be that circle that we're used to seeing that would say, "Canton, Mass." or "Springfield, Mo." or whatever. I don't remember ANYONE being offended at that "PRAY FOR PEACE" postmark! Do you remember that Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life?" (If you don't you should be seeing it on television soon!) In it, the narrator says that at the end of World War 2 everyone "Wept and prayed". THAT was the America I was born into.

I remember prayer in the public schools. It had its pros and its cons, but I remember it. As I recall, the first year we DID NOT have it was when I was in fourth grade (1963-1964). Prior to that, we would sing "America", recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and recite the Roman Catholic version of the Lord's Prayer. It's interesting that in Massachusetts we recited the Roman Catholic version of it. The Protestant version adds "For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory..." while the Roman Catholic version does not. The Protestant version also SOMETIMES uses "debts" rather than "trespasses". I think it was felt that although the Lord's prayer was Christian, it was pretty safe for Jews. After all, Jesus was Jewish and it is a thoroughly Jewish prayer. I will say that my first-grade teacher was a "piece of work". I did not realize that at the time. One time she asked all of us what our mother's maiden names were. But ONE day, she decided to implement some sort of religious education upon us. As we stood to say the Lord's Prayer, she allowed the Catholic kids to sit down after "but deliver us from evil, Amen" but made the Protestant and Jewish kids keep standing. The Protestant kids had to add the "For Thine is the Kingdom.." part, and I guess the Jewish kids had to add some, "Baruch Atah Adonai" thing or something. It was all very embarrassing and uncomfortable. I just didn't understand what she was doing or why she was doing it, but I was SO thankful to be Catholic that day.

Well most of you know I am now an evangelical Protestant. I once was featured on a video taped editorial response on Boston's channel 5 speaking in favor of school prayer. Today, I am not sure how I feel about it, although I really DON'T like the idea of it being banned altogether. Maybe Miss Alenger really butchered that prayer moment at the Dean S. Luce School, but I can't see anything wrong with a moment of silence, or at the high school lever a student who wants to, leading in a brief prayer.

Do we have too much of God in America or too little? What should the national motto be? Well, these are some of my thoughts on those subjects.

TRIBUTE TO CLAIRE FOR HER BIRTHDAY...

2011-10-30T07:58:00.001-07:00

THIS PIECE WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE BLOG ON DEC. 31, 2010 AND ALSO APPEARED AS A COLUMN IN THE METROWEST DAILY NEWS(FRAMINGHAM, MA) ON THAT SAME DAY. CLAIRE GRIMES IS A HALLOWEEN BABY...FOR HER BIRTHDAY WHICH FALLS ON MONDAY, OCT. 31, 2011 I AM REPOSTING THIS AND I HOPE IT BLESSES YOU...

“Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.” (Proverbs 27:2)

“Claire” (well, literally “Clair”) was the title of a Gilbert O’Sullivan hit song from the early 1970s. Claire is also the name of a dear lady I’ve known for twenty-four years. I’ve enjoyed the “2010 MetroWest Persons of Distinction” series that has been running in the print editions of the MetroWest Daily News over the past few weeks. Claire would never make such a list as she is one who shuns the limelight and is happiest serving in the background; but in my humble opinion, Claire Post Grimes is absolutely worthy of the title, “2010 MetroWest Person of Distinction”.

My first contact with Claire was by phone in the autumn of 1986. She asked me to come and speak at First Assembly of God of Framingham. I was on the pastoral staff of a church in Walpole at the time. The little Framingham church was without a pastor and Claire, an active church member, was lining up fill-in speakers for the services. I did come and speak. One thing led to another and a few weeks later I was meeting with the church’s pulpit committee. Not long after that I “candidated” for the church’s pastorate and was voted in as pastor.

Upon moving into Framingham, I discovered Claire was truly an amazing woman. She’d only been a born-again Christian for about five years at that time, having previously been a devout Roman Catholic. Claire served on the church’s Board, and volunteered as the church’s secretary. She was present for every activity at church. A person who eschewed tardiness, Claire was always the first person to arrive for any service or meeting. Claire’s husband Jack, an M.I.T. graduate and very intelligent man was not much of a churchgoer, but he was supportive of Claire’s commitment to God and to the church. She once described Jack as “having all of the fruit of the Holy Spirit without the Holy Spirit”...and while I realize that statement is theologically incorrect, I understood what she meant. Both Claire and Jack are kind, warm, hardworking, and generous people.

Claire and Jack are now each in their early eighties. She doesn’t like notoriety, and she’ll probably be unhappy I wrote this, but it’s all the kind of things I’d say at her funeral. As my friend Dave Milley often says, “Send the flowers when people are still alive!” So, this is a way of “sending flowers” to and for Claire. The Grimes are a family of modest means who live in a small 1950s ranch style house. Despite the modesty, when the church would be in a financial crisis, again and again there’d be a generous check from them. When there was any kind of work to be done at the church, you could count on Claire to do it. For the past eleven years or so, she did almost all of the regular cleaning of the church...vacuuming, cleaning the toilets, and even supplying the bathroom paper products. At times, I felt guilty about Claire doing all that cleaning, but she would insist that she wanted to do it.

When you’re in close proximity to people in some of the worst of times, that can take its toll on relationships. My elderly parents were each seriously ill and near death in 2000. I was “stressed to the max” about it. I remember that on one morning Claire made some sort of a casual comment to me and I “let her have it” verbally. Honestly, I can be “short fused” and I’ve had several people angrily leave the church through the years for that reason. Not Claire. She could not have been more warm and forgiving toward me, saying, “There is nothing you could ever say that would cause me to think any less of you.” Claire Grimes models Biblical forgiveness. She and her husband have had close relatives of theirs experience serious crimes (on the level of the type of matters you see on “America’s Most Wanted”). Despite that, Claire could not harbor bitterness toward the perpetrators.

The local Assemblies of God District officials closed the little Framingham church this past March. Most of the “church family” have found other places to attend and most have emotionally “moved on”. For Claire, this was a challenging year as she underwent a hip replacement and almost two months of rehabilitation, and she gave up driving. At 82, Claire’s not ready to jump into another church. She’s an amazingly positive person, but I have heard her sadly declare many times over the past few months, “I miss my CHURCH!” I had to chuckle when Claire said, “You many not believe this, but I even loved cleaning that little church building and I miss doing that so much!”

Every pastor wishes he or she had a congregation full of Claire Grimeses!
As far as I’m concerned I’ll always be her pastor, and I thank God for her and the difference she has made in my life and in the lives of many others!

TIPS FOR CALLING THE DOCTOR DURING OFF HOURS...

2011-10-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

"Let all things be done decently and in order." (I Corinthians 14:40)

About a year ago, a pastor friend of mine who has elementary school aged kids commented to me that when one of his kids is ill and he calls the doctor's office, he HATES getting the answering service.

"I just want to talk to my DOCTOR and not an answering service!" he exclaimed.

On a certain level, I can understand his frustration, but after working for a telephone answering service for a year and a half, I can very much see the other side of the coin. I hope this piece will be helpful for you- for when you have that experience of calling a doctor's office and getting an answering service.

Please remember that doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician's assistants are human. They don't "work 24/7". Like all of us, they enjoy having time off with family and friends. They also like to eat their lunch in peace without the phone ringing off the hook. (That's also true of medical secretaries.) If you want to be sure to "get the doctor's office" the best time to call is usually between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. or between 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. At other hours you are very likely to get voice mail or an answering service.

SOME doctors offices are open on Saturdays and Sundays and some are open on major holidays, but these are few and far between. If you're calling on weekends, holidays, early morning, or nights, you're most likely going to get voice mail or an answering service. USUALLY, the answering service will be able to page a doctor or nurse practitioner for you who will likely call you back within fifteen minutes.

ATTITUDE is important. Most of the callers I answer for are pretty pleasant and understanding. But some are "a piece of work". As soon as some callers realize they're talking to a telephone answering service operator, they immediately assume a bad attitude. They may yell, "WHY isn't my DOCTOR answering??!! Is she LAZY?!"

They may yell a lot worse things than that.

I may ask for the caller's name who will then yell, "My CHILD'S name is Justin Smith!!!"

(Question: did I ask for the child's name? No, I did not.)

I may ask "could I have your telephone number?" and hear "875-555-3965" repeated SO fast that there's NO WAY I can understand it. Then, I'm asking, "Could you repeat that slower, please?"

The reply will be a very disgusted and very slow, "EIGHT!! SEVEN!! FIVE!! FIVE!! FIVE!! FIVE!! THREE!! NINE!! SIX!! FIVE!!"

I get a few of that type of call each shift. Another question that can set people off is "Date of birth?" I am amazed that most nurses who call with messages from nursing homes (to be given to doctors) virtually NEVER have the date of birth ready and act as though asking for it is a major inconvenience. I've had (especially women) refuse to give the year of their birth. I'm 57-years-old. I don't care that people know I was born in 1954. Usually, it's some woman who was born in some year like 1962 who does not want to give the year of birth.

On calls, I'm reading from and filling in previously set up fields on a computer screen. I'm asking questions the doctor's office has requested that I ask, and I'm asking them in the order that they want them asked. A pediatrician's office is not going to be calling back little 5-year-old Justin Smith. They're calling back the mother, Daphne Peterson-Smith. SHE or her husband are responsible for the account. They want to know WHO they're calling, THEN they want to know the child's name and information and what is wrong.

People get furious if they call at 9 p.m. and want to talk to Dr. Nelson (Their doctor) only to find out that Dr. McGillicuddy is on call. I've had callers become irate and say things like, "I DEMAND to speak to Dr. Nelson RIGHT NOW!"

Maybe Dr. Nelson is on Cape Cod with his family celebrating his daughter's 16th birthday. Isn't he entitled to do that? If things are really bad enough, Dr. McGillicuddy WILL phone Dr. Nelson, but these folks are human and entitled to protocol being followed.

I've had callers become IRATE because the doctor's office goes on answering service for lunch for 90 minutes. Honestly, MOST doctor's offices go on answering service or voice mail during lunch for anywhere from 60-120 minutes. That's their prerogative.

When you try to get concise information for a message in paging a doctor, some callers want to tell their life story. Melissa, one of my Supervisors, laughed one time when I told a caller, "You've got to give that to me IN A PHRASE."

I had a field in my computer to fill in that would only take about seven words. There is no way I could begin with, "It all started three weeks ago..."

We can also see how many calls are holding for the answering service to get to. If I glance and notice 13 calls are holding, I know I've GOT to kind of rush through the calls. I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm just trying to make sure we can get to each caller to help them.

Finally, some callers will angrily say, "I was on hold for FIVE MINUTES before you picked up!" We hate that anyone has to wait that long, and it seldom happens, but sometimes we get flooded with calls all at one time. The answering service I work for has soft rock secular music and sometimes soft rock Christian music playing for people to listen to before we pick up. I've had some folks want to argue with me that they didn't like the music that was playing. REALLY! There are much more important issues in life to worry about.

Rarely, perhaps once a week, a caller will tell me I have a good telephone manner and was very helpful. Those comments are rare, but they help me to feel that what I'm doing matters.

I hope this information will be helpful to you the next time you call a doctor's office (or a business) and an answering service operator takes the call.

THE MOST IDEALISTIC PIECE I'VE EVER WRITTEN...?

2011-10-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

"But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (i John 3:17)

I usually start work at 7 in the morning. Today, I've been assigned an unusual schedule; I'm starting at 2:30 and finishing at 8 p.m. Thus, I was able to do some early morning grocery shopping and now I'm on the computer at the public library, and I'm "musing". I received a desperate e-mail this morning about a truly needy Christian woman. She has lost her husband. She has five kids; the youngest is VERY small. Their housing was tied into the husband's career, and the family is losing that in December. They pretty much have NOTHING. The woman is a highly committed Christian. I received one e-mail from a dear friend of hers, and a forward of that same e-mail from a pastor. (Listen, it IS a "legit" story.)

Thought: there's way too much of this stuff going on in the evangelical Christian community.

I guess the Rev. John DeBrine (of "Songtime") is still around. He's got to be around 85 now. John is a character...a Conservative Baptist minister, a bachelor, and VERY outspoken. One thing I recall him saying often on his radio program is that "Christians just aren't believable" and that "If we're going to win them (family, friends, etc.) to Christ we've GOT to become believable." He's right.

I don't want to write a LOT here about the closing of the small church I pastored, First Assembly of God of Framingham, but one thing I WILL say is that my son Jon commented that while a number of people of means outside of the little church essentially said to us "be warmed and filled" (see James 2:16), few of them really stepped up to help us in tangible ways. He's right.

I served on the Pastoral Advisory Council of New Covenant Christian School (grades K-6 and for a short time K-8) for several years. My wife taught there for years, and all of our kids went there. Back in the 1980s, Christians from Boston's MetroWest suburbs WORKED, GAVE, AND SACRIFICED to start this school and keep it going. I could name five or six families who PARTICULARLY were HEROES for all they did for that school. Sadly, when "the economy hit" in the late 2000s and the school was in financial trouble, that generation of parents and boosters, well, for the most part didn't "boost". After all the years of blood, sweat, tears, and prayer, the school closed a couple of years ago. I served on the Board of New England Aftercare Ministries "The Bridge House" of Framingham for around seven years. Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when that ministry had a need or a crisis, the Body of Christ would RALLY. People would show up for special prayer meetings and people would did into their pockets and give sacrificially, if it was $10. or $1000. or any amount in between. Today, that ministry is "hanging by a thread" to use an old expression from my parents' generation. I know appeals have gone out from them, and there's been very little response.

I hope he won't be embarrassed to be quoted here, but my friend Ron Sebastian who is very active at Faith Community Church of Hopkinton (formerly First Congregational Church of Hopkinton) has said that in America even in this economy there's plenty of money around. There should be no churches or ministries "going under". People who've served in ministry, like that woman I started off this piece about just should not be destitute.

All I can say is, I've experienced a lot first hand, but I'll leave it at that.

Missionaries should NOT be unable to get back to the field due to lack of funds. Ministries should not be closing their doors. Christian young people called to the ministry should not have to quit Bible College or Seminary due to lack of funds. Christian families should not be put out on the street while others turn away and yawn. The fact is, if we want real revival, John DeBrine is right. We've got to
become believable.

THOUGHTS ABOUT ST. JAMES THE GREATER...

2011-10-17T07:31:00.001-07:00

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25)

First, I need to explain that this piece is NOT about the ancient saint of the church, St. James the Greater. Rather, it is about the plight of the St. James the Greater Roman Catholic parish in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

St. James the Greater Catholic Church has an impressive facility and piece of property on Route 9 (a major thoroughfare through Boston's western suburbs). St. James is one of many Catholic churches which were closed by the Archdiocese of Boston several years ago. The story is complicated, but to try to simplify it, the Archdiocese of Boston faced two great crises during the 2000s. The first was the "clergy sex scandal". It was the Boston Globe that broke this story wide open in 2002. Scores of people came forward to say they'd been sexually molested by priests between the 1950s and 1990s. Perhaps 5% of the priests had been pedophiles. Very few Roman Catholic parishes in the Boston area were not somehow affected by this scandal. There were HUGE lawsuits and the Archdiocese had to pay out millions. The second crisis was declining attendance. The weekend attendance at Roman Catholic churches in metro Boston today is probably only about half what it was forty years ago. Due to these crises, the Archdiocese moved to close quite a few church properties and sell them.

Some of the closed parishes were in poor urban areas. Attendance had declined, and facilities were falling apart. Closing such churches DID make quite a bit of sense. What did NOT make sense, however, was closing churches in suburban areas which seemed to be doing well. One such Catholic church was St. Jeremiah's in Framingham's fairly affluent north side. Part of that church's claim to fame was that teacher/astronaut Christa McAuliffe grew up in that church and her mother still attended church there. Another, was St. James the Greater in Wellesley which is one of the most wealthy suburbs of Boston. At many of the closed church facilities, laypeople from the parishes began to occupy the buildings in "vigil" twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. This was done at both St. Jeremiah's and St. James the Greater. The Archdiocese DID sort of compromise on St. Jeremiah's. It still functions as a Catholic worship center in a somewhat limited capacity. But the Archdiocese has been firm that St. James the Greater will not reopen. Frankly, the parishioners there argued that the Archdiocese did NOT close St. James the Greater because of declining attendance nor because of financial problems. Racher, the people argued that this was just TOO valuable a piece of property for the Archdiocese to sit on, and that their church was being sacrificed so the Archdiocese could sell the property for "big money".
Honestly, I'd say that charge probably has merit.

The church has been "in vigil" since 2004. When I was still pastoring First Assembly of God of Framingham, the guy who serviced our fire extinguishers a couple of years ago told he me had some relatives who were among those standing vigil at St. James and that he was very proud of them. St. James the Greater parish has been in the news in the Boston media this past weekend. The Archdiocese has shut down the boiler and shut off the water to the building. Their reason is that the insurance company has demanded this, saying the boiler is unsafe. The "faithful" at St. James the Greater do not believe that story and say it is an "underhanded" move by the Archdiocese to try to force them out. The "faithful" have had a port-a-potty installed on the property and say they'll "wear overcoats" and keep up the vigil throughout the winter.

I have mixed feelings about those staging the vigil. On the one hand, the church PROPERTY and BUILDINGS are really NOT "the church". The Bible teaches that the PEOPLE make up the church. The building is just a place for the people to worship. The Greek word for church is "ekklesia" from which we get the term "ecclesiastical". "Ekklesia" literally means "assembly". (Incidentally, that's where the Assemblies of God got their name from!) But, on the other hand, there are tremendous emotional attachments to a church building. The little church that I pastored has been closed, but a Spanish-speaking church continues to hold services there. THAT'S been a big encouragement to the former members of First Assembly of God of Framingham. BUT the church facility where my wife and I were married, and where all of our babies were decicated (Assemblies of God and Baptists do "baby dedications" rather than infant baptisms) AND where I served as an Assistant Pastor is now a public school there on Route 27 in Walpole near the Medfield line. Ironically, when the foundation for that building was poured, a Bible was placed right into the concrete to indicate its founding on the Bible. Today, it's an elementary school. I've driven up there once in awhile. For those of us who were part of Christian Life Center during its glory days of the 1980s, seeing what happened to that property is pretty sad.

They've been in vigil at St. James the Greater for seven years. I know that those in vigil think if they give up now, the hierarchy has won. They'd probably even feel that evil triumphed over good. I wonder, though, if it isn't time to move on to a different tactic. Those in vigil have certainly made their point. I'd suspect the Archdiocese probably WOULDN'T have opted for this closing in 2004 if they knew all the grief it would cause them. Maybe this IS the time to end that phase, and move on to something else.

I think either a documentary or a book including a lot of glossy photos that tells the story of what happened to the church and of the people who fought the hierarchy COULD be very interesting and COULD get them a lot of publicity. Both in the story of the exodus and the "recent" story of the holocaust, we've learned from our Jewish friends the value of continuing to tell a story so that it is not forgotten.

NO, I'm not equating the closing of a Catholic church facility to the murder of six million Jews or of the Hebrew slavery in Egypt. Certainly not! But the lesson is "TELL THE STORY"! I don't know if the right filmmaker could be found...or the right author...or photographer...or all three. Maybe a website could be set up dedicated to such a project. Yes, the property there on Route 9 might be bulldozed to put in a Japanese car dealership or something, but the story could be spread and told to multitudes...at least to prevent such a happening in the future.

Yeah, that's my advice to the faithful at St. James the Greater in Wellesley, Massachusetts...

WHAT YOU HEAR?!

2011-10-12T12:38:00.001-07:00

"And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Mark 4:9)

Today at the answering service I heard this from a caller:

"I want to get my ceiling done".

He was calling a driveway company.

I thought, "Why does he want a driveway company to do his CEILING?!"

... Suddenly, it hit me...he was saying "sealing"!

(I would have said "I'd like an estimate on having my driveway sealed" but that's me!)

It's amazing how someone can SAY one thing and someone else can HEAR something else!

KATIE SANBOURNE'S IMPORTANT ADVICE

2011-10-10T07:42:00.001-07:00

“...Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” (from John 2:5)

Her real name is NOT “Katie Sanbourne”. That’s completely fictitious. But I’ll call her Katie Sanbourne in this piece. Katie Sanbourne and her family attended (the now closed) First Assembly of God of Framingham, MA for many years. They departed from the church back in 2001. Katie and her family very very involved in the church. She held some leadership positions there. At times we agreed on things and at times we did not agree. There’s one statement she made one day, however, that I’ll never forget.

Katie said:
“If Christians would SEEK the Lord and then DO what He tells them to do, most of the problems in any church would be solved."

She’s right. That statement is simple. And it’s profound. Not long after Katie made that statement, and older woman in the congregation protested to me, “But THAT’S not REALISTIC?”

I replied that (sadly) it may not be “realistic” but it’s true. Even after Katie and her family left that church, I found myself quoting her statement often when I preached and when I taught classes. Frankly, some people were unhappy I kept quoting that. They became tired of hearing the statement.

“WHY do you have to KEEP quoting her?” one person asked. Another argued, “Katie did NOT take her own advice, so WHY quote her?!”

I answered that even if Katie hadn’t taken her own advice, the statement is absolutely true. And, that statement makes most evangelical Christians very uncomfortable because we tend to want things OUR way and not God’s way.

Yesterday morning at Bread of Life Church in Westminster, MA, Pastor Gary Collette preached a very good sermon. One of his strongest illustrations in the sermon was about the way leaders in churches are often calling for “unity”. Gary recounted that over a decade ago, when that church was in the midst of a major building program, the church’s leaders kept calling for “unity”. People were rebuked for not being in “unity”. There was a constant cry to “pray for unity”. It all sounded familiar. Over the years at Framingham, at times there were similar cries from some folks. Gary Collette bluntly stated that he and his leaders were WRONG in all their pushing for unity. Then, Pastor Gary explained it beautifully: That if each person had truly sought the Lord and truly obeyed Him, the church would have been in unity.

Gary Collette thus agreed with Katie Sanbourne. OR did Katie Sanbourne and Gary Collette both agree with the New Testament?! I’d say so.

Yes, it’s very basic, but most of us don’t practice it. The devil knows that IF and WHEN the Christians DO start practicing this, there will be true revival!

THAT LAREWNCE O'DONNELL INTERVIEW OF HERMAN CAIN...

2011-10-08T06:33:00.000-07:00

"Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matthew 7:1-2)

I did not SEE it, but excerpts of Lawrence O'Donnell's October 6 interview of Presidential candidate Herman Cain (on MSNBC) were all over talk radio yesterday. The biggest controversy was the fact that Cain (a Black man) was NOT involved in the civil rights movement. In Cain's new book, he states that he was very young at the time and that his father had taught him that he should stay out of trouble and continue to sit at the back of the bus, etc. (Cain was living in Georgia at the time.) Cain stated in the book that he was in high school at the height of the civil rights movement.

Lawrence O'Donnell verbally attacked Herman Cain about this. While the WORD was not explicitly used, O'Donnell essentially called Cain a liar. O'Donnell stated that Cain was in fact at MOOREHOUSE COLLEGE from 1963 through 1967 and that THIS was the height of the civil rights movement. Cain DID sound a bit uncomfortable and honestly like he was trying to dodge O'Donnell's questions.

I DO think, however, that there's another side to all this. A number of critics of Cain stated on the radio yesterday that "had Rosa Parks NOT sat at the back of the bus Herman Cain could not be running for President today". In fact, Rosa Parks DID sit at the back of the bus! Did you catch that: ROSA PARKS DID SIT AT THE BACK OF THE BUS!

Rosa Parks' "crime" is that she was asked to get up from her seat at the back of the bus and allow a white man to sit there who otherwise would have had to stand. Listen, I agree with Rosa Parks. That was an ABSURD request of her, and the whole Jim Crow thing in the South was wrong and absurd, but that is what happened. The Rosa Parks thing also happened in the middle 1950s, not the middle 1960s!

I believe the whole "Brown vs. Board of Education" decision which desegregated public schools came down in 1954, the year I was born. I know the whole Little Rock, Arkansas desegregation of the high school which meant federal troops being dispatched took place in 1957. The George Wallace "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" blocking of blacks from Alabama State Colleges happened in early 1963.

I think that if Cain's Dad was (dare I say it) an "Uncle Tom" who asked his son to keep a low profile at this time, then I think he did the right thing to honor his Dad. (Don't get me wrong, I think Cain HAS waffled on this, and I think it WOULD certainly have been impressive if he'd have been active in the civil rights movement. I have not made up my mind about which Republican candidate I will support (I'm a Republican) but this interview doesn't make me think badly of Herman Cain.

I don't remember his "pre-Pope name" but Pope John Paul II was often hailed for his support of Jews and fighting Nazi policies in Poland during WW 2. In fact, the Pope ultimately came forward and stated that while he deplored the Nazi treatment of the Jews in WW2 he did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for the cause, and was embarrassed to be hailed and praised for something he did not do.

I would rather think of John Paul's LATER record in life for which he is best remembered and I am most interested in the Herman Cain of the past ten years when I think of fitness for the Presidency.

STEVE JOBS SAID, "DON'T SETTLE"

2011-10-06T14:19:00.001-07:00

"Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money." (Matthew 25:16-18)

I never met Steve Jobs, nor did I ever see him in person. I WILL say, however, that he has touched my life. MOST of the computers I have used in life have been made by Apple, and (although they're more expensive) I agree with my friend D.K. and my son Jon and daughter Rachel that there's NO COMPUTER as good as an APPLE COMPUTER!

I did not realize until today that Steve Jobs was adopted. I also did not know that his biological father was a Syrian Arab Muslim. And I ALSO don't think I had heard or read this famous quote of Steve Jobs until today:

“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
Steve Jobs

Some people will absolutely not understand what I'm going to write here, but I suspect my much younger friend Ryan Seler WILL. I have been through what an old friend of mine used to call "deep water" over the past few years. I have experienced loss, shock, and deep shame and deep rejection. Listen, it can do a number on you! I know sometimes we have to work at "whatever our hands find to to" to pay the bills, etc., which is why Ryan the outstanding musician and worship leader is right now employed at Marshalls'. AND it's why I'm employed at the answering service. But TODAY after reading Steve Jobs' quote, well, I'm starting to feel like the guy who buried his talent. (For my son Jon, yeah I know, a lot about that parable is taken out of context but "work with me here"!)

We evangelicals and we Pentecostals have got the flawed notion that if someone is not totally perfect they just cannot minister effectively. I realize there have to be standards. I realize you just can't let some child molester have a children's ministry, for instance. And, you can't let some guy who stole all the money from a church treasury pastor a church. I get that.

But, there's a tremendous lesson in the fictional film "The Apostle" starring Robert Duval. Most Christians that I know either LOVE that film or they HATE it. Almost none are neutral. I happen to love it. YES, in that film Duval plays a preacher who commits second degree murder and who sometimes takes a nip of whiskey. He flees from the law. YES, that's wrong. But he prays for God to let him do just one more great work for Him, and God honors that. He reopens a failed church in a small Louisiana town, and is used of God to motivate the church's sickly retired preacher and to win to Christ a number of souls in the community. He THEN is arrested and literally begins a long prison ministry.

I have done nothing worthy of losing my Assemblies of God credentials, and in fact I am still an Ordained AG minister. Yet, I know some look disparagingly at me and won't touch me with the proverbial ten foot pole! I was a lot more bold to ask for speaking engagements back in 2010. This year, I've been very shy about it, fearing I won't be wanted or I won't be taken seriously. I will say I did speak for a friend who was away on a missions trip for two weeks, last month. These were NOT paid engagements, but the pay was knowing my preaching truly blessed and helped people.

I am well aware I may never pastor a church again. Contrary to rumors, I am NOT looking to pastor a church nor trying to get any pastorates. But God HAS given me a special gift. Yes, God has given eccentric, nervous, unconventional Bob Baril a very special gift. I am a captivating speaker, AND I have the ability to preach and teach on some VERY sensitive subjects in a way that has people laughing and crying, and totally engaged, and that THEY'LL NEVER FORGET WHAT THEY HEARD.

Some don't feel I'm worthy to be speaking in public, but let's let God be the judge of that. I can give you names of pastors who've had me minister in their pulpits, and who will give me very good references. I don't want to bury this talent. And, sure, I love to get love offerings and honoraria, but I also do speak for no money whatsoever as I did last month. If you'd like to know more, please contact me at
revrbaril@aol.com

FRIENDLY'S

2011-10-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

"And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:" (Luke 10:8)

Yesterday, it was announced that Friendly Ice Cream is declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Around sixty Friendly's restaurants were closed; about half of them were in Massachusetts. Readers outside the northeast and especially outside New England will likely not understand what a huge icon and institution Friendly's was. (Well, it technically still IS; for now a number of restaurants are still open.)

Along with most New Englanders, Friendly's has occupied a place in my life. On a note of trivia, Friendly's was NOT always known as Friendly's. Up until the early 1980s, the correct label was Friendly with no "s" and no apostrophe. The business is "Friendly Ice Cream" as the huge landscape sign on the MASSPIKE in western Massachusetts proclaims! Now, everybody CALLED it "Friendly's" so the company acquiesced and changed the moniker on the restaurants to "Friendly's".

The first Friendly restaurant I remember was that on Route 1 in Dedham at Dedham Plaza. Some rich relatives of my mother's took us there a few times for ice cream. The NEXT Friendly's I remember was on Nahatan Street in Norwood. THAT store was Friendly Ice Cream's 50th and a sign reading "Our 50th Store" was proudly displayed on the exterior of the building. In fact, Friendly Ice Cream began in Holoyoke, Massachusetts in western Mass. in 1935. The "company headquarters" is on Route 20 in Wilbraham, MA on the Springfield, MA line. Eventually, there was a "Canton Friendly's" although TECHNICALLY it was just over the line at Cobb's Corner on Route 27 in Stoughton. When I was around twelve, my mother would often take us to Brockton's Westgate Mall on Saturday afternoons. There was a Friendly Ice Cream INSIDE the mall and we ALWAYS stopped there for ice cream cones!

When Mary Ann and I were first married, we lived just down the street from Friendly's on Route 1 in Norwood near the Walpole line. I was off on Mondays in those days. Almost every Monday morning when Jon was a baby, I can remember us going there for breakfast. You could have a nice breakfast of eggs, French toast, and bacon or sausages, plus coffee for just $2.22 apiece. Those were delicious breakfasts! Yesterday Doug Meehan on BostonTalks 96.9 was talking about how quality at Friendly's has declined over the past few years, and Jim and Margery in the morning picked that theme up today. Doug particularly highlighted the recent weird items added to the menu like a hamburger with macaroni and cheese on it. I knew what he was talking about. The last time I ate a meal at a Friendly's which was just a few weeks ago, the menu was advertising all these WEIRD items on the menu. I was not interested and had to "dig" to find a normal hamburger meal.

Doug and several callers also talked about how poor the service has become at Friendly's. Some callers said they'd gone into a Friendly's to order takeout ice cream and had gotten so fed up with waiting that they just WALKED OUT. Honestly, I came close to that a couple of weeks ago. I LOVE their "thick milkshakes" (NOT to be confused with the Fribble). Now, the Fribble is some pre-made think loaded with preservatives that they pour out of a carton. A thick milkshake is made with several scoops of ice cream and some milk and syrup. They are very good! (And, although they are no longer advertised on the menu, at most Friendly's they'll STILL make you an old fashioned ice cream soda if you want one.) I had to wait and wait at Friendly's at Temple Street and Route 9 to finally have my order taken and get the thick milkshake.

The number of Friendly's locations actually HAS been declining for awhile. When I moved to Framingham in 1987, we had three Friendly's restaurants in town. It's now down to just that one at Temple Street, next to Stop & Shop. Many Friendly's have very sparse crowds and mostly senior citizens, but that one in Framingham is very busy at supper time with a lot of young families eating there.

I read the list of the stores in Massachusetts that closed. It was sad to see that Dedham Plaza, the first Friendly's I'd ever gone to with rich "Helen and Duke" had been closed, as had the one in Foxboro where I've eaten several times. I am glad the Friendly's in Webster which is just a half mile from where I live is still open and that the one in Framingham survived the chopping block.

A few years ago when I was in Pennsylvania I noticed there were Friendly's restaurants all over the place; for some reason the chain seemed to be more popular there than in Massachusetts. In fact, on an episode of "The Office" set in Scranton, PA, Jim takes Pam out to Friendly's.

Yeah, their service has slipped and the "latest" choices on the menu are absurd. But, I hope this will be a positive wake-up call for Friendly's. I'd like to see them improve as a chain and "come back". I know my daughter Rachel would like to get some Friendly's souvenirs if the chain totally closes. I'm tempted to tell you about the time she ate pistachio ice cream at Friendly's at Natick Mall (thinking it was mint chocolate chip) but I don't want her to stop speaking to me, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Ahh, Friendly's... I used to kid around and call you "Enemy's"! I loved your ice cream pies! (Do you still make 'em?) Please don't totally die!

"MINOR MIRACLES"

2011-09-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

"And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
"But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea." (Acts 8:39-40)

The above verses tell of an amazing event: That Philip the Deacon in Acts chapter 8 was miraculously spirited away from the Gaza Strip area to Azotus. It would be kind of like instantly going from Chatham on Cape Cod to Taunton, MA (something like that)...impossible and pretty cool! Do things like this happen today. CAN things like this happen today?

When I was in Bible College a local pastor came to one of our classes as a guest speaker. He pastored a church in a rural area just outside Springfield, Missouri. I once had visited his church, AND we had worked together at a special children's event held in the Springfield area. I cannot remember his name. I DO remember what he looked like. He looked EXACTLY like Jackie Gleason, and I mean EXACTLY. When he spoke to our class, he told us that he once left for St.Louis on Interstate 44 and found himself IMMEDIATELY in the St. Louis suburbs. The three hour trip had taken SECONDS. He likened it to the above Bible story. He is the only person I have ever heard report having experienced something like that.

Another unusual account happened to a guy I know named Tom Hazell. Around forty years ago, he and a few buddies drove a car from California to Massachusetts all on ONE TANKFUL of gasoline. Tom reports that God just miraculously kept replenishing the gasoline and it was a miracle trip. Frankly, I know some folks who do not believe his story, but Tom is a very honorable and truthful guy, and I have no reason to NOT believe him.

Well, today I feel I experienced a couple of similar miracles in my own life!

I am a stickler for being on time and being responsible. Today, I was scheduled to start on the phone at VIP Answering Service at 7 a.m. I planned to get up a little after 5. I heard my wife leave around 4:40 a.m. I lay down for "a few more minutes." Suddenly I looked at my watch and it was five minutes before 6! It typically takes an hour to drive from Webster to Framingham in the morning! Wow, was this stressful?! I leaped out of bed, poured water on my "bedhead" and combed it. I threw my clothes on. I did not even brush my teeth. I jumped into the car. I looked and realized I was very low on gasoline! I probably did not have enough to make it to Framingham, AND I had almost no cash on me.

In the past when I've been THAT late leaving, I've had to drive at 75-80 MPH, all the while praying, "I'm sorry, Lord, please forgive me!" Even so, I usually will end up then rushing into the call center huffing and puffing. I don't know why, but I set the cruise control at 65. I also slowed a few times to let traffic in. I also just HOPED I would not run out of gas. Neither action is like me at all!

Regarding the gasoline, the needle did not "drop to total empty" until I arrived at the work parking lot. But here is the amazing part. I was just past getting on the MassPike when suddenly I was just coming to 495. I looked at my watch and I was just about where I should be under "normal" conditions. HOW WAS THAT POSSIBLE?! I wondered HOW I could go from Grafton to Route 495 almost instantly. I pulled into the parking lot at a few minutes before 7, and signed in to work on time.

It doesn't make sense...that I did not run out of gas, or that I did the speed limit, and a little less, and got to work on time.

Were these miracles?

I think maybe they were!

ANDY ROONEY'S LAST HURRAH

2011-09-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." (Proverbs 17:22)

This coming Sunday night, Andy Rooney give his final three-minute blurb at the conclusion of 60 Minutes. He is retiring at age 92. I am not surprised. Up until the 2010-2011 season of 60 Minutes, Andy Rooney's little comical, eccentric, and ironic monologues had closed virtually every 60 Minutes program for over thirty years. It was only once in a great while that the show did not include Andy Rooney. THIS PAST YEAR, it seemed like he was hardly ever there. Maybe my count was off, but I think he's only done about eight of his little pieces over the past year so he was already semi-retired.

Andy Rooney is often called a "curmudgeon". I checked out that work at a site that gives on-line definitions, and it defined the word as "an ill-tempered and surly person." I don't think THAT is the best definition of "curmudgeon". I think of a "curmudgeon" as somebody who's a character; who complains a lot and acts a bit annoying and eccentric, but is somehow lovable at the same time. THAT is how I think of Andy Rooney.

I generally enjoyed his pieces. He WAS controversial. Around fifteen years ago, he wrote a newspaper column stating that homosexuality was not normal. He was "suspended" from writing his column for several months and was greatly condemned by the politically correct set. But, he came back and it seemed like all was forgiven. There's a piece that's been floating around the internet for years which was SUPPOSEDLY written by Andy Rooney. It praises prayer and giving public praise to God. It makes Andy almost sound like a curmudgeonly Billy Graham or Pat Robertson. The problem is: he never wrote it. Andy Rooney is an atheist. He finds little use for organized religion and does not believe in God. Of course, in that area, Andy and I disagree.

I once played Andy Rooney in a variety show at New Covenant Christian School. One year I dressed up as Johnny Most and did a whole bit about him. Another year, I came as Peter Falk/Lt. Columbo. AND, another year, I was Andy Rooney. I wore an oversized and sloppy suit, and dumped baby powder in my hair, AND made my hair kind of messy. I got up and delivered a three minute monologue, Andy Rooney style. Some parents thought that I was out of sorts and not myself that night. I got a kick out of that, because I stayed in character for THE ENTIRE EVENT! If someone said "hello" to me, I would sarcastically say, "Oh HI!" just like Andy Rooney would!

At the time of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Andy Rooney was in town (Boston). His daughter Emily Rooney featured him on Channel 2, Boston's PBS television station. Andy was having trouble using his ear piece. Right no the air, he kept saying, "I can't get this ear piece to work" and acted like a typical confused elderly person. I realized that maybe off camera he wasn't quite as together as he appeared to be on 60 Minutes, but again remembered that he was well in his eighties. Andy started writing for "Stars and Stripes" during World War 2!

Back when CBS tried doing a spin-off show called "60 Minutes 2" they had Boston's Jimmy Tingle doing the final monologue. Poor Jimmy got fired after one season, although I thought he was pretty good. I know there will never be another Andy Rooney, but if CBS is looking for a comical eccentric guy who is a good writer and has an unusual take on life, my son Jon Baril is available for the job, and so am I!

THE BRIDGE HOUSE NEEDS US NOW

2011-09-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

"Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me." (Matthew 25:36)

One of my dearest friends, and possibly the most committed Christian I have ever known, is the Rev. Jim Spence. Jim's story is AMAZING. No kidding, a full length film SHOULD be made, dramatizing and telling the story of his life and ministry. Now age 70, Jim is still ministering in a small church in Florida, and still counseling and helping troubled souls. I first met Jim when he was Protestant Chaplain at the Massachusetts State Prison at Walpole (also known as "Cedar Junction"). Some might assume Jim has been a clergyman for his entire adult life or that he is a "flaming liberal". Now, his views on incarceration DO lean a bit to the left, as I think you'd guess. In fact, Jim is very politically and socially conservative. He also spent many years as a successful engineer at Polaroid Corporation. The last things Jim Spence ever expected to be were a minister or a prison chaplain and advocate for convicted felons.

Jim did an extraordinary job as Chaplain at Walpole...he was and is possibly the best Chaplain they ever had. Sensing the need for "aftercare" to stop recidivism, Jim and a group of businessmen founded New England Aftercare Ministries in 1985. They went through untold agony. Jim especially was vilified in the press as a man who wanted to coddle criminals and ruin family neighborhoods. Angry mobs were whipped up against him. Sadly, even the evangelical Christian community largely distanced themselves from him, telling him to be "realistic" and that a prison aftercare ministry could never fly in Massachusetts.

I joined the Board of New England Aftercare in the late eighties and served on it for about seven years. In 1987, after a great struggle, "The Bridge House" opened on Summit Street in Framingham. Over the years, there have been great victories and tragic defeats...great highs and devastating lows. Yes, some guys have "relapsed". Some have gone back to prison. Some have overdosed and died. But MANY have been totally transformed as they committed their lives to the Lord, and many have gone on to become healthy and productive members of society.

Jim resigned as Executive Director several years ago, and has moved to Florida, but he continues to serve on the Board of New England Aftercare. I received a disturbing letter from Tim Pritchard, current Development Manager at The Bridge House indicating the Bridge House now needs a great financial miracle. (I HAD heard from some contacts of mine that such a letter was coming.) Recently, the Bridge House staff and management were embarrassed when they failed to meet state requirements. This was not and is not a matter of state persecution. In fact,the Commonwealth of Mass. generally likes and supports the Bridge House. Sadly, some carelessness took place and some things have fallen through the cracks. There is a lot of reworking and recomplying to do. There is a huge financial shortfall. The Bridge House COULD close its doors.

I am encouraging everyone who reads this to check out the Bridge House website. It's found at
http://www.thebridgehouse.org

The Bridge House just CAN'T go under. This ministry and program are far too important!
Jim Spence's vision cannot die.

I urge you to pray for The Bridge House and to do what you can. Even a $10 one time gift would greatly help. The address is New England Aftercare Ministries, PO Box 136, Framingham, MA 01704. Please let others know about this!

IN THE DENTAL CHAIR

2011-09-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

"Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn,
which came up from the washing;
whereof every one bear twins,
and none is barren among them." (Song of Solomon 4:2)

That's the first time I have ever quoted from Song of Solomon on the blog! I just thought that sounded better than, "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" or "gnashed with their teeth"! This morning, I was in the dental chair. It was my third time in the chair since the 4th of July. My previous appointments this Summer were pretty extensive. The one from about three weeks ago was PAINFUL! This time, it was just for a routine checkup and cleaning. X-rays were also taken during this appointment.

As I sat in the dental chair, I thought about how much the experience of sitting in the dental chair has changed during my lifetime. My first dental appointments were when I was a child around middle school age. The dentist was Dr. Cletus J. Dunn in downtown Canton, Massachusetts. Dr. Dunn was at the end of his career at the time. I believe he retired around 1967 or 1968, and he was in his late sixties at the time. Dr. Dunn's office was above a block of stores in an old wooden building on Washington Street in downtown Canton.

I suspect Dr. Dunn's office circa the late 1960s was no different than it had been in the late 1930s. THIS was TOTAL "Norman Rockwell"! Dr. Dunn did EVERYTHING. There was no dental hygenist. There was no dental assistant. There was no other dentist in the practice. There was no secretary. The chair and equipment was all circa 1930s. There was a black rotary dial telephone. Dr. Dunn would be in the middle of cleaning your teeth,and would have to drop everything to run and answer the phone. He was NOT a native New Englander. Dunn was from somewhere in the midwest; maybe Iowa or Nebraska. He had an upper-midwest accent which was very foreign in suburban Boston at that time. I can still hear him telling me to, "Open big!" He would say that repeatedly as he worked on your mouth.

After Dunn's retirement, we went to Dr. Riley in Norwood. Riley had been recommended by some law enforcement friends of my Dad's. My father was very impressed with Dr. Riley. The rest of the family WASN'T. He did have a secretary and a dental hygenist. Riley was very opinionated and always talking. He was probably the first person in his Irish-American family to "make it"; and like Fox TV's Bill O'Reilly was always talking and pontificating in the office about something. His hygenist was a pain. LITERALLY! Your mouth was in agony for days after she worked on you! After several years, Mom led a dental mutiny against my father. She RARELY disagreed with my father or defied him, but she told him we just WEREN'T going to Dr. Reilly's anymore. We began seeing Dr. Chodroff at Cobb's Corner at the Canton/Stoughton line. (I think technically the office was in Stoughton but you were about 100 feet from the Canton town line.)

Chodroff was 35ish and very cheerful. He was always boasting about something he'd achieved in his life. No matter what you were interested in, HE was interested in it. And, what YOU had achieved, HE had also achieved it. I thought he was a pretty good dentist, but I wondered if you could believe everything he said. Well, about two years after we started with Dr. Chodroff, my brother Eddie was in a mini-bike accident which resulted in two of his teeth being knocked out. My mother was VERY disappointed in how Dr. Chodroff handled this. He DID give Eddie a couple of false teeth, but (pun intended) it was like pulling teeth to get Chodroff to make time for Eddie's appointments and do the right thing. At the recommendation of two family friends, we switched to Dr. Seymour Schiff who was located in the Ponkapoag section of the northern part of Canton.

Schiff was an Orthodox Jew. He was dark complected, kind of hairy and very middle-eastern looking. He spoke with typical urban Jewish/Yiddish inflections, and he was a super nice guy. Dr. Schiff was my dentist for probably twenty years. For several years in our early marriage, Mary Ann and my kids (then very little) saw Dr. Schiff. He always gave us a pretty good sized discount. Dr. Schiff lived in Brookline and was a neighbor of Michael Dukakis. He told me, "I know Michael Dukakis about as well as I know you," and told me if Dukakis got elected President he'd see if I could pray at the inauguration. I think he was serious!

My wife and I were pretty disappointed when Dr. Schiff retired, but at that time we became patients of Dr. Hubley in Framingham. He was just starting out. I knew his father who is a Baptist pastor. It's hard to believe we've been patients of Dr. Hubley for probably fifteen years. Today, when X-rays were taken, a large lead shield was laid upon my "trunk". I don't think they took a precaution like that forty years ago. In fact, I remember when X-rays were taken in the 1970s and 1980s, you'd have to HOLD some piece of what seemed like card stock in your mouth with your fingers...and all that radiation shot into your fingers! I also remember that for awhile that cup think you rinse with used to sit on a stainless steel thing which would trigger a mechanism that would always keep refilling the cup. THOSE are long gone. I have a feeling a lot of them must have malfunctioned and flooded some dentist's offices! Dr. Schiff's hygenist was PARANOID about A.I.D.S. This was the late 1980s. She used to wear this big clear plastic thing all around her head. It looked RIDICULOUS! I used to want to say to her, "Are you KIDDING me?!"

Possibly the most important change since the Dr. Dunn era is the COST. Today, the hygenist commented to me about how EXPENSIVE dental work has become. It was frankly pretty cheap in the 1960s but has just kept rising and rising. If it were not for my wife's dental insurance, I probably wouldn't go to the dentist very often.

Finally, this would not be complete without me commenting about the hygenist who cleaned my teeth, Gail Barrs. She is my cousin Janet Baril Mustonen's DOUBLE! No kidding. She looks just like her and talks just like her. When she cleans my teeth, it is just as if Janet Mustonen is cleaning them, and that's kind of weird. It's like when you're watching a movie and you realize the cowboy in the movie was the young doctor in a soap opera you used to watch, or that the female murderer in a movie was a nun in a comedy many years ago. It's like when Stephen Collins who played the minister and very nice Dad on "Seventh Heaven" played the corporate bad guy in "No Ordinary Family" on ABC last year. You just kind of "go with it" but if seems weird.

Do I have A.D.D.? I don't know but this is what I thought about while in the dental chair today.

0 AND 50

2011-09-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

"And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family." (Leviticus 25:10)

Due to my late mother's recollections, I knew I was born on a Sunday evening (September 19) in 1954. I remember my mother saying something about having labor pains during the Ed Sullivan Show! Indeed, I WAS born on a Sunday, which I think is kind of cool! I also thought it was a neat coincidence that my 50th birthday on September 19, 2004 was also on a Sunday.

Recently, I decided to check and see if everybody's 50th birthday falls on the day of the week on which they were born. With the possible exception of February 29, EVERYBODY'S 5Oth birthday falls on the day of the week on which they were born. This year I'm more years away from 50 than I'd like to be, but I wonder if anybody else ever figured that out or noticed it. The Bible speaks of every 50th year as a "Year of Jubilee". I wonder if there's some special significance to that 50th birthday thing?!

"COMFORT ON SEPTEMBER 11"

2011-09-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

This morning, it was my great privilege to speak at Framingham's (Brazilian) Philadelphia Baptist Church in downtown Framingham. [Their main service (in Portuguese) is on Sunday nights, but their "English service" which attracts a smattering of Brazilians and Americans meets at 11 a.m.] Incidentally, lest anyone think Brazilians don't care about the attacks on America on 9/11/01, each Brazilian there was very moved about the events of 9/11 and prayer was offered for America's leaders in dealing with the challenging issue of terrorism and terrorists.

I spoke from the Twenty-seventh Psalm. I shared with the congregation that on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I was volunteering for the day at Marian (Catholic) high school. I was doing data entry in one of the offices. I arrived at the school around 9 a.m. I sat down at the computer and began doing my work. At about 9:15, a school administrator burst into the office and said his mother had just phoned and said that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. There was a radio in the office that I flipped on. We immediately began hearing coverage from New York. At first, it was being reported that it was a terrible accident and that the planes were "a jet and a small commuter plane". Quickly, however, the news came out that there were two jets which had been deliberately flown into the towers. The announcers spoke of terrorism. Reports later came in about the Pentagon and the crash in Pennsylvania. At that time, no one knew HOW many planes had been hijacked and how many more terrible events could unfold. I was acting calm on the outside, but honestly, I was REALLY SCARED. Nothing like this had happened in my lifetime. I prayed silently, "Lord, I'm scared. I need you to give me a portion of Scripture to comfort me."

I pulled out my pocket-sized New Testament and Psalms and literally just flipped it open. It opened to Psalm 27 and my eyes fell on the first verse, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Was it a coincidence that I'd opened to that passage? No, that was God! I sat and read the entire Psalm. My fears instantly disappeared. The following Sunday, I preached my sermon from Psalm 27.

Today's sermon was completely different from what I preached in 2001. I prepared it fresh for this occasion. My outline for the Psalm 27 sermon came from 2 Timothy 1:7 (quoted above). I encourage you to look at Psalm 27. The first six verses speak of POWER. God is our LIGHT in the DARKNESS; and boy, the forces that orchestrated the events of 9/11 were forces of darkness, indeed! (Jesus came as a LIGHT to the DARK world as the Gospel of John chapter 1 tells us.) Psalm 27 verses 2 and 3 speak of the wicked coming against us and even an army coming against us, but the Lord will give us the confidence to face this. If we'll see the Lord with all our hearts, He will lift us up and (see verse 5) set our feet upon a rock, as it were.

Verses 7 through 10 of Psalm 27 speak of God's LOVE. He will be our help and will not forsake us. In fact, verse 10 powerfully states that even if and when our mothers and fathers forsake us, God will be there to love us and take care of us. One (American) woman in the congregation today was deeply moved by this verse. I know her life story as she formerly attended First Assembly of God of Framingham where I pastored. Her father and mother literally DID forsake her, but she has experienced God's love and care. Today she shed some tears...tears of joy. Psalm 27:7 speaks of crying out to the Lord. THAT'S what America needs to do today! For three weeks after 9/11/2001 everything was totally different. People came to church. People prayed. People were kind to one another. People were patriotic. I (foolishly) thought at the time that it was a genuine change in our country. I was wrong. It lasted for three weeks, and then everything went back to "normal". We need to get rid of "normal"! We need to cry out to the Lord, seek His face, and have true revival!

The final verses of the Lord speak of A SOUND MIND. Listen, when you're afraid, your mind can play tricks on you. I wish I was one of those people who "sees the glass of water as half full" but typically I "see the glass as half empty". I'm almost as bad as a Church Board Member a pastor friend of mine told me about. The pastor asked his Board to consider their church and its challenges, and to comment on whether they saw the "glass" (the church and its problems) as half full or half empty. The Board Member told him the glass is empty, dirty, and had been loaded into the dishwasher! Over a year ago, I went through a dark and terrible depression. That's what wallowing in fear and taking your eyes off the Lord can do to you. Psalm 27 verse 13 (in the New King James Version) says, "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living." Yes, if we choose to neglect the Lord and His word and to dwell on irrational (or even rational) fears, we can become quite mentally sick. But when we trust and believe the Lord, when we give our whole hearts to Him and trust Him, then we have A SOUND MIND.

The very last verse of Psalm 27 speaks of waiting on the Lord. My, that is DIFFICULT! I don't like to wait! Today's Americans want everything instantly. We don't want to wait. But, as the old saying goes, "God has three possible answers to prayer: YES, NO, and WAIT." That's true. I don't like "WAIT". Yet, sometimes God calls us to WAIT. Think of Joseph in the Old Testament. He WAITED. He spent years as a slave and years in prison after being falsely accused of rape. (Did you ever see "JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAM COAT"? That is worth seeing!) And, think of Jesus, Himself. In his late twenties, He probably got up every day, went to the carpenter shop, built tables, chairs, and cabinets, and went to bed. And He did that day after day after day until it was time for His ministry to begin.

Yes, there's comfort on September 11. God does not want us to have a spirit of fear, but of POWER, of LOVE, and of A SOUND MIND! One Brazilian young man came up to me after the service and told me he reads Psalm 27 every day. That might not be a bad idea for all of us!

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: TO SAY OR NOT TO SAY?

2011-09-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

"“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.
You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods." (from Exodus 20:4-5 New Living Translation)

The front page story of today's (Thursday, September 8, 2011) story in the Boston Herald is about a movement to end the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in the public schools of Brookline, Massachusetts.

According to the article in the Boston Herald: "Brookline Political Action for Peace — also known as Brookline PAX — will push Town Meeting voters in November to urge the School Committee to end the requirement that principals allow a weekly recitation of the Pledge during morning announcements."

Today, this story has been fodder for the radio talk shows of Boston. In all of the arguing and rhetoric, there's just plain a lot of information about the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag that is not known. In this piece, I want to attempt to "put that out there". I hope this will help and will not "muddy the waters."

It's ironic that today most of the strongest advocates for saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag are on the political right, and even on the far right. Typically those on the left either yawn over the Pledge of Allegiance or just plain wish it would go away. It may surprise you that the author of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag (in 1892) was a person on the political FAR LEFT! It was SOCIALIST (and Baptist minister) Francis Belamy. One might think he's definitely responsible for the line "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, but that line was NOT in the original Pledge! It was added in 1954, and the addition of the words "under God" was pushed by the Roman Catholic group known as the "Knights of Columbus".

I attended Canton, Massachusetts public schools from 1960 through 1972. In the Canton Public Schools, each school day began with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Everybody stood and recited it. In high school, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited over the public address system every morning. Each student was expected to stand and at that time. But by the time I was a Junior, more than half of our homeroom was opting to NOT stand and recite the Pledge. This was the era of opposition to the Vietnam War, opposition to Richard Nixon, and exaltation of "Woodstock" and counter-cultural rock music. One day, Tony B. who was one of what I'd call the "leader/student council" type kids in the school came up to me and asked me, "WHY don't you stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance in homeroom?!" I was shocked because I DID stand and say it every day and I told him so.

"Oh...oh..." he replied in kind of a flustered manner, "I did not realize that. Sorry. I am just concerned that too many of us are NOT being patriotic and not saying the Pledge. That's GOOD. Keep it up!"

By Senior year, only TWO of us continued to stand and say the Pledge in our homeroom, Tony and me. One say Tony said to me, "It's not that I think it's THAT big of a deal, but if we stop saying it those kids will think they've won something." I felt that was true. It was NOT easy. A couple of times Tony was absent from school and I had to stand and say the Pledge by myself. Once as I did, a very liberal activist girl muttered, "blind obedience!" about me. That was really hurtful.

Now, to fast forward about twenty-five years, my son Jon was a kid who would NOT say the Pledge of Allegiance! Pretty much he'd stand with everybody at the Catholic high school but he refused to say it. One day I asked him WHY he refused to say it. Jon was pretty adamant that saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was idolatry. It was making the flag, a cloth, an object of respect, worship and allegiance. I disagreed with Jon, saying, "When I say the Pledge of Allegiance, I'm not really expressing allegiance to the FLAG, I'm expressing allegiance and support to the COUNTRY."

But Jon was pretty firm. "Think of the WORDS," he cautioned, "That's NOT what it says. It pledges allegiance to the flag, AND 'to the republic for which it stands'!"

You know, I did not have a comeback for that.

He was right.

Incidentally, another of Jon's criticisms of the Pledge of Allegiance is that in Evangelical Protestant churches in American often a "Pledge of Allegiance to the Christian flag" is recited, too. (Did you know there's a Protestant Christian flag?!) AND, a "Pledge of Allegiance to the Bible" is also often recited!

I still recite the Pledge of Allegiance when I'm at a public gathering and it's recited. But it HAS lost some of its luster for me. I honestly think it should be rewritten. That opening line, in my opinion, really DOESN'T reflect what I'm pledging allegiance to.

I'm inclined to think Brookline should keep the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. BUT I think it behooves all of us to consider the author of the pledge, the original intent of the pledge, the fact that there's nothing in the Constitution about saying a Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, AND the fact that most of us are more than happy to pledge our allegiance to the country SYMBOLIZED by the flag, but may not REALLY be so comfortable pledging allegiance TO THE FLAG.

HOW COULD BUSINESS GET IT SO WRONG?

2011-09-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" (Luke 14:28)

Sometimes I think I must have "Adult A.D.D.", for my mind can wander in myriads of directions, seemingly like a runaway horse at times! This morning as I was working passing out fliers to the shoppers at BJs Wholesale Club, I found myself thinking about MARKETING and wondering why so many "experts" have gotten marketing SO wrong. (I guess it was just looking at all that merchandise and all those shoppers, AND the fact that it's Labor Day that got me thinking about this.)

During the more than fifty years I've been living on this planet, I've seen a lot of these kinds of things. One example is "Square Spaghetti". It was introduced by Prince in the middle 1960s. The television commercial sang a theme song to the tune of "Frere Jacques". The square spaghetti came in a distinctive purple spaghetti box. Our family bought it a number of times, and frankly we liked it. It was actually a little EASIER to twirl on a fork and was kind of "cool" but within a couple of years, it was gone. Another product that came and went was Smucker's peanut butter and jelly, all in ONE jar! I don't remember the EXACT year that product came out. I'm guessing somewhere around 1970. It also was very unpopular and did not last.

You know, products are brought out after EXTENSIVE marketing research by experts. WHY then did these fail? I suspect test subjects sometimes LIE during the research...they may give the answers that they think researchers WANT to hear, rather than just giving their honest opinions. Much more famous and dramatic cases of business getting it ALL wrong are "New" Coca-Cola and Ford Motor Company's "Edsel" car.

I am not sure exactly when "New Coke" was introduced. It was during the 1980s; I'd guess around 1985. "New Coke", that is Coca-Cola made with a totally new formula, was introduced with great fanfare. The "New Coke" was much sweeter and tasted much more like Pepsi. Marketing surveys indicated young people vastly preferred the taste of Pepsi and that Pepsi outsold Coke among youth and young adults. The concern was that as these folks aged, they'd keep buying Pepsi and not Coke. SO, this New Coke SHOULD have been a winner. But it wasn't. It was a DISASTER. The New Coke did not sell, and the public DEMANDED that traditional Coca-Cola be brought back. After only a couple of months, the company reintroduced traditional Coca-Cola under the name "Coca-Cola Classic". The company still had no intention of getting rid of New Coke. At that time, all Coca-Cola sold at fountains and restaurants was STILL going to be New Coke. And, Diet Coke and caffeine free Coke were still New Coke. The company felt that in time the New stuff would eventually catch on, but in never did! Within a couple of years, "New Coke" was GONE. Everything went back to "normal"...all that planning and marketing research...it was wrong and a failure!

In the early 1050s Ford Motor Company's executives were wringing their hands over the fact that their luxury Lincoln automobiles and medium-priced Mercury cars were poor sellers. General Motors offered a whole selection of various makes and models based on demographics. Chevrolet buyers often went on to become Pontiac or Oldsmobile customers, and by the time they were wealthy old people, they were driving Cadillacs. Ford customers "moved up" also, but to GENREAL MOTORS cars! The idea was to offer a very cool and very desirable medium priced car that would be superior to Pontiac in looks and image and would keep Ford customers in the family. Years of research and work resulted in the 1958 Edsel which was introduced in the Fall of 1957. The car had a VERY weird looking "horse collar" grille, AND its NAME left something to be desired. ("Edsel" was named after Henry Ford's son.) But Ford executives were CONVINCED this car was a winner- a winner like the cool Ford Thunderbird they'd introduced a few years earlier, only GREATER. Ford executives expected Edsel to be a huge seller. They confidently stated that if they could not build and sell 100,000 Edsels (minimum) for 1958, then the car was a total failure. In fact, they sold just over 30,000 1958 Edsels. The public never warmed up to the car, at all. For 1959, they toned the car's looks down A BIT, but Edsel sold even more poorly. Many people don't realize there WAS a 1960 Edsel. Only around 500 were built. The '60 Edsel did NOT have the "horse collar" grille. I've seen photos of 1960 Edsels, but never one in person. Any one of these 1960 Edsels found TODAY would be worth a lot of money as a collectible car. The '60 Edsel looks very much like a combination of a 1960 Ford Galaxie and a 1959 Pontiac Catalina.

On this Labor Day, during such tough economic times, I guess I'm thinking about these things because we can't afford any of these kind of products which executives think are so great, but are actually a disaster. U.S. industry has got to get it right.

AND, for my minister and Christian friends, there IS a real parallel in why some churches fail...because they're out of touch with people, etc.

SHORT BUT SWEET

2011-09-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (I Corinthians 15:58)

Happy Labor Day!

I have just not had the time to get onto the blog or even onto the internet all that much in the past few days, but I wanted to post this. For Christian laborer, whether pastors or missionaries, or ushers, or church janitors, or church secretaries, please KNOW that what you do for the Lord is not in vain.

And WHATEVER work we do (unless it's blatantly sinful like selling drugs or running a casino) THAT'S something we can thank God for!

There are many good verses on "work" and "labor" or "labour" as the Brits put it.

Again, Happy Labor Day!

AN APOLOGY FOR MASS E-MAILS

2011-08-23T15:27:00.001-07:00

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40)

EVEN IF YOU NEVER READ LENGTHY BLOG PIECES OR E-MAILS I WANT YOU TO READ THIS ONE!

Recently, when I asked a friend of mine if he’d had a chance to read my latest blog posting, he launched into a somewhat angry dismissal and repudiation of my e-mails and writings, saying he doesn’t have time for them. I will say, I was a bit “taken back” by this. This isn’t the first time something like that has happened, however. Several years ago, I got an angry e-mail from a Framingham lawyer whose address I’d included in a few mass e-mails.

“I get 500 e-mails a day!” she wrote, “I don’t have time to read yours!”

OK, fine. She never got any more.

A couple of years ago a friend wrote that he did not want to receive any more e-mails from me unless they were personal e-mails just for him.

“I don’t want to be part of your blogosphere,” he wrote.

Another friend of mine, Dave Milley, says that people get far too upset about receiving unwanted e-mails. “That’s what the DELETE button is for!” Dave says, and I totally agree.

The friend who made the comment THIS week called me the next day and said he was just tired and spoke thoughtlessly. He said he will make more of an effort to read my blog, and he was sorry he upset me.

He may well have done me a favor, however, because I know a lot of people just don’t understand why someone would write a blog or send mass e-mails. So, I’ve decided to write an apology for sending mass e-mails.

First, I must explain what an apology is. I know that MOST modern Americans THINK an apology is someone saying, “I’m sorry”. It has evolved to mean that, but much like the word “gay” never originally meant “homosexual”, “apology” never originally meant saying you’re sorry.

When you look up “apology” in the dictionary, there are several definitions, but the number one definition which is the PREFERRED and FOREMOST definition is “a formal justification - defense”. It comes from the Greek words “apo” meaning “defense” and “logos” meaning “word” or “speech”.

You may or may not agree with me but I want to EXPLAIN why I write some of what I write and why I promote a lot of it on Facebook and by mass e-mails. You may have seen a lot of those “America’s Got Talent” kind of shows on television. It’s great to see so many of these folks getting “their chance” but you really DO begin to understand the words of that old say which talk about the number of potential stars who are “parking cars and pumping gas.” I have been accused of being a totally self-absorbed and egotistical person. In reality I originally started blogging and mass e-mailing hoping to gain publicity and a following which would translate into promoting the church (First Assembly of God of Framingham) and opening doors for public ministry. Sadly, this was often misunderstood. After the church closed, and I once again became a pauper (as I’d been thirty years earlier) I admittedly was trying to use the blog and the mass e-mailing as an avenue to do whatever I could to get my writing, and potential public speaking noticed. Another old acquaintance of mine that I will call “T.H.” calls this “shameless self-promotion”. Ironically, I know of no one who has done more shameless self-promoting than T.H., himself! I admit, sometimes I feel a bit “funny” and a little ashamed when I “DO” shamelessly self-promote me and my talents. Yet, it’s been a way that I’ve tried to get “out there” in the hopes that someday I could earn enough as a speaker and a writer to make my wife and family comfortable and proud.

But, PLEASE GET THIS: It’s NOT all about me! One of the happiest things I do when I blog and send mass e-mails is blessing and promoting OTHERS. Honestly, that’s far more fun and meaningful than promoting myself. My friend Ed Duddy, the rural letter carrier from Texas, has written a couple of powerful pieces about the U.S. Postal Service that I was proud to forward on as mass e-mails. Ed is a very talented and interesting guy who has (in my opinion) gotten some “raw deals” in life. I’ve felt that if I could do anything that would give Ed exposure and respect, I am more than happy to do that! Another person I like to promote is the Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell. This pastor’s wife and young mother from Oklahoma is an outstanding writer (much better than me). She is actively trying to market herself as a retreat speaker and writer. I know how difficult that is. I am only too happy to promote her ministry on my Facebook page and with mass e-mails. If this gives her notoriety; if it helps her to get a speaking engagement or two or get something published, then that makes me feel GREAT! Still another is young Ryan Seler. Ryan is only in his early 20s. He’s working a secular job and serving as worship leader at an inner city “church plant” in Boston. He writes a great blog. That young man and his ministry should be KNOWN and it blesses me to do what I can to promote Ryan and his ministry. Still another I like to promote is his mother, Debby Seler. Debby and her husband Denny serve as missionaries to Jamaica. Debby has written some outstanding stuff on her blog that I’ve been happy to endorse on Facebook and promote using mass e-mailings. Finally, there is my son Jon. Jon is very intelligent. Jon is a great singer, and a great actor. My daughter Rachel and I believe he really should be working as a film critic. Jon writes a blog, and a couple of times when he has written a particularly good piece, I have promoted it.

Have you ever considered the power of the internet? I don’t think there has ever previously been a tool quite like it. Say you send an e-mail to 10 people and each of them sends it on to 10 people and each of THEM sends it on to 10 people and so on and so on...in a months time, it can have been seen and read by MILLIONS of people! Now back to my own stuff. Yeah, just about everything I write...well, I think it’s very good. The test for me is when I look back at my writing from 18 to 24 months ago. What I typically discover is that about a fourth of them are outstanding- well written, well thought out, interesting, important and really SHOULD be read by millions of people. Another fourth are pretty good, but certainly not THAT good. Another fourth are, well, kind of lousy. Finally, the last 25% are just DRIVEL...so pathetically bad that I’m ashamed I ever wrote it and I wonder, “WHAT WAS I THINKING?!” Well, if and when I send you a drivel e-mail or kind of lousy mass e-mail or even a pretty good one, feel free to delete it. But IF it’s really good, I ask that you forward it on. And, EVEN MORE SO: When I send something from Ed Duddy or Debby Seler or Ryan Seler or Mindi Welton-Mitchell or someone like that, you can “take it to the bank:” that it’s good! Listen, if you read that and forward it on, you CAN have had a role in TREMENDOUSLY blessing that person! Someday that person may even be famous...maybe what they wrote will be transformational for thousands of people and YOU helped make it possible. If everyone I send something to hits the delete button, well, it dies right there....

So that’s my apology for blog postings and mass e-mails. I hope you understand.

A BIBLE "MYTHBUSTER"

2011-08-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

"...thy word is truth." (from John 17:17)

Yesterday morning at Bread of Life Church in Westminster, MA, I heard the finest sermon I have heard so far in 2011. (And, that includes some sermons preached my ME!) The guest speaker was the Rev. Paul Conway, a Professor at Zion Bible College. His text was Isaiah chapter 40. His presentation was PHENOMINAL. I'm like my son Jon in that I usually DON'T care for all the modern powerpoint stuff that is done during sermons in evangelical and charismatic churches. I think it tends to be overdone, and can actually be distracting. I will say, Rev. Conway used powerpoint VERY effectively. It opened with a big photo of the two "Mythbuster" guys from the show on Discovery Channel. Listen, Mythbusters is a GREAT show. (Unfortunately I don't have cable or satellite T.V. right now, so I have not seen it since March.)

Conway spoke about sayings that people THINK are in the Bible, but ARE NOT. He listed five, but he emphasized TWO for his sermon: "God helps those who help themselves" and "You made your bed, now lie in it". In fact, God helps those who CAN'T help themselves and who KNOW they can't help themselves. IF we could do everything for ourselves, WHY would we need God? And, the message of the New Testament is change, forgiveness, and transformation, NOT "You made your bed, now lie in it."

As far as the secular world, you hear those two sayings all the time. But Rev. Conway stressed that surveys indicate that THE MAJORITY OF EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS ALSO BELIEVE THOSE TWO SAYINGS ARE CORRECT AND BIBLICAL! Probably nothing has depressed and angered me more than Christians who have essentially said to me, "God helps those who help themselves," and/or "You made your bed, now lie in it." They may not use those EXACT words. More often, such Christians rephrase them in what they think is a more acceptable fashion for evangelicals. But you know the line about "if it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck..." Yeah, no matter how they're rephrased, it's still "God helps those who help themselves," and "You made your bed, now lie in it."

At times I've gotten very angry and thought, "If THAT'S what God says, then I want nothing to do with God!"

And, I stand by that. But I've NEVER really believed it's what God says. It's just when so many "Christians" fire that stuff at you, it can kind of shake your moorings.
I needed Paul Conway's sermon yesterday. I can't TELL you how much I needed it. AND, there were two "tongues and interpretations" BEFORE he spoke from those in the congregation which essentially said the same thing before he even preached it!
Yesterday was one of those sermons where I thought, "If he gives an altar call, I'll be one of the first ones up there!" and I WAS!

Thank you, Rev. Paul Conway! Right on!

For you Christians who believe "God helps those who help themselves" and "You made your bed, now lie in it," I suggest you do an internet search for the website of Bread of Life Church, Westminster, MA. There you will find how you can download that sermon and listen to it. In fact, I'd recommend that EVERYBODY do that!

40,000 CALLS - WHAT I'VE NOTICED

2011-08-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." (Romans 12:18)

My mother's uncle "Duke" MacDonald (who was obviously my great-uncle) used to love to spend the days of his retirement just going to some busy place like a subway station. He would sit and WATCH PEOPLE. He called this activity "people watching" and he said it was amazingly interesting to do. After working for sixteen months at a telephone answering service, I've probably taken 40,000 phone calls. No kidding! In talking to THAT many callers, I have noticed a LOT of patterns of human behavior.

Some time ago, I wrote a piece about the word "perfect". I'd noticed in taking phone calls, that women use the word "perfect" frequently, and men almost NEVER use that word. (I still stand by that!) In taking 40,000 calls I have also noticed other habitual vocal patterns. In telling a personal story, especially in describing a child's medical issue, many, many women start out using the word "SO". Calls go something like this:

"SO she came in from playing and I noticed a tick on her leg."

"SO he tripped on the steps and sprained his ankle."

"SO it started raining, and all my joints started to hurt."

It works for non-medical calls, too:

"SO the wind started blowing and I noticed shingles blowing around our front yard."

"SO I got a summons to go to court and I need a lawyer."

SO. Why "SO"?! Rarely, a man will use "SO" like that, but I'd say the ratio of women "SO" users to men "SO" users is easily 30 to 1.

Another thing about female callers: They have far less patience with the foibles of medical offices than do men. It's VERY common for medical offices to open up late, close for the day early, and take very long lunch periods. It just IS. When an office is supposed to have opened at 8 a.m. and in fact still has not opened by 8:20 a.m., that's frustrating to patients. Most men will deal with this situation somewhat good-naturedly , saying something like, "Hey, I guess they stayed up late watchin' the Red Sox! I'll call back later!" Women will much more commonly say in a somewhat sharp and annoyed tone, "I THOUGHT they opened at EIGHT!!" In all fairness, though, women are LESS likely to "totally lose it" over the phone than are men. Men take most frustrations and disappointments with medical offices pretty well, BUT there's that one in fifty who has absolutely no patience. They'll yell, swear, and threaten, and NOTHING will calm them down! That one in fifty type man is VERY scary! Such a guy is the type who may smash the windows of a doctor's car with a tire iron!

Imagine that a five-year-old child has a fever and is vomiting. It's 7:45 a.m. The pediatrician's office opens at 8. The call comes in at 7:45 a.m. I explain the options to the caller: I can page an on-call doctor; I can take a message and FAX it to the office; or the caller can call back in fifteen or twenty minutes and most likely reach the office. What do you think women will tend to do? What will men tend to do? Men will tend to say, "I'll call back." A lot of women will have me page the doctor, and some will have me take a message for the office.

I sincerely hope this will not come across as racist, and I DON'T mean it that way, but a person's ethnicity DOES make a definite difference in how they handle medical situations on the telephone. What I have written about a man calling about a sick child, for instance, does NOT apply to men who are originally from India. Typically, NO ethnic group is more concerned about the health of one of their children than those from India. People from India frankly SEEM like they expect all of society to stop and pay attention because they have a sick child. Seriously. Chinese parents, and others from the Far East are ALMOST as intense as parents from India, but not quite.

People who live in poor neighborhoods (who are of all racial and ethnic backgrounds) are usually very concerned about the health of their children but they tend to take disappointments and setbacks (doctors offices being closed; calls not being returned) as just part of life. People from wealthy neighborhoods expect their doctor and his or her office to be open "24/7"! If not, they consider that "UNACCEPTABLE!".

SO what do you think of my observations? If you make a comment, that would be PERFECT!

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MICHAEL GRAHAM?

2011-08-18T06:43:00.001-07:00

The piece below was originally posted on the blog on September 27, 2006. At that time Michael Graham of WTKK BostonTalks 96.9 was given a really "raw deal" by the station. No kidding, I like Michael as a person and broadcaster and prayed earnestly for him back in '06 that his original shift would be restored. Well, THIS WEEK, AFTER FIVE YEARS IT WAS! This may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it IS. In the highly competitive field of radio and television communications, good things like what just happened for Michael Graham almost NEVER happen. Congratulations, Michael Graham! (Michael Graham's Show "The Natural Truth" now airs in what was his original time slot- 3 P.M. to 7 P.M., Monday through Friday.)

Here is my original posting from September 27, 2006

“...for the labourer is worthy of his hire.” (from Luke 10:7)

Over the past few days, Boston’s 96.9 FMTalk has been gleefully promoting the news that Jay Severin is returning to his old Mon.-Fri. 3-7 p.m. time slot. (You can read all about it at www.969fmtalk.com) I’m “not a happy camper” about this.

I listen to a lot of talk radio. My wife would say I listen to too much of it. Frankly, I probably do. I particularly like 680 AM WRKO and 96.9 FMTalk WTKK. WRKO has been a talk station since 1981. In comparison, 96.9 FM Talk is a relatively “new kid on the block” having been around since September of 1999. (Prior to that the station played “Smooth Jazz” and back in the 1980s it was a popular soft-rock station.) When Jay Severin went on 96.9 FMTalk in 1999, I was delighted. I was getting tired of WRKO’s Howie Carr and Severin was a nice alternative. During 1999, 2000, and 2001, I was a regular listener to Jay Severin. By 2003, I was getting tired of Jay Severin. A self-proclaimed “libertine and libertarian” he made Gene Burns sound like Billy Graham, and Jerry Williams sound like Rabbi Howard Kushner! I got tired of hearing about all the women Severin had relations with, about how “pro-choice” Severin was, and about what a jerk President Bush was. I also got tired of hearing Severin strongly imply on a number of occasions that anybody who made less than $200,000 a year and who did not graduate from an Ivy League university was a second-rate failure who should be ashamed of himself or herself.

I was glad when Severin left that time slot to pursue a syndicated show which 96.9 FMTalk picked up in the evening. When Michael Graham went on air in late 2005 I quickly became a huge fan and regular listener. (I admit that I listen to Howie Carr and Max Robbins discuss TV on Mondays during the 5 p.m. hour, but otherwise I’m pretty regular with Michael Graham.) I have e-mailed Michael on several occasions, and have received pleasant and thoughtful e-mail replies. Jay Severin NEVER replied to any of my e-mails. I met Michael Graham in person on a couple of occasions and found him to be very warm and personable. I respect that Michael lives here in the MetroWest area with his family, unlike Jay who did the show from his home on Long Island, New York.

Severin’s syndicated show has gone the way of the Edsel. I have no problem with 96.9 FMTalk hiring him back as a local host, but I have a BIG problem with giving him the Monday thorough Friday afternoon drive slot. THAT slot now belongs to Michael Graham. I think it’s an insult to Michael Graham, and I’m honestly offended for him.

I have no idea if Michael Graham will be continuing on 96.9 FMTalk in another time slot. I certainly hope he will be. Even so, I would have given Jay Severin some less desirable time slot and would have left Michael Graham where he was.

I’ve e-mailed Program Director Paula O’Connor at WTKK to tell her pretty much what I’ve said here. I don’t know if it will do any good, but I think she needs to listen to the listeners! I wasn’t sure what Paula O’Connor’s e-mail address is so I used both paulao’connor@969fmtalk.com and paulaoconnor@969fmtalk.com
I figure one of them will work.

As a kid I wanted to go into broadcasting. My father talked me out of it because he didn’t want me to go into a field where there is very little job security. This situation seems to prove Dad was right.

SEQUEL TO "Letter to a Thief"

2011-08-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

We serve a GOD OF MIRACLES!

Yesterday, I was STUNNED to receive a forwarded letter in my mail at home in Webster. It had originally been sent to my old home address in Framingham. It was from Joan Thomas of Framingham Baking Company (A nice old fashioned bakery at 840 Waverly ST/Route 135 that makes pizza little kids LOVE!). My Bible, journal, and other "stuff" were found in their parking lot the same day it was stolen! I got my belongings back today. Thank you to everyone who prayed! Incidentally, Julia Spitz of the MetroWest Daily News will have something about this in the newspaper this weekend.

"CHARMING"

2011-08-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain..." (from Proverbs 31:30 New King James Version)

Not long ago, a friend of mine mentioned to me that he'd met a guy I know. In describing the guy, my friend said, "He was charming". Over the next couple of days, I found myself thinking of that description over and over again in my mind: "He was charming". One reason I thought about it is that I virtually never use the word "charming" to describe a person or an object. It's not a conscious choice, but I realize I just don't use that term. Another reason I thought of it is that the guy he was describing really IS "charming". As I pondered all this, I wondered if "charming" is a positive or a negative trait. I'm sure my friend was using "charming" as a positive description of the guy.

You know, I would never want to be described as "charming". To me, there's something in the term "charming" that says, "too good to be true". A term I DO sometimes use to describe people is "syrupy sweet". My son says, "sappy". My maternal grandfather, Joseph Philip Richard died in 1960, so I did not get to know him well, but my mother often talked about him and his "sayings". He had a bunch of sayings even as Benjamin Franklin did. ONE of his folksy sayings, for example, was "You can always BUY but you can't always SELL." Another was, "NEVER co-sign a loan." Now, the one I'm thinking of for THIS piece is, "Beware of anyone who's 'nicey nice'." Yup, old French Canadian Joseph Philip Richard's term for "charming" was "nicey nice". From what I heard about my mother's father is that he was very "real". He smoked a pipe. He loved Smith Brothers wild cherry cough drops. He was a deeply religious Roman Catholic; he went to mass every day and twice on Sundays, and had enough "Sacred Heart of Jesus" pictures in his room for a Catholic church! He worked hard at the post office, and he did his best to keep up the "three decker" house he owned in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. But one thing Joseph Philip Richard was NOT was "charming".

I'm not charming, either. I can be very funny and very humorous. I can be a very entertaining storyteller. I'm a good teacher and good speaker. I have quite a knowledge of trivia. I like some people and I'm not always crazy about others, although I TRY to "love thy neighbor" as the Good Book says. But I'm not charming.

I looked up "charming" in several on-line dictionaries. Some definitions of the word were quite positive, but especially at the Miriam-Webster on-line dictionary site, they DID include some negative connotations of the word, and they offered a place for comments. Jesn Losanes Leysa of HOTEL RIO posted this very telling comment about "charming":

"All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others".

Know what? None of my kids would be described as "charming" and I'm kind of glad about that. I hope my grandson Ben grows up to be a very nice guy and a committed Christian, but I honestly hope he's not "charming".

"HARDPAN"

2011-08-08T06:12:00.000-07:00

"...To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." (Hebrews 4:7)

"Hardpan". Actually, until I checked on Google this morning, I thought the term was "hard pan"; and in fact, I wasn't sure if it was a proper geological term, a construction term, or just something my father made up. Maybe it's because I'd be considered a "city slicker" but I'm terribly unfamiliar with most agricultural, geological, and construction terms. My Dad had our house in Canton, MA built by a contractor in 1958. The lot was very small, especially considering the size of many lots in a suburb like Canton. Dad was one of those "children of the Depression" who pretty much never threw anything out. By the early 1970s, the basement of the house was full, and he needed "more storage space". I guess that was before all those storage rental unit things they have today. Dad hired another contractor and had a second building constructed on the property...a 2 car garage with a room for storage above the garage area. I'm not sure why, but when he had the foundation poured for this, he did NOT have a floor done. Maybe it was to save money. Today, my sister owns that property, and several years ago, she had a floor and driveway put in. I remember the days of trying to drive in mud in that "driveway" in the spring. I also remember that the dirt floor led to a lot of dampness in that garage, and that the floor was as hard as a rock.

THAT is where "hardpan" comes in. Years later, my father weighed the benefits of putting in a concrete floor there. He was concerned about the "hardpan" that would have to be taken up. You see we may have gotten mud in the driveway in the spring, but the floor of the garage, though dirt, was hard. It was as hard as iron. No kidding. Now, it was terribly UNEVEN, but it was HARD. I honestly thought maybe Dad had made up the term "hardpan" but this morning I learned he hadn't.

I guess it can take jackhammers to "dig up" the hardpan and prepare a space like that for gravel and concrete to make a proper modern garage floor. Sadly, I suspect that hardpan must be easier to move than a heart that has become hardened. I think unforgiveness has crippled and defeated many Christians...perhaps more so than anything else. For the sake of time and space I won't quote it, but please look up and read Matthew chapter 18, especially the last part of the chapter. If you read that and take it seriously, you'll know you CANNOT allow unforgiveness in your heart for it can and will DESTROY you!

Listen, please don't think I'm some kind of a "holy joe" in this area. Yes, I'm a born-again Christian and I love the Lord, but at times I have struggled greatly with unforgiveness. I thank God He did save me, because if He hadn't, I'd probably be one of the most unforgiving people in the world! I heard a sermon by a radio preacher about unforgiveness when I was 19. In my heart, the Lord showed me that I harbored unforgiveness toward my father. It was affecting my attitude toward him and my relationship with him. When I was 4, I was punished for something I did not do. Listen, my father punished the old fashioned way...the pre-World War 2 way if some of you know what I mean. I was severely punished for something I had not done. I had shoved that memory and unforgiveness into my soul and it was hindering me spiritually and in other ways, as well. You know, as I thought of that it was HARD to forgive him. I struggled with it. Finally I prayed and to the best of my ability, I forgave him and asked the Lord to help me to forgive him and let go of that thing. It did not happen overnight, but within a few weeks, honestly, that was GONE and I was free of it!

I have had to repeat that process regarding other people and other situations scores and scores of times since then. It's never easy. Listen, I'm loaded with faults, myself, and on my own, I don't forgive easily. But it's not worth developing a root of bitterness (see Hebrews 12:15). Now, I'm no bleeding heart liberal. You may ask, "What about a rape victim, is she supposed to forgive the guy?" Ultimately, yes, BUT I believe that guy should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. That's the balance.

This is something I've been thinking a lot about lately. There are a lot of Christians harboring unforgiveness. It's killing and crippling the church and it's killing and crippling them.

Listen, TAKE THIS TO GOD! Forgive! Put God's jackhammer to that HARDPAN in your heart!

LETTER TO A THIEF...

2011-08-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

"...be sure your sin will find you out." (from Numbers 32:23)

Dear Person who stole items from my automobile on Saturday, July 30:

I doubt you'll actually read this, but I write with the hope that it will make some sort of a different and positive impact for many persons who WILL read it. I worked a few hours at my Framingham telephone answering service job on Saturday. It felt great to get into my old but reliable 1995 Subaru Impreza sedan at 8 p.m. and head for home in south central Massachusetts. I happily tuned in to a favorite show of mine on Boston's NPR station.

As I drove along the MASSPIKE, something just didn't seem quite right. Some folks would call me, "sort of O.C.D." I believe in, "a place for everything and everything in its place." I KNEW I'd had my clip-on sunglasses with me. These were no cheap department store pair! They came from the optical store along with the premium pair of eyeglasses. I'd laid them in their little case on the passenger seat earlier. As I drove, I fumbled and looked for that clip-on sunglasses case. To my frustration and confusion, it was NOWHERE. That wasn't normal!

Then came a quick flash of apprehension: My devotional books- WHERE WERE THEY?! You may not understand the term "devotional books" so let me explain. First, a five year old gray canvas Bible cover with a cool logo on the front intended for a middle schooler's Bible. I bought that cheap at a Christian bookstore. Inside the canvas container, a thin hardcover journal, and a very inexpensive New King James Version Bible. In addition, various notes and papers with material written down which would only mean something to me.

You won't believe this but NO possession on earth meant more to me than that gray canvas Bible cover and its contents! True, the zipper was broken and the gray Bible cover has held together by two large rubber bands. It didn't LOOK like anything special. But if my residence were found to be on fire, that's the one item I'd have tried to carry away with me. If my residence was destroyed by a tornado, I'd be walking through the rubble looking for my devotional books. I'd gladly have preferred to part with my cell phone, or EVEN MY WALLET!

Yes, you're probably laughing and asking why the Subaru was unlocked. There's only one key to the Subaru. It's on my key ring. It's badly worn, and recently got bent. The key will barely work in the ignition. It WON'T work in any of the door locks, hence I have to leave the Subaru unlocked. I never thought anyone would want to steal my devotional books!

The past couple of years have been a season of great losses for me, including the closing of the church I pastored. This is the latest loss. Over twenty years ago, it was the Rev. David Dean, then pastor of First Baptist Church of Sudbury, who encouraged me to begin keeping a devotional journal. He'd kept and saved his devotional journals for years. David told me, "You can look back and see what you were going through and what you were feeling fiver or ten years earlier, and be reminded of the the Lord has done in your life." So I began that practice around 1989. I have all my past devotional journals saved in a file drawer at home; One for every year. In December, I plot out what my Bible readings will be for each day of the coming year. When I do my readings, I write down anything that "spoke to me" from that passage or something new I've learned from it. I also list prayer requests. In addition, I write down what the weather was for the day, and what my mood was like. Granted, there are a lot of abbreviations and very personal things written that others might not understand. But I intend that after I "pass on", those journals will be a legacy for my children and grandchildren to browse through. I want to leave that legacy that despite my faults and failures, I was a man of prayer, and a man who studied and meditated upon God's Word.

Now 2011 will be missing from that collection. It will be like the year there was no World Series! It will be sort of a hole in the devotional life of Bob Baril- like a large jigsaw puzzle missing a piece.

I know we should not let unfortunate events like that theft from my Subaru "throw" us- but I must admit that for a short time, it did. I came home very sad and thinking I just wouldn't bother keeping devotional anymore. I was angry at whoever stole my devotional books and sunglasses; I was angry with God for allowing them to be stolen; and I was angry with the devil just in case he had anything to do with it. After a big plate of pasta and cheese, and a mug of coffee, I calmed down. I reasoned I'll still read the Bible and pray each day- just no more journaling for the rest of the year. I'll start again with January 1, 2012. In place of the 2011 Devotional Journal in my files will be a copy of this written piece.

Ironically, during my thirty minute break on Saturday afternoon, I'd sat in the car and read Galatians chapter three. I "saw" something in that chapter that had never "stood out" to me before, and I wrote about that in the journal; wrapped the canvas cover with the rubber bands and laid it on the seat.

I hope you'll stop and think next time you want to "life" something from someone's car. My best advice is: DON'T! But if you INSIST upon it, please don't take something that's so sacred and irreplaceable. How do you KNOW if it's "sacred and irreplaceable"? Well, if there's any doubt about that, DON'T TAKE IT!

I'm supposed to love you and forgive you and pray for you, according to the Bible. Honestly, it's hard! Whitey Bulger may be accused of having murdered 19 people, but somehow I don't think he'd have stolen a person's devotional books off of their car's front seat. I think he'd have a little more class than that. I pray you do come to know the Lord in a personal way, that you come to repentance, and that someday you'll be keeping your own devotional journals.

Firmly,
BOB BARIL

JON BARIL'S BIRTHDAY

2011-07-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

"...time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son." (from Luke 1:57)

Today is our son Jon's 28th birthday. His legal name is Jonathan David Baril, but for many years he has been "Jon" or as he signs his name Jon Baril tk. As far as what "tk" means, you'll have to ask him! I'm in kind of a reflective mood this morning because this year Jon's birthday falls on a Saturday and he was actually born on a Saturday in 1983. That year, it was a very hot and very humid day. My wife was several days overdue and her labor was induced. It was a long, slow day at the Norwood Hospital, and I know it was especially grueling for her. Around 6 p.m., I went home, had an English muffin with peanut butter and a mug of coffee, and called a few friends asking them to pray that Mary Ann's labor would speed up. When I got back to the hospital, her labor was indeed progressing. At almost 10 p.m. Mary Ann was taken into the delivery room where she gave birth. Yeah, I was present for it all. I'm not the most macho guy, but no, I didn't pass out or anything like that. Our daughters were born in the much "cooler" and "more contemporary" birthing room, but Jon was born into that very clinical and sterile delivery room.

In those days, we did not know what the sex was going to be ahead of time. It was an overwhelming experience to know I was a father and had a son. In those days, there was also a "fathers' waiting room". It wasn't being used as much in that era, but was leftover from the pre-1970 days when NO man was ever present when his children were being born. Even so, at that time, fathers wrote on a green chalkboard in there the name of their child, the birthday, and the weight, and I did that for Jon. I went home, went to sleep, and got up and taught Adult Sunday School the next day.

The whole thing of parenthood is an adventure that we try hard at and where most of us have our great successes and our catastrophic disasters, and I have been no different. I was 28, myself, when Jon was born and he is now 28. Twenty-eight years from now, IF I am still living, I will be 84! That's incredible to me! We don't have a lot of say about our genetics. My own parents had many wonderful qualities, but each of them had two or three glaring flaws. While I've inherited my Dad's strong public speaking ability and somewhat charismatic personality, and my Mom's deep sensitivity, I also was the only one of their kids who inherited ALL of their faults seemingly without measure! I've STRUGGLED with that!

I say that because Jon got many positives...great musical ability, high intelligence, great communication ability, and especially that he is a gifted writer. But he also got my temper, my tendency to look on the dark side of life, and my great resistance to change. As I inherited some of the worst qualities of my parents, I'd say that was true for Jon among our children.

I feel kind of guilty about that. Yet, it's no more my fault than it is my parents' fault that I inherited their "lousy points"! I believe God gives us our talents and abilities, but He also allows certain people (like Jon and like me) to inherit some of the worst traits of their parents. This gives us the chance and opportunity to need to draw much closer to Him than some other people seem to need to do, and to have to learn to surrender to Him, and yield to Him, sometimes with tears streaming down our face, much more than other people seem to need to do. You know, the Bible says in Luke 12:48, "...for unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required..." That kind of "cuts both ways".

In life, I held onto a lot of the bad points and character flaws much longer than I should have or needed to. (Not that I'm free of 'em all, 'cause I'm sure not...it's all a process.) The positive in all this, is you can be a real help to another Believer who is struggling with forgiveness or undesirable circumstances or unfairness or a host of other things, because you understand and have "been there". I've had the experiencing of many times being able to minister to someone who is really hurting... who is really "crushed", so to speak; in a way that others have not been able to.

Jon is much farther back in this life journey than I am. My hope and prayer for him is that he will allow God's process and pruning in his life to progress at a much faster pace than I allowed it in my own life, DESPITE the pain and seeming unfairness of it.

Well, that's all my reflecting and philosophizing for now. Happy Birthday, Jon!

NEVER ASSUME

2011-07-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)

“Never assume.” If I had a dollar bill for every time I heard that phrase said by my father, I could probably retire! I hear it MOST often when I was learning to drive. Dad believed it was drivers who carelessly ASSUMED things that ended up getting KILLED. He DID have a valid frame of reference for this viewpoint. Dad investigated scores of fatal accidents during his career at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Last week, on the day the news broke about the horrific killings in Norway, Boston radio talk host Michael Graham confidently stated the investigation would show the killings were done by a radical Muslim. When a Muslim listener called in to challenge Graham, Michael offered the Muslim a bet. Graham was willing to put up $100. that he was right. The Muslim refused to take Michael Graham up on his offer, but if he had, he’d be $100. richer today. I admit I suspected a radical Muslim, too, BUT I also remembered what talk show host Howie Carr said the day of the Oklahoma City Federal Building, bombing in 1995. Carr said, “It was certainly done by a ‘towel head’.” Well, Howie had to eat his words.

Never assume.

I can’t even begin to tell you how MANY times I’ve assumed things about people and been TOTALLY WRONG about them. A few months ago, the first time I heard David Stein’s “Celebration of Life” program, I assumed David Stein was a liberal secular Jewish do-gooder. In fact, David Stein turned out ot be a “born-again Christian” with a life philosophy vert similar to my own! (In fact, he IS an ex-secular Jew.)

When friends presented “Melaleuca” to me in 1995, I eagerly enrolled. I love most of the products, and I was sure that when I told people I knew about Melaleuca, they’d sign right up. In fact, I was never able to sign anyone up for Melaleuca. They ASSUMED it was a lousy deal to get involved in, and that only saps signed up. I actually dropped out of Melaleuca just a year ago ONLY due to my serious drop in personal income. IN fact, Melaleuca is a good company and does not deserve the negative attitudes people express toward them.

One summer afternoon around five years ago, I pulled up to our church’s parking lot only to find that a paving company had parked all sorts of trucks and heavy equipment in our church lot. They were paving a driveway down the street. It bothered me that they’d just ASSUMED they could part there. I jotted down the telephone number which was displayed on their trucks. On their voice mail I stated that I’d wished they’d have ASKED before they parked all that equipment there. That night, I showed up for the church’s prayer meeting. I was surprised to find one strip of new asphalt on our lot just off the street. Shortly thereafter, the phone rang. It was the owner of the paving company.

“I put down a strip of asphalt over a rough portion of your parking lot and THIS IS THE THANKS I GET??!!” he yelled with a few profanities thrown in. I told him I did appreciate that he’d done that. I also pointed out that if they’d have made an attempt to contact us first, we’d probably have given permission to use the lot. I told him it bothered me they’d done that without asking first.

"You’re a PASTOR?! You COULDN’T have much of a following!!!” he yelled and hung up the phone.

Well, we’re supposed to follow GOD and not so much individual pastors, but honestly, his words still sting five years later. He made some assumptions about me and I made some assumptions about him. We were probably both wrong.

Honestly, I don’t understand why people frequently assume the very worst about me; and it bothers me- but HOW IRONIC that is because I DO THE SAME THING TOO OFTEN ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE! I can think of a lot of other examples of assuming. Yes, I assume too much, and I’m wrong; and others do the same thing to and about me. Why do we do this? In Acts 21:38, a Roman Centurion accused St. Paul of being an Egyptian who led 4000 murderers!

So for some reason I’m thinking about this today, and yes I’m assuming it may be helpful to you! Yes, Dad was right. Never assume!

Lord, how we need your help with this!

MY SWITCH TO SELTZER

2011-07-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

"...if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them..." (from Mark 16:18)

Back in 1989 when we had a church and even had a youth group at the church in Framingham, we had a young Licensed Minister come into our church and come on board as youth pastor. (He worked a secular job, but we gave him love offerings.) Mike was a great youth pastor, but I was always kidding this 23-year-old guy because his diet was that of a 7-year-old! Well, I suppose I could be teased, myself, because although I am 56, I still tend to eat like a 27-year-old...lots of high fat food and junk food. I don't generally worry about cholesterol and that sort of stuff. I have tended to reason that since I don't smoke and don't drink alcohol, it can't be THAT bad for me. And, I guess I don't want to admit I'm only a few years away from being a "Senior Citizen".

My biggest area of indulging like a 27-year-old is drinking soda! (For those of you in Missouri, Texas, and other places, I'm talking about "pop"!) I drink lots of soda, especially cola. I guess I could excuse it by claiming the above Scripture verse, but since it's out of context, I don't think the Lord would honor that! Listen, soda is TERRIBLE for you. There's nothing good about it. And, diet soda is WORSE. You'll get fatter on diet soda than you will on regular soda, because the artificial sweeteners actually have a chemical effect on your cells that make you GET FAT QUICK. No matter what kind of soda you drink, if you consume a lot of it, and I have, you'll automatically gain at least three pounds every year.

As much as I love soda, I have found that no matter HOW much of it you drink it just DOESN'T quench your thirst! For some reason, a few weeks ago, I decided to buy a couple of bottles of plain, unflavored seltzer at Market Basket. One might think it would taste awful. In one movie, Eddie Murphy said, for example, that if anyone accidentally served him Club Soda, he would throw up! Actually, the seltzer tasted GREAT to me, was very refreshing, and QUENCHED MY THIRST! I have since been buying it each week.

Now, I DID buy club soda rather than seltzer one week, and I discovered that did NOT quench my thirst! The reason is that club soda contains sodium (salt) and seltzer has no additives. Seltzer has NO calories and NOTHING in it that will cause you ANY harm. It's FINE! It's actually GOOD for you! I realize that the more I drink seltzer and the less I drink soda, the more I'll feel better and healthier. I won't be putting all kinds of junk into my body, and I will lose a little weight!

Although I had been buying bottles of seltzer to drink at home, I had still been packing cans of soda for my lunch. TODAY I went grocery shopping. I had dropped a container of cans of cola into my cart, when I noticed some lemon-flavored seltzer available! I put the soda back and bought the seltzer!

Now, don't get me wrong! I will still buy soda on occasion, and I'll still have soda when I go out to eat, BUT I AM DRASTICALLY REDUCING MY SODA CONSUMPTION. This is my first step in eating and/or drinking like a 56-year-old.

Incidentally, when I was visiting in Missouri I noticed that seltzer was DIFFICULT to find in supermarkets...unlike Massachusetts. HOWEVER, in that part of the country, if you look closely, you CAN find it at Wal-Mart.

THE 15TH OF EACH MONTH - WON'T YOU PARTICIPATE?!

2011-07-11T12:25:00.001-07:00

“Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.” (Galatians 6:11)

A few days ago while perusing the internet, I came across a Facebook page dedicated to promoting and preserving the Canadian postal service (known as “Canada Post”) . It’s found at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keep-Canada-Post-Alive-Send-a-Letter-Day-15th-of-Every-Month/138062492937524

The page strongly encourages anyone in Canada who wants to keep Canada Post alive to mail a letter on the 15th of each month. (That might not sound like much, but if virtually every Canadian adult mailed a letter on the 15th of each month, it WOULD, in fact, make quite a difference!)

Canada Post is facing the same problem as is the United States Postal Service. During the past fifteen years, the volume of mail has greatly declined as not only are most of us (including me) opting to send our letters as e-mails rather than traditional letters, AND as many pay their bills on-line rather than mailing in payments the old-fashioned way,

PLEASE DON’T MISUNDERSTAND! I’m not suggesting we put a halt to progress! Without a doubt, the volume of letters handled by Canada Post and the United States Postal Service is probably never going to to again reach the mail volume of say, 1994. But the potential for Canada Post and for the United States Postal Service to continue decline and then to TOTALLY CEASE within the next few years is very real and even likely. I know, I know: There are all the jokes about “snail mail”, overpaid postal workers, and inefficiency. However, when these postal services are gone, we’ll miss them.

Coincidentally, I read recently that the State of Indiana is about to become the first state to no longer require that cursive handwriting be taught in their schools. Most of us don’t use cursive writing anymore, but that’s also quite a loss. I’m an avid writer, including being an avid letter writer. Twenty or more years ago, it was not unusual for me to write and mail twenty or more letters each month including many handwritten letters. Admittedly, NOW it’s rare for me to send even one handwritten letter a month.

THINK OF THIS: We’ve all become really lazy. It’s so easy to just type something on the computer and instantly send it. One hundred years ago, in 1911, the typical American MAN worked twelve hours a day, six days a week- many times doing difficult factory work. Yet, it was not unusual in 1911 for a blue-collar MAN to sit down on a Sunday afternoon or evening and write a two or three page letter to a relative or friend in “perfect” cursive handwriting. Even as “recently” as the 1950s and 1960s, it was not THAT unusual for Americans (including MEN) to write such letters, though usually not as long or as neat as the letters of circa 1911. It was a big thrill to get a letter. I can remember as a kid that when a relative sent our family a letter, my father would happily read it aloud during our evening meal and we’d all talk about the letter as a family. Today, you couldn’t PAY most Americans to sit down, HAND WRITE a letter to a friend or relative, and MAIL it the old-fashioned way.

Well, I’ve decided to take a suggestion from the Canada Post Facebook page! On the 15th of each month, I’m going to mail a letter. BUT I’m going to take things a step further. Mailing a bill payment or something like that is NOT going to count. On the 15th of each month, I’m going to HAND WRITE a letter to a friend or relative mail mail it by U.S. mail. It probably won’t be REAL long, but I’ll make it positive, encouraging, and affirming.

I wanted to share this idea with you. I truly hope people WON’T just roll their eyes and “blow off” this suggestion. Rather, I hope and pray that many, many people will develop the habit of writing and mailing a handwritten on the 15th day of each month. It would be interesting to see what sort of impact such a practice could make!

AT THE DAIRY QUEEN

2011-07-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

“For Paul has determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.” (Acts 20:16)

The above verse comes from the narrative of the Apostle Paul’s Third Missionary Journey. At that point in Acts chapter twenty, Paul was en route from Greece to Jerusalem and he was HURRYING to get to Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost. WHen you’re on a long journey and you’re also in a hurry there’s a certain DYNAMIC to that experience!

Many of you know we just completed a week’s vacation to Springfield, Missouri which included “straight through” car trips between Massachusetts and Missouri. As a Bible College student in the 1970s as well as an Evangel University parent in the 2000s, I’ve made that trip a number of times. When you’ve made the same long trip like that many, many times, there can be certain traditions that develop. We’ve developed a few such traditions for the Massachusetts-Missouri drive. Somewhere around 2005, my daughter Amy and I saw one of those highway “FOOD” signs in western Ohio advertising a Dairy Queen at the next exit. It was just what we were in the mood for! We got off there at Arlington Road in Brookville, Ohio and drive the three-quarters of a mile or so to the Dairy Queen. Brookville is one of those really cool small midwestern communities: clean, middle-class; a “baseball, the flag, and motherhood” kind of a place. On our first Brookville Dairy Queen visit, their building had recently been reconstructed. There were impressive photos in the dining area of local people working on the remodeling project. There was understandable pride in the Dairy Queen’s refurbishment. At Dairy Queen, I usually get a soft serve vanilla cone with a chocolate dip. They’re admittedly very messy to eat, but lots of fun and delicious! On some trips, it was Amy and I who stopped there. ON others it was my other daughter Rachel and I who stopped. On St. Patrick’s Dat 2008, my wife Mary Ann and son Jon and I stopped on the way home from Amy and David’s wedding. That day, they served GREEN soft serve ice cream.

On this year’s trip to Missouri, like Paul, I was in a hurry. At Brookville, I was VERY tempted to stop at Dairy QUeen, but decided to forego the treat. Last Saturday, on the way home, I was determined to have us stop at Brookville Dairy Queen. I’d been imagining eating that chocolate dipped vanilla cone for over a hundred miles. I was so excited to drive down Arlington road and see that Dairy Queen sign. But something didn’t seem right. There were NO cars in the parking lot! I turned in. THere was nobody inside the restaurant. It was closed. The drive thru sign was bare.

What a let down!

As I drove away, I wondered why the sign was still up in front of the building and even on the highway “FOOD” sign. WHY did it close? Was the economy THAT bad? Were we the ONLY family who enjoyed making stops at Brookville Dairy Queen during long trips? I stopped at a Brookville gas station and filled the car’s tank. Later I thought about that- I mean, the effect on the local economy. I would never have stopped at that gas station if I hadn’t pulled off the highway for Dairy Queen. When one business closes, there’s a ripple effect that hurts other businesses, too.

I don’t know “the story behind the story” of why the Brookville, Ohio Dairy Queen closed, but I’m sad about it. That’s the end of that special tradition for us.

Yes, I’ve got to admit it: I don’t like change. But change is constant. Now, the LORD doesn’t change, but this world sure does! I was reminded of that last Saturday afternoon.

WHAT'S IN A CHURCH'S NAME?

2011-06-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

"...I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and are dead." (from Revelation 3:1)

One of my favorite films is "The Apostle" starring Robert Duval. In that film, Duval plays a Holiness minster seeking to do a significant work for God after having committed a serious crime. He founds a small church in a rural Louisiana town. The church has an unusual sign and an unusual name. The sign is an arrow turned upward, surrounded by small white lights. The sign proclaims the church's unique name: "ONE WAY ROAD TO HEAVEN".

There's a big move at present among evangelicals, Pentecostals, and charismatics to change the names of their churches from traditional names to names which are believed to be "more appealing". Many pastors believe the very NAME of a church will either attract or repel potential visitors. I notice it's particularly Baptist and Assemblies of God churches which are changing their names, eager to drop the label "Baptist" or "Assembly of God". The feeling is that the label "Baptist" conjures up images of wild eyed fundamentalists waving their King James Bibles and proclaiming that everybody is going to Hell. And, "Assembly of God" is believed to conjure up the image of Jimmy Swaggart crying or Jim and Tammy Bakker manipulating people to give them money, OR of hysterical holy rollers acting insane.

One MetroWest (i.e. Boston's western suburbs) Baptist church, for instance, changed their name about twenty years ago to "Chapel of the Cross". Just a few years ago, a large MetroWest Assemblies of God church changed their name to "Celebration International Church". (It is not my intent to cast any aspersions against these good churches; but merely to use their name changes as examples.) Such church name changes are happening quite frequently all over America. Ironically, while evangelicals are trying to change names, labels, and images, the theological liberals as well as the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox are sticking to traditional church names. (The fairly liberal "American Baptist" denomination, for example, has no problem calling their churches "Baptist".)

A friend of mine is an active Member of a large church is in sin the process of changing their name from a traditional Protestant church name to a more inclusive, warm, and seemingly less threatening label. (I'd rather not name the specific church here.) He has not been in favor of changing that church's name, but even he admits the new name is attractive and that the church's leadership "has done a good job selling it."

In one sense, church name changes are not totally new. The church I pastored for many years, First Assembly of God of Framingham's ORIGINAL name from its incorporation in 1922 was "Pentecostal Church of Framingham." In 1961, the church's name was legally changed. At THAT time, "First Assembly" was a very popular name in the Assemblies of God. Today, such churches regret that the initials of First Assembly of God are "F.A.G." That name is now very unpopular! There's a big trend now toward using the name "Community Church." Ironically, forty or fifty years ago, a church called "Community Church" was usually a very theologically liberal church. I had an uncle and aunt in those days who attended "Community Church of Boston" which was very liberal. A lot of Assemblies of God churches now use "Community Church" in their names. I'm not necessarily opposed to that, but it honestly seems to me that such churches are trying to find a safe, nonthreatening name. One independent church that I know of dropped "Bible" from their name a few years ago. The church's leaders cited surveys saying people will not attend a church which uses the name "Bible". Conversely, First Baptist Church of Dedham, Massachusetts changed their name to "Fellowship Bible Church" and the new name helped with attendance.

Last Sunday, my wife and I became Members at Bread of Life Assembly of God in Westminster, Massachusetts. It's fifty miles from where we live in Webster so it's a long commute, but it's definitely the right church for us at this time. Bread of Life runs over 250 in attendance and is growing. The services are dynamic. The church's leaders have a lot of vision and a lot of faith. Many of the church's people are under age 45. There are a lot of children, teens, and young adults. (Jesus is called the "Bread of Life" in John's Gospel.) "Bread of Life Assembly of God" is a very traditional and some would say potentially offensive name, but it hasn't seemed to stop the number of people visiting the church, or "getting saved", or Baptized in the Holy Spirit, or "plugged in" to serving the Lord in greater capacities.

Parachuch organizations in the evangelical and Pentecostal realm are also changing their names. About twelve years ago, "Evangelistic Association of New England" became "Vision New England." Honestly, I've always thought "Vision New England" sounds like an optical supply company! Radio Bible Class became "RBC Ministries". Bible Institute of Los Angeles became "BIOLA".

Honestly, there WERE some problems with our old church's name "First Assembly of God of Framingham." Except for me, almost NO ONE called it that. Everyone called it "Framingham Assembly of God." A lot of our people wrote their contribution checks to "Framingham Assembly of God." I had toyed with the idea of possibly changing the church's name, but of course that's a moot point now because the church has closed.

What do YOU think? Would you NOT attend a church if it had "Bible" in its name? Do the labels "Baptist" or "Assembly of God" scare you? Do you find "Community Church" an attractive name? Do you think a church's name matters?

AN AGNOSTIC'S ARGUMENT

2011-06-20T03:52:00.000-07:00

“The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.” (Psalm 119:51)

The word “agnostic” comes from the Greek. An “agnostic” is a person who doesn’t know if there’s a God or not and who doesn’t think it’s possible to know that. Unlike atheists who boldly and confidently proclaim, “there is no God,” agnostics don’t know and don’t particularly care.

A few days ago, national radio talk show host Michael Smerconish featured Vincent Bugliosi as his guest. Bugliosi, age 76, is the lawyer who prosecuted Charles Manson four decades ago. Bugliosi is an outspoken agnostic who authored the recently publishes book “Divinity of Doubt: The God Question.”

I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that I strongly disagree with Bugliosi. I’m not an agnostic. I believe in God with all my heart, and believe God is actively interested in our lives. Many years ago, I would have been angry and upset to hear such a broadcast. I would have felt it was dishonoring to God, His Word, and to Believers. But that’s many years ago. Today, at age 56, I’m not fazed by such a broadcast at all. The Bible itself predicts that such will be the case, in many passages, including I Corinthians 2:14 which reads:
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Bugliosi’s book has certainly sparked anger and criticism. He says his biggest detractors have been atheists. You might think there would be a camaraderie between atheists and agnostics. In fact, they are very much as odds and typically don’t get along. Of course, a number of theists have been critical. Bugliosi himself has disdain for atheists and theists, but the group he has the LEAST respect for and the most frustration with are evangelicals or “born-again Christians.” (That included ME!) Bugliosi quoted several statements of Billy Graham’s, expressing contempt for Billy Graham’s beliefs. He proceeded to attempt to rip Billy Graham’s beliefs to shreds.

Bugliosi argued that born-again Christians’ beliefs are SO illogical and SO nonsensical as to be irrelevant and preposterous. In fact, when I heard Bugliosi’s comments, I wanted to shake my head and laugh! I Corinthians 1:18 says,
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.”

Incidentally, as is typical with skeptics and critics, Bugliosi’s Biblical knowledge is not as accurate as he things. He claims the Bible in the time of Noah limits man’s life span to 120 years. IN fact, in context it meant the flood would happen in 120 years, NOT that man’s lifetime is limited to 120 years. Bugliosi like a lot of people seemingly wants to call God into his study, sit God down, lecture God about how selfish and illogical He is, and then send God way with His tail between His legs, as it were.

WHAT ARROGANCE!

By man’s standards, God is not logical. By man’s standards, having people spend eternity in Hell makes absolutely no sense. But God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and God’s ways are not our ways (see Isaiah 55:8-9). I “received Jesus Christ as my Personal Lord and Savior” on July 21, 1970. Over the past forty years I’ve experienced “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” (to quote that old ABC sports program) many times. Forty years after “getting saved,” I do not regret my decision to commit my life to Jesus Christ.

Just before letting Bugliosi go, Michael Smerconish asked him if he is “hedging his bets” ... if he (born a Roman Catholic) still attends church “just in case.” Bugliosi does not.

Yes, Vincent Bugliosi’s comments did not upset me. IN fact, they made me feel MORE CONFIDENT in my faith! So, thank you Michael Smerconish and thank you Vincent Bugliosi!

LORD OF THE FLIES

2011-06-14T15:08:00.001-07:00

"It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beel'zebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?" (Matthew 10:25)

Many will recognize that, "Lord of the Flies" is a novel by William Golding about a group of British boys stuck on a desert island and the social situations and circumstances that play out as a result. It was also made into a film. What you may not realize is that "Lord of the Flies" comes from the Biblical name "Beelzebub" also sometimes rendered as "Baalzebub" or even "Baalzebul" or "Beelzebul". "Beelzebub" means "Lord of the Flies". It is one of many titles of Satan...the devil.

It's pretty universal that most people dislike snakes, but I'd say even more people dislike flies. I think, for example, of videos we have all seen of suffering children in third world countries with flies all around them. It's pretty awful. I have a couple of fly stories for you, if you can handle them:

The first is pretty mild. There was one annoying fly who got into the apartment where I live last week. One fly. One. And it was seemingly everywhere. I'd be in the bathroom taking a shower, and the fly would be flying around the bathroom. I'd be eating breakfast, and there would be the fly. I'd be watching a video, and that pesky fly would be right there in the living room. I'd be laying down to sleep with that one fly buzzing around. This went on for days. On Sunday, the fly was buzzing all over the apartment. It flew into the half bathroom on the first floor and I closed the door, at least trapping the fly in that little room. Now for a little tip about how to kill flying insects successfully. It's water in a spray bottle. I have killed many a pesky yellowjacket that way. You take one of those laundry spray bottles and fill it with water. Spray the yellowjacket or any other insect with the water; keep saturating the thing. Eventually, it will become so waterlogged that it CANNOT fly and will fall to the floor. Then STEP ON IT! I went into that half bath with a spray bottle and soaked that fly. Wherever it went I soaked it. It fell to the floor. I grabbed a hunk of toilet paper, grabbed the fly in the paper, dropped it in the toilet, and VOILA: there was that black fat annoying fly spinning around and flushed!

Now, the next fly story is pretty gross. A few years ago when little First Assembly of God of Framingham was still open, I'd been away for awhile. When I came home, elderly volunteer Secretary Claire Grimes told me she'd found a bunch of little bugs that looked like "brown rice" in one of the bathrooms downstairs. She'd mopped the floor and gotten up as many as she could. That sounded really strange to me. I went to that bathroom, and to my surprise, I also saw perhaps hundreds of what did look like tiny pieces of brown rice moving around. I got some bug killer and sprayed the floor. I got paper towels and cleaned up as many of them as I could. I also found some on the rug and other places and killed them. A couple of weeks later, on Labor Day, I stopped into the church for something. I needed to go downstairs to where our sanctuary was in that little building. I was surprised to find maybe 30 flies buzzing around in the sanctuary. I then went into each bathroom on that level. No kidding. There must have been 300 flies in the little bathrooms...150 in one, and 150 in the other. It looked like something from a bad Alfred Hitchcock movie! This was the LAST thing I wanted to deal with on a Labor Day afternoon! I got my aerosol can of bug killer and sprayed each bathroom heavily. After about five minutes, 99% of the flies were on the floor, dead or dying. I got paper towels and trash bags and cleaned them up. Then I wiped down the floors with water. Over the next few days, I would walk around the church building looking for flies. I killed probably an average of 20 flies a day around the building for each of the next four or five days. Then they were pretty much gone.

It is interesting that Satan is called "Lord of the Flies". You know that old song, "War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" Well, I say, "Flies, what are they good for, absolutely nothing." Obviously, Claire's brown rice were really maggots. Before that, we had smelled a bad smell like a dead animal in the building. There was probably a dead mouse or something, maybe in a wall or under the floor. A fly laid its eggs in there and you know the rest. Demons come in the way flies do. They attach themselves to what is spiritually dead, dying, and disgusting. They seem little, insignificant and annoying AT FIRST. Then one day you look and as the song from Sweeney Todd says, "Demons are prowling everywhere nowadays!" You've got trouble and you need to get right with God, and resist the devil and he will flee as the Scripture says.

Looking back, maybe the flies in that church building were a warning to me. There was a spiritual undercurrent happening that took me and other leaders by surprise, and the next thing you know we were overrun and the church was closed. It's all something to think about. I did not allow ONE fly to last more than a few days in my residence, and frankly even a few days was TOO long. I don't want to put up with any devils and demons of Hell for one split second! And I never want to be clueless and having flies multiplying around a dwelling I inhabit or far worse, to allow the forces of darkness to "come in like a flood". Now, I do know the Lord raises up a standard against them...like my can of Raid. But it should never get that far.

Demons and flies. We can allow no place for them! As Christians, that means 100% commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Word of God. And, if anyone reading this is not sure where you stand with God, you need to MAKE sure. Don't hesitate to contact me!

SURVIVOR'S GUILT

2011-06-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

"Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword." (Acts 12:1-2)

That passage from the Book of Acts speaks of James the brother of John. James and John, the Sons of Zebedee, were not only among the Twelve Apostles appointed by Jesus, but were among the three key men being trained by Jesus to lead the Church for the First Century...specifically, Peter, James, and John. It had to have been a real shock when James was killed. There was no miracle to stop his being killed. There was no raising from the dead. He was one of the early Church's "big three",and it happened rather early in the history of the Church. I wonder how the Church at the time felt, and I especially wonder how his brother John felt. In fact, John lived for decades after this to be a very old man. John was the only one of the Twelve Apostles to die a natural death. Do you suppose John the Son of Zebedee experienced what is called "Survivor's Guilt"?

The topic of Survivor's Guilt is on my mind today because of a television news story I heard this morning. People in Monson, Massachusetts whose houses were NOT destroyed by the tornado feel guilty because their houses are O.K. and many of their neighbors'and friends' are not. Jim Braude from New England Cable News described walking down one Monson street last Friday. He said he was amazed because on the same street you'd see some houses where the roof was blown off and some windows were blown out; you'd see some places there all that existed was a pile of rubble where a house had once stood; and you'd see SOME houses which appeared to be normal and untouched. That's the irony of having a community hit by an EF-3 tornado. (The tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri was much larger and much more powerful. There, whole neighborhoods were completely wiped out.) Hurricanes typically DON'T leave the kind of random destruction that tornadoes do. Back in 1992 when Category 5 Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida, the town of Homestead was pretty much 100% devastated. Everybody's houses were badly damaged. It was an equal opportunity disaster. I can well understand that if I lived in Monson and my residence was unscathed by the twister, I'd feel uncomfortable, and, well, kind of guilty.

I have a Survivor's Guilt about my brother Eddie's death. Eddie was only eighteen months younger than me. We essentially grew up together. We each learned to ride bikes around the same time. We played with the same group of kids. We were at Dean S. Luce Elementary School together. I remember us being in the same swimming class when I was 8 and he was 6. I was never as physically fit or athletic, so although we were two years apart, I had already flunked the Beginner class once or twice, and it was Eddie's first time. I even remember Eddie compassionately telling Mrs. Harrington the swimming instructor, "Bobby's afraid to do the dog paddle". In a way I wanted to shoot him, but he was honest, and just didn't want me to have a bad experience. By the time we were young adults Eddie could take any engine apart and put it back together again and I could barely tell a Phillips head screwdriver from a slotted one; I could speak in public and write almost effortlessly, and these areas were very difficult for Eddie. Eddie excelled in Math, and I was still counting on my fingers! But it was Eddie who struggled off and on with substance abuse, and who collapsed in late June of 1983 and died about two weeks later. I inherited my father's automobite memorabalia collection. It WOULD have gone to Eddie had he lived. I had three kids and today I have a grandson. Eddie never lived to have kids. You might be surprised at how often Eddie is still in my dreams at night and how often he crosses my mind. There's a very real Survivor's Guilt that I have about Eddie.

Some modern psychologists teach that virtually all guilt is bad. They see religion and the Bible as repressive and denying men and women's, well...HUMANITY! They see premarital and extramarital sex, as well as gay sex as no big deal. They see lying as a necessity, and heavy duty swearing as emotionally healthy. I don't agree. A lot of guilt is GOOD. It confronts us that there's a better and higher way to live; and I believe as a Christian that it shows us how far we all fall short and why we need the grace, mercy and love of God to save us. But some guilt IS bad. To be depressed and tormented because you survived a terrible event...or because your house was unscathed and you neighbor's was destroyed, IS not healthy.

Instead of Survivor's Guilt, we need more of a Survivor's REFLECTION. There is nothing I can do about Eddie's death at 27 in 1983. Nothing. It's beyond my control. But this and other deaths can remind me how SHORT life is. At Eddie's death, one man remarked to me, "Whether we die at 27 or at 72, life is very short." It's true. Rather than sit around contemplating our navels and feeling guilty, we need to make the most of every day and make a postive impact on our world every day. If our house was not destroyed, we can help someone whose house was destroyed and we can be extra grateful for our own house with its termites, and deteriorating staircase and leaky basement. It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

Do you remember that Old Testament story of David and Bathsheba? There's much about that which has been preached about and dramatized. But there's a part of the story you may have forgotten. Bathsheba conceived a child from her sexual encounter with David. She gave birth nine months later. But the child was very sick and in distress. David was distraught. He fasted and prayed for the baby to be healed and live. He prayed like he'd never prayed before. The child died. David's advisors and closest friends were concerned that David would not be able to handle this death...that he "might go off the deep end" as it were. But David, in 2 Samuel 12:23 made a profound statement. He'd gotten cleaned up, eaten, and cheered up a bit. David said, "One day I will go to him, but he cannot come to me." David wasn't torn apart by Survivor's Guilt. The baby was in the Lord's hands in eternity. One day, on the other side, David and his son would meet again. David went on to live a productive life.

I imagine that teenage girl whose mother died in that bathtup may struggle with Survivor's Guilt. But her mother certainly did not give her life to save her so she'd spend the remainder of her life distraught and guilt ridden. Mom would want that girl to live a productive, joyful, and full life. I hope and pray she does that! It would be the greatest tribute she could give her mother.

Every day is a gift from God. Much of what happens in life is hard to understand, and much of it will never make sense in this life. Why DID my brother die so young? Why DID Monson get so devastated by those tornadoes? Why not Webster or Framingham? And for that matter, why was much of Joplin, Missouri destroyed by that tornado and not Springfield, Missouri where my daugther, son-in-law and grandson live? We can never be sure of tomorrow. But we can recognize each day as a gift from God and go forth, NOT in guilt, but in gratitude.

WHAT WOULD EUGENE A.BARIL DO?

2011-06-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." (Romans 13:1)

This past Saturday's Boston Herald featured a story about a Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles worker at the RMV's administrative building in Quincy who was fired for practicing deplorable customer service and bragging about it in his "tweets". The guy was like the Biblical judge from Luke's Gospel who did not fear God nor man,and tossed profanities around like a longshoreman. (Oops, I guess I owe an apology to the longshoremen.) The story can be found at:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1342870&srvc=rss

I caught just a tiny bit of Michael Graham's radio show on BostonTalks 96.9 WTKK today, but found it interesting that Michael stressed the irony of Registrar Rachel Kaprelian firing the guy when she herself has essentially bragged on the air that the RMV no longer mails out reminders of when driver's licenses are about to expire and essentially said the RMV does not have to practice good customer service. I am too far away to check Knollwood Memorial Park today, but once again I suspect my father, Eugene A. Baril is turning over in his grave.

My father was in law enforcement for thirty years, and served from 1956 to 1982 with the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Dad started out giving driving tests, later investigated fatal accidents, and spent the last thirteen or so years of his career as a Supervisor at the Registry's old 100 Nashua St. Boston headquarters. I remember (humorously) that when we'd go with my father to shop at Murray's Clothing Outlet in downtown Norwood back in the 1960s, the stores old Jewish proprietors, Murray and Sammy, would come walking up to him, smiling and smoking, and asking, "Gene, When they gonna make you Registrar?!"

My father would have made a good Registrar! If he were here today and of sound mind, here is some of what I think he would say about the Massachusetts RMV:

First, I know this is sexist, but he would be dead against having a female Registrar! To Dad,the Registrar needed to be a man's man, and a leader.

Second, he would be furious about "civilians" giving driving tests. A friend of mine recently told me his daughter went for her license test and it was a JOKE. All she had to do was drive around the block and get her license. My father, dressed in his uniform, would have people turning around on steep hills, backing up in "impossible" spots and all sorts of scary stuff. He failed a lot of teens, but those he passed truly had a handle on driving.

Third, this might surprise you, but Dad would NOT oppose lowering the age for Learner's Permits to 15 and a half. Dad tended to believe the younger the better when it came to learning to drive. He would definitely feel the idea of some to make people to wait until 18 or even 21 is a big mistake.

Dad was old fashioned. He would NOT have liked the on-line registration renewal stuff. Dad would have liked people to have to come in to the RMV for license and registration renewals,BUT he would NEVER have favored closing RMV offices. He'd have favored ADDING them. And, I suspect he would have LIKED the fact that several AAA locations (including Framingham) now offer RMV services.

As far as disgruntled employees "tweeting" profanities at work and ignoring customers, that would never have gone over. This is not politically incorrect, but to use one of his expressions, he would have said that someone should "mop the street" with such an employee!

Well, it's all a fantasy. Eugene A. Baril passed away in 2000, and the RMV in Massachusetts can be, well, disappointing, to say the least.

Incidentally, you can see a photo of my Dad at:

http://www.mass.gov/rmv/history/

"WHAT, NO DUNKIN' DONUTS?!"

2011-06-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." (Hebrews 13:8)

Yesterday, I received a pretty intense phone call from my daughters Amy (Baril) Julian and Rachel Baril. Rachel is currently visiting Amy in southwest Missouri. Despite the fact that both are well into their twenties and Amy is a mother, when as a Dad you receive an intense call from your offspring, well, to paraphrase the old E.F. Hutton ad, you listen!

Last year, Rachel went out to spend a week with Amy and David, and phoned me with the intense and very sad message that Amy and David's very wonderful Jack Russell Terrier named Sam had been hit and instantly killed by a car. So, THIS year, I was not sure what to expect, and I kind of took a deep breath inside.

"There's NO MORE DUNKIN' DONUTS!" they announced with all the fervor they'd have had as elementary school kids if I'd told them we weren't going to the beach after all, or something like that!

You have to understand that in New England (particularly Massacahusetts) Dunkin' Donuts is an institution! Every community of just about ANY reasonable size has at least one Dunkin' Donuts. Many of the larger communities have five or even ten Dunkin' Donuts locations. Today, the big attraction there is not the doughnuts. The doughnuts, in fact, were shrunk by D.D. a few years ago, and are more like dough-NETTES. They're airy and small. But it's the coffee and accessories that are the draw. The coffee is very good. Ice coffee is very popular in New England, even in winter. There are the bagel and croissant sandwiches. There are the Coolottas. It's very difficult for any New Englander to go for more than a few days without "hitting" a Dunkin' Donuts.

The one difficult thing about visiting in Springfield, Missouri is there is not one Dunkin' Donuts in the whole city of 160,000. When I was in Bible College there in the 1970s, there WAS one Mister Donut on Kearney St. Back in the 1990s, Mister Donut merged with Dunkin'Donuts, but that location did not survive. The only Dunkin' Donuts within a hundred miles of Springfield was on the "main drag" in Branson, Missouri, 45 miles to the South. Branson is a great place to visit. There are all kinds of shows and attractions. It's been called a "family style Las Vegas" or "Second Nashville". One of our favorite attractions is Silver Dollar City with its Marvel Cave. But perhaps our favorite was Dunkin' Donuts. It was NOT popular with the "locals". In fact, if you were in Branson during winter, there'd be a "Closed for the Season" sign at Dunkin' Donuts. The Branson location catered to tourists from New England, New York, New Jersey and other northeast locations. The last time I was there, I noticed a Cheverolet coupe with New Hampshire plates in the parking lot. You'd walk in there and hear the tourists with their Boston and Rhode Island and Bronx accents and feel at home. I remember ordering an ice coffee there. The kid who served me gave me a weird look. That may have been the only ice coffee he'd served that day. (They pushed the hot coffee at that location.)

Amy and Rachel were on a day in Branson, and went to Dunkin' Donuts only to find it's GONE. There is now some independent doughnut shop in its place.

The Missouri Ozarks are NOT a big "coffee and doughnut" location. Breakfast for the natives of that region would much more likely be biscuits and white gravy with a hot coffee; or maybe some grits; or something like that.

I still think with the right marketing campaign, Dunkin' Donuts could successfully penetrate that geographic area. Ice coffee was unknown there until McDonald's there introduced it at their locations a few years ago. While it's not as popular there as in New England, its sales are OK.

Well, I gotta love Dunkin' Donuts. It's hometown (world headquarters) is Canton, Massachusetts where I grew up!

And, I realize with all the tragedies we've seen in the news lately, "No Dunkin' Donuts" is not on the level of the destruction from tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri, or in Monson, Massachusetts for that matter. And, this piece IS a bit tongue in cheek, but when you've got your heart set on Dunkin' Donuts, and it's gone; well, for any native New Englander, that's pretty much going to ruin your day!

UPDATE ON DAVID STEIN SHOW...

2011-05-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I posted an entry entitled, "Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner" about the David Stein Show which had just been picked up in "3rd shift hours" at BostonTalks 96.9 WTKK. (The show CAN also be heard on-line anytime.) Due to the late night hours of the show, I've probably only heard a total of around 7 hours of it since it came on, but it's a real gem. David is a born-again Christian (born Jewish) who interweaves a lot of Scripture and Biblical truth into his program but does NOT use an "in your face" approach. The program is one of the most encouraging and inspirational I've ever heard. I was sad to learn that the company that syndicates his show is dropping it as of the end of this week, so tonight's (or is it tomorrow morning's?) will be the last show. David Stein expects to eventually return in some other venue several months down the road, and in the meantime is trusting God and being content with what God has done with the program.

THE ETERNAL SERMON

2011-05-23T12:36:00.001-07:00

“Let all things be done decently and in order,” (I Corinthians 14:40)

There’s an old Three Stooges short featuring a scene with Moe and a wealthy woman sitting on a sofa. Enthusiastically, she tells Moe, “I sense you’ve found the eternal spring!”

Simultaneously, Moe’s hand is digging into one of the cushions and he’s grasping a large, loose spring.

“Lady, I GOT IT!” Moe exclaims.

“What are you going to do with it?” she hopefully asks.

“Get rid of it!” he disgustedly replies as he flings the spring across the room and into Curly’s suit coat!

No, THIS piece is not about the eternal spring, but about the eternal sermon! I was pleasantly surprised and amazed when Pastor Gary at the church I attend mentioned this during his own Sunday morning sermon yesterday. Gary gave a great teaching from First Corinthians chapter fourteen about the proper usage of speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophetic utterances in church. (This is a MOST fitting subject for an Assemblies of God church audience.) Assemblies of God pastors sometimes have to deal with congregants who speak out inappropriate things at various times; and who later rationalize, “But GOD TOLD me to do it!” or “I just COULDN’T hold it back! I couldn’t CONTROL MYSELF!” Pastor Gary made it very clear that just because we feel impressed of God to say a particular thing out loud DOESN’T mean it has to be done right then and there! There’s a time and a place for everything. (“AMEN!” to that.)

It’s the next part of the sermon that blew my mind as Pastor Gary touched on one of my pet peeves. I wasn’t raised in the Assemblies of God. Now, I thoroughly believe in and teach the doctrines of the Assemblies of God. But I’ve always had a problem with sermons in our fellowship that go on seemingly forever, in which the speaker will often say something like, “I’m in the Spirit and GOD wants you to hear ALL of this and if you don’t you’re disobedient!” In addition, there are the church services which go on seemingly forever, and the pastor will announce something like, “DON’T leave unless you don’t care about the Holy Spirit and you like being totally out of the will of God!” Along with laity who misuse public utterances, Gary criticized preachers who go on and on and on in their preaching, are are actually in the flesh and out of the will of God when they do so. Again, AMEN, Gary! I remember one such Easter Sunday sermon when I was in Bible College. At the church where I attended in Springfield, Missouri,the guest speaker went on and on, saying “I know you’re late for your dinners, but THIS is more important!” Honestly it wasn’t a particularly good Easter sermon, and this guy should have finished at least twenty minutes earlier than he did. Now, I’m not opposed to long services and long sermons if they’re REALLY “in the Spirit”. At one special service with Hannah Price Richardson from Canada (now deceased) at Christian Life Center in Walpole in the early 1980s, she preached a long sermon and ran a long altar service. Nobody minded. It was joyous, wonderful, and invigorating. I was stunned that when the service ended it was almost 3 p.m. I’d have guessed it was maybe a little after 1. When the Holy Spirit is REALLY moving, no preacher has to manipulate the crowd to make them stay!

Sadly, I have had other bad experiences with long-winded preachers. Several years ago when I was pastoring in Framingham an Assemblies of God pastor I am acquainted with phoned me. He was pastoring in the South, but was traveling to Massachusetts to spend some time with his elderly father. He told me he was looking for speaking engagements to help defray his travel expenses. I booked him for a service. Shortly after he arrived at the church, he asked me about how long he’d have to preach, and I told him, “Plan on about 45 minutes.” Immediately upon stepping into the pulpit, this preacher said, “The pastor says I have 45 minutes for this sermon, BUT I’M GOING TO TAKE AS LONG AS I WANT TO!” I did not hear one word he said after that statement. I was appalled. Now, I was pleasant, and he got his check, but I knew I’d never invite him back. I wish I could tell you that was the only time something like that every happened at our church, but it isn’t. And, I’ve visited other churches and seen speakers manipulate the crowd, and run services for hours on end. One evening my wife and I visited a large church for a special service. After two and a half hours, I walked out to the car and was sitting there listening to the radio. My wife was surprised that I left. I told her I was not angry or anything like that, but that I’d sat through two sermons, a long time of praise and worship, and a bunch of special music. I told her that after two and a half hours, I was done. It was nice, but I was ready to get up and move around and do something else.

The Rev. David Yonggi Cho, pastor of Full Gospel Central Church in Seoul, South Korea (the largest Assemblies of God church in the world) has a real problem with the long services that take places in America. I read in one of his books that he sat through one such service in a fairly large church in the South. Cho is used to running 9 services every Sunday. He sticks to time limits and the people are moved in and out. He believes there is a danger in services being SO long that visitors will tire and think, “Boy I’ll never go back to that church again!” Cho thinks it’s far better for them to be left spiritually hungry and wanting more after a shorter service, for they’re likely to RETURN to other church services!

A few months ago, I was in a group meeting where a retired Assemblies of God pastor was speaking. He told of the Sunday that one of his trustees installed a clock in the church sanctuary. He said he pointed at the clock and yelled, “Get THAT out of here!” There was quite a look of control and dominance as he told that story. Everything in me wanted to say to him, “So in other words, you can’t work within limits and perimeters?”

Maybe I’m skeptical, but in our Pentecostal circles people always talk about great moves of God where “the service ran way overtime” or “the preacher went on for 3 hours”. I’ve often wondered why the Holy Spirit likes services and sermons to run late but never to start early. Frankly, I’m not always so impressed with sermons and services that run on and on, although as I wrote above, as with Hannah Price Richardson that CAN happen. I am still looking for the Assemblies of God service where the people show up over an hour ahead of time; where they’re already praying and crying out to God in the parking lot...where they ask the pastor if he’ll PLEASE start the service early because they want to worship God. (Actually I understand that some things like that DO happen at the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York, and THAT’S evidence of real revival!)

Does your pastor preach eternal sermons? Maybe you ought to give him or her this piece to read! You can make ME “the bad guy”. Or maybe you’re a pastor like the guy who yelled about the clock, “Get THAT out of here!” or like Reverend “I’m going to speak as long as I want to.” Listen, Billy Graham gives every effective salvation sermons in about twenty minutes! As I recall, the famous Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” isn’t all that long...maybe would take thirty minutes to deliver. Pastors, I think you’ll do well to heed Pastor David Yonggi Cho’s advice; AND Pastor Gary C’s advice!

WILL "THE RAPTURE" HAPPEN ON MAY 21?

2011-05-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” (2 Peter 3:4)

There has been so much publicity about one group’s prophecy that “the rapture of the Church” will happen on Saturday, May 21, 2011, that I imagine many readers will at least have heard about it. The “prophet” is 89-year-old Harold Camping of Oakland, California. Camping founded “Family Radio” in 1959 and has hosted the evening call-in radio program known as “Open Forum” since 1961. I really don’t know if Harold Camping’s “Open Forum” still airs in the Boston area, but it did back in the early 1980s. I was a regular listener. Please don’t misunderstand. I was never a supporter of Harold Camping. I disagreed with him about many matters. Camping taught, for instance, that all Pentecostals and Charismatics proclaimed “another gospel other than the true gospel” and that such people were on their way to Hell. (The Assemblies of God is a Pentecostal group- thus I was among those bound for Hell!) Camping’s not a stupid guy. I’d guess he has a very high I.Q. Some of his Biblical exposition and teaching was quite well done and fascinating, but he could also be very narrow-minded and judgmental. In those days, Harold Camping didn’t even believe in “the rapture”!

Camping belonged to the Christian Reformed Church, a highly Calvinistic denomination made up of mostly people of Dutch ancestry. I don’t want readers to fall asleep on me, do I will try not to become too “cerebral” here- the bottom line is, the church holds to a strong “predestination” position- that is, God pretty much planned everything out completely, and it’s all playing out as He planned it. The C.R.C. is also “amillennial” and does not believe in “the rapture”.

“Amillennial” means “no millennium” or “no thousand years”. In Revelation chapter 20 the Bible speaks of Jesus Christ returning to planet Earth and literally reigning from Jerusalem for 1000 years. Most churches ARE “amillennial”... that is, they don’t take this stuff literally. That’s why many of you church going people have never heard of “the rapture”. A number of churches (mostly evangelical) DO believe in “the rapture”, however, and DO take the passages about the return of Jesus Christ to this planet to rule it for 1000 years very literally. Such churches would include most (but not all) Baptist groups, most Pentecostal groups including the Assemblies of God, the Evangelical Free Church, and others.

I heard Harold Camping interviewed by secular radio broadcaster Michael Smerconish a couple of nights ago. On-line biographical references about Harold Camping indicate that he left the Christian Reformed Church a number of years ago. Camping now believes ALL churches are corrupted and wrong. Camping no longer believes in a literal Hell. Camping is no longer a strict Calvinist. And, Camping now believes in “the rapture”. Smerconish tried and tried to get Camping to explain why he believes “the rapture” will happen on May 21. Camping totally ignored the question and prattled on about judgment coming to the unrepentant. Smerconish later wonder on air if ANYONE outside of Harold Camping and his small group of followers believes “the rapture” will happen on May 21. Smerconish suspects no one does. I think Michael Smerconish is correct about that!

When I “got saved” back in 1970, there was much talk in evangelical Christian circles about “the rapture” and the Second Coming of Christ. We were all reading Hal Lindsay’s “The Late Great Planet Earth” and books like David Wilkerson’s “The Vision”. I really wondered if I’d ever make it out of Bible College before “the rapture” took place. I certainly couldn’t imagine ever having grandchildren- “the rapture” was likely much too close for that! While dates were never set for “the rapture” and some preachers said it could be decades and decades away, for most of us there was the sense that it was right upon us. Today, evangelicals still believe in “the rapture” and the Second Coming of Christ, but it’s frankly not preached about much or talked about much any more. What’s happened?

For one thing, there was Edgar Whisenaunt. Edgar Whisenaunt began distributing a soft cover book in early 1988 entitled, “88 Reasons Why Christ Returns in 1988. He set September 12 or 13 of 1988 as the time for “the rapture”. Probably 2 or 3 percent of evangelicals believed Edgar’s prophecy, but the rest were disgusted, embarrassed, and believed it was all wrong. Ironically, Whisenaunt came out with another book in 1989 saying “the rapture” would happen in 1989 and that he had miscalculated by one year. NOBODY took that seriously! “Prophets” like Whisenaunt and Camping make born-again Christians look so foolish that many are ashamed and embarrassed to say anything about “the rapture” or even to THINK about it. I suspect this latest escapade will only service to reinforce that reluctance to proclaim or acknowledge “the rapture” and the Second Coming.

When I did listen to Harold Camping’s “Open Forum” in the 1980s, Camping was constantly warning against false prophets, false teachers, and false churches who proclaimed “another gospel other than the true gospel”. Isn’t it ironic? That’s EXACTLY what Harold Camping has become! He’s become a false prophet proclaiming another gospel other than the true gospel!

Listen, I don’t expect “the rapture” to happen on May 21. Well, if it does, it will be entirely coincidental and will be in spite of Harold Camping and not because of him! The Bible never used the word “rapture” nor does it ever use the word “trinity”. But it DOES teach the Trinity and the rapture. Where is “the rapture” taught about? Check out First Thessalonians chapter 4 (and there are other places as well such as I Corinthians chapter 15).

Friend, there WILL be a “rapture of the church”. It may be today, or tomorrow, or in six months, or in six years, or in a hundred and sixty years. I sincerely hope evangelical Christians will NOT be afraid of speaking about “the rapture” and the Second Coming. I hope we all speak about it MORE with boldness! Yet, no one knows the day or the hour of “the rapture”; no not even Harold Camping.

TAKE A CHILL PILL!

2011-05-09T16:24:00.001-07:00

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:" (James 1:19)

If there is any very Bible verse that 21st Century Americans need to learn, and not only learn but PRACTICE in their daily lives, it's that one! It doesn't seem possible that I've been working at my telephone answering service job now for fourteen months. In that period of time, I have spoken on literally thousands of telephone calls, and I have experienced a myriad of human behavior. I just want to share a few examples here:

This past Saturday, I encountered the angriest caller (the father of a child who had broken his arm) to date at the answering service job.
I had gone on my one hour break, and just a few minutes after signing back on, I picked up the phone to listen to this irate man. He sounded like a WWF (or is it WWE?) wrestler..the way they'll yell and say things like "I'll break every bone in your body!" No, he did not say THAT, but he ranted about having called two hours earlier to a particular pediatrics practice. No one had called him back...his son had not been treated, and he was furious. I tried to get through to the pediatrics practice's inside line, but all I could get was a busy signal. I tried to explain that to the caller, but there was a flurry of callers that came in, and somehow I lost his call. I DID send a message over the computer screen to my Supervisor (in the next booth) telling her this guy was irate and that we needed to do all we could to get in touch with that pediatrics practice. A couple of minutes later, another operator in the call center answered a call and it was that same guy, yelling at her. At the same time, I could hear my Supervisor on the phone. She HAD reached the pediatrics practice and was relaying the message and asking the nurse at the practice to call that man. While the Supervisor was still on the phone, I answered a call and it was the guy! This time he sounded ten times angrier than before! I was TRYING to tell him that my Supervisor was on the phone with the practice and that they'd call him within a minute. I could NOT get one word in edge wise. The man kept yelling, "I want a call back within three minutes; you got it, three minutes!!!???? Not one hour, not three hours, THREE MINUTES??!!" He just kept yelling that over and over, non stop. I tried and tried to break in. Finally, I did something I have seldom done on that job. I just hung up the phone. And, you guessed it. He called back AGAIN and got another of our operators who transferred the call to the Supervisor. The Supervisor also tried and tried to explain that we truly WERE trying to help him. When she hung up, she commented, "I just can't understand why he would wait for two hours with his son with a broken arm. Why wouldn't he just go to the emergency room?" All of us concluded that the man's judgment had been clouded. The issue for him was really NOT getting treatment for his son's broken arm. The issue was arguing with the medical practice and answering service and trying to prove he was right. That's the kind of thinking that sparks road rage murders!

It's not just the callers. I hate to say it but I've learned the behavior and attitude of television's Dr. House are NOT far from reality with some physicians! I phoned a doctor who was on call for his practice this past Saturday morning. He told me he was out running through the woods and that he did not want any calls until he got back to his house. (Again, mind you, he was officially on call and there were sick patients trying to reach him.) I knew what it was to be on call when I was a pastor. If a pastor pulled that kind of stuff, the next thing he'd know, there would be a surprise Board meeting and he'd be fired! On Saturday afternoon, I paged a doctor who had just ended being on-call. This was for a true emergency involving a child's head injury and a very upset uncle who was in charge of the kid while his parents were away. The doctor curtly reminded me she was no longer on call. It was like pulling teeth to get her to talk to the upset uncle rather than page the off-site nursing agency who'd call the uncle back in thirty minutes. The Bible talks about the difference between the "letter of the law and the spirit of the law". Honestly, I'd LOVE to give a seminar for all the doctors who are clients of that answering service explaining that concept!

People can be so self-centered and impatient. On weekends, we coordinate deliveries for several medical service companies. Most of these companies use delivery drivers who cover very large territories. One guy may cover the entire state of Vermont, for instance. Yet, someone in Swanton, on the Quebec border, will be very perturbed that the delivery man, who is now in Brattleboro, not far from Franklin County, Massachusetts, will take over three hours to get to his residence with the medical delivery the caller wants IMMEDIATELY. TRUE STORY: about six months ago, the delivery man for one of these companies was involved in a vehicular accident which totalled the company's van...late on a Saturday afternoon. A family on Cape Cod was waiting for an important medical supply delivery. I informed the family that the van was in a wreck and that "the delivery will have to be made tomorrow". Now, that family really didn't understand that I was working for the answering service; although I tried to explain that. They did not understand that I have no authority with that company to order its drivers and employees around; and neither do my Supervisors have that authority. The caller from Cape Cod informed me that they DID NOT CARE that the man was in a vehicular accident and that the van was wrecked. They DEMANDED their delivery. I called the poor shaken up delivery man on his cell and told him that. He was almost in tears and told he all he could do was deliver the item as soon as he could in his own private vehicle.

Now, I admit, I'm NOT always the most gracious customer. But fourteen months on this job have really mellowed me and I am MUCH less likely to whine if I get a Hazelnut coffee at Dunkin' Donuts when I wanted a French Vanilla or if the guy at the post office gives me a Canadian dime in the change I receive. It gets to the point that you have to realize we're all human. We are certainly to do our best, but we will all make mistakes.

Yup, it's doctors and it's truck drivers...it's waitresses...and it's corporate executives. We all fall short sometimes. We all make mistakes. But I think of that father with the kid with the broken arm. HE made that whole situation worse.
And, speaking of doctors and medical practices, maybe more should give this for a prescription: "TAKE A CHILL PILL"!

REMEMBERING CARL GUINEY

2011-05-02T03:36:00.001-07:00

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Psalm 166:15)

Yesterday, I received word that the Rev. Carl Guiney passed away (or "went home to be with the Lord" as we evangelicals like to say) this weekend. I mentioned in my last blog post that David Wilkerson was famous in evangelical and charismatic Christian circles. Outside of the Assemblies of God in southern New England, I suppose few people would know who Carl Guiney was. I want to share a bit about Carl Guiney here.

I remember Carl Guiney almost always having a big smile on his face. He was light complected, somewhat short of stature, mild-mannered, and at least thirteen years older than I am. At the time Carl Guiney graduated from Central Bible College in the mid-1960s, Rhode Island was the only state in which there were NO Assemblies of God churches. Carl Guiney felt a definite call of God to New England and planned to start a church in Rhode Island. He "pioneered" First Assembly of God of Wooksocket, Rhode Island which he pastored for around forty years. Sadly, three years ago, Pastor Guiney was diagnosed with brain cancer and around two years ago, due to his health issues, he stepped down from his pastoral duties at the Woonsocket church. I know this next part may be somewhat confusing to readers who are outside of the Assemblies of God, but we are divided into approximately fifty Districts nationally. Each of the Districts is divided into several Sections. A pastor called a "Sectional Presbyter" is put in charge of the ministers and churches of a particular Section. For many years, Carl Guiney was Presbyter of the Rhode Island Section (which included some Massachusetts churches and ministers). When I took my examination for "License to Preach" in 1981, Carl Guiney was the Presbyter who administered the examination to me and corrected my test. When I was Ordained at District Council in Brookfield, Connecticut in 1985, Carl Guiney was the Presbyter who laid hands on me and prayed, ordaining me into the the full gospel ministry. Thus, I had a definite connection to the Rev. Carl Guiney.

I pastored a very small church in Framingham, Massachusetts for over twenty years. Sometimes, I felt marginalized and dismissed by some of my ministerial colleagues, but that was never true of Carl Guiney. Carl Guiney and his eighty-ish father-in-law Ray Shepherd (also his Associate Pastor) always treated me with dignity as a friend and a colleague. I was honored that they had me as a guest speaker at the Woonsocket church around seven years ago.

Despite the stereotype of Pentecostal and Assemblies of God churches as being full of "holy rollers" swinging from chandeliers, some AG pastors and churches are quite sedate and conservative and that was true of Carl Guiney and the church he pastored. Please don't misunderstand me. Carl was thoroughly Pentecostal, but never wild and crazy. Often he served as a "Parliamentarian" at District Council meetings. He usually drove some sort of mid-sized sedan manufactured by Chrysler Corporation. Carl was a good faithful pastor, and a decent and fine man.

I will miss him.

THE CROSS AND THE CAR CRASH

2011-04-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Psalm 166:15)

Early this morning I learned that the Reverend David Wilkerson of "The Cross and the Switchblade" fame had been killed in a car wreck in east Texas. It seems his car collided head-on with an eighteen wheeler. Wilkerson's wife Gwen was in the car and has been hospitalized with injuries. My good friend Ed, who coincidentally lives in east Texas, e-mailed me that he was "shocked" by the news. I must say, I was shocked also. Another friend named Ed, the Rev. Ed Delacoeur from Cape Cod posted on Facebook that one of God's choice servants has gone home to Heaven. He's right.

While many ordinary, everyday people in the secular world may be asking, "WHO?!" about David Wilkerson, his name is very much a household word among evangelical and charismatic Christians. In fact, most evangelical and charismatic Christians would probably have included David Wilkerson in a list of something like, "The Ten Most Important Christians Alive Today". David Wilkerson was only in his mid-twenties and pastoring a small Assemblies of God church in rural Pennsylvania in 1958 when God called him to go to New York City and evangelize mostly Hispanic teenage street gangs. Many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, considered Wilkerson sensational and at best misguided and at worst crazy. Amazingly, in several trips to New York, which included David sleeping in his car on the street, God absolutely worked supernatural miracles. One such miracle was the conversion of Nicky Cruz, one of the toughest Puerto Rican teen gang leaders in New York at the time. Wilkersons early evangelism led to the founding of Teen Challenge, a Gospel preaching and Christian discipling drug rehab program. In its early days ninety percent of the residents of Teen Challenge centers were in their late teens or early twenties. Today, it is not unusual for Teen Challenge centers to be populated by young people in rehab ranging from as young as 18 to as old as 45.

It's not only Teen Challenge that David Wilkerson is known for, however. In 1974, he published a ontroversial book entitled, "The Vision". Wilkerson claimed to have received a dramatic vision from God of what the coming thirty to forty years would hold for America and the world. I have a copy of "The Vision". I have read it a few times, and first read the book in 1974. Some of the prophecies in the book seemed really "wild" at the time, but virtually all of what's prophesied in the book has come to pass. He followed up "The Vision" a couple of years later with a similar but less popular book entitled, "Racing Toward Judgment".

Around twenty years ago, Wilkerson founded the nondenominational Times Square Church in New York. The church reaches out to both "down and outers" and "up and outers". For many years I was on David Wilkerson's mailing list and I'd read his newsletters with great interest. Beginning in the late 1990s, Wilkerson began forecasting the total economic collapse of the United States of America. He has made dire predictions of a depression coming which will be far worse than the early 1930s. Wilkerson believes God will take care of His faithful children, but that those who are not walking very close to God will suffer greatly. Although the economy has sort of "tanked" since 2008, Wilkerson's prediction of a total economic collapse has obviously not yet happened. Considering his previous track record, however, it does seem one would do well to take seriously what he had to say.

Life does not always turn out as we'd think it would. This is not Hollywood. If the life of David Wilkerson had been a Hollywood fantasy, we'd probably have imagined his passing would be of heart failure as he lay in a comfortable bed in a Norman Rockwell type setting surrounded by his family and close friends. I could imagine his face being illuminated as he'd say something like, "Look, I see an angel!" Then he'd breath his last breath, and beautiful music would begin playing.

Yes, like my friend in Texas, I'm shocked. I never thought David Wilkerson would be killed instantly in a car wreck at age 79. It's just not the script those who love him would have written. Many of us DO tend to put people like David Wilkerson on pedestals. They're human. I happen to know David Wilkerson was very afraid of flying and that he virtually never flew. He either drove everyplace or took the train. It's ironic that the man who was afraid to fly died in a car wreck. It's also ironic that this giant of faith was afraid to fly. Incidentally, I have some "connections" to David Wilkerson. My friend Dave Milley knew him personally and was the first Boston Teen Challege Director in the 1960s. David Wilkerson was a alumnus of my alma mater, Central Bible College. His son Gary and daughter Bonnie were there as students at the same time I was.

When a spiritual giant like David Wilkerson passes on it causes me to pause and wonder...who will take his place?

"WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!"

2011-04-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." (Philippians 4:4)

Two weeks ago tomorrow, I was introduced to a very unique radio talk show: The David Stein Show, better known as "Celebration of Life". Most mornings (now) I'm getting up around 4:15 a.m. That day, I turned on "Boston Talks 96.6 WTKK" a little after 4 and heard an unfamiliar voice asking listeners to give his show a chance. As he described his program, it sounded very sappy, and syrupy, and mushy, and touchy-feely. "Yuch!" I thought! I don't think I'm going to like this program at all. Boy was I wrong! After listening for one hour, I concluded this was one of the most meaningful and inspirational programs I had ever hard.

I had never heard of David Stein, but if you do an on-line search, you'll learn that he was a sports talk show host for a number of years. His relatively new show, celebration of life has very little to do with sports or politics or the stuff usually heard on call-in talk radio. Stein has a very open (and even vulnerable) manner. He's a fantastic story teller. He will freely talk about his own problems and issues, and what he's learned from life experience and from others. It's obvious that David Stein is a highly committed Christian. He casually drops Bible verses and Christian references, but in a mostly subtle non-threatening manner. There's NONE of the "fundamentalist jamming a Bible down your throat" stuff. It's a lot more like Delilah who does her nationally syndicated soft rock evening show.

David Stein broadcasts from the Atlanta, Georgia area. His show is on from 1 to 5 in the morning Eastern time. On that first broadcast he told the story of going to a Srarbucks in late September of last year. David mentioned that he HATES Starbucks coffee. That brought a smile to my face, because I do, too! But he was at Starbucks for a chance to sit in one of their relaxing chairs and use their WI-FI. A woman sat down in the chair next to him. David mentioned that he was tempted to try to start up a conversation...one of those, "How YOU doin'?!" kind of things. He added that he had not been on a date in over two years and had not spoken to any women he didn't know during that period of time. Three weeks later, David Stein was in line at that same Starbucks. He happened to turn around in the line, and standing directly behind him was that same woman who'd sat next to him three weeks earlier.

"I HATE this coffee!" he jovially exclaimed to her and she smiled. They began a friendship which led to a romance. David Stein married that woman at that Starbucks this past February!

Stein urges listeners to practice random acts of kindness...to do things like send real handwritten letters to people...to practice an attitude of thanking people, and of being grateful and not complaining. Again, he's NOT sappy and phony, though. He's very masculine, and very real. After listening for a couple of days, you feel like you've known this guy for years.

Forty years ago, if I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep, I'd often turn on Larry Glick on WBZ and listen for an hour or so. There has not been a radio broadcaster who would motivate me to tune in to him in the middle of the night since Larry Glick- until NOW! This morning, for instance, I awoke at 1:15, turned in David Stein for 45 minutes and fell back asleep. When you listen, there's a sense of peace and serenity. I fell into a dream, and woke at 4 refreshed.

David Stein has this expression he uses when he's really happy about something: "Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!"

That's my feeling about this new "Celebration of Life" program: "Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!"

I hope you'll check it out sometime. Incidentally, you don't HAVE to listen to it in the middle of the night. You can tap into previous broadcasts on-line anytime.