THOUGHTS ABOUT ST. JAMES THE GREATER...

"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?!

"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

“...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...

"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"

"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

"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"

"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!