A letter to Tim Tebow on his recent trade to the Jets

Dear Tim,

Well, you’ve been traded to the Jets.  Welcome to New Jersey.   You’re in a mission mine field (gold or bombs? It’s hard to tell.)

Yeah, let’s get a few things straight. 

You see, both the Giants and the Jets belong to New Jersey, regardless of where their franchises register the moo-lah.   They both practice and play in NJ…so even though they call themselves NY teams, they’re ours.  New Jerseyans know the difference… and that’s where suburbia lives.  (And you’ll have to understand that you’ll never win over the southern half of the state, they’re mostly Eagles fans.)
Speaking of suburbia….did you know that the suburban and metro NY/NJ area is probably one of the biggest mission fields in America?  Yeah, you see we’re so caught up in trying to keep up with what we’ve got that the devil has been having an easy time of it.  Being a Christian isn’t always easy here…we’re a melting pot of faiths, cultures, politics, social and economic classes, races… you name it… you can find it here. 

On the flip side…on the whole, I think we’re a pretty tolerant region considering our diversity.  But that tends to lend itself to a laissez-faire attitude of “hey, you do your thing and I’ll do mine” making evangelism a tough sell in this area.  The “Tebow-ing” thing will generate an equal amount of mockery and supporters.

And it’s not just the fans.  Ask Mark Messier or Mike Richter of the Rangers, or Phil Simms or Eli Manning.  Ask Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada or Alex Rodriguez.  Ask Mark Sanchez.  The media is looking to crucify you….when they’re not tearing apart your football skills they’ll mock you for your faith, your personal life or worse, they’ll label you irrelevant.  They’ll take you to task like no other media market in the country.  Like a dog with a bone, they’re not going to let you get away easy.

Unless you’ve got the stuff to weather us. 

Because you’re not irrelevant… you are a child of God, just like the rest of us.  

And your faith has lit a light that shines on God in the one place a majority of Americans, and New Jerseyans and New Yorkers, will find themselves each Sunday… in the church of the sports arena (or watching it on TV).

There’s a song by Ol’ Blue Eyes (if you don’t know who that is, you’d better look it up before you move here) that goes “if I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”  If you think Denver was tough, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.  Grab your big boy football pads…the hits are going to be hard.

Your proving ground has been set before you… I wonder what plans God has in store for you here.
Good luck.

Join us for worship anytime:
Sundays 8:30 and 10:45 am
St. Andrew Lutheran Church
335 Reynolds Ave., Parsippany, NJ  07054
(973) 887-6713
www.elcaandy.org

Fat Tuesday is Over But the Fun is Just Beginning

Fat Tuesday is over, but the party is just beginning for 8 Youth and their Chaperones.

If you joined us for our Mardi Gras party, you know what a great time we had.

If you missed it, you missed a REALLY terrific party.  Really...

91 people joined us at St. Andrew on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012 to help raise funds to send 8 of our “Youts” and their 2 chaperones (Pastor Fred and the Youth Advisor) to the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans this summer.  The kids raised a total of $3555 with your support.  THANK YOU!

Those 91 people (plus there were many who made donations but did not attend) enjoyed an evening of terrific New Orleans-style food (jambalaya, red beans & rice, gumbo, and of course, King Cake).  We had karaoke with some very good voices (and some not so good but good-spirited), masquerade mask crafting, Guitar Hero and Dance-Dance Revolution games, and a very fun Crazy Hat contest.

But the big fundraiser of the evening was the Silent Auction.  56 items were up for bid, and there was indeed some very competitive bidding going on for a few of the items.   Thank you to some of our local businesses for their support and the items donated for this event:  (So please patronize their business and say “thanks” for supporting St. Andrew’s Youth Group).

Moe’s Southwest Grill in Parsippany

Lia Sophia Jewelry (Terri Corigliano)

ShopRite of Parsippany

Billy & Madeline Haircutters of Whippany

Jersey Mikes Sandwiches of Parsippany

Pro Haricutters of Parsippany

Olive Garden of Rockaway

Gourmet Café of Parsippany

Sweet Expressions of Denville

Delizia Pizza Kitchen of Boonton

Denville Dairy

Joy Nails of Parsippany

Boonton Lanes

Clearview Theaters of Parsippany

Anthony FrancoItalian Restaurant (Parsippany)

Karma Salon &Spa (Lake Hiawatha)

Mary Kay (LindaPerna)

Flowers by Rene of Parsippany

Trainer’s Edge (Denville)

Dangerfield’s Comedy Club

Hot Rods Restaurant (Wharton)

Sogo Sushi House Restaurant (Denville)

Look out New Orleans!…. 36,000 Lutheran Youth are coming to your town in July and things will never be the same… for them … or for you!

Come and see what all the excitement is about:
Worship: Sundays at 8:30 and 10:45 am
St. Andrew Lutheran Church
335 Reynolds Ave., Parsippany, NJ  07054
(973) 887-6713
www.elcaAndy.org

We're Having a Party!

We’re having a party!

Of course we are… we’re St.  Andrew.

Join us tomorrow, Sat. , Feb. 11 at 6 pm (the snow is supposed to be long over by then) for a Mardi Gras FUNdraising party to support the Senior High Youth Group.  Your admission ticket (a heart-felt donation of your choice) will help send 8 youth and 2 chaperones to New Orleans this summer for the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering. Tickets are available at the door.

There will be delicious New Orleans style foods and King Cake for dessert.  There will be karaoke and dancing, a Mardi Gras craft and trivia contest, a crazy hat contest …

And….

A FANTASTIC Silent Auction with almost 50 items available for your bidding pleasure.  Your ticket number is your bidding number.

Why trudge out on a cold February evening? 

First … you need to get out… we are not bears and we don’t hibernate… we are social beings and we always have fun together at St. Andrew.

Second … this is a great way to treat your Valentine to an evening out and help out the Youth at the same time.

Third… you don’t get King Cake every day.

Fourth… your winning bid on that oh-so-special-item would make a great and unique Valentine’s gift, while support the Youth at the same time.

Are you sensing a trend here?

FUN and FUNdraising in dreary February….

It’s time to get out of the house.

Join us for Mardi Gras!

Tomorrow, Sat., Feb. 11 from 6-10 pm

St.  Andrew Lutheran Church

335 Reynolds Ave., Parsippany, NJ  07054

(973) 887-6713

www.elcaAndy.org

Football and Faith

Okay, so today is a football playoffs Sunday... not quite the Super Bowl but still high up on the chart of “where are all the people this Sunday morning?”

Some people have argued that sports have become the religion of America and sporting venues the new cathedrals of our generation.  Perhaps in some way that is true.  Considering all the Tebowmania this year, I’ve been wondering about it.

I’m happy to note that St. Andrew was fairly full this morning.  If the Giants were playing the 3 o’clock game, might there might have been a few less?  Hmmmmm.

To our credit, we seem to be able to pull a fair number of attendees for our annual congregational meeting which always seems to fall on Super Bowl Sunday, even though we have a fair number of football fans on the Church Council.  Maybe it’s because we entice them in with lunch, and then the specter of the ULTIMATE football game keeps the meeting short.  A 6:30 pm kickoff time doesn’t hurt either.  I’ve always been somewhat proud of us that we put the business of the church as a top priority and recognize that we can do both… have an early afternoon congregational meeting and still leave time for football.  If the Super Bowl was being held in Giants Stadium (ooops, sorry Jet fans, MetLife Stadium…or better yet, let’s just call it the Meadowlands and leave the corporate sponsors out of it), then perhaps there might be some squawking about the changing the meeting date.

Since the Broncos and Tim Tebow are now officially out of contention for the Super Bowl, it is interesting to reflect on the hype that surrounded that team’s quarterback.  Was God granting success to the Broncos because of the faith of Tim Tebow?  Doubtful.  I don’t think God plays favorites in the football arena.  Plus, there are plenty of other faithful athletes, but none so recently under the national media microscope.

But I do think God was/is there.

If the people will not go to the Church, then perhaps God has come to the people in the place they deem worthy to worship?  If we remove God from schools, government, work places, public places and our everyday lives, then perhaps He has chosen sports as the place to walk among us?

God will not be silenced.

He equips the called and gives them voice.  Through the acts of a faithful football quarterback, the eyes of a nation have been focused on the heart of an athlete… an athlete equipped with the quirky athleticism that makes secular football professionals wonder if something divine isn’t happening, and makes a nation remember that the God of all creation will find a way to walk among us and grab our attention… even when our worship has been misdirected.

(Psssst..... Go Giants!) 

Come and worship with us on Sundays: 8:30 & 10:45 am

Christian Education: 9:45 am

St. Andrew Lutheran Church

335 Reynolds Ave.

Parsippany, NJ  07054

www.elcaAndy.org

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Today is January 11, 2012 and a day set aside by the U.S. Congress to pay attention to the horror of human trafficking.  I received an e-mail today through our web site from She Is Safe.  (www.SheIsSafe.org)  They have produced a very nice video to introduce people to the problem.  It is nicely and tastefully done.  Check it out here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ughWb-W7OI&feature=youtu.be     I don't know much about this organization so proceed with care if you decide to donate to them, but the video is a great opportunity to begin the discussion of what we can do to help stop the practice of human trafficking.

The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) web site also provides information about how the church can respond to this crime against humanity and offers links to several web sites where additional information can be gathered or where you can donate to help support the efforts of these organizations.  For more information go to:

The Polaris Project  http://www.polarisproject.org/

Cherish Our Children http://cherishourchildren.ctsmemberconnect.net/home-ctrl.do

The U.S. State Department http://www.state.gov/g/tip/

It is so incredibly heart-breaking to think that this crime is growing and is found nearly everywhere, even here in the United States.  The State Department web site notes that UNICEF claims that nearly 2 million children worldwide are subject to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade.  2 MILLION!  And that is only the children...

What can you do?  Learn about the problem.  Talk about the problem.  Seek to support those organizations making a difference.  Pray.

Have you ever encountered a person who was subject to human trafficking?  How did you react?  What did you do?  What should the Church do?  And what should our local churches do?

Would you want to be involved in a study of the subject?  Leave a comment below.


Join us for worship: 8:30 & 10:45 am
Christian Education: 9:45 am
St. Andrew Lutheran Church
335 Reynolds Ave., Parsippany, NJ  07054
(973) 887-6713
www.elcaAndy.org

Epiphany - Light Comes to a Weary World

The craziness and excesses of the holiday are over.  Winter is settling in and we seem to want nothing more than to stay home and curl up in bed or by the fire.  You know the snow is coming soon.  The days are short and the nights are soooo long.  We wake up in darkness and come home from our daily travels in darkness.  Sometimes we are cooped up in a cubicle with no window, to top it all off.  “Blah,” we say, “What good comes of January?”

It is during the winter, when the snow covers the ground, that roots and seeds that were tucked into the frozen/thawing/frozen ground are insulated and watered by the snow pack and begin to do their molecular thing.   Energy is drawn up from roots.  Flower and leaf buds get their cells together in preparation for the wonder of spring. 

Nature is busy on a molecular level…. And so are we.

God’s work.  Our Hands.

Our hearts and minds have been fed with a heavenly gift, the birth of a Savior.  The seeds of love have been sown.  The stirrings of hearts reaching out to others in a burst of December altruism have put roots into our souls, yearning that it might always feel this way.

January is a recovery time, a planning time, a nurturing time.  Our January calendar is relatively simple… the cleaning up of holiday decorations, the continuation of our regular worship and education programs, and the preparations and planning for a new season… Lent and then Easter.  Already February is full of fun and spiritual events.

So while Epiphany might seem dark, light dawns in our hearts and minds as the seeds of what has been planted in us begin to germinate.

What will become of the seeds planted in you this year?  Will you nurture them with worship and community in Christ?  Will you feed them with Word and Sacrament?  Or will you curl up and leave them dormant within you, just waiting to burst forth with the joy of a God who loves you so much that He would send His Only Son to live within you?

Make your New Year’s Resolution to be a plan to GROW your spirit and plant your roots firmly in a relationship with God and your fellow believers at St. Andrew. 

(come back tomorrow to read some New Year’s Resolutions)

We are called to let our light shine!  Hide it under a bushel?  NO!

How do you plan to let your "God light" shine this year?

Join us for worship on Sundays @ 8:30 and 10:45 am.

Christian Education at 9:45 am

St. Andrew Lutheran Church

335 Reynolds Ave., Parsippany, NJ  07054

www.elcaAndy.org