Category: Random thoughts

Hearing God’s call and following it

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A friend of mine, Steve Scarduzio suggested a topic of talking about my journey after I accepted/re affirmed my commitment to Jesus, and how that looks like with FAC (Fellowship Alliance Chapel). I think it is a worthy topic.  Please keep in mind that I am a work in progress and that at times I fall, but He is there to pick me up and tells me to move on!

If you remember my last blog about how I came to FAC in 2006, after I took the Alpha course, I asked the Pastor at the time how can I help? Well Pastor Joe put me behind the sound booth and said this is where you belong!! My first time back there was January 2007, and I was nervous because I never worked a soundboard in my entire life. It was definitely a learn as you go process for me.  I did well, and even enjoyed being there. I felt really good that I was able to help people explore Christianity. It was something that Father was definitely calling me to do.  At that time Jeff German was playing his guitar and singing before the video.  If you attend Alpha, you will still see me behind the board doing the sound and the video, but now I have a great team that is helping me.

Also, in January of 2007, I started attending Band of Brothers, which is the men’s breakfast on Wednesday morning. It was a small group and we had breakfast in the Chapel. It was led by my mentor Pastor Bob Chaffee (whom recently went home to be with Father).  When we moved to the sanctuary where we are now, I somehow was again behind the sound booth.

I am not sure what year I started helping with the worship team, but I do know that I started with the cameras, we video record our sermons and worship. At some point, I moved behind the sound booth again, but not as a sound engineer, but I was a video person putting the words to the song and the sermon on the screen. I do believe, that we were using Power Point in the beginning, and moved from that to EasyWorship, today we use ProPresenter 5. I believe that I started with the worship ministry about 8 years ago, and I am still there. While doing this, I felt so close to the Lord, because I was helping those that attend the weekend services worship Him, and learn about His word. If it helped one person come closer to know the Lord then I did my job! It never was and still is not about me and what I get out of it, but what He gets out of it!! Serving Him has been a huge blessing in so many ways. It is really hard to explain, especially if you do not have a relationship with God.

Slight diversion, in September of 2009, I started at Burlington County College to get my degree in Entertainment Technology: Sound and recording engineer. In May of 2011 I got that degree!! All because of dong sound at FAC, and the encouragement of my wife Stacey Silverman. I really felt good to graduate. I finally accomplished something and finished something.  During this time, I really had to learn how to rely on Him for our needs. Whether it was physical needs to get through the day, or financial needs to meet our bills.

In 2012, I believe it was I started the journey of discipleship with the CMG group at FAC. I met a great group of people during this time. We took a 2-3 year journey together, which culminated in the Timothy Project. I can say that doing this I have grown in my relationship with the Lord. I did things that were totally out of my comfort zone.  I have a great group of men that were right alongside of me in the journey.  I learned to feel comfortable about praying with people out loud and even volunteering to help feed the homeless in Camden. During this time, especially going through the Timothy Project, I was able to “teach” a devotion. A devotion is taking a passage/verse from the bible reading it, and really tearing it apart to understand it.  Trying to convey what God is telling us about that particular verse.  It is very humbling to teach something like that, and have a group of men listen and learn what you feel the verse is saying to you!  As far as helping to feed the homeless, it is so humbling. I really do not think had it not been for my group of men or FAC that I would have volunteered for that. It really makes you think hard, that the hardship that you may be going through at the time is NOTHING compared to what they go through on a daily basis!!

It is so humbling to serve Him, whether it is praying for someone, or helping to feed the homeless. Serving Him and following Jesus is not about being comfortable, it is about being uniquely equipped to do it and He provides that for us!! So follow God and His calling for you, for He knows what is best for you and will be there to help you!! Look at Jeremiah 29:11 ” For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope”

Take that leap of faith!

My Life and How I got to became a Judaic-Christian

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Before I start this entry, I would like to thank Kristy Davis for the inspiration to this. She said in a post on my Facebook wall, it would be interesting to see how you came to this decision, a kind of life history of Joseph Silverman if you will.  So, here it goes my life story. unfortunately, I do not have a baby picture, or of me younger.

I was born October 10,1964 at Misacordia Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, my family moved to Cherry Hill in December of 1966 ( I believe that is what my mother told me). I was diagnosed sometime around 1968 with congenital rubella syndrome, which developed in Cerebral Palsy, more specifically mild spastic diplegia. This form of CP primarily affects my legs and feet. I spent many, many years at Children’s Hospital with physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech, and other things. i was not inpatient but out-patient, which meant my mom would take me there. I grew up pretty much normal, going to school, during the summer I went to day camp (at Mountain Run Day Camp in Medford, and the JCC camps in Medford).

I failed to mention that I grew up in a conservative jewish household. We went to Beth-El which at the time was located on Chapel Avenue in Cherry Hill, NJ. I went to hebrew school, and hebrew high school there. I even had my Bar Mitzvah here.At the timBar Mitzvah picturee I tried to go weekly to services, but for the most part mainly high holidays.This a picture of me from my Bar Mitzvah at age 13. The exact date was November 26,1977. It was one of my happiest days, and also the happiest days for my parents. Shortly after my bar mitzvah I stopped going to Hebrew High School.

Fast forward to 1997, I believe it was, my wife at the time(now ex-wife) was raised Catholic, and I being Jewish were trying to find something that would be middle road for the both of us. Well, we fell upon Messianic Judaism. Which in short believes in Jesus as Lord and Savior, but still maintains the traditions of Judaism (lighting the sabbath candles, saying the prayers over the bread, and wine, and worshiping on Saturday). Conservative Rabbis will say that Jesus was a Rabbi (teacher), not the messiah, which they are still waiting for. It was at Beth Yeshua in Philadelphia, that I first accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Well, in November of 1999, I was officially divorced and ran as fast as I could from God, blaming Him for my divorce.

In January of 2000, I met Stacey and we started dating and eventually(actually very quickly) moved in together. I was still not even remotely interested in religion, and she was going for her catholism classes. Well, the week before she was to take the “oath”( I think that is what they called it), the woman whom was her sponsor called and said she could not do it since she was divorced and living with me. She did not want Stacey to call her, but had me tell her. Before we got married in 2002, she converted to judaism, and even took my grandmother’s name as her hebrew name. We got married February 17,2002. We both attended Temple Emmanuel in Voorhees( could have been Cherry Hill),and we attended services there for a period of time, but I was not being fed spiritually. So, we stopped going there, and just did nothing.

Fast forward to 2006, and my mother-in-law and father-in-law were attending Fellowship Alliance Chapel in Medford, their church that they were attending in New Egypt closed. She started dropping not so subtle hints that we should come to the church. Well, we did, my original thought was to go and say alright we went and leave it at that. That was not the case, shortly after we started going, I re-committed my life to Jesus. Stacey and I both took the Alpha course to learn more about our beliefs. That is where we met some great people, after that session, I started helping with Alpha and am still doing it today, with my dear friend and brother in Christ, Jeff German.  January 7,2007, I was baptized at Fellowship Alliance Chapel. This is an outward symbol proclaiming that you believe and will follow the teachings of Jesus. I was baptized by the senior Pastor, Marty Berglund!!  This is my picture from the baptism, the man on the left is Pastor Marty Berglund!!Baptism Picture

There you have it, my life story in a nutshell. I finally found what I was looking for, I was being fed spiritually. I am still a work in progress and will always be a work in progress, until the day that I am called home to my Heavenly Father.

Worship

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I was driving to church for breakfast with the men at Band of Brothers yesterday, and a thought popped into my mind about worship. I normally do my best thinking in the car where it is just me and my Heavenly Father! For whatever reason He put that word in my head. What is worship? Who do you worship?

As I sit at the kitchen table, I wonder if I truly worshiped when I was younger? Did I really understand what it meant to worship? I need to stop and explain, I was brought up in a conservative synagogue, and went to services on a weekly basis where I heard the passages of the Torah (Old Testament) being chanted. I understood what was being chanted, and the Rabbi explained the portion and tried to apply it to life experiences. I chanted the prayers along with those that came, whether it was in the youth service, or as a teenager in the adult services. The main sanctuary was huge, but never filled except for high holidays (Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur). At some point in my life, I stopped opening the prayer-book, as I knew these prayers by heart. Looking back, I realized that I was NOT worshiping, but going through the motions of being there, and doing what I was supposed to do. The sermons never really provoked me to think about God’s word. I was Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13 and continued my Hebrew education for a short time thereafter, still not really learning His word, and how it applies to me and my life.  Which brings me to 9 years ago, when my mother-in-law told us about the church that we are still attending, and asked us (Stacey, my lovely wife) to come. I told Stacey, we will go there once to make her happy. Well, as I stated earlier we are still there 9 years later. Something was there, that I never had before. The people who attended truly were worshiping, they were raising there hands, singing loudly to the Lord. Pastor Marty Berglund preached a great sermon! Please do not ask me what he spoke about that day 9 years ago. The people there had something that I truly wanted!!

OK, bear with me, I am getting back to the topic at hand, which is worship, in case you forgot. I am just taking the long road to the topic. Here is the definition of worship from dictionary.com. reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred. So the question that is begged to be asked is What do you worship? or Who do you worship? I asked this question because some people will worship money, their job, their alcohol, etc. It means placing importance of objects, worldly things above everything else. I have learned that worship is so much more than singing songs or chanting prayers to Him. Worship can be tithing, praying( talking to Him), and other things.

People today tend to place athletes on a pedestal, and when they fall from that pedestal they get angry at that person. So they are worshiping that athlete, which is wrong. Some people worship money, and want to get as much of it as possible. I am not saying that is it wrong to want money, or to like a professional athlete, what I am saying is it is wrong to worship them, and place them above everything else.

In my opinion in order to worship God(our Heavenly Father), we must first know Him, and have a personal relationship with Him. In the New Testament the wisemen went to worship baby Jesus. Matthew 2:2b ” For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him”  The wisemen understood it! Not all religions teach this, about a personal relationship with God. I am not saying that it is wrong, but we should. As a dear friend and brother in Christ said “We all were created Spiritual beings with a built in desire to worship.People today worship what they know, because you can not truly worship what you do not know.  You can not truly worship God unless you know Him.”

I feel that today, I am closer to Him then I was during my formative years. As I have learned I am a work in progress, and my form(s) of worshiping Him(my Heavenly Father) will continue to grow. What are you worshiping? Who do you worship? Think about it and let me know in the comment section. ALL comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you

Random thoughts and update

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Good morning, I was sitting here this morning with my coffee and saw that I have not written in a very long time. To be exact it was last September since I wrote.  So much has changed in my life since I last wrote that I have no idea where to begin. This entry may be long, but please read the entire thing!!

First thing off the top of my head is that my beautiful wife Stacey, had bariatric surgery in January, the 15th to be exact, and I am so proud of what she has done, and the weight that she has lost. It is a long road and she is well on her way in that journey. It is a total life change for her, and we are eating more healthy then we ever have.

Second, I was on the long road in my walk with the Lord! I completed the Timothy Project with the church, and received my dog tag last Monday (May 18th). I will receive my pin at the next Mens’ conference in 2016, I can not wait! Just because I finished this, does not mean the learning stops!! It is a continuing process, that will end when I meet my Heavenly Father. I am grateful for the men that came into my life during this process, and are still with me today. We shared so much together, the good, the bad, and the ugly and we survived. I feel that my spiritual growth was amazing. Father on several occasions has called me out of my comfort zone, and He still does. He has shown me that I can indeed pray for others out loud, and lead prayer in a group setting(even with people that I really do not know), this was my biggest challenge!! I am still trying to do this on a consistent basis. I still serve Him in so many ways, from Alpha, to weekend services, my love for Him has grown and is still growing, for we can do nothing without Him!! This brings out the verse in Philippians 4:13 ” I can do all things through him(Jesus) who strengthens me.”

I had the privilege of going to Camden in the beginning of May to help feed the homeless. it was a truly amazing experience. Even though the people that came had nothing, they still had joy in their heart and some were in grateful for the breakfast and the clothes that they received. It really made me think, that on my worst day, it is NOTHING compared to what they are going through on a daily basis. Which now leads me to ask all of you a small favor, if you are reading this and are local, the biggest need for the men is socks!! Could you please find it in your heart to donate a package of socks? I know that I would appreciate it, and the men that come for breakfast will appreciate. Please contact me, and let me know if you can do that.

I was talking to my mom this week, and was telling her about the change in my medicine, her response was “I am sorry that you are going through these things”. My response was I am OK with it for we are made in the image of God. If you do not believe me, look at Genesis 1:26a “Then God said, “Let us make man” in our image, after our likeness...” and Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, and in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

For my journey continues, and I hope and pray that you will join me on my journey. Thank you for reading this, even though it is super long. I will try to blog a little more then I have.

His Love never fails

Joe