Good morning everyone. I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend. Time for another blog from me! I was reading a post on Facebook this morning from my friend Lisa Collins Contino who lives in Arizona. She is doing so amazingly well there. She started a “project” out there, feeding the homeless in Phoenix. It started out with 25 lunches and toiletries a month, now it has grown to around a 100 lunches a week, sometimes more. She clearly heard God’s call and is following it. I am NOT asking for you to help, but if you feel led to, please contact me and I will give you her information. She has some amazing friends and family that are helping her out there. I spoke with Lisa via email and here is her response:

I mentioned before that I helped the homeless in Camden as a service project for my Timothy Project from church. It is the most amazing thing to do. He truly called me to help those that need the help. Our church that my wife and I attend truly believes in helping others. The church has a benevolent center to help those in the area that truly need the help, whether it is financial, need some food, or spiritual help. The church does mission trips to help people all over the world. I am NOT trying to toot the horn of the church, but this is what we do, we hear God’s call and follow it. Just like we are expanding, “making room for you” at the church with a new 2,000 seat sanctuary. The church as a body heard God’s call to expand and that is what we are doing.

Here is a picture is a picture of the new sanctuary going up!! I am so proud of the church and being part of it. We are growing not to grow, but to have more people come to know our true Savior, and our Heavenly Father, and to be able to help more people who are in need of help.

I have been to several Bat/Bat Mitzvahs and each one has stated that they are taking some of their gifts that they receive and donating it to a charity. Professional Athletes donate their time and money to others that are in need. Whether they admit it or not, they are following God’s call, to help those that need the help. My brother and nephew do the city to shore ride for MS every year, and the proceeds of what they raise goes to MS. They are helping others through giving to the research for this disease. I am sure there are many more people who are helping out where they can. Where am I going with this, well we are called to help one another.

In Matthew, Jesus taught to give to the needy. He clearly speaks of giving, but to do it in private, not sounding your own horn to let others know. Here is what Jesus says about giving to the needy, the verse is from the ESV translation. Matthew 6:1-4 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  In the Old Testament, it also tells that God hears the cry of the poor man, and that God helps the poor man (Proverbs 34:6). There are more instances in the Old Testament about helping the needy. 

Giving to the needy is not just solely about giving money to those that need help. It is about giving of our time to those that may need our help. I was in need last fall to get the leaves raked up, I contacted the church, as we have ministry that helps with those things. Well, 3 men came out and in about an hour the yard was totally cleaned up!! I needed the help and received it, they truly heard God’s call and followed it.  It could also be spending time visiting with people who can not get out.

I just saw this great quote by Denzel Washington, and think it is so appropriate for what I am talking about today. “Put God first in everything that you do… Everything I have is by the grace of God. it’s a gift….I didn’t always stick with Him, but He stuck with me.”  So by helping others and giving to others whether it is time or finances, it is putting God first in what we do!!

The one piece of advice that i can give you is the following, and Thank you Stacey for sharing this on Facebook, it is a verse from the bible, Proverbs 3:6 “Listen for God’s voice in everything you do and everywhere you go, He is the one that will keep you on track”. Not sure what version this is from, but I do love it. Step out of your comfort zone and He will help you!!

I would like to thank Lisa Collins Contino for the help with this blog.  I also want to thank my wife Stacey for her input and encouragement and putting up with me when I hit a brick wall when writing these blogs.

His Love endures

Joe

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!