Heat Pump Noise

Judah Weeks 2-7

Vacation Bible School 2012

Cape May in 2 Minutes

81 Lawn Mowers

Studies show that the average neighborhood in America has 81 lawn mowers. Each of these neighborhoods could easily get by with 3 or 4 lawn mowers total if all the neighbors were willing to share. Why is there a need for 81 lawn mowers? Each neighborhood could save $40,000 + following this concept.

Same holds true for the church. Why does every church in town need to have its own Divorce Recovery Groups, Awana Program, Concerts, etc? Wouldn't it be more effective for churches to jump "all in" and give 100% to what God has called them to do and encourage cooperation between churches and what they have been called to do? Not sure when "doing church" became a competition in America but I don't think it was ever God's plan.

There are some communities that do an excellent job at this, but I think they are the exception rather than the rule. Hope to see my neighborhood churches move in that direction in the near future to bring people closer to Him. Let's get rid of all the cheap junk that's done half-hearted and use our resources to give Him our best.

The Storms of Life

Was able to do the message at church a few weekends ago and we had our biggest attendance in the history of the church (with the exception of special events). Here it is for anyone who would like to listen:

New Promo Video

Ignite

Been quite a while since I've had a post...I am going to try and do better! Been busy with juggling magic shows (a lot of "end of the school year" parties), my new job as a pastor, and continuing to work with several clients/families as a counselor.

My time as a pastor has started off really well...I will save some details for other posts, but start off with my main responsibility of working with young adults (20's and 30's). We kicked off a group called "Ignite" on May 15th. I decided to try and see if we could get a group together during our Sunday School Hour (10:00) even though there were only 2 people in this age group that was normally in church during this time.

The first Sunday we were told to expect 6-8...and we had 16. It has steadily grown each week with new people showing up every week! After just a month, we currently we have 36 people in our group. It will be exciting to see where God takes us (especially since our meeting room only fits about 25 comfortably). Below is a picture of part of our group from our first event, "The Amazing Race - Treasure Lake". Next month we plan for a cookout, a Pirate Game in August, White Water Rafting in September, and a retreat in October. If you are reading this and fit the age group come join us any Sunday morning at 10:00 @ Treasure Lake Church!

Outer Banks Vacation

Outer Banks

April 2011

New Job

Last night I was voted in as a new pastor with Treasure Lake Church. The church has about 500 people that would call the church "home" and there are about 300 people at the 3 weekend services. I will be the "Pastor of Young Adult Ministries" and working mainly with people between 20-40 on marriage, parenting, etc and their children. Will also be working with the prison ministry which most of the men there are in their 20's. The church is only about 3 miles away. Thanks for all those that were praying during this process!

Christmas 2010

If Jesus were born in 2010

It is really amazing to place the Bible on top of history to see God's perfect timing for the birth of the Messiah (Jesus). There are lists of reasons why just 100 years earlier or 100 years later would have been completely different based on culture, governmental powers, etc, etc, etc and wouldn't have had the same story (so thank God for His timing and not ours!). But that's not what this post is about --- this is the curiosity of what would be different if Jesus were born in 2010 rather than 2000+ years ago. May look something like this...

Your Sins are Forgiven!

Mark is one of my favorite books of the Bible (full of action!)...I teach at a "Community Bible Study" once a week in DuBois, and we are going verse-by-verse through Mark. After 8 weeks, we are just starting chapter 2, and one of the stories I love about Jesus.

In chapter 2, so many people come to listen and to see Jesus at a house He is staying, that the place overflows. Four men want to place a paralytic at His feet, but can't get through the door so they lower him down through the roof to place Him at the feet of Jesus (quite a step of faith and courage considering Levitical law punished people even for accidental destruction of property!). But when Jesus sees the man at His feet, rather than physically healing the man, He makes the statement, "Son, your sins are forgiven" (vs. 5).

Now I know as you go through the chapter and the parallels in Matthew and Luke, there is a strong theme of Jesus' pronouncement of His divinity since only God (Psalm 103:3) could forgive sins (and very strong indeed...Jewish teachings did not believe the Messiah would have the ability to forgive sins so this would have been an earth-shattering proclamation!). But, I think, Jesus providing a spiritual touch before a physical one is also a pronouncement that spiritual need is the deepest human need and FAR outweighs our physical needs.

Which brings me to my point/conviction: Why when someone begins to suffer physically or emotionally (find out they have a disease, lose their job, lose a loved one, etc) our hearts break and we reach out with cards, gifts, acts of service, etc, etc, etc...but when we are surrounded by people who are suffering spiritually and who need Christ (the deepest spiritual need) why are we not broken? At least not in the same way. Jesus was driven to meet spiritual needs far more than physical/emotional. As Christians/Christ Followers, shouldn't my/our brokenness and convictions for those without Christ be stronger than those who are going through a hard time? Does my/our time and energy reflect that? Thoughts?

A Tribute To My Leaves

A good portion of my day today was dedicated to getting rid of the leaves in our yard...

Of course it is time consuming, so I had the opportunity to create "A Tribute To My Leaves" while I worked. Hope you enjoy...

A Tribute To My Leaves

Why oh why do you have to fall in my yard just like rain? Surely it's got to be enough to drive me insane! Every time I clean one up - 4 more seem to drop. Will this cycle go on forever? - PLEASE make it stop!!!

Why oh why does the wind always blow from the east to the west? So I get you from my neighbor's too and never get a rest! They taught their dog to fetch a stick or a rubber ball...but why didn't they teach her to fetch you instead when it turns to fall!?!

Why oh why did we buy a house with so many trees? Now I know why the dog chooses them, when it goes and pees! All this frustration you cause - it just isn't fair! So I am praying you turn into dollar bills so we'll be billionaires!

Meholick Reunion

This weekend we had a family reunion (my mom's side). Here is a video of my family...there are a lot of people missing as most out-of-town relatives were here last weekend for my cousin's wedding instead.

Theology of Healing

A few weeks ago we celebrated Jen's 5 year remission from cancer! God has truly blessed us during this time...but why? While Jen battled her cancer, there were 2 other young ladies (30's) that battled with the same disease --- one of them passed away and one is still fighting on a daily basis. So why was Jen healed and not the others? Was it her faith? Her strength? God's strength? A combination?

Before I get into specifics, I want to make a side note that God has blessed each of us with amazing minds, and science is discovering daily more and more about the awesome qualities we possess and the power God has granted us with our minds. Research again and again shows that when people who are suffering can use their minds to develop a positive outlook will (in general) heal quicker, heal more completely, etc. When we do the opposite (and drown ourselves in despair) many times the opposite occurs. The Bible talks in many places about the importance of hope --- specifically in Him (even when we've lost all else including our health)...and when we lose our hope in Him, of course it is going to impact us physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, etc and it is no wonder that people who are battling a disease face more obstacles when they fall into that trap.

But some people take what's mentioned above and use the line, "If you just have enough faith you will be healed". But is that true? I believe the answer comes from Acts 3:1-8...

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. A man who had been lame since his birth was being carried along and was sat down at the gate called Beautiful every day to beg for money from those entering the temple...when Peter and John were entering the temple, the man began asking them for money...Peter and John responded, "Look at us"...the man expected to receive money...Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ, walk!"...immediately his legs and ankles were straightened and he got up and walked.

IMPORTANT QUESTION --- What kind of faith did this man have that he would be healed? NONE! He was at the temple, during the "hour of prayer" (3:00 and busiest time of day for the temple) at sat at the busiest gate. He went there in hopes of receiving money as he did every single day of his life. Even when he saw Peter and John, he was begging for money...the fact that God could heal him through them didn't even cross his mind (and its not a stretch to say he had probably given up on that long ago).

So what does that tell about healing today? It doesn't depend on our faith or the minds we've been blessed with (although those things can help)...but it depends solely on the sovereignty of a loving God. He chooses who He heals and who He doesn't (and who better to make that decision than the One who sees the "whole picture"?). So Jen's healing isn't based on her awesome faith (although she had that) or her positive attitude and outlook (although she had that too), but on the awesome power of God...and His sovereign mercy upon Jen when she was suffering. ALL the glory for healing should go to Him as it is not by our power, but His! And we thank Him everyday for the healing He has done in Jen's life.

Birthday AND Anniversary

Well, this is certainly a week for celebration. Tomorrow (June 7th) is Jen's birthday! She was able to celebrate with her parents who came for a visit this past weekend, and my parents as well. She is pretty proud that for the first time ever, she has more birthday/Christmas money than I do, but my birthday is just around the corner too, so if you have any money burning holes in your pocket, you know where to send it come August!

For her birthday, Jen wants to take a trip back to Pittsburgh (where we met). One of her favorite things to do there was Saturday night Swing Dancing in Squirrel Hill. So we'll head down to one of her favorite restaurants, do some shopping, visit some friends, go back to our old church, and maybe catch a Pirates Game (I won 2 free tickets when we were there a few weeks ago!).

But more important than Jen's birthday (well, maybe equally important) is her anniversary. Tuesday (June 8th) will be her 5 year anniversary of being cancer free! The 5th anniversary is the most important as it puts her back in the "normal risk" category and will save us a trip to Cleveland every year! God has blessed us so much over the past 5 years, but has also given us a prospective that everything we have is God's and can be taken away at any moment. It has helped us focus on the Blessings and see each day as a gift. I hope to post this week as well as to why (from a Biblical perspective) Jen was healed from her cancer. But now is the time for celebration! I know Jen checks here a lot, so feel free to leave your "Happy Birthdays" and special thoughts as a comment on here, or feel free to e-mail her at jen@magicmikeshow.com

Enjoy the wife you married as a young man! Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose. Never quit taking delight in her! (Proverbs 5:19-20) Love you Jen!

Heat Pump

Another Weekend Away

Last weekend we traveled east again to visit family and fulfill a promise to one of our Hershey girls (I'll call her "Amanda" as we aren't supposed to use their real names on the Internet) to take her with us for an entire weekend. On Friday we stopped in Hershey to pick up one of our favorite (well at least mine...Jen says she doesn't have favorites) girls "Amanda" and spent some time there visiting the other girls as well. Jen, Amanda, and I headed down to Maryland and had dinner with my aunt and uncle and all my cousins. Friday night was performing magic with my uncle at his house and refusing to take home all his stuff (he always tries to give all his stuff away).

On Saturday, Jen headed to Reading to go to a woman's conference at her sister's church and to visit her sister and family. I went with my aunt, uncle, and Amanda to a magic convention featuring Harry Anderson (the judge from the old sitcom Night Court). We all had a great time, although it was a very long 12-hour day that Amanda and I had to escape to the playground a few times. Jen had a great time spending time with her family!

On Sunday we went to my cousin's church in Maryland and then to the Cracker Barrel for lunch where Amanda put on a show for everyone of all the new things she had learned. On the way home I asked her the favorite part of the weekend expecting to hear something about Harry Anderson, or one of the new tricks she learned, etc...but was very touched when she said, "My favorite part of the whole weekend was when you played soccer in the yard with me Friday after dinner and when we got to go play on the playground just you and me". When I asked, "Didn't you like the magic convention", she responded..."Yeah, I loved it! I just loved those other things even more".

Hope all is well with everyone!

Anniversary Weekend

This past weekend was our 6th anniversary. We started with a magic show for a "day away" for people 55 and older in New Holland, PA (there were about 150 people there):

We also got to celebrate (a few days late) our niece's birthday and got to take all the kids (except the youngest) to iHop for breakfast and to the museum to see the Bob the Builder exhibit:

Finally we celebrated with a night away at the Annville Inn Bed and Breakfast.