+ I think I nailed it with the teaching this morning. We’re reaching unchurched non-Christians, so it’s imporant to be teaching the counter-cultural, Biblical view of marriage and of divorce.

+ Our guys did great. We were missing five key men from our set-up/ breakdown team, but others stepped in and everyone brought their A game, so we didn’t miss a beat.

+ Used one of Rob Bell’s NOOMA videos – the dude knows what he’s doing.

+ The crowd was a bit thinner today, but we still gave away all the newcomers’ gift boxes we had.

+ A friend of Gill’s from her gym came today for he first time. Gill was thrilled and her guest seemed to enjoy her time with us.

+ Went to the fundraiser for Frank Summers’ new project, Prodigal House, for troubled teens. Great crowd – they must have raised a bundle. Couldn’t stay long as I had a wedding to do in St.James.

+ Got the first suggestion for a homepage for our new website from the design company. It’s simple, totally different and personally I like it. We’re awaiting some professional input from our good friend Ian Baer. Did I mention how glad I am God sent us a marketing executive as part of our church?

+ I taught for a long time this morning, but I really wanted to get through the material without skipping any. Our breakdown guys still got us out of there on time.

+ You would not believe how many people were at the theater one hour before service started this morning. I think our folks just like being together.

+ Next Sunday is our ninth anniversary. I guess we’re not really a new church any more, but I still feel we are – hope we always will be for that matter.

+ Ken Swaner was away white water rafting this weekend. He’s insane.

+ Our small groups all get under way this week. There are some great choices. Think I’ll be going to Ken’s.

+ I’m tired. Full day. Good day.

+ I can’t believe it’s nine years.

+ I had black hair when we started this.

+ I had hair!

That’s it – the Mets’ season is over. That’s a pity, but then I remind myself of a great statement by Indianapolis Colts’ coach Tony Dungy that it’s called the game of football because that’s what it is – a game. It isn’t life, it’s a game. Baseball is too.

I had some fun watching the Mets playing this season. It was great to ride the wave with them that seemed it would take them into the post-season and even the World Series, but now that wave has come crashing down on the beach, life goes on.

I was at Shea three times this season -

On May 17th I introduced Basil D’Souza and his family to baseball on a chilly afternoon in Queens. They don’t play the game in India where cricket rules, so this was a great contest to witness as the Mets rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the bottom of the 9th against the Cubs to score five runs and win the game.

The very next day some friends unexpectedly offered me two seats to watch the Mets play the Yankees. I wore thermals that evening and we huddled under a blanket, drinking hot chocolate, but the Mets beat their cross-town rivals. A wonderful thing!

The best game I went to was the third one, with my son and my grandsons in August. Cubs again. That was one of the best evenings of the summer. My team won that night too, but it was being there with the boys that made it special.

So thanks Willie and everyone else. It was a good season.

Pity it ended so soon.

I’m more than a little nervous about teaching the third part of our marriage series tomorrow, beacuse I’m going to be on the very difficult subject of divorce. With as many marriages falling apart within the American church as outside the church, I want to share what I consider to be a Biblical view of the subject in this throw-away society.

My main concern is that I don’t want to add to the pain of those who have been through the trauma of a divorce and I certainly don’t plan to do that. However you’re never sure how people will take something that is said.

Needless to say, I’ve been praying a lot.

Our guys arrived in the Dominican Republic safely this afternoon, according to an email from our missionary down there Rob Nelson. We’ll be stretched without these five solid helpers tomorrow, but others have stepped up to take up the slack. So we’re ready to go!

I’ve had a little while to think about things now and even though I predicted several weeks ago that the Mets would blow it all, I’m still not enjoying watching it happen.

Please don’t question my loyalty to the team – they’re my team, but as sure as the Titanic did when it hit the iceberg, they’re going down.

And it’s not just because their ancient starting pitchers are banged up or that their bullpen looks as out of place as my Mustang in Amish country. There’s more to it than that. After all, Pedro wasn’t stunning last night, but he did only concede three runs, which should not have been an insurmountable obstacle to the likes of Reyes, Wright, Beltran and co.

Here’s why I think the Mets’ season is over and tonight’s game will be the last one I watch until next Spring (I’m out tomorrow afternoon and Sunday afternoon) – there’s not an ounce of confidence or even bravado anywhere in their lineup.

Obviously skill plays a huge part in any kind of sports competition, but attitude is what generally tips the scales in the favor of one team over the other. It’s determination, passion, heart, call it what you will there’s not much of it showing up at Shea lately.

Ultimately winning is in your head and it’s just not there. So that’s it. Season over.

Now, for any sakes, go out there tonight and prove me wrong!

I’m speechless!

There may be a smile on his oversized baseball head, but I don’t think he’s looking too happy underneath that outfit. Still, Mr.Met has to watch tonight’s game.

I don’t. I have two appointments that should insulate me from the pain of having to witness another meltdown.

Doesn’t anyone have a pitcher they don’t need???

I got an email today from a friend of mine. I don’t see him that often and don’t really know him that well, but I count Peter Montana from Precision Heating & Air ( http://www.nyphaservice.com ) in East Patchogue as a friend.

The subject line said simply – It’s That Time Of Year Again! – so I knew exactly what he meant and was very happy to read it.

I didn’t even know the guy this time last year, but he knew someone I know and had therefore heard about our church’s food pantry and the families we endeavor to help at thanksgiving. He personally undertook to raise all the money we needed to get all the stuff to provide the turkeys and everything else for as many families as we expected to help.

I think we were at 60 last year, but this time around he wants to up it to 100, which is a nice round number, a heck of a lot of people we’ll be feeding and a bundle of money we’ll need to pull it off.

Correction – It’s a bundle of money Pete will need to pull it off. And I’m sure he will.

So this guy I don’t know that well, who isn’t part of our church congregation, emails me again this year and asks if it’s okay for him to get going on raising money for us.

I didn’t bother replying to his email …

… I just called him straight away and told him to go ahead, knock himself out!

He has a heart as big as a bucket. That’s why I call him a friend – we speak the same language!

At some ungodly hour on Saturday morning we have a team of five men leaving on a short-term missions trip to lend a hand with Island Impact Ministries down in the Dominican Republic.

They’re good guys and part of the proof of that is that they’ll all leave a significant gap on Sunday morning. In addition to other ways they function, all five are part of our set-up/breakdown team. There’ll be an increased workload this week!

Bottom line is this, people who do nothing in a church don’t do missions either. Those who do get involved in one of our overseas projects are inevitably fully committed at home too.

Passports are essential if you’re part of our church.

I have heard a lot of pastors excuse the fact that they don’t have a vison that goes beyond the nearest interstate by saying – This is our mission field right here and once we’ve won this area for Jesus we’ll look farther afield.

How stupid do they think I am? (Don’t answer that!)

Truth is, they are totally self-absorbed, probably up to their necks in debt and they don’t really want their folks functioning fully in ministry.

God guided us to Ronkonkoma recently, so Ronkonkoma is our mission field. But so is Medford and Patchogue and all the communities in our area. So is Mumbai, India; Kurland, South Africa and Sosua, D.R.

It’s not either/or, it’s both/and.

We need to keep our vision broad and our opportunities to serve expanding.

An old friend stopped by unexpectedly this morning and it was great to see him. He and his family are part of the ever-increasing number of Long Islanders for whom life became a struggle here and so they found a whole new life in a far less expensive part of the country. It’s a pity.

I asked about the church they’re in and he mentioned they go to a good church but are not really involved. He explained that having volunteered to work together in the church nursery some Sundays, five months later neither he nor his wife have heard anything further about it.

He joked that something like that would never happen in a church I pastor! I’ve discovered that I have this reputation for getting folks involved. Other pastors ask me how I do it, but I honestly don’t have a clue.

Seems to me there is a clear choice to make – you either attend a church or become a part of it. The way you become a part is to take on a role, whatever that may be.

Attenders have never excited me. I can’t imagine just rolling out of bed every Sunday, driving o a service, sitting through it and then going home again. If you believe in what’s going on there, wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity to help make it happen?

It’s logical to sit for a while and get your bearings. Kick the tires and see if this is the place for you.

There are also some people who have been either burned or totally fried by a previous church experience and in these cases it’s good to take time to heal and learn to trust again.

But once you’ve got a grasp of where a church is going and/or have dared to trust again, the question is not whether you’re going to keep coming here at weekends? It’s, am I going to get on board with the vision?

Here’s a great quote from Reggie McNeal in The Present Future -

That’s the church’s mission: to join God in his redemptive efforts to save the world. People all around us are in darkness. They are going to die unless someone finds a way to save them. Trouble is, the church is sleeping on the job. Too many of us have forgotten why we showed up for work. Even worse, many of us have never known.

I must confess I do make it clear to people why we showed up for work, which probably explains why no one at CATMO is sitting home waiting for the phone to ring.