Monmouth Musings: Update on Tom and Jean's Cancer Challenges

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been quite some time since I sent an update to you on our physical situations, and since we will both will be away at our Lake Ontario cottage, I wanted to update you on our health challenges. Jean continues to do well with the exception of dealing with fatigue, which prevents her from being as active as she would like to be. She was given a clean bill of health in March after chemo, surgery and radiation. Her biggest need right now is for weight gain, so please keep that in mind when you pray for her.

I was planning to head to the lake the first week in July, but I have been recently struggling with the side effects of chemo-mainly fatigue and dizziness caused by frequent bouts of dehydration, which drops my blood pressure resulting in lightheadedness (no comments please!). In my mind it is something new, but there are others who might suggest otherwise.

After church this past Sunday, one of my special  friends suggested to me in the Family Ministry Center that I shouldn't wait until July to head to the lake, but that I should consider leaving after services on the 24th. I thought about his comments, which were based on how he viewed my physical situation, which has resulted in my working more of late from home than the church and certainly at a much slower pace than I am used to. Yesterday, after spending eight and a half hours meeting with my doctor, having blood work and receiving chemo, along with a couple of bags of fluids for hydration purposes, I returned home depleted of energy and ready to seriously consider my friend's suggestion. Interestingly enough, my doctor also confirmed my friend's observations when he said, “I need to slow down and consider stopping ministry for the duration of my treatment”, which is only five weeks away. This was something I didn’t  want to hear, as it has been so difficult for me to step back from doing what I love to do, but with Pastor Jared and Pastor Nick providing such strong leadership, and a great support staff to complement their ministry, I feel very comfortable about stepping away for my vacation a little earlier than I expected. Jean and I plan to be away until the middle of August, and during that time, we will be joined by our children and grandchildren, something we really look forward to each year.

As you may know, Jean and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary this month on the 19th, which interestingly enough is Emancipation Day on my calendar. I confess that emancipation may have been something that we both have both thought about at times during those 50 years of marriage. But it always comes down to the question we both ask of ourselves: "Who would have either one of us" ? Seriously speaking, we are grateful for our marriage, and the time the Lord has given us to love one another, and we look forward to whatever challenges and adventures He has in store for us in our future time together.

We were both so surprised by the celebration you held for us following the second service. Just before I wrote this message this morning, elder John O’Neill dropped by to deliverer the beautiful poster board display with notes and pictures of Jean and I and our family. Also Included was a packet filled with a number of additional personal and encouraging notes that you had taken time to write. What a blessing to read those hand-written notes, which so beautifully expressed your prayers for us, and which shouted out your love and appreciation for our ministry. Special thanks to Julie Harris who helped compile the notes and who assembled this wonderful display, which now proudly hangs on our bedroom wall.

We are so blessed by the many ways you reach out and love one another, and how grateful we are that we are a part of the family that is encompassed by that love.

When I think of you, I am conscious of the words the Apostle Paul penned when he wrote the Philippians reminding them of his love. "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.  And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:3-6 RSV

Yours in faith and friendship,

Pastor Tom

New Monmouth Musings: The World Needs Dreamers

New Monmouth Musings: 

The World Needs Dreamers

Dear Family,

I love the story of the little ten-year-old boy, who was selling pencils door to door in his neighborhood. When an interested adult at one house asked him the reasons for selling pencils. He replied, “I want to raise six million dollars to build a new hospital for the city.” Amazed, the inquiring adult exclaimed, “That’s a mighty big job for just one little boy, isn’t it?” “No,” the little boy responded, “I have a friend who is helping me.”

I love that little story because I love that little boy. I love hanging around people like that-those who dream big dreams-and I believe the world needs more people like this little boy. It needs people who are not afraid to dream and risk and dare to tackle great challenges. That is how progress is made and history is changed.

It was just 300 who were left from Gideon’s original army that defeated the Midianites, and it was only 120 faithful prayer warriors in that Upper Room who, after having received the promised Holy Spirit, ventured out boldly to win their world for Christ. And it was Jonathan with only one of his armor bearers who routed the whole Philistine army, because he knew that “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or few.” (1 Samuel 14:6)

God has never been concerned with great numbers when it comes to accomplishing His will and purpose. The world needs dreamers, who desire to do great things for God, and who look to God and not the oddsmakers, for they know that one with God is always a majority.

A number of years ago, the late Robert Schuller, helped transform a non-descript drive-in movie theater in Orange County, California, into the magnificent Crystal Cathedral. Unfortunately, following Schuller’s death, the church’s  influence and its once famous television ministry waned, and today it is home of the Orange County Roman Catholic diocese.  Whatever one thinks of Schuller’s theology, one can not dispute the fact that what he accomplished for Christ was the direct result of his willingness to dream big dreams.

He writes, “My dreams had all come true and when the dream comes true it dies. It no longer sustains and feeds you. I have since written this prayer: ‘O God, let me die with my best dreams left unfulfilled’. It’s a profound prayer for if I lived to see all my dreams come true, I will have died before I died.” Renew Your Life! Catch a New Dream, Robert Schuller, p. 6

Whether in the church, at home, or in the office or on the athletic fields, we all must dare to dream big dreams, for dreams are the stuff from which success is made and the foundation on which progress is achieved. And you know it ain’t half bad when someone calls you a dreamer, for I know of another dreamer. His name was Joseph, and his brothers sarcastically labeled him a dreamer, and he didn’t do too bad for himself and his God.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Pastor Tom

New Monmouth Musings: A Special Need for Prayer and Changing Dulcineas into beautiful Spanish Queens.

Dear Friends,

Before I share a devotional thought with you, let me ask of you to be in prayer for Jiju Johny and his son, Jeffrey, as they travel back to India to see Jiju’s wife Prasanna. They have been active in our church and both have been working in high tech jobs with AT&T. Prasanna went home several months ago to visit her family having every expectation that she would be allowed to return to her family. However, once she sought to return, she was unable to receive clearance. Jiju will be heading to India on Saturday in hopes of assisting her in her efforts to return. However, if he is unsuccessful, this wonderful family, who only came to know Christ  a year ago, will not be returning. Please pray for Jiju and Jeffrey as they return to India and for a favorable outcome of their immigration crisis.

One of my favorite plays is the “Man of La Mancha.” In it we witness how a would-be Spanish conquistador named Don Quixote was used to transform a woman, who pictured herself as a “wretched kitchen slut,” into a beautiful Spanish queen named Dulcinea. He simply gave her a new name and began treating her as a new person. The play closes with those unforgettable words we all have heard or sung: “To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear the unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go.”

Like Don Quixote, we need to be dream believers for people who don’t believe in themselves.  And then we need to do and say the things that help them believe they can become the person we see them to be. We need to help them dream big dreams-seemingly impossible dreams- and let them know that we will always be there to support their dreams, no matter how big those dreams may be.

The German philosopher, Goethe appreciated the power we possess to bring change in people’s lives. He wrote “Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”

I remember hearing about a pastor who was called to a cold church. It had a reputation of being as frigid and unfriendly as an iceberg. Not willing to be deterred by its reputation, the pastor kept finding little things to applaud and affirm regarding the church’s warmth of Spirit. He kept pointing out examples of their friendliness, and he continually shared stories from the pulpit about the different ways that members were reaching out to new visitors. Before long, those members began to see themselves in the same way the pastor was describing them, warm, friendly, and caring and slowly the church was transformed into a different church, one where warmth and friendliness replaced a cold and unfriendly congregation.

Yes, there is power in the spoken word. Adam Clarke became a great scholar and preacher. He was also the author of a set of commentaries and a book called Christian Theology. But when he was a child his father told his teacher that “Adam wouldn’t do well in school.”  The father based his assessments on what he saw in his child at the time of his meeting with his teacher. The teacher responded, “He looks bright to me.” Those words changed the life of this eighteenth century Irish scholar. Just three words, but oh how powerful those words were and how wonderfully God used them to change this young boy’s life.

Whether it is our children, students, athletes, employees, or just anyone who crosses the pathways of our life, the expectations we have for them and the encouragement we offer them can unlock closed doors that open their lives for future success.

Paul exhorts us “not to let any unwholesome words come out of your mouth but only those that are helpful for building others up according to their needs.” (Ephesians 5:21)

Everyone needs encouragement, and everyone needs to have a Don Quixote in his/her life, who knows how the power of encouraging words can bring change in a person’s life. Who knows how the words you speak to someone might encourage them to see what they could become-even transforming a self-loathing woman like a Dulcinea into a beautiful Spanish queen.

Start praying today for God to bring a Dulcinea into your life, and then ask Him to show you how to encourage them and help them see and believe their life can be wonderfully transformed into that beautiful Spanish queen.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Pastor Tom