INDIA - AGAIN

I guess there's a bit of India in my blood. My grandfather served there in the British army in the days of the Empire and so my father came to be born there and spend the first nine years of his life living in this great nation.

When World War II came around my father enlisted with the Royal Air Force and spent those six years in India. He was stationed just outside of Calcutta as there was perceived to be a very real threat of invasion by the Japanese.

So I was raised on stories of India and dreamed of visiting the country one day. My mother even served up her own version of Indian food from time to time, so I aquired a taste for that very early in life.

Little did I know that the time would come when I would have the opportunity to teach and encourage hundreds of Indian pastors and that I would be making the trip an average of twice a year. Thankfully the 14 hour flight from JFK tonight is a world away from the troop ships my father travelled on for weeks.

India is a great country. It's politically stable, economically strong - and getting stronger - and there is a lot of religious freedom there too. The people are gracious and very friendly and it is a privilege to share with them a bit of the little I have learned on my journey.

I will post here as often as I can when I'm away, but if you click and find no update, please take a second for a quick prayer that my efforts will be helpful in building God's kingdom.

SONGS TO BE BORN BY

Here's an interesting website - you can check what song was number 1 in the charts the day you were born ... unless you're as old as I am. Their records only go back until 1952!

Who Was #1?

GO RAY!

A few weeks ago I bought the DVD of Simon & Garfunkel's live concert in Central Park somewhere around 1926, so we could take a look at it as I went into this morning's teaching.

Unbeknown to me at the time, the band was already playing with it and they did it live on stage this mornng instead of using the DVD. Ray Pensivy did the lead vocals and he rocked. The guy is brilliant, but in addition to applying his natural genius he had practised like a madman all week.

What a voice, what a song, what commitment to excellence.

And why preach from a song?

Here are the lyrics -

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. when times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you're down and out,
When you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

If you can't preach from that, you should go get a job selling used cars instead!

AGELESS SONGS

When some moron pulls alongside you at a light putting out enough decibels to make your car vibrate and shrink the remnants of his own brain, there's one thing for sure - what he considers music is probably not a song someone will still be singing forty years from now.

But back in the world of quality music, I am surely not the only person whose most played song dates back to a duo who only sang together for a brief period in the 60's, but whose work lives on.

Yes folks, the time has come ... this Sunday in our Finding God On Your Ipod series, I finally get to talk about my favorite song - Bridge Over Troubled Waters by Simon & Garfunkel.

Our worship team will be doing the song and then I want to look at what it says about the person we follow and how we should be doing that. Back in my religious, against-everything-that-moves days, I would never have dreamed I'd be able to listen to Simon & Garfunkel in church.

I love Christianity that's real!

HOME - BRIEFLY

Got home at about 4.00 this afternoon - left Florida as the temperature was getting back up to normal for the time of year and the sun was shining in a clear blue sky. Why couldn't it have done that for the past three days???

Have a number of things to take care of over the weekend in preparation for flying to India on Monday night. That will be a longer trip of course, but thankfully Delta has recently introduced a direct flight that only takes 14 1/2 hours from New York to Mumbai. It will be at least six hours shorter than past journeys which always included a layover in Europe, either in London, Frankfurt, Milan or Paris. The first three were tolerable - great capuccino in Milan airport - but my thoughts on having to spend any time at all in France have been aired here before!

Gill is staying with our friends in Florida over the weekend and then she flies over to Texas to spend some time with Jonathan, Donna and the grandchildren while I am away.

For the uninformed, travel is not exciting, romantic or any other adjective except plain tiring!

IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT ...

Always wanting to learn from others, I visited a large charismatic church near here last night to see what they're doing and how they're doing it. I also thought it might be good to be in a service on Thanksgiving eve. I may have got that bit wrong!

Wandering into the sparsely populated sanctuary, it was hard to see why they're building a new facility next door to seat at least a zillion people. But the pastor later explained that this day's service is always very thin. I guess that figures - most people are at home baking pies, stuffing turkeys, tidying away the toys and hoping Aunt Sue won't live up to her threat and bring her newest balding, burping boyfriend over for the celebratory dinner.

Of course the only problem with most of the faithful having other things to do on this particular Wednesday night was that it fell to the few who showed up at church to "do something special for Thanksgiving" when the offering came around. Seems they just had something like a million cubic feet of concrete poured outside and we were being handed the check. I did my bit but didn't honestly feel too obligated.

During the opening praise and worship the music minister encouraged everyone to gather around the front of the sanctuary "where the glory falls first". I guess that like me, a lot of the people knew that was theological nonsense, so were slow to move. But when the pastor chimed in and summoned them with "church, let's gather at the altar", they dutifully responded. I stayed on the back row.

It was an interesting night. The sermon had a good outline - I may steal it one year if I need a Thanksgiving sermon - and the heart of the message seemed to be that if we were really thankful we would be clapping louder. A lot of clapping went on, so I think most people made the pastor happy. I went to the bathroom and then wandered outside to call Texas and see if Jonathan was home from the hospital - he was.

When I got back in some people were jumping to their feet as well as clapping and the pastor now seemed really happy.

They're certainly attracting a lot of folks to that church at weekends. Their flavor is clearly popular.

I may be biased, but I do like our flavor at Church At The Movies.

THANKSGIVING

I like to think I'm as American as the next person, despite the fact that I'm still a newbie, having taken the oath of citizenship just six years ago. However, I must confess that when Thanksgiving comes around I still feel very much an outsider. I guess because I haven't done this holiday all my life, I really haven't been able to get into it properly, but for all of you for whom this is a special day in the year - Happy Thanksgiving!

Though I don't quite get it, I'm happy to go with the flow. So I'm currently watching the rainy Macy's parade and will later eat some turkey, watch some football and enjoy the relaxation of a quiet and thankfully warm day in Florida. So have a great time with the folks who are special to you.

MORE HEALTH NEWS

Thanks to those of you who were praying for Jonathan's surgery today. As I mentioned last week, the surgeon thought there could be a problem with his gall bladder and so opted to remove it. Turns out to have been a very educated guess as it was enlarged and had adhesions, showing a long-term problem.

We're hoping this will cure the pain he has been experiencing for the past three months and enable him to focus on fighting the sarcoidosis which is thought to be the main issue.

He and Donna have had a very demanding year, but have handled the pressures admirably, while seeing their own faith strengthened and being supported by a great church family at Preston Trail Community Church.

SPEAKING OF SEX ...

It's the time of year when I'm trying to finalize the plan for where I feel God wants us to go in teaching during the first half of '07.

I learned from my Pentecostal roots that I'm meant to stand up, rely on the Holy Spirit and say whatever he sends into my mind. However, it didn't take too long to realize that the Holy Spirit can speak to you six months ahead of an event, can guide your planning, give you insights, stir you up, so that when you actually stand in front of people what you are saying is not only inspired, but it's informed and organized too.

So I've been thinking about sex.

I know that a number of pastors I respect around the country have done series on the subject in recent months, though I have not really entertained the idea myself - either because God didn't want me to or because I was chicken!

Reading an article on the plane yesterday, I was reminded of how silent the church is on a subject which is a gift from God and that Hollywood and half the so-called civilized world has corrupted. It prodded me to think what a disservice I do to people I am resposible for and care about when I leave them without solid Biblical teaching on such a vital subject.

So brace yourself for '07. It'll probably upset some and it will be R-rated (I mean that - no kids whatever allowed in), but I will definitely bite the bullet and align myself in a modest way with the apostle Paul who talked about not shrinking from declaring the whole counsel of God.

SOMETHING'S UP

Here we are in Florida to spend a couple of days over Thanksgiving with friends near Tampa and the temperature right now is 46, though that's 40 with windchill!

Could someone please advise the Florida Tourist Board that this is not what the average visitor is looking for when they are trying to escape fall in the north east!

INTO EVERY LIFE ...

A lot of good things have been happening today, so I'm not taking the Colts' first loss of the season too badly!

We were missing a few people for set-up this morning, but it was amazing to see how everything was still ready for our 8.30 self-imposed deadline for being ready to roll. A couple who are pretty new to the church showed up before 8.00 to pitch in and help. I love it when folks decide to be a part of what is going on and not just a spectator.

The second part of our class for new folks had about 20 in it and although I was pressed for time, it seemed to go over well. I am expecting most of them to settle in with us and join us in our mission.

The service was good - great crowd.

Then I had lunch with one of our young men to chat about missions. He has done several short-term trips and is interested in returhing to Tsunami-struck Banda Aceh, Indonesia next year with a team.

An afternoon in the gym and early this evening I packed to head out for Florida tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with some good friends down there.

Pity about the Colts, but it has been a good day!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

As I was saying a few days ago, Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year, but that's been multiplied now as we've disocvered that an early Christmas Eve service is a tremendous way of reaching new people.

Five weeks to go and counting. Hope you like one of our newspaper ads that Jonathan just designed for us.

COMPLETELY UNDERWHELMED

So Tom Cruise is going to get married in Italy later today!
Does this look like the face of someone who could give a darn???

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE

It's Friday evening and the countdown towards Sunday has started - well it has in my mind anyway.

Part two of Finding God On Your Ipod will spin off the Hoobastank song The Reason to focus on the benefits of living outside ourselves. It's a great song, even though the style is a move away from the band's normal stuff.

Now all we need is for Sunday morning to come around quickly!

COMMUNION TASTE TEST

Here's why we use fresh bread for communion!

Checking The Flavor

BOND IS BACK

Today is a good day! I've been looking forward to this for weeks - the 952nd Bond movie hits the big screen with the opening of Casino Royale.

I was too young to get to see the first of this unending series, back in 1962. I was only 12 years old and Dr. No was R-rated there in the UK. But things were different the following year when Sean Connery got into his 007 character again for From Russia With Love.

By then I was all of 13 years old, over 6 feet tall and weighing 180+ pounds. So one Friday night I put on my suit (you did that in those days!), met a few friends and we strolled up to the ticket office bold as brass to see if we could get away with it - and we did! We passed for 18 year olds and settled in to our first taste ever of Ian Fleming's larger-than-life hero.

Over the past forty three years I've seen every Bond movie. My wife reckons they're all the same and of course she's dead right. But when the action starts and the familiar music begins, there's something that stirs inside me I can't explain apart from saying it's like meeting an old and trusted friend again after a long time. Welcome back James!

CHRISTMAS AGAIN?

Here we go with the annual conundrum - How is it that when I was a kid it took at least three hundred and forty seven years before Christmas came around again, whereas now it occurs every second weekend?

Now, I must admit there's not a lot I do towards Christmas in the Blackmore household, even though it's my favorite holiday. Gill has already bought most of the presents, wrapped them and mailed the packages that had to go to other countries. All I need to do is refrain from asking What was it? when someone thanks us for a gift!

She will do the cards too, though she reckons she'll cut back on those this year and Gill will decorate the house - inside that is. All I will do is bring the countless boxes of lights, decorations and heaven knows what else up from the basement.

Lest it be thought I am a total slacker, there are two contributions that I will make. I'll string a few lights or whatever outside the house and I will also prepare and cook the Christmas dinner. The former is a pain in the buttocks, but the latter I thoroughly enjoy.

I just realized this week I need to get Christmas stuff rolling for church too, so I've booked some advertising space in a couple of local papers, have politely requested the assitance of my designer son in preparing the ads, have dropped off invitation cards at the printer for overprinting.

Christmas Eve last year was a blast and I expect it to be huge this year. We're going for a 4.00pm start and while in '05 our Christmas service was second only to Easter in attendance for the year, This year I'm looking to surpass Easter.

It's a great time to make connections and share good news - the happ, happiest season on earth - it just came too quickly!

LOOKING GOOD

Whilst having lunch with a friend who pastors in this area, we had a brief conversation about contemporary churches in Suffolk County. Let me explain how it went and you'll probably understand why it was brief -

How many contemporary churches do you know in the county?

Well, there's you, us and xyz - that's three.

That was it! There weren't a lot of churches to talk about, just the stark realization that over 1.5 million people have the choice of the Catholic Church, traditional denominational or non-denominational churches and little else.

I thought that was exciting. It is like a shoe salesman coming across a whole culture of bare-footed people. All he has to do is convince them of the advantages and there before him is an enormous market.

What a great place this is to build relevant, contemporary, people-based church! Hardly anyone else is doing it so the sky's the limit.

52:45

A couple of months ago I announced here with great satisfaction that I had actually come in under 55 minutes for my 6-miles morning jog. That may not be an earth-shattering or record-breaking time, but for someone who twenty months ago was exhausted after walking one mile in twenty minutes, it's pretty darned good - though I say so myself.

This morning as I was driving to the gym I decided to kick things up a notch, having settled back down to a 55 to 60 minutes stint each day.

So I fastidiously studied the clock on the treadmill as I put myself through my paces and ended up with a new fastest time - 52 minutes and 45 seconds.

Now I realize that won't earn me a call to the 2012 Olympics in London, but I feel pretty darned good about it.

Sometimes we just need to push ourselves that little bit further.

And that translates into most areas of life!

SCORE ONE TO THE TURKEY

Okay, it's official, Jonathan's gall bladder is history come Thanksgiving Eve. I guess that means the turkey gets a reprieve because he won't be eating a lot the afternoon after the surgeon has done his bit, that's for sure. But if losing it helps him on the road to recovery, I'm sure it will be worth it!

HEALTH STUFF

Our son's health seems to continue to have doctors in Texas scratching their heads. Where is the drug-addicted, obnoxious but brilliant TV doctor, House, when you need him?

The latest word is that his surgeon wants to remove his gall bladder and will do that in the next week or so. He's not sure that's causing problems, but thinks there is a 30% chance that something's up with it! It has been a tough year for Jonathan health-wise, so it would be good if something was resolved before '06 ends.

Nearer home Charlotte has strep throat, so she's staying away from us and the office for a couple of days - which is fine by me as I really don't need it, especially with Thanksgiving coming up and ministry in India planned right after. I hope she feels better soon - it's not the same here without her abuse!!!

FEELIN' GOOD

It's almost 10.30, sixteen hours after I left the house this morning and I'm looking back on a very good day. No one earthshaking event, but a bunch of good things that all add up to another excellent Sunday.

I taught our class for folks new to the church before service this morning; preached half decent; enjoyed an appreciation lunch for 25 of our food pantry volunteers; worked out at the gym while watching the Jets beat the full-of-themselves Patriots and then had dinner tonight with a couple who are new to the church.

I'm tired now and probably won't make it to the end of the Giants game without giving in to the call of my bed. But as I said, it has been a good day!

THOUGHTS FROM THE TREADMILL

I have broken up my morning workout into two segments. It's easier on my mind to set the clock on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then repeat, than to do the 60 minutes straight. This also provides a brief breather in the middle and often a potty break too of course.

I had jogged 3.3 miles in the first half of my routine and was probably about a mile or so into the final part when my legs started feeling sore and I generally got the feeling I had had enough for the day.

Between them my body and my brain were sending me the message that they were done and I should call it a day. But they were lying!

After flirting with the idea for a while, I came to the conclusion that I was not going to die if I finished up properly, nor was I going to cause myself permanent injury. I could do this - I do it every day - and I proved both body and brain wrong by pressing on.

Sometimes we need to push ourselves and when the thought comes to mind, "I can't do that today", or "I'm too tired for that", or "I can't think about that", we need to work out who's going to call the shots.

This morning my body was telling me that what I was doing was not good for it - but it is.

How many times do we swallow that kind of lie?

I can't go to church today!

I don't have any energy for my small group!

I don't feel like helping Sunday morning!

I'm too tired to read the Bible!

So we don't do the things we really need to do!

CHRISTIAN MUSIC

I'm with Rick Warren when he says there is no such thing as Christian music, just Christian lyrics. But there's a crossover point for lyrics too as we'll see Sunday when we start our series Finding God On Your Ipod.

If Have I Told You Lately That I Love You was being sung by Chris Tomlin in a worship setting, it would be called a Christian song. Belted out by an aging bad-boy Scottish rock star, it's different altogether.

However you look at them, the lyrics have something to say to us as we launch this series Sunday.

Rod will be there too!

HARD UP?

As we all know, there's hard up and hard up.
Check this link to see how you fit in among the richest people in the world. Truth is, with the median household income for our county, $76,000, you'd be well within the richest one per cent of people on this planet.

The Rich List

Check it out and the next time you're tempted to complain about how life's treating you, maybe you'll be able to get a grip.

By the way, be sure to enter your income in US Dollars!

LONGEVITY

I find myself talking to an amazing number of pastors in the course of a week, both locally and from around the country - not to mention a few from overseas too. I think if you survive in ministry as long as I have (the fallout rate among pastors is huge!), it is automatically assumed that you know a thing or two. And who am I to tell them otherwise?

So what's the secret to longevity in ministry? Here are a few rambling thoughts in no particular order except for #1 ...

1. A happy, healthy and wholly supportive family.

2. Learn to be yourself.

3. Never take yourself too seriously.

4. Realize that you really are about God's work - it doesn't all depend on you, you just get to have a part in it.

5. Interact with those you are pastoring and with your peers - a lot.

6. Make time for yourself and the people that matter.

7. Never resign on a Monday.

8. Keep stretching yourself, keep learning, keep reading, never settle and think you've got this thing cracked - you haven't!

9. Trust people and enable them to function. Give them responsibility and let them run with it.

10. Pick yourself up again - often.

11. Maintain a worldview - the community you serve is a very small part of all that is happening on earth. Don't let it become your total world.

12. Stay motivated about what you are doing - or be doing stuff that motivates you.

13. Fire the board - let the pastors lead.

14. Drink plenty of coffee.

15. Root for the Mets!

VOTED

Just got back from the polls. Voting is certainly interesting and so wide open to fraud, it's amazing. Our son, who lives in Texas, is registered as a voter at our address. Since no one checked any ID, it would be totally straightforward for me to go back later, say I'm him, sign in beside the signature of his they have on record (our handwriting is very similar) and vote again. Maybe there should be more rigid scrutiny of people presenting themselves to vote????

What do I know, I'm a foreigner learning the system!

And who did I vote for? None of your business!

I'll tell you who I did not vote for though. I did not vote for any candidate who has spent the past several months ranting about a woman's right to choose, without balancing that with the fact an unborn baby has a right to live. Of course to most people the two cancel one another out, as all a woman having the right to choose really means is she can choose to kill a baby if she wishes to do so.

I didn't vote for anyone who plans to restructure society by offering two types of marriage in this country - heterosexual and homosexual. I have met some wonderful people who are homosexuals, but I will not alter, ignore or water down what God says in order to accommodate their lifestyle into the mainstream of American life. Nor will I in any way endorse their lifestyle. Spitzer will probably ride into Albany on a landslide vote, but he didn't get mine. He probably won't lose any sleep over that, but then I will be able to rest tonight with a clear conscience myself.

GO COLTS!

No one gave my Colts a hope against the Patriots tonight, but they've got the upper hand so far - 12 minutes left in the third quarter.

Is Peyton Manning something else, or what?

It's a good game - this is a great country!!!

THE ULTIMATE THREAT

Picked up a great story from Charlotte this afternoon about a mother with two boys in KIDMO. Turns out she has a new tool to assist her in making these young men toe the line during the week. It goes like this - If you don't behave, you won't go to KIDMO on Sunday!

I love it! KIDMO rocks! No wonder kids don't want to miss it.

And there were thirteen new boys and girls there this morning, on a day when our overall crowd was up 25% on the first Sunday in November last year.

This morning we were talking about removing some of the curtains that section off a number of the seats in Worship Central, to keep everyone together. If KIDMO keeps doing its job, we'll be making those changes in the worship venue very soon!

IT'S R-O-G-E-R

Gill and I were out east this morning getting a couple more bits we need for the den - like another lamp, because the lighting really is a bit too low for anything other than chilling in front of the TV.

We stopped by a certain food establishment that specializes in its breads, sandwiches soups, etc, to get a quick lunch there and I found the experience annoying. Don't get me wrong, my salad was about as exciting as you can ever expect a bunch of rabbit food to be and the bottle of water was superb, but the service was insane.

We hit just before the lunch time rush, so it wasn't slow, it was just crazy. I know I'm about to take my life in my hands and some readers will misunderstand this, but here goes - is it too much to ask for someone taking your order who speaks English and understands you?

I know we're a nation of immigrants and that's more evident in New York than most places. I'm not even going back over the opinion I stated here some months ago that if you want to live here the least you could do is learn the language.

I'm just saying if you put someone on the main counter, what's the point if the customer cannot even understand them? It was a good job there was a picture of the sides you could have with your order, because otherwise we might have been there all day trying to decipher what was being said. It was like being in India, the DR, or some other country where I don't know the language.

Then she asks for my name and can't get Roger at three attempts. She asks me to spell it and when the guy calls to say our food is ready, I realize she typed my name in as Roy!!!

Remind me tomorrow to do a good job of communicating with people in the first five minutes, because otherwise they may spend the rest of the service as ticked off as I was today and think twice about returning - as I will definitely do!

WHAT'S NEXT?

I'm looking forward to the final part of our Discover Recovery series on Sunday - it has been amazing to hear how God has moved in people's lives as we have taken this trip through the Beatitudes over the past eight weeks.

So what next?
I'm pumped about what's coming up in the lead-up to our Christmas series that starts December 12th.

What is it?
We're going to take four weeks on a fun, fascinating and faith-challenging topic - Finding God On Your Ipod.

Still curious what it's all about?
Here's the title of my first teaching - What I Learned About Worship From Rod Stewart.

And if that's about as clear as mud, I guess you'll just have to be there on the 12th!

SAD

In recent years Ted Haggard has played a significant role in the spiritual life of our country, as the pastor of a 14,000 strong church in Colorado, President of the National Association of Evangelicals, author, conference speaker, etc.

It was therefore disturbing to hear last night that allegations of immoral behaviour had been made against him and while I had hoped the investigation he spoke of would clear his name, today he has confessed to some of the accusations and his credibility is now totally in question.

You can be sure the media will have a field day with this, especially coming four days before major elections in which the generally liberal press have now been given plenty of ammunition with which to continue their attempts to discredit the right and Christians in particular.

It's deja vue all over again for those of us who remember the Bakker and Swaggert debacles of the 80's. So how should we react?

1. We need to pray for Ted Haggard, his wife and family.

2. We need to pray for New Life Church and the pastors who have assumed leadership for this troubled time.

3. We need to pray for truth to prevail, so that sin can be forgiven, pardon can be received and rebuilding can commence.

4. We need to pray for Christian leaders, especially those with a national profile. Jesus said that the easiest way to get at the sheep was to smite the shepherd.

5. We need to humbly ask God to help us in our weaknesses, quit playing with sin and realize while none of us is as well known as Ted Haggard, our lives do affect others too.

AND YOUR PLANS ARE???

If you'vw watched any TV lately, like me you may have got fed up with political ad after political ad after political ad.

Now don't get me wrong, I am grateful that we live in a democracy, will have the chance to vote next Tuesday and have options, but I wish there were just a few of the candidates who would tell us what they plan to do, instead of slagging off their opponents.

I guess that some of them just don't want us to know what their plans are - and I can understand that. Elliot Spitzer probably wants to ride into Albany and become governor of this great state solely on the merits of his work as Attorney General. He really doesn't want to go on TV and flaunt his declared intention to legalize gay unions in New York.

Maybe he should have the courage of his convictions, stand up and declare what he is for and not focus on who he is against. And then let the voters decide.

A LOT OF GOODWILL

I've got this theory that having survived the selfish seventies and beyond, there are a heck of a lot of people around who have finally realized that they were lied to when they were told the accumulation of stuff would make them happy. Coz here they are now with every gadget known to man, homes that have been remodelled upon remodelled, good cars on the driveway and still stuck with the emptiness within.

So there is an increasing number of folks who are gradually getting the message that Jesus made centuries ago, when he said that the best way to find your life is to give it away. That's why volunteerism has increased and helping others is finally being seen to be tremendously fulfilling.

We had an example of this recently with our Grace Care ministry that operates our food pantry and mobile soup kitchen.

A local small business owner has made a generous donation around Thanksgiving for the past couple of years to help us put together our Thanksgiving baskets for the increasing number of local families that are finding it tough going to survive on Long Island.

He brought his family to help distribute baskets last year and we did wonder whether he would get involved again this time around. But he has decided to do far more than that - he has taken it upon himself to get everything that we need for Thanksgiving and is shouldering the whole project.

He has already raised several thousand dollars from local businesses, has secured 200 turkeys and is still going.

We will not be going to the church for help with Thanksgiving this year because this guy is setting us up so that we can provide more than ever before - he's working on toys for Christmas too!

There are a lot of kindhearted people out there and a lot of goodwill. This thing is growing so much it's becoming insane!!!

YOU NEVER KNOW

Thinking back to Sunday, there was one especially good moment that came right out of the blue. There was I near our cafe, sipping coffee no doubt, when I turned around and saw someone I haven't set eyes on in several years.

I used to spend a lot of time helping a homeless ministry with its Manhattan outreaches, but had to let that go five years ago to give CATMO my full attention. One of the people I had got to know on the streets of the Lower East Side was taking one step forward and two steps back in the battle with drugs and her sexual identity and the last time I saw her she was not doing well.

So imagine my surprise when she appeared last Sunday, looking and sounding well, and introduced me to the guy she is going to marry.

She talked about how her life had finally got on the right track and she is hoping to find a place to live in our area so she can get away from old friends and temptations.

She talked about ways I had helped and motivated her those few years ago and that reminded me that although we often don't see immediate results, you never know what fruit will grow if you keep sowing good seed.