I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you are trusting in the hope of the gospel and the new life we have in Christ as you begin a new year!  I wanted to pass along to you an interesting article I found in the London Times written by Matthew Parris, with the intriguing title, “As an Atheist, I truly believe that Africa needs God,” subtitled “Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa’s biggest problem – the crushing passivity of the people’s mindset”.  Read more »

 Over the past two months, I preached through a series on the Christian view of Death and the Life after That.  One of the central aspects of that realm according to the Bible is the reality of judgment, that on that last day, Jesus will judge the world, and all that was not for His glory will be destroyed by fire, while all that was for His glory will be refined and survive into the new heavens and new earth.  And part of this judgment is the reality of Hell for those individuals who did not know the judge (see Matthew 7:23, among others).  With that in mind, I want to share two brief videos I came across recently.

 The first is by Penn Jillette of the Las Vegas illusionist duo Penn & Teller.  Read more »

Matthew 10:8 – Freely you have received, freely give.

Christmas is just around the corner, which means that sometime this weekend you will be standing in the mall trying to decide what your mother-in-law or 22 year-old son might want for Christmas, and you will ask yourself that annual question, “wait, why I am doing this again?”  So, for those who resonate with that question, or who are thinking of ways to do it differently next year, might I offer a few suggestions on how your family might collectively decide to use your money to achieve a nobler purpose than procuring the latest Wii game or a newer flat screen TV?
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If you read The Hartford Courant on Sunday, you may have seen the front page article about the great struggle it is to feed all the hungry in New Britain.  The article included a great little write-up on Isaiah 58, including a picture of our very own Lori Cordero.  Isaiah 58 is a ministry led by Ray and Linda Labbe of Glastonbury that has been serving hot food and giving out free groceries from their truck (Big Blue) in New Brite Plaza almost every Saturday for over 15 years.  Our church has been privileged to be a part of the Isaiah 58 ministry for many years, supporting them both financially, by giving Christmas gifts to the children, and with volunteers.  Along the way have been some great people who have volunteered regularly, like Terri Baldwin, who was fluent in Polish and able to minister to the large Polish population that would come to eat; Kim Ferrero, who for a time coordinated a clothing ministry to the people who came to Isaiah 58; and Danny & Lori Cordero, who have been helping out for the last sixteen months.

I spoke with Ray today to hear more about the article and to let him know that some churches have contacted us about getting involved with the ministry.  I was shocked to hear him tell me that not all of the response to their ministry has been good.  Apparently, the health department read the article and wasn’t pleased about this little soup kitchen on wheels that has been operating under their noses for over 15 years Read more »