The minivan achieves classic car status

Our blue Plymouth Voyager turns 20 this year... it's a 1987 model. It now qualifies for a classic car license plate - in some circles at least.

The machine has served us well over the past decade or so and with 231,000 miles on it and counting, we've put it to good use. We only paid $1 for the vehicle, friends of ours in Princeton who were upgrading or something, essentially gave it to us. We were a one-car family at the time and with me having a 30-minute commute scheduling was kinda tricky. The blessings of a two-car family for the past 10 years have been plentiful, but it's also created it's own share of memories...


There was the time we were headed with family to take in the HersheyPark Christmas Candylane, heading over to my in-laws in Akron, we headed east on Newport Road and as we climbed the small knoll just beyond Sheetz and the Warwick Center, the transmission dropped out of gear and the engine had nothing to power.


There was the time I ran it out of gas - that was my fault.

It's had a problem starting for the past few winters. It was uncommon to see me in the church parking lot leaning under the front bumper swinging a hammer at the starter in an attempt to trigger the starter bristles - at least that's what my mechanic father-in-law said it would do.

It was without a review-view mirror since last winter, something I didn't view as a big deal, but other drivers who know me commented about it; apparently it was noticeable.

The passenger window hasn't functioned in several years. At first it was stuck about 1/8 of the way down - you definitely wanted to keep your coat on during the winter and having to scrape the frost off the outside and inside of the windshield got kind of old after a while. After repairing it a year ago, or so we thought, I had the door in pieces last week and finally resorting to wedging a 1x4 in the door to hold the window all the way up; I'm betting that winter is going to arrive eventually and it will be severe when it does.


Most recently, it's chosen to strike on cold and or damp mornings. After much coaxing it comes to life and off we go. That was until Thursday morning. Oh, it eventually went, but as I returned from Lititz having dropped Dad off at his day program, it just stopped and wouldn't resuscitate. We'll see how much more life is left in that thing.


I'd love to see a cost comparison analysis of a vehicle against a horse and buggy. My hypothesis is that when all factors are considered, they both cost about the same. I'd love to test that hypothesis. Should you see a road apple trail from my house to Grace Church, you'll know what went down.

Network problems while doing 1,000 miles an hour

I just happened, by mere chance, to catch the launch of the latest Space Shuttle mission yesterday. I've always been intrigued and/or haunted by our space program. As a 3rd grader, when I heard that Young and Crippen, the crew of the first Shuttle mission would be awakening at 4am to begin preparing for launch, without alarm or whatever, I awoke at 4am. I followed that launch and mission as much as I could. Years later, I had nightmares and trouble sleeping for a few weeks after the Challenger disaster.

While some enjoy working to the background noise of Christian radio or other music, when a mission is underway, I enjoy listening to NASA TV. For the second time while listening to their broadcast, I've heard, in real time, astronauts, orbiting several hundred miles above the earth, having computer problems. It gives me a sick sense of relief... I'm not the only one who struggles with network connectivity etc.

The best was a couple of missions ago when the astronaut was heard to say, "After getting the blue screen of death a few times..." That was the best.

My place in this world

Laying in the backyard, starring into the blue sky, watching the wispy clouds go by I pondered my insignificance in this universe.

Isaiah 40:26
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

I find such opportunities for contemplation rare, so I enjoy them all the more. The best part was sharing the moment with my 4-year old niece as we counted the leaves falling off the trees slowly helicoptering to the ground. A wonderful afternoon.

Literal or Allegorical - The Book of Job

The summer after my Junior year of Bible College, I had the opportunity to do an internship at the church that a year later would hire me as Administrator. In addition to doing a month-long study on prayer they asked me to lead their Thru the Bible Sunday School class for adults. The class consisted of several men with seminary degrees in addition to some of the more respected people in the church - and there I was, a Bible College student, whom many in the class had known as a toddler, facilitating their Sunday School class. The first book I was asked to "teach" was the Book of Job.

The crux of the study of Job is one's approach to it's interpretation, whether to take the book as a literal account of what Job experienced or as a allegory, a mere story. I devoted most, if not all of our first week of the study to covering these matters and explaining why we interpret it as a literal story.

In week two, we started into the text, verse by verse until someone, who had missed the first week, shared comments about how the book was just a story not a literal account. Unfortunately, I think this individual had a reputation for stirring things up, so within seconds I had a unhealthy exchange on my hands. The conservatively educated seminarians were jumping all over the individual about how erroneous their views were. Recognizing that the purpose of the class was not to debate the proper hermeneutic for interpreting the Book of Job, and that I was in no way qualified to handle such a matter with the individuals involved, we moved on, I let the Senior Pastor know about it the following day and let he and the Elders take it from there.

From my perspective, I'm convinced the individual was raising the view because it was all they had ever heard or been taught. Unfortunately, others in the class viewed it as an attempt to introduce errant teaching into the church. In the end, I think it all worked out, but it was a firsthand example of the importance of hermeneutics.

That should be the last post on hermeneutics for a while.

Bible College Charade

It was around 8:30 a.m., Dr. Gordon Ceperley was well into his Genesis lecture a third of the way into the semester when we were interrupted by the College Registrar, who, standing at the door asked for Mr. Neutic to step out of the classroom for a moment...

First of all, Dr. Ceperley knew his Old Testament. More precisely, he knew Genesis like the back of his hand. He lectured to us using just his Bible; no notes, no illustrations. In fact, while the syllabus laid out that we'd cover Genesis through Joshua over the course of the semester, Cep spent all but the last week or two solely in Genesis. I was privileged to have the opportunity to benefit from his wealth of knowledge about the Torah was expansive. Truth is, I was a third generation Cep pupil, my grandparents and parents were both students of his during their college years.

Now, you have to understand that Cep didn't pay much attention to the administrative details of his classes. So when he would pass out exams, he didn't account for extra copies etc. A classmate of mine, Wes, took advantage of the loophole and began taking an exam for himself and a second exam for his invisible friend. And after about a third of the semester had passed and several exams had been turned in, the Registrar came to class to seek payment from this un-enrolled student. There stood the Registrar that morning, "Would Mister Neutic, Mister Herman Neutic, please step outside for a moment."

Such is the humor among Bible college freshmen.
What I found most humorous about this charade was that Herman outperformed Wes on the exams.

A Business Manager's thoughts on tongues

Coinciding with our current Sunday series on Spiritual Gifts, Pastor Scott spent the majority of our staff meeting yesterday delving deeper into the tongues issue with the staff. As he led us in the study, several thoughts crossed my mind...

1. Grace Church's doctrinal position is based on a strict literal interpretation of scripture. I often assume that's understood, but often find that differing opinions/interpretations trace back to a difference in hermeneutics.

2. As we looked at the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, I saw some sort of relationship between the Day of Pentecost and the Tower of Babel. I don't recall reading of hearing anyone drawing any conclusions from the relationship. Here are my raw observations:

Genesis 11 -
one people
one language
one location
fear of being scattered over the face of the whole earth
wishing to make a name for themselves
the LORD came down to see the city and the tower
LORD confused their language so they wouldn't understand one another's speech
LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth

Acts 2 -
disciples were all in one location
"...and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
the Holy Spirit filled each disciple
the commotion of the noise caused people assemble
every nation under heaven was represented
each one hearing them (the disciples) speak in their own language/dialect
Holy Spirit allowed each person to hear in their birth tongue "the mighty deeds of God"
Spirit allowed them to speak in other languages

Language was central in both events and both scenarios involve a dispersion.
Genesis 11 is a physical dispersion of people while Acts 2 is a spiritual and physical dispersion of the local church.

There were significant forces of power involved in both accounts. The people power exhibited in Genesis 11, based on the scriptural account, was incredibly powerful "...and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them" (Genesis 11:6). I noted in my Bible some time ago, what could believers accomplish if we did not allow Satan to drive us apart? That small section of verse 6 amazes me. On the other side, the power of the Holy Spirit, exhibited in Acts 2 was a powerful force.

Side note: it's interesting, now several thousand years later, that Genesis 11:4 is still true of mankind today, "...let us build for ourselves... a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name..."

That's all I've got so far. No doubt it's raw and I have yet to extract anything further than these observations.

3. Before the Bible was completed, the Gospel message needed to validated or in Business Manager terms, notarized. Through Jesus' ministry and the early ministry of the Apostles, the primary purpose of signs and wonders was to notarized Jesus, His message and the message of the Apostles. Today, the Bible is our notary. Which takes us very close to being back at point number 1 listed above.

Bring your Box Tops and Soup Labels to Grace

You can help the Grace Education Ministries by bringing Box Tops and Soup Labels to the church. Each Box Top and soup label earns money for our education ministries. They are great programs (both our educational ministries and the box top/soup label programs).


Of course, there was a time when you needed to send in the entire box top. Now, you just need to clip out a small square of the box top. Oh, but it's not always on the box top. On Kleenex tissues, you're actually sending in a piece of the box BOTTOM. And Cottonelle toilet paper isn't even packaged in a BOX!

That's what happens we you hold a strict literal hermeneutic.

Contacting missionaries in the new millenium

I remember my parents and brother sitting around a cassette recorder with a microphone recording tapes to send to grandparents in the US... awaiting the latest aerogramme from Grandma or Oma... urgent messages with stops interspersed coming via telegram... and in the most rare of occassions, sitting by a phone waiting countless of hours to get a line and even then, the connection was so poor you thought you could hear the schools of fish inevitably swimming around the wire that was likely traversing the ocean floor. Such were the overseas communication channels of the past.


In this day, those channels have been replaced primary by email, more dependable phone connections and the internet. I find I have to consciously remember that today's technologies bring our overseas contacts closer than ever and to take advantage of them.


I'm initiating at least montly communication attempts between our church staff and the families we support in faraway lands. Two weeks ago we tried the Weaver's, they were out that day, so we were only able to leave a voicemail message. Friday, we rang the Becker's and were able to talk with them for close to 30 minutes. Next, we'll attempt to connect with the Beuggert's.

This past Sunday, the Next Tier ABF talked with Mike and Joan who are in Cambodia right now. They had a conference call with the whole class that apparently went very well. So whether it's an ABF, the Missions Team or some other where two-or-three are gathered, don't miss out on the opportunity to connect and encourage others.


If you haven't discovered it yet, the internet based communication progam, Skype, is a very user friendly and reliable system. It's been around for a while, so I'm behind the curve having just activated it in the past two weeks, but it's been very effective thus far. Calls between Skype users (I've seen as many as 9 million of them online at one time) are free. I connected with a college friend who's serving in Paraguay on Wednesday. The line was clear as day, as if he was only in Ephrata. In fact, I have contacts in Lancaster County, who for bizarre reasons I don't understand, have to pay a toll call to call me at home. I hope to get them Skyping with me.


We need to maximize today's technologies to maintain, if not deepen, our relationships with our missionary families.

Is it time to accept ATM cards?

Close to 7-8 years ago was the first time I was asked to consider some type of giving outside of the traditional cash/check being placed in the offering plate. The worshipful act of giving has gotten a bad reputation, sometimes overshadowed by desperate pleas to make ends meet, rather than emphasizing it in proportion with the amount of emphasis we place on prayer, signing and other elements of worship. And like them, there's something to be said for doing it corporately instead of in seclusion. Like prayer and signing, there's a place for giving in solitude. I have some intense sessions of prayer in quiet seclusion with no one around and I've belted out hymns, choruses and other sounds in the confines of my blue van that brought the roof lining down - literally. But I'm convinced that God's uniquely created corporate worship to be something special and that goes for giving too. That's been my hang up. Allowing ATM/Debit/Credit card giving opens us up to allowing giving outside of the corporate worship.

The corporate worship issue is my biggest problem with the idea. Secondarily, I'm uncomfortable opening up the possibility that someone can charge their gift to a credit card. I question the financial practice of putting a gift to God on credit. And if you use a cash back or rewards card, would the gifts to the church count toward your cash back/rewards points? This just opens up too many issues, maybe my analysis paralysis has kicked in again.

I'm well aware of the increased convenience to all of us. Goodness, I've heard countless stories of how churches actually receive more money once they make the switch. But it's not about the money, it's about your life and your relationship with Our Saviour.

But, when more and more establishments accept plastic the pressure to adapt is building. Did you ever imagine McDonald's would take cards? I myself rarely carry cash. I'm sure there are many people for whom their check to Grace Church is the only check they write each month.

So, if you attend Grace on a regular basis, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Locating the Lost & Found

The merger of entities that weren't separate in the first place - I'm so appreciative of the ground we've covered at Grace in the past two years, but it really is comical when you look in the rear view mirror. We were one entity to begin with, Grace Church with Early Childhood, Children's, Youth, Adult, Deacon and Missions ministries as well as daycare and Christian School ministries. But to just about everyone we operated and appeared to be independent, separated-at-birth relatives. We had 3 of everything - a very strict application of the Trinity in every aspect of what we did. Three receptionists, three lunch rooms, three, three, three, even three different lost and founds - ALL IN ONE BUILDING!!! And so, for the past two years and still on going, we've merged that which wasn't separated in the first place. And with it we now have one single lost and found.

The lost and found, in case you're looking for something you think you've lost at Grace Church, is located off of the ABF/Sunday School hallway intersection. It's the maintenance room that's across from the library and also across from the water fountain at the intersection.

We've cracked down on hallway clutter this school year, so hallways are being cleared nightly of coats hanging on coat racks, as well as books and other items left out that shouldn't be. We want the building to have a positive appearance 24x7, so you may need to check the lost and found more often. Now you know where it is.

Fightin' Phils Memories and Scars

I view much of my childhood in 4-year increments, divided by one year stays in the US for home service. The one-year stays tend to blend together for some reason, so I identify them by major events of that particular year.
1990-91: Manuel Noriega turned himself in
1985-86: Challenger Disaster
1980-81: Phillies won the World Series

The fervor of the past week has brought the memories of the 1980 Phillies to the forefront of my mind once again.

In grade 3 at the time, I don't recall much of the playoff run. I think I was usually in bed by the time the games were getting interesting. I recall struggling to fall asleep during one of the World Series games because I was so curious as to what was happening in the game, but that's the extent of what I recollect firsthand. Though I don't think I watched or listened to many of the games that season, several, if not many of the calls of the game are permanently etched in my mind.

Just before we returned to Philippines, a family friend gave me a cassette tape that told the story of the 1980's Phillies with actual game audio interpersed throughout. With baseball not being a sport heard of in the Philippines at the time that tape was my connection to the sport. I listened and played the tape constantly, on par with the frequency my nephews today watch a Veggie-tale or Bob The Builder episode. That much repitition has a tendency to etch itself into memory. In my teen years I must've lost the tape or recorded over it; one way or another it's gone. I've even searched without success for the album on the internet.

The last time the Phillies won the Eastern Division, I was in college. The scar of Joe Carter's home run is still there. Of course, our new Pastor Tim, the Canuck that he is, found himself on the winning end that year.

Will it be new memories or scars that will be created in the coming days?

Thank you for calling Grace Ministries, how can I help you?

If you haven't experienced it already, the next time you call Grace Church, you'll be greeted on the phone with, "Thank you for calling Grace Ministries, how can I help you?" As part of the merger that really isn't a merger, we've consolidated the phone answering duties to one position. That means Charlene and Megan answer all phone calls that come to our facility - daycare calls, school calls and church calls. Last time I checked, we average just over 100 income phone calls a day. To emphasize our being one ministry, it seemed logical to refer to all that we do as Grace Ministries.

Anticipating your next call, Charlene and Megan await the opportunity to greet you with, "Thank you for calling Grace Ministries, how can I help you?"