By Nelson Searcy

Go to any metropolitan city in the world – and even some not so metropolitan – and you will inevitably see someone walking down the street talking to himself.

Your tendency is probably to pity him for being disturbed. The irony is that you carry on conversations with yourself all the time, too – just not usually aloud.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, you talk to yourself all day every day through the thoughts you allow to fill your mind. So what are you saying to yourself? Are your thoughts working for you or against you?

Everything you choose to do or not do, say or not say, starts with the seed of thought. Your entire life is an outgrowth of what goes on in your mind. So getting a handle on the words no one hears but you is key to creating the life you are meant to live. Here are three practical steps to help you adopt better thinking:

1. Listen to your internal dialogue. Tune in to the script that’s constantly running in your own head. Too often, your thoughts and mine are on autopilot. We don’t give them much consideration. Or worse, we forget that we are their masters and we let them have their way with us. Remember:

• You can’t always control the thoughts that pop into your head, but you can control what you do with them.

• Thoughts only have as much power as you give them.

• It’s not a sin to have a false or tempting thought pass through your mind. Let it go. The sin comes when you choose to indulge that thought, either by dwelling on or acting on it.

2. Take every thought captive. When God is working in your life, he will fill you with peace, love and joy. Those gifts will be thwarted if you refuse to let them take root and influence your thoughts. It’s up to you to resist habitual thought patterns and instead match your brain to what God is doing in your spirit. Be intentional about trapping and disposing of thoughts that don’t line up with his truth.

3. Replace old thinking with new. As you eliminate thoughts that don’t benefit you, replace them with new ones that do. Fill the newly vacant space in your mind with a more positive internal dialogue. There’s more than one way to think about every situation and event in your life. When you choose to see the positive, you are agreeing with God’s perspective – you are agreeing with his view of you, your circumstances and the people he has put around you. That alone will propel you toward a fuller, happier life.

• On Mother’s Day, Sunday May 10 we’ll be celebrating the special day by providing free family portraits for everyone who attends. The Journey Church meets 9:30a.m. or 11a.m. at Boca Raton Community High School. There will be special programming for Kidz birth thru 5th grade too. For more, see www.bocajourney.com. I would love to see you there!

Nelson Searcy is the author of 13 books and serves as the founding pastor of The Journey Church in Boca Raton.

By Gary Curreri

Blanche Ely High School senior quarterback Faitia Irving has seen a noticeable improvement in this year’s flag football team.

“We are more experienced this year,” said Irving, who has guided the team to an 8-2 record this year. “The starting seven have played together for a while. In the past, everybody wanted to be a leader and that didn’t work. I had to step up as a leader.”

“This is a lot of fun,” Irving said. “I like having the ball in my hand and making decisions. It’s a lot of responsibility, but I like that role. I have a lot of options on the team. I like to run or throw and, either way, we are going to score.”

Irving said she doesn’t feel any pressure playing football.

“It comes easy to me,” said Irving, who started playing flag football as a sixth grader at Crystal Lake Middle School. “It is more fun to play flag football now because the team has gelled together. It is like a sisterhood.”

Irving said the team’s experience is carrying it this year. The team will open play in the District 27 tournament on April 27 at Deerfield Beach High School.

“We have six seniors in the starting seven and the underclassmen look up to us and we have to lead by example,” Irving said. “I think we can go to states and win it. We hope to be as good as the (state champion) boys’ basketball team. It gives us motivation to go do it.”

In addition to Irving, the other seniors on the team being counted on are Latearia Perkins, Christa Vedrine, Stephanie Altidort, Brianna Lebrun, Ta’Marla Thorpe and Marie Lafosse. The team has already bettered last year’s record of 7-5 when it finished runner-up to Coconut Creek in the district.

“We seem better than last year’s team,” said Tigers’ fourth year coach Clenner Goodman. “The team is more focused and they are taking things a little more seriously. I don’t have to work as hard. I don’t have to fuss as much. They are pulling themselves together.

“My returners are taking more of a leadership role now,” Goodwin added. “They are more cohesive and playing more as a unit now. That is what was lacking last year. When I tell them to be someplace at a certain time, all of them are there. They are ready to play ball and they are enjoying winning.”

Bucks hire new gridiron coach

Jevon Glenn will be the new football coach at Deerfield Beach High School next season.

Glenn, a 1996 graduate of Blanche Ely, where he played football and basketball, replaces Allen Jackson, who resigned in December after four seasons.

The new Bucks coach will have his work cut out for him as the team is coming off of a 4-6 season in which the Bucks missed the playoffs. It was only the sixth time in school history, dating back to 1974, the Bucks finished with a losing record. It is Glenn’s first varsity head coaching job; he spent eight seasons coaching Deerfield’s junior varsity squad.

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The Clouds of Sils Maria is a two-hour piece of visual poetry. But people who keep reviewing the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer …for the 47th time … might not appreciate the slow pace, beautiful scenery and levels of emotional subtext. The film invokes memories of the 1970s, when Ingmar Bergman, Louis Malle and Francois Truffant films enjoyed the limelight on the marquee of art house cinemas.

The film opens on a crowded train. Valentine (Kristen Stewart) is the handler for veteran actress Maria Enders (Julliette Binoche), who is enroute to a film festival to accept a lifetime achievement award for her auteur director, Wilhelm Melchoir. Melchoir had directed a play that made Maria a young star … 20 years ago.

A hotshot new generation director wants to direct the same play and cast Maria as older rival. This forces Maria to escape to Sils Maria and contemplate. Taking Valentine with her, Maria escapes to the bucolic beauty of the white mountains. Despite having a constant companion who’s connected with current trends and fads in show business, Maria suffers from bouts of loneliness and a sense of impending mortality.

An Oscar winner for The English Patient, Juliette Binoche is Europe’s answer to Meryl Streep. With subtle nuance, Binoche makes her Maria Enders a full character, consistent with quirky contradictions. She is not afraid to let herself look ugly during emotionally revealing scenes. At age 50, Binoche holds her own in a brief skinny dipping scene with Kristen Stewart.

As she puts her Twilight years behind her, Stewart is garnering her best notices for her supporting work in this film, for which she won the Cesar Award in France, and also in Still Alice. Stewart’s Valentine first reveal presents a tough multitasking front for her boss. Yet, in the mountains of Sils Maria, Valentine’s emotional shield begins to crumble. The interplay between the 25-year-old Stewart and the 50-year-old Binoche resonates with a rare truth found in movies these days.

This film is full of subtle symbolism. Yet, director/ writer Olivier Assayas does not get bogged down with art house intentions, but creates some fine comedic moments between Binoche and Stewart. Some of the best laughout- loud moments involves Chloe Grace Morentz as the flaky female lead who will be portraying the young Juliette Binoche.

The Clouds of Sils Maria cannot compete with the box office juggernauts of 50 Shades of Gray or Furious 7. However, Juliette Binoche’s performance has haunted more than Dakota Johnson and Michelle Rodriquez.

A few weeks ago Taylor Swift announced’ to her fans that her mother had recently been diagnosed with cancer.

Her reason for going public with her family’s private struggle was to encourage others to get screenings.

The responses on social media were immediate and supportive. I was particularly struck by reports that Lady Gaga reached out to Taylor with “God bless you and your mama. We’ll all be praying.”

I don’t consider myself a fan of either of these women and have never listened to their music. I have occasionally heard about them through entertainment news and have no knowledge of their faith or religion. But I am intrigued whenever I hear God being positively referenced and prayer being encouraged from those in the entertainment industry.

It is in those times when we are confronted with our weaknesses and inabilities that we often realize the need for divine assistance. No amount of money, influence or fame can shield anyone from crisis and adversity. Pain and tragedy are equal opportunity afflictions that give respect to no one. Rich and poor, privileged and oppressed, and those in between will all face the inevitable reality that there are some things beyond man’s control. The response for many in those moments is to pray … to look outside themselves and beyond themselves to a greater power. It is a natural inclination when confronted by crisis. In the days following the 9/11 tragedy, houses of worship across this country were filled with people praying to God and looking for comfort, for hope and for answers.

For believers, the promise of prayer is that God responds to our petitions. Psalm 102:17 states, “He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer.” And James 5:16 observes, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Prayer is much more than beseeching God for help, however. It is a means by which we commune and interact with God. It is the expression of a soul that recognizes its dependence upon God. Prayer is offered from the vantage point of inadequacy and insufficiency looking toward the might and sufficiency of God. It is a necessary spiritual discipline by which we develop in our faith and grow in our relationship with God. It should be engaged daily and sincerely.

It is worth noting that the disciples of Jesus were so impressed by His relationship with His Father that they asked the Lord to teach them how to pray.

Prayer is a powerful force, and praying is a beneficial exercise. So I join Lady Gaga in offering prayers for Taylor Swift’s mother. I pray that the diagnosis was early enough to counter the disease with available medical treatments. I pray that what the medicines and treatments cannot accomplish, God Himself will do. I pray that others who are similarly affected will find help and hope, and healing. I pray that we would continue to demonstrate compassion and sympathy towards, those who are suffering around us. I pray that, as God answers our prayers, we would be motivated to pursue Him in faith and obedience. And I encourage all of us to pray more consistently that God would not only answer our prayers, but also that His will would be done.

Bishop Patrick L. Kelly is the pastor of Cathedral Church of God, 365 S. Dixie Hwy., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. 954-427-0302.

By Gary Curreri

Swimmers from the Pompano Beach Piranhas USA swim program have enjoyed success in recent months and the recent Florida Gold Coast Junior Olympics swim meet at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex was no exception.

Several Piranhas turned in strong efforts in the high point awards for their respective divisions led by Tyler Zuyus, who took fourth in the 13-14 Boys Division, while Jake Schulte was 10th in the 10-Under Boys. Pompano’s Boys were fifth in the Boys 13-14 team race, while the 10-Under Boys were ninth overall.

Two swimmers are happy with the progress of the program, which is in its fourth year as a USA swim program, and Piranhas head swim coach Jesse Vassallo is entering his fourth year heading the program.

Pompano Beach’s Shane Schulte, 14, is one of five members of his family that swim. He has two brothers (Kelly, 16, and Jake, 10) and two sisters (Julia, 18, and Summer, 12).

“It is very competitive between us,” Shane Schulte said. “We always try and do the best in every sport. It is really cool because all five of us have spent all of our lives competing. My brothers and me play rugby for the Pompano Storm and we are always fighting and aspiring to be the best out there. We have been playing rugby for two years.”

“In the Junior Olympics (JOs), I was hoping to do the best I could and go up a few spots from where I was ranked in the beginning,” he added. “I went up in my rankings and dropped times in all seven of my events. I was pretty psyched about it.”

Schulte, an eighth-grader at Pompano Beach Middle School, said the local program is starting to make waves in the swimming community.

“Over the past couple of years, we have grown drastically,” he said. “We started off going to JOs and we would be one of the last teams. In the winter champs, we finished Top 10 and that was a pretty good feat for us. We are starting to get a lot stronger and form one of those big teams and big names that everyone wants to be on.

Schulte said the best part of swimming is that it is a social event.

“You are not just competing against your friends,” he said. “The practices are fun. It is not just all about hard work. You can enjoy it and that’s what makes it better than most other sports. It is not always about the placement. When you accomplish something that you have never done before like dropping a time or reaching a certain goal, you are still very satisfied in the end. I want to go very far in swimming.”

Teammate Alicja Zielinski, 14, of Oakland Park, came very close to dropping all of her times in the meet. The Northeast High School freshman has been swimming for Pompano for the past four years.

“I like how it is like an individual sport and it focuses on yourselves and your team,” Zielinski said. “To be honest, it is better than any other sport because it is the best workout for your body. You get this rush of adrenaline and you speed your way through. I am in love with competing.”

She has seen improvement and confidence as she has progressed through the past Junior Olympic competitions.

“It is a tough sport,” said Zielinski, who hopes to swim in college. “It really is. It is tougher mentally than physically. You have to motivate yourself to achieve your goal. When you get up on the block and you race, it is like you are in a different world. It is about you and how you want to achieve your goals. That is more important to me than winning medals.”

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The juggernaut known as Furious 7 has netted a quarter of a billion dollars box office gross thus far, with the hype for Avengers: Age of Ultron dominating media outlets. Still, there is some quieter fare opening tomorrow, with stories about dancers and a novelist set in New York City.

Written and directed by Jayce Bartok, Fall to Rise features the story of two ballerinas in the twilight of their careers. Lauren (Katherine Crockett) is a ballet star who was let go due to injury. She is also a new mother who is married to a lawyer (Kohl Sudduth). Lauren’s instinct to return to stage is stronger than her maternal instinct.

Like Rocky Balboa, Lauren reunites with her Mickey Goldmill – Shelia (Daphne Rubin-Vega), a former ballet star who works at a dance studio for little girls. Shelia trains Lauren and gets her into prima ballerina shape. Despite the physical difficulties it takes to achieve center stage, it is Shelia and Lauren’s domestic lives that are far more difficult.

This film takes the viewer to the backstage territory that we visited in Birdman, just a few blocks away, minus the pulsating jungle rhythm. It’s a simpler story to follow, but not without some Greenwich Village avant-garde moments. During her emotional breakdown, Shelia goes to a comedy club and bares her soul to a puppet with Johnny Carson/ Jimmy Fallon mannerisms. This sequence seems out of place with the rest of the movie, but it also is the most interesting scene.

5 to 7 is a 93-minute romantic comedy about a novelist. Brian (Anton Yelchin) meets Arielle (Berenice Marlohe) and they share a cigarette. The two develop chemistry and agree to meet each other every Friday evening from 5 to 7. Complications arise when Brian learns that Arielle is a married woman with two children.

With a light touch, this film is a comedic rite-of-passage tale about the birth of a writer. The film drags during the conclusion when the moral to the story is revealed, but the lag is forgivable. Despite being in summer blockbuster movie franchises (Star Trek, Terminator), Yelchin has proven to be a successful actor on the independent film circuit. Being New York based, the producers managed to recruit Glenn Close & Frank Langella in small but pivotal roles as Yelchin’s parents. These parents provide genuine comedic highlights.

While most Manhattan ballet dancers will prefer Fall to Rise, most audiences will find 5 to 7 an engaging flick for a matinee price.

Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, was observed at Temple Beth Israel on April 16, as it was in Synagogues all over the world. During Shabbat services this past Saturday, as I read a long list of members of our congregation who are no longer with us and of their family members as well, I couldn’t help but notice that many people on the list had the same last name.

It could have been just a coincidence, but it wasn’t. Several families had the same last name because they were all from the same family. Someone asked me how hard it must have been on these families to have so many of their kin die in such a short period of time. But the fact of the matter is that their family members who put them on the list to have the memorial prayer recited for them each year are not even sure when their loved one’s died. You see, each of them perished in the camps during the horrors of the Nazi movement.

And so it was that these families picked a date to remember their loved ones and to honor their memory. When someone we love passes away in our day here in America, we take for granted that, not only the date, but the time of day and the cause of death will all be recorded in the medical chart and will be made available to us. But imagine not knowing how or when a loved one died.

Oh, we know the cause; the cause was hatred; the cause was that there were those who wanted to exterminate the Jews; the cause was that there were those who saw the Jews as less than human; the cause was putting such horrific labels and blame on us that we were little more than dirt in other’s eyes and, sadly, to this very day, there are many people throughout the world who feel that way toward us and, if not toward us, then toward another group of “others,” of “outsiders” of those who are “different.”

Each year on Yom HaShoah, survivors are called upon to speak. The odd part is the stories all begin the same way. Each of the survivors can recall a …. you should pardon the expression … “normal, ordinary life.” Each woke up in the morning. Each went to sleep at night. Each ate meals. And each had goals for the future.

And then, the unthinkable happened. And, in what must have seemed like a blink of the eye, all the rumors, all the gossip, all the whispers became a horrific reality.

Jews were barred from schools, from professions. Jews were barred from getting money, their own money out of their bank accounts. Jews were barred from possessing guns. Jews were beaten. Jews were rounded up. Jews were sent away never to be seen or heard from again.

Each year, we have fewer and fewer survivors left to tell the story. Each year, we have more and more people in the world who deny that the Holocaust ever took place. Each year, our enemies who used to complain that we were always bringing up the Holocaust, now use the term “Holocaust” and “Genocide” against us.

And our survivors call out, “Don’t just remember the past; learn from it!” And so, as we recited Kaddish for those who perished in the Shoah, I couldn’t help but remember the words of Elie Wiesel who wrote:

“Let us say Kaddish not only for the dead, but also for the living who have forgotten the dead and let the prayer be more than a prayer, more than a lament; let it be outcry, protest and defiance. And above all let it be an act of remembrance. For that is what the victims wanted: to be remembered, at least to be remembered. For just as the killer was determined to erase Jewish memory, so were the dying heroes and fighting martyrs bent on maintaining it alive. They are now being defamed or forgotten – which is like killing them a second time. Let us say Kaddish together and not allow others to betray them posthumously.”

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach (201 S. Military Tr., Deerfield Beach, FL 33442). Regular Shabbat services are open to everyone on Saturday mornings from 9 to 11:30 a.m.

Deerfield Beach Dolphins, South Florida Recreational Swim League Swim Meet, was held at the City’s Aquatic Center on Saturday, April 4. Our Deerfield Dolphins are a top team in the 3 county area.

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Over the Easter weekend, Furious 7 broke box office records for an April release. With a gross of 147 million, this film owes much to the well-promoted tribute to the late Paul Walker, who passed away last fall from a tragic car accident.

The tribute is a fine one, with visions of poetry. People left the movie in tears.

For a full evening price ticket, it is disappointing to write that Furious 7 is not a successful movie overall. The set-up is good. As always, the characters are engaging and new villain Jason Statham gives both Vin Diesel & Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson their lumps. The first big action sequence in the mountains is thrilling; but, as the action progresses, the reliance apon computerized special effects diminishes any sense of danger.

As long as Vin Diesel feels like producing this Fast and Furious series of movies, expect a “Fast 8” in 2017. This 15-year-old series revolves around a core group of individuals that resembles a family dynamic. Every two years, it’s nice to check up on these people.

Last Thursday evening, the Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF) announced that X+Y won the Best Feature Film Award. This unique motion picture features a young mathematical genius, Nathan (Asa Butterfield), who goes on a field trip to Asia. Considered autistic, Nathan makes new friends and learns that his estrangement from people has more to do with a blocked trauma from his past.

Omo Child: The River and the Bush tied with Walking Man for Best PBIFF documentary. Directed by Josh Salzberg, Walking Man presents a bipolar father and son who go on a cross country walk to bring attention to teenage suicide prevention.

It is a road movie, but, along the way, we meet young people who have attempted suicide. Back home, the mother explains the up and down behavior of the father and son. Whereas the son’s mood swings would occur on a daily basis, the father would have a manic/depressive episode that lasted three years.

The climax is presented as a confession from the mother and father. We learn the importance of maintaining communication with empathetic people. What makes Walking Man a successful documentary is the candor about this painful, but important, subject.

Sometimes in life things happen that we don’t expect and we get shaken to the very core of our being. We get caught off guard and events in life just rattle us. It is not a matter of being ready for bad things to happen but to know where your help and strength comes from when they do. When you learn to rely on God for your help and strength, then the devil can’t rattle or shake your life anymore.

HEBREWS 12:27-29

27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.

28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.

29 For our God is a devouring fire. — NLT

The kingdom that we belong to, as children of God, is unshakable so let’s give thanks to God by worshiping Him with fear and awe. The fire of God will devour things in our lives that don’t belong like – poverty – sickness – gossiping – lying. You will not waiver and you will not be shaken. You will stay strong and courageous. The only unshakable thing that remains will be you.

PSALM 62:2

2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken. — NLT

God is always with us and right beside us. God, and God alone, is our rock and our refuge. Nothing else will do – just God. We will not be shaken! When we are continually shaken, it steals our motivation and energy. It is like we are stunned or in shock; we get scared and don’t make any decisions at all, good or bad. The devil is not just trying to knock you down he is trying to destroy you. When the devil is trying to shake your life, you will shake his instead because you will trust in God and be unshakable. When the devil shakes, you will be set free from your chains and then you will be filled with courage and boldness. When you pray and worship God, the devil shakes. You will never be shaken, but your circumstances will be and your chains will be. You don’t ever shake or waiver – you shake the things and circumstances around you, instead of life shaking you. YOU WIN! You will stay strong and courageous.

LUKE 6:38

38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full — pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. NLT

Although, when God is shaking your life, you win. When God shakes you, it is to make room for you to receive more and more. He is shaking everything together. Therefore, start to stir up those things on the inside of you and start to say and start to believe, “I shall not be moved!” When you agitate someone, you get their attention; so begin to irritate those things in your life that you don’t want and tell them to get out. You will stay strong and courageous.

Tony Guadagnino is the pastor at Christian Love Fellowship Church, located at 801 SE 10 St., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. For more information, call 954-428-8980 or visit www.clfministries.org.