A man went to his father to tell him that he had just become a millionaire. His father did not seem very impressed. The young man screamed, “Pop, I’m not even 30 yet and I’ve already made my first million …” To which the father responded, “My son, you’ve counted your money. What I want to know is, what you are going to do with it?”

I was never very good at math and, to this day, I still have trouble adding things up. I just can’t count. Don’t get me wrong, my friends know they can count on me, but they also know that I am not a whiz when it comes to numbers.

In the Torah, we find the commandment of giving a half shekel. Our Sages taught that G-d showed Moses a “coin of fire.” What do money and fire have in common?

We know that a fire can destroy a forest and, if you’ve ever seen someone who has been burned, you know what harm it can cause a human being. Yet, a fire can also cook our food so it is safe to eat. A fire can warm the cockles of our heart. A fire can bond metals together, molding two things into one. (Perhaps that is why the word “welding” sounds so much like “wedding.”)

Wealth … Wealth can keep a roof over our heads. It can provide food and sustenance. It can help build houses of worship and academies of higher learning. Wealth can be used to support charities and foundations.

Fire can burn one beyond recognition, making someone appear unpleasant and ugly on the outside. But money … Money can make someone unpleasant and ugly on the inside. So here we are following G-d’s commandment to take a census, each giving half a shekel, but why a half a shekel?

I have a friend who has worn a necklace for many years now. The necklace is a half a heart. Can you guess who has the other half? That’s right, her husband. That half a heart reminds her that she can use her heart to lift her husband up or to drag him down, to weld herself to him, making them one, or to burn a hole right through his heart. Such is the power of love. Fortunately, she has chosen, for the most part, to lift him up … to remember that he counts.

If you take the Hebrew word used for “counting,” you will find a better translation would be to “lift” or to “elevate.”

When we use the gifts G-d has blessed us with to elevate others, we have used our gifts wisely. We have merged our lives together. But, if we fail to use our gifts to help, we have not only failed others, we have failed ourselves and we have failed G-d.

Let the upcoming Passover holiday remind us. It is not our bread that needs to rise to the occasion. It is we who need to rise, whatever the occasion might be. Remember, each of us counts far more than we know. Now go and do the math … and make sure that others can count on you.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a Hospice Chaplain and Member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains. He also provides Professional Pastoral Care Services to a number of health centers in Broward County.

We had this young man, Toto, who lived about a block from our house in Corrientes, Argentina, whose parents were very violent. They would take turns beating him and then throw him out of the house.

I first met Toto in our backyard. Samuel had invited a group of boys from the neighborhood into the house.

While the boys were playing in the back, a neighbor woman came and told me I needed to be careful with Toto. Apparently, he was a thief. We soon got to know him as he spent more time in our house. I remember one day, Toto found a Tonka Truck collection I had saved since I was a child. He took the trucks, the Hot Wheels and other cars and sat down on the dining room floor and played all morning, afternoon and into the night. I asked him why he enjoyed those toys (because they were not for boys of his age; he was 14 at the time). He replied, “I’ve never had toys like this before, never even one toy car.”

Soon Toto was spending significant time in our house and, on occasion, he would spend the night when things were difficult at home. He never stayed too long because even though his parents beat him, he still loved them; they were his parents. He told us once of a story where he ran away from home and spent three months riding by truck all over the country. When he arrived home, his parents didn’t know he was gone. He was known to spend weeks at a time sleeping on the street because he was afraid to go home. What he noticed was that no one cared enough to look for him.

One day, Toto was acting very strange. He quickly said he had something to do and walked out of the house and didn’t return. It was then we realized that he had stolen Samuel’s birthday money. Fearing what had become of him, Beth and the boys set out to look for him. For weeks, we went to all the places he was known to sleep or hang out and never saw any trace of him.

Rolo, who has had several experiences with children like Toto told us it was hopeless.  “Once they steal from you,” Rolo said, “It’s over. You can never have him back in your house.”

I looked at Rolo and said, “If we never find him, how can we show him forgiveness?”  Through his tears, Rolo said, “We’ll find him.”

That night we got a phone call from Toto. He told us he was okay and was traveling again by truck. He didn’t realize we had caller ID and identified the place he called us from. We went to find him. When we got there, he was gone. We headed home defeated. About an hour after we got home, the doorbell rang. It was Toto! With huge tears in his eyes he said, “No one ever looked for me before.”

Have you ever felt like no one was looking for you? Do you ever feel like if you disappeared, no one would even notice? That’s how Toto felt. God’s word says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

God is looking for you. He loves you, and he wants you to give Him your burdens.

Deron Peterson is is the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Deerfield Beach.

If there was one thing I could never have to do again, it would be to move! I cannot stand even the thought of moving. It just gives you one of those really bad feelings you get when you think back to all the stuff your mom made you eat when you were a child that you just hated. If it was me and I had a choice between moving and a visit to the dentist with no drugs – I would choose the dentist!

Now that you know how I feel about moving, the irony is that I find myself in the middle of moving our church facility from one location to another. This brings a whole new meaning to spring cleaning. I thought moving a house was difficult. Just imagine moving your house, but about 15 times more difficult.

Now as we prepare to move from a rather large facility to a much smaller and more cost-effective space, we have begun the cleaning out and paring down process. I think cleaning out our stuff is the hardest part for a lot of us because we have to get rid of some of our stuff that we desperately want to hold onto and never let go of. When you move from one place to another, you must clean out some old stuff, decide which are your essentials and make room for some new things to come your way.

I think it would be great if we could all look into our own lives and give ourselves an honest evaluation of all the baggage we carry. Then, after we decide what our essentials are, we can remove some old stuff, and begin to make room for some new things to come our way.

Some essentials that we should want to keep include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Add to that prayer (talking with God), going to church, family, friends and love. Yes, I said love twice because it is so important that it needs to be said twice. Everything should begin and end with love. Remember that God’s kind of love has no conditions on it, but rather is giving unconditionally with no strings attached. God’s love does not say ‘I love you because you did something for me,’ it simply says, ‘I love you, no matter what.’  Some of our baggage might include painful memories, hurt feelings, wounded pride and unforgiveness. We need to take those bags out to the garbage where they belong and get rid of them for good. Then and only then will we be ready for the new things God wants to bless our lives with. I don’t know about you, but I like God’s blessings in my life.

I want you to know there is someone in this world who loves you and cares about you, so keep your head up and stay strong. I always pray that everyone who reads the articles will be encouraged and blessed. This time is no different, but if you could please pray for us as we prepare to move and  get ready to have our first service in our new facility by April 1. Thank you and God bless you.

Pastor Tony Guadagnino

Christian Love Fellowship Church

Wednesday evening, March 7, is the eve of The Festival of Purim. Purim is a very colorful holiday. Children, and adults, are known to dress up in costumes that make the Temple a rainbow of colors.

Colors can be found in the Bible. For instance, I just mentioned the rainbow … G-d’s sign that he would never destroy the earth by flood again … and, need I remind you that the flood showed no preference to one color over another.

Then, there was Joseph and his multi-colored coat and last, but not least, there was the High Priest who wore a breastplate that had stones of 12 different colors on it.

Why a multi-colored coat? Why stones of 12 different colors? According to many historians, a multi-colored coat was a sign of leadership. Who was Joseph supposed to rule over? His brothers … not just one brother, but all of his brothers. And that multi-colored coat should have served as a constant reminder that he needed to keep each and every one of them in mind when he made a decision, as each of his brother’s needs were different.

Why stones of 12 different colors on the breastplate of the High Priest? How many tribes of Israel are there? That’s right, 12, so this was to serve as a constant reminder that he was tending not just to this tribe, but to the entire House of Israel, a house with different wants and needs. But the High Priest was responsible for serving them all.

Have you looked at the American Flag lately? Take a look at it. It is truly a sight to behold. Notice that it has three different colors on it. That’s right, Old Glory isn’t just red. Old Glory isn’t just blue. Old Glory isn’t just white. Old Glory is red, white and blue.

If you look closer, you will see that there is more of one color used in the flag than the others, but that is not to send a message that one group, one color, or one political party should be favored. No, let those colors remind each of us and each of our duly elected officials that America is a Melting Pot of the red, white and blue … and, we need to listen to each other. We need to work together, not just for our own sake, not just for our party’s sake, but for all the inhabitants thereof.

I remember a song lyric that my mother of blessed memory taught me many years ago. It was The Color Song and it asked what G-d’s favorite color was. I have never forgotten it, and I think it is a message that all of us need to remember with all the political campaigning we are being bombarded with because, my dear readers, God’s favorite color, despite what some candidate might tell you, isn’t red or blue. G-d’s favorite color is the color of Love!

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and serves in this capacity in a number of Health Care settings in the area including Advocate Home Care Services and L’Chayim Jewish Hospice in Partnership with Catholic Hospice of Broward County.

“Doe Adar a female dar…” Yes, I know the lyrics actually say, “Doe a deer, a female deer,” but we are just starting the Hebrew month of Adar. Adar is the month in which we celebrate the Festival of Purim where we read The Book of Esther. And, just a few days after we celebrate Purim, we move our clocks ahead as Daylight Savings Time begins.
Time is an amazing thing. It is a gift. Some people seem to have forgotten the value of time. Some take time for granted. In the Book of Esther, we find that we are (or at least were) running out of time, and then, wonder of wonders, the wicked Haman, who tried to put an end to our time, finds he has run out of time.
I’ve thought a lot about time in recent days. It probably had something to do with a couple of visits to medical specialists. In one office, I was kept waiting 45 minutes and, when the doctor finally saw me, she apologized profusely and let me know she was well aware of how valuable my time, not her time, but mine, was. She let me know she would try to do better in the future.
And then there was the other specialist, who kept me waiting two hours beyond my scheduled appointment and, when he entered the room, there wasn’t even so much as an “I’m sorry you had to wait so long.”
At one of the Health Centers, I asked the people at the Healing Service how many of them had watches on. Several raised their hands and I asked what time it was. Again, several responded, calling out the correct time. That’s when I said it was a good time to count our blessings. Here are a few we came up with:
• If you have a watch, you are blessed because there are many people who do not own one.
• If you can fasten the strap from the watch around your wrist, you are blessed because there are people who, no matter how hard they try, cannot perform this feat of manual dexterity.
• If you can see the face of the watch, you are blessed because there are people who cannot see at all.
• If you can read the time, you are blessed because there are those who have such severe dementia they can no longer remember how to tell time.
• And, if you can tell someone else what time it is, you are blessed because there are those who can no longer speak.
Now, let me ask you a question, dear readers. Why is it that we never seem to notice how many blessings we can count from something as simple as a watch? Could it be that we just never take the time?
Time is not only found on the hands of our watches. Time is on our hands. The question is what are we going to do with the time we have? The choice is up to you! Take some time to think about it and don’t forget to set aside some time to count your blessings.
Shalom my friends,
Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and serves in this capacity in a number of Health Care settings in the area including Advocate Home Care Services and L’Chayim Jewish Hospice in Partnership with Catholic Hospice of Broward County.

Last Week, Beth and I were in Ecuador visiting a close friend of ours and setting up a mission trip for June. Our church is going to go to Quito, Ecuador in June for a Medical/Construction trip.

My friend there also works with youth who have problems with drugs. This friend, Rolo, wanted us to see a city where he was working. He said it would only take about two hours to get there.

Our plans were to go to a museum located at the equator but, since it was only two hours, we figured we’ll go visit this city and then go to the museum. Rolo’s friend, Walter, was driving and we headed off on our little adventure.

After a little more than two hours in the car, I asked if we had much further to go. Rolo, said “no.” Walter, the driver, said “yes,” about three hours more. I was shocked. Instead of two hours, it was going to be five. We asked them to turn around and head back. We didn’t want to spend 10 hours in the car our only day in Quito. We wanted to see the city. Rolo was upset. He felt he had ruined everyone’s plans, including his own. We turned around. Shortly afterward, the traffic came to a complete stop. There was a major accident. We would have to wait until they cleared the road. After another hour or so, we were back on the road.

After finally returning to Quito, we stopped at the house of Walter’s mother where his three children were. Walter, we learned, had just lost his wife a little over a month earlier to Cancer. The whole family was still dealing with this loss. After visiting for a little while, Beth, Rolo and I decided to walk to the center of town, about 10 blocks away. While walking around the city, where we had a wonderful time, we received an invitation from Walter’s mom to stay for dinner. We had a great evening with Walter and his family, an experience we will not forget.

The following day, we finally did get to go to the equator and had a wonderful time. Later in the day, Rolo and I were talking. He was still frustrated by what had happened the previous day. I asked if he remembered the only thing Beth and I had asked to do.

I said, “We wanted to go to the ‘Center of the Earth’ and see the equator. The one thing we asked to do, we didn’t get to because of the misunderstanding about the length of the trip.”

But I then asked him if he knew my favorite part of the whole trip.

He said, “No.”

I said, “Walking around the city with you and having dinner with Walter and his family. And, it wasn’t planned. It was a total accident.”

Just like John Piper says, “God has no afterthoughts. Every plan is Plan A. If he reverses a trajectory, that was the plan.”

What a wonderful truth. We can trust fully in God’s plan for our lives. 1Corinthians 2:9 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

This is an incredible promise. We have never seen, never heard and cannot even conceive of what God has planned for our lives. Bottom line, we can trust God! He has eye-popping, ear-blasting, mind-blowing plans for us, usually where and when we least expect them to be.

Deron Peterson is is the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Deerfield Beach.

“Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage.” Yes, I know, you might be surprised that this rabbi is writing about Valentine’s Day. After all, many people believe that Valentine’s Day is about a saint.

So, why do I feel so comfortable writing about st. Valentine’s Day? Because I happen to know that the original holiday was a Jewish one. That’s right, it was originally called, “Val and Stein’s Day.”

You are probably not aware of the legend of “Val and Stein’s Day.” This may well be because it is something that I recently created, but many people I have shared it with tell me they love the idea, and isn’t love what this day, and every day for that matter, is all about?

The name Val is a French form of the name, Vail, but it can also be a shortened form of the name, Valentine. The name Valentine has a meaning. It refers to someone who is strong. There are several Hebrew equivalents to this. One is Abir, which means, hero, as in “my hero,” and who among us haven’t heard someone in love refer to their soulmate as their hero.

Another Hebrew equivalent is the name Gavriel, which means, “G-d is my strength.” I guess on “Val and Stein’s Day,” we should remember that it is G-d who gives us the ability, the strength to be loving and kind. It is also G-d who gives us the ability to express our love in so many wondrous ways.

In fact, our tradition goes on to say that there are three partners in a marriage – the husband, the wife and, can you guess who the third one is? That’s right, G-d! And, the tradition says the same in regard to a birth as there is the mother, the father and … you guessed it … G-d!

Another Hebrew equivalent to the name Valentine that might give you a bang (pun intended) is the name Uzi. Most of you are probably familiar with the weapon made famous by the Israel Defense Forces, but you should know that the name Uzi means my strength and who among us who has known the joy of love has not had times when our partner has been our strength and times when we have been theirs.

Now, let’s get to the name Stein. As you are well aware, a stein is a large mug used for holding things. On “Val and Stein’s Day,” let this be a reminder to the verse “May your cup of joy overflow,” and that is exactly what true love can do for you; it can make your joy overflowing.

Sometime, in the distant past, someone came up with turning “Val and Stein’s Day” into “ValandStein’s Day,” which, soon became forever known as Valentine’s Day. But I think the idea of merging the two lovers Val and Stein together as one teaches us a very important lesson about love.

Love is a merging of two halves into one whole. May you all come to know the miracle of meeting your other half and becoming one.

With lots of love, Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and serves in this capacity in a number of Health Care settings in the area including Advocate Home Care Services and L’Chayim Jewish Hospice in Partnership with Catholic Hospice of Broward County.

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, 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 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 waver and you will not be shaken. You will stay strong and courageous. The only unshakable thing that remains will be you.

PSALM 16:8

8 I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. NLT

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 waver. 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.

Pastor Tony Guadagnino

Christian Love Fellowship Church

There is a wonderful joke about a pastor who tells his congregation that his sermon for the upcoming week will be about those who lie. He tells them to go home and study a particular chapter from the Book of Mark.

The next Sunday, the pastor begins his sermon with, “Last week, I asked all of you to study the 17th chapter of the Book of Mark; could those of you who did so please raise your hand?”

And, sure enough, almost every person in the congregation raised their hand, and that is when the Pastor says, “You are the ones I need to talk with today because there is no 17th chapter in The Book of Mark!”

I recently talked to my own flock about those who lie. I asked them what the opposite of lying is and, sure enough, one of them immediately called out, “truthing.”

What a great word, although, if you look it up in the Dictionary or Thesaurus, you probably won’t find it. Instead, you will find that the opposite of “lying” is “standing,” perhaps that is why when someone is known for telling the truth, we call him a stand-up guy!

Of course, the opposite of lying is telling the truth, but, as we all know, “To Tell the Truth” is not necessarily a reality, it is more of a game show, at least, it was a game show.

While I am making light of it, I really don’t think that telling the truth is something that should be taken lightly. In fact, we should be on a steady diet of truth, and by diet, I’m not talking about what we put into our mouths, but rather what comes out of our mouths and what we let into our ears.

I was with a couple of math teachers the other night around dinner time, and it got me thinking about a mathematical equation for the truth I had learned long ago. It is found in the Talmud (Sanhedrin, 29a) and the formula reads, “When you add to the truth, you subtract from it.” Wow, how’s that for a mathematical conundrum? And, I will be brazen enough to use a bit of New Math by continuing the equation with, “And when you add to a lie, a small one becomes bigger and bigger.”

During my sermonette last week, I asked, “When you think of a profession known for lying, which profession comes to mind?” (I’ll let you come up guess what they came up with).

And then, I reminded everyone that we are in the midst of an election campaign and in unison everyone called out, “POLITICIANS.”

Maybe, just maybe, that’s because politicians seem to make more promises during a campaign than anyone can possibly fulfill; or maybe it’s just that the politicians really don’t have the power to put their promises into effect. I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Do the math and wash … I mean watch … what comes out of your mouth!

Shalom My Friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and serves in this capacity in a number of Health Care settings in the area including Advocate Home Care Services and L’Chayim Jewish Hospice in Partnership with Catholic Hospice of Broward County.

In today’s culture, we struggle so much with letting go. The “Self-Help” industry is booming, and yet no one seems to act like their lives are getting any better.

It’s like we bounce from one self-help fad to another, always blaming the last theory or maybe our approach to that theory. It seems to me, however, that what’s really missing is the power to change. I believe that all of us have something about our lives that we would like to change.  But how do we accomplish this change?

There are others who want no part in change, but believe their life would be infinitely better if everyone else would change. We all know people like that, they drift from one crisis to the next, always giving responsibility for their problems to everyone else in their lives, never once realizing that the only thing their problems have in common is them.

But what’s the solution? How does one really change? How does one really “take control of their lives,” as many would say, and make change. Change, of course is the topic of the day. It’s January!

Consider this analogy. Suppose you live in a village where electricity is supplied by a generator on a nearby hill. Each evening, the owner of the generator regulates which houses receive the power. He gives two conditions for receiving power for the lamps in your house.

First, he says, “If you plug the cord in the socket firmly, you will tap into the power of the electricity for your light.”

Secondly, “If I see light in the house, I will keep the power flowing to your house, but if I do not see any light for a while, I will assume you are not home and turn off the power to your house.”

Okay, cute story, but how does this apply to my life? Plugging into the power is the condition of believing in the promises of God. It connects you to the power of God. That’s the primary condition of surrendering to God. If you do not plug in the lamps and there is no light, the power source is cut off. The same is true of our relationship with God. If we are not “plugged in,” by the reading of His Word and prayer, then we have no hope of having the necessary power to bring about real change.

This light in the house is the secondary condition of our attitude towards others. You don’t have light first in order to get power. Your light proves that the lamp is plugged in. And your attitude proves that your faith is genuine – that you are really connected to God as one who is satisfied with all that He is for you in Jesus. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” This is what we’re missing. We’re not plugged into the power source.

There is a great God of grace, who magnifies his own infinite self-sufficiency by fulfilling promises to helpless people who trust him. And there is a power that comes from prizing this God, which leaves no nook and cranny of life untouched. It empowers us to love in the most practical ways.

Want real change for 2012? Then, get plugged in.

Deron Peterson is is the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Deerfield Beach.