Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #24

June 20, 2022

Downton Abbey Doubts

Disclaimer: Below are spoilers for the newest Downton Abbey movie. Continue reading only if you don’t mind reading spoilers.

I don’t mind Downton Abbey but unlike many of my friends I am not a huge fan. I did go to see the new movie in a theater and found it to be amusing as well as troubling. I was troubled by the pain that the character Lord Robert Crawley was experiencing in the movie plot. Through a series of circumstances, Lord Crawley has reason to question if his father was his real father. He is horribly troubled by this.

I wanted to walk through the theater screen, shake him, and explain that it doesn’t matter if the father he knew wasn’t his biological father. The father that he knew was a wonderful man who helped Robert become a good man and that should be enough. I doubt that Lord Robert Crawley would have heeded these words.

In Lord Crawley’s world of British lineage, bloodline is important. The thought of being adopted, as opposed to being in a genetic line would be devastating to him. He suddenly is worried more about his past than he is about his present or his future. I wanted to console him and assure him that he was a fine man no matter who his father was.

I found it ironic that I watched this movie not long before Father’s Day. For many of us, this holiday as we celebrate the wonderful fathers who helped us become the people that we are. Other people who did not know their fathers are spent wondering who their fathers were. Yet others, who had less than desirable father’s worry that they can become less than desirable people, as their fathers were.

For me, the question we must ask is “how can we be our best selves not matter our genetics or our upbringing.” The best of fathers was imperfect but we are who we are. How can we be loving parents, fine neighbors, respectful citizens, faithful Christians, no matter what our backgrounds or our parents were.

Unlike Lord Robert Crawley, we don’t need to stress about our past but be responsible for our present and our futures.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

#DowntonAbbey                                                       #Father’sDay

#Discipleship                                                            #Jesus

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book:https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #23

June 13, 2022

Christian Stress Relievers

Life is stressful for many of us. Inflation is roaring like we have not seen in forty years. COVID illnesses and deaths are declining but the plague is not yet over. There are still new cases, and new deaths, being reported. It is better but not over yet. Of course, the rising gas prices have caused stress to everyone. Not since the 1970’s have I seen some much stress over gasoline. People younger than me don’t remember that gas crisis. They think that this is the first time we have struggled with gas prices and supply. What bothers me most about gas prices, and inflation in general, is that these prices hurt some people more than others. Yes, we all suffer from these price increases, but people with less surplus money are hurt even more.

People are more stressed now than they have been for a long time. It began with COVID, and has increased with inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On social media I have seen countless ads for online therapy. Dr. Pam tells me that there is a waiting list of clients wishing to seek therapy. Most of the new clients share one diagnosis, “anxiety disorder.” Like COVID, it is becoming an epidemic.

So how do we in the faith community deal with stress? I believe that we in the faith community deal with it better than people of the world. We have a reservoir of faith and Holy Spirit that gives us comfort and a longer view of life than most people possess. We have something to teach the world about stress management.

Our faith tells us that God will ultimately win. People who do not know this are unsure of what the final outcome will be.

We know how to pray and find a peace and joy that worldly people don’t know. We have a job to do here; teach others to pray.

We engage in acts of charity. This reminds us that many people have lives more difficult than ours. Our lives are grace-filled. That is something to keep reminding ourselves of.

We worship together. Our singing puts us into God’s presence and a distances away from our troubles. It also puts us in touch with Christ’s peace and joy.

We hear from the Bible; God’s Love Letter to us. Hearing the old Bible stories remind us how God has led faithful people through difficult times for thousands of years and that assures us that God will get us through these times as well. That gives us hope.

Our devotion gives us tools to relieve stress. Let us practice with these tools well. We can do our neighbors a favor by teaching them how to use these tools also. It all begins with prayer and worship.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

#Stress                                                                      #Prayer

#Praise                                                                      #Bible

#Peace                                                                      #Joy

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book:https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/

Our daily devotional is a re-post with permission from Words Of Hope. Come view our website at www.clintonave.org.

Power to Go

By Linda R. Rubingh on June 7, 2022

Read: Acts 1:1-8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (v. 8)

Some years ago, I had the privilege of teaching a women’s Bible study about the Holy Spirit. Most in the group were in their sixties and had gone to church since childhood. During the second week, a woman raised her hand: “I’ve been in church my whole life, but I’ve never heard a sermon or Bible study about the Holy Spirit as a real person before now. How is this possible?”

In between his resurrection and ascension, Jesus carefully instructed the apostles and told them to “wait for the gift my Father promised” (v. 4 NIV). This was the promised Holy Spirit, their helper, advocate and power as the church was born and a new era of God’s go-mission began. The Holy Spirit was the new way Jesus, as a person, though physically absent, would remain with them, equipping them with everything they needed. “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20 NIV).

Jesus has chosen and appointed you and me to “Go!” This happens with the daily presence and power of the promised Holy Spirit. —Linda R. Rubingh

As you pray, ask God for the promised Holy Spirit as your abiding source of power.

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #22

June 6, 2022

Searching for Father Mulcahy and Fruit of the Spirit

The news is full of scandals once more. Most recently the media has been full of stories of sex scandals in the Southern Baptist Church. It wasn’t long before that when we heard of the scandals from the Mega-Church named “Hill Song.” From everything I have read or heard of these scandals they all start with the sin of pride. Clergy begin to feel entitled to act badly toward others. Most, if not all of the perpetrators of these crimes have been given celebrity status by congregations. Soon, these clergy members believe what is being said about them. They come to believe that they are special and there is a different rulebook for them than exists for other people.

Perhaps the bigger scandal is the ways that institutions move to cover up these abuse crimes instead of dealing with them with criminal prosecutions. Protecting the church becomes the goal instead of prosecuting perpetrators and caring for victims. In my opinion, these cover-ups are more egregious than the crimes themselves.

All of these scandals start with the sin of pride, making the organization an idol to be worshipped, sometimes replacing worship of Jesus and the following his teachings. As I see this pride rise and witness the negative effects of that pride, I find myself longing for simple and humble clergy. Father Mulcahy, where are you when we need you?

Father Mulcahy was not very charismatic and would never have been named as a celebrity. Whenever he said mass very few people attended. He never had the charisma that many churches bestow upon their clergy. He simply sat with hurting people and showed the love of Christ with his presence and reflecting the “fruit of the Holy Spirit.”

What is the “fruit of the Spirit?” St. Paul lists them in his letter to the churches of Galatia:

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

Increasingly people are choosing to not participate in Christian Worship. I wonder if that is because so few of us Christians demonstrate the Fruit of the Spirit and that becomes obvious to those who are hearing God’s voice and are seeking a religious community.

If we wish to reverse the trend of people leaving faith communities perhaps it is time for us to imitate Father Mulcahy with our kind, gentle, Spirit-filled presence rather than the noise and spectacular presentations of pastors who are treated like celebrities. Let us all try to be Father Mulcahy-like. Maybe we can begin reversing this trend.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                       

#BergenfieldNJ

#FatherMulcahy                                                      

#FruitoftheSprit

#HillSong                                                                   #SouthernBaptistConvention

#SexualAbuse                                                         

#AbuseCover-up

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book:https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #21

May 30, 2022

It Is Memorial Day!

Yes, it is Memorial Day. It is a day to remember. Do we remember what we are to be remembering or have we forgotten?

Memorial Day began during the Civil War. Unlike today, at that time regiments were formed exclusively from a particular town, or perhaps a county. If a regiment was destroyed in battle, potentially all the young men of an entire town could be killed. The impact of such an occurrence could be devastating to a small town.

Whenever a regiment mustered out of the army it would return to its town and parade up the main street to be greeted by town residents. For regiments that suffered high casualty rates, the town was more grief-stricken than joyous as the regiment returned. Gold star mothers and other women who supported them began to trail behind this welcome parade and play funeral dirges lamenting their fallen husbands, sons and neighbors. Soon this custom became more of an anti-war protest than just a simple lamentation parade.

Memorial Day is a time to remember that in order to enjoy the life we have, many of our young warriors died. The blessings we have did not come for free. Thousands have died and many more family members and friends of the fallen are stricken with grief. Let us not forget that.

Amid the picnics and the Memorial Day sales, as we look at parades let us not forget to remember our fallen heroes and those grief-stricken by their fall. Please, let us remember what it is that we are to be remembering today. It is not the happiest of memories, but it is what this weekend and this day are all about.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

#MemorialDay                                                          #Remembering

#Grief                                                                         #GoldStarMothers

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #20

May 23, 2022

New Brunswick Theological Seminary Prophetic Ministry Award

It was a pleasure to return to New Brunswick Theological Seminary this past weekend. I haven’t attended an in-person event there since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. There are certainly mask restrictions and medical precautions, but events are in person again. I attended baccalaureate this year for a specific purpose: to join Dr. Pamela Pater-Ennis in celebrating an honor that she received. The Alumni Association of the seminary gave her the “Prophetic Ministry Award.” This award is given to an alumni who has a ministry that is prophetic in nature.

Certainly Dr. Pam does not fit our image of an old testament prophet. Such prophets were often eccentric and lived on the fringe of mainline society while proclaiming God’s message to various individuals and/or institutions. The role of the prophet was often to confront non-just systems and demand in God’s name that the institutions conform to God’s righteousness and justice.

So, what makes Dr. Pam eligible for such a prophetic ministry award? She was nominated because of her newly created program, “My Sanctuary Healing.” Dr. Pam, angry that people have been abused by various churches, upset that often blamed themselves for their abuse, wanted every Christian in every church to be diligent in preventing abuse in Christ’s Church, formed “My Sanctuary Healing.” The goal is to help abuse survivors heal and to develop programing to keep future abuse from happening.

With “My Sanctuary Healing” Dr. Pam speaks God’s word to abusers, the abused and institutions that have fostered and tolerated abuse. The goal, of course, is that there will be no more abuse in the church of Christ.

I am pleased that the Alumni Association of New Brunswick Seminary had chosen Dr. Pam to receive this award. I am also happy that many of the National Staff of the Reformed Church of America were present for the seminary’s festivities and now word of “My Sanctuary Healing” is known in national Reformed Church circles.

I thank Dr. Pam for starting this prophetic program of healing.

I thank her for speaking out against this modern evil.

I thank the consistory of the Clinton Avenue Reformed Church for endorsing this program.

I thank the alumni association of New Brunswick Theological Seminary for honoring Dr. Pam in this way.

May this program bring healing to many and prevent the abuse of even more people.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                       

#BergenfieldNJ

#MySanctuaryHealing                                             #ClintonAvenueReformedChurch

#NewBrunswickTheologicalSeminary                  #NewBrunswickSeminaryAlumni

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book:https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #19

May 16, 2022

What Did Our Military Sacrifice For?

I received a great honor this week. I was asked to pray and invocation and benediction at the Bergen County Military Appreciation Month Ceremony. I gave up part of a “day off” to participate, but it was such an honor I couldn’t turn it down. It isn’t every day that you can publicly honor our past and present military members. Even though I have never served in the military, I know many people who have and continue to do so. They certainly deserve our respect and appreciation.

At this event I had the honor of sitting next to the keynote speaker, Dr. Cindy R. Jebb who is the President of Ramapo College, former Dean of West Point, and a retired Brigadier General from the United States Army. She was an interesting woman to speak with and gave an inspiring presentation.

Honors were given to a group of selected veterans including a few from World War II. There are few of that generation to honor anymore. As a child most veterans I knew were from that war. Now there are few from World War II or Korea as most are from Vietnam and our several wars in the Middle-East. All of them, of course, deserve our honor, respect, and praise.

And yet, I could not help but wonder what their sacrifice was for. Our nation is now in chaos with groups in conflict against each other. Congress is still investigating the “insurrection” of little more than a year ago. I prefer the word “treason” to “insurrection” but I think I’m in the middle of legal definitions here. Mothers can no longer buy formula for their children and inflation is causing great harm on our poorest citizens. Our nation is beginning to look like a third world nation. Is this really what our military members sacrificed for?

At last the Chorale Ensemble from Bergen County Academies rose to sing God Bless America. Young people from all walks of life and from very different ethnic backgrounds came together to sing a prayer for God’s blessing on our nation. These young people represented our hopes and dreams for the future. I was deeply moved by their rendition of this classis hymn. The sacrifice of all our military is for the future; the next generation. Perhaps this new generation will be more united and less divided, will be smarter in solving problems than past generations have. I thank our military and our veterans for preserving our nation so that the next generation can improve us.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

#MilitaryAppreciationMonthCeremony                 #BergenCountyAcademies

#ChoralEnsemble                                                    #Dr.CindyR.Jebb

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #18

May 9, 2022

How to make joy last forever

Last week I blogged about grief and how long it can last. I thank so many friends who commented with helpful advice. This week I wish to blog on joy and how long that can last.

Eight days ago I had the joy of baptizing my newest grandson, Samuel. I love baptizing children. It is a true pastoral joy. I liken this level of joy to the joy that I recall when I witnessed the birth of my daughters and held my grandsons for the first time. The joy of birth and the joy of welcoming new babies into the church is very similar. How do we keep that joy filled feeling from diminishing? How long can joy last?

Life is indeed a mixture of joy and grief. All of us have experienced some of each. How do we live so that we celebrate joy and keep our experienced grief at bay. I do know some people who seem to focus on the negative and ignore the positive. Likewise I know people who only seem to remember he joys and somehow are not affected by the grief that they have endured.

A wise man once told me to remember the Cherokee proverb that says that there are two wolves living within us. The one wolf is good and the other is bad. These two fight with one another for domination of our souls. The wolf that we feed is the one that will win the fight.

We choose whether to feed the joy within us or to feed the grief and hurts within us. How do we starve grief and feed the joy? Quite simply, it is a matter of which we pay attention to more. If we intentionally remember our joys we will reinforce them. Whenever the griefs begin to rise to the surface we can train ourselves to think of a joyful memory. Little by little we can transform ourselves from grief to joy. We all carry both. The question is which will we nurture and which we will neglect.

I pray that we all, even in troubled times, nurture joy and become joy-filled people.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

#Baptism                                                                   #God’sFamily

#Grief                                                                         #Joy

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #17

May 2, 2022

How Long Does Grief Last?

Two years ago, like many if not most, Americans, I was struck by grief. At the beginning of April 2020 a beloved friend and mentor Rev. Dr. Allan J. Janssen died of COVID-19. His wife was sickened also but survived. The two contracted the illness while out to dinner with another Reformed Church icon, Rev. Dr. Gregg Mast and his wife. Gregg and his wife also contracted COVID-19. Gregg fought to live an additional three weeks but finally died on April 27. Like Al’s wife, Gregg’s wife was sickened but survived.

I was still reeling from these deaths when I was called on April 29 to check on my sister. She had not gone to work and was not responding to phone calls from work nor to wellness calls by the local police department. I found her and it was clear that she had died on April 28 while preparing for work.

Over the past two years I thought that I had largely healed from the grief of these three losses. I think about them less and less each day as my life has continued. I was busy with daily work at church and enjoying grandparenting with my three grandsons. Grief, I thought was over as current evens took over. I was wrong. It was buried, not eliminated.

On Facebook I began to read tributes to Al and Gregg and my waves of grief came back and overwhelmed me. Suddenly I was grieving as I had done two years before. I had the feeling that emotionally I was stuck in a time two years before and was asking the questions, “how long does grief last” and “does anyone really outlive grief?”

These are feeling that congregations have as well as individuals. Many congregations have suffered many losses during these last two years of COVID-19. How long will congregations grieve and how will they overcome grief?

I guess that we never truly get over grief. We simply deal with it enough so that it does not keep us from living in the present or looking forward to the future. Grief is part of living but we must never let it become the core of our lives. We surrender it to God and allow God to use our grief and channel it for better, more faithful, future days.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

#RevDrAllanJJanssen                                             #RevDrGreggMast

#DawnRuthEnnis                                                     #Grief

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book:https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #16

April 25, 2022

Reminder: Don’t Take Our Children For Granted

Friday is the one day that I take off each week. It is often a busy day with my catching up on errands and getting domestic projects done that I have not gotten to during the week. I do lead a very busy life. This past Friday was the greatest and worst of all possible days.

It started out rather well. I spent the day at the home of one of my daughters. We helped her set up the new bedroom for her two boys. My other daughter and her son also joined us. It is always fun to have family dinners, especially when all three of my grandsons are present. I’m still nostalgic when it comes to a family gathered around a dinner table sharing a meal and sharing lives with one another.

I was in a tremendous mood as I left to drive back home and drop my other daughter and grandson back at their home in the nearby town of New Milford. I was surprised when I entered her complex and saw a ring of police, fire department vehicles, and all manner of emergency vehicles. I did not know what was happening but with all the vehicles present I knew that the incident could not be good.

I stopped and ask several people in the crowd of spectators that were gathered. These people informed me that a teenager, a senior at New Milford High School, had entered the pond in the center of the complex and had never come out. The emergency vehicles were conducting a search and recovery operation. Approximately one hour after I spoke to these concerned people, the young man’s body was recovered. As feared, he was deceased.

I did not learn any details until the next day. The details distressed me as much as the initial report. Clinten Ajit is the deceased young man. He was eighteen years old and a high school senior. He was doing a good deed at the time of his death. A group of younger people were playing soccer when their ball was kicked into a pond in the center of the complex. Clinten volunteered to enter the water and retrieve the ball. One of the soccer-playing boys described Clinten walking into the water and with each step, sinking until he was out of sight.

Now a family is grieving. An entire community is in shock. School friends are in disbelief at losing a fellow student who was described as friendly, driven, and popular.  I’m sure that the group of soccer players are feeling guilty. It was their soccer ball that Clinten was fetching at the time of his death. None of the people who had interacted with Clinten on his final day could have imagined that this was the last time that they would be seeing them.

Life is short. We cannot take tomorrow for granted. This tragedy reminds us of the importance of showing affection toward those we love. We can’t wait for tomorrow to do so. Tomorrow may never come. None of us know how many days we have or how many days our loved-ones have. Let us pray for all those who are now grieving Clinten’s death. Let us remember to love those around us and treat them as if it is the last time that we will see them. It just might be.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

# NewMilfordNJ                                                        #DorchesterManor

# NewMilfordHighSchool                                        #ClintenAjit

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/