t o m p e r c o n t i

Teach on Storms... and you become a Meteorologist!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:12:00 +0000

It's been a little over a year since the last time that I had the opportunity to share God's Word with the congregation during weekend service. A lot has happened since then, and the message this time was particularly relevant and timely. It was my prayer all week long that the message would be solidly on the truth of God's word and that His people's hearts would be ready to receive it. From all indications, it appears that those prayers were answered.

One side effect of teaching on the storms found in Scripture is this belief by some that I have the "inside track" in identifying the type of storm and what the correct response should be. I'm being viewed as some "spiritual meteorologist". This opinion is far, far from the truth. I can barely identify my own storms and only after much prayer can I determine my response... and sometimes not be comfortable that the response that I've chosen is the proper one.

So I will be meeting with some dear brothers and sisters who say they want to properly embrace the storm they are experiencing. I will share with them the truth... that God has already completely equipped them with all that they will need to identify their storms and how to respond. I'll offer some practical suggestions on how to do that, but they need to know that God's Word when applied correctly (and a heart that is yielded to what the Spirit is doing) is all that they need.

Blogging, Romania-style

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:47:00 +0000

Days have turned to weeks. Weeks into months. Many months in fact. Retirement (from the secular workforce) is in full swing, but serving the Lord is over the top as is evident here as I am typing this from the church office of Metanoia (Harvest Bible Chapel) of Brasov, Romania. Romania!!! I've only been in Romania less than 24 hours and already have fallen in love with the place. Looking forward to spending time with Pastor Adi, his wife, and church leadership here.

Asking the Lord for wisdom, discernment, guidance, a word to share with Pastor Adi, and a blessed time with co-laborers for Christ who are like-minded and like-hearted in our desire to serve Him.

"Amazing": Kingdom-style

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:42:00 +0000

It is approaching 3 months since my last blog post. At that time I had just given my first sermon and was looking forward to a relaxing Summer... trying to just loosen my grip a little more on the things of life. but less than 2 weeks later the greatest "storm" I've ever experienced in my life (so far) happened. The sudden and tragic death of my oldest son was something that I was not expecting. The blinding white-hot pain physically squeezed my heart when I first heard the news. I was in a daze for the next 36 hours. Then the fog mysteriously lift as I made my way to the airport to fly to New York to deal with the funeral arrangements. What I didn't know at the time is that the news was announced at church services that weekend. 1000 of God's people were praying for me and my family. They prayed for peace, comfort, strength, and the opportunity to share the love of Christ with those who needed it. All of those prayers were answered...abundantly. Way too much to tell in even a blog post.

God is indeed amazing.

Then two weeks after that, I was given an assignment that had significantly more pressure and time requirements. That meant LESS time for serving at church. It was brought to my attention that there were some new pension plan changes that would dramatically reduce my pension benefit. (This was on top of the change that the company made in 1999 that essentially wiped out my pension benefit) So not wanting to lose the rest of what little remained (and to keep more time for service), I made the decision to retire from IBM this November. Immediately I thought of our failed attempt to buy a larger, more expensive house last year. There would be no way that I could consider this decision if we had bought that house. So I now seem at least one of the reasons why the "King said 'no' "last year.

God protects us from things that we don't know.

And while that is going on, there were some other family decision (all good) that would impact our regular routine.

Plenty of changes and tragedy in such a short time. By God's grace, never once did my faith in the Lord waver. I had to deal with the question, "You preach God's word and tell others to trust in Him for everything, but do YOU believe that?" The answer was an emphatic, "YES!" (there was never a moment of doubt)

I hope that I learned what I needed to learn and grow in the areas that I needed to grow. I'm looking forward to a time of quiet and rest but for some reason I don't think that is going to happen. ;-)

A humble messenger

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:53:00 +0000

This past weekend I had the honor and privilege of delivering a message to our congregation. Our senior pastor was on vacation, and me being an elder (this past March) and never having had the opportunity to teach since being installed as an elder, I was given the mission to share from God's Word.

A few months ago when Pastor Jon invited me to teach, I was absolutely excited and immediately and appreciatively accepted. Later that evening, the reality of the situation sunk in. I would be standing before nearly 1000 believers, sharing truths from the Bible, God's inerrant and eternal word. At most churches, this would not be a weighty matter. Many churches don't place importance on the Bible and are as quick to share stories from the latest issue of "Reader's Digest" or the latest book on Christian living as they are to share from the Bible.

But here at Harvest Bible Chapel, we place great emphasis on the importance of the Bible as the source for written truth about God and from God. How I handle God's Word would be extremely important. Any twinges of concern didn't go beyond that... twinges. I know that the Lord has called me and equipped me to teach and preach His word. But that doesn't lighten the burden of responsibility.

In the week preceding my time to teach, I took time off from work for prayer, meditation, and study. I asked the Lord to prepare my heart and mind so that I could receive the message that He wanted to be delivered. I didn't want any of my thoughts and biases entering in. It was a great week.

I have a great passion for the Lord, His Word, and His people. That is one of the many things that I love about the Harvest Bible Chapel movement... from the movement's founder (Pastor James MacDonald) right on down and throughout, there is a real and deep passion for the Lord. I wanted the passion that I have to show. I wanted others see it, see that it is real, and catch it too. Being a disciple of Jesus is exciting! Whether we're dealing with pleasant or unpleasant circumstances, there is excitement.

My previous teaching opportunities in Bible college, small groups, or body ministries, have been more of the scholarly angle... teaching more than preaching. Where technical accuracy was required... where every single word that was spoken must be deliberately and specifically selected. But I felt that God was giving me an opportunity to stretch. To be more free in speaking.... WITHOUT compromising the truth of Biblical doctrine.

To make a long story short, what I did this past weekend was not give a sermon... (my message contained very little of the constructs that I had learned in Homiletics class in Bible College), but a simple expedition through God's word, literally verse by verse, sharing the truth from God's word, and sharing from the heart what it means and how to apply to our lives.

Was it a good message? All I know is that God answers prayers that are in line with His will, many had been praying for me, and I was diligent to pray, study, and prepare. As long as God was glorified and His people received the message that I believe was supposed to be delivered.... that's really all that matters to me. I mean that! This isn't same cheesy attempt to fish for compliments.

If you want to see me 'red-line', if you want to see me 'maxing it out', if you want to see when I'm 'all-in' on something, it's when I'm loving God.

Crystal Cove: A very public private oasis

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:55:00 +0000

Vacations. They're usually just as busy and just as scheduled as our regular routines. It seems like we can't break away from the "performance plan" mentality...even when we're on vacation.

When we decided on spending 5 days at a beachfront cottage at Crystal Cove State Park, I was determined that this vacation would be different. Vacationing in California, the temptation was great to plan a day trip here, and a day trip there. But I stood firm, and we had nothing planned.

Except for cell phones (for emergencies and traveling info) and a few mp3 players we left all electronics home. Instead, we brought a stack of books and stack of boardgames. Cottage #27 (pictured) is known as the "Dive Shack" and is furnished with marine paraphernalia. It is a mere 120 ft or so from the beach. The interior is very rustic but with just the bare essentials to make it pleasant. We did a little shopping at the local Albertson's to get some essentials for breakfast and lunch.

I cannot express the importance of having 5 full and completely unstructured days to unwind and decompress. There was definitely something calming about the unceasing rhythmic sound of the waves on the beach. Without alarm clocks we woke up pretty early in the morning and caught families of sand pipers flitting around the water's edge. Ate a little breakfast and watched dolphins bopping through the water. The day-visitors to the beach would appear and the beach came to life... and we had a front-row seat to it all.

The wooden deck out-front was great for catching some sun, reading a good book, and people watching. Around lunchtime, we individually would grab a snack out of the fridge (no formal lunch). The afternoon was spent doing the same kind of nothing and walking the beach. As dinnertime rolled around, we'd watch the day-visitors leave and we would go out to a nice restaurant. After dinner, watch the sun go down, and play a few boardgames. By 9:30 we were totally wiped out and ready to turn in. Who would've thought that doing absolutely nothing was such hard work!

Each day seemed like a week. But by the end, it seemed like the 5 days went by too quickly. In spite of the drive there and back to California, it was absolutely the most restful vacation I've taken...ever. I highly recommend this type of do-nothing vacation to everyone... especially in this overly-connected world.

Running back to Egypt

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:42:00 +0000

I remember watching Cecile B. DeMille's "10 Commandments" in the theater during the 70's. I would watch it every year on commercial TV. It was only as an adult could I find humor in the casting of that film. Edward G. Robinson as Dathan was perhaps the most humorous. He is best known for his depression-era gangster films. To hear him say, "Where's your Moses now?" with that same inflection he used in mouthing off to other gangsters was just too funny.

But another thing that makes his appearance memorable in the film is that his character, Dathan repeatedly attempted to convince the newly freed Israelites to return to the comfort of the known back in Egypt.

There are quite a few references in the Old Testament to this sentiment. Exo 14:10-12, 16:2-3, 17:2-3, Num 11:4-7, 11:18-20, 14:1-4... just cite a few. This sentiment is also evident in the New Testament. Paul, in his letter to the Galatian church had this to say, (Gal 3:1-3), "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? [2] This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? [3] Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?"

In times of stress and uncertainty, we in our human nature have a tendency to want to go back to the familiar... even if it was oppressive, hurtful, and sinful. At that moment in time, we immediately forget all that God has done for us up to that point. We forget His faithfulness. We become fearful. In the Bible, "Egypt" is a symbol for the (unbelieving) world of idolatry and false religion. And all of these examples in Scripture show how believers are so willing to quickly turn from God and toward the the comfort of the known. Even if it meant back to slavery.

That isn't just some ancient historical account with no relevance today. It is happening today too! There are some who have received the gift of pardon by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone but are now rejecting that truth and turning to religious systems....for some it is a return to a religious system. A return to Egypt.

But it is not just fear that causes some to "return to Egypt". Pride is another reason. Pride in wanting to have a part to play in their own salvation. Pride in not wanting to submit to Biblical authority but to the authority of man-made rules and regulations. Pride that allows one to pick-n-choose what Biblical commands and prohibitions to embrace and which ones to reject. Pride that convinces one that the outward mechanics of religion are a measure of spirituality. Pride that justifies one's personal ambitions when it conflicts with God's sovereign will.

These days are dark and getting darker. Uncertainty, fear, and doubt are running rampant. There are 365 verses in the Bible that make reference to the phrase, "do not fear" (or some combination like "fear not"). Fear is that easy to fall into. Scripture talks about a great falling away (apostasy) from the faith in the last days. Now more than ever believers need to be in God's Word, prayer, worship, and fellowship. Whether it is fear or pride, there is no good reason to return to Egypt.

Fried Cardunas FTW!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:49:00 +0000

Wow. It has been 5 months since my last blog post. The passage of time seems to have gone into hyperdrive. IBM workload flared up and had been running 'white hot' up until the week before Christmas. (miraculous considering the economic conditions) A steady flow of ministry responsibilities kept things exciting. A week and a half of some time off during the Christmas / New Years break was great. Peaceful. Mostly restful. I was able to really recharge my batteries.

So here we are, nearly a month into 2010. And of all the exciting things that have already happened in this new year, it is the food memory of fried cardunas that has my attention.

2 weeks ago, I helped out some dear friends of ours (Warren and Michelle) with a Skype issue they were having. They were so appreciative that they wanted to do something in return. They asked if I had ever heard of something called, "cardunas". I said, "are you kidding me?!" Michelle had gotten some from a friend and she fried up a batch. (Warren and Michelle are transplants from the Philly area and one of the few couples that we have cultural things in common with.) Those carduna were a blast from the past!

This past Sunday at church, they informed me that Fry's had a batch of carduna in their produce section. Eva and I went to Fry's later that day and picked up a giant stalk. Even though these carduna were far more mature than what I used to pick as a kid, I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass by. So this morning, Eva cleaned, boiled, breaded, and fried the carduna....

WOW! As with everything Eva makes, they were perfect! Tender not stringy. Crispy not soggy. I believe that she made them BETTER than Nonnie used to make them. Flashbacks of those Springtime outings so many years ago to pick cardunas (they grew wild) came to mind.

Uncle Joe and I would visit a few orchards and we would harvest a bushel-full. Nonnie and Mom would clean 'em and cook 'em. Dad and I would harvest the ones around the property. Since they are basically weeds, there was only a short window of opportunity in the Spring when the carduna were the right size and before they were cut down with the rest of the grass and weeds.

It may sound silly, but it is times like these, that make it feel like Eva and I have been together our entire lives...in a good way!

When the King says, "No".

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:56:00 +0000

You go boldly to the throne of grace and petition the Lord for something. In your prayers you ask with specifics (James 4:2) and express a desire for His will to be done (Mat 26:39c). So what do you do when the King says, "no."?
In understanding how we should respond, consider this verse:

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
(Psa 84:11)

A powerful promise that we believers can depend on. But we need to look at that verse closely. First, there is the prerequisite of walking uprightly. If we aren't abiding in Christ, walking with Him, and keeping His commandments, then He will not answer our prayers affirmatively. If He were to answer a prayer while we are in rebellion, then He would be telling us that rebellion is acceptable to Him. (which it is not)

If we are walking uprightly, then we need to consider if the thing that we were asking for was "good". Does scripture support the belief that what was being requested was good? Maybe it was neutral, neither good nor evil.

Maybe the thing was not good for you specifically. Vanilla milkshakes are good. They're creamy, sweet, and frosty goodness. But if a person is lactose-intolerant, then a milkshake would result in abdominal pains. If a person is diabetic, then a milkshake could potentially be life-threatening.

Maybe the thing was good but it was the timing that was bad. Would you want to drink a filling vanilla milkshake moments before you are invited to a surprise steak and lobster dinner?

You get the idea. When the King says "no", then our response should be to give Him praise for protecting us from unforeseen dangers, imperfect timing, or to draw attention to the deficiencies in our relationship with Him.

More lessons from the lawn

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:53:00 +0000

I had forgotten how effective the act of cutting grass can be with regard to clearing the mind of static, noisy thoughts. Back in NY with nearly an acre of grass to cut, some of my most clear-thinking occurred while riding the tractor, pushing the mower, or wielding a weed-whacker.

During my latest grass cutting episode, as I was examining the imperfections in my lawn and beginning to stress out about them, I found it amusing that people who install an artificial lawn want it to look "real" while those who install real grass want it to look artificially perfect.

It hit me that we can do the same thing with church.

We can choose to attend a church that presents itself as being all polished, dialed in, pristine presentation, hip and cool bulletins, and pastoral staff that gives the impression of having reached Christ-like perfection in their walk. But having made that choice we can then complain about a lack of sincerity, depth of relationships, and overall shallowness that lacks the power of God's Holy Spirit.

Alternatively, we can choose to attend a church that presents itself as being humble, sincere, and where people are (and can be) "real". Things may be modest, in order, relationships deep, and there is a genuineness and Holy Spirit power that is evident. Having made THAT choice we can then complain about the imperfections in fellow congregants, lay leaders, pastors, and elders. We can second guess decisions made and expect the type of perfection that polished churches imply.

Until the Lord returns, there will not be such a thing as a perfect church. But I choose to be a part of a church that seeks to glorify God by making mature disciples of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit in a real and sincere manner. I choose to lay aside my expectations of people. Instead, I choose to be a conduit of God's grace to others... to actively participate in the "one anothers" as described in Scripture.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph 4:32)

Turn in your geek card!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:14:00 +0000

Ok. I've had my Toshiba a305 notebook for 16 months and it has been rock solid. I even bought a 2nd hard drive and installed WinXP on it (after hunting around the 'net for 3 months to find drivers) It's been the most reliable notebook I've owned so far. And while the clackety-clack of the glossy keyboard was a nuisance, the entire thing was one big shiny fingerprint-smudge magnet.
CSI could use this thing for training agents in fingerprint recovery.

Those issues plus not wanting to be stuck with a notebook that died suddenly (like my previous 2 did), I figured that it was time to get a new one. I seriously toyed with the idea of a Macbook Pro. The style is great. The size was perfect. But the price was insane. Exactly twice the price of my solidly built Toshiba. And it only had 2 USB ports! Even though I have a copy of XP to load on it, I couldn't see shelling out $1700. So after some shopping around, I chose a Sony Vaio... bronze/brown colored body, matte finish with a woodgrain texture. It even sported a Macbook-like chicklet keyboard. Perfect.

The only problem was that it was the last one at Best Buy and it was pre-prepped by their Geek Squad. Before I could tell the clerk that I didn't want Geek goo on it, he offered to "remove it". I agree. (although I watched everything he did with it and he didn't do anything)

Well, I get it home. Although it is slightly smaller than the Toshiba, the wider aspect ratio of it makes it look bigger. I boot it up and Vista is already configured. One of the features is an "instant web" button that will turn on the notebook and have a full web browser up and running in under 15 seconds. (it is a highly tuned Linux distro with Firefox) When I tried the button, the system complained that it wasn't set up and to run the install.

I boot up Vista and attempt to look for an instant web installer. Nothing. A few things that I try to run act a little flakey. So I build some recovery DVDs (a good idea) and rebuild the system from factory fresh. Lo and behold, once I did that and pressed the web button, it installed and configured itself! The Geek Squad had deleted the "splashtop" executables from Vista. Ugh.

Oh well, after losing 6+ plus hours due to their ineptness, I had the whole system tuned, all 40+ applications installed, 50GB of music, photos, and videos restored. I hate getting new systems... too much to install and tweak. But at least it is done now and I can start USING it. :-)

...one giant leap for mankind.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:05:00 +0000

For the last 4 days, our living room has been transformed into mission control as we watched a real-time reenactment of the Apollo 11 moon mission. The actual NASA audio transmissions between Mission Control and the Apollo 11 were played exactly 40 years from their original transmissions. Computer simulations were choreographed to the audio. All courtesy of http://wechoosethemoon.org/

Even though I was nearly 7 yrs old, I remember the Apollo 11 mission back in '69. This reenactment felt so real. All four of us were drawn into it. Throughout the mission, the kids asked questions. I was excited to talk about it with them. I was surprised at just how much I remembered about the mission. This wasn't like watching a documentary... it was reliving an historic event as if it were happening now.

When I heard the transmission of "Houston, this is Tranquility Base... the Eagle has landed." I felt a chill run down my spine. The Apollo 11 moon landing took on a whole new perspective 40 years later... and as a Christian.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalms 19:1)

When I consider how the Apollo 11 mission stretched the resources, skills, and intellect of man to its limits (of the times), I conclude that my humble view of man is not humble enough. Looking at the what it took just to reach a satellite "only" 238,000 miles starts to put the scale of the universe and man's place in it into perspective. And above it all, the power, majesty, and sovereignty of God.

The Power of Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:21:00 +0000

I just returned from a wonderful but way too short trip (all/part of 5 days) to Daytona Florida. Some father/son time with Tom and his graduation from WyoTech Institute. What made the occasion more special than something like this typically is was the dramatic transformation that Tom underwent over these last 10 months.

He went from being a good kid who hung out with the wrong crowd, doing the wrong things, going in the wrong direction, exhibiting the wrong attitude, to an energetic, enthusiastic, determined, disciplined, positive-thinking, independent young man who is driven to succeed in life with a sky's-the-limit attitude.

Tom and I got to spend a lot of father/son time… catching up on things… talking about life… talking about the future. Graduation was terrific. He graduated with “Honors”, 1 of only 10 from a class of 130 to do so. (Honors requires a 3.80 or higher GPA, Tom’s was 4.0)

Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyways) I’m extremely proud of Tom and all that he has accomplished over these last 9-10 months. It was a long string of on-his-own "firsts" for him. Arranging for tuition, applying to the school, arranging for a place to live, living on his own, living in a strange place, attending and completing a demanding (8+ hours a day) technical training program for 9 months with excellence (it doesn’t get better than a 4.0), dealing with curveballs that life threw his way, all with a positive attitude is nothing short of miraculous.

Bensonhurst Flashback (Spring Edition)

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:22:00 +0000

The weather here in Prescott Valley over the past 2 weeks has been pleasantly mild for this time of year. Low humidity (as usual), temperatures in the upper 60's / low 70's, and steady breeze, form a perfect combination.

It was while I was sitting out in the backyard, enjoying a cup of espresso and the mild weather that I had a flashback of spring mornings in Bensonhurst back in the early 1970's.

(photo is part of Kevin Ly's collection)

There was the same comfortable chill in the air. The same low humidity (a rarity before the heat of summer kicked in). Flashback to the anticipation of summer vacation with only 3 weeks of school remaining. The sights, sounds, and smells of 86th St. accompanied that flashback. Vegetables and fruits from the produce markets. Baking pizza and spices threading its way through the air. The sweet bouquet of baked cookies and pastries. Hot pretzels over glowing charcoal of street vendors. The thunder of the train rushing overhead. The woosh of the hydraulic brakes on a city bus. A mom's shout of "Anthony!" at a boy too eager to stay close. Old ladies walking to the market with their wired wheeled carts. Little kids tugging on their mother's skirt wanting a quarter for the mechanical rides in front of the shoe store.

The polish and glitz of indoor malls seems more cold and impersonal.

The Grass IS greener!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:43:00 +0000

The old adage, "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." and Irma Bombeck's spin on it, "the grass is always greener over the septic tank" reveal quite a bit about human nature. In my case, the grass is greener right here!

As I was watering my lawn, I realized that I spray half the yard to stop things (weeds) from growing, and spray the other half to get things (grass) to grow. Only in Arizona. :-)

That patch of lush, cool, trimmed, green grass reminded me to be content right here, right now. As a software developer, an engineer, a planner, "looking down the road" is a frequent requirement of the job. But just as one can zone out mesmerized by the white lane dividers on a highway, we can sometimes get that tunnel vision about what is going on around us.

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Timothy 6:6)

As I look down the road at the new opportunities and adventures in ministry, I find that I'm not impatient but eagerly anticipating. I end my work day a bit earlier than usual (still later than I should though), putter around the yard, and even take time in the early evening to start a fire in the fire pit. We've all sat around the fire enjoying each other's company more in the last 2 weeks than we have in the last 6 months. Drinking coffee, joking with the kids, sharing my heart with Eva, I remembered just how few people get to do this. Peace, tranquility, joy, love, grace, and yes... contentment.

I am truly a blessed man living an abundant life. None of which I deserve.

The Power of a Quarter

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:35:00 +0000

I tell ya T, it was mayham!

Paulie "walnuts" Gualtieri often spoke unintentional words of wisdom. This time his words applied to a scenario where 14 very young children were running around the backyard through the water sprinkler.

All of them were dialed up to "11" with no signs of slowing down. They were running around, laughing, giggling, and just being kids. It was great!

But they were a little too loud for the ladies to talk so I grabbed a quarter from my coin bowl and went into action. I gathered them all around and asked them if they would play "Chinese School". It is a terrifically simple game... have the kids line up facing the "teacher" and tell them that they are having a "test" (to pick which closed fist has the quarter in it)... and if they pass the test then they "graduate" to the next grade by taking a step forward. The ones to reach the end of the yard first were the winning graduates. They all quietly got in line and played.

I used to play this game as a kid in Bensonhurst, but rather than taking a step, we usually played on a staircase and we would move up a step when we graduated.

Later on, as an adult, I would often play this game at children's birthday parties and have upwards of 30 children quiet, still, and entertained, with the aid of a simple 25 cent piece. The other parents would look in amazement as their "uncontrollable Johnny" stood quietly and eagerly awaiting his turn to guess the hand.

Tricks and games like these are a lost art these days. as I enter the final stage of parenting (teens on to independence) I feel sorry for the parents today who are in the raising toddler, preschool, and elementary stages who are doing that without these little sanity-saving tips.

He's above time, He created time, He'll make more.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:46:00 +0000

Snack maker Frito-Lay's spokesman Jay Leno said in one ad campaign for Doritos, "crunch all you want, we'll make more." in a satirical appeal to those Dorito fans who might not eat as many Dorito chips as they want because of a fear that they would "run out". Jay reassured us that Frito-Lay can keep up with the demand.

Almighty God is eternal. He always was, is, and will be. There was never a moment when He did not exist. If time is the "yardstick" to measure the change in state of matter, then God created time at the moment that He created the Universe (and everything in it). The creator is greater than the creation. God is greater than time and is not constrained by time.

"Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." (NKJV, Psa 90:2)

Back in the day, I was told by my instructors in the School of Ministry that I need to guard my time. That there will be situations when I will have to say "no" to an opportunity. Although I didn't particularly agree, I could see the practicality of that advice.

But in my own experiences, I have seen something different. Every time that I've stepped forward in faith to do something from a heart of love for the Lord and His people regardless of how much/little time I have, He has blessed it and supernaturally made "more time"....every time.

Mother's Day was just the latest example. My typical Sunday routine is to return home from church services, change into a comfortable t-shirt and slacks, check e-mail, eat a quick lunch, and retire to the guest room to pray, study, and prepare the pulpit curriculum small group study notes for the week. 4 hours later at around 6pm I would emerge and kick back for a few hours.

But this Sunday, Mother's Day Sunday, I was faced with a dilemma.... do I take my dear wife out for a leisurely lunch (and delay my study and preparation by 3+ hours) or do I just go straight into study and prep? After all, Eva is wonderfully understanding and supportive of my ministry... and we DON'T need a special day to do something special together.

I decided to honor the Lord by honoring my wife. We had a great lunch. We enjoyed our time together (as we always do). I ended up starting my studying 3 hours later than I usually would. I was fighting off that drowsiness that follows a good meal. The odds were stacked against me getting everything done by a reasonable time. But the Lord came through as He always does... and in a little over 2 hours I had the study completed, finishing only about 1/2 hour later than I usually finish.

I share this not to show how great of a husband or servant that I am, but to show how awesome and faithful our God is to those who trust in Him and do things from a heart that desires to honor Him. Hopefully this will be encouragement to those who are holding back and are hesitant to step up and serve Him out of fear that there just isn't enough time. So to paraphrase Jay Leno, "serve all you want, He'll make more (time)."

Harvest U Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:18:00 +0000

I've just returned from attending Harvest University 2009 and wanted to capture my thoughts about it before the routine of life comes flooding back in....

Harvest University is an annual 3 day conference held at the main Harvest Bible Chapel campus in Elgin, Il. It is an opportunity for pastors and leaders of HBC churches from around the world to gather together to catch up with fellow servants, make connections, exchange ideas and stories, and get some practical instruction on the various elements of the HBC ministry. 15 different tracks of emphasis, of 10 sessions each, spread over 2 days.

I had the privilege of attending Harvest U this year for the first time. The conference started with a reception and a teaching by Pastor James MacDonald who laid it down as only he can. I didn't exactly know what to expect but I jumped across various tracks over the 2 days... Elder topics, Adult ministry, and Biblical Counseling tracks had me hopping on both days. Thankfully I didn't end up on the wrong side of the tracks.

There are far too many thoughts to post here on how my experiences at Harvest U impacted me, but to be surrounded by over 600 fellow leaders who adhere to the same doctrines, and approach ministry in the same way was encouraging and insightful. It was like an extended family reunion. The Lord is doing something very special with Harvest and I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a part of it.

He took a stand, will you?

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:57:00 +0000

In these last days where liberal theology is creeping and spreading, and where the Bible is viewed as suggestive instead of authoritative, it is important to remember the fight for the centrality of Scripture (and not man-made constructs) as the foundation for Christian truths.

Here's an article that remembers Martin Luther's stand 488 years ago today.

Between Two Worlds: Here He Stood

Those who take a Rationalistic approach to doctrine will accuse Sola Scriptura adherents as engaging in bibliolatry. I have yet to meet one who does worship the Bible. But we must not let the possibility of being labeled as such deter us from defending the authoritative position that the Bible has as God's Word.

T-Mobile G1 Survival Guide (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:20:00 +0000

There we were, minding our own business. We called T-Mobile customer service to simply find out what our service date was and what the cancellation fees would be. We didn't plan on canceling, we just wanted to know. We were immediately shuffled off to customer retention... to make a long story short, Eva and I both received G1 smartphones to replace our T-Mobile Dashes for half the price of one. 75% savings was too sweet a deal to pass up.

Having owned a Windows Mobile (CE, PPC, etc.) device of one sort or another for about 10 years, I was excited to finally be able to try something new. I could finally bid goodbye and good riddance to the anemic web browser known as Pocket IE. Gone will be the Today screen that I have had to endure since leaving behind my Pocket PC loaded with PPX desktop UI. While waiting for the G1's to arrive, I browsed cyrket (an online view of the Android Marketplace) to find the apps and games that I would want to install.

My excitement was tempered when the G1's arrived. Most of the android marketplace apps are more accurately described as somewhere between "proof-of-concept" and "2nd round beta". Not all of them, but most. I was also disappointed with the lack of preloaded apps on the G1 for specific offline/disconnected use. I will admit however that disappointment is a bit misplaced since this is a phone "powered by Google" after all and connectedness is the focus.

I'll save a review of the G1 device for another day (since there are already so many reviews). But rather, I want to point out some "must-have" applications for the G1 that will significantly improve the capabilities of a very nice device.

CadreBible LE (Bible Reader) - This is a very capable reader with a nice variety of Bible translations, dictionaries, and commentaries. The developer is working on arrangements to make popular modern translations available for it. I'm a NKJV person myself, and while it isn't available for Cadre, the UKJV version that is freely available is a nice placeholder.

JJReader (eBook Reader) - There are a dozen or so apps on the marketplace that claim to be book readers, but they are all woefully inadequate in features or buggy. FBReaderJ looked very promising (along with auduaReader). But they have serious filesystem bugs. Although jjReader only supports .txt files, it works very well with no noticeable bugs or glitches. It provides bookmarking capabilities as well as full customization of font style, size, color, and background color. It's a nice small tool for displaying text files stored on an SD card.

Cinema (Video player) - One of the first things that I do with a gadget is attempt to play videos on it. The G1 does not come preloaded with a video player. The majority of the players on the android marketplace have a variety of limitations. It does a great job of playing .mp4 video files (that also play on the PC, Zune, iPod, PSP, and PS3). Videos that I created with Handbrake for the PSP played as-is on the G1.

DataViz's Documents-to-Go (Office Suite) - Another one of the glaring omissions of the G1 is the lack of a word processor and spreadsheet. Although there is no free alternative, DataViz's Documents-to-Go does an amazing job of browsing, editing, and creating MS Word and MS Excel documents. All of the MS Office 2003 Word docs that I tried were displayed correctly. Apparently some graphics formats are not supported and so there is a rectangled "X" as a placeholder. The Excel module was able to handle files with multiple worksheets. They are currently running a sale on Docs-2-Go ($19.99 instead of the regular $29.99). Although I haven't performed an exhaustive test, what little I've used of the tools prove that it is well worth the money.

Good Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Well, today is Good Friday. There will be plenty of blog posts about it. There will be plenty of sermons on it. There will be plenty of services tonight observing it. I'm all over and all about the doctrinal and theological importance of Jesus' sacrifice, but I am also mindful of the personal importance and eternal consequences.

For as long as I can remember (and I have vivid memories going back to when I was 10 months old), the interaction between the repentant thief and Jesus has had a impact on me. Which is interesting since I didn't actually read the Bible until I was in my late 30's. My only exposure to that incident until then had been the 1961 film "King of Kings". But here is what Scripture says about that incident:

(NKJV, Luke 23:39-46), "Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." [40] But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? [41] And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."
[42] Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." [43] And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." [44] Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. [45] Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. [46] And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.' " Having said this, He breathed His last. "

There is just something about Jesus who had been tortured , crucified, and experiencing extreme suffering, takes what little physical strength that remains to respond to the repentant thief with assurance. Oh how comforting those words must have been to the thief! It is a very direct example of Jesus' sacrificial love for a sinner.

Maybe it is because I was a few days short of my 39th birthday when I received the gift of pardon and accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord. But I really identify with that thief. I lived a lifetime separated from God... doing things that in my own wisdom that I thought were "good enough". I made God fit my view of Him.

This Good Friday perhaps more than all the previous ones, I am so grateful for all that Almighty God has done for me. He never gave up on me. He pursued me in love. And I'm reminded once again, that as long as one has another breath in them, it is never too late for a person to recognize, repent, and receive.

All glory and honor to Jesus... suffering Savior, conquering King.

Joining the Blogosphere

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:07:00 +0000

Boy how time flies. I've had a website on the internet for over 14 years. Different layouts. Different content. Always manually coded html, javascript, and css. I never found an automation tool that generated html to my satisfaction. But as I get older I would rather direct my precious free time to content on my site rather than on how it looks.

So I took a few hours to find a blogger template that was close to what I wanted and tweaked it and hacked it closer to my liking. This is the results. It isn't perfect. It isn't finished. But it is close enough to be pleasingly functional. I'm sure that I'll continue to tweak it over time.

My hope is to be able to spend more time sharing thoughts and engaging in discussions and less on the mechanics of maintaining a site. I have a few more books to write in the pipeline, a podcast to produce, among other things.

Welcome!

Atomic Age Living Room remix - Back to the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:13:00 +0000

It has been 6 years in the making, but after a variety of incremental steps, we finally reached a milestone goal to create a living room reminiscent of the 1950's mid-century modern Atomic age styling.

Grab an iced-tea, fire up the lounge music, kick back, and luxuriate.

As time moves on, it speeds up. With each passing day there is this increasing sense that time is short. In spite of efforts to keep life simple it feels like things are getting hurried. So it is great to have a home that reflects that goal.

2009: The year of the lighter touch & traveling light

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:12:00 +0000

Although Eva and I never over-indulged in material things or even spent anywhere near our capacity to spend, we're just feeling like 2009 is a year to consolidate, reduce, streamline, and generally be more efficient in what we do, what we buy, how we live. It's not just the uncertainty of the economy. It's not just the abundance of niceties. It's not just the exhortations in Scripture. We both independently came to that conclusion...that time is short.

When time is short you gotta travel light to respond quickly.

We're not going to go crazy. We'll make little adjustments to the little things that will have a big impact. Be a bit more considerate about how we spend our leisure time. A challenge of encouragement to use our ability at innovative and creative thinking to use things in ways that reflect our "out of the box" way of life.

Christmas Season has officially started

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:11:00 +0000

It's official! The Christmas holiday season has begun. For some it is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. For others, it is when they put up their tree. For me it is the ritualistic unboxing of my vintage ornaments.

It isn't Christmas without the "Merry Christmas" weiner dog!

Here they are. The plaster figurines of Mary and Joseph, cast metal Santa Claus on skis, and the pinecone elves are well over 60 yrs old. They have been handed down from my grandparents, to my parents, to me. I received the "Merry Christmas" weiner dog as a gift at the IBM Christmas party that my aunt took me to when I was 4 yrs old. The felt cloth Santa, flocked green bell, and flocked red guitar are survivors of my mom's visits to Tolan's bargain store back in Bensonhurst in the early 70's.

"From the Crucifix to the Cross", Published!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom Perconti) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:10:00 +0000

It has been over 2 years in development but my 2nd book is finally published. "From the Crucifix to the Cross" recounts my spiritual journey that started with my birth in New York City into the Catholic faith. It records my trials as I tried to navigate through the web of legalism. And how I came to accept Jesus as my Savior and Lord and to a personal relationship with the Living God.

I had started work on the book over 2 years ago. I was encouraged by many fellow believers who had friends and relatives who are still in the Catholic religion. But ministry and home improvement projects kept pushing it out.

It is humbling to review all that the Lord has done for you.

In preparation for being baptized this past June, I reviewed some of my notes for the book (to work on my testimony) and became focused on completing the project.

Although I have written hundreds of pages for the book, I eventually trimmed it down to 28 pages with another 30 pages of apologetics that addresses Catholic doctrine and common misconceptions about being a Christian. I have given the book to some good friends and the feedback that I've received so far has been quite generous. One person was so moved by the book that he wants to use it in an evangelistic outreach to Catholics.

If this book helps just one person break the bonds of legalism and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, it will all be worth it.