Week after week, I sit with people who know what their idols are, but seem incapable of eliminating them.

_I know I worship relationships, but I don’t know how to get rid of that. I know I care too much about how I’m perceived, but how do I stop myself from being crushed when I look like a fool? I know I’ve got to stop looking at porn, but when I get the urge I can’t stop myself_.

It’s a conversation I have time and time again, and in almost every circumstance there is a principle missing from the discussion. And that principle may be the most important thing we need to know if we’re going to battle with the idols in our lives.

The principle is this: idols are never passively eliminated. Idols are not controlled. Idols are not managed. Idols are not ignored.

Idols must be killed.

We need to aggressively and actively rip them from our lives if we wish to defeat them and live with Christ as the source of our security, value, identity and love.

But for some reason, we think idols just need to be managed, or more accurately, ignored. If we just avoid intentionally seeking them, if we ignore them, we convince ourselves they will go away. They don’t. What they do is wait until we’re at our weakest and then they come looking for us. Actually it’s our hearts that go searching for them in our weakness when we no longer have the strength to ignore them. But it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like these idols come searching for us, and we seldom defeat them, because after all, it’s in our weakness that this story is set. But what else can we do? So we set about telling ourselves to be stronger the next time we find ourselves drawn in their direction. We resolve to ensure it never happens again. We make commitments to ourselves and to others. All the while we’re fighting like fools.

No battle is won by allowing your opponent to choose the battlefield. The field is one of the most crucial aspects of any battle. Setting the stage is of the utmost importance, and yet because we think battling idols is passive, we just sit back and let our enemy choose when and where the battle will take place.

Wars are won by those who dictate the battlefield. Victory is only possible when we force our opponent into battle when we are at our strongest. We have to fight intentionally, on our schedule. Don’t wait for the fight to come to you when you are weak and unprepared.

But how?

Here is where you find out if you truly want to change. You have to aggressively rip out the idol; ensure it cannot succeed. If you are worshiping relationships, say no to the next five people who ask you out, especially if you think they might be the one. Eliminate any chance of finding value in relationships. If you are worshiping how you are perceived, intentionally make a fool of yourself twice a week in front of the people whose opinions matter most to you. Destroy your ability to manage your image. If you are worshiping porn, eliminate every electronic device in your life, even if it means you lose your job. Crush the possibility of slipping up.

I know what you’re thinking. I’ve gone too far. Let me leave you with a passage I read recently. It’s a quote from Jesus himself:

**_Mark 9:43-45_** _If your hand causes you to sin, **cut it off**. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, **cut it off**. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell._

I don’t believe Jesus is calling us to destroy our bodies, but I do believe He’s calling us to aggressively, not passively, attack the idols that will destroy us. Don’t wait for it to bring the battle to you. You bring the battle to it. Rip it out and make sure it can’t come back.


Killing Idols

There are nearly a dozen early birds who serve at Connection Points on Sunday mornings, greeting and guiding those who are new to Hoboken Grace.

One of those enthusiastic members of the Assimilation Team is Jean, who has served on the team for the past several years. The Writing Team spoke with her about the purpose of Connection Points and how those who serve on the team help people grow in their relationship with God.

**Who or what inspired you to join Connection Points and be a part of the Assimilation Team?**

It’s a little fuzzy how it happened because it was over three years ago, but I think either Nick Lenzi or John Milius or Kelvin Tsang asked me to join Connection Points. I figured I’d give it a try and have been serving ever since.

**What does serving on Connection Points look like on an average Sunday?**

I arrive early and greet people as they enter. After service, I greet people and look for those who look curious or interested.

**What are some of the ways you help keep people informed?**

I try to provide information to help people get connected, whether it be signing up for a dinner group or joining an impact team. I connect people to the right person within Hoboken Grace to get them the information they are looking for.

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2017/12/DSC_0101-1-1024x678.jpg)

**What qualities does the Assimilation Team look for in team members? Do you have to be an extrovert to join Connection Points?**

It helps to not be afraid to talk to strangers. It helps to genuinely want to make people feel comfortable and welcomed, and to think more about their comfort and less of yours. Anyone who loves to see people get connected can do this. God brings the people to you. You just have to respond!

**What is your favorite part of being a member of the Assimilation Team?**

Seeing a person get connected and then to see them grow in their journey following Christ.

**How has serving impacted your life?**

It reminds me of my purpose and the joy that comes from living out that purpose. I find that I don’t just try connecting people while I’m standing at the Connection Point table, but I find myself trying to connect people all the time!

_Connection Points is just one part of the larger Assimilation Team, which works to make sure every guest knows they matter. Others working toward that mission include the Family Life Team (which helps our family celebrate special events such as baptism), the Engagement Team (helps people find their place to serve) and the Concierge Team (helps guests take next steps)._

_Are you interested in joining Connection Points? Email_ _james@hobokengrace.com_ _for more information._


Meeting and Greeting at Connection Points

_One of [FPU](http://hobokengrace.com/berich/)‘s most crucial pieces of advice is paying for large purchases in cash, instead of on credit. Karen and Devin decided to do just that when it came to paying for their upcoming wedding. They wrote about the experience, and how they made it happen, below._

Before we started planning our wedding, we wanted to take time to enjoy our engagement without letting the pressure get to us. Very quickly, though, we started getting questions from friends:

Are you going to have an engagement party? Did you pick a date? What kind of venue are you looking for? What is your budget?

“Did you know that most people in our area spend $60K+ on a wedding”? one friend asked. Hearing that was pretty daunting, but we also decided early on that despite being overwhelmed by all those questions we did not want to let that dictate our decisions.

[![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/10/unnamed-1.jpg)](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/10/unnamed-1.jpg)One of the first things we did was ground ourselves on our purpose. Our wedding is about the commitment we are making and a celebration of the love we have for each other with the people who have come alongside us throughout our lives. We want to create a space where we can celebrate that in a beautiful way. But we also want to be wise with how we start our lives together – weddings are big investments, and it can be easy to let the emotions around the day put you in a bad place financially.

We decided to create a plan and cash flow budget. We wanted to pay for our wedding fully in cash. This was great because it allowed us to see what we could afford to spend for the wedding and also helped us break down buckets for specific categories such as the venue, attire, music/photography, etc. Having this plan allowed us to tackle tasks one step at a time before going to the next one. This gave us amazing clarity when it came to working on our plan. If something was not the next item on the plan, we were not focusing on it or talking too much about it. This system also helped us delegate some of the items we knew we wouldn’t be good at, such as creating graphics and the invitation suite. Karen’s sister, Cristina, has done an excellent job on that! And as we take each step, the momentum has helped us stay focused.

One of our biggest celebrations so far was finding a venue. When we first started looking for venues, we were overwhelmed and stressed by the prices we were seeing. We searched at least 50 places online and visited six locations in person. There were many times where we got discouraged and thought we would have to go over our budget to get what we wanted. But with patience, diligence and some out-of-the-box thinking, we were able to find a beautiful place within our budget. With each venue visit we learned a little more about our preferences and started to learn how to ask the right questions. After touring a venue that was top of our list, we sat down with the event manager and found out there were no summer Friday dates in 2019\. This was disappointing for sure. But after some discussion and waiting, Karen asked a simple question that would end up saving us over $4,000: “Do you host weddings on Thursdays?” The venue made us an offer and, after some more questions, we had a deal and it was within our budget for the venue!

_Photography by Rebecca Lori Photography_


Planning a Wedding the FPU Way

When I was 6 years old, my sweet mom would gather the four of us kids in our living room each Sunday night. She’d recite the Rosary prayer, otherwise known as 10 “Hail Marys,” preceded by the Lord’s Prayer, followed by one “Glory Be To God.” I remember walking away with wonder. I secretly went to my room each Sunday night, knelt by my bedside and recited the “Our Father” prayer — I wanted to understand God’s plan.

Fast-forward 24 years. On my son’s 6th birthday, my beautiful mom died of cancer. That day, a piece of me died with her. I stopped praying, and I felt my faith shatter to pieces.

As my world turned upside-down, I unknowingly began wrestling with God. I embarked on a journey to find myself. I had no anchor except books and personal thoughts as I sought to explain what seemed unexplainable.

In the midst of this, my marriage ended and my journey truly began. I found myself developing greater self-awareness and learning about the value of meditation. It was monumental, but I still felt a spiritual void. I sought refuge in the form of a relationship. That road led me to have a child with an abusive man, whom I left early in my pregnancy. Going through childbirth alone and feeling the shame that came with made me question myself and everything I thought I knew.

I decided to pick up everything and move to North Jersey — it was my way of starting over. The minute I settled in I found myself alone, trying to absorb the journey that had led me there. Every emotion I’d avoided over the last 10 years started pouring out of me — it was a surreal experience. Then, thoughts about God and His significance in all of this begged my attention.

I started talking with God — for the first time in a decade. In many ways, I felt like the prodigal son who made his way home again. I experienced an overwhelming reconnection with God. A realization came over me — He never left me. In fact, He was waiting for me, right here, right now.

My awareness of His presence was swift and clear. And just like that, His nudge, His whisper — whatever you want to call it — was guiding me. I truly let go of my pain and opened myself up to His mercy. Since then, I have felt overwhelmed with evidence of His love in my life.

Each day I still feel like a simple human striving to understand it all while living in His grace. The difference is I now appreciate the propensity of His love and His overwhelming willingness to show me grace at my most difficult moments.


He Never Left Me, Instead He Pursued Me

_This blog post was originally published in 2016, but considering that it finally feels like fall this week, it seemed like the perfect time to revisit it. Also, be sure to catch our team of runners at the HoBOOken 5k on October 27th._

“I never thought in a million years I’d be a runner,” says Anthony. “In fact, I used to joke that if you saw me running, you’d better call the cops, because something’s really wrong!” Yet he tells me this several days after he’s finished his second half marathon, and started researching training for a full. Yes, a full marathon — 26.2 miles.

Anthony’s running, and he’s not the only one. Countless people who attend Hoboken Grace have spent the past year training for marathons, 5Ks and their own personal fitness goals. And while most of them likely got started for the health benefits, many say running’s also had an impact on their faith. It’s offered lessons about the importance of getting started, building endurance and even developing community.

Running, it turns out, can be a gift for both your body and your faith. Here’s what that can look like, as told by some of the many runners at Hoboken Grace.

 **1). Getting Started**

“People told me I just had to get started,” Dana H. says about running. “But it felt hard to get into it. I had all these hang-ups about it.”

The struggle to get started running paralleled struggles she had experienced in her walk with God. “I felt I had to be right with God before I could get close to God,” says Dana. Similarly, “I felt like I had to be at a certain level of fitness in order to start running. It’s kind of like the devil playing with my mind, telling me, ‘You’re not good enough yet. You’re not fit enough yet.’ ”

Dana decided she wanted to break out of that type of thinking. Friends encouraged her to just run, so she finally did. She took the first step, ran her first mile and celebrated that achievement. “I had to understand that sometimes, faith is just taking that action even when you don’t fully believe you can do it,” says Dana. “Then you get closer. You get there.” She partly ran, partly walked the first time she went outside, but she finished what she started. Then she went outside again, and again, and kept pushing forward, even starting a training plan.

A few months later, Dana finished a half marathon.

2). **Running the Race**

“When you’re in full-time ministry, you can get burned out,” says Anthony. “Sometimes there are lies in my life, like that I need to be ‘on’ all the time. Then I get fatigued in life; I get fatigued in ministry.”

During his last half marathon, he started to feel that way, too. Anthony had trained for the race, and knew that physically he should be fine. “But I got to about mile 9 or 10, and started to feel that fatigue.” He listens to music while he runs, and right around that point in the race, an old worship song came on — “Blessed Be Your Name.”

“For some reason, that got me jazzed,” says Anthony. “God came into that situation and pushed me through, and got me through the fatigue. It’s a reminder that He gets me through those down times. It’s a perfect analogy for living by faith.”

Running is also an excellent way to simply spend time with God. “I have some of my best conversations with God when I run,” says Christina, who’s been running since high school. “It’s a lot easier to spend time with Him during a run than, say, in stop-and-go traffic during my commute.”

3). **Developing Community** 

“A lot of the challenge of running is actually mental,” says Christina. She runs frequently on her own, but she discovered that having supportive relationships made a tremendous difference in overcoming the mental hurdles to get out there and keep going. “It’s definitely the people,” she says. “It’s really important to have community. The people in my racing group have pushed me to believe in myself, to believe I can go faster than I thought I could.”

She compares the running community to dinner groups — “there are so many parallels.” In both groups, she’s found a source of support to tackle her biggest challenges. In both, she’s developed very personal relationships, and she prays the most for the people in these groups.

When Christina ran the New York City Marathon, she credited the community she’s developed for helping her find a way to serve others through running. She supported the charity [Back on My Feet](http://www.backonmyfeet.org/), which aims to impact the lives of homeless people by introducing them to a running routine. With the help of friends and family, she met her goal of raising $3,000!


The Gift of Running

One of the most difficult and yet beautiful steps in our maturity as disciples of Christ is the embracing of our disabilities. The scriptures are incredibly clear that it’s in our weakness that His strength is displayed and yet we continue to act as if this journey is about our strength instead of His.

He calls us to embrace our weakness. He calls us to live in light of our disabilities.

The following book is designed to help us address two of the most destructive of our disabilities; our forgetfulness and our blindness.

Our forgetfulness robs us of living in light of His grace, His provision, His love, and His presence. We have the capacity to walk out of an incredible experience with Him and in a moment to believe the lie that He is distant. We need to develop rhythms in our lives and day that call us to remember the reality that we live and move and breathe in Him.

Rhythms also help us address our blindness because they draw us into a conversation with Him that does not cease. Rather than simply speaking to him once a day or once a week, we intentionally schedule times throughout our day to reignite our conversation with Him if by chance it has ceased. We seek to live our lives listening. We seek to live our lives attune to the voice that awakens us to the truth of God. We seek to pray without ceasing as we engage Him throughout our day rather than wasting our conversation by talking to ourselves.

Throughout history those who have known God well, those who have walked with Him, have lived lives with rhythms that called them back frequently to the one they loved most. We seek to do the same. We hope you’ll join us.

Each month we choose one passage on which to meditate for the month. We read this passage every day at a scheduled time and ask God to help us understand it better by allowing it to sift through the lives we lead. Our return to it over and over keeps the truth fresh in our minds as we experience the world around us and allows it to come alive. We seek to listen as the Spirit uses it to enlighten our experience of the journey with Christ. Throughout this month we will be meditating on:

**I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.**

**Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.**

**Ephesians 3:16–20**

_Follow along with the monthly rhythms [here](http://hobokengrace.com/rhythms/) or in the app._


October Rhythms


Easter Sunday 2017:

“I want you to pray about apprenticing to become a production team leader.”

When Dana first said this to me, my initial response was, “Are you insane?” I had been serving on the Production Team for only about two months. Little did I know, this question was about to change everything I thought I knew and wanted out of life.

At that point, I thought you had to know what you were doing to make an impact on the Production Team. I’ve come to realize this is how everyone feels about the Production Booth! There are lots of cables and lights and buttons. Most people take one look and think there’s no way they have a chance to be a part of Production. That’s what I thought, too! I was lucky enough to have some of the most gracious individuals I’ve ever met in the booth with me, guiding me along the way. The best part is, they can do that for anyone!

Little did I know, God was about to take the light board and use it to teach me about selflessness and humility. Back then, I thought being a part of Production meant we were _entertainers_ — that’s what I wanted it to be. But the Production Team is actually more in line with the _communication_ industry. Philippians 2:3-4 teaches us not to value our own selfish ambition, but to humbly place others’ interests above ourselves. This is key for our team — every Sunday we amplify the communication of the worship and communicators, so that whoever walks in the doors of Hoboken Grace can worship our Father better. One way to actually gauge our success is whether or not people even realize we are present. If you don’t notice us, we’ve done our job.

I reached a point between New Year’s Day and Easter of pure hustle. I was working at my previous job, as well as leading Production weekly and working on a new set design at every free moment. But, the drive to love others kept me going. That’s because I had finally reached a point where I understood Philippians 2:3-4\. Being “all in,” putting others above myself and helping them experience God better through how I was serving made me feel fulfilled, not to mention both mentally and physically healthy.

This is the motivation I use when I invite others to the Production Team. I don’t invite them because I think they can push a fader, operate a camera or trigger a light cue. I invite people because I want them to experience God in a whole new way. I’ve experienced what it feels like to be truly fulfilled, and I want them to be able to say the same.

_Interested in checking out Production? Stop by the booth after service any Sunday or email kasey@hobokengrace.com._


Production Is Where I Learned…A Lot.

**#1 – It’ll allow you to spend without guilt**

Growing up, my friends and I spent a lot of time at the park playing soccer on the open fields. Jackets worked fine for goalposts where there were none, but we could never tell when the ball went out for a throw-in, corner or where the goalkeeper’s area was.

Who knew that drawing boundaries for ourselves and adding some rules would actually add to our enjoyment of the game?

The consistent feedback we get from people taking FPU and doing a budget is that it brings them freedom! A budget is simply being intentional with your money and having a plan. For many people, especially the ones that are scared of spending money, or the couples that respect each others’ spending habits – a jointly agreed upon budget enables you to spend and enjoy without guilt!

**#2 – It’ll be like getting a raise**

I love how [Jackie tells her story](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAz6%5FFimZ90) and so I’ll simply transcribe it: “In 9 weeks, I went from a balance of $2,300, that I could never move up, to $11,000 – just because I paid attention… And when I began to save my receipts, because I was very consistent with that, I couldn’t believe how much money I was spending at the end of the month on nik naks – you know, coffee and empanadas.”

**#3 – It’ll be an act of obedience**

I fought God for a long time and He had enough grace not to give up on me and continued to pursue me, even while I mocked what He had to say. In the years since, I’ve come to the conclusion that obeying God has always been the best thing and I’ve always regretted not doing so.

I believe that God, through the Bible, calls us to manage resources entrusted to us for His glory. And that includes budgeting – and I just want to do His will.


Three Budgeting Surprises


Hoboken City Hall on Washington Street has garden plots all the way around the building, facing all four sidewalks. As the largest gardening project taken on by this year’s 1Day volunteers, it involved over 700 various plants and a complex design plan.

The section in the northwest corner has a sign that reads “Joan R. Abel Memorial Rain Garden – Architect – Preservationist – Environmentalist.” It goes on to explain Ms. Abel’s solution to Hoboken’s notorious flooding.

But the most enthusiastic participants of the day couldn’t even read the sign. Several 3-year-olds wearing oversized garden gloves hopped between the pots and onto the freshly tilled soil, adding their tiny shoeprints to the garden pattern. A girl with a loose blond ponytail dug randomly at the dirt while her father tried to organize her efforts. Then she unearthed a worm and squealed, calling the other 3-year-olds over to witness her discovery.

Theresa, one of the moms who was keeping a close eye on the little gardeners, said this was the second time her son Tommy had attended 1Day, although he didn’t really understand the event last year. This time he was excited, and understood more fully that it is our chance to love our community, she said.

“We’ve lived in Hoboken three years and we love it,” Theresa said. “God loves us really well and it’s our chance to love the community. This is a corner of the city that we are going to pass every day, and the kids will know that we helped make it beautiful.”

[![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/10/DSCF4029-1024x682.jpg)](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/10/DSCF4029.jpg)

That, at its core, is what 1Day is all about. The goal of Hoboken Grace’s annual event is to leave a lasting mark on the community – and impact as many people as possible. The 520 volunteers who signed up did just that, completing 35 projects in virtually every corner of the city. Thanks to them, hundreds of children walked into brighter classrooms and hallways, dozens of bags of trash were removed from city beaches and parks, and more than 1,000 new plants are helping make Hoboken a little greener. Volunteers also served local businesses, nonprofit organizations and more.

At the Hoboken Shelter, a group ranging in age from 16 to nearly 60 prepared a meal. As music played in the kitchen, Jackie manned the industrial range, pouring cans of arroz con guandules (rice with pigeon peas) in one pot, and arroz con frijoles (rice with black beans) in the other. Peppers, purple onions, garlic and spices floated in the top of one mixture, and chorizo was added to the other — just in case some people didn’t want to eat meat. “And we add con mucho amore!” Jackie said — cooking with a lot of love.

At the metal prep table, a tasty-looking variety of restaurant rolls were being cut into single-serving-size pieces and put in huge bread baskets. At another point, the table held huge plastic pitchers full of water, and people leaned in with big spoons to swirl in iced tea mix. The close quarters encouraged everyone to get to know one another.

[![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/10/XA1glvqQ.jpeg)](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/10/XA1glvqQ.jpeg)

[![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/10/Gvo4xWQA-1024x543.jpeg)](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/10/Gvo4xWQA.jpeg)

Not everyone who worked on a 1Day project had signed up for the big event.

When a group of 20 people arrived at Maxwell Pier, they met a man who had come by that Saturday to clean up the beach by himself. He asked what they were doing there, and they explained the 1Day event taking place. They welcomed him and invited him to join them, offering a bag and gloves, but he already had his own.

When someone asked why he was there, he told the group he had proposed to his fiancée at the same spot last spring, on Earth Day.

“We are both concerned about environmental issues, and the beach and surrounding area was a clean and natural setting then,” he said. “We walk by here often because it’s a special place for us. We’ve seen it get more and more cluttered with trash coming in with the tide, and people leaving behind items from socializing on the beach.”

After passing by again during a run the night before, he’d decided there was nothing he wanted to do more with his Saturday than clean up the beach. So after a morning trip to Home Depot to buy work gloves, a bucket and a plastic grabber, he headed over to the beach and was greeted by 20 volunteers who seemed to have arrived just in time to help him with his chosen task.

“It was such a surprise to see so many other people out here with the same mission,” he said. “Now it looks better than it ever could if I’d been working alone. Thank you.”

\[vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSyPNmH8q6Y&feature=youtu.be”\]


&#8216;It’s Our Chance to Love the Community Back’

Recently during a budgeting class for [Financial Peace University](http://hobokengrace.com/berich/), we had moved into smaller discussion groups and I found myself sitting next to a bubbly young woman who tried to defend her personal budget choices.

She was planning a trip with some friends to the Comic-Con International event in San Diego. This involved a plane ticket, hotel reservations and a fabulous new costume that transformed her into her favorite animated character. She’d already attended the local New York Comic Con event — at a much lower cost. But the international event in San Diego was bigger and better, and she was determined to be there.

She told this story rather nervously, and a little defensively. Finally, she admitted that as a professional accountant, she should know better than to have such a frivolous expense in her life. When she finally stopped chattering about her obsession, she looked to me as the person sitting next to her, and with her eyes, begged me to tell my story and take the spotlight off her.

I paused for a moment and looked at her kindly. “It seems as if you are trying to make your choice to attend Comic-Con sound ridiculous,” I told her. “But what you don’t know is that you are sitting next to someone who spent all day yesterday, outdoors, enjoying the fabulous September weather, in a costume at the Renaissance Faire. And I don’t think that you nor I are ridiculous at all.”

The local Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, New York, is just a daylong event, and a lot closer than San Diego, but that’s not the point. For over a decade, I’ve attended about three times each summer, in a variety of costumes – laced-up leather, in an authentic Oktoberfest outfit I purchased in Germany, or gypsy garb made up of various corsets, layered skirts, a mysterious shawl and jangling jewelry.

Why do I go? Because I love it. Because I love the world the Faire creates and the music that goes with it. Because I’ve made friends with some of the delightful artists and musicians who work the circuit, and introduced many of my friends to the Faire. Because I enjoy conversations with so many of the other patrons. Because it’s such a refreshing, earthy break from the fast-paced technological world we live in. Mostly, it’s because at the end of a day, I feel more myself at the Renaissance Faire than I do at any other time. And for that reason, and some others that I can’t explain, it will never drop out of my budget.

“Many people see a budget as something restrictive, something that binds them up and takes away all their choices and freedom,” Dave Ramsey writes in _The Complete Guide to Money._ “That’s a totally wrong view of a cash flow plan. Having a budget doesn’t mean you can’t order a pizza when you want one. It just means you have to have a plan for your money. If you like pizza that much, then put a “Pizza” line on your budget. It’s _your money_. I don’t care what you do with it; I just want you to do it on purpose!”

So yes, there is a “Renaissance Faire Line” in my budget. And I hope our costumed accountant now has a “Comic-Con” line in her budget as well. I will continue to go to the Faire and enjoy the music and free stage shows, soak up the atmosphere, chat with the other patrons in full festival apparel, limit my purchases to well considered souvenirs, grateful that this is part of what defines my summer season with a daylong event that I can drive to and back without paying for a hotel room. Seems like a bargain to me. Huzzah!

_Barbara is a member of the Writing Team. Want to learn more about FPU? [Click here](http://hobokengrace.com/berich/)._


Comic-Con in the Budget?

I always loved the expression “Break a Leg,” and being in the entertainment business, it was a good omen.

There are definitely hard times when pursuing a career in the arts. The concept of the “struggling artist” brings to mind a quote from _Crime and Punishment_: “The darker the night, the brighter the stars, the deeper the grief, the closer is God.” Trusting God, He will supply my needs.

I wrestled at times with being a performer or a writer, because I wondered if this was truly God’s desire for my life. But the passion to be involved and to follow my dreams was intense. I enjoyed red carpet events and being part of the action. I would light up like a Christmas tree when I got dressed and reported from film festivals such as the IFP Gotham Awards in New York City.

During that time, I developed a medical disorder that was causing my blood platelets to decrease. The hematologist called it “Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.” ITP is a rare condition marked by a low number of blood cells produced in the bone marrow. A hematologist didn’t know the course of action yet, because there is no medical pathway to treat immediately. I was thrust into a “wait and see” scenario. The waiting game wreaked havoc, causing a great deal of fear and anxiety. And when you look healthy on the outside, people don’t understand your concerns.

The only things I knew were to pray and to perform. It took four years to finally get a bone marrow biopsy that confirmed Aplastic Anemia. There was “no pre-Leukemia,” as the doctor put it mildly in a voice message, but AA is a rollercoaster. If you think you have faith, one learns quite quickly that they need God.

I knew God would fight for me, but Aplastic Anemia is serious and can be fatal. The course of treatment is ATG, or Anti-thymocyte globulin, an infusion of horse or rabbit-derived antibodies. The therapy involves being injected with the ATG and waiting to see how your body responds to rebuild bone marrow over five days in the hospital.

Originally, I was fine with the treatment option, because that is the only treatment. However, I had a film festival coming up in Jersey City that I wanted to attend. But I was also scared and asked the doctor if I could do the film festival and then come into the hospital a week later. When I did my research on AA, I discovered that I was moderate AA, not severe. I prayed and discussed with my doctor if I could postpone treatment until I truly needed it. He didn’t agree, but said he would monitor my bloodwork every month in case there were drops in my counts. I thought I had beat my health crisis by discovering that I was moderate AA.

Every month, my counts went up 1,000, and according to the nurse that was good news. I cried every time the nurse called with my results. I wanted a quicker fix — a miracle. I didn’t want my counts to improve slowly every month, but they did. Medically speaking, blood platelets rebuilding on their own, without a blood transfusion, is quite a feat. Another hematologist called it “transient Aplastic Anemia.” I called it God’s healing. Luke 8:43-48 – “And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind Him, and touched the border of His garment: and immediately her issue of blood stopped.”

As I put the medical stuff behind me, I continued to work with no issues of fatigue from anemia or other problems. I felt good, and I was working in news and publicity for indie films. I kept working toward the prize to keep my mind off my blood counts. I felt as long as I still had a dream, I had to live and to get through this. God still had plans for me.

AA is an uphill battle. Along the way, I kept looking for a church. I grew up in church, but at one point, I stopped going. I still prayed, but I had no church to fellowship with others. A friend mentioned Hoboken Grace, where breakfast was served with coffee and bagels. What a genius idea, I thought — food and church. I made plans to find the church, but I never went. I even walked Washington Street on Sundays and saw the Hoboken Grace sign, but nothing motivated me back to church.

Then it happened… I broke my foot. I was just walking to my car with my high heels when my ankle twisted, and I dropped to the ground. It was a small break but required a boot cast and crutches. While in Hoboken with my crutches, I’d walk to exercise. Walking toward Third Street, there was Hoboken Grace, bright and cheery with bagels and coffee waiting inside. When I stepped through the doors, I heard the music and was pleasantly surprised. When I sat inside, I slowly became comfortable with church again. I wept in the beginning, realizing how far I had drifted from God, and it broke my heart.

My loving Father was always there protecting me, and I had grown so accustomed to doing it on my own. It was time to keep God first in my life.

I have learned that God is still in control. There is nothing that God can’t do or fix. If He wants me healed, He will do it. I have seen along the way some tough challenges, but it is at my weakest moments that God is Almighty.

_“It really isn’t the strong who win, it’s the weak who find all their fountains in Him.” (Psalm 36:7-9)_


Break a Foot

I was chatting with a friend recently and apparently threw her for a loop when I brought up Christian meditation. “I thought meditation was that new age hippie stuff that The Beatles stole from India and made it all trendy,” she said. “What do you mean _Christian_ mediation?”

After we had a good chuckle, I told her she was right — meditation has become super trendy since the 1960s and ’70s, and more and more people are catching on, trying it as a way to deal with the stresses of everyday life. Even corporate America has hopped on that train.

So what is the difference between “traditional” mediation and Christian meditation? And how and why is it important?

The difference is in the intention — it is all about intention. If we are talking about meditation in the sense that most of us have come to think about it, one’s ultimate goal is to clear the mind and reach an emotionally calm state. It can help reduce stress, lessen anxiety and quiet that sometimes annoying voice in the back of our head- all good things. It can be a spiritual experience for you, but it doesn’t have to be.

_Christian meditation_ has a similar goal, but with the intention of fostering a deeper relationship with God. When we take time to be alone with God, we get to know Him better. It is not necessarily about learning anything new, although that may happen. It is about coming to know Christ, who He is in our lives, and how we are to pursue our lives through Him.

A few months ago, I went through the [Foundations](http://hobokengrace.com/blog/running-the-race/) class at Amplify and learned from Pastor Chris that we need to _intentionally_ encounter God _daily_ by setting aside quiet time to BE WITH HIM. The point is to spend time with Him in thought and prayer. This, my friends, often involves some meditation_._

Pastor Chris told us meditation involves constantly thinking on God’s word in order to discover how we can apply its truth in our own lives. Maybe you are wrestling with some scripture. Maybe you are trying to apply what you learned in service at your job or your marriage and you need some guidance. Or perhaps you are still trying to figure out who God is and how He is supposed to be a part of your life. Christian meditation is an act of coming to God intentionally to spend time with Him and learn what He is trying to tell us. He is always talking to us. We just have to listen.

So what is the difference between prayer and meditation? If I’m praying, isn’t that the same thing? These two actions are not entirely the same, but they are not mutually exclusive. In fact, there is bound to be a lot of crossover if you are really working through something that is on your heart.

“That sounds a lot like what I already do in my quiet time,” said my friend. BINGO! If you already set aside a specific time and space to connect with God to ask questions, pray, etc., you’re already engaging in this way.

When I sit in my quiet time, I always start with a prayer. The Lord knows I am seeking Him. It helps me to set my intention, eliminate distraction, focus in and listen to what God is trying to tell me about what I am asking Him. Am I good at it? No. But the more I practice, the better I get. And let me tell you, He ALWAYS has an answer.

_Alex is a member of the Writing Team._


Christian Meditation?


With Financial Peace University classes in full swing, the Writing Team interviewed Tiffany and Ryan about their own FPU experience. While the couple says they were at first hesitant about the course, it turned out to be one of the best things they ever did.

**Why did you decide to sign up for FPU?**

We were asked as dinner group leaders to take FPU in preparation for our upcoming series. One of us thought we didn’t really need it but thought it would be beneficial to be able to speak to it in case it came up in dinner group. One of us was reluctant to give up nine Thursday nights. We had heard that one thing FPU teaches you is to see money the way God sees money. Even though we righteously put ourselves into the “we don’t have money problems” category, this idea was ultimately intriguing enough to get us to sign up.

**What were some of your biggest takeaways from the class?**

For one thing, we realized we didn’t have all of this money stuff as together as we thought! We also learned we are 100 percent opposite on every aspect of our view of budgeting and organization! It started to make sense why we had never had a successful budget meeting during our first year and a half of marriage. FPU opened our eyes to view the budgeting process as a way for us to work together and love each other, rather than what was normally a guaranteed argument.

Secondly, we finally started to feel like we were winning with money by allocating every dollar with a monthly budget. We feared a formal budget would constrict us, but instead it gave us more freedom to enjoy the things we love without any guilt.

**What are some of the successes you’ve had since taking it?**

The first week after we were done with the class we wrote a check and paid off the rest of our student loans. It was terrifying to see our former “security blanket” leave our bank account. But the next month, when that debt line was gone from our budget, it was so freeing!

A few days ago we had an unexpected visit to the emergency room. A year ago we would have been dreading the hospital bill because of our high-deductible plan. Today, we didn’t even think twice about it!

**What advice would you give to others who are taking the class now?**

This was hands-down the best nine weeks we’ve ever spent and it changed our future. Don’t get us wrong — the first few months we fought _more_ about money than we ever have. It wasn’t easy to get on the same page, but the more we practiced, the better we got. FPU gave us a common language to talk about money and forced us to align our budget with our priorities, first of which is giving back to God. It is so refreshing to have this peace of mind that no matter what life throws at us, we have a financial plan prepared to handle it!

[Miss out on taking FPU? You can still sign up here.](http://hobokengrace.com/berich/)


The Best Nine Weeks We’ve Ever Spent

We spend a lot of time talking about 1Day, a day when we come together to complete as many projects as possible around town. It’s true that we serve for only a few hours, but the results last much longer. 

I had the privilege of leading TRUE Mentors a few years ago when 1Day volunteers helped with a project. A group of smiling people moved out the contents of an entire office and scrubbed everything down. Laughter filled the room as we cleaned and lifted. Friendships were formed and community blossomed. Sure, the office eventually got dirty again, but the project made a huge difference to our TRUE Mentors’ volunteers and families, who experienced the clean and organized space. The multiplication effect can’t be understated — the project freed up staff time so they could focus on their mission. 

This year, as we embark on our 8th annual 1Day, I want to encourage you to think about the long-term impact. We will be planting nearly 1,000 flowers and plants around Hoboken. Tens of thousands of people who walk these streets every day will see them. We are adding fresh paint to three classrooms at the Jubilee Center, which serves children in our community. Volunteers will also organize donations at local shelters before the winter months and scrub the kitchen at Lunchtime ministries. Those projects will impact people for months to come.

Thinking about the long-term effect is something we do regularly in life, but it can be difficult to imagine the outcome of something so far into the future. A few things come to mind, such as when I started working out again after a long hiatus. It takes time for our bodies to respond. Perhaps it brings to mind some of the principles you’re learning from Financial Peace University. Lastly, it makes me think of my rhythms. I still struggle to find rhythms when I am tired or life is busy. However, I know the consistency and patience is worth the extra effort. 

If you are thinking about participating in 1Day, I encourage you to sign up. If you already signed up, I encourage you to invite a friend. Won’t it be cool to re-visit your project in a month or two and be reminded of the impact that you had in a just a few hours of time? 

Don’t miss this opportunity to impact our city.

[Sign Up Here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1day-hoboken-registration-48345154659?aff=HGEmailList)

_James is the Outreach Director at Hoboken Grace._


The Lasting Effect of 1Day


There are few things I don’t like talking about, but money is definitely one of them. Whether it’s how to split a dinner bill, people asking if I started a 401(k), or even the mention of extravagant travels…it all makes me cringe. I don’t know how to handle it. Or, at least, I didn’t.

I grew up in a loving household, but any talk about money always started a fight. Always. Add to that the bullhorn of society shouting that churches only want your money, and you’ve got years of wiring that made me tiptoe around the topic. So, yes, talk of Financial Peace University made me cringe, too. Why take it? I have a handle on my finances, I’m doing fine, and I don’t have anyone depending on me financially. But, here’s the deal: That’s incredibly selfish. (Hear the emphasis on me?) I’m ok — I don’t need help. That may be true, but what about everyone around me? What about everything my money could be doing for others?

As a single person living in a city I never thought I could live in, there’s been a ton of sacrifice to get here — on my part and from others. My parents took on jobs that would pay the bills, and they worked overtime while also taking on debt to give us the childhood they wanted us to have. My sisters and many friends gave to a mission trip that would change my life. Countless others have given their time, advice and yes, money, to pay for things when I couldn’t, to open doors to internships and experiences that have led to a life I am so grateful for. Let us not forget what sacrifice originally makes all of that possible. So, how can I let the sacrifice and generosity stop at me? Because I’m okay?

The truth is, I don’t want to be okay. I want to be a part of changing more lives. I want to give. I want to do what so many have done for me. And to do that, I’ve got to talk about money. As Dave Ramsey puts it, I don’t want to work hard my whole life just to say at the end of it, “Where’d all the money go?” I want to know that every dollar went to good use.

I don’t want to spend my life fighting about money.

I want to fight for something greater.

_Melanie is the Communications Director at Hoboken Grace._

_Join a Financial Peace University group [here](http://berichhoboken.com)._


I Don’t Want To Fight About Money

Nate and Alyssa were unsure what they’d take away from Financial Peace University — if anything. A civil engineer by trade, Nate is a numbers guy who for years meticulously updated a financial spreadsheet. Alyssa, meanwhile, had studied financial planning and previously worked in wealth management.  
  
The couple also doubted they could do more to reduce the substantial debt of nearly $300,000 they’d acquired from student loans and credit cards, including the cost of their recent wedding. But they committed to taking the course with an open mind, embracing its lessons and seeing what happened.  
  
Ten months later, Nate and Alyssa say their life has drastically changed. They’ve paid off over $60,000, increased their giving substantially and started several thriving businesses. What’s more, they say the class provided the best foundation for their marriage that they could have asked for.  
  
“It’s the best thing we’ve ever done for each other, for ourselves and for our future,” said Alyssa.  
  
Nate and Alyssa started their marriage on different wavelengths when it came to budgeting and spending. The class taught them to speak the same language, they say. It gave them equal footing and provided a sense that they’re on the same team. Now, they dedicate one night a month to talk about schedules, budgets, goals, and other aspects of their relationship.  
  
But the couple also attribute much of their success to God’s timing and the work they’ve put into their FPU journey.  
  
“Every single step of it has been God in a really crazy way,” said Alyssa. “I mean a really mind-boggling way.”

[![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/09/HGFPUShoot-2018-MSM_9568.jpg)](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/09/HGFPUShoot-2018-MSM%5F9568.jpg)After Alyssa left the financial industry last year, the couple launched a home renovation business, an aerial photo/video drone company, an event planning/rental business and a jewelry business. Choosing the uncertainty of income that came from several entrepreneurial endeavors, rather than a steady paycheck, required a huge leap of faith. But their businesses quickly grew through word of mouth, including referrals through people they knew from church.   
  
“God just kept showing up in every step,” Alyssa said.  
  
This became even more apparent once the couple decided to increase their giving. While Nate and Alyssa came into their marriage with different perspectives on the importance of tithing, during the class they decided to start giving back 10 percent off the top. Through prayer, Nate says, he realized it was God’s money they were managing, not theirs. And in addition, he wanted to experience God at work in their lives through their finances. If they couldn’t live on 90 percent on their income with Him, Nate says, how could they live on 100 percent without Him?  
  
“It has been the most incredible thing,” said Alyssa. “We’ve increased giving, but we also have somehow managed to increase our debt payoff at a substantial rate.”

The couple say they’ve implemented a plan to maximize their debt payoff. They’re working harder than ever and they haven’t paid for anything on credit since FPU — something they couldn’t have imagined just a year ago. 

Paying with a debit card or cash instead of credit is one of FPU’s primary strategies for paying off debt. For Nate, who had spent his adult life accumulating credit cards to build his credit score, this was particularly difficult to embrace.

“I measured my value and my wealth based on how many accounts I had open, how much credit limit I had, how high my score was and my ability to borrow,” he said.

More than 40 open accounts and 80 credit cards were displayed in a large binder, one that Alyssa jokingly suggested cutting in half during class. But the more she thought about it, the more she envisioned something that could encourage them as they pursued a debt-free life.

> [](https://www.facebook.com/nate.comstock.73/videos/10100927065165837/)
> 
> Who needs 41 open credit accounts?! Really… for the almighty “I Love Debt” FICO score? We finally posted the video of the Dream Fund box we made from the scraps. Every card was opened for improving our credit score, chasing some bonus offer, covering “emergencies”, using 90 days same-as-cash (0% offers) and living without a detailed budget. Simplifying life to 1 debit card and cash for purchases and has been incredibly freeing!
> 
> Posted by [Nathan Comstock](https://www.facebook.com/nate.comstock.73) on Sunday, April 29, 2018

After cutting up dozens of credit cards, Nate and Alyssa used the remnants to create a dream-fund box. They fill it not with money, but notes detailing their dreams for the future — life after debt: “One day, we would love to do this…” “We want to be able to treat someone to that…” “We’d love to be able to do this for our church…”  
  
“Sooner or later, when we get out of debt, we’ll be able to open that box and pick something once a month and do it fully,” said Alyssa.  
  
It’s a box that illustrates not only how far they’ve come, but also where they’re going. Alyssa says she long ago accepted that they’d be paying off student loans for the rest of their lives. But now, after FPU, they have a solid plan in place – and it’s working! They have a realistic goal of paying off everything in less than two years. They can picture the day they’ll be debt-free and they know exactly how they’ll embrace the life of freedom God intended for them.  
  
“What this class did for us was so much bigger than money,” said Alyssa. “It was so much bigger than helping us squeeze our budget. I can’t imagine starting out our marriage any other way.”  

[![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/09/HGFPUShoot-2018-MSM_9550.jpg)](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/09/HGFPUShoot-2018-MSM%5F9550.jpg)

_Financial Peace University groups have begun, but it’s not too late to join! Sign up for a group [here](http://berichhoboken.com). We can’t wait to see what story God is waiting to unfold in your life._


The Best Thing We Ever Did

In this ever-growing, ever-changing city, an annual event has taken root. For the past seven years, hundreds of people have come together in the name of community and love for a citywide day of service. Last year, local parks, businesses, schools and nonprofit organizations all felt the love as 400 volunteers banded together to create the largest 1Day ever!

Hoboken Grace will launch its eighth annual 1Day event on September 29th. Volunteers will pick from over 30 community service projects, from park cleanups to painting projects and small repairs in community centers. 

The Hoboken Housing Authority is one of the many organizations we’ll be serving again this year. What began as assistance with garbage cleanup has evolved into several small-scale projects helping the housing authority staff further their efforts to keep six housing communities continuing to feel like home for those who live there. 

“These projects make a huge difference in the appearance and upkeep of HHA properties. Words simply cannot express how much the efforts are appreciated,” said Rich Goddin, Director of Maintenance for the Hoboken Housing Authority. 

Last year’s volunteers also helped the Hoboken Evangelical Free Church with several projects, including painting a stairway, putting up drywall and building a garbage shed. “The team was great and super helpful,” said Pastor Dave Haney. “We were so blessed by the day.” 

Coming together in community is one of the most important things we can do to share God’s love and become part of something bigger than ourselves. While we can always volunteer at projects on our own time, it’s when we come together that God’s love is undeniably evident. When we work together, our individual efforts are elevated on a grand scale. What might seem like only a few hours of time to us can make a world of difference to those on the receiving end of that contribution.

You’ve heard people say “it takes a village” and “charity begins at home.” We are that village and Hoboken is our home. We are so excited to see how this year’s 1Day will turn out. 

_To be a part of helping make Hoboken better in just one day, [register here](http://1dayhoboken.com)._

We can’t wait to see you there!


A Community Impact

When Dan and Rebecca started talking about paying off their debt, they expected it would take at least five years. Instead, they paid off everything — nearly $110,000 — in three years.

“It was totally God, in different ways,” said Rebecca.

Those “different ways” start with the fact that Dan and Rebecca were looking at houses when they enrolled in Financial Peace University. They were a few years into their marriage, and buying a house seemed like the next natural step — “The American dream,” said Dan.

But as they committed to following the FPU program for nine weeks, they started rethinking that decision.

“One thing — the big thing — that Dave Ramsey preaches is that you shouldn’t be in any kind of debt,” said Rebecca. “And when we were at that point, we had student loans, we had some credit cards … we just had debt, and it was not good. And if we had gone down that road, we would have been in debt the rest of our lives.”

The class forced the couple to ask themselves whether buying a house was more of a need or a want. They started thinking about long-term goals, says Rebecca, and talking about what they actually wanted.

[![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/09/HGFPUShoot-2018-MSM_9636.jpg)](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/09/HGFPUShoot-2018-MSM%5F9636.jpg)“That’s where we set that goal for ourselves \[of getting out of debt\],” she said.

So they made a budget and committed to going all in, pinching every penny to make it happen.

But in the midst of that, God placed it on their hearts to open their home to Chloe, a student they’d met on a mission trip to North Korea who needed a host family in the NYC area. Having someone live with them for 10 months — and providing a bed, meals and everything else she’d need — was definitely not in their budget.

“I was really freaking out,” said Rebecca. “And this is where Dan was like, we need to give God a chance to show up.”

Throughout those 10 months, friends and family stepped up time and again. People donated furniture for Chloe’s room, and money for a new bed. The parents of a friend started sending checks to help with other expenses. Month after month, Dan, Rebecca and Chloe had everything they needed. And somehow, the budget always worked out.

“It was insane,” Rebecca said. “Down to the penny.”

“There was a literal penny,” Dan added. “We were paying at our laundromat in change. That week, we had all our other expenses paid off and we forgot we had to pick up our laundry. It was the final expense to keep our budget in line, and literally, we had a penny in our pocket to finish paying everything.”

When they’d made the decision to host Chloe, Dan and Rebecca accepted that their goal of getting out of debt would likely be postponed. But around the same time Chloe’s stay ended, they realized they could be debt-free if they put all of their savings toward what was left. And with that, they paid off their last student loan — the last of the nearly $110,000 they’d spent three years paying off.

“We had nothing, but we were free and we were so happy,” Rebecca said. “We were so happy.”

A few years later, that feeling of freedom hasn’t worn off. Earlier this year, Dan and Rebecca each started side businesses involving two of their passions — music and photography. Being debt-free has allowed them to invest money into both businesses, to get them off the ground. And several weeks ago, Dan took a job at a startup, an exciting opportunity that might have seemed too risky a few years ago.

What’s more, they’re rebuilding their savings and have a long-term vision for giving. They say they’re building a foundation that will eventually allow them to “give like crazy.”

“I would say the biggest thing right now is … having doors that are open to us that we can talk about what it looks like to give, in different ways, that weren’t open to us before,” said Dan.

For those just starting their FPU journey, the couple recommends committing fully to the program for the full nine weeks — following a budget, identifying weak spending habits, paying in cash. Another thing that proved crucial, they say, is learning to discern a need from a want — even if that means realizing your two-bedroom apartment is perfectly fine in the midst of a house hunt.

“We can’t recommend the program enough,” said Dan. “It’s going to stretch you in ways you haven’t been stretched before.”

_FPU launches at the end of March – start your joinery to Financial Freedom!_ [Register today.](https://hobokengrace.churchcenter.com/groups)

[![](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/09/HGFPUShoot-2018-MSM_9692.jpg)](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2018/09/HGFPUShoot-2018-MSM%5F9692.jpg)


Finding Financial Freedom

Blog

A Diverse, Growing, Contemporary, Community Church in Hoboken

Everything we do revolves around our mission of helping people find their way back to God. Our goal is to demonstrate who God really is and to let others know that God wants a relationship with each and every one of us.

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