Friday Coffee with PJ

Hard to believe but Friday is here again! For you, it means the final day of the work week ... but, alas, not so

for me! But that's OK ... I love my job!

1. The shock waves of yesterday's Supreme Court decisions will continue to reverberate far into the future. As the homosexual community and their supporters celebrate, I have chosen to mourn. Marriage as instituted by God has taken a huge hit. Same-sex marriage ... is really not marriage at all. But this is a discussion for another day.  But concerning the court's decision, Al Mohler, one of evangelical Christianity's most lucid thinkers, said the following about the court's decision:

"Nevertheless, even as Justice Kennedy castigated Congress (and presumably former President Bill Clinton) for making moral judgments, he could not resist moral judgments of his own. He wrote of our society’s “evolving understanding of the meaning of equality and declared that the states have the right to confer on same-sex marriages “the equal dignity” of a mariage between a man and a woman. By finding that the moral judgment of Congress in opposing same-sex marriage was wrong, he asserted, quite forcefully, that opposition to same-sex marriage is rooted in animus or hatred. In other words, Justice Kennedy, joined by four other justices, believes that opposition to same-sex marriage is wrong. In condemning a moral judgment, he arrogantly made a moral judgment." 

(for his entire post, click here)

We Christians need to do all we can to elevate the status of "sacred-covenant marriage" - one man, one woman, one flesh --- for life! (see Matthew 19:4-6)

2. One of the most powerful verses on how we talk is Ephesians 4:29. According to this verse, we are to speak ONLY for the benefit of the ones with whome we are speaking (writing, texting, emailing, messaging, etc.). Far too often when we do communicate, our motive is not OTHERS-ORIENTED ... but rather SELF-CENTERED! So ... take some time and analyse WHY you say (or text or email ... I think you get the point) what you say. Do your words spring from a desire to MINISTER to others or MANIPULATE others?  

3. Finally, I had a conversation today with a parent who pointed out that so many kids have their identity all wrapped up in their sports involvement. And given the crazy sports culture in which we live, we know what she is talking about. This got me thinking about even us adults ... and we, too, find our identity so often in the things we do (our jobs, our community involvement, our hobbies, etc.). But as followers of Jesus, where SHOULD we find our identity. Ed Welsh points us in the right direction with his thoughts in reponse to the question, Who Am I?  It is well worth the 3 minutes or so that it will take you to read! 

Thanks for stopping by ... and I hope you have a great weekend! Don't neglect worshipping our Great God with your church family. And if you don't have one, you are always welcome to come our way. We will keep the doors open and the coffee hot for you! 

pj