Today is the FINAL Friday of August AND the final Friday of meterological summer! Boo!!! Summer is my favorite season of the year. And although I do enjoy the fall .... knowing that winter lurks around the corner saddens my soul!  So, enough of that. Thanks for joining me for a cup of coffee and a couple of random thoughts that I hope will strengthen your faith and encourage your soul!

1. If you have been in touch with any news reports of late, the name Ashley Madison should sound familiar. This is the website which allows married people to find other people with whom to have an affair. I never knew such a website existed ... as I am sure is true for many of you. But when hackers obtained the names of those who have used the website, a firestorm erupted. Those who had thought their extramarital activities were "secret" now were frantic with fear. And there were a lot of people in this boat! Of all the zip codes in the United States, only three did not have an address linked to the site. The population of those three zip codes? 476! The population of the other zipcodes? 321,000,000! I am guessing we are about to see a spike in the number of divorces being filed! All this reminds me of a particular verse in the Bible which contains these words, "be sure your sin will find you out." What we think is done in secret, never is! For our God is always watching (Hebrews 4:13). So when the Tempter comes with his enticing bait, turn the other way and run! For our God is watching, even if no one else is!

2. This past Monday I had the privilege of officiating the memorial service of a woman who lived a full life of 94 years. Three and half weeks ago I did the same for a 94 year old man. Both of these people lived in such a way as to point many people to Jesus! I hope that is how you want to live ... to be pointed people to Jesus! And it is not really all that hard to do! A friend of mine (and a friend of a number of you as well), Ed Lewis, encourages people to go FISH for people (after all, if we choose to follow Jesus, he promises to make us "fishers of men!" - Matthew 4:19). SO  here is how it works. As you encounter people throughout your day ....

- Friendly (Be friendly! No one wants to talk with someone who acts like they just ate a dill pickle!)

- Initiate  (Initiate conversation)
- Story or Serve (Ask them about their story or serve them in some way.
- Hope (Give them hope ... offer to pray for them, etc).

This method can be easily remembered and implemented. So ... go out and FISH today! (Thanks Ed, for this reminder!)

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj