Friday Coffee with PJ

Yet another Friday. So pour yourself a cup of coffee (or your morning beverage of choice) and join me for a few random thoughts which I hope will help you in your faith walk with God. 

Every Thursday morning at 6:30 I meet with a small group of men to pray. When I started this practice over twenty years ago, I opted to call the group the Brothers of Aaron and Hur. I chose this name based on an incident recorded in Exodus 17. Joshua led the army of Israel to fight against the Amalekites who had come against the Israelites as they marched out of Egypt. Here is what Moses wrote about the battle: 

Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed. When Moses’s hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword.

I think you probably see where I am going with the choice of the name for the group. As a pastor, with each passing year, I realize how dependent I am upon others coming alongside of me to support my ministry in prayer. I cannot tell you how much I have appreciated these men who have joined with me to pray each Thursday morning. It is always a highlight of my week!

Yesterday morning (being Thursday) brought a small group of us (brothers of Aaron and Hur) together. I often open with a verse or two from Scripture which reminds us of some truth about God. Yesterday I chose James 1:17 which reads:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 

Here James refers to God as "the Father of lights," a reference to the fact that God is the creator of the sun, moon, and stars. And unlike the shadows created by these heavenly bodies (which shift in relation to the movement of these sources of light), God never changes! This is of utmost importance to us, given what James states in the beginning of the verse - that EVERY good and perfect gift is from him. You see, if God could change, perhaps he would grow tired of giving so much to so many and therefore stop giving. Or maybe he would "wake up" one morning, grumpy and unwilling to give good gifts to his creatures. Or it might happen that his knowledge of what we might need most would become distorted and therefore the "good and perfect gift" he gives us wouldn't really be "good or perfect" for us! 

All this to say isn't it a great comfort to know that our God (so UNLIKE us) never changes! That he is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13: 8). As such, he is indeed a God worthy of our trust, obedience, worship, and love. 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

Friday has once again rolled around (amazing how quickly this happens!). So please pour yourself a cup of your favorite java and join me for a couple of random thoughts. 

One of my ministry tasks at my church finds my wife and I leading a Life Group. Our group consists of 13 adults, most of whom are in my age group. Some are a tad older, some the same age, and a some a few years younger. Let's just say all of us have been sent AARP membership applications in the mail! Given where we are in life, I suggested to my wife that we lead our group through a book just published in 2017 and already gone through a reprint in 2018. The book is titled, A Good Old Age. The author is Derek Prime, author of numerous books and a retired Scottish pastor. I was first introduced to Prime's book this past May at Alistair Begg's Basics Conference for Pastors. During the sessions, Alistair highlighted only three or four books. A Good Old Age was the first. On my next stop in the conference bookstore, I picked up a copy of the book and read the intro and first chapter (very readable ... in style, brevity, and large print!). I then proceeded to the checkout line with two copies in hand. 

In the book, the author begins with the letter A and then proceeds to work his way through the alphabet (same here in the United States as it is in Scotland, by the way!). The twenty-six principles are spot on. Concerning them (and the book as a whole), Alistair Begg writes the following in his foreword: 

"My only concern in reading this material is that it will be housed in the wrong section of the library – geriatric studies. It needs to be read long before we find ourselves in the senior citizens seats on the train. We want to be like those who were 'still living by faith when they died' (Hebrews 11:13). In other words, those people of faith were still doing in the closing chapter what they had been doing throughout the course of their lives.  They had not adopted a new pattern at the end, driven by guilt or fear; instead, seeing the finishing line in view, they had picked up the pace. Surely it is a life of humble dependency and steady consistency that paves the way to a good old age." 

If you are in my age bracket (or close), then I would highly recommend you order yourself a copy of Prime's book. And if you are still young and robust, you would also benefit from his wisdom - for both living out your life AND to minister better to those you love who are closing in on the finish line! 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

Friday is here! You know the routine. Coffee (I prefer mine bold and black). And just a few minutes of your time for a few random thoughts to help you, I trust, in your spiritual pilgrimage through this life. 

A number of years ago, the local Lancaster newspaper reported on an incident which occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility located near Harrisburg. The story told of a security guard who was so absorbed in playing his hand-held video game that he failed to notice an inspector approaching on a surprise inspection!  (I’m glad it was an inspector approaching and not a would-be terrorist!)  As if that weren’t sad enough – the article went on to cite the state Department of Environmental Protection’s read on the incident.  According to the department, the employee broke no work rules for guards are encouraged to engage in mind-stimulating activities!  OK.  Does this make sense to you?  Or is it just me having a grumpy morning? 

The New Testament in a number of different places tells us that we must always be on the alert – watching for the return of Jesus Christ (Mark 13:33); being alert in prayer (Ephesians 6:18); staying alert lest we fall asleep amidst the darkness of this age (1 Thessalonians 5:6); keeping alert for the advances against us of our Enemy (1 Peter 5:8).  Let’s purpose in our hearts that we will not be like this guard at TMI who got so absorbed in his video game that he was caught off guard.  Don’t allow the distractions of this world to diminish your readiness. Life is too short and the opportunities around us too great to fail in this area.  Jesus urges us, “Be on guard!  Be alert!” (Mark 13:33).  That’s good advice.

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj