Heading to the Beach!

I and the fam will be heading to Ocean City, MD first thing Monday morning for a few days of sun, sand and surf! I'll be back "blogging" early next week. Until then, I encourage you to give your best to God and don't sweat the little stuff!

Thanks for listening,

pj

T.G.I.F.

The popular acronym T.G.I.F. represents the phrase Thank God It's Friday or Thank Goodness It's Friday or Terribly Gleeful It's Friday. Whichever is meant by the speaker or writer, what is being communicated is the relief that for most, the work week is almost over and the two day weekend is about to begin. (For me it is hard to relate to this feeling, as my weekends tend to be quite busy - after all, my one day of work is on the weekend!) :)

Truly, though, I can understand the relief felt by many. American workers are the most productive in the world. One reason for that is we work long hours and a growing number never take a vacation - according to a report I just viewed this week on NBC Nightly News. Now it is good that so many American workers work hard. But it is not good that increasingly people are forgoing their vacation. In the busyness of the American "Rat Race" - all of us need "down time." In fact, God in His infinite wisdom built "down time" into the regular cycle of life with the Sabbath commandment (one of the original Ten). The Hebrew word for sabbath carries the idea of rest ... and we are called upon by God to rest from our regular daily routine one day out of every seven (see Exodus 20:8-13). As part of this one day out of seven rest - we need to retool not just physically but also spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually. I truly hope in the busyness of life -- you are taking time to get the rest you need and to retool yourself regularly to face the ongoing demands of life in this busy world. I try to do this and when I fail, it does not take long before I realize I am "running on Empty!" Next week - I AM taking a week of vacation for some badly needed R&R (Rest and Retooling) -- I hope you do the same this summer!

Thanks for listening,

pj

Uncancelled Fireworks Irk a Lot of People!

Sometimes city officials get it right ... and sometimes they don't even come close. That was the scenario in Philadelphia last night. After waiting through intermittent rain showers, a large crowd of thousands lining the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art were informed that the July 4th's fireworks were being cancelled due to the rain. Then, after over 80% of the crowd went home, the decision was made to uncancel the cancelled fireworks. So at approximately 11:20 PM, the show began (and according to officials it was done for the sake of television viewers - but would not most have gone to bed by that time?). No wonder there are a lot of irked people this morning!

Cancellation of events due to weather happen frequently. And when they do, people are disappointed. But I don't know if I have ever heard of a fireworks display being cancelled and then uncancelled! Hmm. This gets me thinking of a cancellation mentioned in the Bible. That's right, a cancellation. In Colossians 2:13-14 Paul writes, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross." Wow! At the cross, Christ, having fulfilled all the demands of the Law of God, took that Law and wrote the words "Paid in Full" across it. And these words he wrote with his blood! This cancelled the demand of the Law upon us (which was death!). And unlike what happened in Philadelphia last night, this cancellation will never be uncancelled! You can count on that!

Thanks for listening,

pj

Happy Fourth of July!

July 4th is the day we as Americans rejoice in our freedom as we celebrate our country's birth. Freedom is something this country has always cherished. The Bill of Rights which was added to the Constitution is proof positive of this. In recent years, there has been a lot of tension brought about by the fight against terror because at times, this effort has infringed upon our freedom.

Today, as you (I hope) think about the freedom we enjoy (a level of freedom enjoyed by few around this world), remember that the greatest freedom any one (American, Japanese, Tajik, Sudanese, Russian, Australian, Israeli, Palestinian, Iraqi, etc., etc., etc.,) can ever experience is the freedom from sin that Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone provides. Only he is "the way, the truth and the life" and "no one comes to the Father but by him." (See John 14:6). When Jesus died on the cross, he died to pay a wage - it was the wage of sin (See Romans 6:23). But since he himself was sinless (see Hebrews 4:15), it was not the wage for his own sin he was paying there. No. He was paying the wage for your sin and for my sin (See Isaiah 53:5-6). And when Jesus rose from the dead three days later, his resurrection proved that he was indeed the Son of God (See Romans 1:4). We enter this world "rebels with a cause." Our cause is to live life for "ME." But the God who made us and placed us on this earth - did so that we might live this life for Him - which is life that Jesus termed "abundant."

How about YOU? Have you ever experienced the freedom from sin that I have talked about here? All you must do is to begin by Admitting that you have sinned and rebelled against God. Once you admit to that, then you must Believe that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sin - a penalty that a JUST God requires. Finally, you must Confess Jesus as you Savior - turning to Him from sin and committing your self to follow JESUS CHRIST. When a person does this, then he or she will experience the reality of 2 Corinthians 5:17 which states that "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" I hope that today - this day of FREEDOM - you know what it means to be (as Jesus says) "free indeed" (See John 8:31-32, 36).


Thanks for listening,


pj

10,000 Losses!

This past weekend, a die hard Phillies fan pointed out something to me about the Phillies. They are about to lose their 10,000th game (as of today they have lost 9,996 games)! That is more than any other professional sports team in any sport has ever lost! Quite the accomplishment! You can actually follow this feat on the Internet. Just go to http://www.celebrate10000.com/. Finally the Phillies will be first at something! (And some of my friends like to remind me about how bad the Pittsburgh Pirates are!).

Having grown up listening many a summer night to the Phillies - my heart goes out to the Phillies and their fans. Losing is never any fun - especially when it happens over and over and over again! But for followers of Jesus - we don't have to worry about losing. Even though there is much disagreement among us about the details of end time events, there is NO disagreement about history's final outcome. Jesus is coming back. He will establish his eternal kingdom. And he will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords - forever and ever and ever! (go ahead and open your Bible and read Revelation chapters 19-22) Even though evil seems to be winning now, take heart my friend, King Jesus IS going to win!

Thanks for listening,

pj

The Philadelphia iPhone Controversy

As I was on the final leg of my journey home this past Friday, I tuned my car radio to Philadelphia's KYW radio (1060 on the AM band) to catch some of the latest news. If you saw any news on TV, heard the news on the radio, or read the news in the local paper or USA Today, you could not help but hear about Apple's new techno toy, the Apple iPhone. It went on sale at 6 PM on Friday. Many people began lining up in the very early hours of Friday to be among the first purchasers of this new gadget. KYW was making a big deal about one such person who was none other than the Mayor of Philadelphia. That's right - Mayor John Street placed his chair on the sidewalk outside a Cingular Wireless store in Center City at 3:30 AM and began his 14+ hour wait. His actions has evoked a lot of public reaction. One Philadelphian asked the question, "Am I the only one bothered by our mayor waiting in line for something as trivial as an iPhone? I'm glad to know where my tax dollars are going." As it turns out, he is not the only one bothered by Mayor Street's actions. Scores of Philadelphians are letting the mayor know that they did NOT appreciate how he spent his Friday!

It is not my purpose in this blog posting to wade in on whether the mayor was right or wrong in what he did. But it does raise an important question for all of us - and that is our use of time. I would "guesstimate" that many of us waste a lot of it. We spend our time in the pursuit of trivial things. We forget how precious our time is, that time is a lot like money - once spent it is gone forever! This is why God makes such a big deal about time and our use of it. In Ephesians 5:16 we are urged to be "making the best use of our time, because the days are evil." How about YOU? Are you making the best use of your time? Are you using your time to get to know God better, to love Him more deeply, to serve him more fervently? One day we will all answer to God for the way we have used our LIMITED time here on earth. Let's strive to make the best use of our time NOW- so that we won't be embarrassed THEN!

Thanks for listening,

pj

On the Road Home!

Later today I will throw my things into the trunk of my car and hit the road for home. Even though this has been a good experience here at the ICPC annual training seminar - it will be great to be heading home!

All of us who claim to be followers of Jesus, who are trusting him and him alone for our salvation are also on the road home. You see we are merely aliens here on this earth. Our true home is heaven. Peter reminds us of this when he refers to us as "strangers in the world" (translations other than the NIV translate the Greek word for strangers as "aliens"). Oh how easy it is to lose sight of that. We all must WORK at reminding ourselves that we are on a journey - we are on the road home. Doing so will help us to avoid becoming so earthly minded that we are of no heavenly good!

Thanks for listening,

pj