Blessed to Do What?

I want to follow up yesterday's posting with another thought concerning God's blessings. Yesterday I encouraged all of us to regularly pause to thank God for his blessings. It is only due to His grace that we enjoy anything at all!

Today, I want to remind you of another truth that I was reminded of this past Sunday by our missionary, Jim Momeyer. Jim and his wife Deb serve with Grace Brethren International Missions in the African country of Cameroun. In his sermon, he shared this principle: We have been "BLESSED TO BLESS FOR HIS PRAISE!" He drew this principle from the first three verses of Psalm 67 which reads as follows:

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, ²that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. ³May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you."

Jim pointed out to us that what this portion of Scripture teaches is that God doesn't generously bless us so that we can enjoy his blessings just for ourselves. No, God blesses us so that in turn we can bless others ... and all for the praise of God's glory! Jim wrapped up his sermon by encouraging us to ask ourselves these three rather pointed questions:

- How has God blessed me?
- How am I in turn blessing others?
- Are people "bragging" on God because of me?

Good questions! I urge you to use these questions to guide you in a time of self-evaluation. If you are in any way like me (and I suspect many of you are) - you will find that you all too often horde God's blessings for yourself!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

It's Easy to Forget to Say, "Thanks, God!"

Joe was a factory worker in suburban Cleveland. He started at the plant right out of high school. He was in his 22nd year on the job, married with three kids. Recently, a number of his co-workers had been laid off. But he thought he was safe given his years of seniority. But one day, he found out other-wise. As he drove home from work that last day at the plant, he wondered how he would ever find another job - at least one that paid him as well as his factory job had done over the years. After all, he had no education beyond high school and given the poor job market, he knew he was in for a rough time.

The very next morning, he began his new job - that of finding a job! He registered at a local "career-link" job center. There he honed his resume and learned a strategy to find employment. With a renewed feeling of hope, he began in earnest looking for his next job. But days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months with no results. Joe's unemployment benefits were soon scheduled to run out. Desperate and discouraged, Joe turned to God. Not a praying man, he got down on his knees one night and asked God (or as he called him "the Big Boss upstairs") for a job. He told God if God would come through for him, that he, Joe, would come through for God. He crawled into bed that night, feeling some relief and managed to sleep for the first time in several nights.

He was awakened the next morning by an early morning phone call. It was an employment agency calling about a potential job. They wanted to see Joe that very morning. With cautious optimism Joe drove to the agency. After the agency interview, he was sent to a new distribution center that had recently opened near his home. At the conclusion of that interview, he was offered the job on the spot. He took it! Soon, he was enjoying a healthy regular pay check (and enjoying his new job as well!). However, Joe forgot about God and forgot about the "deal" that he had made with God. Joe would eventually retire from the distribution center. But never again did he get on his knees before God.

The lesson I want you to get out of this parable is not that we should avoid making deals with God (which is true!). But I want to remind you (and me, too!) that it is God "who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment" (1 Timothy 6:17). Therefore we must be careful to recognize and honor HIM as the provider for all of our needs and wants! Don't be guilty of taking God's gifts for granted. Remember to thank Him for His many blessings!

Tomorrow I will discuss one other step we must take in response to the generosity of our God. But for today (and just don't stop with today - but get into this habit EVERYDAY!) please pause and take a moment to mentally list some of the many blessings God has showered upon you - and THANK HIM!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

A Case of Mistaken Idenitification

The headline in this morning's paper read, "Police had wrong guy." Curious, I read the article. Seems like the wrong guy, Clark Lilley, was arrested last month for robbing a Manor Township convenience store. Turns out, he never did it! Yet for the past several weeks, he has languished in Lancaster County prison, day after day proclaiming his innocence. Authorities turned a deaf ear to his protests (after all, most inmates do the same!) until, a man now identified as the true culprit was arrested after robbing another convenience store. And since Lilley was incarcerated at the time, it was clear he was innocent as he claimed! So last night, Lilley slept in his own bed for the first time in FIVE weeks! Now how did it come about that Lilley was arrested in the first place? Seems that a worker at the convenience store picked him out of a photo line up and identified him as the robber. Because of that mistaken identification, Lilley's life was turned upside down! At the time of his arrest, he was a student at Lancaster Bible College. Due to his arrest, he lost his on campus job and now a whole semester of work.

As unfortunate as this story is, we can understand how these things happen. People make mistakes. Most of the time, these mistakes are on the minor side (like making a wrong turn while driving, or overcooking the roast). But in Lilley's case - the woman's mistake led to a major disruption in his life.

Friends, there will come a day that we stand before Almighty God. Be assured that unlike the woman who was the truly guilty one in this story in making her false identification of Lilly as the robber, God will never be guilty of this. He knows all things perfectly and exhaustively. So when we stand before Him to give an account of our lives (which we will, see 2 Corinthians 5:10 and Revelation 20:11-15) - you can count on the fact that God will make totally accurate judgments about us and our lives. That's a sobering thought! Keep that in mind as you live out today! It just may make a difference in the choices you make! God is watching! And you and I will one day give an account for our lives!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Off to République Centrafricaine!

Details continue to firm up for the open door of ministry that I blogged about last week. God willing, we are scheduled to leave for central Africa on Tuesday, August 25. I said "we" because I now have a teammate confirmed for the trip. Ryan Aument, my son-in-law will be traveling with me and doing some of the training. Ryan leads and teaches in our growing young adult ministry here at Grace. He also is serving in his first term as the Clerk of Courts of Lancaster County (to read his bio, you can go to http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/cwp/view.asp?a=502&q=608324&lancoNav=|&lancoNav_GID=987). One of the groups we will be training in the CAR will be government officials and workers. Given Ryan's vocation, he will have an immediate connection with this group (as I will with the pastors, educators and police chaplains that we will be working with). This is again another confirmation that God indeed has placed this open door of opportunity before us!

As more details become available, I will post periodic updates. But for now, I close with this verse: "make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5). We live in troubled times. And often, trouble in people's lives make for great opportunities to reach out with the love of Christ! God may not be calling you to go to Africa ... but He is calling you to go across the street (or wherever the hurting people are in your life!). So make the most of these opportunities to proclaim the love AND the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Another Birthday in the Rear View Mirror!

Last Thursday I turned 53. Now some might think that is pretty old (I am thinking of some teens and twenty-somethings that I know). Others would still consider me to be on the younger side (like many of my older senior adult friends). But as I sit here pondering my age ... at the end of the day it does not matter how old or young we might happen to be. What matters is that we are living each day (whether we are 19, 33, 62, 87 or FIFTY-THREE) by God's grace and for HIS glory!

So how about you? Do you remind yourself each day of God's grace and where you would be right now WITHOUT it? And do you place God's glory at the forefront of your thinking, knowing that the choices you make today (and tomorrow and the next day and the next . . . ) should be choices that put Him on display in your life? Take a moment right now to stop and read the following two verses .... then ask God to help you live them out in your day-to-day routine!

Galatians 6:14 "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

An Open Door (part 5)

Yesterday I mentioned that God "spoke" to me about going to Africa to assist Augustin. It was through a verse in the passage I was studying in preparation for this past Sunday's sermon. The passage was Revelation 3:7-13. These verses make up Jesus' letter to the church in Philadelphia (the ancient city by that name which was located in the Roman Province of Asia). In that letter, Jesus says to the church, "See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut" (Revelation 3:8). As I studied that verse, I came to the conclusion that this open door could have two possible interpretations (of which I believe both are in view here). This open door refers to the open door of salvation that God places before humanity. It is a door that will always be open to anyone who will come and embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. But I also believe that this open door refers to the open door of opportunity. The city of Philadelphia was located at the junction of many key trade routes. In fact, the main Imperial Post from Rome ran right through Philadelphia to points east. For this reason, the city was known as "The Gateway to the East." So you can just imagine the opportunities to proclaim the gospel that must have existed for this church.

Now as I thought on this open door of opportunity -- it was if God spoke to me audibly (which he did not of course). "John, I have placed before YOU an open door ... to minister short-term in Africa!". At that moment I knew that I had to notify Augustin that I would accept his invitation to travel to Africa to assist him in his work. I sent him that email just this past Saturday. Currently we are now working on trying to get something on the calendar. Scheduling will prove to be a challenge, given my current level of commitments and the fact that there is only ONE international flight that goes into the Central African Republic each week (so you sure don't want to be late for your flight!!!). So as details become available, I will let you know.

In closing, just to show you the extent of the influence of Augustin and the opportunity for the gospel that lays before him, he shared with me that he was meeting this week with the country's prime minister to pray with him (as the prime minister was planning to introduce his politcal agenda to the parliament this week) and discuss with the prime minister his desire to conduct leadership training for the government. So I invite you to please be in prayer that God would make this ministry opportunity happen. We are hoping that it will all come together to take place in the latter half of this year.

Thanks for stopping by this week . . .

pj

An Open Door (part 4)

If you have been following my blog this week, I have been discussing an open door of ministry that God appears to be laying before me. Yesterday, I mentioned the brief email that Dave Guiles of GBIM planned to send to Augustin after our initial conversation at Jane's Cafe. A mere two days after that meeting, Dave sent Augustin this email, in which he mentioned me (and my background) and my possible interest in assisting Augustin in his ministry. The very next day I received an email from Augustin. He expressed his need for my help whenever I could come. He told me to let him know as to when I was "convicted" to come (did he mean to say "convinced?"). I remember thinking ... "Wait a minute, Lord, I said I would pray about it!" At that point, I began praying with more fervency ... seeking His guidance and wisdom.

Across the course of the last two weeks of February and into the first week of March, I prayed and continued communicating with Agustin. Finally, last Friday I spoke again at length with Dave Guiles about the opportunity. He gave me additional information about Augustin, his ministry and the situation in central Africa. He ended the conversation by assuring me that should I decide to go, GBIM would be glad to assist me where needed. After hanging up the phone, I said to myself, "Self, I think God wants you to go to Africa!" But then myself responded, "John, you don't really want to go to Africa, do you?" (you know things are getting bad when you are engaging in conversation with yourself!). Still undecided, I sat down and began to work on Sunday morning's message. As I read one of the verses, God spoke to me. To find out what verse I read and what God was communicating to me ... please stop by tomorrow as I bring this week long story to a close (at least for now!).

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj