A Word about "Sabbath-Keeping"

I have been plodding through a book that I am finding myself enjoying the more I read of it. The book is titled, The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath. It is written by a Canadian pastor by the name of Mark Buchannan. Below is a quote I read last week that really got me thinking:


"Sabbath-keeping is more than time management. It is a fresh orientation to time, where we think with holy imagination about how the arc of our moments and the hours of our days intersects with eternity. 'Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom' (Psalm 90:12). Teach us that this is not just another day of the week, but the day that the Lord has made . . . (we need to learn to) work out where time and eternity meet. Pay attention to how God is afoot in the mystery of each moment, in its mad rush or maddening plod. He is present in all that. But too often we are so time-obsessed we take no time to really notice."

Hmm. There are some good insights there. Now if I can only find the time to reflect on them!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Beware of Those Time Wasters!

If you are anything like me ... I am sure you feel "the time crunch." You know, the ever present squeeze you feel because you have too much to do and too little time to do it in! I feel this a lot. But I wonder - how much of it is of my own making? By this I mean, how much time do I waste in rather meaningless, trivial pursuits? Recently a sheet containing a list of typical time wasters was distributed at one of our staff meetings. Here is some of the things that were part of the list ... as you read it, ask yourself if you are "guilty" of any:

1. Sleeping too much.
2. Watching too much TV.
3. Playing video/computer/xbox/Wii games.
4. Talking too long with people.
5. Emails.
6. Surfing the Internet (and I would include such sites as Facebook and My Space).
7. Day dreaming.

My friends, time is a precious commodity. God gives us all the same amount: 24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86,400 seconds each day. And once our day, hour, minute or second is past ... it is gone forever. God's Word admonishes us to "look carefully then how (we) walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶making the best use of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-15, ESV).

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Back to See the Dentist!

Yesterday, in addition to heading back to the office I had to head back to see my dentist. Two weeks ago, I went for a LONNGGG overdue checkup. During that exam I was told I had one cavity and it was a deep one. The dentist then told me that based on the xrays, he guessed there was an 80% chance I would need a root canal. So with all of that running around in my mind ... after several hours of work put in at the office, I took off for the dentist's.

Now I am not a fan of the dentist. In fact, I used to go to a dentist who had a sign on his window that read, "We cater to cowards." I always thought that was appropriate every time I walked through the doors. "They knew I was coming!" So I was surprised at how calm I felt yesterday, as I drove to my appointment. I was doing just fine until I walked into the dental office. The receptionist was on the phone and was saying these words as I was walking up to the counter to sign in, "We have a patient in a chair who is experiencing what seems to be heart related issues. We need you to send an ambulance immediately!" Now at that point, I was beginning to rethink my appointment. Is this something that I REALLY need to do???

I am glad to report that the ambulance came and transported the man to the hospital (at which time he seemed to be doing much better) AND I survived my appointment (the dentist was able to just fill the cavity as the nerve was not exposed - although I must keep an "eye tooth" on it just in case it becomes clear that more work will be required!). SOOO ... my wallet and my calendar were both spared a major hit - not to mention my ego (I am a wimp with pain)!

This situation had a good result. But often in this life (in which we live in a world that is "temporarily out of order"), this is not the case. This is why we must do our part to strengthen our faith in God (by getting to know Him and His promises as revealed in His Word) while also asking him to grow our faith - for it is faith in God that will help us to overcome this world!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Back in Town with Some Random Thoughts

Our English word, vacation, comes from the Latin root, vacare meaning “to be empty.” The idea is that while you are on vacation ... your office or place at work is EMPTY! Well I just got back to my empty office to the work that has accumulated in my absence. Before I begin to tackle the pile of emails and emails, meetings and visits that awaits my attention, I want to share some random thoughts on my vacation.

1. Vacations are a great time to work on family relationships. This past week, my wife and I spent some very special time with our adult kids and their spouses, along with our two grandchildren. It was a great time for us to reconnect. It was also wonderful to get to know our grand baby and our step grandson better. My wife commented to me just yesterday how much her love grew for these two children as a result of our time together. Spending quality time together with others will tend to do this!

2. Vacations are also a great time to work on our "God" relationship. With the press of my schedule removed, it was easy for me to see just how much I allow my "busyness" to crowd out time spent with God. So I return to my schedule, determined to make my relationship with God (and my alone time with Him) a greater priority than it has been.

3. I stink at the game "Sorry!" I played my grandson 6 or 7 times and he beat me EVERY SINGLE TIME! I told him on Saturday that I wanted a rematch ... and he assured me that he would beat me again! And you know, he probably will (and he won't be a bit SORRY about doing so)!

4. Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz had it right when she said, "There's no place like home!" Even though Sharon and I felt sadness in our hearts as we pulled out of Ocean City (we were the last to leave), we both felt good about pulling into our driveway. Yes, vacations away are great - but our home is still our favorite place to be (And to think that our eternal home will be far better -- wow! Looking forward to my arrival there - in God's perfect timing, of course!)!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

A Friend Like No Other!

As I wrap up my vacation (and it has been a delightful one with a lot of time spent with my immediate family) - I wanted to post a song that I ran across. The song titled, My Song Is Love Unknown, is a powerful musical description of the gospel. It reminded me that in this day of Facebook in which we "friend and befriend" one another (sometimes, I think, simply to see how many "friends" we can add to our list!) - Jesus Christ is a friend like no other! Take a few minutes and enjoy the song ... and worship Jesus Christ!




Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

On Vacation! Yea!!!

I am currently on vacation, getting some needed R&R and spending time with the family. Be back to posting blogs the week of July 2oth.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

The Most Important Thing about You Is???

Did you ever stop to think about what the most important thing about you is? Is it how much money you make? How tall you are? How much hair you have (or don't have) on the top of your head? Where you went to school? What you have accomplished to date in your life?

Here is what A.W. Tozer had to say in answer to this question:

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like . . . Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, 'What comes into your mind when you think about God?' we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God." (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy).

Tozer is right on target with those comment! So, what are YOUR thoughts of God? The more rightly you think about God and the more closely your thoughts about God match up with the reality of who God truly is - the more your life will be a reflection of Him.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj