Life is Short! Don't Waste It in Trivial Pursuits!

How short is our life? The Scripture tells us that our life is like "a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14). Wow! That's brief!!  Just today I ran across another metaphor that helps us get a grip on just how short are lives really are ... especially against the backdrop of eternity. This metaphor involves the Mayfly. If we were Mayflies, our lives would look something like this:

- Born, 7 AM
- Reach our teens, 8:57 AM
- Have kids, between 10 AM and Noon
- Reach 50th birthday, 2:30 PM
- Retire - 4:30 PM
- Die at age 80, 7 PM

Friends, talk about a "here today and gone tomorrow" sort of existence - that is you and me! In light of this, let's get intentional about the exhortation given to us by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:15-16a when he writes, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity."

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

A Prayer to Be Prayed!

Yesterday, I attended a stewardship of leadership meeting. As part of that meeting, we prayed a prayer that I needed to pray ... not just yesterday, but I believe I could benefit from praying this prayer EVERY day! We live in such a fast moving world - and I am in definite need of God's help to SLOW DOWN! Here is the prayer:

Prayer for a Peaceful Spirit

Please, Lord, slow me down, ease my pounding heart, quiet my racing mind, steady my hurried steps. 

Amidst the confusion of my days, grant me the calmness of Your peace. 

Help me to know the truly restoring gift of sleep. 

Teach me the art of taking time off, to slow down to see the beauty of Your creation, to chat with a friend, to read a few lines from a good book ... or from THE GOOD BOOK. 

Remind me each day, that there is more to life than increasing its speed, it is living, each moment, with You and for You. 

Let me look upwards into the branches of a towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well. 

Please Lord, slow me down. Teach me to be gentle and humble of heart, fearing nothing of this world as you are my Lord. 

Grant me rest for my soul, now and eternally with You.

Amen.

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Getting Rid of Extra Baggage!

Spirit Airlines is a small airline based in Florida (Spirit has less than two dozen planes and its 150 daily flights are about one-twentieth the flights offered by American Airlines). Given its size, I am guessing many of you have never heard of it ... let alone flown on it. But Spirit Airlines will begin doing something no other airline has yet to attempt. Starting August 1st, Spirit will begin charging for carry-on luggage. So if your carry-on must be stowed in the overhead bins, you will be charged $45 (if paid at the gate, $30 if paid in advance). If your carry-on can be stowed under the seat it will fly free! In defending this move, Spirit claims it will be dropping most base fares an average of about $40. Therefore, most passengers will not have to pay any more to fly even when paying for their carry-on.

If you have done any flying recently, you know that when the airlines began charging for checked baggage (anywhere from $20 on up per bag per way), passengers made changes in how they packed. Many began to forgo checking luggage and instead, began packing as large a carry-on AND as large a "personal item" as allowed by the airlines. This has made flying a real hassle. Trying to find space to store one's carry-on as become at best difficult and at worst impossible. This all makes me wonder: If the major airlines follow Spirit's lead, how will passengers change their packing habits? Will they stuff all they can in a small duffel bag or knapsack and squeeze it under the seat? Will they just decide to wear the same outer clothing during their travels and only pack underwear and socks (gotta have clean socks!). I guess we will just have to watch and see. . .

In the mean time, let me encourage you to take a look at any extra "baggage" you may be carrying in your life. It may be financial, emotional, physical, relational or spiritual in nature. But you may be carrying a heavy load that you need to get rid of. Are you willing to take the steps to do so? Perhaps you need to talk to a trusted and mature (in the faith) friend about your struggles. Or maybe you need to contact a counselor or pastor. Whatever the case ... don't keep breaking your back under the weight of unnecessary baggage. Determine today to take the needed steps to get rid of it!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Sex is Holy!

A young British couple were arrested and sentenced to one month in jail for kissing in a restaurant. It all happened in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Even though much of the very conservative social codes in cosmopolitan Dubai have been relaxed, officials there still enforce a strict decency code. And kissing in public there is considered indecent!

What a difference from here in our country where far more than just kissing is seen (or suggested) openly on prime time television and in films on the silver screen. Our society is a sex-saturated society! For those of us who are followers of Christ, we are called to a very high standard when it comes to sexuality. Given the pressure of our sex-crazed culture, we need to be reminded of this standard on a regular basis. One of the clearest statements of this standard comes to us from 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 where the Apostle Paul writes,

"It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God."

May all of us strive to uphold this high standard and in doing so make a statement to the world around us that sex is sacred and should be treated as such! This will not be easy to do ... but we can do so ... all by God's grace and for His glory! 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Truth SADDER than Fiction?

During our family lunch together on Easter Sunday, my son related to me a story he had heard about a couple in South Korea who neglected their baby while playing a video game. Their neglect was to such an extent that their infant died of malnutrition. Wanting to learn more of the details of this case, I found an article on the BBC News site that was posted in early March. According to the BBC report, "The pair fed their own premature baby just once a day in between 12-hour stretches at an internet cafe." The BBC article goes on to say that an investigating officer reported that the couple "lost their will to live a normal life after losing their jobs and they indulged themselves online to escape from reality." Unbelievable? But wait, I am not done yet. The BBC also reported that the video game they were playing was all about nurturing a virtual girl called Anima. Ouch! Here was a couple raising a virtual daughter online while their living baby in the real world starved to death!

Truth stranger than fiction? Truth SADDER than fiction might be a better summation of this case! I do not know how people can get so distorted in their view of reality that the online world becomes more real than the real world! But all of us can learn something from this. Technology is great. But it is not to be used as a replacement for the real world. Yet for many (like this couple) it has become just that. Why? In the virtual online world, a person is basically in control. But not so the real world! The real world often makes demands on us that we would rather not have to face. So ... we escape to our virtual world which is much easier to deal with. So for all the good computer technology offers - there is a down side. So be careful! Do NOT allow your real world suffer because of too much time spent in your virtual world!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Fact or Fraud? (part 2)

Yesterday I posted the first two of four lines of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Fatal torment: Jesus really did die.
Empty tomb: His tomb was and is still - empty!

Today I will offer two more: 

Appearances:  Jesus appeared to dozens of people after his resurrection. In fact, on one occasion he appeared to 500 individuals. In 1 Corinthians 15:6 the apostle Paul states concerning the resurrected Jesus that "he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living..."  This is significant for two reasons. First, if the experiences of the eye witnesses to the resurrected Jesus could be attributed to hallucinations, isn't it striking that 500 people all had the same hallucination at the same time? Also, Paul makes it quite clear that some of these eye witnesses were still living at the time he wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians. What Paul was saying to his readers was this, "If you don't believe me, contact one of these witnesses." You see, it is one thing for me to make an incredible claim about someone who lived so long in the past that any eye witnesses to his life are long gone. It is quite another to make the claim while eye witnesses still live who could affirm or discredit my claim. The gospel record is quite clear. Jesus lives and his many appearances confirm that claim.

Transformed lives:  One of the most arresting aspects of the resurrection account is the transformed lives of the disciples. Peter for example, went from denying that he even knew Jesus (and this denial to a little servant girl) to proclaiming Jesus to a crowd of thousands in Jerusalem just a few weeks later. The only explanation that I can find for this abrupt and radical turnaround is the fact that Peter met the risen Jesus. Therefore, he knew that Jesus was indeed alive and ALL that Jesus taught concerning who he was and why he came was true. And this dramatically transformed his life! 

Close to 2000 years have come and gone since Jesus rose from the dead. But he is still in the business of transforming lives. I know. He transformed mine!  He wants to do the same for you! Come to him. Confess your sin and rebellion against God. Believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Commit your life to Christ. And he will begin his work of transformation. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Thanks for stopping by .... and may you be blessed this Easter season!

pj

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Fact or Fraud?

As I mentioned in yesterday's posting, I want to briefly overview the evidence for the resurrection with you. For either the resurrection of Christ is a terrible FRAUD ... or it is a life-changing FACT. It cannot be both. And as I have considered the evidence, I believe it powerfully points toward the latter ... that it is a FACT of time-space history which speaks to the power of God to accomplish such a feat! Today I will examine the first two of four lines of evidence for the resurrection. To help you remember these, I will use the acrostic "F.E.A.T." (which was developed by Hank Hanegraff of the Christian Research Institute).

Fatal torment: It is vital to prove that Jesus Christ actually suffered to such an extent that he died, for the obvious reason that one must be dead before one can be resurrected. But this is vitally important for another reason. One line of argument that has been leveled against the resurrection down through the centuries is the belief that Jesus did not really die on the cross. Oh, he might have come close, but he did not die. Rather he experienced a semi-comatose state that mimicked death. Those who laid his body in the tomb thought he was dead. But he was not. And during the time he was in the tomb, he slowly came back to consciousness and eventually gained enough strength to leave the tomb and reappear to his disciples. This, my friend is quite the absurd argument for these reasons: For starters, the gospel record is quite clear: Jesus was dead! When the legs of the two criminals crucified with Jesus were broken to hasten their death, Jesus' legs were not broken. Why? Because when they came to Jesus he was already dead, making the breaking of his legs unnecessary (see John 19:31-37). In addition, even IF Jesus had survived the brutality of the flogging, beatings, and crucifixion - would he have had the strength to move the stone which lay across the opening of the tomb, fight off the Roman guard posted outside the tomb and then go on to appear to his disciples in such a way that they would be convinced that he had indeed risen from the dead? I think not!  I believe there is no doubting that Jesus suffered fatal torment.

Empty Tomb: This is important for if Jesus' body were still in the tomb in which it was laid - then all discussion on whether or not the resurrection ever occurred could be forever put to rest. But the tomb was and is to this day EMPTY! Where's the evidence? Consider the following: First, there is the the story (Matthew 28) of the Roman guard as they reported back to the Jewish leaders concerning their experience of Jesus' resurrection in the predawn hours of that first Easter. The Jewish leaders had a problem on their hands - an empty tomb. To explain it, they bribed the Roman soldiers to spread the lie that the disciples had come while they were sleeping and stole the body of Jesus. That was why the tomb was empty. (Note: this is a ridiculous story, for several reasons. The Roman army's penalty for falling asleep on watch duty was death. So to think a whole contingent of soldiers would have fallen asleep is HIGHLY unlikely. In addition, to think that the disciples of Jesus would have risked a confrontation with a group of battle tested Roman soldiers is not credible. In the days following Jesus' crucifixion, the disciples spent their time behind locked doors (See John 20:19). They were afraid they were next on the execution list. Hardly in any state of mind or heart to take on the Roman guard. And lastly, if the soldiers were truly asleep - how would they know what happened to Jesus' body?). So all that to say - the Jewish leaders had an empty tomb on their hands that they had to explain. Their attempt to do so was lame at best and down right laughable at worst. In addition to this story consider also Acts 2. This is the account of the Day of Pentecost when Peter stood up IN JERUSALEM and proclaimed to a crowd of thousands the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, given that this was a mere 50 days after the crucifixion of Christ, if Jesus' body was still in the tomb just outside the walls of JERUSALEM - why didn't someone point out that fact? They didn't because the tomb where Jesus' body was laid to rest was EMPTY!

Tomorrow I will look at two additional lines of evidence for Jesus' resurrection.  Until then let me ask you ... was this event a fraud or a fact of history?

Thanks for stopping by  . . .

pj