Family?

Recently I ran across the following quote about Family Life by Edith Schaeffer. She along with her theologian-philosopher husband, Francis Schaeffer founded L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland.  Please take a moment and read and then reflect on what Edith writes about family life:

"Family life is a lost art in many places today. People may live in the same house, apartment, cottage, condominium, boat, or cabin, but they have no pattern for a growing life together."

In other words, what Edith is saying here is that just because a group of people live together under the same roof does not necessarily make it a family. We have to work at family. We must make the time to interact with one another in meaningful ways (the operative words here are "interact" and "meaningful"). So ... what does your "family life" look like? Are you growing together in your faith? In your appreciation for one another? In just doing life TOGETHER?

These are some questions all of us should think about!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Thursday A La Carte

Hard to believe it's already the SECOND Thursday of March .... here are today's offerings. Hope you find something of value!

1. Recently John Piper made some comments about the Christian and addiction to entertainment. Here is an interesting response to his comments.

2. Kirk Cameron was asked by Piers Morgan about gay marriage. Here is Kirk's response . . .

3. Here is an approach to lent you probably never thought of!

4. Confused about the country of China? You are not alone ... check out this article, 8 Myths about China Today. 


5. On a lighter note . . . 

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Paralyzed by FEAR!!!

Yesterday when I was home for lunch, I asked my one and half year old grandson, John, if he wanted to see "Mr. Monkey" (Mr. Monkey is a small hand puppet who lives in our hall closet). Little Jack (little John's unfortunate nickname) immediately took off toward the hall closet  (with me in fast pursuit). As he rounded the corner from the living room and into the hallway in which the closet is located, he stopped dead in his tracks (he stopped so quickly I almost fell over him). There standing on the floor ... bigger than life (well, definitely bigger than Jack) was THE VACUUM CLEANER!  As Jack stood quietly staring at the vacuum, I opened the closet door and encouraged him to come see Mr. Monkey. But alas, NO WAY was Jack going to take  another step toward that vacuum cleaner! He was paralyzed by his fear!

Hmm. I am guessing that many who might happen to read this post will be able to relate to Jack and his experience. You may not be afraid of a vacuum cleaner (most of us grow out of that fear -- now some might be afraid to use a vacuum cleaner - but that is something different!), but you are afraid of something ... and possibly many things (according to the phobialist.com, there are over 500 identifiable phobias from which people suffer).

So why does fear so easily afflict us? Disrupt our lives? Paralyze us?

The Bible speaks a lot about fear and anxiety (the two are very much related). My guess is that the biggest contributor to fear is our small view of God. That's right. When our God is "small" (in our minds) then our problems become BIG and often HUGE ... and sometimes INSURMOUNTABLE and LIFE THREATENING! King David understood this. In Psalm 27:1 he asks two questions: "The LORD is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" The answer, of course, is NO ONE (He states something similar in Psalm 56:3-4). The Apostle Paul also speaks to this topic in Romans 8:31 where he writes, "If God if for us, who can be against us?" Again the answer is NO ONE!



So  you see my friends, if you understand that the Almighty God who spoke this vast universe into existence loves you and cares for you, you can rest in him. You do not have to fear! You do not have to be anxious about the future. Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death (and it gets no more frightening than that!) you do not need to fear ... for our Almighty God is with you (see Psalm 23:4).





Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

The Shrinking of God!

About a month ago, I stumbled across a book titled, The J.I. Packer Classic Collection: Daily Reading for Your Spiritual Journey. Given that J. I. is one of my favorite theologians, I figured I could not go wrong in buying and then reading the book. I was not wrong. Here is a portion of one of these readings, gleaned from his book, Rediscovering Holiness:

"Often in recent decades I have found myself publicly lamenting the way in which our Western culture has indulged unwarrantably great thoughts of humanity and scandalously small thoughts of God. Our time will surely go down in history as the age of the God-shrinkers. The result is that belief in God's sovereignty and omniscience, the majesty of his moral law and the terror of his judgments, the retributive consequences of the life we live here and the endlessness of the eternity in which we will experience them, along with the belief in the intrinsic triunity of God and the divinity and personal return of Jesus Christ, is nowadays so eroded as to be hardly discernible. For many in our day, God is no more than a smudge." 

J. I. is, sadly, right on with his assessment of how so many around us view God. For those of us who claim an allegiance to the God of the Bible, we must be careful that our culture's view of God does not shrink our view of God! In every way conceivable, our God is indeed an AWESOME God!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

A Life Well Lived!

Late last week, pastor John Snow died as a result of a skiing accident. I have known John for a number of years, during which he has served on the pastoral staffs of a number of Grace Brethren churches (including the GBC in Lititz, PA). John was an outstanding example of a godly man and pastor whom I looked up to. He wil be missed. My deepest sympathy to John's wife, Lucy. Here is a Vermont television report on the accident and John's life.

John, you will be missed by many ... but your legacy lives on! Until we meet again . . .

 Thanks for stopping by . . . Pj

For Me ... to Live Is Christ!

As the Apostle Paul spent time in a Roman prison, he was unsure if he was going to live or die. In that context, he wrote these well known words to the church at Philippi:

"Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again" (Philippians 1:19-26).

Paul's life was spared at that time and he continued on with is life . . . living each day for HIM! Isn't this how all of us who claim allegiance to Christ ... isn't this how we should be living? From The Valley of Vision's collection of Puritan prayers comes these words (somewhat modified by me) ... I encourage you to make this prayer YOURS ... today ... and every day! 

O God of my life and soul, 

Here, it is my duty

to be as Christ in this world, 

to do what he would do, 

to say what he would say, 

to think what he would think, 

to live as he would live, 

to walk in love and humility, 

then would he be known, 

then would I be satisfied in life, 

then would I have peace in death. 

Amen. 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Thursday A La Carte

Here are this week's a la carte offerings ....

1. Phil Ryken (former pastor of Tenth Church in Philadelphia and now president of Wheaton College) offers some advice on how to listen to a sermon. 


2. Here's an interesting article on the spiritual gift of discouragement. 


3. Chuck Swindoll offers up a brief dose of encouragement to trust God! 


4. Ray Ortland offers up some thoughts about when God seems unreal. 


5. And on a lighter note . . . The Wizard of Oz in a way you have not heard it before! 

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj