Friday Coffee with PJ

It's Friday and that means it's COFFEE TIME (of course for me ... any day of the week is COFFEE TIME!)!!!  And for all you people out there who don't drink coffee ... here's an interesting read on coffee and maybe some reasons you should start (providing you meet the guidelines!).

As I write these words, I'm celebrating my 59th birthday, wondering where the first 58 years! But as I sit here and reflect on my life, and more particularly, how I can improve on my life, the following "more–thans" came to mind:

I need to listen more than I talk.

I need to think more about the interests and needs of others than my own.

I need to seek to give more than I get.

I need to be in the Bible more than I currently am.

I need to pray more than I do now.

I need to be more intentional about sharing the gospel than I have been.

I need to love my wife more than I have been loving her of late.

And the list could go on and on. How about you? If you were to make a "more – than" list, what would you include?

Thanks for stopping by,
PJ

59 and Counting!

Today I turn 59. That's right! Fifty years ago I recall going every Sunday afternoon to my grandmother's and grandfather's house. Today, I live with grandmother ... and the kinds come to MY house to see their grandfather!!!!  Where has the time gone????

Since life is short and time passes quickly (James 4:14), it is important that we get intentional about making the most of our time (Ephesians 5:15-16). To help you do so, I recommend you work your way through the following list of ten questions compiled by Don Whitney (check out his website here). 

 1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Friday Coffee with PJ - Special Weekend Edition

Words are great! You can use them to put a positive spin on just about anything. For example, I just didn't get to my weekly Friday blog this week… For a number of reasons. So I'll post something this morning but make it seem "special" by tagging it with the words "special weekend edition." Well whether it's special or not I will allow you to decide, but since you're with me why don't you pour your favorite cup of coffee and join me for a random thought or two.

1. This morning I was reading a prayer for one of my favorite devotional books, The Valley of Vision. It's a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. A richer book would be hard to find in my opinion. Here is an excerpt from my morning prayer. I would encourage you to take a moment to make it your own.

Most men seem to live for themselves,

without much or any regard for your glory,

or for the good of others;

they earnestly desire and eagerly pursue

the riches, honors, pleasures of this life,

as if they supposed that wealth, greatness, merriment, 

could make their immortal souls happy;

But, alas, what false, elusive dreams are these! 

Oh may I never fall into the tempers and vanities,

the sensuality and folly of the present world!

It is a place of inexpressible sorrow, a vast emptiness;

time is a moment, a vapor,

and all its enjoyments are empty bubbles,

fleeting blasts of wind,

from which nothing satisfactory can be derived.

Help me to grow continually

that there can be no true happiness,

no fulfilling of your purpose for me, 

apart from a life lived in and for

the Son of your love.

Amen.

2. So much for this being the first week of meteorological spring! We've had some of the coldest nighttime temperatures of the winter and we've had our largest snowfall of the season. But looking ahead, we know warmer days are coming! This reminds me of our faith journey. We all go through times of "winter." These are those seasons of life, when not a lot seems to be happening in our own spiritual lives. God may in fact seem distant or even absent. During these times, it is essential that we exercise faith. We need to lay a hold of the promises of God, knowing that he is with us, and that he has us firmly in his grip, no matter how we might be feeling. So yes, you may be going through a season of winter just now, but take hope, spring is just around the corner. If you seek God, he promises that you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13)!

Thanks for stopping by,
PJ

Friday Coffee with PJ

Sorry that I have missed the past couple of Fridays ... just been a bit on the busy side. But back today ... so grab your favorite cup of coffee (or whatever you drink on a cold morning) and join me for a few random thoughts.

1. It is apparent to every Christian who does not have their head buried in the sand that our culture is moving further away from Christian beliefs and morality. On many occasions I have heard believers bemoan this fact. But here is an interesting take on this situation from the pen of C.S. Lewis:

"Christians increasingly live on a spiritual island; new and rival ways of life surround it in all directions and their tides come further up the beach every time. . . . Some give morality a wholly new meaning which we cannot accept, some deny its possibility.  Perhaps we shall all learn, sharply enough, to value the clean air and 'sweet reasonableness' of the Christians ethics which in a more Christian age we might have taken for granted."

2. I want to give a shout out to my nephew, Mike Graybill. He is the coach of the girls basketball team at Christian School of York (and has been for a number of years). Later today his team will be playing for the single A district three title against Lebanon Catholic. The game is set for 4:30 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Go CSOY! 

Friday morning update: Since I wrote this post yesterday, I can now let you know that CSOY lost to perennial powerhouse Lebanon Catholic, 40-20. It was Catholic's 17th district title. Congrats to my nephew and his team for a great season!

3. Recently my almost four year old grandson, Nolan was playing with my almost three year old granddaughter Molly. They were playing with little stuffed puppy dogs. Here's how the conversation went down as they began to play: 

Nolan - "Oh boy, I am going to shoot da puppies!" (I guess he thought he was going hunting!) 

Mollie - "No, Nowan. I love puppies. Pweese don't shoot dem." 

Nolan - "OK, Mowie. I won't shoot dem." 

Mollie - "Tank you, Nolan."

Nolan - "You welcome, Mowie" 

Certainly a cute exchange. But one we adults can learn from. Far too often we live our lives with ourselves at the center. At these times, life is all about ME, MYSELF, and I! But the Bible encourages us to live life differently. In Philippians 2:3-4, the Apostle Paul lays out for us a strategy for our interpersonal relationships. Bottom line he tells us we need to put others before ourselves. That does not come naturally. That is why we need the supernatural help of the Spirit of God to do so. So let me ask you ... whose agenda are you pushing? Yours? Or God's - which has near the top to love your neighbor as you love yourself (Matthew 22:34-40). 

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Plans . . .

Last week I was scheduled to attend Grace College and Seminary Board meetings in Winona Lake, Indiana. So last month, I made my plans to travel there and back. Below is the plan .... and then the reality:

Plan 

Tuesday, Feb. 17th - Fly from Philadelphia to Fort Wayne (Indiana) on a direct flight; flight departs Philadelphia at 11:07 AM and arrives Fort Wayne 1:09 PM

Saturday, Feb. 21st - Return flight Fort Wayne direct to Philadelphia; flight departs Fort Wayne at 7:20 AM  and arrives Philadelphia 9:08 AM

Reality 

Monday, Feb. 16th - USAirways issues a travel advisory for flights departing from Philadelphia the next day (Tuesday). With the forecast calling for several inches of snow (beginning shortly before the time I would be leaving for the airport), I took advantage of USAirways waving of the ticket change fee ($200) to rebook for a Wednesday morning flight. Glad I did as many flights were cancelled on Tuesday, including mine.

Wednesday, February 18th - Boarded my flight for Fort Wayne on time (departure scheduled for 11:07 AM). 30 minutes later we were deplaned. The pilot explained that the aircraft was experiencing a mechanical problem which was preventing the plane from being fueled. We were told to remain near the gate in hopes that the problem could be fixed and we could be on our way. After waiting for another half hour, the flight was canceled. I was rebooked along with most of the other passengers on the next available flight, due to depart at 6:20 PM. However the plane which we were going to take from Philadelphia to Fort Wayne (coming into Philadelphia from Pittsburgh), experienced mechanical issues in Pittsburgh. Bottom line: we finally departed Philadelphia at 9:05 PM. By the time I rented my car and drove the 50 minutes or so to Winona Lake, I got in after midnight. Needless to say I missed the day's meetings entirely.

Saturday, February 21 - Boarded my flight from Fort Wayne on time. However because it was snowing in Fort Wayne at the time, the plane needed to be deiced. Just as we were about to undergo deicing, an earlier flight which had already departed, had returned to the airport for additional deicing. They had priority over us and so they were deiced before we were. When it was all said and done (which included the time for the previous flight to be deiced and for our plane to be deiced twice) we departed Fort Wayne about an hour and a half behind schedule. Once I arrived at the Philadelphia airport, I contacted the parking service I had used to park my vehicle. Their shuttle arrived promptly and took me back to the parking lot. Got in my car, paid my bill, and was on my way. If you recall the weather on Saturday, a significant snowfall was forecasted. I was hoping to beat the snow home.  About 10 miles down the road I stopped at a WaWa to get a cup of coffee. Just after pouring my coffee, I received a call from the parking lot people. They called to let me know that they had forgotten to return my credit card. Now I take some responsibility for that. I should've noticed. However I was tired, and I was focused on getting home before the storm. So I backtracked to the parking lot to retrieve my credit card (they did give me a coupon for a free days parking for my next trip. Hmm. Don't even want to think about a next trip just now!). This added a bit over a half hour to my trip. I'm glad to say, that from that point on the rest of my trip went as planned!

So my friends, a couple of "takeaways" from all of this. First of all, I discovered that the F terminal at Philly international airport is not a bad place to hang out for a day. The terminal has a small food court with some good eating options and there are power stations available to charge one's electronics. So if you ever get stuck as I did at the F terminal at the Philly airport, you won't starve and you'll be able to stay connected! But on a more serious note, my experience is a good reminder that no matter how hard we plan, there are just many contingencies that are outside of our control. But here's the good news. They are not outside of God's control! I reminded myself of that reality numerous times throughout the day. For reasons known only to God, what actually happened in my travels last week, might not have been my part of my plan, but was certainly part of his (Ephesians 1:11).

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

UPDATE: Thursday, February 26th - Interesting that I should post this blog on Tuesday. Last night, the team leader (of a team of three) of a planned missions trip to Haiti underwent emergency surgery to remove his appendix. Needless to say, the trip is in the process of being rescheduled for later this spring (the team leader is an electrician whose skills are necessary to complete the project they were going to work on). So glad this happened while the team was still stateside. Just another example of our plans not always going as scheduled. But we can (and must) trust God through our disappointments. O God, we believe, help our unbelief!

Beware of a Quick Tongue

Winston Churchill, the courageous British Prime Minister who led his nation through the darkest of days during the Nazi bombing of London, was known for his wit and sometimes sharp tongue. Concerning the tongue, he himself said, "We are masters of unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out." On this Churchill was right on!

I wonder how many of us suffer from what I call "diarrhea of the mouth?" Far too many of us begin to wag our tongues before our mind is in gear! All of us could benefit from the wisdom offered to us in Proverbs 10:19: "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."

So I challenge you today to think before you speak. A word once spoken can never be retrieved.

Thanks for stopping by,
PJ

Our Plans Change . . . Our God Does Not!

My original plan for today would have put me arriving in Fort Wayne, Indiana right about now. However, here I am typing up this blog post instead. You see I was supposed to be out in Winona Lake, Indiana later today for the start of Grace College and seminary board meetings tomorrow. However, due to the winter weather that was forecast for today, I rebooked my flight yesterday for tomorrow morning. It's a good thing I did, as sure enough my flight from Philadelphia to Fort Wayne was canceled. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day! And, I am sure hoping that my flight home Saturday morning will be on time and uneventful!

Now when you fly in winter months, you can expect these sorts of changes. It's all part of the package of flying at this time of year. So you just have to learn to deal with it! But isn't it good to know, that our God never changes. His will, his character, his word, his plans have never, nor will ever change (James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8). So in the midst of life's turbulence, it's great to know that we can find stability in the God who made us and keeps us firmly in his grip!

Thanks for stopping by,
PJ

Update, Wednesday February 18th: Well my morning flight from Philadelphia to Fort Wayne was cancelled after an hour delay due to a maintenance issue. Rebooked on a 6:20 pm flight. It's the last flight of day ... So I am hoping for no more snags!

Update, Thursday, February 19: as it turned out, my 6:20 flight last evening was delayed until 9:05 PM. So by the time I got the Fort Wayne, rented a car, and drove to Winona Lake ... It was past midnight. On a night when the temperature was below zero, after a day of much frustration, the hotel's bed felt wonderful!