Friday Coffee with PJ - Special Flashback Edition

Due to yesterday's kidney related surgery (in which my urologist may have found and dealt with the problem), I did not get around to writing a new post for this week. So today will be a special flashback edition. I hope you find some help for your journey!


I posted the following back on January 19, 2006 and on May 11, 2011. I thought what I had to say then is just as appropriate for today. 

Move Aside, Dr. Phil - It's Dr. John!  

This morning on the radio as I was driving my “long” commute into the office, I heard an ad with a familiar voice speaking.  It was Dr. Phil.  He was promoting some sort of dating service.  In the ad he made the statement, “When it comes to relationships, it’s all about attitude.”  In part he is right.  The quality of our relationships is impacted either negatively or positively by the attitude we bring to our relationships. But I, Dr. John, think that something else is far more important. I’m talking about our focus.  If we are to have relationships that honor God and enrich our lives, then we must have the right focus – and far too many of us don’t!   

So what is the right focus when it comes to relationships?  God answers this question (I never get over just how relevant the Bible is to day-to-day living!).  In Philippians 2:3-4, we read, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” In Romans 12:10 the Apostle Paul commands us to be strive to honor the other guy more than he honors us! So you see – it all comes down to our focus.  Our default focus is SELF.  When push comes to shove we most naturally think of ourselves first.  But God tells us that we need to reset our default focus.  Instead of focusing on ourselves – we need to focus on others.  We do so as we consider them to be more important than us and seek to honor them above ourselves.  

In Philippians 2:5-8, Paul goes on to point us to Jesus as our example. He certainly did not think of himself first. He willingly left the glories of heaven to become one of us, live with us, and eventually die for us. His death on the cross makes it possible for us to be reconciled to our God! He our took our sin upon himself and, in turn, we receive his righteousness credited to our account when by faith alone we trust in Christ alone to save us from the penalty our sin demands! 

So, back to your personal relationships. Are they not working? Then take a look at your focus. My guess is you are focused on the wrong person. Follow the example of Jesus (Ask him to help you to do so)! Get your eyes off of yourself and onto others. Then and only then will you begin to experience God-honoring and life-enriching relationships.

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Friday Coffee with PJ (Special midweek Edition)

I am writing and posting this evening as I will not be up to writing later in the week. As a result of a renal scan I underwent last Thursday, my urologist has scheduled me for an outpatient surgical procedure for tomorrow around noon. My left kidney is showing a significant drop in function and he is not sure why. Any and all prayers are much appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by,
Pj

I cannot believe it is FRIDAY again! Where do the days go? The pace at which time passes makes me long all the more for my next life in which clocks and calendars will not have the same impact as in this life ... if they even exist at all! But back to the present and since it is Friday, I invite you to pour a cup of your favorite java and join me for a couple of random thoughts. 


1. A few weeks ago as I was preparing to drink my coffee over breakfast with a friend, I reached for a creamer. "I didn't know you drank creamer in your coffee," he said, his words flavored with a bit of a sneer thrown in. So the next day, I decided to go "whitener free." And that one day turned into another and then another. I have grown increasingly fond of drinking my coffee just straight up ... or "black." I have discovered that in drinking my coffee without milk or cream (or sweetener), I can taste the different flavors present in the different roasts. And not only this, but when I googled "drinking coffee black" I discovered that there are twelve scientific reasons whey people should drink black coffee every day.  And after reading about these, I was even happier that I am now a black coffee drinker! 

As I reflected on this, it got me thinking about our relationship with God. All too often, just as we add cream, sugar, etc. to our coffee, we add our own thoughts about what (or who) we think God is to what the Bible reveals about what and who God really is. For example, over the years a number of people have said to me, "John, my God would never send anyone to hell. My God is too loving to do that." Now does this view of God align with the God of the Bible? One read through the book of Revelation would say "absolutely not!" And reading through the gospels would confirm this. Few people realize that Jesus himself spoke more about hell than he did about heaven (Matthew 13:41-43; Mark 9:44). 

So my question to you is this: When you think of God, what comes into your mind? A god of your own making ... your own imagination? Or the God who is revealed in creation, in Christ, and in the Scriptures? 

I love the definition of God as given in The New City Catechism: 

"God is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. He is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in his power and perfection, goodness and glory, wisdom, justice, and truth. Nothing happens except through him and by his will."

Now this is a God worthy to receive all glory, power, majesty and honor! And out of his goodness he provides for all of us to find our way back to him. Check out Two Ways to Live: The Choice We All Face. 


2. Speaking of The New City Catechism, among the questions we are working through in our Sunday morning services, two that I have found especially meaningful have been questions four and six. 

Q. 4   How and why did God create us?
A. 4   God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were created by God should live to his glory.

Q. 6  How can we glorify God?
A. 6  We glorify God by enjoying him, loving him, trusting him, and by obeying his will, commands, and law.


Here in these two questions and answers we find our ultimate purpose in life: to know God, to love him, live with him, and glorify him (and we are told how we do the latter: by enjoying him, loving him, trusting him, and obeying him). 

Now what I take away from this description of our ultimate purpose is this: God is not some cosmic tyrant telling us how to live - even if that means we don't have fun living! Rather, God is our loving creator who made us to live in relationship with him. And seeing that he is the most beautiful, wondrous, amazing, awesome being in all the vast universe ... having the opportunity to know and love him and live in relationship with him ... WOW! That is truly a gift of the greatest proportions! 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 
pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

Recently I enjoyed a cup of Tanzanian coffee making a WAWA pit stop. I enjoyed it so much I stopped at another WAWA store to grab another cup. All this to say if you see a WAWA, be sure to stop and try this coffee. You will NOT be disappointed! Thanks again for joining me for a quick edition of Friday Coffee with PJ. 

1. You all know what it is like to wish for some extra hours in your day or even a few extra days in your week to wrap up your never ending, always growing to do list! All too often it seems like there’s WAY too much to do and WAY too little time in which to get it all done! Oh the tyranny of the urgent!

This reminds me of a story I once heard. Long ago when Africa was still relatively unknown to the outside world, a European explorer was taking a group into the African interior. He had hired a native guide along with a number of other natives to help carry the supplies. After a mid-morning break on the third day of a fast-paced march, the Africans refused to resume their trek. When the European explorer asked the guide the reason for their refusal, the guide told him, “They just need a little more time to allow their souls to catch up to their bodies.” 

I think all of us could learn a lesson from these guys. Just as Jesus would get away to be alone with his Father (Mark 1:35) – we too need to be sure to do the same. As fast-paced as 21^st century American life can be at times – we all need to take time to allow our souls to catch up to our bodies. So why not today take your Bible and unplug from the world around you (You mean like my phone? Yes! Exactly what I mean). It will be time well spent! 

2. I have been gleaning a lot of insights and help for living out my faith through the use of Tim Keller's devotional on Proverbs, God's Wisdom for Navigating Life. In his reading for April 22nd, he offered up the following insights on Proverbs 18:14:

"There’s nothing more important than maintaining your inward, spiritual life. A broken body can be sustained with difficulty by a strong spirit, but a broken spirit cannot be sustained by even the physically strongest person in the world. We are taught that our happiness is based on external things such as beauty, health, money, and status. Here we are being told, 'No, it has nothing to do with your outward circumstances. Happiness is determined by how you deal with your circumstances from inside, how you process, how you address, and how you view them.' Is there anything that is crushing your spirit?"

His question is one worth pondering! 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

Friday. Coffee. Blog post. Thanks for stopping by! As you enjoy a cup of your favorite morning brew, here are a couple of random thoughts that I hope you will find helpful as you seek to walk with God. 

1.  My apologies for not being present last Friday with a post. I was out of the office enjoying a week of vacation time. Even though my wife and I did not venture far from home, we did enjoy some time away. Last Friday morning we left home for Arneytown, NJ (15 miles southeast of Trenton, NJ). What is in Arneytown, you might be wondering? Brigadier General William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery.  This is the veterans cemetery where my wife's father was buried when he died in August of 1994. Sharon's mom was buried there in October of 2016. My wife wanted to see the grave site with its new grave marker which included her mom's name. As we stood over their graves, we watered their grave as we recalled their lives. At some point during those moments, I happened to look at the adjacent grave. "Ah, Pete was buried next to another Polish-American! And he died the same day that Pete died - August 15 1994." I then turned back and looked at Pete's and Bessie's plaque. In seconds I noticed a glaring mistake. Instead of listing Pete's date of death as Aug 15 1994, the plaque read, "Jan 15 1994!" I quickly pointed out the mistake to Sharon. So on our way out of the cemetery, we 

stopped by the administrative office. After explaining the situation, one of the office workers pulled the paper work. The correct date was there. But at some time during the ordering process, the date was changed to January 15th! The woman apologized and assured us that a new plaque would be in place within a month or so. Content that the error would be fixed, we departed for our next stop. 

Now as you can imagine, we were very surprised that this mistake had been made. We could have gone in to the cemetery office all bent out of shape, griping and complaining about the mistake. But we did not. You see, we know ourselves too well. We understand what Alexander Pope, an 18th century British poet wrote in his day is still true to this day ... "to err is human." We as humans make our share of mistakes! But the second half of Pope's oft quoted statement reads, "But to forgive, divine." You see, what he was getting at here is that when we forgive others we are acting like God. Indeed, God in Christ has forgiven those of us who have come to him on his terms ... repenting of our sins and believing the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15). And so when we are gracious to others, forgiving those who don't deserve our forgiveness, we are acting like God! So let me ask you . . . is there someone(s) in your life against whom you carry a grudge? Whom you refuse to forgive? I encourage you to pull open a Bible (print or digital) and turn to the story Jesus tells in Matthew 18:21-35. Then ask God to work in your heart to enable you to do the hard thing ... answer Jesus' call to forgive! 

2. Philadelphia is looking like a championship city this year. First it was the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. Then Villanova winning the NCAA basketball national championship. At present the Flyers are in the National Hockey League playoffs (although not playing so well against the mighty Penguins of Pittsburgh) AND the 76ers look to have a legitimate shot at the National Basketball Association title. Could the Phillies make a run at the World Series? Hmm. That might be too much of a reach! 

People in Philly are feeling good about their hometown. And those from the outside looking in understand why. They would also be feeling good if their hometown teams were winning! 

We as Christians have a home. But our hometown is not Philadelphia (or in my case, Lancaster ... or in your case whatever your zip code happens to be). As followers of Jesus we will one day follow him to our true home - the eternal heaven. And we can find great encouragement in the midst of all the turbulence and trouble of this life knowing that our "hometown team" is winning! God is on his throne. And one day Jesus Christ will return to this earth and make every wrong right (see the final four chapters of the Bible's last book, Revelation). 

So the next time you get discouraged about what is unfolding all around you, stop and remind yourself of the words of the hymn penned by Isaac Watts, 

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun

does its successive journeys run,

his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,

till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Thanks for stopping by . . . 
pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

Time to once again pour yourself a cup of hot java and join me for a couple of random thoughts which, I hope, will help you in your faith journey with Christ. 

Even though today is the 17th day of spring, winter continues to refuse to release its grip on us. In fact, if we see more than one inch of snow this spring, we will have had more snow since the first day of spring than all three months of winter put together! I am guessing even snow lovers are beginning to say, "enough is enough!" But we can take heart because we know that July is coming!!!  

Just as the four seasons come and go, so do the seasons of life. There are times we find ourselves in seasons where much of life is good ... sometimes very good. Then there are other seasons in which life hurts ... often a lot. Both seasons have their unique challenges when it comes to our relationship with God. 

During the tough times, it is very easy to become bitter toward God. "Why am I going through this? So many of my friends have it so easy. Why do I have it so tough?" During these times we must work hard at reminding ourselves of the very clear teaching of God's word when it comes to suffering. According to the Scriptures, suffering is not something to stir up anger in us. Rather we are to rejoice (James 1:2-4; Romans 5:3-5). For it is in our suffering, that God is at work, refining our faith and conforming us to the image of His Son (1 Peter 1:6-7; Romans 8:28-29). So when situations and circumstances arise which cause us pain, we need to remember that it is during these seasons that we are most prone to reach out to grab his helping hand. I know as I look back at my life, times of suffering have also been times of accelerated spiritual growth. 

On the flip side, when the good times roll, it is very easy to forget God. Before God's people Israel entered the promised land, God warned them, "When the LORD brings you into the land . . . and you eat and are satisfied, be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery . . ." (Deuteronomy 6:10-12). When we are abundantly reaping the blessings of God's hand, we must remind ourselves of just where we once were before God rescued us. We were dead in our sin and objects of God's wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3). But God in his rich  mercy has caused us to be born again into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3; Ephesians 2:4-9). We have been blessed spiritually through the gospel, and every other good gift (material, financial, relational, physical, etc.) is also from his hand (James 1:7). We must intentionally preach this truth to ourselves in times of prosperity lest we forget God! 

All this said, if you find yourself in a season of suffering right now, be assured you are not alone. God is with you. He is working in you to make you more like Jesus. So TRUST him! And if you are in a season of prosperity then you need to THANK him. Why so? Because all that you enjoy is from him (and that means even the ability you have to work to earn your pay to buy the things you need and enjoy - Deuteronomy 8:17-18). 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 
pj

Friday Coffee with PJ (Good Friday Edition)

Thanks for joining me this morning. Usually I write this post on Thursday. Yesterday, however, was interrupted by an unplanned and unwelcome trip to the local ER. Appears that the sharp flank pains I was experiencing were the result of post surgery (March 8th with stent removal March 20th) ureteral spasms and inflammation of my left kidney. I returned home late afternoon and the pain, thankfully, subsided. I was told that it could take up to 3 months for everything to settle down. This morning (Friday), the pain is still present but nothing like yesterday. Would appreciate your prayers! Thanks! 

*Update (Friday 1:30 pm). Just got off the phone with my urologist (who did the surgery). He reviewed the CAT scan and noted that some urine had leaked from the incision he had made in the ureter which would lead to discomfort. He also told me he was a bit concerned with the degree of hydronephrosis (swelling) of my left kidney. He wants to do a ultrasound in two weeks to check on that. 

So ... with all of that ... and with Sunday coming (and a sermon to prepare), I leave you with the following quote from John Stott: 

“Even the excruciating pain could not silence his repeated entreaties: ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ The soldiers gambled for his clothes. Some women stood afar off. The crowd remained a while to watch. Jesus commended his mother to John’s care and John to hers. He spoke words of kingly assurance to the penitent criminal crucified at his side. Meanwhile, the rulers sneered at him, shouting: ‘He saved others, but he can’t save himself!’ Their words, spoken as an insult, were the literal truth. He could not save himself and others simultaneously. He chose to sacrifice himself in order to save the world.” 

― John R.W. Stott, The Cross of Christ

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

PS -- Check out Two Ways to Live: The Choice We All Face!