A Very Early Morning Interruption

It happened about 3:15 this morning. I was awakened by a strange chirp like sound. It lasted just a split second (as far as I could discern in my groggy semi-concsious state between sleep and wakefulness). I listened for the sound to repeat ... and not hearing anything, began to drift off to neverland. Suddenly out of the darkness the chirp once again pierced the silence. "Ah ha!" I thought to myself. "I think that was the smoke alarm."  Sure enough about three minutes later my suspicion was confirmed - it was the smoke alarm doing its occasional repetitive chirp, telling us that the battery needed replaced! "Yea! Why did this have to happen in the middle of the night vs. the middle of the day?" I asked myself as I stumbled half awake to locate a new battery and the step ladder. After about 5 minutes or so ... I had the project done and crawled back into bed (it was now pushing 4 AM). Fortunately I fell asleep rather quickly, not to be awakened until the music of the radio called me out of bed.

This little episode is a microcosm of life. Often we are cruising right along enjoying life and the blessings God sends our way when an interruption of some kind arrives. It may be something small (like a smoke alarm that needs a new battery) or it may be something far bigger (like the loss of a job or the loss of one's health). And just as I was not surprised that our bedroom's smoke alarm needed a new battery (I can't recall when I had replaced it ... I guess I had better put "Replace smoke alarm batteries" on my "To Do List."), we should not be surprised when painful interruptions crash into our lives. After all, we live in a world that is "temporarily out of order". The world in which we find ourselves is NOT the world God intended for us. But when our first parents rebelled against the creator, the creation itself was "subjected to frustration" and is now "in bondage to decay" (see Romans 8:20-21).  So what should we do when we encounter the difficulties of life?  God gives us the answer in the following passage from the book of James:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Certainly not easy to do ... but necessary to do! And remember, Christ followers "can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us" (Philippians 4:13).  And "ALL THINGS" includes considering pure joy when we encounter life's painful interruptions - no matter how painful!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Murmuring on the Word!

Yesterday I began our fall study of ten select Psalms (Ancient Songs for Today's Journey). I decided to be creative and begin with Psalm 1! The whole point of the Psalm is that true happiness (as God defines happiness) comes to the person who is DIFFERENT FROM THE WORLD (world being the evil world system that is under the control of the Evil One - see 1 John 1:9) because he or she is DEVOTED TO THE WORD. This is seen in the first two verses of the Psalm which read:

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. ²But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he 

 meditates day and night."

The Hebrew word that is translated "meditates" actually means "to murmur." So to mediate on the Bible means to murmur about the Bible ... or in other words, to talk to ourselves about what it is we are reading (and if you are anything like me, you know what it means to talk to yourself!). Regrettably, however, so few of us when we read our Bibles take the time to do this!  We never mentally "chew over" what we are reading ... we rarely think about how God wants us to apply its truth to our daily lives ... we never pray about doing so! Perhaps this is why a deep settled happiness eludes so many of us ... yes, even us Christ followers!

So my question for you is this: Have you murmured on Scripture today? If not, are you planning to set aside time to do so?

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Random Thoughts on a Friday Morning

In this morning's paper, I saw a photo of a woman and her newborn baby. The baby weighed an amazing 19 pounds, 2 ounces!  Needless to say the baby was delivered by Cesarean. Now that is SOME baby!  I am so glad for my wife's sake that all three of our babies were in the 6 - 8 pound range!

Also in today's paper, I read THREE articles on the same page concerning bombing plots that were in various stages of development. And these plots were not overseas plots ... but plots being hatched right here in the United States. This is a reminder that those who hate our country are still determined to hurt our country. But in the midst of all of this hate and anger in our world, it is a comfort to know that our God reigns!

This is fair week at Lampeter. Our church has a Baby Comfort Station at the fair. Moms (or dads) can come and change their babies. And if Mom needs to nurse her baby, we provide a private area for her to do that. But we also offer fairgoers free popcorn and ice water and, more importantly, information on our church and our faith. Through the first two days of the fair, we have given out over 70 Bibles to those who desired to have one (one woman who received a Bible was observed later on reading the Bible we gave her as she staffed another fair booth!). That excites me ... because as God tells us, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

 Finally, I would ask you to pray for my son-in-law, Ryan Aument and me as together we are exploring the exciting possibility of establishing CIDEL-USA (see posting of Wednesday, September 16 for a description of CIDEL in the C.A.R.). We have mapped out our strategy and our beginning to take our initial steps. One of these is to recruit a prayer team of at least a dozen people who will commit to pray daily for our efforts, remembering that "unless the LORD builds the house, it's builders labor in vain" (Psalm 127:1).  IF you would like to be a part of our prayer team, please let me know by emailing me at jsmith@gracewv.org. Thanks!

And thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

In Defense of "The Church"

The Church is taking a big hit these days. All you have to do is browse the shelves of a Christian bookstore. There you will find titles such as, Life after Church, Quitting Church, So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore, Pagan Christianity and They Like Jesus but Not the Church. All of these (and a number of other recently published books) explore and/or promote the growing mantra among current or former churchgoers, "we want God, not an institution."  

As a pastor of a church, you might not be surprised to hear that this type of thinking bothers me. And it bothers me not because I am a pastor, but it bothers me because I see it as a slam on the "institution" for which Jesus Christ gave His very life (see Acts 20:28). In his thought provoking and biblicaly based (and what I found to be quite refreshing) book, Kevin DeYoung states the following concerning the Church:

"My aim is to present to the body of Christ, and for anyone else who cares to listen, a picture of why we should be in the church. Indeed, being part of a church - and learning to love it - is good for your soul, biblically responsible, and pleasing to God . . . The church we love is as flawed and messed up as we are, but she is Christ's bride nonetheless. And I might as well have a basement without a house or a head without a body as despise the wife my Savior loves."  (Why We Love the Church - co-authored with Ted Kluck).

Amen, Kevin!  I love the church, too - warts and all!!! 

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

When Giving Counsel to Others - Stop and Pray First!

One of the books I consulted in my preparation to train the members of CIDEL in the Central African Republic to do biblical counseling is the excellent little book, Transformed in His Presence: The Need for Prayer in Counseling. The book's authors (Roger Peugh, a veteran European missionary and a professor of missions at Grace Seminary and Tammy Schultz, Department chair of the Graduate School in Counseling at Grace College), have done a powerful job arguing for the need of prayer in counseling. Please take a moment and read the following excerpt from the preface to their book:

"Counselors, pastors, teachers, social workers, student development staff, lay helpers, volunteers are deluged daily with overwhelming human need. As the demand has increased, education programs have responded to meet this challenge. Most Christian caregivers have received beneficial training in skills, theories, and practices of counseling. However, exceptional methodology alone doesn't change lives. It is our conviction that so many of us are trying to do naturally what can only be done supernaturally. God never intended for us to help people in our own strength. God designed us to ask, seek, and knock (Matthew 7:7-8) for every breath we take, and especially when we seek to help people when life is hard" (emphasis is that of the authors).

Well said! And a good reminder for all of us.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Check out this GBIM Video on Hand-in-Hand Schools

Grace Brethren International Missions has produced a video on Hand-in-Hand Orphan schools. Please take a few minutes to view the video. What an opportunity to minister to "one of the least of these" (Matthew 25:40).



Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Hand-in-Hand Orphan School

Here is a video from our trip of the Hand-in-Hand orphan school children singing. Enjoy! And thanks for stopping by . . . pj