State of the Union? State of Your Soul?

On Wednesday evening, President Obama did want U.S. Presidents do every year in the middle of January. He delivered a "State of the Union" address to both houses of Congress and to the American people at large. In this address, the President gives his assessment of just where he believes our nation is ... both its strengths and weaknesses ... and then outlines a strategy to move forward to fix the nation's problems. My purpose in this posting is not to evaluate the President's performance - their are many more capable people who have done that. But what I do want to do is to encourage you (and me) to use this speech to remind ourselves that we need, from time to time, to take "time out" from the busyness of life to assess the state of our souls!

Look. We live in a very busy ... and a very noisy world. And technology is constantly making our world noisier and busier (case in point: Apple's introduction this week of their new I-Pad which is promising a new way to interact with media information that is now available ... just at the tap of a finger!). If we are not careful, our soul will become so hard pressed by all this information and noise - that the spiritual life will get squeezed out (and our souls will look like a grape that has lost all its moisture - and in case you don't know what a "moistureless" grape looks like - think RAISIN).

All this to say that all of us would benefit and benefit much by heeding the counsel that Jesus gave to His disciples as they were in the midst of a very busy ministry. In Mark 6:31 we read, "Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'"

Many of us need to do just that. To find a quiet place. To get some rest. And, with the help of God, to take stock of the state of our souls (to help you do this, go to the following link: http://www.thetransformingcenter.org/pdf/soul09.pdf. Although this is for pastoral/ministry leaders, I believe the questions Ruth Barton gives here would be a help for any believer who desires to assess the state of their soul.).

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Taking a Stand!

There are many things in life that just seem to go together. Things like "peanut butter and jelly," "waking up and coffee in my cup," "Thanksgiving Day and turkey" and "baseball and hotdogs" - just to name a few. Then there are those things that don't seem right together, "Pittsburgh Pirates and a winning season," "mustard and ice cream" and "personal faith and public discourse." Now every time spring training rolls around for Major League Baseball, I harbor hopes that maybe ... just maybe this will the the year the Pirates FINALLY have a winning season (they've only managed to put together a string of SIXTEEN consecutive losing seasons ... a record for any franchise in any professional sport!). But concerning "personal faith and public discourse" - the situation only appears to be getting worse. Our culture states, "you can believe ANYTHING you want about spirituality and faith, just keep it to yourself!"

Tim Tebow, the former Heisman winning quarterback for the University of Florida Gators, is a refreshing exception to how so many of us Christ followers "cow down" to this pressure to keep quiet about our faith. I ran across one example of his desire to stand for Christ in a recent article which cited reports that Tebow will be featured in a pro-life Super Bowl commercial. When asked about appearing in such a controversial commercial, Tebow's response is an inspiration to all of us who claim an allegiance to Christ. He said, "I know some people won't agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe and I'm never shy about that," Tebow said. "I don't feel like I'm very preachy about it but I do stand up for what I believe. Unfortunately in today's society not many athletes seem to do that. "I always stand for something."  And for Tim Tebow, that something is the gospel of Jesus Christ! Let's all purpose to stand with this courageous young man - for Jesus' sake!

Thanks for stopping by ...

pj

Thank you, Grace Church at Willow Valley!

I want to go on record to say "Thank you!" to my church family here at Grace. This past Sunday the church family surprised me with a celebration of my twenty years of ministry here at Grace. They gave my wife and me a number of things to show their love and appreciation for us. So I want to let any from the Grace family who might happen to read this blog how much we appreciate and love the family here! And they are so easy to love on!!!

One of the anniversary gifts that was given to us was a gift certificate to a Bed and Breakfast in Cape May, NJ. I thought it would be appropriate to use this anniversary gift in conjunction with another anniversary - our 32nd wedding anniversary. So in mid-May, my wife and I will spend a few days in Cape May, celebrating our 20 years of pastoral ministry here at Grace and our 32 years of enjoying one another as husband and wife. Wow! It doesn't get much better than that!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

An Embarassing Fall!

Last Friday a visitor to New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art fell. Typically, when someone fall's, the incident does not find its way to the media. But this fall was different. When the woman fell, she tore a 6 inch gash in a painting by some artist by the name of Pablo Picasso. Oops! Talk about an embarassing fall!

All of us do embarassing things from time to time. We cause accidents that we did not mean to cause. These in turn can be quite costly ... to us or others (as in this case of this torn painting, repairs to the Picasso will be quite expensive). Now you might be wondering where I am going with this ... yes? The next time someone does something unintentional that impacts you in a negative way ... respond to them with GRACE! Learn to FORBEAR! God tells us to do as much through the Apostle Paul when Paul wrote, "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another" (Colossians 3:13). This is the way of grace! And it is THE way to go!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

The Best Way Out Is Always Through!

There are many things I love about God's Word. Among them is the fact that the Bible does not "sugarcoat" life. When one reads Scripture, he or she will quickly realize (if reading with an attentive eye and an open mind) that what he or she is reading is talking about the world in which they live. The Bible is all about life in the real world .... in OUR world! For example, toward the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus spoke the following to his followers, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Jesus could not have said it any more plainly - we will experience trouble in this life! And after living on this earth for close to 54 years now, I will not argue that point!

Now most of us when we experience trouble ... we just want out! Out of the difficulty and back to the more comfortable "smooth sailing" times of life. This is certainly understandable. Trouble brings pain. And the bigger the trouble ... the bigger the pain. None of us wants to hurt ... so we cry out to God, "Get me out of this mess! Deliver me now!" However, when we do this, what we are really doing is asking God to remove us from His divine classroom. Read what God says about life's difficulties and what HE wants to do through them:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4).

So when we pray, "God get me out of this!" we are, in effect, telling God we would rather feel good than grow in our faith!  Robert Frost was right we he wrote, "The best way out is always through." So instead of asking God to get you OUT of your troubles, ask God to get you THROUGH them, teaching you whatever it is HE wants you to learn in the process.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

I'm Bored!

One of my childhood summertime memories is that of sitting with my friends at the intersection of Kensington Street (where I lived) and 22nd Street in the city of Harrisburg. For what seemed like hours we would ask one another, "What do you want to do?" And we would answer, "I don't know - what do you want to do?" The problem was - we were bored. None of us liked being bored. And I sure do not like being bored today. And I am sure you feel the same.

Now, some Christians have told me that they don't read the Bible because the Bible is boring. But I don't agree! The Bible is anything but boring. Think with me. What is the Bible? It is the written revelation of our Almighty Creator-Redeemer God. In its pages He reveals to us His being and His works. He tells us of his plan - both for us as individuals and utltimately for the world. And that is boring? Please take two minutes and watch the video clip of John Piper. He's right on the mark!



Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Boys Will Be Boys!

I just read a news story about 8 German youth, ages 13 and 14 who decided to drink some hot chili sauce as a test of courage - and it was not your everyday-buy-at-the-grocery-store kind of chili sauce. This sauce was HOT! VERY HOT! On the Scoville scale, which is used to measure the hotness of sauce, the sauce the boys drank earned a rating of 535,000. When you consider that normal Tabasco sauce measures only 2,500, you can understand that when I say this sauce was VERY HOT - it was indeed VERY HOT!  As a result of their test (should we say "foolishness?"), all eight were hospitalized after complaining of feeling sick. And who wouldn't feel sick after drinking such a concoction? I wonder what they mixed together to get the sauce to be so hot!

Now we can dismiss their actions as simply saying, "boys will be boys!" They were simply doing what boys have done since the dawn of human history (I am NOT about to tell you of some stupid things I did on being "dared!" by other boys!). And hopefully they will learn from this experience (I wonder if any of them will ever use a hot chili sauce again!). Experience can be an effective teacher. Of course, that all depends on whether or not one has a teachable spirit. How about you? Do you have a teachable spirit? Are you willing to learn from experience ... and from the experience of others?  I sure hope so. I believe teachability is a vital quality we all need if we are to become more like our Master!

Thanks for stopping by ... and stay away from the hot sauce!

pj