Thursday A La Carte

It's Thursday again ... so here are some offerings for your consideration:

1. Troubles? We all encounter them, sooner or later. Sometimes they are little troubles and sometimes they are overwhelming troubles. Ed Welch of CCEF writes a brief insightful article, What has helped you in your troubles? 

2. Here's a solid article from the Gospel Coalition: To love your neighbor you must know your neighbor. A great read!

3. Those of you who fly with any regularity, know that any fun that used to exist in flying from point A to point B has long disappeared (at least for me!). But here is a heart warming story of a passenger who almost missed his flight ... but did not due to the actions of an unnamed pilot.

4. Here are some fast facts about our Fellowship of Grace Brethren Church's college and seminary (Grace College and Grace Theological Seminary located in Winona Lake, Indiana). Please pray for me and my fellow board of trustee members as we meet today and tomorrow. Thanks!

5. "PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is calling for a more animal-friendly update to the Bible.The group is asking translators of the New International Version (NIV) to remove what it calls "speciesist" language and refer to animals as "he" or "she" instead of "it."" Read the full article hear.  Really?

6. Finally Here's a great commercial that shows what people working together can do!  Cool! 

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Today ... It's Off to Winona Lake, Indiana.

Grace Church at Willow Valley is not an independent church. We are a member (and have been since the church was started back in 1976) in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. The FGBC is not a particularly large fellowship of churches. Compared to some church groups (like the Southern Baptist Convention or the United Methodist Church) we are quite small indeed. There are approximately 350 Grace Brethren churches here in the United States and about 3,000 or so overseas (with the bulk of those being in the Central African Republic). Now I point this out because I believe God has used our fellowship to impact our world far beyond what one would think, given our small numbers. The number one piece of evidence I would point to substantiate this claim would be Grace College and Seminary.

Ever since 1937 (Grace Seminary) and 1948 (Grace College) the two schools have been training Christian men and women to serve God in a variety of vocations (click here for Grace's Story). Over these years, thousands have taken their Grace education and applied it to living out their faith in a variety of places where God has seen fit to plant them. We as a church have sent numerous students to Grace across the years. One of the more notable is Pastor Shannon Hollinger who oversees our impact ministries in our church. After graduating from Hempfield HS, Pastor Shannon earned his undergrad degree from Grace College and his graduate degree from Grace Theological Seminary. While at Grace he met April Bonham (also a Grace College grad) who is now April Hollinger, Shannon's wife and our Director of Children's Ministry here at Grace.

All this to say, for a small fellowship of churches, through the mission of Grace Schools we have impacted the evangelical church (and the world) in a way that is truly amazing given our small size (Zechariah 4:10). Today I will be traveling to Winona Lake for two days of our spring board meetings. Our board consists of men and women from all walks of life. Several Grace Brethren pastors, an attorney, an OB-GYN physician, several business men and women make up the board of trustees. As you think of me the next two days, please pray for us. These are challenging days for all institutions of higher education. And Grace is not exempt. But God is leading us through these times. We have several exciting initiatives to discuss. All of which will continue to assure Grace College and Seminary's influence on the Church of today!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Faith Comes from Hearing, and Hearing from the Word of God!

The first of my seven resolutions for this year of 2011(see January 7th posting for the complete list) is as follows: I resolve to get to know the Word of God better to better know the God of the Word. The first of two goals that I have set for myself to fulfill this resolution is to memorize a new verse (or verses) each week. To do this, I am using a very helpful iPhone app from Desiring God Ministries: Fighter Verse. It has proven itself in keeping me, for the most part, on track! My second goal to get to know the Scriptures better is to study through the book of Romans. To assist me in this, I am reading James Boice's four volume commentary on the book. Dr. Boice is a former pastor of mine (Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia). During his life, Dr. Boice was an internationally acclaimed Bible scholar and teacher (Amazon lists over fifty of his books that are still in print). His insights into the Scripture are quiet insightful and convicting! In today's reading in Romans chapter 4, he talked of Abraham's faith in God and in God's Word. His comments brought to me the words that appear later in the book (Romans 10:17) that I have paraphrased in the title of today's posting.

As I reflected on this, a little girl who began attending our Awana ministry came to mind. Susy (not her real name) is in Kindergarten. Last Wednesday I was asked to serve as a "listener" with the Spark's group (K-2nd grade). A listener does just that: listens to the children as they recite their memory verses. For about 15 minutes, I worked with Susy as she memorized John 3:16. By the time we were done, Susy had the verse memorized (at least in her short term memory). I encouraged her to ask her parents to help her with the verse at home. This past Sunday I saw Susy. She ran my way to excitedly tell me that she still remembered her verse. I asked her to recite it for me and she did so without needing a single prompt from me! I was thrilled! Now I pray that God will reveal to her young heart the truth of the words she has memorized! Faith comes from hearing ... and hearing from the Word of God!

If you are looking for an opportunity to invest in the lives of little children ... you can't go wrong with our Awana ministry. And even though this year's program is almost over ... there's always next fall!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

A Polite Robber and Our Own Walk of Faith

Last month, a convenience store owner in the Seattle area was held up at gun point. The armed robber got away with about $300 in cash. No one would have paid much attention to the incident .... except for one thing. The robber was very polite in the perpetration of his crime. Here is a brief video that shows just how polite this guy was.


A verse from Proverbs came to my mind when I viewed this video. In it the robber claimed his motivation in committing the crime was to feed his children. Proverbs 30:8-9 reads, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." 

The polite bandit fell prey to his circumstance of need. Seeing no other alternative, he resorted to stealing to provide for his family. Certainly understandable ... but still wrong. But I want you to focus on the other side of the coin. Most of you who are reading this blog are probably not in the same desperate situation in which this man found himself. But I am guessing that many of you (me included) are doing OK (especially when compared to the majority of people in our world). Therefore, we must beware of the influence that material goods and possessions can have upon us. If we are not careful, they can cause us to lose sight of God. All of us would benefit from reading and reflecting on the warning of Jesus given in Luke 12:15 and Paul's comments about money and the stuff money buys given in 1 Timothy 6:6-10.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Thursday A La Carte

It's Thursday again. That means it "A La Carte" time!

1. Here is a great article from Ed Welch (from the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation) titled, The Angry Person: Always the Last to Know.  

2. Here is an incredible photo gallery, Japan One Week Later.   Also, here is a video (just over one minute) in which the driver captured his own car being caught in the tsunami.   Let's endeavor to continue to pray for the people of Japan. In addition, here are the two online giving opportunities I mentioned this past Sunday: Grace Brethren International Missions' Japan Earthquake Relief Fund and Biblica's (formerly International Bible Society) Reaching Japan with God's Word fund.


3. Tim Challies writes an interesting article titled, The New Evangelical Virtues. In it he describes three values that many Christians embrace today ... values that actually lead people away from the true gospel. 


4. Are you in need of a laugh?  Check out this baby's back and forth reactions of fright and laughter when his mom blows here nose (time of video is 59 seconds).

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Does Fear Control You?

Back on February 3, 2006, Egypt suffered its worst maritime tragedy when over 1000 of 1400 ferry passengers drowned in the waters of the Red Sea. The cause of the boat's sinking? Massive overcrowding and an electrical fire worked together to doom the ferry. Now in the midst of all this human suffering that occurred that day, a very disturbing tale came to light. According to many eye witnesses who survived the sinking, the captain of the ship was one of the first to flee. What ever happened to a captain going down with his ship? Or is that something that happens only in the movies?

I wonder though, if I had been in that captain's place, would I have done what he did? Drowning is not something I would ever want to experience. And the prospect of being sucked down under the surface of the water by a sinking ship would surely strike fear into me! Yes, perhaps enough to cause me to desert my post at the helm!

Fear is powerful. It can turn a dutiful captain into a panicked deserter. And it can control us as well. What is the antidote to this poison of fear? It is faith. Faith overcomes fear. Faith helps us to be courageous even in the midst of overwhelming odds. Faith moves us to do great things during tough times (read Hebrews 11 and you will see just what I mean). So when difficulty crashes into your life and threatens you - be strong, be bold - for the LORD your God is with you (Joshua 1:9)!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

What Does It Mean to Love God?

I find today that many Christians have strange ideas about what it means to love God. This is unfortunate, given that the greatest of all of God's commandments (according to Jesus himself) is to love God (Matthew 22:35-38). So what does it mean to love God? Over sixteen hundred years ago, St. Augustine defined love for God with these words, "I call [love for God] the motion of the soul toward the enjoyment of God for his own sake, and the enjoyment of one's self and of one's neighbor for the sake of God." 


Take a few moments and reflect on this insightful definition. Then ask yourself, "Is my soul moving toward the enjoyment of God for his own sake?"  All too often we love the gifts far more than the Giver. And that, my friends is NOT what loving God is all about!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj