Friday Coffee with PJ

Thanks for joining me for another edition of Friday Coffee with PJ. I hope you find something here that will encourage you in your faith walk with Jesus Christ!

1. There is something about shopping at a family owned super market. My wife and I have been shopping at one (Darrenkamp's Market at Willow Valley Square) ever since they moved to this location from Willow Street back in 1998. Yesterday I entered Jane's Cafe (located in Darrenkamp's) for a meeting. As I walked up to the register to pay for a cup of coffee, Joe Darrenkamp (one of the owners of the store) was standing there with an empty cup in hand. "Here you go, Pastor John. Enjoy a cup of coffee on me" (So I guess you could say I literally enjoyed a cup of Joe!). Now why did Joe do this for me? He was simply being a good neighbor. And we as a church try to be a good neighbor to Darrenkamp's. Our church facility stands adjacent to Darrenkamp's Market. Once a month we make our facility available (at no cost) for Darrenkamp's to hold meetings they must have with their team members. It is how we as a church family try to be good neighbors. How about you? Are you working at being a "good neighbor" in the neighborhood in which you live? Do you even know your neighbors (many people don't!)? Being a good neighbor may very well be the first step toward leading a neighbor to Christ. So ... why not start today?

2. Tomorrow I will once again perform a pastoral task that I have done many times before: officiate a memorial service. The deceased was/is a man of faith. His faith was/is in Jesus Christ. Therefore, at the moment he breathed his last on this earth, he began to live. To really live. To live as he had never lived in this life. How so? The answer is found in the following words that Jesus spoke to a grieving woman in John 11:25-26: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" You see, for those who have placed their trust in the substitutionary death of Christ to pay the penalty for their sin that a just and holy God demands ... that person shall never die. "But wait, John, you said you are doing this man of faith's funeral tomorrow. Didn't he die?" Yes. He died physically. But the death Jesus is talking about here is the second death .. the ultimate death that awaits all of those who do not believe in Christ (Revelation 20:11-15). But for believers "in Christ" we shall never have to face the ultimate death from which there is no escape. Instead we will experience an existence that is better by far than the best this world can manage to offer (Philippians 1:23). How about YOU? In the words of Jesus himself, "Do you believe this?"  If you have any questions about what I have just written, please take a moment to check out, Two Ways to Live: The Choice We All Face.

3. Next Thursday my wife returns to yet another round of x-rays. The surgeon will be looking for indications that the bone stimulator is doing what it is designed to do: promote the healing of Sharon's broken femur. As you think of my wife, please pray for her. Ask God to graciously work through this amazing medical device to heal her fractured bone. Thanks!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

It's Friday already?????  Yup! For many of you that means the weekend (and time off from the job) is just a few hours away. For me, it means the most intense part of my work week is just around the corner (It's Friday ... and Sunday's coming!). So pour yourself a cup of your favorite JOE and join me for a few random thoughts.

1. Do you wonder why a cup of coffee is often referred to as a "cup of joe?" Three years ago I posted a link to the answer to this question. Thought some of you who missed that might be interested in reading the answer ... click here. 

2.  Yesterday I sat on a committee as we worked through a number of nominations and selected a group of three police officers for awards to be presented on May 15, 2016 at the annual law enforcement appreciation and memorial service that our church has been conducting for thirty plus years now. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the service and how it all began, here is a brief history of the service:

The year was 1984 and Grace Church was in its fourth year at its present location in Willow Valley Square. A West Lampeter Township Police Officer who started attending the church asked founding pastor Vernon Harris if the church would be interested in sponsoring a service to honor the Lancaster County police officers who had been killed in the line of duty. Pastor Harris loved the idea. Officer Roy Shaubach organized the first service and was involved in the planning of the service for many years until his death. Since the service was started in May of 1984, five names have been added to the Roll Call of Honor. Our prayer is that we will never have to add another!

Thirteen years ago, along with remembering those who have given their lives in the line of duty, a new addition was added to the service - that of giving awards to officers currently serving our community. Currently, there are three award categories - Outstanding Officer of the Year; Outstanding Investigator of the Year; and Outstanding Act of Bravery. These awards are given in cooperation with the Lancaster County Chiefs of Police Association.

It was these three awards that we decided upon this morning. The recipients are very worthy! In a day and age in which police are often in the news for the wrong reasons, it's a must to recognize that the vast majority of police officers do their jobs and do them well. For all of us who live here in this country, we are better for it! If you are available to join us on the 15th, the service begins at 10:30am. 

3.Yesterday morning, as I sat an intersection waiting for a light change, I happened to glance to my left. At just that moment, a hawk swept into a tree and grabbed an unsuspecting squirrel. As quickly as the hawk arrived on the scene, just that quickly it was gone, lunch in hand (or better said, talon!). That poor creature didn't stand a chance! It got caught unaware of the hawk's presence! The Apostle Paul warns us about being unaware about someone who desires to make us his prey. That someone is Satan (2 Corinthians 2:11). Satan and his army of fallen angels are quite active. They are out to blind people to God's saving truth (2 Corinthians 4:4), to ensnare people to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26) and tempt us to defy God (1 Corinthians 7:5). The best way to prepare for Satan's advances is to know God's Word! Isn't it interesting that when Jesus the God-Man was tempted by the Evil One to sin against his Father, Jesus responded each time by quoting appropriate Scripture (Matthew 4:1-11). In doing so, he fended off Satan's temptation and caused the devil to flee! All this to say, if we want to stand in the day of evil ... we must know God's word and apply it as appropriate. Only then will we avoid becoming prey of the one who is on the prowl, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

      

Today is a special edition of Friday  coffee with PJ.  As I write these words I'm sitting in a hotel room in Warsaw, Indiana which is best known as being "the orthopedic capital of the world!" So am I here to pick up some new knee or hip joints that are manufactured here? Hardly. Right  next door to Warsaw is Winona Lake. WL  is the home of Grace College and Theological Seminary.    Since 2006 I have had the privilege of serving on the board of trustees of Grace Schools. I am glad to do so for number of reasons. Not only am I an alumnus if Grace, having earned my doctor of ministry degree in 2003, but Grace Schools are affiliated with the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, of which my church us a member. Two years ago our board made the unheard of decision to lower the cost of our tuition in an initiative we labeled "The Measure of Grace." In addition to lowering the initial tuition cost, students see their tuition decrease by $500 each successive year. To top it off, students also receive free text books (which students quickly discover are not cheap!

So all this to say (and I dare not leave out our accelerated degree options in which a student can earn a bachelor's degree in three years and a bachelor's and master's degree in four)... If you know of a young person looking to get a Christ-entered college education that will prepare them to live out their faith in their vocation and life...you need to encourage them to check out Grace College. In years when many schools like Grace are seeing decling enrollment, Grace is on track to realize a fourth consecutive record enrollment in this upcoming fall. To God be the glory!

Thanks for stopping by...
Pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

Friday. Coffee. Sweet (not the coffee ... just the experience!). Please pour yourself a cup and join me for a couple of random thoughts.

1. "Chinese funeral parlor using 3-D printing to help the dead look their best."  For obvious reasons, this headline caught my eye. The Longhua Funeral Home in Shanghai is using 3-D printing technology to help people's dead bodies look more presentable. In addition, the article also refers to a company in California which is using the same technology to produce life-like busts of the deceased that sit atop urns containing their ashes. Once the urn is buried, the bust can be "kept on the shelf for years to come." Neither of these surprised me (although I am amazed at what 3-D printing technology is able to achieve!). But apart from the "new-ness" of the technology, the efforts of the funeral home and the urn company are nothing new. Mankind has been trying to soften the blow of death ever since people started dying. Death can't be avoided. But we can find ways to ease the pain when it does strike. For the one who has trusted by grace alone ... in faith alone ... in Christ alone, the sting of death is gone! The Apostle Paul makes reference to this reality in 1 Corinthians 15:54-58. Jesus won the victory some 2000 years ago when he bled and died upon a Roman cross. One day, we who have chosen to follow him as our Savior and Lord, will be resurrected ... entering fully into the victory that has already been won!  If you are not sure you will be a part of the victory party mentioned in Revelation 19:6-9), please take a moment to view, Two Ways to Live: The Choice We All Face.

2. I just checked the weather forecast for our area for Saturday. It calls for rain and SNOW with a forecast high of only 41 degrees! This forecast is much more fitting for a Saturday in mid February vs. mid April! But it IS spring. And there is a battle going on in the atmosphere above us. Cold air is on the retreat ... and warm air is advancing. But, just as in WW 2 as the Allied armies were pushing the German army further into Germany - the Germans punched back with a powerful counterattack (i.e. The Battle of the Bulge) - so sometimes "old man winter" punches back as well. But, don't panic (unless you happen to be a snow lover!) - the warmth will return! And so it is with the battle between evil and good. Right now it appears that evil has the upper hand. But just go to the final pages of the Bible and read the end of the story. At the end of the day (or better said ... at the end of human history) good ... and God will win out! You can count on it!

3. Update on Sharon: It's been a while since I offered an update, so I thought I would give one here and ask you to pray. Yesterday we saw the orthopedic surgeon who performed the surgery to repair Sharon's broken femur. Before seeing him, Sharon had a couple of x-rays taken. The x-rays appeared to "possibly show some healing" of the portion of the fracture that has not yet healed. But it was difficult to tell for sure (the fracture is still visible on the images). Sharon has been using a bone stimulator twice a day for the past three weeks. The doctor wants her to continue doing so. Sharon will return to see him in about four weeks. In addition, Sharon learned through a bone density test that she has osteoporosis on the right side of her body (but not her left -- which our doctor said was a bit strange!). So our primary care physician will be handling that aspect of her care. All this to ask you all to please pray that the fracture will heal. If it does not, then a bone graft will be the next step. And that is a step we would rather not take. Thanks!

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

Well ... it's Friday! So pour yourself a cup of your favorite brew and join me for a few random
thoughts (I just finished off a cup of San Fransisco Bay Fog Chaser ... and boy was it good!).

1. In the midst of the difficult journey I have been on with my wife brought about by her knee replacement and subsequent complications, we got some really good news the other day that was totally unexpected. A registered letter arrived in the mail from a law firm in Philadelphia (in fact, it was from Dechert, a large international firm which Sharon and I both worked for during our first two years out of college). The letter informed us that an old neighbor of ours whom we had befriended in the early years of our marriage but have lost contact with had recently died. Having no children of her own, she left a portion of his very sizable estate to us. We could hardly believe it! You probably can't believe it either ... and you shouldn't. After all ... it is April 1st!  :)

2. Now back to reality. I have been thinking a lot lately about character (and I am not talking about the litany of characters that we see and hear about every day via the media!). Character for the follower of Christ is of utmost importance. The Scriptures have a lot to say about the kind of character that should mark each and every believer in Christ. If you are serious about growing to be more like Jesus, I encourage you to take some time and visit the blog of one of my favorite bloggers, Tim Challies. Back in January he began a series of posts he titled, The Character of the Christian. I was challenged by them. I believe you will be as well.

3. Yesterday I was dogged with a serious headache for much of the day. Excedrin Migraine did take the edge off ... but the headache was a persistent one. It just did not want to leave me alone! As I thought about my headache's persistence ... it hit me that I should be as persistent about certain spiritual practices that God mandates in his word . . . exercises that will strengthen the muscles of our soul and faith. Some of these would include daily interaction with the Scriptures, prayer, worship, stewardship, fellowship, silence and solitude (the latter being important due to the noisy world in which we live). Often I find myself neglecting these because I am just too busy with other things. However, when it comes right down to it, I (and I am guessing you as well) am too busy NOT to regularly practice these spiritual habits. One book that I recently picked up and am currently reading is one I would highly recommend: Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines by David Mathis. This book is highly readable and very practical. I am hoping that as I read through it and put what I learn (or am reminded of) into practice .... I will enjoy Jesus more and be in a better place to impact those around me for Christ.

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

Today is not just Friday ... it is Good Friday, the day we commemorate the death of God's Son and our savior upon the cross. To mark this day, I thought I would post several quotes about the cross. I encourage you to reflect on these and rejoice that our God so loved us that he sent his one and only son . . . !

“Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.” (John R.W. Stott)

 "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.  But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit." (Matthew 27:45-50)

“Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world.” (John Piper)

Surely he has borne our griefs

 and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

    smitten by God, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;

    we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

(Isaiah 53:4-6)

“Only those who are truly aware of their sin can truly cherish grace.”  (C.J. Mahaney)

"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14)

“Why is it that the cross has become the symbol of Christianity? It is because at the cross Jesus purchased our redemption and provided a righteousness which we could not ourselves earn.”  (Billy Graham)

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, 
 and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

    and you shall bruise his heel.”

(God to Satan in Genesis 3:15

“The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch, the world says, ‘This is love.’ God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, ‘This is love.'”  (Joshua Harris) 

“Jesus has borne the death penalty on our behalf. Behold the wonder! There He hangs upon the cross! This is the greatest sight you will ever see. Son of God and Son of Man, there He hangs, bearing pains unutterable, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. Oh, the glory of that sight!”   (Charles Spurgeon)

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Praise God that Jesus died ... but that he did not remain in the grave! He is risen ... He is risen indeed! A meaningful Good Friday to you all and a very blessed and happy Easter! 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 

pj

Friday Coffee with PJ

I apologize if you came looking for a morning post today ... it's been a busy week. But, since I am up for coffee at anytime of day (although as I write this I am just finishing up a cup of decaff!), I invite you to join me for a couple of random (and brief) thoughts.

1. If you want to get a better feel for what presidential candidate Donald Trump really believes, here is an interesting and insightful article by Michael Horton as published in Christianity Today (Horton wrote one of the better books I have read of late titled, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World. Well worth the read!

2. I recall reading a story a few years ago about a Tokyo woman who called in the police after a hit man she paid to kill her lover’s wife failed to carry out the job (this is so bizarre, you may want to read that first sentence again!). Apparently this woman had contacted a private detective via the Internet and paid him several thousand dollars to kill her love rival. When he failed to deliver on his end of the agreement, she called the cops! She and the detective are now in jail. The alleged target is safe, but a bit rattled to say the least! This is crazy stuff! But, then again, our world is crazy! This is what happens when men and women walk away from God and insist on living life their own way. When I hear of mixed up, weird situations like this, I will often turn to my wife and say, “Sin sure does complicate lives!” That is one good reason to stay as far away from sin as possible. We all need to hear and heed the following New Testament commands to flee: “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18);  “Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14); “Flee the evil desires of youth” (2 Timothy 2:22). So the next time sin raises its ugly (even though it might not look ugly – it is!) – put your feet in gear and RUN!

3. I just checked the weather forecast for Sunday (which is the first day of spring). Ugh! Every weather outlet I checked is calling for snow in our area! SNOW! Wait a minute. It's spring. It's time for flowers and lawn mowing and birds singing and warm breezes blowing. It is NOT the season for SNOW. Nonetheless, we can expect to see snow flakes falling. Now, I don't anticipate revving up my snow blower. If snow does accumulate, it will most likely be on my lawn and not my driveway (and I don't usually snow blow my lawn!)  And a blanket of snow on my front lawn would be just fine with me (although the poor robins might find pulling worms out of a snow covered lawn a bit problematic!). SO ... "Old Man Winter" gets to huff and puff one final time. But don't worry, April is just around the corner! And what's true of winter's last hurrah ... is also true of evil's last hurrah. This world is pretty messed up today ... but Someone is just around the corner. And when he comes, he will eventually clean up the mess we have made of things and make everything brand new (Revelation 21:4-5). Are you ready to meet him? 

Thanks for stopping by . . . 
pj