There is always something going on with our family activities or with ministry related meetings and activities or with school related activities...it seems never ending and exhausting! So what are we to do?
God has really been speaking to me over the past several months about evaluating what is going on within my life, family and ministry. I have been challenged in my Quiet Time to follow Matthew 22:37, "And He (Jesus) said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (English Standard Version).'" There are MANY things that I am involved in that are very "good" things...BUT, am I choosing to pursue the good things in life or the "best" things? Am I following the things that will last for eternity, or am I just going through the motions of doing some good things that no one will remember 50 years (or less) from now?
How about you? How about your family? Take a moment to just look at your calendar for the past two weeks and the next two weeks. Is your calendar full of lots of good things or are there eternal impact activities filling your pages?
Pray that God will open your eyes to those eternal purposes that He is calling you to pursue...and then DO IT!! Measure every activity by this test: Is it good, or is it best? Choose to live for eternity!
Pastor Joey
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Twitter, Facebook, Blogger...Relationships?
My wife and I had a discussion about Twitter, Facebook, and blogging last evening, and we share differing views about all of this technology. Annette would much rather you just pick up the phone and give her a call if there is something you would like to share with her. I, on the other hand, find great benefits in quick, to the point texts if there isn't a need to go into deep explanation about the subject. I will say that Annette was not at all interested in Facebook until I set her account up for her and she got back in touch with many old friends. Now, she enjoys seeing what's going on in their lives...most of the time.
Our discussion really got me thinking about the level our society will go to in order to stay in touch. We want to make sure that we are heard, even if we're just sharing what we're fixing for dinner or what we're watching on television. I never considered myself "one of those people," but I must confess that I AM "one of those people." I have a Blackberry with unlimited texting, I Blog (though not as regularly as I would like), I just began using Twitter, and my Facebook is synched to go directly to my Blackberry (so I don't miss out on what you are having for dinner!). Wow!
What is speaking to my heart in all of this is the fact that so many people are trying to be heard, so many are trying to look into the lives of others, so many are "communicating"...yet so many are hurting. So many are lonely, comparing the Social Network status of another with their life and feeling that their life has no meaning compared to those they follow. Society has led many to believe the lie that if their Social Networking status defines them, when, in reality, the true definition of who we are comes from a much deeper purpose.
Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (ESV) In other words, we can all kinds of "friends," but not everyone I view on Facebook, not everyone I follow on Twitter, and not every Blogger I read is my friend (no matter what Facebook calls them!). But, as the verse says, there is a Friend who is closer than a brother...Christ Jesus! You don't become friends through a Social Network, but rather, "...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Romans 10:9-10, ESV)
Seek a relationship with Him first, and then put all of the "stuff" of this world behind Him. Once you establish a relationship with Him, make communication with Him a priority over ALL other communications!
Our discussion really got me thinking about the level our society will go to in order to stay in touch. We want to make sure that we are heard, even if we're just sharing what we're fixing for dinner or what we're watching on television. I never considered myself "one of those people," but I must confess that I AM "one of those people." I have a Blackberry with unlimited texting, I Blog (though not as regularly as I would like), I just began using Twitter, and my Facebook is synched to go directly to my Blackberry (so I don't miss out on what you are having for dinner!). Wow!
What is speaking to my heart in all of this is the fact that so many people are trying to be heard, so many are trying to look into the lives of others, so many are "communicating"...yet so many are hurting. So many are lonely, comparing the Social Network status of another with their life and feeling that their life has no meaning compared to those they follow. Society has led many to believe the lie that if their Social Networking status defines them, when, in reality, the true definition of who we are comes from a much deeper purpose.
Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (ESV) In other words, we can all kinds of "friends," but not everyone I view on Facebook, not everyone I follow on Twitter, and not every Blogger I read is my friend (no matter what Facebook calls them!). But, as the verse says, there is a Friend who is closer than a brother...Christ Jesus! You don't become friends through a Social Network, but rather, "...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Romans 10:9-10, ESV)
Seek a relationship with Him first, and then put all of the "stuff" of this world behind Him. Once you establish a relationship with Him, make communication with Him a priority over ALL other communications!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Rules or Relationships...
I'm finally taking the time to get back into the "Blogosphere" today! Picking up in Romans 3:21-31. This is a passage that can read a bit confusingly as it contains some large, "churchy" sounding words. But this passage is one of promise, hope and encouragement to those who have chosen to put their faith in the work of Jesus Christ.
Paul has just finished stating in verses 19-20 that the Law, or the Ten Commandments, will not justify anyone. He shares that no one is able to fulfill the Law, and that "through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." Following, or trying to follow, the Ten Commandments will not bring anyone into a right relationship with God. On the contrary, the Law simply shows us over and over again how far from God we really are in our flesh. So what are we to do?
Paul continues into verse 21, that "apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested [made known]...even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe..." He's trying to get us to see that the Christian life is about so much more than a list of rules. It's about a relationship with the one, true, living God of this world. The same God who created each of us to be in a close, personal relationship with Him. Though He created us for this purpose, we each have been given the decision of whether or not we want to be in this relationship. If we choose to pursue Him, then we must deal with the sin (or anything that is not of God), and Paul tells us here how this can happen.
Verses 24-31 really explain how God has allowed the work of Jesus Christ (God in human flesh) to come, live a sinless life and give His perfect life as a payment for the sins of the world. Paul really hits hard in verse 28, sharing that "...we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law." Again, it's about a relationship!
I just shared this illustration with our students yesterday: Imagine your relationship with your best friend (or for you reading, your spouse). You tell everyone that they are your best friend, yet you never speak to them. You never spend any time with them. You never let them know what they mean to you. What kind of friendship would that be? God desires a relationship with each of us, but me MUST come to Him and accept His offer. We must put our trust in Him through the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus shared in John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
The Ten Commandments are a good guide for us to follow, but don't put your faith in a set of rules...put your faith in the One who died for the very sins you have committed. Come to God, confess your sins to Him, ask forgiveness, and follow Him.
Pastor Joey
Paul has just finished stating in verses 19-20 that the Law, or the Ten Commandments, will not justify anyone. He shares that no one is able to fulfill the Law, and that "through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." Following, or trying to follow, the Ten Commandments will not bring anyone into a right relationship with God. On the contrary, the Law simply shows us over and over again how far from God we really are in our flesh. So what are we to do?
Paul continues into verse 21, that "apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested [made known]...even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe..." He's trying to get us to see that the Christian life is about so much more than a list of rules. It's about a relationship with the one, true, living God of this world. The same God who created each of us to be in a close, personal relationship with Him. Though He created us for this purpose, we each have been given the decision of whether or not we want to be in this relationship. If we choose to pursue Him, then we must deal with the sin (or anything that is not of God), and Paul tells us here how this can happen.
Verses 24-31 really explain how God has allowed the work of Jesus Christ (God in human flesh) to come, live a sinless life and give His perfect life as a payment for the sins of the world. Paul really hits hard in verse 28, sharing that "...we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law." Again, it's about a relationship!
I just shared this illustration with our students yesterday: Imagine your relationship with your best friend (or for you reading, your spouse). You tell everyone that they are your best friend, yet you never speak to them. You never spend any time with them. You never let them know what they mean to you. What kind of friendship would that be? God desires a relationship with each of us, but me MUST come to Him and accept His offer. We must put our trust in Him through the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus shared in John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
The Ten Commandments are a good guide for us to follow, but don't put your faith in a set of rules...put your faith in the One who died for the very sins you have committed. Come to God, confess your sins to Him, ask forgiveness, and follow Him.
Pastor Joey
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Are You A "Good Person?"
Today I'm studying through Romans 3:1-20, and I still have the sermon from this past Sunday going through my mind. Pastor Terry preached from John 14:6, stressing that though many people have their "opinions" about who will spend eternity in Heaven, the Bible stresses over and over that there is only one way...through Jesus Christ!
I have had the opportunity to talk with many individuals about God's purpose for this world and for each of us individually, and I have listened to so many people share with me that they believe that they will indeed be in Heaven for eternity because they have lived a "good life," and they are a "good person." The conversation very often leads to the statement: "I believe in God!" Friends, one of my favorite verses in the Bible is James 2:19, which says that "You believe there is one God. You do well. But even the demons believe and tremble! NKJV" Yes, Satan believes in God and has stood before Him and spoken with Him. So, will Satan be in Heaven? Absolutely not! His future lies in an eternal separation from God, along with all others who do not "call on the name of the Lord. Romans 10:13"
Here, in Romans 3, Paul quotes from several of the Psalms, all of which drive home the point that "there is none righteous, not even one...! Romans 3:10" We are all born with a desire to please ourselves. We all naturally put ourselves first. But God has planted within us another desire...to put the One who created us first. Which desire are you fulfilling in your life? It's not about following a set of rules or the Ten Commandments (we have ALL broken many of these!), but it's about realizing that even those Ten point out the knowledge of the sin in our lives. With this knowledge that we are ALL sinners, the response should be, "how do I get this sin taken care of, or paid for?" That's where Jesus and His work on the cross comes in. Even though He was without sin, He took on all the sin of the world and offered His death and resurrection (a victory over death and sin) as a complete payment for us. The offer is on the table, and now it is up to each of us to accept this offer for the payment of our sins.
Many who read this will call me "narrow minded," which is fine (and, I guess, true!). But, if you are willing to trust the Bible, God's Word given for those who want to follow Him, there is no way around this most important decision each of us will ever make. Have you decided whom you will follow?
Until next time...have a blessed day!
PJ
I have had the opportunity to talk with many individuals about God's purpose for this world and for each of us individually, and I have listened to so many people share with me that they believe that they will indeed be in Heaven for eternity because they have lived a "good life," and they are a "good person." The conversation very often leads to the statement: "I believe in God!" Friends, one of my favorite verses in the Bible is James 2:19, which says that "You believe there is one God. You do well. But even the demons believe and tremble! NKJV" Yes, Satan believes in God and has stood before Him and spoken with Him. So, will Satan be in Heaven? Absolutely not! His future lies in an eternal separation from God, along with all others who do not "call on the name of the Lord. Romans 10:13"
Here, in Romans 3, Paul quotes from several of the Psalms, all of which drive home the point that "there is none righteous, not even one...! Romans 3:10" We are all born with a desire to please ourselves. We all naturally put ourselves first. But God has planted within us another desire...to put the One who created us first. Which desire are you fulfilling in your life? It's not about following a set of rules or the Ten Commandments (we have ALL broken many of these!), but it's about realizing that even those Ten point out the knowledge of the sin in our lives. With this knowledge that we are ALL sinners, the response should be, "how do I get this sin taken care of, or paid for?" That's where Jesus and His work on the cross comes in. Even though He was without sin, He took on all the sin of the world and offered His death and resurrection (a victory over death and sin) as a complete payment for us. The offer is on the table, and now it is up to each of us to accept this offer for the payment of our sins.
Many who read this will call me "narrow minded," which is fine (and, I guess, true!). But, if you are willing to trust the Bible, God's Word given for those who want to follow Him, there is no way around this most important decision each of us will ever make. Have you decided whom you will follow?
Until next time...have a blessed day!
PJ
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Catching Up...Looking Ahead...Counting It All Joy
James 1:2-4 reads: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
I'm here tonight in a hospital room in Pennsylvania, watching my beautiful, incredible, loving and strong wife recover from her surgery (she had a hysterectomy due to some past issues...but is doing great now). As I sat in the waiting room for nearly 3 hours today, trying to read and keep my mind off of the "what-ifs," I began evaluating all that has occurred in our lives over the last 2 months. My self-evaluation could easily have led to a pretty depressive thought pattern if taken at face value, but the Holy Spirit really laid the Book of James, and specifically these early verses on my heart, and they became a kind of living example to me.
November began with a bit of a scare for me as we found out that I have an enlarged lymph node in my neck. After another CT Scan, it looks like it's not growing, so I have a follow up in March. The next week, Annette was sent for a consult with a Gynecological Oncologist for an issue that we thought had been resolved two years ago. He recommended, as did her regular Gynecologist, that she proceed with an hysterectomy to best prevent the return of any cervical cancer cells. So we began preparing for today. The week after this, Annette and I excitedly set off, along with three other couples from our church, to attend a marriage enrichment weekend called "Weekend to Remember." Upon arriving at our hotel in Philly (yes, I am a Pennsylvanian now, therefore I'm allowed to officially call it "Philly!"), we received the news that my Grandma, along with two of my cousins (4 year old Ivan, and 21 month old Maggie Grace) had been killed in a vehicle accident near my home town in Virginia. That weekend and the following days were ones filled with extremely hard times, as well as some of the greatest blessings...both of which I will never forget. My aunt and uncle (sounds strange to call them that since she's only 10 months older than me, and he's a year younger!)...WOW! Through a tremendous loss, they have lived out their faith and trust in their Savior, Jesus Christ. Even while they wait to see how this hard to understand piece of the puzzle that is their life fits in, they wait...trusting. They will probably not understand the impact their faith has had on so many until they get to Heaven...but believe me, it has impacted people from miles and states away! Yes, November 2008 was one for the books!
November, as it always does, led to December and all that that brings. I found myself in kind of an emotional haze for much of the month. Not what I would call depression, rather more just trying to process the previous 30+ days. Finally, around the last week or so of the month, that haze lifted. We shared some meaningful time with much of our families, we had a blast with many of our students from church, bringing in the New Year at Liberty University (it was especially awesome since Annette & Brian were able to be there with me!), along with 6,000 other youth and adults. We were truly able to worship in the new year. The year has begun with some great ministry opportunities opening up, as well as some real blessings for our church, with a LOT of new families attending, and an obvious hunger for the Word of God.
So, again, I sit here giving Annette ice chips, watching her rest. I am so thankful to God for bringing her through this trial, and especially for recalling to my mind that even in this, we are to count it joy. I do count it joy to serve the Lord, both personally and in my vocation. And I count it joy that as we walk through these trials (and the ones we don't see right now, but are sure to come) in life, IF we are trusting in Jesus Christ as our Lord, these temporary trials will produce the endurance for us to strive until we are called home to be with Him forever.
May your 2009 be a year in which you can plainly recall as being the year that you got real with God, and that even though there were some (or many) trials...you counted it all joy!
In Christ...PJ
I'm here tonight in a hospital room in Pennsylvania, watching my beautiful, incredible, loving and strong wife recover from her surgery (she had a hysterectomy due to some past issues...but is doing great now). As I sat in the waiting room for nearly 3 hours today, trying to read and keep my mind off of the "what-ifs," I began evaluating all that has occurred in our lives over the last 2 months. My self-evaluation could easily have led to a pretty depressive thought pattern if taken at face value, but the Holy Spirit really laid the Book of James, and specifically these early verses on my heart, and they became a kind of living example to me.
November began with a bit of a scare for me as we found out that I have an enlarged lymph node in my neck. After another CT Scan, it looks like it's not growing, so I have a follow up in March. The next week, Annette was sent for a consult with a Gynecological Oncologist for an issue that we thought had been resolved two years ago. He recommended, as did her regular Gynecologist, that she proceed with an hysterectomy to best prevent the return of any cervical cancer cells. So we began preparing for today. The week after this, Annette and I excitedly set off, along with three other couples from our church, to attend a marriage enrichment weekend called "Weekend to Remember." Upon arriving at our hotel in Philly (yes, I am a Pennsylvanian now, therefore I'm allowed to officially call it "Philly!"), we received the news that my Grandma, along with two of my cousins (4 year old Ivan, and 21 month old Maggie Grace) had been killed in a vehicle accident near my home town in Virginia. That weekend and the following days were ones filled with extremely hard times, as well as some of the greatest blessings...both of which I will never forget. My aunt and uncle (sounds strange to call them that since she's only 10 months older than me, and he's a year younger!)...WOW! Through a tremendous loss, they have lived out their faith and trust in their Savior, Jesus Christ. Even while they wait to see how this hard to understand piece of the puzzle that is their life fits in, they wait...trusting. They will probably not understand the impact their faith has had on so many until they get to Heaven...but believe me, it has impacted people from miles and states away! Yes, November 2008 was one for the books!
November, as it always does, led to December and all that that brings. I found myself in kind of an emotional haze for much of the month. Not what I would call depression, rather more just trying to process the previous 30+ days. Finally, around the last week or so of the month, that haze lifted. We shared some meaningful time with much of our families, we had a blast with many of our students from church, bringing in the New Year at Liberty University (it was especially awesome since Annette & Brian were able to be there with me!), along with 6,000 other youth and adults. We were truly able to worship in the new year. The year has begun with some great ministry opportunities opening up, as well as some real blessings for our church, with a LOT of new families attending, and an obvious hunger for the Word of God.
So, again, I sit here giving Annette ice chips, watching her rest. I am so thankful to God for bringing her through this trial, and especially for recalling to my mind that even in this, we are to count it joy. I do count it joy to serve the Lord, both personally and in my vocation. And I count it joy that as we walk through these trials (and the ones we don't see right now, but are sure to come) in life, IF we are trusting in Jesus Christ as our Lord, these temporary trials will produce the endurance for us to strive until we are called home to be with Him forever.
May your 2009 be a year in which you can plainly recall as being the year that you got real with God, and that even though there were some (or many) trials...you counted it all joy!
In Christ...PJ
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