This week my grand daughter was in town for doctor appointments, and because of the weather her mother and her spent the night. She recently has learned how to set up by herself, so playing with her has risen to new level. She has this toy, that sort of looks like a ball, but is made in such a fashion that kids with DS (Down Syndrome) can easily grab it. I decided to lay down on the floor and play with Nebraska by rolling this ball-like toy into her lap. She then would either push it back at me or swat at it to get it out of her lap. I was having a grand time playing with her; but evidently she wasn't as thrilled as I was. We had been playing for several minutes, when I rolled it to her and when I happened to look away for a moment, she took the toy and placed behind her back. When I asked her where it was, she simply ignored by looking off in a different direction (which she quite good at).
I later thought about how much of that interaction is like and us & God. He gets down to our level so he can interact with us. He 'rolls' His blessings into our laps, time and time again. Each time He does we too have choices to make; we can pick them up and enjoy them, or give them back to Him, or we can swat them away. And sometimes, we even take them and hide them so no one else can see them. Then, when God asks us where they went, we too are really good at ignoring Him by looking off in another direction.
So what blessings has God rilled into your life lately, and what have you done with them?
PJ

Question for the week #3

After Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested, he was bound and taken before Annas. Annas really had no authority to question Him, and he didn't do it according to the Jewish law. Jesus wasn't very cooperative, and questioned his authority to question Him. When do you think it's necessary and even right to question the established authority?
PJ

Question Two

Thank you to everyone who responded. I hope more will get involved, but we'll see. I appreciated your scripture references Faith because the hope of the questions is to lead us all in deeper search of His Word.We all face disasters in this life: financial, relational, parental, physical, as well as emotional and psychological. I just got off the phone with my brother who found out today he has a tumor on one of his lungs. So here's the question: Can we find new life on the other side of life's disasters? ENJOY.
pj

Question of the Week

OK folks, out of a discussion I had a few weeks ago with some others in our church sprang the idea that I should ask a question every week that would challenge our thinking and give everyone who wants to an opportunity to respond. We wanted to do this on our web page, but so far haven't been able to get that accomplished. So in the mean time, we'll use my blog.
I won't check it everyday, but you can. Feel free to respond not only to the question, but to one another's responses. As much as possible, keep your answers biblical, that is back up your response with a Scripture reference. But it's OK to just share your opinions, just make sure it's stated as your opinion - remembering, everyone has one. Also, signing your real name isn't required; but a name other than 'anonymous' would be appreciated. The goal is for us to share and to grow in our understanding of God's impact on our lives.
So here are the first two questions:

1) How can a person have great zeal for God or religious activities, and yet be misguided?
2) What blinds us to spiritual truth?

Have fun with this. I'll check it when I get back late next week, and weigh in myself. God bless.
PJ

HOPE

Tomorrow I leave for SW Kansas to officiate the memorial celebration of my dear friend Ruth. While this is a sad time, because I will miss her a lot, it is also a grand time because she loved God so much while on this earth, I can only imagine what it must be like for her now that she is in heaven. One thing about services like this, it brings folks together to renew old relationships and friendships. Gives everyone an opportunity to tell heir favorite 'Ruth' story, share a hug or two, and mostly laugh together; which is always good for the soul.
I want to tell you one of my 'Ruth' stories. She was one of the most inspirational people I have ever met. At the ripe old age of 82, Ruth decided it was time to deal with some emotional baggage she had carried for way too long. By her own words, she was a very sensitive person who struggled most of life with feeling like a failure or inferior, who seriously doubted God's love for her, and feared his punishment, who lived her life as a pretender, never truly happy or joyful inside. Then one day, in a moment of divine revelation, she wrote down every hurt and doubt and moment of failure and guilt and regret. Everyone she could think of, she wrote onto slips of paper and placed in large steel bowl. She took that 'bowl of sorrow' to the altar in her church and laid it before God, asking that He forgive her for hanging on to them for so long and for her doubts of His love for her. Remember, this is at age 82. Then she lit those slips of paper on fire and released all those sorrows to Him. As they burned up, she wept and smiled and said over and over again, "Oh my! Oh, my!". And when the flames died down, she looked at me and said, "Today, I'm free!" Then looking down at the ashes in the bowl she said, "Let's take these outside and cast them to the wind." And that's exactly what we did. And as she watched them disappear into the Kansas sky, she simply stood there with her hands clasped at her chest and smiled.
I'll never forget that day. I watched God take a troubled soul and set it free from the lies that had held in bondage for so long. I thanked Him for the courage I had just witnessed, for His great love for us, and for the gift of hope He had given to us both. A hope I carry in my heart to this day.
PJ

I Know You!

Every week I have this marvelous opportunity to lead a Bible study at a senior citizens assisted living center. What I marvel at is that even though the average age is in the 80's, and these folks have attended church all their lives, they are still hungering and thirsting for more. Now, I'm not 'big' on religions, because I have watched them tend to seperate the body of Christ instead of uniting the body of Christ. I'm 'huge' on being a Christian, when it means you are striving towards Christ-likeness. For the most part, that isn't a message this group of folks has heard all their lives; but yet, they are earnestly embracing it and growing in their relationship with Christ.

This week we are looking at John 17, and Jesus is praying that his disciples would have eternal life. And then he goes and gives his definition for what eternal life is: to know the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. We had quite a discussion about everyones idea of eternal life. Then I asked them what it means to know God. We all agreed, that's a difficult concept; but it must be possible or Jesus would not of prayed like he did. So what can it mean?

Well, do you love someone? If you do, and I sincerely hope you do, would you say you 'know' that person? Now, if your teen, you may say no. Maybe even if your in your 20's, you would still say no. But if you're in your 30's and up, and you have spent several years with that person, and you have a better understanding that the world isn't about you; you would probably say yes to that question of knowing them. How did that happen? 2 key components: You have spent time together, and you asked questions about them.

There I think we have the answer to knowing God. Spend time with him, and ask him questions about him. What does he love? What makes God smile? Laugh out loud? Become sad? Anger him? What does think about the state of the world? The USA? What can you do for him? I challenged those 80 something 'seekers' to do that this week. They said they would. I trust that will. It will be interesting to see what they have learned in one week. How about you, us; are we up to the challenge to get to know God, and Jesus Christ his Son? If we are, we too may discover God's ideal of eternal life.

PJ

Hello!

I met this morning with my youth director and he shared this interesting tidbit with me about our youth. They apparently have this 'inside line' they will use when appropriate. The youth have noticed that at home, the parents can be in the midst of a heated discussion between themsleves , or even with their children and suddenly the phone will ring. Instantly the parent answering the phone can go from shouting to a sweet and congenial "Hello", like everything in their world is just rosy, forgettign that just instant ago they were angry and speaking loud.
The youth have decided that the lesson for them in this is that no matter what we might say, we can absolutely change our attitude and behavior when we really want to, and we can do it in an instant. So now, when they see another youth who needs to have an attitude adjustment they hold their hand to their head in the universal symbol for a phone and say "hello" in their sweetest voice. Seems to work for them. Maybe we all need a "hello" from time to time to remind of us what's really important? One thing is for sure, your kids are watching and learning from you. Be sure you're sending the messages you really want them to learn.
PJ