Have you ever heard of Men's Fraternity? If not, I highly recommend every guy out there to check it out at http://www.mensfraternity.com/. And if by chance you are fairly new dad, or a soon to be dad, I cannot encourage you strongly enough to do yourself and your child a huge service and get involved somehow and somewhere with Men's Fraternity.
I'm 55 now, and my 3 boys are all grown up, and I am now leading the Men's Fraternity in our church, and so often I learn something that I dearly wish I had known when the 'boys' were still boys. I won't tell you about this weeks lesson; but as I sat here today and prepared, I wept too. I wept for them, for the wounds I inflicted upon their hearts and souls without ever, ever meaning to. Wounds I now see rise to the surface of their lives all too often. Wounds I know will never go away. I love them, and they know that; but that isn't enough to offset the scars I left there. So young men who may happen to read this, please don't do what I did, thinking I was doing right, or at least better. The regrets are too painful.
My prayer for all you dads out there is 3 John 4, 'That you would have no greater joy than to hear that your children live in the truth'. And if by chance you would like to see what a dads sacrificial love really looks like, check out http://www.teamhoyt.com/. Have great 2008.
PJ
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Garbage Surfing
As the festivities for the Christmas day were beginning to slow down and we were putting the house back in order, we discovered we were missing one of our gifts, a certificate for a night out at a particularily nice place to eat. After looking high and low in the house, I proceeded to stash of trash left over over from the unwrapping of the presents - 2 boxes and garbage sack full. We went through it piece by piece; but alas, no certificate.
As we sat and once again replayed the events of the day, we realized 2 things. One, we were also missing another gift certificate to the movie theatre, and two they might of got mixed in with the gifts one of our kids already took home. So we gave them a call, and they reminded us that the original box the gifts came in was now repacked with presents for my folks and in the trunk of my folks car. Dad quickly retrieved it, and again we searched peice by piece, and again no certificates.
Setting there, I remembered setting the certificates down with another gift that I later took out of their box and used, throwing those boxes in a different trash bag altogether. The search was on again, but this time the trash was not so clean - especially one really dirty diaper. Still no certificates.
Then my wife reminded me their was a bag of kitchen trash that had been removed earlier and maybe it was in there. On more trip to the trash bin, one more bag of trash to retrieve and go through. And there, five pieces of trash in were the boxes and the two gift certificates - YEAH!
Only later did it begin to dawn on me the significance of the search. We left no bag of trash unsearched in our effort to gain the prize; and fortunately, God was willing to do the same thing for me. He went through all of the trash of sin in my life to gain the prize - me. He didn't give up on me or quit searching for the way to reach me. He died a long time ago for my sin, but until I saw that for me personally it didn't matter; so God kept coming after me, getting rid of the trash that surrounded my heart, until I could see the truth about Jesus and become His. The prize he sought all along.
So, how about you? Any trash around your heart that is getting in the way of you and Jesus coming face-to-face? If there is, Jesus will kee going through it until there's nothing left between he and you; so he can the same prize he seeks from you - your love and your life. Have a blessed 2008.
PJ
As we sat and once again replayed the events of the day, we realized 2 things. One, we were also missing another gift certificate to the movie theatre, and two they might of got mixed in with the gifts one of our kids already took home. So we gave them a call, and they reminded us that the original box the gifts came in was now repacked with presents for my folks and in the trunk of my folks car. Dad quickly retrieved it, and again we searched peice by piece, and again no certificates.
Setting there, I remembered setting the certificates down with another gift that I later took out of their box and used, throwing those boxes in a different trash bag altogether. The search was on again, but this time the trash was not so clean - especially one really dirty diaper. Still no certificates.
Then my wife reminded me their was a bag of kitchen trash that had been removed earlier and maybe it was in there. On more trip to the trash bin, one more bag of trash to retrieve and go through. And there, five pieces of trash in were the boxes and the two gift certificates - YEAH!
Only later did it begin to dawn on me the significance of the search. We left no bag of trash unsearched in our effort to gain the prize; and fortunately, God was willing to do the same thing for me. He went through all of the trash of sin in my life to gain the prize - me. He didn't give up on me or quit searching for the way to reach me. He died a long time ago for my sin, but until I saw that for me personally it didn't matter; so God kept coming after me, getting rid of the trash that surrounded my heart, until I could see the truth about Jesus and become His. The prize he sought all along.
So, how about you? Any trash around your heart that is getting in the way of you and Jesus coming face-to-face? If there is, Jesus will kee going through it until there's nothing left between he and you; so he can the same prize he seeks from you - your love and your life. Have a blessed 2008.
PJ
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
To Meet Such A Man
I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day. As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, "I will work for food."
My heart sank.I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief. We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat half-heartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.
Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: "Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square." Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the storefront church, going through his sack. I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.
"Looking for the pastor?" I asked.
"Not really," he replied, "just resting."
"Have you eaten today?"
"Oh, I ate something early this morning."
"Would you like to have lunch with me?"
"Do you have some work I could do for you?"
"No work," I replied. "I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch."
"Sure," he replied with a smile.
As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?"
"St. Louis."
"Where you from?"
"Oh, all over; mostly Florida."
"How long you been walking?"
"Fourteen years," came the reply.
I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, "Jesus is The Never Ending Story."
Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought. He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God.
"Nothings been the same since," he said, "I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now."
"Ever think of stopping?" I asked.
"Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me. But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.
"I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: "What's it like?"
"What? "
"To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?"
"Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me."
My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, "Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in."
I felt as if we were on holy ground. "Could you use another Bible?" I asked.
He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. "I've read through it 14 times," he said.
"I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see" I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.
"Where are you headed from here?" I asked.
"Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon."
"Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?"
"No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next."
He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.
"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked. "I like to keep messages from folks I meet."
I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope."
"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you."
"I know," I said, "I love you, too."
"The Lord is good!"
"Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?" I asked.
"A long time," he replied. And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.
He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, "See you in the New Jerusalem."
"I'll be there!" was my reply.
He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, "When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"
"You bet," I shouted back, "God bless."
"God bless." And that was the last I saw of him.
Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them. Then I remembered his words: "If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?" Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. "See you in the New Jerusalem," he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will..."
I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."
"Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen."
Prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another. God bless and have a great day and most joyful and peace filled Christmas!
PJ
My heart sank.I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief. We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat half-heartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.
Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: "Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square." Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the storefront church, going through his sack. I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.
"Looking for the pastor?" I asked.
"Not really," he replied, "just resting."
"Have you eaten today?"
"Oh, I ate something early this morning."
"Would you like to have lunch with me?"
"Do you have some work I could do for you?"
"No work," I replied. "I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch."
"Sure," he replied with a smile.
As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?"
"St. Louis."
"Where you from?"
"Oh, all over; mostly Florida."
"How long you been walking?"
"Fourteen years," came the reply.
I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, "Jesus is The Never Ending Story."
Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought. He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God.
"Nothings been the same since," he said, "I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now."
"Ever think of stopping?" I asked.
"Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me. But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.
"I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: "What's it like?"
"What? "
"To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?"
"Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me."
My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, "Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in."
I felt as if we were on holy ground. "Could you use another Bible?" I asked.
He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. "I've read through it 14 times," he said.
"I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see" I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.
"Where are you headed from here?" I asked.
"Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon."
"Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?"
"No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next."
He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.
"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked. "I like to keep messages from folks I meet."
I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope."
"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you."
"I know," I said, "I love you, too."
"The Lord is good!"
"Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?" I asked.
"A long time," he replied. And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.
He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, "See you in the New Jerusalem."
"I'll be there!" was my reply.
He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, "When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"
"You bet," I shouted back, "God bless."
"God bless." And that was the last I saw of him.
Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them. Then I remembered his words: "If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?" Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. "See you in the New Jerusalem," he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will..."
I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."
"Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen."
Prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another. God bless and have a great day and most joyful and peace filled Christmas!
PJ
Monday, December 10, 2007
Fogged Over?
I have this wonderful old car that my eldest son gave to me to drive back and forth to work. It's really quite a good vehicle, except it has this one particular problem - it fogs up while you drive it. It is quite annoying, really. I am not sure why it happens, you start out seeing clearly; but then every window in the car begins to fog over until you're racing down the highway bent over to the side of the steering wheel to peer through the small circle of clear windshield the defogger seems to keep up with. There are options. You can lean your head out of the side window - not cool. or, you can roll all the windows down as you speed down the highway - way too cool. Actually taking it to someone to be fixed properly, so far hasn't made it to the 'option' category.
The other day, while battling my dilemma, it dawned on me that sometimes our spiritual lives are like my car. We start the journey with Christ, seeing clearly; but then, for various reasons we start to 'fog' up. And like I and my car, we keep right on going, adjusting our lives to the 'fog', instead of to Christ, you could help us see clearly again and keep the fog from returning. So now I ask, how's your vision these days?
PJ
The other day, while battling my dilemma, it dawned on me that sometimes our spiritual lives are like my car. We start the journey with Christ, seeing clearly; but then, for various reasons we start to 'fog' up. And like I and my car, we keep right on going, adjusting our lives to the 'fog', instead of to Christ, you could help us see clearly again and keep the fog from returning. So now I ask, how's your vision these days?
PJ
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Expectations
I know it's been a while, it's Christmas time at the church and that keeps us quite busy. This Advent the theme is centered around expectations and the question Jesus asked His disciples, Who do you say I am? The challenge is to really take a long, hard look at what our expectations of Christ, especially at this time of year, really are, and then hold those expectations up the Truth of His Word and God's promises. The hope is that we'll have some new and marvelous revelations from God, just like Peter did when he announced in response to Jesus' question, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God! I hope for all that read this, you'll have opportunity to do that as well and encounter the Living Christ, renewed and refreshed this Christmas season.
PJ
PJ
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Blessings
May this Thanksgiving holiday be your best ever! Share lots of stories and laughter and love and food. Drive very carefully, if you must drive; and avoid what the business world now calls 'Black Friday' if at all possible. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone.
PJ
PJ
Monday, November 19, 2007
Faith is Risky
Faith has never been about eliminating risk; in order to be safe and secure from all alarm. At least not the faith I read about in the Bible. In fact, it's quite possible that at the very heart of righteousness is the willingness to take a risk. That righteousness has less to do with ' not doing anything wrong' and more to do with 'doing things right'! It's using our God-given gifts to their God-given potential, and that requires risk! Maybe the churches view of santification is too sanitized, and it's view of Christianity is too civilized. Maybe we need to reconsider what made our spiritual ancestors so heroic. (answer: they all took great risk for God's kingdom) God never ever promised a risk-free exitence. There's and old aphorism: "No one ever bet too much on a winning horse." The only regrets any of us will ever had at the end of our lives will be that we didn't seek God more or seek God sooner. Whenever I've been with anyone who is nearing the end of their days on this earth, that's what is on their heart and mind; that's what they regret the most. Don't let that be you. Get out there, take a risk, storm the gates of Hell with a squirt, gun if necessary; but live like the kingdom of God warrior He created you to be!
PJ
PJ
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