Connecting With Jay (Page 3)

I sat in a meeting. The discussion was heated. The conversation heavy.  Hearts were burdened. Chests were puffed. Sorrow, pain, arrogance, curiosity, humility, fear, courage, and forgiveness sat together in a single room.  As I looked around the church, I just kept thinking—Church is hard. Church is hard for the person walking through the doors, afraid of judgement.…

In the mid-1800’s, a young Irishman named Joseph Scriven was engaged to be married to a young lady. On the day before the wedding, he rode out to meet his fiancé at a river. Upon arriving, he was devastated to learn that her horse had been startled and thrown her into the water, where she drowned. He said later, “The bottom of my world seemed to disappear.” He turned to…

It made sense, after someone explained it to me, why our high school football coach would always disappear in the middle of the third quarter. I remember during my first game on the varsity squad, I looked up from the sidelines (where I spent most of my time) and noticed that he was gone. (It was a lot quieter.) I couldn’t figure out what had happened. I was afraid the…

New studies prove the benefits of giving—not just for the recipients but for the givers. Of course, you don’t donate to reap the benefits of giving. You donate because you feel love for the cause. Tennessee Children’s Home is worthy of your love. 1.    Giving makes us feel happy. A 2008 study by Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton and colleagues found that…

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as…

The name “Amos” literally means “burden bearer” and it speaks to how he felt about his message and its content. Typically, all the prophets carried a burdensome message of punishment; a message of doom and gloom. It was never easy for the prophets to know and speak for God, but for Amos, it was especially burdensome since he was not a prophet by trade. He was just a poor…

Grandma Martin had the best buns! She made the most amazing bread rolls you could ever eat. Her buns were always offered at every meal. They were golden brown, yeasty, soft, sweet, and oh so comforting. Grandma’s buns were a perfect side, a perfect sandwich, or a perfect snack. Every time to this day, when I see or smell a bread roll, I remember my beloved grandmother.…

For as long as I can remember I have always loved baseball, and one of my fondest memories as a very small child was begging my Mom to go outside and pitch to me. And more often than not, she would stop what she was doing and pitch that ball to me for hours on end, and I would hit it with a borrowed bat that belonged to my older brothers. So you can imagine what joy I…

Today happens to be Father’s Day. Some people are blessed to have a Father who is doing well, and involved in their lives while others might have a completely different situation. Some people have been Fathers for a long time and some are relatively new to being a Father. Fatherhood is a blessing and I can’t help but to smile when my little one calls for “Daddy”. But what…

Luke 16: 19-29 (ESV) “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to…