Connecting With Jay (Page 3)

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…

Pencils are a simple tool. You sharpen the pencil so you can write or draw with it. It has an eraser to correct mistakes that you make with it but yet you can do a lot with it. I came across an idea that Paolo Coelha had shared in 2009 and I wanted to share some things that I gathered from it. There is a hand that directs the pencil: Just as a pencil, we only are able to…

This week I was reading an article entitled “The Best Quotes from 5 Christian College Graduation Speakers” and came to #4, which was a speech given at Biola University by David Kinnaman.  Kinnaman  is an author and the president of Barna Group.  I hope you will take some time today at lunch or whenever to talk to your kids, friends or whoever about this topic.  “We are…

There are 168 hours in a week. Factoring in sleep (and pretending everyone sleeps 8 hours per night), that’s 112 waking hours per week. Calculating one hour for Sunday morning worship, that leaves 111 other hours in the week, but sadly for many Christians that one hour constitutes their entire engagement with the church each week. Most congregations still hold to the…

On a cold Christmas Eve in 1952, when Korea was in the throes of civil war, one young woman struggled along a village street, obviously soon to deliver a child. She pleaded with passers-by, “Help me! Please. My baby.” No one paid any attention to her. A middle-aged couple walked by. The wife pushed away the young mother and sneered, “Where’s the father? Where’s your…

Recently during dinner two of my children ignored an instruction which resulted in a glass of milk getting knocked over. The two offenders’ consequence was that they had to clean up the mess without grown-up help. One child had a smile break out and thought that they got off easy. The other child began crying lamenting the punishment and considered it harsh. A common…

In Isaiah 6:8 we read: “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” For me, this has always been one of those verses that inspires. Thinking about how I too have volunteered to be one of the vessels that God has chosen to send into the world has the power to take my day from the common and gives…

It is that time of year! I’m not talking about the part where the Government reminds you that taxes are due soon but VBS! This year’s VBS is taking place on June 30th here at the building. We will begin at 9am Saturday Morning and finish up around 3:30 in the afternoon. The theme and stories circle around Luke 5:1-11; Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Matthew 28:16-20 and…