PJ's Journal

"For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which you were called, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe." Eph. 1:15-19a Because these believers have been included in Christ, and their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all the saints were evident, Paul prays for them. It is interesting that Paul used faith and love as the descriptors of whether the Ephesians were truly "included" in Christ. Boy this seems so relevant to us today when true Christianity has been muddied by a culture. They're are so many p

So I am finishing up my sermon for Sunday where I have been given the task to preach on the first phrase of the Lord's Prayer. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..." So here is a brief preview and some food for thought. Understand that Jesus is teaching His disciples HOW to pray not WHAT to pray. This is not a prescriptive prayer, but rather Jesus is sharing important things to think about when praying. So here is a few of those important things... 1. We come to God out of relationship. He is our Father! Many people have a hard time with that concept because of the imperfections of our fathers, but the reality is that God is a perfect father. He unconditionally loves us, cares for us, and treats us as His children. That's is an incredible thought. We also understand that prayer starts with relationship. We pray as a result of that relationship, not as a means to enter into that relationship. If we are His, he is our Father period! We don't

"In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory." There is a process that we go through from our perspective that results in us being included in Christ. The Scriptures tell us that we were included in Christ when... 1. We heard the Word of Truth - which is the gospel of our salvation. 2. We believed that Word of Truth. 3. We were marked in Him with a seal guaranteeing our inheritance. So we heard the Gospel, believed it, and God made our salvation secu

"In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory." Whenever I read the words, "in order that", I automatically think of purpose. The author is trying to communicate a reason why. In this case, Paul is trying to communicate a reason why we were chosen or predestined. He says that the process was done in conformity to His will, but that is not the reason why... that is how. Then we come to that phrase, "in order that"! OK... purpose is coming!

"In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory." I am chosen... A concept that is debated so often among theological circles, yet when I look at Your Word, it jumps out at me as if trying to get my attention. I am chosen... Why is it such a hard thing to accept? I am am not trying to manipulate Your Word, God, rather I am reading it and it seems plain. I am chosen... I am letting that truth sink in a little and it brings me to a place of thankfulness. Why would You sh

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." John 15:1-2 What is the main goal of a gardener? Is it not to care for his plants in such a way that they produce a desired result? Plants left untended will die or fail to produce its desired results in most instances. That is where the gardener comes in. Plants need water! They need care! If a garden is not weeded, then the weeds literally choke the life out of the plants. The soil is important, but pruning is also very important. Jesus gives the illustration of a vine and branches to illustrate the "gardening" ministry of the Father. He describes Himself as the true vine. There is one vine that the Father tends to and gives His attention to... the true vine! This vine has many branches. Some are dead, some are not producing, and I am sure there are those that a

Well, I am in the airport in Seoul, South Korea thankful that they have free Wi-Fi! It is the first opportunity that I have had to blog in a couple of days. It is Monday morning here, although most of you who read this will think it is Sunday evening. Saturday and Sunday were busy days with a tad bit of drama to them as well. Saturday: Saturday was our R&R day. We went to a beach on Mactan Island, rented some jet skis and a banana boat for our Filipino friends to enjoy, and ate a wonderful catered meal. Every thing was great until an incident throw a monkey wrench into the plan. While we were jet skiing, two of the boys were out while I was out, and their jet ski stalled. Normally, not a big issue except that there was a boat coming (about a 30 foot boat). It did not attempt to get out of the way despite one of the boys waving in desperation. The boat hit the jet ski and tore it into two pieces. You can imagine that the owner of the jet ski wanted us to pay for the jet sk

Lets Celebrate! Sorry I didn't blog until late, but I enjoyed sleeping in!!! It was much needed. Devotions were at 6:30am and breakfast at 7:00. We then took off to the new property at 8:30am to celebrate three weddings of those in their congregation. It was a great experience! They really decorated nicely and everything and everyone was beautiful. I have to say that could not wait to get out of long pants!!! Paul had on black pants... poor guy! The wedding was very Filipino and was fascinating to watch. The music was good. I love to hear Mae sing... she has a beautiful voice! Funny story during the wedding. Rita was hot and several people were trying to cool her down, so Pastor Nigel asked me how she was doing. Well, I wasn't sure and she was two rows up from me with Karen. Paul was beside me was in my brilliance I leaned over and started whispering to Paul to sign Karen to see how Rita was doing. I started the process and quickly realized that you can't whis

Last day of camp! Ministry was coming to an end this day with everyone. It was the last day for Girls Camp, Basketball Camp, and Pastor Mike's Small Group Training. We started out the morning with devotions with Pastor Mike about judging other people and then ate breakfast. I don't know what they use in the pancake batter but it is incredible! I could eat those things all day! We then left for the church around 8:30am. When we got to the church, I had a quick Skype session with Trish, uploaded some pictures to facebook and then headed out with the guys to visit a home that was burnt down. We provided money to rebuild this house. I will add the picture if Dan gets back with his camera cord so I can download the pictures from my camera to the computer. It was a family of 5 (dad, mom, and 3 kids). They were incredibly gratefully for what we were doing for them. The dad was doing the actual building and we noticed he stilled need some materials and a couple of tools, so w

Sorry guys... so much to blog about for yesterday but no time to blog. I will try and due Thursday justice tomorrow.

Its gonna be a hot one! Wednesday was a scorcher! It was very hot and the sun was blazing... Pastor Nigel even said it was a hot one, and if it was hot for him, well you can just imagine what it was like for us. haha! We survived lol! Wednesday was a busy day for everyone, it started with devotions about gossip and then we moved to the table for breakfast where we enjoyed some very tasty eggs and bacon. We left the mission house at 8:30am (no communication problems today), but the van stalled as soon as we tried to take off. It wouldn't crank, so we had to push it to jump start it. Oh the wonders of having a stick shift where you can pop the clutch! When we arrived at church, Paul and Karen went to deaf camp, Jenny and Tiffany were getting things together for the girls camp, and everyone else was just kind of hanging out. I had to print out the small group lessons when Nigel told me they had fixed their internet, so I got on and Skyped my family. The connection was so go

Rise and shine! I was up early yesterday thinking it was 4:30am. So I got my stuff quietly out of the room and headed down stairs. I looked at my Ipod and quickly realized that though my body was awake, it was only 2:30 in the morning... uhggg! I proceeded to the living room to blog, check my email, chat with my family, and spend some time in God's Word. I intended to go back to bed, but didn't have time before our devotional time at 6:30am. By the way, I need to hunt down a chord for my camera to insert pictures, that is why I haven't included any. Our devotion yesterday was about how rejecting people is an expression of selfishness. Pastor Mike is doing a great job with the devotional time! It was a reminder to me how I always need to hold my heart in check, because I know its deceptive and that there is a war taking place for its devotion. Is my heart for God and His creation (people) or is it for myself? After devotions, we ate breakfast... French Toast (my per

Day 3... The first day of camp! I was up at 4:30am to blog, talk to my family, and have devotions with the team before breakfast. No mango for breakfast this morning :( but the oatmeal was good. We left for the church at 8:30am. Upon arriving, Karen and Paul hit the ground running. They have such a powerful and unique relationship with the deaf here in Mandaue. I believe they communicate to with the deaf kids a lot better than I communicate with the hearing students here. I am so thankful for their ministry. They were at it all day until 8:00PM... What troopers! My morning started off slow. I had to create small group questions for the basketball camp and work ahead so that the trainers could prepare a little. SIDE NOTE: Almost all the trainers are compassion students who are thriving. They love the Lord and have a passion to serve Christ. It is a testimony to the compassion program and the heartbeat of MCBC. There are many reasons to love Compassion International and this

Sunday was a long but very exciting day for me. In the morning, we did our normal thing... devotions at 6:30am and breakfast at 7am. We had pancakes, a mango, and some type of sausage thingy (wasn't a big fan of the meat). The pancakes were incredible and boy did the mango hit the spot. Yes! Be jealous! It was delicious! We headed of for church about 8:30. When we got there some of the team and Barb Wilkinson headed into the service in Cebuano and for the deaf children. I went down stairs and hung out in the corridor of the main entrance. I sat down and took some pictures and kids were flocking around. I met a little friend named Daniel and I am not sure the little girls name. Their smiles were so big and precious! After greeting people as they came in with a simple phrase... Mayu buntag (I am sure I misspelled that) which means good morning in Cebuano. Then I headed up stairs to the main service. The worship was a mix of Cebuano and English and Pastor Boy preached o

Well, we got here with no hiccups. Plane ride was as smooth as can be, we got all our bags, and Korean Air planes recline significantly further than previous years. Needless to say, I got sleep! However, the seats were a bit narrow. We arrived Friday evening about 11pm local time which is exactly 12 hours ahead of New Castle local time. Being able to sleep on the plane made a huge difference for me. Saturday we hit the ground running. Lois, Karen, Paul, and Rita were at a camp for the special children all day. Pastor Mike, Dan, and Dick were with Pastor Jim Boy all day doing some shopping and trying to hunt down a Cebuano Study Bible. Jenny and Tiffany were with Bing Bing planning the Girls camp and gathering supplies. I was with Pastor Nigel, RJ, and Pastor Hermie shopping for equipment for the worship team. I must say that I enjoyed hanging out with this three incredible guys, but shopping was not very fun. We spent about 4 hours in the mall hunting down the right equ