PJ's Journal

Well its the morning after Winter Blast and my mind will not let me sleep through the night. So much going through my head right now, that I don't even know if I can organize any thoughts, but I feel like I need to write some things down. Thought #1: Why do we spend our time, energy, effort, and dollars on events such as Winter Blast? It's the Gospel! Plain and simple, we want to make Jesus known in the deepest places of a teenager's soul! I think of the fact that a small county such as Lawrence County has many schools with real people living, breathing, and walking through the hallways. Lets start up north... Wilmington High School with probably 130 students a class making around 780 students in 7th-12th grade Neshannock High School with around 100 students per class making around 600 students in 7th-12th grade New Castle High School with about 180 students per class making around 1080 students in 7th-12th grade Union High School with about 80 students per class mak

As a guitar player, I have developed an ear to hear to slightest hint of an out of tune instrument or band. Often times I will tune my guitar to itself without using a tuner if I am playing by myself, but when I am playing as a part of a band, this doesn't work. I have to tune to a standard pitch that everyone else is tuned to, so that when everyone plays the sound is what was intended. Tuning is a principle that applies to more than just instruments... it applies to our faith in Jesus. We needed tuned so that the sound we make as followers of Jesus is what was intended. Paul recognizes the need for people to be tuned and he makes it the focal point of his prayer time for the Ephesian saints. Have you ever asked the question... "God what is it that You really want for my life?"... and pray for that. This was Paul's approach. Certainly Paul had much to pray about. Many people were undoubtedly sick because of the poor heath conditions, and certainly there were

"I keep asking that 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." Eph. 1:17 Interesting verse... The question that popped into my head when I read it was... "If we have received the Holy Spirit at the moment of belief, then is Paul contradicting himself by praying that they receive the Spirit?" I had to do more study on this passage to answer my question. The NIV translates pneuma (the Greek word for spirit) as " the Spirit" when other translations determine it to be " a spirit". There is a huge difference. Is Paul talking about the Holy Spirit, is he talking about the human spirit, or is he talking about an attitude? The word spirit can mean many things, so the language and context help us to figure it out. Here is what John MacArthur says: "The Greek word translated "the spirit" is an anarthrous construction-- it appears without a

"Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple... In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:25-27; 33 In ministry, we are constantly trying to draw crowds and we measure our success by numbers far too often. When people come in through the doors we want to wow them with our service in hopes that Jesus may look attractive to them and that they may give Him a shot. Don't misunderstand me, I don't think it is a bad thing to draw a crowd, its what we do with the Gospel that concerns me sometimes. We water down the Gospel to the point that one can follow Jesus on their own terms and everyone's ok with it. I don't think Jesus would belong

"Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple... In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:25-27; 33 As we read the context immediately following what our culture would view as an outrageous claim by Jesus, we find His explanation. It is about counting the cost! He gives two illustrations. The first involves a man who is building a tower. He considers the cost of building the whole tower, not just what it takes to start. And the second was a king preparing for war, he will consider the cost of engaging the enemy based on if he thinks his army can finish the job. Then Jesus uses the phrase... "In the same way..." In other words, just

"Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.'" Luke 14:25-27 This passage is hard for me to understand. What is it that Jesus is saying? One one hand I am to love my wife as Christ loved the church and the other hand I am to hate her life. What is he talking about? I have some thoughts on this that I am writing down, but please feel free to write down your thoughts as well. Scenario #1 - Jesus is speaking to a crowd of people who are literally following Him. They are going where he goes. He could be referring to the specific ministry that he had with His small band of disciples who were going with him from town to town. Because of the mobility of Jesus, they literally had to abandon everything if t