Dr. Jay's Blog

In preparation for this coming week-end message on "Knowing God vs. Believing

On what appears to be a rather cold and blustery weekend, a sizeable number of folks that serve in the public sector of our government are gathering at an undisclosed location for a time of interaction and personal reflection.

The primary focus of this gathering is to talk about God's intent and purpose in marriage and how to support one another in maintaining strong marriages through very difficult and often oppressive circumstances.

What struck me as I have been preparing to attend this event has been the fact that a lot of people who don't have a great deal of discretionary time, have made a priority of investing in their marriages. When it all comes down to it, we make time for things that matter.

Regardless of your station in life, your calling, position or place the same principle holds true. You make time for family, you make time for your kids, you make time for your wife or husband and you make time for those that really matter.

Whether we call this a maintaining of "priorities" or simply obedience to the high calling of love, making time for what matters is foundational to sustaining the things for which we'll be remembered throughout all of our lives and beyond.

May the Lord give you grace to take an honest look at your life through this same set of lenses.

Blessings,
Dr. Jay

Though in many traditions the recognition of Ash Wednesday as the initiation of the Lenten season has faded, it is still a very significant remembrance in many Christian circles.

Ash Wednesday, which began a 40 day retreat, was a time to prepare for the suffering and passion of Jesus, His death and resurrection. This 40 day retreat coincided with the 40 days spent by Christ in the desert and includes a day of fasting every Friday, at a minimum.

Most historians believe that the practice of Lent goes back to the 7th century, some 1300 years ago.

It's important to note that it's not just abstaining from things during the Lenten season, but also committing to such things as additional times of prayer, reflection and even expressions of service and commitment in order to focus the soul that makes Lent a very special time in the lives of believers.

To be sure, there are some traditions that have become dull and lifeless in our Christian faith, however, I don't believe that is the case when it comes to the Lenten season. In fact, it's not too late for any of us to consider what we might do to spend the next six weeks bringing focus to the supremacy of Jesus in our life and what He did through sacrifice and service to bring us to the place of being forever accepted as one of His own.

And so if you see someone today with "ashes" on their forehead just take note that they have been willing to publicly acknowledge what should be a private reaffirmation that they are hungry to be fully identified with what Jesus did.

Blessings,
Dr. Jay

This past weekend, the memorial service for superstar Whitney Houston was broadcast on national television. The service, which was scheduled to about 2 hours, went for well over 4 hours in duration.

Interspersed in the many personal recollections that were shared were some very clear and powerful scriptural statements about the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God regardless of the circumstantial behavior of people in their lives. One can debate (and have debated) the “theologically” correct position for such broad statements. That is not my intent here. Rather, I want to say that hearing the passionate declaration of the goodness of God in the face of the fallen-ness of mankind was intriguing. To have people with such high profiles as Kevin Costner, Aretha Franklin and many, many others, intermingle some of their own personal spiritual journey into their recollection was quite fascinating.

All of this added to my own personal experience this weekend of conducting “the Reason for God” discussion forums that have been taking place at North Way Wexford over the last few weeks. One thing is clear in the midst of these conversations and recent dialogue around Whitney Houston’s death; people are asking eternal questions.

One way or another, everyone recognizes that life has a beginning point and an ending point and there are no exceptions. Some would like to think they’ll live forever but it’s never happened in human history and they recognize that they need to be prepared for life’s next destination.

One of the most helpful reasons for reading a book like “The Reason for God” is it gives you some tools with which to engage thoughtful people in a discussion of eternal things. It helps you know how to respond to honest (not combative) questions from people who are searching for God but have been put off by shallow religion or perhaps failed previous attempts to understand who God is.

This has renewed my desire to do what I can to create “on ramps” for people to discover the God of the Bible. How thankful I am that we have scripture as an authority, a source of truth outside of our own human experience which we can offer to people in times of profound soul searching as we’re seeing played out right before our eyes in this most recent week.

Looking forward to sharing more about this with you next time!

Blessings,

Pastor Jay

In this past weekend's message from Nehemiah that I entitled "Becoming A Difference Maker" I was surprised but not astonished by the very high percentage of people who responded to the simple question "Do you want to make a difference for God but don't know how to do so?"

No one took an exact count but I have enough experience at "guesstimating" crowd response to know that at least 75% of the folks in the room put up their hand in response to that question. More scientific studies of sincere, committed Christ followers show that between 80-90% of people who love God are unsure of what their primary calling is in terms of meaningful service.

There's way too much to say about this dilemna to pour it all out in one brief posting, but I do know this suggestion has proven to be very fruitful for lots of people over the years.

One of the best ways to discover what your source of ultimate fulfillment will be is to faithfully pour your life into that which is closest to you over a period of time and then respond and evaluate consistently every 3 months to see how God is stirring your heart.

There is a scripture that says "He who is faithful with a few things, will be given much." It's not coincidental that that quote is in the parable of the "talents" where the Lord is specifically addressing the abilities God gives us to manage or steward the gifts that we have. He simply says that greater gifts, callings, and anointings are given to those who prove to be faithful in managing the smaller ones just before them.

And so, rather than dream up something great and magnificent without really knowing if you're on target, why not just do what is on your heart or is right before you to do and do it very well. As you watch God bless that, as you see fruit grow from that, as you sense your heart beating faster every time you do it, then you'll know that you're beginning to discover exactly what the Lord wants you to invest the best energies of your life in.

I will tell you that's how I discovered that I was called not to be a scientist, a physician or some other kind of professional but rather a servant of God in pastoral ministry. Not everyone has this calling, and that's a good thing. However, I would not have discovered that if I had not simply made a point of devoting my life's energy to the task of caring for students starting in college and then serving while in the Marine Corp, and finally while pursuing my graduate degree. After that 10 year period of time I had absolutely no doubt of my ultimate calling. I started with a handful of students and ended up with the privilege of serving a congregation of over 4,000. What great joy comes with simple steps of obedience!

I hope this encourages each one of you that there is a way to know what God's called you to do!

Blessings,
Dr. Jay

Yesterday afternoon, I met with the primary contact person from Pittsburgh

Throughout the course of our lives we all encounter circumstances that seem to take a turn in a direction that we weren't expecting. Sometimes this turn can be for the better bringing prosperity, joy and blessing, or it can be for the worse bringing challenge and difficulty.

Very often we are tempted to believe that we're all "victims of circumstance" or just simply swallowed up in the normal rhythm of life that leads us down a path that we weren't expecting.

However, anyone who believes in the Lord knows that "the Lord guides our steps" and that everything is designed by Him to providentially bring about growth in our love and character as well as fruitfulness and blessing in our lives.

Even in writing this, I recognize that it can be difficult for people who are suffering to believe this, especially if that situation has gone on for a long period of time. (This has been my personal experience regarding my chronic back condition.) However, it still remains the only positive anchor upon which to build my faith in the goodness of God because, ultimately, I've seen Him take every circumstance in my life and use it in a way that has somehow benefitted me but, more importantly, glorified His name.

It's my willingness to cooperate with what's going on by trusting in His word rather than believe my own circumstance that ultimately determines how long I have to wait for Him to bring about the breakthrough.

So you decide, is it accidental or providential? If you can affirm with great faith that God's hand is at work then you're well on you way to seeing His blessing!

Expectantly,
Dr. Jay