On more than one occasion through the years, my name has been confused with some others who have the same or similar names. Most recently, I received several emails from a college student asking me to review his notes for a Bible lesson he had prepared. I informed him that I would be glad to review his notes, but I thought he had me confused with someone else. He wrote back saying, no he was not confused and that I should remember telling him at lunch that I would review his notes. He was so certain that he sent me additional lessons to review. Once again, I wrote him and said I would be honored to review his lessons, but that as far as I knew, we had not had lunch together. He finally wrote back and said, “Sorry, man, I thought you were Jeffrey Jinkerson. I appreciate, I will email to him. I hope u have a good day!” Well I enjoyed the exchange and had a good laugh out of it. Other times, name confusion has not been so pleasant for me. There is a man who was a preacher who shares my name (even spelled the same way) who has caused me some grief through the years. On his first Sunday preaching in a new church, he reportedly took a guitar into the pulpit, sat on a porch swing and sang “Home, Home on the Range.” On another occasion, he was speaking for a workshop that involved

Everybody has some stress in this life. It could be work related, family struggles, health issues, gas prices too high, bank account too low or numerous other concerns. The question is not do you have any stress. The question is what do you do about it? How do you keep stress from wearing you out? How do you keep it from causing you to sin? There are a number of bad options when it comes to handling stress. Some choose to ignore it in the hope that it will just go away. That would be nice, but it is not likely that the stress will just disappear. Some become bitter because of the stress, resent it and worry about it even more. Some people feel guilty because of stress, and it causes them to become ashamed. Others have a pity party and attempt to hide from the world. Then, there are those who overreact to another extreme and try to control everything as well as everyone around them. None of these options will work in the long run. There are some better options than any of these mentioned above. Turn Your Stress Over to the Lord In Psalm 46:10, our Father says, “Be still and know that I am God.” One translation of this verse says, “Let go and know that I am God; I rule the nations, I rule the earth.” There are two thoughts in this powerful verse. (1) Let Go. God says there are times we just

Apparently Chick-Fil-A must be a good place to pray. I see it happen quite often. Before I tell you about my most recent citing of prayer at Chick-Fil-A, allow me to remind you again that it is one of my favorite places. The food is delicious. It is always fresh and reasonably priced compared to many places. The people who work at the Chick-Fil-A’s in the Metroplex are always friendly and cordial. I mean, where else do they serve you always with a smile and then say, “My pleasure!” At most of the stores there is free Wi-Fi where I can get a lot of work done (like write a new post for the blog or catch up on answering email) while I sip on a large sweet tea (which by the way is consistently outstanding!). They are always closed on Sunday to allow their employees time to worship and spend time with their families (how can you not love that?). I know, I know, not everyone loves Chick-Fil-A as much as I do, but hey, I have to; I am a Chick-Fil-A Ambassador (see this post: https://jeffajenkins.com/2010/06/an-official-ambassador/). The other day as I answered emails and wrote a couple of blog posts, I saw three different groups of people who prayed. The last people were a couple of young ladies who were seated across the lobby involved in what appeared to be a very intense conversation. It was obvious that one of the young ladies was hurting. Before they left,

A fine young boy who comes to church with his grandparents recently told them that when he goes to another church he likes the building, and when he comes to this church, he likes the people! This wonderful observation by this fine young man should serve as a reminder to all of us about what really matters most. It caused me to think about why people choose to attend a church. Sometimes people go to church because of the programs/ministries offered by the church. In my mind, this seems to be the deciding factor for most people in our day. They like the youth program, children’s program, college program, singles program, program for young families, education programs, sports programs, etc. Of course this will vary depending on the life stage in which one finds himself at the time. Sometimes people choose a church because of the number of people in their age group. They are looking for people who are at or near their place in life. Sometimes people choose a church based on the opportunities to be involved or the ability to not be involved. They want to participate in the worship services and other programs. Some choose a church based on the size of the church. Through the years, people have said that they want to be a part of a smaller church because they can be more involved or because it provides more of a family atmosphere. We have also heard from some through the years that

A preacher friend and I have lunch together every week when we are both in town. We always talk about family, sports and our work. We talk about recent activities that we have been involved with in our ministries. During a recent visit, he was telling me about being called by a local funeral home to preach a funeral for a homeless man. This particular man had one son who met with my friend about the funeral. My friend asked the son if he could tell him some things about his dad. The man replied by saying, “Sir, I am sorry to say that I did not know my dad.” He continued to tell him that he had not been involved with his dad’s life in many years. How tragic in our day that there are fathers and sons who do not know one another. After attempting to help families for more than thirty years, it is my belief that the most important relationship in a young boy’s life is his relationship with his father. I am thankful that as a young boy that my father was involved in my life. I am thankful that I had a son in whose life I was deeply involved when he was a young boy. It is not coincidental that God’s Word speaks about the relationship between fathers and sons. When God’s people were about to move into the Promised Land, God gave the following instructions. “Now this is the commandment, the statutes

A good friend of mine in Oklahoma City concludes nearly every conversation we have by telling me to “Be Nice.” He is a nice guy himself, and he encourages me not just by saying the words, but by the way he lives. Something happened to me today that reminded me of the importance of being nice. I learned again why it is important for us to be kind to others. I was up early this morning preparing for a lunch meeting in Houston. I drove down to LUV field, got on the plane and flew down to Houston. I had rented a car through Priceline (which I always try to do because it saves mucho bucks!). On the way from Houston Hobby to the rental car facility, the driver informed those of us on the bus that there might be a wait getting our cars. It seems like they weren’t prepared for as many renters as they were getting today. I was beginning to think, “That’s what I get for using Priceline!” When he pulled up to the facility to let us out, my heart sank. There were people standing all over the lot – in the premium, full-size, mid-size and compact sections. There must have been about thirty people or groups of people waiting. As I got out of the bus, I could hear people complaining with serious anger. I began to think that I would miss my meeting. They were bringing out only one car at a time.

The story is told that after Mark Twain returned from his triumphant tour through Europe, where he was honored by various universities and kings, his daughter said to him, “Daddy, I guess pretty soon you will know everybody except God!” Some people pride themselves in the quality and/or the quantity of people they know. In our culture, name-dropping is a popular sport. We see it in families, in the business world, in athletics, even among Christians. We believe that if we know certain people, it will help our standing in the world. However, the real truth is, it does not matter how many great people we know, or how many great people know us. Ultimately, knowing God is the only relationship that matters for our eternity. Numerous Scriptures emphasize the importance of knowing God and knowing that He is our God. Consider just a few of them. “Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Exodus 6:7). “Sanctify My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:20). “They will live in it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards and live securely when I execute judgments upon all who scorn them round about them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God”

This month millions of people around the world will pause to think about Jesus. Practically the whole world will recognize something this weekend that Christian’s think about every week of their lives. Jesus Christ was crucified on Mount Calvary, buried in a borrowed tomb, and three days later, He was raised from the dead. The New Testament calls this the Good News, the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-3). The rest of the Good News is that the King of Kings offers to every person in the world a place in His kingdom (Titus 2:10-11). Recently in our Sunday morning Bible class, we studied the life of Mephibosheth. This lesser known man of the Bible was the grandson of King Saul. He lived a difficult life. Because of Saul’s failures, his family was forced to leave the kingdom. As a small child Mephibosheth, due to a terrible fall, became crippled in both feet. He was taken to the land of Lo-debar. The name Lo-debar means a place without pasture, a place of desolation. Mephibosheth was destined to live the rest of his life away from his home in a desolate place. King David, because of his friendship and covenant with Jonathan, son of Saul, sought out Mephibosheth. When he was found, David ordered that he be brought to him. David told Mephibosheth that he would restore to him all the land that had belonged to his grandfather and that there would be a permanent place reserved for him at the King’s table

A close friend of mine who is a preacher was telling me recently at lunch about a sister he knew who made homemade pies for every man in the church on his birthday. One year she made pies on 220 days! That’s a lot of pies!She explained that it was her ministry. It caused me to think about all the people I have known through the years who minister to others. In Ephesians 4, Paul speaks of equipping the saints for ministry.We sometimes have the misguided idea that ministry is only for professionals, you know the paid guys.The truth is that ministry is for everyone. The verb, “minister,” comes from a Greek word (diakoneo), meaning to serve. The noun, “minister,” (from the Greek diakonos) means servant or minister.Jesus made it very clear that anyone who wants to be great must be a minister (Matthew 20:26). Then, our Lord began teaching His followers how to serve one another (John 13). Our Lord performed the ultimate act of ministry when He gave Himself on the cross for us (Mark 10:45).If we wish to be like Him, we will be willing to give of ourselves to others (Philippians 2:5-8). I remember seeing a church sign several years ago that said, “Minister—Every Member.” If every Christian is ministering to others, all of God’s people will have what they need most.It has been my experience over the years in my personal life that I am happiest when I am serving others.It has also been my