Dennis Jernigan Newsletter
March 23, 2011
• Family Life Today Radio Interview with Dennis Jernigan
• A Simple Way to Help Spread the Word
• Resurrection Day Music
• Become a DJ Insider
• Free mp3 of the Month
• Invite Dennis Jernigan to Minister in Your Church
• Hymns I
• FREE Book Chapter
FamilyLife Today Radio Program
March 28-29, 2011
Listen to Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine's interview with Dennis Jernigan. The interview is over Dennis' book "What Every Boy Should Know...What Every Man Wishes His Dad Had Told Him". Dennis really wants to encourage men to walk in their true, God-ordained masculine identity - whether they are a dad or not! Listen to this interview to learn more about the book and what it is meant to share. You can find out more information about the show and you can listen online by clicking here. Please check with your local Christian Radio Stations for local showtimes.
April 1-3
A Simple Way to Help Spread the Word
If you are a member of Facebook, you are familiar with the importance of use the “Like” button. You can now do that at www.dennisjernigan.com! This helps alert others to the resources we have available on DJ’s web site and helps get the Good News of hope in Christ out to others through the music and books Dennis has received. By sharing comments and “Like”ing DJ’s materials you instantly make others aware of these resources. Go to http://dennisjernigan.com/
Resurrection Day Music
For all your worship leaders out there, we have many songs that would be a wonderful asset to your worship leading up to Resurrection Day (Easter). If you know DJ’s story at all you know how precious the recognition of the resurrection of Christ is to him. The music that has been born through the years is as rich and varied as the grace of God Dennis has discovered along the way of his personal journey. You can now look up songs by category. We suggest ‘the blood of Jesus’, ‘Lamb of God’, ‘Redeeming Love’, and ‘Resurrection’ as places to begin!
Become a DJ Insider
Find daily encouragement, ministry discounts, and other valuable resources for your personal walk with Christ by becoming a DJ Insider. The cost is minimal but the return on your investment will be greater personal freedom with the added benefit of helping support the work of ministry as poured out through the life of Dennis Jernigan.
Free mp3 of the Month
Each month, Dennis gives away a free mp3 of a song the Lord places on his heart just for you. Please take advantage of this gift and let others know of its availability as well. Go to http://dennisjernigan.com/
Invite Dennis Jernigan to Minister in Your Church
Dennis Jernigan loves to minister, whether through music or the sharing of his heart through spoken word. Through the years he has had the privilege of seeing literally thousands begin their own personal walk of victory with Jesus Christ. There is no church too big and no church too small for Dennis to minister in. Simply put, DJ wants to go wherever the Lord sends him. Just because you think your gathering place or group may be too small is no reason to not ask. You have not because you ask not! If Dennis feels led to come, he will come…but he cannot come if you do not ask!
Call Glory Thompson at 918-685-2268 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 918-685-2268 end_of_the_skype_highlighting,or email her at 918-685-2268 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 918-685-2268 end_of_the_skype_highlighting Glory@
Hymns I
The brand new hymn recording is being reproduced and should be available for shipping by the first week of April (if not sooner)! Call 1-800-877-0406 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800-877-0406 end_of_the_skype_highlightingor go to http://dennisjernigan.com/
FREE Book Chapter
Dennis is currently in the process of writing a book for his daughters, but designed to encourage men. Written with help from his 5 daughters, his daughter-in-law, and wife, Dennis hopes to encourage men to be better dads to their girls and hopes to encourage women to rise up and embrace there true calling as women of God. The chapter below has not been professionally edited. It is in the original form Dennis wrote it – fresh from his heart. Please pray for him in this process. He has written 11 chapters in less than two weeks! We think he is really enjoying reliving the memories he has made with his girls. Let us know what you think.
Dennis Jernigan Staff
Why Do Girls Cry?
He who finds a wife finds a good thing
And obtains favor from the LORD.
Proverbs 18:22 NASB
Having grown up with no sisters, most of my experience with girls came via my three female cousins who lived a mile from us. We lived in the country and country girls, while very feminine and sufficiently girly, were still able to get right in there and hold their own with my brothers and I. On a farm, everyone has to pitch in. My girl cousins rode horses, hauled hay, and played basketball…and could throw a mean right hook! When I left home and went to college, I discovered that not all girls were as tough as my cousins had been. This caused great consternation and confusion on my part the first time I encountered girl emotions outside the realm of my experience. Growing up without sisters in the house left me somewhat bewildered when my interest in girls – especially in college – turned toward romantic pursuits!
I will never forget the first time I saw Melinda. I sat on the back row – being a dumb guy hoping the teacher would never ask me a question – and she sat confidently on the front row readily and eagerly answering all questions. As she walked confidently into the classroom the first day of our sophomore year, I was mesmerized. Absolutely mesmerized with her incredible beauty…and just as incredibly intimidated by her immense knowledge of the subject matter! Of course, all ability to focus on the teacher went out the window as I sat there staring at her…hoping she would not catch me in my salivating gaze…and hoping she would!
My honest recollection of seeing her for the first time still reminds me of my first thoughts about the possibility of having a relationship with her. My personal view of myself was that a girl in possession of such radiant beauty would never go out with a country bumpkin like me! But after a few weeks of those in-class staring sessions, I finally worked up the nerve to ask her out…and she instantly turned me down! As she tells it now, she really did have a prior engagement and could not go out with me…even though she really wanted to. Feeling so rejected and crushed, it took me months to find the courage to ask her out again.
Getting to know her roommates was a Godsend. Judy knew of my infatuation and was acting as my ‘insider’…giving me clandestine updates as to how to best pursue Melinda. I found my chance as the winter cold faded into pleasant springtime warmth. Judy called me one evening telling me that Melinda was running by herself on the track next to the gym. She told me it was growing dark and that, hint-hint, Melinda might like some masculine protection!
As I nervously walked (make that ran) over to the track, I planned my ‘accidental’ encounter. As she passed by I called out to her, “Are you here by yourself?” Of course, her answer was, “Yes, but I’m OK.” I told her I felt uneasy with a young lady running by herself like that. Of course, I had no way of knowing (remember, I’m a dumb guy) that she and Judy had worked all this out ahead of time. My desire was to be her hero. Her desire was to get me alone!
As our relationship blossomed, I enjoyed getting to know Melinda. The mystery of unraveling the ways a girl thinks were overshadowed by my limited experiences with my female cousins…so much so that everything came crashing to down into the great mysterious feminine reality of emotion the day I decided to teach Melinda how to hit a softball.
I was used to girls knocking the ball out of the park. Melinda could not seem to get the hang of even how to hold the bat! It was quite perplexing to me that she did not know how to keep her eye on the ball. Guys seem to be born with that innate ability. Girls, not so much I discovered! After a few minutes of pitching to her as one would pitch to a small child, my frustration began to grow. She was on the verge of tears and I was on the verge of blowing my brains out. Luckily, there was a small boy riding a tricycle nearby. About 3 years of age, I, with my massive male wisdom and ability to see a need and find an immediate solution, called out to the boy, “Hey, kid. Come here and show her how to hit the ball!”
As I stood back and laughed in my superior male comedic timing, Melinda burst into hysterical tears and ran from the field and right up to her apartment. Fortunately, Judy had been watching the entire interchange and wisely took me by the shoulders and looked me square in the eyes as she resolutely said, “Dennis, go after her!”
This became one of the most profound learning moments for me on my journey of understanding the feminine spirit. Little did I know that the Lord was preparing me to not only be a good husband, but also preparing me to be a good father who knows how to bestow feminine identity upon his daughters.
Men are wired to see a problem and find a solution. Women are wired to feel and discern on a deep emotional level. Men tend to keep everything bottled up inside until we explode in anger and frustration. Women tend to passionately express exactly how they feel. Without emotion, men tend to self-destruct. Without seeking practical solutions, women can become trapped in an emotional maze that never ends. We have need of one another. My weaknesses are diffused by Melinda’s strengths. Her weaknesses are diffused by mine. We are a team…and we are one flesh.
That day I was introduced to a magnificent vista that introduced me to the wonderful mystery of feminine emotion….a beautiful vista with deep, deep valleys and magnificent pinnacles. Who knew that feeling things deeply – whether discomforting or ecstatically beautiful – could bring so much life?
Women: feel deeply…but do not remain stranded in the maze of emotion. Use it to reveal the depth of God’s creativity to us men-folk. That is your birthright.
Men: learn to see life from her point of view. You will find healing for your soul in that special place God has prepared for us hairy ones. Try to learn to feel what she feels while remaining the solid rock of security that she needs you to be.
Why do girls cry? Men and women are meant to find fulfillment as they become one in marriage. Tears bring cleansing and flush out the depths of the soul as emotion is expressed. We all need that. Men are wired to provide a secure foundation from which emotion – tears – can be expressed in wonderful, cleansing freedom. When my wife cries, I have learned the joy of the process of comforting her in her tears…and always find that my own soul gets cleansed in the process.
As a father, I have found immense solace for my masculine soul as I have wiped the tears from the eyes of a broken-hearted daughter. As a man, I have learned to let the tears flow when necessary…and my girls have learned that there are times when they need to ‘man up’, as we say in the south. Reality is that we have need of one another. Men need women…and women need men…regardless of what the spirit of the age – the wisdom of the world – might say. And, from a husband’s and from a father’s perspective, I am a better man for knowing that.
Lord,
Bless my wife and daughters with even more sensitivity to how You feel. Give them great creativity in expressing their emotions in such a way that healing and cleansing flow from their lives to those around them. Help my sons to be sensitive to the emotional needs of the women in their lives...and to never be condescending or belittling to those precious women. Help my sons learn to embrace the gift of their feminine counterparts and gain health and life for their own souls in the process.
Amen.