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#Surgery#Atpeace

Monday, June 13th, 2022

As the title says, I am scheduled for surgery. It is to take place tomorrow morning (Tuesday) at 8:00. It was originally scheduled for 11:30 with a 9:30 check in time. But they called Friday saying they had a cancellation and moved me up to an 8:00 time for the surgery.  Check in time is 6:00. I won’t have an issue with that but Jo doesn’t do mornings so it will be interesting. 🙂

I ask for your prayers. I don’t anticipate any difficulties but I am not the ONE who is in charge. For more of my thoughts on the surgery and some lessons from Psalm 31 please visit my devotional blog, “Living in the Shadow.” You can find that particular devotion at https://livingintheshadow.ovcf.org/2022/06/13/june-13-3/

Thanks.

#ExclamationPoint#Ending!

Friday, February 25th, 2022

Have you ever wondered what sets someone apart from others? I’m not talking about financially, athletically, or socially. I’m talking spiritually. Why do some excel in their walk with Christ and others don’t? Why do some keep growing while others stagnate?

Seventeenth century Puritan, John Owen, once said, “What an individual is in secret, on his knees before God, that he is and no more.”

If that is true, and I tend to believe it is, Daniel is quite an example for us.  He must have spent hours upon his knees in secret.  In this final sermon in the Against the Grain series, I think it is only fitting to see what led to Daniel’s “staying power.”  I asked myself these questions: “What was it that gave him the strength; how was he able to go against pressure; how was he able to take whatever was thrown at him; how was he able to go against the grain of popular opinion and the threat of reprisal and come out as a shining example of what it take to follow God?”

I believe the secret is found in Daniel 9. Join us as we worship and study this Exclamation Point.

#Update

Thursday, February 18th, 2021

The surgery was successful. They removed my gravel pit of a gall bladder. Pictures do not lie! He also did a hernia repair I did not know I had. It was all done laparoscopically so I was able to come home. Big whoop whoop on that!!  I can ride inside in 2 weeks and have a weight limit of 15 pounds lifting. All in all a successful day. I’m grateful to all of you who prayed.

 

Just thought I would let you know. I am extremely grateful for your prayers.

#ImportantDay#DayofReflection

Wednesday, February 17th, 2021

Today is an important day for several reasons: one personal and one spiritual.

The spiritual first. Today, February 17th, is the beginning of Lent, or Ash Wednesday. Lent is the 40 days before the day we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. This year that will be April 4th. I must confess to you that growing up in the church tradition I belonged to we did not observe Lent. I was so naive about it that I almost went up to a teacher who had a dark spot in the middle of his forehead and told him he had dirt there. 🙂 I had no clue! I also know some of my friends would talk about giving up something for Lent. Again, I had no clue.  My teacher was Catholic, as were my friends, and I now know that was a significant aspect of their belief system.  It had to be only 15 or so years ago that I really gave any notice to Lent. I heard some folks talking and decided it would behoove me to know more. For several years I decided to give it a go so one year I gave up caffeine pop. Another year I gave up beef (which wasn’t really hard since I didn’t eat it much anyway). One year I gave up all pop and drank only water. Then I finally figured out it really wasn’t about giving up something; it was really about surrender.

In his book, Journey to the Cross, a 40 day devotional to be used during Lent, Paul David Tripp writes: “It is right and beneficial to take a season of the year to reevaluate, recalibrate, and have the values of our hearts clarified once again. Lent is such a season. As we approach Holy Week, where we remember the sacrifice, suffering, and resurrection of our Savior, it’s good to give ourselves to humble and thankful mourning. Lent is about remembering the suffering and sacrifice of the Savior. Lent is about confessing our ongoing battle with sin…And Lent is about giving ourselves in a more focused way to prayer, crying out for help that we desperately need from the only One who is able to give it.” (Pages 8-9)

I no longer use Lent to give up something physical. I try to use it to do just what Tripp says: “to reevaluate, recalibrate, and have the values of my heart clarified once again.”  May I challenge you to do the same? I have been reading his book in preparation for my sermons on the cross and the resurrection. I’m actually on Day 17…and no I didn’t plan it that way. Perhaps you might even consider getting a copy of his book to help guide you.

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On a more personal note: this day has some significance. Many of you know of my struggles physically since testing positive for Covid on December 21. I will spare you the ugly details. Let’s just suffice it to say I lost between 40-50 pounds in less than a month. After multiple tests they have narrowed it down to gall stones which lodged in my bile duct which caused my physical issues. After having them removed, it was highly recommended that I have my gall bladder removed. My words: I have a gravel pit in there.  Oddly enough, I NEVER had a moment of pain. However much I hated getting Covid, it actually alerted my doctors (and me) to the potential for a great amount of pain and the possibility of infection which could have caused serious issues down the road. So I am having my gall bladder removed today. I guess that gives new meaning to Lent being a time of giving up something?  🙂  By the time many (most) of you read this my surgery will probably be over. I am hoping for the laparoscopy so I can come home today. All I ask is that whenever you read this you do say a prayer. I would like to recover as quickly as possible. On the bright side: we were “blessed” with 8-9 inches of snow Monday and Tuesday morning so I can’t be outside riding my bike anyway.  But I have been riding inside and am praying for a good answer to my question: when can I start riding inside again? I’ll keep you posted on how things went. Meanwhile, I do ask for your prayers. For more on this whole process and how I am “seeing” it, please check out my other blog here.

#Update

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021

I asked for prayer yesterday for my procedure. I’d like to give an update. The procedure went well. They were able to go in and get the renegade stones. No complications except for a sore mouth as a result of having a tube down my throat.  I functioned well the rest of day and went to bed at my normal time of 9:30ish. 

I woke up at 2:00 and decided after fighting getting back to sleep to get up. I don’t have any commitments today so if I want to sleep this afternoon I can. Why?

Because I have a wife and two staff people who ordered me to stay home.  The doctor’s orders was no driving for 24 hours but I think I can stay awake for 2 miles.  The real reason is I have bullies ordering me around.  🙂 🙂

The only caveat to all of this is the doctor said I need to have my gall bladder removed and the sooner the better. He did say I had a bladder full of gravel (my words). Once this happens I can count on it happening again and again. And I don’t want to go through this weight loss regimen again!!!!! So now I wait for a call from the scheduler and the surgeon to sink up.

All is well at this point. Thanks so much for your prayers. God’s got this and I trust His perfect hand. 

#Request#Prayer

Monday, February 1st, 2021

Hey all of you who read this!  All two of you anyway. 🙂  I have a prayer request.  As many of you know I have been having some health issues related to my positive test for Covid. Nothing serious like many. No breathing issues. No need for a ventilator.  No hospitalization. My heart goes out to those who have suffered so much.

However, I have am what they have called a long-hauler.  I tested positive on December 21st and stayed in jail for 14 days. I ventured out on Sunday to preach since both Jo and Ryan (our youth pastor) also had tested positive. We were the only ones to show up.  I lost my sense of smell and taste for about a week, but the greatest (I thought) was being tired. I slept a lot and got nothing done I thought I would get done.  But since Christmas morning I have lost between 40-50 pounds because of my inability to keep things in and down (occasionally).  All blood tests have come back negative, as have all other tests.  Chest x-ray.  Negative.  CT scan. Negative. Coloscopy. No tumor, polyps or mass.  I finally had an MRI last week which showed some renegade stones. The doctor initially told me I had a mass of a suspicious nature. I’m glad it was not what it sounded like. So today I go in for him to get the stones out of there. He said they have come out of the bladder and entered the tube heading into the pancreas. There is a little “v-like” bend in the tube and they are close to that and he said I would NOT want the stones to reach that. So out they come today.

I’d appreciate your prayers for me and Jo at 2:00 today (Monday). You may get this after the fact…you can still pray for recovery.  I’m looking forward to getting my life back where I can ride and lift and put on weight. I’ve had all kinds of offers from people that I can have their weight but it doesn’t work that way. 🙂 

Thanks again for praying. I’ll keep you posted on how things went. I’m not concerned. God’s got this.

#Beirut#PrayerRequested

Thursday, August 6th, 2020

It is easy to get so myopic that we can’t “see the forest for the trees.”  There is no question our country is in an upheaval (and I certainly have my thoughts about it and when it will end), much of it total garbage. The wanton destruction and taking of lives, especially Law Enforcement, is not the way to get things done.  There is absolutely no call for what is going on in Portland, Seattle, Chicago, New York and others. It is utterly ridiculous. And please don’t tell me it is advancing the cause of BLM (which I won’t get into).

Then there is Beirut. Half way around the globe and barely a peep from those who want us to think they really care about others.  I have watched several clips of the explosion and am just dumbfounded at the power of it. Jo showed me a video of a bride in her wedding dress blown off her feet while having pictures taken.  And to see the pictures of destruction is just mind-blowing.

To be honest, I had no plans to post anything about the explosion.  Sadly, and admittedly, it was not on my radar. I stand guilty of caring but not caring. Until…UNTIL…I read this article. I have linked it so you can read it in its entirety. It is from a pastor in Lebanon who went there to plant a church. It should rock your world and stir your heart to do one thing he has asked:

P.R.A.Y.

Here is the link to the article.

How about doing two things for me…for this pastor and his people in Lebanon? First, pray for them. Second, pass this article along to your readers.

#NoPlaceToHide#Book Review

Tuesday, July 28th, 2020

After reading I’ve Seen the End of You by surgeon Lee Warren, it was a no-brainer that I would read his first book, No Place to Hide.  I have to admit that I had absolutely no idea what to expect. All I knew about it was he was a surgeon in Iraq and had to deal with some PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome).  PTSD is very common in combat soldiers and it manifests itself in multiple ways. It is also found in accident victims-accidents of many different kinds. I was particularly interested because there are several men in the church I pastor who were in either Desert Storm or Iraq and suffer from PTSD, from mild to severe. A friend of mine has it due to watching his best friend die almost literally in his arms after a horrible accident involving a 90+ year old man ramming his car into several cyclists while on an MS ride.  (And he got off almost scot-free due to $$$$).

Here is my review of No Place to Hide:

I have never been in armed conflict. I turned 18 during the Vietnam War but was in Bible college so I was exempt. BTW: that was not why I went to Bible college. I was virtually illiterate about the news and Vietnam. I think my parents knew I would have been toast if I had signed up for the military because I could not find a job after my Freshman year in college and my uncle (un-brave soul that he was) took me to a recruiting station. My mom was contacted by the recruiter and she discouraged it.  Anyway, I have only read or listened to the horrors of that conflict as well as Desert Storm and the Iraqi invasion. To say my eyes were opened would be an understatement.  Lee was a brain surgeon with a successful practice but he received his papers to go to Balad Air Base for four months.  I will spare you the gory details but to say his time at Balad was a vacation would do him a great injustice. It would do all those who served in any capacity a great injustice.

While at Balad he was required to treat our military personnel, but also innocent Iraqi citizens, and our enemies, terrorist bombers included. The descriptions of what some of our personnel went through were enough to give me nightmares if I had allowed it. Innocent citizens punished for making a living by becoming translators or voting was enough to make my blood boil.  And to make it worse was for all medical personnel giving their best to save the suicide bombers and others responsible for much of the bloodshed on their own people was almost more than I could stand.  I just can’t understand that kind of hate, especially that which was done in the name of a “peaceful religion and God (Allah).”

I had to wait until close to the final 40 or so pages before Lee was discharged to read about the PTSD. While in Iraq his marriage fell apart (it was already heading there before deployment), and he came home broken and bruised, but missed greatly by his children.  It was after all of that and his marriage to Lisa that his PTSD hit him hard. I’m not going to go into detail about it. There is no need to. I’d just say, “Read the book.”

But I will tell you this: if you did not respect our men and women of the military before, you will after reading this book. It does not matter if they were in combat or a doctor in a field hospital, they went through horrendous conditions that I cannot fathom. Plan to be challenged. Plan to have your eyes opened. Plan to find respect for our military personnel. Plan to have tissues  handy. But also plan to see Dr. Warren give praise to God for bringing him out alive and able to minister as a top brain surgeon.

#NeurosurgeonWisdom#BookReview

Friday, July 10th, 2020

I’m not preaching this Sunday. It is the first Sunday since September that I have had off. We will be heading to Ohio for our grandson’s baseball game, coming back home Saturday and attending church elsewhere with some friends. So I thought I would take this spot, when I normally talk about my sermon, to do a book review. I welcome you to join me as I do that.

If you are like me, there have been times when doubts arise. Truthfully, I have never doubted who Jesus is. I have never doubted the divinity of Jesus or the truth that he was fully God and fully man. I have major issues with so-called Bible teachers like Bill Johnson, Todd White and others of that ilk who presume to know the deeper things and can’t even get it right that Jesus did not need to be born again. (And yes, BJ said he did. It’s on YouTube).  So, it isn’t the questions like the resurrection or the life of Jesus or even the miracles found in the Bible (Noah and the flood, for example, or Jonah and the big fish).

The doubt I’m talking about is the struggle between faith and doubt, the things we think we know that often cause the most trouble. The doubts which arise when prayers are not answered as we think they should be. The doubts that arise when we look around and see the injustice and war and slaughter of babies or the lives of young people or even young adults being taken away by cancer.

Those are the kinds of doubts W. Lee Warren, MD writes about in his new book I’ve Seen the End of You. What a phenomenal read!! Dr. Warren is a neurosurgeon (primarily brain) who is also an inventor (related to his brain surgery), an Iraq War veteran, and now a writer. He is also a blogger and a podcaster.  His first book, No Place to Hide -which I have not read but will- is about his Iraq experience, the PTSD which followed, as well as other fallout from that experience.  This book is about faith, doubt and the things we think we know.

I was captivated by it. When I first looked at it my thought was “What did I get myself into? He is going to be way above my head.” Not so. Dr. Warren’s style is what I will call conversational, filled with stories from his practice (primarily his work with Gioblastoma) and how his life was affected by his interaction with his patients. And just as he is dealing with the death of his patients (GBM has a 100% death rate), he loses his son. His faith is sorely tested. He asks a lot of questions; finds no easy answers; works his way through his emotions and feelings about God and life; and admits to his struggles-even to this day.  Dr Warren is real and transparent. I would love to meet him someday (but not for his specialty).

I can’t say enough about this book. You won’t find one negative comment from me. But you will find a rousing endorsement. I have already offered it to a nurse to read while on her vacation.  I had neck surgery back in 2010 (yeah it was from a bike wreck caused by a dog), and the neurosurgeon was a Christ-follower. I would give a copy of this book to him if I ever needed to see him again. (I just might anyway).  Please go out and buy this book. Read it first. Then give it to someone else to read.

 

By the way, there are some powerful quotes I might use at another time.  If  you read them you will find them too. 🙂

#SpeakUp#WordsMatter

Friday, May 15th, 2020

Is there any doubt in your mind our speech betrays us?  When you think about it we can use our speech for good or bad. The way we use it reveals a lot about us.  I found a few quotes I plan to use Sunday. See if you can relate:

“A sharp tongue is the only edge that grows keener (sharper in our vernacular) with constant use.” Washington Irving

“If your lips would keep from slips, Five things observe with care: To whom you speak; of whom you speak; and how, and when, and where.” William Norris

“I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.” Greek sage Publius

I’ve said a lot about our speech, especially on my “Living in the Shadow” blog. Weave your way through the Bible, especially the NT, and you can see the importance of good speech in about every book.  In our world of information overload, where tweets, posts, pins, and texts are thrown around with great abandon, it’s easy to believe that words are unimportant, weak, meaningless, and hollow. But we KNOW they aren’t.

Sunday I’m using Colossians 4:2-6 as my Scripture and I’ve divided it into two main thoughts:

  1. Speak Up when talking to God!
  2. Speak Up when talking to Others!

How about saying a prayer for us Sunday? That hits #1.  I know I’d sure appreciate it. And we would love to have you join us at 10:00. We will have a link for you on FB to be able to watch it on YouTube is what I am told. (Call me technologically-challenged). Either case- your prayers are longed for. Thanks.