Month: August 2019

I’m Back

After a two week break to recover from what has become regular, twice a year procedures, I am back. This is the first time I have had the procedures done so close together and only the second time they have worked on all of the cervical facet joints that can be treated using this surgery. They did the left side of my neck first and the right side 9 days later. The last time there was a 3 week break in between. Why is this important to this post? It could just be the introduction of Ketamine into my system twice in 9 days. It could be the pain killers required after the procedure. It could be that I actually have had some sort of intellectual theological breakthrough. I am not really sure.

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More Than A List Of Do’s and Don’ts

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV)

Positive Side Effects

Most of us have been exposed to the “sunshine, lollipops and rainbows” advertising for the latest drug to cure the ailment you didn’t know you had until now. Just as you are ready to call your doctor for an appointment to get a prescription to treat your newly diagnosed (by you) moderate to severe something or other you hear the words, “this drug is not for everyone, consult your doctor before trying it.” You nod your head in agreement while softly saying to the TV, “that’s what I am doing, I’m just on hold.” The commercial continues to show happy people free of the symptoms of moderate to severe something or other and you think to yourself, that could be me. Then the voice of doom begins the rundown of serious and possibly fatal side effects. Your mouth drops open as the “sunshine, lollipops and rainbows” ad turns into a warning of the coming apocalypse.

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What Do Others Think?

This Is What I Wish They Knew!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17 (NIV)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

What’s For Sale at Your Church?

They were the most difficult words anyone could hear as a pastor. They were the truth but they were also wrong. They were fundamental to his ability to do his job but they were also destructive to his ability to do his job in a Godly way. The easiest solution was to leave the church, but this would not address the issue, although it would make sure it wasn’t his problem. He could do as he was told, but this would be against his morals and would allow the existing problem to continue and maybe get worse. He could fight for what he believed to be right, but this could lead to the end of his job without the problem being addressed. The one thing that was clear, it could not be ignored.

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