Long Eventful Week!

UPDATE 5/1/07 4:30 PM: Just returned from the Cardiologist after being poked 8 times for a blood draw. I felt sorry for the nurses who tried. The final report is serious “Coronary disease,” treated with double stent implantation and medication. I’ve had some periodic pain since the implantation, but I pray it will abate.

I was blessed to have the Lord send me the two young nurses who eventually drew my blood. After asking them if they knew for sure they were going to Heaven, the older lady said “Yes, and I’ve been trying to get my friend to church for a long time.” Then the younger answered my question with, “I don’t know.”

The Lord allowed me about 10-15 minutes to explain that Jesus Christ died on the cross for her, was buried and that he rose from the grave for her. I then explained to her the security a believer has in Christ, that He would NEVER leave her or forsake her. I used several graphic illustrations that help make it clear.

I then asked her if that made sense to her. She said with a smile, “Yes!” I asked her if she, right now, would trust Jesus Christ to be her Savior. Another bright smile and a “Yes.” Then I asked her, “If you were to die right now, where would you go?” With a bigger smile she said, “Heaven!!” I pushed her a little more, “How do you know?” She said, “Because I just trusted Christ as my Savior!”

I told them I was more than happy to suffer 8 needle pokes to see someone trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.

I just wish they had more time so I could give her lots of scripture to help ground her in her security. However she will soon be going to a Christian Retreat with her friend. Pray it will be solid and clear Bible teaching.

She, like all new believers, need much growth and followup in a good Bible church. Pray for both of them that they will become knowledgeable, shining witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ, without error or compromise.

Praise the Lord in His grace to them and us. See how much fun having a coronary artery heart problem really can be?

Jack

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Previous post:
Dear readers, you may notice I have neither posted nor commented since last week.Thanks to David Wyatt and Richard Bowman for commenting on my condition and asking prayer for me.Last Sunday, I suffered very severe chest pains and extremely high blood pressure (220/110). The next day, Monday, I went to a pre-scheduled stress test with my Cardiologist . He said, “Nothing significant on all the tests.” However, he called the next day, Tuesday AM, saying the Nuclear Cardiologist found some anomaly on my scan and that I must check in to the ER right away.After being processed in the ER I was assigned a room in the Cardiac unit. I underwent many tests and the diagnosis came back a possible heart attack. The ER Doc said, “To say it was an anomaly was an understatement.”

The next day, Wednesday, they scheduled a heart catheterization to check things out. I was blessed to have the work done by the Director of Cardiac Surgery. He found two “old” completely blocked arteries which had begun to grow veins around previous damage. The painful culprit was a 90-99% blockage in the Left Anterior Descending artery. Thankfully, there was no permanent heart damage.

While the Surgeon was in the middle of the procedure, he offered two choices, open heart surgery or the implantation of two medicated stents end-to-end in the same artery. He recommended the stents due to my compromised physical condition.

Recovery was uneventful until I arrived home Thursday. I began having chills/fever and took lots of Tylenol. I finally took an anti-biotic and called my surgeon about 6:00 pm Friday. He absolved himself, saying it was not related to the implantation, suggesting it may be a reaction to the iodine dye infusion during the procedure, but added, “With your laundry list of current problems, it could be caused by just about anything.”

This morning, Saturday, I feel quite a bit better.. not exactly “normal” whatever that is, but recovering.

I learned a few things from the ER experience as well as from my Paramedic son and Nurse-in Training Granddaughter. These thoughts may be helpful to some of you.

• Any chest pain should prompt an immediate call to 911.
• In the event that you drive to the ER (not recommended in the event of continuing severe pain) tell the admitting official that you are having “CHEST PAINS.” That phrase should get immediate attention. I told them “Heart” and it took an hour for admittance.
• Seriously consider whether medicated stents or open heart surgery should be the way for you to go. Medicated stents require Plavix and one 81 mg aspirin daily for at least a year. My surgeon said that if I missed two or three days, he guaranteed I would have a “bad,” immediate heart attack .
• The Plavix and aspirin combo means I can not have any invasive, blood-letting surgery or procedure for at least a year — maybe more. That is a problem for me since I need additional biopsies on both, a stomach nodule and pre-cancerous Barrett’s disease of the esophagus.

However, all of this was well worth it.. because I was able to share the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ with many, many people. All listened politely for a while, a few were already believers and thrilled that I would take the time to share with them the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. A few indicated they understood the Gospel for the first time and they would trust Christ as their Savior. None of them yanked out my IV in disgust. Pray for all of them.

What a joy it is to serve our Risen Savior regardless of the circumstances.

Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

Every situation is a great opportunity to share salvation in Jesus Christ. It is no great effort to open your mouth and share Christ.

Click here is you would like to be sure of an eternity in Heaven.

Virginia Tech (VT) and Fear

About the Virginia Tech massacre, I recently commented on the Blog of a wonderful lady. She said:

“I don’t believe we will ever understand what causes one human being to do this so many others. Why? A question that can never be answered.”

My answer was:

Yes, the answer is the inherent nature of man.

Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”

Anyone is capable of evil.

Thank God, the answer to evil is God’s Grace… available to all, but accessible to the individual who makes a decision to trust Christ as Savior. “Whosoever believeth in Jesus…”

Jack

So she replies:

Jack, I know that there is evil, but I know that there is good as well. I just cannot live my life thinking that everyone is capable of evil…I’d never leave my house. I will continue to believe that the good will win out.

Is there a definitive answer for fear?

Yes! The beauty of having Jesus Christ as our Savior is, not only can we trust Jesus for our eternity but also for the daily things, to allay our fears, give us comfort, shield us with His protection and grant us our daily bread.

God’s Grace is never ending and all encompassing.

If you have a small fear or a gigantic VT-like fear of massacre and tragedy, you should rest in the Grace of our Lord Jesus.

He is infinitely able to save, keep and protect His own.

FOLLOWUP: We see a beautiful example of unselfish love and a lack of fear in Professor Liviu Librescu, the brave 77 year old Jewish survivor of the Holocaust massacre.

Why was this man’s fearless quick thinking, to sacrifice his body to bar his classroom door, different than some others on the VT Campus?

Why was he willing to give his life for others?

Would we be willing to do the same?

Will those for whom he died soon forget?

Will those for whom he died likewise demonstrate that same bravery and love as they live out their lives?

We see a human story of love in Librescu. Do we see a parallel Divine story 2000 years ago?

Romans 5:7-8
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. [8] But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Our Personal Web Site

Is a Statement of Faith Infallible?

I visited a Pastor’s Blog in which he was lamenting the occurrence and a recent expose’ of pedophilia within his denomination’s ministerial staff. I agreed with him that this sin is criminal, abominable and should be taken care of. I responded to his post and tried to express to him a reason why some ministers might stray into this and other terrible sins.

The Pastor did not agree with my analysis or my suggestion for a possible solution. This post below is a revision of my comment to this blogging Pastor.

He answered my comment with this statement:

“Jack, I disagree with your thinking ….. and agree with the …. Faith & Mission [Statement].”

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Could it be that a church’s Statement of Faith (SOF), would lead a Pastor into doubting or under-playing his mission, his Savior or his salvation? He might wonder “If I can’t do what I have promised (abide by the legalism and rules of the church’s SOF) then I might as well live it up and entertain my basest thoughts.”

This Pastor says he was born into and raised in a particular denomination. He attended a college of that denomination and was ordained as a minister in that same denomination. He is thoroughly familiar with the teachings of his denomination.

After carefully reading this denomination’s Statement of Beliefs, especially the section on Salvation, I noticed that there are two errors in the same paragraph, Repentance and Faith. I wondered if these errors have made null, dulled or taken away the wonderful amazing grace provided us by our loving Heavenly Father and so apparent in His Word..

The first sentence erroneously reads:

“Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God.”

This is subtle false doctrine. Repentance in salvation is simply a change of mind. When one repents, he changes his mind from his own works, or whatever he may be trusting to save him, to believing that Jesus Christ will save him. Repentance for salvation (New Testament) is NOT turning from sin since that would make salvation no longer God’s gift through faith but a reward or wages owed because of one’s works.

Here is the second sentence of this same paragraph on Salvation:

“Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.”

This likewise is false doctrine. but not so subtle. If this denomination’s SOF had simply stated “Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ…as Savior” that would be sufficiently Biblical.. but they proceeded to add a works message of “and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.” To be saved, one DOES NOT commit his “entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior.” One simply trusts, believes in Christ as his Savior. Period. Commitment is a work that may or may not come for a believer as he matures, but whether it comes later or not, it never alters one’s eternal salvation by God’s Grace through faith in Jesus Christ .

Any Pastor worth his salt, should realize he cannot possibly keep the rules of this denomination or one of its churches. He may very well try and fail and thus fall into despondency and be open and tempted by Satan for just about any kind of sin. This denomination does not fully understand God’s Grace or, if they do, they certainly don’t reflect a doctrine of Grace in these passages. In fact, those rules contradict God’s Amazing Grace for salvation.

Thankfully the Lord does not require either of these two rules or laws for salvation.

However, let’s be clear. Every one who has trusted Christ alone as Savior SHOULD, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, turn from sin. Every believer SHOULD, by the power of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit, commit his entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour. But these decisions are for service and have absolutely nothing to do with accepting or keeping God’s free gift of salvation. (Ephesians 2:10)

However, as this Pastor implied, this is not just a problem for this one denomination . Any Pastor or believer who forgets, ignores or doesn’t know the Grace of God is susceptible.

Believer or Pastor — Never forget the magnificence and power of God’s Grace.

God’s Grace is absolutely Amazing — and all-encompassing. So what about God’s Grace?

God’s grace that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Titus 2:11

As every believer should know, God gives Grace through which we are saved. “For by grace are ye saved through faith;” Ephesians 2:8

As believers, we have received grace to enable our obedience to the Lord. “By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith….” Romans 1:5

We have God’s Grace to help our behavior. “…not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation [manner of life] in the world,” 2 Corinthians 1:12b

God’s Grace will help us begin and finish as believers. “…. that as He had begun, so He would also finish in you the same grace also.” 2 Corinthians 8:6

God’s Grace is something in which we believers should abound to every good work with sufficiency in all things..”….. see that ye abound [have more abundance] in this grace also.” 2 Corinthians 8:7b. And then, “…God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: ” 2 Corinthians 9:8

Believers can gain strength in God’s Grace. “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:1

God gives His grace to help believers in time of need. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. ” Hebrews 4:16

Believers are justified by God’s Grace. Titus 3:7

Believers should never be satisfied but “…grow in grace, ….” 2 Peter 3:18

We are saved by God’s Grace so let us serve Him, not by legalism or church laws but by living in and sharing His powerful enabling Grace in Jesus Christ.

There are many denominations and churches who err in their statement of beliefs. Since this particular Pastor was speaking of his specific denomination, his Statement of Beliefs is the source of the erroneous quotes above.

The false doctrines above were copied from The Southern Baptist Convention Statement of Beliefs: http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp

A message of salvation which incorporates grace plus works is NOT a message of God’s Grace. Romans 11:6

We are saved by God’s Grace, let’s live by God’s Grace. God’s Grace gives liberty in Christ but His liberty is never a license to sin.

Find the truth of the Scripture about Grace and Salvation: Our personal Gospel Web Site.

Anniversary Four

Today, Sweet Shirley and I celebrate the anniversary of an extraordinary and amazing marriage.

Four years ago the Lord joined together the two of us, His children, whose mates of 47 and 49 years had been taken on to Heaven before.

Only the Lord could make such a perfect union take place from such seemingly impossible circumstances. It has been a wonderful four years.

I thank the Lord for marvelously providing such a loving and Biblically wise “help meet” for me. She encourages me and brightens up the “golden years” of an old guy who would be miserable without her.

The Good Lord is Gracious.

PICTURES

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Just as a sideline — this is a poem I gave to Shirley when I was a-courtin’ her.   I have no idea from whom I plagiarized it.
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Collards is green my dog’s name is Blue

and I’m so lucky to have a sweet thang like you.

Yore hair is like cornsilk a-flapping in the breeze

Softer than Blue’s and without all them fleas.

You move like the bass, which excite me in May.

You ain’t got no scales but I luv you anyway.

Yo’re as satisfy’n as okry jist a-fry’n in the pan.

Yo’re as fragrant as “snuff” right out of the can.

You have som’a yore teeth, for which I am proud;

I hold my head high when we’re in a crowd.

On special occasions, when you shave under yore arms,

well, I’m in hawg heaven, and awed by yore charms.

Still them fellers at work, they all want to know,

what I did to deserve such a purdy, young doe.

Like a good roll of duct tape yo’re there fer yore man,

to patch up life’s troubles and fix what you can.

Yo’re as cute as a junebug a-buzzin’overhead.

You ain’t mean like those far ants I found in my bed.

Cut from the best cloth like a plaid flannel shirt,

you spark up my life more than a fresh load of dirt.

When you hold me real tight like a padded gunrack,

My life is complete; Ain’t nuttin’ I lack.

Yore complexion, it’s perfection, like the best vinyl sidin’

despite all the years, yore age, it keeps hidin’.

Me ‘n’ you’s like a Moon Pie with a RC cola drank,

We go together like a skunk goes with stank.

Some men, they buy chocolate for Valentine’s Day;

They git it at Wal-mart, it’s romantic that way.

Some men git roses on that special day

from the cooler at Kroger. “That’s impressive,” I say.

Some men buy fine diamonds from a flea market booth.

“Diamonds are forever,” they explain, suave and couth.

But for this man, honey, these won’t do.

Cause yo’re too special, you sweet thang you.

I got you a gift, without taste or odor,

More useful than diamonds…IT’S A NEW TROLLIN’ MOTOR!!

From Life To Life

He is the Life:

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”

He enters the city, victoriously receiving the praise of His people.

John 12:13 With joy they “Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

He is later betrayed.

Matthew 20:18 “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death,”

He is tried, condemned and scourged.

Matthew 27:26 “Then released he Barabbas [the robber] unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.”

He is mocked as He hung on a cruel Roman cross.

Matthew 27:40 “…. save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

He is declared dead, removed from the cross and buried in a tomb.

John 19:30 “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, IT IS FINISHED: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.” John 19:34 “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” Matthew 27:59-60 “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.”

Three days later He is absent from the tomb, having risen under His own power.

John 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Mark 16:6 “And he [an Angel] saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: HE IS RISEN; He is not here: behold the place where they laid Him.”

He is seen , believed on by hundreds and ascends into Heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:6a “After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once;” 1 Timothy 3:16 “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

This is Jesus the Christ, God in the flesh who died in your place that you may have Heaven forever.

1 Cor. 15:3-4 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

Now, what should be our decision?

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Please believe in Jesus Christ alone to be YOUR Savior. He died for you, in your place and offers to you, eternal life as a free gift. If you trust Him alone, you will pass from eternal death to eternal LIFE in Christ.

Now, from death to life. Truly, “IT IS FINISHED” by Jesus Christ Himself. Our salvation is eternally secure in Him alone.

“But,” you say, “I have already trusted Christ as my Savior.”

Wonderful, then tell a friend about Christ!

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