HE LIVES...Jackie too

Oops, you caught Jackie at her favorite place lately--the hospital. This was the 2nd day after her knee replacement surgery. Doesn't she look happy, on her way to good health? This photo was taken before the nerve that had been turned off was turned back on. Boy, what a difference it made in her pain level after that nerve came back to life. It's been a very difficult two weeks since this photo but seeing it's been two weeks we are thinking that it's going to be better soon. Tuesday she gets the 32 staples out of her knee and that should be a big help. They are gold and you can see her coming in the sunlight quite easily. She got back to her crutches 3 days ago and has been ordered to walk out in the front of our house twice a day. Let me take a personal moment with those who live in north Florida, where we live. Dr. Northrop at Florida Sports Medicine Institute (FSMI) was the one who initially looked at Jackie's knee and injected the dye into her knee. Dr. Duffy of Heekin Orthopedic did the surgery to repair the damage caused by that procedure. He said that Jackie's knee was so destroyed from the infection that she got at FSMI she would have never been able to use it again and that is why he replaced her knee. We've since been told by doctors, nurses and physical therapists that our experience at FSMI is not unique and there have been many others. Our response is to forgive and move on. I trust you will learn from our experience should you ever need a good orthopedic doctor. We highly recommend Dr. Duffy.

On to happier thoughts. In our pursuit of going from glory to glory, we find ourselves in the Lent season for the Orthodox church. Orthodox is eastern as opposed to the western way of thinking and as such don't celebrate Christ's resurrection on the same date as Protestants and Roman Catholics. There are no hidden mysteries about this--it has to do with the cycles of the moon and how they are measured to determine time. Beyond me. But that means for us we are still in the Lenten season and headed for Pascha, the celebration of Christ's resurrection on April 27th. There are many feasts and celebrations prior to it and we were fortunate to participate in a couple of them before the surgery slowed us down. There was "forgiveness Sunday," which was awesome. Our whole church had a special time of forgiveness where everyone in the church asked and extended forgiveness to each other. I was amazed to see that our Priest, Fr. Ted, on the ground bowed to each of the flock asking their forgiveness. It was not what we were used to seeing in church. Humility is a good thing and it's especially beautiful on God's servants (and Priests!).

Here's Leah and Zack playing with eggs on the "other Easter."

We were also at a special service that had to do with repentance. We used a wonderful liturgy that was written by Saint Andrew and it took us on a journey using biblical imagery that became personal. It went from creation to "my creation" to the fall to "my fall" to redemption to "my redemption" and I think you get the point. I'm glad I write to people who are much smarter than me! It was a glorious hour of singing, chanting and repenting. And we all know that humility begins with repentance, "changing our mind." When we change our minds about who we think we are--I am #1--and making the prayer of the Publican our own, "Have mercy on me, a sinner," we take a bold step toward humility.
That's Jake, Zack and Elijah, our grandsons.

Something that has helped me considerably in this quest for becoming more and more like Christ has been my age. As I have gotten older I have started seeing more clearly the mistakes I have made along the way. There's fruit growing now that I planted 25, 35, 45 years ago and it's not the kind of fruit you take to the market and sell. I can see faults and flaws in my walk with Christ that are a result of things I planted years ago. I can see how stupid some of my decisions really were before I became a Christian and how they now impact my life. Although I often feel like I've lived about 10 different lives, each with a beginning and and ending, I know the truth is life is one long string of events and decisions that have impact on each other and mold us into who we are. The good news is that we can make decisions now that help turn our lives in a better and more glorious direction. Some things won't change, but by God's grace and mercy others will. The underlying foundation of our lives, Christ Himself the Cornerstone, holds us up and through His great promises to meet our needs and care for us, we can live above the worries and cares of the world--regardless of mistakes made! I still haven't made it to that point that I can honestly say I'm not overly concerned about where we will be living in 5 years. I know it's dumb, but it's something Jackie and I think about. Why? It's because of some of the less than brilliant decisions I made when I was younger (and older). You know, spend all your inheritance on sailboats, toys, cars and trips instead of investing it in, say, education or in something that might have been good for when you get into your 60s and your youthful strength that you have used to earn money has left you. We personified the American dream with instant gratification. Oh well...we make adjustments and look to Christ who redeems us.

When I was typing Leah walked in and told me I was sitting in a rainbow. You can't see it very well in the photo but the whole corner where the computer sits was lit up. Cool.

We also continue in prayer for some very precious people in our lives. In the last month there has been 3 deaths--not in our family but of friends'. Friends with cancer, friends with all sorts of special requests and needs and friends who, like you, just want to "know the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering." We take it as a great honor that we are counted as worthy friends to these for whom we pray. As we make our way to Christ's eternal kingdom, don't forget to look around and lift up those who are in need. One mark of humility is to count our lives as sacrifices for our friends (and enemies). Jesus said that great love is to lay your life down for others. I've noticed that I don't even want to lay down my personal happiness for others much more my life! As we struggle together don't forget that the struggle leads to God. It's worth it. Blessings to you all....

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW...

Look at that cute couple. Are you wondering who they are? It's our Thai daughter, Bum. She sent us hundreds of photos on a CD from her wedding in December (took her long enough!) and a couple of movies that her and Glynn made. We were so blessed and happy for them. It is, as they say, "a marriage made in heaven."



That old crusty guy below who looks like he is praying is Chuck, my surfing buddy and long-time friend from Saint Augustine. We all left together in January 2003 to go to Thailand. Chuck and Janet will be returning to Saint Augustine in June.

















Here's another shot of the married couple with who knows what in their hands. I also have photos from their honeymoon trip to the south of Thailand and that little guy was on the bus with them. Bum is a bit weird so it might be one of her traveling buddies.



No matter how grey the day or dark the night, there's always something God brings us as a reminder of His wonderful love. Seeing Bum and Glynn in the photos brought us much joy in a week that was filled with great sadness. God's grace abounds to those whose hearts are turned toward Him.

We also had another wedding blessing in February. Who's that cute girl I'm hugging? That's Jackie, the other one. Her son, Steven, got married the last week of February in Mobile, Alabama, and Leah, her kids and us all drove over there for the wedding. What a great time we had seeing Jackie and her family. Leah and Jennifer, her oldest daughter, are practically sisters and grew up together.





There's Jennifer, the girl with the flaming hair. Leah is on the left. This was taken when they were about 5 or 6 years old. Fast forward about 25 or 30 years and here's what they look like...







There's nothing quite as good as old friends. Jackie and I have been friends since I was 14 and my parents were so mad at me when we decided not to get married I was nearly thrown out of the house. They always liked her more than me, which I can't blame them. So besides weddings, seeing old friends and going to work, we continue in our quest to know God and to become like Him. I'm not sure that's a good thing to pray for in the short run, but in the long run it's the only pursuit worth having. Everyone knows what happens when you pray for patience--you get tons of trials to practice in. When you pray to be like Jesus, I think that it intensifies about a 100 fold.

This morning I got up and rode my bike down the beach a few miles to have a quiet time. I thought it would be good to sit back and ponder the universe. I did that for a few minutes and realized I pretty much had it figured out and moved on. Isn't that how we are? I hear people say they don't believe there is a God and I have to wonder what planet they came from. There is so much we don't know that if you stack up what we do know next to it, it would be like putting a green pea next to the Empire State Building and saying they are the same. In all that area that we don't know, there are so many possibilities and realities we are missing it's crazy. HOSEA 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...."

We get very comfortable in what we do know and become experts in that field. I thought I had Christianity pretty much figured out for many years. I hung out with some of the big shooters in the charismatic movement and even worked for the largest circulated Christian magazine in the late 70s and early 80s. Let's face it--I was hip, happening and had the holy secrets of God worked out. Oh, but those things I didn't know were out there, waiting to catch me in my craftiness and show me how really slow, dull and basically arrogant I was. I remember reading Scripture and as I read thinking how it pertained to someone else or how I could use it for a sermon. Oh my.... So, am I any smarter now than then? Probably not. Do I know more? Hmm, I kind of doubt it. So what's changed? The revelation. What revelation, you gasp? Have I learned when Christ is returning? Do I actually understand the "abomination of desolation?" Has the Revelation of John been demystified by my wisdom? No, none of those. What I've learned that is different is that I now know how much there is I don't know and how easily it is to be fooled by what I do know. Are you confused?

I'm trying to get back to the simple, unpolluted way of Christ. The way that the early Church walked upon; the way that the Church fathers were so gracious to write about and leave for us to learn from. I love reading the Bible. So do you, I'm sure. But let's face it. With over 30,000 denominations and all of them claiming to have the divinely inspired interpretation of Scripture, something's wrong. It seems like every time I drive to Jacksonville (an hour from here), I see signs up for another new "non-denominational" church that has split off from another one that was less divinely inspired. The charismatic movement was a great example of that. Every time we found a new doctrine, we started a new church to celebrate it. The church of divinely inspired tongues. The church of the Holy Ghost and Fire. The church of healing and restoration. The Shepherding church. The prosperity church. There were 100s of them and with the opening of each one the flock that was at one church moved to the new one and the numbers of attendants at the new one were touted as God's approval of starting up. I mean there was incredible growth over night because all the discontents at the old one went to the new one looking for the answer. Soon as word got out that brother so and so was starting a church, people ran to it to hear the new word and be blessed by the new gospel message, the one that was fresh from Father. It's not a whole lot different today than it was back in the wild days of charismania. We have purpose churches, seeker churches, traditional churches, contemporary churches, half traditional and half contemporary, churches of the Word, churches where you get healed, churches where you get slain, churches where you get soaked (I'm not sure what that one is yet), churches where you laugh, roar and peuke. On and on and on....

Then all of a sudden we take a look at ourselves and realize that our lives haven't really changed that much. The outside may look a bit different, but inwardly we are still frustrated, defeated often and left wondering what's wrong. I'm sure I don't know what's wrong with you, but I found out that what was wrong with me: I was the authority and I judged the Church. Then one day I read that the way it is supposed to be is that the Church is to judge me and I'm to listen. But I'm an American. I have my rights. I have my opinions and people need to listen to them even if what they are preaching has been taught as truth since the day of Peter. Did you know arrogance isn't a trait God really likes?

So, step by step, I'm digging into what the Church has taught since the day of Pentecost and how it should change me today. Here's the truth. When I take my bike on the beach and ride it into the park area where there are no people, I'm always hoping to find that lost Pirate's chest of gold. To open the lid, scoop out the gold doubloons and jewels would be so cool--and it would take care of our retirement too! Ha. But no matter how many times I ride my bike, the only treasure I find is the One who meets me there in the solitude of the sand dunes and waves, the Lord Jesus Christ my King. And that, my dear friends, is what I'm really looking for. But I've also found a treasure chest full of the writings of the early Christians and it's so full of jewels and gold it's unbelievable and it's making my life so much richer.

Well, that's enough for now. Here's a prayer list you might give attention to:

Jackie: Surgery is scheduled for March 14th. A miracle to avoid it would be awesome.
Penny: Still fighting cancer and living much longer than what the doctors ever thought.
Bert: 30% of his heart functions. He is still recovering from the strokes. Hard year.
JoAnne: Stage 4 liver cancer.
Jill: Her baby died at birth last week.
Mark & Marcia: Their son died last week.
Sarah: 13, blacking out; hospitalized; no real diagnosis; memory loss and no appetite.
Rich: Liver failure from Hepatitis.
Kenny: Needs a liver transplant and is waiting for one to become available.
Len: Prostrate cancer.

Well, I'll sign off here. Thank you so much for your friendship.