Life Here and There

When W. A. Criswell was asked, “Do you believe in divine healing?” his response was simply, “Is there any other kind?” I love that! James 5 contains a passage of Scripture that addresses prayer. It’s often misunderstood, but if we grasp its meaning, we’ll unlock some amazing truths that will mature us in our prayer life.

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (more…)

Just a quick update. My wisdom teeth extraction took less than an hour. When we left the oral surgeon’s office we headed to Walmart where I was instructed to wait in the car while my wife got my prescriptions filled. I got bored and tried to get out of the car, which set the alarm off. So I wandered into the store in search of Angie. I couldn’t find her, so I made a bank deposit and stumbled back to the pharmacy again. When she found out where I was, I was in trouble!

Nonetheless, I’m doing great so far – very little pain, very little bleeding, and I’m thankful for the prayers my friends and family have offered. You guys are all great! Here are a couple of life applications…

• Not all the horror stories you hear are true – it’s not always as bad as your dramatic friends make it out to be. (Sometimes it is though, so watch out).
• Downtime is nice sometimes. I’m reading, blogging, designing, studying, praying, and thinking, all from the comfort of my bed and I don’t have to feel bad about it one bit.

That’s it, I suppose. Thanks for the prayers!

I recently watched one of the great Christmas classics of the past… Gremlins! When you feed the cute, cuddly little magwi’s past midnight, what happens? They turn into little green monsters with big claws and try to eat you. Way off subject… what happens to God’s people after midnight? They keep on loving each other.

Yesterday, Louis Shults, one of our Deacons had open heart surgery. The surgery was longer than expected, but successful. They did have some issues with internal bleeding throughout the afternoon and that evening about 10:00, I got a phone call saying Lou’s heart had stopped. I had just gotten home from the hospital so I threw my shoes back on and rushed back. For the next several hours, Lou’s family and other members of Bethel huddled together to see how things would turn out after his second surgery of the day.

By 1:30 a.m., Lou was stable enough that we all went home and today, he is doing much better. I stand in awe of several things…

1. How in the world can a Doctor stop a heart for four and a half hours, attach new tiny blood vessels to it (borrowed from the leg) and then re-start it again?? What a magnificent creation!
2. I stand in awe of God’s protection and the delicate nature of life. What a marvelous Creator!
3. I stand in awe at the love of God’s people for one another. What a great spiritual family!