Skip to main content

Today I was thinking...

While I was at lunch Laura was talking with another person about while I was in CCU. She said that while I was in CCU there was another person in CCU across from me. That made me think, why am I walking and talking while they are unsure about the other person? Is it because I am a Pastor? Is it because many people were praying for me? What about all the other people that had people praying for them?I don't know; I do know this: there is no scientific reason for me to be anything but laying in a hospital bed or in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

I honestly do not have the answer to that question. I do know that I use every waking moment for God and for His cause. I know other people that have done the same thing and they do not receive the type of answer I did. Is it because I preach a pure Gospel? What about people that have preached a pure Gospel before me and do not have the type of answer I do? Maybe it is because I preach that you OUGHT to be baptized after you are saved, but you do not HAVE to be baptized to be saved. I think every person OUGHT to be willing to identify themselves with Christ through baptism, but I do not think that you have to be in order to be saved. After all, Paul, who was sent to lead as many Gentiles to Christ as possible, said that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the Gospel. If you are to understand Salvation properly, then you must differentiate between Salvation and Baptism.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A stroke survivor's memory is tricky sometimes...

Tomorrow I will preach the funeral for a dear friend of mine. He was the definition of a selfless person. I truly appreciated all that he did, but, when I was meeting with the family on Wednesday a memory came to me suddenly and I was suddenly overcome with emotion. Let me back up a little bit: After my stroke in December, 2008 my license was revoked for obvious reasons and it took me some time and practice before I was able to drive again. I finally got my license back in February, 2009. But, shortly after I got my license back the reality of the severity of my stroke became evident: my stroke had seriously impacted the PONS area of my brain stem, and therefore, a lot of my nerves were negatively impacted. One of the nerves that was damaged was the nerve that controls my eye movements; my left eye would would twitch, at times almost uncontrollably, and that made it really difficult to drive, particularly at night. That brings me to the memory that left me so emotional. Fast forwar
1 comment
Read more

Making a BIG, but somewhat hurtful, decision...

A few years ago I was presented with the opportunity to come back to Stratford, Iowa, to First Baptist church, as their pastor; for those of you who have followed this blog for some time, FBC in Stratford was my first pastorate. Let's just say I prayed about it as I was jumping at the opportunity. The church has a parsonage, so I could live there and not have to worry about a houe payment; and I needed to slow down, and this was a part time position (which, as a side note, allowed for me to get a greater disability from the VA than when I was working full time with St. Croix Hospice...) We love Stratford, and absolutely love the church; the people are wonderful and accepted us, again, with open arms. This was, for me, the perfect position: I get to pastor a church I LOVE, I get to do life with people I LOVE, and I have already had the opportunity to do weddings and baptism services for kids (adults now) that I have known their entire lives. IT IS GREAT. The longer I have been here,
Post a Comment
Read more

What's it like to live in the brain of a stroke survivor???

First , quit calling us a "victim of a stroke", we are survivors of a stroke; the majority of us have found a way to live, as one professor said, not under our circumstance but above our circumstance! For many of us, we are some of the funniest, loving people you will ever meet. Second , don't expect us to be able to multi-task easily. If a football player tears his ACL, no one expects him to be on the field playing at a high level the next week; most who have suffered a torn ACL never play at a high level again. If a skier breaks his leg, no one expects him to be on the slopes the next week, skiing for gold; most who have broken their leg will never ski at a high level again. If a pitcher has to have Tommy John surgery, no one expects him to be on the mound pitching in game 7 of the World Series the next week; most who have had Tommy John surgery will never pitch at a high level again. What do all of thes have in common? A muscle, tendon or bone was severely injured, a
Post a Comment
Read more