I've Got A Date With A Knife!

And it's all Adam's fault!

Well, this is a first. For me, anyway.

You'll recall my misadventures about a month ago when I fell and broke my arm at work. Laid there for half an hour, I did, until a couple of burly dudes came to my rescue and were able to lift me to my feet again. Well, since that time there have sessions of x-rays and an MRI and so now it has all come home to roost. Somewhere around the first of the month your humble servant will report to a surgical center here in town and I will get to experience the joy of rotator cuff surgery. I had the big meeting with the surgeon yesterday.

"So what's with all the horror stories?" I asked Dr. Heinzelmann. "Every time I mention that I'm looking at having this surgery, all of a sudden everybody's eyes light up with glee and they have stories of pain and torture. One guy told me it hurt a friend of his so bad he cried!"

Dr. Heinzelmann had obviously had this talk before. "Look," he explained matter-of-factly. "It's going to hurt. But some people have different levels of pain. Some not so much, some more so." He went on to explain how it is their philosophy to make all this stuff as easy as possible, and he went on to explain some of their methods of dealing with their patients' discomfort. I came away confident that this guy knows what he's doing.

Of course there is a theological point to all this, and it really is being driven home to me. The point is this. It's all Adam's fault!

Remember Adam? He was running around naked with his wife, Eve, when Eve brought him some fruit from a tree that she wasn't supposed to touch. Why in the world would they touch this stuff? Well, it looked yummy. Since then mankind has ingested all kinds of deadly stuff because it looks yummy. Also, the tempter cooed to Eve, they could be like God! Woohoo!

So they munched.

And they died.

And so do we.

Adam's sin (Eve started it all, but it was on Adam's watch so he gets the blame) gave us this horrorfest world we live in. Why do I have to work for a living? Adam! Why am I turning into this old grumpy guy? Adam! Why do I have any number of physical ailments? Adam! And most of all, why was a simple fall on a snowy loading dock enough to make my right arm crippled up without surgery? Adam! The painful rehab I am about to undergo is all because of Adam.

Thanks, Adam. You dork!

I think I'll just cling to Jesus, my Jesus, who will make all this right some day.

Paul put it so well in his missive to the church in Rome:

Rom 5:18-19 ¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Yup, thanks to Adam this grumpy old guy has a date with a knife. But thanks to my Jesus, this young at heart believer has a date with a destiny of glory for all eternity in The Presence of Presences. Thank you, Jesus! My Lord!

Closed Circuit to Oak Manorites:

There is a lot going on as we recover from all the cancellations due to the snow and ice storms. Tonight the usual round of Wednesday Night stuff resumes. Then on Thursday Night we see the Ed Marshall Prayer Group. They congregate at the church at 6pm with food, fellowship and industrial strength prayer. On Saturday at 6pm the Dave Whitmire Prayer Group will commence with an agenda featuring more of the same. Our regular monthly board meeting will be held after church on Sunday. Other things are going on, we will advise you of them as the weekend draws near.

Many things are being prayed over by the mighty prayer warriors of Oak Manor, and of course now we need to add your pastor's upcoming surgery. We will update them all on Sunday morning.