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.

The Great Blizzard of 2011

Snow days! Whoa! What week it has been! Record snowfall of historic proportions combined with record cold temps have made this a winter to remember. Or maybe a winter to forget?? There’s nothing like two feet of snow and sub zero temps to really put the kabosh on a southern boy’s spirit! No trash pickup in the city for two weeks now, frozen trash piles up.

But let's not get carried away. I don’t know how it all worked out for you, especially if you have kids cooped up in the house but for Carolyn and I just worked out great! It was just she and I, along with our faithful dog Princess Oreo. The power stayed on, so it was warm and cozy. The TV stayed on, so we had stuff to watch and the internet stayed on so we kept in touch with the world. The pantry was well stocked so we had lots of yummy stuff to eat and so all of this means one thing: it was a time to hit the pause button on life. Time to stop. Sit down. Be quiet. Rest. Snooze a bit. Snow days or not, I think escaping from the hassles of everyday living is something that we all need to do every now and then. Seasons of snoozing and refreshment are good, that way we can hit the hassles of life refreshed and renewed.

Outside was a winter wonderland, and if you’re on my Face Book page you saw poor Oreo literally swimming through two feet of snow in the back yard in a desperate search for adequate bathroom facilities (see above).

So here we are, two days cooped up away from the world and I was ready for more when all of a sudden work reared it’s ugly head for us both. We dug our way out (or Carolyn and the neighbors did, I can’t due to the broken arm) and we escaped back to the land of the living.

I made it in to work.

I guess I was a little grumpy.

Yup. It is winter.

There is a great book that I’ve been reading by Mark Buchannan entitled “Spiritual Rhythm.” It talks about the different seasons in life, likening the times of our lives to the seasons. Interestingly, it started with winter. I read the winter section. I read it again. I read the spring section. I went back to the winter. I haven’t gotten to summer or autumn yet. I don’t feel summer or autumn right now. I feel winter, I long for spring.

In spring or summer stuff is happenings and things are going well and you feel the presence of God: you feel him working in your life and sometimes it is easy to base your faith on this perceived movement of God and the Holy Spirit. But then comes winter and you feel the presence of the Lord no more. Maybe you just can’t see him (probably). Maybe he really has backed off from you. Either way, where once was power and movement is now … nothing.

Buchannan says in winter it is easy for us to not see God. The dangers here are obvious, as it is in winter that faith can be lost. How do we guard against that? Buchannan has the ready answer. You base your faith not on experiential things nor on perceived leanings and actions, but you squarely root your faith in that one solid anchor that we have: Scripture.

Experiences come and experiences go, but the Word of the Lord is eternal. Good times come and good times go, but the Word of the Lord is eternal. Root your faith on The Word. And that, says Buchannan, is Faith.

Closed Circuit for Oak Manorites:

Winter is hitting us all a hard one. At this point it appears that we will have services on Sunday, but the Board Meeting scheduled for this time and the potluck dinner is on hold for at least a week.

Also on hold this week is the Dave Whitmire Prayer Group. All of the above will probably happen next week.

I would pass on just a couple of our many prayer concerns. Dean Davis had his cataract surgery this past week, so far so good. Janice Whitmire’s dad, Archie fell. He has a black eye and some bruises. Doctors say his diabetes is affecting his balance, and lately he falls easily. Jackie Linzy's surgery is on hold. My appointment with the surgeon has been rescheduled to Monday. I’m afraid of what all he’s going to have in store for me, but on the other hand I’m ready to git r done!

So much more that we are praying about, we’ll update them Sunday morning. I’ll see you then!

Pastor Mackster

The Ghost of Lee George

This is a picture of the Ozark Christian College campus in the grips of the Blizzard of 2011, sent along by Alumni Director Meredith Williams. Ah, the memories...

Ok, so I gotta give a bit of a background here. Lee George was a long time weather anchor on KODE-TV in Joplin. I knew Lee, of course. He was a good guy, and served many years faithfully. One year, though, he missed the forecast by just a bit. He forecast flurries. What Joplin got was one of the biggest recorded snowfalls since they started keeping records. I know for a fact that police patrolled his house because of all the death threats. He never lived that down. He's been dead for many years now. He still hasn't lived it down!

I think it was Thanksgiving Week 1992. I was the weekend weather anchor on KSN-TV in Joplin (my old partner in crime, Ken Ford, was the week day anchor) and I was in the final year of my tenure as a student at Ozark Christian College. It was Tuesday. It was chapel day. Two unsavory characters approached me; they were professors there at OCC and they were worried men. You see, a monster winter storm had us in the cross hairs and was going to hit like tomorrow. That being the case, a lot of the students would get stranded here, they wouldn't make it home or those who tried would run an incredible risk of death and injury and they'd have to keep the dorms open and the caf open, etc etc you get the picture. They asked me to go to OCC President Ken Idleman and make the case that we should close early and get the kids outa here.

So as we walked from his office to chapel, I gave Ken a complete weather briefing. As chapel progressed he and the faculty had an impromptu caucus the end result being for the first time in its history OCC dismissed early and the kids evacuated the place.

It snowed not one flake. Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. As I arrived in the early morning to do my morning thing at KOBC-FM there at the campus, I looked into the sullen morning sky.

"Snow!" I bellowed to the heavens. Then I heard it. Yes, I heard it. As surely as I'm here today I heard the ghost of Lee George laughing at me from the grave!

In the interests of full disclosure, the storm went all around us and the students were hammered as they went home and, yes, it was a good thing they got a day's head start. But here on campus, there was awful nothingness!

So here we are in the grips of the Blizzard of 2011. What memories may come?

The Year of the One

This is the Voice of One.

Good Wednesday!

This is the year A.D. 2011. I’ve heard it called Two Thousand Eleven, I’ve heard it called Twenty-Eleven, I’ve even heard it called Two-Eleven. One of these days I’m sure we’ll figure out what to call it. But whatever moniker we hang on the thing, there are a couple notes worth pointing out that I saw on the internet.

Four notable dates are in 2011, two have already occurred and two are yet to come. It is in this year we find these dates:

01/01/11, 01/11/11, 11/01/11 and 11/11/11. You heard of the DaVinci Code, this is the Year of the Binary Code! (the code computer programs are written in, using all 0’s and 1’s. Someone will have to tell me if it is still used.)

Ok, the theological point to all this? None! I just thought it was cool. Now, figure this one out: take the last two digits of the year you were born, add that number to how old you will be this year, and the result will be 111. For instance, I was born in 1952, I will be 59 this year, so 52+59=111. Another for instance, Carolyn was born in…oh, never mind.

Try it, and let me know if indeed it works!

Closed circuit to Oak Manorites: Wow! The weather forecast has sure gone downhill during the overnight hours! A Winter Storm Warning for Northwest Arkansas is in effect, calling for a sheen of ice on the ground (and the power lines) that will be covered with four to six inches of snow. Now, don’t get me wrong. Normally, I love a good snow but the last time I went trudging around in snow (oh, say, about a week and a half ago) terrible things happened.

Now, I know what you're thinking and the answer is things are cool. The way it’s looking right now, our Wednesday Night doings (Tangible Kingdom, Judy’s class, and Praise Band Rehearsal) should have no problems as all the freezy skid stuff kicks in later Wednesday night. Of course we will be keeping an eye on the weather for Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, our football themed sermon series “The Big Game” continues this next weekend. Two weeks ago we talked about the playbook, last week we looked at preparation and this week we delve into the topic of performance. Oh, I heard the Evangelism Linebacker is in town, so best be ready! And be careful!!

Stay warm and stay safe!

Pastor Keith

Ps: Follow us on Facebook!

Pps: I should explain: The Evangelism Linebacker is a hilarious video that features a linebacker who tackles kids in the youth group who won’t share their faith. It was our sermon video last week, and we all laughed ourselves silly. “He loves you,” the narrator says. “But it could hurt!” Of course this funny video had a serious message: we must be ready at all times to share our faith. This is part of where performance comes in, and we’ll talk about that Sunday. I’ll see you then!

Adventures in the ER on a Snowy Night

Good Monday!

To begin with let me say a big "thank you" for the prayers lifted up on my behalf this evening. It means a lot to me, for sure! I'm home from the Emergency Room now, munching on a few chips and with a hot decaf tea going. I thought I would update you on my misadventures Sunday night.

On any given night we send trucks out from the presses in Lowell to the distribution centers two times. In the first run we send what we call preships, in other words the innards of the newspaper (classifieds, feature sections like the food section, advertising, etc) and in the second run of the night we send out the "mains" which, as the name implies, is the main part of the paper with news, sports and so forth.

Thinking we were a driver short I took the truck which had the preships for the distribution centers in Rogers, Bentonville and Bella Vista and headed into the snowy night. My first stop was Rogers. I was putting the dock plate in position when my feet slipped out from under me and I landed hard on my right side, with my right arm taking the blow. My shoes had gotten some snow and ice on them.

Remember those old commercials long ago that said, "I've fallen and I can't get up?" Well, I've lived that now. Thanks be to the Lord I had the presence of mind to grab my cellphone as I exited the cab of the truck! I summoned help (I was alone in the center at the time) but still lay there for a little over a half hour, my right arm not moving and I was feeling a bit queasy. After a bit my boss and one of our drivers converged on the center and with both of them assisting I got on my feet. So here I find myself in the ER at Mercy Med Center in Rogers where X rays revealed a hairline fracture of my humerus bone just below the shoulder.

The Doc ordered two days total pampering-er, I mean rest and I'm in this sling brace thingy for six weeks. Yuck!

The kicker? The driver I thought was not coming in? He came in. He was the one who helped my boss get me back on my feet. So later as we're waiting in ER, Chad says, "Boy I wish you would have remembered Dale was coming in."

Quoth I, "YOU wish??"

I'll never live this down.

Both sides of the spectrum of life.

This is the voice of one.

Good Friday! Wow! Is this some wind, or what? You’d think it was spring time out there. The brisk wind is blowing up some snow for us in a couple days, but not to worry nothing is supposed to be arriving until long after we’ve gotten together for our worship time Sunday morning.

It is with sadness that I report to you that the teenager we have been praying for, Kaitlyn, died last night in Little Rock. The leukemia had worsened and this brave young lady lost her battle with the deadly disease. Her family expresses appreciation for the cards and prayers. We rejoice that she had accepted Jesus as her Lord.

On to an amazing story on the other side of the spectrum of life. You may be familiar with the story of 95 year old Nell Porter. She was in her home in Cincinnati, Arkansas a week ago when a tornado ripped through their community, killing three people outright. Nell was transported to the hospital where she died earlier this week, becoming the fourth victim of the New Year’s Eve twister. Here is the amazing part of her story: she died as the result of a tornado, but did you know she was born during a tornado? She was born in Paducah Texas as a tornado was bearing down on them. Nell’s grandfather knelt at the foot of the bed and prayed that the Lord would protect mother and child. And so he did, because every house in the neighborhood was wiped out. Except theirs. There is one more little twist to this story, at least as far as my family is concerned. Nell was the older sister of Carolyn’s mom’s first husband, who died in World War II.

So we see this week examples of folks at both sides of the spectrum of life, who were called upon to meet the Lord. The lesson here? If we’re new to this life or older than dirt or somewhere in the middle, just be ready! Just be ready!

So, are you?

Friday, December 31 2010

This is the Voice of One...

Goodbye 2010!

Good Friday! Well, 2010 certainly came to a violent end here in Northwest Arkansas. It is strange that on the morning of the last day of the year we had tornado warnings all over the place. Three people died in Cincinnati, Arkansas. I saw the reports of one guy who was sucked out of his house by the winds and tossed across the road. I was amused by his quote that he opened his eyes because he wanted to see the end coming. This is not something you see but once, and he didn’t want to miss it. He lived. One guy who died was milking his cows. The others were a couple in their home.

I know what you’re thinking. This is where I go into a rant about the precarious nature of life, how the end comes with no warning and so forth and you know what, the temptation is strong to do just that.

But let me offer this up instead. The year 2010 is different for everyone, for some it would a good year for some it would be a bad year. For all there are good parts and bad parts, I would imagine.

For me, personally, 2010 was a year with not a lot of joy in it. The first half of the year was spent transitioning to a new employer and that wasn’t just a lot of fun. Other than that, 2010 was just kind of a blur. So I think that it is kind of symbolic that 2010 would end with a temper tantrum.

In the end I found four truths that sustains me still.

1. God is faithful. Throughout the years I have found, time and again, that the Lord has taken care of me and mine despite our foibles, despite when we tend to mess things up, despite ourselves. Boy, have I seen that this year!

2. My earthly family is awesome. As I speak with people out in the community and they tell me the woes that befall them in their dealings with their family, the point is made time and again how blessed I am to be a part of a family that is bound together with such bonds of love. Sure, we can get on each others nerves a bit and I forbid discussing politics in the house, especially in front of children, but at the end of the day I marvel at the family that my God has blessed me with.

3. My church family is amazing. I am reminded of one of the ladies in a previous ministry who was fond saying, “I’ve walked many a mile, I’ve many a mile to go.” I think that fits us to a tee. We have come so far. I’m not sure how to explain it, but from the beginning I have seen the Lord work in our congregation and amongst our people step by step as His plan is prepared and laid out one part at a time. Everything that has happened to us (since our arrival, anyway) has happened for a purpose that is preparing us for the work that is ahead. We’ve walked many a mile, we’ve many a mile to go. We have seen some dramatic progression in recent weeks, indeed we may be nearing the time when we start to exit our preparatory phase and launch our action phase.

So for that reason I say bring on 2011! It is my hope and prayer that if the Lord delays his coming and permits me to continue in this life, one year from now we will be looking back on some amazing accomplishments. If it is in the Lord’s plan!

So here is our prayer to the Lord for 2011: “You lead. We follow.”

Indeed, amen.

kjm

The Voice of One

(Isaiah 40:3)