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Aug 12
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Lord’s Prayer (Part 2)

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The previous post can be found here.

Continuing with some meditations on “The Model Prayer” (or “The Lord’s Prayer”, as most of us in my generation know it).

 

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven…” Matthew 6:9

 

“Our Father who art in heaven…”  That’s not just a form of address.  It’s a promise.  In what way?  Well, walk with me for the next few minutes and let’s see if I can explain this.

 

Heaven.  When you read or hear that word, what comes to mind?  Most people associate that word at least with pleasant thoughts, with the end of pain and suffering, with eternity, with a time of joy and freedom.  We as believers, as disciples of Christ, immediately jump from heaven to God.  Why?  Because we believe that heaven is the abode—the dwelling place—of God.  There are many verses in the Bible that tell us that heaven is the royal seat of God, that His throne is established there.  Here’s one as a case in point:

 

Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.  Revelation 4:2

 

So God rules and reigns in heaven.  We’ve all accepted that, if we’re believers.  We all believe that God is in heaven.  We’ll come back to that thought.

 

But what do we really know about heaven?  Do we know what it’s made of?  Does it have a physical existence that can be found, located, described?  Mmm, well, maybe not so much.  Scripture indicates that angels and a few men go “up” to heaven, and “down” to earth.  That would make us think of heaven being somewhere “out there” (waving our arms to the sky).

 

Now I’m not going to try and rationalize heaven with the natural science of the world.  But back in the days when dirt was new and I was in high school, I had a science teacher who taught me that our universe has four dimensions:  length, breadth, height/depth, and time.  These are what we can perceive with our bodies, right?  (Yes, I know there are some physicists who are postulating other dimensions, but let’s stick with what we can experience.)  Okay.  Now, mankind has pretty much been all over the earth.  We’ve at least peeked into all its nooks and crannies, even if we haven’t walked there.  The mountaintops have all been viewed.  Any sign of heaven?  Any sign of God’s throne on earth?  Not that I’ve heard about.

 

Man has learned to fly through the air.  Any sign of heaven lurking in the clouds?  Not that anyone’s reported.

 

Man has learned to send sophisticated scientific measurement devices out beyond the atmosphere.  Any sign of heaven on the moon, or Mars, or any of the other planets of the solar system?  Any sign of heaven glimpsed by the Hubble telescope?  Nope.

 

Does that mean that heaven doesn’t have a physical existence?  No.  But it does mean that if heaven is bound into the physical universe of length and breadth and height and time, it’s either a lot farther away than we can see, or it’s in a form that we can’t recognize as being heaven.

 

But . . .

 

There is one verse in scripture that makes me believe that a search for a physical heaven is wasted, that heaven is not a physical place or structure.

 

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  2 Peter 3:8

 

Time is an inextricable part of the physical universe.  And from the creation of the universe until today, time has always marched in one direction.  And despite the theories of the natural scientists, no one has ever been able to substantially affect the flow of time.  A second is a second pretty much everywhere on earth.

 

The temptation is to treat Peter’s words as poetic imagery, as hyperbole to create a feeling or effect.  The problem with that is this verse is out of the middle of a sobering passage describing to believers many of the effects and consequences of the last days.  But to me this passage is also saying that God is not bound up in time.  Therefore, God is greater than the limitations of our physical universe.  God is within our universe, yes, but He is also without it.

 

And if God is not contained within the strictures of time and length and width and height, then it makes sense that heaven is also not contained within them.

 

So how does heaven exist?  Well, I think we get a clue in the following verses:

 

For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created by Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:13-17

 

 

In Christ all things hold together.  Another way of saying that is that the mind of God holds all things together.  And if that is true of the physical universe, then it is undoubtedly true of heaven.  Heaven exists because God wills it to exist.  And if it exists in some manner not bound into our physical universe, it does so because that’s how God wills it to exist.

 

All of the descriptions of heaven found in scripture are given to us by way of visions, no two of which seem to be exactly alike.  Is that a problem?  No, not really; because in each case the visions were being given to diverse individuals for diverse reasons.  God was allowing them to see what they needed to see to convey God’s particular message for thatparticular time.  They could not and did not see all of heaven.  See the following verses where Paul describes what all authorities believe was one of his own experiences:

 

Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.  I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago —  whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows —  such a man was caught up to the third heaven.  And I know how such a man — whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows — was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.  2 Corinthians 12:1-4

 

“Inexpressible words.”  Things that Paul heard could not be expressed in Greek—I dare say could not be expressed in any human tongue.  Likewise, trying to describe the wonders of heaven with any human language must be impossible.  What we read in scripture is only the poorest description of the beauties of the place created by God for Himself.

 

And now let’s circle back to the beginning, where I said that the phrase “Our Father who art in heaven” was a promise.  Turn now to John 14:1-3.

 

“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”  John 14:1-3

 

We have the promise of Christ–the promise of God Himself—that we will one day stand in that indescribable inexpressible place outside of our physical universe, that place which God formed for Himself; the throne room of God.  And because of that, when we pray “Our Father who art in heaven” we should feel great joy at the reminder of that promise.

 

Prayer should always begin with joy.

 

Peace and grace to you.

 

David

Aug 12
Love0

Modern Day Knight

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A book recommendation for Men

I just finished reading one of the best books for dad’s with sons, its call ‘Raising a Modern Day Knight’ by Robert Lewis. This has an outlined plan for dad’s to encourage, instruct and give their sons wings to soar into becoming a man of God. There is even an iPhone app you can download with monthly reminders. Even if your dad didn’t model this for you, you can break the cycle and learn to give this precious gift to your sons. On a scale from 1 to 10, I give it a 10 plus!

Jimmy Jackson

Family pastor at Heritage and father of three daughters who desires for their husbands to be a men of God!

Jul 19
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The Lord’s Prayer

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This is part 1 of a study on the Lord’s Prayer by one of our members, David Carrico. We are printing this to help spur one another on towards godliness and to stoke the fire of our affections towards this great God we have. It is also a great example of different parts of the body using their gifts to build up the whole. We hope you will read it and be blessed.

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As believers, as followers of Jesus Christ, as those called Christians after Him, we are supposed to be a people of the Book (the Bible, in other words), and a people of prayer. That means we should seek God in His revealed word, and we should seek Him in prayer. I am convinced that none of us do enough of either one, but for the next few blogs I’m going to focus just on prayer.

There are many scriptures, of course, that refer to prayer, and that point us to the need for prayer on a constant basis in our daily lives. Just picking one almost at random, listen to the apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:18:

“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…”

Pray at all times. Pray constantly. But pray with a focus.

It’s not for nothing that Jesus’ disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:1a)

So a review of Jesus’ first teaching on prayer is always in order. I’m old enough to remember when everyone called it ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, although today it is usually referred to as ‘The Model Prayer’. Turn to Matthew 6:9.

Jesus begins with:

“Pray, then, in this way: Our Father…”

Let’s consider just that bit today.

Our Father…

Christians refer to God as Father all the time. It’s almost endemic in us. It’s part of our culture, and even for us Baptists it’s become a part of ritual. (And yes, even Baptists can have rituals. We just don’t call them that.) I knew a guy at a church I once attended who didn’t seem to be able to pray without saying “Father” at least three times in every sentence.

Why do we do that? Because Jesus taught us to do so, in passages like this one. And when you stop and think about it, it is a very awe-inspiring thing to be given the right and the privilege and permission to call the God of the universe “Father.”

Or at least, it should be. The problem is that when we human beings do things over and over again, we all too often slip from a reasoned understanding of what and why we’re doing them to a rote routine mentality. In other words, we do it because we’ve always done it. We do it out of reflex. We do it because it’s programmed into us at some point and it doesn’t require any thought. We become flippant and matter-of-fact. We approach God casually. And in doing so, we are disrespectful to God.

We need to be more aware of the majesty and awe of God. The Jews certainly were; so much so that God is only called “Father” once in the Pentateuch (books of Moses), and only seven times total in all of the Old Testament. (Deut 32:6; Psalms 89:26; Isaiah 9:6, 63:16, 64:8; Jeremiah 3:4, 19) In contrast, Jesus calls God “Father” 17 times just in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7.

“But,” you say, “isn’t the word translated as ‘Father’ in this verse the word ‘abba’, and doesn’t that mean ‘poppa’ or ‘daddy’ or ‘dad’?”

Yes, that’s true. “Abba” is Aramaic for the informal form of endearment that is most equivalent to “poppa” or “daddy.” (The Hebrew form is “avi”, for you trivia buffs.) But a familiar form of a word is not equal to a casual or flippant treatment. And certainly there is nothing in the Law that God gave Moses almost 4000 years ago that indicates God considers casual/flippant to be a good thing. On the contrary, look at the following verse:

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” Exodus 20:12

You recognize that as one of the Ten Commandments, I’m sure. So God considers all fathers worthy of honor, so much so that there’s an implied curse there on those who don’t honor them. How much more so is God the Father worthy of honor? And this verse:

‘Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:3

So God the Father considers all fathers worthy of reverence. Then in the next breath, He commands that His sabbaths be kept. Do you think that is a coincidental connection of the statements? I don’t think so. This verse can be read to say that reverencing fathers is of as great an importance to God as the worship of Himself. And finally this verse:

‘If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, his bloodguiltiness is upon him.’ Leviticus 20:9

If these are the things that God commanded in the law He gave to Moses about earthly fathers and how they are to be treated, about how they should be revered and honored and respected, how much more do you think He feels is due Himself?

I don’t think it’s a very good thing to be disrespectful to God. We need to rethink our attitudes about how we approach God. After all, we’re talking about the God whose mind contained the basic design of the universe and the plan of all history before the universe was created. We’re talking about the God who had a plan of salvation for fallen man already in place before the events of Genesis 1:1. We’re talking about the God who sacrificed His own Son to accomplish that plan of salvation.

Don’t you think that that God, Who is and did all those things, is one who should be approached with awe and respect?

The miracle about prayer, to me, is two-fold:

1. First, that we are allowed to approach God at all in any way, shape, or form. By rights, God in His holiness should not allow it. That we can is an expression of God’s mercy.

2. Second, that we as believers are allowed to address God as “Father”. That God gives us that privilege is an expression of His grace.

Calling God “Father” is a gift, a grace, a privilege; and it is something that we do not deserve and should never take lightly. When you talk to God in prayer, always keep that in mind. He is awesome. He is worthy of awe and reverence and honor, and we should always approach him that way, even when we begin with “Our Father….”

Peace and grace to you.

David

May 10
Love0

The Body of Christ

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The Body of Christ is a vivid image of what our lives should look like as we daily interact with other Christ-followers and unbelievers as well; but its more than an image, it is what we are a part of. We must fight against the tendency of ‘doing Church’ a few hours on Sunday morning to ‘being the Church’ which is the Body of Christ functioning 24/7. Can you imagine if your body only functioned a few hours one day a week – the unmet needs of the body, the malnutrition leading to infections leading to disease, and the list could go on?

We must Understand, Thank and Obey God for His wise placement of each of the members of His Body.

‘But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.’ 1 Corinthians 12:18

This verse should be branded on our heart for the times of weariness, feelings of being forgotten, overlooked, taken advantage of or inferiority to the placement and gifting of others in the Body – God wisely chose your part in His Body and only you can fulfill its function.

Over the next few weeks Jimmy Jackson will be preaching through Hebrews 10:23-24 at Heritage.

 

Apr 24
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Cross the Street, Reach the Nations…

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There may be no more famous image of people crossing the street than that of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road. Often imitated and forever etched in pop culture, it has held up well over the years. But what if we looked at it from another perspective? Would we see things differently? Would we notice something else? Who really cares is the proper answer… What I am getting at is that a change of perspective is often necessary with things that are familiar.

Our normal lives often require us to see things from a different perspective and what could be more normal than our neighborhoods? We drive them or walk them everyday. We know most of what happens on those streets and we tend to overlook the opportunities right before our eyes. The following is an article on this very thing: Changing our perspective when it comes to those right next to us. Read it. Think about it. Then walk across the street…

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A missionary with years of experience in the Muslim world was visiting back home in the United States when he struck up a friendly conversation with an immigrant shop owner.

“I said, ‘Thanks for coming to America,’” the missionary recalls. The shop owner was moved almost to tears. “He put his arms around me and said, ‘You’re the first person who has ever welcomed me to this country.’”

During the same U.S. stay, the missionary spoke at a church in a Southern town. Before he arrived there, a member of the church surveyed the community’s 20 or so Muslim families. Some of them had lived in the area as long as 10 years. The church member asked them if anyone in town had ever visited to tell them about Christ. No, they answered. Had anyone ever mentioned the name of Jesus to them? No. What was their chief emotion about living in America?
“We’re so lonely,” they responded. “No one ever talks to us. No one wants to hear our story. No one wants to have a meal with us.”

The immigrants arriving in America these days include people who are very hard to reach with the Gospel in their home countries. Here, they can be reached by crossing the street.

But you have to cross the street.

“God is giving us a second chance. He is bringing the nations to us,” the missionary says. “But we’re running from the nations in our midst. Having Muslims in our homes is not brain surgery. But the thing that is driving the church is fear. Until we get over our fear, we will not welcome the lost in our midst. We’re afraid of Muslims and we’re afraid of foreigners. These people are so lonely and isolated. Get out of your church. Go to their homes. Invite them to your home. Shop where they shop.

“We’re in a free country, and yet we’re not exercising our freedom to witness to the nations in our midst.”

What are we afraid of? Lots of things. Fear or suspicion of the stranger, the foreigner, the “other” is part of human nature. The United States has alternately welcomed and shunned immigrants over the past century, opening and closing its borders depending upon events, political-economic forces and social attitudes. More recently, the flood of illegal immigration, the competition for jobs in a recession-ravaged economy and the ongoing reverberations of 9/11 have played into the mix. And racism, even in our supposedly enlightened era, still poisons minds and hearts.

Within the church, there’s another dynamic worse than fear or resentment: indifference. If we’re not sharing the Good News with neighbors we’ve known for years or a lifetime, we’re not going to share it with newcomers who don’t act and talk like we do.

We need God’s perspective. He told the children of Israel again and again to welcome the “stranger and the alien in your midst,” reminding them that they once were aliens and refugees in Egypt.

Throughout history, observed the late, great missiologist Ralph Winter, God has been “kicking people out of one culture into a new one” — from Abraham’s move to Canaan, to Christian slaves carried off by pagan conquerors, to the present day.

God often uses such migrations, forced or otherwise, to place believers in cultures that haven’t yet heard He is Lord. Alternately, He moves nonbelievers into cultures where they can hear the Good News, then sends them back to their own people groups to spread the Word.

The United States leads all nations of the world as a destination for migrants, according to new findings from the Pew Research Center. No surprise there. With 43 million foreign-born residents, our country counts more than three times as many migrants as Russia, the second-place destination. America is home to one of every five migrants worldwide.

“The United States has been the leading destination for many, though not all, religious groups,” Pew reports. “The U.S. also has been the top destination for Buddhist migrants … and for people with no particular religion (including many from China). The U.S. has been the world’s second-leading destination for Hindu migrants, after India, and for Jewish migrants, after Israel.” More than 2 million Muslim immigrants were living here in 2010.

According to mission research, nearly 600 unengaged, unreached people groups can be found in North America — many of them in urban areas. They haven’t heard the Gospel in ways they can understand it and respond to it, and no evangelical group currently has a viable plan to reach them. Up to eight of every 10 refugees resettled in the United States come from unreached areas of the world.

As participants in the recent “ethnéCITY: Reaching the Unreached in the Urban Center”* conferences have learned, many of those new arrivals are moving to medium-sized urban areas and suburbs, rather than the traditional ethnic enclaves of big cities. By 2010, slightly more than half of all immigrants could be found in suburbs.

According to The Brookings Institution, the number of foreign-born people in the United States topped 40 million in 2010, a 28 percent increase since 2000 and about 13 percent of the nation’s total population. More than a third of new immigrants during the decade came from Asia, while the fastest-growing group came from Africa.

The five cities with the largest foreign-born populations are New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Houston. But the fastest growth is happening in smaller and midsize cities. Brookings reports: “A swath of metro areas from Scranton (Pa.) stretching southwest to Indianapolis and Little Rock and sweeping east to encompass most of the Southeast and lower mid-Atlantic … saw growth rates on the order of three times that of the 100 largest metro areas’ rate. These include Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville and Indianapolis, all of which passed the 100,000 mark for total foreign-born population by 2010.” Similarly, the states with the fastest-growing foreign-born populations are North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Nevada and Tennessee.

That’s essentially the Bible Belt, folks. How will we respond?

As a mission worker in a Muslim country used to tell me: “These people haven’t rejected the Gospel. They haven’t heard the Gospel.”

 

For the original blog post and site click here.

Apr 24
Love0

Marty update

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Thursday, June 7th 5:00 pm

Marty is still doing well recovering from the brain surgery. Yesterday  he felt abdominal discomfort and this morning he had out-patient surgery  for kidney stones; he is out of surgery and doing well.  The following is from Marty a couple weeks ago:

Once again Jan and I are so grateful for a loving church! You have done so many things so well and we feel that we are surrounded by the incredible love of the Lord in great part through you.  One of the signs of a healthy church is that when one staff member is knocked out, the others take up the slack and the church continues on. Heritage has done that, by God’s grace and the effort of a great group of leaders in our pastoral staff and elders and a great congregation. As I shared previously, I am still not out of the woods, to quote the neurosurgeon. June 12th is a pivotal date when I will have another CT scan and meet with the neurosurgeon to determine if a small hematoma that remains on the right side of my brain is being absorbed by my body or if he will have to do surgery again. We will gratefully accept whatever the Lord’s providence brings to us, and we would love to have you join us in prayer for the outcome. Once again, thank you very, very much for your loving and faithful prayers!

Tuesday, May 8th, 9:00am

Hello everyone. We wanted to tell you everything appears to be going well with Marty’s recovery. He even made his way up to the church for a brief hello yesterday. His days are filled with rest and visits to the doctors. There really isn’t much to say and that is exactly why we are writing.

Tomorrow we will be transitioning this update system away from the main page of the Heritage to other channels. If the need arises for us to go back to daily, even regular hourly updates, we will certainly put it back, but for now that approach seems like overkill.

The plan is to move the updates to the Heritage Weekly and the Heritage Facebook page. Please let us know if you have any questions. We would love to answer them for you the very best we can.

Saturday, May 5th, 3:00pm

Good news: The Brown’s are going through the final process of being released. Marty is going home! He will get to sleep in his own bed… This is obviously a huge milestone, but the recovery is far from over. They will most likely not get home before 6:00pm, but they are heading in the right direction. Please be praying for a smooth transition and for the recovery to proceed. As if this really needs to be said: They are really excited.

Friday, May 4th, 4:00pm

Things have continued to go well today. Marty has been making laps up and down the hall. He is free of almost all his connections to machines and things that drip fluid into him. His spirits are high and that zest for life we have all seen in him has returned. Marty’s headaches are gone. He told me it is the first time in over a month his head has not hurt. He is making progress!

Progress...

With everything in the head moving in the right direction, we are now praying for the things in the bladder to get moving as well. There is no going home until the bladder works properly. He will be tired after his marathon walk this afternoon, but all rings considered, he is making great progress. Oh… Whoops! I almost forgot. They took his staples out. He still has some stitches, but the row of staples across his head are gone. Praise God!

Friday, May 4th, 11:00am

Today, Marty’s head is doing great. No slurrring. No headaches Reading is a little slow, but he is making good progress. He has shown tremendous improvement since Wednesday when he could NOT put words together at all or put it on paper.
He is fighting off a potential bladder infection. Pray his brain communicates to the bladder to go! A Urologist friend is going to be coming in today to see what steps to take. If the bladder stuff gets better his improvement over the past few days gives them a chance of going home sooner tater than later.
And of course they want to go home… We praise God for the BIG improvement of his head. The only medication he is now on for his head are Kepra and Tegretol (for seizures) and Tylenol. Compared to the amount and strength of the medication he has been on, this is nothing.
Marty and Jan have continually mentioned their gratefulness for everyone’s prayers. Please keep praying. Though he is making progress he still has a long journey in front of him.

Thursday, May 3rd, 4:00pm

Jan just told me this has been a great day! She was very excited and thankful for seeing real, tangible progress. Marty has been alert and feeling better throughout the day. His speech has improved and he was even attempting to read out loud for a bit. Marty’s appetite has returned and he is regaining some strength. He is definitely not well, so don’t stop praying. And as has been mentioned here frequently, he has had good days followed by tough one’s, but this is encouraging.

Thursday, May 3rd, 9:00am

The results from the MRI were good. Marty had a good night and his speech has improved slightly. He was smiling this morning and excited for the day. His voice was strong and spirits were up.

Marty on Tuesday

This obviously has taken it’s toll on the family, but Jan is encouraged by that classic song “Stand By Your Man”. She is the hospital equivalent of Tammy Wynette, having shaved her head to match her husband.

Jan and her hair to support Marty

There have been some rumors of seizures floating around. Doctors think this MAY be what is going on. Again, to the best of my knowledge no one has confirmed he is even having seizures. They are looking for what are called “mini focal seizures”. This is why they have put him on two seizure meds for now.

The doctors are planning on changing his meds today. He is currently on a number of serious medication and the hope is he can be moved off of a few of them. Marty is happy for this, but concerned the headaches will return.

For the record, Jan did not shave her head. The picture is not real. The other day she was joking about cutting her hair, so we made it happen. Please don’t let anyone cut their hair to support Jan.

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Wednesday, May 2nd, 8:00pm

Marty had an MRI this evening and they are still waiting on the results. There will most likely be nothing until the morning. The hope is for this test to give a better look at what is going on. Let us be found praying for clarity, wisdom, healing, and improvement.

One other item I know Marty wants people to remember is how God will be glorified through this ordeal. We are praying He will be working in lives, near and far, through ways only the Lord can use. In our prayers and concern for Marty lets also plead for the souls of others, that God would rescue them from their spiritual death. There are Doctors, nurses, support staff, other patients, and other families we want to be praying for and Sharon with.

We will update as soon as there is more info to share.

Wednesday, May 2nd, 6:00pm

Apologies for the internet silence today, but enough about the Narrator. Marty has had a tough day. Again, the “Two steps forward, one step back thing”. He is on a slew of medications and some are working better than others. It is my (completely non-medical) opinion they are still trying to find the right medicines and right levels for his body. This could be clarified with more specifics from a Doctor who has knowledge of Marty’s condition, but as of 6:00pm I have not spoken with one.

Please keep praying. The slurring of speech has been present throughout the day. This is may not amount to much, but it is certainly frustrating for Marty and scary for Jan. Please refrain from visiting right now, even for Jan. It is not good for Marty to have visitors at this point and someone coming for her means she will have to leave the room, go down the hall and visit with people away from her husband. She does not like leaving him for more than a few minutes during the day. Your cards, comments, e-mails, texts, and calls are being received and they are a blessing. Her phone has been going off constantly whenever I have been with her. If you do not hear back from Jan right now, please understand she is under a tremendous amount of stress and it is understandably taking it’s toll. I’m sure she will be expecting a beach trip when they get through this…

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Tuesday, May 1st, 5:00pm

Today has been a good day… Marty has eaten, walked twice, and for the most part spoken well all day.

He told me he got to preach to the Speech Therapist. Of course he thought it didn’t go we’ll, but all preachers think that. If you ask me, this was the best medicine or therapy he could have received.

I heard today that people can and do make complete recovery from this type of issue. One thing they stressed was that the patient needs rest. Sleep allows the brain to heal. There are still two spots that need to heal in his head and rest will go a long way toward helping. The family continues to ask for there to be no visitors and the nurses have now placed a sign on the door for anyone who forgets.

All things considered, this seems like good news, a good day, and a great step in the right direction. Marty looked good and sounded good. He was laughing about the red tint in his hair and eagerly anticipating the crab bisque he is having for dinner. All of it, including the food, sounds good to me.

Let’s praise God for encouraging news and keep praying for progress and healing.

Monday, April 30th, 7:00pm

As mentioned earlier, there are a few new Doctor’s on the scene. Forgive my lack of specifics on titles and roles, but suffice to say, there is a new neurological specialist looking into what is going on with Marty. They were thinking it was normal post-op recovery, but now that it has persisted they are pursuing other options. His continued headaches are troubling and a sign that something else may be going on. There is enough abnormality to take a new track, so this may have turned to more of a vascular issue… They are hoping to find out results from tests on his carotid artery, as well as, an EEG (to measure the brain’s electrical activity). As if that is not enough, there will most likely be a heart test in there as well.

The following from earlier today is still true.

MARTY IS STILL EXPECTED TO MAKE A FULL RECOVERY. Issues with speech slurring after this procedure is not at all unusual. Not everyone experiences these problems, but none of the doctors have been surprised. What is less clear is how long these struggles will persist…

What has not been expected is for this to last as long as it has and for the headaches to still be so severe.

The family has asked that you be made aware of what is going on, so you will know how to pray. Marty is still in a great deal of pain and very uncomfortable. The good news is, when they isolate the issue, progress should be right around the corner.

Monday, April 30th, 5:00pm

Lots to update everyone on. They have just ordered more tests. Marty will be having tests run on the veins in his neck and another test on his heart to make sure everything is operating properly. There is also a chance of him moving to a regular room. So, let’s get to praying.

The day has been one steady stream of doctors, specialists, and tests. Both Marty and Jan are exhausted. Due to the storms last night, Jan woke at 4am and was up at the hospital shortly there after. We can pray she gets some rest. Marty is being assisted in his rest by medication, even though he is constantly be pushed and shoved by the hospital staff. Let’s assist Jan in her rest by asking the Lord to fill her up far more than any amount of sleep could supply.

Marty looked and sounded good when I was with him today. It is true he is experiencing periodic slurring of speech and moments where he cannot communicate. I have not been sharing this detail, because I was respecting their privacy and letting them release details on their timeframe. Yesterday, Jan posted the details of the speech difficulties. Therefore, it is now appropriate to give some perspective.

MARTY IS STILL EXPECTED TO MAKE A FULL RECOVERY. Issues with speech slurring after this procedure is not at all unusual. Not everyone experiences these problems, but none of the doctors have been surprised. What is less clear is how long these struggles will persist…

Please be praying for the doctors to have clarity on what to treat and how to go about it? Please be praying for Marty to continue making progress and for his headaches to be removed and speech to improve. Jan joked with me
This afternoon that everyone should brace themselves, because he will be returning with a whole bunch of new sermon illustrations.

Monday, April 30th, 12:00pm

Directly from Jan:

Wow! It has been a long morning. Everything started around 6:30. Marty got a cat scan. It was stable which means it hasn’t gotten worse. The Dr said it actually had improved a tiny little bit. His headaches haven’t been as bad which we are very thankful for. Our biggest concern is Marty’s speech. His words are slurred and seem to happen more frequently today. We had a neurologist come by and evaluate him. He used some BIG word which I have already forgotten. So they plan on doing an EEG sometime today. They plan to move him to a regular room today but the Dr said NO visitors. They think he is getting a little over stimulated and needs more rest.

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Sunday, April 29th, 2:00pm

The Doctor came through and looked at all the tests this morning. Praise God they didn’t show any signs of infection, however they said the CAT Scan looked the same as yesterday. I believe they were hoping it was a better CAT Scan and the fluid on the brain would have been more absorbed which it wasn’t. His speech has not been slurred any this afternoon and he hasn’t thrown up any more. We can be praying he gets his strength and energy back. They have him back on liquid IV, no food or water, and a Tylenol IV for pain. His head has been better this afternoon but the Dr said they are watching how he does today. If he doesn’t do well, they are going back in. Also, decisions will depend on the next CAT Scan. Please pray that won’t be the case. Sounds like Monday should be busy.

Sunday, April 29th, 7:30am

This morning got off to a rough start. Marty has been experiencing nausea and generally wrestling through the night. It sounds like they got his fever under control at some point in the night. Jan was concerned and asking for prayer. By the time I made it up to the hospital, he had already left for an impromptu CAT Scan. He was looking better than i expected and even in good spirit this morning considering the night he had.

I think this is clear by now, but Marty has a lot of recovering to do… From what they tell me, operating on the brain is a big deal. There will undoubtedly be good days and bad ones. The family is appreciative for all the cards and call, but is still asking people to hold off on visiting.

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Saturday, April 28th, 6:30pm

The need to continue to pray is being voiced loud and clear. Marty has had a tough day with a return of a pretty serious fever, headaches coming back with some force, and some concern over Pneumonia. Apparently he has a history of Pneumonia. Please be praying for the family and of course with Marty’s recovery. They met with a Therapist today and will start therapy just as soon as Marty can handle it. They are tired and ready to see some real steps forward. Jan expressed her weariness this evening and just asked for all of us to continue praying. The tough thing is, it is just the beginning of a long road…

Saturday, April 28th, 9:00am

The word is Marty got a bit of his appetite back this morning, filling up on sugary cereal. Jan said he never gets that at home, so it was a real treat. His head still hurts a great deal, but the Doctors are saying everything is still making progress. We will update as more details become available.

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Friday, April 27th, 9:30pm

They have decided to check on him every two hours tonight. Doctors have “up’d” the meds while watching for any signs of trouble. He ate a whole bowl of crab bisque and moaned as he ate, so his taste buds are working… Several of his grandchildren have been able to come by and visit for a short time. They found him walking the halls with Jan, but very tired. We have been asked to not stop praying. Recovery is a rough road.

Friday, April 27th, 11:30am

Pastor Marty with Pastor Orhan last August

Well, what do they say? Two steps forward and one step back. That may be a bit of overstating things, but it does sum up the situation nicely. Marty had a great day yesterday. He moved rooms, walked the halls, ate a ton, and even got up and shaved. This morning it appeared the busyness took it’s toll. He was weary and struggling a bit. The Doctor gave him another CAT Scan just to make sure everything was doing well. Praise God the report was good. Marty is making progress. His pain is a bit higher today, but they should be able to manage it and he is currently resting.

Again, the family is asking for no visitors, but to use that time and energy to pray. You can pray for Marty, but you can also pray for Pastor Orhan in Riverland as Marty and I did this morning. While meeting briefly with Marty and Jan and praying for their situation, Marty asked that we pray for Orhan and his health situation. He is waiting on the results of tests for Cancer. Please lift Orhan and his family up, even if you have no idea who that is.

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Thursday, April 26th, 1:15pm

Marty wanted to share this pic with everyone.

He has been eating better today and is generally feeling much better. Earlier he got up to shave his face. Now he is resting. Thank you for your prayers and for all your kind words.

Thursday, April 26th, 10:15am

Marty is being moved to a “Step Down” room right now. He seems more alert, is talking and eating. Pray this move doesn’t take too much out of him and that he continues to make improvement.

Thursday, April 26th, 8:30am

Talking with Jan this morning was a reminder that this recovery is a marathon and not a sprint… Marty had a CAT scan last night and another this morning. He is experiencing what the Doctors are describing as normal reactions to brain surgery. Apparently, removing the fluid has left a void in his head. I will let all of you fill in the punch line, but this is something they are watching and something we can be praying about.

Yesterday, he had little to no appetite and was sleeping a great deal of the day. They are hoping to sit him up more today, so we can be praying this transition will go smoothly and for the move to a regular room.

The family is asking for there to be no visitors, but for people to continue praying. Marty is expected to make a full recovery, but it is a long road. It is normal for our attention to be focused on the day of surgery, but let us be people who remember to pray through the recovery as well.

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Wednesday, April 25th, 8:30am

The Brown’s met with the Doctor this morning finding out the drains have been taken out and they plan on sitting Marty up late this afternoon. The plan is for him to remain in ICU until tomorrow, then move to a regular room for a few days. Marty mentioned feeling much better this morning which is a huge relief given how bad he felt yesterday. The family wanted to mention how grateful they are for the prayers and cards. They have repeatedly expressed how overwhelmed they have been by the love of the Body.

That being said, I came across an interesting article this morning that may be of interest to many of you since you are coming here to find out information on Marty and wondering how you can support him and his family. The article is from Ligonier Ministries and can be found here.

3 Simple Ways to Encourage Your Pastor

FROM Apr 25, 2012 Category: Articles

Pastors are human too. That means, of course, that they sin, but it also means that they have ordinary human needs. While no one joins the ministry in order to receive riches or accolades, honor or power, while shepherds are called to serve others rather than themselves, such doesn’t mean that they are not given to discouragement.

Most of us, most of the time, love our pastor, and are grateful for him. Few of us, however, understand that he needs encouragement. What even fewer of us grasp is how we can be an encouragement to him. Here are three simple ideas.

First, pay attention to his labors. Though we do not have a duty to be at the church every time the doors are open, one thing that discourages pastors is our unwillingness to simply avail ourselves of his gifts. When the pastor labors in his study to prepare a Bible study lesson, or writes a blog post, and the sheep under his care pay no attention, it is discouraging. It says to the pastor, “I do not value what you do for me and my family. Your efforts have no effect because I won’t even be bothered to read, or to listen. I will download the sermons of celebrities that don’t know me. I will read the wisdom of those with book contracts.” It’s not that your pastor is jealous of the gifts of others. It is instead that he is jealous for you and your growth in wisdom. A less gifted man who knows and loves you is far more potent in your life than a more gifted man far, far away.

Second, speak well of him to others. When you speak well to the pastor, if he is prone to discouragement, it might not have the impact you wish it to have. Such kind words can easily be written off as kindness rather than gratitude, as flattery rather than sincerity. But if word comes back to him, and it will, that you have spoken well of him, to others in the church, or even to those in your community, he will have to take your good word to heart. It might also encourage those with whom you speak to have a deeper appreciation for your pastor, and that’s usually a good thing. Of course the one you should be speaking to the most about your pastor is the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Pray with gratitude for the man Christ has given you, and the man will be encouraged.

Third, pursue godliness. Because he loves you, what your pastor wants more than anything else is for you to grow in grace and wisdom, to become more like Jesus. What is most discouraging for him then isn’t how poorly he may be treated, how badly he may be honored, but how poorly his sheep are doing. He is encouraged most, however, when you are doing well. When he sees your wife’s beaming face, he knows it is because you are seeking to be a godly husband and father, and is encouraged. When he sees you turning the other cheek in your relationship with your pew neighbor, he is encouraged to know that the leaven of the kingdom is spreading among his flock. When he sees you visiting the widow and the orphan, he knows you are practicing true religion, and rejoices.

Don’t, in short, tell your pastor how smart he is, nor how brilliant his sermons are. Don’t tell him how funny he is, nor how dignified. Show him how his labor in showing you Jesus is making you more like Him. That is the desire of his heart, because that is the desire of His heart.

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Tuesday, April 24th, 4:30pm

The CAT scan simply showed post surgical changes. Jan didn’t really know what those changes meant, but as they said earlier “No news is good news.”
Both Marty and Jan slept this afternoon. Marty did have a slight temperature around 1:00 of 100.4. She asked everyone to keep praying for the pain to decrease, the Doctors to have wisdom, and for a speedy recovery.

Tuesday, April 24th 12:00pm

Jan just told us Marty is recovering quite well. She has asked for people to continue to pray for Marty’s pain. He is still hurting a great deal. They are waiting to hear from the Doctor and would appreciate prayers for clarity on what is next.

Tuesday, April 24th 10:00am

Pastor Marty is said to be recovering in ICU this morning and still experiencing some discomfort. This is to be expected given the nature of the operation and he will be closely monitored over the course of the next few days to see if there are any complications. We will update this page with more details as they become available.

The other day Marty asked us to gather some information on how we as believers should respond to tough news, to sickness, or to suffering. Well, it’s been a bit busy and we are just now able to make some of these things available.

This morning we want to remind you of James Montgomery Boice, Pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Pastor Boice was diagnosed with Cancer and ultimately died from it’s complications. On his final sunday before his congregation, he stood before his people in the call to worship and counseled his church to approach the issue with these precious words.

A number of you have asked what you can do, and it strikes me that what you can do, you are doing. This is a good congregation, and you do the right things. You are praying certainly, and I’ve been assured of that by many people. And I know of many meetings that have been going on.

A relevant question, I guess, when you pray is, pray for what? Should you pray for a miracle? Well, you’re free to do that, of course. My general impression is that the God who is able to do miracles—and he certainly can—is also able to keep you from getting the problem in the first place. So although miracles do happen, they’re rare by definition. A miracle has to be an unusual thing.

I think it’s far more profitable to pray for wisdom for the doctors. Doctors have a great deal of experience, of course, in their expertise, but they’re not omniscient—they do make mistakes—and then also for the effectiveness of the treatment. Sometimes it does very well and sometimes not so well, and that’s certainly a legitimate thing to pray for.

Above all, I would say pray for the glory of God. If you think of God glorifying himself in history and you say, where in all of history has God most glorified himself? He did it at the cross of Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t by delivering Jesus from the cross, though he could have. Jesus said, “Don’ t you think I could call down from my Father ten legions of angels for my defense?” But he didn’t do that. And yet that’s where God is most glorified.

One other thing many of you have done has been sending cards, and I want to say how much I appreciate that. My wife and I have been reading them all. There are far more than I would ever have believed could come. One person in the church said that he has taken out a special prayer concern for the postman that delivers the cards that he won’t develop a hernia, and I think that’s thoughtful. Many prayers should be made along that line.

I think, although I want to assure you that I’m reading the cards, I don’t envision ever being able to answer them all. And then some of you who are in a position to do so have said, “We would like to be of help in any way we can. ” And many have been already. Again, we’re overwhelmed with offers. We’ll never be able to take advantage of them all, but we appreciate all of those offers.

If I were to reflect on what goes on theologically here, there are two things I would stress. One is the sovereignty of God. That’s not novel. We have talked about the sovereignty of God here forever. God is in charge. When things like this come into our lives, they are not accidental. It’s not as if God somehow forgot what was going on, and something bad slipped by. It’s not the answer that Harold Kushner gave in his book, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. God does everything according to his will. We’ve always said that.

But what I’ve been impressed with mostly is something in addition to that. It’s possible, isn’ t it, to conceive of God as sovereign and yet indifferent? God’s in charge, but he doesn’t care. But it’s not that. God is not only the one who is in charge; God is also good. Everything he does is good. And what Romans 12, verses1 and 2, says is that we have the opportunity by the renewal of our minds—that is, how we think about these things— actually to prove what God’s will is. And then it says, “His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Is that good, pleasing, and perfect to God? Yes, of course, but the point of it is that it’s good, pleasing, and perfect to us. If God does something in your life, would you change it? If you’d change it, you’d make it worse. It wouldn’t be as good. So that’s the way we want to accept it and move forward, and who knows what God will do?

The above quote was just an excerpt from his remarks that morning. To read the full transcript and to find out more about ht elite and ministry of Pastor Boice please follow this link.

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Monday, April 23rd, 7:00pm

As of 6pm on the 23rd of April, Pastor Marty is doing fine and recovering from surgery. His wife Jan told us everything went well and they are expecting him to make a full recovery. The blood that had collected on his brain was drained and he is now resting in ICU. He will be having a CAT Scan tomorrow to take a better look at the area and make sure everything is recovering properly. The good news is he is moving his arms and legs, acknowledging his family and on his way to being much healthier. Obviously, his family is very relieved and praising God for the good report.

We will be updating this webpage with new information as it becomes available as a service to Marty and his family. Our goal is to lighten their load, help respect their privacy and give out up to date, accurate information.

As with all major procedures there is a chance of complications, so please be in prayer for Marty and his family and respect their wishes for no visitors at this time.

Has to stay flat on back for the next few days

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Mar 30
Love0

The Resurrection

By Uncategorized

We will be gathering this Resurrection Sunday to celebrate Jesus’ raising from the dead. It will be central to our time together, but Easter has also become a time for families to spend quality time together and Heritage is no exception. We will be having a Brunch before our celebration starting at 9:00am in the West Educational Building. Whether this is your first time with us or your first time this week, we want to invite you to join us for this special gathering. There will be food everywhere and plenty of people to meet. Please allow our Heritage family to welcome your family with a plate of food and a friendly greeting.

Though fellowship is important and meaningful, we want to remind everyone why this day is special. Let us start to prepare our hearts by thinking about the wonderful grace shown us through the horrors of the cross, the fear of the grave, and Christ’s triumph over death. He is the reason we sing and have hope. He is the reason for our gatherings and our goings. He is where we place our trust. He, Jesus Christ alone, is the one who takes our place and pays for our sins.

George Whitefield said in his sermon, The Power of Christ’s Resurrection:

It was necessary on our account. “He rose again” (says the apostle) for our justification;” or that the debt we owed to God for our sins, might be fully satisfied and discharged.

It had pleased the Father (for ever adored be his infinite love and free grace) to wound his only Son for our transgressions, and to arrest and confine him in the prison of the grave, as our surety for the guilt we had contracted by setting at nought his commandments. Now had Christ continued always in the grave, we could have had no more assurance that our sins were satisfied for, than any common debtor can have of his creditor’s being satisfied, whilst his surety is kept confined. But he being released from the power of death, we are thereby assured, that with his sacrifice God was well pleased, that our atonement was finished on the cross, and that he hath made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the world…

…God is love; and therefore, could our own wills, or the world, have made us happy, he never would have sent his own dear Son Jesus Christ to die and rise again, to deliver us from the power of them. But because they only torment, and cannot satisfy, therefore God bids us to renounce them.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Some today argue that it does not really matter whether Jesus was physically resurrected. As Christian apologist, Francis Schaeffer, explained in “The Universe and Two Chairs,” Death in the City, Chapter 9, in Book IV of The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, how they couldn’t be more wrong:

The Bible says that Christ rose physically from the dead, that if you had been there that day you would have seen Christ stand up and walk away in a space-time, observable situation of true history. The materialist says, “No, I don’t believe it. Christ was not raised from the dead.” That is unbelief. Liberal theology is also unbelief because it says either that Jesus was not raised from the dead in history, or that maybe he was and maybe he wasn’t because who knows what’s going to happen in this world in which you can’t be sure of anything. The historic resurrection of Christ doesn’t really matter, says this theology; what matters is that the church got a big push from thinking he was raised in history. . . . Now I would say that the old liberalism, the new liberalism, and materialism are basically the same. To all of them finally the same word applies: unbelief.

In God in the Dock, C. S. Lewis said:

“The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left.”

 

Bonhoeffer on Easter from Letters and Papers From Prison. Dated Easter Sunday, April 25, 1943

Today the tenth day is finally here again, so that I may write to you. How glad I am to let you know that I am celebrating a happy Easter here. The liberating thing about Good Friday and Easter is that one’s thoughts turn far away from one’s personal fate toward the ultimate meaning of life, suffering, and everything that happens, and one clings to a great hope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are wanting to help you grow as much as we can. It is our desire to give you resources which can help you think, meditate, and ultimately worship the Lord with more and more of your heart and mind. Desiringgod.org has made copies of Pastor John Piper’s works available for free as a download. You can click the link on the left and download the book to your favorite device or print it out and read it on those things called paper. Your choice…

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