I’ll Tell You What…

Tomorrow’s the day I say goodbye to a close friend: my gall bladder. While the surgeon’s in there a liver biopsy will be taken to see what’s up with my liver function test numbers.

Prayers at 1:00 PM EST would be greatly appreciated.

Well, tomorrow’s one of the big days for this liver/gall bladder problem I’ve been suffering from all year long. My doctor is going to perform an upper GI endoscopy to check for possible ulcers and such in my esophagus, stomach and duodenum. If all is well, he will then refer me to a surgeon for gall bladder extraction and liver biopsy. I’m excited. Can you tell?

You prayers in this matter are very much appreciated.

I encourage all those who read my ramblings and who have a desire to donate to the hurricane Katrina relief effort to give their donations to their local church. Yeah, the Red Cross does lots of good and all but the body of Christ should act as one to address the hurt in the world. We are to care for the hurting, we are to house the homeless, we are to feed the hungry.

If your church does not have an organized effort to provide funds to the relief effort, I strongly recommend that you give to Samaritan’s Purse. It is a fine Christian organization led by Franklin Graham that truly cares.

Samaritan’s Purse’s Mission Statement:

Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.

The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You can read more about Samaritan’s Purse here.

Winston Churchill once said, “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

Another famous person once said these things.

“Everyone will hate you because you are committed to me.” (Matthew 10:22, Mark 13:13, Luke 21:17)

“Blessed are you when people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because you are committed to the Son of Man.” (Luke 6:22)

But the teaching didn’t stop there.

“The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I say that what everyone does is evil.” (John 7:7)

“But I tell everyone who is listening: Love your enemies. Be kind to those who hate you.” (Luke 6:27)

“But I tell you this: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

“Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who insult you.” (Luke 6:28)

Have you prayed for someone in your life who is unlovable?

Well, last Wednesday I went to the specialist (a gastroenterologist). All my symptoms appear to point in different directions. I could potentially have mononucleosis, diabetes, a gall bladder infection, any number of liver diseases or a combination of all the above. If this were a multiple choice exam I might choose gall bladder problems since it’s very easy to remove. In around breakfast, home in time for a lunch you probably shouldn’t eat yet.

Anyway, the doc wrote up a lab order consisting of 20+ different blood tests. Yea! The nurses took out eleven (11) vials of blood. Yea, again! Plus, I won wants behind door number two. A nuclear scan!!! Ding, ding, ding! Actually it’s called a HIDA scan. I’m not exactly sure what it reveals other than gall bladder problems and possibly some liver problems. My doctor’s a very smart guy so I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.

My doctor’s nurse called me this morning to verify the date of my lab work because they haven’t received the results. I told them last Wednesday. They were going to call the lab at the hospital and give them an ear full. Ha! I really wish I would hear something very soon (like tomorrow) because I’m not getting any better, in fact, I think I’m getting a little worse.

Pray for me. It’s been a rough two weeks.

Thanks.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything original and I’d like explain why. First, the good news.

At the end of June, I took my oldest daughter on a trip celebrating her high school graduation. We traveled by plane from Boston to Calgary, AB, grabbed a rental car and drove a couple of hours to Lake Louise in the beautiful Canadian Rockies. The hotel wasn’t the best, IMO, but it was adequate. We went hiking in Johnston Canyon totalling about 10 miles, canoeing on Lake Louise itself and went on an all day trail ride in the mountains around the same lake. It was very nice to spend that much one-on-one time with my daughter.

Now for the bad news.

Since my annual physical in January my liver function test scores have been on the rise. 52 in January, 95 in March and over 170 in June. 45 is normal. My liver has been swelling some causing some minor pain in my upper abdomen with most of the pain in the upper-right quadrant. This has caused me to feel a little sick most of the time, especially in the morining and in the evenings. If I work out hard one night, my body is just devastated for about four days. My doctor’s office is supposed to call a gastroenterologist to setup and appointment.

Overall, I think I’m taking it well. I only get a little depressed when I’m hurting and feeling as if Death is in the room.

Please keep me in your prayers over the next month or so. I would greatly appreciate it.

I just received this email from Air1 Radio (Air1.com) asking for operational, spiritual and general prayers…

Air1 Prayer Partner Update
December 2004

Thank you for your continued commitment to join us in praying for Air1.

“For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their prayer.”
1 Peter 3:12

Operational Prayer Points:
Please pray for our technology department staff as they begin implementing new systems which will allow our ministry to run more efficiently.

Ask God to grant wisdom and direction to our management team as they look for the right people to fill important positions on our staff.

Spiritual Prayer Points:
Many of our staff have expressed their sense that Air1 is encountering great resistance from the “powers of this dark world and…the spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). Please pray that God would surround us with His comfort and protection, and that our team would be encouraged by the promise that “He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4).

General Prayer Points:
As we head into the Christmas season, please join the Air1 staff in praying for those who don’t know the One who is “the reason for the season.” Pray that Christians would take advantage of the opportunities that this season brings to share God’s light and love to a dark and hurting world.

Please pray for the following people:

• Linda - inflamation of the connective tissues in her right hand and wrist.
• Kathleen - injured hand in a car wreck.
• Brenda - surgery.
• Kate - newly pregnant with the flu.

Your prayers are very much appreciated.

I spent 3.5 hours in the emergency room last night with my daughter (almost 17). We went because she was experiencing extreme pain in her back. So much so that it was unbearable. The anguish on her face was almost more than I could bear. It is difficult to see your child in pain like this…

She was currently being treated for a bladder infection and there was much concern that the infection had spread to her kidneys.

After an IV, a shot of morphine, an abdominal CT scan, a urinalysis and several blood tests, no one knew much more than the pain was real. One possibility is that my daughter had been thrown from her horse a few weeks ago and landed square on her butt. She said it wasn’t too bad. She had been thrown before.

What worries me is that the pain started after she started taking Cipro for the bladder infection.

She had a followup with the family doctor this morning and she said that if the pain doesn’t go away or at least dimish significantly she will need to go back for spinal x-rays.

Please pray for her. She’s very precious to me.

Please pray for Christdot.org member, bond_servant. He posted the results of his bone biopsy and the news was good. But, treatment plans are next week and he’s had to stop some of his other medications for now. So, pray that the Lord will give him lots of strength and encouragement during this most difficult time.


If you would like to post a prayer for him, follow this link to our Prayer Forum.

At 11:16am today, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit Califonia shaking residents from LA to San Francisco. Two people died in the quake and about 10,000 home were without power.

Pray for the people affected by this earthquake.

I received the following email from John Schwartz of Gospel For Asia. It concerns violence in Assam, India between the Kuki and Karbi tribes…

[GFA URGENT Update] - www.gfa.org

I’m writing to you very late this evening with an urgent prayer request. The violence in Assam, India continues to escalate between the Kuki and Karbi tribes and many of our native missionaries and believers are caught in between.

We learned just minutes ago that ten of our Bible school students and one leader have been arrested by police and are being falsely accused in some manner.

Field leaders are asking us to pray for their quick release. We will post any further developments to the web as soon as possible.

(Related links to the Kuki and Karbi conflict are below.)

Thank you for praying and having a vital part in sharing the Good News in Asia!

For those who have never heard,
John Schwartz
http://www.gfa.org

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:::: Related Links to Kuki/Karbi Conflict:

1. http://www.gfa.org/site/latest_news/index.html#120203c
2. http://www.gfa.org/site/latest_news/news/archives.html#111503