Something new

Well, as some of my church friends know, I had to go back into the hospital. I was at my computer, and I had a heart attack. I called 911, and then called my wife. This was the most exquisite pain I have ever had. I had a double heart bypass at 45-years of age. They cracked my chest open. I spent around 6 days in ICU and 5 or so days in a regular room. The pain from the ribspreader is something else. Getting the chesttubes out was one of the most painful things as well as the urinary catheter. A person also gets VERY close to the Lord during this time. The pain killers that they used were powerful; and also gave a person the most elaborate hallucinations! I am getting stronger everyday, as I am trying to get out to walk as much as I can.

ErikC

My stay in the hospital

As some of y'all may already know, I was in the hospital. It was no piddly little stay. On Thursday I was picking up my wife from work and I told her that I didn't feel right. She said that we would go home and that if I still didn't feel good we would go to the ER. She took a bath, and I told her that we really had to go to the ER. When we got there, we told the doctor there everything that I was feeling(chest pain, pain radiating down both arms, shortness of breath, etc.). He decided to keep me over for observation. The cardiologist saw me, and initially said that my symptoms were atypical of heart problems. He decided to run some tests just to be sure. He had me do a stress test. He did NOT like what he saw. He also did an ultrasound of my heart, and that was inconclusive. He said that he really needed to do a heart catherization. This would be definitive. The procedure would probably take 30 minutes if nothing was wrong....... well, my procedure took 2 and a half hours!!!!!! I had three blockages.... one that was almost totally blocked(which they put a stent in), and two others(which they did angioplasties on), which were 90% and 80% blocked respectively.

Now that I've told you about the nuts-and-bolts of the situation, I want to say that I felt God's presence through the procedure. God made sure that I was awake; they tried to sedate me, but it didn't work. The only pain I felt is when they put pressure on my groin(where they inserted the wires). The scripture that comes to mind about God's presence comes from the Psalms.

Psalms 91:1- "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

This psalm has become so real to me now. There is no place that I want to be than in God's presence. I would want to implore everybody to do the same.

Erik

The Manhattan Declaration

I have been following what has been called the "Declaration of Christian Conscience." I have read it, and it is very compelling. It is a statement of faith on things such as marriage, abortion, and other hot points that Christians need to speak out on. It is something that every Christian MUST read. The website is below:

http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/

Some of the notable signatories are: Albert Mohler, Randy Alcorn, around 15 Roman Catholic Bishops and Archbishops, 4 Orthodox Patriarchs, 4 Anglican Archbishops(1 Nigerian, 3 American; no Episcopalian, no British), head of Dallas Theological Seminary, Head of Moody Bible Institute, plus many more. You can see the high profile signatories online at the website, and you can also sign the declaration. We must stand up for our conscience. God is not to be mocked!

Erik

The Future

Well, I have this semester, and next semester will be my last one! The next step in my life will be one that, with God's help, I can start my seminary education. This is going to be a long and arduous process. It will be one that will hopefully bring me closer to God, and make me a true servant. I just hope that I can be proven worthy of that. Praise be to God!

Erik

Evangelism

Well, the Episcopal Church is going down the drain. They've decided to stop all national funding for evangelism. This is just another step in the slippery slope. It is true that Episcopalians have trouble with the e word, but evangelism is one way that a denomination gets members! I can see there will be no appreciable increase in numbers in this denomination ever again.

ErikC

Ostriches: How people will deny that anything is going on

The title is very clear from the true story I will now tell. A friend of mine who is still in the Episcopal Church came into the Christian Bookstore that I work in tonight. He and I had the usual small talk, and then I asked him if he was following what was going on in Anaheim. This was his response: "I don't bother myself with such things. I trust that Bishop Doyle will do the right thing." Now, let me say that this man is truly a good christian man, but in my eyes he is denying that there is a crisis going on in the Episcopal Church. And Bishop Doyle is NOT the person to trust in this instance. He has lied to people in the past, and will do so in the future. To proverbially "bury your head in the sand" will leave your flank open. If this man does not get out, this diocese is in trouble(it is already in trouble, but you get my point.). To just leave it up to your bishop, well meaning he may be, is misguided. He is human. This is a not about flesh and blood but about "principalities and powers." Anyway, it is this type of complacency that will doom the church to hell.

ErikC

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW????

Well, the General Convention has decided to authorize Same Sex Blessings. To all of those people who are STILL holding out in the Episcopal Church and are waiting for them to change their minds: IT IS TIME TO GO, VAMOOSE, SKEEDADDLE!! The woman(and I use that term loosely) who is the presiding bishop called a personal relationship with Jesus a HERESY! What type of sign do you folks need??? Do you need a parting of the Atlantic Ocean??? She even dressed down Rowan Williams for trying to tell them about the Same Sex issue. At least Williams has got some sense.... Schori has got a shovel, and is digging her way to HELL. She is a 100%, Grade A, Prime HERETIC! God have mercy on anybody that stays in the Episcopal Church after this convention!!!!

ErikC

UPDATE: Stuff Like This Gets In My Craw

Well, well. Satan is working overtime. Apparently, the Bishop in this UNNAMED diocese (cough) wanted HIS golden child in the church that the Assistant Rector was fired from. Ah, yes, what a tangled web we weave. I don't totally release blame from that rector, because if he really cared, he would have fought for that Assistant Rector. This Assistant Rector that was fired was fired before his retirement. This means that he will lose about 25-30% of his pension. The rector will have to give an account when he meets with God. God have mercy on his soul...

ErikC

Stuff Like This Gets In My Craw

I just learned about something that really made me mad. A priest that I respected dearly got let go from his parish recently. The reason was that the head parish priest wanted to give the REST of the staff a raise and NOT the assistant priest they FIRED. This was a MAN OF GOD. Someone who knew the Word, and someone who knew how to preach. He is now preaching positions where other parish priests are taking vacations and the such. Did they give him any type of severance? I don't know. In any sense, this is JUST NOT RIGHT. He has a wife to think of as well. This church will not last long if they keep on doing stuff like this. We once attended this parish, and at one time they did do things in an ethical way. They had better change their ways, or they will begin to lose members. Kyrie Eleison...

ErikC

Lent

It's that time of year, and my wife and I have decided to not use foul language. Usually, that is not a problem with me, but with "Obama the Magnificent" in office I find it very difficult to use regular language. With all of the bailouts and "steal-from-us" packages that he has, it is just plain difficult to not use hard language. He expects to spend money, and then cut the deficit in half in two years... Hmmm.... don't see it, Vern.... Unless he's using that fallacious adage: "You've got to spend money to make money..." I literally had to see if I had enough refills on my blood pressure medication! So far, so good. I haven't said anything bad, and I haven't used God's name in vain. I had to repent for some bad thoughts, but other than that, that's it. Pray for me, that I don't lose my cool.

ErikC

Something to lift my spirits

Well, y'all,

There's something that I have come to know, and that is: you can't outgive God, you can't outdo God, and you can't outthink God. Here's one for the recordbooks. I'll give y'all a little bit of background before I tell the story. About two weeks ago, my wife Wanda had some moles removed from her back. This was in part to my urging because one of them had changed color. Anyway, one of the three is indeed a cancerous melanoma; the type of melanoma that metastasizes. Needless to say, I freaked out. The others were benign. If that were not bad enough news, she does not have health insurance.
My daughter-in-law has found out that she has a lump under one of her breasts that is the size of a tennis ball. They are going to go in on Monday to either take a biopsy, or to take what they can if it is bad.
Yesterday, I was working in a big funk. I was just trying to work just not to think about anything. One of the people at work with whom knows about my wife asked how I was doing. I told her about my daughter-in-law. She relayed a situation of a person in her church(I work in a christian bookstore) where sometimes a person may have to walk through the fire for awhile before God heals. I know about that, and that is a distinct posibility. BUT, the story is not over.
My birthday is Monday(2/9), and I am not expecting anything past the blessing from the pastor on Sunday. I walked into the house, and I see a box from Christian Book Distributors opened.... I see a set of Charles Spurgeon's Sermons!!!!! I was crying.... I tell ya, the story is not over. My wife had told my on the phone that there were two boxes in the apartment office that I had to get. Well, I went to get them, and my wife and I went out to dinner for my birthday early, and brought the boxes along with us. She opened the boxes to get the invoices so she could see what was in them. She told me that she did NOT send these two! When she saw the name on it, it was my brother! Now, my brother usually doesn't do stuff like this. It was very interesting. It was around $300.00 worth of stuff. Martin Luther's Sermons, Charles Hodge's Systematic Theology, and Torrey's The Fundamentals. I was aghast. My cup had runneth over. I could not look through them, because I had school reading to do. Needless to say, I am this weekend! Praise be to God!

Erik

An Interesting thing Happened at Work...

A young gentleman wanted to buy a bible, and I showed him one; but he had an ulterior motive. He was showing me places where it told of a baptism in the name of Jesus only. In a kind way, I reminded him that Jesus gave the Great Commission, saying, "Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." He kept trying to convince me of his side, and that there was a baptism of the Holy Spirit, which I do believe in, and he did not have to convince me. He went back to the issue of water baptism and baptism in the name of Jesus only(there are two Oneness Pentecostal Churches near where I work). Again, I told him about the Great Commission. He got sarcastic, and said to find somewhere in the scripture that had baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, EXCEPT for where I showed him. At that moment, we were putting out our merchandise that the warehouse had sent us, and I was busy. I told him that I would love to debate this with him, but right now is not the right time. I also told him that I loved him as a christian brother, but that I needed to go. He was searching for a fight, and for affirmation, not for a christian brother to talk to. Needless to say, it was interesting.

Erik