A surety in life, unless the Lord Jesus Christ tarries, is that you and I will both die. The horrible wage that sin pays is death (both physical and spiritual),and on Saturday Dorothy at the nursing home died.
I went on Sunday to visit both Dorothy and her roommate, Mary, and as I was talking with Mary and her sister I was informed that Dorothy had died the day before. It is a sobering reminder of what can happen within a week (indeed what can happen in one day).
As I think back over the short time that I have known Dorothy I am so thankful to the Lord, for in His providence I was able to have multiple conversations with her about the gospel and about grace. There were two extended times we were able to talk and one time I was able to read the entire book of Galatians to her. Oh praise God that I have been used to bring her the message of the gospel in this season of her life, in the nursing home!
I do not know if she died in unbelief, rejecting God's free offer of grace apart from any works of the Law. I know and trust in the Judge of all the earth that does right.
Pray for her family during this season of life (she has one daughter that I have met, also named Dorothy). Today is her visitation from 2-8 pm and tomorrow is her funeral.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Good Old Fashioned Letter Writing
To the left is the third page of a letter sent to me from a dear sister in the Lord that lives in Emporia, Kansas. Since leaving Emporia (nearly 3 years ago) she and I have kept in touch by way of letter.
What a great joy it is to hear from her. She currently lives in Flint Hills Care Center (the place that I first met her) and is a fiery evangelist for Christ there. In the years that I've known her she has said multiply times, "We have to get these people ready for heaven..."
In the letters she sends me she will often write the day and time the letter is being written. Time and time again, she writes the letters during the wee hours of the morning (the time she says that she does all of her bible reading, praying and letter writing). The scanned letter is the most recent one that I received from her this week. As you will see, she says, "Glad you are having a good time in the Lord. I am too."
Brethren let us give praise to our King in heaven as He continues His work of grace in the life of this sister. I often think of Philippians 1:6; "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." As you think of it, being praying for Annie in Kansas.
Monday, November 23, 2009
"...by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified."
Yesterday's visit to the nursing home was again coupled with great joy and sadness.
Dorothy, whom I mentioned earlier, has made little progress with her health. When I went to visit her yesterday I found her lying in bed, eyes half-opened and not moving. I quietly walked in and greeted her. I sat down in her wheelchair (with the third time being a success; sometimes in the wheelchairs there are beeping-alarms that notify the staff that the resident has departed from the seat of the chair, and my first two attempts at sitting down yesterday tripped the alarm) and by God's good pleasure was able to read to her the entire book of Galatians.
I have been thinking much about yesterday afternoon's simple reading of the Word of God. I realized that I often don't trust in the sufficiency and the power of God's Word to accomplish all that He intends. It was a great joy to read to her, in our own native language, the very words of our God. What a great joy for her to hear the truth that man is only justified by faith in Christ. That's what Paul preached, that's what the Galatians accepted, that is the truth that Christians love and cling to. "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified" (2:16)
Secondly, I was able to serve a dear saint in the nursing home yesterday. Daphnia has steadily declined in health over the past couple of months, and yesterday I was able to get a hymnal and sing hymns to her. What is so neat is that (although she is suffering from alzheimers) while I was singing, she recognized the hymns and was singing along with me! Oh what a joy Christian fellowship is!
Please be praying for Daphnia. The Lord knows the number of days she has left (the same applies for both you and me) and as things are right now it doesn't appear as if her health will be regained. God has told us that He will complete the good work that He begins in the life of His people (Philippians 1:6), and what a joy it is to see this lived out every time I visit my friends in the nursing home.
Dorothy, whom I mentioned earlier, has made little progress with her health. When I went to visit her yesterday I found her lying in bed, eyes half-opened and not moving. I quietly walked in and greeted her. I sat down in her wheelchair (with the third time being a success; sometimes in the wheelchairs there are beeping-alarms that notify the staff that the resident has departed from the seat of the chair, and my first two attempts at sitting down yesterday tripped the alarm) and by God's good pleasure was able to read to her the entire book of Galatians.
I have been thinking much about yesterday afternoon's simple reading of the Word of God. I realized that I often don't trust in the sufficiency and the power of God's Word to accomplish all that He intends. It was a great joy to read to her, in our own native language, the very words of our God. What a great joy for her to hear the truth that man is only justified by faith in Christ. That's what Paul preached, that's what the Galatians accepted, that is the truth that Christians love and cling to. "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified" (2:16)
Secondly, I was able to serve a dear saint in the nursing home yesterday. Daphnia has steadily declined in health over the past couple of months, and yesterday I was able to get a hymnal and sing hymns to her. What is so neat is that (although she is suffering from alzheimers) while I was singing, she recognized the hymns and was singing along with me! Oh what a joy Christian fellowship is!
Please be praying for Daphnia. The Lord knows the number of days she has left (the same applies for both you and me) and as things are right now it doesn't appear as if her health will be regained. God has told us that He will complete the good work that He begins in the life of His people (Philippians 1:6), and what a joy it is to see this lived out every time I visit my friends in the nursing home.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
James 4:14
James 4:14 says (in response to the man who says 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there,..."), "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes"
This description of life ("...a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes") was brought to mind once again today as I visited the residents at Signature Health Care. If you were to walk into the rooms (especially) of the older women who are living there you would see various old black and white photographs that are scattered on their dressers. You would take time and see that some are portraits and that some of are a young man who is dressed in military attire (whom you come to learn is her husband) and then a photograph of the married couple together. Youthfulness runs over all of the photographs. Youthful strength and vigor exudes from the photographs. A time that seemed simpler and ideal over comes you as you try to imagine how life must have been in those days.
Your eyes move from the dresser and the various framed pictures to the human being that is lying on a bed just across the room. This one who was so jovial and lively in the photographs now lies in bed, unable to speak and racked with pain. You look closer and see the remains of lunch still around her mouth and the clear tube that is putting fresh oxygen through her nose. Your heart breaks.
How this is such a reoccurring feeling and sight in the various nursing homes that the Lord has had me in. Such sights and realities cause you to hate sin more, for it was because of the entrance of sin that such things are a present reality. It is because of such sights that you want to live more for Christ while you have health. How every Christian should go to the nursing home at least one time; it would be interesting to see how God would use that time to affect you for the rest of your life. It is times when the Lord allows these thoughts to cross your mind that you realize your time spent laboring among these people is not in vain. The great joy it is to serve the saints who are there, and to bring the gospel to those whom have never heard.
As heart breaking as this is, as much as it could cause despair; for the child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, there is promise of a redeemed body. The hope lies in Christ, the One who conquered death and sin; the One who raised from the dead and appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). It is because of His resurrection that the Christian's faith is not in vain, and that as Christians we are not to be pitied most among men.
Let us, by God's grace, live for Him with all of our might! Whether you are in school preparing to become a doctor, studying to be a missionary, mowing grass, driving the bus for a day-care or a 5th grade school teacher; let us lose our lives in this world that we may find them.
This description of life ("...a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes") was brought to mind once again today as I visited the residents at Signature Health Care. If you were to walk into the rooms (especially) of the older women who are living there you would see various old black and white photographs that are scattered on their dressers. You would take time and see that some are portraits and that some of are a young man who is dressed in military attire (whom you come to learn is her husband) and then a photograph of the married couple together. Youthfulness runs over all of the photographs. Youthful strength and vigor exudes from the photographs. A time that seemed simpler and ideal over comes you as you try to imagine how life must have been in those days.
Your eyes move from the dresser and the various framed pictures to the human being that is lying on a bed just across the room. This one who was so jovial and lively in the photographs now lies in bed, unable to speak and racked with pain. You look closer and see the remains of lunch still around her mouth and the clear tube that is putting fresh oxygen through her nose. Your heart breaks.
How this is such a reoccurring feeling and sight in the various nursing homes that the Lord has had me in. Such sights and realities cause you to hate sin more, for it was because of the entrance of sin that such things are a present reality. It is because of such sights that you want to live more for Christ while you have health. How every Christian should go to the nursing home at least one time; it would be interesting to see how God would use that time to affect you for the rest of your life. It is times when the Lord allows these thoughts to cross your mind that you realize your time spent laboring among these people is not in vain. The great joy it is to serve the saints who are there, and to bring the gospel to those whom have never heard.
As heart breaking as this is, as much as it could cause despair; for the child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, there is promise of a redeemed body. The hope lies in Christ, the One who conquered death and sin; the One who raised from the dead and appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). It is because of His resurrection that the Christian's faith is not in vain, and that as Christians we are not to be pitied most among men.
Let us, by God's grace, live for Him with all of our might! Whether you are in school preparing to become a doctor, studying to be a missionary, mowing grass, driving the bus for a day-care or a 5th grade school teacher; let us lose our lives in this world that we may find them.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
This Is Just Wonderful
I have recently been inspired to try and update this page for the primary purpose of informing family and friends of the ministry that the Lord has opened at a nursing home near the church that I attend.
I am currently living in Louisville, Kentucky and attending Boyce College (the undergraduate school of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). Nearly the entire time I have lived here I have been attending New Heights Baptist Church in South Louisville. For nearly the past year I have been able to minister in a nursing home that is only about 1 mile from the church.
God has been so gracious during our time here at the nursing home. Brothers from church have come in and preached as we hold church services (which include singing hymns, prayer, and preaching). Not only has it been encouraging to have other brothers and sisters to labor alongside of, but it has been a continual sobering joy to visit with the residents one-on-one. Many of the residents are Catholic or have spent much of their lives in the context of the church, but tragically more than often have no clue of what the gospel is and are putting more trust in their denomination or some act that they have performed rather than the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many opportunities have been provided to share the gospel with a number of these residents. Praise God for the opportunity to share the gospel with these residents in this season of their lives!
So, by God's grace I will not forget about this page and will continue to update it. Until then, if anyone should stumble across this, please pray for these residents at the nursing home: specifically Dorothy, Delores, Mary, Ms. McDaniels, Lola and Ms. Grider.
I am currently living in Louisville, Kentucky and attending Boyce College (the undergraduate school of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). Nearly the entire time I have lived here I have been attending New Heights Baptist Church in South Louisville. For nearly the past year I have been able to minister in a nursing home that is only about 1 mile from the church.
God has been so gracious during our time here at the nursing home. Brothers from church have come in and preached as we hold church services (which include singing hymns, prayer, and preaching). Not only has it been encouraging to have other brothers and sisters to labor alongside of, but it has been a continual sobering joy to visit with the residents one-on-one. Many of the residents are Catholic or have spent much of their lives in the context of the church, but tragically more than often have no clue of what the gospel is and are putting more trust in their denomination or some act that they have performed rather than the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many opportunities have been provided to share the gospel with a number of these residents. Praise God for the opportunity to share the gospel with these residents in this season of their lives!
So, by God's grace I will not forget about this page and will continue to update it. Until then, if anyone should stumble across this, please pray for these residents at the nursing home: specifically Dorothy, Delores, Mary, Ms. McDaniels, Lola and Ms. Grider.
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