Still Thankful

First of all, I need to add a disclaimer. In my previous post about your church only asking for your attendance and tithe check, I want you to know that I was not talking about any specific church. Of course with a blog that has over 1500 subscribers, you are going to say something occasionally to offend someone, and this was not the comment that I would have thought would, but it did. So accept my apology in that regard. Their are however churches out there that don't ask much from their members, and if THAT offends you, you probably go to one. I was simply contrasting that we in America take Church for granted. Christian in other countries are arrested, tortured, and even killed for attending church. And you know what? They attend any way. They may not go on Sunday at 10am and 6pm and Wednesday at 7pm like the Bible says (I am being sarcastic, please no hateful e-mails- really I know what the Bible says), but they go any way. But alas, I digress.

I must admit, that my church attendance has not actually been very Pharisee like itself. As a matter of fact, after my last flare up was over, I only went a couple of times. I preached on Sunday at a different church, went to my home church Sunday night, and then skipped Wed. night. Actually I don't remember if I did or not, but lets just say my joy in attending my current Church has went away. I attended a few weeks after my flare up, and then have not been back. As a matter of fact, I am resigning my membership their and moving on to what God has for me next. Why, you ask? None of your business, really. There was some conflict, and I asked God to open some new doors for me if He wanted me to move on, and He has opened several! Leave it to the Great I Am to give you some awesome employment options!

I actually would like to go to Dallas and to the Potter's House Church there, but the Lord says no, they don't need another preacher working from there. Sorry Bishop Jakes! You will have to get Roxann's Dumplings another time, ha.

Any way, I did not go to church this Sunday either- I had back surgery Saturday at the VA Clinic in Lexington. I guess it was more like a procedure, but boy did it feel major! They could not use anesthesia because they needed to know which nerve to "burn" (BTW I had microwave ablation of some spinal nerves). Can I just tell you it hurt! So Roxann and the kids went to the Church of our neighbors, Seven Pines Pentecostal Church while I enjoyed the Potters House Live from my computer screen. They liked it- the boys loved it, and I will try it out tomorrow night.

Back to my back. By Monday, I felt pretty good, so me and a guy named Red, who is my handy man that I hired to help take care of this place and who will also be the full time caretaker of our horse farm (more on that in another blog). So we moved my office and study downstairs into the basement, and then cleaned up my wood shop/garage. Felt really good. Called the Pastor of our old Church to try to explain why we were resigning, and again she refused to listen- I was wrong, and that was that. Its hard to argue with someone who is convinced that their position makes them right 100% of the time. So I stayed up all night in prayer (again, and for the same reasons as before). Then God told me what to do.

Remember in a previous post when I said what true worship was- adoration of God. To Adore your Creator. I put on a song by the Gaither Vocal Band called "Worthy the Lamb", and I just sat back and adored my Lord and Creator. And God gave me a message to give to my Pastor. I typed it up, and mailed it out. Which is what He told me to do. Not to speak-words are worthless when they are not listened to. So now she has a letter penned directly from God, and she will know exactly what to do next.

So, by this time Roxann is awake, and there is a good amount of snow on the ground, so she asked me to remove the snow from the van and drive down the road to see if it was safe enough for her to drive. Boy the things you do for love! So it was, she left, and I went back to prayer.

Kids did not have school because of snow-oh great, I have been awake for two full days and nights, and was really looking forward to sleeping while they were at school! So I wait until they get up, fix them breakfast, and Tyler offers to be the boss so I can sleep. He said, "Dad you look like death walking-like Spawn from my comic book". So I took him up on it and went to sleep. And boy, I slept like the dead. Me and my cat Sheba both didn't move for nine hours....at all.

Now back to my back-see there is a method to my madness! When I woke up, it hurt. Badly. Very Badly. I called the Pain Clinic where I had the procedure done and they said don't worry, your fine as long as there is no bulging or spinal fluid leaking. Now bu now, yall know my luck right. Of course, I had both. On all four puncture sites. So they said whatever you do, don't apply heat. So I take the heating pads I already had on off (ok, stop laughing), and then they said come in immediately. Screw that! I'm tired of doctors. So here I am in another sleepless night-this time because of pain. I can take no pain killers-you know us former addicts know better. It only takes one, and then there goes the vicious cycle all over again. And really friends, my former Pastor thinks that is why I am leaving the church anyway, that I have started doing them again, so it would be easy to go back. I have a stack of prescriptions a quarter of an inch thick I haven't gotten filled (wonder how much those are worth-kidding, no e-mails pleas), so why not?

I'll tell you why not. Did Jesus have pain killers when He was strapped to that Roman whipping post? NO I am sure His back hurt a whole lot worse than mine.

I thought about trying the vinager and gaul thing, but since I have no idea what it is, I'll have to pass. The Greek word for it seems to be "sour wine", but my Greek is a little rusty, and I don't like good wine, so sour wine will just have to wait as well. Now a good shot of Jack Daniels maybe. Look, I am just kidding again- remember I am the preacher that listens to AC/DC! I have a little bit of a sense of humor, and have not had a drink of alcohol in a really, really long time. SO for those of you critics and Pharisees that just take the negatives from these post to use as ammunition against me- there you go. By the way, Jack Daniels used to cost $41.00. That was another joke, but a rather cruel one. The one it was intended for knows exactly where it came from. Oh yeah, $41.00 was also the amount of the tithe from my kids birthday money. They gave me the money, I wrote a check, and was told I stole from God! Did that sound bitter? I must pray some more, because I told the Lord I was over that.

OK, thats it for me tonight. This was just me rambling since some of you said you missed my humorous post's from the old blog on myspace. I hope there was some lessons in it too, and not about the price of Jack Daniels. I have no idea what it cost now, and do not care to know, but since 100 or so of you comedians are going to tell me anyway, I'll post it next time. BTW, welcome to the new subscribers from the desert paradise of Iraq. I was with you the first time 108th, and I would be lieing if I told you I wished I was with you now. I miss you guys and gals, but not that much! Jeez, you almost got me killed last time. But I will send you the Bibles as promised- they will be in Arabaic, so I need to figure out how to "camo" them so customs don't burn them. Give one to the gold dealer with one eye-he'll know who its from. He will curse you and yell, but will keep it. He's got good prices too! Sandy, you know the one I am talking about, he asked you for a piece of your hair! I pray for your protection daily.

One last note, the missionary from Northern Iraq is back in country now. His family is safe. Thanks for the prayers. Sorry this post is so long, but I hope I kept you entertained. It is now time to go wake the kiddos up for school and then go meet with a Preacher who is looking for a youth Pastor in good ole Anneville Kentucky.

Oh yeah..ROLL TIDE