My First Surgery

Yesterday I went to the Southwoods Surgical Center in Boardman to have my ruptured achilles tendon repaired on my left foot. I made sure they marked the correct foot!!

We know that everything that we go through is for a reason. I have been trying to listen to the Lord and make sure that I grow through this process. I do believe there are some things that He is going to teach me and us (as a church) through this. One thing I have gained already is a better understanding of how people feel going into surgery. Since this was my first surgery, I never could have said that before. Even the simplest of procedures bring some anxiety and nervousness. Although I knew that I was in "good hands" - with a surgeon who I felt very good about and even more importantly I knew that he was in "good hands" because ultimately our Sovereign God is in control. Even with all of these truths, you cant help but worry!! So, we are told, instead of worrying or being anxious about something - we are supposed to pray. So, I did that. And I just kept telling the Lord what His Word says. In Romans 10, Paul teaches about salvation. There are many verses that we know well from this chapter. Listen to His Word:

Rom 10:9-10
"if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead , you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."
Rom. 10:13-15
"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed?? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have not heard?? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?? And how are they to preach unless they are sent??

And here is the verse that I was praying back to the Lord yesterday morning!!

"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

I told the Lord that He needed to take care of my feet because He said that they are beautiful - and since my left foot was the furthest thing from beautiful, He needed to fix it!! Pretty good, huh!! (Of course, after the Valentine banquet everyone knows that my feet werent exactly beautiful before the injury - but the swelling and the all the ugly colors made it even worse). I dont know if that is exactly what the verse means but I have realized these past few weeks how even my feet are important to preach the gospel. I love the privilege of preaching the good news and am so thankful to God that He would allow me to have so many wonderful people to share the Word of God with each week. I am going to miss preaching these next however many weeks as I follow my doctors orders and take it easy but I am thankful that I didnt have to "miss out" on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday!

So, in conclusion, I thought that this may be the best way for me to let you know that my surgery went very well and I am thankful for your prayers. I am home and resting. I am following my doctor's orders and I have a post-op visit this Thursday. I am pretty heavily medicated with pain medicine - so all is well!!

Thanks again,

Pastor Jerry

Happy Resurrection Day!!

First of all, I wanted to praise our Father for sending His Son to be the propitiation for our sins and for raising Him from the dead for our justification. It is through the resurrection that we know that our preaching, our faith, our whole lives are not in vain. If Christ had not risen, we would be the most miserable of people. Paul says in 1 Cor. 15, that we should be pitied if Christ has not risen. But, since He is risen and is alive forevermore, we have found all of our needs met in our Suffering Savior and Living Lord!!

We have found that our sins can be forgiven and that we, like Christ, will also never die but instead we will live forever in glory! It is in Christ, that we find our purpose in this life too! Our lives are not futile or wasted when we are serving our Risen Savior. That's why Paul ends his 1 Cor. 15 by saying, "therefore (because of the resurrection of Christ) my beloved brethren, be stedfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord because your labor in the Lord is not in vain".

I thought the song that we sang to end the service summed it up so well! It is called "The Wonder of Your Cross". Here are the lyrics:

The wonder of Your cross
Shall be our meditation
To gather in that shadow
When the sun went down
To weep with those
Who thought that You were leaving
You were leaving Jesus
The humble King
Who never wore an earthly crown

To steal away at night
When they took down Your body
With love and tears
To leave You in a borrowed grave
To go with Mary to the place they laid You
Where they laid You Jesus
And in the morning find the stone was rolled away

Were heaven's praises
Silent in those hours of darkness
Your Holy Spirit brooding
'Round that empty throne
Until the declaration He is risen
You are risen Jesus
He is not dead
Behold He lives for evermore

And I love the chorus!

Chorus 1
The cross O the wonderful cross
What glory what vict'ry I've found
I'll come to the wonderful cross
And my whole life I lay down

This sums up the teaching of Paul the Apostle in 1 Cor. 15 and in many other places - at the cross, what glory and what victory I have found! And it is at the cross where we gladly lay down our lives. It is at the cross where (as another song puts it) He bids me to come and die and find that I may truly live!!

I pray that my ministry is helping people to constantly "meditate on the wonder of the cross"!!

Also, I wanted to thank you for your constant prayers and support. So many mentioned that they would be praying for me as I have surgery on my ruptured achilles tendon tomorrow morning! I am truly blessed to be your pastor. You are so gracious to me - constantly giving me what I do not deserve! I see each and everyone of you as a gift from God to me!

Finally, I am so thankful for my family. Today, I was able to spend time with my "in-laws". So many of you have asked about my brother in law Jeremy. He has improved dramatically and actually went back to teach at Mt. Union this past week. It was such a blessing to see him and his family in the service this morning. My mother in law also is recovering well. Continue to keep her in your prayers but we are so thankful for her progress. My mom and sister in-law and nephew were all in the service as well this morning. My mom's faith has always been an inspiration to me. My sister in law Laurie is always so kind and compassionate. She has been an amazing mother - raising her son Jeffery by herself since my brother's death. My two other brothers are my "best friends" and I was so blessed to grow up with 3 older brothers (and no sisters!!). But God has given me sisters in-laws and they are all very special people who are very sacrificial and who love their husbands dearly. I am thankful for my father and how my relationship with him is growing and becoming more meaningful as we each get older. And last but certainly not least, I am so thankful for my children and my beautiful wife. My children adore me (they dont know any better yet) and my wife has always made me feel that "after Jesus Christ", I am her life! I couldnt ask for anything more.

So, may I encourage you to think of how blessed you are. Please make sure that you take time to be with your family and never see them as a hindrance to what you are trying to accomplish. God has called us to "show and share" His love with everyone and our family is the closest people on the earth to us. They, more than anyone, should benefit from the transformation that Christ has made of our lives!!


You are loved!!