The Blessing of Extra Eggs

It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear. —Is. 65:24

A number of months ago, I was told by my doctor to schedule a blood test in April. Last week I went to the website of Quest Diagnostics and made an appointment to have my blood drawn on Tuesday morning. Quest is inside the Walmart in Osteen Florida. That is where I also do my grocery shopping. Since COVID hit, I have been using Walmart’s pickup service. I put in my order online and then schedule a time slot to pick it up. I love it. Before using the pickup service, I would spend half my time wandering up and down the isles of Walmart trying to find things on my shopping list. To me, that is really frustrating. And then I have to wait in the checkout line, and I hate waiting in lines. I always pick the line where the person ahead of me wants to carry on a 2-hour debate with the cashier over the price of an item. Using the pickup service, I park in the designated lot and they bring my groceries out to me and load them into my Jeep. So yesterday, I had my blood drawn at Quest. Then I jumped into my Jeep, drove around to the side of Walmart and picked up my groceries and I was on the road back home. How convenient!

This morning I received an email informing me that the results of my blood test were in. So, I logged into my account on Quest and read the report. There were several items related to my blood cells that seemed out of whack. Not being a medical expert, I did not know how to make heads or tails out of the numbers. The first item was that my red cell count was low. In the recesses of my mind, I thought that might be an indication of anemia. So, I did a search and sure enough I was right. I researched all the other out-of-whack numbers and every one of those pointed to anemia. Then I thought to myself, “that explains why I have been feeling weak and have no energy!” I just thought that having a gallbladder removed saps your energy. I had no idea about the connection to anemia.

Then I began researching anemia. What do I need to eat in order to increase my red cell count?

Spinach. Check—I have that growing in my garden and it is ready to harvest.

Salmon. Check—I have that in the freezer as well as some canned salmon in my kitchen.

Eggs. Check—I have plenty of those also because that was part of my Walmart order that I picked up yesterday. Hang on! Eggs? Are you kidding me?! Those will help to increase my red cell count?

The pieces of the puzzle began to come together. Lights began to flash, and sirens started going off in my head.

You see, I do not eat eggs very often. A dozen eggs can seriously last me for 2 months before I will buy more. In my Walmart order, I had selected a dozen large eggs. Every now and then Walmart will make substitutions to your order if they do not have something in stock. And they will usually upgrade you to the next best thing without charging you anything extra. So, instead of receiving a dozen large eggs, I was given 18 large eggs for the same price as I would have paid for a dozen. I drove away as a happy camper. I thought to myself: “Thank you Walmart, but 18 eggs in my fridge could last an awful long time!”

Now if I could look into the mind of Jehovah Jireh (the God Who Provides), I imagine He might have been thinking: “Bob really needs to be eating more eggs to get his red cell count up. He should have ordered 18 eggs rather than just a dozen. So, I better help him out and put in an extra half dozen eggs even though he does not understand why just now!”

Thank you, Lord! And thank you Walmart!

Blessings,

Bob

Baby Steps

It is 2am and I cannot sleep. I am suffering from horrible stomach cramps, gas and bloating. Why, oh why did I eat that…

Let me backup and explain.

I was wondering how my diet would have to change after having my gallbladder removed. So, I looked at websites like Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins. They all said that without a gallbladder, your stomach has a hard time processing foods with high fat content. That means a low-fat diet. And that’s NOT what I wanted to hear.

So, I asked real people who have had their gallbladder removed about their dietary restrictions. Pretty much everyone said that they could eat most anything that they wanted. Now, that’s what I wanted to hear. I decided that I am going with the “word on the street.” What do these medical experts know anyway?!

BIG mistake!!!

At least initially, it is better to ease into the shallow end of the pool rather than jump into the deep end.

Enter the culprit.

Attention baseball fans, now taking the mound is Smokin’ Joe Ice-cream. His stats are off the charts. With an ERA of just under 1.00 he has a fat content of 20 grams. He is unhittable.

My poor little stomach was not ready to face Major League pitching. I need to go back to T-Ball.

Of course, my favorite movie is “What About Bob.” And the theme of that movie is “baby steps.” I definitely need to implement “baby steps” as I learn to adjust to life without a gallbladder.

I appreciate your prayers for learning how to adjust.

Blessings,

Bob

 

A Tale of Two Soups

Charles Dickens began his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, with “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” After spending 5 days in the Central Florida Regional Hospital, I can relate to those words. I met some wonderful nurses and healthcare workers while I was there. But I would not wish this experience on anyone. How did I end up in the hospital? I’m glad that you asked.

I will call my saga A Tale of Two Soups. It began Sunday March 21^st when I decided to make some good homemade chicken noodle soup. We had some chicken thighs and legs given to us. So, I boiled them, picked the meat from the bone, diced it up and put it in a pot. I added chicken broth and a variety of veggies. To make it more flavorful, I added some of the chicken grease that the thighs and legs were packaged with. But I may have added a bit too much grease. That evening, I felt that old familiar gas pain building up in my upper abdomen. So I took some Gas-X and drank a 7-Up thinking that would do the trick as it always has in the past when experiencing the same gas pain. But things went south fast. Nothing seemed to relieve the pain. By Monday morning, the pain had subsided a bit, but I was running a temperature. That afternoon, the fever was still hanging on, so I went for a COVID test which came back negative. For the next few days, the fever was off and on. Tylenol seemed to bring my temperature back down to around normal for a while. Wednesday morning, I had a virtual visit with my doctor. We discussed the possibility of food poisoning. He told me to continue to monitor the symptoms and if things got worse, then I should check myself into the ER. I did that on Wednesday evening. My white blood cell count was extremely high as my body was fighting the infection in my gallbladder. All these years, what I thought was simple gas pain was actually gallbladder attacks. And this attack topped them all.

After consulting with Dr. Clontz, the best gallbladder surgeon in these parts, it was decided that once the infection was cleared up, then I would have surgery on Saturday morning to remove the infected organ. My gallbladder was in pretty bad shape. Normally, it takes about 30-60 minutes to remove a gallbladder laparoscopically. For me, it took significantly longer. I was taken directly to the OR from my room at 10:15am. I was back in my room at 2:15pm. When Dr. Clontz saw me after surgery, he told me that the procedure took much longer than usual because of the condition of my plumbing. As such, he said that I would have to stay an extra day in the hospital before being discharged. He was right. I was able to come home Monday, March 29^th around 5pm.

The care that I received in the hospital was awesome. Dr. Clontz and his team were amazing. I enjoyed getting to know Dr. Clontz on a personal level. He saw me several times before and after the surgery. We spent some of the time talking about my medical situation. But we spent most of our time talking about politics and the Bible.

Dr. Clontz recommended a book by Lee Strobel who is one of my favorite authors. As we talked about spiritual matters, he said that he could not understand how atheists can ignore the plain evidence of the Creator God. He also said that he was absolutely convinced that God was in the operating room on Saturday guiding him and his team during the procedure.

God certainly answered a number of prayers during my stay in the hospital. Here is just one example. I am a very light sleeper. I do not sleep well in a strange location surrounded by strange noises. For me, a hospital bed is not conducive to a good night’s sleep. To make things worse, the guy in the room next to me had to be the “neighbor from hell!” His shrill voice could carry a country mile and it pierced the wall between our rooms. From what I could tell by his cellphone conversations, he seemed like the typical “Alpha Male.” He was on his cellphone incessantly throughout the day. But it did not stop there. The guy talked in his sleep. Did I say “talked?” It would be more accurate to say that he yelled in his sleep all night long. Yet, in spite of his nocturnal babbling prior to my surgery, I had the most peaceful night of rest that I can remember. When I cannot sleep, I will resort to Tylenol PM. But the results of Tylenol PM cannot compare to the wonderful night of rest that I had before my surgery. The nurses woke me up 3 times that night and each time I immediately fell right back to sleep which never happens to me when wakened in the night. That night’s rest was simply amazing. After the surgery was over, I asked the nurse what kind of sedative they used in my IV drip to put me out like that. She had a puzzled look on her face and said that there was no sedative. I said, “that’s not possible.” She double checked her records and assured me that there was no sedative. Of course, I did not believe her. So, I questioned other nurses that looked after me about the sedative used in my IV drip. They all said exactly the same thing—there was no sedative. I related that story to my buddy who drove me home from the hospital. He said that he prayed I would have a good night’s rest before the surgery. God certainly answered that prayer.

When I arrived back home, my buddy’s wife gave me some good homemade chicken soup, unlike my greasy version that landed me in the hospital. For 4 days in the hospital, I was on a clear liquid diet. On the 5^th day, I was upgraded to cream of wheat and creamed soup. Being able to enjoy a delicious bowl of homemade chicken soup in my own apartment was a joy inexpressible.

So that concludes my Tale of Two Soups. I could probably write a book about all my hospital adventures. But I better end my saga there.

Please pray for my continued recovery as I regain my strength which was definitely sapped from me.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

Things Which Gracious Souls Discover
by William R. Newell

1.   To “hope to be better” is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.

2.   To be disappointed with yourself, is to have believed in yourself.

3.   To be discouraged is unbelief, — as to God’s purpose and plan of blessing for you.

4.   To be proud, is to be blind! For we have no standing before God, in ourselves.

5.   The lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief, and not from failure of devotion.

 

Reaching Herd Immunity

It was about a year ago that our retirement center here in Florida implemented COVID-19 protocols. Our Assisted Living Facilities began following state regulations which included restricting access to that building. Since our chapel is part of that structure, for the last year we have not had any live meetings in there. However, we have had a virtual online chapel once a week.

The administrator of our retirement center arranged with local health services to host COVID-19 vaccinations on our property so that residents and staff could be vaccinated. Many of our folks received the two COVID-19 vaccinations. As a result, our retirement community here on our property will soon reach “herd immunity.” That means that many of the restrictions that we have been operating under for the last year will be relaxed.

Unfortunately, I was not allowed to be vaccinated because I had a recent flu shot. So, I am one of those in the herd that does not have immunity. I guess that means that I still need to mind my P’s & Q’s.

Our Caffeinated Conversation group continues to meet once a week virtually. We should be able to start meeting in person once again as soon as the herd has reached immunity. I will make sure to keep my distance from the other members of the herd and be sure not to drink from the same caffeine trough.

While the northern states have been experiencing freezing weather, the temperatures here for the last month have been nice. I have been enjoying fresh produce from my garden on a daily basis. I have been harvesting, tomatoes, peppers, spring onions, lettuce, swiss chard, bok choy, basil and dill weed. Florida winters are really nice!

I did have to cover my plants a few weeks ago when the nighttime temperature dropped down to 36 degrees. There was frost on the ground in the morning, but my plants survived just fine.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

Our Creator and Savior
by Henry Morris, Ph.D.

Our glorious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom we have trusted our eternal souls, is more than just a great religious teacher who was martyred for His faith long ago. He is alive on His throne in heaven, having defeated death forever. He was our great Creator, our sin-bearing Savior and will be our eternal Lord and King.

 

Coffee & Brats

Some things seem to go well together—ham & cheese, peanut butter & jelly, cake & ice cream, etc. Have you ever considered the combination of coffee & brats? Honestly, I think that I prefer having a soft drink with brats. However, recently I have come to appreciate the link between a brat and a cup of java. The journey to my coffee-brat interest began many years ago.

In the 1990’s I attended a 6-week seminar at the New Tribes Bible college in Michigan. At that time, I was introduced to Butch Bennett and Caffeinated Conversation. Butch was one of the Bible teachers at the school. He invited several fellows over to his house to watch basketball and eat pizza. We had a great time. I think that I enjoyed talking about “theology” with Butch more than watching the game. Butch told us about a group of staff and students who met once a week at a local coffee shop to talk about theological issues. They called their coffee shop discussion group “Caffeinated Conversation.” It sounded like an interesting concept.

A few years later, one of the students from that Bible college introduced Caffeinated Conversation to our Missionary Training Center in Missouri. We enjoyed talking about various passages of Scripture or theological issues that were of a concern at the time.

When I moved to Florida, several men joined me in starting a Caffeinated Conversation group here. We have an amazing time of fellowship once a week as we look at the Word of God and discuss questions that we have.

In December, Butch and Pat Bennett moved here to Florida. Butch has also joined our Caffeinated Conversation group.

By now you are probably picturing a group of guys sitting around a BBQ grill, sipping coffee, eating brats, and talking about the Bible. Well, that is not quite the connection between coffee & brats that I had in mind.

Technically, Butch has retired, but I don’t think anyone “truly” retires in Ethnos360. He was asked to head up a new department that would field questions and give guidance about various theological issues. Our Caffeinated Conversation group seemed like a natural fit to help with this new department. What is the name of this department? Drumroll please! It is the Biblical Research And Theological department—BRAT. To be clear, BRAT is pronounced “brät” as in the sausage. It is not pronounced “brat” as in an ill-mannered child!

And that explains my newfound appreciation for brats & coffee.

It seems like there has been an uptick in the number of COVID cases here in our area. A few of our folks here have had COVID in recent days. At least 1 required some time in the hospital. We do appreciate your prayers for God’s hand of protection on us.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

Fence Sitting Is Not an Option

Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. (1 Kings 18:21)

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

—C.S. Lewis

 

Let us press on to maturity!

The "teaching team" at Sanford Bible Church decided to do a series on the book of Hebrews. I volunteered to teach on the 5 warning passages in Hebrews. It has been a great study. Right now I am working on the warning found in Hebrews 6.

Verse 1 of chapter 6 begins with: "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection (maturity)…"

The author of Hebrews is basically saying that it is time to leave the lessons dealing with the A-B-C's of the gospel and go on to maturity. That little phrase "let us go on (NKJV)" or "let us press on" (NASB) is interesting. It comes from the Greek word φέρω [pherō] which literally means "to carry." However, it is in the passive voice, so the idea is "to be carried" (by someone or something). As the Holy Spirit ministers the Word of God to our hearts and minds, He is the One who carries us on to maturity.

Warren Wiersbe wrote: "As we grow in the Word, we learn to use it in daily life. As we apply the Word, we exercise our 'spiritual senses' and develop spiritual discernment. It is a characteristic of little children that they lack discernment. A baby will put anything into its mouth. An immature believer will listen to any preacher on the radio or television and not be able to identify whether or not he is true to the Scriptures."

Paul encouraged the believers in Ephesus that they "should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine (Eph. 4:14)."

As I look at the state of Christianity in America today, I am dismayed at how many church goers are being carried about by distorted doctrinal winds. Biblical illiteracy is rampant in our society in general and in our churches in particular. We should be light and salt to a lost and dying world. However, it seems like the light is growing dim and the salt is losing its saltiness. The warnings of Hebrews are certainly fitting for the age that we are living in today.

I appreciate your prayers as we launch this series of messages on the book of Hebrews and as I prepare to teach the warning passages.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

Doctrinal Errors

When you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident. 1 Cor. 11:18

"It is often said that the divided condition of Christendom is an evil, and so it is. But the evil consists in the existence of the errors which cause the divisions and not at all in the recognition of those errors when once they exist." ― J. Gresham Machen

 

No grass growing!

I have been listening to a series of messages on the Book of Daniel by Dr. Andy Woods. Dr. Woods said:

The fact of the matter is as long as there is breath in your lungs God wants to use you. Is anybody here dead? Well, if you’re not dead you’re useable; the reason you’re not dead is God has you here to use. And people say well, Andy, you don’t understand, I’m retired. Show me the word “retirement” in the Bible. You know what retirement is? Heaven is retirement; you can rest when you get to heaven but in the meantime God wants to use you. Retirement, what does that mean? That means you’re leaving one job which gives you more financial freedom so God can use you somewhere else; that’s what it means. God always wants to use us as long as there’s breath in this body.

Although I am “officially” retired, I seem to be as busy as ever! There does not seem to be any grass growing under my feet these days.

When moving to Florida, I volunteered to work on a project to update doctrinal papers for the mission. There are 22 papers covering a wide range of topics from Calvinism to Open Theism. Several fellows have been helping me with this project and I am happy to say that the revisions have now been completed.

Another task that we have been assigned is to develop topical categories by which these papers can be organized. Many of these papers could be arranged nicely into the chapter headings of a standard textbook on theology—soteriology, eschatology, ecclesiology, etc. But some of the papers do not fit quite as well into such a scheme. For example, one of the papers is on “Evangelical Feminism.” I do not recall seeing that topic in any standard textbook on theology. We certainly could use wisdom as we consider a scheme for organizing these papers.

BTW, I really enjoy the teaching of Dr. Andy Woods. You can find him online in a number of locations. Here’s a few:

• https://www.youtube.com/c/AndyWoodsBibleStudy/playlists
• https://slbc.org/media/sermon-archives/

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

The Proper Attitude of Man under Grace
by William R. Newell

1.   To believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.

2.   To refuse to make “resolutions” and “vows”; for that, is to trust in the flesh.

3.   To expect to be blessed, though realizing more and more lack of worth.

4.   To testify of God’s goodness, at all times.

5.   To be certain of God’s future favor; yet to be ever more tender in conscience toward Him.

6.   To rely on God’s chastening hand as a mark of His kindness.

7.         A man under grace, if like Paul, has no burden regarding himself; but many about others.