ChaplainChas

Is it wrong to post when you've nothing to say?

Is it possible to have nothing to say?

I'm listening to "Overwhelmed" by Jimmy Robeson as I sit at work trying to remember why I'm in the profession I'm in.

This morning was so so frustrating. The rig was OK, but no linens, and paperwork was missing. Even though we were second up, the Supervisor made no effort to respond to her call when dispatched so we had a delayed response, and were sent to the wrong entrance of the extended care facility (I hesitate to refer to it as a Skilled Nursing Facility). The staff were no where near the 'unresponsive' patient, then it seems they made up information in their report (nope, she doesn't appear dead to me (should the eyes look around or arms move on a dead person?)). Maybe it's just me.

It's probably a good thing there weren't many vehicles on the road to fail to yield to our emergency vehicle.

The internet connection here at work is sporadic, as is the air conditioning (that's ok, it won't hit 90 until tomorrow, again).

I'm sorry, what, Lord? Is that You? What do you mean what did I used to tell people my favorite verse in Scripture was?

That's not fair, Lord. Hmm. "Lord."

Thank You, You're right, of course.

Allow me to leave you with that much repeated verse: "And it came to pass...".

Blessings!
ChaplainChas.

Labels: ambulance, And it came to pass, bad, Jimmy Robeson, job, nothing to say, nursing home, Overwhelmed, verse, work

Here I sit at the Solid Rock Cafe and Bookstore in Chalfont, PA (SRC). It's a ministry/ outreach of Calvary Chapel of Central Bucks (County, PA). I'm vacillating btwn reading Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore, and lesson prep for my next group at HARVEST USA.

I want to quote from the above book, then see how that compares with OUR responsibility as Christians in general!

During the 1880s a group of American ministers visited England, prompted especially by a desire to hear some of the celebrated preachers of that land.

On a Sunday morning they attended the City Temple where Dr. Joseph Parker was the pastor. Some two thousand people filled the building, and Parker's forceful personality dominated the service. His voice was commanding, his language descriptive, his imagination lively, and his manner animated. The sermon was scriptural, the congregation hung upon his words, and the Americans came away saying, "What a wonderful preacher is Joseph Parker!"

In the evening they went to hear Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. The building was much larger than the City Temple, and the congregation was more than twice the size. Spurgeon's voice was much more expressive and moving and his oratory noticeably superior. But they soon forgot all about the great building, the immense congregation, and the magnificent voice. They even overlooked their intention to compare the various features of the two preachers, and when the service was over they found themselves saying, "What a wonderful Savior is Jesus Christ!"

p. 216

As Dr. Ken "Hutch" Hutcherson prayed at the Exodus International Freedom Conference, it is my prayer that God would get me out of the way in lesson prep, in teaching, in preaching, and in living! That God would teach me so that others may be taught. That He would convict those who need conviction, and that He would comfort those who need comfort. That He would have permission to say whatever to whomever He will. ...It seems C.H.Spurgeon lived this prayer, himself.

Another section of the book that not only caught my attention, but slammed me up against the wall and beat me in the head with truth was the section on church membership. New converts and applicants for membership had to meet with the Pastor, but so many were applying that certain messengers were appointed to meet with them...

In dealing with a person who testified he had come to know the Lord, the messenger looked for three marks of true conversion. One, had the person, knowing himself to be a sinner and unable to do anything toward saving himself, gone to God, begging for mercy, and had he entirely trusted his soul to Christ, believing in the saving merit of His death upon the cross? This individual experience of the soul with God was the unalterable and basic necessity, and without it there was no recognition of the person as truly converted. Two, had the person entered into newness of life, experiencing a change of affections, victory over sin, a love for the Word of God, and a desire to win others to Christ? Three, did he or she possess a basic understanding of the doctrines of grace, recognizing that salvation did not begin with himself or his own will, but with God's choice and God's action, and that God, who saved him, would keep him through time and through eternity?

p. 81

Wowsers!

Meditate on that last paragraph for a few minutes. Ask the Holy Spirit to do that work in your life! As the Holy Spirit to prove that He has already done it in your life, if more appropriate! Meditate and receive this blessing.

...Cutting it off for now,
with Blessings!
ChaplainChas.

Labels: Calvary Chapel, CCCB, conversion, Exodus, Hutcherson, lesson prep, prayer, Solid Rock Cafe, Spurgeon, SRC, true believers

Last night I 'cut' church. It was the mid-week Bible Study. It was a pleasant sprinkley-rainy sort of evening when I got home from work. The sun was shining and I felt like singing in the rain.

The day at work had been pleasant, only two calls. Saved the first guys life (drastically low blood sugar) and took a thankful old man and his wife to the emergency room after their car was hit by a tractor-trailer. They'll live to see another bingo game.

Although the weather has been a scosh (read: bit, or tad bit) bizarre, I'm so thankful the humidity is down. High pressure systems hitting low pressure systems which are cooler or warmer than the other reminds me a bit of spiritual warfare, a more likely cause for the happenings in my mind.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours with a long time friend who claims to be a Christian who does not believe that Jesus is God.

...silent pause... ...pregnant pause...

Yes, he's not a lukewarm Christian with high pressure systems crashing across his world and he's not in a low pressure system, either. He's never claimed a personal relationship with Jesus but now feels he must be a Christian even though Jesus was clearly not a lunatic or a liar, but is definitely NOT Lord. He was a prophet like Buddha or Mohammed my friend says, any of which lead you to heaven.

I thought it was bad that friends were away on extended trips, others away on missions trips, friends had loved ones committing suicide, busy busy busy days at work, hot humid weather, gas prices on the rise... but now Jesus doesn't have to be anything to be enough?

My friend realized he was being the hypocrite he accused others of being. He did not claim Jesus as his Lord, yet, but has agreed to read the Bible all the while stating that he's open to God revealing truth to him.

Let's see what THAT does to this every-type-of-pressure system!

Blessings!
ChaplainChas.

Labels: christian, Emergent Church, Jesus, the happening, weather

OK, so obviously this is not a title free post. Blogspot doesn't like that, apparently, and I'm not sure what I'll type about, so we'll just leave it at that, for now.

The M.A.S.H. theme-song laments that suicide is painless for awhile, but that's not really the case, is it? My friend had someone close to him die recently and he's in a lot of pain. The friends family is in pain, and this person's other friends are in pain. Perhaps the song should be re-written?

Of course, this song is totally skewed in it's worldview anyway. No consideration of heaven and hell (which would make suicide painful for eternity for those w/o Jesus' atoning blood cover) is brought into this.

Selfish. Suicide is quite possibly one of the most selfish options one can choose from the menu of life. It certainly seems to leave those of us left behind out of the equation.

Let me interject here and confess this is a bit of a rant. As I process the death of this young one (under 20 years of age) and try to make sense of it I find myself at a crossroads. Luckily, that reminds me of the afore-mentioned cross of Christ and THAT reminds me that I can rest fully in HIM. Lamentations 3 reminds me that it is good that a man should both hope and wait patiently for the Lord. It reminds me that even the prophet Jeremiah remembered bitterness and the 'gall' of things. It reminds me that I need not be consumed b/c the Creator of the universe is still on the job.

...Well, that's about it for now. Thanks for reading.

Blessings!
ChaplainChas.

Labels: cross of Christ, Jeremiah, Lamentations, M.A.S.H., menu of life, Pain, selfish, suicide