Back to Life

My new glasses work well. Thank you for encouraging me to get them!

September 20, 2007

Dear Blog Friends,

It has been a while since I have written, so I want to jot down a few thoughts to you. Many of you “blog friends” I know personally, while others I’ve never met. But in every case I am thankful for your interest in either the benedictions of Scripture, being a benediction through your life, my life and ministry, or the monumental issues of God and theology in some other respect.

I had a rough time for about a week recently (Sept. 12-19), and I am very, very grateful to be back in the land of the living. I’m not sure all that was going on, but some symptoms/conditions I had were shingles, fever, vomiting, breathing problems (more than usual), dehydration, night-sweats, urinary tract infection, uncontrolled shaking, slurred speech, inability to finish sentences, dizziness, staggering like a drunk, and falling several times (once flat on my face). A doctor prescribed the wrong kind of medicine, and a very high dose of it at that, so the toxicity in my body became severe. For two days I wasn’t able to swallow my immuno-suppressant medications, even though they were supposedly keeping me alive. Some of you were praying, and Judy and I feel sure that your prayers were what pulled us through. I actually felt that the end was approaching for me (which the hospice had told us could be the case) unless God turned things around.

I am humbled and excited to be back at my desk, and to be able to continue working on Praying by the Spirit: Cries from the Heart in the Midst of Life. The book will be about 200 pages, with 100 pages in English and 100 pages of the same material translated into Tagalog (the main language of the Philippines). The orientation will be similar to my book Serving by the Spirit: Spiritual Gifts and Spiritual Preaching written at a lay level but deep (I trust) in the biblical and theological foundations. The target audience is the Majority World (the billions of people not of North American/Western European background).

A good friend of ours, Jane Spriggs, is collaborating with me on the book. Jane is a 2007 Master of Divinity graduate of Bethel Seminary, and is a very capable and spiritually-minded servant of God. Because my health is so poor I literally could not be working on the project with any degree of excellence without Jane’s assistance. I am very thankful to God for her help. Working on the book has given me new vigor and a new sense of purpose. I trust that God will help us to complete the book, and that it will be used mightily as a benediction to others.

Thank you for your postings on this blog. I read and value every one even though I am seldom able to answer them.

I close by sending you a benediction from the blessed Word of God, written by Jude, the brother of Jesus:

“Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24, 25)