Blah Blah Blah

I am not writing today to send Godly wisdom, I simply am having a blah day. Ever have one of those days where you just can't seem to snap back to your normal self. I'm just ready for something good to happen. It seems like my life has been filled with so many stressful things lately and sometimes days just seem hard to get through. I know I am whining. I am sorry. I guess it's time to just be thankful. I am sitting in a nice warm little house, filled with food, clothes, furniture, and anything I truly need and more. I just need to say it, God is Always Good. Yes, I am stealing this from you Ryan. But I have needed to say that more than once this week. I know that I am not the only one. The devil truly seems to be having a feild day with so many people I know. As I sit here with tears streaming down my face, I am telling the devil that he has not won the battle. That I may be beat down, my friends may be beat down. But God is our Saviour, and he loves us and he will prevail in our lives. Whether it is work bringing you down, or someone is in the hospital, money is in a pinch, I want you to say what our friend Ryan says, that is "God is always Good". I am so thankful that my God is Always Good. Even when I am not, even when life is not, he always has and always will be good.

My Gay Friend................

Some of you have already been offended by reading the title, yet you feel intrigued to go on and read whatever it is I have to say. Some of you have already made up your minds that whatever I have to say is going to be somewhat offensive. Some of you probably think that since I had a gay friend that I must think it is OK to be Gay. However you would be wrong. I did not agree with his lifestyle, but there were things in his life that I agreed with that I do not see in a lot of christian people today. He was friends with everyone. Men that were straight and married, married women, single women, single men, gay people, christian people. I sat and looked around at his packed out funeral, and realized he was real with everyone. If you wanted to talk church to him, he would sit and listen. He often talked about wanting to go to church. Just a week before he died me and another friend of mine had a long conversation with him about heaven and hell. Do you think he would have listened if wouldn't have given him the time of day before then. People felt comfortable inviting him to church, despite his non practicing lifestyle. He was a friend to everyone, and everyone felt as though they had truly lost a friend. If we as christians are not friends with the sinners, then who will witness to them. If you try to witness to them without being their friend, do you really think they will listen. I like people to be real with me. It is not biblical to talk about people behind their backs and pretend to be their friend to their face. It's time we learn something, we are going to have to eat with sinners and communicate with sinners. How else with they truly know who we are and want we have got, if we are not around them enough to show them. If we don't ask them everyday how they are doing, or being concerned when something seems wrong. When I die, I want a room full of friends at my funeral. A room full of christians and sinners, that hopefully when I die something that I did or said while I lived will live in their hearts and somehow grow. I wonder if Johnny remembered our conversation about heaven and hell in his last minutes of his life. Was he thinking about the words I said, that the only way any of us will truly know if it's real is when we die, and I hoped he had a chance to make it right with God because I wanted him to find that heaven was a real place. I hope that one coversation, may have been enough to change his life for eternity. What conversations will you have in the coming week that you hope someone will remember in their final days? What will you do for a sinner to show the love of Christ?

Labels.................

Have you ever been labeled? Labeled as the person with tattoo's, the party guy, the shy person, the punk kid, the dummy, The Baptist, The Pentecostal........I could go on forever. The truth is that we have all been labeled, and probably more than once, most likely everyday. How do we get labeled? Have you ever been labeled by association? If you would like to explore more about why you are labeled and how to peel off the label once it has been applied to your life, then we want to invite you to our home group. If you are interested in attending, please go to fbcpocola.org (or click on the link to the left of the page) and click on the homegroup icon. You will find a list of homegroups available, the times and locations. We come together in small groups so we can have a time of food, fellowship, and time of study.

PS............................................................................... If you are in one of our church homegroups, I want to ask that you leave a comment about what God is doing in your homegroup and what you have learned.

Band Of Believers

Notice the Conclusion of this sermon. I have been a believer for 34 years. Never before in my life have I realized the importance that the church is not a place, but a band of believers. Believers that have a mission to serve Christ. Believers that have come together and reached out to people in need within their communities. Believers are not just of the Baptist Faith. I have friends who are Southern Baptist, Assembly of God, Freewill Baptist, and Methodist. In times of need we pull together and pray together as a band of believers. Not at a church building, most likely we are in the middle of Wal-Mart. I am so glad that God has not labeled Christians. He only sees them as believers. John 3:16 "For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

Portrait of a Church - Acts 2:41–47 - Sermons from the Baptist Faith and Message
Written by Lucien Coleman
Sermon 8 of 19 Sermons on The Baptist Faith and Message.

The Baptist Faith and Message sets forth "certain definite doctrines that Baptists believe, cherish, and with which they have been and are now closely identified." You may read The Baptist Faith and Message on SBC.net. This sermon series by Lucien Coleman originally appeared in Proclaim! magazine.


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Some ideas are just too big to be squeezed into a single definition. That’s true of the biblical concept of the church. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul described the community of believers as the body of Christ. But the New Testament also describes the church as the Lord’s flock (Luke 12:32; John 10:14); a family (Eph. 2:19; Mark 3:33–35); the true Israel of God (Gal. 6:16); and as a fellowship (koinonia, spiritual commonwealth) (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 John 1:3,7).

Church comes from the word ekklesia, which means literally “the called out.” The church consists of believers whom God has “called out.” One of the clearest pictures of a church in the New Testament appears in Acts 2:41–42, which summarizes five vital functions that shaped the life of the community of Christians in Jerusalem shortly after the unusual events of Pentecost. In these two verses, we find the church regularly engaging in evangelism, teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer.

Evangelism

From the beginning, the church took the Great Commission seriously. Making disciples was at the top of the early church’s order of business.

Teaching

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42, NEB). What we know as Bible study was as essential to them as prayer and worship. (In contrast, fewer than one-fourth of the members of a typical Baptist church today attend Bible study on any given Sunday.)

Fellowship

The word “fellowship” in Acts 2:42 translates the Greek word koinonia. The Greeks used the term to describe business partnerships, intimate friendships, and marriage. Paul used koinonia to describe “partnership in the gospel” (Phil. 1:5), and he spoke of the koinonia as a “fellowship of the Holy Spirit”(2 Cor. 13:14). Koinonia also meant sharing in practical ways (Acts 2:45). Christian fellowship is the shared life of the redeemed.

The Breaking of Bread

“Breaking of bread” in Acts 2:42 refers to “love feasts,” fellowship meals that resembled today’s covered- dish dinners. They went “from house to house” (Acts 2:46), because they had no church buildings. Usually, they observed the Lord’s Supper on these occasions, adding a spiritual dimension to their table fellowship.

Prayer

Prayer was the heartbeat of the early Christian fellowship. The church in Jerusalem began in prayer (Acts 1:14). They prayed continually (2:42). They prayed for one another (Acts 12:5). Prayer was a major part of regular worship.

Conclusion: The church is not a place, but a people; not a sacred building, but a band of believers; not an organization, but an organism, whose life is drawn from the living Lord.


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Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright ©1999,2000,2002,2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.


About Professor Coleman


Professor Lucien Coleman retired in 1993 after twenty-seven years of teaching Religious Education at Southern Seminary and Adult Education at Southwestern Seminary. Before teaching served as a pastor in Kentucky. He holds degrees from Southern Seminary and the University of Kentucky. He and his wife, Bobbie, live in Parker County, Texas. They have three children, fifteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Where is Church?????????????

Act 14:27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles.


This is a commentary by Henry on this very verse.....................
2. What account they gave them of their negociation (Act_14:27): They gathered the church together. It is probable that there were more Christians at Antioch than ordinarily met, or could meet, in one place, but on this occasion they called together the leading men of them; as the heads of the tribes are often called the congregation of Israel, so the ministers and principal members of the church at Antioch are called the church. Or perhaps as many of the people as the place would hold came together on this occasion. Or some met at one time, or in one place, and others at another. But when they had called them together, they gave them an account of two things - (1.) Of the tokens they had had of the divine presence with them in their labours: They rehearsed all that God had done with them. They did not tell what they had done (this would have savoured of vain-glory), but what God had done with them and by them. Note, The praise of all the little good we do at any time must be ascribed to God; for it is he that not only worketh in us both to will and to do, but then worketh with us to make what we do successful. God's grace can do any thing without ministers' preaching; but ministers' preaching, even Paul's, can do nothing without God's grace; and the operations of that grace must be acknowledged in the efficacy of the word. (2.) Of the fruit of their labours among the heathen. They told how God had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles; had not only ordered them to be invited to the gospel feast, but had inclined the hearts of many of them to accept the invitation. Note, [1.] There is no entering into the kingdom of Christ but by the door of faith; we must firmly believe in Christ, or we have no part in him. [2.] It is God that opens the door of faith, that opens to us the truths we are to believe, opens our hearts to receive them, and makes this a wide door, and an effectual, into the church of Christ. [3.] We have reason to be thankful that God has opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, has both sent them his gospel, which is made known to all nations for the obedience of faith (Rom_16:26), and has also given them hearts to entertain the gospel. Thus the gospel was spread, and it shone more and more, and none was able to shut this door which God had opened; not all the powers of hell and earth.


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Tradition

Tradition


Col 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
Col 2:7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Col 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Col 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

Then in Mark..........................

Mar 7:1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,
Mar 7:2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.
Mar 7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders,
Mar 7:4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)
Mar 7:5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?"
Mar 7:6 And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
Mar 7:7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
Mar 7:8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men."
Mar 7:9 And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

The following is a commentary from Henry on Mark 7:1-23........................

Mar 7:1-23 -
One great design of Christ's coming, was, to set aside the ceremonial law which God made, and to put an end to it; to make way for which he begins with the ceremonial law which men had made, and added to the law of God's making, and discharges his disciples from the obligation of that; which here he doth fully, upon occasion of the offence which the Pharisees took at them for the violation of it. These Pharisees and scribes with whom he had this argument, are said to come from Jerusalem down to Galilee - fourscore or a hundred miles, to pick quarrels with our Saviour there, where they supposed him to have the greatest interest and reputation. Had they come so far to be taught by him, their zeal had been commendable; but to come so far to oppose him, and to check the progress of his gospel, was great wickedness. It should seem that the scribes and Pharisees at Jerusalem pretended not only to a pre-eminence above, but to an authority over, the country clergy, and therefore kept up their visitations and sent inquisitors among them, as they did to John when he appeared, Joh_1:19.
Now in this passage we may observe,
I. What the tradition of the elders was: by it all were enjoined to wash their hands before meat; a cleanly custom, and no harm in it; and yet as such to be over-nice in it discovers too great a care about the body, which is of the earth; but they placed religion in it, and would not leave it indifferent, as it was in its own nature; people were at their liberty to do it or not to do it; but they interposed their authority, and commanded all to do it upon pain of excommunication; this they kept up as a tradition of the elders. The Papists pretend to a zeal for the authority and antiquity of the church and its canons, and talk much of councils and fathers, when really it is nothing but a zeal for their own wealth, interest, and dominion, that governs them; and so it was with the Pharisees.
We have here an account of the practice of the Pharisees and all the Jews, Mar_7:3, Mar_7:4. 1. They washed their hands oft; they washed them, pugmē; the critics find a great deal of work about that word, some making it to denote the frequency of their washing (so we render it); others think it signifies the pains they took in washing their hands; they washed with great care, they washed their hands to their wrists (so some); they lifted up their hands when they were wet, that the water might run to their elbows. 2. They particularly washed before they ate bread; that is, before they sat down to a solemn meal; for that was the rule; they must be sure to wash before they ate the bread on which they begged a blessing. “Whosoever eats the bread over which they recite the benediction, Blessed be he that produceth bread, must wash his hands before and after,” or else he was thought to be defiled. 3. They took special care, when they came in from the markets, to wash their hands; from the judgment-halls, so some; it signifies any place of concourse where there were people of all sorts, and, it might be supposed, some heathen or Jews under a ceremonial pollution, by coming near to whom they thought themselves polluted; saying, Stand by thyself, come not near me, I am holier than thou, Isa_65:5. They say, The rule of the rabbies was - That, if they washed their hands well in the morning, the first thing they did, it would serve for all day, provided they kept alone; but, if they went into company, they must not, at their return, either eat or pray till they had washed their hands; thus the elders gained a reputation among the people for sanctity, and thus they exercised and kept up an authority over their consciences. 4. They added to this the washing of cups, and pots, and brazen vessels, which they suspected had been made use of by heathens, or persons polluted; nay, and the very tables on which they ate their meat. There were many cases in which, by the law of Moses, washings were appointed; but they added to them, and enforced the observation of their own impositions as much as of God's institutions.
II. What the practice of Christ's disciples was; they knew what the law was, and the common usage; but they understood themselves so well that they would not be bound up by it: they ate bread with defiled, that is, with unwashen, hands, Mar_7:2. Eating with unwashen hands they called eating with defiled hands; thus men keep up their superstitious vanities by putting every thing into an ill name that contradicts them. The disciples knew (it is probable) that the Pharisees had their eye upon them, and yet they would not humour them by a compliance with their traditions, but took their liberty as at other times, and ate bread with unwashen hands; and herein their righteousness, however it might seem to come short, did really exceed, that of the scribes and Pharisees, Mat_5:20.
III. The offence which the Pharisees took at this; They found fault (Mar_7:2); they censured them as profane, and men of a loose conversation, or rather as men that would not submit to the power of the church, to decree rites and ceremonies, and were therefore rebellious, factious, and schismatical. They brought a complaint against them to their Master, expecting that he should check them, and order them to conform; for they that are fond of their own inventions and impositions, are commonly ready to appeal to Christ, as if he should countenance them, and as if his authority must interpose for the enforcing of them, and the rebuking of those that do not comply with them. They do not ask, Why do not thy disciples do as we do? (Though that was what they meant, coveting to make themselves the standard.) But, Why do not they walk according to the tradition of the elders? Mar_7:5. To which it was easy to answer, that, by receiving the doctrine of Christ, they had more understanding than all their teachers, yea more than the ancients, Psa_119:99, Psa_119:100.
IV. Christ's vindication of them; in which,
1. He argues with the Pharisees concerning the authority by which this ceremony was imposed; and they were the fittest to be discoursed with concerning that, who were the great sticklers for it: but this he did not speak of publicly to the multitude (as appears by his calling the people to him, Mar_7:14) lest he should have seemed to stir them up to faction and discontent at their governors; but addressed it as a reproof to the persons concerned: for the rule is, Suum cuique - Let every one have his own.
(1.) He reproves them for their hypocrisy in pretending to honour God, when really they had no such design in their religious observances (Mar_7:6, Mar_7:7); They honour me with their lips, they pretend it is for the glory of God that they impose those things, to distinguish themselves from the heathen; but really their heart is far from God, and is governed by nothing but ambition and covetousness. They would be thought hereby to appropriate themselves as a holy people to the Lord their God, when really it is the furthest thing in their thought. They rested in the outside of all their religious exercises, and their hearts were not right with God in them, and this was worshipping God in vain; for neither was he pleased with such sham - devotions, nor were they profited by them.
(2.) He reproves them for placing religion in the inventions and injunctions of their elders and rulers; They taught for doctrines the traditions of men. When they should have been pressing upon people the great principles of religion, they were enforcing the canons of their church, and judged of people's being Jews or no, according as they did, or did not, conform to them, without any consideration had, whether they lived in obedience to God's laws or no. It was true, there were divers washings imposed by the law of Moses (Heb_9:10), which were intended to signify that inward purification of the heart from worldly fleshly lusts, which God requires as absolutely necessary to our communion with him; but, instead of providing the substance, they presumptuously added to the ceremony, and were very nice in washing pots and cups; and observe, he adds, Many other such like things ye do, Mar_7:8. Note, Superstition is an endless thing. If one human invention and institution be admitted, though seemingly ever so innocent, as this of washing hands, behold, a troop comes, a door is opened for many other such things.
(3.) He reproves them for laying aside the commandment of God, and overlooking that, not urging that in their preaching, and in their discipline conniving at the violation of that, as if that were no longer of force, Mar_7:8. Note, It is the mischief of impositions, that too often they who are zealous for them, have little zeal for the essential duties of religion, but can contentedly see them laid aside. Nay, they rejected the commandment of God, Mar_7:9. He do fairly disannul and abolish the commandment of God; and even by your traditions make the word of God of no effect, Mar_7:13. God's statutes shall not only lie forgotten, as antiquated obsolete laws, but they shall, in effect, stand repealed, that their traditions may take place. They were entrusted to expound the law, and to enforce it; and, under pretence of using that power, they violated the law, and dissolved the bonds of it; destroying the text with the comment.
This he gives them a particular instance of, and a flagrant one - God commanded children to honour their parents, not only by the law of Moses, but, antecedent to that, by the law of nature; and whoso revileth, or speaketh evil of, father or mother, let him die the death, Mar_7:10. Hence it is easy to infer, that it is the duty of children, if their parents be poor, to relieve them, according to their ability; and if those children are worthy to die, that curse their parents, much more those that starve them. But if a man will but conform himself in all points to the tradition of the elders, they will find him out an expedient by which he may be discharged from this obligation, Mar_7:11. If his parents be in want and he has wherewithal to help them, but has no mind to do it, let him swear by the Corban, that is, by the gold of the temple, and the gift upon the altar, that his parents shall not be profited by him, that he will not relieve them; and, if they ask any thing of him, let him tell them this, and it is enough; as if by the obligation of this wicked vow he had discharged himself from the obligation of God's holy law; thus Dr. Hammond understands it: and it is said to be an ancient canon of the rabbin, That vows take place in things commanded by the law, as well as in things indifferent; so that, if a man make a vow which cannot be ratified without breaking a commandment, the vow must be ratified, and the commandment violated; so Dr. Whitby. Such doctrine as this the Papists teach, discharging children from all obligation to their parents by their monastic vows, and their entrance into religion, as they call it. He concludes, Any many such like things do ye. Where will men stop, when once they have made the word of God give way to their tradition? These eager imposers of such ceremonies, at first only made light of God's commandments in comparison with their traditions, but afterward made void God's commandments, if they stood in competition with them. All this, in effect, Isaiah prophesied of them; what he said of the hypocrites of his own day, was applicable to the scribes and Pharisees, v. 6. Note, When we see, and complain of, the wickedness of the present times, yet we do not enquire wisely of that matter, if we say that all the former days were better than these, Ecc_7:10. The worst of hypocrites and evil doers have had their predecessors.
2. He instructs the people concerning the principles upon which this ceremony was grounded. It was requisite that this part of his discourse should be public, for it related to daily practice, and was designed to rectify a great mistake which the people were led into by their elders; he therefore called the people unto him (Mar_7:14), and bid them hear and understand. Note, It is not enough for the common people to hear, but they must understand what they hear. When Christ would run down the tradition of the Pharisees about washing before meat, he strikes at the opinion which was the root of it. Note, Corrupt customs are best cured by rectifying corrupt notions.
Now that which he goes about to set them right in, is, what the pollution is, which we are in danger of being damaged by, Mar_7:15. (1.) Not by the meat we eat, though it be eaten with unwashen hands; that is but from without, and goes through a man. But, (2.) It is by the breaking out of the corruption that is in our hearts; the mind and conscience are defiled, guilt is contracted, and we become odious in the sight of God by that which comes out of us; our wicked thoughts and affections, words and actions, these defile us, and these only. Our care must therefore be, to wash our heart from wickedness.
3. He gives his disciples, in private, an explication of the instructions he gave the people. They asked him, when they had him by himself, concerning the parable (Mar_7:17); for to them, it seems, it was a parable. Now, in answer to their enquiry, (1.) He reproves their dulness; “Are ye so without understanding also? Are ye dull also, as dull as the people that cannot understand, as dull as the Pharisees that will not? Are ye so dull?” He doth not expect they should understand every thing; “But are ye so weak as not to understand this?” (2.) He explains this truth to them, that they might perceive it, and then they would believe it, for it carried its own evidence along with it. Some truths prove themselves, if they be but rightly explained and apprehended. If we understand the spiritual nature of God and of his law, and what it is that is offensive to him, and disfits us for communion with him, we shall soon perceive, [1.] That that which we eat and drink cannot defile us, so as to call for any religious washing; it goes into the stomach, and passes the several digestions and secretions that nature has appointed, and what there may be in it that is defiling is voided and gone; meats for the belly, and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them. But, [2.] It is that which comes out from the heart, the corrupt heart, that defiles us. As by the ceremonial law, whatsoever (almost) comes out of a man, defiles him (Lev_15:2; Deu_23:13), so what comes out from the mind of a man is that which defiles him before God, and calls for a religious washing (Mar_7:21); From within, out of the heart of men, which they boast of the goodness of, and think is the best part of them, thence that which defiles proceeds, thence comes all the mischief. As a corrupt fountain sends forth corrupt streams, so doth a corrupt heart send forth corrupt reasonings, corrupt appetites and passions, and all those wicked words and actions which are produced by them. Divers particulars are specified, as in Matthew; we had one there, which is not here, and that is, false witness-bearing; but seven are mentioned here, to be added to those we had there. First, Covetousnesses, for it is plural; pleonexiai - immoderate desires of more of the wealth of the world, and the gratifications of sense, and still more, still crying, Give, give. Hence we read of a heart exercised with covetous practices, 2Pe_2:14. Secondly, Wickedness - ponēriai; malice, hatred, and ill-will, a desire to do mischief, and a delight in mischief done. Thirdly, Deceit; which is wickedness covered and disguised, that it may be the more securely and effectually committed. Fourthly, Lasciviousness; that filthiness and foolish talking which the apostle condemns; the eye full of adultery, and all wanton dalliances. Fifthly, The evil eye; the envious eye, and the covetous eye, grudging others the good we give them, or do for them (Pro_23:6), or grieving at the good they do or enjoy. Sixthly, Pride - huperēphania; exalting ourselves in our own conceit above others, and looking down with scorn and contempt upon others. Seventhly, Foolishness - aphrosunē; imprudence, inconsideration; some understand it especially of vainglorious boasting, which St. Paul calls foolishness (2Co_11:1, 2Co_11:19), because it is here joined with pride; I rather take it for that rashness in speaking and acting, which is the cause of so much evil. Ill-thinking is put first, as that which is the spring of all our commissions, and unthinking put last, as that which is the spring of all our omissions. Of all these he concludes (Mar_7:23), 1. That they come from within, from the corrupt nature, the carnal mind, the evil treasure in the heart; justly is it said, that the inward part is very wickedness, it must needs be so, when all this comes from within. 2. That they defile the man; they render a man unfit for communion with God, they bring a stain upon the conscience; and, if not mortified and rooted out, will shut men out of the new Jerusalem, into which no unclean thing shall enter.

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I hope you have a blessed week.

What If???????

It has been a really tough week. If you read my husbands blog, you know that my friend passed away yesterday. Never before in my life have I felt more responsible for the life of someone else. Everyday my friend came by the pharmacy and said "lets take our blood pressure." I always laughed, I have never had blood pressure problems, but he did and expected me to take it with him everyday. It soon became a game, we would guess who would have the best BP, even though he had taken BP meds before he came to work. Yesterday, we took our BP and his was 74/44. That seemed terrible low. I told him to take it again, and once again it was 72/44. I took mine to see if the machine was wacked out, and mine was normal. I told him to come back in about 30 minutes or so and take it again. Same thing only his pulse rate was 136. I asked him if felt dizzy or light headed, and he said yes. We were having normal conversation but he didn't seem right. He went back to work, but I was terrribly worried about him. I talked to the pharmacist, they told me to keep an eye on him. I was going to have him come back and take his
BP again before I took him home. He isn't able to drive, so when his friend can't take him home, then typically I do, which is not very often. Today was a day I was going to have to take him home. It was 11:30 and he goes home at 12, I began looking for him but could not find him. I asked around and no one seemed to know. His friend said he had just heard that he passed out in the parking lot, he came to and was waiting for his brother to take him home. Management did not seem to know what was going on, no one seemed to know if he had already left, if he was going to the doctor or what? I went outside but he was already gone. I tried to call him several times and no answer, I talked to the pharmacist again and told them what happened and they said I should try to find out if he is OK. I was going to go to his house and check on him but I could not contact him, I thought I would wait until I got off work and tried to continue to call. I called my husband and told him what was going on, he seemed concerned. I told management I was really worried about him, but I don't think they truly understood my concerns. About 2:30 I was working in the back, and a member a management yelled for me to come to the office. I could tell something was wrong, and as they tried to take me to the office I just stopped in the hall way and asked if it was Johnny, he was in tears and said he just passed away around 1 o'clock. He could have died in my truck, I could have gone to his house and found him dead, never before have I came so close to having to deal with something like this. I felt responsible for not making him go to the doctor. It has been really hard to cope with. I keep wondering what if? I know everyone has their what if's, it's just the first time that I have had a what if I would have gone ahead and took him to the doctor, would he still be here. What if I would have taken him home, would someone have died in my truck today? What if I would have gone to his house to check on him, would I have found him dead? So many difficult thoughts to deal with. My husband tells me that I am going to have to understand that I can't think about the what if's. That I did all I knew to do, that it was his time to die. But it's not that easy on the inside. I get to where I think I am doing better, and then I run into someone who says to my face that they would have taken him to the doctor, and the thoughts come creeping right back in.
I am not one to live with the what if's. I tell my parents that I love them every chance I get. My husband pray's with us everyday before we leave our house, and never miss the I love you's. If I have problem's with friends, I go to them and say "lets talk about it", I don't miss birthday parties, family holiday time. But this time the What If, is permanent. I can't go back, I have to move on and make this a life lesson. The lesson that we may not even have the next hour. I talked to him just 2 hours before he died, not knowing that he was going to go home, sit in his chair and never open his eyes again. My friend used to always tell me, you have to live now, do everything you want to do, take a nice vacation and do something you have always wanted to do. He made provisions for his family, he planned his own funeral down to the last detail in his will. It has really made me st0p and think about my life. Am I living everyday as if there is no tomorrow? Have I talked to my friends enough about Christ? What can I do to make this sort of thing easier for my famly? I am here to say, that you may never have another chance to witness to a friend you spoke to just an hour ago. It might be time for you to go, or time for them to go, either way you should understand that the only time you have is right now. You never know when you are going to get that phone call, a phone call my husband and I received 8 times in the year 2000. Ages ranging from 6 to 86. Your lifetime may only be 6 months, 35 or 87 years. Every life is different, but we must treat them all the same. As if today is the only day you have with them.
Be thankful for today,when you wake up thank God for another day and pray that your heart, mind, and soul will be open to all hearts. We are to be the friends of sinners. I would rather listen to my friend talk about Jesus, than some complete stranger on the street. It's your day to make a new friend and share the love of Christ.