Injection Results

 

Dear friends,

Just writing to let you know how the injection went.  I was in so much pain when I got there that I could barely even walk into the hospital.  The nurse who came and got me saw how much pain I was in and she went and got a wheelchair because the room they were having to take me to was quite a ways away.

They got me back into the room and sat up on the table and they began reviewing all of my information.  The neuroradiologist came in and sat at the computer and carefully reviewed all of my films.  Then he came in and him and I talked for 10 minutes.  He told me exactly what he was going to do and then I had some time to tell him about my fears because of having the needle bent in my back and also that Dr hitting nerves in my back to make my legs literally jump off the table.  He assured me there was no chance of that happening with him.

So I laid down on my stomach on the table and he told me exactly what he was doing.  He eventually got to the point where he said he was trying to find the precise area so that he could do the injection.  He later asked me if I could feel that and I told him yes.  It was burning my groin and hip area terribly.  Then all of a sudden, he starts to walk out of the room and take his scrubs off.  I thought to myself hey Dr. Your leaving and the needle is still in my spine.  So the nurse was there and I asked her well what is next.  Her answer was to put a bandaid on your back and to get you sat up.

Come to find out that burning I was feeling was the steroid being injected. I still thought he was trying to get the needle in the right spot and never knew he had already completed the procedure, including removing the needle.  This doctor was excellent.  I found out he is the chief of that dept and has over 30 yrs experience in this work.  He also is a professor of neuroradiology at the medical school and he also is a professor of neurosurgery.  That means I actually had a neurosurgeon do this procedure.  Every person I dealt with down there yesterday was Christian which is the hand of God once again at work.  The worst part of the procedure was having to lay on my stomach.  I was hurting so bad, I was sweating.

Now for the results.   Initially afterwards I was in alot of pain from how I had to lay.  I got back to the car and took a pain pill and that helped calm things down..  Then the initial numbing medicine helped as well and I’m so blessed to say I got a pain free night of sleep last night!!!!!  As I write this, I sit here crying because I’m not in that pain I was in… All I can say today is PRAISE GOD!!!  GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE! 

I am feeling some pressure and cramps and some pain but nothing compared to where I was.  I actually was up sitting in the living room early and spent almost all morning out and my back is tired and in a little pain, but as I said nowhere like before.  I took tynelol instead of hydrocodone for the pain this morning…. Thank you Jesus!

Thanks so much for your continued prayers.  It is the only thing that has made this possible.  All I could feel yesterday was the peace of God surrounding my heart concerning this procedure.  I literally had people all around the world praying for me and no distance can ever separate our prayer from reaching one another.

Well I better close for now as I have some work to do.  It will take the next couple of days for the actual steroid to start working so with me feeling no pain this morning is nothing but the grace of God working in my life.  Blessings to you all and have a blessed day.

Charles

Update: Back & Housing Situation

Dear Friends,

I know many of you have been waiting to hear about how my Dr.’s appointment went so here it goes. Got down there and boy just walking through the hospital was a very hard thing to do, even with the walker. I got in there and had to wait over 2 hrs to even get into the room. When I did finally get in there, the Dr’s physician’s assistant came in and examined me. He did note that I am weaker in both legs, but especially the left one that has dropfoot. I told him my symptoms and even without talking with the surgeon or looking at films, he told me it was a L1-L2 herniation. At that time, he went out and him and the surgeon looked at the films. All I could pray during that time is that God would give the surgeon wisdom on what to do. It was one of the most anxious times I have had in a long time but there were so many times I felt peace come upon me and the first thing I could think of is that someone is really storming heaven for me. I really cherish and appreciate all of the prayers. They mean more to me than anything.

He finally came in and was in there but for a minute or so. He already had his mind made up on what he was going to do before he even came into the room. He said that right now, surgery is not required PTL. He is going to have a epidural steroid injection done to relieve the swelling and to allow that nerve to have some room. I go back to Pittsburgh for that on the 29th. I am pretty scared about it trust me. For all of you who do not know, I had a terrible experience with needles in the back when I first started having problems when I was 20. They bent a needle in my back, they hit nerves to where my legs jumped off the table and this lasted for 2 hrs. The doctor down there told me I don’t have to worry about that happening down there because the guy who does these is a neuroradiologist, which means this is all he does everyday. I totally trust them down there to do this. I have gotten a lot of rest today and my back is actually feeling really good. Very little pain so I think rest is going to be a big part of the healing.

He said he hopes that the injections will give me a few months relief but every person is different. If worse comes to worse, I will need surgery again to repair it, but they would just repair the disk and stuff which would require a much shorter recovery time. So I am blessed that’s for sure.

I love the Word where the Psalmist writes in Psalm 30:5 “weeping may remain for a night, But rejoicing comes in the morning.” I feel that now God is transitioning the night into morning for us. Found out solutions for my back. And now we have found a trailer that is all but sold to us pending approval from the trailer park manager. It is a 2 bedroom but listen to this: In their shed they have all the materials to build a 3rd bedroom. It has air conditioning and with the payment and everything it might run 100 more than what I was paying but still very affordable. I am just in awe to see how God is working in our lives and blessing us. Praise His Name.

Well this is the latest update. Please pray for my continued relief from the pain and that the final hurdle for us getting the trailer will be overcome soon. Blessings in the Name of Jesus and thanks so much for the prayers.

LETS GO STEELERS!!!!!!

Theo-logy

the-ol-o-gy
Peter Beck
Professor, Author
January 7, 2009
Webster’s dictionary defines “theology” as “the study of the religious faith, practice, and experience.” Technically speaking theology is God (theo) talk (logy). We are doing theology when we talk about God.

But it’s so much more than that. The Bible says that Christians are to love “the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut 6:5). That includes our minds as well. When we do theology, when we think about the difficult teachings of the Bible, we are loving God. In fact, theology is an act of worship.

Unfortunately, not all Christians see it that way. A famous evangelist’s daughter recently wrote a book, “Don’t Give Me Theology, Just Give Me Jesus.” Many Christians seem to agree. They see theology as “boring,” something that seminary students and pastors do, but not particularly relevant for the church. That approach is wrong-headed and it is dangerous.

One cannot describe the ministry of Jesus without doing theology. What was the incarnation? What does atonement mean? Without theology, the Christian Jesus is no different than the Mormon Jesus (brother of Satan) or the Islamic Jesus (just a good teacher).

Without theology we cannot fully appreciate the glory of God. We cannot understand how His mercy and His wrath go hand-in-hand. Without theology our faith is anemic, our defense of the faith impoverished, and the future of our church endangered.

Jesus, the Word, knew a little bit about theology. He taught it to His disciples. He taught it to His followers. In the encounter with the Samaritan woman, Jesus talked about theology. “We worship what we do know …” (John 4:22). This knowledge, Jesus said, drives us to worship God. “But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth” (v. 23). God wants informed worshipers. How do we do that? Theology.

The Apostle Peter warned the church that there are “false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you” (1 Peter 2:1). These prophets and teachers, he wrote, bring into the church “destructive heresies.” How will we recognize them? How can we combat them? In a word: theology.

As a church we do theology when we study the Bible. We do theology when we hear a sermon. We do theology on Sunday night. We do theology even during our prayer meeting. We do these things not because your pastor is a theologian. We do them because we love God and we want to know more about him.

You see, in the end, theology is not just for theologians. It’s for the children of God. It’s for worshippers.

Peter Beck (Ph.D. Southern Seminary) is assistant professor of religion at Charleston Southern University in Charleston, South Carolina and a former Senior Pastor. Dr. Beck also writes at his Website, Living to God.

Content provided by: Christianity.com

Just Posting

Hi there my friends. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Man mine was good and of course I ate too much but time to get back into the gym and work it off. The kids are finally in bed and I wanted to post on my blog. I am so curious to see what the new year will bring, especially with having a new president. Alot of us, including myself, does not like how Obama stands on many of the issues, including homosexual marriage and abortion to name a couple. The Lord has taught me though that we need to still stand behind him and pray for him. He will be the leader for our country for the next 4 years and I know I would never want to be in his shoes. If you have time to critize, you have time to pray. Just needed to get this out.

Lori is feeling much better. Thanks so much for all the prayers. Her belly button still hurts a little bit but that is normal. All the incisions look like they are pretty much healed and the tape they have on them is slowly coming off so thanks be to God for His continuous grace upon us.

Kelsey my daughter just turned 3 this past Tues. the 23rd. I cannot believe how fast time has flown and how my little baby girl has become a girl that walks, plays, and yes even sasses at her mommy and daddy. Matt is still having many problems with his stomach. We finally convinced the doctor to send him to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh so really pray the Lord can give the doctor wisdom on finding the problem and how to treat it. It breaks my heart to see him suffer with this.

We did something totally cool on Christmas morning. We got the kids dressed and took them down to a nursing home I do ministry at. They were able to visit with some people and the residents enjoyed it so much. I found out one of my grandma’s friends who has known me since i was a baby is now in there and that made me sad but at the same time she is receiving top notch care too. That blessed my socks off and most of all, I wanted to teach the kids about giving of themselves, especially during this time of year. I am hoping for us to find little things like this to do during all times of the year.

Well i think I am going to close. Trying to get everything cleaned up from Christmas. Had my family over yesterday so the apartment is a little messy (ok its really messy lol). Take care and have a blessed weekend.

-Pastor Charles

Merry Christmas – Link to Christmas Card

Open Christmas Card From Me

The Truth Comes Out

As President Bush is in the final days of his presidency, the truth finally comes out to how he feels about his faith.

-Rev. Charles

Bush talks of belief in God, evolution

Dec 8, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — President George W. Bush said his belief that God created the world is not incompatible with scientific proof of evolution.

In an interview with ABC’s “Nightline” on Monday, the president also said he probably is not a literalist when reading the Bible although an individual can learn a great deal from it, including the New Testament teaching that God sent his only son.

Asked about creation and evolution, Bush said: “I think you can have both. I think evolution can — you’re getting me way out of my lane here. I’m just a simple president. But it’s, I think that God created the earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty and I don’t think it’s incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution.”

He added, “I happen to believe that evolution doesn’t fully explain the mystery of life.”

Interviewer Cynthia McFadden asked Bush if the Bible was literally true.

“You know. Probably not. … No, I’m not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament for example is … has got … You know, the important lesson is ‘God sent a son,’” Bush said.

“It is hard for me to justify or prove the mystery of the Almighty in my life,” he said. “All I can just tell you is that I got back into religion and I quit drinking shortly thereafter and I asked for help. … I was a one-step program guy.”

The president also said that he prays to the same God as those with different religious beliefs.

“I do believe there is an almighty that is broad and big enough and loving enough that can encompass a lot of people,” Bush said.

When asked whether he thought he would have become president had it not been for his faith, Bush said: “I don’t know; it’s hard to tell. I do know that I would have been — I’m pretty confident I would have been a pretty selfish person.”

Bush said he is often asked whether he thinks he was chosen by God to be president.

“I just, I can’t go there,” he said. “I’m not that confident in knowing, you know, the Almighty, to be able to say, Yeah, God wanted me of all the other people.”

He also said the decision to go to war in Iraq was not connected to his religious believes.

“I did it based upon the need to protect the American people from harm,” Bush said.

“You can’t look at the decision to go into Iraq apart from, you know, what happened on Sept. 11. It was not a religious decision,” he said. “I don’t view this as a war of religion. I view this as a war of good, decent people of all faiths against people who murder innocent people to achieve a political objective.”

He said he felt like God was with him as he made big decisions, but that the decisions were his.

“George W. Bush has to make these decisions.”

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

With just weeks before Christmas REMEMBER:

Jesus is Better than Santa

Santa lives at the North Pole.

JESUS is everywhere.
Santa rides in a sleigh
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.
Santa comes but once a year
JESUS is an ever present help.
Santa fills your stockings with goodies
JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited
JESUS stands at your door and knocks… and then enters your heart.
You have to stand in line to see Santa
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.
Santa doesn’t know your name, all he can say is “Hi little boy or girl, What’s your name?”
JESUS knew our names before we did. Not only does He know our names, He knows our addresses too. He knows our histories and futures and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly
JESUS has a heart full of love.
All Santa can offer is HO HO HO

JESUS offers health, help and hope.
Santa says “You better not cry”
JESUS says “Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.”
Santa’s little helpers make toys
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.
Santa may make you chuckle but
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree
JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.
It’s obvious there is really no comparison.
We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.

We need to put Christ back in Christmas.
Jesus is still the reason for the season.

May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas 2008

And may He prosper and bless the work of your hands in the New Year.

Pray For My Wife Please

Dear Friends,

I ask you to pray for my wife please. She was having severe pain in her back and stomach area last evening so I took her to the emergency room. After running a number of tests, it was determined that she has gallstones. I know she has to follow up with the family doctor next week but please pray the Lord’s healing touch can be put upon her. After I have done some research on this, usually the first time they want you to wait and see if you have another attack. This was her first attack so I am hoping it is a one time thing because they state that she may never have another one again. I must admit it has scared me some and I am really concerned for her. Thanks so much for your prayers and I will keep everyone updated.

-Rev. Charles

Human Life… How Precious.

This is an article that came through my email that I had to share with you all. Please pray for all those who are considering abortion that the Lord will sway their hearts to choose life.

-Pastor Charles

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said:
‘Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even 1 yr. old and I’m pregnant again. I don’t want kids so close together.’
So the doctor said: ‘Ok, and what do you want me to do?’She said: ‘I want you to end my pregnancy, and I’m counting on your help with this.’The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: ‘I think I have a better solution for your problem. It’s less dangerous for you too.’ She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request. Then he continued: ‘You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let’s kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we’re going to kill one of them, it doesn’t matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms. The lady was horrified and said: ‘No doctor! How terrible! It’s a crime to kill a child!’I agree’, the doctor replied. ‘But you seemed to be ok with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution. The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point.
He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that’s already been born and one that’s still in the womb. The crime is the same! AMEN Amen Amen Amen