Thursday, October 20, 2011
When I started
writing my Blog, “Keeping Your Head In
The Game,” the title and goal was clearly stated: “the goal of helping people think
Biblically and have a Christian
mindset throughout life’s journey.”
This is no light thing since “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
(Prov.23:7) The power of the Gospel is that through Jesus Christ we are given a
clean heart and a renewed mind (clear head)! A new way of living is made possible because
we’re called to a new way of thinking.
I’ve already made
the announcement to the church because I wanted to make sure that I effectively
and accurately “managed” the flow of information. That way the congregation and others would be
best informed for prayer and the on-going work of God. I also sent a letter of explanation to all of
our pastors with the same intent in mind.
Since the readership of the Blog extends beyond our local congregation,
I thought I would include it here also.
As you know I have been fighting a chronic
wound on my right ankle bone for many, many years. However, the underlying cause and the real
issue is osteomyelitis, which is an infection of the bone. It is also a very
stubborn infection. This is what necessitated my original surgery on June 29,
2011. I have followed the proper treatment protocol which was: 1) debridement
of the wound 2) scraping and cleaning of the actual bone of infection (called
soft bone) 3) at least a 6-week IV antibiotic regimen with some strong medicine
to knock out the infection 4) the proper wound care treatment to accompany all
of this. This is what has limited my
activity since that time. At the start, I gave myself in my mind about six
months to heal fully. It’s very easy to fixate on the wound that is there but
that is NOT the problem, the problem is the infection.
The long and short of the matter is that
after all this the last MRI showed that the “osteo” is still there and even
used the words “marked progression.” I
could go in for another debridement, followed by a bone biopsy and culture,
then another IV (perhaps longer one) regimen, and then the long, long task of
healing a now much larger wound. I do not think that is the right course to
take. I don’t believe it’s the best stewardship of my life, the will of God,
and the things God has called me to do. The best treatment option that will
effectively and once and for all remove the infection is amputation. I have always
been aware that this was on the “radar screen” of possibilities, but we fought
the good fight to this point, but it is not working. I am not naive to think there is not going to
be a new learning curve associated with this procedure (right now it’s scheduled
to be an above-the-knee amputation), but think:
1. I will no longer have a stubborn infection
which can be life-threatening
2. It is not as radical as it would be for
someone who is walking. Nothing changes. I am still sitting in my wheelchair, still functioning
and doing all the things I've always done. This includes preaching, pastoring, traveling,
riding/racing etc. When you look at the
platform what do you see? You see Pastor Warner sitting in
his wheelchair. OK, still the same thing, only on closer inspection, I will have a shorter pant
leg.
3. The healing time frame for this to fully
heal is around 6 weeks. Not six weeks in bed, but six weeks to fully heal outside and inside. The
other option of doing what we've done before would leave me with a much larger wound that would
easily take 9-12 months to heal, an IV regimen that maybe has a 50-50 chance to succeed.
4. In talking to the surgeon and asking him
what I can and cannot do he said, “You can do anything you want.” I’m sure he meant within prudent reason!
5. While not taking it lightly, all of my
medical team is on board with this as the best treatment option for me to take. Also, and most
importantly, my wife Mona is completely on board as well.
I am taking the path that will allow me best
to do the will of God. Is it wise to fight a war over a piece of territory that
I will never use?! When the procedure
was first put on the table to me by the surgeon, he pointed to his head and his
heart, saying that here were my biggest hurdles to overcome. I’m sure this is true, but isn’t it also true
that much of the Christian life involves focusing on these two things: our
hearts and our minds? (Prov.4:23)
admonishes us, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of
your life.” The Apostle Paul wrote
to the church at Philippi about the supernatural peace of God and the things
that help activate this, “Finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any
excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” When
Jesus was talking about the distinctive that is to identify us as His followers
He said, “"So don't worry about
these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we
wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly
Father already knows all your needs.” (Mt.6:31,32) He then followed it up
with one of my life verses (Mt.6:33) “Seek
the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you
everything you need.” You should
notice the contrast: what’s missing in a worldly lifestyle is there is no
mention of heart or mind issues, but life is reduced to consumption and
appearance. This trumps everything else
in life. As Christians, we have a
greater and a higher goal, the KINGDOM OF GOD, His rule in every area of our
lives!
I thought about back to the time in my life
when I was first injured in an automobile accident on April 30, 1973, which
left me as an L-1 paraplegic. My
mentality in that season was “I want to
get on with living life and doing the will of God.” I am so grateful to God and His grace which
has kept me and enabled me to witness and be part of the far greater work that
He is doing, and to see the impact of the Gospel in thousands of people’s lives
in many nations around the world.
In a sense, this is another one of those
decisions: what will best enable me to be back in the game, doing what God has
called me to do, and doing it
with the finest congregation of believers that I know of (as you can tell,
I am totally biased!). As always, YOUR
PRAYERS FOR ME HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE MOST PRECIOUS AND VALUABLE GIFTS YOU'VE EVER GIVEN ME. The surgery is next
Tuesday, October 25th at 11:30am.
So, if I’m silent for a few days, no Tweets,
no new Blog posts, you will know why. My
wife, my inseparable helper and co-worker with her joy and sense of humor asked
me last Saturday night how my sermon was coming along. I told her fine, I was almost finished
editing it. Then (knowing this surgery
was imminent) she asked me (with a smile) if my sermons would be “shorter?!” I can’t promise that, but I do hope and pray
they are inspired by God’s unchanging Word, filled with God’s grace and power,
breathed upon by the Holy Spirit, and extolling the “unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ.”
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