I don’t have any profound biblical insights for today (although I’m not sure that I’ve ever really had any profound biblical insights…but that’s another story).  I just wanted to catch you all up on the knee thing.

I think most of my friends/family were aware that I was having knee surgery for the second time in my life (yes, the same knee too).  The initial radiologist’s report said that there was a definite meniscus tear and a possible ACL tear.  As I had an ACL tear 7 years ago that was reconstructed, I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to go through that again.  As it turns out I don’t.  That was the good news.

The Dr. repaired the meniscus tear and cleaned up the cartilage surfaces, which should help me walk a little better and with less pain.  But, and there is a BUT, the Dr. is disappointed that I have an excess of arthritis in this knee.  I’m about 20 years too young for a knee replacement, so it looks like I’ll be living with an arthritic knee for quite a while to come yet.  Drugs.  That’s all I’ve got to say.

On another note, I was very glad that my Mom was able to come and stay with me for a week.  Bless her heart – she had to drive me to my doctor’s office in the midst of a rather heavy snow storm – 10 inches of snow on Friday, March 21.  She has NEVER been in a storm like that and I think I can speak for her in saying that she hopes to NEVER do that again.  She had a trip of firsts:  first snow shovel, first major winter storm, first Chipotle experience and first time flying Midwest airlines (which I HIGHLY recommend).

These are flowers that Shirlee sent me – wonderful lilies. Once the opened up the entire room smelled like Spring – even with 10 inches of snow on the balcony. 

Oh, on another note – one of my last posts was about my Discover Card and some of the debt things that I’ve been working on.  I received a "good news" letter from my bank last week.  Last year, in an attempt to start working on re-establishing my credit, I applied for a secured card with my bank.  I’ve been using it off and on for a year now and being very diligent and conscientious about paying it off.  It appears that I’ve been doing well because they will refund my security deposit back to me and slightly increase my limit.  WOOHOO!  I’m excited because this info is going on my credit report and every little bit of good news helps.

WoooooooHoooooooooooooo!  It’s done!  It’s Finished!  It has taken me 10 very LLLLOOOOONNNNGGG years to get this sucker paid off…and as of today…IT’S DONE!

Isn’t that beautiful?  To put this into context, my limit was a meager $4,500, which at one point the balance soared to over $8,000 (closer to $9,000).  I have been diligently paying this sucker off for the better part of 8 years while living on a salary that was roughly 1/2 of my salary when I incurred the debt.  So my salary went down and my payments went up.  And now the balance is -0-.  Boy does that feel good.

For some time now I have been following the progress of the breaking apart of the Anglican (Episcopal) church primarily over the issue of blessing same-sex marriages.  Certain parishes in the US and Canada are adopting views of blessing same-sex marriages on their own, putting them at odds with other parishes within a diocese.  As a whole the US and Canada both seem to be moving toward the direction of the entire national church adopting by-laws that would approve this measure, going against the larger world-wide anglican communion on this doctrinal issue.  One of the churches that is protesting their parish’s move toward same-sex blessings and is struggling to keep a conservative identity within the larger world-wide anglican church is the church that JI Packer belongs to.  Here are some  interviews with him regarding the issue of same-sex marriages.  His church has a series of 10 videos that address the issue in its entirety and they can be viewed here.  These videos with JI Packer are parts 6-9 of that series.

 Part 1.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEMUn4KEVe8&hl=en]

Part 2.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxhsEC-q34A&hl=en]

Part 3.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boHYh3yhZlk&hl=en]

Part 4.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EERVCxkdnZg&hl=en]

I find the Belt of Truth to be little strange.  It is the first piece of armor that Paul puts on.  Why would truth be characterized as a belt?  What do belts do?  They hold you in and keep you together.   They hold your pants up and keep you from falling.  Hm…maybe there is something here after all.  The Truth, that is Christ, keeps me together.  The Truth keeps me from falling down.  Yes, now this makes a little sense.

I’ve often wondered at this Post Modern world and their idea of truth.  I was part of that “world” once.  Before I became a Christian I lived with the idea that what is right for me may not be right for you and that was okay.  We each have our on “reality” and that’s what makes us unique individuals.  But how far can that go?  Honestly, how far can that line of reasoning really go?  I think it can only go as far as our own thoughts and cannot carry over into our actions.  Once it does that then someone’s “rights” will be stepped on and they will question how valid your actions are.  So even though we may say that we can each live with our own realities, the reality is that we can’t.  We live by rules so that all of our “rights” are protected and no one gets hurt in the process.

I think that for me at least, before I became a Christian, the appeal to this line of reasoning was to have a justification for certain behavior that perhaps my parents would not have approved of.  Their reality was no pre-marital sex – my reality was – hey, sex is fun so why not?  The trouble is, who’s reality am I really living in?  Mine?  My parents?  I don’t think so.  I’m living in God’s reality, along with all the other 6 billion people in the world.  God’s truth is what we all ultimately have to live by because we are all living ultimately in God’s reality.

Yes, the Belt of Truth – it holds me together and keeps me from falling out of reality with God.  Good first piece of armor to put on.

I’ve made the executive decision to change my first sermon for class to Ephesians 6:10-18 which is where Paul talks about putting on the full Armor of God.

The Armor of God
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians is one letter that speaks a great deal of the devil and the spiritual world that exists.  He doesn’t justify the existence, he doesn’t explain it, he simply states that the devil is real and he works against God for our detriment.  I went through a time about 7-8 years ago where I felt that I was really facing some serious warfare.  I was not working in a great place and there were a lot of things going on that caused people to behave in ways that I honestly don’t think they would have otherwise exhibited.  The point being that I was under attack spiritually and these words of Paul’s were just the thing that I needed to help me get through that time of my life.  Thank goodness that I did survive and God was so gracious to me.

In my women’s bible study last night two of the women shared that they were experiencing some spiritual warfare in their respective work places.  My heart goes out to them and the awesome thing about God is that he has been preparing me for this message to preach on the topic that they are dealing with.  It just reaffirms to me that the devil is very real and that God is sovereign.

Links/Resources
I found a few links to some resources online that help with understanding the Armor of God.  Each of these links will open a new window.  If you are using IE 7 then you can right click on the link and open it in a new tab instead of a new window.

1. Charles Stanley/InTouch - This is a PDF file that is 22 pages and more of a lesson/bible study format. 
2. Charles Stanley/InTouch - this is just a one page document describing some basics of spiritual warfare – short and simple.
3. KGNW/Christian Radio - this is also a one page article but it walks through each of the items that Paul describes and how to use it for spiritual warfare.