Sunday, December 25, 2016

Behold! You Don't Want to Miss This! Iron Faith's Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

by Pastor Randy Scott

Music by Ray Seemans
and Kim Wolk

Iron faith Fellowship,
Wilmington, Delaware




Luke 2English Standard Version (ESV)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.[c]
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”[d]
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.



Sunday, December 18, 2016

Behold! The Way Prepared.

by Pastor Randy Scott

Iron Faith Fellowship
Wilmington, Delaware

Isaiah 7:14

Isaiah 7English Standard Version (ESV)

 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.



Sunday, December 11, 2016

Behold! No Need to Hurry to Shame

by Pastor Randy Scott

Iron Faith Fellowship
Wilmington, Delaware

December 11, 2016

Isaiah 28English Standard Version (ESV)

14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
    who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
    and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
    it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
    and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid[d] as a foundation in Zion,
    a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
    ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice the line,
    and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
    and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
    and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
    you will be beaten down by it.


Sunday, December 4, 2016

Behold!

by Pastor Randy Scott

Iron Faith Fellowship
Wilmington, Delaware

December 4, 2016

Revelation 3English Standard Version (ESV)

 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”






Friday, December 2, 2016

Dionogsis and Decisions and the Frailities of This Body

I had an appointment in Thomas Jefferson Hospital at the Neurology Clinic. This is at 909 Market Street. Although I am long experienced in driving in Philadelphia, I felt apprehensive about dealing with the traffic and the parking, as well as what my state of mind might be after my appointment. Iron Faith came through again and supplied me with a driver, Larry Harris. He is a professional, a tour bus driver, thus I was in good hands, and appreciative since he had to spend his morning hanging about Philly for three hours.

My appointment was at 10, but we left good and early, since one never knows the trafic delays that may be lurking on I-95 or elsewhere. There were backups on I-95, but he took us a diffent route and avoided them. He dropped me off in front of the building at 9:00. He then drove off "to find a place to hide" until I called him to pick me up a little past noon
.
Well, it was still an hour until my appointment and I decided to take a walk. You know, I try to take a walk every morning. It was on one of those walks in late May that eventually led me here. I was breezing along when suddenly, as if someone threw a light switch, my legs felt off and weak and I walked in a funny, slow way.


I  shuffled off yesterday, and a shuffle is the way I walk these days, slow and steady...actually I am not so steady. I was very cautious crossing at the corners, I didn't want to trip and fall over the handicap ramps as my frined Ronald had done a couple weeks back. I didn't need to enter the hospital with a bloody face.


I decided to go look at the entrance of a place I worked at in the early 'seventies, Lincoln Bank. Of course, Lincoln Bank no longer exists, it disappeared decades ago I turned off Walnut, went down a block of 10th Street and turned left onto Samson.  Samson is a narrow street. One change since I lived and worked in Philly was how it was lined with bicycles. 

My old site of employment, back in 1971, was half between 12th and 13th streets. The entry  is still there as well as the parking garage we were located beneath, but I have no idea what is operating there these day.

It went down to 13th street and headed back to Walnut. Gee in this one shop I could have gotten a barguin of a mink coat, $900 reduced from $2,000. It was really an unattractive jacket.


It is the one with the sign pinned on front.

I headed back on Walnut. Everybody going my way was zipping by me.
I remember when I use to be the one passing everybody when I walked these streets. It crossed my mind I was so slow would I be late arriving for my appointment, perhaps this walk had been a mistake. By the way, the man sitting on the sidewalk in the distance was a homeless guy begging for money. I hope this isn't my future fate.


I wasn't late. I was still twenty muntes early, but I entered the building anyway. I had to sign in at the security desk and get a visitor tag before going up to the Neurology Clinic on the second floor. Once there I had to sign in again, electronically.


I took a seat in the large waiting room wondering how long I would
wait. What a difference was this experience from what I had been used to in Delaware. I was only seated a couple minutes when I heard someone call "Larry". I was so startled I had to ask a lady at that semi-circle of desks if I heard correctly. Yes, I had, except I had no idea where to go. I wandered around the semi-circle and suddenly a lady asked, "Larry Meredith."

I sat on a chair before her and she took the usual info, my ID and insurance cards, asked a few informational questions. Amazingly no one handed my a questionnaire to fill out. She then told me to take a seat in the waiting room and someone would come get me. 
Okay, I thought, so now we wait, but I had barely sat down when a fellow in blue scrubs called me back. He took my vital signs, asked some family history, then led me to another little exam room and said the Doctor would be in shortly.

Yeah, right, I've heard on enough doctor visis and the shortly was like a half hour. But surprise again, as he walked out of the room the Doctor walked in. I should say, the doctors walked in, two Physicians and a Nurse Practitioner. The lead doctor was Goran Rakocevic (pictured left).

These people were exceedingly kind and encouraging. They conducted a physical exam, consisting of a lot hitting me with a hammer. Dr. Rakocevic didn't see the need for further tests, since he had  MRI result, reports from my other doctors and the recent EMG. The diagnosis was pretty clear. 

I have sporadic amyorophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig Disease. (Sporadic simply means I didn't inherit it because I have no family history of the disorder. I got it more or less randomly.) It is a rare disease and not contagious, so you can relax on that note. They do not know what causes it and there is no cure. It is a progressive and eventually fatal affliction. 


What is it? 

Well, amyotrophic means no muscle nourishment.  It doesn't mean the muscles are not getting food, but they are not getting messages from the brain. This results in weakened muscles, then they shrink and later become paralyzed. Lateral is the way the the motor neurons travel along the sides of the spinal cord. When these neurons die they leave behind scar tissue. Scelrosis means scarring or hardening. ALS is a disorder of the motor nerves or motor neutrons. These neurons tell your muscles what to do and without them your muscle become weak. The progression causes problems with daily activities, such as moving about, lifting and carrying, caring for one's self, speaking, chewing, swallowing and eventually breathing. It might also cause muscle craps, twitching under the skin, weight loss, stiffness or poor coordination. Sounds like fun, don't it?

They told me I have loss muscle mass in my hands, arms and legs. When it is gone it is gone. No exercise will build this loss muscle back. I am already having problems handling things with my hands. I drop a lot. I read in a case history of a relatively young woman suffering from it that found she couldn't remove her gas cap. She had to ask a man to undo it for her. I have noticed opening and closing my gas cap has become more difficult.

I will have a team to look after me as I go to the clinic during the month. This will include doctors, nurses, social workers and
therapists (speech, physical and occupational therapists.) Social workers will aid with issurance, social issues and emotional state.

Average life expectancy can run from 1 year to 10 years on average depending on the speed of the progression. Hopefully mine is a lazy sort and slow. Remember, Steven Hawking got ALS when he was 21 and he is now 74, so he's had it for 53 years. I figure I got a chance to make 100 yet.

Anyway, I'm not dwelling on that. I am just going to keep on living as I have, doing the things I like and enjoy my remaining years. It's all in the hands of God anyway. I may need some earthy help, though.