52 Churches

Most of my book reading revolves around two subjects, apologetics (defense of the Christian faith), or theology. For Christmas, I received a new book called 52 Churches, by Paul DeHaan. It doesn't quite fit either of my usual categories, but has a flavor of both. I am a few pages away from finishing it, but have covered the main points.

The author volunteers at a food bank and regularly received questions on area churches. Therefore, he and his wife took a fact-finding mission to visit a new church every week for a year. Each week's report is fairly short, but I quickly notice a few themes for the various congregations.

A big item of discussion is how welcoming a church is to visitors. The majority had greeters at the door, but beyond that was hit and miss. Some had members that went out of their way to welcome the DeHaans and guide them through the church's particular worship style and act as tour guides. Unfortunately, he reported a few that completely ignored them and they almost left in tears. Being part of a church is fellowship with other believers and sharing struggles and triumphs in life. That can't happen if you're invisible.

I couldn't help but think of my own congregation and how we do in these ratings. As a life-long member, I obviously can't speak as a visitor. However, we have been growing the past few years and must be doing well with newcomers. Unfortunately, my parents and I have many weeks that we sit by ourselves after church eating cookies and juice while everyone around talks in small huddles. While it's nice to be approached by friends and chat, I'm not any better at rolling over to someone and talking with them. If I'm in public and armed with gospel tracts, and a willing caregiver, I'll approach anyone to talk. It shouldn't be different in church.

One item in 52 Churches really piqued my interest, especially this week. Unlike most authors, I did not research DeHaan's background before reading his book. I would guess that he has some sort of architecture experience or vocation. Most weeks mentioned the sanctuary's size and seating capacity as a point on church size. One week, he mentioned the structure actually looked like a church. I understand his point in that many modern church structures no longer have towers reaching to heaven and resemble retail buildings with maybe a cross added in.

My own congregation left our 1930's built structure in 2020 for a new building on the edge of town. The city purchased our old building and this week tore it down. The structure that lasted nearly 100 years fell within a couple hours. The brick siding, bell tower, benches, and much more were unceremoniously crushed and shipped off to a landfill. Yes, it is just a place to gather together for praise and worship and the new facility is much more wheelchair accessible. However, there is something about going to a unique structure that sets a mood for a special time of the week and not just a regular outing.

At any point, these are the musings from an old quad life. I'm thankful for the friends I have at my congregation and for our fellowship. The book will make me notice visitors more, and maybe try to be more outgoing to others while also wanting to get home. 

*Pictures used by permission from a friend's Facebook post

Learning New Career or Just Learning?

Last summer, I took a 12-week course on expository preaching. It was a challenge to complete, but still fun and beneficial. A couple weeks after my final assignment, a pastor friend let me know about several free courses through a seminary in Texas. Looking through the options, I found a few that sounded intriguing. About the same time, I learned the instructor from the preaching course I just finished was disqualified from ministry for not practicing what he preached. This soured my appetite for pursuing more education, at least for a while.

A few weeks ago, I returned to the information I received last fall and decided to try a course. The first one that sounded interesting, and could be useful, was Introduction to Biblical Counseling. It hasn't happened in a while, but I have had friends that looked to me for help in hard times. I offer what I can, but I can always learn more.

The free course is only five lessons and doesn't offer any credits or certificates, it's just strictly for learning. So far, I have completed three lessons and hope to do the fourth this weekend. They consist of three to four videos that are around 15 minutes each. After watching each one, you answer a short multi-point quiz from what was just covered. The final parts include a short reading and a final quiz consisting of the same questions from the previous quizzes.

So far, I have received 100% for every evaluation. Some of the ideas are interesting and not necessarily how I would have thought. I'm not sure I'll ever use any of the material, but it's good to expand my knowledge. I saw last week how to become a certified biblical counselor through a two-year online course. At this point in life though, I don't foresee making a major career change.

I'm thankful that while living the hibernation quad life, I can keep my mind active. I will be starting a busy time for work soon and picked a great time to take this course. I will see what a new week brings!

Three Beeps

As technology continues to increase around us, we become more familiar with its sounds. Going to checkout lines at stores, we hear beeps as each item is scanned. At home, the beeps of a microwave, or oven, signal that our meal is ready to be eaten. When you can't breathe on your own, beeps from the device you're connected to are especially important.

For a quarter century, I knew every alarm from my ventilator very well. A short beep indicated high pressure and something was clogging the tubes, or me. A continuous alarm indicated low pressure with either a tube disconnected or I was breathing too shallow while sleeping. In 2010, after receiving my diaphragm pacemaker, I had to learn a new system of beeps from my electronic attachment.

I know well that two beeps in rapid succession mean the battery is low and needs changed. The initial warning supposedly indicates 24 hours remaining, but I've never tested it that long to see. If I didn't already realize I wasn't breathing, a series of three beeps followed by two more mean it's disconnected and not working. I learned a few years ago this is an international standard that indicates a major medical warning. In other words, beeps have become so integrated into our world, they now have national standards. Starting around late November, I heard a new sequence of three beeps I wasn't familiar with.

They happened very rarely and seemingly with no apparent cause. My breathing wasn't affected, so I let it go for a while as an oddity. A few weeks ago, I finally asked Synapse Biomedical, my pacemaker's developer, what they meant. They had me send pictures of the wires that come from my chest to try to spot any damage. Everything looked fine to my caregiver and I, but they spotted something that could be the issue.

Communicating by email Wednesday morning resulted in a company representative flying in and standing at my bed side Thursday afternoon. He moved wires around in every direction, but couldn't duplicate the beeps. Therefore, he carefully trimmed the delicate wires that protrude from my body and reconnected them as normal. Everything seemed to be fine, until the three beeps were again heard Friday morning. They continued sporadically last weekend and early this past week as well.

In frustration, I had my caregiver change the cable that goes between me and the DPS control unit. Since that change Thursday morning, the beeps have yet to return as I write this on Saturday evening.

Living the quad life has days of uncertainty, guessing, and learning. This week I learned that my beeping electronic friend may just be saying a simple change is needed. I'm also thankful for quick response to problems and the reminder from God of every breath He provides.