Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

Greetings from the Frozen North! Now brother I do mean frozen. I don’t think we got above -20 today!! It is headed down to the -30s or so tonight. I am so glad for “Global Warming”!!!!!!! It must be warm somewhere?

We are having a Concert at Soldotna Church of God tonight at 8:00 pm. Then afterwards around 9:30 or so we will head out to Alaska Christian Retreat for a Food, Fun and Fellowship night until 12:00am when Pastor Thad White will light up the sky with a huge fireworks display. Yes we did get a KPB permit!

If you live in the Soldotna area and you read this before midnight we would love you have you join us. Alaska Christian Retreat is at the end of Deville Road at mile 89 of the Sterling Hwy. The Soldotna Church of God is on the corner of Brinkley and Redoubt in Soldotna!

I will share more later but this rollar coaster is still going, hang on!

Pastor Alan

Don’t Get Weary in Well Doing

I don’t mean to get “preachy” but I feel I have something to say to all of us human beings caught up in this tragedy of November 28, 2008. Many of you who are reading this have been touched in some way by this tragic event. Most of us are a part of this pain filled journey to one degree or another. You may have been in the middle of the shooting at the hospital when it all came down or you may be like me, one who came in the middle of the event. You may have been affected indirectly. Nevertheless we have all been impacted greatly. It’s been over a month now and I want to share this simple principle from the New Testament.

Galatians 6:9 encourages us not to “get weary in well doing”. We are all doing well when we encourage one another. One of my greatest spiritual gifts is the gift of encouragement. I’m not sure if it is in fact a Spiritual Gift for me or a Spiritual Decision I made many years ago to be an encouragement to others.

Contrary to what some people may believe I really don’t do that many things very well. I just have a few things that I can do well. For many years I struggled with trying to do too many things that weren’t my strengths at all. I really don’t think I am that different from all the rest of us. Most of us just have a few things we do well. However we should not allow the fact that we don’t do “all things” well stop us from doing what little we can do.

However I think encouraging one another is something we can all do to one degree or another. I think it begins with a smile! Then it continues with a kind word or a sincere compliment to that person. The key here is a sincere compliment not cheap flattery. Then it continues with asking some questions about the other person’s life and family and them LISTEN!

Listening is a lost art for many people. Most of us want so much to talk about our problems and concerns we forget to listen. Please don’t get the impression that I have mastered the art of Listening. I am far from a master; however I have been working on it for many years. I still have a long way to go but remember “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. So we must start and there is no better time to start than today.

It is so easy to get discouraged and give up. What’s the use no one cares any way. Why bother? Well I will tell you why bother, because it really does matter to others.

From a personal perspective, when I sat at the hospital with Margaret and Jerry in Anchorage those first 12 days and in Seattle for 7 days, I can’t describe how encouraging it was for me to read those post on the status page and comments on my Blog and the emails from friends back home and from so many that I didn’t even know. Just to know that you were praying and thinking about us there was such a blessing.  I so looked forward to opening the site and reading the new post every day. I want to say thank you to so many of you who have written on the status site and on my Blog.

Now it is even more important for us not to get “tired” of writing and become complacent with our prayers and thoughts and comments. It really does mean so much to Jerry and Margaret in Seattle.

Not only to Jerry and Margaret but to the others in our extended family all over this great land. Please don’t get discouraged and think it doesn’t matter if you tell them you care and are praying for them. It may be someone as close as your spouse or your children or your parents. It maybe someone as far away as Virginia or Alaska or Seattle or where ever, Just Tell Them You Care!!!!!!! Show them you care by “listening”. Please don’t get tired of doing good to one another. Why not start today?

Blessing to you,

Pastor Alan

Update on Margaret Stroup 12-27-2008

It is late evening here in Alaska. I spoke with Jerry late this evening and he shared they did a CT scan late this afternoon and the doctors came by this evening and gave him a report. They found some air pockets in the cavity of her lungs. They aren’t sure how they got there and not sure what procedure they will use to correct the problem. They also found some fluid spots around her lungs as well. They are going to consult with other Radiologist tomorrow morning and I will give a clearer update on the status site tomorrow.

Margaret also asked Jerry not to leave her tonight. He will be staying the night with her for sure. I will let him sleep some in the morning and will call him in the early afternoon. So don’t look for the update tomorrow too early.

By the time most of you read this it will be Sunday. I trust you went to church today. Remember this is the last Sunday you will ever be able to attend church in 2008, It’s over!!!!!!! I also want to encourage you to read you Bible every day. If you don’t have a plan I would encourage you to get one. We use the Daily Bread. You can get one at the Soldotna Church of God or call or email me and I will mail you one. They also have a web site. I think the address is dailybread.org but you can Google them and find the online version. It has a daily Bible reading guide plus some great thoughts each day. You can also watch my Sunday Sermon online at www.ahopeforthefuture.org. Check it out!

See ya soon,

Pastor Alan

Christmas Day 2008 Reflections

Well as most of you know Margaret has improved a little today. That is good news indeed. I am so thankful for any and all improvements she is making. She is truly in the right place for the right time for her body to be recovering. I spent a week with the awesome nurses and doctors at the Harborview Medical Trauma Center. They truly care for their patients. They have some of the finest equipment and staff in the country. I am so thankful for their commitment to their calling.

However I also spent about 12 days in Providence Medical Center ICU in Anchorage. They also truly care for their patients. They are also a fine hospital and have some of the finest nurses and doctors and equipment in Alaska. WE are truly blessed in America to have some of the finest medical care in the world. I also spent about 12 hours in Central Peninsula Hospital the day this whole ordeal began. I also live and work in this community. The nurses, doctors and staff here are some of the finest in the country as well. I would put their professional care and compassion up against any in the land. Our newly remodeled hospital for a community our size in truly incomparable.

Yes it is God that created the human body and God designed it to heal its self to a great degree. However God also gave the men and women who are called, and I do mean called, to be Doctors and Nurses the talent and ability and compassion to work with Him and our bodies in the process called “healing”.

I want to give a great big Christmas Salute to all the Doctors and Nurses in the world that have dedicated themselves to the “art of healing”. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Here’s a thought, not only is Margaret and Jerry and many other thousands of patients and their families in the hospital for Christmas and the entire Holiday Season but so were many nurses and doctors and support staff.

It has been said several times when we send out a good report on Margaret’s progress that “God is good”. Well I totally agree that God is good, I do not agree that because Margaret is doing better God is good. No I say God is good all the time. In spite of the good and the bad from our point of view, “God is Good”.

Remember Romans 8:28 God will work all things together for the good of those who love Him and for His Glory. Let us at this Christmas Season and at all times through out the year put our total trust in God who is good all the time! He really does care for you even in the tough times.

In closing let me say it is still snowing here in Soldotna, Alaska. We have received at least 6 to 10 inches today. Wow what a Christmas present indeed.

God Bless you all,

Pastor Alan

It’s Christmas Eve in Alaska

Yes I made it home, back to Soldotna Alaska. I had a safe but not an uneventful trip. The plane was about one hour late which this day and time under normal circumstances is not even a big deal. I got to Anchorage and picked up Jerry and Margaret’s car, did a little shopping and I do mean little. I only went to tow stores and gassed up and headed down the road to Soldotna. I only went a few miles and discovered an auto accident. The road was closed for over three hours. I person died and at least two others were injured. I only had to wait for about an hour.

In light of all that is happening in our lives these days waiting an hour in traffic seemed like no big deal at all. You know everything is about “perspective”, it really is. We humans are so easily upset over the smallest and stupidest things. It’s so easy to loose your temper over the dumbest things and then when you think of what so many others are going through we should feel ashamed!!!!! Now I don’t mean this to be condemning or adding shame to your life. The Lord knows most of do enough of that on our own. I guess it’s just where I have been for the last month or so.

I mean you go spend a week in a Trauma Unit and it will change your perspective on life I promise!!!!! You will certainly think twice griping about some of the petty things that most of us grip about every day. “Lord help be to be grateful today for so many blessings You have given to me today!” Most of us will eat enough just in the next few days to feed an army and there are so many people in the world that can’t eat or don’t have the bounty we so easily take for granted. Now please don’t miss understand me, I am not trying to cause you or me to feel guilty. I am just hoping to stir up a little extra gratitude now at Christmas time and all through the rest of our lives. It is so easy to forget how blessed we really are and it is even easier to forget that it is God Almighty our Creator that has blessed us with sooooo many good things.

I remember the sign I saw in a friends home many years ago. It read “I asked God for all things so that I may enjoy life, instead God gave me life so that I could enjoy all things.” Let us remember to be extra thankful to God this Christmas. He truely has blessed us all. Please don’t forget to pray for Margaret and Jerry. They really could use the prayer and you and I could really use the practice!

Wishing you and yours a very Merrrrrrry Christmas,

Pastor Alan

On My Way Home For Christmas

I left Jerry at the hospital with Margaret tonight. It was very hard for me to walk out of that waiting room and leave him there. Margaret has had a rough day today and will have for the next several days. Jerry and I counted today and she has at least 10 tubes sticking out of her body tonight including a breathing tube in her mouth. She also has 5 IVs going in her also. Yes she is a very sick lady. Someone ask me today if she was better. I said think of it this way, Margaret is on a journey to climb a ladder with lets say 25 steps. Today she made it to step 3. She is trying to get a solid footing on that step today. It may take her several days to get her solid footing on that step. Then on to step 4. It will be a long journey to get to the top of that ladder. Let’s all keep her in our prayers as she works very hard to get that footing on each of those steps and gets ready to go to the next step. Please pray for Jerry as well as he needs rest and strength for his journey as well.

I am at he hotel getting ready to fly back to Anchorage tomorrow. I trust Alaska Air will fly and I will get back home for Christmas. I am so looking forward to seeing Miriam and all the family in Soldotna. As some of you know we are very excited about our Christmas Eve Drop In. We normally have over 100 people that stop by on Christmas Eve. I am looking forward to sharing with you all. Miriam has had to work a lot by herself this year at Thanksgiving and Christmas to get things ready. She hasn’t complained too much! Actually she hasn’t complained at all she has just “discussed” things with me.

We never know what tomorrow will bring. I am planning to get on a jet for Anchorage. With no complications and all things going well I will be in Anchorage tomorrow afternoon. However then I have to drive to Soldotna. My son James said they are calling for blizzard conditions on the Peninsula tomorrow. I am planning on making it home for Christmas, however there have been many people “planning” for thing that never ever happen. Now don’t get too excited, I’m not being negative or stupid. The reality is none of us know what tomorrow will bring. In the book of James he said don’t say I will do so n so tomorrow but say If the Lord wills I will do so n so! Now I know that may sound a little dumb or ridiculous but the truth is You Don’t Know anything for Sure!!!!!!

Let us live our lives enjoying all things in the Fear and Reverence of our Creator and loving His creation every day and then we will know we have lived each day as unto the Lord. So The Lord willing I will see many of you on Christmas Eve and many more days beyond.

Speaking of Christmas, may you and yours have a Blessed Happy Merry Christmas this year,

Pastor Alan

My First Catholic Mass!

Well as most of you know I am in Seattle. Downtown Seattle at Harborview Medical Center. I jokingly said to one of the staff here the first night that this place is like a zoo. She said that is what some people call it Harborzoo! It is amazing to say the least. Well it has snowed like for two days here and there is almost a foot of snow in downtown Seattle. I had planned to go to Christian Faith Center to church tonight but my good friend Lloyd Ball called and he is snowed in, surprise surprise! The only church I have seen around close is St James Cathedral. I mean this thing is huge. I think it is the largest Catholic Church in the Pacific NW. So I decided to check out the service times in the Yellow Pages and sure enough the Sunday evening Mass was at 5:30pm. I told Jerry I was going to go and visit or check it out or something.

I must confess I have never attended an regular service at a Catholic Church before. I have been to quite a few funerals before and maybe a wedding but not a regular mass. I did speak at a service at a Catholic Church in Newark, CA many years ago but I don’t remember much about it. I do remember the priest telling me I had 7 minutes for the homily and I actually went 20 minutes and I really trimmed it down at that. This however was a first for me today.

First let me say the Cathedral is massive. I can’t describe the size in comparison to anything in Soldotna. It is so beautiful it was awesome. I slipped in at the back door, or what was actually the massive main doors at the back. I was going to sit on the very back row but there was a homeless man sleeping on that pew so I move up one. I sat on the end close to the isle. The service had already started and everyone was standing. I won’t take the time to go too elaborate in my description but it was amazing. Marble and gold sculptures and statues and a huge water pool and bowl and I mean you just had to be there to see it. I tried my best to keep up with the service and pay attention to maybe better understand. The homily was very good. I got a very good message from the scripture reading and the message together was neat. More about that maybe later.

About 15  or 20 minutes into the service a gentleman brought what I thought was a flower vase back to the back of the church and sat it on a little end table two rows in front of me. I really did think it was a flower vase. It was very beautiful crystal with a long neck with an angled top on it. I thought they were going to maybe give flowers away or put some in it for the end of the service. It had what appeared to be water in it also. Now I know all my Catholic friends are laughing at me by now but I really didn’t have a clue. After the offering was taken by two ladies they came to the back of the church and took two baskets and prepared to go forward. I saw one of the ladies go over to a man on the other side of the church and whisper something to him and then come back and whisper something to the other lady. I am standing about 6 feet away with my Alaska Parka on with the wolf, wolverine and beaver hood. The lady on my side looked at me and asked me if I would carry the “wine” down to the front of the church with them!!!!!!!!! You know me!!!!!!! Without a moments hesitation I said I would be honored. So sure enough I carried the sacrament wine right down that middle isle in front of those people in my Alaska coat, fur and all just as if I knew what I was doing! I didn’t look at anyone so I don’t know if they were looking at me or not. It wasn’t about me. I was asked to do a job and I did it. I’m not sure what all this means now that I have served sacrament wine in the Catholic church but I did it.

I don’t consider myself religious really. I always thought of myself a a Christian. In our church we have an unwritten liturgy or plan for the service but this one was amazing. Everyone there knew exactly what to do and I was as lost as a goose in a snow storm. I made it through and  left with a great feeling in my heart about Christmas and the Christ child and just how much we humans really do need a Savior.

Thanks to those of you who read my ramblings last night about Margaret and the tragedy we are here for. If you didn’t read it and you have some time I would appreciate your thoughts on it. I thank those of you who left a comment. Perhaps this Blog is just for my own healing on this journey but I am thankful also if someone is helped as well.

Margaret is sleeping tonight and I am sitting up with her. It is 1:37 am here in Seattle. It is snowing outside and all Alaska Airlines flights have been canceled for yesterday and I don’t have a clue what today will bring. It is very quiet here except for Margaret’s breathing and an occasional alarm or two. She is facing a possible major surgery tomorrow. I am praying for her as I know many of you are. I plan to return to Anchorage on Tuesday, if the planes fly. If not, I guess my wife will have another first! She will have her first Christmas Eve Drop In with out me!!!!! That is not a funny thought. There is no humor in that statement at all I promise. However she is a big girl and has a lot of help from her friends in Soldotna.

I will update everyone tomorrow. Thanks again for listening.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night,

Pastor Alan

Thoughts about Our Tragedy 12-20-2008

I am in Seattle tonight sitting in Harborview Medical Center Trauma Surgery ICU on the 9th floor. I’m sure most of you know by now I am sitting here with Margaret Stroup. She was shot in the abdomen by a disgruntle employee Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day.

The clock on the wall reads 23;21 which means it’s 11:21 pm. It is still hard to believe I am here and Margaret is there and you are reading this! It’s all just too, I don’t know… It’s like this isn’t supposed to be yet here we are. Reality is Margaret should be in Soldotna getting ready for Christmas and Church tomorrow. Jerry her husband should be in Virginia working away at their friends Jewelry Store. I should be sitting on the couch with my wife watching the 10:00 news hearing about stuff like this not experiencing it!!!!!! It’s like not real, BUT IT IS!!!! We are here in Seattle and you are at home or Starbucks or the office or where ever you are reading this. Weird just doesn’t describe it all. None of us could have ever imagined early on that Wednesday morning we would all be here in the midst of this seemingly nightmare. Yet here we are.

Millions of questions seem to run through my mind as I’m sure they do yours. If you are reading this purely from a spectators position then maybe all this doesn’t make any sense to you. However if you are a member of the cast in this unfortunate Drama then I think you understand at least a little where I am coming from. I mean to say it doesn’t make any sense is to be so redundant and yet that is what I seem to be doing tonight. Being redundant and may be just rambling as well. The questions just seem to come in waves. Most of the time I just accept reality and go forward as I know we must do. However to sit here and watch Margaret lie there in that bed so very sick is just so wrong! But then I understand all the answers that we must embrace: It is what it is! Life isn’t fair. No one deserves any of the wrong that happens in the world. It’s God’s will!!!!!! (I think I understand that one but man is that a tough one. I’ll talk more about that one later.) It rains on the just and the unjust. And soooooo many more.

I will be honest with you all. I just don’t understand it all. I know I’m supposed to be the “spiritual answer man” but I just don’t have too many complete answers tonight. Someone in Sterling reminded me of all the stuff that happened in Soldotna/Sterling back in the 80’s in a 16 month period. I so don’t understand it all. There are just so many. I was talking with the nurses here in the ICU today and they remembered Cody Honrud. We talked about him for a bit. There are just so many. Today I was talking with a mother from one of the islands here in Puget Sound. She was telling me her 16 year old son had a snow board accident on a jump he and some friends made. He landed wrong and broke his neck. He is now apparently a quadriplegic. Is that crazy or what.

The key for me I think is this; I will never know the answer to all these millions of questions and neither will you. If I focus on the things I don’t know and never will know then I will become totally useless. Which is what I think the “dark side” wants me to do. I can allow my mind to go places that it has no business going. In case you aren’t aware I am not God and neither are you. One of the little did-dies that has helped me over the years is this: I don’t understand how a black cow eats green grass and gives white milk and yellow butter, and if you cut her open you get red blood! Now I have thought about that one for years. However just because I don’t understand it, it doesn’t keep me from drinking milk and eating butter. Life is filled with so many paradoxes and oxymoron’s and conundrums that if I think about them too long my head hurts.

So I have chosen to focus on the things that I think I do know. Now there isn’t enough room and time for me to list all the things I do know. However humor me for just a bit more, please. I do know there is a God. I do know that I am not God! I do know that all this planet and humans and animals didn’t come out of a swamp all by themselves or that the incredibly complex human body wasn’t created by an “explosion” in a cosmic never never land. Get real. It takes a whole lot more faith to believe that than in a Creator, Hello!!!! I know there is a book called the Bible. I know that it is Historically accurate. It is archaeologically accurate. It is the most amazing book ever written. I submit to you if it is historically and archaeologically accurate then it is spiritually accurate as well.

According to the Bible, God created a perfect world and put man in it. God gave man what the Bible calls a “free will”. Satan deceived the first man and woman and sin and shame entered the perfect world that God had made. Sin has infected man from that day to this. The reason we are here in this hospital tonight is because of that gift God gave to us human beings called “free will”. I like to do what I want and so do you. However when my selfish actions conflict with someone else or even my own well being we have varying degrees of tragedy. Here we are along with so many more victims of this thing called “free will”. I know there are accidents and “stuff just happens” but the free will of man is certainly got us here tonight.

Too long, too much for one sitting, just too much period perhaps but if you made it this far maybe you understand a little better. Maybe you are more confused than before? I hope that’s not the case but thanks for listening. I think I feel better!

Trusting God for the final answers,

Pastor Alan

Margaret Stroup Update 12-19-2008

Well I just received notice we are for sure moving up to the 9th floor of the Trauma Surgery ICU. However as we all know there are very few things “for sure”. We will know for sure when we find ourselves there! As I shared on thestatus.com site we are in Transition for sure. This journey isn’t fun and it can be argued that it shouldn’t have happened but the reality is It Did and we ARE here. However we are so not alone in this journey. Yes God is first and foremostwith us all the way. Second of all you, our CPH family, Margaret and Jerry’s entire family and friends, the Soldotna Church of God Family and sooooooooomany more around the country are with us. However this hospital if full and I do mean full of so many families that don’t deserve to be here either. So let’s remember this Christmas that we are not alone. Don’t allow yourself to go down that alone road into a deep hole of self pity. No most of us here and there where you are didn’t do anything to deserve where we are it just IS!

Now with that off my celestial chest let’s focus our attention to the Christ of Christmas. The baby born in a stable so many years ago to a young mother that certainly didn’t deserve to have her child in a “Stable” and use a feed trough for a “cradle”. No it isn’t about what we deserve, it’s about where we are! We are here in one of the finest Trauma Hospitals in the country. I remember my father-in-law saying many times in church that he would rather be in church than the finest hospital in the world. Well I totally agree with him but the reality is we are here in one of the finest hospitals in the country. I can certainly tell you we would rather be in church this Sunday for sure. I hope you will be in church this Sunday. It really is a much better choice.

Pause: I think we are moving!

Yes, Praise the Lord we have been moved. We now on the 9th floor in the  Trauma Surgery ICU. It is really an awesome place. In my opinionthis is where we should have been all along but the good news is that we are here. I am not sure how long we will be here and her nurse isn’t sure either. The Doctors will make the rounds in the morning and hopefully give us more information. This is a new unit and it is very nice. The staff here seem more attentive and concerned as well. The journey is long and there is still much of it ahead but with our trust in God and the staff here we are going forward together.

My friend Frank encouraged us to keep our eyes on the “light at the end of the tunnel”. I believe that Light is Jesus Christ. Yes the baby in the manger so long ago. He is our strength, our healer, our hope, our peace in the midst of the storms of life, as well as our God. I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Thanks to all of you for your comments and emails to Jerry and Margaret and me. They really are an encouragement to us during the journey.

Thanks for reading and listening to me rant on and on,

Pastor Alan

Update from Seattle

We have been here about 43 hours in the Harborview Medical Center. It has been a tough time for Margaret and Jerry. We were hoping for some better new than we received from the doctors today. Jerry visited with over half a dozen doctors today and the report is the same. They will be here for quite a while. Everyone says this is the best place to be for her condition. We are trusting God and the doctors they are right. It isn’t the best place for anyone to be at any time in their life especially at Christmas. However this hospital is full. There are many families here from all walks of life. Thanks for all your prayers and support for them. If you would like to send them a Christmas Card you can get the address from the Status site. If you need any more information feel free to call me.

We are facing a long journey but Praise God we are moving forward. Margaret is going to get completely healed no matter which way things go. I mean the worst case scenario for us would in fact be the best case for her. God is with her and will give her and Jerry the strength to face this together. We all must trust God and lean not on our own understanding and comprehension of things as we see them. We must remember He really does work things out for His Glory and our good. The things aren’t always good but God is always working in spite of the enemy. Jerry and I were talking today and we both agree that the enemy is responsible for this whole mess. The Bible says the “thief comes to kill, still and destroy”. That is his mission. He is a liar and the father of lies. His mission is to destroy your faith any way he can. He would love for us to get frustrated with God and just curse God and give up. But he is a liar! We are not and will not listen to his lies. How about you? No we don’t understand but there are many, many things we don’t understand. While we don’t understand we will keep our trust in God! That’s what I call “Faith”.

I want to challenge you all to keep Jerry and Margaret and all the folks at CPH in your prayers and thoughts. It isn’t easy but then it’s called life! Very little is easy in this life. Thanks again for the comments and emails. They are a real encouragement to us all.

Trusting Him,

Pastor Alan