I thank God for all y’all. The ministries that you all perform are simply amazing and I have never known such faithful Christians and soldiers for Christ. It has been a pleasure serving with you. You have made these six years of ministry just marvelous. I believe that we have made a great team and that it will continue for a long time into the future.
Pastors often grouse that they are the last to know when people need prayers or have health issues. Sometimes folks will say to the pastor, “I want you to keep this between us but I’m going through some tough times and I need your prayers but there is no need to put me on the prayer chain or let anyone know what is going on.” It is frustrating and quite frankly not what I believe God wants us to do.
I was reminded the other day that surely we have a communication pathway directly to God but we also have a relationship within the body of Christ, our brothers and sisters…and that is the point of inclusion for me.
All this being said leads me to the roundabout way to let you know that some of you have observed that on an occasional Sunday at the end of the service I have to sit down. I am dizzy (yeah yeah….dizzier than normal) and on the verge of passing out. The reason is because I’ve been diagnosed with stage 4/5 Chronic Kidney Disease/failure (CKD). On April 11th I will go into North Florida Regional for a procedure to create a fistula in my arm. We are doing this to prepare my body for possible dialysis. I say possible because I/we are working very hard at keeping my kidney function exactly where it is so I don’t have do that right away.
Even if I go on dialysis the doctors say that I can continue to do all that I am doing here at church. So I plan on sticking around continuing the ministry for years to come. I also am going on the transplant list at Mayo Clinic.
So, I am letting all y’all know what is going on, in the light, so that we can get all you prayer warriors activated. Also, I wouldn’t want you upset with me for not letting you have the chance to minister to me.
Thanks again, and I’ll keep you filled in as I get more information and what the next steps are. The important thing is that I will still be your pastor (as long as you want me).
Peace,
Pastor Ken