Braydon's Journey

I am walking!

2008-06-26T07:03:00.004-04:00

Yes that is right, the boy is now walking. He is quite a character. See the video below.

First Phillies Game

2008-06-25T18:48:00.004-04:00

We went to the Phillies game on Saturday night. They lost. But below is some video of Braydon having a fun time. Along with a few pictures.

Enjoying a pregame Cheesesteak of course!

Where is Chase Utley and that win I want to see?? Can anyone hit the Ball?

Since the game wasn't exciting Braydon decided to entertain himself.

Maybe we will see a win next time!

Pop

2008-05-02T19:47:00.002-04:00

My Grandfather passed away this morning around 6:00am. My parents are heading down to West Virginia tomorrow to be with the family. The rest of us will be traveling there on Monday in time for the viewing. It will be a tough week for us all and would appreciate your prayers. He did know the Lord and has joined my Grandmom Bea in heaven today. See ya Pop!

Good Update

2008-04-29T18:08:00.003-04:00

This morning we took Braydon to the cardiologist for a surgical follow-up. He had an extensive echocardiagram done showing his heart looks great. Dr. Sanchez does not need to see him for another 6 months and has reassured us that no more surgeries are needed. As you can see from the picture above Braydon is a becoming a BIG boy and loves to show off his battle scars which are healing nicely. Thanks for the prayers and remember our CHOP friends like the Urbanicks before the Lord as well. Their little guy Dylan still has a long road of recovery ahead of him.

Children's Hospital Visit

2008-04-21T21:53:00.002-04:00

Last week Shelly and I had to take our son Braydon to the Hospital to visit some specialists. While we were there we stopped to visit a dear friend Melissa and her son Dylan who has some serious health concerns. He has been a Cardiac ICU patient for a month now. It was his 6 month birthday that day!! When he takes a few steps forward there always seems to be 3 steps back in his recovery and has been on and off a vent for a few weeks. Please keep the Urbanick family in your prayers. Melissa is a loving Mom and needs lots of support at this time. She knows our church is praying. Keep it up!

Nailed

2008-04-21T21:37:00.007-04:00

Finally some notes from my Sermon that I promised two weeks ago. My fault.
I got a lot of good feedback from people and I thank the Lord for that.

I. Culture in Paul’s time

Acts 17:16: Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was beholding a city full of idols.

A. Who or what are people worship.

Act 17:22-28

1 Corinthians 9: 22; I have become all things to all men that I may by all means save some; This is why Paul was in Athens in the first place.

B. Christians and the church need to be there where the culture is. Paul did that. He was in the city and engaged the culture of that day.

II. Culture would rather be about themselves

Verse 18 – They made fun of Paul at first. Of course they would. He was preaching about Jesus to the JEWS – and the Gentiles. The place was full of idols.

Verse 22- 31 Paul preaches a sermon.

He leads them to GOD the creator v.24

Then is says that He is close to us through Jesus v. 27

Uses their poetry

Then REPENT v.30 (That’s preaching) REPENT of your SIN

God is coming to judge you! Trust in Jesus!

It has stopped being about Jesus

D.A. Carson: “One generation confirmed it, the next generation affirmed it, this generation denies it.”

A. Stirring opposition

In Paul’s day he looked at what his world was about and reached it. What kind of world are we in today? THAT DOES NOT STIR OPPOSITION. Culture would not oppose that.

We need to talk about what Christ has done and see that sin is a condition that we are in and deserve God’s judgment.
II. Culture and the church no longer understand the gospel

H. Richard Neibuhr once said about Protestant Liberalism “ A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through a Christ without a cross.”

Christian Smith, University of North Carolina sociologist said American teens working religion, both church and unchurched is a form “moralistic therapeutic deism.” See his site.

Plus Christianity is not a culture

Jim Gilmore, a Christian economist said something really intriguing I heard. He said the church always tries to catch up for what the world is doing. Gilmore said this, “Culture is that set of behavior which remains even after you have 100 % turnover in the people.” He goes on to say that, “The church should be focused on what began in Genesis 3 and the culture of sin, there is nothing new about that, but it manifests itself differently.”

IV. Christ our substitute

A. The meaning – Quite simply Christ suffered as our substitute. The advantage is to us. We could have atoned for our sins if we could have suffered eternally the penalty that sin incurred. But we could have never done that. God stepped in this hopeless situation.

B. The Day of Atonement Leviticus 16

This was the most important day in the Jewish calendar.

The main purpose of this day was to deal with the sin of the people. Between Israel and God. The predominant theme that was used to prepare the people for Jesus was blood. We can clearly see that here in Yom Kippur.

Two healthy goats without defect were chose and brought to the priest. They were to represent sinless perfection.

The priest brought one goat into the Holy of Holies and slaughtered it there. He sprinkled its blood on the mercy seat. This was to show that the goat was no longer INNOCENT but took the guilt of the sin of the people and gave its life as a payment to GOD. Because the people deserved the violent death for their sin. The mercy seat was on the ark of the covenant.

The Blood slaughter of the goat on the Day of Atonement represents Propitiation. It means God’s wrath, mentioned 600 times in the Bible was turned away. Satisfied by the death of an innocent

So we that God’s wrath was satisfied once for away in Jesus. God’s wrath was put upon Him turned aside from us.

Colossians 2:8-23

One of the reasons why Paul wrote Colossians is to protect this church from empty Philosophy. This is what He says in verse 8.

He wants to point his people to Christ. Because He was God while on Earth. Deity, died on the cross. Mark 15:39 the centurion called Him the Son of God.

Paul says that we were completely dead in our trespasses and sin. We were lost, condemned to hell!! God had to do something. There had to be a mediator. There had to be a sacrifice.

It was nailed to the Cross. THIS IS A GREAT image of what happened at the crucifixion. Our debts, our withdraws in the debt ledger of our checkbooks was paid at the cross by Christ.

16-23

Paul lays out the elementary principles of what people followed.

He calls this self made religion and has no value against sin!! It cannot make you sinless, or make you more godly. A godly person is aware of their sin.

An objection

Some say this makes God unjust since He (God) condemned his own Son for the sins of mankind. They call it divine child abuse.

John 10:18 No one has taken it away from Me but I lay it down on My own initiative I have authority to lay it down and I have the authority to take it up again.

I Peter 3:18 For Christ also died once for all, the just for the unjust in order that He might bring us to God having but put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:13-15: For if we are beside ourselves it is for God. If we are a sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, having considered this that one died for all therefore all died; and He died for all that they live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

2 Corinthians 5:21: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The several verses have the tone of substitution throughout this. Including the passage in Isaiah 53 which also includes several verses of substitutionary themes. Most importantly verse 12; “For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

VI. Application - Repent

Let me give you an example

Silly Rabbit Article

“But we preach Christ Crucified!!” Let me add, “even though to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness.” “But we still preach Christ crucified..

Matthew 28:18 All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on Earth.”
2 Timothy 2:25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.

2 Cor 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation.

Happy Birthday

2008-04-03T17:32:00.005-04:00

Braydon turned 1 on Monday, March 31st. I would have posted sooner but our internet had been down for 4 days.
All kidding aside this first year with Braydon has been a trust experience. God has been in control the entire time and we praise Him for that. What a boy He has blessed us with! Can't wait to see what the next year holds. Thank you family and friends for your prayers and support. And what a party it was on Saturday and Nana and Pop Pop's house.

One Week Away

2008-03-28T20:49:00.002-04:00

One week away until Young Adult Sunday. I will be preaching. Pray that I am able to communicate God's word clearly and thoughtfully. I have been working on something for a few weeks now and believe it is what God wants to be shared. Also Aaron, Kevin and Josh along with a Renee, Beverly and Mary will help lead worship. Leading worship and preaching is a lot to do on a Sunday. I will need the Lord's strength.

"Good Friday"

2008-03-22T09:08:00.002-04:00

We just had our Good Friday service last night. I came to the conclusion that I go through that service very angry. I still don't know why. A good bit of my feelings stem from my reading of Isaiah 53 and the words "pierced for our transgressions." He was like a "lamb lead away to slaughter....and say nothing." I have a hard time celebrating Good Friday. So going through that service is difficult. We sung "The Wonderful Cross" last night and but I will never really wrap my mind around that day as He hung there. Can I really say how wonderful it is or really survey it as the song says? I will never know how excruciating the suffering was. They had to invent the word excruciating, which literally means "from the cross." He did it all for me. My sin. My deny God, My failures. My failing to serve God faithfully. My not doing what He commands. My not saying yes to Him. My not giving my heart to Him. My not allowing Him to reign in my heart. On and On and On.
I Corinthians 15:3 says that "Christ died for our sins;" and made atonement for me. Thanks be to Him.

Prayer Request

2008-03-18T20:21:00.001-04:00

Church Family,
Please pray for the Urbanick family. We have gotten to know them through our Children's Hospital experience. Their son Dylan was life-flighted to CHOP tonight. We don't know the details but please lift them up in prayer.

Church Avoidance

2008-03-08T20:54:00.004-05:00

Here is an article analyzing church attendance and avoidance for that case. Again this is a second article about the relevancy of church and how it is not speaking to this generation. I think I also hear from this article that people are considering themselves Christians but are more and more unattached from the faith community.

Barna Article Here

New Survey

2008-03-01T22:03:00.002-05:00

Check out the new forum on Religion.
Are we effective in reaching out to others.?
See the Article Below.

CNN Article

What a Book

2008-02-27T19:30:00.003-05:00

I am reading a new book. I can't help it, ADHD. But a good friend referred me to CS Lewis' The Problem of Pain. Amazing book so far. Its pretty small and should be a short read but man, it is powerful.

Here is something to hit me today: "It (Christianity) is a not system in which we have to fit the awkward fact of pain: it is itself one of the awkward facts which have to be fitted into any system we make. In a sense, it creates, rather than solves, the problem of pain, for pain would be no problem unless, side by side with our daily experience of this painful world, we had received what we think a good assurance that ultimate reality is righteous and loving.

Needless to say, this statement is pretty loaded. What he is talking about is that Christianity was not some philosophical conclusion but a people and a movement that has changed history, from Christ's death and resurrection to now. So because of that we can see the pain the world experiences through the spectrum of Scripture as revealed to us through the Holy Spirit. Pretty relevant today.

Truefaced

2008-02-23T11:38:00.003-05:00

God designed release of influence this way on purpose, because immature people have an incredibly negative impact on those they influence. When we don a mask:

They too must live a two-faced life
They too must present an idealized person
They too must hide what is true about them
New Life in Christ doesn't really work
They will remain stuck in their unresolved life issues
It is better to be unknown than to risk rejection
Self protection is their only hope

As I have been reading Chapter one, I have been increasing convinced of who I am and what my Mask is. There is a huge link between mask wearing and unconfessed sin. The fact of the matter is that mask wearing is almost a refusal to recognize who we are in Christ. We want to place a higher emphasis on other people opinions, thinking they have it all together.

Oh, Sunday night most of us loved the New Testament Gamble. I found the link : The Gamble

What's our True Face?

2008-02-13T21:34:00.004-05:00

We admire people who live the "Truefaced" life, but our loss of hope has forced us into desperately trying to discover safety from behind our masks. In a real sense, we are all performers. Because of sin, we've lost confidence that we will always please our audience, and so we put on a mask. As an unintended result, no one, not even the people we love, ever get to see our true face. -- Truefaced; page 16

Wow, so we all should have started reading the book TrueFaced, "Trusting God and others with who we really are." It has been revealing so far. The first chapter has us dealing with authenticity in our walks with God. How often do we all walk into church with the "happy face." Walking around convincing and saying to ourselves, "I'm fine," "Everything's fine," "The people around me are fine," "My life is fine." When the truth is we often want to scream to our fellow Christians, "I need help!" "I need encouragement!" Or, "I need you to pray with me, and not look down on me because of my problems." Church's need to begin to build ministries with authenticity. Environments that are safe for discipleship building and encouragement. We all need it.
So I hope that we all feel the opportunity to make posts and converse about where this study is taking us. I can't wait to see where God leads.

What happened to the Cross?

2008-02-07T21:11:00.000-05:00

"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom of the words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" 1 Corinthians 1:17-18

It is time I get back to blogging about where my study is taking me right now and what I am working on for the ministry.

I am beginning to work on my next sermon which will be on April 6th. The service will be with a young adult flavor. Whatever that might mean. We don't know yet. But these verses seen above, are really sticking with me right now. When some of the top-selling books on the New York Times are about becoming better and the secret to getting things you want, I wonder if that would fit into the category of what Paul calls, "the wisdom of words."

When people want to become better (which needs to be defined), how can you leave out Jesus? How can you leave out what He accomplished in our place and finished on the cross? You don't hear that much anymore. Not in what we call "evangelical churches or circles." The cross is too scary, too depressing, or we decide to leave that for Good Friday, and do "church light" the rest of the year. Yet Paul tells that is where the power of God comes from. Why avoid teaching the cross? More to come later. Any comments let me know.

Noonan's Boy

2008-02-04T18:57:00.000-05:00

Today Braydon had an appointment with the Geneticist to discuss his Noonans. Overall, it was a lot of good information and ideas to be proactive with the genetic defect Braydon has been diagnosed with. So more doctors and specialists are going to be added to Braydon's little black book; soon he will be the best known blue eyed baby at CHOP (sorry, I'm just a little biased). Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers, and especially keep Shelly in prayer as she goes back to work and we settle back into "normalcy"

Sleep, Baby Sleep....

2008-02-02T10:59:00.000-05:00

Braydon is continuing to keep mom and dad on their toes, especially during the night. We were used to Braydon sleeping 8pm - 7am and now he is up every couple of hours, just like a newborn. I know that this is just a little request and we are praising God that Braydon is home and healing well when so many of his friends are still in the hospital dealing with major issues.
Please keep Braydon's friends in prayer, especially Hartley and Dylan.

Visit with Dr. Sanchez

2008-01-30T16:52:00.000-05:00

Today Braydon went to Dr. Sanchez's office in Voorhees. He got a great update there after the echocardiagram was done. His last suture was removed and and the steri strips were pulled off his incision. It looks great!!
He needs to sleep through the night and is still cautious around strangers. All results of time in the hospital. Plus he is getting more teeth and is really congested.
Thanks for the prayers.
Posts for the Young Adult Ministry will be back in a few days. The ministry has some big events coming up in the near future and our Bible Study is starting in a few weeks. Keep checking back here.

Healing...

2008-01-27T15:07:00.000-05:00

Braydon continues to heal from his surgery. He has had a couple rough nights at home. Although the incision is itchy and he can't or rather won't do some of the things that he is used to (roll over on his belly) because of the pain, he continues to play hard and talk up a storm. Thank you for continuing to pray for us as we readjust to home life without the great nurses and docs.

Braydon says, "No more vitals!!"

2008-01-25T20:28:00.001-05:00

Praise the Lord, we are all home safe and sound this evening. Braydon is home with instructions to take only two meds and a special formula to take for a month. Hard to believe. He is allowed to regulate himself and the activities he wants to do. With the looks of this picture he is ready for tackle football. Not quite. We are so thankful to be home and thank the Lord for His goodness to us this past week. It was truly a roller coaster ride.

Silly Braydon

2008-01-25T20:13:00.000-05:00

This video is Braydon displaying the fact he is happy to be home. Back to his old goofy self.

Picture from today

2008-01-24T18:24:00.001-05:00

Just saying hi to everyone who has been praying for me. I should be home tomorrow. Yeah!!

A Popular Kid

2008-01-24T16:15:00.001-05:00

Braydon has taken several trips in his stroller today. Each ride he gets more and more attention from the hospital staff. All of them comment on his eyes!! But he still does not quite understand why he is getting all of the attention. I can see in his face that he is thinking, "Whats the big deal???"
The doctors are pleased with his progress. He is now taking meds by mouth. He had an xray and an echocardiagram today telling us things are looking good. Discharge tomorrow? We are still waiting to find out.
Continue to pray for some of his unit friends, Hartley (from Mississippi) and Baby Dylan (from State College). Also for Andrew and his family who received bad news on their baby Sofi in the CICU. We have grown close to them.

Unhooked!

2008-01-23T13:44:00.000-05:00

Braydon's second chest tube was taken out this afternoon. Definitely good news. His surgeon Dr. Spray (the best cardiac surgeon in the world, not to brag) was happy with his progress and the results of the drain, and it was decided to go forward with the removal.
We are getting his stroller ready and it will be time to venture into the outside world of his unit! Today a nutritionist came in to check on his diet and she said he looks bigger than she expected. That was news to us. Braydon is happy being unhooked from everything and is rolling around in his crib. He just keeps us busy. But that is definitely a great thing...