The Citizen, 2008-11-20, Page 19By Pastor John KuperusBlyth Christian ReformedChurchThis past year I hurt my back. I
decided to go to the chiropractor. He
adjusted my back and told me to do
some exercises. He also told me I
needed to stop jogging. So I did.
As summer came and my back felt
better, I figured I would take up
jogging again. I ran two blocks and
my chest got tight. Like a side ache
from running fast, when I stopped,
the tightness would go away. When I
would bike, I would experience the
same tightness. One day I was
biking with our children and was
happy that they would wait for me
to catch up to them.
I wondered whether or not this
was a sign that I was aging. I had no
idea what was going on.
On another occasion, my wife was
biking with us and she noticed my
struggle. She asked me what was
going on. I told her what I was
feeling and she said, “You better get
that checked out.”
I scheduled an appointment with
my chiropractor. He advised me to
make a visit to the emergency room
which I promptly did. An
electrocardiogram (ECG) was done.
That test did not show anything.
There were many more tests.
When other people learned of my
difficulties, one of the questions I
was asked was whether or not there
are any heart problems in our family.
There are, on both sides of my
family. I had an uncle die at 41 of a
heart attack, two days before his
open heart operation. Both of my
grandfathers died of heart attacks,
one at 51 and the other at 75. My
mom had triple by-pass surgery
done.
The results of my tests eventually
showed that I had a problem and
would be sent for another test.
Then there was this tense time of
waiting until finally, instructions and
the appointment came in the mail on
a Friday. The appointment was the
following Tuesday (10-21-08) at St.
Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener.
That day could not come soon
enough. I knew something was
wrong. My chest was tender on the
outside.The day arrived and the doctorexplained the results of the previoustest. My one artery appeared to be
closed. She explained that heart
problems often times happen with
people who smoke, are overweight,
have high cholesterol, have high
blood pressure and don’t exercise.
She said that my cholesterol was
lower than her husband’s. I was good
in all those areas.
The one thing I had was a family
history with heart problems.
While I was being worked on, I
tried to learn every name of the
person helping me. There were so
many that I had a hard time keeping
them straight. This brought me to a
place of great appreciation for the
investment that the medical
establishment was putting in for me
with the support of the government
of Ontario. Their goal was to help
me survive.
The test showed that the left
anterior descending was the artery
that was clogged. The right coronary
and left main coronary arteries were
fine.
I was given several options and
opted to have a a stint put in right
away.
I asked if we could pray first. The
doctor agreed. I prayed.
According to the doctor, the
procedure was a textbook case.
Everything went exactly the way it
was suppose to. After one success,
the doctor did a little dance. On the
TV screens she showed me a before
and after picture. One picture
showed the blood stopped and the
other showed blood flowing. What a
miracle!
When I compare my situation toour spiritual hearts, it workssimilarly. We offend one another anda relationship breaks down. If there
is no forgiveness the brokenness
stays.
Jesus states the seriousness of this
when he said, “For if you forgive
men when they sin against you, your
heavenly Father will also forgive
you. But if you do not forgive men
their sin, your Father will not forgive
your sins.
In the spiritual realm,
unforgiveness clogs our arteries.
If we want to keep our spiritual
arteries open, we have to forgive one
another. This is a little pill that is
hard to swallow at times.,
One special testimony of
forgiveness is the story of Kim Phuc
in Vietnam who was burned from the
napalm bomb. Her picture hit a
nerve in the world. Years later she
was able to meet the pilot and other
Vietnam vets and offer forgiveness
to those who caused her great
misery. Her amazing story is written
up in a book entitled, The Girl in the
Picture. It is an amazing story of
offering forgiveness in the midst of
the great pain and how she draws
strength from Jesus Christ.
Another way our arteries get
clogged in the spiritual realm is
brought out in a movie entitled, The
Emperor’s Club. The setting is a
Catholic boy’s school called St.
Benedict. One of the boys,
Sedgewick Bell, joins the school. He
is a challenging student who does
not like to listen to the rules. In Mr.
Hundret’s Roman civilization class
he is inspired to co-operate and he
excels. He is one of the top three
students of the class and enters intothe Julius Caesar contest.Mr. Hundret is the moderator. Asthe contest goes on Mr. Hundret
discovers that Sedgewick is
cheating. He has notes written on the
inside of his sleeve. Mr. Hundret
consults the headmaster what to do
and he says to let it go. The reason is
probably because Sledgewick’s
father is a congressman and he does
not want to publicly humiliate him.
Twenty-five years later,
Sedgewick Bell is a successful
businessman and asks for a rematch
with Mr. Hundret. The first
contestant loses in the first round.
Mr. Hundret discovers that
Sedgewick has a device in his ear
and someone in the back is feeding
him the answers he does not know.
Sedgewick eventually loses.
The scene changes and Mr.
Hundret is in the washroom grieving
because Sedgewick has continued to
cheat and lacks good character. Mr.
Hundret feels that he failed
Sedgewick by letting him get away
with cheating years ago.
The conversation went somethinglike this: Mr. Hundret says, “Someday you are going to have to lookyourself in the mirror and you will
see a life without principle and
morals.”
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008. PAGE 19. From the Minister’s StudyForgiveness keeps spiritual arteries open
Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street
Blyth United Church
Office: 519-523-4224
Rev. Gary Clark
All Welcome
Sunday, November 23
11:00 a.m.
Audibly Awesome ~ guest musicians
Luncheon after church. Donation at the door.
November 29 ~ Family Night ~ 7 p.m.
Help to “Green” the church for Christmas
November 30 ~ 1st Sunday of Advent
November 30 ~ 7 p.m. ~A fundraising evening for
Bikes for Humanity to pay for shipping container
Special Guests ~Men of Note &
Women of Notable. Donation at the door.
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, November 23
Brussels Public School
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 years of age (mornings only)
Childcare provided for infants and toddlers
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact:
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
519-887-9831
11:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
9:30 am - Sunday Belgrave Service
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca
Sunday, November 23
Ethel United Church
Worship Service - 9:30 a.m.
Brussels United Church
Worship Service - 11:00 a.m.
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
“The Coming Inauguration
- and this world’s
‘lame-duck’ prince”
Evangelical Missionary Church
1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women at the Well
Fridays 7:30 pm - Youth Group (at the school)
“Christ the King”
Sunday, November 23 - Eph. 1:15ff
Friday, Nov. 28 evening
Family Fun Night with Youth Group:
Glow-in-the-dark
BOWLING at Goderich
308 Blyth Rd. E. ~ Pastor Les Cook 519-523-4590
B l y t h C o m m u n i ty Church of God
C H U R C H O F G O D ,ANDERS
O
N
,
I
N
D
I
A
N
A
“The Church
is not a building,
it is people
touching people
Sunday School 9:45 a.m.
- Christian Education
for all ages
11:00 a.m. - Worship Service
Mid-week Bible Studies
See you
Sunday!
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
Welcomes you to come
and worship with us
Parish of New Beginnings
Morning Prayer - November 23
Trinity, Blyth
9:15 a.m.
519-523-9595
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
519-887-6862
Please join us for worship
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00am
Evening Service 7:30pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Pastor John Kuperus
Hwy. 4, Blyth
COFFEE HOUSE WITH
ERIN ROY
Sunday, November 23
at 7:30 pm at Huron Chapel
Erin will be sharing her amazing
experience of being an Olympic
Torchbearer in honour of her
late uncle Detective Constable
Robert Plunkett.
Everyone is Welcome!
PASTOR DAVID WOOD
119 John’s Ave.,Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
9:30 a.m.
Sunday School & Small Groups
10:30 a.m.
Morning Worship Service
7:30 p.m.
Evening Service & Youth Service
Operation
Christmas Child
Collection Schedule
November 25th & 27th
10 am - 6 pm;
November 28th 6 pm - 9 pm;
November 29th 9 am - 12 noon
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