Jim Preisig

Ash Wednesday Service – Tonight at 7 PM

 

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, the season of preparation for Easter.

 

What does all that mean?

 

Come and join me tonight at The Lee’s Summit United Methodist Church at 7 PM for a moving service to start your heart toward Christ at Easter.

 

The service will be in our traditional sanctuary.

Please come! 

It will touch your heart...

 

Overcoming Disappointment

Do you ever assume that people who are successful in this life have fewer disappointments and failures than those who seem to simply muddle along?

 

Actually, the opposite is true. Those who ultimately succeed in life actually encounter a far greater number of failures, disappointments, and stumbles – because they are constantly striving. What distinguishes them from others is that they pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get on to the next great challenge.

 

I know a guy who is an incredible entrepreneur – everything he touches seems to succeed. I asked him about it one time and he laughed at me. He said, “Jim, that’s so funny! Don’t you get it? People only see my successes! They never see all the times that I have tried and failed. My wife is the only one who really knows about all that.” He went on to say that he never lets failure stop him from moving forward and trying something new. And then he told me, straight from the heart, that he had failed far more times than he had succeeded.

 

And that’s the key. People who failed once and resolved never to allow it to happen again, they stop trying; the fear of failure paralyzes them. Those are folks who will never succeed at anything; anything that require real effort and risk. And what in life doesn’t?

 

Ah, but those who have failed and failed greatly; who have stumbled and fallen boldly – if they are people of faith they press on, knowing that God goes with them.

 

What about you? Any disappointments or failures of late? Are you still trying?

 

 

 

All that Glitters…

Is not Gold.

 

You may recall that 4 months ago I began a clinical trial at KU Cancer for my Leukemia. The trial was intended to test the efficacy of a gold compound approved by the FDA back in the 70’s for arthritis. In the lab, the drug had shown promising signs of killing leukemia cells.

 

You know me – I fully expected that this would be the wonder drug to cure my cancer. I could almost taste the miracle in the making.

 

Friday we needed to discontinue participation in the trial as the drug was no longer controlling my disease. For the past weeks my lymph nodes had expanded dramatically, and then my white blood count started to climb.

 

Was I disappointed? Definitely. Did it derail me? Absolutely not!

 

Being a Christian means being an eternal optimist. I do not understand those folks who always expect the worst in hopes that they will never be disappointed. If you try to avoid ever being disappointed by life, you will effectively be choosing not to live life. It is a choice you make every day – to live fully: expecting the best; expecting to be blessed.

 

So what does this mean for me? Well, the good news is that I’m staying on the gold drug for the time being, but it is being coupled with prednisone and that is having a dramatic impact. My lymph nodes are shrinking rapidly. An added benefit is that my participation in the trial provided researchers with 4 months of great data. This may be a blessing for someone else.

 

In the coming weeks we are going to have a few scans and then consult with the docs as to our options. We may repeat the monoclonal antibody treatment that worked so well for me four and half years ago.

 

What am I expecting? A miracle! I don’t know how it will come, but I’m already looking.

 

It was almost 10 years ago that I was diagnosed with this disease, and it has been an absolute blessing. It has made all the difference in my life: the experiences of life are more dear, the people in my life are more precious, and my relationship with God is more dynamic and rich.

 

It is just like the quote I shared in worship from the physician who was dying:

 

“The rest of life is the best of life. I used to talk about praying; now I pray. I used to tell my patients that I cared; but now I care. I used to tell my family, I love you, but now I go home at night and we sit by the fireplace and I tell my boys the dreams I have for them even though I’ll never see them fulfilled. I used to honor God, I used to go to church, but now I know God and I go with Him every step of the way.”  

 

What’s the lesson from that terminally ill physician?

Don’t wait until your dying to figure out what it is to truly live!

 

So Where’s the Key?

Last weekend in worship we passed out blank keys that were painted white.

 

Where’s yours?

 

You may recall that at the end of the sermon I spoke of the key representing life – our lives. And that we all have a choice: to cling to the key and drive our own life, or to entrust our lives to Christ and allow Him to do the driving.

 

Then I suggested that you take the key and put it on a ring where you can see it daily as a constant reminder that you have decided to invite Jesus to be Lord of your life.

 

For me, such a visible reminder is an essential help to walking the walk, talking the talk, living the life of faith. Otherwise it is so easy to forget - I leave the key on my desk until it gets pushed aside; or I throw it in a drawer and soon forgot it.  When that happens, it is so easy just to slip into old habits.

 

So where is your key?

 

 

I'm Listening!

Each weekend you tune in to hear what I have to say about the Word and iis relevence to our lives.

 

Almost each day you pop in to read my ruminations on life, ministry and the Christian walk.

Today - I'm eager to hear what you think - about our shared minsitry, about what brings you to church, about what touches your heart or gets in the way of your experience of God.

Please follow this link:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2B8XG9R

It will allow you to participate in a brief, online survey. Your time is precious and I appreciate you taking a moment to share your insights!

Blessings!