Not the kind of Doctors that can fix you

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Heb. 10:24-25)

I am constantly reminded of how important family is. We must not be flippant about our personal family or our church family. We must nurture, encourage, care for, pray for and build up our family at every opportunity. I am a blessed man in my personal family and I am a blessed pastor in my church family.

The Gateway family has gone overboard in praying for and encouraging me. Your sensitivity and tenderness towards Mary and me has been beyond words. I love you deeply. It's hard to believe I have been your pastor eighteen years this month.

I am also blessed by my immediate family. Mary is the love of my life. She has been the biggest blessing the Lord has granted to me. As anyone who has met her knows, Mary is not the typical pastor's wife. She is a very unique individual who I have always appreciated for her fearless spirit. She is not afraid of tackling the largest mountain. I use to be wound very tight - too tight. God used Mary to loosen me up!

God has blessed us with two wonderful kids, Katie and Mack. And then he gave us a second daughter with Meredith.

Today, Monday, August 9th, we are celebrating our daughter, Katie. Mary and I are at Auburn University for her graduation with her Ph.D. Like her mother, Katie is an amazing person. She has such an adventurous spirit. As a 29 year old, she has completed two undergraduate degrees from Clemson in Bio-chemistry and Visual Arts; completed two master's degrees from Auburn one in Fashion and the other in Business Administration; and now she has completed her Doctor of Philosophy. She was a finalist for the Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships. She is currently the Director of Operations and Admissions for the MBA degree program at Auburn while teaching undergrad and graduate classes. I have to give a big thanks to District Five and Dutch Fork High School for doing a great job preparing Katie for college.

But with all of these accomplishments, without a doubt the biggest day of her life was the day she adopted Caleb from Ethiopia. He is now a year old and the joy of our family. He is the happiest kid you will ever meet. People tell us, "Caleb is a blessed kid to be adopted into your family." Our response is always, "We are the ones who are blessed!"

In addition, Katie is the evangelist in the family. She loves engaging college students who are seeking spiritual truth. One time she had a group meeting in her home called the Heathen Bible Study. Only non-believers could attend.

Over the years, there have been many key individuals that God has used to influence Katie's life. One specific individual was her small group leader as a youth at Gateway. Cynthia Johnson lived out Hebrews 10:24-25 with Katie by motivating and encouraging her. She has been a faithful friend of prayer; a person who personally lives out her faith. Katie still uses the lessons and insights Cynthia bestowed upon her during her youth.

Thanks Cynthia for investing in my little girl.

By the way... whose life are you investing in? Have you considered being a LIFE group leader? You never know how God will multiply your investment in others.

Medical Update

Over the past few weeks Mary and I have talked to multiple surgeons, medical centers, radiation oncologists, prostate cancer patients and friends who are physicians. Mary has read every medical book she has gotten her hands on dealing with this issue. After much research and prayer, Mary and I have determined that God is leading us toward surgery, with prayer, as the plan of attack for the prostate cancer. The two go hand in hand. I believe God can completely heal me without a physician. But I also believe He may choose to heal me through a physician. I will be praying for the Lord to guide the hands of the one who is doing the cutting. Also that God will guide his eyes to not miss anything.

Of the three options of surgery, we have chosen robotic surgery. My urologist recommended Dr. Patel in Orlando, FL, stating that he is the best in the country. In fact, Dr. Petel was voted the top Urologist in America last year. Here is his link:

http://globalroboticsinstitute.com/en/urology-robotic-prostatectomy/why-dr-patel

Because of his reputation it was not surprising that the earliest appointment available was the end of June. But the Lord knew that the end of June would be too long of a wait for me. He never puts more on you than you can handle. On Tuesday of this week, I felt I should call Dr. Patel’s office to ask if there had been a cancellation. The receptionist told me, “I just now had a cancellation. Can you come in the morning?” Mary and I were out the door. It took us seven hours to make it to Orlando.

One side note: I went online to book a hotel. I thought I would try Travelocity’s new section called “Top Secret Hotel.” It is their answer to Priceline. Basically you book a hotel knowing only its rating and general location. I was able to book a 3 star hotel for $35 that was less than 5 minutes from Dr. Patel’s office. On top of that, Travelocity gave me a $30 rebate for using their new site for the first time! OK… this is starting out to be a great trip.

We were at Dr. Patel’s office the next morning at 8:45. I spent an hour filling out paper work. Then we spent the next six hours meeting with five different medical associates. They were thorough. In the waiting room, we met people from all over. We met one couple who were in our church in North Augusta when I was a youth minister… small world.

I discovered that people were coming from all over the world to have Dr. Patel perform their prostate surgery. He told me that he has personally preformed over 4,000 robotic procedures. I like that kind of experience.

During our meeting with Dr. Patel he told me some great news and some challenging news. First: I have most likely had prostate cancer for 5 years, maybe longer. The only symptom was a slight elevation of my PSA blood test in year five. My PSA has been perfect prior to this year. Second: the tumor is large which will make the surgery more difficult. (Now I know why God sent me to the best.) Third: My cancer is aggressive. Fourth: I have a 90% chance that the cancer is all contained within the prostate. That was awesome news. The research data at John Hopkins Medical Center suggested that I had only a 47% chance it was contained.

Because the surgery is going to be difficult he said it is best to wait twelve weeks from the date of the biopsy. This gives my prostate time to completely recover from the biopsy so that he will have clear vision of the nerves which will increase his chances of saving the nerve bundles. I found it humorous that he wants my prostate to get better before he kills it…

My surgery is scheduled for August 16th. I will spend one night in the hospital after the surgery. We will need to stay a total of ten days in Orlando for all of the post-surgery test and check-ups. (Another blessing: Mary’s sister has a time-share condo in Orlando and is in the process of setting it up for us to use.) Once I am home, I will need one more week of recovery. By the end of August I should be back in my normal routine.

I want you to meet my Da Vinci Robot who will be putting 4 small holes in my abdomen to cut out my prostate. I’ve named him Eddie after the movie icon Edward Scissorhands.

Edward Scissorhands is the one with the hair.

A Fifth Grader Who Wanted to Make a Difference

Eli Goodwin is in the 5th grade. He literally started attending Gateway nine months before he was born. He is just one of those kids you instantly fall in love with.

Eli and three of his friends from Lake Murray Elementary School decided they needed to do something to help the people of Haiti. Their first thought was to set up a lemonade stand. Marty, his Mom, suggested that lemonade might not sell very well in cold weather. So they settled on a bake sale. They asked their parents, friends and anyone who would help to bake items that would be sold to raise money.

This past Saturday, they set up shop on the corner of Wessinger and Dutch Fork Road. Eli’s sister and brother (Callie & Nic) were there to help as well.

As the day progressed, a steady flow of cars would stop and make purchases. There were a few times when no one was stopping so they would start packing everything up. Then another steady flow of cars would begin to stop.

At the end of sale, with all the goodies sold, they counted their money. They were hoping to raise about $100. Imagine their excitement when they realized they had raised $1,020!!! WOW!!!

By the way… a certain company is probably going to match their money. If that happens, that will translate into a small group of 5th grade students who dreamed of sending a $100 to Haiti to actually send over $2,000.

We dream big for God… then God shows up and makes it HUGE.

Hey Eli, this verse is for you and your friends:

“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12, NLT)

Blessing Others

NEWS FLASH – Our old campus is officially leased with an option to purchase by NewSpring Church of Anderson, SC. Pray that God will bless them as they reach people for Jesus!

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. Acts 4:32

While in the process of turning our former facilities over to NewSpring, we have had the privilege of blessing other ministries. Today I met a church planter from Charleston at the old GBC campus. It was so cool to be able to give him two trailers loaded with chairs for his new church. It will save the church plant more than $10,000. That’s a lot of money that can be used in other areas of ministry.

It’s been like that since we relocated to our new location.

• Last week a pastor from Rock Hill got a load of stage lights.
• A local church was given all of our choir robes. (You probably didn’t even know that we had choir robes!)
• Several churches received musical scores for their choirs.
• CIU received carpet and chairs for their studio where Dan DeLozier teaches students in his communication program.
• Our staging from the old worship center is being used by numerous church plants all over Columbia.
• The first church planted by Gateway, North Point Church, received our old portable baptistery.
• Church plants have benefited from sound system components.
• When the government changed the frequencies that wireless microphones can use which required us to purchase new receivers, we sent our old system to churches overseas through Crossover Communications International.
• Office equipment, chairs and nursery equipment was given to a church plant in North Myrtle Beach.
• A local church received office furniture.
• Refrigerators and other pieces of kitchen equipment went to a local community ministry.
• Nursery equipment is being used by another local church.
• Christmas decorations went to yet another local church.
• A refrigerator, chairs, cabinets are being used in the Live School office.
• Even a local Boy Scout Troop received carpet and chairs.

I appreciate the Spirit of God in Gateway that allows us to share with others. In reality, it’s not even ours! It belongs to the Lord. We simply are passing the blessing along to others.