Cancer Update January 11, 2022
Surgery Details
On Tuesday, January 11, 2022, I met with the surgeon who scheduled my surgery for the removal of “Teddy” on Thursday, January 27, 2022. After the surgery, the pathology report of the tumor and the lymph nodes will determine if further treatment will be recommended. It is anticipated that I will be in the hospital for 5 days and will need four to five weeks for recovery. We’ll see…😉!
In light of the rising cases of Omnicron variant my doctors have asked me to limit my exposure risk as much as possible. I will be switching all in-person meetings and pastoral care visits to be done via phone or zoom. If in-person care is needed one of the staff will cover for me. On Sundays I will be preaching but unable to walk around and visit you, which I will really miss. This is not what I want but if I can stay healthy and on schedule then I will be able to return to a normal schedule much sooner. I appreciate your understanding.
CrossPoint Sunday Worship
We see my surgery as an opportunity not to step back but to step up into discipleship and outreach so that we might further fulfill our mission to lead people to be passionate followers of Jesus by being FOR everyone else who might feel like God and the church is not for them. To be honest, I’m a little bummed that I cannot be with you in person because I am so excited about what we have planned while I am recovering.
The staff and leadership decided to name it, “The Cure Tour,” as we will be having incredible special speakers each week while I am healing and we believe God will use the services to bring about healing and hope in all of us.
We will kick off the tour with a special guest from Quincy, IL who for most, if not all, of us we love like a sister, Tami Conrad. Tami will be offering a “Spiritual Formation” class on Saturday, January 29, 8:30 AM- 12:30 PM at CrossPoint Maysville. This free class is all about how to not just know God is out there somewhere but how to experience him right where you live. Check out the registration tab below so we make sure to have enough refreshments and materials. Then on Sunday, January 30, Tami will speak in both services.
Next, some of you will remember one of the most popular special speakers you had during the interim between Pastor Kevin Jack and myself. Dr. Doug VanNest, Dean of Theology at Mount Vernon Nazarene University will speak in both services on February 6 and 20, 2022. Doug has a way of making the most complex connect with every day life in a way that brings God’s word to life. In addition, Doug and I have been friends for many years as we served together as fellow Pastors, then he as my District Supt. and finally, I was his employee as I helped his office plant new churches and refocus struggling churches. Feel free to ask him if it was fun having me work for him 😊
On Super Bowl Sunday we will have a lot of fun, food, highlight an opportunity to rescue victims of human trafficking and we are so excited to have Cameron Mills as our special speaker!
Mills tells it like this: “You have to remember that I was a walk-on, sitting at the very end of the bench. The starting two-guard in 1997—Derek Anderson, who went on to have a solid NBA career—tore his ACL in January of my junior year. I was the only other two-guard on the team. Really, out of sheer desperation and nowhere else to turn, Coach Pitino put me in. I started hitting three pointers, and I kept hitting them. Before I knew it, I was the second-leading scorer on the team during the 1997 NCAA tournament. Coach Pitino even made jokes in the media about it, and I laughed right along with him. It was like a dream sequence. Nobody saw it coming—least of all me.”
After playing in only a handful of games in his freshman and sophomore years, Mills saw action in nearly every game of his junior and senior seasons. By the time his playing career was over, he had become a member of two national championship teams, and to this day he remains the program’s all-time leader in season (53.2) and career (47.4) three-point percentages.
After college, many of his peers went on to play in the NBA or found lucrative work competing overseas, but Mills chose a different route by turning away from the professional game to go into ministry. It was the only vocation to which he truly felt called. Since the age of 7, Mills had steadfastly followed a divine path. It began with his initial profession of faith, which he made in response to a televangelist’s call to repentance, and was confirmed over the years through FCA, his local church, his family’s love, and Mills’ own God-given gift to connect with people.
He will speak in both services at CrossPoint Maysville and our East End and Bracken campuses will join us in Maysville as well. We see this is as a great opportunity to invite your unchurched friends and family.
The Cure Tour will wrap up on Sunday, February 27, if all goes as planned, with me preaching in person in both services again.
I believe these weeks when I am away the church will grow in spiritual maturity and in reaching more of the 50,000 people in a twenty-mile radius who claim no religious affiliation. Let’s pray for it, get involved in it, invite others to it and watch God show up in it!
My Personal Journey
I will share that with you on January 23 as it ties right in with the meaning of baptism which we will celebrate at 11:30 am that day. For now, let me say this: Thank you! Thank you to Kimberly, Anna and Seth for your patience, love and help when pain had me unable to do much of anything. Thank you to the staff, Guardians and Finance Team for their support in bearing the burden. And thank you to all of you who have prayed, encouraged and supported us. I cannot find the words to express my gratitude, but I can tell you that God has used you in a real way to help down his path of healing for me. I love and appreciate you deeply.
On Tuesday, January 11, 2022, I met with the surgeon who scheduled my surgery for the removal of “Teddy” on Thursday, January 27, 2022. After the surgery, the pathology report of the tumor and the lymph nodes will determine if further treatment will be recommended. It is anticipated that I will be in the hospital for 5 days and will need four to five weeks for recovery. We’ll see…😉!
In light of the rising cases of Omnicron variant my doctors have asked me to limit my exposure risk as much as possible. I will be switching all in-person meetings and pastoral care visits to be done via phone or zoom. If in-person care is needed one of the staff will cover for me. On Sundays I will be preaching but unable to walk around and visit you, which I will really miss. This is not what I want but if I can stay healthy and on schedule then I will be able to return to a normal schedule much sooner. I appreciate your understanding.
CrossPoint Sunday Worship
We see my surgery as an opportunity not to step back but to step up into discipleship and outreach so that we might further fulfill our mission to lead people to be passionate followers of Jesus by being FOR everyone else who might feel like God and the church is not for them. To be honest, I’m a little bummed that I cannot be with you in person because I am so excited about what we have planned while I am recovering.
The staff and leadership decided to name it, “The Cure Tour,” as we will be having incredible special speakers each week while I am healing and we believe God will use the services to bring about healing and hope in all of us.
We will kick off the tour with a special guest from Quincy, IL who for most, if not all, of us we love like a sister, Tami Conrad. Tami will be offering a “Spiritual Formation” class on Saturday, January 29, 8:30 AM- 12:30 PM at CrossPoint Maysville. This free class is all about how to not just know God is out there somewhere but how to experience him right where you live. Check out the registration tab below so we make sure to have enough refreshments and materials. Then on Sunday, January 30, Tami will speak in both services.
Next, some of you will remember one of the most popular special speakers you had during the interim between Pastor Kevin Jack and myself. Dr. Doug VanNest, Dean of Theology at Mount Vernon Nazarene University will speak in both services on February 6 and 20, 2022. Doug has a way of making the most complex connect with every day life in a way that brings God’s word to life. In addition, Doug and I have been friends for many years as we served together as fellow Pastors, then he as my District Supt. and finally, I was his employee as I helped his office plant new churches and refocus struggling churches. Feel free to ask him if it was fun having me work for him 😊
On Super Bowl Sunday we will have a lot of fun, food, highlight an opportunity to rescue victims of human trafficking and we are so excited to have Cameron Mills as our special speaker!
Mills tells it like this: “You have to remember that I was a walk-on, sitting at the very end of the bench. The starting two-guard in 1997—Derek Anderson, who went on to have a solid NBA career—tore his ACL in January of my junior year. I was the only other two-guard on the team. Really, out of sheer desperation and nowhere else to turn, Coach Pitino put me in. I started hitting three pointers, and I kept hitting them. Before I knew it, I was the second-leading scorer on the team during the 1997 NCAA tournament. Coach Pitino even made jokes in the media about it, and I laughed right along with him. It was like a dream sequence. Nobody saw it coming—least of all me.”
After playing in only a handful of games in his freshman and sophomore years, Mills saw action in nearly every game of his junior and senior seasons. By the time his playing career was over, he had become a member of two national championship teams, and to this day he remains the program’s all-time leader in season (53.2) and career (47.4) three-point percentages.
After college, many of his peers went on to play in the NBA or found lucrative work competing overseas, but Mills chose a different route by turning away from the professional game to go into ministry. It was the only vocation to which he truly felt called. Since the age of 7, Mills had steadfastly followed a divine path. It began with his initial profession of faith, which he made in response to a televangelist’s call to repentance, and was confirmed over the years through FCA, his local church, his family’s love, and Mills’ own God-given gift to connect with people.
He will speak in both services at CrossPoint Maysville and our East End and Bracken campuses will join us in Maysville as well. We see this is as a great opportunity to invite your unchurched friends and family.
The Cure Tour will wrap up on Sunday, February 27, if all goes as planned, with me preaching in person in both services again.
I believe these weeks when I am away the church will grow in spiritual maturity and in reaching more of the 50,000 people in a twenty-mile radius who claim no religious affiliation. Let’s pray for it, get involved in it, invite others to it and watch God show up in it!
My Personal Journey
I will share that with you on January 23 as it ties right in with the meaning of baptism which we will celebrate at 11:30 am that day. For now, let me say this: Thank you! Thank you to Kimberly, Anna and Seth for your patience, love and help when pain had me unable to do much of anything. Thank you to the staff, Guardians and Finance Team for their support in bearing the burden. And thank you to all of you who have prayed, encouraged and supported us. I cannot find the words to express my gratitude, but I can tell you that God has used you in a real way to help down his path of healing for me. I love and appreciate you deeply.
The Cure Tour Speakers
Tami Conrad
Quincy, IL
Doug Van Nest
Mount Vernon, OH
Cameron Mills
Lexington, KY