Pastor Glen Jackson Article

An article was in today's Ventura County Star about Pastor Glen Jackson. You can read it here. I encourage you to continue to pray for the Jackson family and for the Faith Christian Church family as they process their grief.

Pastor Glen Jackson Memorial Service

Just received an email announcing that the Memorial Service for Pastor Glen Jackson will occur on Saturday, August 16 at 2 pm at Grace Brethren Church.

In lieu of flowers the family is requesting donations be made to Faith Christian Church for support of Solome Musisi, a missionary to Uganda, who resides in Simi Valley. Please make your checks out to Faith Christian Church and put Glen Jackson Memorial in the memo line.

Pastor Glen Jackson With The Lord

Tonight at about 6:00 pm, Pastor Glen Jackson was taken off life support and he died soon thereafter. Please pray for the entire Jackson family.

On top of that, hug your family tonight. Tell them how much you love and appreciate them, and do everything you can to make sure they know that.

Pastor Glen Jackson Update

The below is DIRECTLY from the family (Glen's daughter & son-in-law):

Hi Paul,

Most of that information is off a bit. Let me clear it up for you.

The cyst was a congenital cyst that Glen has had from birth. It had absolutely nothing to do with the bleeding. The cyst was drained to provide more room in the skull for the swelling.

An MRI was done on Tuesday and revealed that the bleeding had stopped. Apparently the bleeding has been stopped for a while but that had not been clearly communicated to the family (not really sure that the doctors knew that either). The blood in the brain that has been showing up on the CT scans is coagulated blood from the original bleed.

The coagulated blood will take 2-3 weeks to dissipate.

The doctors were interested in seeing Glen's condition in the 24-48 hours following the cyst drain.

His condition is still critical. Thank you for your prayers and concern, please keep it up! :)

Also, for those wondering who Glen is, here is a picture of him with his daughter, Erin, on her wedding day.

Pastor Glen Jackson Update

I have hesitated to post updates as 2-3 sources seem to be giving somewhat conflicting information. However, here is what I have heard so far that seems to be confirmed by the sources.

Tuesday night, a cyst on Glen's brain was drained, and seems to have been related to the bleeding. Bleeding on the brain stopped once they drained this cyst. However, there is coagulated blood on the brain now constricting flow of normal brain fluids. While doctors have said that could take "months" to dissipate, they have said Glen needs it to dissipate within the next 48 hours or so.

Pastor Glen Jackson Update

The latest word tonight about Pastor Glen's condition is:

...the doctors were going to do an MRI (this morning). However, they did not do it this morning. They were able to keep all the equipment working while he was in the MRI machine except the piece of equipment that fed him the blood pressure medication to control his blood pressure. As a result they have spent the day weaning him off the medication to see if his body could control its own blood pressure. So far it seems to be working. If it continues to work, they will probably do the MRI sometime this evening.

Pastor Glen Jackson Update

Received an email this evening that stated:

The cat scan from this morning still shows that there has not been any change in the bleeding inside the brain. Be praying specifically for the bleeding to stop.

The pneumonia that was present last week is completely gone. Praise the Lord!!!

His white blood cell count has been elevated and that is now down to normal. Praise the Lord!!!

(T)here has been involuntary movement again.

Last week they tried taking him off the body cooling machine but his body temperature started rising. They need to be able to take him off this machine because there is a limited number of days that he can stay hooked up to it. Pray that when they disconnect this machine that his body will stay at 97 degrees on its own without assistance.

Pastor Glen Jackson Update, Etc.

Two update emails today have said that Pastor Glen Jackson's condition remains the same. There will be no tests done over the weekend unless something were to change considerably. Please continue to pray for a miracle in this situation!

It has been a long week! Knowing that Jackie Morris' Memorial Service would be today has been emotional for me. Not just in her sudden passing three weeks ago, but Colleen and I (especially Colleen) have a strong emotional tie to the Morris'. Jim & Jackie were childhood neighbors of Colleen's. Their daughter, Barbara, was one of Colleen's closest friends growing up.

Pastor Glen's circumstance has been wearing. I feel for what Nicki and their family are going through. Glen has been one of the true "elders" of our city as a Pastor here for more than 28 years. He has been a stalwart, faithful Pastor and a powerful unifier.

Then, yesterday morning, after the last few months of struggling with Congestive Heart Failure, Chuck Koher passed away in the early morning hours. Elaine called me about 7:00 am to let me know he passed away peacefully sometime between 2:00 and 4:00 am.

She said he was feverish about 2:00 am. She placed a cold washrag on his head and fell asleep beside him. She woke up about 4:00 am and discovered he had died. That is actually a very beautiful thing, as Elaine had labored so hard to make his last days so comfortable. For him to pass away so peacefully as she was sleeping beside him is just the way it ought to have happened.

Chuck has an amazing story of life and service. A World War 2 veteran, he served all over Europe. He fought in the infamous Battle of the Bulge and was the ONLY member of his unit to survive that fight.

So, next Saturday at 2:00 pm, we'll celebrate Chuck's life with his family, at NewHeart. If you know of anyone who knew Chuck and/or Elaine, please pass the word on!

In the morning, we have Mike Barker speaking. That will be a slew of fun! Mike is one of our former Youth Pastors, and is Pastor of CityLife Community Church in Austin, TX, a church he planted five years ago.

Time for bed. G'nite all!

Prayer for Pastor Glen Jackson

The latest update on Pastor Glen's condition, received at 5:00 pm today, is from his son-in-law, Lance:

Pastor Glen's condition is pretty much the same as yesterday. The doctors are finally using a consistent term to describe what happened, the are calling it a "bleeding stroke." His condition is still critical. Please remain in prayer.

Prayer for Pastor Glen Jackson

Thursday evening, I had the privilege of spending some time with family and friends of Pastor Glen. After receiving news that Doctors had asked Nicki if she was prepared to make the decision to take Glen off of life support, I was able to head over to the Hospital.

The outpouring of support for Glen at the hospital was tremendous. There were a number of family members, church members and friends present. I had the opportunity to spend some time with some of them, and it was extremely uplifting.

Near the end of my time there, Nicki came out from Glen's room. She shared that the Neurologist clarified that they are not asking for her to make a decision right away. He believes it is too soon to make those decisions. He encouraged her to wait through the weekend at least to see how he does over the next few days.

While the bleeding in the brain is persisting and is happening faster than it can be drained, Glen's body is reproducing the lost blood supply, which means he hasn't to this point needed any transfusions. On the other hand, the Neurologist also said that bleeding of this type usually does more damage to the brain the longer it goes on.

Clearly, the Jackson's really do need a miracle from God for Glen! Please continue to pray that God will bring healing and peace to Glen over these next days. Pray for peace for Glen's wife, Nicki, and their daughters, Erin, Ashley and Christina, as well as extended family.

Prayer for Pastor Glen Jackson

Just received this latest update regarding Glen:

There has been some encouraging news through the night. The neurologist is encouraged because he noticed some involuntary movement in Glen's leg last night. This definitely shows signs of brain activity and that is a good sign.

Glen's brother says that Glen responded to directions for movement last night also. All these things are good news.

The doctors did another cat scan this morning but we will not have the results on that until this afternoon. Glen is still bleeding.

Pray for the bleeding to stop, pray for complete and total restoration of Glen's health and mental capabilities. God is able and willing to come to Glen's rescue. That is His specialty.

Prayer for Pastor Glen Jackson

As of 8:30 pm Pacific Time, Pastor Glen's condition is still listed as critical, and he is still in a coma. This morning's CT Scan revealed that considerable bleeding in the mid-brain area is still happening. They have ruled out the bleeding to be the result of a stroke or an aneurysm.

They are likening the bleeding to the bursting of a water main. There is nothing they can do to stop the bleeding. The Jackson family needs a miracle!

Prayer for Pastor Glen Jackson

I wanted to give you the latest news I have heard and to request continued prayer for Pastor Glen Jackson, founding and current Pastor of Faith Christian Church here in Simi Valley for over 25 years.

This morning, Glen collapsed and was rushed to Simi Valley Hospital. He was diagnosed as having a brain aneurysm. He was then airlifted to Holy Cross Hospital for further diagnosis and treatment.

His current condition is still listed as critical, and he is still in a coma from bleeding in the brain. An angiogram was performed just a few hours ago in an attempt to find out where exactly the bleeding is occurring in the brain.

The angiogram revealed a blood clot near the brain stem, but they were not able to find the spot(s) where bleeding is occurring. They will perform another CT scan in the morning to try and identify any of those places.

I will continue to keep you informed as I know more. For now, please keep bringing Glen, Nicki, and their families before the Lord. For those who may feel led, fasting may even be appropriate.

Roller Coaster

The last few days have been BOTH invigorating AND draining. How can that be?

It's been INVIGORATING to take a week off to be available for the needs of my family. Josh's surgery went well, and that's invigorating! Most of his recovery so far has gone well, and that's also invigorating to me. At times through the week, we've SLEPT a lot ..... you know it .... invigorating. And, just being together as family ..... in-stinkin--vigorating!

Then, church this morning was incredibly invigorating! "Interactive Worship Sunday" for the first time and Katie Miller and the team did an amazing job leading us to the throne of God, not just in "song worship", but in various forms of worship. It's downright good to regularly remind ourselves that worship is not about US, it's about GOD! It was Katie's awesome idea and one we will do again!

It's also been a DRAINING week. Taking care of each other is a LOT of work! 3 am pain med checks are no fun on the body! It's great when recovery is going well, but when it's not? DRAINING! I can NOT imagine what God the Father went through watching Jesus suffer. Seriously, NO comprehension here whatsoever.

I know it's true for any parent, but it HURTS when you watch your kid hurt! Today turned out to be Josh's worst day of pain so far. The anesthesia must have worn off overnight, because up until today we were thinking this was gonna be cake! Not to be, and that's draining. He and I took a nap this afternoon trying to calm some of his hardest pain. When I woke up less than two hours later, I seriously thought it had to be Monday morning. I guess that's how drained I was.

Anyway, it's been a roller coaster!

Fun News Article!

Just wanted to share that our church was featured in a great article yesterday in the LA Daily News. A reporter called us out of the blue asking if she could do an article on our church. She was apparently impressed by our website.

I originally thought it was just running in a local Simi Valley section. However, they ran it in their entire distribution on page A4.

You can also read it online here. If you get a chance, leave a comment through the box at the end of the article!

Many have walked alongside us over a number of years of tilling tough soil. For those who have and who know our story, it's a fun thing to get to enjoy some positive, free press, and I thought you'd enjoy rejoicing with us!

Satan Interviewed

Craig Groeschel, Pastor of LifeChurch.tv, interviewed Satan for a recent message on unity in the church. He apparently has done several of these interviews. Enjoy some humor today .... or not ...

Thoughts About "Biblical"

I've been reading some stuff in the last week or so about what's "Biblical" and what's not. I'm getting kind of bugged by it.

Specifically, it's stuff on how churches do church. The train of thought is "we want to do church Biblically" or "more Biblically."

Haven't you been doing church Biblically before? I know some of the leaders this is coming from, and I know they HAVE been, and fabulously so.

Is it that other churches AREN'T doing church "Biblically", so we feel the need to differentiate ourselves as doing it "Biblically"? Every church wants to have a niche in its community. Something they do or are gifted to do (read honestly: something we don't think any other church is either doing (a) at all, or (b) very well, mmm, or "Biblically").

I know a lot of Pastors. We ALL want this ... to do church "Biblically". Nothing less. Just because I have a desire to do church "Biblically", and it grabs attention for one reason or another that I want that, doesn't mean others aren't doing it "Biblically", or even that I myself am not. But that's exactly what it sounds like.

What is getting the attention is any individual churches or Pastor's METHODS that usually have drawn a very large group of people. We tend to flock toward them to find out HOW they did that so we can figure out how to do it where we are (both Pastors AND non-Pastors do this, by the way). And we call it "Biblical". Or at least that's one moniker we put on it. Makes us feel better about it anyways.

I'm all for being "Biblical" and I sure hope we're doing church "Biblically". The question begs, what is "Biblical" church? How can we communicate our heart more accurately, so that it doesn't sound like we're saying others aren't doing it "Biblically" or can't be defined as "Biblical", or that the fruit (numbers) a church produces isn't big enough to say they are a "Biblical" church?

Good Weekend

I really appreciated this weekend! Lots of BBQ'n, which I just love to do.

Friday night, I visited a man from church in the hospital. He survived a procedure this week that he wasn't sure he would make it through. We had the most amazing visit as he openly shared with me some pretty deep things he's been through and some of the stuff he's done. This is a man rescued by Jesus from the brink. He became for me a huge example of someone who is "poor in spirit", the very message I was working on for this weekend.

Saturday, I hit the day hard, churning out the majority of today's message. Started a new series that I've been thinking about for a while, but just decided to start in the last couple days of the week. "Becoming All That You Can Be" from Matthew 5:1-10, the Beatitudes. Challenging stuff, but good, deep.

Last night, q'd some really nice ribeyes and had my sister and her husband and kids over for her birthday. Colleen and the boys saw "Get Smart" late in the afternoon with a family friend, who also joined us for dinner on the spur of the moment. By the end of the evening, I was whipped. A good whipped, but really tired.

This morning, church went great at both services. The message was hard, but received well. Had visitors at church today that had been part of our church some time ago, so it was just heart-warming to see old friends and hear their remarks about how we're missed. Cool thing!

Then, this afternoon, I spent some time watching golf with Colleen, who is the greatest woman in all the world, in my book! Later in the afternoon, I headed to Fry's Electronics to see if they had a replacement power supply for the family desktop computer. They did, I put it in, and the computer works!

I love fix-it projects and all, but it seems lately that whenever I have a project to do, it's extremely frustrating and filled with multiple return trips to the store! This one worked, and that felt good! Q'd some beef ribs for dinner, but overdid them! Peanut butter and jelly for dinner as Colleen and a friend were canning plums for plum jam from our tree in the backyard. Just felt like the Walton's around here. It was cool!

As far as Josh's leg, it seems we'll call the doctor tomorrow and get the ball rolling to set up surgery. It's not that Josh is looking forward to it, but the way he put it is that he "wants to do whatever is best." And, he doesn't want to go to school with a cast. We'll keep you posted on the schedule.

'Nite for now.....

Catch-up Quick List

CANNOT believe it's been two weeks since my last post. CANNOT believe I've been back from Texas for almost two weeks. CANNOT believe the school year is over. Let me catch you up on what the last two weeks (and then some) have held.

• Just before I left for Texas, Colleen landed a new job as a Teacher for the Certified Nurse Assistant class at our local Adult School. She starts in September. She's happy. That makes me happy!
• Also just before I left for Texas, someone in our church called me and said they had a car they were getting rid of and they felt they were supposed to give it to me .... turns out it's a 2001 Ford Crown Vic that used to be a Detective Car with the Beverly Hills PD! It's even black! Sweet ride, and a lot of fun to watch people react when you're driving near them! Really fun car for a Chaplain!
  
• Went fishing with my boys for the first time ever two weeks ago! We all caught a lot of perch and I caught my first bass! It was only about 6" long (or was it 12"? I can't remember now!) but it was a blast of a time.
• The last of 3 homes we lived in during my 4 Jr. High years in Texas was torn down last year. Made me sad.
• Every trip to see my family in Texas is like a pilgrimage to me now. It's where I gave my life to Jesus and was baptized in 1979.
• My 12 year old son read 3 books in 3 days while we were in Texas. Amazing!
  
• My wife and kids had their first Boots Burgers this time! If you're ever ANYWHERE NEAR Rockwall, Texas, EVER, you've got to get yourself one (or more!!). Just trust me. Watch out though, they're closed on Sundays & Mondays. The rest of the days, they're only open a couple of hours.
• I almost missed my flight home from Texas. TWO different GPS systems failed me a total of FOUR times with one battery failure, one freeway onramp that had been closed for YEARS and TWO onramps that were closed for construction. And here I thought technology was my friend! Silly me!
• My 13 year old son is facing significant surgery this Summer for a nonossifying fibroma in his lower left tibia. We're headed for a 2nd opinion appointment with the probable surgeon this Friday. We're very glad it is caught and not causing him pain right now. We are told emphatically by the first doctor that it is NOT cancer.
  
• Last Sunday, June 8, our church celebrated a friend's healing from Lung Cancer. Last Thursday, another lady in church went in for a SECOND operation in TWO weeks for breast cancer. This Wednesday, a man in our church will have a cancerous tumor removed from his lung. WHAT is UP??
  
• For the first time in .... well, EVER in my ministry .... our church will gather for July & August in one service on Sundays at 9:30 am starting July 6 as we prepare to become a CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS for 6 months. Weird thought.
• I preached a message this morning on "What My Dad Taught Me".
• I spent the Father's Day afternoon with my family at the BodyWorlds exhibit in Los Angeles. It was fascinating and I highly recommend it! Topped it off with Panda Express.
  

That's all for now.

Texas, Hold 'Em....'Cause Here I Come!

I'm headed to Texas on Sunday! Our Annual Foursquare Convention is being held in Houston, Texas this year, starting on Monday. I'll fly in Sunday.

Convention is always a great time of reconnecting with friends I don't get to see very often and hearing the heartbeat of our Foursquare leadership throughout the week. As well as usually being a very uplifting time, there is also the Foursquare family business that is transacted during business sessions by the corporate body.

Ending on Thursday night, I'll rent a car on Friday morning and drive the 4+ hours to Royse City. That's where my parents, sister, Patty, and brother, Steve, live with their families, 20 miles east of Dallas.

Matter of fact, the family is growing while we're there! My brother's wife, Danielle, is expecting! We just heard today that since she is overdue, the doctor intends to induce labor Wednesday afternoon. If she hasn't delivered by Thursday afternoon, they'll perform a C-section. By the time I arrive there Friday, evening, Charlee Ann Kuzma will have graced this world.

Another avenue of excitement is that Colleen and the boys will meet me in Dallas. They'll arrive Wednesday evening, and I'll show up Friday evening. We'll crowd my parents little abode until the following Wednesday. Colleen and the boys will depart Dallas and I'll drive back to Houston to catch my flight home that night. (Long story about why....not worth going in to here.)

Now, here's the deal for all you text messaging fiends out there. If you go to twitter.com, sign up for a free account, configure your account to have twitter messages sent to your phone, and then go to twitter.com/Paul_Kuzma and click "follow", you'll get the latest and greatest from Convention highlights to Kuzma News (KuzNews for short!).

Wondering what Twitter is? Watch this video, then go sign up!



I've been "twittering" for a couple months now and it's great fun for the most part following some friends and family members in their daily lives, from the touching to the terrible to the trivial! (Come on, give me a break on the alliterations....I AM a Pastor!)

So, what are you waiting for? Get youself signed up and follow me to Texas!