IT'S THE END OF THE AS WE KNOW IT
...And I feel fine.
So proclaims Michael Stipe in the 1987 REM single. The following year Edgar C' Whisenant released his book "88 reasons why the rapture will be in 1988" of course he had to revise that prophesy a few times finally giving up in 1994 after several unmaterialized raptures and a fiery nuclear holocaust that failed to take place.
And so it goes with the fascination of our demise as a life form and/or as a planet. In 2007 Ervin Baxter predicted that 2 billion people would be dead within 2 years. Just this year Billboards popped like mushrooms around the country proclaiming "you can Know" Radio personality Harold Camping claimed that a secret Bible code revealed that May 21 2011 the rapture would take place, apparently he was not aware that the Mayans already set the date for the end of the world in Dec of 2012. Of course we are still here and now Camping states that May 21 was a judgment and that the actual rapture will be in Oct.
As the calender now heads in to the final stretch of 2011all of humanity is becoming enthralled with Dec 2012. Soon a mild hysteria will begin to envelope the modern world as eager and ammorral entrepenuers will begin to take advantage of the gullible masses in shades reminicent of Y2K. Even now in depth examinations of historical apocalyptic beleifs and hypothetical doomsday scenarios are playing out on "educational" media outlets.
The Mayans, The Hopi Indians, and the Hindus all have the end pegged for 2012. So has Nostradamus, the Sumerians and other ancient cultures. Why 2012, and why so many cultures fixated on that date?. Well Many of these ancient peoples practiced theologies and superstitions based on the stars, incidentally this is something prohibited in the word of God. Many of these Star struck cultures were sufficiently proficient in mathematics to be able to chart the course of the stars and note the various planetary alignments and other significant stellar events. Although the planets align roughly every 36 years, the planetary alignment in 2012 coincides with an aligning of the zodiac constellations and, according to some a black hole across the universe. Some civiliations see this as a changing of the ages, some call it phases, some such as the Mayans call it changing of the worlds. Apparently the visible Spring zodiac of Pisces will give way to Aquarius and In December there will occur a Galactic Equinox in which the planetary alignment coincides with a very precise galactic alignment that only happens every 26,000 years.
In Dt 4 the Lord speaks to the children of Israel about these things:Dt 4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
Right here God's word is ruling out everything in the celestial as something we govern our life by, that includes stars and patterns in the stars that look like fish or a man with water jugs, or planetary alignments.
SECRET BIBLE CODES
Camping is not the first to claim he has cracked some subliminal Bible code. Codes of various specifics have been purported for years, the Davinci code being but one of the more famous examples. Recent documents have surfaced that are alleged to have been part of a secret project Isaac Newton had worked in private in which he had discovered and cracked a Bible code that put the end of the world in 2060. While there have been some profound mathematical rhythms proven in the Bible there is nothing to support subliminal codes in which hidden messages of God are contained.
SEERS and PROPHETS (non-Biblical)
Undoubtedly the most famous of this group would be Nostradamus. Though he and his predictions are the most popular, the reality is that his "prophecies" are as ambiguous as they come. A cursory exam of Nostradamus reveals that he was nothing more than a smoke and mirror genius similar to the frauds that appear on daytime talk shows today that convince desperate people that their dead loved one speaks from beyond the grave. Invarioubly the "seer" will engage the subject in a very subtle fishing expedition in which enough information from the past can be crafted into ambiguous questioning statements that sound as though there something behind them. Understanding that his early career as a seer he employed tactics similar to these supposed clairvoyants of today. When you combine that with his masterful knowledge of language and classical literature it is no wonder he was adept at presenting convincing predictions.
Nostradamus having began in the healing profession of apothecary made a move toward the occult, his early days he would perform horoscopes for individuals, never calculating for himself the "birth Charts" of these individuals instead he relied on other charts provided by the subject and often made gross miscalculations, his entire prediction for the seeker was based on his suppostion that the past predicted the future, not from any supernatural ability or knowledge. His Prophetic sources were no better. He used what he called Judicial Astrology in which he used past events to assert his knowledge of future ones by comparison of star alignments. He also was adept at taking past events/prophecies and paraphrasing them to make them look as though they were his own, a close examination of his work will reveal a collection of reworded works of prophecy and predictions from his time and dating back through the ages and simply compiled into a collection with his name on it. In fact so evident was the reflection of the "classics" in his work that it became standard reading material in 17th century French class rooms. He was also adept at skirting around the policies of the church of the day so as not to fall into accusations of heresy, keeping his work labeled in areas that were not prohibited by the church. He also drew on styles and works of antiquity such as Virgil, to accomplish such.
At the end of the day his prophecies are so vague and so heavily rooted in plagiarism that it would be difficult not to find world events that seemed to resemble his "Prophecies" The fact is Nostradamus never published a prophecy of his own accord. He was a master of the past, not the future.
WORLD EVENTS and NATURAL DISASTERS
No one would argue that it seems like the intensity and frequency of hard hitting natural disasters are at a level never seen before. I would certainly agree with that assertion, at least in terms of modern history.
Geologically speaking everything progresses through cycles this is true in the course of humanity as well Ec 1:9 states What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (NIV). Dwight D. Eisenhower had his own unique way of saying it "Things are more like they are now, than they ever were before".
Here is a look at some natural disasters through the ages
In 1635 A powerful storm struck the Massachusetts Bay colony that many described as apocalyptic. In Aug 1724 two powerful tropical storms struck the east coast and are to be considered the most significant natural event of the colonial period of the 16 & 1700s. In 1749 a storm producing a 15 foot tidal surge created what is known today as Willoughby spit in Chesapeake bay. Two years later another equally impressive storm hit the same area laying towns and plantations to waste including one belonging to Robert E Lee. Sept 1795 produced back to back storms that destroyed Thomas Jefferson's crops and swelled local rivers to 12 foot over flood stage.
The 1800s produced storms on the east coast that produced 17 ft tidal surges and in 1886 almost as foreshadow to the Gulf of 2005 back to back storms destroyed the leading port city in Texas, Matagorda Bay, forcing the relocation of sea business to Galveston which would 14 years later fall to the Great Hurricane of 1900, a storm that is still recorede as the deadliest natural disaster in US history.
We can Follow Earthquakes similarly. In 526AD The Antioch Earthquake struck killing a 1/4 million souls in the Syrian, Antioch, and Byzantine empires, in 1556 over 3/4 of million perished in a the Shaanix province of China, In 1812 The New Madrid Earthquake changed the course of the Mighty Mississippi. Today it wold seem as though earthquakes are a monthly occurrence.
Tsunamis of devastating force have been recorded with surprising regularity since before 600 BC, Japan alone has recorded nearly 200
notable tsunamis in a period of only 1300 years.
So the question then becomes is this an endtime indication or just a cyclic peak in our time. Jesus does speak of nations in distress, the Earth being shaken the seas and waves roaring. Looking back at the past few years we can certainly say that it does seem that Hurricanes in this decade particularly between 2003-2005 have been the most frequent and most destructive.
Likewise earthquakes and tsunamis have never shaken the collective soul of humanity the as have the Christmas Day tsunami hitting Asia, The devastation in Haiti, or the recent Japanese Disaster that included the worst Nuclear incident since Chernobyl.
Did Christ not also say look up for your redemption draweth near.
IMMORALITY OF THE DAY
Paul warned Timothy
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
END TIMES, ANTICHRIST, AND ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT
I do not believe any could argue Paul's warning does not sound like the state of the day, but are we living in the end days? Well I can't say we are but I can say that I believe that if we are not, then we are at least on the eve of the last days.
We can fret over economic futures, global economy and precursors to one world governments, a single global currency, and a one world religion. We can speculate as to whether anti-christ is already among us and if subcutaneous micro-chips are the mark of the beast. We can spend our nights worrying and waste our conversations debating which trump we think has sounded. That is not what our Lord instructed us to do. No He called us to be witnesses. He told us to rejoice in these events. Yes he spoke to us of these things so that we may be wise, to rejoice, and to understand that the season of the harvest is finite, and that our sense of urgency is for those who see no hope and not for ourselves for our well being is assured.
INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE
Daniel refers to the increase of Knowledge as the end grows near. Da 12:4
I learned recently that a brand new laptop computer today has the equivalent capacity of the brain of a small lizard, It amazed me more to think at how wonderful God made lizards. That is a lot of computing power. What is shocking and scary is that it will only be about ten years and the store bought laptop will have caught up to the human brain in terms of computing speed, power and memory capacity. In about 160 years we have gone from the industrial breakthrough of steam engines to solid fuel engines that can break the gravitational pull of Earth. We have progressed from wind driven scooners to nuclear powered vessels that crew the equivalent of a small city and can carry over 100 aircraft. .
In that same time frame travel advanced from the point where a journey could take weeks months or even years to the point where one can get to any point on the earth in 24 hours or less. The Apollo 11 mission took roughly the same travel time as it would take to drive a car from coast to coast. Both my dad and my infant granddaughter have had open heart surgeries in the past few years, something unheard of prior to world war II and yet now is so routine that many patients are at home in less than a week, and live productive lives that last many years.
END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT...
Do I believe the world is ending in 2012, I doubt it. The Word says that NO MAN KNOWS THE HOUR. I believe Christ will be coming for his own, I believe there will be a period of tribulation, and I believe it is possible the church and his elect may have to endure a portion of that, I believe that after Christ comes for his bride this will be a very bad place to raise a family.
I also believe that I have to keep doing what I am called to do- because that is what I am called to do. I am called to witness and preach and minister to the broken and bruised until the trump sounds.
When boxers fight in a ring I am sure they have a sense for when the clock is winding down, they do not slack off because the bell is about to ring, in fact they will push for one more offensive, one last upper cut, one last right hook. Well Saints of God the trump has not sounded yet, lets push to get one last soul.
Yes it is perilous times, the world is uncertain, everything that can be shaken is being shaken, yet my foundation is sure for I am fastened to the Rock.
It may be the end of the world as we know it...but I feel fine..
Virtual salvation- the new downloadable app
Has life got you busy? can't seem to find the time to get to church? Is prayer and Bible time causing a hardship in your tight schedule. No worry. We have the perfect app for you-Virtual Salvation is now available for all smart phones. Just key in your need and virtual salvation will generate a prayer for you. Whether your sick or you need a financial blessing or you have a friend ready to accept Christ Virtual Salvation will pray the Sinners prayer of repentance with your friend. Virtual Salvation has been programmed with over four thousand prayers and comes with advanced technologies called smart spirit that allow Virtual Salvation to adapt and combine these prayer to your needs.
For $4.99 you can upgrade Virtual Salvation to include the virtual preacher. Its Junior's big day, he's ready to be baptized, but wait, the soccer game is this Sunday. No problem Baptisms nave never been easier or quicker than they are with the Virtual Baptist feature. Just gather the family in the back yard pool or your bathtub select the baptismal formula you want. Not sure if you need Jesus Name, Father Son and Holy Ghost, or simply an Amen baptism, no problem. The Virtual Baptist will do all of them.
Does this sound crazy to you? Well that's because it is. The scary part is that this is not too far from the reality of the day. I was stunned when I heard that there really is such a thing as virtual baptism. No it not in an app for your smart phone, but it is something that is beginning to take place.
So that brings me to the point. We live in a society in which the most dangerous spiritual tactics are being brought to play. In many parts of the world where there is little technology we see very deep spiritual beliefs, practices and superstitions at play. Many are the incredible testimonies that come from missionaries doing God's work where Satan has had his witch doctors and shamans controlling villagers for eons. Potions, voodoo, witchcraft, idols and talismans may be novel play taken serious by few in America, but in many parts of the world it is a very real thing.
In America we have something much different but equally dominate brining the masses into submission. Our idols are Hollywood, beach wood aged Budweiser, hard lemonade, sports figures and images of bikinis and bulging biceps. Our faith is in technology and better living through electronics and chemicals.
If we are bummed out we go to the doctor and take a pill, or we go to the casino or the bar, or maybe to the place where the risque girls dance for dollar bills.
These things have been increasingly effective over the years, at least that is the lie we have been led to believe. These are counterfeit spiritual gifts that Satan has conceived to redirect you away from the gifts and benefits that Christ wished to impart upon you. Our Joy and our peace are found in him -
Now Satan is no dummy, he knows that most church going people are not falling for that, ah but you see we church people do have a weakness that is common to us all in western society. the need for the path of least resistance.
Why cook rice when you can have it in three minutes. This is the microwave society. It is such with everything in our lives. When was the last time someone counted back your change for you. How many of you know what that means? many don't because we have machines that do that for you. Those things that I as a child had to learn by combing through dictionaries, encyclopedias, many of which were only found at the library, are now available at megabite and now even gigabytes per seconds speed with the click of a mouse.
Now don't get me wrong, our society is not doomed because the registers at Walmart and quicktrip calculate your change so the clerk doesn't have to. Nor do I believe that the Terminator's grandpa is here is taking over to enslave us, But Satan's is.
By tapping into these ease of life desires we have come complacent in our spiritual lives. No longer is the need felt to allow a church service to go until the Holy Spirit has had his way.No longer do we sit in the quiet moments waiting for the voice of the Lord, no we don't have time for that, the Rams game starts in 45 minutes. We have cut the number of services down to the bare minimum, and put them on tight schedules so that we now have micro wave services. Have you ever noticed that microwave lasagna just does not taste anything like what Grandma used to make, sure we can get it in 3 minutes instead of three hours but just isn't the same.
Recovery is a lot like that too. We want to go to a few support groups, a few treatment sessions and hit the streets running, we forget that many of us have been at our addiction for years and now we expect someone with a script pad and a degree to cure us. Many fail at recovery because it is not microwavable, and neither is salvation or a relationship with Christ. Living for God is a day in and day out way of life. Christians are forgetting this. Virtual sermons, live streaming and things of this sort can be tools for those who are shut in, and are not physically able to make it to church, but they are not replacements for church. In these cases the church should be going to them.
Just as there is no magic bullet for addiction there is no magic spiritual app for our I-phones that take the place of assembling our selves together, for prayer, for fasting, for reading our Bibles. I have an array of electronic tools to aid me in my studies but they do not take the place of good old fashion Holy Ghost anointing.
Pauls letter to Timothy states there will be those who have the form of godliness but deny the power thereof. Satan does not care if you make it to church, he does not care if you read Christian blogs, or other sources of study, what he cares about is if you have the Power thereof.
Power is not found in vitrualality, it is found in the word of God, it is found in prayer, it is found in earnestness, and seeking God with all your heart for in that day he shall be found of you. That is the point where God found me, or I should say I found him in the cab of an 1983 dodge pickup and he delivered me from addiction and helped me to pick up the pieces of a long shattered life. My delivery was instant, but my walk with God only began there, I had to learn how to walk in his precepts. If all it took was a simple little prayer we would not need all the epistles. Just like those Corinthians 2000 years ago I had a lot of world to get cleaned out of me and it took more than a microwave and a blackberry app to do that.
Peter said For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
God could have made the whole world in seven seconds but he took seven days. He could have given us salvation with the wave of a Holy hand instead Salvation came in the fullness of time and spent endless hours of agony on a rugged cross. The sad truth is that some one who is virtually a Christian may find them selves one day in a real hell.
I encourage you to be an eyewitness of his majesty, get personal with Jesus and spend time with him. Don't fall for the Devil's fable that salvation comes in a microwavable container or a phone app.
Moses stopped by the church last week!
Mosses stopped by the church last week and told me not to get in the way. No he didn't come right out and tell me I was in the way, in fact he may not even be aware of the message he brought to me individually me from God, but then that is how God sometimes works.
Now let me clarify, God didn't raise Moses up from the dead or send his spirit down from Heaven. In fact it really isn't the same Moses. Robert Moses Missionary to Russia visited us Sunday Morning.
Bro Moses is doing a great work, at least that is the type of statement we have become accustomed to making. The reality is that Bro Moses is allowing himself to be used by God to reach the people of Russia. Sure we should credit Bro Moses for his service, but God is the one doing the work, Moses is but a tool, an Earthen vessel in the hands of a master, a vessel filled with the new wine of the Holy Spirit.
Bro Moses speaks little Russian, and what he does speak is bad. Yet God is able to use him much in the same way the God used Moses of the Exodus by providing a mouth piece. In the first Moses case it was his brother. In this case God has brought English speaking Russians into his church, several in fact, roughly 1 in 10 Russians speak some English, to have 3-4 in a small congregation where the Pastor can not speak Russian is truly a God thing.
When we are called of God unto a work he will provide us with the tools and the inspiration. We can be called on a number of levels. We are, all of us, called to base Christian principles and works. To be Christian parents, ethics in the home and in the work place, to witness, to show forth charity (love) to all, to worship and glorify God in all we do .
The problem is that after a while we end up taking the lead, we begin to make decisions less prayerfully, we begin to insert more and more of ourselves into the equation. We then begin to take our calling personally and that is dangerous. When things come against our work the wrong feelings and attitudes begin to manifest.
This point was really driven home when Bro Moses shared with us that he sought counsel of Bro William Turner, a leading missionary in the former Soviet states. He asked Bro Turner for advise in raising funds and acquiring ministry partners. Bro Turner told him that the one thing he always remembers that he is not raising money for himself.
This really struck me and caused me to examine myself and my role as the District Chaplain of restorative and prison ministries and the manners in which I conduct business in the name of the ministry. As ministers we can be by our very nature very passionate about the ministry we are involved in. That passion is both our strength and our weakness. The first Moses Smote the rock twice when he suppose to speak to it. It did issue forth the water that God promised and the people and the animals drank their fill, but Moses was severely reprimanded by God and the scriptures tell us in Nu 20:12 that Moses was disqualified by this action to lead the congregation into the promised land, that ministry would be charged to Joshua.
Now there are many thoughts on why Moses failed to follow Gods directions precisely, One thing we know for certain is that Moses inserted himself into the equation beyond his boundary. It is critical that we not only hear Gods word but we must also listen to it. If God calls us to a job that calling will come with a set of instructions. When Joshua led the people into Jericho to take down the wall it was very exact what was to be done. In the Veggie tales episode Josh and the Big wall the characters all had their own (and hilarious) ideas on how to bring down the wall. Likewise we can be the same way. God will accomplish his will, sadly it sometimes has to be inspite of our best intentions. This begs to question how often we get in Gods way because are trying to do things our way.
I seen a bumper sticker once that said "Jesus is my co-pilot" I liked that, that is until one day I saw another bumper sticker that said "If Jesus is your co-pilot, you are in the wrong seat" WOW! now that is truth!
You see God worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, Eph 1:11, not ours even when our counsel(or will) is with the best of intentions. If we look to the 16th chapter of Acts we see where Paul was working in the midst of great revival, Paul and his band thought they should go to Asia and then Bithynia, However God needed them in Macedonia, Paul could have easily in his passion barreled right on into Asia and missed the precise instruction much the same way Moses did.
I can but pray that as the Dist Chaplain I lead this ministry- Ah you see even in this statement how easy it is to say I. He is the I AM not me. Let me rephrase, I can but pray that as God moves this ministry into a new dimension, that I am pliable and attentive to his counsel and his will. His work in this ministry is at a threshold ready to go to a whole new level. May all of us strike when we should strike, and speak when we should speak. May we be sensitive enough in the spirit to go to Macedonia when our zeal tells us to go to Asia.
Eph 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Let us always in all things that we find ourselves in, the ministry of recovery, or in recovery our self (God has a specific recovery plan that will work for you), whether we are on the job, at home as Parents or Grandparents, whatever our hands find to do, may we always remember that we are His workmanship, doing his will in all things, in all good works.
The Big "C"
"I'm afraid you have cancer" The words swung through the air hitting me between the eyes like some macabre slow motion ball bat. "Really?" my wife asks, a little incredulously, almost as if she were responding to news about someone else,something like "Hey did you know that Bro Bob got fired?"
Our world had changed in the span of five spoken words ending with the dreadful "c" word Cancer.
From that point my wife and I embarked on a journey unlike any other we have ever experienced or dreamt of. Theresa is a nurse with over thirty years experience that includes oncology. Having this kind of knowledge is a two edged sword. Yes it helps to understand all the medical terminology and to understand what the various procedures and tests are for and what to expect. The flip side however is you know all too well, having treated for so many years patients with this same dreadful affliction, what may be in store for you.
The initial feelings were common, and this we knew all too well also, spending years as a chaplain you become well versed in how to counsel those in grief or experiencing tragedy. Knowing the stages of grief, counseling someone through those stages and experiencing the process yourself are two very different things.
I also felt something else very profound that no one ever told me about in all the care and counseling training I have had. Grace. What an unexpected feeling, I felt fear, I felt sad, I felt a little lost, and I felt very weak but I also felt humility, meekness and grace. God told Paul "My grace is sufficient for you" He also let Paul know that his strength was made perfect in Pauls weakness.
He knows.
What ensued was a nightmare of Doctor visits, scans, test, more doctor visits, and yet even more doctor visits. I spent mornings at the church at the alter laying hands on the pictures of my wife's cancerous mass that had taken up residence in her lower colon. Praying with tears, groaning and utterances that only God could understand. Special prayer meetings were called by the pastor including the changing of the order of a Sunday night service from our typical evangelistic service to focused prayer for my wife. We learned that while we are so eternally grateful for all the prayers and support of so many, there are places where it is just you and God.
Everything had changed and become so uncertain. Would I get to grow old with my wife? Would our our grandchildren grow up knowing their grandma? Would we plant that new daughter work that we were sure we had been called to? I cried to the Lord, I don't know what will happen. The Lord spoke in that beautiful graceful soft voice, " I know what will Happen, I know the plans I have for you" At that point I told the Lord that I would submit to his will. I thought of Job and others who had to suffer great loss for the Glory of God including the great loss of life that our Savior so willing gave up. At times I wished I could take the cancer upon my self, but good friend Prof Jim Littles reminded me that if we were capable of such feats then we wouldn't need Jesus Christ and that his sacrifice would be unnecessary. I confessed to God I did not know how I could go on without my Bride, I told him if you must take her then you must also walk me through to a life without her that I could not comprehend, all the while begging that he heal her.
More Bad News
The day had come our third and newest grandbaby Journey Monica had arrived, small but beautiful little Journey a healthy baby girl, except for the serious hole in her heart. How can this be? I thought scripture promised He would not put more on us than we can endure. Now more specialist and special medications to keep her healthy until she was big enough and strong enough for open heart surgery. Okay God I am getting weaker everyday, I do not understand, perhaps I have failed you and this is your way of letting me know.
Despair and the spirit of death
At this point profound despair, fear and depression overtook me. There comes a point when no matter who we are, no matter how strong in the Lord we are, we hit that moment of sackcloth and ashes, and we just can not go any further. It is the human part of us. I had rebuked and felt release from the spirit of death that I felt so strongly hovering over my family, but I was worn down. I had nothing left. I testified at church I NEED A GOOD REPORT
The Miracles
After prayerfully going through a trial study of a varied form and intensity of radiation and four treatments of Chemotherapy that landed Theresa in the hospital twice it was time to go back and see the surgeon. The day was drawing near to have this cancer removed. We had prayed for divine healing, whether by the direct miraculous hand of God or by the use of technology, with all the Glory to be His.
"THAT IS AMAZING" exclaimed the surgeon (as well as the other doctors involved). She explains to us that what had been a mass the size of an egg in my Wife's colon was now the size of a dime. "this changes everything" she says. What was a 90% chance of having a temporary colostomy bag had now changed to a 90 % chance that we wouldn't need one. PRAISE GOD. This was far beyond the typical response of chemo and the miracle we were so desperately looking for.
The next month sees not only a successful operation for Theresa but our precious Journey also recovers from open heart surgery, with in a mere couple weeks one could never imagine this little baby just went through such an intense procedure. Theresa is healing nicely and returns to work ahead of schedule.
Things are really looking up and all the Glory to God!
Another Blow
"I am afraid the cancer has spread." Oh how devastating. Another surgery, this time on the lung. Odds are not in our favor.The doctors say that when this type of cancer spreads chances of cure are slim. Words can not express the horrible feeling when one must begin to have end of life conversations with a spouse. The deepest depression I have ever felt in my life has now set in.
I must allow my wife to decide whether she will continue treatment or stop and concede defeat, and worse support her choice even though she is telling me she is leaning toward ending the treatment. Remember she is a nurse and knows what it all means. I am undone.
There can be no doubt that a healing will be of God
Theresa has decided that if the spots in her lungs are cancer she will stop treatment. I would rather spend my time serving God with some quality than to spend it sick from treatments that will only slightly prolong a life without quality or service to Him she tells me. Her choice is that if she is going to survive there can be no doubt that it is of the Lord, not the sole of medicine. Her wish is that the Glory and ministry of God be done through this situation regardless of how it ends. We will speak with the Doctor after another scan and decide.
Another much needed good report
Having seen the scan we discover that only one spot shows cancer at this time and it has been removed. We will now go through with the next phase of Chemo for now understanding that the next scan after four treatments will be a tell all. If the spots grow, it is over, if they shrink, well it still means the lungs are riddled with cancer, if nothing changes this means the spot are not related to the cancer and they are normal benign spots common to us all in the Midwest.
The war was of God
In 1 Chronicles 5:18-22 we read that the sons of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manessah were outnumbered by the Hagarites. The Bible states that they were skilled with weapons of war and in fighting. How ever it states that this is not why they were victorious. It states that they cried unto God and trusted in him and he helped them. In fact He more than helped them, he took the war as his own "The war was of God" and the enemy was delivered unto them.
It was this passage that we read during a subsequent round of chemo that God confrimed the choice to continue with the eight rounds of chemo that were to follow the surgery. We had given the battle to God and accepted the tools of battle he had given us.
cancer is not the big "C"
Lots of words start with the letter "c" cucumbers, cute, carrots, and calculator start with letter "c" Some episodes of Sesame Street are brought to you by the letter "c" Some "c" words are more ominous like calamity, creep, crash or catastrophe. All these words are little "c" words. If at this point you were thinking that the "C" word I have been referring to is cancer I am sorry but that is incorrect. The Big "C" is Christ Jesus.
This war we are fighting with cancer is God's war, we are trusting in God, we are crying to God and we are entreated of him and he is fighting this battle. We made the decision to continue treatment. We, like the children of Reuben, Gad and Menessah, chose, under the direction of the Lord to use the weapons God gave us to fight, in this case the weapons are chemo. Make no mistake the battle and the victory are God's
Another Miracle
It has always been Theresa's wish that this war is to God's Glory. As of this writing we are prevailing. The last scans show that all the questionable spots are stable, no growth and no shrinkage. All indications are that there is no cancer. We are so grateful to God as we are down to three rounds of chemo left to endure. Theresa can begin to think about getting back to the things she loves, teaching Sunday school, preaching in jails and prisons, ministering to the afflicted, and if God wills soon to the dutires of a Home Missions pastors wife. Truly a miracle.
Be Encouraged
This inaugural blog post is may be longer than some traditional postings but I hope it inspires you in what ever life situation you are going through. I hope this testimony reveals to you that you are not alone. That all the fears and sorrows and the temptations to lose hope are common to us all and that you will allow God to come in to your situation. There is no satisfactory answer as to why these things happen. The scripture tells us time and chance happens to us all. Lets be frank, that is not much comfort even though it is true. What is a comfort is that he will never leave us nor forsake us.
While we are doing great and believe in God that we have received full and miraculous healings in our lives, we still don't know what tomorrow holds but we do know who holds tomorrow and it is Him whom we will follow across the threshold into each new day.
My wife and I want you to know that through Christ we become more than another "c" word -Conquerors
Drop us an email, submit a prayer request, or post a response to this posting. We are here for you, but more importantly so is the BIG "C"
May God Richly bless you
