This we week we thank God for all the blessings we have in life: family, friends, freedom, faith in God, a good home and good health care, and great food on Thursday! ( and many others blessings as well)  In our case, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for God’s hand in Claudia’s battle with cancer. About 8 months ago, CJ was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer. We were shocked and unsure about the future. After 6 effective chemo treatments and an amazing, complex surgery, the doctors were able to say “we got everything we could see or touch”! Throughout that journey, we are convinced God’s hand was directing the treatments, guiding the surgeons, and keeping us hopeful and encouraged in our faith through some pretty rough moments. We know with certainly that God used our supportive family and a “vast army” of prayer warriors and your prayers to sustain us and enable us to get to this point. So, we thank God and we thank all our friends and supporters for all your love, support, and prayers!

Today, however, in spite of all that God has done for us, we still face an uncertain future! (And in reality, so does every one of you!) CJ will get her first post-surgery CT scan in a week or so. We are praying it will show no new cancer, but we just don’t know. We do know that this type of cervical cancer can reappear, and we know our surgeon views this more as a case of “managing” cancer, probably for the rest of her life. So, as much as I pray CJ will be and stay in remission, there is nothing I can do to guarantee that. My prayer to God will continue to be for remission and many more years together in this wonderful life we have shared! If I could describe, as a normal human being, the best thing that I would be thankful to God for, that would definitely be it. And every one of you would probably have a  similar prayer! We all hope and pray for good health, a loving marriage, kids that do well and succeed in life, and not too much suffering and tragedy in our life.

Throughout this cancer journey, I have clung to Jesus above all else! He has reminded me of the “big picture” as we have felt fear and doubt about our immediate circumstances. There are 3 major biblical themes that have sustained me and strengthened me, and leave me truly thankful:

1) Jesus knows this world is unfair and hard at times. But he has overcome the power of evil and helps us to do that as well!

³³  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 (NIV)

This is a tough world under the influence of evil and the stain of sin. Jesus defeated Satan and evil on the cross, and offers us his own power to resist and overcome that evil ourselves. Paul reminds us in Romans 10 that there is nothing we go through here that Jesus has not already conquered, and that in Him, we are ALREADY conquerors ourselves!Romans 8:37-39 (NIV) :
³⁷  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
³⁸  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2) We are never alone. God is always with us!

²⁰ And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” –  Matthew 28:20b (NIV)

God sends his own Holy Spirit to actually live within us when we put out trust in Jesus! This is a major blessing, if we will only allow him to help us.  He can strengthen us, comfort us, and teach us how to face the future with joy and peace!

3) Best of all, he gives us a great future to look forward to!  Jesus came to establish his new Kingdom, which would reverse all the effects of sin in our world. This gives us an unshakable hope for the future, something to look forward to that will be better than anything we can possibly imagine in this world!

In this new Kingdom, to be fully established when Jesus returns to earth, there will be no more sin, sickness, death, hatred, evil, and all the destructive things that keep us from God. And, we will have new bodies that will last forever! And, God himself will dwell among us! Wouldn’t you like to live in that world? Jesus promises that if you trust him with your life and accept him as your Lord and Savior, you will inherit that Kingdom with all other believers!

So, while I will obviously continue to pray for CJ’s healing & remission, I will especially pray for God’s presence, wisdom, understanding, peace, hope, and joy as we all navigate this uncertain and unfair world! I close with Paul’s prayer for the church in Colossae, and for all believers in every time:

⁹  For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰  And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. ¹³  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  – Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)

This Thanksgiving, let us truly be thankful to Jesus above all else! Using the above prayer, I invite you to pray for family and friends, first of all, that they would come to put their trust in Jesus and surrender their life to his loving hands. Then, let’s pray this for each other as we navigate this tough world:

1. Be thankful for their faith and changed lives (1:3).
2. Ask God to help them know his will (1:9).
3. Ask God to give them spiritual wisdom and understanding (1:9).
4. Ask God to help them live to honor and please him (1:10).
5. Ask God to give them more knowledge of himself (1:10).
6. Ask God to give them strength for endurance and patience (1:11).
7. Ask God to fill them with joy and thankfulness (1:11, 12).

Happy Thanksgiving, and remember the Lord Jesus is with you!

I write this a few days before my wife goes in for serious and extensive cancer surgery. Our human tendency is to focus on the worst possible things that may happen. But I know that as a Christian, that is just what God does not want us to do. God always wants us to take our focus off the suffering or problem, and direct our thoughts to him and what he has done, and will do, for us! Did you notice how many times in the Bible when people face suffering, injustice, and even death, they respond with faith in God that results in actual joy and peace? In Philippians 4:5-7, Paul says

⁴  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Notice that Paul is not saying God is going to make all your circumstances right again, with no pain or suffering! No, he reminds us that God is ALWAYS NEAR, and therefore don’t be anxious about the outcome. So, we rejoice in the LORD! And God’s peace, which is beyond our comprehension, will be given to us and will guard our hearts from evil and negative thoughts and keep our mind focused on Jesus, who has overcome sin and everything that seems like it is going to destroy us! Paul says to bring our fears, suffering, sickness, and doubts to him in prayer, with thanksgiving that God is all-powerful and near, and that will lead to peace and joy in any situation.

In book after book in the New Testament, the early Christians tell us that suffering is part of the Christian lifestyle, and that God can use that to make us stronger and actually give us joy and peace! Peter tells us in I Peter 1:3-9,

³  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, ⁵  who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷  These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸  Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹  for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Peter reminds us that we have a living hope in the future with God, and a promised inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade! But again, right now, we will face all kinds of fiery trials that will test our faith and actually make us stronger. The result of that is that we see God’s power working in us and for us, and so again, we can rejoice with “inexpressible and glorious joy”. We now know the final goal of our faith, the salvation our souls (the core of who WE are) because we have trusted in Jesus.

So, do I feel peace and joy that Claudia has cancer? NO!!!! Cancer and all disease and death itself is the result of human sin. It is evil, and comes from Satan, who desires to destroy us in every way. I am not at peace that I don’t know if my wife will live 6 months, or 1 year, or 20 years. But again, Peter reminds us of God’s perspective in I Peter 5:6-11:

⁶  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ⁸  Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. ¹⁰  And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹  To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

I am at peace, and can actually experience joy, in the knowledge that God is God, and is in charge of Claudia’s (and my) life, forever! As a husband, I am totally frustrated that I can really do nothing to save her from cancer. But I find joy and peace by following Peter’s advice above. I humble myself under God’s mighty and living hand, and surrender Claudia’s life to him. I will stay spiritually alert, and rebuke and resist the devil, knowing that he wants to destroy our bodies and minds. And I can stand strong in faith with God’s help, knowing that others around the world are facing much worse trials than we are.  And so, because of God’s grace and mercy and power over sin and death, I know that God will restore both CJ and I and make us strong, firm and steadfast, whether it be in this present world or in the amazing world to come.

Please pray with us this week that:

– we will remain strong in faith, filled with peace and assurance, and will resist any thoughts of fear

– pray for our 2 surgeons, Dr. Seamon and Dr. Chung. They are excellent surgeons, and I believe that God has directed them to work on CJ. Pray that He will guide their hands and they will be able to “get it all”.

– Finally, and ultimately most importantly, pray that God will be glorified in this whole process, and others will be encouraged in faith to face their trials with hope, joy, and peace because of the awesome power of our God!

One of our favorite song writers is Robin Mark, an Irish worship leader. His song “All Is Well” pretty well describes how we feel about our situation (you can listen to it online):

He lowers us to raise us
So we can sing His praises
Whatever is His way all is well
He makes us rich and poor
That we might trust Him more
Whatever is His way all is well
All my changes come from Him He who never changes
I’m held firm in the grasp of the Rock of all the ages
All is well with my soul
He is God in control
I know not all His plans
But I know I’m in His hands
He clothes us now then strips us
Yet with His Word equips us
Whatever is His way all is well
And though our seasons change
We still exalt His name
Whatever is His way all is well

CJ’s dad used to say about his family “We have been richly blessed”. Without a doubt, CJ and I have been richly blessed with an amazing family, 41 great years of marriage, amazing friends, but most of all, an amazing God who loves us, forgives us, and holds us strongly in the palm of His hand!

I pray that you will know God’s grace, joy and peace as well, and be able to praise him even in the trials and fears of life. Thank you for your amazing prayers and support. We love and treasure you all!

I wish to thank all of you who have been praying for CJ as she has gone through this battle with ovarian cancer! We have been overwhelmed with the prayers, cards, notes, calls, emails, and Facebook messages.  Her Facebook update page alone has more than 150 people who continue to pray for her healing and for God to strengthen and sustain us as we go through this trial. At this point, we are close to meeting with the surgeons and finding out how much the cancer tumors have shrunk. Our prayer is that God will guide the surgeons to remove the rest of the cancer, followed by 3 more rounds of chemo, and then hopefully remission! Of course, we don’t know if that is what will happen, and we continue to realize this battle belongs to the Lord, and no matter what happens, our lives are in God’s hands, and that is a wonderful place to find peace and rest in!

However, as a pastor, I like to attempt to think in “big picture” terms and wonder where this all fits in God’s ultimate plan for us. While certainly our primary prayer at the moment is for the cancer to go away and lead to remission, as I read the gospel of Jesus I would imagine him to say something like “Yes, of course healing right now is what you want with all your heart, but let me tell you I have something far more wonderful than that in store for you and all who believe in me!” In Matthew 4:23, it says “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.”  A few verses before that it says “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand’”. And most everyone is familiar with probably the most quoted NT verse, John 3:16,“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

So what is this “Kingdom of Heaven, and eternal life”? Most people think Jesus is referring just to a destination, a place we hope to go after we die. But he was also referring to a new quality of life, a God-focused and Christ-like life that begins now and will culminate when Jesus comes again to judge the world and begin his new, eternal Kingdom! God created humanity originally without sin, but now we all suffer the effects of sin, leading to physical death. But Jesus came to save and restore the world to its original form, a world without sin, disease death, hatred, and all the other horrible consequences of sin! So, praying for healing is vitally important and wonderful, and we encourage you to keep praying for CJ and for me! But in God’s bigger picture, don’t forget that all healing is temporary, and is just a “glimpse” of the future restoration of the new Kingdom. Jesus healed many people and even raised some from the dead, but they all died eventually. And so will we!

But, the gospel of the Kingdom is about an amazing future, beginning in part now, for those who accept God’s offer of forgiveness and new life. The Bible says God has put that longing within our hearts:

¹¹  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)
And Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 2:9 that we have not begun to see or hear or imagine all the wonder, beauty , and joy of life in the new Kingdom: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him!”

CJ and I are privileged to live in a beautiful central Michigan resort community called Canadian Lakes. It is truly a wonderful place to live, with beautiful lakes, golf courses, clubhouses and restaurants, music concerts, and a wide array of clubs and activities. A few years ago our community adopted as its slogan “The Good Life”. (I know, not very original, but it really does describe how most people here feel about our community!) And if we are honest, most of you who read this probably live in beautiful areas as well, and we all live in probably the top 10% of people in the world as far as income, housing, medical care, and other blessings go. But as “good” as life may be now, we know it doesn’t last, and we long for a life that is more fair, more joyful and permanent than what we have now. As we fellowship with folks our age (60-70-ish) and joke about our medications, procedures, doctor visits, and sometimes becoming caretakers for our spouses, etc., we realize that the “Golden Years” are not always that golden!

While most people spend their whole life searching for the “Good Life” as they define it, Jesus offers us a vastly superior, never-ending quality of life that may be called “The Abundant Life”!

In John 10:9-10 (NKJV), Jesus tells us:
⁹  I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.¹⁰  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

This is the life in the “Kingdom of God” that Jesus came to offer to those who want it, and will lead to a restored new earth where we live with God present with us forever! We will have new bodies that last forever & never get sick, and we will be in the very presence of God all the time.

This life can begin now as you trust your life to Jesus, receive his forgiveness, and allow him to change you from the inside out by living in you through his Holy Spirit! God slowly changes us and promises to give us a new heart and a new mind (the mind of Christ). And while we still live on this earth now, even though it is marred by sin, God will enable us to see the Him, the world, and other people in a new and better way, with the eyes and heart of Jesus! We will again begin to sense the beauty and wonder of creation. We will see other people as Jesus sees them, and remember that every human being, no matter how flawed, was created in God’s image and is of infinite worth. (Yes, even our politicians!) And we will truly desire to live with a consciousness of God with us, every moment of every day, and a desire to please Him in how we think and act. This will change how you see the world and how effectively you can impact the world for God!

One of my favorite books this last year is one by Mark Batterson entitled “Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity”. It focuses on the greatest commandment, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength”. In a chapter on loving God with our soul, he says “Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with circumstances. It has everything to do with consciousness. A relationship with Christ doesn’t always change our circumstances, but it does change the way we see ourselves, others, and God. Why? Because we see with our souls. We become less self-conscious and more God-conscious. It’s almost like a second childhood. As we recapture a child-like sense of wonder, we perceive everything and everyone for what it really is: a miracle”.

So, continue to pray for CJ and for remission of her cancer! But also pray that we will keep our hearts and minds focused on God’s ultimate gift, new life in His Kingdom! We know that is the only place where we will find true peace, joy, and wholeness for our souls.

I pray that each of you that you would not settle for just the “good life”, whatever that may mean to you, but that you would trust Jesus to welcome you into the “abundant life” of his eternal Kingdom!  That’s the ultimate gift God is offering to us; joyfully grab on to it, and don’t leave this life without it!

FEAR

Fear is an evil game that is played in our minds. Now of course the Bible admonishes us to “fear the Lord”, but that fear causes us to revere God’s power and dominion over our lives, recognizing that he is the all-powerful creator, and we are the creation. And because he loves us, this healthy fear of the Lord draws us humbly closer to him. But time and time again in the Bible, we are told NOT to be afraid. This word has the meaning of flight, caused by dread or terror, usually from the intimidation of our perceived adversaries. When we get in difficult, uncontrollable circumstances, our mind often flees to fearful thoughts, thinking the “worst case scenario”. CJ used to call that type of thinking “awful-izing” the situation. The first week or so of our cancer diagnosis, we both fell prey to those thoughts. We thought of all the worst case scenarios and played them over and over in our minds, and this pretty much paralyzed our thought and actions for a while until we began to focus on God and not just our fears.

      God does not want us to be afraid and fearful! II Timothy 2:7 says, “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-control.” So where does fear, anxiety, and doubt come from? The Bible says it comes from Satan, the dark, fallen angel who is the enemy of God and who tries to draw us away from God and his love for us! Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, “For our struggle is not against flesh & blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. And the Bible warns us to be alert to the devil, who looks to make life miserable for us:  I Peter 5:8-9 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith”. There is the answer to fear and doubt! RESIST, & STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH!

FAITH

      Faith is the mental and spiritual exercise God calls us to use every day to trust in him. Just as fear is an evil game Satan plays in our minds, faith is the mental antidote that God has given us to connect with him and his power over fear. Why do we need faith? Think in a bigger cosmic scale from God’s viewpoint for a moment. In the beginning of creation, we were meant to walk with God in a place on the earth called the Garden of Eden. We were sinless and knew no evil, life was wonderful, God was in charge, and there was nothing to fear or be anxious about. But you know the story… our ancestors Adam and Eve made a really stupid decision and fell for Satan’s lie that we really didn’t need God, and rebelled against God. The punishment was banishment from that perfect life in the Garden, and from that point on we live in our sinful world of rebellion and suffer death and all the results of sin, such as disease, discord, hatred, wars, fear, anger, etc.

      Because of our sin-induced separation from God, we no longer see him nor walk with him. We have to believe and trust that God loves us and wants the best for us. He sent Jesus to love us, die in our place, and offer us forgiveness through his sacrificial death and resurrection, but we still have to trust that it is all true! That is why faith is defined as “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”- Hebrews 11:1.

   We all face unknown and unseen circumstances that can harm us, because our sinful world is one of disease, suffering, injustice, and eventual death. Our natural tendency is to be anxious and afraid, but God calls us to focus our minds on him and the promises he has given us. Romans 12:2 tells us “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”.  This is not a one-time deal; we have to decide every morning to focus on God and his promises, rather than focus on our difficult circumstances and succumb to fear and anxiety.

      Every day, you and I have a choice as to how we think about our life. Think of a word play on the  letters of the word FEAR: Forever Expecting Awful Results. Many people take that approach to life, and are filled with fear, anxiety, and no hope. Or we can focus on the letters to the word FAITH: Full Assurance in the Heart! As we trust on God’s promises and faithfulness in the past, we can face our future with peace and hope, knowing that God has our back! And the more you practice faith on a day to day basis, you can redefine FEAR as Face Everything And Rise!

FRIENDS

     Even though CJ and I have been Christians for decades and consider ourselves fairly mature in our faith, the daily choice to live by faith and trust instead of fear and anxiety is not always an easy or automatic response! We both have our moments, but we find that reading scripture passages of hope and assurance of God’s help every day make a big difference. For example, one of my favorites has become Isaiah 41:10- “So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”!

    Not only have we been blessed with encouraging scripture, but we have found ourselves overwhelmed with wonderful support from friends from all different places in life! We have received wonderful cards and notes from so many that have brought us to tears. And the many responses on our Facebook pages and the special update page have been amazing! I have been so surprised by the depth of the prayers and thoughts of folks on that page, often by people I hardly know, but are a “friend of a friend” who has chosen to pray for us. I encourage you that no matter what crisis you face in your life today, read some of the great prayers & thoughts on the Facebook update page and apply them to yourself!

      Finally, the most interesting source of encouragement has come from what might be called “the fellowship of cancer survivors”. Soon after CJ’s diagnosis, we heard from an old friend who told us she was also going through the same cancer, for a 2^nd time, and encouraged CJ that God would be with her and it was going to be OK! And so many others, from a sister-in-law to other cancer surviving friends have just changed our thoughts from fear to faith and hope. And then there was the wonderful woman at the chemo center who told us she has been fighting ovarian cancer on and off for over 18 years! She has lost her hair 5 times, and had a new haircut presently!

So, no matter what crisis you are facing now in your life, or may face in the future, remember this:

– God did not give you a spirit of fear or timidity, but one of love, power, and self-control

– make a conscious mental decision each morning to live by faith, not by fear

– don’t be a “loner Christian”; God designed his people to be a community, because we need each other for encouragement and just having fun doing life together!

– enjoy the day God has given you today, and don’t worry about tomorrow

“Now may the God of all hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.  – Romans 15:13