Grace Unexpected

When we found out that I had cancer four weeks ago, while we were convinced of God’s sovereignty and plan, there were obvious questions about how this was going to impact us as a family.  I viewed this as adding logistical issues that we would have to work around to do what the Lord has led us to do.  But…

My wife and I met with the local oncologist Friday.  The lymphoma is stage 2, which doesn’t mean a lot in this case.  The type of cancer I have SLL, is common, slow growing, always found by accident, and sometimes not found at all.  The doc said that the spots around my windpipe may have been there 20 years.  So what do we do?

Short answer, nothing.

In six months I will have another CT scan and see if there is any change.  If there is, there may be treatment then.  If not I may not have another CT scan for six months or a year.  This used to be called “watchful waiting” now they call it “active surveillance”.  I think that sounds more like they are doing something.

So other than the periodic CT scan, there is nothing else right now.  So the logistic issues will be minimal.  That was unexpected grace, but that is what grace is, isn’t it?  Unexpected, undeserved favor.

We serve a good God.

PS. You may want to ask God if He plans on giving you cancer, to give you this one.

What Is Your Go To?

Bobby Clinton wrote, my copy is an e-book, Having A Ministry That Lasts--By Becoming A Bible Centered Leader .  The premise of the book is that if one is going to have an impact as a leader, which by definition applies to all of us, there has to be a pattern in our lives of mastering the Word of God.  There are a series of exercises in the book that help you determine what passages in the Bible are core for you.

So that brings up a question.  When you are looking for encouragement, when you are out of ideas, when you need to read something in the Word but you do not have or do not want to follow your plan that day, where do you go?  What is your “go to” passage?  Where do you find yourself reading over and over again?

That is an easy one for me.  Psalm 119.  I just did it.  That was the impetus for this.

What is yours?

If you do not have one…

Noah?

Last night I watched the BBC version of Noah’s Ark.  I have not watched the Russell Crowe version, but I have read enough and heard enough that I will probably pass…  It is intriguing to me that people can’t just tell the story.

Admittedly it would be a short film.  But there were a couple of elements added in the BBC version that were actually thought provoking, the fact that they ignored that only Noah and his family were on the ark was an unnecessary.

The first thought provoking thing should have been obvious to me.  God told Noah to build the ark.  He did not tell his wife, or his kids.  So Noah had to tell them and convince them to help.  That part of the movie was really well done.

Second, in 2 Peter 2:5 Noah is called a preacher of righteousness.  The film showed Noah trying to proclaim the truth of the flood in the nearby city.  It also portrayed Noah as having friends in that city that did not believe him.  Both could be true and add an interesting dimension to the story.

Consider the second addition.  Noah would have known people who did not respond to the message.  It could be, without much stretch of the imagination be that he had close friends he lost in the flood.  That adds a personal loss to the flood event that in the past I have not considered.

But that is our experience is it not?  One of the costs of obedience can be and is the loss of some relationships.  That loss is hard.  It can cause us to question our faith and the love of God.

If you can overlook the other weird additions this is one movie that will cause you to think about a story that you know really well.