Second Corinthians chapter one, verse nine is the passage I've chosen for my journey through prostate cancer. Although Paul was speaking specifically about the persecution he and other Christians endured for the Gospel, the emphasis is on the purpose. Persecution or trials of any form solely exist to make us rely on GOD alone, and not ourselves. They happen in order for us to exhaust ourselves of any self effort in order to realize that our total dependence should be on the One Who created, sustains, and has sovereign authority over everything, including our individual lives. One of the Lord's greatest pleasures is when we surrender all to Him so that He receives all the glory He deserves from us, especially those of us who claim Him as Lord. We must avoid using religious cliches and "christianese" to flatter God and make us appear spiritual to man. Yes, it is true – God is good all the time... But, is He good only when things are going good for me??? God is good because it is Who He is, whether our world is good or not. One of the hardest truths to swallow is the fact that prosperity and adversity come from the same Source.

To be clearer, God will sometimes break us in order to use us. A vessel broken by the hands of the Potter will often provide better service to Him because of a clearer understanding and greater reverence for the Maker. Broken or not, we must fully confess and admit to ourselves the words of the Lord Jesus: "...apart from Me you can do nothing."

Visit the blog archive and read from earliest to latest to get the details in chronological order.


10.05.2007

Part Eight: I Love My Job!

By now it's the beginning of December 2006. I'm already surrounded by the prayers of my family, friends of my fellowship, and co-workers. It was at this time the co-workers really expressed their love at a higher level. As many already know, I work for First Baptist Dallas. The staff would meet periodically to go over organizational issues and things involving the church as a whole. This time the plan was to meet and include a time of prayer for yours truly at the end of the meeting. And boy - did they pray for your brother!!! After calling me up to the front of the room, the pastor pulled up a chair and had me sit down in front of everyone. Before I sat down, I asked if everyone even knew what was happening with me and decided to clue them in just in case someone didn't know. I proceeded to explain that "in October I was diagnosed with prostate cancer." I continued to talk about how "the Lord puts many people in your life and sometimes just the right person at the right time - like my wife..." That's when I got choked up! I've got to tell you about that woman, but I'll save her for her own blog entry!


When I finished, everyone got up from their seats, knelt down and surrounded me. Those closest to me put their hands on me and the pastor began to pray! Wow!!! What a fellowship! There's nothing like the sincere prayers of the saints - especially in a time of great need! Now, that's powerful - but that's not all they did. My director, Lori, stood up and explained that many of those, who were able, got together and purchased numerous gift cards from various restaurants and grocery stores, and some even threw in some cash!!! She explained that these gifts would help my wife and make it easy on her the most so that she wouldn't have to cook a lot since she'll be busy taking care of me and the kids! She handed me a gift bag filled with these items and it pretty much took my breath away! I went through the bag thoroughly when I returned to my desk and just praised the Lord!!!


When I got home that night, after putting the kids to bed, I told my wife that I had a surprise for her. I brought her to our sofa in the family room and unloaded the bag on it. We both broke down crying tears of joy in unison! This was just too much love for us to handle!!! We then prayed together in thanksgiving to our great Provider and what He has done for us with these gifts! When I added up the total value of the cards with the cash the total came out to $1300!!! This was totally unexpected and I'm totally undeserving of such gifts! I'm truly amazed at how much the Lord continues to shower me with His grace all my life and more specifically at this time!


Now many believers know that when God blesses, it is for us to be a blessing, not just to keep it all to ourselves. That's the purpose of this blog. But my wife and I decided that it would be good to share our "tangible" blessings with one of her former co-workers who was wrestling with cancer herself. We took a huge chunk of the cash and some of the gift cards and my wife met up with her a few days later to present them to her. You know, being a blessing actually feels better than being blessed!!!
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