Keeping Flexible

 

(Note: I sent this to some of our small group leaders earlier this week at our church, and some sent it on to their group members. Response that I received was positive, so I thought I would share it with a wider audience.)

Keeping Flexible

Above my desk in my office, there is a display of flags from places the Lord has allowed me to go, and in the middle of them is Gumby. Why on earth? Well, when you are on mission, whether right here at home or thousands of miles away, flexibility is key.

The back story on the Gumby is that a former student minister gave it to me when we finished some mission training with students, with one of the latter sessions being on the necessity for flexibility. If Gumby is anything, he is flexible.

Flexibility is a quality demanded in much of life, and that is no less true in how we do church, where we do church, and what we do as a church. We rarely know ahead of time which way the wind of the Spirit is going to blow, so we have to raise our sails and be ready to go in whatever direction He leads us (or blows us!).  

Jesus said in John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Stay flexible. Be ready to walk as God leads you, fulfilling His direction, no matter what that might be. Even if it is hard.

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A quick health update: The cancer is being held at bay by the treatments and your prayers. Praise the Lord. I have recently developed a new heart issue (“atrial flutter”) so I have some tests and appointments on December 1 and 2. I would appreciate your prayers in all of those.

Blessings,
Tom

Embrace In Faith

The picture accompanying this post has nothing to do with what I am about to say, but it sure is pretty. I took it in Istanbul in 2007. Did you know that Tulips actually originated in Turkey? (That is what they told us.) The folks in The Netherlands just figured out the marketing. Anyway, as you are inside most of the day, enjoy this picture from outside. 

Like many of the Old Testament prophets, Habakkuk prophesied the message of the Lord when it wasn’t popular at all. The people of God had wandered far from Him and His ways, and it was the job of the prophets to warn the people to return to the Lord or face his judgment. 

[Aside: Do I think COVID-19 is judgment from God? Not necessarily. It is an attention-getter though, or should be. It is certainly the result of the fallen nature of our world. When Eve and Adam ate from the proverbial tree, not only did mankind fall, but so did creation (See Genesis 3; Romans 8:19-22). At the Fall, disease and death became a thing. Today, we see the results of that on a global scale. To attempt to explain this would be another blog post, and it would likely be long, so let’s get back to Habakkuk for now.]

Habakkuk and his contemporaries all warned Judah of God’s coming judgment. The Northern kingdom was already in the hands of the Assyrians. The Chaldeans were a strong and intelligent people that lived in what was the southern section of Babylon, and eventually the name “Chaldean” and “Babylonian” became synonymous. The Babylonian kings whose names more readily come to mind: Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar were all Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar was the king that would lay siege to Jerusalem on his expansion west. 

Habakkuk’s Plea

Habakkuk begins with a plea to the Lord about how long God would wait to call his people back to himself (Habakkuk 1:2-4). The answer he got was probably not what he wanted (Habakkuk 1:5-11. God says (verse 5), what I am about to do you will not believe. You will be amazed (but not in the happy sense). God was going to use the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to start the people back on the process of coming back to Him. Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 29:10 that the process would include seventy years of deportation in the city of Babylon. God goes on to remind Habakkuk, his people, and us, of the power and ruthlessness of the Chaldeans. They are a “bitter and hasty nation” (Hab. 1:6). “At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress… They sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god.” (Hab. 1:10-11)

As I read this passage the other day and was reminded of the power and relative speed of the Chaldean army, I could not help but think of this virus that has swept around our world. It is no respecter of boundaries or persons. 

Embracing the Situation

There is a lot more in Habakkuk, but I want to focus on his closing word. The name “Habakkuk” possibly means “one who embraces.” Habakkuk embraced the bad news counterbalanced with faith (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

¹⁷ Though the fig tree should not blossom,
    nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail    and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold    and there be no herd in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ God, the Lord, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the deer's;
    he makes me tread on my high places.

We need to be prudent, but we must trust God. MUST! 

Are you trusting?

Health Update:

Got a call of Friday, 3/28, from my oncologist office. When I was there on 3/19, I came in some form of contact with someone who has since tested positive for COVID-19. So, I am to stay put at home for another week (through 4/2 if no symptoms develop). Otherwise, things continue to go along well. The Multiple Myeloma blood tests won’t be drawn until next Friday, if we keep the current schedule. Please keep praying: 1. That God is glorified, 2. The treatment works, and, 3. Side effects are minimized. 

In fact, pray for our world and our country that 1. God is glorified, 2. The spread of the virus is limited and the curve is flattened, 3. Our health care workers are kept safe and have the equipment they need, and, 4. Effective and safe treatments are found.

Pray on.

For More information on the Chaldeans, click here.

To read Habakkuk 1-3 (3 pages in my Bible), click here.

Faith: Simple But Solid

You may feel like the sheep in the picture. The location, by the way is in Norway. 

From Wikipedia:

Kjeragbolten is a boulder on the mountain Kjerag in Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The rock itself is a 5-cubic-metre (180 cu ft) glacial deposit wedged in the mountain's crevasse. It is a popular tourist destination and is accessible without any climbing equipment. However, it is suspended above a 984-metre (3,228 ft) deep abyss. It is also a popular site for BASE jumping. The boulder is just southwest of the village of Lysebotn, just south of the Lysefjorden.^[1]

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjeragbolten}

Not sure if the sheep was photoshopped in, but I think it probably was. Still, the Bible often calls us sheep. It isn’t the most flattering term but is probably more accurate than we would like to admit. Right now, during all this COVID-19 stuff, you might be feeling kind of like this sheep. 

[Most of what follows was an addendum to a Life Group lesson I wrote for March 15. There are a few changes.]

So Let’s Talk About Faith

Sometimes, when we talk about living by faith, we seem to move toward having faith in faith, and that is shaky ground. It goes like this, “If you just have enough faith…” which implies that the greater quantity of faith you have (not sure how you measure it), then the more likely your prayers will be answered, your physical ailments healed, and all your relationships will be wonderful. The problem is there is no object of faith—no foundation.

Faith must have an object. Faith is no stronger than its object. That object must be Jesus Christ. It is not the “quantity” (how much) faith you have, but what or who your faith is in. 

Not long ago, a friend and I were talking about why it seems that God moves in powerful ways on the mission field in ways we are not familiar with in the west. Sometimes this work is miraculous. My friend asked why that seemed to be so. One reason I proposed was that believers in developing nations had, at least for many years, nowhere else to turn. They learned to trust God. 

Now we are faced with something clearly beyond our control. Yes. Social Distancing helps, and washing your hands as well. But as we have watched the global spread, it is obvious that we, at least so far, are not in control. We can, and should, do things to mitigate the threat, but the threat will still be there. We just don’t know how this is going to play out.

My experience is limited to just a few countries and the believers I met there, but in every case where I noted the greatness of faith lived out, it was simple but solid. Simple in that there was no flourish to expressing faith. No grinding of the teeth or spiritual (and physical) gymnastics that we sometimes see on TV to “pump up faith.” There was no big show, be it an individual or a church expressing faith. There was simple trust that God, based on what He said in His word, would do what He said He would do. It was solid because it was grounded on the Word of God and the God of whom it speaks. Faith in faith is building on the sand. Faith in God is building on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27).

So cling to the promises of God’s Word, but cling to them in the total context of Scripture. While Psalm 91 is true and a great comfort to hang on to, so is James 1:2-4, Philippians 4:6-7, and 1 Thessalonians 5:18. (Have you thanked God for COVID-19? We are to give thanks. We don’t have to feel thankful).

Trust God. Wash. Your. Hands.

Quick Health Update:

On the cancer front my indicator numbers are falling, so the chemo is working. I am also getting stuff to boost my immune globulin level (IGg), so that is very timely. I get my treatment all in Augusta, so that is nice. Also, you may remember the problems I had in the fall with low hemoglobin. Now that treatment has begun, that seems corrected, and the numbers are coming up on their own. Praise the Lord!

Your prayers are ALWAYS appreciated and needed. They are the main ingredient in my treatment.

Dealing With Chronic Illness

I am not sure I have ever used my blog to link you to another's blog, but this post today from Dr. Charles Fielding, M.D., struck a chord.

Multiple Myeloma and heart disease are treated as chronic diseases (see my previous post for recent news). His words are insightful, but not easy.

By the way, the doctor who accompanied the Apostle Paul was Luke.

It is a short read.

https://lifeuntangled.org/2020/01/20/living-with-chronic-illness-or-the-pride-down-pride-up-paradox/

Pastor Tom

Just A Clay Pot

Superman was said to be the “Man of Steel.” I remember watching those “Adventures of Superman” episodes back in the fifties and sixties and seeing bullets, fists, and other objects bounce off Superman’s body. Of course, this man of steel could fly, use his x-ray vision, and do whatever he wanted to do. (There was one thing he couldn’t be around, and that was kryptonite, which would render him weak and whimpering, but that is not my point here.)

the Apostle Paul says we are not men or women of steel. He is speaking to Christ followers about the treasure of the gospel, and the weakness of he, his co-workers, and, well, all of us. The whole passage I am considering here is found in 2 Corinthians 4:3-11 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A3-11&version=NLT), but my focus today is verses seven through twelve.

7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.[b] This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

In 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (NLT), Paul gives us some encouragement amid what must have been great adversity. He starts off with the truth that we are just earthen vessels, jars of clay. You know, Genesis 2:7 (NIV) “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground…”

But those circumstances (vv 8-9) do not crush or destroy. Why? Not because of some inner strength but because of God’s strength, available to every believer. Paul’s “threat of death” was likely due to persecution. We face adversities and even death (life is terminal, you know) from a myriad of possibilities. 

Over the last few months, I have faced some health issues that underline my “clay-potted-ness." Let me try and give you the Reader’s Digest version. If you would like details, just let me know.

Fall, 2019

• By mid-summer, we knew the clinical trial I was in treating the Multiple Myeloma was not being as effective as we had hoped, and knew a change was coming. 
• September 26, had a heart catheterization and I received two stents. Chest pain relieved!
• October 11, with approval from my cardiologist and oncologist, went to Peru. 
• October 27 - Came home really sick. Visited ER the day I got home. Next day, went back to ER, and stayed in the hospital for fifteen days. Treated for Pneumonitis / Pneumonia.
• After the Hospital stay, ten more days in rehab, then home, November 22, under the watchful eye of home health 
• Visited family during Thanksgiving week. Over the next couple of weeks made a couple of short visits to the office, saw some doctors, worked at home some, and finally returned to the office on December 16.
• How could I have gotten so sick? We are not sure, but it probably goes back to a really suppressed immune system. We are going to watch that much closer in the future. 

January 2020

• I started cardiac rehab. It will be good for me for both the heart and the lungs. 
• I have also begun cancer treatment again. This is the first cancer treatment I have had since the heart stents on September 26.  Treatment runs on four week cycles, and involves an infusion (carfilzomib) twice a week the first three weeks, a good amount of a steroid (dexamesthasone) once a week for three weeks, and then a pill (pomalidomide) that I will take daily for twenty-one out of twenty-eight days. (I have learned these by generic names, since the folks at Emory use them and the folks here recognize them.) If the treatment is effective, I will be on it at least a year. 

Remember, first, that you are a clay jar, not a person of steel. You need the Lord Jesus living in you (by the presence of the Holy Spirit) 

As you pray for me, please pray that 1. God would be glorified, 2. That the treatment works, and 3. That side effects are minimized. 

Blessings,

Tom