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

Tunneling

The picture is from Amsterdam in 1988. The tunnels seem appropriate because of what is happening tomorrow. I was with a group traveling to Africa and we had a fifteen hour layover, so we got to see some of the city. 

For four or five months I have experienced shortness of breath and since May have had some occurrences of chest pain when I exert myself (climbing stairs, walking a good distance, etc.) I kept hoping it was something that would go away as some of my cancer treatment medications were finished, but it has not. So, today, Wednesday, April accompanied me to see a cardiologist. The short story is that tomorrow, I will have a heart catheterization to really see what is going on. Pray as they tunnel their way up to my heart through a vein, that if there is something they will find it. When they find it, pray that it can be fixed while in the cath lab. We are not sure if this is related to cancer treatment, or being 69 years old with some family history of heart disease, or a combination of the two. Still, I want to get it checked out, and this is the best way to tell. Pray that God is glorified through all of this. 

On the cancer front, I am still in the clinical trial, and the creepy number keeps creeping upward. A change may be coming to my treatment, but nothing definitive yet. 

Thanks for your prayers

Mountains and Valleys

The picture above doesn’t have much to do with what follows, but sometimes fighting cancer does seem like climbing one mountain, then descending to the valley, and then up the next one, each getting a bit higher and higher. (The picture, by the way, was made at Three Crosses (Tres Cruces) between Omas and Ayviri. Tres Cruces is able 12,000 feet.)

These verses from Isaiah 40:4-5 come to mind: “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

These verses are from a prophetic passage about the coming Messiah, but they speak to me as well. God will be glorified. That is what I desire. 

Yesterday (8/6) at my Emory appointment, our PA noted that my numbers continued to creep upward, and that we might be looking at another treatment sooner rather than later. Of course, that is disappointing. I probably won’t know the results of Tuesday’s test until Friday, but hopefully then I will get an idea of the pace at which things are going. It will likely be a few months  (I hope) before things go up to a point of having to discuss a treatment change. We talked a little about future options with our PA, but not a lot. The good news is there are options!

I am a little bummed, as I was hoping I would get a year to two years out of this current treatment, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen. Multiple Myeloma is stubborn.

Here is how I ask you to pray:

Pray that the IgL numbers slow their climb, or go back down! (That would be nice!) 

Pray also that this will not interfere with a mission trip in October and a vacation trip with my son in November. 

Pray that God is glorified, that my treatment will become more effective, and side effects will be minimized. 

I will keep you posted. Next appointment at Emory is September 3.