We have been so blessed by the love and concern of so many. Thank you to the many who take the time to read these blog entries, pray, send us sweet notes, money, gifts or packages, offer meals or childcare, etc. We see the love and goodness of God in your love for us!
I have been mulling over how exactly to let you in on what has been going on over the last couple of weeks and that sharing starts here, with the essence of what I am seeing/learning in this time. I must confess at the get go that I feel trepidation over sharing some of these things. I am certain that some of you will simply dismiss these things as the insanity of a religious person. I am also certain that some of you will be offended by theological differences and miss the meat of what I am saying. I ask you at the onset to grant unmerited but extravagant grace to this child of God who has so much yet to learn.
I want to begin this post with a pre-cursor.
We are not "name it and claim it" folks. We do not believe that being followers of Jesus means that you will be financially prosperous or that you will not have troubles. In fact, we believe you will probably have more problems than you had before. That being said, theologically, we have never been in the camp that believes miracles have ceased with the early church. We believe faith and prayer play a role in the work of God. And we believe that God always wants to heal. Why that doesn't always happen is beyond our ability to understand, but we believe His heart is made clear in the life and work of Jesus. We also do not believe that cancer is from God, a gift from God, or is given by God to teach us things. We believe cancer is to be fought against, not surrendered to as the will of God. I know that puts us at odds with many that we find dear, but we believe cancer is the work of the devil, and our God is so tremendously good that He can even redeem and destroy cancer.
Charles' diagnosis one month ago has changed everything, but maybe not in the way you would expect. From the moment 3 doctors walked in to Charles' room and told him they thought he had cancer to the PET scan and starting oral chemo, peace has persistently been given to my husband. He is certain that He heard the voice of the Lord at the beginning of this season telling him that He would be fine and since then, an unexplainable peace has come over him. He was singing to the Lord in his hospital room and as soon as He walked out of the hospital, he started telling me about the worship album God had been speaking to him about which he is now writing and will be calling "That We Might Believe." After the first week of leading worship and sharing with others how God had been providing for us (and seeing the fruit from that!), he has been telling me that he is certain in His spirit that God is going to use this so the American church can believe who God is again.
The first two weeks of this journey, I was a wreck (as I described in my last two posts). Charles wondered why I did not trust what God had spoken to Him for the situation. All the while, I felt like I just needed desperately to hear from God Himself as to what He wanted from this situation. My friends, he has answered me by confirming what Charles has been hearing all along and bringing loving but very harsh correction to my anxiety and unbelief. These are some of the questions I have been gazing into over the last month. I invite you to gaze into these questions yourself as you pray for us or for situations in your own lives.
What do you really believe about God?
Do you believe He is who He says He is and He can do as He says He can do?
Do you actually believe He parted the Red Sea?
Allowed the sun to stand still for Joshua?
Fed Elijah by ravens at Kerith brook?
Destroyed the walls of Jericho with no weaponry whatsoever?
Demolished armies by their very own hand?
Sent fire down from heaven to consume Elijah's offering on Mount Carmel?
Joined Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fire and saved them from it?
Rescued Daniel in the Lion's Den?
Caused Noah to build an ark to save him and his family from the flood?
Do we believe Jesus healed the sick?
Raised the dead?
Cast out demons?
Changed water into wine?
Calmed storms?
Walked on water?
Died and rose again?
Ascended into heaven?
NONE of these things are rational. NONE of these things should have happened from a scientific stand point. And yet, if we believe the Bible's testimony, these things did happen.
If we believe these things, REALLY BELIEVE, do we only believe these things in the past tense?
Do we believe He still does miracles? Do we believe he still does the impossible and the irrational?
I always would have said a loud "YES" to each of these statements, but it is funny how quickly those certain "YES" answers can flee when they must become our sole hope in a real situation rather than our theological affirmation. This realization has led me to even deeper questions like...
Does our faith rely more on what we can see than on what we cannot?
What about our life looks like we serve a supernatural God?
Why do we always say we will pray for God to heal, but most of us believe the best God can or will do is give us peace to surrender to things that are evil?
In my next post, I will share more specifics as to what has been going on and how we have seen God's work in the last two weeks, but I want to conclude this post by inviting you to BELIEVE GOD with us. To join us in expecting Him to do something more than we can ask or imagine in this situation. Let's allow God to redeem this evil by drawing us to examine our faith (or lack thereof honestly!) and renew our assurance, hope, and expectation.
Enjoy this song from a worship night we were at in Tampa last week. Praying this week that all of us would know to a greater depth the beauty and power of Jesus' name.
I have been mulling over how exactly to let you in on what has been going on over the last couple of weeks and that sharing starts here, with the essence of what I am seeing/learning in this time. I must confess at the get go that I feel trepidation over sharing some of these things. I am certain that some of you will simply dismiss these things as the insanity of a religious person. I am also certain that some of you will be offended by theological differences and miss the meat of what I am saying. I ask you at the onset to grant unmerited but extravagant grace to this child of God who has so much yet to learn.
I want to begin this post with a pre-cursor.
We are not "name it and claim it" folks. We do not believe that being followers of Jesus means that you will be financially prosperous or that you will not have troubles. In fact, we believe you will probably have more problems than you had before. That being said, theologically, we have never been in the camp that believes miracles have ceased with the early church. We believe faith and prayer play a role in the work of God. And we believe that God always wants to heal. Why that doesn't always happen is beyond our ability to understand, but we believe His heart is made clear in the life and work of Jesus. We also do not believe that cancer is from God, a gift from God, or is given by God to teach us things. We believe cancer is to be fought against, not surrendered to as the will of God. I know that puts us at odds with many that we find dear, but we believe cancer is the work of the devil, and our God is so tremendously good that He can even redeem and destroy cancer.
Charles' diagnosis one month ago has changed everything, but maybe not in the way you would expect. From the moment 3 doctors walked in to Charles' room and told him they thought he had cancer to the PET scan and starting oral chemo, peace has persistently been given to my husband. He is certain that He heard the voice of the Lord at the beginning of this season telling him that He would be fine and since then, an unexplainable peace has come over him. He was singing to the Lord in his hospital room and as soon as He walked out of the hospital, he started telling me about the worship album God had been speaking to him about which he is now writing and will be calling "That We Might Believe." After the first week of leading worship and sharing with others how God had been providing for us (and seeing the fruit from that!), he has been telling me that he is certain in His spirit that God is going to use this so the American church can believe who God is again.
The first two weeks of this journey, I was a wreck (as I described in my last two posts). Charles wondered why I did not trust what God had spoken to Him for the situation. All the while, I felt like I just needed desperately to hear from God Himself as to what He wanted from this situation. My friends, he has answered me by confirming what Charles has been hearing all along and bringing loving but very harsh correction to my anxiety and unbelief. These are some of the questions I have been gazing into over the last month. I invite you to gaze into these questions yourself as you pray for us or for situations in your own lives.
What do you really believe about God?
Do you believe He is who He says He is and He can do as He says He can do?
Do you actually believe He parted the Red Sea?
Allowed the sun to stand still for Joshua?
Fed Elijah by ravens at Kerith brook?
Destroyed the walls of Jericho with no weaponry whatsoever?
Demolished armies by their very own hand?
Sent fire down from heaven to consume Elijah's offering on Mount Carmel?
Joined Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fire and saved them from it?
Rescued Daniel in the Lion's Den?
Caused Noah to build an ark to save him and his family from the flood?
Do we believe Jesus healed the sick?
Raised the dead?
Cast out demons?
Changed water into wine?
Calmed storms?
Walked on water?
Died and rose again?
Ascended into heaven?
NONE of these things are rational. NONE of these things should have happened from a scientific stand point. And yet, if we believe the Bible's testimony, these things did happen.
If we believe these things, REALLY BELIEVE, do we only believe these things in the past tense?
Do we believe He still does miracles? Do we believe he still does the impossible and the irrational?
I always would have said a loud "YES" to each of these statements, but it is funny how quickly those certain "YES" answers can flee when they must become our sole hope in a real situation rather than our theological affirmation. This realization has led me to even deeper questions like...
Does our faith rely more on what we can see than on what we cannot?
What about our life looks like we serve a supernatural God?
Why do we always say we will pray for God to heal, but most of us believe the best God can or will do is give us peace to surrender to things that are evil?
In my next post, I will share more specifics as to what has been going on and how we have seen God's work in the last two weeks, but I want to conclude this post by inviting you to BELIEVE GOD with us. To join us in expecting Him to do something more than we can ask or imagine in this situation. Let's allow God to redeem this evil by drawing us to examine our faith (or lack thereof honestly!) and renew our assurance, hope, and expectation.
Enjoy this song from a worship night we were at in Tampa last week. Praying this week that all of us would know to a greater depth the beauty and power of Jesus' name.
1 comment:
I love this Er! Thanks for challenging us to look deep into our souls to ask those hard questions!! I remember being on the roof of our house in tanzania and Jesus asking me that very question....Who do you say that I am? When your all alone on your bed at night...who do you really say that I am?? I love you!!
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