6 Blogs about Cancer

They are all well maintained and should provide good info.

I spent a lot of hours reading about what I might have in my lung, treatments, and  as it stands today I am dealing with a very rare condition called Inflammatory Pseudotumor which, due to its rarity research does not have a lot out there.  So I wanted to pass on a few links to not just research, but also beyond the usual WebMD, the ACC, and to discussion boards and a variety of other types of good content.

https://www.blogforacure.com/

http://www.canceradvocacy.org/

https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/cancerwise.html

http://www.curetoday.com/

http://www.oncolink.org/blogs/

https://blog.stupidcancer.org/?gclid=CJCFuonb-dICFR2HswodFyMPTA

Status 3/27/17

We got another call back from my thoracic surgeon at MD Anderson who spoke with more pathology specialists.  Along with Oncology at MD Anderson they have confirmed again, that this is not a case of cancer, and they are putting it into what I am hearing is a general bucket of inflammatory pseudo tumor.  Thanks to God!  This tumor has had more names than I have been called by my co-workers, immediate family and friends, and other drivers on the road.  :-)

At any rate, they are recommending that I go on Prednisone for 3 months.  The hope there is that the steroid will shrink the tumor and make surgery much less invasive, or as we have been praying, not needed at all.

Thanks to all 3 services at GBPC for listening to my testimony yesterday.  I am hopeful that the last minute nature of it, and me not being all that organized, yet sloppily dressed in jeans, a T-Shirt, and flip flops, did not affect the message of hope in the Lord, faith building and healing through prayer, and prayer around and for us building our faith and healing through community.

Status 3/22/17

***Sign up for email updates at the very bottom of the page***
***CORRECTION: Apologies for the confusion. I did not realize that Blogger.com only allows email subscribe while viewing on a computer.  If interested and you are on your phone, email me at jimbag8@gmail.com and I can subscribe you.***

We got more confusing news along with some good news today from the Physicians Assistant to the thoracic surgeon we have been working with at MD Anderson...

The confusing news is that after 2 weeks in the lab, the top pathology doctors in the land, in Houston, TX still do not know what I have in my lung, outside of it being an 8cm tumor.  At this point, they are hoping that cultures (which take more weeks) will reveal more.  Obviously, not knowing creates a lot of questions about what it may be.

The good news is that the PA told us that the Pathologist said that it was certain that it is NOT cancer.  So the net net is, they want to go through with the invasive left lung lobectomy surgery (pull back pectoral muscle, crack open left side ribs, and remove lobe of lung), but they do not know what it is, and need to pull it out to clear up my coughing and wheezing, and obviously do more lab work on it.

Even after all that we have been through, the eternal optimist in me celebrates this victory in faith that it is not cancer in the face of all of the experts saying there is no way that it wasn't.  However, with the looming unknowns, we remain prayerfully optimistic in the bigger picture in that we are praying that God will remove the tumor without any need for surgery.

Aside from all of that, the one absolute is God.  God is, and has always been, omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (in all places), and omniscient (all knowing).  God is truth 100% of the time, and is the only absolute in our lives.  Humans are not, and will never be, absolute in anything except that we are imperfect and not God.

Our next step is to speak with the surgeon and line up plans which sound like they may be surgery in the first or second week of April followed by a 6-8 week recovery period.

A little about the timeline and doctors involved which helps explain at least some of the uncertainty...

• 1/17/17 - woke up with wheezing issues and scared myself to death on WebMD all night
• 1/18/17 - went to doc in the box.  Great health, except XRay showing big thing in lung
• 1/20/17 - Pulmonologist sees tumor and calls for an immediate CT Scan, also on the 20th.  He advises that this is usually not good. 
• 1/24/17 - CT Scan guided needle biopsy.  It is notable that we later found out from a local oncologist that we saw, that the Radiologist thought that this was such a bad tumor that he went the extra mile to make sure to collect a good sample.
• 1/26/17 - Pulmonologist recommended and we set a proactive appointment with oncology
• 1/27/17 - news back that the tumor was benign.  Cancelled an Oncology appointment that we had proactively made.
• 1/31/17 - Pulmonologist recommended that we speak with a thoracic surgeon and schedule a lobectomy of my upper left lung.  He also went on to say that he has only seen 3 of these that were not cancerous in his 20+ year career, and the other two were in young people.  Upon further research online, benign is extremely rare (<1% of the time), and it happens in young people, not middle-aged or older people.
• 2/2/17 - appointment with thoracic surgeon and set up surgery for 2/13.
• 2/13/17 - Surgery aborted due to identifying metastasized atypical cells on my chest wall and diaphragm.   The cells stained as positive for stage 4 Non Small Cell Lung Cancer by pathology in the OR.  Samples sent to UVA for labs for research on what kind of cancer or genetic mutation it is.  
• 2/14/17 - Another oncologist gives me a 50/50 shot a living another year.
• 2/15/17 - Discharged form the hospital
• 2/24/17 - Appointment with a new Oncology doc.  He says that we need to get the results back before making any decisions, but in his career 100% of the time this has been NSCLC carcinoma.  We also found out that he called the radiologist, when we cancelled the first appointment in late January, to check to see if he got a good sampling for the biopsy since it was a slam dunk case of NSCLC.  The radiologist concurred on the slam dunk cancer case and said that he went the extra mile to make sure he got a good sampling of cells from all locations.  We hear that UVA is not coming up with anything and plan to go to MD Anderson
• 2/27/17 - official inconclusive results come back from UVA Pathology
• 3/6/17 - 1st appointment at MD Anderson - Oncology says based on the UVA results this is not an oncology case and refers me to a thoracic surgeon there.
• 3/7/17 - met with Thoracic surgeon who calls for a new MD Anderson full work up including a 2nd CT Scan guided needle biopsy
• 3/8/17 - another CT Scan, blood work, and some appointments
• 3/9/17 - CT Scan guided needle biopsy.   The radiologist took 8 samples and checked each of them with an onsite pathologist to ensure active cells.  5 of them had active cells present.  biopsy go to labs.
• 3/22/17 - Lab work conclusion is that there is no caner present of any kind, but they still do not know what the tumor is.

Kelly and I give praise to God who continues to work in every facet of our lives, and of course on my lung.  We are blown away by the incredible outpouring of prayers all around us which has caused God to build a wall around us shielding us from worry and fear, strengthen our faith, healing, and changed what the experts said was a slam dunk 100% cancer case into a benign case affirmed by the best in the world.  God is good.  We continue to pray that He will remove this tumor and restore my lung to 100%, and shock the best in the world medical people to the core.  I look forward to giving testimony, to any of them willing to listen, about what God can do.

I was so honored to get a call from a close friend who's 40 year old brother went into the hospital today with a stomach issue that the docs are now saying could be cancerous.  Keep Scotty and his family in your prayers.  They need that wall, and he will need to be healed for his wife and young kids.  He has more to do on this earth.  As I was told in the beginning of my blessed plight by a stage 4 NSCLC 10-year survivor, warrior, hockey dude from Buffalo named Todd, and his brilliant wife Andrea, IT IS NOT CANCER until the labs prove it.  As my brother Nate said that his father did, I think that when a situation like this presents itself, it is important to thank the doctors for their hard work and their medical report, but as it is written in Isaiah 53:5 by His stripes I am healed.   Prayer works.  As Mark 11:24 says "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."

#Isaiah40:31

Scripture for the Afflicted

***Email subscribe at the bottom by entering your email address and then accepting the invite in your email.***

I have compiled this list of scripture from studying over the years (especially now), from other people, from books, and from a few other sources.   One such book that I highly recommend that anyone who has any affliction read is Dodie Osteen's book.  She is Joel's mother and wife of John Osteen who founded Lakewood church.  It is a short read with a ton of great scripture and her explanations of how she used scripture in her battle.  As of 2017, she is a 36 year cancer survivor in a really grim situation.

I think that tackling your battle against any sickness, beyond just your means and including scripture, is critical to winning.  It is also critical to have support from the people of faith around you.  As the famous verse goes, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."  ~Mat 18:20  Speaking from experience this past 2 months, Kelly and I have been blessed with a positive outlook for the future, strengthened faith, and no lasting worry or fear.   This is a direct result of prayer by the people around us, and God giving these things to us.  They are way out of character for us, but we continue to "walk by faith and not by sight." ~2 Cor 5:7   I encourage you to use the weapons below and pray them yourself, with your family, and with the other Christians around you for your illness.  You will see a strong fortress built around yourself of peace, faith, healing, and encouragement. ~Psalm 18:2

Here is my list of scripture and please feel free to comment back to me, or reach me at jimbag8@gmail.com with feedback.   I did not go into details on how each of these verses/passages impacted me as Dodie Osteen did in attempt to keep it shorter, but I'm always glad to add to the list and/or love a good discussion about scripture.  It is also a good idea to read before and after verses to get a grasp of the context around them.

:: Faith and Encouragement ::

Deuteronomy 31:6 - Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Joshua 1:9 -  I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 21:45 - Not one of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Psalm 27:13 - I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  (what is your focus?  God or the medical report?)

Psalm 46:10 - Be still and know that I am God

Psalm 147:3 - He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Proverbs 3:5,6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 4:20-23 (NRSV) - 20 My child, be attentive to my words;     incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them escape from your sight;     keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Isaiah 26:4 - trust in the Lord God always, for the the Lord God is the eternal rock.

Isaiah 40:10 - So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 40:28-31 - Do you not know?   Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,   the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary,   and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary   and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary,   and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord   will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,  they will walk and not be faint.

Psalm 20: 1,2 - May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.

Psalm 50:15 - Call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor and glorify Me. - AMPC

Psalm 56:3 - When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Prov 3:5,6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Prov 8:17 - I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.   (See Mat 6:33 below)

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to five you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:13 - you will seek me and find me when you seeking me with all of your heart.

Malachi 3:10 - Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.  [Jim note - I added this because it says blessings.  Healing is a blessing.  However, if you are not obeying and “Robbing God” as the section header is entitled, you may be shorting yourself of a blessing.]

Matthew 6:33 - But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Mark 9:24 - Immediately the father of the child cried out, "I believe, help my unbelief"  (faith is a gift from God.  If you need more ask!)

Mark 11:22-25 - “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Mark 16:17,18 - 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

John 9:31 - We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.

John 12:26 - I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.

John 15:7,8 - If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

John 15:16,17 - You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

John 14:13,14 -  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

2 Corinthians 1:20 - For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God.

2 Cor 5:7 - For we live by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Philippians 1:6 - being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:13 -  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Colossians 4:2 - Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Hebrews 10:35-39 [The Message] - So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion. It won’t be long now, he’s on the way; he’ll show up most any minute. But anyone who is right with me thrives on loyal trust; if he cuts and runs, I won’t be very happy.  But we’re not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We’ll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.

Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

1 Peter 5:6,7 -  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.


1 John 3:21,22 - Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; 22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

1 John 4:4 - You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

1 John 5:14,15 - And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.

Rev 12:11 - But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death. [Jim note: Give testimony!  You are saved for someone else’s benefit and not just your own.  This coupled with Mat 10:39, Mark 16:25, Mark 8:35, and Luke 9:24, you can see that in order to gain your life you must lose it to Christ (turn it over to Him and fully abide in Him)]

 :: Healing ::

Deuteronomy 7:15 - The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.

Deuteronomy 30:19, 20 - This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Exodus 15:26 - He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keepall his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”

Exodus 23:25,26 - Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.

Psalm 20:1,2 - May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.

Psalm 30:2 - Lord my God, I called to you for help,  and you healed me.

Psalm 34:17 - The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

Psalm 41:2,3 - The Lord protects and preserves them they are counted among the blessed in the land he does not give them over to the desire of their foes. 3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.

Psalm 91:14-16 - “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;     I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Psalm 103:2-5 - Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget how kind he is.  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He keeps me from the grave and blesses me with love and mercy. He fills my life with good things, so that I stay young and strong like an eagle.

Psalm 107: 19,20 - Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

Psalm 118:17 - I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

Psalm 119:50 - My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

Psalm 147:3 - He heals the brokenhearted  and binds up their wounds.

Prov 4:20-22 - My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.

Isaiah 53:4,5 - Surely he took up our pain   and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Jeremiah 17:14 - Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.

Luke 6:10 - He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored.

Luke 8:40-56 -  Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” 47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” 49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” 50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” 51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” 53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Matthew 8:2-3 - and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Matthew 8:5-17 - [JESUS HEALS] When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. 16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”   [footnote included with scripture: THIS IS THE WORD AND IT IS WRITTEN AS FULFILLMENT OF HEALING BY JESUS’ WOUNDS ON THE CROSS.   ISA 53:5 IS A HEALING VERSE TO BE SURE.]

Mark 5:34 - He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

John 10:10 -  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Roman 8:11 - If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Philippians 2:13 - for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Philippians 4:19 - And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

James 5:14 - Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

1 Peter 2:24 - He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 5:6,7 - Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 :: Spiritual Battle ::

The devil wants us down.  He does not want you healed because then you will give glory to God and thereby testimony of how God healed you.  What better way to prevent your healing then to crush your spirit.  Be ready to fight.  If it has not already come, it is coming.   Know your opposition so that you can combat his tactics with your offensive weapons, the sword of the Word and prayer.  Pray these promises from God, to God, and speak the Word boldly,  in Jesus' name, to any tactic trying to discourage you or keep you down.

Joel 3:10 - Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weakling say, “I am a warrior.”

Nahum 1:9 - Why do you plot against the Lord?    He will make an end;    no adversary will rise up twice.

Zechariah 2:5 - And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’

Zechariah 4:6 -  So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Isaiah 54:17 - No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, says the Lord.

Matthew 6:34 - Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 18: 18-20 The Message - [Jim note: When praying ask a friend to join you.  There is power in numbers] 18-20 “Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”

Luke 12:7 - Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

1 Cor 16:13 - Be on guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

2 Cor 10:3-5 - Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments 5 and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Ephesians 6:10-18 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

2 Timothy 1:7 - for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Advocacy in Your Plight

If you are someone with a serious medical issue, first of all know that God is always with you.  This is a recurring promise through out the Bible.  Here is a list of 13 or so verses about that.  If you are a saved Christian, you have access to God, via prayer 24x7 with whatever you want to bring to Him...and you should bring whatever is on your mind to Him, at whatever hour.  Yes, that includes frustrations with anything (including God).   He is big enough to take it and minister to you about your issue.   Fair Warning...when you take an introspective look at things, most of the time you are going to find that the self is smack in the middle of frustrations and trust in God is somehow out on the fringe.  :-)

At any rate, I also wanted to talk about advocacy by another human being while visiting doctors and enduring treatments and procedures.  Kelly and I were advised by several people who have been care takers and advocates for their husbands while they battled cancer to do the same as we entered into this journey.  Let me be very clear, it is CRITICAL to find someone who will be this for you.   I am in an unusually strong state as of writing this on 3/16/17, physically, mentally, and spiritually, and still need Kelly to be there, which she always has been.  With God a strand of 3 (God, you, and your care taker) is going to be much stronger than any 1 person alone could ever be.  God has blessed Kelly and I with faith and a desire to win for His glory.  Yes, I have my ups and downs, and so does Kelly.  But in the end, we are in it and plan to win it, regardless of the results pending because of our faith.

What does a caretaker / advocate do:

1. Be there for the patient.   Kelly has done this in spades in spite of my being impatient, cranky, and generally speaking a giant P.I.T.A. for her.
2. Capture all records, reports, and CDs from all doctors.   While they keep files getting them to successfully transmit files is nothing short of a logistics nightmare.
3. Follow up...the medical industry uses a FAX system to send things from one office to another.  It is archaic yet, cumbersome due to HIPPA rules and being technically absurd in 2017.  Follow up means that someone will have to find the person that is supposed to send a file, verify that they have sent it and have confirmation of it being sent, track down the clerk at the recipient's office and verify that they can find it, and have passed it on to the actual recipient.  A follow up call to make sure that the doc/nurse on the other end has looked at it prior to the next appointment is also important.  The reason is that our federal government has made health care a very tough business and there have been cut backs.  Cut backs have caused time to be at a premium at any facility, so doing your due  diligence will put you ahead.  Waiting on the other hand will leave you in the dust waiting exponentially longer.  Kelly got me from we think we have an issue at doc in the box to the OR table in 3 weeks because of her diligence.  We are now in a pathology 1st / 2nd opinion waiting game.   I am thankful that we are hear now, instead of not getting to it until much later.
4. Do not accept passive answers from doctors.  Fight!  There are physicians who are ultra risk averse and will check up with absolutes and not offer options.  Always ask for options.  If there are none offered, find a 2nd opinion.
5. Monitor the patient in the hospital and be their advocate.  Get a nurses attention.  Nurse staffing especially, is low.  They are under paid for what they do, they work long hours, and the politely "squeaky wheel gets the greasin'" when in the hospital.  We were blessed with great nursing at Chesapeake Regional Hospital and made a point to tell them that in person and in surveys.  I was never left wanting for anything.  In cases where care is bad, the advocate should be willing to go to the charge nurse and get whatever is needed.  Just remember that persistent but polite, wins in the long run.
6. Monitor the diet, activity, and physical and mental health of the patient.  I for one do not like to take drugs.  If there is no pain I get up and move.  If there is pain I stay put.  Manageable pain is there for a reason with people like me.  So, plenty of pain meds can cause me to artificially feel good and consequently have problems due to activity too soon.
7. Make the patient do what the doctor says.  It is very easy to not feel like doing doctor's orders, which is ultimately at the expense of the patient's health.

#Isaiah40:31

The Ketogenic Diet

In IT we have a saying..."Garbage in = garbage out."  I think the same holds true for our diet.  If we take garbage in we should expect less of a return from our bodies on the investment that if we eat with a focus on nutrition.

My experience in diet comes from an answered prayer.  I was praying that God would motivate me to get off of the couch, put the snacks and wine/beer down in front of the tv at night, get up and exercise, and knock those 10-15 lbs off that have plagued me for the past year or so.  Answered prayers come sometimes in the form of a blessed plight.

When I initially got the first report that I had a tumor back in late January, I began to read about diet and what effects diet can have on cancer.  In my reading I discovered the Ketogenic diet.  Allow me to interrupt myself here and clearly state that I am in no way professionally trained as a dietitian, I am a total neophyte at this, so read and take dietary actions at your own risk, independent from anything you will read here.  Please do consult your doctor before making any dietary changes.  For example, there are warnings against people with diabetes or high blood pressure doing this diet.  I am just a process oriented person that loves data and facts, a good hypothesis and conclusion based on them, and was willing to experiment with my own diet and body with little to no regard for longer term consequences given the current state of my health.   I was in reasonably decent shape other than being 10-15 lbs over my ideal weight and wanted to learn more about what my diet could do to fight cancer.

At any rate, I set out to learn about the Ketogenic diet which hearkens to the Paleo diet that has been so popular.  It is essentially to eat like a wild animal...Focus the diet on meat and vegetables with no sugar or carbs and put your body into a state of ketosis.   This is important to people with cancer because infection and cancer thrive on sugar, but theoretically speaking, cancer cannot make the conversion to ketones as regular cells can.  So, the idea is that you starve the infection or cancer.  There is a ton of debate about that, but I decided that there are a sufficient amount of cases on both sides of the argument to make an experiment out of it.  With that, I learned a lot about sugar, and especially processed sugar.  I also wound up discovering that I could control my weight very easily by managing carbohydrate and especially sugar intake.

So here is my experience:

Beginning pertinent data:

• Starting weight 215 lbs 2/20/17
• Diet consists of eat whatever and however much I desire.
• Optimal weight for someone 6'4" is 182lbs - 222lbs.
• Target weight 200 lbs - 205lbs to hit the middle of the span.

I went on a strict Ketogenic diet for 2 weeks and noted a few changes in my body.  Again, strict Ketogenic diet means the elimination of all carbs and sugar, at all costs.  What this means is that I had to discover where sugar was present by reading labels and doing research.  The shocker (not so much) was that sugar is in everything.  For example a single can of Coke has 35g of sugar.   A Hershey's candy bar has 43g of sugar.  The list goes on and on, and to eliminate sugar is to remove everything from your diet that is processed, artificial, and generally speaking tasty and addictive.  The obvious, sweets, jams, wine, beer, sweet sauces, etc all come to mind immediately, and they are good to eliminate, but one must read food labels as the most unsuspecting things have sugar in them.   For example an 8oz cup of skim milk has 12g of sugar!  A tbsp of ketchup as 4g of sugar.  A tbsp of balsamic vinegar has 3g of sugar.  All delicious in their own right, along with a plethora of marinades, sauces, and other culinary goodness loaded with sugar.

Just for curiousity's sake I Googled RDA for sugar.  This is mind blowing as it pertains to perspective of just how much sugar we take in.  The average male should consume 37g (9 tbsp) of sugar, and the average female should consume 25g (6 tbsp) of sugar.   So basically 1 - 12 oz can of soda and your are done for the day.   Here is a chart to further depress you about your sugar intake.

After sorting all of that out and eliminating the sugar and carbs to the best of my ability, I started to notice that I was dropping weight, and fast.  I had reached ketosis.  Noted differences in my body:

• Much more consistent level of energy.   It is notable that I had also eliminated coffee due to the caffeine and acidity of it, and switched to green tea which is about a 1/3 of the caffeine with a much lower acidity level.  
• Clearer thinking
• Deeper, more effective sleep
• Burning fat at an alarming rate and massive weight loss. 
• Inflammation of the tumor appears to have reduced as I was not wheezing at all day or night.
• Minor back pain subsided

After the two week period I had dropped 15 lbs. and I was at an even 200lbs.  One of the symptoms to having cancer can be weight loss.   So I thanked God for the new found weight loss, but asked to gain weight back, by going back to my regular diet to disprove that it was in fact cancer causing the weight loss.  After going back on my regular diet of I do not care what or how much I eat, I gained 8lbs back in a week.   My body essentially went into a mode of "store up all of the carbs and sugar, this guy may go on another sugar strike!"  Here are the effects of that:

• Weight gain
• Thinking less clear
• Sleeping less deep but still pretty good
• Fatigue late in the day
• Mild back pain returned
• Wheezing due to tumor in lung returned

Upon reaching that small victory that I had proven that cancer was not causing the weight loss, I concluded that I could be in complete control of my weight.  I then wanted to figure out how to stablize my weight at the desired weight and stop the yoyo routine.   So as of this week, I have added complex carbs in moderation and some sugary simple carbs back into my diet which seems to be working.   Complex carbs include whole grains, oats, quinoa, etc, and sugar carbs includes eating a cup cake at a BDay party and some banana bread.  So far this week, I have stabilized in a 3 lb window at my target weight for 4 days now.  Current effects of the modified Ketogenic diet:

• Weight stable in desired 5 lb range
• Clear thinking
• Sleeping good
• Fatigue late in the day is gone
• Back pain gone
• Wheezing is still present and very annoying.

The Ketogenic diet to starve the cancer experiment is inconclusive to date because 1. the tumor did not shrink and did maintain its size, but also 2. there has not been a definitive diagnosis of cancer as of yet.

The Shadow of the Valley of Death - 3/12/17

One of the verses that Kelly and I have kept close to us is a familiar favorite from the well known Psalm 23 .

The 4th verse in the chapter is:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  NKJV

Seemingly, traversing the medical industry down this path (a couple of times now) of what and/or how bad is it, met by we don’t know, and onto the next doctor, can feel a lot like the shadow of the valley of death.  One cannot help but know that there is potentially a monster waiting in the horizon and impatience can set in.    Yet in this case, it sort of feels like walking down into the shadow of the valley of death, but seeing light and life around me amid the nearby surrounding perimeter of darkness in the not too far off distance.  I chalk that up to we do not fear.  As I take a look at why there is no fear, it is because of God given faith and trust that I can only explain by the prayers being offered all around us. There is so much unknown and out of our control, God is carrying us through this and shielding us from worry and fear.

I recently read “Hidden Christmas” by one of my absolute favorite authors and thinkers Tim Keller, which for what it’s worth is the usual fast read, excellent book by Keller.  In the book there is a section where he talks about “hearing well”.  What does it mean to “hear well”?  I guess I should probably start to tackle that question by offering what hearing well is not.  “Hearing well” is not demonstrated by hearing the words, but then failing to absorb and write them into your memory by thinking about them.   A funny, but very real, example would be my household’s Chief Social Director and wife will often verbally make me aware of things on our forever busy calendar by saying, “Jim, we are going to do xyz on this day at this time”.  I often respond from the position of being face down in a laptop with an “ok” or “alright” having heard the words, but completely failing to write it to my memory by thinking about what was said.  As the story goes, the day arrives and I am clueless of the plans, and sometimes a bit put off that I did not hear about this earlier.  Kelly usually patiently responds by reiterating what the plans are and that she told me at x place, y time and day, and I wasn’t listening, again.

Keller goes on to cite an exercise he went through in his training where the instructor asked each member of the class to take a given verse and spend 30 minutes and write down everything that hit them about the verse.   Interestingly enough, as Keller cites, most people jot down 10 or 15 things in 10 or so minutes and then hit the wall.  He mentioned that he gave it another shot and let his imagination kick in and view the verse without some words, exchanging similar words, and so on.  That seemed to be when his listening kicked in and he absorbed the words.  At pencils down 30 minutes, the instructor asked the group when the life changing thought occurred.  The vast majority of the class said 25 minutes.  Translation, the devices controlled by the self have to be exhausted to get to the God given revelation.   That happens with prayer, time, and dedicated thought.

So I took the verse up top and did the exercise while waiting forever for the next doctors appointment in the MD Anderson hospital cafeteria and just as Keller predicted, the revelation came through late in the game once I had exhausted my brain’s stock of data about the verse and other related verses throughout the bible.  I’ll spare you the common thoughts of what the words and metaphors in the verse mean as that is fairly straight-forward.  As time is spent thinking about the verse, thematically, you might land as I did on trust being a key component but not being a word used.  However, as I began to look at pieces of the verse, it began to speak.

It is interesting that when I look at the middle two line of the verse, the message gets more vague, but is still the same...trust God.  Maybe it is not a shadow of death moment, but ultimately we should trust God.   With a less than a shadow of the valley of death issue, can I still not fear or worry, or do I not give it up to Him so easy?  Likewise, when I look at the first and last lines of the verse it seems more frightening since I am back with the shadow of the valley of death and it gets more vague, but the message is still the same...trust God.  As I iterate through different combinations of lines, it can blur the clarity of the whole meaning of the verse, but the message of trust God remains the same.

So what happens when there is no trust, or potentially worse, partial trust?  Maybe partial trust in a situation that we can seemingly work through on our own.  The absence of trust ultimately results in worry and fear.  Why?  Big question.  I think a simplified version of the answer might go something like this: Inherently, we all want to be in complete control of our lives and not have to give things up and trust something outside of our own control.  Self reliance ultimately comes up short because the self is not perfect and offers too many flaws and ultimately devolves into worry, followed by fear as a result.   An interesting thing about worry and why it is an endless cycle of wasted time.  A wise friend of mine once said, "Worry is an illusion becasue it gives us the assurance that we are doing something constructive when it only furthers our anxiety and gives us a false sense of control."  What happens after worry?...fear.

This verse only applies when we trust and our relationship with God is our top priority.  Imagine if it said, yea I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, however I have the faculties to overcome fear on my own, and when it gets too dark for me, that is when I know that you are with me and keeping me on my path.  At all other times, I am in control and do not need your rod or staff.  Sounds a bit ludicrous doesn't it?  Yet this is what we try to do in the name of being in control.  Offensive to God?   I would venture to guess, highly possible.   

If I was not in my blessed plight with what is currently a ton of unknown, I have a feeling I would wrestle more with this and quickly run to things that I can control.  Seemingly controllable things or primary reliance upon man made solutions might be appealing as the chief source of trust.   Yet in my situation, the highest levels of doctors in the land still do not exactly know what it is, and we retest and rework so that they can figure it out.  They remain perplexed that I am healthy as a horse (except for a big tumor and now some other atypical cells), mentally relaxed, and just want them to get to the bottom of it so that we can take some action, unless of course God steps in and physically heals me without their intervention.  How funny would that be?   We have no idea what you had, we have no idea how it healed, and we would all prefer to not associate with you because your case proves our inability to be omniscient.   I don't necessarily wish that on them, but would have to chuckle at their expense, if and when it does happen.

Why walk through the shadow of the valley of death and not run?  If the situation is bad, wouldn't it be preferable to hurry up and get through it if at all possible?   I do not think so, and frankly I think in most cases, it just has to be God’s time.  The reason being that it would rush lesson learning and God’s preparation for our next thing, limit perspective, and potentially create less of a lasting teaching from God.  So I should marinade in my own misery to learn some lesson?  Far from the truth...Due diligence and stewardship of our time and health is Godly.   However, we may not always be able to shortcut plight.  There are even times when it looks like God is going to swoop in and rescue us, only for us to be disappointed that we must continue to wait.   I had one such instance happen in February when the biopsy and PET Scan said no cancer, but when we got to surgery day on 2/13/17, they had to abort because they found atypical cells and tested them as positive for non small cell lung cancer.  I thought that I was out of the woods going into surgery, but alas here I sit a month later writing about still walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

Thankfully, while Kelly and I walk down the path deeper into the shadow of the valley of death, and we see death, fear, and destruction off in the surrounding distance waiting to attack us, the nearby surrounding area is full of God given light and life.  At times the dark approaches the light we have been given, but it always fails to get us down for more than a short period because we rest in the faith God has given us, thanks to your prayers and our relationship with the Lord.  One such example was that we arrived home from Houston Friday 3/10 evening to find that the reports from the day before that our dog Sunny was doing really bad, were in fact true.  Sunny was 15 ½ and lived a great life as a great dog, but we had to put him down Friday night due to his body just shutting down in so many ways.  Saying goodbye to a long time friend is never easy, but we celebrate his life and give thanks to God for such a great dog.  

#Isaiah40:31

Mission complete...from a patient's perspective. :-)

We got what was hopefully my last CT Scan guided needle biopsy done today, which was the last appointment for the week, and we plan to fly home tomorrow am.   Essentially, they once again ran the large core needle into the tumor in my lung to get biopsy samples for more lab work.  The risk with this procedure is a 30% chance of lung collapse which apparently sets a stage for staff amusement in the form of extended observation.  

This seems to be a fun one for the medical community as it results in a game of wits where they begin with "NPO" (which is some kind of coded acronym which somehow stands for "nothing by mouth?") the night before combined with post procedure extended stay vs. human will power.   The idea is to see how "hangry" they can make each patient without sending the patient over the edge by missing timeline promises, IV vein misses, strategically placing tape to hold IVs on as much arm hair as possible, and not offering headache medications for those with caffeine withdrawal and starvation, due to fasting for no apparent reason.  While this may be a bit of a biased perspective, suffice it to say the procedure went well, however I was unsuccessful in outlasting the staff there in their game.   As a last ditch effort at resistance to succumbing to their bidding, I managed to acquire some delicious chic-a-filet and soda toward the end and laughed at the stale crackers and tap water they offered as an olive branch.  

Heading home!    :-)

#Isaiah40:31

Status 3/8/17

Suffice it to say living through a week of we still don’t know, and we are going to do another full workup of your case was expected to some extent, but is still an addition to the time it will take to get to resolution.  We began this week with an Oncology appointment Monday where we were met with we don’t think this is cancer by a well published M D Anderson professor and practicing Oncologist.  From there went to another thoracic surgeon who is also very widely published and highly regarded in the thoracic surgery community.  He was a little more skeptical, and frankly I can’t say I disagree.  If you handed me the inconclusive lab work of another facility or two not on the same caliber as #1 in the world, I might not want to make big surgical decisions without my own work up of the case.   Essentially if it is cancer, operating creates the danger of spreading bad cells through the blood.  If it is not cancer major surgery is the only choice and since there was just an aborted surgery, that adds to the complications.

So the past three days have consisted of an oncology appointment, blood work, thoracic surgeon meeting to discuss the case, my case being presented as a puzzle to some conference of thoracic people  last night,  another CT Scan this morning, more blood work, and a consultative appointment about a CT Scan guided needle biopsy tomorrow morning at 7, where we once again bat lead off procedure.  Assuming all goes well and there is no lung collapse, that should wrap up at noon or so, and we will be on our way back home as scheduled Friday am.  Our hope will be to get results back on all of that starting next week and then if all is well (no cancer) move into scheduling surgery back in Houston at the end of the month.  If there is cancer we will be working up some kind of treatment plan.

Status 3/6/17 - Some good news, BUT...

We made it in to M D Anderson today and met with the Oncologist.   First, I must say that this is the land of super humans.   Every one of the medical people we dealt with was top shelf in their field, had excellent bedside manor, and generally speaking are science minded people who make decisions by fact and not ego.  M D Anderson is 1/2 of downtown Houston and 15 or so thousand people work there.  Not only that, they (including my oncology nurse sister-in-law) are the best of the best in their field.  Mind-blowingly advanced in what they do.

So anyway, for the status update.   The timeline goes something like this: Initial benign diagnosis of the biopsy, the PET scan showing nothing except the tumor as infectious or potentially malignant with no other instances of light up, the diagnosis of stage 4 non small cell lung cancer in the OR pathology staining, inconclusive lab work at UVA, and lots of conversation with doctors in VA.  It is also notable that the UVA report began with a first line of "This is a complicated case", which has also been stated on most of my report cards growing up, and several charts in the world elsewhere, but I digress.  We heard things like "I have never seen this situation not be cancer."  Or one oncologist said, "In my career, 100% of the time this has been NSCLC lung cancer and that will be a carcinoma."  Another oncologist gave me a 50/50 shot at surviving a year Valentine's day after the surgery.  That said, I appreciate the straight message by the VA docs throughout.

M D Anderson reread the labs from UVA, and has said that the next step is to operate and follow through with the lobectomy that I was supposed to have had on 2/13/17.  They believe the tumor to be benign with the caveat that it will need a full pathology examination once it is removed.   So, that is the path we are taking.  The risk is that if for some odd reason it is actually malignant there is potentially danger in disrupting it and spreading cancer cells, but the risk of leaving it in is greater so we operate in Houston in weeks to come, so I will have to come back for that.

So, we have begun a new workup on my case with blood work today, thoracic surgeon meeting tomorrow, and another CT scan on Wednesday.   From there, I will need to come back to have the surgery here due to complications with scaring from the last aborted surgery, and to hopefully not remove the whole upper lobe of my left lung.  They have also seen more thoracic surgeries than anyone in the country and have assured me that they can handle curve balls well.  In the defense of the folks in VA, this has been labelled an extremely complicated case, and they did a great job with the tools available.   No harm done.  This is a really screwball case, and when you need the super humans like at M D Anderson, you go there.

The good news is that we are on a path of this being benign, but we are not out of the woods yet.  Once the tumor is resected, it will be sent to pathology, go through all of the cell analysis exercises as well as cross sectioned with a library of 400 documented gene mutations compiled via MDA research.  If pathology results in malignancy or gene mutation there in of any kind, further treatment will be required.  If not, I should return to life as normal soon paddleboarding, swimming, and hopefully spear fishing the wrecks with my good buddy "Jake the Viking" in KDH followed by a bonfire at the Jellyfish, beers, and fresh cooked ocean goodness with Kenny Chesney playing in the back ground.

I cannot tell you how much the prayers by so many have meant.  WE HAVE BEEN SO BLESSED BY YOU.  Your continued prayers have held us up in our faith, and we continue to covet them in going through with this phase of "we think we have it right", surgery plans.  God has given us faith to believe He has this covered and completely under control.   He has also answered so many prayers including the we got news last night that Kelly's townhouse is under contract at full asking price and it was only on the market for a week.  We have seen bridges built, perspectives change, and spiritual growth happen.  A truly blessed plight to say the least.

#Isaiah40:31

The Prosperity Gospel? - 3/5/17

What a great weekend in preparation for tomorrow's 1st appointment with my world renowned oncologist at M D Anderson.   We saw the opening night for "The Shack" with some close friends Friday night, and today we went to see Joel Osteen with Kelly's sister and her husband.

The Shack really stuck close to the book and was nothing short of an excellent representation of the story and its message.  As for Lakewood church, what an impressive operation.  The facility holds 17k people and they do multiple services Sunday and during the week.   I have to say I have never been greeted and gotten the rock star treatment, in being a visitor in a church, quite like this Sunday.   They really go the extra mile to make visitors feel welcome at Lakewood.  A lot of churches could learn from this.

I have been listening to Joel Osteen occasionally for a decade or so, and have always thought that the operation was always well put together.  It always struck me as a well oiled machine and this visit confirmed that.  One knock that I have heard about Lakewood is that they seem to gravitate, like in a tunnel vision kind of way, toward the positives of being Christian.  Some call this preaching the so called "prosperity gospel".  You know the type...live right, stay close to God, and all will be well.   As the casting goes against those teaching "the prosperity gospel"...so tell us what happens when bad things happen and its not all good and put together?  What about the disciples?   They all lived lives of next to zero materialism, they were obviously close to Jesus and each other, and 11 of 12 died terrible deaths.

I was particularly impressed with the scene in "The Shack" where he meets Wisdom.  As we read in the first 5 chapters of the book of Proverbs, Godly wisdom offers an incredible road map for how to live.   The Bible commands us to look for wisdom as if it is treasure, and you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.  [Prov 2:3-5]  As the movie goes, Mac finds wisdom and it is represented as a lady (as it also is in Proverbs) who then helps him dig down deep and discover his blocking issue with God.  The issue is that he has not stopped trying to be "the judge" against others.  Wisdom points out that Mac conveniently judges based on his own understanding.  Given the tragedies he has experienced in his life this is completely understandable from a human perspective, but we are not talking about human perspective or better put moral relativity.  As Proverbs warns in one of my all time favorite pair of verses [Prov 3:5,6]  lean not on our understanding, but trust God and our paths will be made straight.  i.e. let God be the judge.

So as I cross section the two events this weekend, I loved both of them.  However, I cannot help but wonder if all of the quick to cast "prosperity gospel" is a form of judgement.  A fair and just warning, absolutely, but to completely dismiss what is being offered is an unfortunate judgement.  Would God allow this level of "prosperity gospel" if it was not serving His people?  Would people be coming to Jesus in services if there was not a place for this?  Maybe, but my experience is that they are really serving people by encouraging those in despair.  Sometimes a word of encouragement goes a long way to one in despair, as seen in [Prov 12:25].  Yeah, yeah, I know there is more to the story than just its all good, and I will get there so hold your judgement for now.  I will cite three examples that I noted this Sunday at Lakewood out of many that I observed, of people being served well.  Many smiles and great fellowship there.

1. They follow the greatest 2 commandments.  They love God in their worship, and they love their neighbor.  Tons of friendly people proclaiming the name of Jesus and setting a great tone of fellowship.  We can get into motives, but I'll refer you back to "when it is time to stop being the judge" as seen in The Shack.
2. The worship music before the sermon is unmatched by anything I have seen.  It always proclaims the Lordship of Jesus, it is incredibly moving even for a difficult to move by standard run of the mill common church music person like me.  To be honest, fair to not so good worship music is tough for me since I wind up judging the quality of music, instead of just worshiping...perhaps a good lesson for me in not being distracted by the minutia.  Anyway, their message is extremely encouraging.   We saw not less than a dozen people in our immediate area stand up and accept Jesus as Savior in an alter call during the service.   The bible says that when one says yes, all of heaven celebrates.  [Luke 15:7]
3. A message of encouragement.   As a person who has at least been diagnosed with non small cell lung cancer, albeit very vague in terms of what type due to confused pathologists in VA, it is very easy to get frustrated and even a little down with doubt every so often.  To have someone stand up and say, "the medical reports can be changed with strong faith and good attitude" is encouraging.  People need that.  I also genuinely believe this is the case.  I believe that I will get my miracle.  I also know that my perspective is limited to that of a single human.  The supply of medical people professional and friends in the field, giving me the zillion reasons why I have cancer, when no one has actually been able to fully diagnose what I have beyond the general bucket of NSCLC, continues to lengthen.  Is telling me I have cancer realistic and practical? Yes.  Is that the end all be all?  Absolutely not.

God is bigger than any of that, but He will also act in my best interest which could possibly mean no healing and I get taken home.  Does that mean that I am going to cop out and just pray for His will?  No.  I am going to ask him boldly for my miracle.  He has given me the sufficient grace to come much more into alignment with Him.  He has increased my faith.  He has answered all of my prayers leading into this.  He has given me a few opportunities to testify.  So, will I pray a safe prayer?  No!  I want my miracle and I am going to keep asking Him for it until He says, "No" and takes me home, OR He says, "Yes" restores me fully and launches me into something great for the kingdom and I go home later for whatever reason.  

If the answer is no, what should I think?  Was Joel wrong?  Did I do it wrong?  Did "prosperity gospel" fail me?  Tough questions.  I think the answer could be yes I did it wrong if I did not know what the Bible says, but it can also be no, God just said, "No."  On the yes side, I point back to wisdom.  How does one gain wisdom?  Learn the book, draw near to God, pray, and His will will be revealed and a higher level of understanding happens.  An eternal understanding.  Sometimes the answer to the question is that I did not do it wrong and God just said, "No."  In this case, I point back to Proverbs.   Believe it or not, we do not have the same perspective as God.  As is written in [Prov 3:5,6] God knows what is best for us well beyond our own perspective.  That can include going home to be with him in the case of a terminal disease, which while it may seem is a harsh demise in this vapor of a life, but is actually a wonderful gift of eternal grace and mercy.  Ultimately, in my case there are 2 paths for me as a believer in salvation through Jesus, with what could have a final diagnosis as a terminal disease.  1. Go home to be with God in eternity, OR 2. stay here longer, and do something for the kingdom and go home to eternity later.  My hope is for the latter since I want the time to build memories with Kelly, but I also get the former and know that this life is a vapor as compared with eternity in heaven.

So what is the net net on all of that...?
1. Wisdom is in learning what is written in the Word.   Read the book, pray, and relate to Jesus.
2. The so called prosperity gospel likely has its place among those in dire need of encouragement.  The encouragement offered to those in places of despair, offers hope, and hope is needed.   The catch is that they must do #1 so that they can see, that it is not a name it and claim it scenario, but it is a remain faithful in the Lord, get with God and gain wisdom, and know that we are loved so deeply as His children.
3. Judging others, or ministries, falls into the limitations of what is offered in Prov 3.   It is from a limited human perspective and not one from God.


#Isaiah40:31


 




 

Status 3/1/17 - Houston, we have a problem!

After 2 weeks since identifying and testing positive for non small cell lung cancer during surgery, we got the lab results back from UVA yesterday and they are officially inconclusive on diagnosing beyond just that broad group.   Frustrating to say the least.   They labelled it some long name which means beyond atypical cells that look like non small cell lung cancer, we don't know what this is. They tested and tried to trend markings for Carcinoma, Sarcoma, Melanoma, and Lymphoma to no definitive avail.   So, we are going to M D Anderson in Houston, TX.   They are the #1 cancer research and treatment facility in the country.

There are 3 basic types of treatment which are chemo, immunotherapy, and drugs which have been discussed as possible options for my case.  The trick is fitting the right treatment for the right diagnosis.   There are cancers out there where chemo does no good in fighting the cancer and does do harm to the body, for example.   At any rate, we are prayerfully optimistic that M D Anderson will be able to provide an accurate diagnosis.

On the bright side, Kelly and I continue to grow in our faith, we trust God with this, and we know that He will provide.   He has answered so many prayers along the way, and has blessed us richly with family, friends, and especially time with each other in hospitals, doctors appointments, home improvement projects, taxes, walks,  hot tub time, and so on.   We give God praise for all of that!

Having been on the Ketogenic diet for the past couple weeks, I have dropped a few extra pounds that I was carrying around and feel great.   As of today, I am the healthiest sick guy I know.  We work, exercise, and move around a lot and it feels good to do that.  I had no idea that eliminating sugar and carbs would help me sleep better, have a consistent energy level, and generally feel a lot better.  The main reason for the diet is that sugar is processed at 10x the rate of normal cells by cancer cells.  Cancer cells cannot make the switch to ketones, so if you eliminate their food, in theory you hurt the cancer.  

Off to Houston to see Kelly's sister Kris who is an oncology nurse at M D Anderson.   Always great to have family in the middle of this battle!  I am also hoping that we also have some cool home improvement projects to do while there with Chris and Kris.

#Isaiah40:31