Ask Yourself

I have two questions for you to consider:

• Are you tired of living like someone who does not know Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior?

• Are you desperate for the Holy Spirit and His power to be unleashed in your life?

“Do not stifle (grieve) the Holy Spirit.” 1 Thess. 5:19 (NLT)

How’s Your Heart?

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Prov. 4:23

The Bible tells us that God searches our heart. He examines our secret motives. He examines the “why” behind our actions. If that is true, and it is, then I must invest the time and energy necessary in order to accurately examine my heart, my motives.

First Samuel 16:7 states “the Lord looks at the heart.” The Hebrew concept of the heart embodied four areas of: emotions, will, intellect and desires.

• Emotions = joy, sorrow, fear, hate, love, all kinds of feelings
• Will = deliberately choosing or deciding upon a course of action
• Intellect = to know and understand, to think
• Desires = to wish or long for

All four are wrapped up in your heart.

Jesus states “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.” (Matt. 12:34-35)

The BIG QUESTION: “What are you storing in the vault of your heart?”

It seems to me that the key to the heart is the will. In other words you deliberately choose and decide upon a course of action.

Look at these verses:

(1 Chron. 16:11) “Search for the Lord and his strength; continually seek him” – Searching is act of the will.

(1 Chron. 22:19) “Seek the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.” – Seeking is an act of the will.

(2 Chron. 7:14) “Seek my face and turn from your wicked ways.” – Seeking and turning, an act of the will.

(2 Chron. 12:14) “He was an evil king for he did not seek the Lord.” – To not seek the Lord is an act of the will and leads to evil.

(Ps. 10:4) “The proud are too wicked to seek God.” – Choosing to not seek the Lord leads to pride which is the source of multiple sins.

(Ps. 14:2) “The truly wise seek him.” – Choosing to seek the Lord leads to wisdom.

(Matt. 6:33) “Seek the Kingdom above all else, live righteously and he will give you everything you need.” – Again, it is a choice to seek and to live in a manner that allows God to bless us and work through us.

Once you make a decision of the will, then the passion and emotions will follow.

My Prayer: “Lord as I choose to seek you, let my passion and desire become a laser-beam focus on you. Show me your ways. Show me your heart. Let my choices and actions reflect the decision of my will to seek you. As I seek you, let the manner in which I spend my time, talent and treasure honor you above all else.”

Medical Update

Mary and I finally arrived home on Tuesday. We have discovered, though no surprise, that God has answered many prayers. You have overwhelmed us with your prayers and words of encouragement. I cannot imagine going through the challenges of life without a church family. God has directed our steps as we have walked this journey of being a cancer patient. There have been moments of questions; moments of uncertainty; even moments of nervousness. But at each of those moments, God’s presence and peace was overwhelming. There was always calmness.

I spent the morning reading through each prayer note and email that I have received the past two weeks. I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

Here are some highlights of my surgery:

• The surgery itself went very well. No complications. Dr. Patel said that my surgery was his most difficult case of that day. (A guy likes to be first in something)
• He was able to completely remove the prostate and save all of my nerve bundles. He was the only surgeon who told me he felt confident that he could accomplish this.
• I had some infection from one of the incisions, but it was quickly cleared with antibiotics.
• The tumor involved 25% of the prostate.
• He removed two lymph nodes for pathology as a precaution because of the size of my tumor. Both were clear of any cancer.
• There are five patterns of prostate cancer. My biopsy showed that I had patterns three and four. The pathology report of my prostate showed that I actually had pattern five as well. Pattern five is the nasty cancer. It is the most aggressive and deadly form of prostate cancer.
• A major God praise is that if I had chosen radiation as my first treatment, radiation cannot kill pattern five cancer when it is in the prostate. Therefore I would have still had cancer growing in my body. When you have radiation as your first form of treatment it is nearly impossible to surgically remove the prostate.
• Clean margins are what you want to have in the pathology. That means all of the cancer is contained within the prostate. There was one area that the pathologist could not say for certain that I had clean margins. Cancer cells were on the edge but he was not sure if any had escaped the gland. This will be my faith journey… trusting that there is no cancer left.
• My surgeon does not want to do any other treatments at this point. I will have PSA testing done every six weeks for awhile, then every three months. When the prostate is removed, the PSA testing is more reliable. This will determine if any cancer was left behind and is growing.
• If that does occur, then I would most likely have radiation treatment. The good news is that pattern five cancer can be destroyed by radiation if it is not within the prostate gland.
  

For right now I have another five weeks to full recovery from the surgery. I can return to work at the end of next week and then return to full activities in five weeks. God has directed every step in our journey. Dr. Patel is literally the best in the world in the robotic prostate surgery. I am thankful that God opened that door.

My focus is now fully on being the pastor of Gateway. Many people of prayer at Gateway have been saying the same thing… “God is doing something at Gateway.” I believe this is true. He is going to do many things that will amaze us. So get ready!!!

Thank you for loving Mary and me with your prayers, notes, words of encouragement.

Not the kind of Doctors that can fix you

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Heb. 10:24-25)

I am constantly reminded of how important family is. We must not be flippant about our personal family or our church family. We must nurture, encourage, care for, pray for and build up our family at every opportunity. I am a blessed man in my personal family and I am a blessed pastor in my church family.

The Gateway family has gone overboard in praying for and encouraging me. Your sensitivity and tenderness towards Mary and me has been beyond words. I love you deeply. It's hard to believe I have been your pastor eighteen years this month.

I am also blessed by my immediate family. Mary is the love of my life. She has been the biggest blessing the Lord has granted to me. As anyone who has met her knows, Mary is not the typical pastor's wife. She is a very unique individual who I have always appreciated for her fearless spirit. She is not afraid of tackling the largest mountain. I use to be wound very tight - too tight. God used Mary to loosen me up!

God has blessed us with two wonderful kids, Katie and Mack. And then he gave us a second daughter with Meredith.

Today, Monday, August 9th, we are celebrating our daughter, Katie. Mary and I are at Auburn University for her graduation with her Ph.D. Like her mother, Katie is an amazing person. She has such an adventurous spirit. As a 29 year old, she has completed two undergraduate degrees from Clemson in Bio-chemistry and Visual Arts; completed two master's degrees from Auburn one in Fashion and the other in Business Administration; and now she has completed her Doctor of Philosophy. She was a finalist for the Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships. She is currently the Director of Operations and Admissions for the MBA degree program at Auburn while teaching undergrad and graduate classes. I have to give a big thanks to District Five and Dutch Fork High School for doing a great job preparing Katie for college.

But with all of these accomplishments, without a doubt the biggest day of her life was the day she adopted Caleb from Ethiopia. He is now a year old and the joy of our family. He is the happiest kid you will ever meet. People tell us, "Caleb is a blessed kid to be adopted into your family." Our response is always, "We are the ones who are blessed!"

In addition, Katie is the evangelist in the family. She loves engaging college students who are seeking spiritual truth. One time she had a group meeting in her home called the Heathen Bible Study. Only non-believers could attend.

Over the years, there have been many key individuals that God has used to influence Katie's life. One specific individual was her small group leader as a youth at Gateway. Cynthia Johnson lived out Hebrews 10:24-25 with Katie by motivating and encouraging her. She has been a faithful friend of prayer; a person who personally lives out her faith. Katie still uses the lessons and insights Cynthia bestowed upon her during her youth.

Thanks Cynthia for investing in my little girl.

By the way... whose life are you investing in? Have you considered being a LIFE group leader? You never know how God will multiply your investment in others.

O Ark, Where Art Thou?

I remember when Raiders of the Lost Ark hit the theaters in 1981. I loved the movie. I actually met the archeologist on whom the character Indiana Jones was loosely based. The movie encouraged a great deal of interest among Christians. I remember being asked, “What if they did find the Ark?” I remember saying that it really wouldn’t matter if the ark were found. Yes, it would be the archeological find of the millennium, and, yes, it would give additional credence to the Old Testament, but for the believer, it would not change anything. Why? It no longer contains the presence of God, nor His power.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant of the Old Testament in Axum, a town in northern Ethiopia. However, they will not let anyone verify their claim.

Orthodox Jews believe it is buried somewhere underneath the original location of the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem. However, the Muslims control the temple area and will not allow any excavation.

We do know for sure that the Ark will be seen again. After the seventh trumpet is sounded in Revelation 11, the Bible says:

Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. (Rev. 11:19)

But is this the original Ark that was in the Holy of Holies? No. The OT Ark was a piece of furniture that symbolized the presence of God. It expressed God’s atonement and covenant. It was only a shadow or picture of the heavenly Ark. When sin was paid once and for all by Jesus on the cross, the earthly Holy of Holies was opened up by God when he ripped the curtain. Now at a future date, the heavenly Holy of Holies will be opened and the heavenly Ark will be revealed.

But in the meantime, let me share where I believe the Ark is currently located.

After Christ’s supreme sacrifice something significant took place. Actually, “significant” cannot begin to capture the magnitude of what took place. Momentous, huge, major… none of these capture the depth. How about “this event changed everything about everything for eternity!”

God’s presence is now in the believer and the church. In a way, we are the Ark.

Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. (Eph 2:20-22)

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? (1 Co 3:16)

Nothing in the Bible is insignificant. Everything in the Holy of Holies had a purpose.

1. The Ark was made of wood – that’s you – and covered inside and out with pure Gold – that’s Jesus. Without Jesus, we are just rotten, dead wood.

2. The manna in the gold pot represents the spiritual sustenance given to us daily by the Holy Spirit. He provides us with all that we need to face the day.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. (John 14:16-17)

3. The tablets with the 10 commandments represent God’s Word.

God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one. (1 John 2:14)

4. Aaron’s rod that bloomed represents your resurrection in Christ.

For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. (Rom. 6:4)

If Indiana Jones is still looking for the Ark of the Covenant… he only needs to talk to a believer.

How are you dealing with your cancer?

I get this question a great deal. It’s a great question because the answer reveals a great deal of how I view God. In fact when you answer this question about any major issue in your life, you are revealing your view of scripture and your heavenly father. To get to my answer of this question, I have to step back and look at the bigger picture.

Now I don’t know when Jesus is coming back, but I do know that as of today, we are one day closer. When it comes to life after death, the Bible is very clear that there is an exclusive alternative. Either you go to heaven or you go to hell. It is one or the other. There are no other alternatives.

Once a person accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, the choice is made. They are bound for heaven.

According to the Bible there is a major event to take place in heaven.

“Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear. For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.” (Rev. 19:6b-8)

This future event seems to be a “what it is all about” event. It’s called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It will be the eternal union of Jesus Christ and his Church, his bride. What that means is you and I, along with all believers, will become the eternal companion of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will have a queenly role serving alongside of Jesus. WOW!!! What an incredible privilege awaiting us.

With that in mind, for me the bottom line is this – God is preparing you and me for eternity. If you want to know the purpose of something, then look to the desired end result. God’s ultimate purpose for us is to be Christ-like. God’s ultimate purpose is for us to become the eternal companion of his son. God’s ultimate purpose for us is to be joint-heirs with his son.

If this is true, then this life is on-the-job training. God is using this life to prepare us for our eternal role.

This is why I am interpreting my current health issues as simply on-the-job training. God is teaching me. God is growing me.

Late last fall, I took a two-week break for the purpose of spiritual reflection. The first week I was alone at the beach. Mary joined me for the second week in the mountains. When I returned from the two weeks, I shared with the staff that God spoke two words to me. Prayer and Faith. God told me to focus on these two things. It was not what I was expecting. I was expecting God to reveal some crucial items concerning Gateway. I thought I would return with a clarified vision. That did not happen. God simply said, increase your prayer and increase your faith.

At the time I thought he was talking about Gateway. In a way he was, but he was speaking more to me personally.

This past spring, I did a forty-day fast. Again, I thought God lead me into the fast in terms of Gateway, but it seemed it was more about my personal walk with him.

When news came about the prostate cancer and then later the skin cancer, it all came together. God was preparing me for this period of my life. He was preparing me for the journey.

Because I interpret everything in my life in terms of eternity, I am confident that God has allowed the cancer in my body to teach me more about Jesus… to shape and mold me more into the image of Jesus. He is preparing me for my eternal role as a bride of Christ.

Are you going through a tough time right now? How would it change your attitude if you interpreted the tough things in your life in light of your eternal destination? We are destined for a throne, a queenly throne. We are destined to be the eternal companion of our precious Lord Jesus Christ.

For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. (Rev. 19:7)

What are you doing to prepare yourself?

For Men Only

I recently read an article by John Piper entitled Why I Don’t Have a Television and Rarely Go to Movies. After reading the article… well, I think I am going to take a break from television for a period of time. Here is an excerpt of the article:

“I think relevance in preaching hangs very little on watching movies, and I think that much exposure to sensuality, banality, and God-absent entertainment does more to deaden our capacities for joy in Jesus than it does to make us spiritually powerful in the lives of the living dead. Sources of spiritual power—which are what we desperately need—are not in the cinema. You will not want your biographer to write: Prick him and he bleeds movies.

If you want to be relevant, say, for prostitutes, don’t watch a movie with a lot of tumbles in a brothel. Immerse yourself in the gospel, which is tailor-made for prostitutes; then watch Jesus deal with them in the Bible; then go find a prostitute and talk to her. Listen to her, not the movie. Being entertained by sin does not increase compassion for sinners.

There are, perhaps, a few extraordinary men who can watch action-packed, suspenseful, sexually explicit films and come away more godly. But there are not many. And I am certainly not one of them.

I have a high tolerance for violence, high tolerance for bad language, and zero tolerance for nudity... that lady is really naked, and I am really watching. And somewhere she has a brokenhearted father.

I’ll put it bluntly. The only nude female body a guy should ever lay his eyes on is his wife’s. The few exceptions include doctors, morticians, and fathers changing diapers. “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1). What the eyes see really matters. “Everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Better to gouge your eye than go to hell (verse 29).

Brothers, that is serious. Really serious. Jesus is violent about this. What we do with our eyes can damn us. One reason is that it is virtually impossible to transition from being entertained by nudity to an act of “beholding the glory of the Lord.” But this means the entire Christian life is threatened by the deadening effects of sexual titillation.

All Christ-exalting transformation comes from “beholding the glory of Christ.” “Beholding the glory of the Lord, [we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Whatever dulls the eyes of our mind from seeing Christ powerfully and purely is destroying us. There is not one man in a thousand whose spiritual eyes are more readily moved by the beauty of Christ because he has just seen a bare breast with his buddies.

But leave sex aside (as if that were possible for fifteen minutes on TV). It’s the unremitting triviality that makes television so deadly. What we desperately need is help to enlarge our capacities to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ. Television takes us almost constantly in the opposite direction, lowering, shrinking, and deadening our capacities for worshiping Christ.

One more smaller concern with TV (besides its addictive tendencies, trivialization of life, and deadening effects): It takes time. I have so many things I want to accomplish in this one short life. Don’t waste your life is not a catchphrase for me; it’s a cliff I walk beside every day with trembling.

TV consumes more and more time for those who get used to watching it. You start to feel like it belongs. You wonder how you could get along without it. I am jealous for my evenings. There are so many things in life I want to accomplish. I simply could not do what I do if I watched television. So we have never had a TV in 40 years of marriage (except in Germany, to help learn the language). I don’t regret it. “

--John Piper