Life Happens

The last few days have been filled with mixed emotions and thoughts on life,in particular the various celebrations of life:

Renewed life:

One day last week, and only within one hour of each other, two people were giving praise reports of being freed of cancer. One was a minister friend from the South whose brother had received a clean bill of health,free of cancer. He had been diagnosed with cancer of the brain, lymph glands and thyroid.

Another praise report came from a young lady at my church who had successful surgery and was freed of all cancer that was within her.

Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.

Eternal life:

After hearing all this good news, next came the news of another young lady at church who passed away from a hard fought battle with cancer. As my Pastor put it so eloquently,"She received her healing. She's at home in peace."

I did not know this woman personally, but the one thing that stood out about her whenever you saw her in church: she really knew how to get her praise on! So my lasting impression of her will always be how she loved and worshiped the Lord.She will now spend eternity just worshiping at the feet of the Almighty.

One of the great mysteries in life,and there is no way I will even make an attempt at coming to some kind of conclusion with:is the healing of cancer of one and not the other. One thing I do know is that it is not a matter of one having a greater faith than another. I love what the great American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote about life:

It's not the length of life, but depth of life.

Newborn life:

And all the while all of this was happening, a co-worker friend welcomed a new baby boy into the world.

Sometimes we forget how many different facets of life there are and will occur within minutes,seconds,hours,and days of each other. It's good to be reminded of how precious life is.


Now if we could just get that cherish each day we live part right,we'd be alright. Time to git my praise on!

California Dreamin'

One of the great things about vacation is it's way of us escaping reality for a week. But that of course depends on your travel destination. If you live in the Midwest then pretty much anywhere there's palm trees and tropic temperatures is a way of escape.

You may find yourself eating lunch or dinner at a restaurant with an incredible ocean view and begin to think to yourself: wow, I could live here and do this all of the time. Or even begin to ponder that age old thought, "I wish I'd have grown up out here!" In other words the "What if" begins to exhume our brain and play games with out head within the warmth of the tropic sun as it scorches our face.

The "what if" game is something we have all played at one time or another. The dream of growing up in a different environment or culture and fantasizing of what our life may have been like.

There have been times when I also would ponder the thought of what if I had been born in a different country?What would it be like? And would I have the things to live with that I now take for granted everyday?

We don't exactly have a choice of where we are born or the choice of environment to grow up in,it just happens. When we get older we do have that choice, but some people still won't and may never get that choice. So in essence where we find ourselves planted can be a blessing in disguise.

John Wayne once said, "Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway."

Thankfully some of us live in a country where we can make that choice of saddling up and moving to an even better climate, even if it is just for a few days.

Thank God for vacations and escaping from reality for a little while. Even a little while is better than none at all.

Ahhh, California dreamin' all the time!

God's Gift is 6' 9''

When I saw the headline God's Gift Chooses to Play Hoops at St. John's it naturally peaked my interest. And who the article was referring to was a power forward from Nigeria named God's Gift Achiuwa. God's Gift is one of six children and their father is a minister. The name of God's Gift's siblings:
three brothers named Promise,God's Will,and Precious; his sisters are named Grace and Peace.

I have a feeling this unique family will accomplish many great things in their life.

The Story Inside The Song

Within Tenth Avenue North's song Hold My Heart is a story we can all relate to. The lead singer and a friend were both going through some hard times and within their struggles they found themselves asking something we all may have asked at one time or another:

How long must I pray
Must I pray to You?
How long must I wait
Must I wait for You?


I do not know anyone who hasn't grappled with that question on occasion. It is only natural for each of us to have at one time or another an impatience with God.
And sometimes we may not get an answer within our time frame but we need to remember God has perfect timing and His plan is a perfect plan. But even though we know this we will still become impatient with His plan for our life. In fact lets face it: waiting stinks! But God asks us to,

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage,
and He shall strengthen your heart; wait I say on the Lord! (Psalm 27:14)

And so as we grapple with these questions to God seeking for an answer,here is the great reminder this song delivers to us:

So many questions without answers
But Your promises remain.
I can't see but I'll take my chances
To hear You call my name

Yes, God's promises for our lives still remain even though we may not get the answers to some of our questions. There are actually over 800 promises in His Word that we can count on for our daily lives. One of those promises is:

Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry;
but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:10)

I like my chances with God. No, I actually LOVE my chances with God.
How about you?

Good News

"The Cross is the cornerstone of our faith. It is the source of our healing and our hope. Through the Cross God has provided all we need for the life of godliness.
In fact, the Apostle Paul stated,'I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
---Dr. Charles Stanley


I could even extend what Stanley is alluding to even more, as Apostle Paul would also remind us later in this same chapter of 1 Corinthians 2:

",that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

The Cross represents a love and power that nothing else in history will ever compare.
Such a simple message: Jesus died on the Cross for your sins and rose again on the third day. There is power and victory in the Cross!

Aside from the biblical story surrounding the Cross, another story on the Cross that always comes to my mind this time of year is a story I have heard countless of times from a friend:

The gentleman and his family spent several years attending an old neighborhood church which was about to be torn down and rebuilt. They were having an auction or sale on some of the items in the church. The gentleman had a rare fondness for many years of a four foot cross that was hand carved in wood that hung on one of the walls. This Cross resembled that of a crucifix.

When the gentleman brought it home he removed the figurine of Jesus off of the Cross,and hung the now empty yet still eloquent Cross in his family room. He exclaimed it was the most beautiful Cross he had ever seen. And his explanation for taking Jesus off of the Cross:

"Jesus isn't on the Cross. HE AROSE! AND HE LIVES INSIDE OF ME!"

Whenever he would share that story his eyes would tear up. This gentleman knew the love and the power that resurrected from the Cross.

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (1Cor.1;18)

We must not just embrace the Cross this coming week, but share that love and Good News with others. The love of God is worthy to be praised and to be shared!