Your church probably follows a similar format to mine when it comes to prayer meeting. A short song service, then a sharing time for praises and prayer requests, followed by a study of some sort. A few weeks ago, at my prayer meeting there were a number of names mentioned for special prayer. Six of them had something in common: cancer. Five of the six I knew, several fairly well. Cancer. A dreaded word to most people. It seems like it is always in the news – new treatments, new methods of detection, new suggested regulations, new causes…the list is endless.
Scientists have been working for many years to understand cancer. Some progress has been made as to knowing what cancer is. In most cases, however, the how’s and why’s are still fuzzy at best. Society is getting better at treating cancer, fortunately. There are three basic modalities of treatment: surgery, radiation, and chemo. Each totally radical from the other. Yet they all have something in common: in treating the cancer, they also affect healthy tissue.
In surgery, the surgeon always takes a little extra tissue – “just in case.” While the radiologist will focus his bean as tightly and narrowly as possible, there is inescapable damage to nearby tissue. Chemo is the least focused of the methods in that the chemicals flow throughout the body. The drugs are searching out cells that are multiplying rapidly. For that is one of the things that make cancer so dangerous – the rate of growth and how quickly tumors can begin affecting surrounding tissues. So any tissue that is rapidly dividing is at the mercy of these deadly drugs. Linings of the gut, blood producing tissues, hair follicles – these are sites that chemo affects that we wish it would leave alone. But it doesn’t.
Success rates often depend on how early the cancer is found. In some, the age and general health of the patient can play a factor. We’ve reached the place now where childhood leukemia has very high success rates. If caught early, melanoma is one of the easiest to treat, although it is one of the most deadly if not caught early. Basal cell cancer is generally easy to treat. Other forms lurk undetected until it is almost too late to have long-term survival rate. A few, like pancreatic cancer, are still almost unstoppable.
Which cancer do you fear the most? Breast cancer? Skin cancer? Prostate? Colon ? None are desirable, but if you had to pick one to have, which would it be?
There is one cancer I’ve not mentioned. It is blight on the human race. It’s insidious, infecting us all. Untreated, it is always terminal. This cancer, of course, is cancer of the soul, also known as sin. We don’t understand it well, except to know its dreadful effects. Our bodies are unable to fight it off. Outside help is needed. But treatment is available, regardless of your insurance plan. Ultimatley, this cancer will be obliterated. But anyone clinging to it will also be eradicated, just like the normal tissue adjoining physical cancer. Far better to separate now.
Like some forms of radiation, the treatment for sin involves the implanting of the cure – the entrance of the Holy Spirit into the heart. A sure cure. However, it is a cure that requires daily dosage. If you go off your meds, the disease will surely come back, often with great fervor.
I suggest taking the cure. Some of us may “fall off the wagon” temporarily. But the Great Physician is always happy to see us back in His office. Why not take a dose right now?
Have a very healthy day!
Dr. G
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
I'm Thankful
I’m thankful for the occasional twinges of pain in my hands from arthritis. They remind me how nice it is to have hands.
I’m thankful for such a nice place to work and great colleagues to work with. Some are not so lucky – some work with grouches, others don’t work.
I’m thankful I get to unload the buses every morning. Some folks never get to see and hear excitement in children’s voices.
I’m thankful for my opportunity several weekends each month to be able to sing with a group of other men, praising the Lord. Some men have never lifted their voices in song; some do not know the Lord.
I’m thankful for the ability to read. I can expand my horizons, and learn even more to share with my students.
I’m thankful for family, even though none live close at hand. It is good to share news with them, and to share encouragement. There are those who have no one to turn to for comfort or to share a laugh.
I’m thankful that the car started this morning, for I had a task to do. There are those who have no tasks, let alone a vehicle with which to accomplish one.
I’m thankful for a sense of humor. Without it, some days would be a real grind. I’m even thankful for the days that are a grind. They provide opportunities for growth.
I’m thankful that there is a God in heaven who can see down the road when I can hardly look beyond my shoes. I know I can trust Him to guide my steps when I can’t bear to look.
I'm thankful I live in a country where it is still OK to be thankful for things others may not appreciate. They don't know what they are missing.
Have you made your list yet? Thanksgiving is tomorrow.
Dr. G
Thursday, November 5, 2009
How Will You Get There?
The men’s chorus I sing in presented a program in a small church up on Lookout Mountain this past weekend, somewhere near the town of Rising Fawn , GA (at least that was the address). I understand that the group had sung there a number of years ago, but most of the current members had never been there before.
Lookout Mountain is the southern-most mountain of the Appalachians , and has many cliffs and escarpments, especially on the northern and western edges. Even so, there are a number of ways to get up on top. But to get to this church, one had to eventually get onto Highway 157. Our director and several riding with him came from Chattanooga at the north end, and up past Rock City . A number of others went through Fort Oglethorpe and attacked the mountain from various roads on the east. In fact, I pulled up to a traffic light in Fort O , and found myself next to another chorus member. He turned left, I went straight. I never saw him again until I pulled into the church parking lot. He had just gotten out of his car.
Four of the guys decided to carpool. None of them had been atop the mountain before, let alone been at this church. The driver felt confident, however. He’d plugged the church’s address into his GPS. Unfortunately, they had hardly left their starting point when the GPS suffered a fatal error. One of the other guys in the vehicle happened to have some sketchy instructions that had been distributed at the previous rehearsal. Working together with these, and with everyone watching for landmarks, they arrived safe and sound. They, too, were able to find Highway 157 and thence, the church.
This sort of made me think of getting to heaven. We can approach it from several directions, but everyone has to get to Christ. He is the “Highway 157” in the salvation story. Some of us are born into a family that already lives on Highway 157 (Christ is in the home to begin with). Others of us find Him following our own paths, sometimes even diverging from others’ paths. Still others, finding scraps of information about a Savior, have worked together and found the path as a group. But no matter how they got there, Christ, who is the path, the way, the only doorway, was the answer.
One of our members, a young college student still living with his parents, didn’t make it. He’d planned on riding up with his mother. But something came up that morning, and she didn’t go. Neither did he. The application, of course, is that we can’t depend on others, even close family members, to get us into heaven. We have to get to the Savior on our own. He’ll get us in.
For some, the route may be a gentle climb. For others, the route may be steep and full of twists and turns. Keep going though; don’t give up. The reward is worth the effort.
Let me see that map. Do I turn left, right, or go straight ahead here?
Dr. G
Lookout Mountain is the southern-most mountain of the Appalachians , and has many cliffs and escarpments, especially on the northern and western edges. Even so, there are a number of ways to get up on top. But to get to this church, one had to eventually get onto Highway 157. Our director and several riding with him came from Chattanooga at the north end, and up past Rock City . A number of others went through Fort Oglethorpe and attacked the mountain from various roads on the east. In fact, I pulled up to a traffic light in Fort O , and found myself next to another chorus member. He turned left, I went straight. I never saw him again until I pulled into the church parking lot. He had just gotten out of his car.
Four of the guys decided to carpool. None of them had been atop the mountain before, let alone been at this church. The driver felt confident, however. He’d plugged the church’s address into his GPS. Unfortunately, they had hardly left their starting point when the GPS suffered a fatal error. One of the other guys in the vehicle happened to have some sketchy instructions that had been distributed at the previous rehearsal. Working together with these, and with everyone watching for landmarks, they arrived safe and sound. They, too, were able to find Highway 157 and thence, the church.
This sort of made me think of getting to heaven. We can approach it from several directions, but everyone has to get to Christ. He is the “Highway 157” in the salvation story. Some of us are born into a family that already lives on Highway 157 (Christ is in the home to begin with). Others of us find Him following our own paths, sometimes even diverging from others’ paths. Still others, finding scraps of information about a Savior, have worked together and found the path as a group. But no matter how they got there, Christ, who is the path, the way, the only doorway, was the answer.
One of our members, a young college student still living with his parents, didn’t make it. He’d planned on riding up with his mother. But something came up that morning, and she didn’t go. Neither did he. The application, of course, is that we can’t depend on others, even close family members, to get us into heaven. We have to get to the Savior on our own. He’ll get us in.
For some, the route may be a gentle climb. For others, the route may be steep and full of twists and turns. Keep going though; don’t give up. The reward is worth the effort.
Let me see that map. Do I turn left, right, or go straight ahead here?
Dr. G
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Lights On!
The weather this past Tuesday was not the most pleasant – not a really heavy rain, but more of a heavy drizzle all day long. That is sort of what I grew up with all winter long in Seattle, WA. Cold. Damp. Not a great day for driving, but a great day for staying inside.
However, my wife and I needed to go to several stores up at the mall. So after I picker her up at the school where she teaches, we headed for the freeway, about 20 miles away. We had to go cross country through several small towns, mostly on two-lane roads. What really caught my mind as I drove was the number of vehicles that passed me going the other way without their headlights on. I was surprised and concerned. Because of the drizzle, mist, and spray, it was quite hard to see such cars coming. I had to wonder what people were thinking. Having the lights on isn’t necessarily for only so I can see; it certainly helps others see me.
That is sort of like the Christian life. We’re saved by the grace of God, through our relationship with Christ. Having our “lights” on isn’t what saves us. Yet we’re told to have our lights burning bright, as it were, for the benefit of others. We’re not to put our lights under a bushel or hide them in a corner. We are to be the light of the world for our Master. Not for our sakes. But for the others, so they can see and notice what Christ has done in our lives. Not for our glory – for His. Perhaps seeing my lights, or yours, will keep someone else from running into one of Satan’s ditches. Keep them on, all the time, rain or shine!
Have a safe day in Him
Dr. G
However, my wife and I needed to go to several stores up at the mall. So after I picker her up at the school where she teaches, we headed for the freeway, about 20 miles away. We had to go cross country through several small towns, mostly on two-lane roads. What really caught my mind as I drove was the number of vehicles that passed me going the other way without their headlights on. I was surprised and concerned. Because of the drizzle, mist, and spray, it was quite hard to see such cars coming. I had to wonder what people were thinking. Having the lights on isn’t necessarily for only so I can see; it certainly helps others see me.
That is sort of like the Christian life. We’re saved by the grace of God, through our relationship with Christ. Having our “lights” on isn’t what saves us. Yet we’re told to have our lights burning bright, as it were, for the benefit of others. We’re not to put our lights under a bushel or hide them in a corner. We are to be the light of the world for our Master. Not for our sakes. But for the others, so they can see and notice what Christ has done in our lives. Not for our glory – for His. Perhaps seeing my lights, or yours, will keep someone else from running into one of Satan’s ditches. Keep them on, all the time, rain or shine!
Have a safe day in Him
Dr. G
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