Today marks 10 years since I was diagnosed with Stage 4 ALK+ lung cancer. 10 years! I’d been given 10 months. And it’s been 10 years! That’s 3650 days, plus 3 for leap years. God has given me 3653 more days to number. What does it mean to number my days? The words come from Psalm 90:
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.17 May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
I’m learning not to take my life for granted. It’s not random or accidental—it’s a gift from God. He has made me for his purposes. And his purposes are far greater than any I could manufacture for myself.
I’m a very slow learner. So it’s taking some time to start each day with my heart fully satisfied with God’s unfailing love. Gratitude hasn’t been my strong suit. I fail to see what’s in front of my face. A beautiful wife, an awesome family, a fantastic church, some fabulous friends. I struggle to say thank you to doctors and nurses, and scientists and pharmaceutical companies (yep), and my cancer crew who’ve walked this challenging journey with me. But worst of all, I often forget the solid constancy of God’s unfailing love.
I’m so tempted to attach God’s love to my circumstances:
It’s sunny—he loves me. It’s raining—he doesn’t.
I’m NED—he loves me. The cancer’s back—he doesn’t.
I’m happy—he loves me. I’m depressed—he doesn’t.
God’s love is truly unfailing and deeply satisfying. He has demonstrated his love by sending his precious son. The death of Jesus is God’s promise of love, written in blood. If you grab hold of this love, then no one and nothing can take it from you. Do you know this love? Does it satisfy you every morning?
I’ve been given 10 years. 3653 precious days with my family. 3653 days to love and serve my Father in heaven. 3653 days to make a difference in this world. 3653 days to face my failures and find forgiveness from my Father in heaven. And every one of these days has been a gift from above.
I thank God for his kindness. I thank you for your prayers and support over the past 10 years. I have no expectation and certainly no claim, but I’d love 10 more years, and perhaps 10 more after that. But deeper still, I have a hope beyond this life, a hope beyond cure. And I look forward to the day when there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering, and no more death. God has promised an eternity with him for all who trust in Jesus.
If you want to know more about this hope, then send me a note.
This morning I read some stats from a US research company on how Americans are managing the pandemic. The results aren’t at all surprising, but they are a cause for alarm. I haven’t seen equivalent research for the Aussie context, but I doubt our figures would show any improvement.
I listened last night as representatives of the World Health Organisation described our world as a tinder box. It will only take a spark here or there to keep fuelling the flames of our global pandemic. I watch with dismay as the state of Victoria records the highest total daily coronavirus cases on record. Sydney is declared a hotspot and people around me are starting to wear masks. I’m distressed as I hear that my nephew is infected with Covid-19 and quarantines from family and friends.
In Philippians 3, the Apostle Paul exposes the vulgarity of self-righteous religion. He explains how Christianity is not about what we do for God, but what he has already done for us. He reveals how following Jesus is a relationship, not a set of rules and rituals. He shows how we can know God deeply.
Paul’s letter from prison lockdown to the Christians in Philippi is a warm, heartfelt encouragement to following Jesus. In chapter 2 Jesus’ extreme humility is presented as the model for Christian relationships. Impossible? Certainly, unless God is at work within us to will and to act. We are called to lives of humble gladness rather than selfish grumbling and arguing. Paul’s colleague, Timothy, and his Philippians friend, Epaphroditus, give us a picture of what humble service looks like in practice.
Some of us go regularly to church. Fewer of us think about what we’re going to do when we get there. We’ve been on autopilot for too long. Our current crisis gives us the perfect opportunity to pause and think about what we’re doing, how we do it and, most importantly, why we do it.
There aren’t too many books you can read, cover to cover, on a flight between Port Macquarie and Sydney, but Just Starting Out: Seven Letters to a New Christian by Al Stewart and Ed Vaughan is one. It’s short, pithy, punchy, and well worth the read. The book has been written for someone who has just become a Christian, to introduce them to some of the basics of the Christian life. They’ve chosen seven topics:
In 1968 my grandparents gave me my first Bible. It was a Revised Standard Version. In 1974, I began high school and we were all given a copy of the New English Translation. At university I discovered that everyone had copies of the New International Version so, of course, I bought one too. A decade or so back, most of my tribe jumped on board with the English Standard Version, and I began reading and preaching from this translation. And now there’s a new version of the New International Version to replace the one I loved for so long that’s now fallen apart. This is probably the version that I read the most. More recently, people have proclaimed the merits of the Christian Standard Bible, so I’ve been reading one of those too.
So goes the name of the beach mission facebook group I joined this summer. Actually, I joined more than a facebook group—Fiona and I joined the team at Old Bar with our son, Marcus. It had been 30 years since we’d last been on a beach mission as team members. This time at Old Bar and previously at Lake Tabourie. I figured I was joining the team so as to hang out with family, but it turned out to be a great way to start 2019. It was more helpful to me than I imagined.
Do you have a message to share? Is it the kind of word that puts fire in your belly? Do you wake up early wanting to spread this news to others? Is it unthinkable that you would keep it to yourself? I’m interested in the things that drive us, the messages that inspire us, and the passions that lead us to speak.
Waste your Sundays? Dabble in religion? Make God happy? No. No. No. If you don’t go to church, then there are far better reasons than these to consider. Church is intended to be a gathering of Christian people and people who want to check out what being a Christian is really all about. Ideally, you will meet real people who’ve become convinced that knowing God and having a genuine relationship with Jesus is the most significant thing there is. They will engage on real issues in a real way. It might even surprise you. You could find your life changed in a positive way for ever. Many have.
A few years back, having read Simple Church by Gieger and Rainer, we decided to align our church mission around CGS2 (though we never reduced it to CGS2). Connect, Grow, Serve, To the glory of God—that was our plan. Our church existed to build connections—connections into our community, connection with God through people responding to the gospel of Jesus, and connections with one another through regular fellowship. We existed to grow in spiritual maturity—through people responding to God’s word, coming before God in prayer, building one another in small groups, and applying the word in their lives. We existed to serve one another—to take the corporate and ‘one another’ language of the New Testament seriously, by actively investing in each other, serving the church in specific ministry teams, and reaching out to love our neighbours. And we wanted to do all this 2 the glory of God—not to us O Lord, not to us, but to you, be the glory forever and ever.
When I was asked if I’d like to join ‘fight club’ at 5.45am on Wednesdays I was curious for more than one reason. What do they do at fight club? And why is it so important? And what would make them think I could get there if I wanted to? Now I know the number one rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club—but I’m going to break it, slightly. For years now, a few blokes have met every week, rain, hail, dark or shine, to pray. That’s right, to pray! To ask God to make a difference. To tune into the creator and sustainer of this universe. To ask their Father in heaven to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
Are you at risk of having your whole life tied up with Christians so that you have no real engagement with anyone else? Does your week revolve around church meetings and activities? Does your sport, education, recreation, entertainment, socialising, music, and media all take place in a Christian bubble?
