possessed

Posted on September 16, 2009 by Dana

One son is awestruck, overwhelmed, and possessed by his father’s love. Perhaps various temptations attempted to lure him back to a life of sin, but the thought of ‘the forgiven’ leaving the favor of his dad seems unfathomable. After being so broken and torn, why would we ever run from the hand that welcomed us, forgave us, and healed us? But since we know ourselves, we sing the prayer in the old hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”:

“Oh to grace, how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be.
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Never let me wander from Thee, never leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”

The older brother was not broken or torn… but he was in the worst of shape. Perhaps when you are healthy, rich, smart, or popular you’re in more danger than the sinner in the ditch. “You think you’ve got it all together and don’t need a thing, but I’ll tell you the truth — you’re in a desperate place.” That’s what the wise father could have told his oldest son long before he skipped out on his brother’s party. This brother thought he had been dishonored because his father had shown mercy to his rebellious brother. But he did not really know his father or the meaning of love and compassion. He was consumed with two thoughts from a darkened perspective: how good and deserving he was and how bad and undeserving was his brother.

“Examine yourselves…” the apostle counsels. But we’ve got to examine truthfully. We’ve got to deal with reality. The older brother would have written a glowing self report about his character, his work ethic, and his faithfulness to his father. But what was the truth? What were his motives? This is why we must ask the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and expose anything that does not line up with the Holy Christ who rescued us. Though everyone should have run to the One who came to save them, John says, “His own did not receive him.” He was unrecognized and unaccepted. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

So is there any difference today? Christians can easily point to sin in the world and say, “The darkness is worse! Look how many reject God!” But the Father is looking first at his own children. Has the Light overcome the darkness? Are members of God’s family more like the older brother in Jesus’ parable or a rescued lamb? Surely God wants humility to describe his household. “But Lord, could you really use me? I’ve been such a wreck. Look how proud I have been and how many times I’ve sinned. I’ve dishonored you so often, how can you call me a chosen one? I don’t deserve…”

“You’ve come to the cross, my child. There you received mercy and grace. I filled you with my Spirit and all your sins are forgiven. You’ve come to me empty-handed… as a little child, and I’ve given you new life. Stay in this surrendered place and walk in my Light. All the world holds dear shall become worthless to you, for you shall see my glory. Eternal life is this: knowing me… true life, true joy, true peace. You are robed in the righteousness of my Son… who perfectly lived out the life I asked him to live and then laid it down. When I look at you, I see him and great joy fills my heart. The day of the great wedding feast is fast approaching; do not be complacent. Be light in your world!”

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!” I John 3:1

Posted in Holy Spirit | Comments Off

obsessed

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Dana

I stayed with my parents in Chattanooga this past week. Even though I’m a grown man and my sister and two brothers are grown, my parents are still obsessed with their children. If you have kids, you understand… which should give us a tiny glimpse into the love God has for us. It is not that the universe revolves around us by any means. In fact, if we just look up we have to agree with David, who wrote: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have put into place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?”

But He does care and a case could be made that God is obsessed with us. What else explains his incredible plan to save us? The father, who went out each day to look for his lost son, is the picture Jesus paints of God. And when he saw the broken beggar, who had squandered his inheritance, walking toward home, the father ran to him, embraced his son, and threw a huge party to welcome him home. This father was also obsessed with his other son and tried to bring him into the celebration, though the older brother refused. The father wanted fellowship with both his children, but only one could humbly grasp the true character of his dad.

The more we see this extravagant love and the more we understand the forgiveness we have received, the more obsessed we become with the Father who sacrificed his only Son to bring us into his family. Surely it is the Holy Spirit who brings such realization and surely conviction of sin is a necessity. If the older brother, confident of his own righteousness, had only realized his selfishness and rotten attitude, he would have also asked for forgiveness and entered a setting of joy and peace.

I’ve been obsessed with many things in my lifetime, but what are those things worth? But “to know Christ” is worth everything. How He loves us… and “we love because He first loved us.” Is there any greater purpose in life?

“I am always with You; You have held my hand. You guide me with your advice, and later You will receive me in honor. I have no one in heaven but You; I want nothing on earth besides You. My body and my mind may become weak, but God is my strength. He is mine forever.” Psalm 73:23-26 (NCV)

Posted in family | Comments Off

analyst

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Dana

In the hospital, I watched HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, a Tom Clancy story about a Russian naval captain defecting to the US with a top secret submarine. Jack Ryan is the CIA analyst who argued that he knew what was happening, though all the US military thought war was about to break out. The analyst bases judgments and decisions on what he knows about his opponent and the present situation. Most facts are hidden from the common man and the good analyst often puts his ‘neck on the line’ to appeal for what may seem to be extreme, or even foolish action. (Of course, Jack Ryan is a great analyst…)

When they detected problems with my heart, I was taken to another floor to have an echo-cardiogram. The technician was a young Vietnamese lady who is a Christian with a great burden for the orphans of Asia. She and her husband have two children of their own, but had recently adopted a little girl from China. As she was sharing her story she put the cold petroleum jelly on my chest and started rolling the little instrument that showed my beating heart. I was in a position where I could not see the screen so I asked what she observed. She did not answer quickly so I prodded a little more. “Do you just record or can you analyze what you see?” “Oh, I can analyze what I see,” she replied. “Well, what’s your analysis?” I asked. “Your heart is damaged… it is very clear.” “Is it fixable?” I asked. “Oh, we’ve seen great progress with this type of heart damage. You listen to the doctors and do what they say.” We both know there is a Great Physician who not only holds our physical hearts but the spiritual ones that only He sees.

I don’t really know the reason, but a certain Old Testament chapter stayed on my mind through my first bout with cancer in 2000 and now again through this recent transplant. In Ezekiel 37 a story is told that required analysis. If a human friend had asked Ezekiel this certain question, the answer would have been a no-brainer. “Look in that valley, Ezekiel. Do you see all the dry bones? Do you think those  bones could ever live again?” “Impossible” would be the logical answer. But the One who asked the question was no mere human. He was God, our Creator. So the analyst gave a wise answer: “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Read the chapter to see what happened, but I wonder what impossible questions God is asking today.

Can the ‘lukewarm’ western church be set on fire? Can people of other religions who want to destroy Christians meet and love the Christ that died for them? Can the Jews who deny their Messiah has come to the earth ever see the truth? Can Christians divided by opinions and traditions ever become one as Jesus prayed? Can a heart consumed by lesser things be consumed with the Spirit of the Living God?

“O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Ezekiel 37:3
“For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37

Posted in judgment | Comments Off

prepare

Posted on August 28, 2009 by Dana

Yesterday, I got good news regarding the protein test that measures the cancer I’m fighting. I went into the transplant with a count of 4.6, which is pretty high. In the thirty days since transplant, the number has dropped to .7, which has excited all the doctors and nurses (and us). Also, the cardiologist feels like my heart is rebounding, so he has taken me off everything but one pill a day. I know you will want to praise God for these things and we humbly thank you for praying so much for us. Around the 100 day mark, another protein blood test will be taken and a bone marrow biopsy will reveal if any cancer is in the bone marrow.

Susan and I met a young couple last week who are about to go through the same thing we have. He was diagnosed with lymphoma a month before they were to get married. They delayed the wedding a few weeks, did a couple of rounds of chemo, then got married. She is a beautiful twenty-five year old Georgia native taking care of a strong twenty-six year old husband from South Carolina. He is athletic, a bit defiant, and determined to get through this stem cell transplant as quick as he can. I pray he does… with no setbacks.

Susan thought I was prepared for my second transplant. I was stronger than before, more experienced, and less beaten down by drugs. But from the first day in the hospital, everything seemed to go in unexpected directions: the catheter they put in my chest would not stop bleeding (they removed it a week later), I developed pneumonia (which lasted a couple of weeks), I started coughing up blood (which lasted about a month), and fluid built up in my body to the point that my heart could not handle the load (causing my blood pressure to run extremely high). I can’t count on one hand how many times I heard a doctor or nurse say, “I’ve never seen this happen before.” (Not exactly what a patient wants to hear:) So what do you do when you think you’re prepared, but reality proves otherwise.

Lying in the hospital, I sometimes wonder about preparations that are far more important than health. Jesus often said, “Be prepared; you don’t know when I am going to return.” He tells us to “watch and pray” and to be ready. I can say “I’m ready” based on my feelings or what other people might tell me. But Jesus is the one who knows and He eagerly invites the courageous, humble one to ask what He sees. In a parable, ten virgins waited for the Bridegroom, but only five were prepared with the oil required. The five who had to run to town to make a purchase were called ‘foolish’ because they could not enter the feast. Who is foolish today? Are there wise ones treasuring the things of the Spirit as they watch for their Master?

Humility requires that if we go to Jesus and He points out our errors we must quickly repent and ask Him to supply what we lack. “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” (Revelation 3:17-19)

When teachers say, “Be prepared for your test tomorrow,” good students heed the warning. When coaches spend a week preparing for Friday’s game, the players know it is serious. When a doctor tells a person how to prepare for an upcoming surgery, the wise patient follows directions. But what do we do with Jesus’ words?

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Matthew 24:42-44

Posted in judgment | Comments Off

WHO

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Dana

Last week I returned home from Emory and am slowly joining the land of the living. Thank you so much for every prayer, kind thought, card, and word of encouragement. I go to the clinic every other day where they check my blood and vitals. Next week I am to see a cardiologist, as they are concerned my heart has been impacted by all the trauma of this process. I’m thankful for the doctors and nurses and techs… but I need more.

The first Sunday I was in the hospital, my son, Taylor, brought the message I needed. He and his girlfriend, Emma, had heard the testimony of a young pastor at an active church in the city. As Taylor talked, I thought, “This sure sounds familiar,” then I remembered that this pastor’s wife was one of my basketball players from a few years back. Once she had asked me to pray about a huge career decision to be made as they finished their time at the university. The offer seemed beyond spectacular… large company, incredible position, great pay, grand future… The problem was there were many opportunities for compromise. The question in both their hearts was: Could we get this position and be on top of the world while ignoring and even offending God? I was so proud those many years ago when my basketball player said, “Coach Davis, We just couldn’t do it. No matter what the money or so-called ‘security,’ we knew we would not be walking in faith. God wouldn’t be leading our lives.” So they said ‘no’ and eventually accepted a leadership position at a start-up church in the city. The impact they have had on souls in Atlanta these past several years are immeasurable. Don’t you love God’s ways?

So Taylor is sharing this story in my hospital room and he tells me he’s not reached the main point yet. For several mornings he had been texting me Scriptures, until I lost my phone by sending it out with the laundry (it turned up in Rome, GA four weeks later). He asked, “Remember that verse I gave you from Isaiah about wings like eagles?” “Yes, look at the nice eagle Kinsey drew on the nurse’s ‘whiteboard’ with those words underneath. And Karlyn, seeing that my hair was falling out, wrote ‘Bald Eagle’ above the head, just to make sure there was no confusion.” “Well,” Taylor continued, “the powerful message is in the preceding verses. This is my hope and Emma’s hope and your hope and everyone’s hope!”

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” – Isaiah 40:28

“I’m a little slow, son, explain it to me.”

“Dad, it is all in the ‘WHO.’ We often concentrate on the lesser words. ‘WHEN’ I graduate, then I’ll be ready for life. No, I’ve got to focus on ‘WHO’ is leading me in college day by day. Or, ‘WHAT’ are they doing to you in this hospital to get you well? You’ve got to focus on ‘WHO’ is with you, strengthening you, comforting you. Or Emma may think, ”HOW’ am I going to get to this place in my career when there are so many people ahead of me?’ But she must simply concentrate on ‘WHO’ got her the job and honor Him in all she does and trust Him completely.”

“Taylor, this is so simple, but profound. Will you thank the preacher and give his wife a hug? Will you remind me of this truth when I am in pain and tend to forget? Will you live like this and encourage Emma and all your friends to keep this focus? It will mean we will trust God and honor Him… and love Him. And look at the promise He gives?”

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 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.” Isaiah 40:29-31

Posted in faith | Comments Off