worship

Posted on April 22, 2006 by Dana

If you ask any of the kids to share a highlight of the trip to Namibia, I think all would talk about the Sunday morning worship in the squatter’s camp of Katutura. In one of the poorest sections of Windhoek, hundreds of makeshift homes have been built as families have migrated to the city for work. The conveniences we take for granted in our neighborhoods are unknown in this one. Only recently have a few concrete block buildings been erected. Most live in “houses” that have been constructed with tin, scrap lumber, and anything else that can provide shelter. In this place of poverty we discovered joy, hospitality, and worship.

As twenty Americans joined about sixty Namibians in a room smaller than many American bedrooms, we received a little understanding of these words of Jesus: “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” It was not that we stood the whole time of singing; it was not that we participated in the Lord’s Supper with brothers and sisters of a different race; it was not that we heard new songs in a language we did not understand… I think this had to do with spirit and truth. We knew the Holy Spirit was present. We knew Jesus, the Truth, was being praised. And we saw young and old putting their whole hearts into worship. These people were not going through the motions. Even if there had been a clock on the wall, no one would have been looking at it. Instead of thinking about a Sunday meal, it seemed that we were receiving food from Heaven.

There was one lady who helped lead songs that caught most of our attention. She had a beautiful voice and sang with great energy, but what we noticed were her eyes and her expression. It seemed that she actually saw the One she was worshiping. Her face glowed as she expressed gratitude to the One who has saved her. I think something was awakened in us as we worshiped God that Sunday morning.

I am sure the church we visited is not perfect. I know being in a different culture brings a special excitement. I imagine there are many factors that make this time so memorable, but I do believe God was teaching us. We experienced heartfelt worship in an unknown corner of the world that must touch His heart. We saw people in a packed room with no air conditioning give themselves totally to praise. I’ve encouraged many athletes over the years to “give it all” when they play. We saw our brothers and sisters “give it all” as they thanked God. Most of us were convicted. One of our host missionaries said she believed the worship leaders in Heaven will be from Africa. Maybe this is true, but what about me? I don’t aspire to be a worship leader in Heaven, but I do want to be a “true worshiper.”

“Father, let me be the kind of worshiper you seek. Lord, if there are things that keep me from true worship, please take them away. Lord, may my love for You increase and may I see You more clearly. All who see You clearly will worship You for You are worthy to be praised. Lord, let there be less of me and more of You. Let me not care what people think; may I be consumed by You. Fill me with Your Spirit, Lord, and may I worship in spirit and in truth. Amen.”

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” Hebrews 12:28

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Easter

Posted on April 14, 2006 by Dana

I got to share the Easter story with some African children last week. While most knew of the Resurrection, I think many were hearing some of the details of the passion week for the first time. What a pleasure it is to tell children the stories of God. I’ve discovered that no matter where you are in the world, little ones seem to hang on every word. I chose young barefoot volunteers to be Jesus, His disciples, Malchus, and a donkey. When we came to the Cross, I asked, “Why did Jesus have to die?” Many voices rang out, “To save us from our sins!”

Nearly 20% of the population of Namibia is HIV positive. We cry out, “Lord, save the Africans from their sins!” But as I cry for Africa, I also cry for our country. We have more stuff, but we have the same need. We may not see the exterior devastation in our neighborhoods, but the devil is just as happy to destroy the interior and his tactics in the U.S. are just as lethal.

I sat next to a white South African businessman on the plane from Windhoek to Johannesburg. When he heard our reason for visiting Africa, he made an interesting observation. “Scores of Africans are turning to Christianity these days. And do you know why? Because unlike so many of us educated Westerners, they are desperately in need and they ask God to rescue them.” If the devil has succeeded in making the wealthy and educated believe they don’t need God, who is in the greatest danger?

This is why the Easter story is the hope of every nation. We remember the sacrifice of our Savior on this Good Friday, but the Resurrection brings the celebration. After telling the children what happened on the third day, I asked, “Why did God raise His Son from the dead?” No one answered. Finally one little boy raised his hand. His beautiful voice will stick in my mind forever as he shared a profound truth: “To prove that He was the Almighty!”

God proved Jesus is the Almighty by raising Him from the dead and He wants to let this Almighty One give us new life. One of my missionary friends in Namibia shared an encouraging word last week. She told me that while she was praying one day, God showed her a picture of me. “I felt God was literally raising you from the dead and infusing you with life.” Often I feel that God has physically done this for me. Even for this past trip, I think God touched my body and allowed me to go. So many of you pray for me and I sometimes think I am a walking testimony of the power of God. But if the blood I gave at the doctor’s office yesterday comes back with a bad report, I won’t be overly discouraged, because I know this earthly body is only temporal. There is a testimony greater than physical healing that has everything to do with the Resurrection. I was once spiritually dead and God made me alive.

This is why I can never look down on a sinner in a poverty stricken African neighborhood. I was a sinner in the wealthiest nation on earth. Jesus died for us all. He is the risen King of Kings and He gives eternal life to all who believe in Him… whether we have shoes or not.

The Resurrection is the heart of the Gospel. Paul wrote, “If there is no Resurrection, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (see I Corinthians 15) Though we sometimes don’t see ourselves in Christ quite as clearly as we should, the truth is we are resurrected souls. We are walking proof that that there is a God. We don’t even need to fear death, for we are confident there is a Resurrection. What a reason to be thankful for Easter!

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:3-11

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watch

Posted on March 23, 2006 by Dana

I went into the hospital last Tuesday hoping for a one night stay. Instead, I didn’t get out until Sunday afternoon, proving that even though I’m in need of healing, the Lord still wants me to learn to persevere. We did have a good report on the cancerous protein that had begun to rise in February. The March test showed that there is once again no traceable level. Since I have taken no chemo, the doctors don’t really have a firm explanation, but we praise God and remember we are in his Hands. Eventually, two million, one hundred ninety thousand stem cells were extracted from my bone marrow, enough for a future transplant if needed. (I hope those cells enjoy a long time of storage :) )

Christine was the kind nurse that spent about twenty-one hours with me in the process of collection. Her job is to watch the patient and a machine for three or four hour harvesting sessions. I’ve never met a more diligent nurse. She is a young lady with a daughter the age of our youngest child, Karlyn. She was kind, personable, and professional. She knew all about this incredible machine that took my blood and separated the different cells. I was so impressed with the way Christine did her job. She never fell asleep. Her job was to watch.

Besides enjoying a ‘little’ basketball while cooped up, I also saw a war movie that made me remember my trials are quite trivial compared to the trials of many. In this movie there was a little boy who was also given the job of watching. When he saw the enemy come over the horizon, he made the call that prepared an army to fight. So often this past week I was reminded of Jesus’ assignment to each of us: “Watch.”

Much could be written about each statement below. If it were just me saying it, I don’t know that I’d pay that much attention. But Jesus is the spokesman and His words in the Gospels and in Revelation must be heeded in our day and time. I’ll paraphrase a bit then give some Scriptures to read.

  1. Watch for false prophets and those who will deceive many. Remember you can tell the false prophet by his fruit.
  2. Watch for things to happen on earth that will cause much turmoil. But you do not need to be afraid.
  3. Watch to make sure you are doing what God has given you to do. Don’t be caught sleeping.
  4. Watch to make sure you are using the talents you have been given. Don’t bury yours.
  5. Watch that your love does not grow cold. The wickedness in the world will make this common.
  6. Watch a world become hostile to the Gospel. But trust the Holy Spirit to enable you to be a witness.
  7. Watch Jerusalem… a city that has often been a part of God’s plan.
  8. Watch that your hearts are not weighed down with worry and selfishness. Such people are not prepared.
  9. Watch for Me in need. When you serve the least of my brothers and sisters, you serve your Savior.
  10. Watch that you are not lukewarm. I would rather you be hot or cold.

Matthew 24 and 25
Mark 13
Luke 21
John 15
Revelation 2, 3, and 4

“What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!” Mark13:37

Lord willing, I’ll fly out with a group to Namibia this coming Wednesday… so I won’t write for a while. Thanks for love and prayer.
Dana

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healing

Posted on March 11, 2006 by Dana

Methinks sometimes when I write something God says, “OK, now live it out.” (It is easier just to write it :) ) So, I’m in the midst of persevering, hoping we can get enough stem cells for a future transplant (if needed). The normal procedure did not work this past week as we only got a tenth of what is required. So this next week we are trying an experimental drug discovered in AIDS research that tends to bring more stem cells out of the bone morrow into the blood stream. This means another weekend of shots, more tests, and a brief hospitalization Tuesday and Wednesday. Perseverance… :-)

So I thought I would change topics and write a little about healing… Five years ago, I firmly expected God to miraculously heal me of cancer. I know He really did, but I was kind of hoping for the type that bypasses all the suffering. It really is amazing to think of all the things that have been discovered in medicine. God deserves the glory for all these advancements and I praise Him for the progress made in my disease. From a purely scientific point of view, if I had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma twenty-five years ago, I would not have lived more than a year. Five years ago, there was no chemotherapy around that would knock back the cancer like the new chemo I received before Christmas. Even this experimental drug, which has only been in use about a year, is an incredible advancement that gives people with damaged bone marrow hope for harvesting stem cells. I am thankful for all these discoveries and I am certain that, if God permits, man will continue to find ways to combat cancer and other diseases. If He chooses another transplant as the path for me to go, I pray for grace.

But I know God heals in other ways. Some doctors and nurses will tell you there are things they have seen that defy any medical explanation. Taylor told us some funny stories about healing from his recent trip. People sometimes say, “Yea, all those stories of miracles always happen in some third world country where there is no proof. Why doesn’t God just heal everyone in Northside Hospital? Then I’ll believe.” I imagine God has His reasons for what He does and where He does it. Even Jesus addressed such skepticism in the prideful people of His hometown as He prepared to share truth they did not want to hear. “Surely, you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” (See Luke 4:23-30)

One of Taylor’s friends, who went on a different outreach, shared God’s display of power as they visited a local church. In that church there was a lady that had been blessed with the gift of healing. When Zeke saw this, he said, “Man, I wish God would use me this way!” The lady told him to come over and she would pray for him. Zeke related the story: “She prayed for me a long time and when she finished I was stoked! But then she told me I needed to put this gift into practice and she pointed to Chris!” Chris was one of the leaders on the outreach and everyone knew he had a disability. Chris had been born with a condition where one leg was three to four inches shorter than the other. Taylor said Chris had a very noticeable limp and that he could not run or do physical activities the way most people could. “You want me to heal Chris?” Zeke asked reluctantly. Well, Zeke walked over to Chris and asked if he could pray for him. He did not lay a hand on him, but while he prayed Chris yelled, “What are you doing?” Chris described what felt like three separate tugs on his leg and his shorter leg grew about three inches. Taylor said this was one of the testimonies shared in front of two hundred people after all the students came back together in Hawaii at the end of the outreaches. As Zeke told the story, everyone turned around and looked at Chris. He just waved and said, “It’s true!”

Isn’t that cool? I asked Taylor, “What if someone denied that such a thing happened?” “I’d just give ‘em Zeke’s phone number and let him tell the story.” Taylor said it was not uncommon for God to heal people out in the country-side of Cambodia. “We didn’t see much healing in town, but God often healed people in the hill country.” He told us about a guy who had been bedridden for two years. After much prayer, a missionary named Garth told him to get up. The guy not only got up and walked, but he started jumping. The funniest story Taylor told took place the previous year when a team went to pray for the sick in the country. “This girl on the outreach prayed for a man with a withered arm. Right there in front of everyone, the arm grew and became normal. The girl that prayed was so shocked, she fainted!” The “faith of a mustard seed…”

Many of you have heard, perhaps, that a generous family gave me a ticket to go to Africa this spring. I want to go without this catheter in my neck and with more than a mustard seed of faith! Our team will serve many orphans in Namibia whose parents have died of AIDS. How Africa needs healing! How the children need comfort for their hearts and food for their bellies! How the missionaries need encouragement and support from the Body of Christ! May our awesome God do far more than we can ask or imagine!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

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persevere

Posted on March 4, 2006 by Dana

Susan looked at me on Sunday and whispered, “That message was for you.” We’ve probably all had a spouse or loved one tell us to perk up because God is telling us something, but it is a bit strange when the lesson is coming from your own child. As Taylor shared about his trip, I realized that God had taught our son some valuable truths in Cambodia. Everyone enjoyed hearing about the orphans the missionaries served and the Buddhists that were interested in hearing about Jesus. But Taylor said the main thing God kept showing him was that he had to persevere.

“I was so sick four days that I could not even get out of bed. All I could do was read my Bible and I kept running across these verses that told me to persevere. I also saw that we should rejoice in hard times. I can’t explain I it, but I had peace even though I felt horrible.”

Right now, I’m in the middle of shots that are to bring stem cells from my bone marrow into my blood stream. This drug makes my bones ache and the days ahead don’t look any better. Monday they will begin to check my blood to see if enough stem cells are present. When the count is good they will insert a double-line catheter into an artery in my neck and begin collection. Basically my blood goes out one line into a machine that captures the stem cells then the blood is sent back into my body through the other line. Five years ago it took three days to get enough stem cells for a transplant. I guess we’ll see what happens this week.

I’ve read all the Scriptures Taylor shared on Sunday. I’ve often written and talked about perseverance and the peace of God. Taylor has heard me teach many of these things over the past few years. But I realized Sunday that his message was not just a repeat of things he had been taught. He spoke with a type of certainty because he had embraced God’s Word and God had shown him that what He says is true. We know that what God says is true, but there are times we must embrace His Word and say, “OK Lord, this is for me. I accept it.” This past week I talked to many people who are suffering. Some trials are so intense I don’t see how they go on. But I know there is a peace that surpasses anything the world can understand. This peace can guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I pray God will give us the grace to persevere and I pray His joy will be our strength.

“We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:4

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

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