More from Jacob

The American church landscape is littered with three basic types of people. Since we often forget the Gospel as the centerpiece of our lives, the tendency for a long time now has been to teach and preach a kind of moralism or do-gooder mentality that has stripped the church of its First Love. This creates two of these groups of people. The first are the moralists who try to achieve righteousness on their own by doing better and trying harder to follow a set of rules. Then, you have the millions of people (most of which have left the church out of frustration) who despair because they can't seem to be good enough to follow the rules. The first group becomes legalistic and arrogant as the 'ones' who have it figured out. Jesus blasted these 'religious' people. The second group will never give the real church a chance because of their despair which comes out in many forms from anger to downright rebellion. The lack of Gospel-centering has driven both groups to extremes which are living far from peace and restoration.

Our look at Jacob in Genesis 32 showed us the answer to this problem. When Jesus initiates relationship, we should do what he did -- just hold on in meekness and humility and don't let go of your First Love. Listen to God speak through the prophet Hosea about this encounter between Jacob and God:

In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;
as a man he struggled with God.
He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel
and talked with him there—
the LORD God Almighty,
the LORD is his name of renown!
But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always. Hosea 12:3-6

This says that Jacob WEPT (as a broken and contrite man) and BEGGED for the blessing of God. This is from one of the most selfish, self-centered men in history. Therefore, this should be our daily attitude as we are saved, are BEING saved, and will be saved. It is Jesus, the Lord Almighty - our first love, that brings us to daily repentance and then joy, peace, and restoration. It trying to follow a set of rules that leads to arrogance or despair. In contrast, it is holding onto Jesus and loving Him because He first loved us. Then, we stand up in humble power and love a dying and hurting world as ministers of reconciliation. This is the third group -- the deep and blessed group. Which group are you in today?

Kel's Health

Update -- The cat scan report came in today and she has two more nodules -- one in each lung. One is 6 millimeters and the other is 4. We have to wait 3 months and pray that when they take more pictures, none of the 3 are growing. This is not what I would have chosen, but as usual, I am not doing the choosing. Thanks for all of the prayers and loving attention. Christ will be glorified. See below for the original post.

Original
Actually, here is the straight scoop on Kelley's health, so that if you have somebody asks you, just refer them to the blog. I have already heard some crazy distortions of this.

She has not been feeling well for about six weeks now, and we thought she just had a UTI (bladder infection). When she saw a urologist, blood was discovered in her bladder. It is automatic procedure now to do a cat scan when blood is found in the bladder. The results of that cat scan gave us quite a shock. The bladder is still a mystery, but a 4 millimeter nodule (pretty good size, easy to see) showed up in the bottom part of her lung.

That is really all we know right now. There is no evidence of cancer at this point. But, we are in a tortuous waiting game. She will receive another cat scan in three months. If the nodules have grown, surgery will take them out immediately to be be biopsied. If there is no growth (she may have had this for 20 years), we repeat that process for 2 years (cat scans every 3 months). If they come out and are benign (growth does not necessarily mean malignancy), we are done. If it is malignant, they will remove an entire lobe of the lung immediately (and I am sure other ugly things start). If there is no growth in 2 years, we are done.

She is feeling fine. She ran a 5 mile race in St. Louis on Saturday and hosted lots of people at our house yesterday. We studied the magnificence of God together last night as we starting the Crazy Love study in our cell. That was sweet. I have a feeling that we will do a lot more of that stuff as the two years creep by.

It is a major sin in my life that I have taken a Proverbs 31 wife for granted. She was widowed as I chased basketball championships, and maybe a little as we have gone nutso for Christ by starting The Bridge. She has just always been so solid and there while I was at times wildly chasing dreams. I will now be solid for her if Christ reigns and rules in me.

Here are things you can pray for:
1. That we both draw closer to Christ minute by minute through our ordeal.
2. That HE be glorified every step of the way no matter the news.
4. That the current nodules stay at the same size they are now.
5. That the doctors get to the bottom of the bladder issue. That is what is making her sick.

Thank you for your love and concern. May Christ be glorified.