He suffered from stage four tongue cancer, and he had given up. She sang his favorite song
by Robert Robinson as he lay in bed.
“Come thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.”
Then Alyson began singing her own words because she could not remember the rest. “You are good, God. You are good, God. You are good, God. You are good, God.” For three hours, she sang her praise song to the Lord and over her husband. The devotion to our Heavenly Father and to Jason changed the trajectory of his life. Instead of giving up, he kept on one day at a time.
Pastor Jason’s story began with a stage four cancer diagnosis. The doctors removed eighty percent of his tongue and treated him with chemo and radiation. Jason was told that he would never talk or sing again. But God’s ways are different than our ways. ”For all things are
possible with God.” Mark 10:27 (ESV) Two years later he wrote and sang “Those Walls.” This
song became a viral hit, and now Jason and his wife have launched The Blank Canvas Tour.
On 9/29 at FC Jason had his CD release show and sang his song “Untitled. ” Pastor Jason told us that a pastor introduced Jason but had forgotten his name and called him the “Cancer Guy.” Being known as the cancer guy was not a name he loved. A seagull bit Jason, but he was not known as the seagull guy. Or after the skunk sprayed him, he was not called the skunk guy.
Then Pastor Jason turned us to the Word. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
(NIV) The New Living Translation states “For we are God’s masterpiece.” In Greek the word is
“poiema,” which means poem. Pastor Jason coupled Ephesians with Philippians 1:6.
“And I am sure that God who began the good work within
you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until
his task within you is finally finished on that day when
Jesus Christ returns.”(NLT)
So though you are His poiema, you are not finished. When Jason is writing a song, he does not title it until after it is finished. That is why the song is “Untitled,” for he is not finished.
Additionally Pastor Jason talked about labels. “Labels don’t hurt me,” he proclaimed. For when he values God’s label for him, they are words such as “beloved” and “son of the King.” Those are words of endearment. In contrast, when we value people’s opinions of us, their words can hurt us. Do you remember that old rhyme, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.” That rhyme is so false. Words can be uplifting or damaging, and we do have to consider the source.
The fact is labels can be very dangerous. In the Bible, lepers had to yell,”Unclean, unclean.”
When lepers came around, people would scatter and tried to stay four cubits away from them. Lepers were banished to a separate community because others feared the dreaded disease so much. However, Jesus was different.
“A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging
to be healed, ‘If you are willing, you can heal me and make me
clean,’ he said.
Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched
him. ’I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be healed!’ Instantly the leprosy
disappeared, and he was healed.” Mark 1:40-42 (NLT)
The key word the leper stated was “if.” Was the Lord willing to heal him? Absolutely! In fact the leper was healed twice; first Jesus said,”I am willing.” That was an emotional healing. The second healing was physical because the leprosy left him. Labels can hurt; words can destroy people. But God…. We have a heavenly Father that gave His Son for us and displayed the ultimate love through His life, death, and resurrection. Just at that time, Pastor Jason sang “Speak love to me now.” Such a powerful statement! Instead of waiting until after a person has died, let’s remember to speak love now in our words and actions.
Our words can speak life or death to others. We often label others, judge them, criticize them. But when we negatively label others, we criticize the Creator. Instead of being negative, let’s speak life. You are God’s poiema. By the way, your enemy is God’s poiema.
Your song is not finished. Your first verse may be rough, but your story does not have to end like it started. Remember you are His beloved. You are His masterpiece. Can you hold on? When God sees you, He sees a beautiful poiema. He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son for you. The cross reveals how much He loves you. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (NIV) The best is yet to come.
May we be salt and light in this troubled world, and through the love of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit learn to speak and show life to people.
Calendar:
10/2-Midweek Encounter, 6:30
10/13-Prayer Night, 6:00-7:00
10/18-LB’s potluck, praise and speakers Pastor Tim and Maria Maxwell. Young adults pastors
Submitted by
Larry and Annette Linthicum
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