"The Other Side" Hebrews 11 has long been called the "Hall of Faith" and for good reason. One verse that is seldom spoken of in Hebrews 11 though is number 39. After spending considerable time discussing how many heroes of the faith received many miracles the writer switches gears in verse 36. He then goes on to talk about others who never received a miracle, but were faithful unto death. Some were tortured, some imprisoned, some were destitute and some were killed and then verse 39--"these all, having obtained a good report through faith"
My contention is that it takes more faith to endure torture and trials than it does to receive a miracle. Either way the Bible says those who received miracles and those who didn't all obtained a good report through faith.
"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:" (Heb 11:30-35)
Heb 11:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise..."
One family which has received cruel trials is the Mouser family which hails from near Dallas, Texas. Bill Mouser and his wife have a little daughter named Francesca (called Cheska, I believe she is 8) who has an inoperable brain tumor.
I'd like to share one of Bill's monthly newsletters that he has started writing since this horrible trial with Cheska started.
snip...
To avoid being misunderstood, I'll say right now that I wouldn't wish a brain tumor on anyone, particularly a kid. And, certainly not my own daughter. I mean that.
That said, I'll also say here (what I've said to a few of you privately before) that there are worse things, even for my daughter, than a brain tumor. And, for all the harm that comes to her and us from it, there comes some good as well. So, while we're waiting in the Mouser household for good medical news, I want to share some good news of another sort about Cheska herself.
She's the third of four daughters and, therefore, prone to various character weaknesses common to such kids. Add an invalid grandmother and an aging grandfather to her household (from the age of six months) and (from her point of view) it's probably been a struggle for the past seven years to get the attention she wanted. Until the BT, she was a whiney kind of kid; admirable in other respects, but still--whiney.
Among the things I worried about when we learned why her eye was crossing, I worried about how this trial would impact her character, her personality, and her relationships within and without the family. I worried about how she would handle coming face to face with her own mortality at the ripe old age of 8 or 9. You parents of BT kids know these and many similar worries, so I'll move along.
Since January 9, she and we have leaned very hard on her admirable qualities, chief among them a settled confidence in her parents and grandparents and, therefore, a roominess in her spirit to receive comfort, encouragement, and reassurance. Nevertheless, she's tended to keep her own counsel as to the heavy questions. In mid-January she asked us, "Am I going to die from this?" Our answer then, and now, is "A great many people with this problem die from it. We don't know what will happen with you, but we and the doctors are doing all we can to make the tumor go away. And, a great number of people are praying for you every day."
Rightly or wrongly, we've decided to answer the questions she asks, not the questions she hasn't yet thought to ask. But, she hasn't asked many questions, though she seems to be pondering heavily over the past three months. Yes, we know >>that<< she's thinking, and often we know the topics (her moon face, her expanding waist line, her wakefulness in the wee hours of the night, her limp, her double vision, the yucky taste of chlorella, the multitude of pills to take). >>What<< she's thinking about these topics is not so clear, since she keeps her own counsel. Wondering what she's thinking is about as difficult as wondering what her next MRI will show.
Then, on Monday, April 29, at the beginning of the short drive from school to home, she announced to my wife, "I want to tell you what's good about my brain tumor." "What?" is about all my wife mustered in reply.
"Well, I didn't used to like to read the Bible or go to church. But now I do." My wife and I have seen this too. Often, when the decadron provoked what we call "sad attacks," she will cuddle up with Mommy in the bed and ask her to read something. Often, lately, she's asked Mom to read from one of the children's Bible's around the house. And, I've noticed her being far more attentive to the Sunday morning liturgy and sermon than she used to. From my vantage point in the choir loft or reader's pew, I can often keep an eye on my kids. I'm not surprised if the liturgy seems to fly over their heads, but Cheska's face of late has shown genuine attention and interest to what the congregation around her is saying and doing. And, her questions have given my wife and me wide-open doors to teach her foundational tenets of the Christian faith--the meaning of the gospel, the meaning of prayer, what heaven is like, who's already there that she knows (Grandmother Beer, for one; an uncle, great-grandparents; even a cousin or two).
"Most kids don't talk to their parents, but I have these long conversations with you and Daddy." This is true. Three-hours a day for 30 days--on the road between home and radiation treatments, three weeks with her in a hospital room while the chemo drips into her vein--these were opportunities for her to have the undivided attention of at least one parent, often both. And we talked about many different things. "My friends only talk to each other. They don't talk with their parents very much. I asked them." Now that the intensity of Jan-Feb has passed, those opportunities aren't so plentiful; but, any time she wants to talk, she doesn't whine like she used to. She simply tells me or Mommy, "Let's go talk." And, we go talk.
"I didn't used to care for Grandmother Beer very much, but now I love her, and I want to see her in heaven." Some background is needed here . . .
Her maternal Grandmother Beer died two and a half years ago at the age of 69 after more than 25 years of a hard struggle with Parkinson's disease. Grandmother Beer's last years (the only ones in Cheska's memory) were heavy with the pain, depression, and frustration of this disease. Cheska always knew that Grandmother Beer was sick and that the problem was in Grandmother's brain; but a child simply has no framework to evaluate the physical and spiritual impact of advanced Parkinson's disease. Now, as she's monitored her own child-sized struggles with pain, depression, and frustration, as she's watched her own body refuse to cooperate with her will, as she's lain awake for hours in the middle of the night because the decadron won't let her sleep, she has obviously reprocessed a great many memories of Grandmother Beer. I don't think the word "compassion" is used very often in an 8-year old's vocabulary, but I'm confident now that the concept is alive and functioning in Cheska.
"Having the brain tumor is hard work, but this stuff [i.e. the things she'd already recited to my wife] is the good stuff you get from it." This viewpoint is one most parents would be thrilled to offer their child, but would probably be wary of doing so. I would be. It sounds so Pollyanna-esque, coming from someone who has no brain tumor. But, if she's framed her experience in this way--on her own--then she's already far, far stronger than I'd hoped she be, as far as meeting sterner trials ahead.
At this point, my wife offered her first real interaction. "Yes, dear. And someday, when the brain tumor is gone, these good things will remain. You'll always have them. They'll never go away."
By this time, they were pulling into the driveway at home. Unexpectedly, our daughter had quietly offered her mother (and later me) a boost of spirits that rivals a clean MRI.
A few days later, we were walking in a park near our home. The physical therapist recommends the uneven, rocky hiking path in Getzendaener Park, because it forces Cheska's weakened ankle to exercise itself; muscles in her ankle must contract in all sorts of ways for her to keep her balance. The additional stress is therapeutic.
While we pottered up and down the low hills on the trail, I asked Cheska again about her comments to Mother on Monday.
"You know, Daddy. I've really changed."
Yes, she has. But what changes did she mean? The physical changes are obvious, and they've challenged her personal equilibrium far more than the bumps and grooves in the path challenge her balance.
"I'm not the same Cheska that I used to be." Yes, that's also true. And, as we talked, I too heard what she'd so matter-of-factly shared with her Mother a few days before. If variable and stressful terrain can strengthen a weakened ankle, why are we surprised to learn that a brain tumor can strengthen an immature spirit?
Yesterday, Mom joined us for the walk, and Cheska spent much of the time striding in front of us, her heavy-booted feet (they're fashionable these days!) clomping confidently down the path. There before us was progress, progress of a different sort than what we'd been looking for. Of course, we'd rather have a clean MRI next month >>and<< this other kind of progress too. But if we have to settle for only one of these blessings, we'll gladly keep the one we've already gotten, and be grateful for that.
Bill Mouser, father of Cheska, pontine glioma 1/96 ********************************
So, there you have it. Many Christians on the list wrote me afterwards expressing gratitude for Cheska's testimony. And, I got a few messages from some who are probably not Christian; but, Cheska certainly got their attention. In private messages, I've been able to speak more forthrightly about the gospel.
Of course, so much of this progress comes from your prayers, so I wanted you to hear this too. Thank you so much for sustaining us all over the past four months! Sometimes it seems as if we have so far to go yet, to some kind of resolution. Seeing something like this in an 8-year old is certainly a drink of cold water for thirsty parents.
snip...
That is real faith, faith that endures whatever is before it. The problem with "Word of Faith" faith is that adversity doesn't fit into their theology. When life gets real (and it always does at some point in time) and things get tough you find out whether your faith is real and whether your anchor holds or not.
Bill Mouser's faith is real. His anchor holds and God is using it to reach others. What really did Jesus promise his followers, anyway? Did He promise health, wealth and prosperity or did He promise trials and tribulation?
It is great when God heals, delivers and blesses, but what if He chooses not to for whatever reason? Does our faith still hold?
Paul said that..."I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil 4:11-13)
Philippians 4:13 faith will take you through a trial and help you to be content in the midst of it. Name it and claim it, positive confession, health, wealth and prosperity faith will leave your faith shipwrecked in the midst of a trial. When you have confessed healings or blessings and they don't come (and they don't always)
Real faith is not based on formulas and positive confession (denying reality). Real faith is in a person (Jesus) and a trust that He will "not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (no matter what IT is)." (I Cor 10:13)
Jesus said, "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Mat 24:11-13)
The problem with "Word of Faith" faith is that it is a false faith in faith, not in Jesus. Many are deceived by the popular ear tickling message of health, wealth and prosperity, but when hard times come there is no ability to withstand a storm. There are no roots.
"The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."(Mark 4:14-19)
The "Word of Faith" person has no anchor that will hold when the winds of life blow and the waves of life rise. They are offended and frustrated that they have been sold a bill of goods. All the teaching they heard was about how to get more and more stuff and the American dream. When adversity hits they are quickly blown away.
Isn't it amazing also that Jesus said the cares of THIS world, riches, and lust for things choke the Word? Aren't those things the staples of the "Word of Faith" crowd?
Paul told Timothy, "...the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." (2 Tim 4:2-5)
To me, there is no more obvious group of people on the earth today with "itching ears" than the "Word of Faith" crowd.
Heb 12:7-8 says, "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."
Chastening or discipline is not a sermon topic in "Word of Faith" circles, nut it is Scriptural. In fact, Scripture says, without it we are not His children.
"Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. (James 5:10-11)
Isn't it something that the prophets of old who spoke for God mostly died at the hands of their listeners? I can't think of many prophets who died rich of old age.
"And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep." (Luke 6:20-25)
Blessed are the poor? Who said that, Kenneth Copeland? Kenneth Hagin? Blessed are the hungry and those who weep? I thought if you weren't healthy and wealthy that you lacked faith? Woe to the rich? Whoa there, I thought that was the whole idea behind "Word of Faith?" Sounds like there is a big conflict between "Word of Faith" and the Word of Jesus! As for me, I'll stick with Jesus. - For more information click on "The Other Side" of the News
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