And it’s Time-Sensitive

First up, a prayer request. Fellow blogger Heather says her mother Penny has been diagnosed with cervical cancer, and it’s pretty far along. It is considered inoperable because surgery may damage her kidneys. The doctors believe they can cure it with radiation. Right now they are performing procedures to open up the connections between her kidneys and bladder. They tried this morning and failed; they are trying again at 1:00 p.m. I believe that’s Eastern time.

Heather says: “I am asking for your help in praying and asking that the Lord shrinks this tumor away from the kidneys & bladder.”

Prayer for healing works. There is no doubt about it. I am aware that there a lot of failure stories out there, but there are also a lot of legitimate successes, and I have experienced healing, personally. So I hope you will take a minute to consider Penny’s plight. You might also pray that her relationship with God would be deepened and strengthened, and that he help her turn to him and serve him. Prayers are most effective when coupled with a turn toward God.

It’s funny, I was busy with my unusually late morning prayer and study, and although I don’t like interrupting that, I felt like coming in here and checking my email. And there I saw Heather’s request. I’ll be going back to my personal business as soon as I post this.

I have a product to recommend. You may be tired of hearing about my sister and me, but I have to tell you, she has turned out to be like a buried treasure chest. All I hoped for was a relationship and a turn to God, but she keeps providing me with unexpected blessings, like the incredible Bible software she got me.

A couple of days ago, she dropped off a Wayne Cochran CD. Like most charismatics, he is very big on memorizing and claiming the promises of the Bible. Sometimes they go overboard on this, but there is no doubt whatsoever that it works. He has created a package of CDs, in which he reads selected verses, with music in the background. He repeats them over and over. The idea is that you play these things in the background while you live your life, and it soaks into you.

I ripped the CD to my MP3 player and gave it a try last night. It’s fantastic. Much better than I expected. If you can listen to this stuff and not feel powerful and full of faith at the end, there is something wrong with you.

I tend to be suspicious of things like this, because they generally cost a fair amount, and I am leery of Christian products where the profit motive seems too prominent, and I would be afraid of giving people the impression that having material like this playing in the background has a magical effect that allows you to receive blessings with no effort. Prayer wheels don’t work. But it has turned out to be a very helpful product, so I can’t criticize it at all. You can find these things at Voice for Jesus.

I am considering asking if I can send a couple of these to Mish Weiss and Leah Friedman. As you probably know, they both have severe medical problems. This stuff is all Old Testament (at least the disk I listened to), so I don’t foresee any problems over the Christian aspect.

Here’s some weird news. A few days back, Rich Wilkerson’s Trinity Church sent me a card promoting their “My 40-Day Challenge” event. They are helping people make changes in their lives for the New Year. You can see the promotional website here.

Shortly afterward, I got a call from my sister. She has decided to quit smoking, as of yesterday. I can’t tell you what great news this is. We have had so many cancer deaths, and apart from that, smoking creates a lot of friction. It’s irritating, riding in a car with someone who has to have the windows open even when it rains. The smell on a person’s belongings and clothing is very hard to tolerate. And smokers inconvenience people all the time, going to buy cigarettes or insisting on taking breaks to feed their addiction. Also, my sister has hopes of finding a husband, and smoking makes that much harder. Truthfully, a cigarette in a woman’s hand is like a flag that says, “Don’t marry me.”

I told her about the card. I don’t know if she’ll make any use of it.

Yesterday, I was IMing with Aaron, and we were talking about religion, and on his own, he mentioned a bit of rabbinical wisdom. I may be distorting it. I believe he said they believed that if you can make a change for the better and hold onto it for 40 days, it will become permanent.

Of course, I had not mentioned Rich Wilkerson. So I was all freaked out. I think I’ll tell my sister.

Wilkerson seems to have gotten the 40-day concept from Jesus’s fast in the desert, although I suppose he might be familiar with the Jewish reference Aaron cited.

That’s it. I’m posting so you will have time to help Heather’s mom.