Being a Christian for most of my life, you kind of get complacent and jaded. You kind of forget why you became a Christian or you wonder what your life would be like if you weren't. The last year in my studies, I've learned something. I learned that God is not a respector of persons. In the book of Job, I learned, who am I to question God? If I was God, or equal to or greater than God, then maybe. But physically, I'm just dust. In Romans, I learned that God chooses who to use. You might be a believer, you might not be. If God has a use for you, He will use you. If He chooses to take you into His presence, he will. If he chooses to discard you and let you burn in hell, that's his perogative. If God chooses to use.....Steve Martin, the comedian, who may or may not be a Christian to teach me a lesson in life, then he may. So a couple of weeks ago, I was flipping channels on the television when I stumble onto a movie that I saw before. It starred Steve Martin. I could relate to this movie because in my life, I've lived through two Christian revival movements. In the late 70's there was the Jesus movement. where rock n rollers "found Jesus" and young people all over the world became born again Christians. Then in the mid 80's early 90's the Word of Faith movement where miracles and healings and really mind blowing stuff happened "in the name of Jesus". The Word of Faith movement really scared me as not only was there miracles but I felt great doubt that this was all God's doing. Somewhere in there, God's love got lost in the preaching that if you believe, in faith, you can get anything you want. Healing, riches, even revenge on somebody. So in this movie, Steve Martin is a faith healing evangelist. The whole thing was a con job. Not too much a stretch from some of the TV programs we saw in the past. The movie has to do with how the evangelist was knocked to his senses when God chose to actually heal somebody at one of these meetings. It was fascinating study of human behavior. So in thinking of this movie, God spoke to my heart. I have had many friends and relative die of cancer. I know others in the fight against cancer right now. For those who have gone already, I've rationalized the loss by telling myself that their work on this physical plane has completed. For those who truly believe that Christ is the son of God and that he came to die for our sins, and in believing that, we are save, they've moved on to a better life. They are now free of the physical sicknesses and pains that we encounter in our day to day lives. But what about the "miracles" ? Are there really some who get healed? All my life, I've told myself yes, miracles can still happen. I even saw a few. I even experienced that infilling of the Holy Spirit that left me with a feeling so amazing, I can't explain it. And yet, I doubt a miracle of the major kind can happen when friends tell me they're sick, or their marriage is breaking up, or some other life disaster. How would I react if a miracle really happened? Maybe with scepticism? God showed me a miracle and I didn't even see it. My friend Linda called me up awhile ago and told me about her mom. Her mom had cancer. After all the chemo, her mom asked God for 10 years. She would serve God in some form of ministry for that time. In that 10 years, God also blessed her with grandchildren from both her kids. Then the cancer came back. So when I went to her funeral last year, God had fulfilled a promise and so did Linda's mom. We weren't sad for her. We were sad for us as we would miss her sorely, but she is in a better place now. Which brings me to Linda. Linda has cancer also. Everybody that knows her knows that ovarian cancer has a low survival rate. We're all hoping and praying that Linda puts up a fight and survives. But we also know that she doesn't have much time here with us. But do I believe God can do a miracle here? Who am I to tell God to heal somebody? I'm not. But I'm going to pray that Linda finds a ministry that allows God to use her...even to extend her life beyond all medical expectations. I'm going to start by praying that Linda has a good Christmas, free of pain and no need to go to the hospital for another transfusion. That she spends quality time with her family and friends this Christmas. Then I'm going to pray that whatever God chooses to do, Linda remains blessed, even to the extent of seeing a miracle happen.