Please pray for John Piper as he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Here's his letter to Bethlehem, his church. All pastor's should strive to live in a way that result in letters like this in times of walking through the valley of the shadow of death. (HT: JT)
Tuesday,
January 3, 2006
Dear Bethlehem Family,
I
hope this letter will encourage your prayer, strengthen your hope, and
minister peace. I am writing with the blessing of the other elders to
help you receive the news about my prostate cancer.
At
my annual urological exam on Wednesday, December 21, the doctor felt an
abnormality in the prostate and suggested a biopsy. He called the next
day with the following facts: 1) cancer cells were found in two of the
ten samples and the estimate is that perhaps 5% of the gland is
affected; 2) my PSA count was 1.6, which is good (below 4 is normal); 3) the Gleason score is 6 (signaling that the cancer is not aggressive). These three facts
incline the doctor to think that it is unlikely that the cancer has
spread beyond the prostate, and that it is possible with successful
treatment to be cancer-free.
Before going with Noël to consult in person with the doctor on December 29 about treatment options, I shared this news with the Bethlehem staff on Tuesday morning, December 27, and with the elders that
evening. Both groups prayed over me for healing and for wisdom in the
treatment choices that lie before us. These were sweet times before the
throne of grace with much-loved colleagues.
All
things considered, Noël and I believe that I should pursue the
treatment called radical prostatectomy, which means the surgical
removal of the prostate. We would ask you to pray that the surgery be
completely successful in the removal of all cancer and freedom from
possible side effects.
With
the approval of the executive staff and elder leadership, we are
planning surgery in early February. The recovery time is about three
weeks before returning to a slow work pace, and six weeks to be back to
all normal activities.
This
news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the
world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The
news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God
for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet.
For example, is there anything greater to hear and believe in the bottom of your heart than this: “God
has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we
might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)?
God has designed this trial for my good and for your good. You can see this in 2 Corinthians 1:9,
“Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that
was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.”
And in 2 Corinthians 1:4-6, “He
comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God . . . If we are afflicted, it is for
your comfort and salvation.”
So
I am praying: “Lord, for your great glory, 1) don’t let me miss any of
the sanctifying blessings that you have for me in this experience; 2)
don’t let the church miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you
have for us in this; 3) grant that the surgery be successful in
removing cancer and sparing important nerves; 4) grant that this light
and momentary trial would work to spread a passion for your supremacy
for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ; 5) may Noël and all
close to me be given great peace—and all of this through the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.” I
hope God will lead you to pray in a similar way.
With deep confidence that
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Corinthians 15:54-57
Pastor John
With Sam Crabtree, Lead Pastor for Life Training
Kenny Stokes, Lead Pastor for Spreading
Tim Johnson, Chairman of the Council of Elders
Ross Anderson, MD, Bethlehem Elder
