Finding and Being an Oasis
-Joe Fornear Why is this happening to me? A common human response to difficult times. It’s evidently not a problem to ask this question of God – even Jesus asked on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you…
Category battling cancer
Hidden Oasis in the Desert
-Joe Fornear Could the most difficult times also be the most beneficial? Before you tune me out, I think this is exactly what the Lord says in His love letter to us! But wait, who volunteers for a desert experience?…
The Long Arm of the Lord
-Joe Fornear Some people talk about “The Universe” orchestrating events and ordering or disordering our lives. They try to stay on the right side of “it” so that good things will happen in their lives. Others chuckle at an impersonal…
Today is Terri’s 12th NEDiversary Too!
– Joe Fornear Today is the 12th anniversary or NEDiversary of the day I was declared “No Evidence of Disease” – cancer free from Stage IV melanoma. So I want to honor and thank my warrior wife, Terri, as well…
Five Signs Your Cancer Struggles Are Normal
My response to Pauline F.’s question was a no-brainer. During the 12 years since my cancer battle, and seven years with Stronghold Ministry helping people fight cancer, it’s the question I’m asked most frequently. I too had the question during my…
Do You Have an Ideality Gap?
So I questioned, and still question today, my inner slave driver. “Do you seriously believe you can out-think, out-plan and out-produce the God of the Universe?" After all is said and done and re-done and re-said, He gives to us even in our sleep!
Listen to the Mockingbird!
Storms can leave a muddy mess, but we can rise - even glide above it all. The poet Carl Sandburg once said, “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.” In the fiercest storm of my life, my Stage IV cancer battle, wallowing in the mud was easy, yet wallowing made everything harder. On the other hand, praising God was hard at first, but made coping much easier.
Keep Calm and Cry Out to Jesus
Sometimes life's pain can be so physically and/or emotionally draining that something needs to give... quickly. When even the best of human efforts makes little difference, there is always something we can do - "cry out" to the Lord.
Power to Spare AND Share
And the beauty of Christ’s resurrection power is that He showed it in order to share it!
Just. Be. Held.
If your eyes are on the storm
You'll wonder if I love you still,
But if your eyes are on the cross
You'll know I always have and I always will.