Posted on 01/02/2015 6:32:36 AM PST by SeekAndFind
This does not surprise me.
In fact, with all the breast cancer with my sister and so on, I’ve heard more and more that heredity is not actually a big factor.
But we are still asked all the time.
Yes there are huge exceptions. Some babies are born with leukemia. And I don’t think 1-9 year olds get stressed out. Maybe cranky.
Then again the most upbeat people I have met were in the oncologist waiting room. There was not a lot of “pissing and moaning” going on.
This article explains much a geneticist told me after mapping my family history and doing an extensive genetics test. It’s a lot more than “good zen”.
3 generations of relatives with multiple colon polyps and colon cancer pretty much put me and my siblings in the 50/50 range. So really it’s early testing and detection that reduces the chances.
But heredity us a powerful factor as well.
We won’t know for sure in this life. However what is important is how we face each test of faith. Whether it be chastisement, as you offered, or an “Abraham and Isacc” Moriah moment, we don’t know. What’s important IMHO is how we face it by going to the foot of the cross and gaze on the empty tomb.
I do usually use great caution when discussing such issues of cancer and sin in general based on the above explanation. We don’t know. And Jesus said:
John 9:
1And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. (KJV)
“...why are we exposing our teens to Gardisil...?”
Excellent question. I refused to allow any of my daughters to get this vaccine, especially since they were not sexually active. Surprisingly, their pediatrician did not push me to make them have it. Of the older daughters (now twenties) - two are married and our daughter who just turned 17 will Not be getting that vaccine.
It's one thing to be born blind, but perhaps another thing to lose one's sight due to the consequences of life choices.
By our choices of not just food and exercise, but more broadly of thought and action, we grow stronger or weaker.
We see how poisons build up within if our organs don't continually remove them, is this also true of sin? Does it also leave residual poisons in the physical and spiritual bodies?
Do such poisons also build within just like the byproducts of metabolism and chemistry do?
This seems likely and would explain much of what I've seen and experienced from childhood until now in myself and in those around me.
Just a theory...
Yes a theory. However the truth is only Christ can remove our sin. No diet or physical regimen can purge us of sin.
A theory regarding cause and effect, or, if you prefer, an attempt to explain (to me) what I've observed based upon Scripture's ultimate truth.
The flesh will perish.
The Spirit is life.
So yes, God demonstrates in Scriptures and our lives that He will use temporal means to both chastise us and test us to further conform us to the Image of The Son, Jesus Christ.
Look at Job, he did not sin and walked with God. Yet he was put to the test with temporal calamity.
I guess what I’m getting at is not all illness, tragedy and bad stuff that comes our way is due to sin. It could be someone walking in faith and one day you get called to take your son to Mt Moriah and sacrifice him. That’s what happened to Abraham. Contrast this with a man God said was a man after His own heart—David. David sinned by adultery and ordering the death of Uriah. David after repenting endured the worst temporal chastisement a parent could ever have. The loss of a child.
So I wouldn’t be too quick to go in an oncology office and tell people they have unrepented sin. Remembering how Job’s “friends” kept telling him he was in a horrible state because of sin. We know otherwise reading the rest of the story.
You do beyond a great disservice to others to tell them that their illness is due to sin in their lives.
You don't know that and you CAN'T know that. That knowledge is for God and Him alone and it's not for you, me, or anyone else to sit in judgment on them and tell them that. You don't have any idea of the amount of damage you can do to the walk of a weak Christian by presuming to be judge and jury for them and telling them stuff like that, or you wouldn't be doing it.
John 9:1-3 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Exodus 4:11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
God is sovereign. There is no such thing as *random chance*.
What appears to be random just has not been figured out yet.
Tell that to someone with that kind of make up who dies from very aggressive cancer within a year of diagnosis, or the nasty old folks who people say are so mean that even the devil doesn't want them to die.
No.
If you read my post more carefully, you would see that I acknowledge exceptions to the rule and was speaking in general terms.
If there were no sick people, there would be no chance to minister to them and show the love of Christ to them.
All those who blame illness on sin are Job’s worthless friends.
Yes God was hard on Job but his “friends” got both barrels:
Job 42:
7 And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.
An Honest Look at a Mysterious Journey.
John Stumbo.
http://www.amazon.com/An-Honest-Look-Mysterious-Journey/dp/0983933308
An awesome book about a very godly man and pastor who went through a life threatening illness that never was really diagnosed.
It’s very honest and down to earth and he did have to deal with the kinds of questions trials like that lead to and deal with ignorant people who take it upon themselves to judge others based on outward appearances.
What too many people fail to see is the incredible things God can do through something like a debilitating illness in the heart of the person afflicted.
Suffering like that produces a kind of character and integrity in a person that just isn’t developed in many other ways if any.
And yeah, I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but I would highly recommend the book.
Allow me to repeat myself so you then at least cogently respond instead of reacting, as is often the way you seem to me. This my original post:
I've been thinking about cancer and the various autoimmune diseases where the body attacks itself and the spiritual makeup of the person afflicted by them.The medical profession and the legal profession do tell us through warning labeling and stern advice that our bad habits (aka "sins" to some) such as smoking, drinking and eating to excess (gluttony is one of the deadly seven sins, btw) will result in diseases like cancer, diabetes, etc., often resulting in premature death, etc.If a person wasn't at all grateful for the body and soul God gave them, but instead envied other people for their looks and talents, how would that play out over a person's lifetime?
If nothing is done to stop that envy for others and perhaps hatred for the gifts God has given, I wonder if that sort of sin leaves debris within which accumulates with repetition over time.
Theoretically, at some point a sort of critical mass is reached, perhaps the moment when God says "enough is enough" and the person reaps one or more disease from these seeds of sin sown within.
In support of that theory is the healing power of prayer, faith and belief, which often results in "miraculous" healing.
Just a theory...
These warnings are also a disservice? Perhaps you would prefer a Joel Osteen sermon?
metmom, while I have my suspicions that you are an internet multiple personality, I've come to recognize your "metmom" persona as a life damaged fellow traveler and I will continue to pray for you.
You do seem rather needy in this regard, even more than I am, and I promise to do what I can for you. "Do unto others..." and all of that.
Be well, metmom.
metmom, while I have my suspicions that you are an internet multiple personality,
And just what the heck is THAT supposed to mean?
It means somebody’s ox has been gored by your commentary.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.