A Christian man who was dying of cancer writes in to ask Pastor John two days ago I was diagnosed

with prostate cancer.

I always felt that because I'm a follower of Christ I would not struggle immensely with

my mortality, but in all honesty I feel an awful emptiness as the end is near.

I so want to not waste this, I want to be joyful, but I'm afraid that I will fail in this

final test.

And after reading your book don't waste your cancer, I just can't grasp how you would

consider this a gift.

Any counsel would be appreciated.

Pastor John, what would you say to this man?

Well, there are sudden changes in life, like a phone call from a doctor that I remember

and that he's now gotten, and when you walk into a new land, a new territory, a new

neighborhood, it's not immediate that things come into focus.

In other words, I'm trying to cut this man a lot of slack that the sheer newness of the

land where he just landed is not yet in clear biblical focus for him.

It's strange, he's disoriented and he's trying to get his bearings in.

And I regard his question as a tuning of his compass.

And so if I could help him tune his compass, then I would be happy.

But I don't think he should despair quickly that his spiritual bearings have been jolted

and he's off balance right now and he needs to find his balance.

So that's what the Word of God is for, and I'll just share a few things that are huge

in my orienting myself in this world, especially when the world becomes very, very fragile.

...