Tim Chaffey

Movie poster from How to Train Your Dragon

Last weekend I watched How to Train Your Dragon with my family and some friends. I thought it was a delightful, hilarious, and entertaining film—one of the best to come out in years. Of course, it wasn’t perfect. As a Christian I have a problem with someone saying “Thor almighty” in reference to a Norse god (Thor is a false god and isn’t even considered to be almighty, but I don’t expect Hollywood to excel in theology or mythology). But beyond that, I really enjoyed the movie.

A certain line was spoken three times in the movie. Hiccup, the boy who trains a dragon, said, “But you just gestured to all of me.” (One time the word “gestured” was replaced with “pointed”). Two of the times Hiccup was being ridiculed for messing up, but the other time He was being praised for saving the day.

This line got me thinking about what God expects of us. When God calls us to serve Him, He is not asking for a half-hearted commitment. He doesn’t want lukewarm. When He saved me, He “gestured to all of me.” He wants me to commit everything to Him.

Too many professing Christians think that they can give God one morning a week or perhaps one day a week, but fail to live for Him the rest of the time. Some don’t even go that far, thinking that they fulfilled their commitments to Him by going through some sort of catechism as a kid. Too often we compartmentalize our faith, by thinking that we can give God an hour of our time, but the rest belongs to us. But God gestures to our entire being.

Jesus talked about the level of commitment that is required to be His follower. In Luke 9:23 He said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let Him deny Himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” In other words, our commitment level to God should be so strong that we must deny ourselves and be willing to live and die for Him.

When God called Isaiah to serve Him, the prophet responded by saying, “Here am I. Send me.” He didn’t say, “Well God, I’ll give you one day out of seven, but you gotta let me live how I want to live.” That’s because God gestured to all of him.

The same is true for believers today. God desires for us to follow Him wholeheartedly. Some people are afraid to make that type of commitment because they cling to the things of this world. I must admit that I struggle with it at times too. However, I have learned that things go much smoother when we deny ourselves and give Him control.

Psalm 37:4 tells us what happens when we make this commitment. “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” When we live for Him instead of ourselves, then He will bless us with the joy, peace, and comfort that we all long for. He gestured to all of me and He wants you to give Him your whole life too.

God and Cancer has been a blessing to many people going through difficult situations.

[This article is an updated repost from my previous blog from March 2009]

Many of our readers know that in the summer of 2006, I was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. I spent about a month in the hospital, went through four rounds of chemotherapy, and found out what it means to fight for my life. By God’s grace and the skill of my doctors and nurses I was given the “all clear” three months later. Thankfully, I am alive to tell about it.

Leukemia is a form of cancer that infects the blood. There is no doubt that cancer is a terrible disease. It has caused the death of millions and nearly everyone knows someone that has been impacted by this malady.

Most people struggle with the idea that the loving God of the Bible could or would allow this type of evil and suffering to exist. Those who have been diagnosed or have watched a loved one suffer from cancer find it difficult to find hope.

I wrote God and Cancer: Finding Hope in the Midst of Life’s Trials to focus on those two issues. The first part of the book takes the reader on a journey through the stages of my own battle with leukemia. In these chapters, I provide biblical and practical advice to help the reader find hope and peace in the midst of the despair, worry, doubt, pain, and frustration that often comes with a cancer battle.

In the second part of the book, I deal with what is commonly called the problem of evil or the problem of suffering. Many people have been led to believe that these things show that God does not exist. On the contrary, in this section, I demonstrate that these things actually support the Bible’s message that a God of love exists who cares deeply for each of us. The Bible supplies the only legitimate explanation for the origin of evil and suffering and it also gives us the only solution.

It is my prayer that God will use this book to help those who are struggling to find hope in this life that is so often filled with difficult situations. God and Cancer is now for sale at our online store and from Amazon.com and other online retailers.