Cancer Is Not Your Shepherd: Intro & Chapter 1 

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. Michael E. Avendroth here. Glad you are listening. Talked to my friend Kevin the other day. He has Avocado Farm in Los Angeles, sorry, San Diego area. And he said he listens in the morning.

And so I was thankful for that. So Kevin, here's a shout out to you. And I'm looking forward to those avocados you're going to send me. You said you were going to do it. I don't even know your last name.

I just have you on my phone as Kevin Avocado. You know how they would get those names in the old days? You'd just look at something and you'd say, oh, I think I'll pick that for a name. So it's Kevin Avocado.

My name is Mike Avocado. And I don't even know if I ever had an avocado when I was a kid growing up in Nebraska. It was the 60s. I was born in 1960. By the time you hear this, my birthday will be over.

Hopefully make it to 64 years old, May 12th. And I don't think until college I had Indian food, Japanese food, Korean food, and rarely, rarely, rarely did we ever have Chinese food. I asked my father about that as I got older and he served in the Korean war, was over in Korea.

And I think he got sick of food that was, I don't know what you call it, Oriental, Asian, I have no idea, Korean. And so we didn't really have it around the house. We had things like Salisbury steak. I guess if you put enough gravy on it, it's fine.

Dad would get a white piece of bread, Wonder Bread, put it on his plate, lay it down, and then pour over it, pour gravy over it. We'd have gravy bread, a lot of meat and potatoes. That's probably why I've had cancer twice.

I'm not laughing about the cancer part, obviously, but all that to say, glad that you're listening today. Don't forget the new updated Sexual Fidelity book is out, 31 Day Guide to Purity. You can get that on amazon .com.

Gospel Assurance book is still selling. I'm thankful for that. And I think that's about all the announcements I have. Looking forward to being in California a little bit this summer, still doing my monthly cancer treatments and two more grandchildren on the way.

My grandson Amos is in town. Thankful to play around with him. He was giving grandpa kisses last night. Mouth open, drool everywhere. I was just trying to purse my lips so I wouldn't get sick if he was sick.

And then I would just go get the alcohol, rubbing alcohol, 91%. You thought I meant something else when I said alcohol. The rubbing alcohol, just wipe it all over my face. It can't be 70 alcohol. It has to be 91 because that's the grand proof, grandchildren proof if I can talk.

Reading Cancer Is Not Your Shepherd

Today, I thought I would do something a little different, different, different. And as you know, I've written the book, Cancer is Not Your Shepherd, a 31 Day Guide to Suffering. And I handed out, I think four of them at the hospital the other day, Dana-Farber Cancer Hospital.

I think Dana-Farber Jewish. And I don't, you know, obviously all the nurses aren't, but I have a staff. And so I made sure I gave them some books and my care team. And then I went down to the gift shop as well.

The gift shop lady didn't really seem like she was too interested, but I gave it to her anyway. I said, well, you're selling other spiritual books here, Buddhism and clean living and keto for cancer and all that other stuff.

So we shall see. Cancer is Not Your Shepherd, a 31 Day Guide to Suffering. And I have a friend that he's trying to get me on focus on the family to talk about this book. I don't know if it'll ever happen, but I thought I would be selling a lot more of them than I am.

Maybe that would help push it over for me. This is in my hand now, the cancer book. And I thought what I would do today, since I don't have Audible, I thought I would read a little bit of the book so you can get an idea of what's going on.

Right. So there's 31 days, the first 16 days I wrote. So it's kind of a devotional thing. You just read a little bit every day. So read your Bible first, then you can read this, or you could read it to someone.

I have a dear friend here, Dave, and his mom has cancer. And I read some of the gospel assurance book to her on FaceTime. That was really fun and sweet and memorable. And so that's the only part of my books I've ever read out loud.

Section two is our days 17 through days 31. And, oh, that's interesting. I just see, I just see a mistake. It says day 26, day 27, day 28, chapter 30, chapter 31. I got to fix that on the next go around on Amazon.

Anyway, I want to read a couple chapters today, at least talk about cancer, and maybe we'll entitle this Cancer is Not Your Shepherd. That's the name of this show. Day One, You Have Cancer. That's the title.

For about a year and a half, the first thing that entered my mind when I woke up was not, good morning, Lord. It was, I have cancer. That thought sadly dominated my thinking throughout the day and for many months, even years.

How do you stop thinking about your cancer? Repeatedly saying to yourself, stop thinking about cancer doesn't work because processing it in that way just raises the topic again and again in an ever repeating cycle.

In much of the Western world, we greet new people, introduce ourselves, and then ask the probing question, what do you do for a living? When the answer is given, we tend to size up the person based on what they do.

I'm not saying this is right. It just is. Education, experience, and expertise needed to do that specific job certainly flash through our minds as we unintentionally place a label on that person. Other people may end up labeling themselves saying, I'm a vegan.

So when a person has cancer, what is their identity? Dear Christian, you are struggling with cancer. Your identity is not your cancer. Do not read over this too rapidly. Your identity is not cancer. While you have cancer, it does not define you.

As you know, your identity includes being a spouse, parent, sibling, friend, neighbor, co-worker. Yet there is something more foundational. Your identity is found in your Savior. You are a Christian, a child of the living God.

To use the Apostle Paul's language, you are in Christ. Another way to approach this is by asking a diagnostic question. How does God see you? That's a pretty good question. That part's not in the book.

How does God see you? Does he view you as a person with cancer or a blood-bought son or daughter, all due to the great work of his Son, the risen Savior? You're not only made in God's likeness and image, but more than that, your representative Jesus has united you to himself.

This is the doctrine called union with Christ. To ground your identity in Christ is to proclaim union as the most important thing about yourself, and that it has zero to do with anything you have personally done.

Paul declares in Galatians 2 .20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

And it is true, not just for Paul, but also for every believer, including believers with cancer. Remember that you have died and been baptized into Christ Jesus. You were buried and raised with Jesus.

That is your identity. The old you is gone. The new you, which is in Christ, is the real you. And then in every chapter, I try to have Bible verses. It's a Christian book. Probably is a smart idea. Romans 6, 1 to 11.

What should we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death. In order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For the one who has died has been set free from sin.

Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all.

But the life he lives, he lives to God. So, you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. St. Clair Ferguson elaborates on the believer's union with Christ, writing,. Our union with Christ is a central theme in the New Testament.

The word Christian is used only three times in the New Testament. New Testament believers seem to have thought of themselves fundamentally as people who had been given a new identity, such that they were no longer united to Adam.

Rather, they had been brought into a new humanity in Jesus Christ. All the riches of his grace were given to them to transform them into his likeness and ultimately to lead to the fruition of that union when we see him face to face.

What do the following verses have to do with cancer? Hint, nothing. They have to do with being loved in Christ, forgiven in Christ, and more. 1 John 3 .1,. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God?

And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 Peter 2 .9,. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Your significance is not what you do or do not do, nor is it in what you have done. Your identity is not found in cancer. You are a Christian. Now, go set your alarm for an early wake-up call. Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry.

That was day one, chapter one, Cancer is Not Your Shepherd. What do I do next here? I was going to skip around. I think I'm going to just keep reading. I'm only 12 minutes into the show. I had Paige Fowler help me with this, my friend Stephen, and my friend Aaron, so I was thankful for their help.

Thank you to all three of them. All right, what else do we have here? How about, I think I should, I might as well do the introduction. Why not? This is to try to encourage people. This is to try to help them encourage others.

I guess it's probably going to be designed to sell books as well, but if you could put this in the hands of a person that has cancer, I think it would help them because it has scripture and I think they'd be willing to read it.

I've been asked the question, well, would this be good for an unbeliever? Of course. Now, they might not like the religious stuff, but I kind of pour my heart out a little bit and they would identify with me at least.

I would have some platform to be able to speak, but I think probably this is going to be widely accepted in the Christian world. That is to say, I don't think I'm going to sell that many copies. What?

A thousand or two copies over the next five years, something like that. But most of the books that I would write would be in the Reformed camp, in the Protestant camp, in the Calvinistic camp, in the Five Solas camp, that type of thing.

That's probably what's going to happen. Dumb phone is ringing here. Potential spam, it says. And this book, though, while the theology behind it is Reformed, the undergirding rebar is Calvinistic, whatever terms you'd like to use.

I'm not equating. I know my friend Scott Clark's listening. Scott, I'm not equating Reformed and Calvinistic. Meganoite. I'm just trying to use words here since I'm going off script. Obviously, every show is off script.

What I should probably do is do what my brother, Pat Abendroth, does on the Pactam. He studies, he researches, he's got everything wired. He does all his homework and his shows are excellent. You mean to tell me there's a correlation between hard work and good results?

My philosophy is, I'm not trying to say anything about Pat. He's doing a great job. But my philosophy is, I have to do this every day, not once a week, and therefore, the hard work that I've done is the past 50 years or 35 in ministry.

So, this is just, you know, it's like R .C. Sproul, how long did it take you to prepare that sermon, R .C.? You know, an hour and a lifetime. All that to say, you could give this to a Methodist, give it to an Episcopalian, give it to a Roman Catholic who has cancer, and I think they would be encouraged.

Reading the Introduction and Psalm 23

All right. I read chapter one, day one, but I did not read the intro. So, I might as well read the intro. If I had any sense, I'd be reading this every week, and then I'd chop these up, and then it would be the Audible book.

What am I thinking? I have no idea. Introduction, my story. Cancer number one, December 2015. Can't...this is why I'm not reading it, because I'm going to make a mistake. All right. Let's just redo that, okay?

You belong in the circus, Spock. I know, I know. Cancer number one, December 2015. Can't...Christmas is around the corner. We've got cancer at Christmas corner. How can I read all these words? Christmas is around the corner.

My children at university will all be home for the holidays. I will never forget how and when I found out I had prostate cancer. My PSA test, that is a test to measure possible prostate cancer, spiked.

After some consultation, 12 biopsies were extracted. While I'm sure birthing a baby hurts more and broken femurs are worse, 12 prostate biopsies, plus the lidocaine injection, must be a close third on the pain scale.

I gripped the exam table so hard that my hand hurt, and I lost count of the biopsies. The doctor said he would call with the results. I just finished guest hosting a very popular Christian radio show called Wretched Radio.

Wretched is a show with a national, if not international reach. I praised the Lord that he would use me to speak his word to such a large audience. The two-hour show was both exhilarating and stressful.

After it was finished, I walked over to my desk and saw my phone indicating a voicemail. I braced myself. I pressed voicemail. Hi Mike, this is Dr. So-and-so. Please call me when you get an opportunity.

At that very moment, I knew I had prostate cancer. Why? If I did not have cancer, the voicemail would have gone this way. Hi Mike, this is Dr. So-and-so. The test came back negative. If you want to know more details, call me at your convenience.

Have a Merry Christmas. One and a half years later, I had radiation, that is brachytherapy, on my prostate in a New York City hospital known for that prostate cancer treatment. Thankfully, everything went well, and I am prostate cancer-free as of February 2024.

My checkups are just every 12 months. Cancer number two. My blood work came back abnormal. The primary caregiver was nonplussed. You might just be fighting something, so come back for a retest in a month or two.

The second test result confirmed the first. Before I knew it, I was referred to a large cancer hospital in Boston, Dana-Farber. The first appointment in Boston started with an expansive blood panel and an appointment with a leukemia specialist.

The diagnosis yielded a pre-chronic leukemia. I would need no treatment, just yearly checkups to see if the disease progressed. Fast forward four years to late 2023. You definitely have chronic lymphocytic leukemia, CLL.

I must honestly say the second time a physician tells you you have cancer, it's easier than the first. The first time is shocking. The second time is, well, met more with resignation. Then further tests, bone biopsies, cardiology visits, all designed to make sure my body would be ready for the treatment or the protocol.

Two months later, I started two oral drugs. Technically, the pills are not chemotherapy. Rather, they are cancer targeting drugs. Two other prescriptions help minimize the effects of the cancer drugs.

The treatment will last anywhere from 12 to 24 months. As I write this book in early 2024, things are going according to schedule, and the outlook is good. Besides some side effects, tiredness, headaches, lethargy, weight gain, GI issues, and a few others, I still work and try to exercise when I can.

The routine. The first time you enter a cancer hospital for treatment is hard to forget. Everything seems new and strange. Bald people, sick children, wheelchairs, masks, gray skin, ports, IVs, wristbands.

Then the routine. Remember you parked on level P5. Check in on the first floor. Blood draw slash IV insertion on the second floor. Coffee and maybe some breakfast on the third floor waiting for the blood results.

Vital signs taken on the seventh floor. Meet with a care team to go over symptoms, strategies, and procedures. Receive infusions if needed. Go to the pharmacy on the second floor. And often, come back tomorrow.

But back to the waiting room in the lab blood draw area. The patients are easy to spot, and not just because they look thin, bald, or sick. It's because they have a wristband for identification and a small clip-on locator.

This device lets the staff know exactly where the patient is in the hospital. I first thought it was a Geiger counter or some radiation detection unit. It's rare to see someone alone in the blood draw area, or for that matter anywhere in the hospital.

Most every patient is accompanied by a loved one, or sometimes a driver or helper. I've been driven to tears as I observe a supportive spouse gently rub the hand of their loved one, surely wondering what will happen next, and what will happen in years to come, assuming they will both be around to experience them together.

While I cannot read their minds, their faces seem full of perplexity, sorrow, surprise, and a certain quietness that is hard to quantify. The common denominator with most is that they look scared. Sheep need protection.

Sheep need guidance. Sheep need personal attention. Being a pastor for almost 30 years, I have been in plenty of hospital rooms visiting sick congregants. My goal is to be compassionate and Christ-like.

I always open the scriptures to read some God-breathed encouragement about their risen Savior, Jesus Christ. I regularly read John 10 or Psalm 23. Many times I read both since they are tied together in so many ways.

I know that people need to be reminded about Jesus, who in scripture is called the chief shepherd, the good shepherd, and the great shepherd. Thankfully, every person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, this statement is true.

Cancer is not your shepherd. Cancer is not in charge. Cancer is not all-powerful. Cancer does not have the last word. Cancer is not a surprise to the Lord. Cancer is not your shepherd. Remember who your real shepherd is?

Psalm 23, The Lord Yahweh is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His namesake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.". I go on to have quoted John 10 and Ezekiel 34, excuse me.

And then the introduction ends. To repeat, suffering Christian, cancer is not your shepherd. You are not alone. You do not have to go through cancer treatments by yourself. While your family is surely super supportive, there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother or spouse or child.

Jesus laid down His life for you. Jesus loves you. He will care for you. He will protect you. He will guide you. He will lead you. You know His voice. He will never leave you or forsake you. Jesus will not let you perish.

You can trust Jesus for eternal destiny and life. You are, by God's grace, in the safe hand of the Father. And nothing, not even cancer, can snatch you out of His hand. One hospital visit, I said to my very supportive wife, these people look like sheep without a shepherd.

Certainly some of the people I watch must be Christians, but many are not. I feel so bad for the people who are going through such extreme trials, but they're going through them alone. They have turned their noses and backs on the Lord Jesus.

They simply will not believe in Him. Sin has blinded them. Seeing the lost, I desired to go into pastor or to chaplain mode and simply walk up to each patient and say, I'm a pastor. Can I read some of the Bible for you and then pray for you?

I want to point them to the Lord God, the one who shepherds, guides, protects, and cares for His sheep. Like it or not, you are shepherded by something or someone. Everyone follows. Everyone is led. You might be followed by time, circumstances, a worldview, debt, thoughts, illness, or a person.

As Pastor David Gibson writes, we are each following someone or something all the time. We're relying on someone or something other than ourselves to keep us safe and protect us and to provide the comfort we need to face life unafraid.

Cancer shepherds because it leads, it directs, but sadly it does not protect or provide. Cancer is a bad shepherd. For unbelievers, the news gets worse before it gets better. The ultimate shepherd for people who are not Christians is death.

Yes, death. The psalmist pens these haunting words, Psalm 49, like sheep they are appointed for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol with no place to dwell.

If you are not a Christian, death is the ultimate terror, and it is inevitable. Your only hope to be rescued from the punishment of your own sin is to run by faith to the Lord Jesus. The Eternal Son took on flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus perfectly obeyed God's righteous laws entirely. He merited or earned righteousness and bestows it on all who believe in him. Not only that, Jesus died a sinner's death, even though he was sinless, so that the just penalty for sin could be paid in full.

To prove his victory over sin, Jesus raised himself from the dead. All who call upon the Lord shall be saved. Call on him today, and remember, dear believer, cancer is not your shepherd. Well, my name is Mike Gabendroth.

This is No Compromise Radio Ministry. I hope you're encouraged. I don't know if I just really wanted to relive that or not, but I guess I had to. You can write me, mike, at nocompromiseradio .com. You can send avocados to Bethlehem Bible Church, 307 Lancaster Street.

I think avocados have great oil, of course, and I've learned from Kevin that if you want to ripen them up, put them in a bag with an apple, emit some type of gas, and I think they're about 370 calories each.

I started counting calories again two days ago just because I was in New York City, and this medicine makes me bloated and gain weight, and so I was really good two days ago, and then yesterday, not so good.

So today, I haven't been too bad. Anyway, thanks for listening. I appreciate all your support. Cancer, dear Christian, is not your shepherd. And by the way, any sickness or illness, this book will work for.

So if it's Lou Gehrig's disease, if it's muscular sclerosis, if you're a Christian, those things are not your shepherd. My name's Mike Cavendroth. No Compromise Radio Mexico.