A Greater Anointing - Excerpt From Darkness to Light

1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him. NIV 

My good friend Pastor Steve held a series of meetings with a minister by the name of Larry Lambert. I attended all of them as a participant. I didn’t really like the pastor/minister title/role thing at all. I just loved Jesus and desired to do whatever He asked me to do. I didn't need a title. I really enjoyed the meetings with Larry.

His meetings were exciting - a little crazy might be a better description! Signs and wonders began to manifest in various ways.

At one, we could smell Easter lilies and frankincense. Later on, people were laughing and rolling on the floor, others were just laying in the presence of God. It was exciting, deep, healing, and magnificent all at the same time. Larry also had a great sense of humor and his love for God and people was easily perceived. Asking people to stand and count to  three, or say, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” At the end of their simple “task,” the power of God would fall on them in a powerful way.  I’d never seen anything like it. I wasn’t skeptical, however, it was definitely out of my realm of experience. Nothing like this had ever happened in my church!

The next night he asked us to pray in the spirit with the person next to us. I took my best friend's hands, and he hit the floor and rolled under the chairs. I took the hands of another woman seated next to me. The same happened to her. After four or five fell under the power, there was no one nearby left for me to pray with. I stood and enjoyed the presence of God.

The meeting went on with teaching, ministry, and worship.

Eventually it was very late and sadly I went home before it ended. I felt so good from the previous evening, I just had to be there for the next one. After the worship music ended, they made an announcement that NO ONE was going to pray for others during the meeting. Somehow, I knew they were talking about me. I felt terrible. I wanted to share Jesus with everyone. I had a couple of choices, A) be offended because I was only trying to pray with folks, not for them. B) Leave the meeting or C) Ask God to forgive me, and see what happened. I chose C, and enjoyed the meeting. During the ministry time, I went and quietly asked Larry Lambert to forgive me for what had happened. His daughter was busy prophesying over those at the altar. He was very kind, and with a big grin, said, “don’t worry about it. Jesus loves you, and so do I.”

It was a heartwarming moment.

Becky was still ministering at the altar when I decided to get in line. Everyone was falling down, despite her warning against “courtesy drops.” She prayed for me, and I was still standing. She called her dad over from his seat in the front row, and said, “I need you to pray for this man tonight, Dad.”

He said, “Lord, you just give David everything that you have for him tonight. Lord, give him a double portion of your Spirit and impart to him the gifting that you’ve given me.” I went sailing to the floor. It is always difficult to describe what God does in these moments. Therefore, I won’t try.

At the next meeting, he asked me to stand in the aisle about 40 feet from the platform. I was thinking that I was safe from the power of his anointing. “Did you have a good meeting last night?” he asked.

“Yes.” I said, smiling.

“That’s good, that’s really good. We enjoyed having you there too.” Then he pointed to me, and said. “Lord, you just let David have a good time tonight, too.” Like a giant bowling ball, the Spirit of the Lord came down the center aisle and knocked me down like a 10-pin. While I was lying there, I heard the voice of the Lord. “I am anointing you for greater works.”

I couldn’t begin to imagine what God had in store for me.

The Battle Against Cancer

In the late fall of 2013, my doctor suspected that I had prostate cancer. I did what everyone else does and had a PSA test as well as a very unpleasant transrectal needle biopsy (TRUS). The results came back after what seemed like a lifetime, and they I had a malignant lesion. Although surgery was the urologist's initial option, I was also referred to a radiation oncologist.

It was an emotionally difficult time. I met with a well-known Boston surgeon who informed me that I could schedule my radical prostatectomy at the checkout desk after our consultation. I was perplexed and alone. Planning on running the Boston Marathon in April of 2014, surgery would have to wait a bit longer than the six or so weeks.

I made the appointment.

I also made an appointment with radiation oncology. It was at the same building where I had spent six days in the cardiac intensive care unit (ICU) a few years earlier after suffering from congestive heart failure. He asked where my wife was as I was alone. I didn't really respond. We talked about my cancer. 

He determined that I was too young for radiotherapy, leaving me with the prior option.

I flipped through the post-operative advice I had gotten from the surgeon while working at my desk. It was depressing. There was nothing there to make me feel better. Nothing. My thoughts, bordering on denial, I researched everything I could find to avoid what seemed inevitable. 

I awoke one morning and the Lord directed me to contact the radiation oncologist. I inquired whether there were any other treatment possibilities. There is one, and it is known as active surveillance. He provided me the name of a Boston surgeon who was conducting research for Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Beth Israel Hospital.

Dr. Chang reread my pathology (which was wrong) and said that Gleason 3+3 was indolent and was not considered cancer by certain specialists. Regardless, he was going to be very active in monitoring my illness.

It was comforting that I did not have to have surgery right away!

I had heard my pastor speak a word about not responding to the "fear of cancer." I cancelled my surgery date and did my best to live each day without fear. In many ways I was successful. I ran the Boston

Marathon in April and then Chicago in October. The next year I ran New York City.

I continued to make regular visits to the healing rooms, too. Under the watchful eye of my doctor, my disease seemed to stand still. Except for the days following a blood test or a biopsy, I seemed to be able to live a normal life.

Then, suddenly, everything changed. "More alarming," according to Dr. Chang.

I decided to have an MRI and see exactly where this cancer was. My PI-RADS scores, a method of statistically grading the lesions, was 5; the most likely to be malignant. Determined to beat cancer, I continued to run, pray, and take care of myself.

After four years, I was able to isolate (compartmentalize) my treatment and the emotions that surrounded it. The summer of 2017 I moved to Virginia and continued my active surveillance with a new practice. I went for my quarterly PSA tests, follow up exams, and yearly pelvic MRI.

My disease seemed to stay the same.

I attended the healing rooms from time to time. I completed Berlin 2016, London 2017, and Tokyo 2018, becoming an Abbott World Major Marathon Six Star finisher. I had an MRI in in 2019 and again in the summer of 2020. They both showed no change in the progression of my disease.

In the winter of 2020, my PSA skyrocketed.

The doctor said it was probably nothing and we would retest. Double my normal PSA, I insisted on an MRI which revealed a new tumor. I immediately had another needle biopsy. I waited a week or so for results.

The new tumor was Gleason 4+4 and an aggressive form.

The surgeon recommended surgery, which I refused. I was denied radiation by my insurance company. They would approve an outdated and low-quality radiation which had the potential to cause other cancer in the future. I refused that, too. In addition, I also refused chemo and hormone therapy.

I headed to the healing rooms again.

Each week the faithful would pray, laying hands on me and anointing me with oil. I went week after week. In the mean time I heard about a new treatment that available. It had virtually none of the side effects of a radical prostatectomy and was safer than radiation.

The cost of treatment was $33,500.

I paid $800 for a consult. In reviewing the past MRIs, the imaging showed evidence of a change in the progression of my disease. I was horrified and angry. I flew to Atlanta and had a pre-treatment MRI. It reset my CSF shunt, completely draining my cranium of fluid. I got off the plane in Norfolk and went to the ER where I passed out from the pain. I was discouraged about everything. Without the money for treatment, I called my kids in to visit. My wife and I had the talk.

Then the Lord spoke.

He told me to do a Facebook Fundraiser for $35,000! I kept praying, going to the healing rooms, and expecting a miracle. I wasn't too sure about a financial miracle. I raised $10,00 in a few days. A friend the I had prophesied over in 2001 and not spoken too since, texted me and said the Lord had me on his heart. "What's going on? The Lord said I am supposed to write a big check!" $10,000 became $20,000 and close friends gave another $10,000.

In 10 or 12 days I had the money and wired it to the treatment center.

The money kept coming, therefore our airfare was covered, our hotel and meals were covered with reward points from long-time friends. I scheduled treatment. The extra money we sent to help others pay off some of their medical debt!

Home and comfortable, I hoped cancer would be behind me for the first time since 2013! At six months, I had an MRI that showed some odd scarring and then my PSA started to rise. I went back to the healing rooms. The Lord had made a way for this and I wasn't going backwards! It was concerning enough that I had another biopsy. The doctors were certain it was cancer. The PSMA scan lit up showing disease in that same area.

It wasn't! They were PIN cells - either precancerous or post-treatment.

I wasn't particularly relieved, but my PSA went back to normal levels. They remain there. A few weeks ago, I attended the revival at the The Gate in Charlotte, North Carolina. During the pre-service prayer, a woman walked over, gently put her hand on my shoulder and prayed in the spirit. I knew she was praying for my cancer.

After a few minutes, she proclaimed, "God is closing the door on your cancer."

In addition to the prostate cancer and two bouts with colon cancer, I had 6 MOHs surgeries for Basel cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma plus two reconstructive surgeries in 12 months. The sutures on my shoulder had just fallen out a week or so before. The surgeon said it was very aggressive and in fact was twice as deadly as melanoma which I had twice before. Before our eyes, my scars began to lighten and partially disappeared. Since that day, my prostate function has been better than it has been since my treatment in 2021!

Soon, I will have tests and hope to have medical proof of my complete healing.

The Doorkeeper Watches Over Hearts

I was conversing with a greeter at my church one day. A young man entered, carrying a small girl. She appeared to be about five years old. He was with a woman, and they both smelled of cigarettes. It was not a judgement, but rather an observation. The greeter said hi and cordially welcomed them.

In most churches, this is rather normal.

I wrote about greeters years ago. You can find them by following the labels. I met a greeter at a church I'd never gone to before yesterday, and it reminded me of this story.

The Holy Spirit spoke to me about the young couple. Their daughter suffered from an atrial septal defect. God revealed to me that it was a hole between the chambers of the heart. My daughter had it, too. I engaged the couple. "What is the name of your little girl?" I inquired.

It's been a long time, and all I remember is the father's name. He informed me their names, as well as the name of his girlfriend. "Is everything all right with her heart?" I inquired.

Both parents' eyes welled up with tears. "No, she has a problem that requires surgery to repair a hole in her heart. We're scared to death." her father explained. "We were going to the Catholic Church to ask prayer for healing and decided to come here when we spotted the Faith Worship sign out front," he added. More sobs.

I prayed boldly for the little girl, and God assured us all that He would cure her without surgery! After the service, they also took her for altar ministry. The couple attended church on a regular basis. Every week, I looked for them. The little child had been healed. Their faith got stronger. They were persuaded to marry by the priest. They quit smoking at a healing service and joined the children's ministry, where they remain to this day! That was almost a decade ago.

Keep an eye out for folks that show up at church. You could be the one to bring heaven to earth!