PJ Smyth is the founding pastor of GodFirst Church, a multi-site church in Johannesburg. He was diagnosed with cancer this year.

You might remember the era of TriStar jetliners that had an engine in each wing and one in the tail. They were operational in the era when passengers were still allowed to visit the cockpit, and my father once asked the captain what would happen if one engine were to fail. He replied, "On a beautiful day like this? You would hardly notice the difference. Of course, it would be a different story if we were to hit turbulence or headwinds."

I am so grateful to have hit this headwind of cancer with all three engines firing: Reformed. Charismatic. Missional. I want to recommend the importance of these three engines to you by testifying how all three engines are holding us steady in the Smyth home:

The Missional Engine

Jesus came to earth to as a missionary and he commissioned us to follow his example (Matt. 28). Individual believers are to be missionaries where they live and local churches are to be modern-day mission agencies.

This means that every experience we hit is an opportunity to witness to Christ, win converts, and influence society. So, during this cancer storm, the missional engine ensures that both myself and GodFirst continue being outward-looking and mission-oriented, rather than getting introspective and selfish. In life or death our agenda is to represent Christ to others. To hit a storm without a missional conviction and agenda can cause you to lose speed and altitude and spiral into unhealthy introspection that ignores a lost and dying world.

The Charismatic Engine

Editors note: You will be served by reading this post called "Don't Waste Your Cancer" by John Piper for a larger discussion about  cancer.

Charismatics believe in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We have a clear understanding of the realities of spiritual warfare, and we know that sickness came with the fall. And consequentially we are usually great faith-fighters. So I would regard this cancer to be from the devil (Acts 10:38). Sickness didn't exist before the Fall and will not exist in heaven (Rev 21:4). God healed me of hypoglycemia earlier in my life, and from time to time uses me to heal people. Yep, it's safe to say I am a charismatic, believing that God is a healing God!

So our response is to be in 100% faith for my healing, and resist this villainous attack of the devil against me, my family, GodFirst, and the advances that we are making in Johannesburg.  

The Reformed Engine

But I am also a Reformed charismatic. Reformed refers to a mainstream tradition of Christian theology that acknowledges the sovereignty of God in and over all things. Theologian A.W. Pink rightly speaks of this doctrine as the sun around which all other doctrines orbit. Imagine facing the storm without the Reformed engine firing! If God is not sovereign, then not only is there no point in praying for healing (because he might not actually be powerfully enough in this instance to heal), but there is no refuge, fortress, or hope when things don't work out as you would like (Rom 8:28).

All three engines blazing away will help us remain God-centered and robust during the inevitable storms of life.