The Spiritual Condition of America, Politics, Culture, and Current Events Analyzed Through the Lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. The Bible says in Matthew 6, verse 8, that God knows what we need, even before we ask. Hi, Alex McFarland here. And, you know, many thousands of people a year have a surprise medically.
They get diagnosed with cancer, and it can be debilitating and overwhelming. And, you know, one of my friends from seminary, a brother, a great friend, 10 years younger than me, I just found out days ago that he is at Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, battling cancer. One of the greatest friends I ever had in my entire life, Jeffrey Foskett of the Beach Boys, December of 23, he had been at MD Anderson in Houston for a couple of years, and we thought he was turning a corner and he went to be with the Lord, great Christian brother, one of the best. Friends, I ever had. And so, cancer, in one way or another, either directly or tangentially, touches all of us.
And to have a message of hope and to give a word of encouragement when going through that dark valley can be very, very helpful. And today, I have with me an author of a book that I wanted to really showcase. And the book is called Overcoming Cancer: Using Spiritual GPS: Navigation Tools for Hope, Happiness, and Healing. And it's the journey of a Christian sister, a friend and colleague, Tammy Steele Hartman. And Tammy, my wife and I met through the Cove, the Billy Graham Center.
We come to just experience wonderful people from throughout the world. But Tammy has courageously, courageously told her story of being a Christian, faithful Christian, successful individual, but back. Battled, with God's help, battled through cancer. And I just know the story and the book is going to be a great encouragement to a lot of people. For one thing, Tammy, thank you for making time to be with us on the program today.
Oh, it's absolutely a pleasure. Thank you, Alex. Also, thank you for ministering to people by telling a story that couldn't have been easy to tell.
Well, absolutely. Certainly was not a story that I ever anticipated, and certainly was something that I never would want for anyone to have to battle cancer. But it is my story. And as I heard those words, which the word, the C-word cancer, is one of those words, Alex, that evokes such strong emotion. It's a word that you just can't hear and ignore.
And it's a word that. Does change your world in an instant. There are those times, a diagnosis, you know, an incident of some kind that just your world, your priorities have to change in an instant and everything has to refocus.
So, with that and all of the shock of the first part of it, because I was otherwise a very healthy person, I taught fitness classes for 30 years, I did personal training, and was always encouraging everybody on that road. And it was not in my family history, it was not anything that Genetically or environmentally, there just really was no. Rationale for what happens, but that's how the world works. And so, then, what do we do with it? And with The Bible studies and the background that I have had, and I love teaching God's Word.
I love learning God's Word. That's why I've gotten to know you and listen to you. And all of the different lessons that Scripture has given me, all of the different lessons that the Bible really fortified me with, I had to put not only from teaching, but I had to actually apply to my own life and live it when I was faced with my own mortality. You know, in the book, you went to Southwest Texas University, but you felt led to get into fitness. And I think you allude to your parents' health history, so you really pursued fitness.
But it doesn't matter how much you exercise or hit the gym when cancer is going to strike, the outward appearance of fitness really doesn't have a lot to do with it, yay or nay, does it? No, it doesn't. You know, it's going to happen, and you know, some things are totally out of our control. This was one that I had to totally put into God's hands. I will say, though, Alex, I am so thankful that I had done what I had done as far as taking care of myself, because I do think that that was, and my doctors had said that was a real benefit when I had to endure the things that were ahead, which were not easy.
You talk about a day, june thirtieth, twenty eighteen, and you said that your world was turned upside down. Tell us about that date, if you would.
Well, uh yes, sitting in um a doctor's office and waiting on results, not really knowing and all of this coming up very suddenly after um Just really a big surprise. And yes, hearing those words, just a million questions start happening. You know, what am I going to do? What about my family? And then ultimately, am I going to die?
What's going to happen? And, you know, a million other questions about just beginning treatment and what is that going to entail. I will tell you, and my kind of cancer was diffuse large B-cell, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. And I didn't even know what lymphoma actually was. I knew it was cancer, but I did not know it was a blood cancer.
So I had to do some research. I did not even know what this was. And of course, then that leads you on a journey of a whole other language you learn with medical terms. You know, just the physical part that's going to be ahead. You know, having walked with a couple of family members through this, you end up learning a lexicon of medical terms that you never knew or didn't want to know.
Now, we're going to have to take a break. For those just tuning in, we're beginning our conversation with Tammy Hartman, Overcoming Cancer. We're going to come back. I want to hear your story not only physically but spiritually. But this book is going to be a great encouragement to countless numbers of people.
And part of the reason I had you on, I want people to know of your book. Where may they get it?
Well, it's available on Amazon. And so just if you have an Amazon account, that's as easy as just typing in my name and/or the title and clicking on the order button, like we do with so many other things. And it's also available on Audible.
So there's a version that was recorded actually after the book. with a little bit more information on that. Folks, stay tuned. Alex McFarland here. We're going to come back more with the story of victory over cancer, just as Jesus gives us victory spiritually over sin.
Stay tuned. We'll be back right after this brief break. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Charlie Kirk is coming to the Grand Strand August 21.
He's one of the world's most influential social media voices and one of the people most responsible for the resurgence of young people standing up for America, getting registered to vote, and learning about our Constitution. Hi, Alex McFarland here. You are invited to part three in our speaker series, Conversations That Matter, with Charlie Kirk, Thursday night, August 21, 7 p.m. at the Alabama Theater on Highway 17 in North Myrtle Beach. For tickets, visit the Alabama Theater website at alabama-theater.com.
Hear Charlie Kirk, August 21, and there will be open mic question and answer. For complete information on the speaker series, go to alexmacfarland.com slash conversations. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program.
Alex McFarland's here talking with Tammy Hartman, author of the book Overcoming Cancer. And you know, as a pastor, I suppose it's just one of the occupational realities you find yourself in a lot of hospitals. Tammy, I was in seminary when I did my first funeral of a dear saint of God who went to be with the Lord. And you quickly realize that I use this term, people that are in the crucible of life's experiences. And it might be the person in the bed battling an illness.
It might be the loved ones and the family members that are suddenly, you know, bargaining with God. Oh, God, do this. If you'll intervene, I'll serve you forever. I really think it's important to be prepared ahead of the struggle. And I want to thank you for telling your story, and you tell it so beautifully in your book.
But were you already a believer when you got the cancer diagnosis? And if so, tell us about your foundation in Christ that gave you a place to stand. Oh, I could not imagine getting through. All that I had to get through without faith in Jesus. The road and how God really.
Prepared me to battle this was such a beautiful thing. In fact, one of the Bible studies, and I've taught many, was called War Room, and it was on a movie that has been very popular. It's been probably eight years ago. The Kendrick brothers produced it. We've had them on this show.
Oh, and about the power of prayer. And the Bible study I taught was such, it was just spirit-filled, and so many prayer warriors, and seeing how powerful prayer is, and how it is the power source, and really tapping into that. And other studies that have just laid the foundation again and again, there were 25 different ones. And as I would teach these studies and I believe a call, and I've heard you say this, a call to teach is a call to prepare. And when you teach something, I mean, obviously, I don't want to teach anything that I'm not authentically believe, and I believe God's word, and standing on it and the promises that God gives, I had to draw on all of these things that I had taught so many different times to really practically apply and live.
When sometimes it was me and Jesus, when we were in the hospital room and I was awaiting a test that was pretty scary, maybe painful, or not knowing the outcome, and all the people that were praying for me afterwards because I had built a support group of people that I loved that loved me through the connections through Bible studies and Christian service and other ways. I'd done Christian retreats, and I can't tell you how valuable. that was and the support system of people that Prayed for me, some that I knew, and many that I didn't know well. I felt like one of my favorite movies: It's a Wonderful Life. I've got to say, forgive me for interjecting, that is in my probably top three favorite films.
And the actress that played Zuzu, the little girl, is a Christian. We've emailed. I keep wanting to like rent a theater and have her come and do Q ⁇ A after we screen the movie. But I'm with you. I love It's a Wonderful Life.
Oh, and one of the things that I thought about as I'm going through all this, even though this is a horrible thing, I'm thinking, wow, I'm getting all these cards, letters, calls, texts. Prayers, doodads, I mean, things that kind gestures of kindness from people that just and telling them what I've meant to them. I felt like I got a view as to what my life meant almost seeing it from the other side, because a lot of people don't hear what a difference their life has made until it's maybe too late. But I have boxes of things that I cherish. I think that it's important to say that to people because, you know, one of the realities, Tammy, we're in the middle of our summer camps, and I hear this from young people.
There's this profound loneliness, and people think they're alone in the world. And a lot of young people, I'm talking late teens up through maybe early 30s. And the irony is social media has de-socialized us. I mean, people, they may have. Thousands of friends on social media, and they are lonely, lonely.
You learned that you really are significant to a whole lot of people. You're significant to Jesus, of course, but every life touches many, many other lives too, as well.
Well, it's so true. And to have that beautiful gift of hearing how something maybe I didn't even realize I had done in hearing from someone was such a blessing. And it really, one of the ways that I just was so encouraged, even during dark times, was just knowing that my life did make a difference. And the blessings that I really did focus on during this time were just such a gift. They were truly a gift.
You talk about in the book going in and facing that chemo poll for the first time and, you know, the bag of chemo. That it, I mean, there's something about to go into your body that is. Potentially To save your life. What would you say, Tammy, to the person who is about to get their first treatment, whether it be radiation or chemo? What encouragement could you give to somebody who is days away maybe from beginning an incredibly rigorous, even painful course of treatment?
Well, you know, it's interesting. I have a sister-in-law that is going to be starting the treatment in a couple of weeks with the same exact kind of cancer that I have. And we're not, I mean, she's my sister-in-law. Fortunately, I don't think hers is as advanced. But, you know, I do think doing some homework is good, but I think going too far in the weeds.
And if you get on the internet, sometimes you can be so overwhelmed. There's so much information that it's just can take you down rabbit trails that maybe you don't need to go to. And with worry, and of course, Jesus tells you not to worry, and that is a real challenge. You do have to leave it in his hands. When I first started, everything happened so fast.
I was an emergency admit, and I really didn't even have time to process it all. I do think, oh my goodness, the people that you have, family and friends, if you can have a support team to help you be there, even trying to assimilate all of this information, not going through any of this alone is so, so very helpful. Prayer matters so much because it is truly overwhelming. It is overwhelming. It can be overwhelming, I should say.
And I know from doing pastoral work for 30 years, someone's attitude and outlook really does mean a lot. You know, thank God for the doctors and the best medical technology, but a whole lot lies in just the demeanor and the outlook of the patient.
Now, we've got to take a brief break. Again, I recommend this book. I just received it this week, but it's Overcoming Cancer. Using spiritual GPS by not just a survivor, someone thriving in Jesus, Tammy Steele Hartman, the author, and she'll continue with us after this brief break. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert.
Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Hi, Alex McFarland here. You know, I was at a college speaking, and I guess we ministers get too wordy.
Somebody said, Can you describe Christianity in only two words? And instantly, this came to me, and I said it: loving substitution. And students raised their hand and they said, What does that mean? Loving substitution. Here's the thing: because Jesus Christ loves you, He was our substitute on Calvary's cross.
The appropriate measure of God's wrath that you and I deserved was put onto Jesus. You don't have to die and suffer for your sins because He was the substitute who died for you.
So, if you call out to Christ, He will save you, He will forgive you. I urge you to do that today because Jesus Christ has a plan for your life, and it begins with you putting your faith in Him. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support. Learn more about this at alexmacfarland.com.
Do you have a desire to deepen your faith, better understand Christian apologetics, or to get a biblical perspective on current events?
Well, I've tried to make it simple for you to do just that. On my website, alexmacfarland.com, there's a new section called Ask Alex Online. It's simple, it's clean, and you can read my answers to common questions about God, faith, and the Bible.
So visit the website, alexmacfarlane.com and look for the section that says Ask Alex Online. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program. We're going to resume our conversation with author Tammy Hartman, but I want to thank everybody who's been praying for all of our summer camps.
As you know, we have seven youth camps every summer, over a thousand teenagers, and we've had well over 200 kids pray to accept Christ this summer, and many, many other decisions that we're following up with. We just printed 6,000 copies of our book, What Does God Say About My Relationship with Him? And we're distributing those. But as you hear this, probably our next big, big thing, I'm on the road in Iowa, and we've got a lot going on, events, publishing, broadcasting. But please pray.
August 21, Charlie Kirk and myself will be in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This is part of our summer series for grown-ups. Call it conversations that matter. And you may have seen in the news our dear brother and friend Charlie Kirk, he's starting on Fox and Friends morning show, and he'll become a permanent fixture.
So we're very privileged. We scheduled him last October. He and I were in an event together. But if you want to see Charlie Kirk live, and there will be QA, this will be one of the last times for a while because his new gig with Fox News is going to be very time-consuming. And I know from going to New York City to do interviews up there that it will be time consuming.
So please pray. We do have September 14, a wonderful event with Lauren Green, a roundtable on the state of the American church, also part of our 2025 speaker series. And there will be someone from the Trump White House there. We're trying to find out exactly which of the people from the faith office, and I will announce that. Very soon.
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Well, with the time remaining, I want to finish hearing, at least in this first of many visits, from Tammy Hartman, author of the book Overcoming Cancer. And you've got a quote in here, Tammy. It's a great quote by our friend David Jeremiah: Happiness in this world is not dependent on happiness from this world. And you talk about happiness and joy. which aren't necessarily the same things.
Elaborate if you would. Oh, so true. And your attitude as it relates to overcoming cancer, let me tell you, you know, you have a choice. You can be very angry and let this just totally consume your life, or you can choose to make the most of it. And happiness is something that, as we know, it's kind of a circumstantial type reaction.
And joy, of course, is a much deeper, lasting kind of thing. But positivity, your attitude. I was told early on when I was at MD Anderson getting treatment by the staff that you have no room for negativity and negative people. I mean, you really have to focus on fighting. And I remember with my room, I had scripture verses.
I had all kinds, where there might be medical, like call, don't fall posters or things. I read. Decorated. I made it a room where there was joy, there was peace. Even the nurses said there was a room called the Tranquility Room that they could go to just to get away.
God bless all the staff that need that because they're dealing with serious, serious situations. But they loved to come in my room and we would get to visit and even laugh and find times to even, yes, find the humor in things, even in the midst of a lot of unknowns. You know, M.D. Anderson came to be, well, for lack of a better word, kind of special to me because I went there many times to visit my friend Jeffrey Foskett. And I want to tell you a little bit about him and get your comment.
But Jeffrey was with the Beach Boys for 40 years. He had an incredible, incredible singing voice. And we were friends from 1985 to 2023. And when he got anaplastic thyroid cancer, very rare, never smoked. Never drank a drop of alcohol, and he got this incredibly rare cancer that took his voice.
And he was mute for about a year, couldn't speak, and then could never sing again. We were incredibly close friends. All right, you've heard the voice of Jeffrey Foskett on the radio, Kokomo, all the Brian Wilson tours, the Beach Boys, sung at the White House for. I don't know, four presidents, five presidents, maybe. But when he got cancer and it was clear he would never sing again, I said, Jeffrey, I'm so praying for you.
He said, Alex, it's okay. He said, look, singing was something God allowed me to do for a few years, but it's not really who I am. Who I am is a Christian, a follower of Jesus. And he had the most positive, and a lot of the friends were like, oh my goodness, that's his identity. He said, no, my identity is a child of the king.
That is vitally important, isn't it? It's everything. And that's one of the lessons here is your identity is foundational to how you see life. If you see it as a child of God, I mean, and that this life is not all there is, regardless of what the outcome may be, there is hope. This book is not saying that everything's going to work out.
You know, where you may be healed. There's some people that are promoted onto glory, but we will be. Ultimately, in the most amazing destination, and it's all going to turn out okay. We have a future, regardless of whether it's when our time will be. We don't have to fear, and that is such a comfort.
You talk about memorizing God's promises for success. What is that, please? Oh, well, just when scriptures come to mind, my goodness, they are the rock that we stand on. The comfort that God has given us is what we comfort others with. One of the treatments I had was a stem cell transplant, which was really like a new birthday.
And I think of 2 Corinthians 5:17, and Christ, we're a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. And when they wipe out your immune system to 0.0, and you have to completely start all over, it really is a metaphor for new life. And the new start, and the hope that we have in Jesus. And I think of, you know, even I have a chapter on, you know, Revelation and you know, how in the end, you know, He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and with Him will be His called chosen and faithful followers.
I know scripture comes to mind at times, and I would take verses with me when I would have to go through scans and just read them and meditate on them and have them all around me.
So they have been truly a source of comfort that they're a rock for me. You know, we're almost out of time, but you mentioned where God, very often what we go through is preparation for ministry, where we comfort others with the same comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. It's not an assignment we would pick, but a final word of encouragement for the person, whatever deep valley they're going through, that if they will process it through their walk with Christ, it may just be preparation for a future ministry assignment.
Well, it will, you know, whatever our unique experiences are, if it's cancer or it could be overcoming anything, it's a bridge that we have to connect to other people. And that's a Bible study I've taught. There was a Bible study by Greg Lorry called Tell Someone that tells us how we use our stories and we are able to maybe connect with someone that we never thought that we could. And God has put all of these circumstances. circumstances in our path definitely for that particular reason and this has been one of mine.
Well I want to thank you, Tammy Steele Hartman, for telling your story, partially on this show, but thoroughly in your book. Folks, it's available on Amazon, Overcoming Cancer Using Spiritual GPS. It's a brand new resource. I thoroughly believe it will be a great encouragement, maybe to somebody in your life or maybe even to you. Tammy, blessings on you.
I look forward to seeing how God continues to use you and grow your influence. Folks, thank you for listening to the program. Tell somebody about the show, but most importantly, tell everybody about Jesus. See? Alex McFarlane ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you.
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