My brother is dying

[Christian2]

IRQ, will do.

C2, your news has personally meant a great deal to me and been very encouraging as I am dealing with some pretty big stuff in my own life right now. The power of prayer is awesome, as IRQ exclaims!

We don't always understand His ways, but we can certainly trust with utter confidence that He knows our every need and will never desert us - not ever.

Thanks again to all.

IRQ, I will keep Jeremy in my prayers.

Judah, if the good news about my brother has helped you then I am glad that I posted it. I wish you well in whatever it is that you are going through.

Yes, the power of prayer is awesome. So is the comfort of knowing that through Jesus Christ we can be called Children of God and have a close relationship with Him.

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

[Canuckster1127]

I truly feel for this circumstance in a special way for several reasons.

1. I am a cancer survivor myself for 20 years now.
2. My Father died of cancer on Christmas Morning 2004.
3. As a former pastor, I've been trained as a Chaplain for the American Cancer Society and ministered to many afflicted with cancer and their families.

That said I would offer the following.

1. While doctors are well meaning and their diagnoses and prognoses are worthy of attention, it is God who determines life and death and God alone.

2. In a very real sense, unless we are part of that special generation that will see Christ's return, we are all dying physically. Those with cancer and other terminal diseases are dying faster or sooner perhaps. That fact should be real but it should not keep us from living our lives and being faithful with what we have today.

3. The greatest weapon of the enemy in death is fear. Death in a very real sense encompasses fear of the unknown. For the Christian we have a strong weapon against fear. That weapon is hope. Whenever the New Testament speaks of hope it almost always is referring to the hope of the believer that Christ is risen from the dead and in his resurrection we too shall in the end share in His victory over death. It is that hope that removes the sting of death both for the believer who is facing physical death and for the family. Victory is already assured and life will come forth out of death because of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us on the Cross.

We still have fear to varying degrees as believers. It is however, more a fear of the unknown in going through the process and a fear and regret for what will become of those we love whom we leave behind. I've found that different families and people handle this differently. There's not necessarily an absolute pattern to what is best, but those who in my humble opinion have fared best are those who focus on hope, rejoice in life and the opportunities of each new day and are open and honest with themselves and their loved ones about those hopes and fears they have. This is when we can be the most support by dropping our guards and masks and being real.

Please know that I am praying for you as I close this email as well as many others who are fighting this type of heart-wrenching battle.

Bart

[Christian2]

I truly feel for this circumstance in a special way for several reasons.

1. I am a cancer survivor myself for 20 years now.
2. My Father died of cancer on Christmas Morning 2004.
3. As a former pastor, I've been trained as a Chaplain for the American Cancer Society and ministered to many afflicted with cancer and their families.

That said I would offer the following.

1. While doctors are well meaning and their diagnoses and prognoses are worthy of attention, it is God who determines life and death and God alone.

2. In a very real sense, unless we are part of that special generation that will see Christ's return, we are all dying physically. Those with cancer and other terminal diseases are dying faster or sooner perhaps. That fact should be real but it should not keep us from living our lives and being faithful with what we have today.

3. The greatest weapon of the enemy in death is fear. Death in a very real sense encompasses fear of the unknown. For the Christian we have a strong weapon against fear. That weapon is hope. Whenever the New Testament speaks of hope it almost always is referring to the hope of the believer that Christ is risen from the dead and in his resurrection we too shall in the end share in His victory over death. It is that hope that removes the sting of death both for the believer who is facing physical death and for the family. Victory is already assured and life will come forth out of death because of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us on the Cross.

We still have fear to varying degrees as believers. It is however, more a fear of the unknown in going through the process and a fear and regret for what will become of those we love whom we leave behind. I've found that different families and people handle this differently. There's not necessarily an absolute pattern to what is best, but those who in my humble opinion have fared best are those who focus on hope, rejoice in life and the opportunities of each new day and are open and honest with themselves and their loved ones about those hopes and fears they have. This is when we can be the most support by dropping our guards and masks and being real.

Please know that I am praying for you as I close this email as well as many others who are fighting this type of heart-wrenching battle.

Bart

Thank you for your thoughts, Bart. I have kept a copy to pass out to anyone I may know who is going through the same trauma and for myself when and if it happens to me.

Thanks again and may God bless you and your work.