The Church That Cured Cancer
It’s hard to say which was in worse shape: the run-down century-old church or the cancer-ridden 56-year-old man perched on its crumbling steps. For years, Greg Thomas would sit on those very steps and pray when he walked his dogs along the country lanes in rural Minnesota. But in May 2009, he learned that the searing headaches, earaches, and jaw aches that had plagued him for the past year were due to inoperable head and neck cancer. It had progressed so far that the doctors told Greg’s family to start planning his funeral.
“I was sitting at the church one evening, pouring my heart out to God,” Greg says. “I kept looking at the building and the shape it was in. I said, ‘Before I leave this earth, Lord, I’d like to do something for you.’\
“I was sitting at the church one evening, pouring my heart out to God,” Greg says. “I kept looking at the building and the shape it was in. I said, ‘Before I leave this earth, Lord, I’d like to do something for you.’”
Greg decided that that something was to fix the peeling paint and the leaking roof, the mangled steps, and the rotting floorboards. He approached the church’s association with a deal: He would completely repair the building on one condition: “That I get a key to the front door so I can go in anytime I want to worship.” He warned that it would be slow going—he had just gone through three rounds of chemotherapy along with 40 sessions of radiation and had lost 66 pounds. They said yes anyway. Here’s what cancer patients wish you knew.
Incredibly, as Greg scraped paint and replaced boards, he felt himself growing stronger every day. The more he worked on the church, the better he felt—he didn’t even need the strong prescription pain meds his doctor had prescribed. “My oncologist was blown away,” Greg says. “She said, ‘Whatever you’re doing, keep on doing it.’”
As Greg continued to rehabilitate the church, medical scans revealed some startling news: His tumors were shrinking. Four years and 23 days after Greg’s diagnosis, his doctors were able to remove his feeding tube—the one they’d said he would have for the rest of his life—and he ate solid food again. Today, Greg’s tumors are gone. He is considered officially in remission and no longer needs follow-up tests. These genius cancer breakthroughs are what scientists want you to know about fighting the disease.
And the church? After five years of Greg’s labor and love, it has been restored to its former glory too. Greg finished his main project this past summer, but he will probably always be involved in maintaining its beauty (he still wants to replace some windows, for example). Greg held his third-annual open house there near Christmas, inviting the entire community. “While I was restoring the church,” Greg says, “God was restoring me.”
(source: Medical Miracles - 5 Inexplicable Recovery Stories | Reader's Digest )
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Who knew? The act of doing something for God, while knowing that his death was forthcoming gave this man his life back. Only our God could do that. And because He did the impossible for him, he can do the impossible for us!.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “To men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Mathew 19: 23-26
Thanks for coming by today, Friends. God bless!
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