 Posted Saturday, February 11, 2006 10:01 AM
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Hi.
We received an email from my father-in-law (a once first reader) yesterday stating that he has been diagnosed with a cancerous growth on his colon. He is, after learning the medical treatments options are unacceptable to him, hunkering down into his CS and receiving treatment from his practitioner.
My husband and I are both born again Christians.
Our prayer requests for his father are simply:
1. That he come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
2. That he will be healed from this cancer with all the glory being attributed to God, and not CS.
A second part to these prayer requests are for the rest of the family members.
(My husband has 4 other siblings who grew up in the CS way. One (S) is now a firmly planted Christian on her way to being baptised. One (D) is searching heavily into Christianity, but now has been shaken from this letter in to reverting to CS and agreeing with much of what his father is saying about the situation. The other two (J & C) have been "blindly" loyal to their dad and take whatever he says to be truth, finding much comfort in talking with him. My mother-in-law (E) is not practicing CS, but she has been supportive of her husband for the 40 years they have been together.)
1.) Please pray that God would confuse all of the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy and clarify the teaching of Christ and the Holy Bible.
2.) Please pray for protection for D...the one who is struggling with the truth he has learned and the temptation to grab onto the familiarity of CS.
3.) Please pray that J&C would come to my husband and I for comfort so that we can share the truth with them and their spouses.
4.) Please pray for mil, E, that she would return to the Christ she knew as a child but has rejected due to human behavior of those claiming to be believers...
4.) Please pray for me the "outsider." What I have to say regarding Salvation and Christ will be largely ignored and seen as an aggravation/ignorance. I want to be all the God wants me to be during this time for his Kingdom and for my husband. I have never been in a situation where I know so little how to be an effective ambassador for Christ. I feel like a fish out of water as I know so little about the intricacies of CS beyond the basics. Maybe that is all I need, but I sure would apprecciate prayer as I find my role in the whole thing.
***My husband and I lost our oldest son this past July. Our son was profoundly brain-damaged during the birthing process and was a huge spiritual challenge for all of my in-laws. He was an in-your-face-challenge to them for 11 years and his death really shook them. His funeral was a complete celebration of his life and entrance into heaven and our chance to share the gospel again with all of those who attended. All the family members were deeply affected and those who didn't know Christ thought the whole weekend was "weirdly the best weekend they ever had."
SOOOO much opportunity for Christ to become KING here...for this situation to turn a whole large family into believers in the RISEN CHRIST. So much hope.
This website has given me HUGE encouragement. I never really felt there was hope for my fil...not to say Christ can't do anything, but to read about so many others who have been equally committed to CS and have seen the TRUTH...Oh, what a blessing!!!
Thank you!
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Posted Saturday, February 11, 2006 5:04 PM
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Sherry,
You have my prayers that God will show all the family members you mention the way He wants them to walk, and that they will walk in His way. I pray that your FIL finds healing, and that this healing helps him find the way God wants him to walk.
It also seems appropriate to me to offer a prayer of gratitude that S has found the way God intended for her, and to ask that He might use S to help others find His way, if He finds this appropriate.
Hewitt
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