Dear Family of our Lord Jesus Christ,
God Bless you are yours! We love you!
Today we share what God has done in the life of Ryan Freeman and his family.
Here I am pictured with Ryan Freeman and his lovely wife Stephanie.
Ryan worked for me for a couple of years at KKIM Radio. I learned much from this young man. He taught me more and more about the power and love of God. He is now the Pastor at the Christian Church in Payson, Ill. Stephanie and Ryan live in nearby Hannibal, Missouri. After I got to know Ryan I then knew then that he had the wisdom of a 65 year old, such Godly wisdom. His wife Stephanie is the same way!
Ryan’s Dad and Mom, Pastor Steve and Sue Freeman of Crestview Baptist Church in Albuquerque also have become such Dear, Dear friends trusting me in the pulpit of their Church, to fill in from time to time. I also had the blessing of marrying their daughter Cassi this past summer.
When Ryan was 1 1/2 years old he came down with cancer. Here’s where Pastor Steve picks up the story…….
On March 13th 1989 our son Ryan was diagnosed with leukemia.
Learning Obedience
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” [Hebrews 5:8]
Gethsemane is the only recorded incident of Jesus meeting the will of God, “Let this cup pass from me.” Earlier He said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me.” In Gethsemane he prayed, “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” This tension between what He wanted and what His Father wanted caused Him to “sweat as it were great drops of blood.”
You do not learn obedience by complying with commands you perceive to be in your interest. Rather; when like Jesus, you are denied the request you make to your Heavenly Father –that is the test through which obedience is learned. If God, who had no higher commitment than to His Son, denied His request, you should not allow His denial of your request to threaten His love and commitment to you.
When our Ryan was dealing with his leukemia, the doctor had to run a large needle through his thigh and into his bone to draw bone marrow. I held him in my arms during the procedure, and as the pain mounted he looked me in the face “no daddy, it hurts” I assured him that it was essential that they do it, and he said okay, squeezing his little arms around my neck.
As I heard him cry in pain I prayed, “Oh God, if my son can trust me, a fallible, sinful man when I tell him ‘no’ help me to trust You when You refuse to remove my pain in the time of testing.”
May God continue to bless you Ryan P. Freeman.
WOW! What a love letter from Dad! God Bless your Steve and Sue!
I asked Ryan to add to this………..
I don’t remember the first time I suffered from cancer. I can’t say I really remember clearly anything which transpired then at all. After encounters with God while dying and saying simple first words like, ‘no more’ (pain) I cant say I can recall much of anything. A lot of people go in for the near death experience stories these days- and who is to blame them? A peak behind the curtain is something we all naturally yearn for. But when people say I am a miracle or how great I am… while I have been raised in a culture which helps reinforce this, I simply don’t agree. I’m not doing this to be noble. I really don’t see how great I am. I didn’t really do a thing. I just happened to be the guy who was there at the time. God did all the work. The noble people are doctors like the ones who happened to work my floor that day. The noble ones are ordinary people like my parents. The noble people are ones who shop at Walmart and get gas at your corner convenience store.
Great moments of God aren’t always dressed up like Focus on the Family stories or Reader’s Digest articles- they aren’t always found in church pews or missionary trips. They’re usually not on TV or emblazoned on T-shirts or pious bumper stickers. They’re found in the very fabric of what makes me and you. People who need desperately. Who are dirty and broken and weak and helpless. People who have been told ‘no’ too many times to count. Who are under-employed. Who are broke. People who owe about as much to bill collectors as they do to the cross, it seems.
Because when you’ve boiled your soul down and found it wanting, you will begin to realize just what sort of stern stuff exactly God has made of his image inside you. You will begin to understand just how much he treasures your simplicity and your painful honesty. I promise you the words you read in the Bible or hear emblazoned on your mind and heart from the Holy Spirit will conspicuously lack the flannel-board edging it once was tamed with.
Great men and women will be great because they need God.
People like you and I will mean something because we cry out.
God will be savior because he bleeds for us all.
Love will be true because it is self-evident.
God be with you.
-Ryan.
Thank you for sharing Bro! We love you and Stephanie. Words of wisdom!
I pray this has inspired you all!
Please read what FGGAM was up to yesterday:
Another Day Of Ministry Here at FGGAM
Please pray for Pastor Saeed and family!
Pastor Saeed Denied Treatment After Beating
Kerry: ‘Jewish State’ Designation Unnecessary
I am blessed to tell you that my sermon of last week has been requested much! PRAISE GOD! It’s all about God! I have heard from folks from all over! Please pass this message along to your friends, I believe it will be a great encouragement to them! Love to all!
That One Thing – Sermon Podcast by Pastor Dewey Moede
I pray that you are enjoying this new feature of posting links to some of our stories at FGGAM.ORG! We are here to serve our Lord and you! www.fggam.org
Rick Stambaugh is back today! PRAISE GOD,with his Today In History Post!
Today In History; March 14
I ask for you prayers as I head out Sunday to Reserve, NM to preach at the Baptist Church. Thank you for your love.
For God’s Glory Alone in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, Dewey, Sharon, Paul, Jo, FGGAM Board and families
Let us keep praying for each other and our families
