No one ever expects to be told they’re dying.

Greg Allen is a 31-year ministry veteran and currently serves as the Lead Pastor at St. Ann’s Community Church in Ontario, CA. In the midst of what’s already been a difficult year, Greg received a terminal diagnosis of mesothelioma and is currently going through clinical trials of a new treatment to potentially extend his life.

In this episode, you’ll discover that Greg still holds an incredibly positive outlook on life and his current situation and is still doing his best to serve the Lord to his fullest. Greg shares a little bit about his personal story of ministry and some of the lessons he’s currently learning as he navigates this health journey. I know you’ll be encouraged by this conversation, just as I was.

P.S. As he shares in the episode, today (Thursday, November 12), Greg has his surgery to begin the clinical trials for his condition. Please be joining me and the 95Network team in praying for him and his family!

 

My Takeaways:

1) Don’t try to be someone you’re not. It can be easy for us to get caught up in trying to be someone or something that God didn’t intend for us. Each one of us is created by God in a certain way for a particular kind of ministry, but we can easily find ourselves running after something that we’ve convinced ourselves we want to be. Instead, we need to find our gifting and calling and be faithful to that.

2) Even when ministry is hard, keep going. When a 55-year old man with a terminal diagnosis tells you to keep going, you keep going. Greg is a living example of faithfulness to God’s calling even in the face of hardships.

3) “When you can’t trace God’s hand, you can trust his heart.” There are times that we come upon hardships and trials and we do our best to find God in the midst of it, and maybe we don’t. Maybe we can’t see what God is trying to do through a struggle, but we can always know that God will be with us through it. As Greg said, “As much as you’re committed to Jesus, He’s even more committed to you.”

 

Links

• St. Ann’s Community Church 
• Get in touch with me (If you have any words you’d like to send to Greg, please send it to me and I’ll make sure he receives it!) 
• Subscribe to Real Church Stories on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
  

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