We received this email at the ministry the other day from Nancy. I thought it might challenge you a bit:
Dear Mr. Cahill,
As much as I don’t want to write this, I must share this extremely painful and very tragic story.
I learned about your ministry six months ago. I ordered One Heartbeat Away to see if it would be something I could share with my unsaved brother who joked his entire life about keeping a “loaded gun, strong rope, and full tank of gas” on hand in the event he felt his quality of life wasn’t what he wanted it to be. He grew up Mormon, and even served a mission. I believe he “threw the baby out with the bathwater” when he left the LDS church. He never believed in any religion after that. He was 66 years old and recently retired. From the outside, he appeared to have everything he needed for a happy life. However, he developed some back problems that prevented him from golfing and lifting of any kind. I later found out he had a few other health issues as well. He was miserable to be sure, but he had nothing terminal.
In the middle of your book, I thought it would be good to send it to my brother; however, I wanted to finish it before deciding. I put it off, thinking that because he had rejected the message so many times before, he would probably reject it again. So, there was no hurry.
On Saturday, July 24th, I finished reading the book and decided to definitely send it to my brother despite his certain objections and lack of interest.
On Sunday, July 25th, I received a phone call that he had taken his life.
Needless to say, we are all devastated. I feel personally responsible, and have repented before the Lord for not listening to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. I have also asked the Lord to help me never ignore the Spirit’s promptings again. I trust my brother to a merciful Father, but I’ve learned an extremely painful and valuable lesson: Do not procrastinate, and never give up on anyone! You never know what they are thinking or going through.
Since his death, I have given the book to a friend who has terminal cancer. (His name is also Mark!) I have also given a generous tip along with a One Second After You . . . booklet to a restaurant employee since he had narrowly missed being killed when a car recently drove through the front window of his restaurant. These are things I would never have done prior to my brother’s death.
If you choose to share this story, I pray it will motivate your readers to promptly act upon the Spirit’s leading.
Thank you for all you do. Your resources are wonderful witnessing tools. God bless and protect you always.
Nancy
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As I always remind people: Don’t beat yourself. Every one of us misses witnessing opportunities, me included. You lay it down before the Lord and ask Him to give you the boldness and awareness not to miss any of the other witnessing opportunities coming up in your life.
Nancy is really stepping up and being bold for the Lord! How about you?
Romans 13:11, 12
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Until the nets are full,
P.S. With the events that have unfolded in the past week, everyone is sitting up and taking notice of what’s going on in America. Christians and churches have no right to be silent about the issues of our day. Speak up, speak boldly, and speak truth in love!
