i am a volunteer every sunday that helps to feed and cloth the homeless and poor in brooksville florida. we started a prayer team, laying hands on people who were in need. this year i have personally witnessed, not just i but everyone in the ministry, cancers that have disappeared, an aortic aneurysm that disappeared, hip problem said that it was ''dead'' by a doctor come back to life, a man with pain in his leg for years walk again and is now jogging, a couple who had no home and no transportation given a place to stay and a car 1 week later, people getting jobs, lung aneurysms disappearing after er doctors said you cant leave the hospital ur too sick, a man diagnosed as having a heart attack then told it was a mistake,a woman who needed help from a landlord who said no and subsequently showing up at her house two days later with all the help she needed, a woman who was supposed to go to the mayo clinic with a baffling illness which then left her, a 8 yr old girl who was paralyzed from the waist down having heart, stomach and bowel problems with after a few prayer sessions all disappeared not to mention other things. yes God is still in the miracle business.

I was enjoying my job when God stirred me to move to a different function with my organization. He stirred - I moved. After the move I felt very uncomfortable and out of the enjoyment that I previously had experienced. So I doubted that God had actually stirred me and began to question Him and my ability to hear Him.

Then the miracle. As I asked to move back to my previous assignment a series of events occurred that placed me in a totally different assignment that is the best job I have ever had.

When you can't see His hand - trust His heart.

I've seen a number of miracles over my life, but the biggest of all is me. How do I know God is real? How do I know I serve a risen savior? The answer is still me, and many, many, more like me. For most of my adult life I was pretty much an atheist. A friend convinced me to attend a church with her on several occasions. I did, but only to humor her. I always sat quietly in the service, not really even listening to the pastor. My mind always wandering somewhere else, and of course coming up with all kinds of scientific explanations for what the pastor was preaching about. Then it happened. One Sunday, nothing other than the Holy Spirit of God pulled me out of my seat, and I practically ran to the pulpit to be saved. To this day, I can still feel the hand of God moving through me when I think about that Sunday over ten years ago. There is simply no other way to describe it my friend. Since then, I've seen God work so many miracles in my life, and in my professional career (oh I forgot to mention I'm a police officer.) I've seen the hand of God at work more times than I can count. But the biggest reason of all for me, is on the darkest of days that may come, I feel the light of the Holy Spirit inside me, getting me through daily life, and helping others at the same time. He has never abandoned me, not even when I still sin and try and take control of my life myself. Jesus is always there for me. To me, that's the greatest miracle of all. Out out of all the people on this earth, he still cares just for me. Merry Christmas everyone.

This month we were offered a settlement on one of our student loans. It was a number we could reach, but being that I am unemployed and working as a freelancer it was a little more difficult.

Last week our bank account almost reached 0 dollars, but God performed a miracle and now we are going to be able to pay off 30% of our debt.

THE BEGINNING OF MY JOURNEY
I'm Russell Osborne, a 53 year old retired firefighter with the Rocky Mount Fire Department and a member of Englewood United Methodist Church. I am a cancer survivor of 2 years. I’m here today to share with you my journey as I battled cancer. I had seen some of the signs for rectal cancer but ignored them. As they persisted, I went to my doctor who discovered blood in my bowels. I had a colonoscopy which discovered the tumor on October 16, 2007. I became scared. Luanne and I went to John’s Wenberg’s office for comfort. We had prayer and fellowship and I felt much better.

On the night of October 17 I told God that I had tried it Russell’s way for 51 years and it was not working. I opened my arms and asked God to take over my life. He did and the old Russell went away!!

October 18, 2007 we received the results from the biopsy and I was diagnosed with rectal cancer.

I had often wondered what it would be like to be told that you have cancer. It was a shock, slap in the face, and the most horrible words I had ever heard. My faith in God, a loving family, a supportive church family, and all of my friends helped me through the first few weeks.

God immediately took hold of me and began guiding me towards what I needed to do. I was seeing God's work and the power of prayer on a personal level. It was unbelievable. I knew I was going to have to start paying attention because I did not want to miss any of God’s direction. I started to receive phone calls from friends who gave me people and places to call to get help.
People were arriving at the right time and praying for me. Even people who I did not know were coming into my life to help uplift me. Everywhere I was turning God had something in place to strengthen me and guide me.


A man saw me one day when I was not feeling too good. He told me to go home and read Psalm 91 (READ THIS TO GROUP). I immediately felt better and adopted this as my Psalm. It gets me through a lot.

On another day a friend named Ron came over and told me I was going to get out of my house and go eat at a restaurant. I had been very nervous about being around people due to my condition. We went to Central where a friend from high school who I had not send for a very long time was there eating. I told him about my illness and he prayed and gave me the following hand written scripture that he had written that morning. It was 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10. (READ THIS TO GROUP). Again this is another example where God was putting people in my life at the right time to help seal my faith!

Someone also told me about a website named “Caringbridge”. This was great therapy for me being able to write a journal and express my feelings each day. It was also supportive as other people wrote encouraging words to me. It was nice to read these special words from family, friends & even people I didn’t know.







THE TREATMENT
I went to Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC. There my doctors prescribed how they would attack the tumor. I had six weeks of radiation and chemo therapy. Thanks to all who took me. This was a very exhausting time in my life. It was a great relief knowing that each day someone from the church or fire department was in my driveway ready to take me for my treatment. Again God was putting the right people with me. It was a blessing to be spending time with people willing to give of themselves to help me.

At the end of the therapy they could not find the tumor, and I knew that prayers were answered.

Next was the surgery to remove the area where the tumor had been. They entered through the front of me through a 10 inch incision and removed about 1 foot of colon and part of my rectum. They made me a J-pouch which acts as a rectum.

This was a very difficult and trying time for me and my family. We were unprepared. We thought that I would be in the hospital for 6 days and come home and everything would be okay. Little did we know that the recovery period would be so hard on us. After the surgery, I had three more months of chemo therapy. I am now cancer free.

I encourage all of you to have the colonoscopy whenever your doctor recommends it. The test is not bad at all and even the dreaded preparation is not all that bad. This test may prevent you from have this type of cancer.







CANCER CHANGES MY LIFE
Cancer has changed my life forever. It strengthened my faith in God. Now I know that I am inseparable from God. I know it was God's healing hand that took away the cancer. I enjoy every minute of every day and even the smallest things in life bring me great joy now. My love for my family is indescribable, and they are very precious to me. I have a new respect for my wife and daughter for what they went through as my caregivers. I found out that cancer affects everyone who is around you: family, friends, church family, and my fire department family. They gave me the strength I needed to face cancer along with God.

Presently, I try to minister to people in my church family and others who are going through cancer. It brings me so much happiness when I talk to people and bring them a smile and show them that there is hope for them. And I know this is what God wants me to do.




















HOW THE RELAY FOR LIFE CHANGED ME
My family has participated in the Relay for Life for years. I always felt good when participating because I felt that I was participating in something going for such a good cause. All those people giving up so much time and raising so much money was always amazing to me. I always wondered how it must feel to walk the survivor lap.

I found out that feeling at the 2008 Relay for Life. First, I found out that it was not going for just a good cause, it was going for a life saving cause. I also realized that I had left out some important people who helped me through my journey with cancer. These people were all the participants in the Relay for Life. As I walked the survivor's lap, I had such a feeling of admiration for all of the people out there. Each person out there was there for me and every other cancer survivor. I realized that the money being raised that night was helping me and the many other people surviving cancer. The many hours spent raising money and preparing for the event are definitely making a difference for people like me. I now have a very deep love for every single person who is involved in the Relay for Life.

Hopefully, through the efforts of Relay for Life teams there will one day be a cure for cancer. Because of a lot of unselfish people, I now have another chance to live and enjoy life each day, be with my family and friends, and follow God’s plan for me by helping others face cancer.

With God's grace and the support of my family, church, friends, fire department, and The Relay for Life, I have begun my new journey in life as a cancer survivor!






CLOSING

All during my cancer treatment, many of my friends prayed for me. I experienced some anxious moments, but I was always aware that those who loved me were praying for me and asking God to support me. I am still aware of this each night when I sit down in my recliner and wrap myself up in the prayer blanket that was made by the ladies of the prayer shawl ministry in this church. I realize that I have the greatest blessing of all -- God's unconditional love, shown through the support of loved ones and friends.

I am doing very well now and have won my battle with cancer. But if things had not gone well, or if the cancer returns in the future, I still have the blessing of God's love for me, no matter what.

Now I simply tell people that God has blessed me with love that is greater than any struggle I may face.

I’ll end with some words from a fellow cancer survivor named Julie from Morehead City. “After cancer what is there to be afraid of……if you want to ride a motorcycle do it. If you want to go on a trip. Do it. We are all terminal here on earth however, through Jesus Christ our Lord we have been given eternal life! God gave us life. Enjoy it and live it so that you can also enjoy life in heaven”.

My Miracle is my Son! I was told that I would not be able to have children and suffered many miscarriages. God blessd me with the birth of my son Nick 21 years ago! He has been the greatest gift and truly a miracle. He is now a firefighter and I am so grateful to have received this blessing!!

I bet those people burned alive in the Towers on 9/11 prayed for a miracle. But God only turned his back on them.

I don't see any verifiable miracles here. If you have one, please provide documentation.

How can you possibly know that "God turned his back on them"? That's just another 'man centered' conclusion. My faith tells me otherwise.

Erik,
It's a miracle that you keep coming back to this web site. You think you are choosing to come. God is actually bringing you here. And we are all praying for the ultimate miracle of your salvation.

Erik, there you go again trying to distract from God's glory, trying to somehow prove that you are all-knowing as far as God is concerned. Only He is omniscient and knows the full extent of the business He is about. Maybe one day you will let Him have the rightful place in your life. But whatever you eventually decide, He will always be God. He will always provide miracles for those who believe and sometimes for those who do not believe just to get their attention.

One small miracle that comes to my mind happened when I had a flat tire and I prayed in front of my son for help (it does seem risky praying in front of people because sometimes God does not choose to answer on our time schedule). Almost as soon as I got the words out of my mouth there was a knocking at the window and someone asking if we needed help. I must admit I was shocked to see the prayer answered so quickly. I never would have guessed that God would choose to answer by beating my expectation of a reasonable time to wait for help. What a blessing to know that God often puts the right people in place at the right time to meet the needs of His beloved adopted children.

On the 26th of December,1999 my brother -in-law died in a hunting accident. My husband was the one to find him.,at this time in my life i had really walked away from God,my husband was not saved, but Praise God my husband was saved right after the accident. We have been blessed with a wonderful church family, great preacher and have been moving forward in our Christian life my husband loved to drink and God has taken that away, and cleaned him to a fine tooth comb thank you Jesus Praise God

Well hello Erik, well prayed for you again last night as usual. By the way hope you have a Merry CHRISTMAS.

My first conversation with God was at 4yrs old. I stood in the front yard & looked up to the sky & said out loud I want to live my whole life for you. I still remember his loving eyes & gentle smile, and as it faded away I felt sad that I couldn't go with him. There were clouds in the sky that day & as I thought back on it, I figured it was clouds shaped like a mans face that I saw. I come from an abusive childhood & my life hasn't been an easy one. I tried to leave my childhood behind & get on with my life. For some reason I couldn't. My sister, being insensitive said to me, you don't have to be a victim anymore, you can stop living your life as a victim. That hurt me, but it made me so mad. I thought to myself, they made me a victim. My dad beat me & my mom laughed like I deserved it. Neither of them ever said I love you & neither of them ever touched me or talked to me in an affectionate way. I caught part of a sermon by Dr Charles Stanley, he said if ever you want God to answer a prayer & quick, ask him to tell you the truth. Well, I did & God's spirit came over me & he showed me in his word how Satan got a hold of my parents, & how Satan had used the emotional pain in my life to keep me from feeling Gods Love for me.I had also been asking God to help me with the pain I've been in for 20 years from a spinal injury. One day I was in the back yard. I looked up, & formed by clouds looked like a huge skeleton across the sky. I felt that he was thinking of me & I got my cell phone, but I couldn't get the whole thing in the frame. All I could get was the skull. I went in the house & as I was looking at the picture, I could see a little girl & I thought, Hey that looks like me! I went & got a picture of myself when I was 4yrs old. Holding it up next to the picture I took of the skeleton shaped cloud, that little girl in the picture is me on the day I looked up & told him I wanted to live my whole life for him! I lost my cell phone Nov. 2nd, please pray I find it & I will post the picture on this site.

When I was 29 yrs old, I had an aneurysm in on the left side of my brain. It looked like I had a stroke because the right side of my face sagged, I couldn't write & I was dragging my right foot. I never had intense pain in my head. I stayed in the hospital for a week & was treated with medication to decrease the swelling in my brain. I have been a Christian since I was 10 yrs old & have lots of Christian family & friends who prayed for my healing and guess what? Jesus honored those prayers! I am still here today will be 52 yrs old in January! Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus! The only lasting affects I have from the aneurysm are some blind spots in my eyes and my right hand is kind of slow to move but other than that, I'm perfectly fine! The doctors said that 1 in 10,000 survive aneurysms and of that number, 1 in 1,000 can function with any type of normalcy! Now I call that a MIRACLE! Don't ever give up on your miracle!

This last April I was driving back to work, which at that time was about 5 miles from town. It had rained earlier that day and there was still some water in some dips on the road. My car hydroplained and did a 180-degree turn then started to go down a 15-20 ft. embankment. I knew what was about to happen and yelled at the top of my lungs "JESUS"! I blacked out after that and when I came to my car was facing the bottom of ditch towards the road. I immediately went into shock. I couldn't believe I was still alive. I crawled out of my car and looked around for my phone, I couldn't find it, but I did find my purse, my little Bible that I've kept in my purse since the day I got it two years ago and my powerade. I grabbed those three things and figured I was probably only 3 miles from work. So I walked up the embankment and started walking to work, a lady picked me up and took me to work, I immediatley called my husband, he left his work and came to get me. He had to drive by the scene of the accident before he got to my work to see that I didn't have a scratch on me. He thought for sure I was going to be covered in blood. He took me to the doctor and I only had a muscle spasm in neck, which was healed through some "ugly praise" at church two days later. The car was crushed. We think after it started sliding down the hill, that it rolled on its side, flipped in the air, possibly hit it's nose then hit on the top then flipped back over and landed on all four wheels. Everyone that saw the car before they saw me thought for sure I was done for. My sister described it as I was wrapped in a Jesus Bubble! The cool thing is earlier that morning when my mother was heading to work, she felt the Lord telling her to pray for protection over me and my car, thinking she was praying for protection from the hail earlier that day, not knowing what was really going to happen that day. And, our new insurance with State Farm, not to advertise or anything, had just gone into effect that day, my husband took them the check for our new auto policy the previous day and coverage had just started the day of the accident. State Farm took care of everything we got more than the car was worth for a payout, plus they took care of all the medical, the doctor's visit and the prescriptions!! HALLELUJAH!!! God still performs Miracles!!!!!

I am blessed with multiple miracles. I am a recovering alcoholic and when I turned it over to God and came to the realization that I am not my own savior, only God can help, He helped in ways I never thought possible. People, places, and events all aligned in such a way that I received the treatment I needed. I was led to a top notch facility (all the others were full - this one was the best one and God provided a bed there for me). I got honest with the people in my life which led my boss to not only give me a second chance, but to all but blatently cover for me with the president of the company until I was able to leave the facility and return to work. God then led me to my new church home, sponsor, and home AA group. This all got started because the one person that I called on after screaming out to God was a friend that hadn't heard from me for over a year. He had stopped taking my calls. He took mine that day and, also being in AA, directed me along the way to the facility, my sponser, and to God.

I am in my journey of JOB i loved what God has done for me i lost everthing i possed, wife, cars, house & my children but not by death. I have been lied on talked about, put in jail for 6 omths on a crime I didn't do. I was out of work for almost 2 years & I went to an interview one day that I didn't want to go too cause I been told no so many times before I didn't want to go. but the Lord moved me to go & long story short a yera later i am getting ready to star my own insurance group in Northeast Ohio. That is only the beging cause I had a stoke at 30 & the Lord made me whole I have been attacked by the enemy many different ways but he has always provided me with what I need. I know he is with me thru my trials & my test & I lift his name as i go thru cause I am guided by his spirit. We have to go thru to bring others out of the darkness an into his marvelous light.I have 3 children that has been taking away from cause of the hatered they feel for me. But the Lord said i will make your enemy your footstool & vengence is his not mine. I know he will restore my children back to me so wjat ever you are going thru. What ever you dealing with. What ever is being done to you. What ever is said to you or about you. Know this God is in control,get to know him for yourself. He will keep you strong when you feel weak, he will supply you with your need to over come. You will when when you keep him 1st, have the faith in him & belive that you will make cause you can. Keep believing in yourself cause God does keep his promise. God bless you all 7 a year from now i will be married & my children will be with me, I claim that in the name of Jesus.

Th biggest miracle I have seen in my life so far is the proof of God's existence and the changing of my heart. I was raised in the church. I also am a former crossdresser who had heavy transgendered leanings. The desire to be female started when I was ver young and got stronger and stronger throughout my life and ultimately led me to turn away from a God that I never really had proof of to begin with. I was 18 at the time. I spent the next 14 years as an athiest and fighting my own desires. Eventualy I started to see alot of strange coincedences in my life that really left me with no choice but to admit that there was something more out ther than just us humans. I became agnostic at this point, but I was not willing to concede that God was the right choice since christain bliefes didn't mesh well with a woman born in the wrong body. Finally a transexual woman explained to me (online)about how even though deuteronomy mentions that a man should not wear woman's clothing and vice versa, when Jesus came He nullified the mosaic laws; therefore I was free to persue a sexchange and live as a woman and it would be ok with God. No sin, no crime. Boy, I was on fire. I decided then and there that my life was changing. I was going to start living full time as a woman and start working towards a sex change. The next day I drove to the next town to buy a new wardrobe of woman's clothes. On the drive I remeber talking to God and saying "Thankyou, everything makes since now! I see your purpose for creating me like this! I see your purpose for my life!" However, when I got to that town I went into a trendy store and couldn't buy a thing. There was a guy at the regester and I didn't want him to ring me up so I left. As I drove off, I noticed a christian bookstore, and for some reason I felt myself being drawn to it. So I pulled up and walked in. I looked around (strictly avoiding the bibles, by the way) just looking for whatever. As I passed the scripture placks, the videos, the bible studies, the c.d.s, the paitings, I finally found my self in the bible section. And immidiately I felt a rush of power wash over me. I had never felt anything like that before. I knew instantly that it was God and He had some business to discuss wiht me. I was compeled to open a bible and when I did I was shocked. I was at Job 38. It said "Who is this that darkens my councel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man, I will quetion you and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me if you understand."
And then Job 39: "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth? They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended."
God's meaning was very clear. I was a man and that was to be my function in life. He created me as is, and I didn't know jack about squat as to what His plans were for me. If I had seen this seperate from that first shot of God's power, I never would have believed it. If I had felt His presence out side of the context of that day, I probably would have brushed it off. But as it stands, the two happened at once. I now believe in God with no doubt in my heart whatsoever and I have not crossdressed or pursued transexuality since. I will never go back, because I know that is not God's plan for me and that is not how He created me. I am a man, and I am a child in His grace forever. His existence and His ability to change my life fundamentaly is a miracle in and of itself that I will always be thankful for.

The video says it all!

There's no denying God is at work.

http://www.vimeo.com/6523429

(click or cut and paste into your browser)

God Rocks!

Sometimes I think we forget about the daily miracles of life-the miracle of birth, of waking up each morning being able to hear our alarm clocks, being able to breath in the air around us, being able to open our eyes and see, putting our feet on the floor and being able to walk across the room, being able to reach and touch and feel the things around us, being able to cook,eat,taste, enjoy and digest our breakfast and other meals each day, being able to get ready and drive a vehicle that runs on gasoline and not our own physical power, being able to go to work and use tools,machines, computers,phones, etc. to accomplish so many things and instantly communicate or see others even on the other side of the world, being able to vacation by flying in the air anywhere in the world and see the beauty God has created in all countries-on land, in air, even by diving to the depths of the ocean. Yes, many of us as christians have experienced a time in our lives that is obviously "miraculous" in nature, but we should not forget the day to day miracles God has created and given us in our lives. While He will not always answer our prayers as we would wish, He does answer them-sometimes yes, sometimes wait, and even sometimes no. That doesn't mean He doesn't love us if we do not get what we wish or want. With each valley we go through in life we either learn something about ourselves, grow as stronger individuals, or hopefully grow closer to Him. He will not always heal the afflictions of our bodies in this world, but He does promise to give His followers perfect spiritual bodies when we leave this world to be with Him. For those that would bring up that He has never healed an amputee can read Luke 22:50-51 Yes, I know that is not proof to some of you, but then nothing is a "miracle" to you anyway. For this reason I feel badly for you, but will continue to pray for you- because I DO believe in miracles. God bless

The greatest "miracle" in my life is that God loves me. He loves me enough to have provided a way back to restoration with him. That way was nothing less than the shed blood of his son. When I gave myself to Jesus, everything important in my life changed. Those of you who have had this experience know what I mean. Those of you who have not, don't. I pray that as many of you as possible will.
Praise be to God.

I've too many miracles in my life to post in just one comment. But I have to share how abundantly blessed we are in the God's miracle fountain! For 3 years now my Husband and I collectively haven't made over 11,000 ever in 3 years that we've been married! We are ministers at a small local church here in TX, my hubby is starting seminary in the fall. He's graduated this semester with a music degree. My husband is so blessed with so many talents! He's a singer, songwriter, composer, and the hardest working man I know! This year we've got by holding 6 jobs between the both of us. Every month when bills come around we know that we shouldn't be able to pay them or anything else. And the things is that there's more leftover! God has been so good to us we have a beautiful healthy 2 and 1/2 yr old and we just found out that we're expecting another! (another miracle I thought I couldn't bear children) We are young and although man has looked down upon us God hasn't! He's never let us go! We've been so blessed! We are right where God needs us to be and I'm so thankful that no church, no job, no talent pays us we know that God is working everything out perfectly and I wouldn't trade that for anything! He is my daily Provider! My Healer! My Savior and Reigning KING! To God alone be the power the glory and majesty for now and that to come! God is good all the time God is GOOD!