December 3, 2008
The C.J. McGehee Story and Video Posted
Excerpt from Ch. 16 of “Astonishing Grace to the Chief of All Fools” (Page 145)
Back in 2001, when I had opened The Lord’s Gym, I had the opportunity to hear many people’s testimonies. One day I realized that it must be one of our biggest sins when we don’t tell others what God has done in our life, because it robs him of His glory. I thought about all of God’s glory trapped inside so many unknown stories. From that point on, one of the greatest desires of my heart became to tell stories that showcase the evidence of God and His glory.
“I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will praise you forever for what you have done. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord. We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds. Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord - Psalm 9:1, 52:9, 71:16, 75:1, 102:18
This is when I decided to create a short video to tell the story of an amazingly Divine encounter I had back in December of 2007. Our business finances were strong, and I wanted to give back and help someone for the upcoming Christmas season. This was back before I had light on the true pagan origins of Christmas and Easter. Perhaps listen to the full-length message I made on our site entitled “Why Some Christians DO NOT Celebrate Christmas”.
Nevertheless, at that time, I wanted people to hear what God had done in this incredible story, where I went on Craigslist to buy a silly Yamaha motorcycle banner for my garage and ending up having an extraordinary encounter. That was the day I met C.J. McGehee, and his mother Sandra, who were both stuck in a small apartment fighting for his life without any local friends, family or money. C.J. was only fifteen years old and had one of the rarest tumors in the world, which they had been fighting for nine years. Sandra had lost her husband, her home, her job and all her money while desperately trying to keep C.J. alive all those years, traveling anywhere she could find a doctor who would try to help C.J.
He had been through multiple surgeries and chemo treatments. The tumor had tentacles like an octopus and had pushed his heart all the way to the other side of his chest. When I met them, he was in recovery and was living more and more like a normal teenager, but he was anything but normal in his heart. This young man had such courage and faith like I had never seen from someone who had been through so much. The Spirit of Christ was indeed living in this young man’s heart. One time I asked him if he ever felt sorry for himself and he said, “no not really…why not me? If it didn’t happen to me, it might have happened to someone else like my mom or brothers…so why not me?” I was amazed.
I found out they had no money for the upcoming Christmas and were barely with enough food. I had just sold something, and all the cash was still in my truck, so I went out and gave it to them for food and then began thinking about how to provide him and his mother a nice Christmas. One of my clients was Regal Boats, headquartered in Orlando, FL. I was speaking at their annual sales conference and during my talk I was moved to share the story about C.J. and his mom. At the end of my talk, they all came up and filled my camera bag with cash for C.J. and his mom. I was so blessed by their support!
A few days before Christmas all my employees, including Keri and I went to their house to meet them and film the whole thing. We were all so excited and blessed to be able to help someone personally, rather than just giving the money to a large unknown charity. It was a beautiful day with them and it just felt like the smile of God was upon all of it. They were so thankful, and Sandra was in tears of joy most of the time. No one had any idea that this would be C.J.’s last Christmas. Within months the tumor had come back so strong that it was now cutting off his esophagus and he could no longer eat. There was nothing they could do and on September 15th, 2008, he passed away, but in heavenly fashion.
I was always worried about Sandra, as was everyone, especially C.J. We didn’t think she would want to live after fighting this hard for him and not only losing him, but by the time she was at the end of this battle, she had so many health issues of her own, that she too was now living from hospital visit to hospital visit…a rare blood cancer, strange heart issues, MRSA, and several other complications. The amount of suffering this dear sister in the Lord had gone through was staggering and yet she was still clinging strongly to her faith and hope in Christ through it all. I was so proud to meet someone like her. She was in so much pain and had suffered so much, but she refused to grumble against God or to distrust His Sovereign plan. He was her everything! She had given everything she had to save her child and he was a very big part of her heart and life. God knew she loved that boy so much, and He knew she was going to have a very difficult time, so He did something spectacular!
The morning of the day he was to pass away, one of his older brothers had come in to check on him and leaned down to listen to his breathing while he slept. When he left the room, he asked Sandra, “Mom, did you give C.J. fresh berries to eat this morning?” She said no, he hasn’t eaten anything this morning. The room was filled with something like the smell of fresh sweet berries and they couldn’t understand where the smell was coming from.
Several hours later, he was awake, and they were in his room, when suddenly, even in his terrible weak state, C.J. brightened up, leaned forward and began to drum on himself like he was keeping in rhythm with some music. He said, “Do you hear that music?” Sandra couldn’t hear it, but C.J. sure could.
Soon, he began looking up towards the ceiling in his room like he was looking at someone. They sat and watched him. After a few minutes, C.J. put his hand up towards the place he was looking at and said, “no …I am not giving up…I said I would never give up.” Sandra realized he must have been talking to angels. She started to cry because she knew what this meant, but she said, “Oh honey, it’s ok. You aren’t quitting son. You fought so hard and so long…you have such great courage…honey if they are here to take you…you can go and be with God now C.J.” C.J. seems to have heard several previous warnings from God, or the angels, about suicide and so he made his mom promise that she wouldn’t do anything to herself so that they could be together again in heaven.
There are many Scriptures in the Bible that led me personally to teach that a person cannot take their own life and still go to heaven. Suicide is the sin of self-murder, and you cannot ask for forgiveness for your sins after you die (See Hebrews 9:12). What the Lord does with young children, or mentally ill persons who take their life is not for me to know, but please do not think you can, sound of mind, choose to take your own life and still go to heaven. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy and when he succeeds in assaulting a person’s mind into taking their own life, it’s not so he can fast track another person into the arms of Christ in heaven. There is nothing in the Bible that comes even close to suggesting that you can murder yourself and be counted among the faithful saints in heaven. On the contrary, please understand that suicide is the ultimate act of unbelief and lack of faith in God, which shows contempt for Him, His goodness, and his ownership of the Christian who was purchased at the price of Christ’s shed blood.
It’s hard to hear and accept as truth, but the Bible is so clear and even if you just look at what happened to the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were not allowed into the Promised Land because they were talked into unbelief by the ten spies. Can you imagine how many people the devil talks into unbelief? The Bible teaches that you cannot shrink back from faith in Christ and still be with him in heaven. You cannot throw away what Christ purchased on the cross, trampling the grace He has bestowed upon you, and still think you can please God enough to enter eternal life. We must remember that God does not show favoritism or make exceptions.
Romans 11:19-22 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." (20) Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. (21) For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. (22) Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
Jesus said we must be an overcomer all the way to the end if we want to enter life. To make the truth on this so clear for you, try to read the following Scriptures and then say after each one, “But, I can still commit suicide and go to heaven.” The contradiction of the truth will be very clear, if you are someone who loves the actual truth, rather than what we sometimes want to be the truth. Psalm 78:18-22, Matthew 10:22, 10:33, 24:13, Luke 8:13, Luke 14:29-30, Romans 11:20-22, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19-20, 15:2, 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, Colossians 1:22-23, Galatians 6:7-9, Hebrews 3:6, 3:14-15, 3:18-19, 10:37-39, 11:6, 1 Timothy 1:19, 2 Timothy 2:4, 4:7-8 1 John 2:24-25, Revelation 2:10-11, 21:8.
If one of my own children commits suicide after they reach the age of accountability, which the Bible defines by when the child knows the difference between right and wrong, not by a certain age, then I have no biblical expectation for them to spend eternity with me in heaven, even if they became a true follower of Christ. (See Deuteronomy 1:39 and Isaiah 7:15-16) This of course is assuming that I too endure all the way to the end, holding on to my faith and hope in Christ, otherwise I will not make it either. The Bible is crystal clear on this for those who love the truth and have ears to hear. This is exactly why Paul says for us to not be arrogant, but to be afraid.
Knowing what C.J. had heard from God or the angels, (multiple times according to the family) he made Sandy promise that she would not do anything to harm herself after he was gone. She promised him that she wouldn’t take her own life but said that she was going to miss him deeply. Finally, the time came for him to go and his one brother was leaning over him. C.J. motioned for him to lean back away from him, and then he looked up where he had seen and heard the angels and said in a frail voice, “I can’t come to you, but at least I can sit up for you.” He slowly raised himself up, stretched out his arms and immediately passed away, leaving his body behind, and stepping into eternal bliss with the Lord Jesus Christ.
C.J. and Sandra had such a huge impact on me. Their courage and faith to go through that much suffering and to still be loving and trusting God was beyond just admirable. I had no training in telling stories and I barely knew how to do basic video editing, but I wanted to find a way to tell this story to encourage others.
I finished the story and put it on Vimeo on December 3rd, 2008. The story came out so beautifully and I was amazed. When the story was finished, Keri, of all people, suggested we submit it for the 2009 Telly Awards, which is like the Emmy’s for TV production and online video production houses. This was my very first ever production of a story video and to my amazement, it won four silver Telly awards.
C.J’s story led me to start a website where I could start producing and compiling other God stories. I wouldn’t know it for several more years, but that in turn became the foundation of what would ultimately become RelentlessHeart.com, a ministry where God called me primarily to tell the incredible stories of all that He has done in my life, and how He has had mercy on me. But this wouldn’t happen until the bottom dropped out completely and I went through about four more years of terrible affliction and darkness which were to be my training for this ministry.
The reaction to the CJ story gave me the confidence and increased my desire to tell other God stories and testimonies that would bring him glory. However, since the work was for free, Keri became increasingly upset and pressured me more and more to continue working on and building up my training business.