Pray for Caelan Cross

Alan Cross is a young pastor at Gateway Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. I first had the opportunity to meet Alan several years ago at the Southern Baptist Convention in Greensboro, North Carolina. Since then, I have corresponded with Alan on the blogs, and come to greatly respect his balanced, Christ-honoring point of view, and graceful eloquence in communicating it. Just a few weeks ago, I had the blessing of spending an afternoon of fellowship together with Alan during a visit to Montgomery. Alan is one of the nicest, humblest, godliest men of God you could ever hope to meet. My time with him was a great encouragement to me, and I greatly appreciated the heartfelt prayer he lifted up to the Father on my behalf as we parted ways.

During my time with Alan, I asked him briefly about his 2 1/2-year-old son, Caelan, who, after being detected with cancer at 8 months old, had gone through several rounds of radiation and chemotherapy treatment. Together with many others on the blogosphere, I had rejoiced with Alan several months ago, when the scans showed that Caelan's cancer had disappeared. Alan told me then that he and his wife, Erika, were praising God for answers to prayer, and were so thankful that Caelan had apparently come through to the other side of this trial.

Yesterday, Alan and Erika got word that Caelan's cancer has possibly returned. The diagnosis is not yet 100% certain. But it is serious enough for the doctors to be very concerned. I can't imagine how devastated Alan and Erika must be at this time. They need our prayers. They need our support.

Go to Alan's blog, Downshore Drift, right now, read what Alan has written about Caelan, and lift them up before the Father. If God leads you to do so, leave them a note of encouragement as well. They need all they can get at this time.