Calvary Chapel founder announces his cancer has shrunk, no longer active

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By Mark Ellis

Pastor Chuck Smith

In an emotional communion service preceding the Wednesday night Bible study last night, the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement announced that his lung tumor has shrunk appreciably and is no longer active.

Choking back tears at the Lord’s table, Pastor Chuck Smith, 85, conveyed his doctors’ report from the previous day, which revealed his tumor had shrunk from 30 x 28 millimeters to 6 x 10 millimeters, according to a staff member at the church.

When Pastor Chuck first came out there was a moment of anticipation. “Everybody was on pins and needles,” says Bernard Aiken, a lead usher. “We were thinking the worst.”

The congregation stood amidst a few seconds of hushed silence as the highly-loved pastor delivered news from his doctors. When the congregation realized it was good news, the atmosphere changed dramatically. “The whole place went into a big buzz, with people clapping and praising the Lord,” Aiken reports.

Many in the audience wept with joy along with the legendary pastor.

The church was stunned on January 1, 2012 when Pastor Chuck announced during the morning services that he had lung cancer and would undergo a biopsy the following week. At the end of the third service that day, his son-in-law, Brian Brodersen, joined with other pastors at the huge church, anointed him with oil,  and prayed for his healing.

Indeed, Pastor Chuck said this recent news was an answer to many who have been praying around the world, and he offered all praise, honor, and glory to God.

Pastor Chuck said doctors confirmed the tumor is no longer metabolically active – it is dying.

His blood counts, which reveal the presence of cancer cells, had fallen from 15.5 to 6.4. A normal count is below 3.

Pastor Chuck has been receiving radiation and chemotherapy treatment. He will no longer need to have radiation, but will continue some chemotherapy treatments.

“There were about 1000 to 1500 people in attendance,” says usher Michael Wayne. “It was an emotional moment.”

36 COMMENTS

  1. Pastor Chuck,

    We have been praying for you daily and rejoice in the God report regarding God’s healing touch! Along with you, we give all praise to Him who “….is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think.”

    Thank you Jesus!!!!!

    Our love and appreciation for your faithfulness!

    Tom & Jeannine

    • All Glory Honor and Praise to Jesus Christ to Almighty Father, Holy Spirit! This triune God is Jehovah-rapha The LORD who heals, restores, sees, LOVES !!!!He is worthy to be praised and thanked for answering our prayers. Blessings for every single day He has given you with your family and church/friends <3

  2. I simply can not understand how some Christians state they give all glory to God after submitting themselves to the devil for healing. Chemo and radiation are the from the pit of hell and anyone with a mind to research this issue (be as the Bereans) will find this to be truth.

    It’s time that Christians seperate themselevs from the world and all of its ungodly practices if they really want to give glory and honor to their Savior whose stripes offered us healing and death life eternal.

    • There’s a freak in every bunch. Dumbest translation of Christianity ever. I guess if they refuse “devilish treatment” for disease, the herd will just thin itself out naturally. Ridiculous and unbiblical garbage.

      Oh, and happy for Pastor Chuck. Glory to God!

    • If you have a cut that is bleeding profusly, you don’t put a bandaid on it but just pray God will stop the bleeding??????

      God uses many ways to heal us, some times it is thru medical resourses. AND WHAT A GREAT WAY TO SPREAD GOD’S LOVE TO PEOPLE WHO OTHERWISE MIGHT NOT HEAR ABOUT HIM! Silly guy you are. I suggest you not underestimate God’s leading of Pastor Chuck even though you (and others) may not agree with it. Love thru our Jesus, Pam

    • Lawerence,
      I understand that some people think that using modern medicine isn’t what God would want us to do. I just want to share something with you. I have a rare disease that I had to use chemotherapy for. Do you know how many unsaved people I had the chance to talk to and witness too during my 6 months of chemo? Can you imagine how many people Pastor Chuck was in contact with that maybe he wouldn’t have been had it not been for this cancer. God will use whatever means He wants to, through a willing servant, to accomplish His will. And what is His will? That many would come to know Him. He wants not one person to perish. Do you really think that God wouldn’t use modern medicine to help heal His servant while using that servant to spread His word and bring more into His kingdom? Please think about that. God is a God of mercy and grace. He loves His creation. He wants us all with Him. Granted, not all will choose Him, but praise Jesus for the ones that do!

    • I think that we should be praying for you that someday you will believe in God and have faith in the miracles that he brings. I am. Very happy for pastor chuck and his family………..what a great person whom deserves this miracle.

    • Lawrence, God works in conjunction with people. I had a phobia of flying for many years. I purposely booked a flight so I could face my fear. As I sat in the airport hyperventilating all alone, I couldn’t understand how a cylinder that weighs several tons can possibly fly through the air w/o dropping from the sky! Then the thought that I would place myself inside of it, just seemed like plain foolishness to me! As I sat there, feeling like a lost child, I heard the gentle whisper of God say to me, “I gave man the technology to fly.” So many of men’s discoveries and inventions, come from God. He drops amazing ideas into men’s heads to help us live in a better world. Sure, God can heal miraculously if He chooses, but He also gives us ways of sharing in His work. He can transport us across continents miraculously if He chooses, but He has also given us technology to do that through aviation. Something to think about.

  3. As this news sinks in, I am falling on my knees in gradutude for our Lord’s faithfulness. He has shown his love again by healing our Pastor Chuck. Thank you Lord for your faithful answer to prayer. He is above all names!

  4. Oh brother, Lawrence, why steal the joy of a brother healed?! I don’t know what you’re examining, but the Bible says the Bereans examined THE SCRIPTURES. Where does it say in the scriptures that chemo and radiation are from the devil?

  5. I’m praising God today for this wonderful news about my much loved Pastor Chuck Smith! I’m so happy!!!

    • Amen! Praise the doctors, All three, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The great “I am” ” The great Physician”

  6. Dear Brother Lawrence, every good and perfect gift comes from God. Rejoice that God has chosen to work through the hands of the medical profession in bringing this GIFT to not only to our beloved Pastor, but also to us who are in constant prayer for him. Rejoice and praise our LORD for this wonderful news. We are each in His hands and submit to His perfect will – whatever it shall be. God is never limited by what He chooses to use for His purposes. Rejoice, praise and give thanks in every circumstance.

  7. Brother Lawrence I wonder what St. Luke would say about your comments since he was a physician. Modern medicine is a testimony to God’s nature in giving mankind the ability to study and apply science.

  8. Praise the Lord Pastor Chuck for such great news. I have never been to CCCM but listen to you daily.

    You have had a miraculous inadvertent affect on my life. I live and breath Calvary Chapel Nuevo and Pastor Dave Shepardson. Without you there would be no CCN or possibly my salvation.

    Again, PRAISE THE LORD for your healing and for The Calvary Chapel movement.

  9. Pastor Chuck, GOD still has some more undone things that He wants you to accomplish. And we are please and bless to know that you are going to be with us for more time.
    Love you Pastor Chuck.

  10. All Glory Be To God! For His Mercies Endure Forever…
    what great news and what a beautiful witness to the power of our almighty God! I am so happy and filled with joy for Pastor Chuck and his family.

  11. Lawrence, why are you using a computer? Separate yourself from the world, and get off of the devil’s internet.

  12. Thank you Lord for your healing power and hepling Pastor Chuck get well. I know that all healing comes from you ! I am happy for you Chuck and your family. May God continue to bless you !
    Scott

  13. I’m just curious as to how he got cancer in the first place. And not just how/why he got cancer, how/why any “believer” gets cancer if “by his stripes we are healed”. I am a former born again christian and this is one of the many reasons why I am now an atheist. Why did the tumor just shrink and not go away completely if this was an “answer to healing prayer”. I was witness to many “healing” services in my church going days and never saw one person rise from a wheelchair or regain their sight or hearing with the laying on of hands or anointing with oil. My own brother died at the age of 47 after I spent many vigilent hours praying and asking for god’s healing for him when I was still a believer. There was no glory or lesson learned or reason for his all too early death, except that he was sick, the surgery was not a success and he succumbed to his illness. I don’t buy into the notion of faith that “god has his reasons and he works in mysterious ways”. And no, god did not need another angel in heaven and no my brother’s work was not done here on earth, he was only 47 years old!! All of these neat little phrases and the many others that are spouted by christians are just religious platitudes to put life and death and the bad things that happen to good people, in a neat little box. That way they can tuck it away and FEEL better because they have a “reason why” and then go on living in their fantasy worlds. The simple fact is, we are all human, we all live and we all die. Period.

    • we all live we all die…don’t understand it but w/o God nothing makes sense. Jus a bunch of sensless beings living thinking there is meaning when there is none. Recommend reading The Silver Chair specifially Puddleglums retort to the Green queen about the ‘unreality’ of the real world. You had a genuine gief with the loss your brother. That is sad, but maybe sadder is giving up on the only possible source of meaning. Your brother obviously meant more to you than an animal or bug dying. Where does value come from, do we just make it up? That is more cruel than believing in a God who deals with the brokenness, and eventually gives meaning where we can’t see it cause we are part of the brokenness.
      Sincerely

    • Marie,
      I am so sorry for you loss. For the loss of your brother whom you obviously loved very very much, and for your loss of faith. Without it, we have no hope. God doesn’t have to give us a reason for anything He does. That’s not always easy to understand, I know. His ways are not our ways. But given that He is the creator of all things, I’m sure He knows better than we do. I understand your grief. I’ve lost both of my parents. I watched them both succumb to cancer. I was not a born again christian when my mother died. My grief overwhelmed me! It drove me to a depression so deep that I almost committed suicide. That is where I met God for the first time. In my grief. I cried out to Him, because I had nothing left. It is when you are finished with trying to do it on your own, that God can come in and raise you up agian. When my Dad got sick with cancer, I was a strong believer and I put my faith in Him. I had a much different experince this time around. I trusted that God’s will would be done, and that is what I had to accept. My Dad isn’t in pain any longer. I may have the pain of missing my parents, but they are free with Jesus! We can ask for healing, but ultimatley it’s Gods decision. Since God has numbered our days from the beginning, we are going to die on that day, regardless of how that happens. Sometimes it’s a long painful death, and sometimes it’s quick. Again, there are no answers that any human can give you.
      Marie, I’m going to pray for your faith to be restored! God loves you so much! That is why He sent His Son to die on the cross for you. You are so precious to Him and He wants to take your pain away. I pray that you give Him a chance and begin the healing in your heart.
      God Bless you Marie.
      In Christ Jesus,
      Nancy

      • Nancy, that was beautifully said!! Marie, I am also praying for your restored faith. We can’t possibly understand the outcome of what we see as tragic or even unfair situations in our lives. But remember, we are God’s creation, to do with as He sees fit. There is a plan for each one of us, and also an end. How can a small child dying of cancer makes any sense? It really can’t to us, but if that child’s story brought even one soul to Jesus, then it was a successful story. God gave us all these emotions that get in the way so often, don’t they? If we loved total strangers as much as we love our own family members, then these things wouldn’t be as difficult to deal with. And while that is pretty much impossible for us to do, the Lord knows and understands this. But we can’t turn our back on Him, and let those emotions reign over us. Accept that you don’t understand His ways, that we aren’t always suppose to understand, and let God begin to heal you.
        Think about this…………God knows Pastor Chuck is going to be with him, so to use his body and cancer story to have this comment board show up and you to leave a comment and others to step in and talk to you………………God may be calling you back Marie, answer Him!!!!

  14. just want to say that we in Kenya, join up with the rest of the world in celebrating the love and faithfulness of Jesus by healing our beloved Pastor Chuck. Thank you Jesus.

  15. We are verry verry happy to hear that good news here in Burundi. God is good and he is standing always on the side of his servants alover the world.
    Carvaly chapel Burundi

  16. Dear pastor Chuck
    We are praising the Lord for touching you.This wonderful news brought much joy to many hearts. Love Marlene +Dave ccphilly

  17. Praise the Lord Paster Chuck is alive! Thank you God for answered prayer! I am a believer in natural health prevention, (both parents & older sister have died of cancer) but God can use conventional medicine as well as heal directly. We don’t understand all of His ways but He works “all things for the good to those who love Him” I believe God wants us to keep praying like the church when Peter was in prison, we have a lot to pray for in our country. Loren

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