Steve Cochlan received devastating news four years ago.
He was told, “Steve, you've got ALS. You've got two to three years to live, so go home and get your house in order.”
Today, even as his body is shutting down, Steve is clinging to faith in Christ—and sharing it with others.
Be challenged and inspired as he shares his story in the second episode of our new podcast series, “The Great Physician.”
You can connect with us through email at gps@billygraham.org or on Billy Graham Radio on Facebook.
If you’d like someone to pray with you, call the Billy Graham 24/7 Prayer Line at 855-255-PRAY (7729).
Steve Cochlan received devastating news four years ago.
He was told, “Steve, you've got ALS. You've got two to three years to live, so go home and get your house in order.”
Today, even as his body is shutting down, Steve is clinging to faith in Christ—and sharing it with others.
Be challenged and inspired as he shares his story in the second episode of our new podcast series, “The Great Physician.”
You can connect with us through email at gps@billygraham.org or on Billy Graham Radio on Facebook.
If you’d like someone to pray with you, call the Billy Graham 24/7 Prayer Line at 855-255-PRAY (7729).
MUSIC STARTS
Steve Cochlan:
00:00:01 Life was great. I mean, I was really blessed. I was an entrepreneur and a hard worker.
Phil Fleischman: Steve Cochlan is a married father of three who had it all. But a few years ago, he began to notice something wasn’t quite right with his body. In the spring of 2019, he received news that changed his life.
Steve:
00:00:20 On April 23rd, they said, Steve, you’ve got ALS. You’ve got two to three years to live, so go home and get your house in order.
Phil: His body is slowly shutting down, even as Steve shares his story with us on this episode of GPS. But he is not without hope. I’m Phil Fleischman.
Jim Kirkland: And I’m Jim Kirkland. You’re listening to the second installment of our latest series. The series is called, “The Great Physician.” It is part of the ongoing stories that we call GPS: God. People. Stories., an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Since Steve Cochlan’s diagnosis, prayer has become an even more vital part of his daily life. And, as Billy Graham knew, the Bible affirms the importance of prayer for all of us.
Billy Graham:
00:01:08 The Scripture says, “Pray without ceasing.” This should be the motto of every true follower of Christ.
Jim: More from Mr. Graham in a few minutes. Right now, let’s make sure you’re subscribed to GPS so you don’t miss the next two episodes in our “The Great Physician” series. What to do is, on your favorite podcast app, tap “Subscribe” or “Follow” as you listen to this episode.
Phil: If you’re a regular listener, you’ve heard us mention our website FindPeaceWithGod.net. It’s designed to clearly explain who Jesus is and what it means to be a Christian … through videos, text, and even a live chat feature. You can check it out if you have spiritual questions, or share it with someone who needs to know about the hope of Christ. That’s FindPeaceWithGod.net.
Intro: GPS: God. People. Stories.
MUSIC TRANSITION
Steve:
00:02:04 My name is Steve Cochlan.
Phil: Steve was born in Arizona, where his parents moved after his dad enlisted in the Army. They moved around several times, in fact, eventually landing near Dayton, Ohio, with Steve and his three younger sisters. Faith was always part of family life, but it wasn’t always the centerpiece.
Steve:
00:02:24 In third grade we were with the Methodist church. So in third grade I got my first so-called Big Youth Bible. And, you know, to be honest with you, nobody in our family really read the Bible.
Jim: But Steve always knew that he could talk to God.
Steve:
00:02:41 I had some struggles in high school, that I was going through, and I would spend a lot of time talking to God in my room at night.
Jim: Steve went to college at Bowling Green University in Ohio and after graduation, he moved to Detroit.
Steve:
00:02:58 I went to work for Price Waterhouse, which is a public accounting firm. And then the guy who hired me there actually convinced me to leave there and start a financial planning company with him and another guy. And that was good. But after about three or four years, I decided to go a little bit different direction, started my own company.
Phil: That is when times got tough.
Steve:
00:03:21 I didn’t make any money for 2½ years, and I was about ready to go on bankrupt after maximizing eight credit cards, three lines of credit, and remortgaging the house that I lived in.
Phil: All through that time, Steve was attending church and giving away a portion of the little money he did have—and just like when he was struggling in high school, he knew that he could talk to God. So he prayed for help.
Steve:
00:03:49 I spent a lot of time praying ‘cause I did not want to go bankrupt and have the government pay for my bankruptcy. So I just wanted to avoid that. And finally I was within 30 days of doing that and got my first client and it was a big client and just took it from there. So it was just great. The Lord answered my prayers and we just grew the company from there.
Jim: In those early years of his business, Steve decided to trade the shores of Lake Erie for the shores of Lake Michigan.
Steve:
00:04:20 I moved to Chicago, and at that time, a really good friend of mine, who I worked with says, Steve, I want you to go to Moody Church in Chicago. And that’s really when things started clicking. And shortly thereafter, another really, really good friend of mine, challenged me to read the Bible. And heretofore I really never read it. So I was reading the Bible for the very first time and then that same church, Moody Church, actually laid the groundwork for a sort of a young people’s church, Park Community Church, in Chicago, and because I was still young and being single, I migrated over there for a couple years and that’s when I met my wife.
Jim: It was also during his time at Moody Church when Steve fully committed his life to Jesus Christ and he then began to realize more deeply and to understand more vividly what a life committed to Jesus Christ looked like.
Phil: When Steve and his wife, Susan, started having children, they moved out to the Chicago suburbs and began attending Western Springs Baptist Church.
Steve:
00:05:25 And that’s the only church that Billy Graham was ever a pastor at. [laugh]
Phil: That’s right, in the early 1940s, before Billy Graham became a world-renowned evangelist, he pastored what was then a 100-member congregation called The Village Church in Western Springs, Illinois.
Jim: And from the basement of Village Church, Billy Graham began an evening radio broadcast called, Songs in the Night. That program ended up being a steppingstone to Mr. Graham’s national radio ministry, which continues today through programs like this very podcast.
Phil: Steve couldn’t have known during his time at Billy Graham’s old church that he would end up sharing his story with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Back then, he had no hint of the trials that were to come.
Steve:
00:06:13 Yeah. Life was great. I mean, I was really blessed. I was an entrepreneur and a hard worker and just building a successful organization. And once I got married and started having kids, I quit traveling very much. And I spent a lot of time with activities related to my children. I coached for all three of them. I did some fun things with organizing father-and-daughter and father-and-son type activities, and just a lot of neat things over the years, just to show them how much I loved them.
Phil: He was also actively involved with church and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ wrestling program. And Steve just enjoyed giving his time and money to causes that glorified God and helped people.
Steve:
00:06:57 It was really a great blessing. And then once I had kids, of course, I always felt like family was first, right? So, faith, family, and then other stuff, right?
Jim: Steve knew that everything he had—his family, his talent, his success—they were all gifts from God.
Steve:
00:07:15 The neat thing is God tells us that when He blesses us, it’s not about us in the first place. It’s about blessing others with those blessings. And one of the neat things that I did years and years ago at Park was take a test on what my spiritual gifts were. And one was leadership, but another one was giving. And I just loved to give, I just loved to help out and help people and get involved.
Jim: And as he invested in God’s kingdom, he saw his faith grow and deepen. And the Bible-reading habit Steve developed in his early 30s has stuck with him for the last three decades.
Steve:
00:07:53 For 30-some years I’ve been doing morning devotionals. So the very first thing I do, whether I started my day at 5 in the morning or 8 in the morning, I would get up in early enough to be able to get on my knees, spend some good quiet time, good prayer time, good devotional time, and, you know, start my day like that. And then, throughout the day, I would try to keep God close at hand, despite all of the interruptions that we would have throughout the day and all of the busyness.
Phil: Yeah, with a wife and three kids, business ventures, and all kinds of other activities, you can imagine how the years flew by. Life was humming along five years ago when Steve noticed something odd going on with his body.
Steve:
00:08:40 The summer of 2018, I started having all these twitches, which they call fasciculations, in my chest, my nose, my arms, and I’m going, “Something’s wrong here,” and I just kept letting it go. And then I was out on the golf course with a couple people over the summer, and I just noticed how I was not hitting the ball anywhere close to what I used to be able to do. Something’s going on.
Phil: So, he flew to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where he underwent three days of tests. That’s when he first started hearing doctors mention ALS, or “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.” It’s also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after the famous New York Yankees baseball player who died from ALS at age 37.
Jim: ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that gets progressively worse. It is fatal. More than 5,000 people are diagnosed with ALS each year, and they typically die between two and five years later. Steve didn’t know any of this when he went back to the Mayo Clinic in April 2019 for more tests.
Steve:
00:09:44 On April 23rd, they said, Steve, you’ve got ALS, you’ve got two to three years to live, so go home and get your house in order. And that was the extent of it. I mean, literally, the doctor spent less than three minutes with me. And so, you know, now I’m going, Oh my goodness, what now?
Jim: One of the first things he needed to do was tell his wife and kids. When he got the news, Steve was hours away from home, by himself.
Steve:
00:10:12 You know, I didn’t want them to be sad on my behalf. I knew I’d been a blessed man for many, many years, but at the same time, it was just hard to swallow. And I’m going, what in the world does this all mean? So it started a timeframe where I spent an incredible amount of time trying to figure out what this disease was all about. Were there any cures, whether there are any medication I should be taking, you know, what should I be doing with my diet? All of that type of thing. And, lo and behold, I was just kicked in the teeth when I discovered how bad this thing was.
Phil: The Mayo Clinic told Steve about the Chicago chapter of the ALS Association. He got in touch with a woman there who explained more about the disease and what he could expect.
Steve:
00:10:58 She was really helpful. She was terrific, in fact, and just shared with me what was going on and that there’s a lot of people but there’s no cure, there’s no treatments, really. And I shouldn’t say there’s no treatments, but nothing that really, really elongates your life—maybe two, three months at the most, but that’s really about it. And that’s still the case today.
Phil: As Steve began to process his brutal diagnosis, he called on God once again.
Steve:
00:11:27 Once I was diagnosed with ALS, I even drew closer to the Lord. I mean, I just was going, what in the world? You know, because I had this, these dreams of course, of, you know, having kids and grandkids and enjoying their lives and being instrumental in who they are and all of that. And once I got diagnosed, I’m going, holy cow, now what? And, yet at the same time, it did draw me a lot closer to God. I spent a lot more time on my knees, spent a lot more time praying for others, and I always prayed for others, I always had a prayer list and all of that, but it got a lot more serious because now for whatever reason, I was more able to empathize with people, sympathize with them, love on them, and just relate to them.
Jim: Immediately Steve had the support of his family and his friends, including quite a few prayer warriors. What he didn’t have was a community of fellow Christians who truly understood, had journeyed through—or were journeying through—what he was going through.
Steve:
00:12:31 There was a lot of organizations that could tell you all about it and help you and serve you through it, but there was really no organizations that could provide you with any kind of Christ-centered love and support, so to speak. Just come alongside you, cry with you, pray with you, just give you that love and support that so many people with illnesses and life-threatening diseases need today.
Jim: The more Steve searched for a support group that could meet his spiritual needs, the more it became clear there wasn’t anything out there … not just for ALS but for lots of other life-threatening diseases.
Steve:
00:13:07 Thinking through that, I’m going, why isn’t there a place for people to come and talk with people to give them that Christ-centered love and support? And by the way, they don’t need to be Christian, because Jesus loved everyone, not just Christians, not just believers. He loved everyone. So I was looking for an organization that would just come in and allow you to just talk with them, just be there for you, that type of thing.
Phil: Not long after his diagnosis, Steve was playing golf with a good friend who was involved with Northern Seminary in Chicago.
Steve:
00:13:41 And they have what’s called the Grow Center, which takes initiatives from the ground and builds them up. And he goes, holy cow. He goes, I got the person you need to talk to. And I mean, we were just on the golf course, we were just, we were playing golf together, had no clue. You know, I didn’t, wasn’t looking from him for advice or any of that type of thing. And he just comes out with this, and so I connected with those guys and these guys have been a huge blessing at the Grow Center. They just took the initiative and grew it from there.
Phil: Within a year, the ALS Family of Faith ministry was born. Since it launched in March of 2021, Steve and his team have helped more than 100 people dealing with ALS. Many more have been able to receive Christ-centered love and support through the group’s online presence and its Facebook page.
Steve:
00:14:29 We’ve got over 400 people that are involved with ALS, now communicating all the time with one another, praying for one another, talking with one another, crying on each other’s shoulder.
Jim: ALS Family of Faith provides one-on-one support sessions at no cost where people can come together, talk, receive prayer, and simply experience God’s love, all through a caring person who knows a lot about the very disease they’re experiencing.
Steve:
00:14:59 And it’s not just for people with ALS, but it’s for their caretakers and also their family members. And it’s just a place, a safe place for people to call in, sign up for a care partner, and they can, you know, sign up for one until they like the person and then be involved with that person for whatever length of time they can without having to pay for it. So it’s just a free initiative to provide Christ-centered love and support.
Phil: Like so many of the endeavors Steve has been involved with over the years, the ALS Family of Faith has grown quickly—and it’s attracting both Christians and those who aren’t yet following Christ but they are open to finding out more about Him.
Steve:
00:15:42 I’ve heard of a couple stories, one as recent as this past week, where we’ve got somebody that’s looks like they’re gonna come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. So that’s sort of cool. And it is cool, not sort of cool.
Jim: With ALS Family of Faith going strong for two years and counting, Steve is freed up to focus on his own family and faith—and of course, ALS is never far from his mind.
Phil: It’s been almost five years since Steve first noticed something was wrong. He’s in a wheelchair now and he can’t be physically active anymore.
Steve:
00:16:14 You know, ALS affects everybody a little differently. And in fact, you can probably hear it in my voice. My voice is having some challenges now after, what’s it been a little over four years now, almost five years this summer. So I’ve been—and that’s another thing, I’ve been blessed because 86% of the people who are diagnosed with ALS die within five years.
Phil: The hardest part for Steve is knowing how much his deteriorating health affects his family. His son Cullen and daughter, Stephanie, are both in college, and his youngest, Cassidy, will be a senior in high school this fall.
Steve:
00:16:47 The biggest thing that just really hurts me today, I’ll probably tear up a little bit, is the lack of time I can spend with my kids. You know, ’cause I don’t want to be a burden on my family at all. And my precious kids, we used to spend a lot of time together and now I’m sort of tied up in one room most of the day. And really, other than great phone calls from family and friends and prayer warriors, I really don’t spend much time with people. Now, you know, my family will come up, my sisters come up periodically, my cousins come up periodically.
Jim: High school and college friends have also visited Steve, and he’s very grateful for that. It’s just hard for him to accept his own limitations.
Steve:
00:17:31 I feel like I’m a burden—and I know they don’t feel that way, don’t get me wrong—but I feel like it because, in the past, I’ve always been the one that would instigate things to do, you know, I was the initiator, so to speak, and now I just can’t do it.
Jim: He’s had a lot of time to think and pray. And he has one request for all of us who are listening to his story: Hug your loved ones today if you can; tell them you love them, because you just don’t know how much time you have left on this Earth.
Steve:
00:17:59 Turn off the TV, get rid of the phones, get out there and spend time with people, love on people. You know, God calls us to love, obey, trust, and serve Him lots. L-O-T-S … love, obey, trust, and serve. Love Him LOTS. But in addition, He calls us to love and serve others, first and foremost. It’s not about us, it’s about loving and serving others. So that’s what we’re trying to do—and in addition, I have it hanging up on my wall—every day, it’s a reminder that “[be joyful] always, pray continually, [and] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” And that’s what you gotta do. You know, despite our situation, God’s always good. He’s good all the time.
Phil: With the time he has left, Steve wants to make sure his wife, Susan, and his children, and the rest of his family and friends all know how much he loves them.
Jim: And he also wants everyone to know how much God loves them. So much, that He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to Earth on a brutal rescue mission. Steve wants you to know that everyone who believes in Jesus Christ will live forever with Him in Heaven, where ALS—and death—are no more.
Steve:
00:19:17 I’ve always been a little bit out there on sharing the love of Christ. But even more so now, I wanna see my buddies. I wanna see my family. I wanna see just everybody come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. We all have only a certain amount of time here on Earth, but we’ve got eternity in Heaven if we know the love of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Jim: It’s clear that hope isn’t just a passing feeling for Steve. It’s a daily decision. There’s no way it can be easy, but he’s choosing to take God at His word. He is choosing to journey in faith until he meets God face to face.
Steve:
00:19:57 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope [through] the power of the Holy Spirit,” whom He has given us. You know, that’s Romans 15:13, and, man, it’s just, if you can keep that at the forefront of your mind, it’ll keep that positive attitude and that joy and peace in your life despite your circumstances. And don’t get me wrong, I have challenging days. I don’t really get frustrated so much with people or God, I get frustrated with me, that I can’t do stuff anymore. It sometimes drives me crazy ’cause I wasn’t one of these guys to sit around. I was always out doing something or, you know, whatever. But, yeah, so it is a challenge, but you just gotta remember that this isn’t all there is. We’ve got hope for all eternity.
MUSIC TRANSITION
Phil: Today you heard from Steve Cochlan, who has been battling ALS for almost five years. Each day, life gets a little harder, but Steve has put his faith and hope in Jesus Christ. Jesus is walking with him every step of the way.
Jim: If you want to have the kind of hope Steve has, even in the darkest moments, and accept Christ into your heart, to help you with that, we’ve created an website, very interactive, that is called FindPeaceWithGod.net, and there you the explanation of the basic tenets of being a Christian. And if you still have questions, you can chat with a trained volunteer for free, anytime, day or night, 24/7. That’s FindPeaceWithGod.net.
Phil: You’re about to hear a word from Billy Graham before we introduce you to the next guest in our current series, “The Great Physician.”
Voice-over: You’re listening to GPS: God. People. Stories., a podcast production of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
MUSIC STARTS
Billy Graham:
00:21:57 The Scripture says, “Pray without ceasing.” This should be the motto of every true follower of Christ.
Voice-over: Billy Graham …
Billy Graham:
00:22:04 One of the most amazing things in all the Scriptures to me has been how much time Jesus took out for prayer. Jesus was never in so big a rush that He had time to spend hours in prayer. He prayed before every difficult task confronting Him. He prayed with regularity. Not a day began or closed in which He did not unfold His soul before His Father. Never stop praying, no matter how dark and hopeless your case may be. In this modern age in which we live, we have learned to harness the power of the atom, but very few of us have learned how to fully develop the power of prayer. No problem is too difficult, no burden too heavy for His love. The future with its fears and uncertainties is fully revealed in Him. Trust that promise with all your soul today.
Phil: If you’d like to put your trust in Jesus Christ today, go to FindPeaceWithGod.net. If you’d rather talk with someone on the phone, you can call our 24-hour prayer line. The number is 855-255-PRAY. That’s 855-255-7729.
Jim: Steve Cochlan has been our guest, and we thank him for the time he gave us, for sharing his story and his faith in the midst of a battle with ALS. Steve, we are praying for you.
Next week, we’ll hear from Carl and Anna Streck, a couple raising children who have a host of medical challenges.
Carl Streck:
00:23:29 They had this little baby in foster care that had been born a month earlier, and Anna holds this baby and essentially looks at me and says, This is our son. And her aunt proceeds to tell us, just so you know, the doctor says he’ll never walk, he’ll never talk, he’ll never see or hear. And in fact, he said, I don’t know who would ever want this child—the doctor did. And so Anna was like, I don’t care.
Jim: Hear more of their story and what has become a balancing act of daily life in the next episode of GPS. I’m Jim Kirkland. Thank you for listening.
Phil: And I’m Phil Fleischman. This is GPS: God. People. Stories. It’s an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association—Always Good News.
CLOSING MUSIC
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