The Doctor's Call

It is March and that means Chicken Madness. I know, you thought that I was going to talk about Basketball and the South Carolina Gamecocks. That is not quite true. You see, right now I am spending my time taking care of my chickens, watching the NCAA Basketball Tournament and grading papers. One of these is exciting, one of these is predictable and one of these is frustrating. I will let you pick which one of these goes with which activity. It is actually my work with chickens that has taken up most of my time lately. Like anything that we care about, raising chickens takes intentional actions, great patience and a willingness to learn. Rick Pitino, the Basketball Coach for the Louisville Cardinals, recently made some comments concerning one of his players who was thrown off of his team. Paraphrasing Patino, he said that there are some things you can teach someone by having them run laps, and there are other things that a person just has to accept the consequences of their actions

Our attitude toward all men should be that of equality because we are common creatures. We are of one blood and kind. As I look across all the world, I must see every man as a fellow-creature, and I must be careful to have a sense of our equality on the basis of this common status. We must be careful in our thinking not to try to stand in the place of God to other men. We are fellow-creatures. (Francis A. Schaeffer, No Little People, Ch. 1)

Fear not! Wow, so much crazy stuff is happening in the world. A person could get nervous or even start to have fear if we are not careful. Do you have an issue with fear in your life? Whether small or large, it can even get to the point of ruling in our lives. For me it was the fear of man! In Mark 6:49-51, the guys were out on the lake and a wild storm descended upon them. They were overco me by fear; then out came Jesus walking on the water. Fear is part of who we are and can protect us at times. But here Jesus comes strolling along, and tells them to not be afraid. The storm (life) was still crashing around them (problems of life), and Jesus told them not to fear. “Take courage” “Be of good cheer”. Here the boat is probably half full of water, and the guys are soaking cold. Now their Lord says cheer up. Has anyone ever done that to you - when all you want to do is cry or scream or just go to bed? Cheer up, put on a smiley face. No way! You see, Jesus told them not to fear because H

How to read your Bible . . . what you don't read your Bible?!?!? Look in the  content section at the front of a Bible and find the Gospel of John. Read one chapter each day until you get to the end of the Bible, after the book of Revelation and before the maps. Then go to the book of Genesis and don't stop until the book of Revelation. If you miss a day, that is ok, just pick up where you last read. The reading of the Bible is meant to be enjoyed. Like listening to a friend. 

"What is it that makes Christian faith unique among all the religions of the earth? It is not a big philosophical idea (though we've got some good ones, like the eternal Logos as a better explanation for the intelligibility of the world to human minds than any secular philosophy can offer). It is not a great ethical principle (though we've got some good ones, like the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments). It's not even a story, for other religions have their mythologies. It  is the fact that our Story, while being every bit as suspenseful and dramatic and satisfying as any fiction, actually happened in History. As Dorothy L. Sayers said, Jesus is the only God with a date in history. As C. S. Lewis put it, Myth became Fact. Nobody knows when Krishna appeared as an avatar of Vishnu. But Jesus was born when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Christmas has its legends, but the birth of Jesus is not one of them. Like the Exodus from Egypt which preceded it and the Resurrect

I wanted to take some time and write to you about some questions. There is a tension found in the Bible regarding the sovereignty of God and the human ability of choice. In the Bible there are two truths that stay in tension. God is sovereign and He knows the end from the beginning. If this were not true then prophecy and the book of Revelation would just be hopeful guessing. The other truth is that in the Bible men and women are always responsible for their choices, action and decisions. God responds to our choices and prayers in the time and space where we live, and that is very good. We must remember that God is not limited by time, space, dimension or anything else. He sees all time as the same, since He is outside of creation. So unlike humans, God is not limited.  Now there are some folks who want to overemphasize one or the other of these truths. The extreme on one side says that our choices do not matter, but that is not what the Bible says. Our choices always matter, as