The Doctor's Call

It is that time of year when pulled hamstrings, torn ACLs and chronic injuries are causing some great athletes to retire. You may be one of them. Of course it is not just physical injuries that can shorten a career. The challenges when change comes upon us are our choices. We suddenly have choices concerning our time, our talents and treasures. What that means is that we have some decisions to make concerning how and what we are going to do now? Now these should not be a quick decision. That is because we need discernment to understand ourselves and our circumstances. Discernment comes after thoughtfully contemplating life's events.  There are a number of places in the Bible where we are told to contemplate life’s events. In James 1:22-25 we are told to not forget who that person is who stares back at us in the mirror every morning. I believe that as we reflect on our lives we will find that there are three choices concerning our future. We can choose to rust, recover or reac...

Yesterday my youngest daughter reminded me of one of my life proverbs, "Take responsibility and take responsibility for your actions." This old military saying reminds us that adults are responsible to provide leadership and are also responsible for the decisions that they make. Unfortunately there is a chronic issue that has caused churches, Christian colleges and denominations to break out in a cold sweat. That issue is sexual abuse. Already I can see some folks will want to stop reading and pull up a nice quote about puppies or playful kittens, but this simply supports the problem. As long as the local church tolerates sexual immorality, adultery and abuse it will be unable to address our culture's rejection of the Gospel. I experienced this problem of churches refusing to deal with longstanding sexual issues when I pastored a church in Idaho. There was a church member who for years had abused his granddaughters. I reported the crime to the police. The negati...

In sports there is a word that always makes me cringe. It is the word, "potential." It can mean that an athlete has yet to be tried on the field of competition, or it can mean that an athlete has the skills to make it to the next level, but has somehow failed to achieve it. In one sense it all has to do with the tense of the question. It can be said, "He has so much potential," or "He had so much potential." So how does a person maximize his or her potential and keep from being a "might-have-been? When I think of potential, in the positive and negative sense, there are a few people who come to mind. Many of the teams in last month's NCAA Tournament come to mind! One fellow in the Bible who comes to mind is a fellow named Mark. When Mark was young he was identified as a man with potential. He was young, enthusiastic and hungry. But how he maximized his potential is a journey worth telling. John Mark had it all. He was from a good family, he l...

Some of the most important words one can utter are, “I forgive you.” and “You are forgiven.” These simple words can do so much to increase healing, develop respect and defuse conflict in a healthy marriage. A lack of forgiveness can also allow hurts to continue, wounds to fester and respect to dissipate. Some of the signs of a healthy marriage are the same as those of a mentally and emotionally healthy person. They involve forgiveness, being in touch with reality and having someone who they can share their life with. I believe that true forgiveness is the bedrock for a healthy marriage. Some of the experiences that I have had with couples that I have known and counseled support that view. My wife Rhonda and I had the opportunity to go to a vacation to Arizona. While visiting the Grand Canyon we got to know a couple named Bob and Susan. Bob sold insurance and Susan worked as an Elementary School Teacher. The more time that we spent with them the more obvious it became that there was ...