The Nurse Theologian

Psalms 25:10 All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. For the Christian in the new covenant inaugurated with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, this passage has a familiar tone. When reading this passage my mind went to Romans 8:28, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. I received him at 11:00am directly from the operating room; intubated, bleeding, on multiple vasopressors and inotropic support. I would spend the next 8 hours working to obtain homeostasis. When I reported off to the oncoming Registered Nurse and departed from him, there were multiple blood products infusing. As I walked to my automobile I had time to reflect.  Not only was the man in critical condition but he appeared to be alone in the world. There were no family or friends waiting to see him and not contacts listed on the chart. His chart indic

They are satisfied with children, And leave their abundance to their babes. As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.  (Ps. 17:14b,15) I have mentioned this Psalm before because it’s content is ever present on my mind. What is most important in life? If everything is striped away would you still have joy? I am not asking for the Sunday school answer, but really think about it. In the movie “Overcomer,” one of the characters asked another character: “Who are you?” The second character gave several answers before finally answering, “I am a Christian.” Once he answered, “I am a Christian,” the first character asked a follow up question. “What does it mean to be a Christian?” The second character answered, “A follower of Christ?” The first character replied, “Interesting, how far down the list.”  Now this movie is fiction and the characters in it are fictional, but it was written to make a point. The point being that whatever

Dear brother and sister, You may already know that my convictions are baptist. Baptist came from the English separatist, separatist came from the church of England. There are a few baptist distinctives, some other protestant denominations hold some of these distinctives but baptist hold them all. A baptist believes in authority of the Bible. A baptist believes that every local church is autonomous; no outside church body has authority over the local church. A baptist believes in the priesthood of the believer; no believer need go to a priest to confess and have their sins absolved.  A baptist believes that the Lord gave two ordinances to the church: believers baptism and the Lord’s supper. A baptist believes in individual responsibility; each believer has soul competency because there is one Spirit. A baptist believes in separation of church and state; the state has no authority in matters of religion. A baptist believes that there are only two offices in the church: pastor (elder) and

Dear Brethren, Who can question God? Can anyone judge the Almighty? Men judge the Almighty as if they have all knowledge. There are many things that I do not understand and much that I do not know. My wisdom is limited by my knowledge, understanding and experience. The Almighty is from eternity and I am fainéant. I have have little effect on the people of the world and I am known by only a few, but the Almighty is known by his creation. There is no unrighteousness found in him. All of his ways are good. I may not understand his ways because I do not have all knowledge. Should I question the righteousness of the Almighty because I do not understand. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The beginning of wisdom is understanding. I do not have all knowledge; therefore, I cannot comprehend the Almighty. Like a child who trust his father and mother, I must trust the Lord God who created heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them. There is much that I do not understand and e

Dear Brethren, Job was a man who had much and lost almost all that he had. The only things that Job retained were his life and his integrity. Job longed for the days of old, when all of his children were around him. Like Job, I have lost a great deal (not as much as Job) and I long for the days of old, when all of my children were around me.  The past year has been very difficult and lonely. It seems that one calamity after another has occurred in our lives. I have felt very lonely and disconnected from the covenant community which is my local church; however, I have found solace in the Word and in church history. Studying the Scriptures is good but one cannot discount just sitting and listening to the Word. I study the Word but in my morning devotion I just read the Word in the vulgar (my native tongue) and just listen to the Word of the Lord. On my days off from work I like to read history. My wife says it is because I am a nerd but that really is not the truth. I like to read histor

“One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and satisfied; “While another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting anything good. Together they lie down in the dust, And worms cover them.” (Job 21:23, 24-25) Dear Brethren, Things are not equal on the earth. In the intensive care unit, I have seen what Job describes in this text many times. Some live a long and prosperous life but others suffer; however, both lives come to an end in death. Why do some prosper and some suffer? The assumption often made of those who suffer is that they brought it on themselves; however, this is not the way of things in the world. Sure, a person can cause physical harm to themselves and suffer, but this is not the subject that Job and his friends were discussing. The subject was the righteous verses the unrighteous. Job’s friends contend that the righteous prosper but the wicked suffer. Job contours there argument with reality; many righteous persons suffer and many wicked persons prosper. Pros

Dear Brethren, Job 14:1 Man, who is born of woman,  I s short-lived and full of turmoil. The area of the country that I live in is suffering greatly. I live in East Texas, the deep south of the United States of America. Each winter we might experience a day or two of freezing temperatures but then it warms back up. For the past week we have experienced unprecedented cold temperatures for this area. It has been well below freezing for the past week. We have experienced two storms, which brought much ice and snow to the area. Many people have been without electrical power and have no way to warm their homes.  As I write, my home has electricity but no running water. The hospital that I work in has little in the way of clean linen because there is no available water for the laundry. Parts of the hospital are very cold because there is no water available for the boilers which provide heat. Food is becoming scarce. If relief from the cold temperatures and the ice and snow does not come soon