The Nurse Theologian

We become set in our ways and comfortable in our lives. Therefore, it becomes increasingly difficult to depart from our comfort zones, but to be a participant in the Great Commission we must leave our comfort zones and usual way of doing things. This past week I was taken far from my comfort zone and usual way of doing things. I spent the week assisting with the teaching of disciples, at a week-long seminar, in a foreign country that I never imagined visiting. This morning I write to you from that country under a shade tree while waiting to depart to the airport and head back home. The seminar concluded yesterday evening and the students were all dismissed to their churches. The details of the trip are not important for this writing, but the fact that I spent the last week far from my comfort zone and usual way of doing things in obedience to the Great Commissions is important. The words of Christ in Matthew 28:16-20 are known by the disciples of Jesus Christ as the Great Commission

Perea was the region beyond the Jordan and Herod Antipas was Tetrarch there during John’s ministry. Antipas was the Herod who had John imprisoned and beheaded. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Herod imprisoned John in the castle Macherus which was located in Perea. [1] Therefore, this meeting between John and the Jewish leaders has John’s imprisonment and death as its backdrop.  During John’s ministry, the majority of the priests were from the sect of the Sadducees and rarely were they of the Pharisees because these two groups were in opposition to one another. The Sadducees were a Jewish religious/political group in the first century A.D. In the New Testament, especially the gospels, the Sadducees often appear beside the Pharisees because both groups were in opposition to Jesus and his followers. [2] However, by saying, “Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees,” (Jn 1:24) the author brings the reader’s attention to the sect of the Pharisees.  The Pharisees wer

Overcomer (Image: overcomermovie.com ) I had the privilege of watching the recent Kendrick Brothers movie “Overcomer.” I have enjoyed their movies in the past, but “Overcomer” is by far their best production. There is much in Overcomer to talk about having now seen it, but there are two things that I saw in the advertisements that caused me to go see the movie: First, I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and I knew through the advertisements that Overcomer was a Christian movie; however, I must admit that I am usually leery of supposed Christian movies because they do not all contain sound theological doctrine. Second, I knew through the advertisements that the main character in the movie was a cross-country runner and cross-country running was my sport in high school. I transitioned to road running after high school; to the honor and glory and praise of God I am still running thirty-two years later. Overcomer, however, is not a movie about cross-country running, it is a m