Not A Copy But An Image: Thoughts from The Shack

Posted on March 24th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Bible Study, Book Reviews, Men on the Path, Spiritual Growth.

In his amazing book: The Shack, Paul Young writes a parable with a dialogue between a guy named Mack and the Trinity: Jesus, Papa aka God, and Sarayu aka The Holy Spirit.  Here is a section that explains the Christian walk beautifully and helped me to refocus and better understand my Christian walk.

Jesus says, “Mack, just like love, submission is not something that you can do, especially not on your own.  Apart from my life inside of you, you can’t submit to Nan, or your children, or anyone else in your life, including Papa.”

“You mean…that I can’t just ask, ‘What Would Jesus Do’?”

Jesus says, “Good intentions, bad idea…my life was not meant to be an example to copy.  Being my follower is not trying to ‘be like Jesus,’ it means for your independence to be killed.  I came to give you life, real life, my life.  We will come and live our life inside of you, so that you begin to see with  our eyes, and hear with out ears, and touch with our hands, and think like we do…”

Mack says, “This must be the dying daily that Sarayu was talking about…”

“I have been crucified with Christ.  I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”-Galatians 2: 20

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Healthcare and ‘Filibuster Abuse’

Posted on March 15th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Evil and Suffering, medicine.

The California Medical Association, that I am a member of, sent me a form email requesting that I contact my state senators regarding the healthcare issue. Reluctantly as an apolitical person, I sent a form email to Senator Boxer. Here is her form letter email response:
“Dear Dr.:
Thank you for writing to me about pending health care reform legislation. I appreciate hearing from you.
As you may know, the House of Representatives passed health care reform legislation in November 2009, and the Senate passed its version in December 2009. These moves brought us closer than ever to providing affordable health care for all of America’s families, an elusive goal since Teddy Roosevelt first proposed it nearly a century ago.

However, with its unprecedented abuse of the filibuster, the Senate minority has blocked further progress on this historic legislation. Like millions of Americans, I am gravely disappointed in these delays…

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator”

For some reason her letter deeply affected me, I surprised myself by my passionate response….

“The 2 largest lobbying groups in support of this healthcare bill are the insurance companies and the drug companies. These 2 groups have little or no interest in the well being of my patients.

The healthcare bill does not have ANY malpractice reform. Without malpractice reform, myself and my fellow physicians will continue to drive the cost of healthcare upward to protect ourselves from litigation. Without malpractice reform, there will be no success in reducing healthcare costs.

You mention the ‘unprecedented abuse of the filibuster‘. I cannot disagree with you more.  Not to mention the fact that there has been NO filibuster, the purpose of the filibuster is to allow the minority to have a voice. Without it, the minority and the American people would not have a voice. Our government is founded on the ideal that it is a government ‘by the people and for the people’.

You are my representative, but as a U.S. citizen, it is MY government.   Our government was established with checks and balances to prevent the abuses that I have seen recently. I cannot tell you how truly disturbed I am that a government representative would use the terms  ’abuse’ and ‘filibuster’ in the same phrase. No matter what political party we align ourselves with, we should embrace and applaud the voice of the people.

I guarentee that many of the people that voted for Scott Brown were NOT republicans; it was a bipartisan election by the people and for the people. They voted for him so that they could have a voice, and that voice has a name: filibuster.

Thank you for your time.”

Sorry for the politics from a person on a blog that is apolitical, but what I have seen in the last year in politics has compelled me to become more political.

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Anticipatory Guidance

Posted on March 15th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Healing, Vital Signs of Healing.

This is something that I don’t do enough of: ANTICIPATORY GUIDANCE.  It falls into the adage: Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them.  One of our main roles as health care providers is to ease pain and suffering AND anxiety.  A great way to do just that is to tell your patients what they should expect while in the emergency department and beyond. This is another great article gleaned from Emergency Medical Abstracts (I have added the audio discussion from the Emergency Medical Abstracts for your listening and learning)

A PROGRAM OF ANTICIPATORY GUIDANCE FOR THE PREVENTION OF EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS FOR EAR PAIN

McWilliams, D.B., et al, Arch Ped Adol Med 162(2):151, February 2008

Let me know what you think.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Love and Respect

Posted on March 10th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: marriage.

Love and Respect

There is a GREAT marriage and relationship book titled: Love and
Respect. The premise of this book is simply: “…each individual
among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife
must see to it that she respects her husband.”-Ephesians 5:33

It is very interesting that the author of this letter, Paul, doesn’t
ask the wife to ‘love’ the husband. Men, in general, feel loved by
being respected. We all want to be loved. We all want to hear the
words: ‘I love you.’ But men in particular need to hear that they are
valued. Most men would prefer to hear the words: ‘You are my hero.’
Strange as this may seem, I have seen this truth played out in my own
life and in the lives of the vast majority of men.

It is important for ALL of us to feel valued, to be respected. It is
important to treat each other and our patients with R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

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God’s Love: The Story of the Prodigal Son

Posted on March 9th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Apologetics, Bible Study, Evil and Suffering, Love, Men on the Path, Parenting, Sermons, Spiritual Growth, Vital Signs of Healing, marriage.

Mike Erre gives us a special glimpse into what the parable of the prodigal son truly meant to a 1st century audience.  It was an incredible picture of God’s outrageous love for us.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Don’t Worry #3: Accept the Worst Case Scenario

Posted on March 4th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Book Reviews, Evil and Suffering, Parenting, Spiritual Growth.

In this 3rd segment regarding how to stop worrying, I pull some key points from “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” by Dale Carnegie.  The 3rd key is simple: Accept the worst case scenario.

“Step 1. I analyzed the situation fearlessly and honestly and figured out what was the worst that could possibly happen as a result of this failure.”

“Step 2. After figuring out what was the worst that could possibly happen, I reconciled myself to accepting it, if necessary…After discovering the worst that could possibly happen and reconciling myself to accepting it, if necessary, an extremely important thing happened: I immediately relaxed and felt a sense of peace that I hadn’t experienced in days. ”

“Step 3. From that time on, I calmly devoted my time and energy to trying to improve upon the worst which I had already accepted mentally.”
“I probably would never have been able to do this if I had kept on worrying, because one of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys our ability to concentrate. When we worry, our minds jump here and there and everywhere, and we lose all power of decision. However, when we force ourselves to face the worst and accept it mentally, we then eliminate all those vague imaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able to concentrate on our problem.”

“The same idea was expressed by Lin Yutang in his widely read book, The Importance of Living. “True peace of mind,” said this Chinese philosopher, “comes from accepting the worst. Psychologically, I think, it means a release of energy.” That’s it, exactly! Psychologically, it means a new release of energy! When we have accepted the worst, we have nothing more to lose. And that automatically means we have everything to gain!”

“If you have a worry problem, apply the magic formula of Willis H. Carrier by doing these three things: 1. Ask yourself,’ ‘What is the worst that can possibly happen?” 2. Prepare to accept it if you have to. 3. Then calmly proceed to improve on the worst.”

1 comment.

True Sight

Posted on March 3rd, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Evil and Suffering, Spiritual Growth.

Please enjoy this incredible and inspiring video:

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Working In The Fishbowl by Dr. Jeanmonod

Posted on February 25th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Interviews, Vital Signs of Healing, medicine.

Working in the Fishbowl

[Ann Emerg Med. 2010;55:125-126.]

“I have a confession to make.”

This is my favorite part of the history. It’s also the part I understand the least. It typically occurs after I’ve asked questions I wouldn’t ask my mother. After I’ve inquired about the medical history, perused her potential illicit drug use, plumbed the depths of the sexual history, examined all the parts the patient wouldn’t show strangers on the beach or even a spouse in the bedroom. This is the part where I find out the secret nugget of information in whose context everything that has happened up to this point needs to be placed. This is where it will all fall into place and make sense. It’s the moment when I believe the patient knows I want to help and is showing some trust. I don’t understand it because the confession so often seems less intimate, less personal, less critical than everything else I’ve said, heard, and done in the room. But it’s my favorite part, because it has a sense of sanctity to it, a mark of the physician-patient covenant. It doesn’t happen every time, but I like it when it does.

I sit back down on the lid of a trashcan, so she knows I’m not in a rush. I’m superficially familiar with the studies about sitting when you’re talking to patients and I’m a fan of both sitting and evidence-based medicine, although I’m not sure if any studies address where you sit. I avoid the biohazard bin as a sign of respect for what might be in there (I am also a fan of signs of respect), but the trashcan is the perfect height. It also has a big lid, so I feel less unstable on it than on a stool, which is really only good for pelvics and procedures.

“Tell me what’s on your mind.”

By way of background, this woman does not see doctors. Period. She hasn’t seen a doctor since the birth of her last child 30 years ago. I am aware that I feel a little honored that she has chosen to see me, because I know this isn’t easy for her, and she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t think she needed to be. As a corollary to this, she is not insured and has no money. She is about the age of my mother, and I wonder if maybe she’s thinking all the things my mother thinks of my appearance. I try to sit up straighter and arrange myself more ladylike on my trashcan. I cover my dozen earrings with my hair.

She is here for a rash. It’s on her left buttock and has been spreading for a couple of days. She’s starting to feel unwell, with chills and fatigue. It looks to me like cellulitis, and she doesn’t seem ill enough to warrant admission. This makes her happy. I was about to write her some prescriptions, but she has stopped me from leaving, and now I am perched waiting for her confession.

“I take fish antibiotics.”

Fish antibiotics. I turn this over in my mind, trying to look at it from all angles. Is this actually a psychiatry patient? Does she think she’s a fish? Is she saying she can only take fish antibiotics? Maybe asking me to prescribe fish antibiotics? Do you need a prescription from a fish doctor to get fish antibiotics? Is she familiar with the common metaphor that the ED is a fishbowl? Is she making fun of me and my job? Is this the kind of day I’m going to have? Is my next patient going to take reptile antibiotics? Will he think he’s a dinosaur? Suddenly, my rapport with my patient teeters vertiginously on the edge of the chasm of my judging her.

“I’m sorry. What do you mean?” I can hear my tone has changed, and hope she doesn’t hear it.

“I’ve been taking fish antibiotics. You know, from a pet store. I thought you should know, because I’ve been taking fish amoxicillin for 2 days. I’ve done it for years, but this time, I’m not getting better.”

Suddenly, I understand. Aquarium drugs. The loophole of the United States prescription antibiotic system. I remember treating my own home aquarium with an antifungal tablet, and how many choices there were for antimicrobials, no prescription necessary. So she’s been on amoxicillin of some formulation or other, intended for a goldfish. I am no longer irritated or judgmental. This woman is resourceful. She has no insurance. She has no doctor. She has needed drugs over the course of 30 years and has researched what she thought she needed and treated herself to good effect up until now. She has never been to the ED before. She likely would have made a better choice for herself if she had had more information on community-acquired MRSA, and then she wouldn’t have presented for care this time, either. I wish patients didn’t do this, and I wish it wasn’t an option for them, but in the same situation, it’s something I can see myself doing. In some ways, it is what I do for myself. I decide what I think I need and prescribe it.

“Um, ok. Thanks for telling me. That’s really helpful information to have. Do you mind if I ask you how you dose it?”

“I take one tablet. I figure I’m about the size of a 10-gallon tank.”

I quickly do the math. 80 pounds. Not even close.

I write up a prescription for doxycycline and some generic discharge instructions. I add in, “It would be a good idea for you to see a primary care doctor, as this is safer than you trying to figure out what infection you have and buying antibiotics intended for an aquarium. If you do buy antibiotics for an aquarium, remember you are the size of a 20-gallon tank.” I hope this will help her make a more informed decision next time.

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The Secret of Happy Couples

Posted on February 21st, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Spiritual Growth, marriage.

New research points out that happy couples do a few things well:

• They spend a lot of time focusing on positive moments
• They spend a lot of time focusing on keeping passion alive
• They spend a lot of time focusing on keeping a positive attitude

These are ancient principles.  The research points out that it is not about the negative or bad times, and it is not even about how we deal with those negative or bad times.  It is ALL about looking at the good, being grateful, counting blessings, quality time, communication, and celebrating life’s positives every chance we get.

“Numerous studies show that intimate relationships, such as marriages, are the single most important source of life satisfaction. Although most couples enter these relationships with the best of intentions, many break up or stay together but languish. Yet some do stay happily married and thrive. What is their secret?

“A few clues emerge from the latest research in the nascent field of positive psychology. Founded in 1998 by psychologist Martin E. P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania, this discipline includes research into positive emotions, human strengths and what is meaningful in life. In the past few years positive psychology researchers have discovered that thriving couples accentuate the positive in life more than those who stay together unhappily or split do. They not only cope well during hardship but also celebrate the happy moments and work to build more bright points into their lives.

“It turns out that how couples handle good news may matter even more to their relationship than their ability to support each other under difficult circumstances. Happy pairs also individually experience a higher ratio of upbeat emotions to negative ones than people in unsuccessful liasions do. Certain tactics can boost this ratio and thus help to strengthen connections with others. Another ingredient for relationship success: cultivating passion. Learning to become devoted to your significant other in a healthy way can lead to a more satisfying union.

“Until recently, studies largely centered on how romantic partners respond to each other’s misfortunes and on how couples manage negative emotions such as jealousy and anger – an approach in line with psychology’s traditional focus on alleviating deficits. One key to successful bonds, the studies indicated, is believing that your partner will be there for you when things go wrong. Then, in 2004, psychologist Shelly L. Gable, currently at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her colleagues found that romantic couples share positive events with each other surprisingly often, leading the scientists to surmise that a partner’s behavior also matters when things are going well.

“In a study published in 2006 Gable and her coworkers videotaped dating men and women in the laboratory while the subjects took turns discussing a positive and negative event. After each conversation, members of each pair rated how ‘responded to’ – how understood, validated and cared for – they felt by their partner. Meanwhile observers rated the responses on how active-constructive (engaged and supportive ) they were – as indicated by intense listening, positive comments and questions, and the like. Low ratings reflected a more passive, generic response such as ‘That’s nice, honey.’ Separately, the couples evaluated their commitment to and satisfaction with the relationship.

“The researchers found that when a partner proffered a supportive response to cheerful statements, the ‘responded to’ ratings were higher than they were after a sympathetic response to negative news, suggesting that how partners reply to good news may be a stronger determinant of relationship health than their reaction to unfortunate incidents. The reason for this finding, Gable surmises, may be that fixing a problem or dealing with a disappointment – though important for a relationship – may not make a couple feel joy, the currency of a happy pairing.”

Suzann Pileggi, “The Happy Couple,” Scientific American Mind, Jan/Feb 2010, pp. 34-36.

1 comment.

Happy Valentine’s Day: Marriage Help

Posted on February 20th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Vital Signs of Healing, marriage.

It was an honor and a privilege to teach at church with my wife and 2 other couples.  With over 60 years of combined GREAT marriage time, we shared our hearts and our learnings with the church.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Are You Listening: A Love Song for Haiti

Posted on February 12th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Music, you tube clips.

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Too Old For New Brain Cells? NOT True!

Posted on February 11th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: medicine.

“Fresh neurons arise in the brain every day. … Recent work, albeit mostly in rats, indicates that learning enhances the survival of new neurons in the adult brain, and the more engaging and challenging the problem, the greater the number of neurons that stick around. These neurons are then presumably available to aid in situations that tax the mind. It seems, then, that a mental workout can buff up the brain, much as physical exercise builds up the body. …

“In the 1990s scientists rocked the field of neurobiology with the startling news that the mature mammalian brain is capable of sprouting new neurons. Biologists had long believed that this talent for neurogenesis was reserved for young, developing minds and was lost with age. But in the early part of the decade Elizabeth Gould, then at the Rockefeller University, demonstrated that new cells arise in the adult brain – particularly in a region called the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. …

“Studies indicate that in rats, between 5,000 and 10,000 new neurons arise in the hippocampus every day. (Although the human hippocampus also welcomes new neurons, we do not know how many.) The cells are not generated like clockwork, however. Instead their production can be influenced by a number of different environmental factors. For example, alcohol consumption has been shown to retard the generation of new brain cells. And their birth rate can be enhanced by exercise. Rats and mice that log time on a running wheel can kick out twice as many new cells as mice that lead a more sedentary life. …

“Exercise and other actions may help produce extra brain cells. But those new recruits do not necessarily stick around. Many if not most of them disappear within just a few weeks of arising. Of course, most cells in the body do not survive indefinitely. So the fact that these cells die is, in itself, not shocking. But their quick demise is a bit of a puzzler. Why would the brain go through the trouble of producing new cells only to have them disappear rapidly?

“From our work in rats, the answer seems to be: they are made ‘just in case.’ If the animals are cognitively challenged, the cells will linger. If not, they will fade away.”

Tracey J. Shors, “Saving New Brain Cells,” Scientific American, March 2009, pp. 47-48.

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Chest Pain Quality Improvement Lecture

Posted on February 8th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Spiritual Growth, Vital Signs of Healing, medicine.

I had the pleasure of teaching on chest pain to the nursing staff and paramedics.  Please let me know your thoughts.  Below are the lecture slides and handout/quiz slides.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Don’t Worry #2

Posted on February 6th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Book Reviews, Evil and Suffering, Parenting, Spiritual Growth, Vital Signs of Healing.

As I pointed out in Don’t Worry #1, living in the ‘now here’ is a powerful way to combat worry. In Dale Carnegie’s book: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, his first point is: Live today! Don’t worry/focus on yesterday or tomorrow.

“…twenty-one words from Thomas Carlyle that helped him lead a life free from worry: “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”"

“What I urge is that you so learn to control the machinery as to live with ‘day-tight compartments’ as the most certain way to ensure safety on the voyage. Get on the bridge, and see that at least the great bulkheads are in working order. Touch a button and hear, at every level of your life, the iron doors shutting out the Past the dead yesterdays. Touch another and shut off, with a metal curtain, the Future the unborn tomorrows. Then you are safe, safe for today! Shut off the past! Let the dead past bury its dead. Shut out the yesterdays which have lighted fools the way to dusty death. The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today, makes the strongest falter. Shut off the future as tightly as the past. The future is today. There is no tomorrow. The day of man’s salvation is now. Waste of energy, mental distress, nervous worries dog the steps of a man who is anxious about the future. Shut close, then the great fore and aft bulkheads, and prepare to cultivate the habit of life of ‘day-tight compartments.’ ”

“Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have lived today.”-Roman poet Horace.

“life ‘is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour.’”

“This speech contains twenty-six words that have gone ringing down across the centuries: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6: 34)

1 comment.

Chess With God by Dr. Veysman

Posted on February 3rd, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Interviews, Value, Vital Signs of Healing, medicine.

This is a GREAT glimpse into the world of an ER doctor:

Chess With God

Boris D. Veysman, MD

[Ann Emerg Med. 2010;55:123-124.]

Give me a bad position, I will defend it. Openings, endgames, complicated positions, dull draws, I love them and I will do my very best.—Hein Donner, Chess player, 1950

Not only does God play dice, but… he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.—Stephen Hawking

Amidst a busy shift when patients pile in, seasoned nurses start to grumble, and my blood sugar and bladder volume are most discordant, I overhear a fourth-year medical student share wisdom with a third-year newbie. “ER’s got a good schedule if you like doing overpaid triage.” I smile, enjoying the involuntary adrenaline boost from sublimated anger, before refocusing on the labs of the 80-year-old woman with digoxin toxicity and acute renal failure, presenting with runs of unstable tachycardia, prolonged QT interval, hyperkalemia, hypocalcemia, and a filthy cough suggesting preseptic pneumonia.

The next 20 seconds is a synaptic typhoon. Could elevated lactate mean not sepsis but mesenteric ischemia? A benign exam would not rule it out, and she is too sick to complain of abdominal pain. Tachycardia and hypoxia suggest pulmonary embolism (PE), given her edematous legs and recently stopped Coumadin when she had a GI bleed. This also increases the risk of mesenteric clot. Yet the contrast timing is different for CT angiograms of chest and abdomen, and I will have to choose which to optimize. Both studies are perilous because of the dye load, given acute renal failure, but failure to make either diagnosis would be fatal in a patient this sick. Meanwhile, empiric anticoagulation risks another massive GI bleed. Dialysis and transfusion may be necessary damage control to be considered concurrently with the diagnostic studies. Furthermore, calcium gluconate is contraindicated in digoxin toxicity because of mostly hypothetic cardiac tetany but would probably help with the blood pressure. Calcium would also treat hyperkalemia and hypocalcemia (strangely equal at 6.5), which both contribute to cardiac toxicity. If the heart gives out, it’s my fault either way, and I find that liberating. Digibind for the hyperkalemic digoxin toxicity, but that will worsen the heart failure. Definitely fluids for hypotension and sepsis but absolutely no fluids because of pulmonary edema and renal failure.

“Dr. V, she’s 80/50,” the nurse reports. Time’s up. Make a move….

We may choose emergency medicine for different reasons, but we fall in love all over again when after a few years of practice we begin to understand its magic. For me, it’s the intensity of thought when time is short and stakes are high in a battle against the worthiest of opponents. There are many hard cases that challenge the depth of our ability and ingenuity. We believe that God plays fair and you often get a shot at winning, regardless of how dismal the malady. A broad differential and rapid and often imperfect diagnostics are often the only way to find in time what’s lethal and irreversible. And before the diagnostics are back, preemptive strikes of empiric therapy based on calculated risks and hunches may earn you a guerrilla victory.

There are no simple cases. Not at this level. There are simple doctors unwilling to try harder to optimize efficiency, cost, and outcomes, to do it with less radiation exposure, fewer side effects, and higher real and perceived quality. Every ankle and ear doesn’t need radiographs and antibiotics, but some do, and most need thoughtful pain management and anticipatory guidance, with the entire encounter limited to only a few seconds by more pressing cases. Every patient, sick or well, is a chance to be our best, to recognize when our best is not enough, and to get help before it’s too late. If it were easy, I wouldn’t want to do it.

When consultants who see the patient the next day whine about “shotgun workups,” “excessively broad antibiotics,” and “inconsistent management,” emergency physicians laugh nostalgically and think, “that was a good save.” However lacking in elegance the evaluation may appear to the hammer who sees the world as a nail, he should have spoken when he was somehow unavailable at 2 am on a Saturday. We are emergency specialists and we step up to the board, for anyone, at any time, and with a unique skill set.

We know that you don’t always get second chances playing against God. Specialists wishing to “see the patient in the morning,” surgeons who interrupt with “what did the CT scan show?” and primaries requesting to “wait for the blood cultures before treating” are occasionally right, but more often they fail to feel our sense of urgency and appear not invested in the battle. Seasoned ER docs are not desperate for approval, camaraderie, or admiration; often we can even write a rain check on respect. When squaring off against our adversary 30 times a shift, self-respect is earned and goes a long way toward self-esteem. But we deserve alliance, for others to be on our side in caring for the patient. This means trusting our instincts. This means respect for our expertise in ambiguity and patients who don’t read the textbook.

The metal doors burst open and the paramedics roll in a man who looks grayer than the sheet. “All we know is he’s got a kidney pancreas transplant with a pacemaker and he’s been depressed lately. We found him unresponsive next to some pills. Good vital signs in the truck but now I can’t feel the pulse.” The third-year med student stares blankly at the paramedic, while the fourth-year looks close to passing out. The nurses run to the gurney to transfer the lifeless body onto the stretcher, begin working on access, connecting leads. I stand up slowly and take a deep breath. The board is set; the next move is mine.

Welcome back, old friend. You open well. Let’s play….

Chess With God

Boris D. Veysman, MD

0 comments.

Haitian Earthquake Survivors Praise God

Posted on February 1st, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Evil and Suffering, Interviews, Spiritual Growth, Vital Signs of Healing.

A friend and partner of mine just shared this video he took when he was caring for Haitian’s in an orphanage converted to a hospital. The Haitian’s spontaneously errupted into praise songs to God.

Also here is a link to a powerful letter from a surgeon who just returned as part of Samaritan’s Purse…

Haitian Earthquake Survivors from Jim Keany on Vimeo.

1 comment.

Healthcare Reform: The Root of the Problem, Part 3

Posted on January 27th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: medicine.

I remain relatively apolitical. I asked my eye doctor recently what he thought of the healthcare proposals. Little did I know that he was REALLY well read on the issues and founded a group to reform healthcare in the U.S. (http://www.afcm.org) WOW! He pointed me to a 3 part (less than 30 minutes total) youtube video lecture. I HIGHLY recommend listening. It was thought provoking and some of it was shocking (I didn’t know). As always, share your thoughts with us…

0 comments.

Healthcare Reform: The Root of the Problem, Part 2

Posted on January 26th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: medicine.

I remain relatively apolitical. I asked my eye doctor recently what he thought of the healthcare proposals. Little did I know that he was REALLY well read on the issues and founded a group to reform healthcare in the U.S. (http://www.afcm.org) WOW! He pointed me to a 3 part (less than 30 minutes total) youtube video lecture. I HIGHLY recommend listening. It was thought provoking and some of it was shocking (I didn’t know). As always, share your thoughts with us…

0 comments.

Healthcare Reform: The Root of the Problem, Part 1

Posted on January 24th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: medicine.

I remain relatively apolitical.  I asked my eye doctor recently what he thought of the healthcare proposals.  Little did I know that he was REALLY well read on the issues and founded a group to reform healthcare in the U.S. (http://www.afcm.org) WOW! He pointed me to a 3 part (less than 30 minutes total) youtube video lecture.  I HIGHLY recommend listening.  It was thought provoking and some of it was shocking (I didn’t know).  As always, share your thoughts with us…

1 comment.

Part #4: Burdens, Rest, and Meekness: Matthew and The Pursuit of God

Posted on January 20th, 2010 by uberlumen.
Categories: Bible Study, Book Reviews, Evil and Suffering, Sermon Notes, Spiritual Growth.

Part 4 artificiality

Tozer points out one final source of burden: Artificiality.

“Another source of burden is artificiality. I am sure that most people live in secret fear that some day they will be careless and by chance an enemy or friend will be allowed to peep into their poor empty souls. So they are never relaxed. Bright people are tense and alert in fear that they may be trapped into saying something common or stupid. Traveled people are afraid that they may meet some Marco Polo who is able to describe some remote place where they have never been.This unnatural condition is part of our sad heritage of sin, but in our day it is aggravated by our whole way of life. Advertising is largely based upon this habit of pretense. `Courses’ are offered in this or that field of human learning frankly appealing to the victim’s desire to shine at a party. Books are sold, clothes and cosmetics are peddled, by playing continually upon this desire to appear what we are not.”

Finally to conclude our miniseries, Tozer points out the solution, once again, to our artificiality, pretense, and pride: meekness.  Only through meekness will our burdens be lifted and only then can we find rest for our souls.

“Artificiality is one curse that will drop away the moment we kneel at Jesus’ feet and surrender ourselves to His meekness. Then we will not care what people think of us so long as God is pleased. Then what we are will be everything; what we appear will take its place far down the scale of interest for us. Apart from sin we have nothing of which to be ashamed. Only an evil desire to shine makes us want to appear other than we are.The heart of the world is breaking under this load of pride and pretense. There is no release from our burden apart from the meekness of Christ. Good keen reasoning may help slightly, but so strong is this vice that if we push it down one place it will come up somewhere else. To men and women everywhere Jesus says, `Come unto me, and I will give you rest.’ The rest He offers is the rest of meekness, the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend. It will take some courage at first, but the needed grace will come as we learn that we are sharing this new and easy yoke with the strong Son of God Himself. He calls it `my yoke,’ and He walks at one end while we walk at the other.”

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