Loving People is not offensive!

A fourth year Medical Student came to my office for a 2 week stay. He was choosing family medicine and wanted to see what it was like in the “Real World”. As I always do, I talked about my approach to medicine, knowing that I would be much more open with my patients than other doctors he had worked with.

“You have been told not to bring your personal beliefs into your conversations with patients. I call baloney on that. We all do that. Don't believe me? When doctors counsel a woman with an unwanted pregnancy, all give the same options- abortion, adoption or keeping the baby. Which choice you present first and how much time you spend on each will be influenced by your beliefs. instead of pretending I don't have any, I choose to tell patients what my beliefs are so they can recognize my biases as they make their decisions.”

Over the ensuing two weeks he watched as I shared stories, gave hugs, and on occasion prayed for patients who were hurting. He was pleasantly surprised to see that what he had been taught in school was wrong. Patients were not offended or put off. They felt loved and cared for, primarily because they were loved and cared for! 

What was and is true in my office is true in so many other places as well. While hardly anybody wants to be preached at, everybody wants to be loved. We live in a world where fear of rejection or offense can keep us from loving others. Why not take the risk?

Good Parents with Bad Kids.

The counseling pastor at our church was addressing our adult group a while back. This widely respected man of God shared openly about the struggles of his children as they grew up, struggles that included immorality, substance abuse and financial failure. What was most striking to me as he shared was how much better he was than me as a parent, how much harder he seemed to have worked, and yet how much “better” my children turned out.

He made the point that good parents can have bad kids and vice-versa.

He was right. There are no guarantees when it comes to our children. I was raised by an unloving alcoholic mother and a violent alcoholic step-father, and thus far I seem to be doing okay.

This is a reminder of how we need to do the best we can as parents and prayerfully entrust our children to God, who by His grace protects and guides those who will listen. It is also a reminder that responsibility for failure lies with the individual, not the parent.

Why I hate Soccerxxxxcy

I don't hate the game itself (although I doubt I will ever pay to watch it played), but I do hate its impact on families in church. For some reason most club soccer teams play on Sundays. I have been told by parents that if you want your child to play soccer when they get to high school that they have to play club soccer. I have also been told that playing sports in high school is a really big deal, as a child needs extracurricular activities on a resume.

My reply to all of this is- “So what?”

Sundays is the day when most churches meet (there are exceptions). It is the day when families worship together, when there are the most opportunities for service. Nevertheless, when push comes to shove, when faced with a choice of church or youth sports, youth sports usually wins.

What lesson do we teach our children when temporal things are so important? When God is what we do when there is nothing else that demands our attention?

The story of King David and Araunah from 2 Samuel 24 contains a timeless lesson. David was instructed by God to build an altar at the place where Aruanah had a threshing floor. When David arrived, Araunah declared that he would gladly donate what he had for the king's sacrifice, “Everything O king, Araunah gives to the king!” were his words.

David's reply- “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” Pretty much says it all. A true commitment to faith will be inconvenient and costly at times. If our faith doesn't cost us anything, then what is it worth? 

This begs the question, "What are we unwilling to give up for God?"

Ask and You Shall Receive

My friend Jeff asked for Bible references that showed how God feels about cheating. There are many- here are a few:

Lev 19:35-36 Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. 36 Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.

Prov 11:1  The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.

Prov 20:23 The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.

Lev 19:15 Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, b

Isa 61:8  For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity.

Prov 22:1- A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

There is more where these came from!

Cutting Corners to Get Ahead? God's Not Impressed

If you read through the Bible you will see many passages concerning fairness. Not the "everybody should get the same as everybody else" kind of fairness, but the "nobody should take unfair advantage of anybody else" kind of fairness. While this seems like it should be a basic value it seems to have been lost in our culture. It seems that many people look for any opportunity to get ahead, to get a discount or an edge.

Need evidence? Go to Disneyland. The lesson can be found at the front gate.

As you approach the turnstiles to show your admission ticket you will be greeted by a cast member with a digital device. Your ticket will be scanned and your photo taken. It slows down the whole process entering the park, but the policy is necessary. So many people were buying multiple day passes on the black market that something had to be done to make sure more than one person doesn't fraudulently use the same pass. I have heard from park employees that Disney was losing millions of dollars each year to these fraudulent tickets. People like to cheat.

If we look closely we can see cheating all around us. People lie to get senior citizen discounts, lie to get disability or worker's compensation benefits, cheat on their taxes, do work under the table, anything to make or save a buck.

This is common, but God hates it.

Do we?