Friday, November 30, 2012
Book Signing Correction
I need to make two corrections to the last post. The book signing is from 11:00 to 1:00, and the correct address is 108 North Bay Street, Eustis, Florida. The dates are correct, Saturday December 15th and Sunday, December 16th. Thank you.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Book Signing
I am pleased to announce that we will be having our first local book signing events. This will be at Olivia's Coffee House at 113 North Bay Street in downtown Eustis, Florida. We will have one signing on Saturday, November 15th at one o'clock and another on Sunday, November 16th, also at one o'clock. We will have both hardcover and softcover versions available. I look forward to seeing you there.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Surviving the Suffering
As a practicing cardiovascular surgeon, I have seen firsthand much suffering. The profession that I have chosen means that a few people under my care each year will die. I have seen all of the emotions man can feel under these circumstances, from rage to peace, from fear to calm, from sadness to hope. I have seen optimism cruelly crushed, and unsalvageable situations miraculously changed.
All suffering is not the same. How do we diagnose the different causes of our suffering? And how do we provide the correct treatment?
Many of us persist in our suffering because we do not diagnose the correct cause or apply the appropriate remedy, and then we compound our problem with complications that we ourselves create.
In Surviving The Suffering, Dr. Tim Moore addresses the various types of suffering in the Christian life, from chastisement and pruning to spiritual warfare. This detailed and practical guide gives both the causes of our suffering and the ways we can avoid applying the wrong correction to the wrong problem.
As Christians, we will experience pain in our lives, but with God’s help and this handbook, we can find a better way of Surviving The Suffering.
Monday, November 19, 2012
You Don't Care!
I think one of the most difficult things in life that we must learn is that other people often do not care about something as deeply as we do. Obviously there are differences in tastes, for there are vanilla lovers and chocolate lovers, people who drink Coca-Cola and people who drink Pepsi. We make allowances for desires and preferences even if we cannot relate to them or understand them. I own three Scottish terriers. I cannot understand why everyone does not want a Scottish terrier.
What I am discussing here is more than a simple matter of preference, but rather more deeply held values. For instance, there are people for whom environmental causes are the most important thing to them, and they cannot understand why it would not be so for others. Others crusade for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and some for the animals. For myself and many of my friends and associates, the pro-life movement is a deeply valued cause. And for each individual that holds something dear, it is horribly frustrating that others do not consider it so important.
Our reaction to the fact that someone does not care about something as much as we do is to assume that they simply do not understand. If someone truly and fully understood the issues as well as we do, and could logically follow the arguments for our beliefs, then it would also follow that not only would they believe as we do but they would care as deeply as we do. And this leads to voluminous writings, editorializing, teaching, and remonstrations. Occasionally, people's minds and hearts are changed, but not as often as we would like.
As individuals, we do not care as profoundly as another about their cause, and they do not care as deeply about the things so vital to us. However, also as individuals, the things we care about change over time. The things most important to me now were not always so, and the most important things to me as a youth are not so now. As a teenager, the single most important thing to me in life was football. My obsession with it in high school led me to play it in college. Today, I enjoy a good game as much as the next fellow, but I do not lie awake in bed every night thinking about it as I once did.
This is true for groups, cultures, and nations as well as for individuals. In my previous post, Suffering and Security, I put forth the argument that as a society today we value security over liberty. Our forefathers prized individual and economic liberty to the point of trading their lives for it. I would suggest that today, a majority of Americans do not care about what the founding fathers of this country thought. The Constitution is an archaic document that does not bear on modern society and central economic planning. And Christianity and the things of God no longer dominate societal discourse and thinking. These things are simply not as important to people in our country as they once were. If you doubt me, walk over and turn on your television.
As Christians, we must not give up on supporting our causes and beliefs. However, we must realize that we face an even greater problem than just trying to explain our views. Whereas we can have debates about security and liberty or capitalism and government dependency, the Christian has another obstacle in delivering the Gospel and the Word of God to others. As Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "...the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." Satan has spiritually blinded those who do not believe. They cannot care because they cannot see. The consequences are detailed throughout the Bible: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing" (I Cor 1:18), and "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (I Cor 2:14).
There are a couple of points to take away here. Until a person is given the gift of the Holy Spirit by God, they will never see the things of God nor care about them the way that you do. It does not lessen our obligation to preach the Gospel, but we cannot expect that hardened hearts and blinded eyes will embrace these things. And we will be frustrated, because we see the light and the beauty of the Lord's Word and should delight in His commands. Secondly, if you knew a person who was deliberately blinded by a wicked person, would you consider them dull, ignorant, or stupid because they cannot see? I think not.
As a physician, I have many tools and medications to fight illness. When I enter the operating room tomorrow morning, laid out before me will be a plethora of instruments and sutures to solve a problem with a failing heart. As Christians, we have fewer devices to change a sickened heart, only God's Word and prayer. Fortunately, nothing compares to the power of these instruments of healing, for they can soften those hearts, open ears, and restore sight. Although these blinded people do not care for the things of God, we should care about them.
What I am discussing here is more than a simple matter of preference, but rather more deeply held values. For instance, there are people for whom environmental causes are the most important thing to them, and they cannot understand why it would not be so for others. Others crusade for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and some for the animals. For myself and many of my friends and associates, the pro-life movement is a deeply valued cause. And for each individual that holds something dear, it is horribly frustrating that others do not consider it so important.
Our reaction to the fact that someone does not care about something as much as we do is to assume that they simply do not understand. If someone truly and fully understood the issues as well as we do, and could logically follow the arguments for our beliefs, then it would also follow that not only would they believe as we do but they would care as deeply as we do. And this leads to voluminous writings, editorializing, teaching, and remonstrations. Occasionally, people's minds and hearts are changed, but not as often as we would like.
As individuals, we do not care as profoundly as another about their cause, and they do not care as deeply about the things so vital to us. However, also as individuals, the things we care about change over time. The things most important to me now were not always so, and the most important things to me as a youth are not so now. As a teenager, the single most important thing to me in life was football. My obsession with it in high school led me to play it in college. Today, I enjoy a good game as much as the next fellow, but I do not lie awake in bed every night thinking about it as I once did.
This is true for groups, cultures, and nations as well as for individuals. In my previous post, Suffering and Security, I put forth the argument that as a society today we value security over liberty. Our forefathers prized individual and economic liberty to the point of trading their lives for it. I would suggest that today, a majority of Americans do not care about what the founding fathers of this country thought. The Constitution is an archaic document that does not bear on modern society and central economic planning. And Christianity and the things of God no longer dominate societal discourse and thinking. These things are simply not as important to people in our country as they once were. If you doubt me, walk over and turn on your television.
As Christians, we must not give up on supporting our causes and beliefs. However, we must realize that we face an even greater problem than just trying to explain our views. Whereas we can have debates about security and liberty or capitalism and government dependency, the Christian has another obstacle in delivering the Gospel and the Word of God to others. As Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "...the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." Satan has spiritually blinded those who do not believe. They cannot care because they cannot see. The consequences are detailed throughout the Bible: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing" (I Cor 1:18), and "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (I Cor 2:14).
There are a couple of points to take away here. Until a person is given the gift of the Holy Spirit by God, they will never see the things of God nor care about them the way that you do. It does not lessen our obligation to preach the Gospel, but we cannot expect that hardened hearts and blinded eyes will embrace these things. And we will be frustrated, because we see the light and the beauty of the Lord's Word and should delight in His commands. Secondly, if you knew a person who was deliberately blinded by a wicked person, would you consider them dull, ignorant, or stupid because they cannot see? I think not.
As a physician, I have many tools and medications to fight illness. When I enter the operating room tomorrow morning, laid out before me will be a plethora of instruments and sutures to solve a problem with a failing heart. As Christians, we have fewer devices to change a sickened heart, only God's Word and prayer. Fortunately, nothing compares to the power of these instruments of healing, for they can soften those hearts, open ears, and restore sight. Although these blinded people do not care for the things of God, we should care about them.
Monday, November 12, 2012
A Really Bad One
As Christians, we know that all sin is ultimately against God (Psalms 51:4), and that breaking the law in any part is equivalent to breaking the law in whole (James 2:10). However, the Bible would indicate that there are different degrees of sins and punishments for those sins. In John 19: 11, Jesus talks about the greater sin committed by those who delivered him to Pilate, and in Matthew ll:24 He indicates that things will be worse on the day of judgment for Bethsaida and Chorazin than for Tyre and Sidon, and worse for Capernaum than for Sodom. We learn in I John 5:16-17 that all wrongdoing is sin, but that there are sins that lead to death and others that do not.
When we look at the Ten Commandments, these were not given as the Ten Advisories or the Ten Suggestions for Good Behavior. These were the rules spoken directly by God to Moses, not to be debated or discussed as theory. There were very specific punishments listed in the Old Testament for breaking these laws. Our current legal system is a combination of common law, chiefly derived from the English, from where we get our courts, and statutory law, of Roman heritage, from where we get our system of legislative acts. And although we have a Judeo-Christian heritage in this country, we no longer look upon violations of each of the Ten Commandments with the same legal view. Today, blaspheming God, working on the Sabbath, taking the Lord's name in vain, or even lying will not result in any legal repercussions. Murder is still a serious crime; stealing a lesser crime; and dishonoring your parents is not a crime at all.
There is currently a high-profile case of adultery being discussed today involving one of our government officials. We will not take time here to throw stones at those involved--plenty of others will do that in the weeks to come. I would, however, like to take a moment to look at that particular sin.
Decades ago, divorce was difficult to obtain and one had to prove grounds for it; adultery was one of those offenses that could be charged against a spouse in order to have a judge grant a divorce. Today, with "no-fault" divorce, one spouse can divorce another with no grounds at all. So there are really few legal consequences of adultery today. In fact, looking at the Hollywood crowd, adultery seems downright glamorous. But I think it is one of the worst of sins short of murder that one could commit, and simply committing adultery violates many of the other commandments.
When you commit adultery, clearly you are coveting that which does not belong to you, someone else's spouse ("thy neighbor's wife"). The secret nature of the affair means that people are bearing false witness, or lying to their mates. Having an illicit relationship with someone who is married is stealing the affections and loyalties owed to their spouse. And once discovered, it will usually "kill" the love and trust that existed between two people who pledged a lifelong commitment to each other. As sins go, it is a really bad one.
God designed a man and a woman to cleave to one another, to become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). An adulterous relationship is a traumatic separation of that one flesh, leaving both parts wounded and broken. God, in his mercy, can heal this, but the parts will not be the same, and nor will the relationship. The marriage covenant has been broken as well, violated, and we must remember that there are three components to that covenant-- the man, the woman, and God. The covenant with the spouse is broken, but so is the covenant with God. This is not a trivial matter, as we are so often led to think looking at today's news and entertainment.
I sit here typing this on a computer, in my study, at night, while my wife is elsewhere. It would be a simple matter to enter a few keystrokes and leave this screen to go and look upon another woman in a situation that would arouse lust. Christ tells us that is adultery as well (Matthew 5:28). With today's modern technology, to view such material does not require sneaking out of the house to a store or movie house as it did before. We can do it in the privacy of our homes and no one will know the wiser, except God. He knows that this is committing adultery in our hearts, coveting and lying and stealing and killing. Cheating on a spouse can be done with the mind, the heart, and the eyes just as much as with the rest of our bodies. Let us not let the desires of our flesh wound the one flesh.
When we look at the Ten Commandments, these were not given as the Ten Advisories or the Ten Suggestions for Good Behavior. These were the rules spoken directly by God to Moses, not to be debated or discussed as theory. There were very specific punishments listed in the Old Testament for breaking these laws. Our current legal system is a combination of common law, chiefly derived from the English, from where we get our courts, and statutory law, of Roman heritage, from where we get our system of legislative acts. And although we have a Judeo-Christian heritage in this country, we no longer look upon violations of each of the Ten Commandments with the same legal view. Today, blaspheming God, working on the Sabbath, taking the Lord's name in vain, or even lying will not result in any legal repercussions. Murder is still a serious crime; stealing a lesser crime; and dishonoring your parents is not a crime at all.
There is currently a high-profile case of adultery being discussed today involving one of our government officials. We will not take time here to throw stones at those involved--plenty of others will do that in the weeks to come. I would, however, like to take a moment to look at that particular sin.
Decades ago, divorce was difficult to obtain and one had to prove grounds for it; adultery was one of those offenses that could be charged against a spouse in order to have a judge grant a divorce. Today, with "no-fault" divorce, one spouse can divorce another with no grounds at all. So there are really few legal consequences of adultery today. In fact, looking at the Hollywood crowd, adultery seems downright glamorous. But I think it is one of the worst of sins short of murder that one could commit, and simply committing adultery violates many of the other commandments.
When you commit adultery, clearly you are coveting that which does not belong to you, someone else's spouse ("thy neighbor's wife"). The secret nature of the affair means that people are bearing false witness, or lying to their mates. Having an illicit relationship with someone who is married is stealing the affections and loyalties owed to their spouse. And once discovered, it will usually "kill" the love and trust that existed between two people who pledged a lifelong commitment to each other. As sins go, it is a really bad one.
God designed a man and a woman to cleave to one another, to become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). An adulterous relationship is a traumatic separation of that one flesh, leaving both parts wounded and broken. God, in his mercy, can heal this, but the parts will not be the same, and nor will the relationship. The marriage covenant has been broken as well, violated, and we must remember that there are three components to that covenant-- the man, the woman, and God. The covenant with the spouse is broken, but so is the covenant with God. This is not a trivial matter, as we are so often led to think looking at today's news and entertainment.
I sit here typing this on a computer, in my study, at night, while my wife is elsewhere. It would be a simple matter to enter a few keystrokes and leave this screen to go and look upon another woman in a situation that would arouse lust. Christ tells us that is adultery as well (Matthew 5:28). With today's modern technology, to view such material does not require sneaking out of the house to a store or movie house as it did before. We can do it in the privacy of our homes and no one will know the wiser, except God. He knows that this is committing adultery in our hearts, coveting and lying and stealing and killing. Cheating on a spouse can be done with the mind, the heart, and the eyes just as much as with the rest of our bodies. Let us not let the desires of our flesh wound the one flesh.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
First Anniversary
This week marks the first anniversary of the blog Surviving the Suffering. I want to thank all of you who have supported this endeavor over the last year. Your many kind comments have made this all worthwhile. From those first few weeks where few noticed, we have grown worldwide in readership, and many of you are receiving the weekly post by e-mail subscription. Even though the book will not be officially released until January, we have begun hardcover sales from this website and through small local bookstores. If you so desire, you can order the e-book version from Amazon for your Kindle or Barnes and Noble for your Nook, but unfortunately that will not be available until January 8th to download. I am deeply grateful for your interest, and hope that you will spread the word to others. Thank you for your support.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Surviving the Suffering Now Available
Advance copies of my new book, Surviving the Suffering, are now available in the hardcover edition. The official release date for the book is January 8, 2013, so it will not be available in bookstores or Amazon until then. However, you may order a copy directly from this website using the button to the right.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
God's Enemies
I would ask you take a moment to reflect on the people that know you. Not just the ones that are your closest friends, but your other friends, acquaintances, and people who may just be generally aware of you. For most of us, if you looked at this large group of people, you could probably say that on the whole, most of these people liked you. Although some people are more likable than others, it would be rare to find someone that everyone liked or everyone disliked. Still, I am sure that the majority of you would say that the majority of people that knew you liked you. What if the reverse were true? Suppose that most of the people that knew you or knew of you hated you? How would that make you feel?
There are a number of verses in the Bible that describe the natural man's feelings towards God. Romans 8:7 says, " ...the carnal mind is enmity against God, " and James 4:4 tells us, "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." The vast majority of people in this world do not have a saving faith in Jesus Christ, and basically are God's enemies. We find Paul stating this specifically in Romans 5:10, "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
Two very brilliant preachers of centuries gone by addressed this. The first is Jonathan Edwards, who wrote "Men Naturally are God's Enemies" in 1736. As he states, "There is in every natural man a seed of malice against God." And later he elaborates, "Man will necessarily have something that he respects as his god. If man does not give his highest respect to the God that made him, there will be something else that has the possession of it... The gods which a natural man worships, instead of the God that made him, are himself and the world."
Now we know that God loves the world, for he sent His only begotten Son to save those who would believe in Him (John 3:16). And our greatest commandment is to love Him in return: " You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and all your mind (Luke 10:27). And yet, people refuse to be reconciled with God, receiving His love and loving Him in return. As Edwards explains, they simply will not come-- "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life... you do not have the love of God in you... I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me" (John 5:40-43).
I think most of us understand the nature of the original sin of Adam and how we are fallen natural men, unless we receive Christ as our Savior. And we know that because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) God is justified in condemning everyone He has created. He allows those who choose His Son to avoid this condemnation. I am somewhat mystified, however, at why God would create a world and all its people, only to have the majority of those people hate Him.
Our second great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, put it this way in a sermon entitled, "The Carnal Mind is Enmity Against God," delivered in 1855. In it he says, "He supplys our wants; he keeps the breath within our nostrils, he bids the blood still pursue its course through the veins; he holdeth us in life, and preventeth us from death; he standeth before us, our creator, our king, our sustainer, our benefactor, and I ask, is it not a sin of enormous magnitude-- is it not high treason against the emperor of heaven-- is it not an awful sin, the depth of which we cannot fathom with the line of all our judgment-- that we his creatures, dependent upon him, should be at enmity with God?"
We know that these people who were given the very breath of life by God hate Him. Man naturally has a tendency to worship himself and the world. So what they then do is exchange the truth for a lie as Paul explains in Romans Chapter 1, worshipping the creature rather than the Creator, and Paul details the consequences of this and the immorality which ensues. How it must grieve God to see so many people reject Him, the very people He created.
He alone has the power to change that hate to love, to open the hearts of His enemies, to show them eternal life and love. Those who do not place their faith in His Son during this life will continue to be His enemies, after death and for all eternity. They will suffer from His wrath infinitely. Christ commands us to "...love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who spitefully use you and persecute you..." (Matthew 5:44). I am sure that you have people that are your friends but God's enemies. They like you but hate God. Let us also pray for not only our enemies, but God's, that they may enter His kindom as His friends.
There are a number of verses in the Bible that describe the natural man's feelings towards God. Romans 8:7 says, " ...the carnal mind is enmity against God, " and James 4:4 tells us, "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." The vast majority of people in this world do not have a saving faith in Jesus Christ, and basically are God's enemies. We find Paul stating this specifically in Romans 5:10, "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
Two very brilliant preachers of centuries gone by addressed this. The first is Jonathan Edwards, who wrote "Men Naturally are God's Enemies" in 1736. As he states, "There is in every natural man a seed of malice against God." And later he elaborates, "Man will necessarily have something that he respects as his god. If man does not give his highest respect to the God that made him, there will be something else that has the possession of it... The gods which a natural man worships, instead of the God that made him, are himself and the world."
Now we know that God loves the world, for he sent His only begotten Son to save those who would believe in Him (John 3:16). And our greatest commandment is to love Him in return: " You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and all your mind (Luke 10:27). And yet, people refuse to be reconciled with God, receiving His love and loving Him in return. As Edwards explains, they simply will not come-- "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life... you do not have the love of God in you... I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me" (John 5:40-43).
I think most of us understand the nature of the original sin of Adam and how we are fallen natural men, unless we receive Christ as our Savior. And we know that because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) God is justified in condemning everyone He has created. He allows those who choose His Son to avoid this condemnation. I am somewhat mystified, however, at why God would create a world and all its people, only to have the majority of those people hate Him.
Our second great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, put it this way in a sermon entitled, "The Carnal Mind is Enmity Against God," delivered in 1855. In it he says, "He supplys our wants; he keeps the breath within our nostrils, he bids the blood still pursue its course through the veins; he holdeth us in life, and preventeth us from death; he standeth before us, our creator, our king, our sustainer, our benefactor, and I ask, is it not a sin of enormous magnitude-- is it not high treason against the emperor of heaven-- is it not an awful sin, the depth of which we cannot fathom with the line of all our judgment-- that we his creatures, dependent upon him, should be at enmity with God?"
We know that these people who were given the very breath of life by God hate Him. Man naturally has a tendency to worship himself and the world. So what they then do is exchange the truth for a lie as Paul explains in Romans Chapter 1, worshipping the creature rather than the Creator, and Paul details the consequences of this and the immorality which ensues. How it must grieve God to see so many people reject Him, the very people He created.
He alone has the power to change that hate to love, to open the hearts of His enemies, to show them eternal life and love. Those who do not place their faith in His Son during this life will continue to be His enemies, after death and for all eternity. They will suffer from His wrath infinitely. Christ commands us to "...love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who spitefully use you and persecute you..." (Matthew 5:44). I am sure that you have people that are your friends but God's enemies. They like you but hate God. Let us also pray for not only our enemies, but God's, that they may enter His kindom as His friends.
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