Category: The Bereans

Hundreds of children and their families lined up outside the hospital waiting for nasal swabs. Seriously ill patients were being admitted. Antibiotics were being distributed throughout the community. Health care workers tried to identify who was infected, who had been exposed, and who needed hospitalization.

No, this was not 2020.

It was 1987.

During my family practice elective in Pohnpei, Micronesia, the island was afflicted with a whooping cough epidemic. It had become a public health crisis, and I was at ground zero. With close living conditions, poor hygiene, and limited health care resources, the cases were multiplying rapidly and threatening to overwhelm the hospital. The medical director where I worked seized control and issued a directive. Every health care worker was mobilized.

We set up a massive screening station outside the hospital. Working through the extensive familial ties of the island, nearly the entire pediatric population was eventually brought to us. For hours, we took nasal swab cultures and sent them to the University of Hawaii to be analyzed by the public health department.

Meanwhile, other workers manned a complex supply chain distributing antibiotics to stricken children and those who had been exposed. The very ill were triaged to the hospital. Others assisted with patient education, teaching families about proper hygiene, preventive care, and vaccination. The rest of the population supported us with meals, transportation, and whatever else was needed.

 

Within a few weeks, the epidemic was contained and the crisis resolved. The entire population participated. It was magnificent! How was an isolated island with limited resources able to contain an epidemic so quickly?

Once again, the Bible gives us the answer.

The Jews had been granted permission to return to Jerusalem after seventy years of exile in Babylon. They found the city walls in ruins, leaving the once mighty city defenseless. Nehemiah organized the returning Jews by tribes and families and oversaw the rebuilding of the wall. Meanwhile, the threat of attack from hostile neighbors was constant. Some worked on the wall while others stood guard, ready to defend the city. In only fifty-two days, the wall was completed. It was an astounding accomplishment. 

But Nehemiah knew the work was not finished. The city had been restored physically, but the people also needed to be restored spiritually. So he gathered the entire population before one of the restored gates, and Ezra the scribe read the Word of God aloud.

Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
Nehemiah 8:7–8 (ESV)

Nehemiah did not rebuild Jerusalem by himself. The priests did not do it by themselves. The soldiers did not do it by themselves. The teachers did not do it by themselves. Everyone had a role. That was what I witnessed in Pohnpei. Some of us collected nasal cultures. Some distributed antibiotics. Some cared for the sickest children. Some taught families about hygiene and vaccination. Others brought meals or provided transportation. No single person could have stopped that epidemic. But the entire community could.

The same was true in Jerusalem. The wall was rebuilt because the people worked together, each doing his part. And when the physical work was finished, they came together again to hear and understand the Word of God.

There is a lesson in that. When God directs us to accomplish a task, He does not necessarily ask us to do everything ourselves. He may place us among others and give each person a different responsibility. Our part may seem large. It may seem small. But it may be exactly what is needed. When God directs us to accomplish a task, He will provide what is necessary to complete it according to His will and for His glory.

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #groundzero #epidemic #whoopingcough #Pohnpei #Micronesia #Nehemiah8:7-8

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Over ten years ago, I began the process of starting my own business. I knew it was an arduous route; in fact, some colleagues thought me crazy for even considering this. No one starts a medical laboratory by themselves!  Unfazed, I meticulously planned and sought the advice of many successful friends in business and physician colleagues, all of whom imparted sage advice to me. One of them, an entrepreneurial plastic surgeon with a thriving practice, offered to take me out to lunch because he wanted to hear the granular details of my business plan. After listening to me present my plan, he nodded and gravely whispered, “Whatever you do, don’t hurt your family!”

I was startled by his statement. “What do you mean?”

He looked up and sighed. “I have seen so many docs, dentists, business people…they all have ambitious plans. Either they dream too big and sink too much money and time into their new business, or they don’t have the experience to do this. When things start falling apart, they don’t listen to the advice of others. Their careers and families are a mess. They hurt their family. They should have been content with what they had, but they were impulsive and didn’t plan properly.” The wise counsel of my physician colleague correctly admonished me; my priorities needed to be for my family, for my loved ones whom God has blessed me with, rather than for myself and to satisfy my ego. 

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
Proverbs 28:19 (ESV)

How many well-intentioned plans go awry because of poor planning or selfish ambitions? Why do so many blindly follow a dream or worthless pursuit instead of first counting the cost? Why are so many families hurt or torn apart because of futile gambits and risky ventures? God gives the answer in the very next verse.

A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 28:20 (ESV)

Many hours of prayer, alone and with my wife, preceded the start of my business. I had a business plan, but my priority was, and still is, my spiritual plan; God must be at the center. 

I must always plan and proceed at His pace. 

Seek God first! Don’t hurt your family! 

Amen!

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life. 

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While I was in Hawaii, Hurricane Lowell took an unexpected turn toward Kauaʻi and Niʻihau. Suddenly, Niʻihau was being mentioned repeatedly on the news. I had heard of Niʻihau, of course, but I knew very little about it. People often call it the Forbidden Island because it is privately owned and generally closed to outsiders. Since most of us will never visit it, much of what happens there remains out of public view. Occasionally, however, an event like Hurricane Lowell brings the island back into the news.

I began reading about its history and became fascinated by how this unusual arrangement began. In 1864, Elizabeth Sinclair purchased Niʻihau from King Kamehameha V for $10,000. Her descendants, the Robinson family, continue to own it today. According to one story, Niʻihau had received an unusual amount of rain around the time the family first saw it. The island appeared green and fertile. Only afterward did they discover that Niʻihau was normally quite dry. Unlike nearby Kauaʻi, Niʻihau lacks mountains high enough to capture much of the moisture carried by the trade winds. It lies partly within Kauaʻi’s rain shadow and has endured long periods of drought throughout its history.

Imagine purchasing an entire island and then learning that its beautiful green appearance was not its normal condition. The family owned the land, but they could not make the rain fall. That thought stayed with me.

There are many other interesting parts of Niʻihau’s history. Its isolation helped preserve a community in which Hawaiian continued to be spoken as the language of everyday life. During World War II, a Japanese pilot who had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor crash-landed there and brought the war unexpectedly to its residents.

Niʻihau may be closed to most outsiders, but it has never been completely separated from the events occurring around it. The Robinson family could decide who was permitted to come ashore, but they could not prevent a disabled airplane from falling out of the sky. They could not redirect a hurricane. Most importantly, they could not control the one thing the island needed most: rain.

As I thought about this, I began to wonder what it really means to own anything. We often speak as though the things in our lives belong to us completely. We talk about our homes, our careers, our possessions, our health, and our future. Legally, some of these things certainly do belong to us. We worked for them, paid for them, and accepted responsibility for them. But our control over them is much more limited than the word ownership suggests.

I founded the Dermatopathology Institute in 2008. I chose its name and determined how the practice would operate. For many years, I could confidently call it my practice. Yet I could not make that season last indefinitely. Eventually, the time came to close the practice and retire. I was able to prepare for that transition, but I could not prevent time from moving forward. That experience has caused me to think differently about the things I call mine.

The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.
Psalm 24:1 (ESV)

I have read that verse many times, but the story of Niʻihau gave me a new picture of what it means. If the earth belongs to the Lord, then everything I possess already belonged to Him before it came into my hands. My medical practice, my abilities, the opportunities I received, and even the years in which I was able to work were all entrusted to me by God. Perhaps ownership is not quite the right way for a Christian to think about these things. Stewardship may be closer to the truth.

That does not mean we care less about what God gives us. A good steward takes his responsibilities seriously. He works hard, plans carefully, and protects what has been placed in his care. But he also understands that he will not hold it forever. There is freedom in recognizing that difference.

When I think I am the ultimate owner, I feel responsible for controlling everything that might happen. I want to preserve what I have built and protect the people I love from anything that might harm them. Inevitably, I discover that much of life remains beyond my control. When I remember that I am a steward, I can concentrate instead on being faithful with what God has given me today. I can make wise decisions without pretending that I know what tomorrow will bring.

I do not believe Hurricane Lowell struck Niʻihau to teach me a spiritual lesson. But seeing that a rarely mentioned island suddenly appeared on the weather maps led me to consider its history. And somewhere in that history, I saw a picture of my own life. A family purchased an island that appeared green after an unusual season of rain. They cared for it, managed it, and passed it from one generation to the next. But after more than 160 years, they still cannot command the clouds above it.

Neither can I. I can care for what God has given me. I can use it wisely and be thankful for it. But I cannot determine how long I will have it or what the next season will bring.

The island may belong to the Robinson family.

The rain belongs to God.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

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“Now curl your index finger.”

I followed the instructions.

“Now wave it.”

Immediately, she squealed with excitement.

I was communicating with a dolphin!

On my recent visit to Hawaii, I had the unforgettable experience of swimming and communicating with dolphins. It exceeded all my expectations. For 45 minutes, I bonded with these magnificent animals and their ever-present smiles. Their skin was smooth and yielding—not leathery or scaly as I had somehow imagined.

At one point, I gently held Kolohe in my arms, embracing her torso just below the dorsal fin.

I was in love.

Of course, humans communicate with many animals. Dogs read our gestures. Birds respond to cues. Horses learn our movements. But there was something different about this encounter. A dolphin lives in a world utterly unlike mine—moving through water, communicating through sounds and signals I barely understand. And yet a simple motion of my hand produced an immediate response.

For a few moments, the distance between two very different creatures seemed surprisingly small. And that made me wonder: Why can the distance between two human beings sometimes feel so much greater? We have words. We have facial expressions. We have memory, reason, shared experiences, and often years of history together. And still, we misunderstand one another.

Perhaps because communication is never only about words. We hear through our pride. Through our fears. Through our expectations. Sometimes through old wounds. We can listen while preparing our reply. We can hear what someone says without really hearing what they mean. We can become so concerned with being understood that we stop trying to understand.

Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.
James 1:19 (ESV)

That is more than advice about conversation. It is a posture of humility. Maybe truly hearing another person is one of the simplest—and hardest—ways we learn to love. And yet there is One who never misunderstands us.

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
Psalm 139:4 (ESV)

For a few moments, I found it extraordinary that a dolphin and I could understand one another. How much more extraordinary that the God who made us both already knows every word—and every heart behind it.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #dolphintalk #James1:19

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For nearly forty years, I worked as a dermatopathologist. Every day, I examined skin biopsies under a microscope and tried to determine what was happening in the tissue. In many cases, the answer was reassuring. In others, the diagnosis would change the course of someone’s life.

Some cancers were obvious from the moment I looked at the slide. The tissue’s normal structure was gone, and the cells were so abnormal that there was little question about what I was seeing. The more difficult cases were often the ones that did not look especially dangerous at first. A lesion could appear relatively harmless at low magnification. Only when I examined it more closely would I begin to notice that something was wrong. Perhaps the cells were growing in a pattern that did not belong there. Perhaps one small area looked different from the rest. Sometimes the findings were subtle enough that I would study the slide again, order additional stains, or ask another pathologist for an opinion. I learned very early in my career that first impressions could be reassuring and still be wrong. That is an unsettling thought when someone’s health may depend upon the diagnosis. It was my responsibility to look beyond the first impression and pay attention to whatever did not fit. Something dangerous did not become harmless simply because it looked familiar.

After spending so many years examining disease in other people, I began to wonder whether the same problem could exist in a different way within me. Could something be wrong in my own life even though it appeared perfectly reasonable to me? I think most of us recognize the obvious sins in our lives. We know when we have lied, deliberately hurt someone, or done something we would be ashamed for others to discover. Those things usually do not require much examination.

I am more concerned about the attitudes I have lived with for so long that they no longer trouble me. I may call something responsibility when it is really my need to remain in control. I may believe that I am simply being honest when I am speaking without love. I may tell myself that I have forgiven someone while continuing to rehearse what that person did to me. Because I can explain my behavior, I assume that I understand it.

 

That may be the most deceptive part. I am both the person being examined and the person attempting to make the diagnosis. As a pathologist, I could place a slide under higher magnification. I could order another test. If I remained uncertain, I could show the case to a colleague and ask what he or she saw. It is much harder to do that with my own heart. I already know the answer I want. I know which explanation makes me look best, and I know how to defend it.

David did not assume that he understood everything within himself. Instead, he asked God to examine what he could not see clearly:

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalm 139:23–24 (ESV)

That is a much more difficult prayer than it first appears. It is easy to ask God to change my circumstances or correct someone who has wronged me. It is harder to ask Him to show me that the problem may also be within me. If I sincerely ask God to search my heart, I must be willing to receive an answer I may not like.

Yet David’s prayer does not end with the discovery of what is wrong. He asks God to lead him in the way everlasting. That is why God reveals what is hidden. He is not looking for an opportunity to condemn those who belong to Him. He shows us the truth so that we will turn from what is harming us and allow Him to lead us in a better way.

For most of my professional life, I searched for disease that could not be seen without a microscope. I knew that something could look harmless and still require closer examination. What frightens me now is the possibility that I could recognize that danger in a glass slide and fail to recognize it in myself.

Perhaps the prayer I need is not, “Lord, show them where they are wrong.”

Perhaps it is simply this: “Lord, search me.”

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #thisfrightensme #Psalm139:23-24

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In 1859, Henry Dunant traveled to northern Italy hoping to meet Emperor Napoleon III. Dunant was a Swiss businessman whose investment in Algeria was in trouble. He needed additional land and water rights from the French government, and he believed the emperor might help. He even wrote a flattering book about Napoleon and his empire, hoping to present it to him. It was not the book that would change the world.

Napoleon was in northern Italy because France and Piedmont-Sardinia were fighting Austria. On June 24, their armies met near the village of Solferino. By the end of that single day, nearly 40,000 soldiers were dead, wounded, or missing. Dunant arrived shortly after the fighting. The armies’ medical services were overwhelmed. Churches, homes, and public buildings had become makeshift hospitals. Wounded men lay everywhere, waiting for water, bandages, or someone willing to remain with them.

Dunant had come to solve a business problem. Now he found himself surrounded by men with far more immediate needs. He was not a physician. He had no medical supplies or official responsibility. He could have continued searching for Napoleon and allowed the military authorities to deal with the consequences of their battle.

Instead, he stopped. Local residents were already doing what they could, and Dunant joined them. He purchased supplies, carried water, dressed wounds, and helped organize care. The wounded belonged to opposing armies, but that distinction began to disappear inside the crowded buildings. French and Sardinian soldiers were treated alongside Austrians.

The women of Castiglione expressed it simply: “Tutti fratelli.”

All are brothers.

Dunant did eventually return to his business affairs. The encounter at Solferino did not cause him to abandon the original purpose of his journey. But he could not forget what he had seen. Helping for several days had relieved some suffering. It had done nothing to prevent the same thing from happening after the next battle. So Dunant wrote another book.

A Memory of Solferino described the battlefield and the wounded men who had been left behind. It also offered two practical proposals. Dunant urged nations to organize volunteer relief societies during peacetime so trained caregivers would be ready when war came. He also called for an international agreement protecting wounded soldiers and those caring for them.

He did not merely publish the book and hope someone important discovered it. Dunant paid to have 1,600 copies printed and sent them directly to political and military leaders throughout Europe. Among those who read it was Gustave Moynier, president of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare. Moynier took Dunant’s proposals seriously. A small committee was formed in 1863, and the following year twelve nations signed the first Geneva Convention. That committee eventually became the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Dunant did not accomplish this alone. The local residents had cared for the wounded beside him. Other men transformed his proposals into an organization, and national leaders gave those proposals legal authority. Still, the chain began when one businessman allowed the suffering before him to interrupt his plans.

The parable of the Good Samaritan began with a question: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus did not answer by defining which people deserved to be included. Instead, He told of a wounded man beside the road. A priest saw him and passed by. A Levite did the same. The Samaritan stopped, treated his wounds, and paid for his care. Jesus then changed the question. He asked which traveler had proved to be a neighbor.

“The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Luke 10:37 (ESV)

The Samaritan did not first ask whether the wounded man belonged to his people. Dunant did not ask whether the soldier before him had fought for France or Austria. The need came before the distinction. That is what stays with me about this story. I sometimes tell myself that I cannot help because I cannot solve the entire problem. The need may be too large, too complicated, or beyond my ability. Dunant could not care for nearly 40,000 casualties. He could give water to the man before him. He could help organize the people around him. Later, he could write what he had seen and place it before those capable of doing more. He used what was available to him, and others carried it farther than he could have imagined.

We may never create an international organization or influence the laws of nations. Yet God has placed something in each of our hands that may be used for someone else. It may be our knowledge, our resources, a relationship, a telephone call, or a few minutes we had planned to spend elsewhere. We do not need to know how far an act of mercy will travel before deciding to offer it. The suffering person God places before me is not merely an interruption.

He is my neighbor.

All are brothers.

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

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Dale Carnegie’s first principle in How to Win Friends and Influence People is:

“Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain.”

It is good advice, and it works. That may be where the problem begins. Carnegie understood that criticism rarely persuades anyone. Point out another person’s fault and that person will usually defend it. Even when people know they were wrong, they may explain what happened, blame the circumstances, or turn their attention toward something you did wrong.

Criticism wounds pride. Once that happens, the conversation is no longer about the original problem. It becomes a contest in which each person tries to prove that the other is worse. Carnegie did not mean that we should remain silent whenever someone makes a mistake. Later in the book, he explains how to correct people without creating resentment. Begin with sincere appreciation. Call attention to mistakes indirectly. Talk about your own failures before mentioning theirs. Ask questions instead of giving orders. Allow the other person to save face.

That is far more thoughtful than simply telling people what they did wrong. It is also remarkably effective. But effectiveness raises another question. Why am I trying to make the person less defensive? Perhaps I genuinely care about them and want them to hear something important. But I may also have discovered that encouragement, tact, and praise are better tools for getting people to do what I want.

The same words can serve very different purposes. One person listens because he loves you. Another listens because he is studying you. One offers praise because he recognizes something good. Another offers praise because he knows it will make you more cooperative. From the outside, they may look exactly the same.

The Bible gives us a disturbing example in Absalom, the son of King David. Absalom positioned himself near the city gate, where people came seeking justice from the king. He asked about their problems, listened to their complaints, agreed that their claims were valid, and suggested that things would be different if he were in charge. When someone approached him respectfully, Absalom embraced and kissed him. He knew how to make people feel heard, understood, and important.

And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him.
2 Samuel 15:5 (ESV)

It worked.

In this way Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
2 Samuel 15:6 (ESV)

Absalom did not win their hearts by criticizing them. He listened to them. He affirmed them. He made each person feel that his complaint mattered. If those actions were placed on a list of principles for winning friends and influencing people, they might sound admirable. But Absalom was not serving the people. He was recruiting them. His warmth was real enough to be felt, but calculated enough to be dangerous.

This does not make Carnegie’s advice wrong. Listening is better than attacking. Honest appreciation is better than constant fault-finding. Protecting someone’s dignity is better than humiliating them. The danger is believing that a kinder method automatically means a loving motive.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
Ephesians 4:15 (ESV)

Scripture requires more than speaking truth effectively. It requires love. Love does not treat people as problems to be managed. It does not praise them merely to lower their resistance. It does not listen simply to discover which words will influence them. Love seeks the other person’s good, even when there is nothing to be gained in return.

Before criticizing someone, I should consider whether my words are necessary and whether they are likely to help. Carnegie is right about that. But before replacing criticism with praise, tact, or encouragement, I should ask another question: Am I trying to love this person—or have I merely found a nicer way to control them?

Dale Carnegie teaches us how to influence people without offending them.

Scripture asks what we intend to do with that influence.

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

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We sometimes say that our mouth has a life of its own. Usually, we mean that something came out before we had time to stop it. We spoke in anger, repeated something we should not have repeated, or made a remark we immediately regretted.

But a recent scientific discovery gives that expression another meaning. In 2024, researchers reported finding a previously unknown class of RNA elements in the human microbiome. They named them Obelisks because their RNA appears to fold into a long, rod-like shape. Each Obelisk is only about 1,000 nucleotides long. Yet researchers could not match them to any known virus, viroid, or other biological agent.

After searching databases from around the world, they identified nearly 30,000 different Obelisk sequences. In the original study, Obelisks were detected in 17 of 32 oral microbiome samples. They were also found in approximately 7 percent of the stool samples examined. At least one type of Obelisk appears to live within certain strains of Streptococcus sanguinis, a bacterium commonly found in the mouth. Obelisks also contain instructions for making a previously unknown family of proteins. The researchers named these proteins Oblins.

But scientists still do not know what Obelisks do. They do not know whether they help or harm the bacteria that contain them. They do not know whether they affect human health. They do not even know whether Obelisks should be considered alive. They know they are there. They just do not know what they are doing. Something had apparently been present in our mouths for a very long time, but we had never recognized it. The mouth really does have a life of its own.

But this discovery made me think about something else associated with the mouth—something James warned us about nearly 2,000 years ago.

The tongue.

And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body.
James 3:6 (ESV)

The tongue is small, but its effects can be enormous. A few words can encourage someone who is ready to give up. They can also humiliate someone we claim to love. A careless remark may take only seconds to speak, but the person who heard it may remember it for years. A rumor can travel through a family, a workplace, or a church before anyone stops to ask whether it is true. That is why James compares the tongue to a fire. A small flame can spread far beyond the place where it began.

James also writes:

But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
James 3:8 (ESV)

“Restless” is an interesting word. James describes the tongue almost as if it has a life of its own. That is often how we excuse it. “It just slipped out.” “I was angry.” “I didn’t really mean it.” But Jesus would not allow us to blame our mouths as though they were acting independently.

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Matthew 12:34 (ESV)

The mouth does not create what is inside us. It reveals it. If I have been holding on to anger, eventually anger will speak. If I have been feeding resentment, resentment will find its voice. If my heart is filled with gratitude and grace, those things will also come out. Controlling the tongue, therefore, is not simply a matter of choosing better words. We must also ask what has been growing in our hearts.

Scientists may spend years trying to understand what Obelisks are doing inside the human mouth. Perhaps they will eventually discover that they help their bacterial hosts. Perhaps they cause harm. Perhaps their presence has no meaningful effect on us at all. For now, we do not know.

But we already know what the tongue can do. It can comfort or condemn. It can tell the truth or spread a lie. It can reconcile people or divide them. It can praise God and then injure someone made in His image.

Scientists have discovered something unfamiliar hiding inside our mouths. James asks us to consider something much more familiar coming out of them. The question is not only, “What is living in my mouth?” It is also, “What has been living in my heart—and what happens when I allow it to speak?”

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

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In 1934, Albert McMakin worked on the Graham family dairy farm outside Charlotte, North Carolina. Most people have never heard of him. He was not an evangelist. He did not have a large ministry. There would be no stadiums filled with people waiting to hear Albert McMakin preach. But he knew a 15-year-old boy named Billy Graham.

That year, evangelist Mordecai Ham had come to Charlotte for a series of revival meetings. Billy’s parents wanted him to attend, but Billy was not particularly interested. He had grown up around church, and another religious meeting apparently held little attraction for him. What finally got his attention was something quite different. Ham had developed a reputation as a forceful preacher, and rumors were circulating that some students might come to one of the meetings and cause trouble. McMakin reportedly described Ham to Billy as a “fighting preacher.”

Now Billy was interested. McMakin offered to take him. So one evening, a farm worker and a teenage boy headed into Charlotte to hear Mordecai Ham preach. There was nothing about that trip that would have suggested that history was being made. Billy did not walk into the meeting knowing that God was about to change the direction of his life. From his own later recollections, he initially went largely out of curiosity. And he did not become a Christian that first night. He went back.

As the meetings continued, Ham’s preaching began to bother him. Billy had always considered himself a fairly good person. He went to church. He was not someone whom most people would have looked at and thought desperately needed to change his life. But increasingly, Billy felt as though Ham was speaking directly to him. On November 1, 1934, Billy Graham responded to the invitation and committed his life to Christ.

We know the rest of the story, or at least part of it. Billy Graham eventually preached the Gospel to nearly 215 million people in live audiences in more than 185 countries and territories. Hundreds of millions more encountered his preaching through radio, television, films, publications, and other media. Presidents sought his counsel. Stadiums filled to hear him preach. Generations of people came to associate Billy Graham with one simple message: that they needed Jesus Christ.

 

But go back to the beginning. Before the stadiums, before the television broadcasts, before the presidents and crusades and millions of people hearing the Gospel, there was Albert McMakin. He invited a teenager to a meeting. I doubt Albert climbed into the vehicle that evening thinking, This may be one of the most consequential things I will ever do. Why would he? It was an invitation. A ride into town. Something easily forgotten. Yet that is often how God seems to work.

Paul wrote:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6–7 (ESV)

Albert McMakin did not convert Billy Graham. Mordecai Ham did not create Billy Graham’s future ministry. Albert invited him. Ham preached. Billy responded. God gave the growth.

I think that is why this story matters even if none of us will ever preach to millions of people. We tend to imagine that if God is going to use us for something important, we will know it at the time. The moment will somehow announce itself. We will recognize that this conversation matters, this invitation matters, this person matters. But perhaps that is not how it usually happens. Maybe the important moment looks like asking someone to come with you. Making a phone call. Introducing two people. Encouraging someone who is ready to quit. Speaking when remaining silent would be easier. Showing up when you almost stayed home.

Albert McMakin could not see what would come from his invitation. Neither can we. That does not mean every small decision will change millions of lives. Most will not. But we also do not know which seemingly ordinary act God may use in a way we could never anticipate.

Albert invited one teenager to hear a preacher. The teenager’s name was Billy Graham. Could you be standing in one of those moments right now?

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

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I was watching television when a commercial appeared for a gambling app. It had everything one would expect: excitement, competition, the possibility of winning, and the suggestion that placing a bet would make watching the game even more enjoyable.

Then I noticed a message scrolling across the bottom of the screen:
*If you have a gambling problem, call this number.*

I found myself paying more attention to the warning than to the commercial. These messages are often required by state regulations, and there is a good reason for putting one there. If you want to reach people who may have a gambling problem, a gambling commercial is a logical place to do it. The people who need help are probably more likely to see that advertisement than almost anyone else. Someone who realizes he is losing control might notice the number, make the call, and receive the help he needs. I certainly would not want the warning removed.

Still, the commercial seemed strangely contradictory. Nearly everything on the screen was designed to make gambling attractive. The music, images, promotions, and excitement encouraged the viewer to place a bet. Meanwhile, the small line at the bottom acknowledged that gambling could become destructive. The commercial seemed to be saying, “We want you to gamble, but if gambling becomes a problem, here is someone you can call.”

Most people who gamble do not become addicted. Adults are responsible for their own choices, and a company cannot be blamed for every poor decision made by someone using its product. That is a reasonable argument. But does personal responsibility remove all responsibility from the person or company encouraging the choice?

As a physician, I regularly explained the risks of medications and procedures to my patients. Providing that information was important, but the warning did not relieve me of my other responsibilities. I still had to decide whether the treatment was appropriate, whether the possible benefit justified the risk, and whether a particular patient might be especially vulnerable to harm. A disclosure was part of responsible medical care. It was not a substitute for it. A gambling company is obviously not practicing medicine, but the underlying principle is similar. A warning may be necessary and helpful without settling the larger moral question.

Jesus said:

Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom the temptation comes!
Matthew 18:7 (ESV)

Jesus was not speaking specifically about gambling, and the Bible does not say that every wager is sinful. His statement addresses a broader issue. We are responsible for the choices we make, but we also bear some responsibility for the influence we have on others. The person placing the bet cannot blame the commercial for every decision. At the same time, the company creating the commercial cannot pretend that its influence ends when the required warning appears at the bottom of the screen.

The same issue appears in our own lives. We repeat a damaging story and add, “I don’t know whether it is true.” We encourage someone toward a questionable decision and then say, “It is entirely up to you.” We make a hurtful remark and excuse it with, “I was only joking.” We place something tempting in front of another person and assume that whatever happens next is solely that person’s responsibility. Sometimes those qualifications are sincere. We may genuinely want the other person to be careful. At other times, they allow us to participate while distancing ourselves from the consequences.

The gambling helpline belongs in the commercial. It may reach someone at exactly the moment help is needed. But displaying the number does not answer every question about the way gambling is being promoted.

It is easy to notice the contradiction in someone else’s advertisement. The more difficult question is whether I ever do the same thing. Do I encourage something through my words, conduct, or example, then rely upon a small disclaimer to excuse my part in what follows?

Sometimes the most revealing part of a message is found in the fine print.

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #gamblingads #Mathew18:7

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