by Brian Hobbs | May 1, 2019
“Dr. Livingstone, I presume.”
With these famous words, a Scottish
physician and missionary who lived a remarkable life became one of the most
widely recognized people of his day—and one of the most remembered in ours.
In fact, David Livingstone is one
of the best known missionaries (and explorers) of all time, and today (May 1)
marks the anniversary of his death. (To read more about Livingstone, check out this
blog post by
Pastor Wade Burleson).
From Dr. Livingstone on down to
today, medical missionaries have enjoyed a platform like almost no other kind
of missionary. Where, besides in the medical field, can missionaries so easily
cross cultural lines? Where besides the medical field, can they go and command,
not only immediate respect, but also the attention span of those with whom they
want to share Christ? In what field besides medicine can you more often find
people in a vulnerable state and considering the weightier matters of life than
in health and medicine?
Truly medical missions is a field
that has a storied past and even brighter future. That’s why I am excited that
this summer, anyone connected to the medical field has an excellent opportunity
to explore what God may have in store for them in the growing field of medical
missions. To be specific, the International Mission Board’s MedAdvance
Conference is coming to Oklahoma City, Quail Springs, July 18-20.
For those unfamiliar, MedAdvance is an event that the IMB
conducts yearly to equip medical professionals with evangelism strategy for
mission work. Dr. Rebekah Naylor, a decorated surgeon and internationally-recognized
IMB missionary, is the physician in charge of organizing the conference. Her life
story, like Livingstone’s, is worthy of study and
emulating. More than that, her life shows the power of Christ displayed through
medical missions.
The conference Dr. Naylor has assembled will feature
different training aspects like “a roadmap to becoming a physician on mission.”
A manual from last year’s conference listed the steps, which include: Discern
first steps; prepare spiritually; find mentors; prepare to make disciples;
build your resume; portfolio and networks; explore possibilities and needs;
find a job; connect with believers on mission and, finally, do life and work on
mission among the unreached. For more information on the MedAdvance Conference,
or to register, visit https://qsbc.org/medadvance.
With a stethoscope and a copy of the Scriptures in hand,
along with a willing heart, God can do great things through these individuals.
So if you or someone you know is now or will be in the medical field, tell them
about this event. Let’s not just presume God will raise up another Dr.
Livingstone. Instead, let’s pray that God will raise up more medical
missionaries to be His witnesses, taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth
(Acts 1:8).
by Brian Hobbs | Apr 25, 2019
For Thunder fans, it’s all over but the crying, blaming and
complaining. As a big OKC fan myself, I too was disappointed at how this season
turned out.
Now I don’t know if I am back luck, but very few of the
sports teams I root for have ever won a championship. I say that to say this.
The Thunder let down is nothing new for me, as I have become well acquainted
with dealing with losses and disappointments in sports. That is why I want to
offer a few consolation thoughts for grieving Thunder fans that have helped me
that may also help you.
“It’s only a game”
In the past few years, both personally and other people I
know have faced real life disappointments. From deaths in the family to major
health challenges to job loss, life has thrown enough challenges at us to take
ballgames too seriously. The phrase, it’s only a game is true. We can remind
ourselves that, right now around the world, there are people facing the horrors
of terrorist attacks, famine, persecution, unjust imprisonment, slavery,
abortion, human trafficking and more. In the grand scheme of life, we
Christians ought to shed more tears over lost lives and souls than lost
ballgames and sports series.
“Oh well. Life goes
on…”
Sure, we each had hopes that the Thunder might be able to
win an NBA Championship. They didn’t. Oh well. There’s always next year, and
life goes on. There will be another ballgame or cause to cheer for or jeer for.
Even the best of teams ultimately come to lose at some point, some year. Let’s
make our lives about something more than just sports wins and losses. To the
degree we can, let’s enjoy the thrill of victory, but not let the agony of
defeat get to us. As Tim Keller said, don’t let success go to our heads or
failure go to our hearts.
“Grow up, be nicer”
It’s easy to get drawn into the rancor and immature
discussion following a stinging sports loss. If you are a Christian, though, we
ought to know better. How can we say we follow Christ, but then on social media
we act hateful, spiteful and mean-spirited? If that kind of talk is coming from
our mouths or keyboards, we ought to step back from it and grow up.
In the end, all Thunder fans wished for more than this. But
by God’s help, each of us will realize that there’s more to this life than
ballgames, more than Thunder ups and downs.
by Brian Hobbs | Apr 17, 2019
If
your family is anything like mine, your children are counting down the days
until summer break. With visions of swimming, summer trips and sleeping in, my
children simply cannot wait until that final school bell rings.
According
to a new study, though, the main activity for most kids this summer will be
time spent, not at the swimming pool, but staring at a screen.
A new
study reported on by CBS News said “Kids
and teens age 8 to 18 spend an average of more than seven hours a day looking
at screens.”
From
viewing YouTube videos to playing video games, all this screen time adds up to habits
that are anything but healthy. The American Heart Association went so far as to
issue a “new warning” about the phenomenon, recommending that “parents limit
screen time for kids to a maximum of just two hours per day.”
I
will be the first to admit, that’s easier said than done, especially as the
summer days turn to blazing hot temperatures outside. At the same time, each of
us can probably do better in trying to limit screen time than we now are, with
simply some intentional effort.
To
that end, here are some ideas we are considering that you may also want to
consider, not just for your kids, but for yourself, to limit screen time:
- Go outside
and enjoy nature
- Read a book (on paper!)
- Take part in church events like VBS or camps
- Exercise or participate in sports
- Visit or phone a friend
- Go play outside
- Do yardwork
- Help a neighbor with yardwork
- Volunteer at a local ministry
- Take a family trip, even locally
These are just a few ideas. So this summer,
when you or your kids feel bored, instead of playing games on a screen, we can try
to redeem the times with something positive, something besides screen time.
Who knows? These alternatives to screen time might
be more satisfying this summer than games on phones.
by Brian Hobbs | Mar 19, 2019
Oklahoma’s Oral Roberts University is known
for having the world’s largest praying hands sculpture, according to some.
Standing some 60 feet tall, these folded hands are definitely a sight to
behold.
The sight of praying hands, though, is not
limited to a bronze statue in Tulsa. They are now seen in everyday life through
text messages, social media posts and more, with the sudden rise of the “folded
hands/praying hands” emoji.
This simple symbol is most often used to
mean, “I’m praying for you…” (Or other times, “I’m grateful”).
I find myself using this emoji more and more.
There recently was a backlash on social media to people using this emoji or commenting,
“I’m praying for you” after a tragedy strikes. Cynical people across the
Internet rejected that emoji and phrase as insincere. To some degree, I am
confident they were right; that for some, it was just something to say in a
difficult situation.
I must admit that I have been guilty of using
the prayer hands but not actually praying (or not praying fervently at least). At
the same time, I think most people who say “I’m praying for you” or use that
emoji really want to be supportive and many times really do wish to seek the
Almighty’s help in the situation.
So how can we do better to align our beliefs
with our actions? One life hack I have learned is to pause and pray for that
individual or family, before I ever let them know I’m praying for them. Another
simple step is to avoid using the emoji altogether, if it is not true, but to
use the urge to use it as a cue to pray.
The Bible gives Christian believers this
admonition: “Rejoice always, pray without
ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18 ESV). The Bible also tells us to beware
of doing our acts of righteousness to be seen by people (Matt. 6:1).
The next time you are tempted to do the praying
hands emoji, do this: Pause, Reflect and Pray. Then, if you feel led to let
that person know you are praying, go ahead and send a prayer gram and the
emoji. In so doing, we may all find ourselves doing a little more praying and a
little less posturing.
by Brian Hobbs | Mar 13, 2019
In
our social-media saturated world, it is easy to get caught up in the talk of
the day. From Hollywood celebs news to the latest click-bait story about
President Trump, we live on a sort of treadmill of news that is always going,
but perhaps not always going somewhere.
That
is partly why Christians today must be more intentional on training ourselves
spiritually, physically and mentally (Luke 10:27; 1 Tim. 4:8) for service in
God’s Kingdom. It’s that last component—cultivating the mind—I want to focus on
today.
Allow
me to do so by drawing attention to the internationally beloved author and
Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis, who “preached the sermon ‘Learning in
War-Time’… on Sunday, October 22, 1939,” which has much to say on this topic.
To
think about Europe in 1939, when Lewis delivered the message, is to think about
the “storm clouds of war” of which Churchill spoke. With a whole world on the
brink of war, why think about anything else, especially long-term endeavors
like cultivating learning?
That
is what makes Lewis’ bold defense of educational and learning pursuits come at
a time when many thought such “pursuits were unnecessary in the light of the
war, or worse, irresponsible.”
Consider
these words, in which he discusses the enemies of scholarly pursuit:
“The first enemy is excitement—the tendency to think and feel about the war when we had intended to think about our work. The best defense is a recognition that in this, as in everything else, the war has not really raised up a new enemy but only aggravated an old one. There are always plenty of rivals to our work. We are always falling in love or quarrelling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, getting ill and recovering, following public affairs. If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable.
“The second enemy is frustration—the feeling that we shall not have time to finish. If I say to you that no one has time to finish, that the longest human life leaves a man, in any branch of learning, a beginner, I shall seem to you to be saying something quite academic and theoretical. You would be surprised if you knew how soon one begins to feel the shortness of the tether, of how many things, even in middle life, we have to say ‘No time for that,’ ‘Too late now,’ and ‘Not for me.’
“But Nature herself forbids you to share that experience. A more Christian attitude, which can be attained at any age, is that of leaving futurity in God’s hands. We may as well, for God will certainly retain it whether we leave it to Him or not. Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment ‘as to the Lord.’ It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.”
As
flawed human beings, we often get our priorities mixed up. But certainly Lewis’
words are worthy to read and ponder. I take great encouragement to know that,
even when the world is falling down around us, there are some things worth
doing because they are worth doing.
We must
recognize that, to some degree or another, the world around us—and within own
life circles—will always be in a state of duress, until Jesus returns. In the
meantime, we can, like Lewis, pick up good books and learn great things, to the
glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).