ER || Chaplaincy

I've been meaning to watch this clip for a while. I didn't get to see the original airing of the episode of ER, but had heard about the next day during my CPE time. It's a very powerful presentation of actual needs that people have during their pain.

Speaking out of my own chaplaincy experience, I haven't been in such a situation as the above. It's hard, though, to know when to stop asking clarifying questions, leaving people to deal with their own theology and when to come forth with Gospel-centered, Jesus-saturated truth. Knowing when those moments are is difficult and if you miss them, in the words of Donnie Brasco-- Fugget about it.

I was pushed to that point last Tuesday when I went to visit a single mother who was about to lose her baby at 17 weeks, who, again, was conceived out of wedlock. Her poignant question came about an hour into the conversation. We were talking about whether the loss of this baby was punishment for having sex outside of marriage-- which she rightly understood as sin. She asked, "But isn't there punishment for sin?" "Yes, yes there is. But for those who are in Christ, that punishment has been paid by Jesus on the cross." It wasn't the time to ask what she thought; it was time to offer her hope in the midst of her pain and loss. It was time to offer her the Gospel.

Just before I saw the above clip I saw the below one. In it John Piper offers a much different picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I Doll A Tree

Listen: Keller via Driscoll asks christians 14 questions about idolatry:

1. Where do I run for comfort in times of trouble?
2. What am I most afraid of?
3. What do I most passionately long for?
4. What do I complain the most about?
5. Where do I find my greatest happiness?
6. How do I describe myself to others?
7. What makes you angry at God?
8. What do I brag about?
9. What do I want the most?
10. What do I sacrifice for the most?
11. What one thing would I change in my life?
12. Whose approval am I seeking?
13. What do I want to control the most in my life?
14. What comfort do I treasure the most?

The answers to these questions can help reveal where we have idolatry in our lives and where we are letting religion run our lives, rather than the Gospel.

Slightly Ashamed...

So my blog is entitled that Not Ashamed... which up in title box thingy, I explain in Romans 1:16, Paul states that he is not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God. It was my prayer that I would not be ashamed of the Gospel as I went to Costa Rica and then I reworked it that I would take on that same frame of mind through out my whole life. This still holds true.

On The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) tonight, Stephen interviewed Larry King. One is a master interviewer who has been on for fifty years and the other is a crack job that provides hilariousness to ensue during my dinner. Stephen is a confessing Catholic and over all has an amazing grasp of the Gospel-- if this knowledge is lived out, praise Jesus. His only deep question to Larry was which dead person he would interview. "Christ," Larry replied. I nodded, but Stephen chimed in with the truth-- Jesus is not dead, he rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. Woof. I had to cringed at the thought of me nodding along when Larry exclaimed that Christ was dead. It is an easy trap to fall in, but one as Christians we need to be ever conscious of. We do not worship a dead body in a tomb, as yesterday's Discovery special wanted to claim. We worship a living God, who has conquered death and reigns over it. Who one day will come back and at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Please enjoy the clip below.