Recently my grandson who is studying in New Zealand started a blog about his visit there. it is like a travelogue, but is more than that. He includes his personal responses to the sights, an people he is meeting. So far it sounds as if he is having a ball.
Years ago I started a blog but quickly lost interest in it and it faded into oblivion. But now that I am handicapped and not as mobile as I used to be I decided to start another. The subject I chose had been used before by several others, so all I am going to do is to record my experiences in integrating my faith over the last 45 years. Mine may be different because I was not taught how to integrate it, I was led by the Holy Spirit to prepare myself, and energized by him to teach others after I learned about it myself.
I am physician, a psychiatrist, and a medical school and seminary professor. I am married, have 5 children 17 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren. I have had a rewarding career because I have had compassion for those who are in conflict, and those who are mentally ill. I had unusual training since I was trained in child psychiatry, adult psychiatry, neurology and neuroscience. This took up seven years of training, after my internship. I was blessed in it because I interned at Gorgas Hospital in the Panama Canal Zone. There I was exposed to the third world, tropical diseases, and unbelievable poverty.
From the time I started to medical school I loved every minute of the time spent, and still do today. There is nothing more rewarding than to see messed up people cleansed and made whole again. It is also rewarding to see people lifted from the pits of despair into joyous living again. Also there is nothing more tragic than to see people who have an incurable mental disease that is like living death. But that is the way medicine is, we cannot cure them all. I learned this early in my internship when a young woman was admitted to the isolation unit of our hospital. She had symptoms of poliomyelitis and was very frightened. She did indeed have polio., and I did all I could to cure her, I even put her in an iron lung, but we had no treatment for polio in those days, so I could only watch as she became progressively paralyzed, and in ten days died. I was devastated. She had so much life to live and so much love to give, and her life was snuffed out like a candle. I learned that in spite of the advances in medicine at that time many diseases are not treatable. It still true today that there are many disease that we can do little about except try to comfort them. Unfortunately they do not teach you how to comfort people in Medical school. Oliver Wendell Holmes said once, "That it is the physicians right to cure seldom, help often and comfort always.
After I became a Christian I did learn to comfort people. God taught me how to do it and I have practiced it ever since then. But he also gave me the power to heal, in ways that medicine had not taught me to heal. It has been a exciting journey, for he has been with me all the way and continues to be faithful. I hope you will enjoy this trip with me.
William P. Wilson MD, DD (Hon)
Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry Duke University Medical Center
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Counseling Carolina Graduate School of Divinity
williamwilson622@gmail.com
Sunday, September 2, 2012
The Gospel
Last Sunday I posted a blog about the priesthood of believers. Today I want to add to our inspection of integrating your faith. I know there are others that have written about integrating our faith, but each of us has our own perspective on what it means since our lives are all different. Julian Marias says that the life I live is my life, and is distinctive, but there are things that are basic to reality and we have to be sure to witness to how we have integrated our faith into our life.
Today I want to to tell you why it is not necessary to have a theological education to proclaim the gospel. Jesus ordered all of us to proclaim the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. We are to be witnesses for him to the ends of the earth, and are to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are all to do what he told us to do. To help us to carry our his orders we were given the Holy Spirit which is the spirit of power. If we are not doing what he told us to do we will suffer the consequences. Gods judgement will be based on two things in our life. (1) are we born again, (2) did we obey his commandments to Love God with all our being, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to love one another as he loved us, then have shown love by our actions?
But what is the gospel? In its simplest terns it is described in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. "Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born". This scripture has in it all of the knowledge that, if believed, will result in salvation. Paul said that if we confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that he was raised from the dead we will be saved,(Romans 10:9,10)
Today I want to to tell you why it is not necessary to have a theological education to proclaim the gospel. Jesus ordered all of us to proclaim the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. We are to be witnesses for him to the ends of the earth, and are to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are all to do what he told us to do. To help us to carry our his orders we were given the Holy Spirit which is the spirit of power. If we are not doing what he told us to do we will suffer the consequences. Gods judgement will be based on two things in our life. (1) are we born again, (2) did we obey his commandments to Love God with all our being, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to love one another as he loved us, then have shown love by our actions?
But what is the gospel? In its simplest terns it is described in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. "Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born". This scripture has in it all of the knowledge that, if believed, will result in salvation. Paul said that if we confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that he was raised from the dead we will be saved,(Romans 10:9,10)
It is so simple!
I was speaking at a large church in Nashville Tennessee when I was told that an old friend of mine who had moved from Duke to Vanderbilt was dying of pulmonary fibrosis. I called his wife and asked if I might come to see him.They agreed and the next day I went at the appointed time. We greeted one another and caught up with our lives, and then he suddenly said that he had been a Methodist, but when he married he had gone to the Episcopal Church with his wife. He said that the rector came by weekly and served him communion, but in spite of that he felt uneasy about his relationship with God. So I asked him if he had ever confessed with his lips that Jesus is Lord and had believed that he was resurrected from the dead. He immediately corrected me and said if he believed in his heart that Jesus was resurrected from the dead! I said, "You are right, have you?" He said, "I call him Lord all the time, and I do believe in my heart that he was resurrected from the dead".
I told him that he had nothing to worry about. I saw him again a month later and he said all doubts were gone. He died two weeks later.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
THE PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS
I have found it difficult to enter new bogs since I forget to do it. But here is another. In my initial blog I noted how the Lord had led me ot integrate my faith. In this one I want to tell you why.
When Jesus began his ministry he did not pick his disciples from the trained attendants and priests in the temple. He also did not pick them from the Pharisees and Sadducees of his Hebrew religion. He went to the shores of the sea of Galilee and first picked two fishermen. He then picked others none of whom were from the priestly class. He knew these men were all intelligent, hard workers, and moral men. He then taught them what God wanted them to know to become a priesthood of believers who were to spread his message of salvation over the whole world. In three hundred years it was spread over all of the Roman empire. It was interesting too, that when God sent the Holy Spirit he sent it first to 150 persons none of whom were described as clergy, but they were ordinary people. They were however empowered to begin the church and Peter' preaching on that fateful morning established the church.
Jesus had told them that the Holy Spirit would empower them and he did. The church continued to grow as those who had been filled with the Holy Spirit witness to the people around them. Jesus had said that they would first carry the message to Judea, then to the surrounding country (Samaria) and then to the whole world. It was interesting that God's plan was for it to be taken to the Roman empire. Paul and Barnabus wanted to take the message to Asia, but that was not God's plan. Instead God spoke to him in a dream and told him to go to Macedonia. Realizing that got had pointed him in a different direction he dutifully obeyed. Christianity then spread to Europe, and now over the whole world. But it is dying in the West and it has lost it's fire. In Europe very few people go to church. In Africa and Asia though the churches are filled. And it is interesting that the church is exploding because the priesthood of believers has been reestablished. just as Jesus picked ordinary people to be his disciples, so has the church in Africa and Asia had to do the same. Missionaries were not welcome in China, and although they were present large numbers they were not effective. Indigenous churches usually do not have theologically educated pastors. I have worshiped in many of them and their pastors may have only and elementary education, or sometimes they may have finished high school.
Simon Mkolo, the leader of a large indigenous church in the poorest part of Zimbabwe, started out preaching under trees and people came to Christ. He soon had one church, then two, and today has over 500,000 people in many churches. Some of them meet in buildings, but they are still led by many men whose education consists of knowledge of the Bible. His church continues to grow. Hanook Tamong who has no theological education, has a church in Nepal that establishes a new congregation every week. They had at one time 130 evangelists in the field. There is to my knowledge no seminary in Nepal, if there is they are not affiliated with his church. Then there is Korea. We have had missionaries in Korea for many years, and the church did not grow during and after WWII, There was seminary education available to many of their pastors, but when Paul Yongi Cho started a church where all members were prayer warriors, witnesses to the saving power of Jesus, the church exploded. Now there are more Christians per capita than in almost any nation. Thirty percent of Koreans are Christians. The most exciting example of how God builds his church is China. Almost all of the millions of Chinese who are Christians today came came to Christ in house churches. whose leaders had come to the Lord through the witness of their fellow countrymen.
Our churches today are declining because we have abolished the priesthood of believers. More about that next time.
When Jesus began his ministry he did not pick his disciples from the trained attendants and priests in the temple. He also did not pick them from the Pharisees and Sadducees of his Hebrew religion. He went to the shores of the sea of Galilee and first picked two fishermen. He then picked others none of whom were from the priestly class. He knew these men were all intelligent, hard workers, and moral men. He then taught them what God wanted them to know to become a priesthood of believers who were to spread his message of salvation over the whole world. In three hundred years it was spread over all of the Roman empire. It was interesting too, that when God sent the Holy Spirit he sent it first to 150 persons none of whom were described as clergy, but they were ordinary people. They were however empowered to begin the church and Peter' preaching on that fateful morning established the church.
Jesus had told them that the Holy Spirit would empower them and he did. The church continued to grow as those who had been filled with the Holy Spirit witness to the people around them. Jesus had said that they would first carry the message to Judea, then to the surrounding country (Samaria) and then to the whole world. It was interesting that God's plan was for it to be taken to the Roman empire. Paul and Barnabus wanted to take the message to Asia, but that was not God's plan. Instead God spoke to him in a dream and told him to go to Macedonia. Realizing that got had pointed him in a different direction he dutifully obeyed. Christianity then spread to Europe, and now over the whole world. But it is dying in the West and it has lost it's fire. In Europe very few people go to church. In Africa and Asia though the churches are filled. And it is interesting that the church is exploding because the priesthood of believers has been reestablished. just as Jesus picked ordinary people to be his disciples, so has the church in Africa and Asia had to do the same. Missionaries were not welcome in China, and although they were present large numbers they were not effective. Indigenous churches usually do not have theologically educated pastors. I have worshiped in many of them and their pastors may have only and elementary education, or sometimes they may have finished high school.
Simon Mkolo, the leader of a large indigenous church in the poorest part of Zimbabwe, started out preaching under trees and people came to Christ. He soon had one church, then two, and today has over 500,000 people in many churches. Some of them meet in buildings, but they are still led by many men whose education consists of knowledge of the Bible. His church continues to grow. Hanook Tamong who has no theological education, has a church in Nepal that establishes a new congregation every week. They had at one time 130 evangelists in the field. There is to my knowledge no seminary in Nepal, if there is they are not affiliated with his church. Then there is Korea. We have had missionaries in Korea for many years, and the church did not grow during and after WWII, There was seminary education available to many of their pastors, but when Paul Yongi Cho started a church where all members were prayer warriors, witnesses to the saving power of Jesus, the church exploded. Now there are more Christians per capita than in almost any nation. Thirty percent of Koreans are Christians. The most exciting example of how God builds his church is China. Almost all of the millions of Chinese who are Christians today came came to Christ in house churches. whose leaders had come to the Lord through the witness of their fellow countrymen.
Our churches today are declining because we have abolished the priesthood of believers. More about that next time.
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