Why do we have Vacation Bible School every year in so many churches across our state? Are we just trying to entertain our children during the hot summer days? No, we expend so much time, energy, prayers, and creativity because of hardening of the heart, not hardening of the arteries — which is a medical/physical […]
About 19 years ago, I had the sad responsibility to inform a mom and dad that their beautiful 5-year-old daughter had leukemia. They were shocked and overwhelmed. A few weeks later, I sat on a hospital bed by their side as an oncologist explained that their insurance would not pay for most of the very […]
“Pamela” visited my office when she was 16 weeks pregnant. Her boyfriend, a heavy beer drinker and a member of a motorcycle gang, browbeat her to have an abortion. She was a waitress at a restaurant, barely surviving financially. Her father was a Baptist preacher and, although very disappointed in her, encouraged her to do […]
I opened the paper chart, saw the positive pregnancy test, gritted my teeth, and breathed a silent prayer as I opened the door to exam room 2. I was immediately aware of the suffocating atmosphere in the room, where my patient, a lovely blonde with striking blue eyes, was perched on the table. A high […]
About 10 Indian pastors sat in front of me. I stared at them and they stared at me in a crowded, little room in northeastern India. In a few short days, I would grow to love these men as I ministered to them physically (as a physician) and spiritually (through Bible teaching). Prompted by the […]
On Thursday night, Sept. 1, at the Wofford-Tennessee Tech football game in Cookeville, Tenn., Wofford player Michael Roach pitched forward off the bench in the second half and stopped breathing due to a cardiac arrest. Panic-stricken players called for rescue workers, who quickly cut away his jersey and pads while thousands of fans watched in […]
My father, a family doctor in my hometown of Manning, S.C., strived to provide excellent medical care to a very impoverished community. He loved what he did. Nevertheless, in 1965 he left a growing family medicine practice to volunteer for the Air Force in the midst of the Vietnam conflict. Trained as an air surgeon […]
When I was growing up in our small South Carolina town of Manning, my dad would come home many afternoons after work and throw the football or baseball with me in the backyard. To me, he was Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, and I was his favorite receiver, running intricate patterns across the backyard for […]