Category: Biblical Foundations
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Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12.
Getting weary in well doing? Perhaps my own story can help you gain some perspective as you serve the Lord in healthcare mission.
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How can Jubilee help us respond to COVID-19?
We are in the midst of one of the worst global pandemics of a century. What does it have to do with healthcare and Christian mission? There are many lessons we are learning. But one clear message is that this pandemic is much more than the disease of COVID-19. While preparations, PPE, and medical care…
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Community based approaches to primary health care
When I studied international and community health at Johns Hopkins in 1977, primary health care was a new emphasis. Our dean, Dr. Carl Taylor led a department full of passion about reducing illness and promoting health through primary care. But the amount of data about this approach was limited. Like many others, I found that…
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Social concern by evangelicals in the 1800s
Social concern by evangelical Christians was a high priority before 1900.
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A new era in Roman healthcare
We take for granted that compassion is a natural response to the suffering of those who are ill. But compassion was not well-developed as a virtue in Roman culture. Rome had not developed a culture of compassion; “mercy was discouraged, as it only helped those too weak to contribute to society.” Family members may come…
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Not the way it’s supposed to be
“The veins of sin interlace with most of the rest of what’s wrong with our lives — through birth disorders, disease, accident and nuisance. Thousands of Third World children die daily from largely preventable diseases: out of laziness or complacency, certain grownups fail to prevent them. Thousands of First World children are born drug addicts:…
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Taking it in steps?
A missionary doctor, nurse or health provider in his or her first term is all enthusiasm. After all, he or she may think, “After all that preparation, let’s get on with the real work!” But those first few years show how much more there is to learn! First there is the adjustment to the new…
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“…not merely a doctor”
“The doctor has so objectified himself that he never faces up to himself and his own life at all.” “Somewhere in Pembrokshire a tombstone is said to bear the inscription, ‘John Jones, born a man, died a grocer.’ There are many whom I have had the privilege of meeting whose tombstone might well bear the…
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Life-risking courage in the cause of love
This audio podcast by John Piper helps us address the question of loving others. How do I love to the fullest measure? How do I ensure that my good deeds are not selfish ambition disguised as love? He says, “If you abandon your quest to be satisfied in God to the fullest measure, you will…