Category Archives: Healing

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Near Death Experience #1: Cardiac Arrest while Awake?

Listen and enjoy and share with us your thoughts about this amazing medical case.  I have NEVER seen anything like it in my career and neither has anyone that I know in medicine.

This is a story of a patient that I cared for whose heart stopped beating but continued intermittently to respond to us as we tried to get his heart to start beating again.

The term N.D.E. (Near Death Experiences) is somewhat of a misnomer.  A truly N.D.E. is when a patient is declared brain dead and comes back to tell of their experiences.  This is a case of a N.D.E. in which the patient was not declared brain dead but was clinically dead-no heart beat.

BTW-A GREAT book on the topic of N.D.E. and the notion of humans having a brain and a mind–being material and immaterial–also known as substance dualism is Beyond Death by J.P. Moreland and Gary Habermas.

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Near Death Experience #1: Nurses perspective

Listen and enjoy and share with us your thoughts about this amazing medical case.  I have NEVER seen anything like it in my career and neither has anyone that I know in medicine.  Listen to the nurses and their perspective of the case.

This is a story of a patient that I cared for whose heart stopped beating but continued intermittently to respond to us as we tried to get his heart to start beating again.

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Men’s Group January 21, 2009: David’s Grace to Mephibosheth

Passage: 2 Samuel 9

David asked, “Is there anyone remaining from Saul’s family I can show kindness to because of Jonathan?”2 There was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?””[I am] your servant,” he replied. So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family I can show the kindness of God to?”Ziba said to the king, “There is still Jonathan’s son who is lame in both feet.”  The king asked him, “Where is he?”Ziba answered the king, “You’ll find him in Lo-debar at the house of Machir son of Ammiel.” So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, bowed down to the ground and paid homage. David said, “Mephibosheth!””I am your servant,” he replied. “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “since I intend to show you kindness because of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.”Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?”Then the king summoned Saul’s attendant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and his family. You, your sons, and your servants are to work the ground for him, and you are to bring in [the crops] so your master’s grandson will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants.Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all my lord the king commands.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s  table just like one of the king’s sons. Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All those living in Ziba’s house were Mephibosheth’s servants. However, Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king’s table. He was lame in both feet.

 

 

1. Why did David show kindness to Mephibosheth?

 

2. Why is David’s kindness to Mephibosheth so significant?  What did the incoming king usually do to the outgoing king and his family?


3. What would you have done?  


4. Who is your Jonathan?


5. How did you develop a Jonathan friendship?  What does it take to develop a Jonathan friendship?


6. What is your Mephibosheth? (Where are you ‘lame’? What is your ‘tweak’?)


7. How does God respond to our ‘tweaks’? to our deformities?


8. How can we respond to other’s ‘tweaks’/deformities?

Dave wrote:

Cynthia and I just finished watching Evan Almighty.   Some of you are probably aware that Cynthia serves Pathways by teaching the 4th/5th graders every other Sunday.  Well, last Sunday (1/18) the lesson was on Noah.  One of the children brought up the movie, Evan Almighty.  Turns out, all of the kids in Cynthia’s class had seen it; neither one of us had.  If you have not seen this movie, I recommend you do; we really enjoyed it.  So, what does this have to do with our Men of the Path meeting last week?  In Bucky’s absence (welcome back Bucky), Drew taught on 2Samuel 9, which is the story of David and Mephibosheth.  (Don’t worry, when read the story, the name Mephibosheth comes up often enough you will be able to pronounce it before you finish).  {Pause, while you read the scripture.}  Okay, now that you’ve read the story (and if you’ve seen the movie) you can see the connection.  At the end of the movie, God writes the word “ARK” in the sand for Evan.  ARK is an acronym for Act of Random Kindness.  In 2Samuel 9, David shows Mephibosheth an Act of Random Kindness.  David’s word to his friend, Jonathan, took precedence over the world’s view of what a king should do.  In the culture of the day, a king would kill all members of the outgoing king’s family.  Mephibosheth was the “son of Jonathan, son of Saul,” as the Bible puts it; Mephibosheth was Saul’s grandson.  He not only had this as a mark against him but Mephibosheth was also lame in both feet.  In David’s day, people had no use for a cripple; they were generally ignored by society and left to die.  I got the impression that nearly everyone forgot about Mephibosheth; he was considered worthless.  Can you imagine what was going through Mephibosheth’s mind as he was being escorted to see the new king?  The man his grandfather was trying to kill?  The man who conquered and now ruled the land?  Verse 7 tells us the answer;  “David said, don’t be afraid.”  Rather than follow the culture of the world, David chose an Act of Random Kindness.  Mephibosheth got to eat at King David’s table every night and was given all of his grandfather’s land and servants.  In the end, Mephibosheth enjoyed a privileged life.  So, I ask, have you shown an ARK lately?  Has God blessed you and have you given that blessing back by showing kindness to someone who may need it right now?  Do you know there are men and women at Pathways who have been unemployed for some time?  Have you talked to them or prayed for them lately?  Have you asked them how you can help?  As I write this I find myself saying I have not done enough.  I pray for them but I have not been in close communication with them.  I know I cannot offer financial assistance but I can offer words of encouragement, a handshake or a hug.  I hope this touches your heart enough to seek out those who are struggling and ask how you can help.  If you don’t know who the unemployed are, ask Bucky, or one of the elders.  There are a lot of churches and a lot of men’s groups out there.  So how can we be different?  By walking our talk.  Remember, we are a community, a family.  And, we aren’t just any men’s group; we are the Men of the Path.  Let’s reach out and show we care (see Acts 2:42-47 for a biblical example of truly sharing in community and fellowship and what God did in return).

As always, please share your thoughts with us.

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Love Well Give Well

Pathways church is embarking during this Christmas season to raise money to provide a drinking well for an entire community in Africa.  Please consider helping us to reach our goal of providing living water to those in dire need.  Enjoy this brief video about Pathways efforts:

PLEASE donate money for this GREAT cause directly on UBERLUMEN by clicking on the ChipIn icon on the right hand side of the site or click on icon below:

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Men’s Topic #9: Thankfulness

“If anyone would tell you the shortest, surest way to all happiness and all perfection, he must tell you to make a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you…it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it you turn it into a blessing…it heals and turns all that it touches into happiness….every day….be made a day of thanksgiving…”-William Law

 

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”~Thornton Wilder

“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.”~H.U. Westermayer

Thankfulness is a state of our hearts.  Practicing the state of thankfulness for EVERYTHING develops in us a heart for others and for God.  Smile and embrace those around you on this day of thanks!

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Men’s Topic #8: Superhero’s

I had an ‘aha’ moment several weeks ago.  Most of the successful men that I know are superheros.  Yes men of steel.  These men are able to detach in a moment’s notice, disengage from wives and family, and ‘puff up’ and plow through any situation.

These men come from wounded back grounds.  Family of origin nightmares.  A distant father and an overbearing mother.  At least one of their parents is inevitably an alcoholic or worse.  At a VERY early age these men hide behind perfection.  When the drunk mom and the distant dad become too much, they amp up and shut off ANY emotions from the outside world and OVER achieve, over and over again.

Over and over again, I hear the same story–abandoned by dad and living with a crazy mom who must spend all her energy raising the prodigal younger brother so the eldest son emerges to save the day: captain of the football, track, AND wrestling team….and did I mention validictorian?  abandoned by a distant dad and living with a drunk mom too spent to supervise the youngest and last kid in the house so this son rises up to MVP of the water polo team, etc.  SAME story different details!

When these men grow up it is no surprise that they live Thoreau’s ‘quiet lives of desperation’ sealed off from any emotions from any chance of intimacy and deep meaningful relationships.

I was amazed by listening to the author of “The Shack” (a MUST read) who described himselft as just such a man hiding his baggage-his “shack”, as he called it, behind him while he hid his true brokenness from the world by perfectionism.

Please enjoy this presentation regarding so many men’s hidden secret: They are superhero’s.

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Miracles and Healings AMAZING Stories

Ever since the 1st Century church emerged and their miracle and healing stories were documented in the book of Acts et al, the church has been filled with such stories.  There has been a ground swell in Christianity to focus again on the early Church model of miracles and healings.  What are your thoughts about this?  JP Moreland in his wonderful book, The Kingdom Triangle, points out and discusses this epidemic of miracles and healings occurring worldwide in Christianity noting that American Christianity continues to fall behind in this resurgence of the early Church model of Christianity.

We have been posting interviews and stories regarding miracles and healings as well.  The posts have been generated by a missionary friend who has experienced these miracles and healings first hand.  He has shifted his ministry from the traditional evangelical Christian model of the last 50 years to a miracle and healing ministry, and he has seen incredible things.  This is yet another audio clip of such miracles and healings from a mentor of his.

This brief audio clip is from Pastor Bill Johnson at Bethel Church in Redding, CA.  He tells numerous stories of miracles and healings.  

Do you believe it? What do you think?  Please click on the title of this post and then scroll down to leave your comments.

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Purple People

“Now tell me again who is blue and who is red?”

Racist, stupid, bigoted, evil….these are some of the words used to describe ‘us’ by ‘them’.

Intolerant, arrogant, angry, blind….these are some of the words used to describe ‘them’ by ‘us’.

Something has gone terribly wrong here.

We worship a God who is BIGGER than ALL of THAT!

We follow a God who became a man who was beaten, whipped, tortured, mocked by the ruling government of his day.

We cherish the LOVE of a God who was mocked by guards who made him wear a robe that symbolized royalty, KINGSHIP as they laughted and scorned and cried out, “King of the Jews! Ha Ha Ha!”

The robe he wore was PURPLE: The color of KINGSHIP.

We are NOT blue; we are NOT red.  We ARE the PURPLE people.  We follow and worship the God in the PURPLE robe who loves each of us as if we are the ONLY person in the universe.

Share with us your comments after you listen to Rob Bell’s teaching titled: Beware the Dogs and Greg Boyd’s teaching titled: Defying Tanks.  These are 2 of the MOST challenging sermons that I have heard.  After you listen, PLEASE share your thoughts on some practical and specific ways that we can transform our world!

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MARRIAGE TIPS & RESOURCES

Marriage is hard work, but it is worth the effort.

If you are having a hard time with your marriage:

1. Don’t give up! Studies show that divorce can be truly devastating to you, your spouse, and especially your kids.1 2

2. Get professional help!  Don’t try and work through your issues on

your own. Read these books, go to marriage retreats, and get into

consistent marriage counseling.

3. Set down healthy patterns! Find or read about good patterns and then follow them.

 

RESOURCES:

MARRIAGE TOP 10 ‘TIPS’

 

BOOKS TO READ:

1. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

2. His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Hartley

3. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John M. Gottman

4. Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires,The Respect He Desperately Needsby Emerson Eggerichs

5. Night Light: A Devotional for Couples by the Dobson’s

 

As always, PLEASE share with us your insights and comments below.

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Men’s Topic #5: PRAYER

Here are the notes from Dave on Men’s Group Topic #5: Prayer  

On Wednesday we reviewed Luke 11:5-13 and Luke 18:1-7 (please read, or re-read them before continuing). 

Bucky makes so many great points each week it is a challenge to write about just one or two.  I selfishly get to pick the ones that touch my heart and pray they will touch yours, too.

We all know where Bucky’s heart is on the subject of prayer because he stated on Wednesday, “the best thing we could do is pray.”  I’ve been blessed to be able to attend a few events with Bucky and one thing he makes sure happens is that prayer is part of the event.  For example, after serving those in need at the City of Hope shelter a couple of months ago we stood in front of the door and Bucky led us in prayer.  Bucky often says how he walks around the Northwood neighborhood and prays before service.  So it did not surprise me when our discussion this week focused on prayer. When all is said and done if we do not become men of prayer we will never know God.  We can “study” His word all we want but we will never know Him.  Prayer is nothing more than talking to God; it is not ceremonial or ritualistic; it is a conversation with our Lord and Savior.  Bucky said we can go through the routine of prayer but if it is just rote that is disconnected from your heart it will not accomplish anything.  Prayer needs a willing and wanting heart.  Getting on your knees at the beginning and/or end of each day and praying is something to be done not out of “duty” but out of desire.  How else can you get to know God if you do not talk to Him? Another point Bucky made was that each morning when the disciples awoke they usually found Jesus out alone, praying.  He was talking to His Abba.  Jesus’ Abba is our Abba, too.  The point of Luke 11:5-13, is to show us God isn’t a grouchy Father, but a Good Neighbor; the One we can talk to anytime, anywhere.  If we knock, He will answer.  God is always there for us.  A little while back Bill Gaultiere had Cynthia and me demonstrate the “prayer hug” we do almost every morning.  It is amazing how Cynthia looks forward to starting her day knowing I’ve cared enough to embrace her and whisper my prayer to God in her ear.  As men, God wants us to be the spiritual heads of our households.  The best thing we can do for our families doesn’t involve anything in this world (no college funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, etc.); it is prayer.  Try it, and like the woman in Luke 18:1-7, do not give up; continue to pray.  Remember it is in His timing not ours. 
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Men’s Topic #2: Are you enough?

Topic #2 is based on the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15.  This brief audio is about a LIFE CHANGING concept that will improve your marriage and relationships.  We are all walking around with the ‘I am not enough’ wound that society and our parents have given us.  This wound can only truly be healed by God, but our wives/s.o./friends can help heal this wound.  Please add your thoughts, questions, and comments below this post!

 

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Prayer Request Update re: Jeff’s cardiac arrest

I just received an update via email about Jeff’s condition. I know that many of you have been praying for him and his family.  PLEASE read his AMAZING journal entry!

I have cut and pasted it here as well:

I’m writing to say thank you for your love during my cardiac arrest, resuscitation, medical care and current recovery…

…to my Heavenly Father, who, obviously, holds my very life in His hands; Jesus, my Lord and Savior and the model of the person I strive to become; the Spirit of God, my daily strength and wisdom. Thank you for your grace.

…to Karen, Alex, Maddie and Ella, it is impossible to imagine a life without you. Thank you for loving me everyday.

…to mom and dad, for staying by my side the past 45 years

…to the rest of our family and friends, in the Port Streets (wow!), at the Boras Corporation, across Orange County and the country for your prayers, caring for my children and my wife, visits to the hospital to spend time with me and sacrificing time with your own families, coordinating meals…etc. etc., overwhelming…

…to St. Andrews Pres, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and my Friday morning men’s group, for being a model of what it looks like to worship God with our lives everyday, praying over me and reading God’s Word to me in the hospital, and prayer, prayer, prayer…

…to Hoag Hospital, my doctors, and the Newport Beach Paramedics, there are numerous exceptional medical people and facilities across the country, but none better.

There has been much prayer for me, and now from me to you-one of Paul’s prayers that has been a main life verse for me for over 20 years….

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV).

I look forward to the opportunity to say thank you personally to as many as God affords me the opportunity. Just one warning, any hug over 3 seconds brings with it the danger of getting wet.

Peace, Jeff Musselman