AFRAID TO DIE?

Several years ago I found a book in a library discard pile that has been a priceless read for me. The book is Horse and Buggy Doctor, by Dr. Arthur E. Hertzler. Dr. Hertzler practiced medicine on the Kansas prairie from the Late 19th century to the 1940's. He built a clinic in Halstead, Kansas that, for a short time, rivaled the Mayo clinic in Minnesota. (Halstead is a 45 minute drive from my first ministry in Abbyville, KS.) Hertzler was the son of a lay Mennonite minister, but became very cynical about Christians, though he was a man of faith. Nevertheless, this book offers some important insights into human nature; some of which I will share in the nest few days.

"As a matter of fact, fear is too little regarded as an adverse influence in the outcome of an operation. . . Even today, I refuse to operate on a frightened patient. I have seen, to often, patients who stated that they would not recover, who proceeded to make good their prediction. Some of these cases did not show the cause of death, even at autopsy. I believe they were actually and literally scared to death."

"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Corinthians 15:22). The promise is only for those "in Christ." The hope we have is not wishful thinking, but it rests on one thoroughly documented event, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Grace & Peace;
Tom