Hi, friends in exile, got a minute?
Lying in the OR, Pastor Bruce McIver asked his cardiologist, Dr. Dudley Johnson, ‘Can you fix my heart?’ The physician, known for being short and to the point, said, ‘Sure.’ Then he quickly turned and walked away. After the long surgery, McIver asked Johnson, ‘In light of the blocked arteries that I had when I checked into the hospital, how much blood supply do I now have?’ ‘All you’ll ever need,’ replied the terse surgeon, who [then walked] away. Upon his discharge from the hospital, McIver’s wife, Lawanna, asked the doctor, ‘What about my husband’s future quality of life?’ [Dr.] Johnson paused and then said, ‘I fixed his heart; the quality of his life is up to him.’”[1]
When God works in the human soul through Christ, He brings that transformed person into the Church, the Fellowship of the Gospel. This changes everything! Then, the quality of our lives depends on our earnest cooperation with the work of His Spirit, changing us from the inside out.
Smiley Mudd
[1] Bruce McIver, “Stories I Couldn’t Tell While I Was a Pastor” (Guideposts, 1991), p. 244-247; submitted by Hugh Poland, Kingwood, Texas, to PreachingToday.com.
Musings of the Rev. Smiley Mudd 