Participants:
Series Code: HC
Program Code: HC210011S
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00:01 3ABN Network is pleased to bring you something better,
00:06 a faith inspiring picture of a loving God 00:09 from the Book of Hebrews. 00:11 Welcome to 3ABN's 00:13 Virtual Homecoming Camp Meeting. 00:17 Now, these days, 00:19 we have the little Bible with us all the time, 00:22 no matter where we go. 00:24 It's like having a whole library with you. 00:28 I want to direct you to Matthew 24, 00:32 starting at the end of verse 3. 00:36 And the disciples were saying to Jesus, 00:38 "Tell us, when shall these things be? 00:42 What shall be the sign of Thy coming, 00:46 and the end of the world? 00:50 And Jesus answered, and said it to them, 00:51 'Take heed that no man deceive you. 00:55 For many shall come in My name, saying, 00:57 'I am Christ, ' 00:59 and deceive many. 01:03 And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars." 01:06 We certainly heard those. 01:09 "See that you be not troubled, 01:11 for all these things must come to pass, 01:15 but the end is not yet. 01:18 For nation shall rise against nation, 01:21 and kingdom against kingdom. 01:23 And there shall be famines." 01:25 We certainly see those in different places 01:27 around the world. 01:30 "And pestilences, like COVID-19, 01:35 and earthquakes in diverse places. 01:39 All of these are the beginning of sorrows. 01:44 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted? 01:48 How many people are being tortured? 01:50 How many people are being persecuted? 01:55 Not just around the world, 01:56 we used to say around the world. 01:58 Now it's happening right here 01:59 in the United States of America. 02:03 "You shall be afflicted and shall kill you. 02:06 You should be hated of all nations, 02:09 for my names sake. 02:11 And then shall many be offended." 02:15 We know about that, don't we? 02:17 Political correctness, wokeness, 02:21 offending everybody got to have safe spaces 02:25 to live in. 02:27 "And shall betray one another 02:30 and shall hate one another." 02:34 Boy, if that doesn't sound like the time that we're living in, 02:37 I don't know what does. 02:40 But it's not a time to be fearful. 02:44 You know, fear can cause us to do a lot of strange things. 02:48 I remember when I was a youngster, 02:51 I was deathly afraid of dogs. 02:56 And it really altered my life. 02:59 Because I would be going to school, 03:03 and there would be a dog. 03:05 And I would turn around 03:06 and go all the way back around the block 03:09 and sometimes be late to school because of that silly dog. 03:13 The dog wasn't silly, I was the one that was silly. 03:16 Because a man told me 03:20 after hearing about my phobia of dogs, 03:24 he says, "Dogs will not bother you 03:28 if you're not afraid of them. 03:30 Don't manifest any fear whatsoever." 03:35 I said, "Really?" 03:37 He said, "Yeah, absolutely. 03:38 This is guaranteed." 03:40 So I said, "Okay." 03:43 So there was this dog. 03:44 His name was Rusty. 03:46 And Rusty was a mean dog and he chased people 03:49 and nobody liked to go down 03:51 near that part of the neighborhood. 03:54 I said, "I'm going to try this out on Rusty." 03:57 So I bravely go walking down there 04:01 and Rusty's looking. 04:02 He's like, "I can't believe this, 04:05 home delivering my mail." 04:07 He could not believe it. 04:09 And as I walked right by where Rusty live, 04:13 he came running out barking and snarling. 04:17 And I said this was a mistake. 04:20 But he ran right up to my leg. 04:25 And then he stopped. 04:28 And he went back to the porch. 04:31 He didn't bite me. 04:33 And, you know, that was the last time 04:36 Rusty bothered me. 04:37 I would walk by there, anytime I wanted. 04:41 Rusty knew I wasn't afraid of him. 04:43 He didn't bother me anymore. 04:46 Isn't that interesting how that works? 04:50 You know, when we put our faith in God, 04:55 is there anything 04:57 that we really need to be afraid of? 05:01 Something to think about, 05:03 because who really is in control. 05:07 But I was also afraid of non-physical things. 05:13 I was afraid of failure. 05:17 Because as a youngster, I was kind of dumb. 05:22 Or at least everybody thought I was dumb. 05:24 Let's put it that way. 05:26 They were always calling me names. 05:29 And the teachers didn't think I was smart. 05:34 My classmates didn't think I was smart. 05:37 I didn't think I was smart. 05:39 The only one who thought I was smart was my mother. 05:42 She was always saying, "Benjamin, you are smart boy. 05:45 You're much too smart to be 05:47 bringing home grades like this." 05:49 I brought them home anyway. 05:50 But she was always saying that, 05:51 she was always being encouraging. 05:55 But she didn't know what to do. 05:57 But, you know, my mother, 05:59 even though she had less than a third grade education, 06:03 had gotten married at age 13 06:04 discovered that her husband wasn't bigamist. 06:09 She believed in God. 06:13 And she asked God, to give her wisdom. 06:18 What could she do to get her young sons 06:20 to achieve in life? 06:24 And God gave her the wisdom. 06:27 At least in her opinion, my brother 06:29 and I didn't think it was wise at all, 06:31 I mean, turning off the TV, making us read book report, 06:35 me read books and write reports for her. 06:38 And in today's world, 06:40 we probably would have called the Social Services 06:41 on our native carried away in handcuffs, 06:43 but in those days, 06:44 you had to do what your parents told you to do. 06:47 And I started reading those books. 06:52 And even though I didn't want to do it, 06:54 after a relatively short period of time, 06:58 I began to enjoy reading those books. 07:00 Because when you read books, 07:03 you have to use your imagination. 07:06 And it actually becomes extremely interesting, 07:08 as opposed to looking at somebody else's imagination. 07:13 Made a big difference. 07:15 And in the space of a year and a half, 07:17 I went from the bottom of the class 07:18 to the top of the class, 07:20 much to the consternation 07:22 of all those people used to laugh 07:23 and call me dummy. 07:25 And interestingly enough, 07:27 you know, we lived just on the other side 07:31 of the railroad tracks, 07:32 there was white on one side, black on one side, 07:36 and we live on the white side of the tracks, 07:37 so we had to go to white elementary school 07:41 and junior high. 07:44 So it was interesting, 07:46 because the teachers really didn't expect 07:49 much of me anyway. 07:52 Because they didn't think 07:53 that the black kid would do well. 07:55 So no one was really pushing me other than my mother. 08:01 But other white kids had seen this transition 08:04 occur in me going from the dumb kid 08:08 to the smartest kid in the class. 08:10 And they accepted it, it was fine with them. 08:13 But in the eighth grade, 08:17 they would give out a special award 08:20 at the end of the semester to the young person 08:24 with the highest academic achievement. 08:27 And I was thinking it's going to be me. 08:30 And you would take your report card 08:32 to every teacher and they would mark it 08:34 and give it to you 08:35 and you take it to the next teacher, 08:37 and I was all the way to the last class 08:39 and I had all A's, 08:40 this was going to be a breeze. 08:43 My last class was banned, and I was good and banned. 08:46 So I knew that was an A. 08:48 The turkey gave me a C. 08:51 He wanted to ruin my report card. 08:53 He wanted to make sure I didn't get the award. 08:57 To his chagrin, it turned out that ban didn't count. 09:00 So I got the award anyway. 09:02 And interestingly enough, at the award ceremony, 09:06 one of the teachers got up and berated all the other kids. 09:12 "How could you let a black boy 09:17 be number one in the class? 09:21 You children are not working hard enough." 09:25 It was very embarrassing to most of them. 09:30 And the kids were just sort of looking at her. 09:33 And they were making a crazy symbol 09:35 and pointing to her because they knew 09:38 that I legitimately had earned that award 09:41 and they had no problem with it. 09:44 But isn't it interesting 09:46 how people have misguided concepts 09:51 of what should be happening? 09:54 And the question is, 09:56 how do we react to people like that? 10:00 And if you go there, 10:02 if you go to 10:05 Micah 6:8, 10:11 it says, "He has showed thee, 10:13 O man, what is good, 10:16 and what does the Lord require of thee, 10:19 but to do justly." 10:23 What does that mean to do justly? 10:26 It means to treat people fairly and to love mercy. 10:32 Even when people have done you wrong, 10:35 you don't have to do wrong to them. 10:38 And to walk humbly with thy God. 10:43 He has given us instructions 10:45 for how to react to situations 10:48 like the one that I faced in the eighth grade. 10:52 But it wasn't the end of my problems. 10:54 I also hated poverty. 10:58 You know, some people hate rats, 10:59 and some people hate roaches, 11:01 some people hate centipedes, snakes. 11:04 I hated poverty. 11:07 I couldn't stand it. 11:09 That is, 11:11 until I started reading those books 11:13 and reading about entrepreneurs, 11:16 and scientists, and surgeons, and explorers, 11:19 and people of great accomplishment. 11:24 And seeing how they were able to take control of their lives. 11:27 And I began to recognize 11:30 that the person who had the most to do 11:31 it what happened to me was me. 11:35 What did I want to do? 11:37 What did I want to take advantage 11:38 of that was in my environment? 11:41 And what a difference it made. 11:43 And I began to recognize that poverty 11:46 was something that I had control over. 11:49 I didn't have to be poor if I didn't want to, 11:50 I could change that, based on the energy 11:55 that I was willing to put forth 11:59 to chase my dreams. 12:02 And at that point, I didn't mind poverty anymore. 12:05 I'm still poor, I had a different attitude. 12:09 Because I knew 12:10 it wasn't a permanent situation. 12:14 Isn't that the reason that God gives us 12:16 these amazing brains that He has given us, 12:20 so that we can think through situations like that, 12:23 we can analyze situations. 12:25 You know, if you look at an animal's brain, 12:29 and you compare that with a human brain, 12:33 it looks very similar. 12:36 Except the animal 12:39 has a very developed midbrain. 12:44 And the midbrain is an area that allows you to react. 12:47 Have you notice how fast animals 12:49 can react to things? 12:52 But they have relatively small frontal lobes. 12:55 On the other hand, 12:56 people don't have that well developed midbrain. 13:00 But they have these gigantic frontal lobes, 13:03 where you engage in processing 13:07 of intellectual material 13:10 from where you're able to plan 13:14 what you're actually going to do, 13:16 based on what you've seen before. 13:19 It's kind of interesting. 13:21 Right now, we live at a time when people are pushing forth, 13:27 things like critical race theory 13:31 that say, 13:33 you ought to look at somebody and react 13:38 to their physical characteristics, 13:41 which they have no control over 13:44 as opposed to their character, 13:48 which they have a lot of control over. 13:50 But to analyze their character, 13:52 you need those frontal lobes 13:56 to see what color they are, you just need your midbrain. 14:00 So what they're saying is, 14:03 you should act like an animal 14:06 and not like a being 14:10 that was made in the image of God. 14:14 That right there tells you that it is on the wrong track, 14:19 when we're looking at things like that. 14:23 And where do we get courage from? 14:26 Courage is so important 14:29 in a society that has decided that 14:34 if you don't act the way you're supposed at, 14:39 we're going to punish you. 14:41 We're going to restrict what you can do. 14:44 We're going to cancel you. 14:46 We're going to hurt your family. 14:50 Now how in the world 14:51 is somebody supposed to live in a society like that 14:55 and feel free? 14:58 And that's where courage comes in. 15:02 You know, I can remember a situation 15:05 that really required a lot of courage 15:07 on my behalf. 15:09 When I was a neurosurgery resident 15:12 at Johns Hopkins, 15:15 and there was a national conference, 15:17 neurosurgery conference going on. 15:18 So almost all the faculty members 15:21 had gone off to Boston to this conference. 15:25 The one that was left behind 15:27 in case there were some significant emergencies 15:32 was the one we were supposed to reach out to 15:34 if something happened, 15:36 and I was on call and a young man was brought in, 15:40 a teenager who had been beaten 15:42 with a baseball bat. 15:45 And he was unconscious. 15:49 His head was bleeding. 15:51 He had hemorrhages in his brain, 15:53 the brain was swelling, and he was going to die. 15:58 And the only chance of survival that he would have 16:02 is if you took out part of his frontal lobe 16:05 and part of his temporal lobe along with the blood clot. 16:10 Well, you know, that's a complex operation. 16:15 Not an operation I'd ever done before. 16:18 I'd seen it done before. 16:21 But I couldn't do anything about it 16:23 without an attending physician. 16:26 And we couldn't reach the attending physician. 16:29 And the paging operator 16:31 couldn't reach the attending physician. 16:33 And the young man was dying. 16:37 It's illegal for a resident 16:39 to take them to the operating room 16:41 without an attending. 16:43 I had to make a decision. 16:46 Shall I risk my career 16:49 and take him to the operating room? 16:51 What if it doesn't come out okay? 16:54 And I've never even done this operation before. 16:59 Or should I take him 17:03 and risk everything? 17:05 And I prayed. 17:08 I said, "Lord, help me to do 17:11 the right thing." 17:14 And, you know, after I prayed that prayer, 17:17 I felt so calm. 17:20 And I said, "We're taking him to the OR. 17:24 We took him to the operating room. 17:27 And, you know, I remembered everything 17:31 that needed to be done 17:32 to do that operation correctly. 17:34 He did fine. 17:35 In fact, today, that young man is a psychologist 17:38 helping other young people. 17:42 But not only did I not get in trouble, 17:46 you got a lot of praise 17:48 for having the courage to do what was right. 17:53 And, again, where's that source of strength, 17:57 that source of courage. 18:00 It comes from God. 18:02 It helped me in a lot of situations. 18:04 I remember there was another situation 18:06 where a young man had something called 18:11 Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, 18:13 which causes these very vascular tumors 18:16 to form in your brain. 18:20 And this young man had formed one right 18:24 in the middle of his brainstem, 18:28 an inoperable situation, 18:32 and none of the adult neurosurgeons 18:35 would touch him with a 10-foot pole. 18:39 Well, unfortunately, for me, 18:40 it turns out that his wife 18:44 was a pediatric neurosurgery nurse. 18:47 So I couldn't get away from her. 18:50 She said, "You gonna have to operate 18:52 on my husband?" 18:54 And I said, but he's an adult. 18:56 I'm a pediatric neurosurgeon. 18:59 And she says, "Well, he acts like a child." 19:01 But, you know, I just couldn't get away 19:05 from she kept after me. 19:06 And I finally said, "Okay. 19:09 I will go and talk to him." 19:12 And I went over to talk to him, 19:13 and I said, "Craig, this tumor 19:18 is in the middle of your brainstem. 19:21 The brainstem is like a coaxial cable. 19:24 There's nothing in there that isn't being used." 19:28 And I said, "If I try and take the tumor out, 19:33 there is at least a 50/50 chance 19:35 that you will die on the table." 19:39 And he said, "Doctor, 19:44 if you don't take the tumor out, 19:45 there's 100% chance that I'm going to die. 19:48 So I take 50/50 any day." 19:51 I said, "You know that's a very mature attitude." 19:55 I took him to the operating room 19:57 and went down to the brainstem area there. 19:59 All these blood vessels, 20:01 new blood vessels that had grown into that area 20:04 in response to the tumor, 20:06 worked away through them all and got to the surface 20:09 and made a very tiny hole over the area 20:12 where I felt that the tumor was located 20:17 and then stuck a probe in there 20:19 to just see if I could feel for a difference 20:21 in consistency. 20:23 And when I met that difference in consistency, 20:27 I put in us very tiny force up under the microscope, 20:31 grab the edge of the tumor, 20:34 started delivering it, 20:36 while pilling the surface away 20:39 from the other tissues around it. 20:42 And as I was gradually and very slowly 20:47 delivering this tumor through this very tiny incision, 20:53 the evoked potentials went flat. 20:56 Those are the electrical impulses 20:58 that come from the brain to the brainstem. 21:02 An anesthesiologist said, "He's dead, 21:05 you may as well stop the operation. 21:06 You killed him, I told you, you were going to kill him. 21:08 And he's dead." 21:10 Because, obviously, 21:12 he wasn't a big fan of this operation. 21:16 But we continued, got the whole thing out. 21:21 The evoked potentials remained flat. 21:24 There was a sense of depression in the room, 21:27 because we knew that he was probably dead. 21:32 But close them up, sent him to the ICU, 21:35 intubated, comatose. 21:40 And the next morning, when I came in, 21:45 he was sitting up in the bed 21:46 that they've excavated him and he was telling jokes. 21:51 Now, I recognized at that moment, 21:56 that that was God. 21:58 He gave me the courage, and He showed me what to do. 22:02 But, you know, sometimes there comes a point, 22:06 no matter what's going on, 22:07 you just have to put it all in His hands. 22:11 And when I've done that, 22:13 He always comes through. 22:17 And He never puts us in a situation 22:19 from which He cannot and will not deliver us. 22:25 And it gives you a sense of peace. 22:30 You know, it's sort of what David 22:32 in the Bible was missing 22:35 when he strayed away from God. 22:39 You know, he started out on the right pathway, 22:43 as a shepherd boy, depending on God, 22:46 allowing him to kill a lion and a bear 22:50 and protect the flocks, 22:54 giving him the courage 22:56 to face Goliath the giant, 23:01 to slay him and to do many other things, 23:06 but then he wandered away. 23:10 He started depending on himself. 23:12 He started catering to his own selfish desires. 23:18 And he was the king. 23:20 He had riches, he had honor, 23:24 he had all the things that you could want. 23:28 But it wasn't good enough, 23:32 because he didn't have God and he came back to God. 23:37 And he said, "Create in me a clean heart, 23:39 O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 23:43 Cast me not away from Thy presence 23:46 and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. 23:52 Restore unto me the joy, 23:56 the joy of Thy salvation." 23:59 That's what he was missing. 24:02 "And uphold me with Thy free spirit. 24:05 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, 24:08 and sinners shall be converted unto thee." 24:12 You can have everything in the world. 24:16 But if you don't have Jesus, 24:18 if you don't have the joy of His salvation, 24:22 it's not good enough. 24:24 We have to always remember that, 24:27 in times of joy, in times of sorrow, 24:31 in times of plenty and in times of need. 24:35 He is in control. 24:37 I remember there was a case in South Africa, 24:41 of conjoined twins. 24:43 They were joined at the back of the head. 24:46 Similar to the case 24:47 that had gained great fame for me. 24:51 And, you know, they obviously want me to come over 24:55 and help with that case, 24:58 but the kids were deteriorating, 25:01 very, very quickly. 25:03 So had to be done under semi-emergent conditions. 25:08 And we were in the operating room 25:13 doing the separation, 25:15 got to the part where we had to put them 25:17 on hypothermic arrest, 25:19 which meant the cardiac surgeons 25:20 had to go in. 25:22 And, you know, cool the, the temperatures 25:26 until the heart stop, pump all the blood out. 25:29 And then we would be able to do 25:32 the critical part of the operation, 25:33 and then they would start the hearts back off 25:35 after pumping blood back in and warming it up. 25:38 Well, it turns out 25:40 that as they exposed one of the heart, 25:43 they could see that it was not functional. 25:46 And then they figured out the reason 25:49 that the kids had been deteriorating, 25:51 it's because one of them 25:53 was doing the pumping for both of them. 25:56 And as they grew, 25:58 it became more and more difficult 26:00 for that one heart to be able to pump for both of them. 26:03 So they were going into congestive failure. 26:07 So it was clear 26:09 that that one wouldn't be able to survive, 26:11 but we were able to complete the operation. 26:13 And the other one seemed to be okay, 26:17 for the first day, 26:19 then that one started having seizures 26:21 and all kinds of problems. 26:24 And over the course of the next day, died. 26:29 And it turns out that one 26:31 didn't have any kidney function. 26:33 The one that didn't have heart function 26:35 had the kidney function, 26:37 the other one had other function, 26:38 so they were symbiotic. 26:39 They couldn't live apart, 26:41 and they couldn't live together. 26:44 And I remember as I was travelling back 26:46 to the United States, 26:48 after the operation, I was so depressed. 26:52 And I was thinking, anybody could have failed, 26:54 I didn't have to come all the way over here 26:56 and get involved in this case. 26:59 Lord, how did You get me involved in a case 27:04 that didn't turn out the right way, 27:07 this is just horrible. 27:10 But I was thinking more about me. 27:13 See, that was the problem. 27:16 Because three years later, 27:20 there was another case, case from Zambia, 27:24 of vertical craniopagus twins, 27:26 they're joint at the top of the head, 27:29 facing in opposite directions, 27:31 something we call a type two vertical. 27:34 There had been 13 attempts 27:35 to separate twins like that previously, 27:37 none of which had been successful. 27:41 And, you know, I was asked to be involved in that case. 27:45 And we brought the case 27:48 to South Africa. 27:52 And interestingly enough, 27:54 we were able to reassemble the team 27:56 that had worked on the previous failure. 28:00 All the equipment that had been imported 28:02 for that was still there, 28:05 the training was still there. 28:08 And that turned out 28:09 to be the very first complex craniopagus case, 28:14 where a separation was successfully done 28:17 with no neurological deficit. 28:21 That would not have happened 28:23 has we not failed on the previous one. 28:27 The previous one was going to die anyway. 28:31 But the Lord used that to prepare the way 28:35 for one that would be extremely successful. 28:37 You see, we come sometimes don't see the whole picture. 28:41 God plays the long game. 28:44 We play the short game. 28:45 Sometimes we get very disappointed 28:47 because things haven't gone the way 28:49 we want them to go. 28:51 That's when we need to just say, 28:53 "Lord, it's You. 28:57 It's all about You. 28:59 It's not about me." 29:01 Recognize that He is completely in control. 29:05 That's what we need to recognize 29:09 about our nation right now. 29:13 Our nation which was formed 29:17 under Judeo-Christian values, 29:23 values like love your neighbor 29:28 instead of cancel your neighbor 29:31 and try to help people, not try to hurt people. 29:37 You know, how do we get into a situation like that? 29:42 A situation where we try to force people 29:46 to do our will if we have power. 29:50 Those are not things that this nation was known for. 29:54 It's not the reason that so many people came here, 29:57 and our nation was known as a nation of communities 30:02 where people worked together, 30:04 people who had different talents and skills. 30:07 Why were they able to be successful 30:10 in far out of the way places 30:14 and remote states? 30:17 Because they knew how to work together. 30:20 They didn't have to all believe the same thing. 30:23 That was not necessary. 30:25 What was necessary is for people to work together. 30:31 You know, it's Jesus who originally said, 30:34 "A house divided against itself cannot stand." 30:39 Abraham Lincoln later said that. 30:43 And it's absolutely true. 30:46 You take a nation, 30:48 as strong as the United States of America, 30:54 too strong to be brought down by Russia, or China, 31:00 or North Korea, or Iran, or any other place, 31:05 but easily destroyed 31:08 by its own people 31:11 who have been manipulated into believing 31:13 that they are each other's enemies 31:17 when they're not each other's enemies. 31:20 That's the real shame. 31:23 I think that's where it requires courage, 31:27 courage to point out those things 31:31 that are creating the problems. 31:35 You know, we have groups saying that 31:39 this group takes primacy over this group. 31:43 Black lives matter. 31:46 Black lives do matter. 31:48 But you know what? 31:49 Jesus Christ died for all lives. 31:52 There is no life that doesn't matter to Him, 31:55 from the least to the greatest. 31:59 That should be our cause as well. 32:04 Now, we live in a nation 32:08 that has a lot of different people in it 32:10 from different backgrounds. 32:12 There's no question about that. 32:15 But some people want to make that into a problem. 32:20 Is it really a problem? 32:23 I mean, how many people for instance 32:26 would want to go to the National Aquarium 32:31 if every fish was a goldfish? 32:33 Really wouldn't be that interesting, wouldn't it? 32:35 It certainly wouldn't be worth paying for. 32:38 Who would want to go to the National Zoo 32:40 if every animal was a Thomson's gazelle? 32:44 Wouldn't be that great. 32:46 Who would want a beautiful bouquet of flowers 32:49 if everyone was identical? 32:51 It's pretty, but it's not as pretty as one 32:53 that is carefully orchestrated 32:56 with lots of different things. 33:00 And who would want to get up in the morning 33:02 if everybody looked exactly like you? 33:05 In some cases, that be a national disaster? 33:07 So we should be very pleased that God was kind enough 33:13 to give us variety. 33:15 And what is it that makes a person 33:19 who they are? 33:21 Is it the color of their skin? 33:25 Is it the quality of their hair? 33:28 Is it the shape of their nose? 33:31 Or is it their brain? 33:35 And see, that's why we have those big frontal lobes. 33:39 You know, 33:40 Dr. Martin Luther King was on to something 33:42 when he said he dreamed of the day 33:47 when people would be judged not by the color of their skin, 33:51 but by the content of their character. 33:55 And we find ourselves in a situation 33:57 where people are teaching exactly the opposite now. 34:02 It takes courage to stand up against that, 34:07 to speak out against that, 34:10 because you will be attacked. 34:14 No question about that. 34:16 You know, in the Book of Timothy, 34:22 2 Timothy 34:25 and it's the third chapter 34:31 and 12th verse. 34:34 It says, "Yea, 34:38 and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus 34:44 shall suffer persecution." 34:48 What do you think that means? 34:51 You know, there is some people, they see things going on. 34:57 They don't say anything. 35:00 They just kind of hide in a corner, 35:02 put their head down, 35:04 and hope nobody calls them a nasty name. 35:08 Is that what we're called to do? 35:10 Or are we called to stand up 35:15 for those 35:18 who are in a difficult situation? 35:21 If you go to the Book of Proverbs, 35:25 and you go to 35:27 24:10. 35:33 It says, "If thou faint in the day of adversity, 35:38 thy strength is small. 35:42 If thou forbear to deliver them 35:45 that are drawn unto death, 35:48 and those that are ready to be slain, 35:50 if thou saith, behold, we knew it not, 35:55 doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? 35:59 And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? 36:03 And shall not he render to every man 36:06 according to his works?" 36:10 In other words, 36:12 bad things are happening to people. 36:16 You can't just sit around and say, 36:18 I don't know about them, 36:19 close my eyes, not my business, I don't care. 36:24 The Bible says, "That's not what you should be doing." 36:27 It says, "If you do that, 36:29 God knows that you did that 36:32 and holds you responsible." 36:36 But some people say, "But if I do that, 36:38 then I put myself in a line of fire, 36:42 then I may be persecuted." 36:44 Yes, that's absolutely true. 36:47 But remember this. 36:50 Even if people say nasty things about you, 36:53 or persecute you even put you in jail, 36:55 or even kill you. 36:59 What is that inconvenience against the backdrop 37:04 of eternity with crash? 37:08 That's what Paul was talking about. 37:09 He says, you know, it's like dung. 37:13 Don't even think about that stuff. 37:15 It's so insignificant compared to the glory 37:20 thy will experience with the Lord. 37:24 Doesn't mean you should go out and look to be persecuted. 37:27 Don't try to be persecuted. 37:30 But it does mean, 37:32 we have a responsibility to do 37:37 what is right. 37:39 And when we see 37:41 liberty being challenged, 37:46 we need to deal with it. 37:49 And you look at something like freedom of speech, 37:55 one of the key tenets 37:59 of our Constitution, 38:01 and the Bill of Rights. 38:04 One of the things that attracted so many people 38:08 from the shores of 38:09 so many distant lands to America, 38:15 they want it to be free 38:18 to live the way they wanted to live, 38:21 to say what they want to say, 38:23 to pursue the careers 38:25 they wanted to career to pursue, 38:29 without somebody stepping on them all the time 38:33 and telling them what they had to do 38:34 and what they couldn't do. 38:39 And particularly what they could say 38:42 and what they couldn't say. 38:45 That's why the whole concept of political correctness 38:49 is so evil. 38:51 It's really antithetical to our First Amendment. 38:56 And when it is enforced 38:59 by big tech and the media, 39:04 by isolating people, by canceling people, 39:10 by destroying people's livelihoods. 39:15 And the government does nothing about it. 39:18 It's complicit. 39:20 Then it is exactly the same 39:22 as if the government imposed that themselves. 39:27 And I think there's a responsibility 39:31 to resist a situation 39:36 where people's rights, 39:38 their fundamental rights, 39:40 which is our Declaration of Independence states, 39:45 those rights come from God and not from the government. 39:51 And therefore, those who are godly people 39:57 will protect the rights not only of themselves 40:00 but of others that are being challenged, 40:04 and that are being taken away, 40:07 and will not be fearful in the process of doing that, 40:12 recognizing always 40:17 that God is in control. 40:19 You know, I remember a situation 40:24 in which had a little girl 40:25 whose little baby whose head was not growing. 40:30 And her brain was progressively being compressed, 40:34 and we had to do an operation to expand the skull. 40:38 And during the process of that operation, 40:43 she started hemorrhaging. 40:46 And it was a very, very significant hemorrhage. 40:50 And then her heart stopped. 40:52 And then she had to be resuscitated 40:55 in the operating room for several minutes. 40:58 And we were not able to get her heart to start back up. 41:02 And the anesthesiologist was saying, 41:04 I think we should call it, I mean, we've lost her. 41:08 That's the end of the case. 41:09 And I just couldn't, couldn't let her go. 41:13 I should know, let's keep going. 41:15 We went another five minutes. 41:18 Still nothing, 41:19 another five minutes after that. 41:20 But then we got a little heartbeat. 41:23 And, you know, a little epinephrine 41:25 and a few other things, 41:27 and her heart started beating again. 41:30 And we were able to get things closed up 41:32 and take her to the ICU. 41:34 But at that point, 41:38 she had no neurologic exam. 41:42 Brain dead, flat wave. 41:45 And I remember her father. 41:51 And he was a Christian. 41:53 And he said, "Doctor, is there? 41:55 Is there even a small chance that she might survive, 42:01 and that she might wake up?" 42:04 He said, "One in 10 maybe?" 42:06 And I said, "No." 42:07 He said, "One in 100?" 42:09 I said, "No." He said, "One in 1000?" 42:10 "No." 42:13 And then he and I challenged each other, 42:16 to see who could pray the hardest, 42:19 because that would be the only chance 42:21 that she had. 42:23 And, interestingly enough, 42:28 over the next 12 hours, 42:33 she began to have some function, 42:34 her pupils started working. 42:37 Everybody was talking about this, 42:38 she woke up. 42:40 It was unbelievable. 42:44 But then, she started having pulmonary problems. 42:49 And portions of her lungs began to fail. 42:53 And the pulmonary specialists came 42:55 and they looked and they said, "She's going die. 43:00 We're not going to be able to save her." 43:02 Interestingly enough, that next day, 43:07 I was supposed to go to Ohio 43:08 to speak at one of the medical schools. 43:12 And early that morning, 43:15 my youngest son had a severe asthma attack. 43:19 Rick had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. 43:23 All of this is going on, while this kid is dying. 43:27 And I get a call from one of the nurses 43:30 saying the last part of that lung is failing. 43:36 And would you like to come in and speak to the parents? 43:39 Well, I couldn't 43:40 because I had to get to the airport. 43:42 And I, I called when I got to Ohio, 43:47 to speak to the parents 43:49 because I figured the baby was dead by then. 43:52 And they said, "No, the baby's still hanging on." 43:57 And, you know, I got back the next day. 44:01 And in fact, 44:02 the lungs are starting to repair themselves. 44:06 But now the neurologist, 44:09 and the rehab people had come by and they said, 44:14 "The baby can't see, the baby can't hear, 44:18 has lost most neurological function. 44:21 There's really not even much point 44:23 in sending her to a rehabilitation facility." 44:27 And I had to go to California 44:28 to do some stuff with the NIH. 44:31 And when I got back, 44:34 first thing I did was go into that baby's room. 44:38 And the baby looked at me 44:40 and followed me with her eyes. 44:42 And the baby could obviously hear 44:44 and it turns out that the rehab people 44:46 and the neurologist were right, 44:47 she was not a candidate because she was perfectly fine. 44:51 And you know what? 44:53 What that told me again, 44:56 who is in charge? 45:00 No matter what is going on in our lives, 45:04 who is actually in charge? 45:09 I remember the case of a little girl from Denver. 45:15 And she was having seizures, up to 130 seizures a day, 45:19 they would do everything 45:21 they could to stop the seizures. 45:22 They even put her in a kind of barbiturate coma 45:26 for two weeks. 45:28 Figured if they could just keep her sedated 45:32 and then let the brain rest, it would be okay. 45:37 But after two weeks went by, 45:38 and they lifted the sedation 45:40 and the seizure started right up again. 45:43 And, you know, I was contacted to see if 45:47 I would consider doing an operation 45:51 called cerebral hemispherectomy, 45:53 something that had been done 45:55 in the past and had fallen out of favor 45:57 because of the high morbidity and mortality 46:00 associated there with. 46:03 And, you know, I did some studying 46:06 and concluded that maybe there was some things 46:12 we could do differently 46:14 than had been done before. 46:16 Maybe there were some techniques 46:17 that had improved, 46:19 and some materials 46:20 that might make this feasible now. 46:24 And I remember 46:25 when I was talking to the parents, 46:27 and they said, "Doctor, 46:28 have you ever done this before?" 46:29 And I said, "No." 46:31 And I said, "But I've studied the issue. 46:35 And I think there's a good chance 46:37 that it might work." 46:39 What did it take for those parents 46:42 to trust this young neurosurgeon 46:47 to do something so radical? 46:51 It's pretty amazing to me that they, 46:54 they did that, but they did. 46:57 And the operation was very difficult. 46:59 The brain was swollen, there was a lot of bleeding. 47:03 We had to do massive transfusions. 47:07 And she didn't wake up immediately. 47:11 But she did within a matter of a couple of hours. 47:16 And the parents were by the bedside. 47:20 And she said, "Mommy, Daddy, I love you." 47:23 They were like on cloud nine. 47:26 And she made a tremendous recovery. 47:31 She was very photogenic, as was her mother. 47:36 And, you know, they got a lot of media attention. 47:40 The story was broadcast far and wide 47:43 about hemispherectomy, 47:45 there's little girl living with half of brain 47:47 and doing well. 47:49 And that encouraged others. 47:52 And pretty soon, 47:53 you know, we were doing a lot of hemispherectomies. 47:58 And I remember at a press conference, 48:03 and they were the first 14, 13 of them were girls. 48:08 And one of the reporters said, 48:11 "Does this only work in women and girls? 48:15 Why is it that 13 are girls and one is a male?" 48:19 And I said, "Well, 48:21 women only use half of their brain anyway." 48:25 Telling a joke, of course. 48:27 And one of the female neurologist said, 48:31 "No, that's not correct." 48:33 She said, "Women only need half of their brain 48:36 to be as smart as men." 48:42 But then, we had a lot of fun. 48:43 But, but the key thing 48:45 was that first case, 48:50 which required a lot of courage, 48:51 and a lot of study, 48:53 opened the pathway for many others, 48:58 who had very difficult situations 49:00 to get them resolved. 49:02 And now that operation is a common operation 49:07 that's done by virtually all pediatric neurosurgeons. 49:11 But the Lord opened that pathway up 49:16 in a way that I would not have expected. 49:21 By the same token, when I left medicine, 49:25 and came into government. 49:29 I also ran into a lot of resistance. 49:34 Because there was a... 49:35 which surprised me. 49:38 There were a lot of people in Washington 49:41 who didn't want to get people out of dependency. 49:45 And I want, I should, everybody should agree 49:47 with these things that will help people 49:50 move up the ladders of opportunity 49:52 and become, you know, independent. 49:56 And it was very difficult, 49:59 but we were able to get several things done, 50:02 including envision centers, which comes from the Bible. 50:06 Proverbs 29:18, 50:08 "Without a vision, the people perish." 50:11 We take all these federal agencies, 13 of them, 50:16 combined with state agencies, local agencies, 50:19 faith, faith organizations, nonprofits, 50:23 and amalgamate the services that they provide, 50:26 and put it all under one roof. 50:29 So that that teenage mother 50:33 of two had a place 50:36 where she could go and be able to get childcare. 50:42 At the same time, find out how to get her GED. 50:46 And after that, be able to get some additional training 50:48 so she can become independent, 50:51 and subsequently teach that to her children. 50:55 That's the only way you break these growing patterns 50:58 of dependency. 51:00 Those are the kinds of things 51:01 that we have to start thinking about 51:04 in this nation 51:05 in which we live. 51:08 And perhaps most important, 51:11 and one I want to close with... 51:16 Is we have to seek God. 51:19 We have to seek Him now. 51:22 Times are difficult that we live in. 51:27 And if we don't have Him, we're not going to make it. 51:31 And here we go. 51:34 Yes. 51:36 Isaiah 55:6, 51:39 "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, 51:44 call ye upon him while he is near: 51:49 Let the wicked forsake his ways, 51:51 and the unrighteous man his thoughts: 51:54 and let him return unto the Lord, 51:56 and he will have mercy upon him, 51:58 and to our God, 52:00 and he will abundantly pardon." 52:05 We have such a gracious and accepting God 52:10 who has everything under control. 52:13 We don't need to worry 52:15 about all this horrendous stuff 52:17 that we see going on around us 52:20 every single day. 52:23 All we have to do is trust in Him. 52:27 He will take our fear away. 52:29 He will give us courage. 52:31 He will direct what we're doing. 52:34 All we have to do is what is right. 52:37 And let me close with a prayer. 52:40 Kind Father in heaven, You are so gracious, 52:44 You are so good, You're so kind, 52:46 You're so generous. 52:49 And yet sometimes we forget about You, 52:53 and sometimes we neglect You. 52:55 Help us to seek You 52:59 while You may be found 53:02 that You might use us all in a specific way 53:05 that You have ordained, 53:09 that we may bring eventual peace 53:13 and prosperity 53:16 and the conditions that are right 53:20 for Your triumphant return in Jesus' name. 53:24 Amen. 53:40 Glory be to the Father 53:45 And to the Son 53:49 And to the Holy Ghost 53:56 As it was in the beginning 54:01 Is now and ever shall be 54:07 World without end 54:11 Amen, Amen 54:42 Holy, holy, holy! 54:48 Lord God Almighty! 54:54 Early in the morning 54:59 Our song shall rise to thee 55:07 Holy, holy, holy 55:13 Merciful and mighty! 55:18 God in three persons 55:24 Blessed Trinity! 55:39 Holy, holy, holy! 55:45 Though the darkness hide thee 55:52 Though the eye of sinful man 55:57 Thy glory may not see 56:07 Only thou art holy 56:13 There is none beside thee 56:19 Perfect in power 56:25 In love, and purity 56:42 As it was in the beginning 56:48 Is now, and ever shall be 56:54 World without end 56:58 Amen, Amen 57:05 Holy, holy, holy! 57:11 Lord God Almighty! 57:17 Oh thy works shall praise Thy name 57:22 In earth and sky and sea 57:28 Thousand saints and thousands 57:34 Bowing down before thee 57:39 You art 57:40 Yes, You art You art 57:46 And evermore 57:50 Shalt be 58:00 Amen! |
Revised 2021-12-23