Biblical Theology

Biblical Theology

In the span of each of our lifetimes, God will from time to time, call each of us to minister to, and to share His Word with His children.

I make hospital visitations several times each week and have spent many a day at the bedside of someone about to die. Some of you may do this hundreds of times in your lives, others may only be called to do it once, if at all.

In either case, God has called each of us to be prepared to give an account. 1 Peter 3:15

In this day and age of "New Age" theology, "Prosperity Theology" "Once Saved Always Saved" Calvinism and Salvation by faith "PLUS" our own works, and let us not forget..."Surely, God wouldn't send anyone to hell" "feel good" theology...

I offer the following example of pastoral ministry.
(Or, how NOT TO minister.)

Anyway, I found this on YouTube and thought it was something to think about.

 
I would sya that it is an accurate testemant of the new generation, who are bombarded with relatavism and humanism on the internet, on tv and in the theaters, and who attend colleges where professors freely attack Biblical authenticity and the historicity of Jesus, all while being influenced that Christianity is an arrogant, bigoted mythology that has no place in today.s intellectual and sociological forms. The fact that the chaplain is portrayed as the victim in this clip is no accident. We are meant to feel sympthetic to her because a dying man placed unfair impossible demands on a "good" person who was only trying the best she could to make him feel better. No doubt, had they shown her replacement entier the room, he would have been portrayed as comtemptous and patronizing torwards her as they passed each other. The message found in this clip is that there is no true source of hope to be found, and anyone who claims to have found one is simply resting on their own delusion of the way things ought to be. This is the challenge of evangelists today. And this is why the individual members of the body of Christ needs more than ever to unite in prayer for the individuals we encounter on a daily basis.
We are in the world of 2 Timothy 3:1-7:
1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
6They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,
7always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
 
This is why we who minister to people must be able to defend what they believe. The word of God is not mere words, it is POWER!!!!


Godbe4me
 
As a retired nurse I have seen the chaplains in the hospital I worked in and the rules of the hospital are of such that even if the Chaplain wanted to tell the person about Christ he or she is not allowed because that would be a violation of some one's right . It is very sad and as I listened many times when a chaplain was called all they could offer was exactly what that lady was doing . They could not even give the person hope .

This unfortunately like Steve says is the society that we live in where we have multifaiths who seem to push their rights in and the Christains rights are left on the back burner .
 
Thanks for sharing

What a thought provoking video clip. Thank you for sharing.

I could hear answers to the man’s questions in my head but the actress was unable to help or provide answers. It is mentioned in another post on this thread that chaplains are restricted from saying certain Gospel truths (that is very sad), maybe that is why the screenplay was written like it was.

I hope volunteer chaplains can share their faith more freely than “corporate” chaplains.
 
I hope volunteer chaplains can share their faith more freely than “corporate” chaplains.
It's up to the individual and to that persons skills.
Chaplaincy is a tremendous responsibility.

I'll share an example with you, I have a very close friend serving in the Army and was over in Iraq in Desert Storm in 91. He said one morning he was preparing the Holy Eucharist on the hood of a Jeep. He is a Lutheran Chaplain, he had Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, etc gathered around....

I asked him; "What do you do?? Do you prepare the table seperately? In accordance with each belief? "

He said; "Man, there was heavy machine gun fire, bombs going off, this may have been the last time any of us tasted the grace of God on this earth,...... I said "Take and eat.....Take and drink" :D

My point is, yes, there are times when the hospital, or governmental entity may place restrictions or regulations on the chaplain that constrict him to some degree, and denominational congregations do the same thing. This is so that all things can be done properly and in good order.

But when it hits the fan, a good chaplain knows when and how to apply Gods office of the keys that have been entrusted to him, or her.

(And some people think we just work Sundays!) :D :D
 
So.....I'm curious brother,...

I could hear answers to the man’s questions in my head but the actress was unable to help or provide answers.

What do YOU think?
Did he need to hear the Gospel? Jesus saves, He died on the cross, forgiveness of sin?

Or did he need the reassurance of the Law?
God is Just, Evil and death are the direct result of sin and our fallen state, total depravity...

How would you have handled this one? :confused:
 
Just my view-

So.....I'm curious brother,...



What do YOU think?
Did he need to hear the Gospel? Jesus saves, He died on the cross, forgiveness of sin?
Yes
Or did he need the reassurance of the Law?
God is Just, Evil and death are the direct result of sin and our fallen state, total depravity...
Yes again
How would you have handled this one? :confused:
What choice do we have but to share Christ with a dying man as He is his only hope. That is our commission for Jesus Christ Himself
As a wise man once said "preach Christ at any cost".
 
Truth = "good" & "bad"

So.....I'm curious brother,...
What do YOU think?
Did he need to hear the Gospel? Jesus saves, He died on the cross, forgiveness of sin?

Or did he need the reassurance of the Law?
God is Just, Evil and death are the direct result of sin and our fallen state, total depravity...

How would you have handled this one?

Before I post my reply I want to state I am not a chaplain of any kind and I'm not saying what I would have said would be any better (although I personally do). The lady in the scene for one was not composing herself very well. But I am not always right either, so here goes:


We have the boy wrongfully convicted of murder.

We have the older man that carried out his death sentence as established by the court/judge/jury.

Then the older man is told of the boy’s innocence afterwards and is very grieved over the act.

The older man 1at attempted to carry out the lethal injection but the boy did not die (for technical/scientific/explainable reasons). The old man proceeded to carry out the lethal injection a 2nd time and it worked the 2nd time.

The old man blames himself for “not seeing or ignoring a sign from God” as the old man claims “was a sign from God not to kill the boy because the boy was innocent” but he ignored it and the 2nd injection killed the boy.

The old man was in a compromised situation. He had no idea the boy was innocent at the time. The legal system failed and brought the boy to his death sentence. Even if it was a sign from God the 1st go round not to kill the boy, it was not murder when he boy died from the 2nd injection but a terrible mistake. God forgives us of our mistakes if we accept His grace. In this situation the old man may not need forgiveness as he was only a tool in the cog of the legal system that failed and lead to the death of the innocent boy. If the only man is to blame himself, he would have to blame everyone else who helped prosecute and deliver the death sentence before the old man even knew he would be carrying out the boy’s death sentence. So you can be forgiven for your mistakes and sometimes things happen people feel guilty about that they shouldn’t. Thinking they have sinned when they have not.

The old man continues on to say he doesn’t want to continue to live, that he is old and has cancer. The old man should be told there are no trials are too hard for us to endure, even if your last trial is on your death bed. The old man needs to let go and try to have as much peace as possible before he finally does pass on.
The old man says the only thing keeping him from dyeing is that he is scared of what is to come next. He can be reassured that he only has to accept the Lord’s grace and he will not have to worry about such things, that he is going to a better place and not to be afraid of death.

The lady says it’s up to each individual to “interpret” what God is saying to you. I would not have suggested to have made that comment (that the lady made) to set the old man off like he did, and if the previous responses that I offered as an alternative probably (in my mind) would not lead to this point.

The lady says she understands the man’s situation, but the old man claims she cannot understand. A simpler way to have stated what the lady did is to say she could imagine and has empathy for His pain and God does too.

The man stated all the lady’s questions and no answers were of no help to him and only making things worse. I would suggest giving answers based on your experience and knowledge and then once a confidence & connection has been established then to maybe ask the patient some of those more critical questions if needed.

The old man continued to state he needs to have someone to look them in the eyes and tell them they can find forgiveness before he runs out of time. The response I would have given is that the man has already been forgiven (if he needed forgiving at all) and he just does not know it.

1Q) Did he need to hear the Gospel? Jesus saves, He died on the cross, forgiveness of sin?
1A) Yes, being reassured of the Gospel most surreally would be a good thing to talk about. As I mentioned a little about previously in the post

2Q) Or did he need the reassurance of the Law?
God is Just, Evil and death are the direct result of sin and our fallen state, total depravity...
2A) Again yes, both topics should be mentioned, they go hand in hand. And the man appeared to be unable to forgive himself, but that God can & possibly already had already forgiven him. If the man was truly concerned and was sorry for the action then he does not have anything to worry about. But if the man was not truly sorry (if indeed he really needed forgiveness at all) that yes he may risk meeting “the final death” of the Lake of Fire.

Tell the old man the truth, the “good” and “bad”. If the man was really looking for answers, then he needs to really hear the truth.
 
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