Newkirk Church of Christ

Scott’s Thoughts

March 30, 2025

 

“And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his
finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’” (Luke 16:24, ESV)

I have experienced pain several times in my life. When I was in my twenties, they took my appendix out. I know many have survived this operation and healed fairly quickly. The doctor told me it was a difficult surgery because he had to move everything around to find it and then try to put it all back in place. Even though I followed the doctor’s recovery orders exactly, the pain was bad. After the six weeks of recovery I never thought much about it again. Then one day some twenty years later I had my gallbladder removed by laparoscopic surgery, a procedure I was told would be almost painless. They were wrong!! When I woke up in the recovery room, I was screaming and all I could do was yell the word “pain!” They tried to relieve the pain but it wasn’t until the doctor allowed them to use a much stronger pain medicine that I was finally able to rest, but it was hours before the pain level dropped to a level I could stand. They never did figure out what caused that much pain. So in my mind that is the kind of pain I think of when I read the verse from Luke when the Rich man said he was in anguish. In the original language, this is a word for extreme pain. It was so severe that he wanted just a drop of water to cool his tongue for just a fraction of a second. When Abraham said that was not possible, he requested that Lazarus be sent back to the living to tell his five brothers so they could change their life and not follow him in torment.

Years passed after that gall bladder surgery and I would have two additional laparoscopic surgeries and both involved that same extreme pain. They even brought Ava back one time to try and calm me, but only really strong medicine and time made any difference. In 2017 I needed a cancerous kidney removed and they were going to do it laparoscopically. So I prepared  my mind, knowing that my recovery would start with extreme pain. Yet, when I woke from surgery, I was comfortable and had only slight pain. When the doctor came, he said they found that one of my kidneys had grown attached to my diagram and just a quick snip with two stitches fixed what was causing the extreme pain. I will have another laparoscopic surgery some time in the future but I know this time it will be almost painless and that leaves me with no fear.

The Rich Man’s brothers could make preparation for their next stage of life in eternity with no pain because, unlike me in post-surgical pain, God told them where their answer was. It was with Moses and the prophets.

“And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”” (Luke 16:30–31, ESV)

Thanks for listening and keep on shining.

—Scott

2020 Mission Trip to Kramatorsk, Ukraine

Day 1 & 2 | 10/12/20 | 10/13/20 | 10/14/20 10/16/20 | 10/17/20 | 10/18/20 | 10/18/20 10/19/20 | 10/20/20| 10/21/20 | 10/23/20  | 10/25/20 | Summary Report

 

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What Every Christian Needs

“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

In our confused, broken, and chaotic world, there are some fundamental things every person needs! Yes, they need each of these things. These things are not to be taken lightly or dismissed as trivial. They are basics of life.

We need faith. Without faith we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith we cannot be saved (John 3:18; 8:24). Without trust in God, we are left to trust our feeble thoughts or the fickle opinions of the world. Opinions are guesses in the absence of evidence, while faith is built on God’s evidences in the world and in Scripture.

We need hope. Life without hope leaves us empty in our souls. The struggles, disappointments, and heartaches of life leave us longing for something better than what we now know and have. The Lord provides us a living hope in Christ Jesus (1 Peter 1:3-5). We have hope for forgiveness and hope for eternal life in heaven. Hope comes from trust in God’s promises. Since God keeps His promise, our hope is not in vain.

We need love. Love is the “summum bonum” of life, the highest good, the ultimate goal by which we determine our goals and morals. There is nothing higher than loving God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and loving our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).

—Phil Sanders