Epistle to Hamers (17)

Dear Frank and Lora,

[This email supposed to be sent much earlier in August, but I kept delaying it, and as I delayed it I added more content to it.]

How are you? I attended a pre-conference workshop on abdominal ultrasound and a three days conference called Emergency Medicine Annual Scientific (EMAS) Meeting in August. A good learning experience where there were many good local speakers with some international speakers, and also an opportunity to meet with some old friends currently working in other hospitals.

During one of the tea break my specialist who is also the head of department mentioned that one of our colleague, who is a man with few words, actually has a girlfriend. Suddenly he asked me whether I have a girlfriend. After getting a negative answer, he asked, "Why?" Honestly I have no answer to that question. Some christian friends said I should pray for a spiritual partner, but I just pray "Thy will be done." because I have this believe that both singleness and marriage are blessing from God, and I am still not sure what is God's will for me in this matter.

Joseph son of Joshua

I managed to visit Joshua and Jean, and also see their baby Jospeh. Really cute like in the photos. Currently they stayed with Jean's parents for the one-month confinement, an asian culture and belief that all women need to stay at home for one month after delivery and follow certain rules. I was told that Joseph was born via emergency Caesarean section due to fetal distress. Thank God that both of them are safe. As Lora asked me about the gift for baby, I was also thinking what gift should I give. Initially I thought of buy baby clothing with bible verse on top but I can't find it in such a short time, and I have zero talent in sewing. So I bought this and drew something behind it.

​

Pokemon Go

Recently mobile game called Pokémon GO was launched in Malaysia, and without surprise it became one of the hottest game, and also stirred up many controversies even before the game was launched in Malaysia.

Major and real concern is the road traffic safety issue, where people keep their eyes on the screen and get into accident. However secondary issue is something more spiritual. In spiritual matter, Muslims usually stirred up the issue first. Some Muslim religious teachers (mufti) gave a statement that it is not good to play if it bring harm. While some muslims declare it as 'haram' (not lawful in Islam).

On the christian side not much people mentioned anything. I notice in US some churches see it as a good evangelism approach, as many religious places are designated as Pokéstop for players to collect in-game items. So there will be people who have never been to church in their life time will actually appear outside the church.

However brothers and sisters in my church see it as something very negative. I understand their concern for possibility of trespassing and also risk of road traffic accident outside the church. But some see it as witchcraft and something demonic, which I think seems to be too exaggerated.

Surprisingly David, the pastor for City Harvest Church in Sibu said something quite insightful. People has been asking his opinion even before he knew about this game. He said it is just another game, and it depends how you use it or play it. All games can cause addiction in the players, and if someone play to the point of addiction, obviously it is bad.

Personally I am in agreement with Pastor David. Pokémon Go is not the first game in this world, and I think it is rather unfair to said it is demonic or witchcraft, and it get so much attention just because it makes the players go to the outside world to "catch Pokémons", while playing games is something that have been happening for so many years, just that those games make the players stay indoor. 

Yet it is not without problem.

"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial.
"Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. (1 Corinthians 6:12)

"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial.
"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. (1 Corinthians 10:23)

Indeed if playing Pokémon Go (and all other games) causing us to neglect the more important things in our life, it will be an idol, and it is bad.

However as I flipped through 1 Corinthians, I tried to notice what Paul mentioned in regard to food offered to idols. In one hand, Paul talked about how these food offered is intrinsically nothing (as in the food is not influenced by idols, as idols are nothing) (1 Cor 8:4, 10:19). But subsequently Paul recognized the demonic force behind it (1 Cor 10:20-22).

So in a similar sense, is it fair to say that there is also demonic spirit working behind this Pokemon Go game?

Gangster in Hospital

I recalled an incident happened a few months ago. Sibu is also known as the land of Foo-chow, and it used to quite a lot of gangsters in the town, but as years go by their number becomes lesser and lesser. However I met one few weeks ago, not just any regular gangster, but one of the gangster boss. He was referred from private hospital for further management of heart attack. He has known case of heart problem with two out of the three coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart was blocked, and percutaneous coronary intervention was done twice in Singapore. In short, he has serious heart problem.

He has chest pain at 11pm at night while drinking beer in the bar with his followers (in Malay we called them 'konco'). Immediately they brought him to private hospital. After the necessary blood investigation was done and medication was given, the private side decided to send them over to the government hospital where I am working, because private will not keep unstable patient or potential problematic patient.

When he arrived at 1am, he was very not cooperative. He was very reluctant to answer our questions, he was still trying to act like a boss. He even told one of my house officer, "Usually I am the one who ask question, nobody ask me question." I explained to him that we need to know what was going on with him in order to treat him, and whether he still has on-going chest pain after the private gave a dose of pain killer. Heart attack usually produce very severe chest pain until we have to give morphine. Apparently it is very shameful for a gangster boss to admit that he was in pain and need pain killer.

When he knew that he need to be admitted, he asked how many days he need to stay in hospital. When he was told that it will be at least three days, he said he is a busy man and cannot stay in hospital too long, doctor should come to his house to treat him. But no physician in the right mind will keep a heart attack patient at home! When he knew that it was futile to resist for admission to ward, he requested for first class ward, "I cannot stay with other people, I need to stay in a single-bedded room!" Again, no physician or even nurse in the right mind will keep a heart attack patient in personal room. Unstable patient cannot stay in private room, they have to be in the so-called acute bay near the nurse station. While waiting for admission he kept talking on the phone, apparently giving orders to his followers. He even asked my permission to smoke a cigarette, which I rejected for two fold reasons: he is a heart disease patient who should have stop smoking, and he was in a hospital where smoking is strictly prohibited.
  

After he was admitted to ward, my colleagues and nurses discussed about him. The same conclusion that we have is that, no matter how high and mighty you are in the society or in your circle of influence, when you are fall sick, you still have to come to hospital for treatment, you still have to answer our questions, and follow our orders. It is meaningless to act high and mighty like a boss. Everyone who is ill comes to us in emergency department is "patient", the only difference that matter to us is whether you are critically sick who need to be attend immediately in red zone, moderately sick who need to be attend fast in yellow zone, or still relatively well who can wait in green zone.
  

The story haven't finished. About an hour later a young lady came and was looking for someone. I asked her who exactly you are looking for. She answered, "Big boss." But who is big boss? My big boss is the head of department and he was sleeping at home at this hour. When I asked for the name of the person she is looking for, she just said, "Hmm...... the person that was sent here just now." But hundred of patients was send to this hospital daily. At the end she still cannot tell the name, and she left. Most likely she was one of the follower or 'konco' looking for this gangster boss. But I just cannot assume it and tell her where he was admitted. Sadly to say that even though he thought he was high and mighty with many followers, but how many of them know his name?
   

The same is for us. No matter who we are, how matter how much we have achieved in our life, no matter how many followers we have, when that day comes, all of us will come before Him. "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:13)

"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14)
  

So let us fear God and humble ourselves before God as we look forward to the day of God.

First Responder Course

Last month in September, my specialist asked me to be a facilitator for a course called First Responder Course. Initially I keep asking him what exactly I need to do? The job description for facilitator is very vague. After that he told me just need to present the topic on Primary Survey, and he kept assure me that it is very simple, the audiences are mainly medical assistants and nurses only, and the PowerPoint slide was prepared already (by someone else). He kept saying, "Just go only, just go and present, very simple only."
  

I can't really reject my boss' order, so I just accepted it only. Initially I was still very clueless about. After my head of department knew that I will be presenting the topic and also be a facilitator during practical session (which I was not clearly told about this initially), he actually asked me to meet him and have a debriefing session, explained what need to be said and done. Well that that session I am not that clueless.
   

Not only so, after that session, the organizer actually find him to go to the polyclinic where the course will be held (they called it as site inspection), so he brought me along for this site inspection, the clinic staffs shown us the conference room, where to do the practical session, etc. After visually see the place, I was more confident. He also assured me that both of them will come especially during the practical session.
  

Many time in my life, I felt that God is sending us to do something, like how God told Abraham "Go....", and like how Jesus told his disciples "Go....." I often have this misconception that God just simply asked me to just "go" but no clear instruction on what to do. But I am wrong. God did tell us what to do. Jesus said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)
  

God also didn't just command us to go only, He actually show us the way. God told Abraham, "....go to the land I will show you." (Genesis 12:1)
  

And God didn't leave us alone. Jesus said, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)

Spiritual Gifts

The topic on spiritual gifts is always controversial in churches. No doubt that in pentecostal or charismatic churches, when people speak or pray in tongues without interpretation, something is not right. Either they did not exercise their gift correctly, since there is no interpreter; or they don't have the gift of tongues in the first place.

However now the question that bothers me a lot is the issue on whether certain gifts—especially speaking of tongues, healing, cast out demons, visions, dreams—still continue to exist today? Sam Storms offered his insight on this topic (http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/spiritual-gifts).
  

One extreme is continuationism, saying all gifts continue to exist. But what about the gift of apostle? Surely we don't see new apostle in these days.
  

Another extreme is cessationism, saying many gifts especially gift of apostle, speaking in tongues, healing. But is there any indication in the Bible saying that some of these gift will stop to exist?
  

In Bible-Presbyterian churches, I asked some pastors and preachers. Many said these miraculous gifts were only meant for the New Testament church, when the apostles still alive. Some said we already have the complete Word of God, hence the cessation of the gift of prophecy. Some also added that the prophecy in Joel 2:28-29 was fulfilled in Acts during the Pentecost, and this prophecy fulfilled once only. But again I do not see a clear indication that it was so in the Scripture, since some prophecies have double fulfillment. After all, the gifts are meant for common good, for the building of church, so why will God stop to build His church through such mean?

The Case of ...

I finished both the Case for Faith and the Case for Christ. Currently reading the Case for Creator. Initially I didn't plan to buy that book from the conference, since I am not that interested in such topic. But I said to myself, I have miss my chance of reading that book in Russia, I am not going to miss the second chance, so I bought it, and I didn't regret doing so when I reading through the book.

A quotation from the Case of Christ that took my attention:

"First, I'm not saying, 'Just trust your experience.' I', saying, 'Use your mind calmly and weigh the evidence, and then let experience be a confirming piece of evidence.' Second, if what this evidence really do point to is true—that is, if all these lines of evidence really do point to the resurrection of Jesus—the evidence itself begs for an experiential test... And for people to accept the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus and do not take the final step of testing it experientially would be to miss where the evidence is ultimately pointing... [The experiential realm] is the final confirmation of the evidence. In fact, I'll say this: the evidence screams out for experiential test." - J.P. Moreland
    

By the way I am quite disappointed that neither these two books, A Peculiar Glory by Piper and Knowing God by J.I. Packer is available in my local bookstores. Apparently the stock haven't arrived even after many months. Perhaps I do have to start reading the electronic version after finished reading the Case for Creator.

PIAEM & ATLS

I came back to KL in the end of September to attend a 3-day preparatory course for Pre-Interview Assessment in Emergency Medicine (PIAEM), which is a requirement before applying for master programme in emergency medicine in Malaysia. It is basically a revision for basic science like anatomy, physiology, etc, to prepare us for the PIAEM exam in early November, a 40 questions exam. I also came back to attend a course an exam for Advanced Trauma Life Support in early October. It is a fun and enjoying course, but the exam which consists of 40 multiple choices question and also practical assessment made it doesn't that relaxing since we worried whether we will pass it, and I worried about it since February when I signed up for this course. But thank God for His mercy and grace that I passed this exam.

I will be flying back tomorrow (October 10, 2016). I guess that's all for this long email.

In Christ,

Kevin.