Upcoming Conference

Throughout the past three years there have been a number of physicians who have stepped out of the 'mainstream medical mindset' to seek modalties of treatment for people suffering both acutely and chronically.  The FLCCC (LINK) has been at the forefront of this effort and from my own observations, they are reliable in all that they teach and advocate.  They are presenting a conference in Dallas in April that addresses many aspects of 'spike protein disease' which I hope to attend.  Our own local physician, Dr. Jordan Vaughn, will be one of the experts presenting.

They have a number of protocols on their website with information for both patients and physicians.  Their recommendations for respiratory viruses this winter have been very effective in everyone I know who has utiltized their approach.  Much of my knowledge comes from their work, as well as others whom I learn from.

Even more time, no writing!

As I know many of you can appreciate, I find myself scattered between so many different activities and commitments that it gets hard to keep everything on task.  Writing for this 'journal' or 'blog' is something that keeps getting away from me.  As much as i enjoy writing, I don't take the time to collect my thoughts or even edit things that I have written for others, and post them here.  MAYBE I can actually do better with this!

There are so many things happening, things that impact us as followers of Christ and citizens of a world that is changing so fast.  Recent revelations tell us a staggering level of data collection and intrusion by government, corporations, and criminals.  As a psychiatrist, privacy has always been a primary concern. An individuals issues and struggles are nobody else's business!  For several years I have naively trusted Yahoo as an email provider, but it is now clear that this is no longer a good choice.  From now on, any communications that you may send to me will be handled by a secure provider.

In addition, I would like to implement encryption in all communications.  Please understand that email is the electronic equivalent of sending a postcard.  Anyone along the route can read your message!  To secure this, we can utilize encryption which is basically a private "code" or "cypher" that the computer implements to make the message unreadable without the key.  Using email encryption is really not difficult and I can help my patients do this.  I will post a public encryption key on this site for messages sent to me, and will help you do the same so that I can respond to you in a secure fashion.

Long time, no posts!

It has been far too long since I have written here, and there are many things to write about.  The past year has been very difficult with the terminal phase of my wife's cancer and ultimately her death in October 2014.  Through the hard times I have learned a lot about myself and our Lord, knowledge and experience that has changed me and certainly impacts my work.  At the same time I see a world around me that is dramatically different from the world of even 10 years ago.  There are many thoughts that I hope to share in the coming months via this blog as part of my website.

There are so many different topics to discuss but they ultimately come down to TRUTH: truth of who we are as individuals and as a society, truth about God,  truth about the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors we struggle with, truth about our struggle with God in a broken world, and truth about the world around us.  When people find it surprising that I am an engineer, a doctor, a psychiatrist, and a Christian who actively seeks to teach and defend the Word of God, I simply come back to this issue of truth.

There ARE truths about us, God, and our world.  These truths can be known.  Such knowledge ought to have a significant impact on how our lives are lived.  A correct understanding of these truths will not be contradictory in any way, but shall be coherent and rational.  If that is not the case, then we understand something incorrectly.

Keep checking in and I will do my part to provide some thought provoking ideas for your consideration.  Thanks for reading.

Brain Mapping

The President has announced his desire to pursue a publically funded project of "brain mapping."  Although there is certainly a correlation between the structure and function of the brain and the cognitive and emotional processes of the mind, this research is based on the faulty premise that we are NOTHING but physical beings.  They approach this from examining the brain (which is a physical organ), but then proceed as though there is nothing but brain, that is no mind (which is non-physical or immaterial).  From an atheist worldview that begins with the premise that ONLY material things exist (matter, energy, space, and time) all they can hope to do is study material properties.  This is incorrect thinking due to a faulty premise.  Let me give you an example:

We know that light of a certain wavelength triggers a physical reaction in your eye.  This causes electrical impulses to travel to part of your brain (the occipital lobe).  You can perceive the color green...but does this fully capture "green-ness" in your mind.  If you recall a beautiful spring day in a green field during a picnic with your fiance, where does this experience happen?  This re-experiencing is not something localized within a physical structure, it is a non-physical event that occurs in your mind.  Certainly your optic nerve is triggering electrical activity in your occipital cortex.  Memory association areas in your brain can be triggered.  Damaging those structures in your brain may even impact your ability to experience this memory.  BUT: the memory experience you are having is immaterial (that is non-material or non-physical).

If you are still reading at this point AND you believe that God exists, ponder this.  We understand God to be this immaterial, intelligent, loving, righteous, eternal being.  All of these characteristics are aspects of the MIND.  God can be understood as Mind (including thought, emotion, and morality) taken to the ultimate degree.  An Immaterial Being of unfathomable intellect, power, and goodness...that frightens those who would make themselves "gods" or All Powerful Leaders.  They cannot do battle with an immaterial being.  So they choose to believe in a world that ONLY includes physical objects which they can attempt to control and influence.  And so it is with the mind.  They think that they have "ultimate" knowledge of brain structures and know everything.  Funny thing is, the ONLY knowledge God did not want us to have was the knowledge of good and evil, as the ONLY way to know this was to DO EVIL (disobey Him as rebels).  These same people have been working for years to redefine good and evil to suit their purposes.  May God have mercy on their souls!

Progress in neuroimaging has certainly been useful in addressing some disease states.  Further research is always needed.  But in my cynical mind I believe that the underlying motive here is not necessarily purely altruistic, but about furthering a particular worldview, and perhaps seeking ways to control what we think.

Reflections on Good Friday

As a psychiatrist I am permitted to observe (and in some ways, participate in) a range of the experiences of my fellow human beings.  People seek out the services of a psychiatrist when the pain of their lives cannot be tolerated alone.  They need relief which may come via physical means (medications) or non-physical means (the realm of psychotherapy).  An integral part of psychotherapy is the relationship between doctor and patient, a 'coming together' in a very personal way in which I am invited into the life of my patient.  Over the years I have shared in a great deal of suffering.  

We all have moments of suffering that seem intolerable and unjust.  Why must I hurt so much?  When will this end?  Where is God?  These questions reverberate deeply within our souls and demand answers.  The presence of evil and pain in this world is very real.  Contrary to what some systems of belief would tell us, suffering is not an illusion.  We all know this in the depths of our souls.  We don't make it up.  We hurt!

Traditional Biblical teaching explains that man is in rebellion from God.  Most world religions acknowledge this but then try to offer a way that we can 'make things right with God' which clearly different from what the Bible tells us.  The New Testament authors describe the redemption of man by God.  This redemption is commemorated today on Good Friday.

God is a God of love but also a God of justice.  We all innately understand this, and inside of us we cry out for justice.  In the movies we rejoice when the hero wrecks havoc on the bad guy, when evil is punished.  This is how we are made.  We know that evil MUST BE PUNISHED.  Movies often focus on the evil that one man does to another.  But what about the evil we perpetrate in our rebellion from God?  What is to be done with it?

Contrary to other religions, Biblical Christianity says that there is nothing that we can do to make things right with God.  We have rebelled and the punishment is death.  In his Letter to the Romans Paul writes For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Rom 6:23)  Without the word 'but' we would have no hope.  That one word, and the phrase that follows, gives us all of the hope that we require.

In the Old Testament the nation of Israel was given instructions for the performing of sacrifices of animals.  We are told that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Heb 10:4) and so even back in the days of Moses the sacrifices were not paying for their sins, but were reminders of the bloody nature of sin.  Even then, they were trusting God in faith that He would forgive their sins.  The price hadn't been paid but they believed God that they would be forgiven.

To reconcile fallen humanity to Himself, God did the unthinkable.  He took on human form.  He lived as we could not live, a perfect sinless life.  Jesus taught his followers, but they believed that He had come to rescue Israel from Roman occupation.  When He was arrested, beaten, and nailed to a Roman cross they were broken men.  They had lost hope.  Why had this happened?

The disciples did not understand that God had prepared the ultimate sacrifice.  A Lamb was to be slain to pay for sin.  But it was not any Lamb, it was the Lamb of God.  As a professor in seminary told me, the entire Bible is really just The Story of the Lamb.

Today we commemorate the death of the Lamb.  Jesus ministry was ushered in by the words of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)  The final words spoken by Jesus on the cross are translated "It is finished."  As He died, the ultimate price for man's rebellion from God was paid.  Once and for all, sin was defeated at the cross.

At that moment none of His followers really understood what was happening.  One of my favorite characters in Scripture is the thief on the cross being crucified next to Jesus as told by Luke:

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:39-43

This was the first person to really 'get it.'  His eyes had been opened by God to give him understanding of what was actually taking place.  The rest of the disciples would not understand until the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.

Today few people understand what it is that we are commemorating or why it was necessary.  Jesus said that the path to life was narrow.  May this season be a time when many will come to understand that path and accept the free gift offered through the atonement of Christ on the Cross.