AMEN 2009: Faith in Practice

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Adventist Medical Evangelism Network (AMEN)

AMEN 2009 Breakout Seminars

Dentist & Physician Role in Public Evangelism

Patti Guthrie

Todd Guthrie

The Well-Balanced Mind

Mark Ranzinger

The Foolish Missionary

Chester Clark

The Role of Health Professionals in Establishing Education & Health Institutions

Dwight Nelson

The Secret to Surviving the Coming Economic Earthquake

David DeRose

Creation-Science Evangelism

Harnessing the Resources of the Church in Medical Evangelism

Today I will be sharing you my story of how God has led me.

And I don't know for you, but for me, when I listen to presentations, I have found that some of the most effective and memorable ways that presentations are done is through the medium of story.

So today, I want to ask you to sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Now, in the venue of story time, I hope you'll come across some new facts or enlightening facts, but anyway, sit back, it's story time.

I'm going to start out with a topic that seems unrelated to harnessing the power of the church.

But in actuality, it's critical and it's vital.

And that is, how are we as physicians and dentists, how are we in our homes?

Is our family a well-ordered family after God's order?

And my challenge to you or my testimony to you is, if we're not effective missionaries at home, if we're not rearing our family after God's order, we're gonna have a really hard time beyond that.

1 Timothy 3.12, you know it well, talking about deacons, and how deacons should be husband of 1 wife and have a family that follows God.

So before I start my story, actually, I want you to know that this actually had been happening.

We had been introduced to an independent ministry you may or may not have heard of at Restoration International, Tom Waters and group, and that group has had an influence on our family and has helped to direct us in the way that we should go.

So I want you to know before we start out, family really has to be first and foremost.

After that comes the majority of what I'm going to be talking about today.

So in September of 2000, I moved to Klamath Falls, actually.

And I feel that as physicians, we work 12 and 14 hours a day, and it's hard to have an influence in our family.

So as part of the reason I moved to Klamath was because I did have a part-time position lined up for myself there.

So as soon after moving to Klamath Falls, I took a half day off work and I went to a career workshop.

Yes, you heard me correctly, a career workshop.

My level, my satisfaction with medicine was less than 0.

And so I went to a career workshop to investigate other options, look at other opportunities.

How else could I do, what else could I do?

And I went through that career workshop and completed it all, got my scores, went home, and for the next several months, and I don't know how long, I begged God to let me out of medicine.

I said, I don't like this, I don't want to do this, this is not what's for me.

And that went on for quite a while and finally I understood God to be saying no, I want you in medicine.

And so I said oh I got some decisions to make here, either I follow God or I don't follow God.

So I said, OK, God, I'm not sure you know what you're talking about.

I don't see how this will make me happiest.

But I think you know how to make me happier, then I know how to make me happier.

So I decided to stay in medicine, and I went on, not particularly enjoying my job.

And I don't know, Have you ever noticed when you're in personal growth, when you're trying to grow personally, the obvious is anything but obvious?

The obvious question is, if God wants me in medicine, obviously he's got something he wants me to do, right?

Well, I came to that conclusion 4 or 5 years later.

I've come to believe that I think I have a titanium plated skull.

We prayed about it and accepted and went.

In retrospect, that turned out to be a life-changing event for me.

And the reason was I got reintroduced and rechallenged to study some of the principles of medical evangelism.

I went home, and I started studying, And I started studying, and I started studying, and I started studying.

And there's a lot there, and a lot that I should have known and should have been taught long ago.

And I would like to share some of those with you at this point.

And As I'm going through, I'm also going to tell you stories of how this can apply and to illustrate the particular principles.

1 principle of medical evangelism is a basic principle, a principle of all Christianity, to reveal God's love.

Plain and simple we should be showing God's love to all of those around us all of the time.

And I think I included it in your handout the quote from medical ministry.

The object of our mission is the same as the object of Christ's mission.

Why did God send his son to the fallen world?

To make known and to demonstrate to mankind his love for them." So that's 1 primary, 1 key principle of medical evangelism.

Jane came to me as a patient who had been fired from another practice.

Most of you who are physicians know that that's not the first type of patient you want.

As a matter of fact, it's kind of the last kind of patient you want.

You'd kind of dread it, no, what am I gonna do with this?

What's more, Jane was usually crying when she came in, didn't make matters any better.

And so this was a difficult situation from the start up.

But I had learned in my practice to try to give these folks a second chance.

So I said, okay, I'm gonna give Jane a second chance.

And as time progressed, she proceeded to be exactly who she was.

She wasn't an abuser of narcotics, that I found out.

She was frequently cheerful, down, hard to work with, less than the ideal cheerful, happy patient.

And Unfortunately, I had some negative feelings because this was a challenging patient.

It's not how it should be, but that's the honest truth.

1 day, Jane came to me and she gave me a rosary.

She gave me her father's rosary as a token of her appreciation to me.

Another time Jane came in to me and Jane said, you know, Dr.

Heidinger, you have done more for me than any other doctor.

I was really taken aback, because I knew how I felt.

Series

AMEN 2009 Breakout Seminars

Harnessing the Resources of the Church in Medical Evangelism

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Biblical Missionaries

03. Biblical Missionaries: The Unlikely Missionary

42m

Agriculture and Health

First Aid on the Farm

1h 8m

Plenary

Doctor Who?

54m

AMEN 2010 Breakout Seminars

Changing Behavior in the Clinic Setting

40m

Spiritual Conversation Starters

25m

Cultivating Christian Character in Children

Honesty, Courage, Kindness & Meekness

59m

Plenary

Ellen White Finally Exposed

51m

Harnessing the Health Professionals in Your Church

9m

Plenary Sessions

To a Land I Will Show You

1h 36m

Confidence in Crisis

Confidence in Crisis - Part 5: Prophetic Lockdown

56m

Islam & Christianity

Understanding Similarities & Differences- Part 4

1h 13m

At The Top Of The Ladder

38m

Sound Doctrine