When I was 20 years old I was putting myself through college, was working two jobs, and was volunteering for a high school ministry. I was pushing myself physically, didn’t know what I was supposed to do with my life, and found that strange anxious thoughts were creeping into my mind. At night I laid in bed and my mind raced over all of my difficulties and the fear of not knowing what would happen in the future. I knew that my anxious thoughts were coming from my flesh, and not from the Spirit inside of me, so I took out my Bible and, over the next week, memorized this verse: “Do not be anxio ..read more

In 1999, after four years of overseas life, we were exhausted. We had lived in three different countries, eleven different houses, and had children that were four and two years old. Because of Muslim traditions, Michelle had primarily remained in the house, we had both spent countless days in illness, and Michelle had complained of a pervasive spiritual darkness that she described as “choking.” When we arrived back in America, I now suppose that we really should have been resting and healing, but I had been so accustomed to thinking and moving at a phrenetic pace that I just didn’t know how to ..read more

Taking care of patients with chronic illnesses is the greatest challenge in medicine. The term “chronic” indicates a problem that just doesn’t go away. The best that a physician can do is to mitigate the extreme difficulties of these diseases, perhaps leaving patients with less symptoms, hopefully giving them a better quality of life. Over the many years of medical practice I have been made aware of how common these conditions are, wondering how I would cope if faced with one or more of them. Also, as we get older we see family and friends pick up diabetes, arthritis, or even cancer and we can ..read more

This past summer, a few months before Michelle and I left the United Arab Emirates, we had one of the most bizarre encounters of our overseas career. We were hosting a couple from the US and we were invited to the house of a sheikh–a member of the royal family. We had been at the mall, in a place that sold tourist stuff, and I had started a conversation with the two men working there. One was from Yemen, a possible origin for the three Magi of the Bible, and I was telling them the story of how these wise men saw the star in the east and traveled with gifts to Israel to see the new king, Jesus ..read more

I haven’t done it in ages, but I love driving in a snowstorm at night. When you put on your high beams, the snowflakes really reflect the light and the speed of the car makes it look like you are driving into a blizzard. Of course, these same factors really hinder your vision of what is out in front of you. When we are back in the US, I am always struck by the lack of vision of many Christians. It’s like they only see the snowflakes and have no faith that the road that they started on, and are currently traveling, extends safely out into their future. There is so much talk about the cares and ..read more

A few days ago I got an email from a friend, and reader of this blog, asking me how we knew that it was time for us to return to the US. We had been overseas for twenty-four years and have been on American soil for less than two weeks. It is a great question and I felt it could be helpful if I shared my answer with all readers. I came to Christ forty-five years ago and, in the beginning, was like most America Christians. I went to church, prayed, read my Bible and gave my tithe. I hadn’t been raised in a Christian family, although we all became very active in the church later, and the Bible st ..read more

About four months ago I thought, “Michelle and I are going through some changes, and I really need to post something about it on Life Untangled.” But it was a hard subject to tackle, so I put it off. At three, two, and one months ago, it wasn’t any easier, and I still found a way to delay. Over the past few weeks, I guess I was hoping that Jesus would come back, because I just didn’t make myself do it and now my back is up against the wall. My reason for procrastination is, I don’t mind telling stories of things that I have seen and have learned, but I haven’t wanted to make Life Untangled a b ..read more

This posting is in response to an excellent question from a reader about God’s sovereignty as it relates to pain in the world. Five days after my fourteenth birthday my brother’s car was hit by a train and he was killed. If he had arrived at the railroad tracks two seconds earlier, or two seconds later, he would have been okay, and my family would have been spared the agony of his death and the ongoing suffocation of happiness that comes with grief. Ever since that day I’ve thought about that. Why did God have my brother drive over the railroad tracks at precisely the time needed for him to be ..read more

For the past two weeks Michelle and I have been in Oklahoma City, USA for a medical missions conference. During that time we were asked to speak at a local church, something I haven’t done for a long time but which all missionaries do when they get the chance. I really love telling the stories about the things that God is doing overseas but I also am a bit saddened by the whole thing. When we are overseas, we have missionary friends and we sometimes hang out or do things together. On the 4th of July we hosted a party and played an Escape the Room game. At those times, all of us are the same. W ..read more

If you have been reading this blog lately, then you may have become exhausted by all of the talk about strategy. And a common sentiment that I often here in response to strategy talk is something like, “I think that the main thing is just to love Jesus.” That doesn’t sound too bad. We are all for loving Jesus, right? The problem with that is that it sweeps under the carpet the only command that Jesus gave after his resurrection and the pressing desire of God that is expressed throughout the Old Testament–that his glory be made known among all nations (ethnic/language people groups). This is on ..read more