The Nurse Theologian is the weekly journal of Mike Peek.
Who is Mike Peek?
I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, a husband to Darlene, a father to Daniel (30) and Bethany (26), and work in this world as a Registered Nurse. My education includes a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas a Arlington and a master’s degree in Theological Studies from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In the world, I’m of little importance; however, God demonstrated his own love towards me, in that before I was conceived in my mother’s womb and could commit a single sin, Christ died for me. God knew every sin that I would commit, yet he chose me for redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, he predestined me for adoption as his son through Jesus Christ; therefore, I am a citizen of the kingdom of God and of the very household of God.
It is my daily habit to rise in the morning at 4:00am; my intention is to rise 3 and ½ hours before I’m scheduled to be at my job. I spend the first hour of the day reading Scripture, reciting a chapter from John’s gospel and writing a letter to my Father God. The second our of the day I use for exercise; after stretching I will do a set of pushups or setups, then run 4-5 miles. The third hour of the day is spent showering, eating a meal and doing a Spanish lesson before departing the house at 7:00am to drive to work; I work in the Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehab at the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Louis and Peaches Own Heart Hospital in Tyler, Texas. On Saturday mornings; however, I will rise at 5:00am, my morning routine is the same except I run to 8-10 miles (Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. Ex.16.22)
Today is Sunday, the Christian Sabbath; therefore, I ran twice the distance on Saturday so that I could take the day off from running on Sunday. Do not misunderstand, this is not legalism, for we are not under the law of Moses but the law of Christ. (1Co.9.19-23) One thing that we can take from the Old Testament law is principles, by doubling my run on Saturday mornings, I can use the time on Sunday mornings to write in this journal which I am now doing and plan to do every Sunday morning going forward. I plan to write in this journal from 6:00am-8:00am every Sunday morning and write no further. The Nurse Theologian is not an editorial, nor a formally written paper; therefore, you are likely to find errors in spelling, sentence structure and punctuation because I will not be editing what I write.
Scripture
This week I read through the book of Leviticus. Leviticus is a very interesting book and I learn much every time I read it. Leviticus is filled with law. Sundry means: various items not important enough to be mentioned individually. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2019) Yet, Jesus taught that the second most significant law is found in what the translators put under the heading “Sundry Laws.” Leviticus 19:18 days, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
This past weekend I memorized Genesis 3:8-19; therefore, I have been thinking about this passage all week. There are three steps to systematic Bible study: First, Observe the text. Ask, what does the text say? Second, interpret the text. Ask, what does the text mean? Third, apply the text. Ask, what shall I do? It is my belief that if you are going to study a passage of Scripture it should be put to memory. I have found no better way to observe what the text is saying than to memorize and recite it over and over. I found Genesis 3:16 very interesting:
To the woman He said,
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.”
The Reason
I found this interesting because the conservative evangelical view of this passage is not what I get out of the text when observing the text after putting it to memory nor do I get out of it the Augustinian view of the text. God is not declaring sin as a way of life, both the Evangelical and Augustinian views take that route but with different perspectives. Augustine believed sex was sin, but sex was necessary at this time to bring forth children. Evangelicals relate this text to as being the difficulties that men and women have in getting along with one another. The text is not saying either of these. The text is saying that the woman will have pain and difficulty in childbirth but will continue to bring forth children because her desire will be for her husband. It is this sexual desire for her husband that rules over her; therefore, since the fall, women have continued to bring forth children in child birth despite the pain and problems because she has a sexual desire for her husband. It is not the pain and difficulties of child birth that rule over her, but it is her husband that rules over her. Anyway, this is my thoughts on the matter after observing the text for what it is saying.
On the Job
On the job this week people are thinking about Christmas and there are decorations everywhere. The windows in our department are painted and on Friday there was a man dressed up like Santa Clause out in the lobby. A few of my coworkers and myself to a picture with him.
