Sunday:
This morning I read Numbers, chapters 15-19. There seemed to be much envy going on about the different roles that the Lord assigned the Levites. The Levites, the sons of Kora were jealous of the sons of Aaron and the Israelites were jealous about the Levites. The sons of Aaron receive the first born of the sheep and goats. The fat is sacrificed to the Lord, but the meet is theirs. The Levites receive a tithe from the Israelites as theirs but they give a tithe of the tithe to Aaron and his sons for they have no property and are dependent on their brothers for food. Community, giving and not seeking ones own. I recited John, chapter 11. This morning I posted last week’s journaling to “The Nurse Theologian” and noticed that it happened to be my 500thblog post. Sylvania church at 10:20. Phillip Dancy sermon: “Repentance & the Sabbath” Text: Luke 13:1-17. Main idea: Repent, be transformed at heart and live because judgment day is coming. Upon returning home Darlene and I saw Daniel off to his home in Austin. In the afternoon, I read the remainder of “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens; the version that I have is the original manuscript edition. Darlene had given this to me as a gift a year ago. I had seen movie versions of “A Christmas Carol” several times but had never actually read the book. I thought I should and read what Charles Dickens actually wrote. Last weekend I read stave I, Marley’s Ghost and stave II, the first of the three spirits; this afternoon I read stave III, the second of the three spirits, stave IV, the last of the spirits and stave V, the end of it. It was quite interesting reading this after Phillip Dancy’s sermon about repentance. After seeing his name EBENEZER SCROOGE written on the neglected grave, he said to the spirit: “Hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been, but for this intercourse. Why shew me this, if I am past hope!”[1]It should be noted that this fictional character’s repentance is moral but true repentance must be unto Christ. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”[2]
Monday:
This morning, I read Numbers, chapters 20-22 and recited John, chapter 12. I Ran at a moderate effort for 33 minutes and 7 seconds, covering a distance of 4.2 miles. I began Spanish, beginner I, course 2, lesson 1. I worked in outpatient cardiac rehab from 7:30 to 6:30. Darlene went to Louisiana to visit her sister Raylene; therefore, I am home alone tonight.
Tuesday:
This morning, I read Numbers, chapter 23 through 26:34; the oracles of Balaam. Then I recited John, chapters 13 and 14. The Father God created the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them through his Word. (Gen.1) The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us and the apostles beheld his glory. The only begotten Son of the Father full of grace and truth. Jesus commissioned the disciples to go and make disciples of all the nations. The apostle whom Jesus loved wrote a book which we call the Gospel According to John, the stories in this book testify to the mind. The helper whom Jesus sent, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father testifies to the heart. Through these two a man’s heart and mind are changed; therefore, he repents and believes. This morning, I ran 4.42 miles in 34 minutes and 40 seconds. The effort was easy-moderate. I worked with Chris in pulmonary rehab from 9:00am to 4:00pm. Pulmonary rehab is much different than cardiac rehab. In cardiac rehab many of the patients see improvement in fitness over the course of the program; however, in pulmonary rehab this is not the case. Pulmonary rehab is not really rehabilitation, it is helping people with a terrible disease to live life. We give them knowledge to manage their disease and we do exercise them, but the exercise is more to give them confidence to not be afraid to do things. I have found that it is the pulmonary patients who will continue as wellness members after the program, but the cardiac patients fade away until they get another wakeup call with a cardiac event. This evening, Darlene and I plan to spend some time with some of our Sylvania church friends to bring in the new year.
Wednesday:
Today, I slept until 7:00am which is much later than my normal because I was up much later than my normal. Darlene and I enjoyed an evening of fellowship at the home of Troy and Teresa Kriechbaum; along with, Elliot and Susan Middleton, Randy and Susan Price, and Mike and Ashliegh Anderson. All are members of Sylvania Church in Tyler, Texas. We saw fireworks over the lake, had Christ exalting conversation, food, and played games. To end the year with these brothers and sisters in Christ before beginning a new year tells of how blessed we all are in the Lord. This morning, I read Numbers, beginning at chapter 26:35 and read through chapter 29. Moses was to die because of his rebellion in not keeping the command of God in the wilderness of Zin. Joshua was sanctified as Moses successor to lead the people into the promised land. The law of offerings in chapters 28-29 made me feel tense because they are continual and so many. After this, I recited John, chapters 15 and 16. I ran at a moderate effort for 35 minutes and 42 seconds covering a distance of 4.58 miles. Being that it was later, I ran my favorite course which is an out and back course to the spillway at Lake Tyler. I like this course because of the view as I run across the dam. Today I completed Spanish, beginner I, course 2, lesson 1: ¿Vives por aquí? Part 1.
Thursday:
I went to bed shortly after 9:00pm and awoke this morning at 4:00am. I read Numbers, chapters 30-33 and recited John, chapters 17 & 18. I ran 4.62 miles in 36:42. The effort was moderate. Arrived at work at 7:30am and spent the morning ambulating in-patients in the CVICU. After lunch, I did reports from the outpatient morning sessions and spent time scheduling an orientation appointment for tomorrow morning. I have decided that I would like to study the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) because it interests me that the major traditions use the number 10 in their counting of the commandments but differ in their division of the commandments. Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran traditions treat the worship of other gods and the use of idols as one commandment, but the Orthodox and Reformed traditions make them into two separate commandments. Jewish, Orthodox, and Reformed traditions treat the prohibitions against coveting as one commandment, but Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions divide the prohibitions against coveting into two commandments. The Jewish tradition retains the number 10 by treating Exodus 1:1-2 as the first commandment.[3]I think that it will be an exciting subject to study and will yield fruit in growing in knowledge of God and his Christ for the church. The words of the Decalogue are first mentioned in Exodus 20 but the number 10 and the two tablets come later in Exodus 34 and stated again in Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4 with the prohibitions restated in Deuteronomy 5.[4]
Friday:
I went to bed at 9:00pm and awoke at 4:00am. This morning, I read Numbers, chapters 34-36 and Deuteronomy, chapter 1: the history of Israel after Exodus. Then I recited John, chapter 19. Most commentators believe that John’s gospel is in two parts: chapters 1-11 and 12-21, but I believe that the book is in seven parts. The book follows the order of the creative week but instead of resting on the seventh day, the seventh day is skipped, and the Son of Man rises from the dead on the first day of the week. There is an incredible amount of fulfilled prophesy from chapters 12-19, which is the metaphorical sixth day. Pilot said, “Behold, the Man!”[5]Remember, man was created in the image of God and was given authority to rule the earth as God’s stewards but then sin entered into the world and death through sin. Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead; thus, a new and better beginning has been inaugurated but will not be consummated until Christ returns. To read about the consummation in Johannine theology we must refer to the Revelation. After reading, I ran 4.16 miles in 32 minutes and 59 seconds. I met my goal pace which is less than 8 minutes per mile but felt fatigued before starting and the heel of my right foot is sore. I went to work and received 1 patient for a cardiac rehab orientation. A Cardiac rehab orientation envoles bring the patient into a closed office. They may come alone or with their closest family member. I spend about an hour talking with them about their health history, life, exercise, diet and I do a physical assessment; it is a time of getting to know the person. I will then put a cardiac monitor on them and have them do a 6-minute walk test on a treadmill or on our track at an easy to moderate effort. This test will be repeated in 3 months to measure increased fitness. I also give them 3 short quizzes which measure cardiac knowledge, a subjective evaluation of their diet and a subjective evaluation of their health. These will be returned at their first cardiac rehab appointment and like the 6-minute walk test will be repeated in 3 months to measure change. I then schedule them to start cardiac rehab which they will attended at a scheduled time, 3 days a week for 36 sessions. I came home at noon and spent the afternoon reading about the Decalogue in the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch.
Saturday:
I awoke at 5:00am this morning and began the day by reading Deuteronomy, chapters 2 – 4. Deuteronomy is a series of speeches or sermons by Moses. The first of these concludes at the end of chapter 4. After reading, I recited John 20 – 21. I then ran 9.04 miles in a time of 1 hour, eighteen minutes and 8 seconds. The pace was easy, 8 minutes and 38 seconds per mile. I ran a total of 31 miles this week. My right heel is sore; therefore, it will be good to take the day off from running tomorrow. Currently, I am running 4 – 5 miles a day, Monday – Friday at less than 8 minutes per mile, and 8 – 10 miles on Saturday at greater than 8 minutes per mile but less than 9 minutes per mile, for a total distance of 30 plus miles per week. If my foot remains sore, I might need to reduce my activity to 5 days a week to get in an extra rest day for my foot. If I go to 5 days of running per week, I will need to go to the upper range of 5 miles on week day runs and 10 miles on Saturday runs to get 30 total miles for the week. I will re-evaluate how my foot feels on Monday morning. During breakfast, I completed Spanish – Beginner I – Course 2: ¿Vives Por Aqua? Part 2. Darlene and I went to see the latest Star Wars movie. I did not enjoy the movie because it depicts a worldview contrary to the Word of God and I will leave it at that.
[1]Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol: The Original Manuscript edition(New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017), 121.
[2](Ephesians 2:10, NASB.
[3]J. W. Marshall, “Decalogue,“ in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, eds. T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 172.
[4]Ibid, 171.
[5]John 19:5b, NASB.
