By Mike Peek

The Christian life is doctrine and practice. You cannot have the one without the other. I spend my days off from work studying doctrine and my work days in practice. Why nursing? It seems odd that a man who spends a great amount of his time studying theology would choose to work at the bedside taking care of the sick. Are not theologians in ivory towers? Are not learned men in institutions of higher learning? The ministry of Jesus Christ was twofold: he provided for the physical needs as well as the spiritual needs of the people. Our Lord washed his disciples feet, are we not to do the same as our Lord? Nursing is a difficult and dirty job but that is not my complaint. I do not like what I have seen in nursing as of late. In order to staff the nursing units, hospital administrations have resorted to all kinds of incentives in pay, but the nurse who does not leave and works day to day is forgotten. It is as though nurses are incentivized to leave the bedside for another bedside, so nurs...

Twenty-three years ago today, December 11, 1997, I graduated from an Associate of Applied Science - Associate Degree Nursing program. The school that I graduated from is now called Dallas College. I would later complete a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Theological Studies.  When I graduated from nursing school, there was no lag time between graduation and working. I went to work on a medical-surgical unit, as a graduate nurse, on the Monday morning after my graduation. I was assigned a preceptor, but the preceptor had a patient assignment equal to my own. In those days, a graduate nurse was expected to come out of nursing school with the knowledge and skill set of a medical-surgical ward nurse.  Nursing has changed a great deal since that day, but one thing has not change, people continue to be in need of nursing care. I have always thought nursing to be a stressful endeavor, but in this year, 2020, the stress of the work has abounded and has spilled over into th...

Suffering: The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship. 1  Death: The end of the life of a person. 2   Intensive Care Unit: A department of a hospital in which patients who are dangerously ill are kept under constant observation. 3 These past 5 days are an example of what my work has been like for the past 21 years: I worked 4, 12 ½ hour shifts. I took care of 10 persons, all of whom suffered but some greater than others. A woman 10 years younger than I suffered a myocardial infarction (heart attack); a woman suffered greatly in the intensive care unit for over a month then died; a woman went into cardio-pulmonary arrest outside the hospital, was resuscitated at the scene but has no cognitive brain function; 2 men suffered coronary artery bypass surgery; a man greatly debilitated and in much pain; 2 elderly people with dementia in pain from fractures; and a woman learned that she has kidney failure.  For the past 21 years I have been a witness to unspeakab...

The Greek word philoxenia φιλονεξία literally means the love of strangers. (cf. Rom 12:13; Heb 13:2) The adjective form philoxenos φιλόξενος means to be hospitable. (cf. 1 Tm 3:2; Ti 1:8; 1 Pt 4:9) Both noun and adjective forms are a two part Greek word philos-loving and xenos-stranger. 1 The NASB New Testament uses the English word hospitality three times: two of which are in Rom 12:13 and Heb 13:2 but another instance occurs in 1 Tm 5:10. In the Timothy passage hospitality is translated from the Greek verb xenodocheo ξενοδοχέω. We have already shown that xenos means stranger; however, docheo means to receive. Hospitality in 1 Tm 5:10 is the act of receiving strangers. 2  Therefore; hospitality in the context of these New Testament letters is the Christian duty bound by the law of Christ (love) to feed, lodge and protect strangers. Travel in the first century was difficult. If you were wealthy you might have animals to assist in travel but the majority had to trav...

Artwork by Bethany Peek I have seen the human heart with my own eyes. I have touched the human heart with my hands. I have monitored the hearts electrical system. I have visualized the heart’s pumping chambers and measured their function. I have visualized the hearts own vascular system called the coronary arteries which feed oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. I have taken part in procedures to replace heart valves, implant defibrillators, implant pacemakers, open blocked coronary arteries or bypass them. I have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and have been employed as a Registered Nurse for 21 years. I have spent all of that time in areas of nursing that specialize in caring for people with heart disease. I have received advance nursing certifications from The American Association of Critical Care Nurses as a Critical Care Registered Nurse and in Cardiovascular Surgery. I am certified by The American Heart Association in both Basic Life Support and Advance Cardiac Life Su...

National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6th and ends on May 12th, Florence Nightingale's birthday. These permanent dates enhance planning and position National Nurses Week as an established recognition event. As of 1998, May 8 was designated as National Student Nurses Day, to be celebrated annually. And as of 2003, National School Nurse Day is celebrated on the Wednesday within National Nurses Week (May 6-12) each year. 1   Florence Nightingale is credited with modern nursing theory and the development of nursing schools; 2 however, nursing did not begin with Florence Nightingale. The nurse historian Josephine Dolan said, “Even after nineteen hundred years it is difficult to fully comprehend the impact of the birth of Jesus Christ and His teaching on society and the care of the sick.” 3 Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved, you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My di...

Today I write with a broken heart an open-letter to my nursing colleague, friend and I hope, brother in Christ William Davis, RN. Will has been accused of murder and was arrested on April 11, 2018. I write this as an open-letter because this has become an open-matter. Will Davis and Family Copied from Facebook Dear Will, I miss your smiles and your jovial laughter on our nursing unit. I first meet you about 5 years ago in the spring of 2013. My wife met you before I did; I remember her telling me, “I met a guy in orientation who is going to work on your unit, he is so excited to work on your unit and is real fun.” From that time on you were usually laughing and all smiles. Often times you brought a bag of candy to work, because of this, and your jovial laughter I nicknamed you the Candyman and would even sing in your presences, “Who can make the sun rise and cover it with cheer…the Candyman can, the Candyman can because he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.”...

I do not think that there is any such thing as euthanasia, though there are many who say that there is; I think that the actual definition of euthanasia demonstrates my point. The Feinbergs said that “euthanasia” comes from two Greek words that combine to mean good death. 1 Is death ever good? Man was created by God, in the image of God, male and female. (Gn.1:28) Death became part of the creation because of human sin. (cf. Gn.3:14-19, Rom.5:12) Death therefore is inevitable; (cf. Heb.9:27) we can do nothing to stop it, but death is also an enemy. (cf. 1 Cor.15:26, NASB) Do you embrace your enemies? I am currently in my 21 st year as a Registered Nurse. I have spent almost my entire career working in an intensive care unit. I’m certified as a Critical Care RN (CCRN). I have probably witnessed over 1000 deaths during my career and I assure you that there are no good deaths. Some are more horrific than others, but none are good. “Approximately 20% of deaths in the United States...

The Lord’s teaching recorded in John 13-21 is amazing. It is what the apostle Paul calls "the Law of Christ." (Cf. 1 Cor. 9:21 & Gal.6:2) “The Law of Christ" is sacrificial love for the sake of the other. Jesus commandment is that we love one another just as He loved us. (Jn.13:34, 15:12,17) Jesus’ command to His disciples, to love one another, is bracketed by two amazing examples: First, He their teacher and Lord washed their feet. (Jn.13:13) Second, Jesus laid down His life for His disciples. (Jn.15:13) Talk about making your point! When Jesus had been raised from the dead He commissioned them to go into the world just as the Father had sent Him. (Jn.20:21) In a video interview, Dr. Jason G. Duesing, the provost at Midwestern Baptist Seminary referred to seminary as "formal•structured•discipleship." 1 In the early church, all Christians were expected to attend "formal•structured•discipleship." In an article written by Dr. Duesing, a rev...

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Mat.22:36-40) The essence of nursing is to take up your cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ; loving your neighbor with complete disregard for your own gratification and needs. Nursing, despite all of our education, despite all of our strivings as professionals; we are first and foremost servants to those in need. Josephine Dolan wrote as quoted “Even after nineteen hundred years it is difficult to fully comprehend the impact of the birth of Jesus Christ and His teaching on society and the care of the sick.” 1 This is what I believed the essence of nursing was when I returned to school in 2014, and it is what I believe the essen...

On this day (December 11, 1997), 20 years ago, I graduated with the group pictured after spending 2 years with them at Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch, Texas. We all received an Associate of Applied Science-Associate Degree Nursing. Our diplomas, however, read El Centro College, that’s because the Nursing program belonged to El Centro College, we were a satellite group. I haven’t seen this picture in years. What a ragtag looking group by today’s standards, all wearing outdated uniforms and hairstyles. Much of what we were taught would be considered outdated as well. I wonder what these people are doing today. Are they still nurses? Are any of them still at the bedside? After graduating I was hired to work on the Medical/Surgical Unit at Doctors Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Doctors Hospital is located at Garland Rd and Buckner Blvd on the east side of White Rock Lake. None of the nurses that graduated with me came to work at this hospital. In the summer of 1998 Darlene and ...