God's Faithfulness through Medical Trials

It’s kind of humorous when a new doctor asks us for our children’s medical history at our first visit; it’s quite extensive.  Here’s a brief rundown.

Caleb was born March 1, 2004 with a large omphalocele that ruptured during delivery thereby making it a giant omphalocele. What is an omphalocele you ask? It is an abdominal wall defect where some abdominal organs develop outside of the body in a sac. Usually it’s taken care of with immediate surgery, but Caleb had other issues to factor in. He was also born with two heart defects, small lungs and the possibility of having a genetic disorder that increases his risk of cancer significantly.  Since he was born breathing on his own (not expected in his circumstance) they wanted to postpone surgery and wrapped the sac in bandages instead.  After 5 weeks, we left the NICU to take our baby home with dressing changes twice a day, oxygen to help him breathe easier, an apnea monitor and a feeding tube that went through his nose to his stomach and a plan to wait 2-3 years to perform reparation surgery.  God had other plans.  While at a routine check up with the surgeon, Caleb’s sac ruptured right there on the doctor’s table.  We thought our 13-week-old baby was dying right in front of us.  Within 30 minutes he was in the Operating Room for the first of 8 surgeries, 5 of them in the next 2 weeks, to repair his tummy.  That next 5 weeks included serious shock, organ failure, a lot of doctors shaking their heads and much love and support from our church family.  When we left the hospital the second time as a family, it was with our 3 month old needing a feeding tube, oxygen, a central line to give him medicine straight to his heart and more dressing changes and methadone to wean him from heavy dose narcotics.

Since then Caleb has had 3 surgeries to repair his tummy, many ultrasounds to check for tumors as well as many tests on his heart to make sure the issues are not causing problems.  Today he looks like a normal boy (unless he lets you see his tummy). He was diagnosed with ADHD and an anxiety disorder about a year and a half ago. While there are no studies on what large doses or narcotics do to a baby’s development when exposed post-natal, we can’t help but wonder if the behavior issues are caused by his addiction. He still requires to be seen by a surgeon.

That’s our oldest. 

Our youngest, Josiah, was born with bilateral clubbed feet (his legs were straight but the feet turned in at the ankles – his toes were pointed right at each other).  While we began a long series of  treatments to correct this (and correct it, they did – you should see him run), we noticed that he was eating poorly and wouldn’t keep much down.  We checked with several specialists.  During an ultrasound, they found gall stones in our 3-month-old baby.  They also noticed that something wasn’t right with his kidneys.  Josiah has horseshoe kidneys; essentially the two kidneys are fused together as one.  There was also an obstruction at the UPJ – the point where the urethra leads out from the kidney which was causing some hydronephrosis.  This is particularly dangerous for Josiah because of the horseshoe kidneys.  On someone with normal kidneys, if one fails, they can live with the other – in Josiah’s case, if one side fails, the other will soon follow.  He’s had 4 surgeries in his almost 3 years including the removal of his gall bladder and 2 recently on the kidney.  He still sees a nephrologist and urologist; he requires ultrasounds every 3-6 months to monitor kidney function and check for cancer (he has a 62% chance of developing kidney cancer) as well as a more invasive MAG-3 scan this fall.

Some may say that our kids have probably had more than their share of medical trials.  Yet God has always been faithful to provide the support to bear us up under such circumstances.  We know He is sovereignly in control – He has never failed us and never will.

Book Review: Has God Spoken? by Hank Hanegraaff

In Has God Spoken?, Hank Hanegraaff, “the Bible Answer Man” turns his attention toward the attacks on the reliability of Scripture.  He does so through catchy (if sometimes forced) alliteration and acronym-filled arguments while sprinkling in the occasional pop culture reference, possibly to lighten the mood from what he fears may be getting too academic (though I obviously can’t predict his reasoning).

Hanegraaff opens the book by stating the problem of popular attacks on Biblical inerrancy, specifically citing Barak (Obama), Bart (Ehrman) and Bill (Maher) among a “procession of political pundits, professors, and public personalities” that call into question its reliability.  (I told you he liked alliteration.)

Having established the attacks, Hanegraaff proceeds to answer some key questions while providing evidence, utilizing the tool of acronyms for memory purposes.  He offers MAPS to follow in this debate - Manuscripts, Archeology, Prophecy and Scripture.  These main headings he breaks down further.  I’ll discuss them briefly.

Manuscript COPIES – Copyist practices, Oral culture, Papyrus and parchments, Internal evidence, External evidence and Science of textual criticism.  In this section, Hanegraaff offers a look into the stringent practices of historical copyists of Scripture while examining the impressive precision of oral tradition in cultures that thrived upon it.  He also points out the many pieces of manuscripts and early dates of them while marveling at the harmony within Scripture and historians’ support of what Scripture says. 

Archeologist’s SPADE – Steles and stones, Pools and fools, Assyrian archeology, Dead Sea Scrolls and Epic of Gilgamesh.  Hanegraaff points out that other religious writings, the Book of Mormon for instance, make many claims about places and events that simply cannot be backed up archeologically.  The Bible stands in stark contrast.  Many of its places have been excavated and archeology is time and again revealing that Scripture is accurate in what it says.

Prophetic STARS – Succession of nations, Typological prophecy, Abomination of desolation, Resurrection prophecy, Superstar ABCs.  Pointing to various prophecies and their fulfillments, Hanegraaff highlights the impressive track record of Scripture.  From the notable progression of national powers offered in the book of Daniel to specific prophecies regarding the Messiah, he lays out events that could not happen simply by coincidence.

Scriptural LIGHTS – Literal principle, Illumination principle, Grammatical principle, Historical principle, Typology principle and Synergy principle.  Having used Manuscript Copies, Archeologist’s Spade and Prophetic Stars to illuminate the reliability of Scripture, Hanegraaff focuses this last chapter on ways in which one may read and study Scripture well – interpreting it accurately and applying it faithfully.

For a layman, this book is a good starting point.  It will bolster your assurance in the reliability of Scripture, offering sound reason for believing the truth that is found in the pages of your Bible.  However, it falls short in what seems to be Hanegraaff’s main claim, to provide a sound, academic defense of inerrancy.  Before you stone me as a heretic, let me explain.  He repeatedly alludes to Bart Ehrman, a notable professor who writes and teaches against the accuracy of Scripture.  Hanegraaff also uses some very technical terms for textual criticism, terms which he uses incorrectly and which are very familiar to Ehrman (and any other textual critic regardless of whether they side for or against inerrancy).  If Hanegraaff were to enter into an academic debate with Ehrman using the material he presents here, he’d be torn to shreds.  That said, if you’re looking for an academic discussion, this is not the book you’ll choose, for the casual reader concerned about the reliability of their Bible, this is  a great place to start.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255