Author: Scott

Prepare to meet your God, O Israel! Amos 4:12 It’s not uncommon in medicine to meet those who insist they have a high pain tolerance. This usually indicates the opposite – it’s most often a ploy (of those who don’t tolerate pain) to convince others of the severity of their symptoms. Addicts are an odd…
Read more

Go to Bethel and sin . . . Bring your sacrifices every morning . . . Amos 4:4 (NIV) Long ago, I attended Northwestern College (MN), which sat just across the lake from its closest rival, Bethel College. Today’s passage was a long running nerdy joke – Go to Bethel and sin – between the two…
Read more

Hear this word, you . . . who oppress the poor, who crush the needy . . . Amos 4:1 In my drug use, I neglected the concerns of those around me. I did what I wanted without considering the consequences for others. Frankly, my needs and desires were more important than the needs and desires…
Read more

Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued . . .” Amos 3:12 Years ago, I trekked up a spectacular mountain in Colorado with a large group of guys.…
Read more

You made the Nazirites drink wine . . . Amos 2:12 I’ve been wrestling with the same five pounds for the last couple months, some days winning the battle and some days losing it. I’ve known for a while that I needed to start a food diary, but I hate the idea, so I’ve been dragging…
Read more

I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh . . . Joel 2:28 When I went to residency, my lifestyle radically changed. I spent more time in the hospital, had less time for exercise, and abandoned healthy eating habits. After a year, I couldn’t quite figure out why the guy in the mirror was…
Read more

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten . . . Joel 2:25 A friend in jail once told me that he loved to sleep, because in his dreams, he wasn’t in jail. When he awoke though, the pain of his situation came crashing down. Waking up every day to the…
Read more

Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Joel 2:13 Few people are as well acquainted with repeated failure as the addict. Torn between a desire for recovery and a voracious appetite for destruction, the addict wants a new life, but lives enslaved to…
Read more

Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments. Joel 2:12 We cannot recover for anyone else. We may help an addict find recovery, but if one doesn’t want to change, it is impossible to force that person to change. Often though, the…
Read more

Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. Joel 1:5 In medical school, I learned cynical, yet accurate, statements like these: All bleeding stops, and Every smoker quits eventually. Though satirical, they are no joke, but rather, they are painful statements of futility describing…
Read more