“Healing the Whole Person”
by Jeremy Geffen, MD, FACP
Daily Word Devotional February, 2009
Anyone who has been through cancer knows that it doesn’t only affect the physical body, it touches every dimension of a human being. It impacts the mind, heart, and spirit, often as deeply – if not more deeply – than it impacts the physical body.
As an oncologist, I understand that people who are diagnosed with cancer – even at a very early stage – are often shaken to the core of their being. Many seek deeper meaning and understanding of their lives while also searching for comfort and healing.
People with cancer are often told by their doctors: “We’re going to give you chemotherapy, but don’t take any herbs or other supplements. They may interfere with your treatment”. And alternative doctors often say: “We think we can help you, but don’t take chemo. It will interfere with our treatment and destroy your immune system”. This is a medical Tower of Babel where everyone is speaking a different language. There is a grave failure to communicate, and patients and family members often suffer greatly as a result.
Today people are seeking an approach to medicine and health care – and especially cancer care – that is more holistic and also more sensitive to their needs and concerns as a whole person. This is part of the great wave of change in health care that is being called “integrative medicine.”
People of all ages and from all walks of life are searching to find ways of combining various modalities for healing. Most do not wish to abandon standard conventional medical treatments – including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation – but want to go beyond them to a more holistic approach that includes safe and effective complementary therapies.
There’s also a growing industry of alternative cancer therapies. This is very understandable, but it can be risky for many patients – especially if used in lieu of proven conventional treatments. Nonetheless, who could blame someone for wanting to look outside the mainstream if their doctor says, “I’m sorry, but your cancer is incurable”?
In 1985, when I was in medical school, I personally experienced what the cancer journey is like for patients and their loved ones. My father was diagnosed with a very advanced gastric cancer. It was a shocking and heartbreaking trauma for him, for me, and for our whole family. Because this cancer was so aggressive, the doctors offered my father no hope.
Immediately, I embarked on a wide research for find a cancer center where he could get the best of conventional treatment and the best available complementary therapies. That center didn’t exist.
I also searched for an oncologist with excellent medical skills who was also a healer – someone who could look deeply into the mind, heart, and soul of my dad and help him heal at the deepest levels. I could not find that doctor.
After my father died, I felt compelled to become that kind of doctor – an oncologist who was knowledgeable, highly trained, and skilled but who was also open-minded and experienced in the world’s other great healing traditions. I vowed that I would also one day build the cancer center that I wished had been there for my dad.
I finished medical school and went on to residency training in internal medicine and fellowship training in hematology and oncology. During these six years, I asked hundreds of cancer patients and family members what they had learned about life and healing that could help me become a better doctor. I also traveled to India, Nepal, and Tibet to explore Eastern healing traditions.
One night I woke up in a “eureka” moment and recognized a profound pattern regarding the issues and concerns that patients and loved ones encountered on their journeys through cancer and other illnesses. I saw that all their questions and concerns fell into seven domains of inquiry and exploration.
I began to develop a holistic but scientifically grounded approach to cancer care that coherently addresses the whole person – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This approach has come to be known as the Seven Levels of Healings.
In 1994 I opened the Geffen Cancer Center and Research Institute, in Vero Beach, Florida. Over the next ten years, thousands of patients and loved ones experienced a Seven Levels of Healing approach to care that combined topnotch conventional cancer treatments with a wide array of complementary therapies and helped them skillfully address and navigate all dimensions of the healing journal.
Using the Seven Levels of Healing as a map, people consistently moved from feeling confused and overwhelmed to having a sense of confidence about their lives and their medical care. I directed the cancer center until 2004, when I left clinical practice to bring this message to a broader audience through writing, speaking and consulting.
Level One: Education and Information provides basic knowledge and information about cancer and latest treatment options. This empowers patients to actively participate in and obtain the greatest possible benefit from their medical care.
Level Two: Connection with others explores the importance and benefits of finding support and connection with others on the journey through cancer.
Level Three: The body as garden explores the safe and effective use of complimentary therapies and invites patients and family members to regard the body as a sacred, wondrously complex garden, rather than a machine.
Level Four: Emotional healing enters the inner realm of the human heart. It explores the transformative power of releasing fear, pain, and anger – and embraces the healing power of self-love, forgiveness, and acceptance of all parts of one’s self.
Level Five: The Nature of Mind explores how our entire experience of life – including life with cancer – is profoundly influenced by our thoughts, beliefs, and the meanings we give to events. It also shows how we consciously escape the tyranny of the mind and move forward on our healing path.
Level Six: Life Assessment assists patients and family members to discover the deepest meaning and purpose of their lives and their most important goals. What do we want to accomplish, experience, and share with others?
Level Seven: The Nature of Spirit embraces the profoundly healing spiritual dimension of life that we all share and explores the nonphysical dimension of our being that is whole and complete, regardless of our circumstances.
The Seven Levels of Healing apply to all dimensions of life, not just cancer or other illnesses. We each have physical body that needs and deserves care and attention. And it’s a privilege to be able to lovingly care for our physical bodies – to eat well, exercise, receive good medical care when we need it, and experience the wonderful benefits of many different complementary or alternative therapies. But we must never forget that we are multidimensional beings.
My goal now is for people to realize that we are not just our bodies. Each one of us also has a mind, heart, and spirit that need and deserve love and care and attention – just as much as the body does. I am passionate about sharing what I have learned with others and helping them know they are not alone.
Dr. Jeremy Geffen, author of the Journey Through Cancer: Healing and Transforming the whole Person (Three Rivers, 2006), is a board certified medical oncologist and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine and oncology. For more information on his leading-edge programs, visit www.geffenvisions.com.
February 09, Unity Magazine
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Rapture
The Village News Article
The Rapture
In the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples saw that he
broke the bonds of the earth and was transformed into a
spiritual body. In Acts 1:9-11, he ascended into heaven
and Luke says he is to return in the same way. The apostle
Paul, who was totally changed on the road to Damascus,
now understood that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God. In Christ, true transformation occurs, mortals
put on immortality. In the rapture, all the saints are gathered, to
be raised to heaven, to life eternal. Paul's image holds the vision
of the true believers being raised, meeting Jesus in the clouds,
and lifted up to be with the Lord. Jesus' teaching is clear, when
this will happen, no one knows, not angels, not the Son, only
the Father in heaven. Many have set a date, Shakers 1792,
William Miller 1844, Edgar Whisenant, 1989, and there are others.
The lessons for all is, be alert and watch. Two men will be in the
field, one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding
with a hand mill, one will be taken, and the other will be left. (Matt. 24:41)
Jesus reminds us, "My kingdom is not of this world." (Jn. 18:36).
Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Fallbrook United Methodist Church
March 13, 2009 Publication
The Rapture
In the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples saw that he
broke the bonds of the earth and was transformed into a
spiritual body. In Acts 1:9-11, he ascended into heaven
and Luke says he is to return in the same way. The apostle
Paul, who was totally changed on the road to Damascus,
now understood that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God. In Christ, true transformation occurs, mortals
put on immortality. In the rapture, all the saints are gathered, to
be raised to heaven, to life eternal. Paul's image holds the vision
of the true believers being raised, meeting Jesus in the clouds,
and lifted up to be with the Lord. Jesus' teaching is clear, when
this will happen, no one knows, not angels, not the Son, only
the Father in heaven. Many have set a date, Shakers 1792,
William Miller 1844, Edgar Whisenant, 1989, and there are others.
The lessons for all is, be alert and watch. Two men will be in the
field, one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding
with a hand mill, one will be taken, and the other will be left. (Matt. 24:41)
Jesus reminds us, "My kingdom is not of this world." (Jn. 18:36).
Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Fallbrook United Methodist Church
March 13, 2009 Publication
Hidden Messages
SERMON: “Hidden Messages”
John 2:13-32
March 15, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
When our son Aaron was eight years old, we were
moving to a new church in San Fernando Valley.
The movers were unloading the truck and it was hectic
time. Aaron said, to me, “Dad, can we set up my bed?”
I said, “Aaron, we don’t need to, because we’re not
sleeping here tonight.” He said to me gain, “Dad, will you
put up my bed?.” I said, “We don’t need to.” So we didn’t.
Today, as I look back, I realize that I missed a hidden
message from our son Aaron. He was saying to me,
“My bed up is important to me, because it’s my security.”
What I learned that day is, I need to listen to the hidden
messages from our children. I really felt bad ‘cause I missed
the moment.
In the game of baseball we have hidden messages. On our
little league team our coach taught us that we need to stay
one step ahead of the other team. So we had a system of
signals. For hit and run, it means on the next pitch the
runner goes and the batter swings at the ball to hit it.
When the coach brushes his hand across the chest,
that means hit and run. But.. the play isn’t on until the
coach touches first the tip of his cap then runs his hand
across the chest. If he touches his chest,
or touches his ear first, then runs his hand across the chest,
the signal is not on. Only when he touches the tip of his
cap first, then runs his hand again his chest, then it’s on. The
other signal we had was for a squeeze play. A squeeze
play means, on the next pitch the runner from third breaks
for home and the batter has to bunt. The runner scores
and you win the game! All you need is one run ahead
of the other team to win. This coach made our team a
championship team.
In everything that we see and experience, there is a hidden
message. Some messages are really obvious and some
you have to dig for.
In John chapter 2, beginning with verse 13, Jesus went up to
the temple and he saw that they were selling cattle,
sheep, and doves. The money changers were at the tables.
In his anger, Jesus got a whip and drove them away. He said
2
to them, “Stop making my Father’s house a den of thieves.”
The message here was obvious. The temple is a place of
worship, it is not a place for profit, it is not a market place.
Then the Jews asked him, “What sign can you show us for doing
this?” Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days,
I will raise it up.” Now, this didn’t make sense. They said,
we’ve been building this temple for 46 years, no way
can anyone build this temple in three days.
But in this story, there was a hidden message. There were people
who didn’t know who Jesus was. This man is not just a man.
He is the one sent from God. When Jesus was at the river
Jordan and Jesus came to be baptized, John the Baptist recognized
him right away and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” This is the man
--he is the Messiah! Jesus was put to death and on the third he
rose again.
God for many of us is still a puzzle.
Yes, we say, we believe in God, but then we can’t see him.
So then, we eventually forget about God..
We turn our attention elsewhere, to ourselves.
So now we ask, what is in for me?
We become self occupied.
Whenever we live only for self,
we get caught in a life of doubt, and a life
without meaning.
I have here two horseshoes connected by two chains. Around
these chains are two rings. When I first saw this
puzzle and was told, “Can you get this ring off?” I
looked at it and said, “Impossible.” “No way!” Then
I started to play with it. Walla! I got it!
Several years ago, I was appointed to a church that was having
trouble. Like in most churches, problems are people
problems. It’s people not getting along. It’s pastor
and people bagging heads. It’s a faith and practice
problem. It’s a value problem, finance and stewardship
problem, not healing the hurts, theological differences,
one ego versus another ego, and it goes on and on. There
was one thing the superintendent told me. “Dennis,” he
said, “just love them.”
3
Remember Peter. He was strong headed guy and he probably
was the oldest of the disciples. But, at times Peter didn’t
get it. –Just like some of us—
He denied Jesus three times. But when he got it, when
he saw the resurrected Christ, he finally understood that
everything Jesus said was true. In Christ everything
is made new.
After Pentecost, after the Holy Spirit filled the disciples
with power, Peter and John were going to the temple. It
was three o’clock in the afternoon. They met a man who
was lame and he was begging for alms. Peter looked at
him and said, “I have no silver and gold to give you, but
what I have I give; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
stand up and walk.” Peter reached out with his hand and
immediately, the man’s feet and ankles were made strong.
When I first began my ministry, I didn’t have a secretary or a
computer. We had a manual Gestetner machine. Then I got
a part-time secretary. In the next church, we didn’t have
a sanctuary. We met in the social hall. The third Sunday
I was there we had a ground breaking for the new sanctuary.
When I went to the next church, I found out that they were
not paying their apportionments. I asked the finance committee,
why aren’t you paying the apportionments. They said, they
were angry at the bishop and the conference, because they
had a bad pastorate. In the next church that I was appointed
to, there was a major building program and half the church
was in favor of it, the other half was not. Over 100 people
had left the church. Then I was appointed to Fallbrook—
and you know the rest of the story. In that church and in
every church I have served, it is the same problem. It is a
people problem. We cannot solve our problems alone. We
must rely on the invisible hand of God. We need to learn
to see the hidden messages.
Without God, we will be stuck in traffic. Without God we
become like cars at the intersection where there is no traffic
light and that’s a problem.
In all these years, I have learned that God does provide. the most
important thing is: We are here to build our inner
character. Our link to God is a spiritual link, soul to
soul and mind to mind. “Do you not know,” says Paul,
4
“you are a temple of God?” Jesus teaches us that the
ruling principle of every thought, every idea, every
action, is love. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God.
Life does not stop on earth. Spiritual life is a continual
stream. It’s like a tapestry that goes on and on and on to
Infinity. In time and space and spirit, there is no barrier.
Let me explain. If you’ll just close your eyes for one moment,
your thoughts have no time barrier—remember when you
were 4, remember when you were 12, remember when
you were 18, remember when you were thirty,
remember when you were 50, remember when you were
70, remember when you were 90. One day someone will
say to you, remember when you were 120. Wouldn’t that
be neat?
I close with the words of Joseph Bayly who wrote
Psalms for My Life:
Lord of the compost heap
you take garbage
and turn it into good soil
for seeds to root
and grow
with wildest increase
flowers to bloom
with brilliant beauty.
Take all the garbage of
my life,
Lord of the compost heap,
turn it into good soil
and then plant seeds
to bring forth
fruit and beauty
in profusion.
John 2:13-32
March 15, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
When our son Aaron was eight years old, we were
moving to a new church in San Fernando Valley.
The movers were unloading the truck and it was hectic
time. Aaron said, to me, “Dad, can we set up my bed?”
I said, “Aaron, we don’t need to, because we’re not
sleeping here tonight.” He said to me gain, “Dad, will you
put up my bed?.” I said, “We don’t need to.” So we didn’t.
Today, as I look back, I realize that I missed a hidden
message from our son Aaron. He was saying to me,
“My bed up is important to me, because it’s my security.”
What I learned that day is, I need to listen to the hidden
messages from our children. I really felt bad ‘cause I missed
the moment.
In the game of baseball we have hidden messages. On our
little league team our coach taught us that we need to stay
one step ahead of the other team. So we had a system of
signals. For hit and run, it means on the next pitch the
runner goes and the batter swings at the ball to hit it.
When the coach brushes his hand across the chest,
that means hit and run. But.. the play isn’t on until the
coach touches first the tip of his cap then runs his hand
across the chest. If he touches his chest,
or touches his ear first, then runs his hand across the chest,
the signal is not on. Only when he touches the tip of his
cap first, then runs his hand again his chest, then it’s on. The
other signal we had was for a squeeze play. A squeeze
play means, on the next pitch the runner from third breaks
for home and the batter has to bunt. The runner scores
and you win the game! All you need is one run ahead
of the other team to win. This coach made our team a
championship team.
In everything that we see and experience, there is a hidden
message. Some messages are really obvious and some
you have to dig for.
In John chapter 2, beginning with verse 13, Jesus went up to
the temple and he saw that they were selling cattle,
sheep, and doves. The money changers were at the tables.
In his anger, Jesus got a whip and drove them away. He said
2
to them, “Stop making my Father’s house a den of thieves.”
The message here was obvious. The temple is a place of
worship, it is not a place for profit, it is not a market place.
Then the Jews asked him, “What sign can you show us for doing
this?” Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days,
I will raise it up.” Now, this didn’t make sense. They said,
we’ve been building this temple for 46 years, no way
can anyone build this temple in three days.
But in this story, there was a hidden message. There were people
who didn’t know who Jesus was. This man is not just a man.
He is the one sent from God. When Jesus was at the river
Jordan and Jesus came to be baptized, John the Baptist recognized
him right away and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” This is the man
--he is the Messiah! Jesus was put to death and on the third he
rose again.
God for many of us is still a puzzle.
Yes, we say, we believe in God, but then we can’t see him.
So then, we eventually forget about God..
We turn our attention elsewhere, to ourselves.
So now we ask, what is in for me?
We become self occupied.
Whenever we live only for self,
we get caught in a life of doubt, and a life
without meaning.
I have here two horseshoes connected by two chains. Around
these chains are two rings. When I first saw this
puzzle and was told, “Can you get this ring off?” I
looked at it and said, “Impossible.” “No way!” Then
I started to play with it. Walla! I got it!
Several years ago, I was appointed to a church that was having
trouble. Like in most churches, problems are people
problems. It’s people not getting along. It’s pastor
and people bagging heads. It’s a faith and practice
problem. It’s a value problem, finance and stewardship
problem, not healing the hurts, theological differences,
one ego versus another ego, and it goes on and on. There
was one thing the superintendent told me. “Dennis,” he
said, “just love them.”
3
Remember Peter. He was strong headed guy and he probably
was the oldest of the disciples. But, at times Peter didn’t
get it. –Just like some of us—
He denied Jesus three times. But when he got it, when
he saw the resurrected Christ, he finally understood that
everything Jesus said was true. In Christ everything
is made new.
After Pentecost, after the Holy Spirit filled the disciples
with power, Peter and John were going to the temple. It
was three o’clock in the afternoon. They met a man who
was lame and he was begging for alms. Peter looked at
him and said, “I have no silver and gold to give you, but
what I have I give; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
stand up and walk.” Peter reached out with his hand and
immediately, the man’s feet and ankles were made strong.
When I first began my ministry, I didn’t have a secretary or a
computer. We had a manual Gestetner machine. Then I got
a part-time secretary. In the next church, we didn’t have
a sanctuary. We met in the social hall. The third Sunday
I was there we had a ground breaking for the new sanctuary.
When I went to the next church, I found out that they were
not paying their apportionments. I asked the finance committee,
why aren’t you paying the apportionments. They said, they
were angry at the bishop and the conference, because they
had a bad pastorate. In the next church that I was appointed
to, there was a major building program and half the church
was in favor of it, the other half was not. Over 100 people
had left the church. Then I was appointed to Fallbrook—
and you know the rest of the story. In that church and in
every church I have served, it is the same problem. It is a
people problem. We cannot solve our problems alone. We
must rely on the invisible hand of God. We need to learn
to see the hidden messages.
Without God, we will be stuck in traffic. Without God we
become like cars at the intersection where there is no traffic
light and that’s a problem.
In all these years, I have learned that God does provide. the most
important thing is: We are here to build our inner
character. Our link to God is a spiritual link, soul to
soul and mind to mind. “Do you not know,” says Paul,
4
“you are a temple of God?” Jesus teaches us that the
ruling principle of every thought, every idea, every
action, is love. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God.
Life does not stop on earth. Spiritual life is a continual
stream. It’s like a tapestry that goes on and on and on to
Infinity. In time and space and spirit, there is no barrier.
Let me explain. If you’ll just close your eyes for one moment,
your thoughts have no time barrier—remember when you
were 4, remember when you were 12, remember when
you were 18, remember when you were thirty,
remember when you were 50, remember when you were
70, remember when you were 90. One day someone will
say to you, remember when you were 120. Wouldn’t that
be neat?
I close with the words of Joseph Bayly who wrote
Psalms for My Life:
Lord of the compost heap
you take garbage
and turn it into good soil
for seeds to root
and grow
with wildest increase
flowers to bloom
with brilliant beauty.
Take all the garbage of
my life,
Lord of the compost heap,
turn it into good soil
and then plant seeds
to bring forth
fruit and beauty
in profusion.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Oh, Those Temptations
MEDITATION: “Oh, Those Temptations”
First Sunday of Lent Matthew 4:1-11
March 1, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Oh, those temptations.
There are temptations everywhere. It starts from
the word go. It’s that first piece of candy;
it’s that third cookie. One order of fries
please. Then it gets bigger—stealing that test paper;
…but nobody will know. Taxes, what about
about taxes? Everybody cheats on their taxes.
Steroids! I did not use steroids—false! “Well, I’m
sorry, I was just young and ignorant.“ And did you
hear? Just last Thursday, at about 6:00 p.m. we had a
bank robbery in Fallbrook. The robber got away
with $1500. There are temptations everywhere.
Temptations and habits are like two of the same. If you
get away with something once, it means you’ll
do it again. If one piece of chocolate is good, then
ten pieces should be better. If three kids decide to
beat up on another kid, what’s the big deal?
It’s a group thing.
Looks like we forgot a few things: Conscience,
what happened to conscience? Morality, what happened
to morality? And virtue, what happened to virtue.
And divine principle, what happened to Divine Principle?
Rev. Don Holesapple, a Baptist minister, tells this story. One
day a woman came to him, because she was upset at
the death of her cat. She wanted the minister to conduct
a funeral service for her cat Homer. Rev. Holesapple told
her this was a little out of his line so her referred her to
his friend, the Presbyterian pastor. That pastor referred
her to the Methodist pastor who referred her to someone
else. Finally, she called Rev. Holesapple again and told
him she was at wit’s end, because she couldn’t find a
preacher to do Homer’s service. She explained that she
had planned to give a $1,000 to the church of the minister
who performed the funeral for Homer. Rev. Holesapple
told her, “Well, why didn’t you tell me Homer was a
Baptist cat in the first place?!” Temptation is a long line
with a hook on it.
2
After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, Matthew says, immediately
the Spirit led him into the wilderness. In preparation for
his ministry, Jesus was tempted by Satan. Jesus fasted for
40 days and 40 nights. Then Satan said to him, “If you are
the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of
bread.” Jesus said, “One does not live by bread alone.”
Then Satan led Jesus up to the pinnacle of the temple and
Said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.” For
it is said, he will command his angels to come to your aid.
Jesus said, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
Then Satan took Jesus to the high mountain and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world. Satan said to Jesus, “Bow down
and worship me and all these will be yours.” Jesus said,
“Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.”
Jesus comes to us as the Messiah, tested, molded in the Spirit
God. He shows us that there is in all of us a character
of God.. It is like a small seed waiting to develop.
If we water it, nurture it, it will be strong and healthy.
But the character in us is delicate. If you handle it
with care it will be strong and right.
If you break it, it will seek a different way;
a troubling way.
In a small village, an altar boy was helping a priest serve the
Holy Eucharist. That Sunday, the boy accidently dropped
the vessel holding the wine. The priest out of anger struck
the boy on the cheek and shouted, “Leave the altar and
don’t come back!” That boy became Tito, the Communist
leader of Yugoslavia. In a large city another altar boy was
assisting the priest. That young boy too dropped the vessel
holding the wine. That priest with kindness in his eyes
whispered to the boy and said, “Someday you’re going to
be a priest. That boy became Bishop Fulton Sheen of New
York City. In all of us there is a character of God waiting
to develop.
Bob Moawad says, “The best day of your life is the one on which you
Decide your life is your own. No apologies, no excuses. No
one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours—it is an
amazing journey—and you alone are responsible for the
quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.
3
When our son Jeremy was a baby, we decided that we weren’t
going to give him any ice cream until he was one year old.
It didn’t hurt him one bit. When Jeremy was in the first
grade we got our first computer with a keyboard. I said
to him, “I’m going to teach you to use the keyboard the
right way.” He started to do his first grade spelling on the
keyboard. When he was a freshman, he received the
computer award.. Aaron, on the other hand, was his
own person. When he was little, he was curious about
how cars worked so he would take them apart to see how
they worked.. When he was a sophomore, he studied
electricity, he learned to build a simple readio, and he
got his ham radio license. Today he works
for NPR in Washington, D.C. We never know how our
children will become their own.
What we wanted our children
to learn is that in everything, there are choices. There are
good choices and bad choices. In everything you do,
there are consequences. There are good consequences and
bad consequences. In every learning situation, how
you begin will determine where you end up. In logic if your
premise is sound, your conclusion will be sound. If you live
your life believing in God, then your life will be guided
and directed. The life of Jesus is not a historical accident.
It is the center of our sacred journey.
When Jesus was tempted by Satan, all along he knew where he
was going. He was preparing the way to the kingdom of
God. When I was 17 years old, I was traveling on the Greyhound
Bus and I knew where I was headed. I was going to college
in Oskaloosa, Iowa.. And when we stopped at Reno for a dinner
break, I met a man on the street. He said to, “How are you doing,
young fella? You have some money don’t you?” He pulled out a
roll of bills, probably a thousand dollars. He said, “Let’s
have some fun!” I said, “I didn’t have much money. Sir, I gotta go!”
What I learned that day is, when we hold our sights high, we will
withstand any temptation. I remind you today, the kingdom of God
is at hand. It is closer than you think. One night, when I was
a young boy, the Lord Jesus came to me in a dream ….and
here I am.
First Sunday of Lent Matthew 4:1-11
March 1, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Oh, those temptations.
There are temptations everywhere. It starts from
the word go. It’s that first piece of candy;
it’s that third cookie. One order of fries
please. Then it gets bigger—stealing that test paper;
…but nobody will know. Taxes, what about
about taxes? Everybody cheats on their taxes.
Steroids! I did not use steroids—false! “Well, I’m
sorry, I was just young and ignorant.“ And did you
hear? Just last Thursday, at about 6:00 p.m. we had a
bank robbery in Fallbrook. The robber got away
with $1500. There are temptations everywhere.
Temptations and habits are like two of the same. If you
get away with something once, it means you’ll
do it again. If one piece of chocolate is good, then
ten pieces should be better. If three kids decide to
beat up on another kid, what’s the big deal?
It’s a group thing.
Looks like we forgot a few things: Conscience,
what happened to conscience? Morality, what happened
to morality? And virtue, what happened to virtue.
And divine principle, what happened to Divine Principle?
Rev. Don Holesapple, a Baptist minister, tells this story. One
day a woman came to him, because she was upset at
the death of her cat. She wanted the minister to conduct
a funeral service for her cat Homer. Rev. Holesapple told
her this was a little out of his line so her referred her to
his friend, the Presbyterian pastor. That pastor referred
her to the Methodist pastor who referred her to someone
else. Finally, she called Rev. Holesapple again and told
him she was at wit’s end, because she couldn’t find a
preacher to do Homer’s service. She explained that she
had planned to give a $1,000 to the church of the minister
who performed the funeral for Homer. Rev. Holesapple
told her, “Well, why didn’t you tell me Homer was a
Baptist cat in the first place?!” Temptation is a long line
with a hook on it.
2
After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, Matthew says, immediately
the Spirit led him into the wilderness. In preparation for
his ministry, Jesus was tempted by Satan. Jesus fasted for
40 days and 40 nights. Then Satan said to him, “If you are
the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of
bread.” Jesus said, “One does not live by bread alone.”
Then Satan led Jesus up to the pinnacle of the temple and
Said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.” For
it is said, he will command his angels to come to your aid.
Jesus said, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
Then Satan took Jesus to the high mountain and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world. Satan said to Jesus, “Bow down
and worship me and all these will be yours.” Jesus said,
“Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.”
Jesus comes to us as the Messiah, tested, molded in the Spirit
God. He shows us that there is in all of us a character
of God.. It is like a small seed waiting to develop.
If we water it, nurture it, it will be strong and healthy.
But the character in us is delicate. If you handle it
with care it will be strong and right.
If you break it, it will seek a different way;
a troubling way.
In a small village, an altar boy was helping a priest serve the
Holy Eucharist. That Sunday, the boy accidently dropped
the vessel holding the wine. The priest out of anger struck
the boy on the cheek and shouted, “Leave the altar and
don’t come back!” That boy became Tito, the Communist
leader of Yugoslavia. In a large city another altar boy was
assisting the priest. That young boy too dropped the vessel
holding the wine. That priest with kindness in his eyes
whispered to the boy and said, “Someday you’re going to
be a priest. That boy became Bishop Fulton Sheen of New
York City. In all of us there is a character of God waiting
to develop.
Bob Moawad says, “The best day of your life is the one on which you
Decide your life is your own. No apologies, no excuses. No
one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours—it is an
amazing journey—and you alone are responsible for the
quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.
3
When our son Jeremy was a baby, we decided that we weren’t
going to give him any ice cream until he was one year old.
It didn’t hurt him one bit. When Jeremy was in the first
grade we got our first computer with a keyboard. I said
to him, “I’m going to teach you to use the keyboard the
right way.” He started to do his first grade spelling on the
keyboard. When he was a freshman, he received the
computer award.. Aaron, on the other hand, was his
own person. When he was little, he was curious about
how cars worked so he would take them apart to see how
they worked.. When he was a sophomore, he studied
electricity, he learned to build a simple readio, and he
got his ham radio license. Today he works
for NPR in Washington, D.C. We never know how our
children will become their own.
What we wanted our children
to learn is that in everything, there are choices. There are
good choices and bad choices. In everything you do,
there are consequences. There are good consequences and
bad consequences. In every learning situation, how
you begin will determine where you end up. In logic if your
premise is sound, your conclusion will be sound. If you live
your life believing in God, then your life will be guided
and directed. The life of Jesus is not a historical accident.
It is the center of our sacred journey.
When Jesus was tempted by Satan, all along he knew where he
was going. He was preparing the way to the kingdom of
God. When I was 17 years old, I was traveling on the Greyhound
Bus and I knew where I was headed. I was going to college
in Oskaloosa, Iowa.. And when we stopped at Reno for a dinner
break, I met a man on the street. He said to, “How are you doing,
young fella? You have some money don’t you?” He pulled out a
roll of bills, probably a thousand dollars. He said, “Let’s
have some fun!” I said, “I didn’t have much money. Sir, I gotta go!”
What I learned that day is, when we hold our sights high, we will
withstand any temptation. I remind you today, the kingdom of God
is at hand. It is closer than you think. One night, when I was
a young boy, the Lord Jesus came to me in a dream ….and
here I am.
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