Impromptu Nuptials in Birthing Suite

Cynthia Kallay wanted nothing more than a modest ceremony at the county courthouse. But her unborn baby daughter had other plans.

Cynthia Kallay was never the type of woman who dreamed of her wedding day. Yes, she had fallen in love with the perfect man – an old acquaintance from high school – and she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. But for her, planning a marriage was more of an afterthought.

Then, after spending nearly a decade together, the couple got an unexpected Christmas surprise: Cynthia was going to have a baby. That’s when the two decided to get hitched. Cynthia, a patient care assistant at Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital, wanted nothing more than a modest ceremony at the county courthouse. No flowers, no cake. Just a nice dress, a pair of rings and a few loved ones to help them celebrate the special day.

But their unborn baby daughter had other plans.

The morning of her wedding day, Cynthia’s water broke at home, nearly a month before her due date. She and her fiancée, D’Angelo “Trey” Doughty rushed to Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center where it was confirmed that Cynthia’s labor was well underway.

“I jokingly told my nurse that I needed to run to the courthouse quickly to get married because today was supposed to be our wedding day,” Cynthia said. “I had no idea that that they would actually try to recreate my special day right here in the hospital.”

Cynthia may not have planned for a traditional ceremony, but Cynthia’s nurse and chief wedding planner, Amber Kyler, RN, along with the rest of her L&D care team at Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center sprang into action on Cynthia’s behalf, pulling together all the necessities for the impromptu nuptials.

“I was determined to make sure she had the best wedding ever!” Amber said.

The entire L&D team on duty that day helped coordinate the surprise, including: Morgan Thigpin, Amie Strech, Anthrenette Daniel, Andrea Alonzo, Brenda Shook, Crystal Lockhart, Chelsea Taft, Jennifer Rocha, Hanna Buchanan, Rebecca Marchan, Shana Randle and Verna Deans.

As Cynthia rested in bed hooked to an IV with oxytocin, a drug used to induce labor, the nursing team worked to secure a bouquet of pink flowers and a white wedding cake with “Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Doughty” scrawled in red icing. They called chaplain Ephapharus Kaburu to Cynthia’s birthing suite and brightened up her patient-gown-turned-wedding-dress with a snipped yellow tulip tucked behind her ear.

Before the ceremony began, one nurse asked Cynthia if she had a preference for the wedding music.

“I hadn’t thought about it,” Cynthia said with a laugh. “So I just told her to pick whatever she had at her wedding.”

As D’Angelo stood at Cynthia’s bedside, surrounded by family, friends and Cynthia’s 12-year-old daughter Kamayah, Cynthia’s contractions intensified to every three minutes. Her nurse stood to the side anxiously watching the dips and spikes on a monitor measuring Cynthia’s contractions, but Cynthia kept a wide grin as she exchanged vows with D’Angelo even as her labor pains worsened.

“Afterward, my nurse told me, ‘I can’t believe you smiled throughout the whole thing,’” Cynthia said. “Actually, I thought it was a pretty good distraction.”

Two hours after Cynthia and D’Angelo said, “I do,” baby Kadence made her arrival, weighing just 5 pounds 4 ounces and sporting a full head of hair. The family is home now, growing accustomed to their new existence with a newborn in the house. Cynthia is planning to spend the next several weeks on maternity leave with Kadence before returning to work in the hospital’s Medical Surgical Unit.

“This year has really been a whirlwind for our family, but I’m so grateful for everything that has happened,” she said. “God works in mysterious ways.”

 

Author- MH Hospital marketing person

When faith, politics and ethics collides in healthcare

Every day I walk in the hallways of the hospital where I work as a chaplain for the last 14 years. Although I love my job, I’m always uncomfortable visiting with a young patient who is fighting for his or her life. Even more tough is dealing with parents of kids living their last days.

In one of the famous Children’s Hospital where I frequent to provide care to destressed patients and or family, Kisha (name changed) a 3 weeks baby boy is a patient fighting for his life. Kisha sustained a broken skull from mysterious circumstances that neither the mother nor grandma can explain.
The 3 weeks-old boy from out of town had been at the hospital for almost 2 months being treated for blunt force trauma on the skull. His family had held a nonstop vigil by his bedside for weeks.
Already in a coma, Kisha had been declared brain dead; his brain had stopped functioning a few days upon admission in the NICU, a decision that was made by his team of doctors. But his family said their faith, as Christians didn’t define death as such and sought a court order to keep him on life support.
As time went by, the conflict began to draw political attention and before the court made its decision, Kisha’s heart stopped beating on its own ending the debate.
As a professional chaplain and pastoral care provider, my goal was to help Kisha’s parents make informed decision on the care they would want their son receive. I could see their agony as they navigate the very complicated family ethics meetings from which they were given enormous information and were expected to make decision asap.

While religion and medicine don’t always collide so dramatically, the two realms do coexist. It is clear that when “religious beliefs and practices are tightly interwoven with cultural contexts”(i), both constitute a powerful reminder of the healing, sustaining, guiding, and reconciling power of sustaining, guiding, and reconciling power of religious faith.
However the intersections between them are sometime uncomfortable.

A case in review is from a different ethics meeting not related to Kisha, where a famous experienced Pediatrician was getting ready to treat a child for Candida Yeast Infection. Dr. Yuko ( name changed), had the whole family in the family consultation room explaining the treatment when the grandmother stood up and said, ‘I think I understand everything, doctor, but all I need to know now is whether you’re a Christian.”

Unfazed, the doctor (who was Moslem) handled the situation gracefully by saying, “Ma’am, I’m as Christian as you need me to be.”[ii] Luckily, that answer sufficed. Religion is a deeply emotional and personal topic, and some may argue that a person’s faith and his health are unrelated. On this I disagree.

Over the period I have served as Hospital chaplain, I have learned that many physicians find religion a tough subject to integrate in healthcare practices. Religion is hard to talk about because it’s felt so deeply and matters so much. When you talk about an issue you run the risk of disagreeing. And disagreeing about religious beliefs can be painful for a lot of people, including the author of this article.
However, it is important to note that medicine is a practice that applies science in ways that depend on one’s moral and spiritual ideas about what it means to be human. Hospital Chaplains, of who I am, serve as members of patient care teams by; participation in medical rounds and patient care conferences, offering perspectives on the spiritual status of patients and participation in interdisciplinary education to both patient and staff.

There are areas where patients or loved ones and doctors disagree and this is the case of Kisha on how to apply science, faith and yet keep politics out of medical field.

While the AMA requires medical schools to teach students how to at least inquire about a patient’s religion, and more than 80 percent of medical schools address spirituality in their curricula, this training is usually embedded in an ethics or humanities course and is sometimes an elective.[iii]

In the last few days our Television international briefs are occupied by the story of Charlie Gard an 11 month old boy in London who is in legal battle to keep his life support machine running. Both the Pope and President of the Unites States of America have weighed in this case. The Pope weighing on religious views while the later weighs on political. The London hospital where Charlie is being treated has asked permission to remove him from life support.

Now the British infant is at the center of a global debate over what medical treatment, if any, he is entitled to receive, and who decides — his family, his doctors or the courts.

Charlie’s case echoes Terri Schiavo case, a young Florida woman who was left in a persistent vegetative state for over 10 years after a cardiac arrest and was also the subject of a court battle.

According to New York Times, Charlie has been treated since October 2017 at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where doctors eventually decided that withdrawing life support was the only justifiable option. Do Charlie’s parents have parental responsibility religious or otherwise to override control vested in the court by the court exercising its independent and objective judgment in the child’s best interests? Is the Pope the moral person to set presidency on medical care for Charlie? Should the president of the United States be involved in matters of medical decision making especially Charlies case which is out of his jurisdiction?  Should Doctors be final as far as the care of patients is concerned? This and many other questions lead us to question the role of politics in patient care.

From an individual point, I belief faith is part of care for patients healing.

---

[i] Spiritual needs and chaplaincy services – Bartholomew Rodrigues

[ii] Ethics consult at the TMC

[iii] AMA Journal of Medicine USA

BOOK Summary- Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life- Donald Whitnely

Summary

Donald Whitney’s book teaches the biblical necessity and practical application of ten spiritual disciplines for the Christian adult. These disciplines stand alone in that Whitney does not argue that one must of necessity master any single discipline before engaging in another. He also refrains from grouping his disciplines into subsets, as does Foster with his twelve. However, Whitney makes clear in his exposition on the first discipline, Bible intake, that “it is is not only the most important Spiritual Discipline [capitalization Whitney’s], it is also the most broad” (29). He emphasizes this importance and breadth by devoting two chapters to this discipline while the others receive one each. Whitney’s other disciplines are prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning. They share essential similarities to those in Foster’s book but differences in application.

In his introductory chapter, Whitney states the goal for practicing spiritual disciplines is development of personal godliness (17). Indeed, each chapter title reinforces this theme by appending the words “… for the Purpose of Godliness” to its title. Together they are “those personal and corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth … that have been practiced by the people of God since biblical times” (17). Whitney names spiritual disciplines, other Christians, and life circumstances as the three catalysts God uses to form His children into Christ-likeness (19). Because we cannot control the other two, he states, intentional discipline is a believer’s personal contribution to the goal of godliness. While noting that prominent Christians in history exhibited disciplined lifestyles (17), Whitney holds up Jesus as the One who perfectly modeled such personal devotion for us to imitate (21). This is one instance in which he uses Foster’s similar argument as support for his own.

Each chapter in “Spiritual Disciplines” features biblical and practical explanation and application, as well as a “More Application” segment that provides questions intended to encourage the reader to begin practicing the discipline as soon as possible. Whitney uses frequent illustrations and analogies to emphasize his arguments, quoting often from conservative Evangelical and Puritan theologians. He also occasionally refers to the works of Foster, Willard, and others who have written on similar subjects, but neither builds his teachings on their works nor argues against them. In each chapter on disciplines Whitney provides examples of how faithful practice and application will reap positive rewards for the believer, both personally and within the church context.

Whitney’s work culminates in a chapter devoted to perseverance in spiritual disciplines (235). He explains that because Christians are typically busy people regularly occupied by demands of church, family and work, practicing disciplines must find support in personal commitment. Whitney cites the role of the Holy Spirit to sustain the believer (237–239); fellowship with other Christians for encouragement and support (239–242); and the importance of personal struggle (242–245) as three forces that help one to overcome deterrents to such perseverance. With a final charge (245–249) he exhorts the reader to begin practicing these disciplines faithfully to progress in godliness and spiritual maturity.

Critical Evaluation

“Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” provides an adequate framework in which an adult Christian can learn to understand, appreciate, and implement regular practices that will contribute to spiritual growth and ministry effectiveness. However, the Christian would do better to compartmentalize use of this book rather than subscribing to its more holistic messages. This is because while Whitney’s specific biblical extrapolations of his disciplines typically fall within a proper hermeneutic — with occasional errors of which this report will provide examples — at least part of his expressed reasons for communicating the importance of spiritual disciplines fall outside biblical limits.

One must examine Whitney’s introductory paragraph to find the flaws in his premises. First, In his “three catalysts” argument Whitney states that spiritual disciplines are the forces we operate upon ourselves from within to effect positive change (17–18). Yet with the proper understanding of the Christian as a justified yet spiritually imperfect being warring against yet-sinful flesh with spiritual weaponry (Ro 7:14–25; Eph 6:10–13) one could classify many of the disciplines examined in this book as external forces. Indeed, the only truly “internal” of Whitney’s disciplines may be “Bible intake” and “prayer,” since although having an external component are activities that depend fully upon God’s internal work to be of value.

Second, there can be no refutation of the many scriptural commands to the Christian to engage in regular disciplined behaviors. Yet Whitney’s argument, with referential support from Willard, that the Lord Jesus “modeled” (21) disciplines for the church does not find support in correct interpretation of the gospels. Certainly all of God’s Word is profitable for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16), but this is not license to apply each of these four qualities to every passage. The popular “What would Jesus do?” fad of years past belies its weak theological underpinnings; the only practices Jesus exhibited that His church is obligated to imitate are those He commanded. Such commands are limited in scope, including His instructions on prayer (Lk 11:2–4); that His disciples love one another as He loved them (Jn 15:17); and in the case of Luke’s further writings that His followers go into the world making disciples (Ac 1:8), teaching them all He had commanded them. Whitney’s chapter on solitude and silence, then, cannot rightly hold up Jesus’ many solitary, isolated prayers as instructive to the Christian in that our Lord never commanded we do the same.

Examining Whitney’s disciplines individually finds much to commend, yet with the occasional exegetical caveat. His two chapters on “Bible intake” form the proper foundation of God’s Word as primary to spiritual instruction and formation. There is ample emphasis on reading, studying, and applying God’s truth. His chapters on “prayer,” “meditation,” and “worship” avoid the mysticism and questionable inspiration Foster so readily employs, finding instead biblical underpinnings for these practices. Similarly “evangelism” takes seriously our Lord’s command to carry His gospel message. Yet at the point of “service” Whitney retreats to a cliched statement that all believers are endowed at the moment of salvation with spiritual gifts (123). He provides the proper biblical explanation from 1 Corinthians 12 about the nature of these gifts but does not back up his earlier claim about when God gives them. His “stewardship” chapter ranges widely from an indirect refutation of Foster’s spiritual valuation of dreams (133) to the notion that believers will experience regrets in heaven for the time they waste on earth (139).

Whitney’s most egregious interpretive error is likely his example of the poor widow in Mark 12:41–44 as someone whom Jesus “commended” for her generosity and trust in God (143). Nowhere in this passage does the Lord commend this woman, but in context shows her to be a victim of the false Temple worship system that would fall to pieces in A.D. 70.

The content on “fasting” is refreshingly biblical, but “solitude and silence,” which find no biblical mandate, includes a dangerously unclear encouragement to “hear God’s voice better” (186). Whitney weakly supports the discipline of “journaling” with an improper allusion to David’s psalms and Jeremiah’s book of Lamentations as examples of “charting spiritual growth” and “keeping track of goals” (206, 214). “Learning” is certainly a biblically supportable discipline with innumerable references in both testaments to gaining wisdom, understanding, and discernment.

Conclusion

Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life is a fine, biblically based alternative to other more mystical and subjective works on this subject, yet also flawed in certain aspects of doctrine. The discerning reader would do well to examine each and every discipline, and its subsequent explanation and application, in light of the Bible’s overall message on spiritual growth and development. Where Whitney adheres to proper exegesis and interpretation of these scriptural instructions, this book can provide fuel to help the believer grow in faith and maturity.

 

What Christian fellowship IS,

What is Christian fellowship?

Hebrews 10:25 - don’t neglected the habit of meeting together.

Acts 2:44-46- All the believers stayed together. They shared everything

Hebrews 10:24-25 -“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching

What Christian Fellowship IS:

1. Fellowship is the common enjoyment that Christians have and experience in our common worships of God the Father, through in Jesus Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:44-46 “All the believers stayed together. They shared everything…

2. Christian fellowship is a constant process of encouraging one another in our walks with the Lord and exhorting each other to holy living. 1 Thessalonians 5:11- “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

3. Christian fellowship involves the exposing of sin, not the hiding of it. To confess it publically to one another, and repent of it altogether. Those were blessed times! James 5: 16- “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

4. Fellowship involves bearing up one another’s burdens. Christians are to help each other and meet each other’s needs. This is not only encouraging and helpful to one another, but it is a great testimony to the world around us. Jesus said this: “Let you light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” Matthew 5:16

5. Christian fellowship is ministry to one another. I love it when other Christians minister to my life, heart and soul as they encourage me to live for the glory of God alone when we are fellowshipping with one another. Ministry takes place in fellowship! Ephesians 5:19- “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord…”

6. Christian fellowship is found in the “one another” Romans 15:7 -Accept one another, Colossians 3:16 -Admonish one another, Ephesians 4:2 - Bear with one another,

Spritual Awakening- Are you allowing it? Isaiah 64:1-12

How many times have you heard the word "revival" in the church over the past 30 years? Churches pray for revival while other churches plan a four-day revival. America needs a Revival or the Third Great Awakening to come soon. So many people ask me how the church of America, the church of today can have a great visitation for the Holy Spirit. I always simply reply that the recipe for revival is in the Bible!
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Through this very familiar Scripture, I want to point out two parts.

First, the Lord says if you will 1) humble yourself, 2) pray, 3) seek my face and 4) turn from your wicked ways, then He will do three things: 1) hear from heaven, 2) forgive your sin and 3) heal your land.

The first thing the Lord asks us to do is humble ourselves. Now in America there is so much pride and arrogance that this would be a miracle in itself for this to happen. Let's be honest, we have the brightest of Harvard, Yale etc. running our country, and we are in a mess.

The second thing is to simply pray. The prayer service is the most important service of the week and the most negated in the church of today. The third thing is to seek His face; most people seek the Lord for His hand of blessing but forget to have a close personal relationship with Him. Repentance is almost a lost part of the church today and this is the fourth thing. Turn from our wicked ways. If we can do these four things, God said he would do the next three.

In the second part of this passage, the Lord states that He would hear from heaven. So many Christians honestly believe that God is so far away that He doesn't even hear our prayers. Many people are still dealing with illegitimacy and have such a father wound in their life that they carry that over to their relationship and walk with God.

The second thing the Lord said he would do is forgive their sin. Hallelujah! The third and final part is that he would heal their/our land! There is hope for America and that hope is Jesus Christ, the hope of America is found in a praying and fasting church!  

Physically most of us need to be revived at least three times a day. Hunger and weakness soon overtake us and we feel the need of food to renew our strength. Spiritually it is not less so,

Matthew. 4:4-”For man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

Sad to say, however, we are by nature prone to neglect our spiritual welfare and lapse into carelessness and sin, so that repeatedly the need for spiritual revival and restoration becomes acute

2 Timothy. 1:13- “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”

The Word of God, then, is of supreme importance to the spiritual awakening of every believer; not merely as a collection of beautiful and heart-warming thoughts, but as food for the soul.

Jeremiah 15:16- “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart..."

 As food and medicine must be wisely administered to the weak and ill, so must the Word be “rightly divided” to provide the necessary benefit to those who need spiritual revival.

The understanding of God’s Word always revives His people spiritually. Hear the two at Emmaus from whom our Lord had just departed from their hearts(Video) https://youtu.be/8YlzWPPiH4A

Luke 24:32 “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?”

1.. Spiritual Awakening -The Epistle-Edrick-2003

2. The Coming Great Awakening- National and Religion International Report- 1992 pp 2-3

3. The Ultimate Guide to Spiritual Awakening- San Francisco CA -no date

 

4. The Bible-NKJV

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS- A dangerous condition- 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

 INTRODUCTION: Why is it that some people are so opposed to the Gospel? And why is it that some people, whose lifestyle is so unscriptural, cannot understand our rejection of their disobedience before almighty God? And how is it that some people can criticize the Word of God as to its origin and authenticity? Well, the answer to those questions is very simple. It is called spiritual blindness. Spiritual blindness is a very dangerous condition for anyone to be in. READ 1 John 2:11. He says that those who are spiritually blind do not know where they are going. They think they know, but they do not.

Spiritual Blindness is the inability of a person to understand, perceive, grasp, and comprehend spiritual truth. They may be able to fully understand some facts, many things in life that are true. But a spiritually blind person is incapable of digesting, comprehending, perceiving the true meaning of spiritual truth. Three things in this passage to see:

I.             WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF ALL SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS? (2 Corinthians 4:4).

The one who is blinded is Satan himself. Paul describes him as god (little g) the one who claims to be god of this world (this age), the god of this world system in which we live, religious system, economic system, political system. The system that makes up the life we are a part of. Paul says that Satan has set out to blind the minds of the unbelieving in order that something might not happen. Look at Isaiah 14:12-7 how Satan is described. 2 Corinthians 11:3 Paul describes Satan as a crafty deceiver. V. 14 Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Satan’s objective is stated in v. 4. He wants to so blind men’s mind so that they will not be able to come to the right conclusion about spiritual things. Notice the words used. See means: “grasp, understand, and comprehend the illumination of the Gospel.” Satan’s purpose and objective is to so blind a person’s mind that they can’t grasp it.
What is the truth that Satan wants to hide from man? Look at v. 3. He wants to hide the truth so that they cannot possibly perceive of the fact of being lost. Ask a lost person is they have ever been saved, and they might respond saved from what? There are many people who are sincerely and honestly blinded. They really believe that they are right. Satan blinds people to any sense of need on their part of the Lord.
Secondly, he blinds them to the whole meaning of the cross. The cross, the blood, all of that is meaningless to the unbeliever. They have no earthly idea of how it relates to them. It’s an Easter holiday to them. Satan has blinded them to the real meaning.
II.            WHAT IS THE STRATEGY SATAN USES TO BLIND THE MINDS OF MEN?
First, Satan always launches his attack against Word of God.
1.            As To It’s Origin. It is not God-breathed. How could God breathe through some men to give a book. How the Bible could be inspired. This book was written by some men. Once a person begins doubt the origin of the Word of God, they next begin to doubt:
2.            The Authenticity Of The Bible. They say, probably it has many mistakes in it. They begin to pick and choose what they want to believe. They then doubt:
3.            The Authority Of The Word Of God. After all it was written by men, and full of errors, so how could it be the authority of my life? Next they doubt:
4.            The Power Of The Word Of God. When you doubt the origin, authenticity, authority, and power of the Word of God, you are in a dangerous condition.
When a person begins to doubt the Word of God then he becomes the center of his world. He becomes his own authority. He has no room for God to control any part of his life. Spiritual blindness is a dangerous condition. So we live in a society today in which Humanism is a rising religion because Satan has blinded men’s eyes to the Word of God.
If there is no divine authority what is the authority? This is the thing that puts churches in a bad spot. People make decisions in churches and oftentimes say, the majority rules!
That is not what the Bible says!! It says the principles of the Word of God rules!!!
That is the acknowledgment of the authority of the living God over our church. When you have a society or a church that does not accept God as the final authority, you have all kinds of things taking place, and they are well defended, because Satan has blinded their eyes .
III.           WHAT IS THE OUTCOME OF SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS? (v. 3).
The ultimate outcome of spiritual blindness is to be eternally separated from the almighty God. To die and go spend eternity where Satan will spend eternity. Look at 3:16. Paul says when a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. But what is the outcome of spiritual blindness?
1.            Denial Of The Truth. I’m not sure I believe that anymore. They are living in the darkness and of the darkness. They are walking in the darkness, living in the darkness, and will spend eternity in the darkness.
2.            Defying The Truth. I don’t believe that. I don’t think God will condemn me to eternity in Hell.
There is only one way, and that way is the way of repentance. Look at the word repentance (2 Corinthians 3:16). The veil of spiritual blindness is removed. When a person is so deceived and determine to live in sin, disobedience, and rebellion to God, and give themselves over to Satan to receive the things they want in this world without regard to eternity, what a foolish commitment.
That is exactly what they are saying when the reject Jesus. Paul describes this in Romans 1:23-32, when he says that Jesus gives people over to a certain lifestyle. When he gives them over to it, here’s what that means. God withdraws all restraints! Because of your vile and wicked choices, I now choose to allow you the full rewards of the consequences of your willful chosen disobedience. And my friend, you’ve had it.
You think you can get saved just any old time you please No you can’t! I didn’t say God wouldn’t save you. But a part of the wooing of the Holy Spirit, how do these people who are spiritually blinded come to know Christ as Savior? Paul gives us that clue in 2 Corinthians 3:16.
Here is a person who is absolutely spiritually blinded of truth. They have nothing to do with religious matters. Everything goes wrong in their life, and they hit rock bottom. They are desperate. Everything Satan has fed them and promised them just doesn’t work anymore In desperation they cry out to God. Paul says that if they turn just the slightest bit toward God, he will remove the veil of darkness.
But let me warn you, when that spiritual blindness gets so strong, you are going to have to get absolutely and totally desperate before you will turn to God because your pride will keep you from it. Spiritual blindness is dangerous business.

Work Cited

1. Unleashing God’s truth-Panorama City California, 2016
2. A call of Clarity in an age of confusion, Chip, Atlanta Georgia -2007
3. Bible commentary on the Book on John
4. Matthews complete bible commentary
5. Bible-NKJV

Spiritual Death-Separation from God Ephesians 2:1-6

 

God has given us a spirit in order for us to be able to connect with Him, relate to Him, and to build an intimate relationship with Him. Our human spirit is the very part of our being that plugs us right into God, then His rich provision and nourishment for our soul flow through that connection. To put it another way, our soul is fed through the means of that connection we have with God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, this is precisely what gives life to our soul, so that we’re able to please God and live a Spirit-filled life. Can you imagine placing yourself into such a detrimental situation where you can’t be fed indefinitely? We receive and discern God’s truth through our own spirit. The Holy Spirit Himself who indwells us carries out His works through our own human spirit. He Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16).

On the other hand, our soul is the very embodiment of our being because it’s housed our intellect, will, and emotion. Moreover, it’s our control center, our personality, and who we really are as human beings. In spite of all that capabilities, the soul is not sufficient to help us know God. To put that into perspective, our spirit is a lamp to our soul just as the Word of God is a lamp to our feet. With this in mind, our soul is being influenced by two powers: the power of the Holy Spirit through our own human spirit, and the power of Satan through our own flesh.

Spiritual death simply means that our own human spirit has become disconnected from God because of sin (Romans 6:23). The same way that our physical body needs food, water, air, medical care, and so forth in order to sustain and maintain itself, so is our soul. Since our soul is spiritual, it only needs spiritual nourishment and care from God, which we receive through Christ who is the Word.

When we find ourselves in that critical state, our soul is literally dead due to our disconnection from the source of life. Sin not only breaks our fellowship with God which cuts off His spiritual supplies to our soul, but it does inflict deadly damages to our own soul that can only be restored by the blood of Jesus.

Being that the case, our soul can no longer be influenced by our human spirit which is also symbolic of our God-given conscience unless something powerful is done by Him in order to reverse that strong hold of the flesh on our soul. Since we have a free will, God can’t do it alone without our active involvement because He won’t impose Himself on it.