Posts by Al Weir, MD
God Listens
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13-14, NIV).
Read MoreDurres
“Then Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM…’” (Exodus 3:13-14, ESV).
Read MoreBookend Stories
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor heigh, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, ESV).
Read MorePraying for Magic
“…the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake…” (Exodus 7:11-12, NIV).
Read MoreStopping the Train
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV).
Read MoreIndispensable Me
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV).
Read MoreEmpty Vessels
“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message” (Acts 10:44, NIV).
Read MoreA Compelling Argument
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:13, NIV).
Read MoreLoving God
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son…” (1 John 4:10, NIV).
Read MoreFamily
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name” (Ephesians 3:14-15, NIV).
Read MoreJehovah Mephalti
“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me” (Psalm 120:1, ESV).
Read MoreThe Pain of Second Chances
“The Lord said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress…’” (Hosea 3:1, NIV).
Read MoreDesert Ridges
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” (Job 38:4a, NIV).
Read MoreFriction
When we struggle, a painful friction changes us, and the change provides new opportunities for His glory.
Read MoreThe Real You Inside
“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens” (Ezra 9:6, NIV).
Read MoreNaturally Sticky
On the last day of our Spring Canyon vacation with most of our children and all our grandchildren, after the adult time of worship and spiritual message, my son and his wife went to collect their two children from the children’s program.
Read MoreForevermore
My wife and I chose to use our vacation money this year to invite our kids and grandkids to a Christian ranch in Colorado. Today we were gathered in a worship service at Spring Canyon Ranch, where the hook of Mount Princeton is rising in the distance
Read MoreA Question of Place
I have been managing his prostate cancer for 10 years. During that time, his wife left him and all his children moved elsewhere. He loves the Lord deeply. His sister wants him to come live with her in Texas. His daughter wants him to come and live with her in Alabama.
Read MoreClean Evangelism
Last Sunday I looked to the choir loft of my local church and spotted a man whose father I knew when I served in Nigeria as a medical missionary. Today, I found my diary and located my account of his father:
Read MoreCircus in Town
My faith, that hope grounded in certainty, was not imagined by a heartfelt desire. It was fully grounded on the character, capacity and commitment of my father.
Read MoreSee You Later
“‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57, ESV).
Read MoreSteadfast
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves…” (Ephesians 4:14, NIV).
Read MoreThe Big Gamble
“…I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12, NIV).
Read MorePraying for Dogs
I prayed for a dog today. I’m not a dog-lover; I’m a dog-liker, but I prayed for Hershey today. A young man who had fallen on hard times called me today, a friend I had not heard from in years, but I had prayed for him regularly.
Read MoreBusiness-model Seeking
If I become a private practice doctor, I might win four people to Christ in my life; but, as a missionary doctor, I could win 400? If I am a preacher, I would win 800? Should we not do for God that which brings the best outcomes? It’s certainly honorable to try. Such thinking works for Microsoft; does it work for Christ?
Read MoreSelfish with Sadness
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25, ESV).
Read MoreFaithful
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25, ESV).
Read MoreMission in the Mess
“…Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14, NET).
Read MoreSeasoned
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6, NIV).
Read MoreGrabbing For Jesus
“As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored…” (2 Thessalonians 3:1, NASB).
Read MoreExcellence
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23, NIV).
Read MoreGod’s Sandwich
One of my favorite patients is a part-time pastor. At the beginning of his visit this week, he shared a frustrating story from the day before. “I was standing in the line at Subway, telling the woman how to fix my sandwich.
Read MoreUnavailable
I stepped into the fellows’ room to share a bit of wisdom: “You guys are not yet practicing medicine but will get there soon enough. Let me tell you how to build your practice.
Read MorePentecost
He was cancer free but suffering from complications of therapy. “This ain’t nothing,” he declared. “In the 80s I was shooting up drugs every day. I would find myself watching my hand inject the drugs and tell it to stop, but it wouldn’t. I even tried to commit suicide. I took an extra-large dose of the drug and injected it.
Read MoreHope-Hopping
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…” (Hebrews 6:19, NIV).
We reviewed his CT in our multidisciplinary conference after treating his cancer with radioembolization.
I brought him good news: “Right now, I’m optimistic. There’s no evidence of cancer on your scan.”
He replied, “Optimist nothing, Doc. God said, ‘It is finished,’ and that’s all I need. That’s where my hope lies.”
Read MoreHanging By a Thread
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17, NIV).
Read MoreGracefully Broken
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17, ESV).
Read MoreThe Nudge
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NIV).
Read MoreFickle Faith
He is one of our few remaining World War II heroes at 97—a retired pastor, still alert, able to walk with a cane, writing great stories about his life and sharing wisdom that only comes with experience.
Read MoreI Need to Do Better
He is one of our few remaining World War II heroes at 97—a retired pastor, still alert, able to walk with a cane, writing great stories about his life and sharing wisdom that only comes with experience.
Read MoreThe Squeeze
Is the juice worth the squeeze? This is a reasonable question to ask about following Christ, and Jesus encouraged His followers to do so.
Read MoreEutychus
The battle between faith and science is a battle in people’s minds, not between two great opposing forces. In my discussion with her, she shared her faith in God and the spiritual. “I’ve seen spiritual healing,” she said. I then tried my best to lay out for her my understanding of the integration of faith and science in healing.
Read MoreMultiplication
I received this message from a young Albanian physician I had not seen for many years: “Hello, brother. As I am reading your book (which I borrowed from my brother’s wife). I cannot help but thank you for your mission in Albania. In March 2016, I came to the Lord in one of the conferences in Durres. That led to my mom, her mom, my brother, my cousin, my father, my other cousin coming to Christ!” As I learned more, it became clear I had not been the one who led her to Christ, but I had been present as part of the team. What amazes me about her story is the beautiful way God works if we just show up.
Read MorePainful Redirections
There are times we want things badly: good things, even Godly things, that God has not chosen for us. The tearing away of those dreams is painful but not evil if we leave God in charge.
Read MoreBroken Legs and Grenades
We can’t always hide from the huge cruelty of life. It’s always there, mixed in with the great wonder and joy of life—a brokenness seeping up up from the soil of our fallen world.
Read MoreBeautiful Mornings
We can’t always hide from the huge cruelty of life. It’s always there, mixed in with the great wonder and joy of life—a brokenness seeping up up from the soil of our fallen world.
Read MoreThe Core of Things
The Core of Things | Weekly Devotions by Al Weir, MD | “She was a medical student and a new Christian. She came with a small group of Christian students from Macedonia to our Albanian student evangelism conference. Small in stature, smart and soft-spoken, she rarely spoke up in our small discussion group of mixed Muslim, orthodox, atheist and agnostic students.”
Read MoreBoldness or Respect?
“Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold” (2 Corinthians 3:12, NIV).
Read MoreTexting Prayers
I caught myself misusing my prayer life today. A friend whose mother is very ill sent a text and asked for prayers. I immediately replied by text, “Praying for you now,” and I lifted up a quick one.
Read MoreEternity in Our Hearts
Our Christmas schedule was different this year. Helped by a day off for bronchitis, I had more time to reflect; and I did so, remembering many healthcare professionals, and others, who have impacted my life for Christ through the moments I have spent with them.
Read MoreFirst Things First
The family structure, grounded in a foundation of parental respect, is at the center of God’s plan for humanity. The more we mess with it, the more our culture will crumble. The more we honor it, the more we will be individually blessed. It comes with a promise.
Read MoreGoldilocks Faith
Blaise Pascal said, “I do not ask for health or sickness or life or death: I ask that you dispose of my health, sickness, my life, and death—for your glory, for my salvation, for the use of the church and the saints of which I am a part…Give to me, take away from me, but make my will conform to yours.”
Read MoreIntentionality
Yesterday morning was Saturday. I was on call for morning rounds. On my drive in, I asked the Lord to let me speak the name of Jesus to at least one person that day. After rounds, I made it to the second half of my granddaughter’s basketball game, and then a friend called.
Read MoreWhy God Invented Swimming Pools
A Christian physician, whom I should not name for safety reasons, told me of God’s faithfulness to complete that which He had started. He and his wife have led a ministry to Afghanistan for many years that included medical care, personal evangelism and hospice development. When the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan, their ability to continue ministry in person was torn from them.
Read MoreMRI
“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him” (Psalm 40:3, NIV).
Read MoreA Song from the Heart
“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him” (Psalm 40:3, NIV).
Read MoreA Brilliant Machinist
Somehow in our fall from grace, we were distorted to become creatures to suck life in, like this vacuum cleaner. Our natural, fallen selves are wired to take from the world, to seek good things for ourselves and possess them, to suck in all that our hearts long for.
Read MoreMy Way, Not Yours
I’ve been discouraged over my “effectiveness” for Christ recently. It seems that, though I love Him, I am not accomplishing the work for Him that I imagine. At 10 a.m. this morning I took a 15-minute break and kneeled in the hospital chapel, just asking for Him to do what He wanted with me for His service.
Read MoreTaking It with You
She’s had two cancers and is free from both now. She moved to be near her daughter, but her daughter has rejected her. “I have to love her from a distance. She got a new job and bought a Range Rover. Now she acts like I never loved her. She don’t know that you can’t take nuthin’ but your good works with you when you die.”
Read MoreMaking God Smile
It was a number I didn’t recognize and answered too late. When I called back, no one picked up. Later the same number called me and said, “Dr. ___?” I recognized her voice from the past immediately. I called her name and said, “You must have butt dialed me.”
Read MoreAlmost Eaten
Last week I felt inspired. I delivered the first half of a Christian-life lecture to local healthcare students, and it was smooth.
Read MoreBirthday Trip
The hospital notified me today that one of the residents I supervise had more than 600 “view alerts” on her computer that had not been addressed. Alerts contain critical labs, radiology results or notes from other physicians who need a response.
Read MoreForbearance
The hospital notified me today that one of the residents I supervise had more than 600 “view alerts” on her computer that had not been addressed. Alerts contain critical labs, radiology results or notes from other physicians who need a response.
Read MoreContending as One
We were sitting at a small table in the cheap furniture section of the hospital employee dining room, my first chance to get to know her: a young, chief of in-patient psychiatry, mother of three small children, follower of Christ—me: an old guy, chief of oncology, 50 years married, grandfather of six, follower of Christ.
Read MoreOxymoronic
He spoke of the Lord often as we addressed his malignancy, acknowledging Jesus as the one he trusted with his health. But somehow, he sidetracked us into a conversation about his sexual exploits in ways that were natural to him but too graphic for me. I was somewhat perplexed by these two lines of conversation that seemed a bit oxymoronic.
Read MoreWhat’s in an Age?
I was visiting a patient in the rehab center who had undergone a knee replacement. He was fine except for the slow pace of rehab. His wife was there, vivacious, energetic, appearing far younger than her stated age, which I will not share. I asked her how they had met.
“We actually met in church,” she shared. “You know, I am older than he. When we started dating, he wouldn’t tell me how old he was. I called the church office to find out, but they wouldn’t tell me either. By the time I found out he was five years younger, I was already in love, and the rest is history.”
What difference does age make anyway?
Quite a bit, actually…
Read MoreTurn Around
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30, ESV).
Read MoreZoom Encounter
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33, NIV).
Read MoreThe Conductor
He spent a month with me as a fourth-year medical student, an Alaskan who loved the Lord.
Read MoreOf Course I Cared
Before we could even get to his chronic leukemia, he opened the conversation, “My father passed.”
Read MoreThe Unexpected
As a physician, I was not shocked at my dear friend’s death, but I was surprised by the way I discovered it. It was clearly unexpected when I walked into his room.
Read MoreThe Way Back
Whatever the cause of the separation, God wants us back. He stands with open arms, running toward us, like the father of the prodigal. All it takes from us is surrender.
Read MoreBelonging
“People without our Lord believe the world belongs to them or to some unnamed, unapproachable power out there. They live reactive lives, responding to the actions of fickle circumstance—making plans, and changing them as the world changes around them, hoping to steal something good and meaningful from an Olympian-like god of Fate who has never existed and never cared.””
Read MoreHe is or He Ain’t
“I greeted him in church, a father who had lost his daughter abruptly to cancer. I could not help but put my arms around him and tell him how sorry I was. Six pews down, I was surprised to see a friend who had missed church for months due to a prolonged illness that had stumped the specialists. She shared, “Two weeks ago, five of our Bible Study class came over, laid hands on me and prayed for me. I have been improving ever since.””
Read MoreFace-planting
I wish his statement was more true of me. One of our gospel’s major principles is that followers of Christ are called to give. It’s clear in the teachings of Jesus, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42, NIV).
Read MoreGiving
I wish his statement was more true of me. One of our gospel’s major principles is that followers of Christ are called to give. It’s clear in the teachings of Jesus, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42, NIV).
Read MoreBranded
I could tell he was more uncomfortable than usual by the way he was seated, leaning forward, head down. His malignant disorder was doing fine, but his body was racked with arthritis. The orthopedic specialist had given up on improving his chronic pain.
Read MoreThe Best Life
My wife had put up with me for many years before I took her to Spain recently on our 50th wedding anniversary. Seville is an amazing town founded by the Phoenicians, developed by the Carthaginians and conquered by the Romans as a sea port in southern Spain before the river connecting it to the ocean silted out.
Read MoreWhy Do I Believe?
My wife had put up with me for many years before I took her to Spain recently on our 50th wedding anniversary. Seville is an amazing town founded by the Phoenicians, developed by the Carthaginians and conquered by the Romans as a sea port in southern Spain before the river connecting it to the ocean silted out.
Read MoreA Child’s Prayer
I know some of it is realizing that the child we love has a new connection with the God who may someday become the Lord of his or her life.
Read MoreMore Than Conquerors
How does God’s goodness make us “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37) when we suffer, whether we ask for the suffering or not?
Read MorePolitics and Faith
Our faith should certainly impact our politics, but I’m not sure our politics should ever impact our faith. Certainly, politics impact faith for those who are persecuted around the world because of their faith, but that is not how it should be.
Read MoreThe Realist
One of the young doctors I train is an amazingly good doctor and a person of faith. She had a discussion today with a patient who refused the medicine we offered, wanting to wait instead for God’s miracle.
Read MoreA Second Step
A few weeks ago, he had come to me discouraged that his physical debilitation had taken away his ability to serve the Lord. Today was different. He began to share as I was transcribing his prescriptions.
Read MoreA Second Baptism
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10b, NIV).
“I’m ready for you to let me go, Doc,” he said.
“You mean to heaven?” I asked.
Read MoreHeart Words
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10b, NIV).
“I’m ready for you to let me go, Doc,” he said.
“You mean to heaven?” I asked.
Read MoreEaster Signals
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10b, NIV).
“I’m ready for you to let me go, Doc,” he said.
“You mean to heaven?” I asked.
Read MoreReasons for Living
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10b, NIV).
“I’m ready for you to let me go, Doc,” he said.
“You mean to heaven?” I asked.
Read MorePromises
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations…” (Romans 4:18, NIV).
“I got my hug!”
I had not seen her in a while. Her husband had been one of my dear friends with medical problems that complicated COVID and took his life last year.
“I was so blessed,” she said. “I was dreaming about him, just like when he was healthy. In that dream he gave me this wonderful hug.”
Read MoreCar Thief
“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9, NIV).
My patient has just retired, and I was curious how he was handling it.
Read MoreStinky
“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2, ESV).
Yesterday morning one of my colleagues, whose office is next to mine, walked into my office just before clinic started.
Read MoreOn His Blindness
“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel” (Philippians 1:12, NIV).
He was beaten down by loneliness and a cancer that brought him pain, but he loves Jesus the Christ. When I asked him how he was doing on this visit, he said, “Not so well.” I was surprised at his continued response, unrelated to the issues above: “The main reason I’m not doing well is that I want to serve the Lord again, and I just can’t.” He was too weak and too displaced by his circumstances to have a solid foundation from which he could serve, and his heart was deeply committed.
Read MoreImpractical Decisions
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV).
I’ve worked with him for years, through his aggressive cancer, allogeneic transplant, now doing well except for lung damage from the graft versus host disease. He always brings me homemade beef jerky that I hand off to those who love it. Today he had a special request: “I need a letter to go to the Philippines.” He had met a young lady online and had been online dating for four months, now planning to marry her there and bring her home to the U.S.
Read MoreLouder
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16, NIV).
He sat across from me and had time to chat while I was ordering some complex treatment for him, a part-time pastor with theology as good as a ThD professor. We were talking about how much the world needs Jesus.
Read MorePulling Back
“The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever” (Psalm 19:9a, NIV).
She has issues with chronic anxiety and depression, which are reasonable in her case, with a history of three different cancers and a family that rejected her. She is healthy today and was sharing with me her dependence on Jesus. “I just bring Him along with me. Sometimes I get so worried, and He comes in and just makes me feel warm and comfortable in spite of things.” She added, “Sometimes, though, I get too close to Him, and it scares me. I have to pull back.”
Read MoreCrying Out for Momma
“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4, NIV).
Read MoreSalt or Savior?
“But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26, NIV).
Read MoreValueless People
“He said also to the man who had invited him, ‘When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you…’” (Luke 14:12-14, ESV).
Read MoreLimiting God
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6, NIV).
Read MoreSteroid Mania
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NIV).
Read More