Something made me know that he could not be well. One of my doctors is pretty old and feeble. But this day was different. He didn’t stand much. He rolled around on his little stool. He didn’t smell right as he got up in my face and examined me. His dress loafers were covered with dust. I knew he had struggled to get dressed and be there to keep his appointments. So I asked someone in the outer office about him. “He has cancer,” she said….”He has no family and his life is very hard.” Then she went on to tell me that the office staff was having a holiday lunch together in the upcoming days and he was excited to go. “We want to cheer him up. We are even going bowling and we hope he can do it with us. We are his only family.”
So when I went back for the follow-up, I baked some bread and took some home-made jam. I put a card in there with pictures of my grandchildren and a note that gave him my personal contact info and asked him to let these children send “happy notes” to his mailbox, just because “I could tell… you were not feeling up to par.”
When I went back, though, his staff told me that he was not there, but they would be sure he got the bag. As I conversed, the staff opened up to me once again and told me that he had called in and said he had fallen and he needed a few days to recover. His appointments would need to be postponed. But the fall turned out to be more serious. Days went by. The staff kept trying to call and check on him, but he rarely picked up. When he did, he said “Just leave me alone. I will be fine.”
At last, the upper level of office management sent the police to his apartment to check on him. Sure enough, the officers and paramedics notified back that he was being transported. “We cannot tell you where he is going, but if you call around the area hospitals, you will find him.”
All of this made me sad beyond words. This man, who has been my doctor for 21 years, was lying somewhere on the floor, for an extended period of time. Suddenly, he is finished. This man, who has always been so kind and genteel, is suddenly finished seeing patients. He is done getting together with his staff. He is somewhere in our city alone in a hospital room during the holidays and his condition is serious.
He will get my bag. 
He will read exactly how to be in touch with me and with our wonderful West Huntsville family. I pray he will be able to … and that he will allow us to be helpful to him, at this point. But I am not proud that I have known him for 21 years and have never known that he was without family. I never knew he had cancer. I never knew he might benefit from some goody bags and encouragement. Most importantly, I never addressed his soul. Granted, he may not have listened. But I could have spoken, even if his heart was not open. At the very least, I could have handed him a card that invited him to study the Bible with me. Did I even do that?
My point is this, and it is directed first to my own self-absorption: There are people all around me who need the gospel. They may not know they need it and they may reject it from the start. But I may be the only conduit for the gospel for some of the people around me who are swiftly traveling to eternity. I want to be more aware of the mammoth responsibility I have to share the treasure. It’s a gospel that is big enough for the inclusion of every wiling soul I know. It is laced with the blood that is pure enough to save the vilest sinner I know. It is available only between the births and deaths of travelers on the earth. It is not up to me, whether or not people accept the biggest gift ever offered them. It’s just my privilege to verbalize to them the urgency of accepting the gift. Such a minute part to play in someone’s salvation. But am I even diligent to play my little part, in view of all He has done for me?
And do I often displace my mental motivation to mention Him in my selfish pursuit of temporal appointments, approval and acquisitions? I need to do better. I pray today that I will!
Last night, I spoke with a group leader in Kentucky. This group, which started with one person who was willing to invite others, now has 24 signed up to study this year. Two of these women are not members of the church of Jesus. In Arkansas, a group of four (last year) has grown to 14 this year. Some were baptized to be in Christ and have the hope of heaven for the first time in their lives in 2023. And every time I open Messenger, it seems there are good growth comments and questions. I see Him answering and I see His providence working through our study. I know He has worked through His Word in all kinds of venues through the centuries, but getting to see this kind of working this close up is the blessing of a lifetime.
I pray God will continue adding to His church those who are being saved (Acts 2:47) and that he will keep calling women disciples “Christians” (Acts 1126) as a result of invitations by common women of God like you and me. He does, consistently, more than we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Digging Deep is personal and powerful evidence that we serve the God of more. He still saves to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25)! I know we will praise and glorify Him together this year!
Family Bible Week at West Huntsville is this week! The Gospel Railroad. It’s at 6:30 through Wednesday night. Dr. Bible is there and there’s a candy bandit. (Right now, the candy jar has been stolen and we have NO idea where that bandit has stashed it!) The kids made FBW photos last night and frames for the fridge. They watched lively re-enactments of conversion examples. They sang their hearts out and they learned songs about what it takes to be saved. They entered contests and they rode a real train through the halls of the building. I heard the conductor asking them questions about the Bible as they rode along and waved at spectators in the hall. They watched a puppet show about forgiveness. This is what spiritually focused memories are made of.
On Sundays, for FBW month, the pulpit has been focused on these four examples of conversion that are the focus of this week. The children fill out sheets during the lessons in our worship that help them listen, too. The examples of obedience to the gospel that are the focus this month are the Ethiopian, the Philippian jailer, Cornelius and Saul. Did you know they all did exactly the same thing to get into Christ? There was a recognizable moment in each of these accounts from Acts when sins were washed away. The moment is described for Saul in Acts 22:16. The jailer went out, at the risk of his life in Acts 16, in the middle of the night, to accomplish this washing. The Ethiopian saw water and said “Why are we waiting? Here is water.” And Cornelius was a good man—a really good man—but still had to have the washing before he could be saved. (Notice verses 1-3 of Acts 10 and then look at verse 14 of chapter 11). While the whole world says baptism has nothing to do with salvation, we have to keep telling the whole world what Jesus said “Go into all the world and teach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.”
The podcast is happening tomorrow night at 7 CST here: 
PLEASE, please invite your “non-churched” friends or friends of other faiths. Women who have sincere hearts, who want to know the good news for their souls WILL learn it if they dig with us this year. It will be an inescapable, but tender revelation from the Savior–an invitation from the One who bore our iniquities and was smitten for our griefs (Is. 53). Invite sisters, too, who can invite others who need the gospel. 
It’s an amazing blessing that we now have over 7500 women in the Digging Deep Bible study group. We work hard to insure that the group is a safe place for us to concentrate on the Word and grow spiritually. That’s why it’s sometimes necessary to exclude someone from the group. We don’t do this lightly because our purpose is always souls in heaven, in the end, and so we want those who have a curiosity about the Word to be able to begin their investigation here–with women who are so dedicated to and in love with the holy words of Scripture. Occasionally, though, someone, who is an open “attacker” of faith and the Word of God will ask to become a member. Because we must protect the sincere seekers and the integrity and purpose of our group, we have to decline those who are obviously attempting spiritual harm or to lead away those who are hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
Polishing the Pulpit (
As we left the convention center this year, I took a long look at our luggage cart, and there I saw a huge conglomeration that’s now still a big pile in my bedroom floor. But looking at that cart, I saw a small cross-section of my whole world. I could look at that all-too-familiar hotel cart and see my life–the things that I love and the things I do–rolling across that parking lot. Some of the things were meaningful in a long-term way. Some, like the number of pairs of shoes I’d brought along, were just extra and unneeded baggage. I looked at that cart and contemplated for a minute. 
