Seniors and Obama's Healthcare Proposals

I guess I'm a little surprised that more senior citizens aren't concerned about this new government ran healthcare system that the President is pushing. Under the current situation, seniors probably have the best access to free medical care as anybody through Medicare and Medicaid. But will that continue if these new proposals go into effect? Not likely.

Currently there are approximately 800,000 doctors struggling to care for some 250 million Americans with insurance. And when I say struggling, I mean it... my personal doctor has so many senior patients I have to wait days to see him when I need to. So, what is going to happen when 50+ million more patients are added to the system without a growth in the number of medical professionals? Doctors who are already swamped are going to be even more swamped. Forget waiting days or a few weeks to get much needed tests or check-ups... we will be waiting months, and in some cases years. We see this happening right now in Canada and England.

Did you know that there is a 25% high death rate in Canada for colon cancer than the USA? Why? Because of limited colonoscopies. Did you know that the death rate for cancer is 16% higher in Canadan than the USA? Why? Again, limited procedures... limited space... limited doctors. When there is an overwhelming demand and minimal amount of service providers of course rationing is going to take place.

So, when a 40 year old and a 65 year old both need knee replacements, who will most likely get it?

When an elderly person and a young person both need hip replacement, who will most likely get it?

Who will have priority in the operating room, a 70 year old diabetic or a 35 year old healthy individual?

I know our current system is not perfect... believe me, I can't stand paying over $600 a month just so I can get reduced rates when I go to the doctor every once in a blue moon! But if the gov't has any kind of track record for running anything... it is terrible!! And I just hate to see what's going to happen when they do this. Of course, we can already see what's going to happen... just look at the countries who are already doing this. I marvel at how moronic some people can be!

Church - Having It Your Way

Tonight, I attended our local associational meeting of Baptist churches to hear about what God is doing in Eastern N.C. in the way of church planting. I'm excited to see how God is working, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that we have 6 different church plants or missions going on right now in our association. That is awesome because I didn't think there were that many.

One of the defining characteristics of most new churches being planted that I see (and older churches for that matter) is that each is targeting a specific group of people. If you like hard rock sounding music with a worship experience that feels like a concert, then we have a church for you. If you like high-church, liturgical worship that is very reverential, then we have a church for you as well. Maybe you like Harley's and tattoos... we have a church for you. If you like cowboy hats and spurs... we have a church for you. And in a way it is really good that we have so many different types of churches, because there are so many different types of people.

However, at the same time, I mourn a little that Christians have become so consumer-minded when it comes to church than really doing what is, I believe, more Biblical. Because in my humble opinion, I believe that the church that we should really belong to, worship with, and serve with, is the church where we live. Rather than our own preferences being the primary motivation, what about the community we're already a part of by living there? In other words, it's about being in a community and loving & serving that community of people no matter what type of people live there. I mean, I know people who will drive more than 30 miles away 2-3 times a week to attend a church that has more to offer them. What about the community in which they live? What about their brothers and sisters in Christ living 2 doors down the street? Maybe they need encouragement... maybe they need help. When did it become all about "me" and "what I want" rather than being about Christ and what He would desire?

Please understand this post, I'm not knocking new church plants or the pastors and people who are starting them. There are entire people groups out there in our own culture, that churches like mine just aren't reaching and probably won't reach b/c we're just too different. But for those of us who are established disciples, I believe we would do well to re-examine our motivations when it comes to selecting a church. Isn't the New Testament attitude more like "what can I offer," rather than "what can I get?" It reminds me of the situation in which a woman told her pastor that she was moving her membership to a bigger church because their current church just didn't have a good youth group to offer her children. To this the wise old pastor said, "Well, mam... until someone stays and builds a youth group, they'll never be one."