The woman prayed for the morning glow.

Medical Concerns Decision Making

Medical Decisions and the Heart

Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources No, this is not an article about heart surgery and transplants. Rather, this article addresses the attitude of the heart when making medical decisions. Heart = Motive When difficult medical decisions have…

Praying hands of a senior woman at home with Bible.

Trained to Live Forever: End-of-Life Resuscitation Orders

Trained to Live Forever: End-of-Life Resuscitation Orders

People don’t want to talk about dying. In 2015, according to the Funeral and Memorial Information Council, 69% of adults over the age of 40 indicated they would prefer to pre-arrange their funeral but only 17% actually did so. Conversely,…

Q&A on Treatment Options and Medical Directives

Q&A on Treatment Options and Medical Directives

Q&A on Treatment Options and Medical Directives

QUESTION: It’s been years since the death of Terri Schiavo. Shouldn’t we just leave this in the past? ANSWER: Few cases created more emotional response than the Terri Schiavo story. It seemed that everyone placed themselves in Terri’s situation and shared…

Mature female in elderly care facility gets help from hospital personnel nurse. Close up of aged wrinkled hands of senior woman. Grand mother everyday life.

Do Not Resuscitate Orders (DNR Orders)

Do Not Resuscitate Orders (DNR Orders)

Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources A number of years ago a woman for whom I was a legal guardian was placed in a nursing home. Among the many questions I was asked, one caught me unprepared. Specifically,…

God’s Life and Death Principle

Rev. Wayne D. Mueller May a Christian couple consider in vitro fertilization a God-pleasing way to relieve their childlessness? Is it ever ethical to pull the plug on respiratory equipment attached to a lifetime faithful spouse? To what lengths must…

A Christian Approach to Feeding Tube

A feeding tube generally comes in two varieties: a gastrostomy tube installed directly into the abdomen and a nasogastric tube which is installed through the nasal cavity and into the stomach. There are other types of tube-feeding, but these are…

The Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Conclusion

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann X. Conclusion End-of-life issues are complex in that they often call for the application of many different biblical principles complicated by the addition of strong and sentimental emotions….

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Anxious for Death

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann VIII. Anxious for Death We live in a time where society seems almost anxious to terminate the life of anyone who does not seem valuable or needed. In…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Facing the Challenge of Suffering

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann VII. Facing the Challenge of Suffering Suffering, or the fear of suffering, is one important reason people have advocated the early termination of life. When I speak of…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Facing the Fear of Death

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann VI. Facing the Fear of Death It is a reality that as death near, fear increases for many people. When Barbara Walters hosted that edition of Nightline I…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Understanding the Purpose of Life

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann V. Understanding the Purpose of Life When counseling a family at a time of crisis a certain amount of spiritual building takes place. A challenge I face in…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Facing the Changed Quality of Life

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann IV. Facing the Changed Quality of Life Perhaps the most challenging issue to face when counseling on end-of-life issues is the changed quality of life. It seems characteristic…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Establish God’s Authority Over Life and Death

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann III. Establish God’s Authority Over Life and Death In Deuteronomy 32:39 God says this about himself: “See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: The Christian Foundation for Life Decision-Making

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann I. The Christian Foundation for Life Decision-Making When we pastors are called upon to guide a family in making critical medical decisions, we must not desert our own…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Introduction

Presented by Rev. Robert F. Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources In the early 1980s, I ran across an editorial cartoon depicting a minister standing in the pulpit of the Church of the Lukewarm. The caption read, “There is no the Christian position,…

When God Is Calling

By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources Margaret entered the intensive care unit by way of the hospital’s emergency room. For over two decades, Margaret, or “Maggie” as her friends call her, wrestled with cancer. It began as…

Not So Fast!

By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources In 1993, a Wisconsin state senator introduced assisted suicide legislation, designed to give terminally-ill patients the right to ask a doctor’s assistance in ending their own life. It was a new…

What Should I Do?

By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources As life and family issues continue to expand, it’s often difficult to sort them out. Even church bodies differ on a particular issue though they claim to have the same Bible….

Q&A on Euthanasia

QUESTION: What’s the difference between voluntary euthanasia and non-voluntary euthanasia? ANSWER: Voluntary euthanasia involves a competent and stated desire for someone to have his or her life terminated. Non-voluntary euthanasia pertains to the termination of someone’s life by another without…

Q&A on DNR and Feeding Tube

QUESTION: My husband has had Parkinson’s for 25 years, severe Alzheimer’s, and other issues. He has taken a severe setback with a recent hospitalization. He is presently very weak, minimally mobile, with very low function cognition. He is now in…

God Alone Has the Right to Initiate and Terminate Life // Bible Study

Read the Following Passages: Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver…

Q&A on Tube Feeding Removal

QUESTION: I’ve heard that Christian Life Resources states a feeding tube should never be removed. Why is that? ANSWER: Christian Life Resources does not state that feeding tubes should never be removed. We do state that it is critical that…

Q&A on Medical Technology

QUESTION: If medical technology gives us cures derived from taking lives, should Christians refuse that treatment even if it means possibly a shortening of our own life? ANSWER: Underlying your question is the suggestion that using such medical technology may…

Q&A on Medical Decision-Making

QUESTION: I am nervous about people making medical decisions for me. What are your thoughts? ANSWER: The need for medical directives is greater than many people realize in managing your health and making healthcare decisions. To answer your question, you…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues

Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources Introduction The Christian Foundation for Life Decision-Making Begin with Faith Establish God’s Authority Over Life and Death Facing the Changed Quality of Life Understanding the Purpose of Life Facing the Fear…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Begin with Faith

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann II. Begin with Faith The challenge of training fellow Christians in the way they should go is a life-long endeavor to create the Christian mindset. This mindset includes…

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues: Practical Matters in Counseling on Death

A Practical Approach to End-of-Life Issues Presented by Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann IX. Practical Matters In Counseling on Death I have outlined for you some of the basic principles that have helped me address death with fellow Christians. I believe…

Questions and Answers on Euthanasia

QUESTION: What’s the difference between voluntary euthanasia and non-voluntary euthanasia? ANSWER: Voluntary euthanasia involves a competent and stated desire for someone to have his or her life terminated. Non-voluntary euthanasia pertains to the termination of someone’s life by another without…