Recently, I posted a statement on Facebook and Twitter: “A disappointing trait of modern American Evangelicals is their inability to see themselves as merely beggars.” This prompted some to ask me to elaborate on what I meant. The following is that answer.

“We are beggars: this is true.”

These are the last words written by Dr. Martin Luther.

According to a volume of Table Talk, an account of Luther’s sayings and teachings to his students as they sat around his kitchen table over the years. This one statement was the last line of a document that Luther had written upon and placed on his bedside table.

It was the only line of the document written in German, the rest written in Latin.

This was Luther’s confession, and is every man’s confession.

We are beggars before a holy God, with nothing to offer Him.

We have nothing He could ever need, and He has everything we need.

We are so lowly and needy, we wouldn’t even see our need, if He didn’t enlighten us.

As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory:

     ”… like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

Every good gift from God is for our own benefit, not His. Creation, law, His son, redemption… it’s all given for us because we need it whether we feel as if we need it or not.

This extends, also to the assembly of ourselves, Sunday morning, the worship service.

Have you considered why it’s called a worship service, and not a worship giving, worship bringing, worship lecture, worship class or a worship show?

The Germans have a term for the worship service: Gottesdienst. Also known as God’s Divine Service, where God is the main actor doing the serving, and man is being served.

The order of a historical worship service follows this model:

1. Call to Worship
2. Reading of the Law
3. Promise of the Gospel
4. Absolution of Sins
5. Preaching of the Word
6. Service of Communion
7. Benediction

Imagine, if you will, God putting on an apron, rolling up His sleeves preparing to serve you, to wash you, to feed you.

The very one who has no right to be served, who has nothing, is being served and given everything by the one who deserves everything.

• In the call to worship, God is calling sinners unto Himself — into His banquet hall to receive His gifts and nourishment.
• In the law, we are told of our sin and our need for a savior.
• In the promise of the Gospel we are reminded that only God can fix our problem, and we are promised that Christ’s finished work has accomplished just that.
• In the absolution, our sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit on account of what Christ accomplished on the cross, for us.
• In the preaching of the Word, we are served by having the Gospel proclaimed to us again, pointing us to the cross.
• In the service of Communion, Jesus feeds us his true body and blood which was given for you, for the forgiveness of your sins.
• In the Benediction, the blessing of God is placed upon you and you are sent back into the world with His forgiveness and His blessing because of His son’s finished work.

Compare this to a modern American Evangelical service:

1. A welcome and “thanks for coming.”
2. A greeting and hand-shake to those around you.
3. A song service lasting way too long, filled with 7-11 songs about me, and what I do for Jesus.
4. A message/motivational speech sometimes from the Bible, often times not, about how to do something better… for Jesus… full of law, law and more law, (How to Tell if You’re a Man of Integrity; 7 Steps to be a Better Neighbor; 5 Ways to Improve Your Prayer Life; etc.) and usually ending with a directive about how badly you need to do the thing you should be doing, or question your salvation if you don’t.
5. An invitation to be coerced into walking down an aisle usually backed with an emotional song.
6. Another thanks for coming.

How do they compare?

One is a service for beggars, and one is a show by beggars who think they’re better than they are.

Is it any wonder why so many modern mega-churches have such high turn-over? Yes their pews are full, but often full of first time visitors, and not so many long-time attendees.

What about those who say they’ve had it with church; those who hate going because they don’t see the point; tired of the same old songs about ‘me’; tired of the never-ending building campaigns; tired of being coerced, week after week by emotional stories and sappy songs?

Is the answer to stop going to church? That you don’t need it anymore? That you’ve matured and moved on past the same ole’ weekly drivel?

Or is the answer to look back to what Christ instituted and told his apostles to do for his sheep?

Why are we always looking for something new, and then when we concoct that new thing, and it doesn’t satisfy us, we look for something else new?

Instead, shouldn’t we trust what the very one who created us says we need?

Only when we admit we’re beggars, that we have nothing to offer, and that what our soul cries out for and needs is to hear of Jesus, and how he’s already done it all for us, will we ever find rest for our weary soul.

We need to hear that our greatest problem, sin, has been taken care of.

We need to be told that our sins are forgiven.

We need to be washed with his Word.

We need to be fed with his true body and blood.

We need to be blessed by the one for whom our soul hungers for.

And we need this every single week because God, the creator of our soul has told us that we need it.

“We are beggars: this is true.”

I don’t know if it’s getting older, getting married, or having children that has done it, but in the last 8 years I have come to understand many things from the Scriptures that I just took for granted, or wrote off as cliche before.

Verses like “…take every thought captive to Christ,” and “… children are a blessing,” and “be not conformed to this world.”

I also started to really examine my attitude towards ecclesiastical things, like worship and the sacraments.

I’ve come to some conclusions.

This entire universe was created by a personal being who has always been. Think about that for a minute. He has always been. He has no beginning or end. There is nothing above Him. And He has created everything that we see. The pinnacle of His creation is man (humanity). Man was created in His image. Think about that for just a minute, and bear with what I’m about to say. I was not created in His image in and of myself. Man was created in His image. Male and Female, humanity was created in His image. Not dogs, not cats, not fish, not bees, but Man was created in the image of God.

But like bees we are essentially a single organism, not totally independent from each other. And it is with this organism, that the creator decided to have a particular, special relationship with. That relationship was predicated on Man being completely obedient to the Creator, and Man destroyed that relationship with his disobedience. At that moment, Man was cursed. God wanted nothing more than to end that curse and restore the relationship that was severed.

Many individual men attempt this on their own by establishing rules, and rituals, and many deny that there is a creator, and seek nothing but temporal pleasure in a vain attempt to put away the despair that they constantly feel.

Man is lost and alone. Man needs that relationship restored, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing that Man can do about it. He is helpless, completely unable to fix things. Without his creator, Man is dead.

But even at the moment that Man disobeyed the Creator, separated himself from the Creator, and cursed all of humanity, God promised that there would be reconciliation. There would be a restoration of that relationship.

Do you realize that not only is this the story of the beginning of mankind… it is the story of mankind in all of eternity? God promised, way back when we first lost hope, that there is hope. And there is hope… no matter where you live in time… in eternity, there is hope.

That hope is there whether you do things right, or you do things wrong. Whether you figure things out now or later, the hope is there.

That hope is in the person of Jesus Christ. God, the Creator, humbled himself, and became a baby born to a Jewish couple. Mary was His mother. She was a virgin when He was conceived, He was not conceived by the seed of Man, remember, Man is cursed. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God in the womb of Mary.

Does it matter that Jesus was Jewish? Only because the Creator promised Abraham that hope would come through his line, and his line was the Jews descended from Isaac and Jacob. All that does is prove that He is who He says He is. What matters is that He is God, and He is Man, and He is perfectly obedient to the Creator.

Then He suffered an evil agonizing death and was punished with a punishment reserved for those who are disobedient. He literally “paid it all” He was obedient, He repented of our sins and then He suffered and then He died.

But then He resurrected, for not even death has any power over the Creator.

Now our relationship with our Creator was restored, is being restored, will be restored.

Through one man’s disobedience we were all cursed. It was not just symbolic.

Through one man’s obedience we have all been redeemed. His life, death, and resurrection was not just symbolic.

We have certainty of our faith in Christ through the proclamation of His Word, the sacraments of baptism, and communion. These are means by which grace is poured down upon us by the Creator. They are not just symbols.

Our forefathers had faith in a future redeemer that they could not see. We look back to our redeemer. We have seen the hope of Man.

We marry, become one flesh, have offspring, and raise up that offspring to believe, to marry, become one flesh, to have offspring, and raise up that offspring to believe, & Etc. It is not just symbolic.

There are two kingdoms: the kingdom of the Creator which consists of all those who believe that Christ is the Redeemer, and the kingdom of Man which is the World. While alive in time we are citizens of both kingdoms. When we die we are citizens of only one of the two.

I want to teach my children that it is not all just symbolism. So that as we see our neighbors tending more and more away from the creator, and tending more and more towards the World, it is not just symbolic.

When in our own country we see legislators being sworn in with hands on a copy of the Koran, the word of Allah, rather than the Holy Bible, the Word of the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that it is not just symbolic.

It is real.

Spiritually, physically, transcendentally, temporally, eternally real.

I’m not Scottish, I’m Irish, and that’s close enough.  I even designed my own tartan.

This is the Hambrick Tartan, designed by moi.

The Hambrick clan is a fearsome bunch with a lot of wild ideas.

This desire to be loud and throw things goes deep.  My grandfather was an ill-tempered chicken farmer, and when the chickens ate without his consent, he’d yell and beat them with sticks.

That heritage has been passed on to me, and I’ll pass it on to my sons, and their sons, and their sons.

I am a multi-generational man.

I was married in 2003 to the lovely and gracious (and longsuffering) Shelly. At that time, I was in the best shape of my life. I had gotten into condition following a program developed by Matt Furey in Tampa, FL called Combat Conditioning.

It’s an exercise program of total bodyweight calisthenic exercises, and it was exactly what I was looking for. I had been looking for a bodyweight program for quite awhile because:

• I hated going to the gym
• I thought most gym type exercises were really bad for you
• I wanted to do something more than just run, pushups and situps like I used to do in the Army
• I needed a program to keep me focused

And I wasn’t having any luck finding anything.

But then I saw one small add while purusing the newsmax.com website that said “Politically Incorrect Fitness” and I clicked on it, and knew immediately it was for me. I sent off for the whole program DVDs and all.

When I got the program in the mail I took to it instantly, I was a workout fiend. And I very quickly got into the best shape of my life.

Highlander Hindu Pushup

Exercises included, the Hindu pushup, the Hindu squat, and the wrestlers neck bridge.  These three were also known as “The Royal Court.”

The workouts were invigorating, and better than anything I’d ever worked out with before.

I was more flexible and more capable of a human being than I had ever been in my entire life.

I was working out at least twice a day, and I was doing 100+ squats per workout, 50+ pushups of various kinds per workout, I was bridging for 3 minutes plus, I was jumping rope, I was sprinting, and I was in the bet shape of my life. I had more stamina than my 5 year old nephew, and more muscular endurance than I had ever had before.

I didn’t really lift weights at the time, but I bet if I’d tested my max reps on bench press, squat, and one-armed over-head press of a table full of scantily clad women, it would have been my best ever!

A Highland Neck Bridge; A real man can kiss the floor.

Yep I was a monster.

And I was motivated. I couldn’t be stopped. All because I had a goal.

My goal was to be able to pull myself, and my wife Shelly over a wall if the zombies ever came to attack us.

I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was a goal, and it kept me focused and motivated.

But then…

Shelly got pregnant, and something happened. In the fourth month of her pregnancy, I suddenly got everything she did:

• Sympathy Pains
• Sympathy Exhaustion
• Sympathy Apathy

I just didn’t care anymore, and I didn’t know why. I lost that spark, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t get it back.

So I gained weight, and lost my edge. I continued to workout, just nowhere near the intensity that I had previously. I mean nowhere near. I was half-heartedly doing anything.

Then about 10 months after we had our beautiful baby boy, I was feeling that motivation coming back. I was ready, I was gonna get back into shape like I was before, I was gonna have to get into even better shape than before, cause now I gots to pull me, Shelly and Corey over a wall…

you know when the zombies come after us…

trying to eat our brains….

Anyway, I started working out again, building up to just as hardcore as before.

When…

Shelly got pregnant again.

That’s right…

So I instantly lost all motivation again.

How can I possibly ever get into the shape I need to be in to pull an entire family over a wall?

Freakin’ Zombies!

I gained more weight. It was an amazing lesson in why goals are so necessary.

And then, before I could even recover from the second pregnancy, she got pregnant again.

That’s right…

But now I have a new goal, and it has gotten me even more motivated than ever before.

I have always wanted to compete in a Highlands Games heavy athletics event. But to do that I have to be in shape.  And getting ready for the games will get me ready for all the practicalities of being able to throw heavy stuff.

I don’t have to worry about carrying my family over a wall.

When the zombies come, I will:

Caber toss Shelly over the wall:

Alley Oop!

When she lands on the other side, she can catch the children as I have a choice with Corey & Shane & Elsie, I can either throw them like a Weight Over Bar event, or like a Hammer throw, if I put them in a car seat:

22lb Hambrick Throw

And with the baby, I think the best option would be the Sheaf Toss:

Bundle of Love Toss

Since he’ll be wrapped in a receiving blanket.

I like the idea of working out with a practical goal in mind.

“Practical,” you say, “How in the name of all things holy is tossing things around practical?”

Check this out before you jump to any conclusions: http://tinyurl.com/2cu76h.

Now how practical do you think I am?

Have you ever seen Google Body?

It’s an awesome app from Google labs and is a detailed 3D model of the human body. You can peel back anatomical layers, zoom in, and navigate to parts that interest you. Click to identify anatomy, or search for muscles, organs, bones and more.

It is an excellent teaching tool for you to use with your patients.

Best of all, it’s not a Flash program, which means you can load it up on your iPad and demonstrate the human body for your patients as you educate them.

You need the latest version of Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari or IE9 for it to work, and since it is comprised of multiple images, it does take a little bit of time to download in your browser.

In the video above, I give you a quick demo of the tool and how it works.

Have any feedback? Give me a call, at 417-551-9136, send me an email feedback@drhambrick.com, or leave a comment below.

If you like these kinds of tips, subscribe to this blog, or sign up for the newsletter over on the right.

Years ago, I was playing around with a copy of Photoshop Elements on my dad’s computer, alter pictures for my own amusement.

This was about the time that the Eric Bana Hulk movie directed by Ang Lee had come out, and if you remember how that movie ended, it implied that a bearded, fedora-sporting Dr. Banner was about to open a can of Hulkification down in South America.

So, with that image in my mind, I made the following picture:

Then, I wondered if I could put my own face on the Hulk, and since I can’t make an angry-face that looks dangerous and rage-filled enough to suit the Hulk’s awesome physique, I went another route and took a picture of myself making a crazed, maniacal clown-face and put that onto the Hulk’s face.

Somehow, I pushed the right buttons and applied the right filters and the result is what you see up above in the header of this website.

I made sure not to get rid of the pictures because I knew that I’d never again have that kind of luck creating a photoshopped picture together so seamlessly (I know you could probably do better, but to me, it’s seamless).

For a few years now, I’ve tried to have a place on the web that would be a hub for all of my online activity. I’ve wanted a place where I could direct people to links I find interesting and also a forum for publishing what’s on my mind.

I have another website, uppercervicaldocs.com, but that’s very focused on my upper cervical patient newsletter business, as well as podcasts devoted to all things upper cervical, so it never made sense to make that my personal hub as well… it’s really one of the spokes on the wheel of my online presence.

I thought Twitter might be the answer, but while I love Twitter, and Twitter is excellent for what it’s good for, the 140 character limit is too much of a limit to be an online hub.

I tried Facebook, and I love Facebook for staying in touch with my family and friends. I have published notes there, and it’s definitely a hub for much of my online activity, but it’s also very restricted… only my Facebook friends can see much of what I have there (and rightly so) and part of the fun of the web is discovering and being discoverable.

Tumblr. is great, and I love my Tumblr. blog, but Tumblr. is really good for anything you can’t do on Twitter. When I’ve written on my Tumblr. blog it never comes across as very readable… Tumblr. was made for quick successive posts pointing people to other things, and I intend on continuing to use it for that.

The answer to my hub on the web was under my nose all the time… just start a blog.

As I was setting up this WordPress install, I was filling out the tagline, and the following statement just popped into my head: “Dr. Paul F. Hambrick III, physician/scientist searching for a way to tap into the hidden strength that always eludes him” which is a play on the opening statement made by the narrator of the 1970′s TV show, The Incredible Hulk starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferigno.

I typed that in, hit “save” and forgot about it.

The next day, I continued to style the blog and was deciding whether I wanted a header image or not, when I remembered my Hulk picture and quickly made a banner using that image, uploaded it, hit “save” and went to bed.

The next morning, as I was taking a shower, I started thinking about the Hulk and how the story of Dr. Banner and his alter-ego is the story of all of us. Banner is Adam, in the Garden, not quite satisfied with how God made him, and in order to tap in to something he’s convinced is being kept from him, eats the forbidden fruit and screws everything up royally, spending the rest of the story looking for a way to redeem himself and what he’s done.

This blog will be the hub of my creativity, published on the web. I want to podcast about things other than upper cervical chiropractic. I want to write about all kinds of topics and publish them in a manner that makes for good readability. I want to cover topics like faith, family, farming, health, marketing, writing, podcasting… things that I think about every day.

And running like a thread through everything that I and you and every human being creates (whether we realize it or not), is the thread that runs through the story of humanity: fall and redemption.

I didn’t plan this blog with the idea of identifying with a comic book hero, but each step of putting it together has providentially pointed to the story of the Hulk in one way or another. His story is the story of humanity, fall, destruction and the search for redemption.

So, I hope you enjoy reading, and listening and watching what gets produced here.

I welcome your feedback, comment below, or give me a call and let me know your thoughts on the Feedback Line: 417-551-9136.