by Al Lacy
Once again embarrassed by Betty Anderson’s new title for him, Dr. Dane’s face flushed. “I’m not some shining hero. I only did what any doctor would have done. Mayor Anderson’s life was in danger, and by the blood coming from his midsection, he would have bled to death shortly. Every minute would count. I had to get him to the office in a hurry.”
“But Dr. Logan,” said Nelda, “you are a shining hero. Since that gunman—what was his name?”
“Vincent Orcutt.”
“That Vincent Orcutt warned you not to help Mayor Anderson, but you did it anyway. It was a very brave thing to do. And he’s alive because you dared take care of him in spite of that gunman’s warning. I sure am glad Mayor Anderson is still alive.”
“For sure,” put in Eric.
A serious look came over Dr. Dane’s countenance. He ran his gaze to Eric, then to Nelda. “Well, I can tell you one thing, if Vincent Orcutt had killed me and Mike Anderson would have died from loss of blood, Mike and I would be in heaven together right now.”
Tharyn noticed the faces of both Eric and Nelda pinch.
Dr. Dane ran his gaze between them again. “Remember the last time I came here to examine Nelda’s hip? I talked to both of you about salvation, but you weren’t interested.”
The Coxes looked at each other, then looked another direction, avoiding the eyes of the doctor and his wife.
Dane and Tharyn exchanged glances; then he said, “Eric, Nelda, when I talked to you about opening your hearts to Jesus, you told me that Pastor Mark Shane had visited you on two occasions prior to that and had tried to get you to do the same thing, but you hadn’t responded to him, either. Right?”
Eric cleared his throat nervously. “Th-that is correct, Dr. Logan. Nelda and. I have discussed the subject several times since the day you talked to us about our need to be saved. We even talked about going to your church, but with Nelda’s hip so bad, she didn’t think she could do it. We … ah … we both have a problem with what both you and Pastor Shane told us.”
“A problem?”
“Yes.”
“And that is …?”
“Well, we just can’t believe that people can know for sure they are going to heaven. What if they just don’t measure up to what God expects in their lives after they have asked Jesus to save them? How would they know this? How would they know they were pleasing God enough in their church life and in their daily deeds?”
Dr. Dane smiled. “Many people have this problem, Eric. You and Nelda still have not clearly seen that salvation does not come from your doing good works and religious deeds, but from repentance of sin and simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you. Salvation is by grace, not by works. When you get that clear in your minds, you will understand that people who receive Jesus as their personal Saviour can know they are going to heaven and not just hope so.”
Tears filled Nelda’s eyes. “Dr. Logan, would you mind going over how to be saved again? I really do want to know I’m going to heaven when my life comes to an end.”
Eric nodded, and choking on the words said, “I—I do too, Doctor.”
“My Bible is out in the buggy. I’ll be right back.”
Dr. Dane hurried out the front door to his buggy. He took his Bible out of the medical bag, and as he hurried back into the house, he whispered, “Lord, give me wisdom and power to deal with them and to lead them to You.”
When Dr. Dane entered the bedroom, Tharyn was encouraging the Coxes to listen closely to what her husband was going to show them and to feel free to ask him any questions they might have.
He smiled and said, “Yes, please feel free to ask any questions you want.”
Both nodded.
Tharyn was praying in her heart as her husband opened his Bible.
Dr. Dane said, “I’m going to show you first of all that Scripture says you can know that you are saved, and that you have eternal life, which is to go to heaven when you die. I’m going to read a statement that the Apostle Paul made about his own assurance on this matter. It’s in the second half of 2 Timothy 1:12. ‘I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.’ ”
“Paul had committed his soul to Jesus, not only to save him, but to keep him saved.” He flipped a few pages. “Listen to what Scripture says about it in 1 Peter 4:19. ‘Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.’ See that? The keeping of their souls. It’s talking about salvation.”
He turned a few more pages. “Listen to this in Ephesians 2:8 and 9. ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.’ That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You can’t earn salvation by good works. You must accept it as God’s gift. Romans 6:23 says, ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’
“Think about that. Eternal life, which is to have salvation, is a gift. You can’t earn it, then, by your good works or doing religious deeds. Just through Jesus Christ, the one who died for sinners on Calvary’s cross, was buried, and three days later arose from the dead. He is the living Saviour. He does all the saving all by Himself from start to finish. Just before He died on the cross, with His precious blood flowing from His wounds, he cried, ‘It is finished!’
“His finished work on the cross is all that had to be done to make salvation open to all who will come to Jesus by faith. It is the person who turns from their sin, which includes their religion or humanistic philosophy, that is given eternal life. Jesus said in Luke 13:3, ‘Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.’
“Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of direction. We change our mind about our religion or philosophy, and our sin, and turn a hundred and eighty degrees from the road that leads to hell and put our faith in Jesus. According to Romans 10:13, we call on Him to save us. It says, ‘Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ And as I Just read to you, the Lord will have mercy on that repentant sinner and abundantly pardon him.
“Ephesians 3:17 says, ‘That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.’ So when we call on Him to save us, we receive Him into our hearts. When a lost sinner has repented and received Jesus into his or her heart by faith, trusting only Him to save them and keep the saved, they have eternal life. And this brings me back to where we started. We can absolutely know without a shadow of a doubt that we have eternal life, which means we are going to heaven when we die.
“First John 5:13.” He flipped to it and said, “Listen to this. In this passage, the Apostle John writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, ‘These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.’ Did you hear that? ‘That ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life.’ Not hope so, think so, guess so, or maybe so. God says you can KNOW it. And that’s by believing the Scriptures—these things that are written right here on the pages of Gods Word.”
Eric smiled. “I understand it now, Dr. Logan. This wicked sinner wants to be saved.”
In spite of her pain, Nelda’s face lit up. “Yes! This wicked sinner wants to be saved, too!”
Tharyn blinked at the tears that had welled up in her eyes.
Dr. Dane asked, “Do either of you have any questions?”
Eric and Nelda looked at each other and shook their heads. “Guess not,” said Eric. “All we need is your help in knowing what to say to the Lord as we call on Him.”
“Just admit that you are a lost sinner and tell Him you are coming to Him in repentance of your sin, and invite Him to come into your heart, save your soul, and wash your sins away in His blood.”
Tharyn wiped tears as her husband led Eric and Nelda to Jesus. When they finished, she hugged both of them, telling them how happy she was to see them co
me to the Lord.
Dr. Dane then showed them in the Bible that their first step of obedience to the Lord after being saved was to be baptized.
“I realize,” he said, “that it will be a while before Nelda can do this, since she is going to have the hip replacement surgery, but, Eric, you can take care of it at church on Sunday. We’ll stop at the parsonage on our way to the office and let Pastor Shane know that you both have received Jesus into your hearts. He will come and see you right away.”
“Good,” said Eric. “He will be most welcome.”
Nelda looked up at the doctor with a smile on her lips. “Dr. Logan, I’m not expecting anything to go wrong during my surgery, since I know you are the best, but it is a blessing to know that if something did go wrong and I left this world, I would be in heaven.”
Dr. Dane reached down and patted her hand. “Yes, Nelda, you sure would. And as for my being the best, in your eyes at least, any ability that I have comes from the Great Physician. I’m so thankful that I can place my patient in His tender care, and that I can rely on Him to guide me when I perform surgery. He says in Isaiah 41:13, ‘For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.’ You and I couldn’t possibly be in better hands!”
A look of peace filled Nelda’s eyes. “I know I can depend on you, and more importantly, on Him.”
He patted her hand again. “Amen to that.” He turned to Tharyn. “Well, sweetie, we’d better be going. But before we do, I want to pray for these two new children of God.”
The four of them bowed their heads, and thankful tears were shed while Dr. Dane prayed for the new converts and praised the Lord for His abundant grace.
On Friday, July 15, Betty Anderson hurried up the front porch steps, opened the door, and held it open while Dr. Dane Logan carried her husband toward the house from his buggy. She smiled at them as they passed her. Then as they headed down the hall, she ran past them and guided the doctor into the master bedroom at the rear of the house.
When Dr. Dane placed the mayor on the bed, Betty bent over him and said, “Oh, darling, it’s so good to have you home!” She then turned to the doctor with tears misting her eyes. “Thank you so much for all you’ve done for Mike and me. I promise I’ll take good care of him.”
Dr. Dane grinned. “I have no doubt of that. I need to explain that Dr. and Mrs. Fraser left town early this morning to visit friends in Georgetown. You know that’s a two-hour drive.”
Betty nodded. “Yes.”
“They will be back tomorrow evening. If for some reason I should get called away for an emergency today or tomorrow, and Mike should need medical attention, Tharyn can handle it.”
“I’m sure she can,” said Betty.
“I need to explain also, that Tharyn and I will be leaving Monday morning to take Nelda Cox to Denver so I can perform a hip replacement surgery on her at Mile High Hospital. If you should need any medical help for Mike while we’re gone, you can call on Dr. Fraser, who will be working in the office with Nadine Wahl.”
Dr. Logan had already shared the news with the Andersons at the office about Eric and Nelda Cox being saved. Mike said, “Dr. Logan, I’ve just been rejoicing in my heart over the Coxes’ salvation.”
“Me, too,” put in Betty. “Pastor had told us about visiting them before, and how they paid no heed when he preached them the gospel. Praise the Lord, they finally listened.”
“Yes. Well, I must get back to the office. I’ll look in on you once more, Mike, before we leave on Monday.”
At the office, Tharyn was taking care of a little girl who had cut her hand when Dr. Dane came into the examining room, leading an elderly man. He placed the man on a table in one of the curtained areas, then excused himself for a moment. He looked at the little girl’s cut, complimented Tharyn on how well she had stitched it, and told the child and her mother that she would be fine.
Tharyn bandaged the child’s hand while her husband was taking care of the elderly man. When she was done, she walked into the office with the mother and the little girl. The mother paid the bill, and they left after thanking Tharyn.
A few minutes later, Dr. Dane came into the office with the elderly man, who paid Tharyn for the treatment, and left.
Dane was about to return to the back room when suddenly they both saw a rider pull his horse to a halt in front of the office and leap from the saddle.
The doctor opened the door for the rider as he rushed up and said breathlessly, “You’re Dr. Logan?”
Dr. Dane nodded. “I am.”
“I’m Rex Wilson, Doctor. I have a ranch in the mountains twelve miles southwest of town. A band of Ute Indians were stealing some cattle on my neighbor Jack Bates’s place about an hour ago, just as Jack and his family were returning home from town in their wagon. The Indians shot Jack and his entire family before riding away with the cattle they had stolen.”
“Oh my,” gasped Tharyn, moving up beside her husband.
Wilson took a deep breath. “Everyone in the family was killed except Jack, and he is seriously wounded. My wife is with Jack right now, trying to take care of him till I can get back with you, Dr. Logan. Can you come with me right now?”
“Sure. I’ll saddle my horse.”
Moments later, Tharyn stood at the office door and watched her husband ride away with Rex Wilson. “Dear Lord,” she breathed, “please keep Dane safe, and please allow him to keep Mr. Bates from dying.”
She kept her eyes on them until they disappeared from view in a cloud of dust. “Well,” she sighed, “one thing can be said for being a frontier doctor. Life is never dull.”
Just as she was about to turn and reenter the office, she became aware of a man and a woman hurrying along the boardwalk. The man was carrying a boy in his arms, and the lad was crying out in pain.
As they drew up, the man asked, “Are you Mrs. Logan?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Is Dr. Logan in?”
“Not at the moment, but please come in.” As she spoke, she stepped back and held the door open for them.
TEN
The pallid-faced parents stepped into the office. Then above the moans and cries of the boy, who was gripping his middle with both hands, the father said to Tharyn, “Ma am, I’m Scott Thomas, and this is my wife, Susan. This is our son, Bobby. He is eleven years old. As you can see, he is having extreme pain in his midsection. We live over on Elm Street and have been patients of Dr. Fraser’s for several years. How soon do you expect Dr. Logan back?”
“My husband was called away just a few minutes ago to see about a rancher who was shot by Indians. It’s hard to say when he might return.” Tharyn looked down at the boy, whose face was twisted with pain. “The way he’s clutching his middle, and the pain he’s experiencing makes me think it could be appendicitis. I’ll send someone for Dr. Fras—”
Her hands went to her mouth. “Oh no! I forgot. Dr. and Mrs. Fraser are in Georgetown.” She swallowed hard. “Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, I’m a certified medical nurse, and my specialty is as a surgical nurse. If this is appendicitis, I must remove the appendix immediately.”
A chill slithered down Scott’s spine. He studied Tharyn with appraising eyes. “Mrs. Logan, are you sure you can do an appendectomy?”
Tharyn did not bat an eye. “Mr. Thomas, I have assisted doctors in Denver with appendectomies over a hundred times, and if indeed this is what is ailing Bobby, I will have to perform the surgery. I can’t wait for my husband to come back.”
Scott bit his lower lip. “Mrs. Logan, I don’t mean to question your ability as a surgical nurse, but isn’t it a lot different to just assist the surgeon doing the operation than being the one holding the scalpel?”
In his father’s arms, Bobby ejected an especially loud wail and drew up his knees.
Tharyn looked at Bobby, then at Scott. “Yes, Mr. Thomas, it most certainly is different, but if I weren’t confident that I could do it, I wouldn’t be offering my services. I say to you
and Mrs. Thomas, if I diagnosis this as appendicitis—and I’m already 99 percent sure it is—if you give me permission, I will use all of my medical knowledge to bring Bobby through this. If, indeed, it is appendicitis and something isn’t done immediately, your son will die.”
Scott and Susan looked at each other, brows furrowed.
Tharyn laid a hand on the father’s arm. “With God’s help, I can do the surgery, Mr. Thomas. Now will you carry him into the examining room and let me work on him so I can diagnose his problem?”
A sudden surge of anxiety flowed across Susan’s mind. “Scott, we’ve got to let her do it now!”
Unbidden tears sprung up in Scott’s eyes. There was a catch in his voice as he said, “I just want our boy to be all right, Mrs. Logan.”
Tharyn nodded and headed toward the rear door. “Then let’s get him to the examining room. If the appendix has already burst, he’s in real trouble.”
Both parents followed, and Tharyn directed Scott to the nearest examining and surgical table. “Lay him down here.”
Bobby was moaning and throwing his head back and forth. Tharyn took hold of his face, held his head still, and looked into his eyes. “Bobby, please stay as quiet and still as you can so I can examine you.”
The boy closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and nodded.
As she began her examination, Tharyn kept her attention on the patient and said to the parents, “Has he been nauseated or vomited or had diarrhea since the pains started?”
Susan licked her lips with a dry tongue. “He has been quite nauseated and has vomited twice since complaining of the pain. So far, no diarrhea.”
Tharyn nodded. “These are positive signs, when accompanied with the pain he’s experiencing.”
As she pressed her fingers all over the abdominal area, she noted what spots made Bobby wince and cry out the most. She picked up a thermometer from the cart beside the table. “Bobby, I have to take your temperature. Open your mouth. I’m going to put it under your tongue. Please don’t move it.”