Sturtz Stuff

I have read multiple social media posts making the claim that hospitals are getting paid money for Covid-19 deaths. I found this claim shocking to say the least. So I did a little checking for myself. This list is a small bit of the information that I found. What I found was that hospitals are not getting paid for Covid-19 deaths. What is happening is that some hospitals, due to the CARES Acts passed by congress, saw about a 20% increase in payments only for medicare patients that required treatment for Covid-19. Here are just a few pieces of information that I found . . . . Do Colorado hospitals get extra money for coronavirus cases and deaths? Yes and no. Hospitals do get higher Medicare reimbursements for COVID-19 care, but there are no such payments for deaths by By JESSICA SEAMAN Denver Post But there is no financial benefit to having a death certificate state that a person’s cause of death was directly tied to COVID-19, said Dr. Leon Kelly, El Paso County’s cor...

The Old Testament prophets are often placed in the category of being fortune tellers. After all it is the prophets, such as Isaiah, that talk about the day when God’s Messiah will come. However, the prophets are offering us something more. The Prophets help us connect the dots between the world as it is and the world as it might be. A small example of this can be found in reading Jeremiah 4:11-12 and 23-28. Reading up to and including 4:11-12 the people have become numb and apathetic towards God. Yet the prophet is out to jolt the people out of their collective denial and into the reality that human sin has wide ranging effects. Jeremiah offers a terrible warning that “a scorching wind” is coming their way. Yet, just like us, the people remain in their denial. Verse 22 describes the people as “senseless children” with no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil without any perception of how to do good. The community is on the path of self-destruction. Even with this heartbreak...

Chronically anxious families and societies and church communities have five key characteristics. These characteristics come from Edwin Friedman's book A Failure of Nerve. The page notations in parentheses are from A Failure of Nerve.  Reactivity Instead of self-regulation, the regressed society, family or church community is characterized by reactivity. Communication is characterized by ‘you’ statements (‘you are so pig-headed!’, ‘you are just like her!, You are the problem.). Highly reactive systems are a panic in search of a trigger. Friedman sees this same reactivity within American society, where people constantly interfere with others’ self-expression, react to them on a hair-trigger, take disagreement far too seriously, and ‘brand the opposition with ad hominem personal epithets (chauvinist, ethnocentric, homophobic, and so on)’ (64). Leaders dealing with systems that are reactive often become less imaginative and eventually are worn down to the point that th...

                Erich Brenn appeared on the Ed Sullivan show eight times. In the late 60s early 70s being on the Ed Sullivan show would be like having a video on YouTube with over a million views. Brenn was a master plate spinner. He placed plates, bowls and cups on top of poles that he would spin. He was able to entertain audiences with his ability to keep all the plates and cups spinning. Plate spinning is entertaining and Erich Brenn made a career out of it. An issue that many Christian Churches face is that plate spinning is what passes as real ministry.                 During the Protestant Reformation leaders emphasized two main issues. One was Sola Scriptura which is a Latin phrase that means Scripture alone. Sola Scriptura was a way to emphasize the authority of the Bible over and against Catholic traditions.  ...

                Within my tradition (Independent Christian Church, typically known as the Christian Church) confession is not emphasized much. Confession is considered a private matter and something for a person to deal with solely between an individual and God. I am not sure how Biblical that concept of confession might be. I would suspect that it has more to do with the ripple effects of the reformation then something Biblical.                 Anyway, a while back I gave a message on a Sunday morning titled “My confessions”. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) he indicates that those who join his Kingdom of God community are to keep their good deeds secret while openly confessing their faults. It is yet another way that Jesus flips conventional wisdom on its head. It is with that in mind that I offer my confessions. I have edit...

 This sermon was preached on April 18, 2013, in Goodson Chapel for closing convocation at Duke Divinity School by Stanley Hauerwas. Original post from Faith and Leadership . In this time -- a time called modern, a time when those that bear the name Christian always seem to carry the burden of proof … In this time when the church seems consumed by scandal and self-doubt … In this time when those going into the ministry are unsure what that may entail or, indeed, whether they will even have a job after graduating from seminary … In such a time, it is difficult to avoid a defensive posture when asked why we persist in being Christian. God knows we try. Let us show you, we seem to say to anyone polite enough to listen, why we think believing in God makes all the difference. Let us show you why participating in worship may be refreshment for the soul. Let us show you why the Christian way of life is good for Christian and non-Christian alike. Let us show you how being a Christian ...

Read 1 Kings 3:16-28 If you don’t yet you will soon sense the need for wisdom. If you haven’t yet you will soon take a job you should have never taken. Hire somebody you never should have hired. Say something that you never should have said. Gerhard von Rad , an Old Testament scholar, suggested that the definition of wisdom in the Bible is competence with regard to life’s realities. Why does your life blow up when you date the wrong person? What happened that made you take that wrong job? You underestimated that, you over estimated this and you didn’t understand that. Why do our lives blow up? Life blows up when you do something without wisdom. There was a young man who at the age of 20 becomes King of Israel. His name is Solomon. He gained wisdom and exercised wisdom in a way that shows us how to get it as well. Two stood before Solomon and he will need wisdom. Just like us we come to forks in the road. Should I marry or not marry? Should I go to this school or that school? S...