MTM - Life is Brief and Uncertain

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Death catches us all by surprise – even when we think we're prepared for it. In this deeply moving episode, Dr. Robert Jackson opens his heart to share personal encounters with life's brevity that have shaped his perspective on faith and preparedness.

The journey begins with a teenage Dr. Jackson standing in a rural emergency room, watching his physician father battle unsuccessfully to save a crash victim's life. This foreshadows the devastating loss of his own father in a plane crash years later – the last memory being his dad kneeling in prayer over him before departing for a flight that would never return. The recent tragic deaths of his dear friends Philip and Cheryl Porter in similar circumstances reopens these wounds while reinforcing timeless truths about how we should live.

Philip Porter wasn't just a patient but a kindred spirit who used his piloting skills to transport medical patients, pastors, and even rescue victims of sex trafficking. His and Cheryl's lives exemplified genuine Christian service – giving generously of their time, talents and finances to advance God's kingdom. Their sudden departure prompts Dr. Jackson to share crucial wisdom: be ready to meet Jesus at any moment, keep short accounts in relationships, share the gospel with loved ones, and prepare practically for death with wills, insurance, and funeral arrangements.

The episode concludes with the beautiful aviation poem "High Flight," celebrating those who have "slipped the surly bonds of earth" and "touched the face of God." Dr. Jackson's testimony that "Praise God, Philip's gone to glory" echoes the comforting words once shared with him about his own father – a reminder that for believers, death isn't the end but a homecoming. What preparations have you made for your final flight? Are you living so everyone knows where you're headed?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more
than enough for the ills thatplague our culture and our
country.
Hosted by author and physician,dr Robert Jackson, and his wife
Carlotta and daughter HannahMiller.
So listen up, because thedoctor is in.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome to More Than Medicine.
I'm your host, dr RobertJackson, bringing to you
biblical insights and storiesfrom the country doctors, rusty,
dusty scrapbook.
Life is brief and uncertain.
I was first made aware of thebrevity and uncertainty of life

(00:43):
as I stood in the corner of theone-room, two-bed emergency room
of our rural hospital inClarendon County in 1971 at age
16, and watched my family doctor, father, desperately attend to
a 35-year-old black man that hehad personally helped to extract

(01:08):
from a Volkswagen Beetle turnedupside down on the King Street
Highway just an hour earlier.
The man's constant screams ofagony had made me so nauseous I
had to kneel in the waist-highJohnson grass on the side of the
road to keep from passing out.

(01:30):
A little later, in theemergency room, he was no longer
screaming or even breathing ashis life ebbed quickly out from
internal injuries.
There was no EMS or helicopterrescue flights back then by
which he could be transported toa larger or regional trauma

(01:52):
center.
I saw my doctor dad suddenlystop his ministrations, look at
the patient, pull out hisstethoscope, listen for a
heartbeat, shake his head sadlyand wave off the nurse.
He stripped off his bloodygloves, pulled the sheet over
the man's face and I saw himwhisper a silent prayer.

(02:14):
A moment later he walked intothe waiting area, where I heard
the family begin to wail andshriek.
Once again, I became weak in myknees and had to sit down reek.
Once again, I became weak in myknees and had to sit down.
Seven years later, the brevityand uncertainty of life, the
evanescent vapor of life, deeplyand personally affected me On

(02:37):
the day I left for my secondyear of medical school.
I was pulling out of myneighborhood in Manning, south
Carolina, where our family hadlived since I was eight years
old.
My father had left theemergency room one of his
favorite places to be and droveinto the neighborhood.
Seeing me.
He flagged me down, jumped outof his car with his usual energy

(03:02):
and enthusiasm, bounded over tomy car, stuck his hand into
grass mine, he kneeled down inthe road and said a prayer over
me and my next year of school.
Then, in a flash, he was gone.
That was the last time I eversaw my father.
For you see, the next day hewas killed when his

(03:23):
single-engine Beechcraft Bonanzaairplane crashed in a
thunderstorm near Alexandria,louisiana, as he was flying to a
medical meeting in Texas.
His plane was not discoveredfor three days, I learned that
there is but one step betweenyou and me and death.

(03:44):
This harsh and unyieldingreality hit home again two weeks
ago as my very good friend andpatient, philip Porter, and his
lovely wife Cheryl perished intheir twin-engine Beechcraft
Baron, crashing near MyrtleBeach, south Carolina, in a
thunderstorm.
Crashing near Myrtle Beach,south Carolina, in a
thunderstorm.

(04:04):
I flew with Philip on multipleoccasions.
I knew him to be a very capable, instrument-rated pilot.
He dearly loved to fly.
One of his passions was angelflights, for whom he provided
air transport to medical centersaround the United States for

(04:25):
seriously ill patients.
He transported pastors andevangelists to their
evangelistic events and meetingsat his own cost, just because
he loved the Lord and he lovedtheir ministries.
He also flew for FreedomAviation Network rescuing
victims of sex trafficking.
Philip and Cheryl were among themost giving people I ever met,

(04:49):
giving their time and theirfinances to the Lord and to
Christian ministries.
When Philip came to see me inmy office for medical visits, he
always wrecked my schedulebecause we would get to laughing
and sharing the ministryopportunities that God had
recently given to each of us, somuch so that we often almost

(05:13):
forgot His medical issues.
It was always a sunshiny daywhen Philip and Cheryl came to
see me or when we frequently metfor lunch at Applebee's in
Gaffney.
But now they are gone to Jesus.
I won't be sad for them, onlyfor you and the family and for

(05:34):
me, those that are left behind.
Now, if you will, let me say afew things to you that I say to
all of my patients.
You must always be ready to seeJesus at a moment's notice.
I am confident that Philip andCheryl were ready and did in
fact jump from that beachcraftbarren straight into the arms of

(05:57):
Jesus.
I am confident they trusted inthe blood of Jesus and they live
like true Christian folksshould live.
You and I should do the same,and we should do the same
kindness for our family andfriends that they did for their
family and friends, so that whenyou and I leave this earth,

(06:19):
everyone knows that when weleave, that we leap into the
arms of Jesus.
There's no doubt in anyone'smind that Philip and Cheryl are
in the arms of Jesus becausethey lived their lives in such a
way that everyone knew thatthey were strong believers in
the Lord Jesus Christ.

(06:40):
You and I should live our livesin the same way that they did.
We should trust in the LordJesus and we should let
everybody know that we trust inJesus, and the way that we live
our lives should give everyoneconfidence that when we leave

(07:01):
this planet that we will bejumping into the arms of Jesus.
The next thing I would say isthat we should keep short
accounts.
What do I mean by that?
This means we have that.
We all have to practice sayingI'm sorry, I was wrong, please
forgive me.

(07:22):
I know that's hard to say.
Pride always gets in the way,but we have to be willing to say
to our family and friends I'msorry, I was wrong, please
forgive me.
You never know when you or theywill leave here abruptly.
You must keep a clearconscience at all times.

(07:46):
As the scripture says do notlet the sun go down on your
wrath.
The next thing I would say isthere are family and friends who
don't know the truth of thegospel.
Hell is hot and eternity is along time.
If you love them, you will atleast try to explain the truth

(08:06):
of the gospel to your family andfriends.
How they respond is betweenthem and God, but you and I have
a responsibility to at leasttry to explain the truth.
The next thing I say to mypatients is make sure you have a
will, make sure you have a lifeinsurance policy and a funeral

(08:28):
plot.
Don't leave a mess for yourchildren.
Plan things in advance.
When my father died at age 41,he was prepared in every way.
He had his funeral planswritten out and in a file folder
he had his pallbearers pickedout.
He had the person that hewanted to preach his funeral

(08:51):
picked out.
He even had the songs that hewanted sung in his funeral
picked out.
Did he know that he was goingto die in an airplane crash?
Of course not, but he wasprepared in advance.
How about you?
Are you prepared?
My suggestion is, on New Year'sDay every year, you should

(09:14):
review your file folder and youshould look and see who you've
got listed as your pallbearersthe pastor who's going to preach
your funeral, the songs thatyou want sung and review it and
make sure that it's up to date.
And make sure that your lifeinsurance policy is up to date

(09:35):
and that your funeral plot hasbeen paid off.
And make sure that your will isup to date.
Don't leave a mess for yourchildren or your spouse.
Now, before I leave you, I wantto close with a poem that is
dear to every pilot.
It was dear to my father, whowas a pilot.

(09:55):
It was dear to Philip, it'sdear to me.
I'm a private pilot and I lovethis poem entitled High Flight
by John Gillespie McGee Jr.
Oh, I have slipped the surlybonds of earth and danced the
skies on laughter-silvered wings.
Sunward I've climbed and joinedthe tumbling mirth of sun-split

(10:21):
clouds and done a hundredthings you have not dreamed of
wheeled and soared and swunghigh in the sunlit silence
Hovering there.
I've chased the shouting windalong and flung my eager craft
through footless halls of air,up up the long, delirious

(10:44):
burning blue.
I've topped the windsweptheights with easy grace, where
never lark or even eagle flew.
And while, with silent, liftingmind, I've tried the high,
untrespassed sanctity of space,put out my hand and touched the

(11:06):
face of God.
My dear friend Philip and MissCheryl have reached out their
hand and touched the face of God.
I'm not sad for Philip or forMiss Cheryl, because I'm
confident that they're in thepresence of God.
I'm only sad for those of uswho are left behind Now.
When my father died, everyonewho came to visit our home for

(11:30):
those days where we did not knowwhere my father's plane had
crashed was full of sadness andgloom, except for one.
And one day I opened the frontdoor and there was Leroy
Phillips, a gentleman who stoodbeside me in the choir at First

(11:50):
Baptist Church in Manning in thetenor section.
And when I opened the door helooked at me and he said Praise
God, robert has gone to glory.
And I knew that was true and inmy heart I knew that was the
gospel truth and I just neededto hear somebody say that.

(12:15):
I just needed to hear somebodyaffirm that truth.
And when Leroy Phillips said itand said, praise God, robert's
gone to glory, I fell on hisneck and I wept and said Mr
Phillips, thank you, thank you.

(12:37):
I just needed to hear somebodysay that.
Well, I want you to know thatmy friend Philip has gone to
glory.
Praise God, hallelujah, philip'sgone to glory.
Some things in life are justnot fair.

(13:00):
Philip has gone to glory aheadof me and I just don't know how
that happened.
Praise, ye, the Lord,hallelujah.
You're listening to More ThanMedicine and I'm your host, dr
Robert Jackson.
If you like what you hear,please follow, like or share or

(13:21):
download.
Tell your friends We'll be backagain next week.
Till then, may the Lord blessyou real good.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
Thank you for listening to this edition of
More Than Medicine.
For more information about theJackson Family Ministry or to
schedule a speaking engagement,go to their Facebook page,
instagram or webpage atjacksonfamilyministrycom.
Also, don't forget to check outDr Jackson's books that are
available on Amazon.
Forget to check out DrJackson's books that are

(13:53):
available on Amazon.
The Family Doctor Speaks theTruth About Life in his first
book, and the Family DoctorSpeaks the Truth About Seed
Planting Equipping Believers forEvangelism is his second.
This podcast is produced by BobSloan Audio Productions.