The Story Behind Our Name

My name is Jerry Hric. I have been blessed for the past 18 years with a great marriage to my wonderful wife Susan. We have five lovely children, ages 11 through 17. I am a Pediatrician and my subspecialty is Neonatology. I take care of premature babies and sick newborn infants in the Neonatal ICU.

In the medical world we are always trying to discover new cures. I have found that everything in this physical world sheds light on the spiritual world. I would like to share with you how I did find the cure to cancer… spiritual cancer, that is. I will explain how my own spiritual cancer called anger started, grew, spread and almost destroyed me. I will share how the Great Physician, Jesus, helped me with my cancer.

Let me begin by telling you about the most private and painful experience of my life. In seventh grade everything was going great, and I had many friends. Then one day, I happened to be the object of a joke. Surprisingly, my best friend Terry laughed and even helped spread the joke. I soon became an outcast as the rumors and jokes multiplied. The total rejection and isolation made me feel like I had leprosy.

I had a right to be angry at all the boys in my class for being cruel and jealous. I was especially angry at my very best friend Terry. Even though I thought of God as my only friend through those difficult times, I was angry at Him for allowing it to happen.

Eighth grade only got worse, and I became angrier. Finally, one day in ninth grade I lost control of my anger. After being ridiculed by a classmate I went up to him and “BOOM” — I punched him with all my strength. I gave him a black eye and sent a message to the whole school. The joking stopped, but my anger did not.

This anger metastasized into Stage II — the cancer of bitterness. I chose in my heart to never forgive them. Then it progressed into Stage III — vengeance. I daydreamed of burning down their houses. I desired to see at least a dozen classmates dead.

My anger was repressed as I was distracted with the busyness of pursuing medical school. Then during my first semester at Hahnemann Medical College, I developed Stage IV of this spiritual cancer — depression. Whenever you have unresolved conflict, it can eventually appear as a depression.

During this time, I met a guy named Ken who challenged me to study the Bible. Over the next ten months I learned that the Scriptures were 100% accurate and reliable. The Bible showed me that sometimes it was okay to be angry but that I had to give the situation back to God. But I wanted to be in control and personally retaliate, in contrast to God saying, “Vengeance is mine.”

On October 17, 1978 I was reading my Bible when all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. God showed me that I was not a Christian but that I was a hypocrite playing the game of religion for 21 years. He revealed to me that Hell was eternal separation from Him. He showed me that He was always there on the outside helping me but that my pride and anger kept His Spirit from coming into me.

For the first time I knew I was spiritually dead. I understood that a spiritual vacuum existed in me. I could not fill it up with earthly pursuits such as fancy houses, expensive toys, or a big successful medical practice.

So, I asked God to forgive me of my sins of pride and anger. I also asked God's Spirit to come into me, to be born again spiritually. The next day I awoke with no anger and no guilt because I had left it at the cross. I had a peace of mind that only comes from knowing that God's Holy Spirit lives in you.

You are probably wondering what happened to my best friend Terry. A few years later I met Terry in the entrance of my hometown hospital. Surprisingly he immediately offered his sincere apologies for hurting me and asked me to forgive him. I told him that I had already forgiven him. He told me that he also had become a Christian. We then embraced as brothers in the Lord. Jesus was able to resurrect our friendship at a much higher level. No friendship can compare as to one based in Christ!

Are you currently angry with your spouse, a parent, a son or daughter, a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker, or your boss? Are you holding or hiding a grudge? Most importantly are you angry with God? If so, you have come to the right place. Jesus, the Great Physician, has room in His appointment book for you, right now. The Great Physician takes no insurance, no HMOs, no co-pays, because it is all free. The only “assurance plan” you need to sign up for is one of GRACE.

On this Easter day “the doctor has risen” — “The doctor is in.”

I came to medical school with the intentions of being able to help my future patients physically, psychologically, and if they were interested, spiritually. All my medical courses would enable me to help them physically. Through encouraging and listening to my patients, I would be able to help them psychologically. But after doing much searching during my first year at Hahnemann, I came to the shocking realization that I couldn't help myself spiritually, let alone any patient of mine.

I found this out by reading and contemplating on the spiritual themes in the Bible. Even though I went to church weekly and considered myself religious, I found that I really didn't have a relationship with God. I was still separated from Him by my own rebellious nature. Though I didn't feel particularly “sinful,” the Scriptures showed me that I was guilty of the kind of pride which led me to insist on keeping control of my own life. This was a subtle rejection of God. With this understanding that I was sinful and separated from God, I felt very lonely and gloomy, and I was afraid of dying for the first time in my life.

I also realized that because of God's holiness, no matter how much good I would do as a doctor, it could never take away my sins and bring me into a relationship with God. But the Bible also showed me that Jesus Christ could take away all my sins and enable me to have this relationship with God. Jesus did this by dying on the cross.

One day during my second year at Hahnemann, I asked God for his forgiveness and accepted Christ's death as his personal payment for my sins. I understood that I needed to receive spiritual life from God, to be “born again” of his Spirit. So, I asked God's Spirit to enter me. Immediately, I began to have a peace of mind that I was spiritually alive; I no longer feared death. I also found that the mental weight from the guilt of my sins was removed, and I had a real joy in simply knowing God intimately.

I don't want to leave anybody with the false impression that in becoming a Christian, all my problems have gone away. I have found that being a follower of Christ is not easy, but in some ways is hard. The greatest joy, though, stems from having a personal, practical, daily relationship with Jesus.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”John 3:16