Jan
31
2012
Again, here are my thoughts from reading Health Care You Can Live With by Dr. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee. The excerpts below are directly from Chapters 25, 26 and 27.
Nutrition: Food is a Gift from God
Fast foods, typically highly processed and refined, are not only bad for our physical bodies but it’s bad for our spiritual health is well. Fast food is perfect for eating alone and in a hurry – a formula for spiritual isolation. Eating alone is dangerous to your health.
For Jesus, the concept of fast food would be unacceptable. From the Gospels, we know that Jesus liked to have conversation with his meals. He used meals to create community.
We can use mealtime to nurture community while nourishing our bodies. Shared meals may take more time, but they are spiritually enriching and healthier for our bodies.
Our attitude at the Church Health Center toward nutrition is “all things in moderation.” The point of better nutrition is to build healthy, strong bodies that lead to whole people who are better connected to God. Food is God’s gift to us, and caring for our bodies with nutrition is our gift back to God.
Friends and Family: You don’t Have to Do It Alone
I’m convinced that being healthy only occurs in the midst of a community. Having family, friends, coworkers and fellow seekers of the life well lived is essential to optimum health.
Some will no doubt tell me, “all I need is willpower.” In my opinion, willpower is greatly overrated. Few of us have the innate ability to do everything necessary for health on our own. We need help. We need others to encourage us when we despair, pick us up when we fall, and walk alongside us when we tire. We may succeed in the short term on our own, but in the long term we need a team.
I’m convinced that what pulls people back from the brink of the abyss is community. Knowing you don’t have to face suffering alone is a game changer.
Family and friends are crucial to your health, and you are crucial to theirs. You receive from the community you’re part of, but you also contribute to it. Others offer qualities you need, and you offer qualities others need. Who are the people you depend on most, and what are you doing to strengthen those relationships? Who depends on you, and how are you responding to their needs?
If this (social/relational) piece of your overall health is missing, it’s not too late to surround yourself with people who care for you, and to offer relational care to others. Do this now, apart from a crisis, and a community of family and friends will be a springboard of hope when you need it most.
Emotional Life: You’re Supposed to Feel It
What we need to embrace and teach is how to get close to another human being. Doctors are trained to keep emotional distance from patients. The truth is, no one needs to learn how to be distant. Patients are connected, body-and-spirit, so why should physicians pretend they aren’t?
Life is full of emotions, some of them joyful, some of them stressful. Our health care system does not recognize that emotional and spiritual suffering can lead to physical illness.
We all have our ways of coping with painful emotions. Some push discomfort on to someone else with an aggressive comment and pay the price in that relationship. Some avoid talking about what disturbs them and hope that makes it less real, though it doesn’t. Some partition off pain and continue on with the motions of the rest of their lives, never acknowledging how unresolved emotions affect everything they do.
Stress is going to happen. It just is. Coping by making healthy choices instead of indulging old habits begins by understanding what triggers your feelings and owning up to the ways you have coped in the past.
The battles worth fighting are the ones that bring you joy and love and drive you closer to God. Save your emotional energy for things that do matter most because they deepen your experience of joy and love. Empty the trash (the strong negative emotions) on a regular basis before it gets stinky and explosive.
My Comments:
In talking with people, it sure seems that so many Americans eat on the run for many of their meals. As Morris points out, Jesus modeled a time of community and conversation when he ate his meals. This regular ‘connection’ with others – something that meals foster – is critical for our well being. We’re certainly miss out on a lot when we don’t eat meals with one another.
The medical research is clear about the importance of social support for good health. Interaction with family and friends is part of God’s design. God made us to be in relationship with others.
“It is not good for man to be alone.” Genesis 2:18
Strong negative emotions, if not managed, can cause all sorts of heath-related conditions. As Morris suggests, it’s really important that we ‘take out the trash’ on a regular basis because our ‘emotional trash’ will not only affect our physical health, it will adversely affect our relational health.
Questions to Reflect On:
If you are on the go a lot and often do not eat with others in your home, are you intentional about getting together with them to experience ‘community’?
Is there at least one person in your life who you are close enough to that you can talk about important life issues with?
Could your chronic negative emotional state be affecting your health or the quality of your relationships?
Related Resources:
Article – Are Your Emotions and Thoughts Causing You Health Problems?
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Jan
20
2012
Today I’m reviewing the book, Missional Spirituality, Embodying God’s Love From the Inside Out, written by Roger Helland and Leonard Hjalmarson and published by InterVarsity Press in 2011.
The authors begin by making the case that it’s important to address one’s spirituality by suggesting that the root issue is that many people feel like “exiles living in a world that can’t satisfy their deepest longings.” They suggest, and I agree, that we all have a deep longing for love, security and acceptance and that it’s important that we bring our own story of brokenness into the biblical story that addresses the Father’s house as a place of wholeness, warmth and welcome.
The authors remind us that Jesus enabled people to be on mission for God with the example of the Samaritan woman at the well recounted in John 4. Here, the woman drank from the spiritual well of Jesus and became a ‘spiritual spring’ to her local towny as a missionary. This is just one example of how Jesus was doing his Father’s work, or will. Through his interaction with the woman at the well she grew spiritually, and from that was able to be on mission herself. Jesus met her deep needs and, from a greater sense of wholeness and wellness, she was then able to go into her local town and make a difference. This is a beautiful example of missional spirituality.
Missional Spirituality – A Definition. The authors state, “the extent to which we are transformed is the extent to which we can bring transformation. A missional spirituality moves from the inside out. We can’t give what we don’t have, and what we have to give is who we are. Christians must be real-life models of Christ’s words and works. A missional spirituality is fundamental to discipleship. Missional means to participate in God’s mission as he and we work out his will in the world. Spirituality means to live in and by the Holy Spirit. We are spiritual to the extent that the Spirit’s presence permeates our lives and our churches in ways that can only be explained as God’s work.”
Helland and Hjalmarson point out that it is the spiritual disciplines that form us and it’s doing the Father’s will (being on mission for him) that will feed us. They remind us that Christian spirituality is the inward shaping for the outward expression of God’s love.
The book points out that the essence of God’s Spirit is love. Love of God and others that comes from within our hearts. Consequently, our hearts must be well for us to love well and to be on mission well.
Discipleship. “The evidence of true discipleship, according to Jesus, is whenever we bear much fruit. The key is then that we learn how to live in Christ not just to learn about Christ. Imagine the potential wheels we developed as the core curriculum in our newcomer orientation classes and small groups biblical teachings and practices that equipped people to do well in Christ. Imagine the fruit of such a focus!”
The authors also remind us that the telos – the main purpose – of life is to glorify God by being Christlike. And, it’s the Christian virtues in us that our Creator tourist takes that are the characteristics that reflect God’s beauty in us.
“To love God from all our strength is to employee her possessions, our health and our talents in serving him and glorifying him.”
The authors also pace an emphasis on the importance of maintaining a Sabbath. Regular resting is critical to being able to love God with all of our strength. That it’s important that we the rest from the daily toils of life otherwise we would not have the strength and ability to serve God and others with our time and with the talents that he has given to us.
Measuring Spirituality. They point out that what we measure indicates what we value and place a focus on. The authors write, “what would it take to develop qualitative measures to reveal the extent to which people love God and neighbor? Did not Paul have a qualitative idea of the extent to which the Colossians and Thessalonians practiced faith, hope and love (Colossians 1:4–6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3)? What would it take to develop ways to measure intentional spirituality in our personal and corporate lives – for example, the extent to which people practice union with Christ, gratitude, prayer, scripture reading, hospitality and measurable activity in their community and workplace? What telos do we have in mind that we use as the goal or standard for measuring? What we focus on and give leadership to tends to grow.”
Their bottom line. It’s about being transformed inwardly and then being intentional and heartfelt in choosing to love others in practical ways outwardly. That’s missional spirituality.
Helland and Hjalmarson did a great job of making their points about the greater purpose of discipleship and spiritual transformation. I gladly recommend this book, especially for those who are responsible for coordinating spiritual formation initiatives within their ministry or church.
A special thanks to the folks at InterVarsity Press for making Missional Spirituality available for my review.
Jan
16
2012
At the beginning of each year, I have made it a practice to share a few of these lists with you believing you might find them both interesting and helpful.
There were over 177,000 visits to the website in 2011.
Most Read Blog Posts in 2011
- 30 Daily Positive Affirmations Using Bible Verses on Twitter
- God Gives Strength – Isaiah 40:28-31
- Your Heart – Proverbs 4:23 and 17:22
- Find Strength in God When Stressed – 1 Samuel 30:6
- Jesus on Stress Management – Matthew 11:28-30
Top 5 Keywords Used to Visit the Site in 2011
- Positive Bible Verses
- Scriptures on Strength
- Bible Verses About Health
- Scripture for Strength
- Scriptures on Stress
Top 5 Referring Sites of 2011
- www.TheTextThisWeek.com
- www.Facebook.com
- www.FaithandFitnessMagazine.net
- www.christianpost.com
- www.ChurchHealthReader.org
A big ‘thank you’ to the owners of each of the above websites for linking to the site!
Jan
11
2012
Are the pastors of our churches in America, in general, neglecting to address the obesity issue that our country is challenged with?
My answer would be yes, otherwise research studies would not consistently show that people who attend church regularly are more obese than people who do not attend church.
But, I believe that there’s a bigger issue. (No pun intended) I think that church leadership has a responsibility to make the health of its members an intentional focus – a priority. Since our physical bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, pastors should make caring for our bodies – our health – a priority. 1 Corinthians 6:19
I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read my recent blog about this on the Christian Post – Obesity in the Church. It’s Time for Pastors to Make a Resolution.
Jan
10
2012
Here are my thoughts from my reading of Health Care You Can Live With by Dr. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee. The excerpts below are directly from Chapters 23 and 24.
Discover the Balance
When new patients come to our facility without an urgent illness we don’t start with the doctor; we start with a health coach. The health coach identifies areas where the patient seems to be doing well, along with the areas of everyday life that may be negatively affecting health. After this 30 minute session, the nurse enters the process in the way you would expect in most clinics, and then the patients see the doctor.
Life is a complicated web, interconnected at every turn. The various parts of our lives bump up against each other. Virtues are marching orders for how to live. They are overarching ideals that we must translate into specific actions – how to accomplish change. Our Model for Healthy Living is a tool for individuals to use to take charge of their own health care, and it reflects that true wellness is not just about our bodies, but about body-and-spirit. We illustrate visually how seven key dimensions of our body-and-spirit experience overlap at the core of our lives.
Nutrition, Friends and Family, Emotional Life, Work, Movement, Medical Care, and Faith Life are the key components of the model.
It’s all about balance. Not one of the seven elements in the Model for Healthy Living is more important than any of the others. If you ignore one, the whole mobile goes out of balance. If you overemphasize one, the whole model goes out of balance. If you touch one part of a mobile, the whole mobile moves, respondents, and readjusts. These seven elements are present in every person living in a healthy way, body-and-spirit. The Model for Healthy Living gives you some framework for change. Specific goals in the seven areas will get you where you want to go.
Make Goals You Can Keep
The starting point (for taking charge of your health) is understanding that you are a body-and-spirit being created and loved by God. When you grasp this, you glimpse the level of health – wholeness, well-being, connection to God and others – that God means for you to experience. As you take the turn toward wholeness, the virtues of Colossians 3 surround you: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love. You receive these graces from God and more and more learn to give them to others and yourself. This is the context where change can succeed.
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14
To begin with, meet yourself where you are. Then you can begin to make changes that will take you where you want to go. Don’t expect drastic changes overnight, but recognize the value of any forward movement, no matter how small it seems at first. You get where you want to go one step at a time. Changed behaviors will take you where you want to go.
Behavior changes when you name the new habit. Name the specific habit you want to form, and picture yourself doing it, one step at a time. Behavior changes when you see progress. Progress is something you can measure. Rather than saying, “Get some exercise,” say, “I will walk with the dog around the park and back every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon.”
A strong goal statement will have a verb at the core. It will map out what you will do and how often or by when you will do it. Example – “In the next two weeks, I will experiment with six different pieces of exercise equipment for 30 minutes each, and rank them in order of how much I enjoy them.” Break down big goals into specific action steps you can take within a definite period of time. Each action, when accomplished, leads to the next action statement that takes you closer to where you want to be.
Set SMART Goals
S = specific, simple, signification
M = measurable
A = actionable, achievable, attainable
R = realistic, relevant
T = timely, time bound
My Comments:
We are certainly a multifaceted, multi-part being. What happens to a part of us or to an aspect of our lives will invariably affect another aspect of us. To be whole – to be healthy – it’s important that we address each component in Morris’ Model for Healthy Living.
I’ve used the SMART goals concept for many, many years in working with people in my wellness programs and in my Christian wellness coaching. I believe it to be a very helpful acronym when a person sets any goal for their lives, especially health behavior-related goals. So many people set a goal for themselves without really preparing how to achieve the goal. Applying the SMART acronym can help in addressing aspects of the goal that are important to be successful.
“Where there is no vision, people perish…” Proverbs 29:18a
In that we are in the second week in January, a time in which many people set goals for themselves, I hope that the above information on SMART goals is be helpful.
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Jan
02
2012
It’s a new year. The key here is that it is a ‘new’ year, not an ‘old’ year.
Looking back at the old has it’s purpose …. as long as we don’t stay there. Looking back is helpful to understand, but not helpful if we dwell on past events and circumstances and relationships.
Paul reminds us that we are new creations in Christ. He tells us that the old has passed and the new has come.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
He also tells us that we are to put off the old and put on the new.
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24
New health habits can be adopted by looking ahead and asking Christ to renew you by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in you. Remember, if you are a believer, the same power that rose Christ from the dead is available to you because God’s Spirit is in you. John 14:17 The more you surrender to him and depend on him – the more you put on Christ – the more his power is able to help you make changes in your life.
As you head into 2012, take Paul’s instruction to heart. It’s a new year. Think new, not old. Put on Christ, not your old self. Look ahead and don’t dwell on the past.
Happy New Year!
Dec
30
2011
As I try to do regularly, I’m passing along a link to the current issue – January, 2012 – of Crossroads, a newsletter from the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University.
This publication explores the research in the field of religion, spirituality and health. Topics addressed in this issue include:
- Unmet Spiritual Needs Impact Cancer Patients
- Role of Spiritual and Religious Coping in Advanced Cancer
- Suicide and Religion Among Young Persons in Rural China
- Randomized Trial of Spiritual Assessment in Patients with Schizophrenia
- Religious Involvement and Self-Rated Health in Europe
- Trauma-focused Spiritual Intervention in Veterans
- Special Issue of Journal of Behavioral Medicine devoted to Spirituality
- Mayo Clinic Spiritual Care Research Conference
- HealthCare Chaplaincy $1.5 Million Call for Proposals
Read more posts about the Research in religion, spirituality and health.
Dec
28
2011
Here are my thoughts from my reading of Health Care You Can Live With by Dr. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee. The excerpts below are directly from the referenced chapters.
Excerpts From Chapters 21 and 22
Real love provides the strength to deal with the adversities of life.
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:4
Love doesn’t come from Hollywood, it comes from God. God loved Jesus, and Jesus revealed God to us. Out of love, God sent Jesus. Out of love, Jesus sacrificed himself so that we could be connected to God without any barrier in between. And out of experience of God’s love, we love others. Love is a profound dedication and sense of commitment to another human being. Love will do what it take to help that person experience more wholeness – health – as a body and spirit created and loved by God.
Love is the engine of life. It is the essence of who we are as human beings. We miss the truth that God does not love us because we deserve it but because God chooses to.
God loves you.
Loving yourself is instrumental to your health. It is essential to caring for yourself.
Are you so stressed by the demands of your life that treating yourself with love doesn’t even make the list of what you will attempt? Treat yourself with love. It will be good for your health.
Practice matters. Without practice, few play the game (of life) well under stress. Without practiced patterns, we lack a meaningful context for important decisions. Without practiced patterns, sudden stress knocks us off our feet. Without practiced patterns, suffering throws us into a tailspin.
Decision moments come at unexpected times. If you have not examined what’s important to you in times of calm, you won’t know how to respond in times of stress. You can develop a way of living that gives you joy akin to winning the lottery. You can take steps toward health care or you can live with.
Know yourself. Many people come to us with illnesses or physical diseases but the more substantial question is this: What causes the behaviors that lead to the physical distress? So often patients don’t make the connection. They may understand, for instance that eating too much causes them to carry an unhealthy weight. But why do they eat the way they do? That they may not know. They haven’t ‘connected the dots‘ between the stress factors in their lives and their eating habits. And it’s not unlikely their eating habits will change until they do connect the dots. It’s difficult to change behaviors if the core reason behind the behavior doesn’t change.
It comes down to personal choice to change, and change starts in identifying what’s wrong in the first place. If virtues are not a part of your life – guiding your choices, values, and relationships – then making choices that lead to a fuller, or whole life won’t matter to you. If you don’t feel good about your ability to be a whole person for yourself and others, you will have a terrible time navigating the kinds of change that will make you healthier physically and spiritually.
You’re in charge. You are the expert in your own health care, and you can be in charge of this process.
Individual choices to practice healthy behaviors come down to caring for the body God gave us because we understand we are whole beings created and loved by God, body-and-spirit.
Exploring the whole meaning of wellness for body-and-spirit allows you to decide on your own health care because you were actively caring for the whole you, rather than waiting for a doctor to fix you after you break. You can take the turn and decide to practice good health behaviors and truly love the body God gave you.
My Comments:
I agree wholeheartedly with Morris that unless you are able to “connect the dots” between your sickness or condition and what is at the root of the behaviors that likely caused the problem, you’re not likely to change the behavior. Often, their is a root issue that is driving the unhealthy behavior.
Each of us have the capacity to choose our lifestyles. Our day to day choices determine our habits, which in turn largely determine our health status. And, I believe that we must make a choice deep in our will that we are going to make healthy choices as this is a big factor in being successful at healthy living.
When is the last time that you got alone with God and made a commitment with him – deep in your will – to care for your body as God’s temple?
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Connecting the Dots
Read about our Faith and Health Ambassador training course that teaches you how to “Connect the Dots.”
Dec
23
2011
Christmas is a time of the year that we celebrate the birth of God’s Son, Jesus, who came to point the way to his Father and to offer salvation for our souls. Jesus came that you might know his Father and have life to its fullest.
“My purpose is to give life in all it’s fullest.” John 10:10
As we mature in our faith we realize that our ‘full life’ is not for us alone, but its purpose is to glorify God and to spread his love to others, through us. That’s where our health comes into play. The more healthy we are emotionally and physically the better able we are to love and serve others. And our spiritual health impacts on other aspects of our health.
As you near Christmas Day, let the love of God and his Son sink deep into your heart. Deep in your will, decide to let go of anything that is not love…. and replace it with the love of Jesus.
That’s why Jesus was born. That’s Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you!
Dec
10
2011
Are you worried? Anxious about something…. or your life? Research shows that chronic anxiety or worry can contribute to health problems.
You might well be aware of the verse in the Bible where Jesus teaches his disciples not to worry because God will provide.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.“ Matthew 6:25-34
When you read this scripture what do you take from it? Specifically, why should you be able to not worry? Finish this sentence – “I don’t have to worry because….”
This passage in Matthew was the focus of a recent Bible study I attend. What came to me clearly was the significance of what Jesus says at the end of verse 26. He asks his followers, “Are you not much more valuable than they(the birds)?”
To God, you are so very, very valuable. This is huge! Do you really believe and know how much God loves you and how valuable you are to him? Jesus wants us to know this deep in our hearts? If we can let this sink in….. and we can remember and truly believe how much God loves us, we won’t need to worry. We’ll be able to trust that God will provide.
How much does god love you? Here’s what the Bible tells us – “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 That’s just what God’s Son did for you. He gave his life for you. So, may you have the power and ability to understand how wide and long and high and deep the love of God is for you. Ephesians 3:18 And in this, may you not worry but trust, have faith…. and be in good health.
Helpful Resources
Other Posts About God’s Love
Let’s Connect!