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.
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.”
Aug
19
2011
Here’s another post with insight and thoughts captured from my reading of Health Care You Can Live With by Dr. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Centerin Memphis, Tennessee. The excerpts below are directly from the referenced chapters.
Excerpts From Chapters 15 and 16
Compassion is an intense desire to embrace people in a way that is not the norm in our world today. Through this embracing, we show what the Kingdom of God is all about. When compassion happens, everyone included, whether on the giving or receiving end, is better because of it.
God made room for you. In sending Jesus into the body-and-spirit humanity, God reached out to be connected to you. In compassionate mercy, you were made part of God’s family.
As you continue to discover what wellness means in your own life, ask how you can put on compassion toward others and yourself.
Look at yourself through the same eyes of welcoming love through which God sees you. See the wholeness God wants for you, body and spirit. If God wants it for you, shouldn’t you want it for yourself?
Small habits bring big changes when it comes to health. Read more of this article »
Jun
09
2011
Health Through Prayer is written by James Everly and published by Steady River Publishing. In the book, Everly uses each chapter to cover some very basic principles that are important for good health. The topics are as addressed on this list:
Chapter 1 Establishing a Practice of Praying for Your Health
Chapter 2 The First Step to Better Health
Chapter 3 Setting Goals
Chapter 4 The Importance of Exercise – Get Moving
Chapter 5 Don’t Go It Alone
Chapter 6 Practicing Moderation and Portion Control
Chapter 7 Standing Up Under Temptation
Chapter 8 The Importance of Sleep and Rest
Chapter 9 Nutrition
Chapter 10 Reducing Stress
Chapter 11 A More Serious Exercise Program
Chapter 12 Forgive Yourself for Mistakes
Chapter 13 Eating More Natural, Less Processed Food
Chapter 14 Making a Healthier Home
Chapter 15 Onward
At the end of each chapter there is a short exercise to do related to the principle and a recommended prayer. As an example, here is the prayer at the end of the chapter titled The Importance of Sleep and Rest.
Lord, I understand the importance of resting each week, and that sufficient sleep is essential to my overall health and to my specific goals of looking and feeling better. Please guide me in taking the necessary steps to make sure that I get more rest, so that I may meet those goals and so that I may better fulfill your vision for me.
The recommend principles are sound and based on advice one might expect to receive from a physician or health educator, even though the author acknowledges that he has no specific health or wellness-related training. If one has a sincere interest in improving his/her health, has a personal relationship with God, through Christ and is diligent in asking God for help by praying the recommended prayers that address each of the covered areas in the book, I’d imagine that he/she would find this book helpful.
The last comment I’d make is that I’d like to have seen the author place more emphasis on the importance of a relationship with God and about prayers having to do with the relationship. The more I grow in my faith and understand God and the Bible, the more I am appreciating that it’s all about the relationship we have with God, through his Son, Jesus. The more we can be in God’s presence, the more we can make it about loving God and worshiping him, the more we seek him, the more we ask God to help us die to our old sinful nature and invite Christ to live through us – the more likely we will experience fruit in our life that will favor being healthy and well.
I believe that it’s when we have that sort of prayerful attitude that we are likely to experience Health Through Prayer.
Jun
02
2011
Winepress Publishing sent me Bible Basic Training, by James and Jeff Jay, to review a few weeks ago. The idea of comparing training in the Bible to training in the Army was of interest to me because I can relate well to both.
In 1969, I enlisted in the Army and participated in Basic Training at Fort Lewis, Washington for about six weeks before I flew to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. After spending a year there, and four years at West Point, I served 20 years as an officer in the Army. Four of those years were at the Army Fitness School. A renewed and exploding faith has energized me to spend the last six years writing and speaking about the link between the Christian faith and health.
In Bible Basic Training, Jeff and James Jay accurately use the analogy of becoming spiritually fit in the Christian faith and becoming fit to be a soldier in the Army. Just as certain skills and competencies are required to succeed as a soldier in the Army, there are a set of basic skills and knowledge needed to be fit as a “Soldier in God’s Army.” In the book, the Jay brothers hit upon many of the key principles that are outlined in the Bible which will especially help a seeker or a new believer understand key aspects of the Christian faith.
Those who have spent any time in the service will especially relate to the terms that are used in the book – infiltration, land navigation, soldier skills, commander and fitness test to name a few. Whether you’re a seeker or new believer or whether or not you’ve served in the military, Bible Basic Training will help you understand several core principles to become spiritually fit …. with Jesus Christ as your Commander in Chief.
Other Book Reviews.
May
31
2011
Here’s yet another post with insight and thoughts captured from my reading of Health Care You Can Live With by Dr. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee.
Excerpts From Chapters 9, 10 and 11
Wellness has to do with whether the person can see God’s presence in a way that draws the person forward into the glory of the kingdom of God. …. Wellness is what happens when you drink of the well.
The biblical concept of shalom is a powerful argument that God cares about the well-being of people. This word appears in the Old Testament more than 250 times and overwhelmingly points to well-being that comes from God in the widest sense of the word. Shalom describes not only a spiritual connection to God, but a life connection – bodily health, contentedness and social relationships.
I am convinced that true health always occurs through a community experience. When people live out their faith together, the health of everyone who shares the experience is enhanced.
Like the woman who suffered for 12 years (Mark 5), perhaps you are ready to reach out for a new level of well-being in your life, a well-being that springs out of being connected to God.
If God wants wholeness for us as whole beings, what gets in the way of experiencing it? What can I do to remove the obstacles in my own experience? What can we do to close the gap? Read more of this article »
Mar
22
2011
Written by Dr. G. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Health Care You Can Live With puts a human face on the hot topic of health care. Making the argument that healing—both physical and spiritual—is a key aspect of the Christian faith, Dr. Morris provides a biblical framework for wellness and encourages us through real-life stories of those who found a better life within the overarching love of God.
It’s an excellent read! I began reading the book last night and almost completed it in one sitting. I now plan to read it over a second time. I will share in brief, individual posts the things that ‘jump out at me’ and reinforce what I believe and have come to understand over the years about the connection between health and the Christian faith. Typically, I’ll include short excerpts from the book and occasionally add my own comments. Below is my first excerpt.
“Jesus’ life was about healing the whole person. – the body and spirit – and the church is Jesus in the world. Jesus’ message is our message. Jesus’ ministry is our ministry.”
“The church can choose to get involved by reclaiming the biblical mandate to bring healing. Individual congregations can choose to get involved by envisioning their role in the health of members and the community around them. Individual Christians can choose to get involved in changing health care by taking charge of their own health care. And it has nothing to do with what happens in Washington or who is President.”
Questions to Reflect On:
Is your church choosing to get involved in the health of your members and your community?
To what extent have you chosen to be involved in your personal health care?
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Jul
09
2010
Psychology in the Spirit, Contours of a Transformational Psychology, published by InterVarsity Press and written especially for those doing psychology and counseling, is an excellent book. John Coe and Todd Hall do a terrific job of addressing key principles of the Christian faith as it relates to human nature and personal growth. I don’t think I have ever read such a faith-based, detailed and clinical work on human nature and personal wholeness.
Coe and Hall present a new model of psychology using their knowledge of counseling principles along with biblical truths. I especially enjoyed the section of the book that addresses the nature of the self, sin and psychopathology, and psychological health. I also enjoyed reading the material about attachment filters and the impact that our previous relationships, especially those between a child and a parent, affect our emotional health as adults.
In the chapter, The Person as Spirit, they write “existential loneliness is perhaps the core sin-condition and pathology that plagues humankind in original sin.” And of the importance of being in union with God – “Here in the light, in the love of God, in union with the Holy Spirit, having been reconciled to God through Christ’s atoning work on the cross, my identity is resolved. Here I am at shalom, wholeness, peace, well-being.”
Psychology in the Spirit will help the reader better understand “sin habits of the heart” and the impact that our earthly parents have on our ability to experience a healthy relationship with our Heavenly Father. It also gives great insight into the process of spiritual formation from a psychological health perspective.
Counselors, professional life coaches, professors and clergy will benefit from reading the book. Be prepared to read some very technical and clinical language. ( I looked up a several words in a dictionary because they are not in my everyday vocabulary.) Maybe some day the authors will write a comparable book for individuals not involved in a related profession as anyone who would like greater insight into their own psychological health could benefit by the information that Coe and Hall write about.
Mar
10
2010
Deep-Rooted in Christ. The Way of Transformation, published by InterVarsity Press, is the first book I’ve read by Joshua Choonmin Kang. I don’t imagine it will be my last.
Throughout the book, Kang uses the metaphor of our spiritual lives being like the life of a tree. As healthy trees and other thriving living plants require nourishment and the right kind of conditions, so our lives require the best possible spiritual conditions and disciplines to be in place if we are to be able to live the abundant life that God desires us to have. Kang skillfully writes about such conditions and practices.
Here are two passages taken from the book:
“Our spirits are living; they need care, attention and cultivation. Then they’ll bring forth healthier, more gracious results.”
“How do our souls grow? Our souls thrive on silence. When does our spirituality build a deeper root system? When we make space for silence; in the quiet they revel and grow.“
The book is broken into 52 short readings of three to four pages. The combination of Kang’s simple writing style and the profound truths about which he writes makes this book a very easy read. It would probably be best read one section at a time with additional time spent meditating on the scriptures that are referenced and on the truths found in the section. I, however, found his material so easy to read and so interesting and relevant to my vocation that I read the book in four sittings. Surely I’ll be rereading the book again at a much slower pace very soon.
And as I finished the book I found myself saying, “If I could implement what he (Kang) has written about, my life would be more fruitful and I’d be so much more effective as a disciple for Christ.”
Kang’s target audience is those in ministry. He writes about his insights of biblical truths that will help people grow in their faith and that will subsequently help them be more effective in ministering to others.
Deep-Rooted in Christ is a valuable read. For that reason, I’ve suggested it be on the recommended reading list for prospective life coaches who are enrolled in the Christian life coach training and certification program at Christian Coach Institute. As well, churches might want to consider using it as a book study for their lay ministers.
Sep
16
2009
When I learn of information that I think will help others, I’m likely to pass it along more quickly than more slowly. This is one of those times.
About 5 years ago I read a book by Dr. Kara Davis, a practicing internal medicine physician, on the secrets to losing weight. It was based upon the application of the different “fruits of the spirit” addressed in Galatians 5:22-23.
Her new book is Spiritual Secrets to Weight Loss. A 50-Day Renewal of Body, Mind and Spirit. It combines spiritual truths of the Bible with practical yet medically sound advise on eating and physical activity.
I’ve read the introduction and the first of the 50 four-page chapters and scanned over the remainder of the book. One thing is clear - Davis’ heart is that people know the loving God of the Bible and that they be in good health. This book would be great to read read as a devotional over a 50 day period and I suspect could be a life-changing experience for some of you.
“For He (God) has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He (God) has filled with what is good.” Psalm 107:9
Questions to Reflect On:
Are struggling with your weight and ready to grow more deeply in your relationship with God and yourself? If so, I strongly recommend you read this book.
Do you know of a friend or family member who is challenged by their weight? Consider sharing this post and book with them.
Resources for Weight Management and Weight Loss
Article – Spiritual Exercises to Help You Know God Better and Manage Your Weight
Article – Overweight? Find Freedom From Overeating
Scripture Listing – Scriptures for Weight Loss and Weight Management
Let’s Connect!