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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Oct
13
2011
Another post with my thoughts from reading Health Care You Can Live With by Dr. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Chapter 20 of Morris’ book is on forgiveness. This topic is of such significance that it will be the only chapter covered in this post.
Excerpts From Chapter 20 – “Put On Forgiveness”
Paul (the author of many books in the New Testament) knows relationships are going to hit snags. We’re going to annoy each other. We’re going to disappoint each other. We’re going to wound each other. Deeply. We’re going to think there’s no going back.… Bearing with each other, and the forgiveness that results, has nothing to do with deserving it. Paul loves to remind readers of God’s unconditional love for them and God’s unbounded forgiveness. This is the basis of our forgiveness of one another. We forgive because we have been forgiven. We offer gracious pardon to those who offend us because we know God’s gracious pardon of us.
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13
Forgiveness is healing to the one who was forgiven. This we experience most fully in God’s forgiveness of us. God’s forgiveness of our offenses restores our relationship with God, and we have a picture of the healing we can offer to others in forgiveness. This gift keeps us in community with people who care for us by building bridges rather than tearing them down and walking away.
Forgiveness also is healing to the person who forgives. This we experience when we forgive others. When we offer forgiveness, we received the healing that comes from letting go of the grievance and being no longer held captive by a thirst for vengeance. This means less anxiety and depression and a better overall sense of well-being. It means having more energy to devote to what brings joy to you rather than wasting energy on what does not. Read more of this article »
Oct
05
2011
In week two of our Faith and Health Ambassador Beta training course, Dr. Kara Davis was the guest instructor. Dr. Davis presented information and answered questions about the impact that stress has on our physical, spiritual, and mental health and how it can influence our unhealthy behaviors. She helped the students better understand ‘the connection’ that exists between our physical and behavioral reactions to stressful situations and how the memories (and associated toxic emotions) of past stressful events can impact our health.
Dr. Davis reminded us that when Adam and Eve chose to sin in the Garden of Eden that sin, spiritual death and illness began to be passed along to all of mankind. Adam and Eve covered themselves and hid from God because their felt guilty of their sin and shameful. This includes you and me. Man’s and woman’s bodies began to have medical disorders, their minds began to have psychiatric disorders and their spirits began to have spiritual disorders. This still occurs to us today.
”At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the manand his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”” Genesis 3:7-10
This was followed by a discussion about what occurs to the body physiologically when toxic emotions and their related chemicals – associated with stressful events and memories – flood our body. Physical conditions such as colds and infections, hypertension and heart disease, chronic headaches and migraines, and muscular pains… the list goes on and on.
There was also a great discussion about the significance that our attitudes, belief systems and thinking patterns can influence how we react to potential stressors in our life. As an example, an attitude of cynicism and pessimism can wreck havoc on the body’s physical systems and organs. Conversely, an attitude of optimism, thankfulness and gratitude helps all our bodily systems line up with one another as God designed them to work.
One additional topic of discussion during last night’s session had to do with the negative environment that we all must contend with. First, Satan and his demonic forces are always at work in our lives. Second, we are bombarded with a worldly system that is very unlike God’s system and the way that He would want us to live. And thirdly, we have our flesh to contend with. Our selfish and old natures, that have yet to be transformed by the Spirit of God, are still at work in our lives.
Dr. Davis reminded us that only as we surrender and rely upon God and receive his truth and love in our mind and spirit can we truly be healthy. When we live by his Spirit, we can enjoy the fruit of his Spirit in our life, especially the fruit of peace and joy and love which are conducive to good health.
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23
Questions to Reflect On:
How are you managing the stressors that are present in your life? Are the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that influence your reaction to stressors based upon the Word of God and his principles?
Could some of the physical conditions and illnesses that may be present in your life be attributed to chronic stress and the toxic emotions and the related chemicals that have been released in your body?
Related Resources:
Visit the website of Dr. Kara Davis to read about her ministry.
Article – Manage Your Stress with God’s Help
Read how you can become a Faith and Health Ambassador for your community and church.
Sep
20
2011
Our reactions to the trials and stressors of our life are a key determinant of our emotional and physical health. It’s not the events or the relationship issues that have a detrimental impact on our health, it’s our interpretation and perception of them.
In most days of our lives, we find ourselves in situations that can impact us in either a negative or a positive way. First, the event or circumstance occurs. This is generally quickly followed by the emotions that we experience. Then, typically, we react with our behavior and what we say. Our reactions are most often automatic because we do this out of habit. Our reactions will have either a positive or a negative impact on our body based, based on the accompanying emotions we experience.
We have an opportunity to impact our emotions and corresponding reactions by the thoughts that we have right after the experience or the event. With practice, we can train ourselves to think positively as opposed to negatively. We can choose to ask the Holy Spirit to control our thoughts, emotions and our reactions. This is the type of wisdom that James speaks of in James 1:2-8.
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.” James 1:2-8
Awareness of your thoughts and reactions is key to changing how you respond to stressors and trials. If you make a choice deep in your will to become more aware of how you respond to events in your life, you’ll be able to make changes with the help of the Holy Spirit. Changed responses will help you to become more like Christ and therefore your light will shine brighter. Learning to respond differently can also impact your health. Instead of your system releasing unhealthy chemicals into your body because of the toxic emotions you experience, the healthy chemicals that are released with your positive emotions will promote health.
It’s all about perspective. I urge you to look at your trials and potential life stressors as opportunities for spiritual growth. If you can have this mindset, it will change your life. And, God will be glorified as you credit His Spirit for helping you make this change.
Questions to Reflect On
What is you level of awareness of your thoughts that immediately follow stressful occurrences? Are your negative emotions and the corresponding physical reactions in your body impacting negatively on your health?
Resources Related to Thoughts and Health
Wikipedia Article – The Biology of Stress and Health
Faith and Health Article – Are Your Thoughts Making You Unhealthy?
Faith and Health Article – Manage Your Stress With God’s Help
Jun
17
2011
America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness was rolled out yesterday, June 16th by the Federal Government. It’s being called the National Prevention Plan.
I was fortunate to listen to the live simulcast event over the internet and to be part of the followup Question and Answer session. I applaud the leadership efforts of the National Prevention Council for the work they’ve done on this effort and the comprehensive strategy and report. Clearly, our country should have a strong preventive health focus led by our government.
Sadly, this report does not address or include any recommendations concerning care for the spirit and the link between spirit-mind-body that medical research over recent years has proven to exist.
Read my perspective of this new plan and the 122-page document on my guest blog post on Christian Post – America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness.
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?
Additional Blog Posts on This Book
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Mar
16
2011
Health and well-being. What’s the purpose of having it? Why should we desire to be healthy?
John Wesley, founder of the Methodist denomination, would have said that the purpose of good health is to enable us to do the things that God has planned for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) According to Wesley, our goal should not be to have good health for its own sake but to have health so our bodies can be “fit instruments” so that we can be our best as we live in community and service with others and in communion with God.
“The Christian life of grace and confidence looks to the well-being of the whole [person]. It sets a high value upon health — of body, mind and spirit. But health is not a terminal value in and of itself. A
human life is more than a biological episode. The value of health is to supply an efficient agency for the projects of the total self, to provide a fit instrument for the growth and maturation of men and women in community with others and communion with God.” *
Wesley recognized that the inner aspects of a person – his soul and emotions or ‘passions’ – greatly affected one’s physical health. He regarded the body as system, working together in all it’s parts or aspects. This stresses the importance of attending to our inner selves and certainly issues of the heart. Scripture reminds us of the significance of caring for our hearts.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23
“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30
Another key motivation for believers to care for their health is that the Holy Spirit lives in us.
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
If our motivation for attending to our health is pure before God, it will be pleasing to him. Then, as we call to him to help us with aspects of caring for our bodies, he will hear our cries and attend to them. Psalm 34:15
Questions to Reflect On:
What’s your motivation for having good health and well-being? Do you think that God is pleased with these motivations?
More References on Spirit-Mind-Body Health
Web page – How God Designed Us: Spirit, Mind, Body and Soul
Article – Physical and Spiritual Care for Your Heart
Blog Posts Tagged with ‘Heart’
* Albert C. Outler (a Wesley scholar), Psychotherapy and the Christian Message (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1954), p. 179.
Dec
16
2010
As the holiday season gets into full swing, often there are angry meltdowns in stores, restaurants, airports and elsewhere. Many people are exhausted, stressed and worried about money. The December 14th issue of the Wall Street Journal included an article in their Relationships column on anger.
Anger is a protective response to a perceived hurt, says Dr. James, a psychologist. The article indicates that the emotional center of the brain has a much greater influence on us than the part of the brain that controls our conscious thinking. This is a partial explanation why our anger often presents itself as publicly it does.
The referenced article is focused on what people can do when someone in your life often becomes very angry in your presence. Here are a few of their suggestions:
Managing The Anger of Others
- Don’t be silent
- Validate their feelings, but not their behavior
- Set boundaries
- Explain why their behavior bothers you
Anger and Our Health
Medical research is clear that chronic anger impacts in a negative way on our health. Read what WebMD has to say about anger and our health.
The Scriptures on Anger
A gentle answer will calm a person’s anger, but an unkind answer will cause more anger. Proverbs 15:1
Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim. Proverbs 15:4
“In your anger do not sin:” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Ephesians 4:26
He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends. Proverbs 17:9
A relaxed attitude lengthens life. Proverbs 14:30
Anger Management – What We Can Do
It’s inevitable that those we are around, our loved ones and we ourselves will have hurt feelings, and those hurt feelings will occasionally be expressed through our anger. It’s how we go about handing the hurt feelings and associated anger that will make all the difference in our relationships.
In that light, my prayer for us all is that we would stay close to God and that more of his love would flow into us and through us to others who are in our lives. I pray that when others get angry in our presence that God would give us a sense of compassion and understanding as to the root cause of the anger and give us discernment to understand how our actions may have contributed to the hurt feelings that prompted the anger. And then God, I pray that you’ll help us to extend forgiveness to others who may have hurt us. Amen.
Dec
07
2010
The following Billy Graham “In My Opinion” column about sickness appeared in the December 6th Charlotte Observer. I thought it would be something worth sharing with you.
Question: When we get sick, is it because we did something wrong and God is punishing us by making us sick? I heard someone say this once, but if it’s true, how can I know what I’ve done wrong?
Billy Graham’s Answer: No, this isn’t necessarily true. The Apostle Paul was the greatest Christian who ever lived, and yet he suffered from some type of recurring illness that caused him great difficulty (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
It’s true, of course, that when we deliberately abuse our bodies (with things like alcohol or drugs or sexual promiscuity or overeating) we’ll pay a heavy price, both physically and emotionally. God gave our bodies to us, and when we ignore His laws and treat our bodies with contempt, the inevitable result will be injury or sickness, or even a shorter life. The Bible commands us to take care of our bodies, and when we fail to do this, we are failing to do God’s will.
But not all sickness can be traced to a specific sin we’ve committed. Sickness and death affect us all, and the reason is because sin — like a deadly virus — has invaded the whole creation. We live in a fallen world, and decay and sickness and death are the result. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Build your life on a solid spiritual foundation — one that will last, no matter what happens to you. That foundation is Jesus Christ, who came into the world to rescue us from sin’s guilt and power. Make it your goal to live for Him. The Bible says, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).
To read other short answers to questions by Billy Graham, visit the Billy Graham’s My Answer section on the BGEA website.
Oct
28
2010
John Wesley was an 18th-century Anglican priest and founder of Methodism. He also cared about people’s bodies. Through his sermons and writings, he often advocated a holistic approach towards spiritual and physical health, emphasizing vigorous exercise, fresh air, and healthy diet. Wesley also had a particular care for the disadvantaged in society and wanted to make sure that all had access and understanding to the medical advice of the day.
In a letter written in 1778 to Alexander Knox, a theological writer, Wesley wrote….
“It will be a double blessing if you give yourself up to the Great Physician, that He may heal soul and body together. And unquestionably this is His design. He wants to give you . . . both inward and outward health.” John Wesley
In another text, John Wesley writes that
“Salvation is “not just going to heaven, but a present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to its primitive health.” John Wesley
John Wesley on Holistic Health
This week, the Church Health Reader is featuring an interview (at link that follows) with Randy Maddox, Professor of Theology and Methodist Studies at Duke Divinity School, on John Wesley and his holistic view of health.
I’ll also provide a more complete essay written by Randy Maddox titled John Wesley on Holistic Health and Healing where Maddox writes in more depth about Wesley’s view of the interrelatedness between spiritual, emotional and physical health.
Stay close to God…… and have a great day!
Let’s Connect!