|
|
Subscribe to this newsletter
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's a 70
degree day in the middle of winter here in Charlotte. You gotta love it!
I hope that you find some helpful resources in this newsletter...
especially in light of the difficult time so many of us are
experiencing amidst this recession.
|
|
Website Updates
|
Stress and Your Health - A
Personal Relationship with God Can Help
Stressed lately? Are you keenly aware of how chronic stress can
impact your health? Did you know that 75-90% of visits to the
doctor's office are related to stress? (The American Psychological
Association)
I have sensed God calling me to share in a concise way the truth
about stress and health and how a personal relationship with Him can
help matters. Last week, I posted a 3 minute automatic
presentation on my home page that tells this story - Stress
and Unhealthy Habits - See How God Can Help.
If you are struggling with life and the stressors of life, or know
someone who is, you may benefit from viewing this or the person
you know may be helped by seeing it.
|
|
My Latest Articles
|
 "Spirituality and Your Health -
Understanding the Connection"
Scientific research indicates there's a connection between
spirituality/religion and health. To say that practicing a
particular faith or involvement in certain religious practices will
have an impact on one's well being and health is oversimplifying
things. It's missing the main point altogether. The
connection exists when people develop the type of qualities that come
from knowing God and experiencing His love and in living in a way
that God prescribes.
Generally, our behaviors in response to life events and stressors are
attempts to meet our most basic needs of love, acceptance, self
worth, security and identity. We have two options. We can
choose to include God in our efforts to manage our life and
stressors, or we can choose to go it alone. Read
the entire article.
"Surrender ... A Spiritual Exercise for a
Healthier Life"
 Do you try
to control most everything? Are you attempting to live life in
your own strength? Do you often become weary because this way of
living requires you to use so much of your inner resources? The
more we try to live life apart from God, the more we make a mess of
it. It's also likely that the conflicts and demands of this approach
to life will wear us out emotionally. Over time this may
eventually have a negative affect on our health.
It's our human tendency to want to be in control of our life by using
our own strength and with our own resources, apart from God. We
received this nature from Adam and Eve, but there is a better way.
Read
the entire article to learn What the Bible Says, What
the Research Says and What You Can Do.
"Are You Spiritually Fitt?"
If you were working with a personal trainer, he/she would keep in
mind the FITT acronym in developing your workout plan. The trainer
would want to determine the frequency(F)of
your workouts, the intensity(I) or how hard you'd perform the
exercises, the duration or amount of time(T) you'd engage in the
various exercises and the various types(T) of exercises you should
perform. These are all basic considerations when working out
physically. This acronym can also be helpful in addressing your
spiritual fitness program as you consider the various exercises that
you participate in to be spiritually fit.
|
|
In the News & On the Net
|
Top 20 Fitness Trends for
2009
The trends were ranked in an online survey by 1,540 professionals
certified by the American
College of
Sports Medicine (ACSM). Read
about the trends.
Christian Yoga
Many Christians are uncomfortable with the concept of Yoga.
They believe it is an oxymoron. I happen to believe there is a place
for it, if it's led by a solid believer and honors the Lord. Christians
Practicing Yoga is perhaps the best site I have visited on
this topic. Take a visit to the site if you're interested in seeing
how this form of activity can be done in a way that is God-honoring.
Faith and Fitness Magazine
A volunteer Web Producer is needed for Faith
and Fitness Magazine - a bi-monthly publication. The
volunteer must know Drupal content management system. Contact the
editor, Brad Bloom, for details.
|
|
Recent Faith & Health Initiatives/Research
|
 New
Online Faith and Health Community. If you desire to
network with others interested in spirituality & health, this new
community is the place. Share resources and ideas and learn about
related events and conferences. There are over 34 members and the
numbers are growing each week.
Hope
and Healing is a new online ministry of the Church Health
Center in Memphis, Tennessee
providing resources on faith and health and covers three main areas:
health ministry, wellness, and living with disease. They are
"committed to providing the best resources and links in faith
and health." The editor, John Shorb, and I are
collaborating together and I am so happy to be a part of what they
are doing. I encourage you to visit their site and see what
resources are available.
A
Testimony was delivered by Harold G. Koenig, M.D.,
Co-Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke Medical Center,
to the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education of the U.S.
House of Representatives on September 18, 2008. The report reviews
original research published in medical journals since the 1800s that
has examined relationships between religion/spirituality (R/S) and
the health of individuals and populations.
Religiosity
and Depression. Are people who have a spiritual
relationship with a higher power more likely to get depressed? Or is
it that depressed people tend to establish such relationships on the
way to getting out of depression? Those are some of the questions
being asked currently by researchers at Temple
University in Philadelphia
who recently revealed in a study how a person's religiousness - also
called religiosity - can offer insight into their risk for
depression.
|
|
Book Reviews
|
|
 It isn't a lack of nutrition knowledge that sabotages
us in our eating, it is our soul hunger. Terri Lykins, a registered
dietitian, has recently published a new book. Soul
Food is a guide to transformational freedom combining
good nutrition with Christian principles to help people break free
from strongholds and mental pathways that keep them chained to
destructive eating behaviors and cravings.
If you personally are challenged by emotional overeating, I recommend
a visit to this
page on Terri's web site to better appreciate what may be
going on.
Jessica V. Psalidas has written Everlasting
Purity, a book for young and single adults
on the topic of purity. She has taken scriptural truths concerning
purity and made them practical. Her book is not just about
physical purity, it's about emotional,
mental and spiritual purity as well. Jessica also addresses
current challenges that the internet bring in connecting with others
from a distance. The single and especially young adults who open
their hearts to what God would tell them of the value of being pure
will be blessed by reading this book.
Making Your Church a House of Healing
 I recently
completed reading Making Your Church a House of Healing by
Michael Gemignani, M.S., PhD, JD. (Judson Press) The author not
only talks about physical healing but the emotional and spiritual
healing that all of us must experience to be able to live the
complete and full life that God wants us to live. One statement that
the author writes as he makes the case for the church being a house
of healing resonated with me. "If we find ourselves being
healed, than our most ardent desire is that others be
healed as well." Read
the entire review at my blog post.
|
|
Speaking Schedule
|
Feb 28 - Salem
United Methodist
Church - "If Jesus Was
Your Personal Trainer," All Day Workshop, Denver, NC
(Open to the public)
Mar 9-13 - Chief of US Army Chaplains - Plenary Speaker,
Annual Senior Leader Development Training, Hilton Head, SC
Apr 26-27 - Virginia Parish/Faith Community Nurses - Keynote
Speaker, 13th Annual Retreat & Conference, Berkeley Springs, WV
Details and links are at
my web site.
|
May God give
you hope and peace during this crazy economic down-turn and recession.
Dale Fletcher, M.S.
Founder, Faith and Health Connection
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
