Real Talk

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;his love endures forever."
-Psalms 107: 1 (NIV)

"In that day you will say: 'Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.'"
-Isaiah 12:4 (NIV)

"Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before."
-Daniel 6:10 (NIV)

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
-Romans 1:21 (NIV)

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
-Phillipians 4:6 (NIV)



Peace and blessings,

Although I reject the historical associations that today may elicit (e.g. the "good" relationship between the Pilgrims and Native Americans), I believe that we should take time out of our busy lives more often to step back and 1) acknowledge the things that we are grateful for and 2) to thank the God, because it is only through His grace, love, and mercy that we can even have anything to be grateful for in the first place. I must note that I am not suggesting that those who feel they have something to be grateful for are "on God's team" and those who do not feel they have something to be grateful for are not. All I am asking is for us to see if, despite our situation, there is anything that we are grateful to God for. I am currently trying to get in the mindset so I can be like "God, if you don't bless me anymore in my natural life, I thank you because you've already done more than I could have ever imagined." I figure the sooner I get to that level, the sooner I can stop "tripping" over the little things in life and start showing more gratitude. Please take some time to think about what you are grateful to God for and post it here. Not just today, but as often as possible. Take care, stay blessed, and speekonit...

Labels: Daniel, God, Isaiah, Phillipians, Psalms, Romans, Thanksgiving

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

-James 1:2-4 (NIV)


"Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly."

-Phillippians 1:12-14 (NIV)


"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus..."

-Phillippians 2:3-5 (NIV)
"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

-Galatians 6:2 (NIV)

Peace and blessings,

About a couple of weeks ago, I

posted a piece

about this notion that one of the latent results of following Christ is that our lives will be healthier mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. For this second installation of this piece, I want to focus on mental health. Anyone who looks at the news on a somewhat consistent basis knows just how many "issues" we as a human race have to deal with. From broader issues such as racism, materialism, poverty, conflict, famine, and political corruption to the more individual -level issues such as anger, jealousy, lust, deception, selfishness, close-mindedness, apathy, and so forth, it is apparent that there can be dangerous consequences for being consumed by any of these things. Further, given that each of these issues can affect how we view ourselves, others, and the world, it follows that being consumed by any of these things can also have detrimental effects on our mental health. Studies have shown that stress may affect the

heart

and may also make us more susceptible to contracting

an infection.

Furthermore, it is now being argued that the pressures of consumerism may contribute to

stress in kindergarten and elementary school-aged children

. In other words, that stress is no joke mayne!

A few weeks back I was reading an article on stress and coping for my public health class, and the authors discussed this notion of positive reappraisal as a healthy response to stressful or potentially stressful situations. In a nutshell, positive reapprasial is the act of discovering opportunities for personal growth (an perceiving actual personal growth) in the midst of experiencing a stressful or potentially stressful situation. Furthermore, it involves seeing how one's own response can benefit other people (Folkman and Moskowitz, 2004). When I read this, I immediately thought about how we as Christians (as demonstrated by the above scriptures) are supposed to give God the glory in the midst of our trials and pain, knowing that we have the victory and He will bring us through. Reacting this way not only strengthens our faith in God and better equips us to handle future situations, but it also ministers to those to whom we may be connected and/or have influence. As I continually get reminded of God's love and grace towards me, I am gaining a better understanding of why it is so important for us as Christians to handle situations in a way that gives God the glory. For one, I think that because of how badly the Christian faith has been distorted and mis-appropriated (historically and presently), we as Christians are probably the most watched group in the world. People are waiting for us to fall or slip-up so we can be called hypocrites and for our faith to be discredited. Second, I think that one of God's primary purposes for us is so bring about character change, so that we become better people. Now I am not suggesting that everything that we go through is "caused" by God because I personally don't believe that. What I do believe, however, is that there are times where God puts us in certain situations to show us some things that we need to see in order for us to be the people He has called us to be.

To conclude, I pray that when we go through trials, we ask ourselves "What would Jesus do? How can I respond to this in a way that gives Him glory? Who will I influence by my response?" By doing so, I think that we, as well as those around us, will be better off spiritually, mentally, and physically. What do you think? How do you tend to handle trials? What works for you? What doesn't work? Until next time, stay blessed and speekonit...

Source: Folkman, S. & Moskowitz, J. T. (2004). Stress, positive emotion, and coping. In T. Oltmanns & R. E. Emery (eds.), Current Directions in Abnormal Psychology (p. 83-87): Prentice Hall.

Labels: Galatians, God, health, James, Jesus Christ, mental health, pain, Phillipians, trials

Pic courtesy of

aol sports blog

Peace and blessings,

As a person who has been a fan of and participant in sports since the 5th grade, the recent happenings within professional sports have brought me great joy. In Basketball, which is my favorite sport, there has been a recent surge of very talented/versatile/dominant young players over the past decade. Although I support the idea that high school basketball players should go to college before entering the NBA, players such as Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and most recently Lebron James and Dwight Howard illustrate how gifted many of these young ballers are.

Although I enjoy watching these players ball, their talent alone is not what has recently brought me joy. What brings me joy is when an athlete properly attributes his or her athletic ability to the Source: God. During last week’s slam dunk contest, Dwight Howard performed a dunk that not only wowed us, but reminded us of the Source of everything that is “good” within or about us. During a time and place (NBA all-star weekend) where the world is marveling at the talent of some of the best athletes in the world, Dwight Howard reminded us of where the real focus should be. During one of his dunks, he placed a sticker at the top of the backboard. The sticker had the following written on it: “I can do all things through Christ.” (Phillipians 4:13).

Click here for more info

and

peep the dunk here

Enjoy, have a blessed weekend, and speekonit…

Labels: atheletes, Christ, God, NBA, Phillipians