Real Talk

Peace and blessings,

Here is the second half of the '07 posting. Stay blessed, encouraged, and speekonit...





1)

What Does it Take, Pt. 1

(Don Imus, Hip-hop, and moral responsibility)




2)

What Does it Take, Pt. 2

(Hip-hop artists' moral responsibility)






3)

Loving to Agitate

(The Gadfly and the call of Christians to be agitators)






4)

Worlds Apart

(The separating power of classism)




5)

On The Immigrant Debate, Pt. 2

6)

An Interesting Way to Look at Intercession

7)

A Few Thoughtz: The Tipping Point, Pt. 2

8)

A Christian, a Muslim, and an Atheist

9)

Technology and Society

10)

Health Nutz, Pt. 1

(How Christian living is healthy living)



11)

Of Water and Diamonds

(Juxtaposing the intrinsic value of water with the extrinsic value of diamonds)

12)

Health Nutz, Pt. 2: Joy in the Midst of Pain

13)

Truth of Inconvenience

(Why I think odd encounters are sometimes God's way of speaking to us)








14)

The Complexities and Challenges of the Jena 6 Case

Labels: 2007, artist, Atheist, Christian, gadfly, health, hip-hop, immigration, Intercession, Jena 6, Lecrae, moral, Muslim, society, technology, Tipping Point

"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

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)




"You know, we're not just staying pure, because we're afraid we'll get pregnant. Not as believers. The world, they don't do it because they fear circumstances. We don't just stay pure because we're afraid of getting a disease. Now these are things that you got to factor in. But that ain't the only reason we're not doing this. We're staying pure because we love God."

- Da Truth, from "Fourplay (Interlude)" off of his album, "Moment of Truth (2004)"


Peace and blessings,

While sitting in my public health course one day, I had an interesting revelation. During our many discussions and readings about the health issues facing us as humans (i.e. diseases, mental illness, physical illness), it hit me: to be a Christian is to be a health nut. As illustrated by Paul's letter to the church of Corinth, our bodies are temples purchased and set aside for use by God. Further, I am convinced that the extent to which God can use our bodies as vessels to do His will (e.g. spreading the love of Christ and thus changing the world) depends (at least in part) on how much we value and take care of our physical and mental selves. Now I must clarify that by taking care of our physical selves i'm not suggesting that we need to all be lean and/or thin, nor am I suggesting that for us to be overweight or have meat on our bones means that we are not taking care of ourselves. This is not what I mean at all. Instead, what I am saying is that as we ascribe to the Christian faith and doctrine, we are inevitably promoting our overall health.

A few examples of the behavioral requirements/implications of our faith serves to illustrate this point. Preserving sex until marriage has obvious health benefits on two levels. On a physical level, a sexual relationship within the context of a godly marriage reduces the chances of contracting a STD. If both spouses were virgins prior to getting married, then this risk is practically non-existent. On a more social level, I believe that because sex establishes just as much a spiritual connection as a physical connection, that bonding with someone on that level can potentially have negative consequences if we're not careful. For instance, engaging in many sexual relationships may make it difficult to have meaningful relationships, given how one may have to struggle with these physical and spiritual connections they have with all of these people. Therefore, it may be hard for us to recognize the person we are supposed to spend the rest of our lives with, when we are still connected to these other individuals from previous relationships. Other examples of health - promoting behaviors that we as Christians are required or at least encouraged to practice include avoiding "greedy" behaviors (gluttony, etc...) and avoiding the use of faculty-altering substances. I think that consuming our temples with greedy behaviors and faculty-altering substances also makes our temples too "cluttered" to be used by God.


The above quote by Da Truth makes an important disctinction regarding this issue. Although there are these and many other health benefits that result from walking the Christian walk, it is important to know that these benefits in themselves are not our motivation for engaging in health - promoting behaviors. First and foremost, engaging in health - promoting behaviors should follow from the gratitude for being redeemed by Jesus Christ, and the desire (via love) to live a life pleasing to God. Because God is like hecka smart, and thus He cares for us better than we care for ourselves, it "just so happens" that by serving Him, we are also promoting our physical and mental health.

On a related note, here's an article discussing the potential of

religious faith being linked to good health.

As another point of clarification, I do not wish to come off as judgmental or as if I don't have flaws, because Lord knows I do! I just want to put this topic in the open as it's been on my heart for a while, and I pray that it's received in good spirits. With that said, what do you think? Stay blessed, encouraged, and speekonit...

Labels: 1 Corinthians, Da Truth, God, health, Jesus Christ, mental health, Moment of Truth, Paul, physical health, spiritual

Peace and blessings,

Due to my "i'm glad the semester's over, now i'm going to big chill for a month" mode, the page has not been updated in a little over two weeks. Since beginning Monday I will be working and thus busy, the page will be updated more often as I'll be in "productivity" mode (at least that's the plan, lol).

For a while now, and especially within the last 2-3 years, the immigration debate has probably been the most important wide-scale civil and human rights issue facing the U.S. As with any debate, there are generally two sides that the media "portrays" as being in opposition to one another. One side generaly believes that immigration, especially illegal immigration has gotten so out of hand in the U.S. that it is affecting U.S. - born citizens' ability to receive health and social services, as well as employment. This view holds that the U.S. needs more stringent policies for illegal immigration, and possibly deport immigrants who are currently in the U.S. illegally. The other side generally believes that immigrants, legal and illegal, have and continue to contribute to the economy and culture of the U.S. Moreover, immigrants are first and foremost human beings who, like the everyone else, are doing the best they can to provide a stable, healthy life for themselves and their families. According to this view, any immigration reform should keep these two points in mind.

Actions have been taken on both sides to address this issue. Recently, some states have already

passed laws limiting opportunities for illegal immigrants.

On the other side,

faith-based institutions and organizations

are arguing for and taking steps to protect illegal immgrants from ostracism and persecution. This movement is known as

the new sanctuary movement,

which consists of organizations providing services, shelter, and solace to illegal immigrants.

Regardless of which side you align more closely with, one thing's for sure:

immigration reform must be fair and just for all involved.

More on this issue will be coming soon, but I just wanted to try and frame the debate for those who may not be familiar with the issue (e.g. some people may live in a state where illegal immigration is not a serious issue), as well as for those who are aware of the debate, but feel that it is not important to them personally. My goal with part two of this post, will be to hopefully address how this issue is not only important for Christians, but for all humanity.

What are your takes on the immigration debate? On which side do you align with? How do you think it should be addressed? Weigh in and speekonit...

Labels: Christians, Cross Movement, debate, employement, health, humanity, illegal, immigration, legal, reform, social, U.S.

Peace and blessings,

I'm not sure if folks have been keeping up the the latest news with the E. Coli outbreak, but health officials are warning people to stay away from fresh spinach (spinach from the bag), but i'm going to play it safe and stay away from spinach in general until I hear otherwise. Definately spread the word because the amount of people getting infected and even dying throughout the country is increasing. Also, there is a link to an article on the latest in the "Health News" section. Speekonit...

Labels: E Coli, health, news, Spinach