December 2003
An American psychiatrist, Dr. Harold Koenig, says prayer and worship have health benefits. He even says the connection between religious faith and health is a hot topic in science. Science has always separated itself from matters of faith on the basis that science involves theory that can be proven by evidence. Scientists have said you cannot do that with matters of faith.
However, today’s technological ability to gather and interpret large amounts of data enables scientists to make correlations between people of faith and their well-being, and compare what they find with data about people who do not practice any faith. The benefits listed in Koenig’s statement include faster recovery from heart surgery and depression, lower suicide rates, and a longer life span. It is interesting that Jesus promised to give His followers “abundant life.” Could this be part of what He meant?
Koenig also says that attending worship services must be for the right reasons. If you do it just to improve your health, it will not work. He says “The health effect is a natural consequence of following the religious life for religious reasons.”
This ties to another statement made by Jesus. He was explaining to Samaritan woman that the place a person worships is irrelevant. He said, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
For Christians, this describes the nature of our worship. While it is usually expressed in externals like praise and singing, true worship originates in our innermost being, our spirit. Christian worship must also be “in truth” which can mean we are being truthful in our motivations and expression, not just going through the motions. However the Bible strongly links Jesus with “the truth” that it seems His statement is a reference more to Himself than a dogma. Jesus claims that true worship involves meeting God through Him, the one who is “full of grace and truth.” He also says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
By that, He emphasizes how we must approach God in worship. Over and over, Scripture says our spirits are dead because of sin, yet can be made alive when God, by His Spirit, gives us new life through faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, we cannot worship God “in spirit and in truth” unless our spirits have been regenerated (or made new) by the Spirit of Christ who comes to live in our spirit.
Jesus promised eternal life to His followers, but also abundant life. He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (physical needs) will be given to you as well.” While abundant life does not necessarily mean the poor will become rich, it does mean a fuller life than we would have without Him. He clearly says if we put Him (and living for Him) first, then He will take care of us. This is a natural consequence of following Him for the right reasons.
Freud once said religion was an “obsessional neurosis” and psychiatrists of his day and up to the 50's were convinced religious people needed more therapy. Because of his analysis, did some people avoid having anything to do with faith? Did they miss that abundance that only God can give? And now with Koenig’s findings, will some be drawn back to God, the Bible, and church?
This is a great resolution idea for this coming new year. Put Jesus Christ first. Worship Him in spirit and in truth. See what happens.
Showing posts with label benefits of prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label benefits of prayer. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Monday, January 16, 2017
Evaluating Communication Methods .......... Parables 537
December 17, 1996
IBM has developed an astonishing wallet-sized, computerized card called “Personal Area Network” or PAN. PAN emits tiny electrical currents, about one-billionth of an amp, using the human body as a conductor. Using touch, this device can transmit small amounts of information to receivers such as watches, smart phones, pagers and hand-held computers. One prototype sent data from a PAN card in one person’s pocket to another person’s PAN card while they shook hands with each other.
PAN sounds great but I have some reservations. For one thing, what is wrong with the methods of data transfer we already have? With PAN, how can we control who gets our address list or sales figures? Will secrets be traded simply by bumping into a competitor’s sales agent?
Besides, are we that desperate? Don’t we have enough inventions that supposedly enhance communication? Maybe we should simply talk to each other more often. Telephones, computers, pagers and other technology are helpful but making ourselves understood to friends and family members still takes human effort, not more electronic devices.
Thankfully, communication is easier with God. He does not need a PAN to know what is going on in our hearts — He reads minds. For example, in Mark 2, Jesus watched a paralyzed lowered through the ceiling by his friends who wanted Jesus to heal him. To everyone’s surprise, Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
The Pharisees began thinking, “Who can forgive sins but God alone!” Imagine their shock when Jesus questioned their grumbling. John says that, “Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts.”
Once, Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast doing miracles. John writes that “many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” We do not have to open our mouths for Jesus knows all about us before we say anything. He knows whether we trust Him or not.
This has several implications. For one thing, I do not have to worry about explaining myself to God. He knows all about how I think and what I think. Actually, He understands me better than I understand myself. If I am having difficulty with who I am and what I do, He is the best person to explain me to me.
Second, I do not have to explain others to God. He already knows how they think and what they think about. He understands them better than they understand themselves too. When I have difficulty with others, God is the right person to help us understand each other.
Third, God is also able to explain Himself to me. He can put His thoughts into my mind. 1 Corinthians 2 explains that “we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” It goes on to say the things that come from the Spirit of God are spiritually discerned and spiritual people can understand them. While we cannot “know the mind of the Lord that we may instruct him” we do “have the mind of Christ” that we may understand Him—making God’s way of communicating far better than a computerized card.
One consolation about PAN; when it shows up in Walmart, we can be thankful it reads only what is entered into the card and can not read our minds. It is already difficult enough to keep our Christmas list secret without our families finding out simply by giving us a hug or a body check!
IBM has developed an astonishing wallet-sized, computerized card called “Personal Area Network” or PAN. PAN emits tiny electrical currents, about one-billionth of an amp, using the human body as a conductor. Using touch, this device can transmit small amounts of information to receivers such as watches, smart phones, pagers and hand-held computers. One prototype sent data from a PAN card in one person’s pocket to another person’s PAN card while they shook hands with each other.
PAN sounds great but I have some reservations. For one thing, what is wrong with the methods of data transfer we already have? With PAN, how can we control who gets our address list or sales figures? Will secrets be traded simply by bumping into a competitor’s sales agent?
Besides, are we that desperate? Don’t we have enough inventions that supposedly enhance communication? Maybe we should simply talk to each other more often. Telephones, computers, pagers and other technology are helpful but making ourselves understood to friends and family members still takes human effort, not more electronic devices.
Thankfully, communication is easier with God. He does not need a PAN to know what is going on in our hearts — He reads minds. For example, in Mark 2, Jesus watched a paralyzed lowered through the ceiling by his friends who wanted Jesus to heal him. To everyone’s surprise, Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
The Pharisees began thinking, “Who can forgive sins but God alone!” Imagine their shock when Jesus questioned their grumbling. John says that, “Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts.”
Once, Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast doing miracles. John writes that “many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” We do not have to open our mouths for Jesus knows all about us before we say anything. He knows whether we trust Him or not.
This has several implications. For one thing, I do not have to worry about explaining myself to God. He knows all about how I think and what I think. Actually, He understands me better than I understand myself. If I am having difficulty with who I am and what I do, He is the best person to explain me to me.
Second, I do not have to explain others to God. He already knows how they think and what they think about. He understands them better than they understand themselves too. When I have difficulty with others, God is the right person to help us understand each other.
Third, God is also able to explain Himself to me. He can put His thoughts into my mind. 1 Corinthians 2 explains that “we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” It goes on to say the things that come from the Spirit of God are spiritually discerned and spiritual people can understand them. While we cannot “know the mind of the Lord that we may instruct him” we do “have the mind of Christ” that we may understand Him—making God’s way of communicating far better than a computerized card.
One consolation about PAN; when it shows up in Walmart, we can be thankful it reads only what is entered into the card and can not read our minds. It is already difficult enough to keep our Christmas list secret without our families finding out simply by giving us a hug or a body check!
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